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0.028702 | <urn:uuid:81dfa207-7866-43e7-a1fb-17e5726d36f7> | en | 0.922268 | hd trailer package problem
Discussion in 'Towing & Trailer Tech' started by drwdominance, Jun 12, 2010.
1. drwdominance
drwdominance Rockstar
Ok, 07 sierra classic which i have had for about 8 months which has the trailer package. bought a 17ft expandable travel trailer. the electronic brake control light is always on even without the trailer hooked up. so there is a problem with either the brake control unit or the trailer package.
my question is how hard is it to diagnose the problem and what should i use to diagnose the problem?
any insight?
2. 2COR517
2COR517 Epic Member 5+ Years 1000 Posts
Disconnect the harness to the trailer plug and see if it goes out. What kind of controller is it?
3. drwdominance
drwdominance Rockstar
i will try that. it's a tekonsha voyager.
4. 2COR517
2COR517 Epic Member 5+ Years 1000 Posts
If the light is on, there is a load on the controller. Could be corrosion in the trailer plug, or a bent pin.
I hated my Voyager. Seemed like it was on or off.
5. drwdominance
drwdominance Rockstar
so the way it is right now is that with no trailer hooked up the green light is on but when i touch the brake pedal the light goes out. it almost seems completely backwards.
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0.384021 | <urn:uuid:397868ba-bb46-43ee-ac1c-1081b1579f43> | en | 0.966154 |
Untrue blue
Victoria Carr, 18, who painted her boyfriend's house blue when she learnt he was sleeping with her sister, was ordered to pay him pounds 1,000 compensation for causing pounds 3,149 criminal damage to his home in Honiton, Devon. | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/untrue-blue-1396007.html | dclm-gs1-088820000 |
0.034915 | <urn:uuid:5aff53b9-7525-4ad8-a30a-193b8753f3d1> | en | 0.93733 | With the market returning to its zig and zag, up and down pattern as of late, and with fears of European austerity rearing its ugly head, many investors have been looking for safer and steadier places to park their cash. However, with interest rates near zero, CDs, money markets and short term investments such as the PIMCO Short Maturity Strategy ETF (NASDAQ:MINT) are paying next to nothing. Retiring baby-boomers are facing a quandary of where to get significant income while still maintaining some safety.
IN PICTURES: 10 Tips For Choosing An Online Broker
Getting Better, But Not Perfect
The financial crisis had its way with dividend payments. Nearly $44 billion in distribution payments vanished from investors' pockets in the quarter of 2009 as companies sought any which way to preserve themselves for the time being. However, 2010 is shaping up to be a much better time for those seeking dividends. Payouts increased nearly $6.4 billion in the first quarter of the year and only 48 of the nearly 7,000 companies tracked by S&P reduced their payouts. But even this good news can be short lived. Dividend stalwart, BP (NYSE:BP) was a model of cash flow and distributions to shareholders, but one environmental crisis later and investors are left scrambling to fulfill their lost income.
To that end, a broad-based dividend ETF, such as iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSE:DVY), might be a good solution, but investors do not need to stop there. The ETF boom has opened up many opportunities in other asset classes that pay strong dividends.
Adding Additional Yield
Convertible bonds are often a misunderstood security type. Convertible bonds can be exchanged for a specific number of shares of the issuer's common stock. Their chameleon-like nature confuses many investors and they are simply ignored in most portfolios. However, these stock-bond instruments might just be what an income investor needs in a side-ways market. The SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond (NYSE:CWB) has gained about 30% since it started trading a year ago. For investors looking for current income plus maintaining potential upside if equity markets keep rising, the ETF is a good bet.
Similarly crossing the stock-bond tight rope, preferred stock shareholders, in exchange for zero voting rights, get a steady stream of dividend payments and preference in bankruptcy situations. The PowerShares Preferred Portfolio ETF (NYSE:PGX) follows a basket of 67 different issuers and offers a 7.5% dividend yield. The fund is heavy in financial firms and may be a better way to participate in bank stocks, due to the higher ranking preference of its security type, rather than Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLF).
Investors are shunning developed market sovereign debt as the fears about the fate of the euro are still strong. However, there are many strong international firms located within the eurozone's borders that still need to raise money. The new PowerShares International Corporate Bond Portfolio ETF tracks investment grade corporate bonds from non-U.S. issuers. The fund has a wide swath of currency exposure with investments in Australian dollars, pounds, Swiss francs, Norwegian krona and yen. The fund's implied distribution yield is 3.35%.
Finally, investors looking to move up the risk ladder and invest in "real assets", both energy master limited partnerships (MLP) and real estate investment trusts (REITS) offer outsized dividend yields. The JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE:AMJ), which yields around 6%, and the iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors (NYSE:ICF), which pays 3.3%, are great ways to play the sectors.
Bottom Line
With the return of volatility, dividend investing is becoming popular once again. However, investors may need to think outside the box in order to get the yield needed to live off their portfolio income. The ETF boom has opened some interesting areas for regular retail investors to gain that income. The previous examples are just some of the ways to participate in these "alternative" asset classes with one ticker. (To take full advantage of these vehicles, you need to know how they can fulfill certain strategies. To learn more about ETFs, see How To Use ETFs In Your Portfolio.)
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0.060784 | <urn:uuid:7a9dcc2b-fe69-4770-ab19-c5b931c205cc> | en | 0.958939 | This earnings cycle has been relatively better than feared for most tech stocks so far, but VMware Inc. (NYSE:VMW) is going to go down as a glaring exception. While fourth quarter results were generally solid relative to expectations, the Street absolutely hated what management had to say about lower overall growth in 2013 and sales growth more heavily weighted to the second half. The stock's nearly 20% drop as of this writing seems overdone, but VMware is going to have to rebuild its credibility before valuation matters again.
SEE: A Primer On Investing In The Tech Industry
Fourth Quarter Results Were Mostly OK
VMware reported 22% revenue growth over last year and 14% over the prior quarter, good for a small beat relative to Wall Street estimates. License revenue was basically on track with a 16% growth, while maintenance/service revenue rose 27%. Although that all looks good, as did the 15% bookings growth, the 7% growth in license billings was not only disappointing, but also the second straight sub-10% quarter.
Margins and profits came in pretty solid. Gross margin (non-GAAP) rose 60 basis points (BPS) from last year, and beat the average estimate by a full point, while the GAAP number was up about a full point. Operating income (again, non-GAAP) grew 25% from last year and 16% from the prior quarter, and VMware delivered nearly a full point of year-on-year operating margin improvement (and 80 BPS better than expected). On a GAAP basis, the year-on-year growth was 18%.
There is one part of the financials that I don't like. The company reported a big (and unusual) increase in accounts receivable. This can be a sign that the company garnered a significant portion of its business late in the quarter and/or had to really press for that business - not exactly a solid marker of good underlying conditions.
Guidance Leads to a Plunge
Investors and analysts weren't going to be ecstatic about the single-digit license billings growth, nor the big jump in accounts receivable, but that's not why the stock is getting hammered. Management's updated guidance calls for less growth in 2013 - 15% versus a prior expectation of 18% - and more of that growth to come in the back half of the year. The company's guidance also pointed to sub-10% license growth against an expectation of around 14% growth.
These aren't huge revisions, but VMware is supposed to be a growth company and growth companies don't do this. It's true the company has difficult comps in the first quarter and the new pivotal joint venture with parent company EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) could be siphoning off revenue growth, but it's not a pretty situation - particularly with fears already running rampant that the company has saturated its core market and/or that it's being undermined in its follow-up products.
SEE: Technology Sector Funds
Where's the Growth Going to Come from?
The biggest fear is that with about 70% of the addressable server market already virtualized, there's not much further for VMware to go with its core products. What's worse, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) has been gaining real traction with its free Hyper-V alternative, and other rivals like Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) and Citrix Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CTXS) likewise seems to be siphoning off business.
It can be argued whether or not VMware was going to get much of the business that the free offerings of Microsoft and the others are capturing - it could well be the case that these are smaller businesses that weren't going to easily afford VMware software anyway. The potentially bigger risk is to vCloud and other management tools and applications that VMware hopes to sell. Simply virtualizing a server is only part of a rather involved process and VMware has been looking to products like vCloud (and its three times higher ASP) as a means of growing the business. Unfortunately, clients aren't thrilled with the idea of being fully locked in to VMware, and rival offerings like OpenStack are gaining traction.
SEE: Clean Or Green Technology Investing
Software-Defined Network - Next Big Thing, or Unicorn Ranch?
There's nothing so overly wrong with VMware that a few strong quarters won't fix. Even so, it would help the stock if the opportunity around software-defined networking (SDN) became more evident. At this point, the idea is that SDN can essentially move the emphasis in networking from hardware to software, and companies like VMware and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) have invested considerable sums. While the potential of SDN is measured in the billions of dollars, it's at least a little like a unicorn right now - everybody agrees as to what it is and what it can do, but that doesn't mean it's actually real.
The Bottom Line
For brave investors put off by VMware's sometimes steep valuation, now could be an opportunity to buy shares. I do believe that the business is facing some near-term challenges, but I also have confidence that the new product/license opportunities are real, that the addressable markets are still very large and that the guidance revision is motivated at least in part by a new management team that wants to clear the decks and start on good beat-and-raise footing. At a minimum, we'll know in a couple of quarters.
If VMware can still grow its free cash flow at a long-term rate of 10%, these shares are too cheap and value-oriented investors should dig deeper. Clearly there are risks here today, but growing tech stocks almost never get cheap without some major worry fueling the process.
At the time of writing, Stephen D. Simpson owned shares of EMC since 2012.
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0.054585 | <urn:uuid:d106dd1c-97ce-4e37-aa4f-883b4a3bebbb> | en | 0.905275 | baby name finder
Origin: German
Gender: boy
Meaning: precious
Description: Alan \a-lan\ as a boy's name is pronounced AL-an. It is of Old German origin, and the meaning of Alan is "precious". From Adal. Also possibly derived from the Gaelic "ailin" meaning "little rock". Introduced into England by Breton followers of William the Conqueror, such as Alan, Earl of Brittany, who was rewarded for his services with vast estates in the newly conquered kingdom. Popular in the Middle Ages, with a boom around the 1950s influenced by the popularity of actor Alan Ladd. In Russia, the name is linked to the ancient warrior tribe Alans that is the origin of the Ossetians. Alun is a Welsh form; Alain (al-LAYN) is French; Alano is Spanish. South African author Alan Paton; lyricist Alan Jay Lerner; playwright Alan Bennett; astronaut Alan Shepard; actors Alan Alda, Alan Cumming; poet Allen Ginsberg; basketball player Allen Iverson.
Alan has 25 variant forms: Ailean, Ailin, Al, Alain, Alair, Aland, Alann, Alano, Alanson, Alen, Alin, Allain, Allan, Allayne, Allen, Alley, Alleyn, Alleyne, Allie, Allin, Allon, Allyn, Alon, Alun and Alyn.
For more information, see also the related name Elwyn.
Baby names that sound like Alan are Ilan and Elan.
View a list of the 10 names that reference Alan.
Soul Urge: Alan is a very popular first name for men (#91 out of 1220) and also a very popular surname or last name for both men and women (#23264 out of 88799). (1990 U.S. Census)
Variations Ailin, Alleyne, Ailean, Allayne, Allain, Allen, Allie, Alin, Allyn, Alen, Alair, Alon, Alleyn, Allan, Alley, Alano, Alann, Allon, Alain, Al, Aland, Alun, Alanson, Allin, Alyn
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0.028992 | <urn:uuid:6fb919a7-8697-4a92-a96c-b251f2c0d76d> | en | 0.786847 | Get Adobe Flash player
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0.050338 | <urn:uuid:10c19fbd-f76c-4580-a49b-9e4319807559> | en | 0.943325 | InjunE, I will tell you where you belong--you belong in the hall of fame for men who, despite overwhelming odds, walked on through an inhumane tragedy and rose to be a most loving husband and father, an outstanding role model for his sons, and one very gifted poet.
I'm pretty sure god agrees with me.
| http://www.malesurvivor.org/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=81157&an= | dclm-gs1-089080000 |
0.052613 | <urn:uuid:dface69f-8051-4fe8-a15b-b2ae8ac0b8a5> | en | 0.910588 | Systemic Lupus Erythematosus:Arthritis Meeting 2004
National Arthritis Conference Report 2004
William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR, Editor of the Arthritis Overview, Gives Perspectives Of Interest On Systemic Lupus Erythematosus From 2004 Annual Scientific Meeting Of The American College Of Rheumatology.
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory condition that is caused by autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. The immune system is a complex organization within the body that is designed normally to fight infections and other foreign invaders. Patients with lupus have unusual antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues. Lupus can cause disease of the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints, and nervous system. Generally, when only the skin is involved, the condition is called discoid lupus. When internal organs are involved, the condition is called systemic lupus erythematosus. | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40223 | dclm-gs1-089110000 |
0.465385 | <urn:uuid:abb40a16-3089-4cbc-9459-c18c51097394> | en | 0.848809 | Photos on MNN
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0.105086 | <urn:uuid:55832bf4-70d9-44cb-ab39-d05e554395ba> | en | 0.968674 | North Central College - Naperville, IL
Withdrawal - Returning Financial Aid
If for some reason you need to withdraw during an academic term, you need to follow the established withdrawal procedure and will be subject to the institution’s withdrawal policy.
For purposes of this policy, a refund refers to the difference between monies originally paid for institutional charges by financial aid and/or cash payments and the amount retained by the institution after withdrawal. A repayment can occur when cash has been disbursed to a student from financial aid funds in excess of institutional charges. If the student receives federal financial assistance, a portion of these funds must be returned to the programs.
The calculation is based on the period of enrollment completed. That percentage is computed by dividing the total number of calendar days in the term into the number of calendar days completed, as of the date of student withdrawal. The percentage of Federal assistance to which the student is entitled (has "earned") is equal to this percentage of the term completed, up to 60%. If the withdrawal occurs after 60% of the term is completed, the student is considered to have "earned" 100% of the federal aid disbursed.
The amount of Federal Aid which must be returned is based on the percentage of "unearned" aid. That percentage is computed by subtracting earned aid from 100%. The College is required to return the lesser of 1) the unearned aid percentage applied to institutional charges and 2) the unearned percentage applied to total Federal aid received. The student is required to return the difference between the amount of unearned aid and the amount returned by the College. If the student (or parent in the case of a PLUS Loan) is required to return a portion or all of their loan proceeds, the calculated amount is to be repaid according to the loan terms. Students must return only half the amount of grant funds calculated.
A more in-depth explanation of this policy is available in the Office of Financial Aid. | http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/financial-aid/withdrawal | dclm-gs1-089300000 |
0.033003 | <urn:uuid:40550554-3230-4c9f-869d-956f3a9cbe24> | en | 0.924504 | Find better matches with our advanced
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39 Palm Beach Gardens, FL Man
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I’m looking for
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• Ages 24–40
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My details
Last online
Oct 3
6' 3" (1.91m)
Body Type
Judaism but it’s not important
Post grad
Doesn’t have kids
My self-summary
Write a little about yourself. Just a paragraph will do.
Thanks for stopping in to check out my profile!
I like:
Bikes, bicycle touring, and cyclists. Reading books, Music, Gardening, Cooking, Progressive politics, and Archery. (but not together)
I am energetic, inquisitive, and caffeinated...
I'm bald. It doesn't bother me at all, but apparently some ladies won't date a bald guy. I'm wearing a hat or helmet in all my pics so I don't burn my head.
My life has taken me through a lot of interesting experiences and led me to a few very exotic places. I've worked as a research assistant, cook, welder, machinist, mechanic, EMT (we never say ambulance driver), horticulturist, and bicycle mechanic. The most interesting job I've held took me from Cairo, Egypt to Capetown, South Africa with a bicycle tour. I've got a handful of college degrees, and now I'm back in school so that I can get a profession: Engineer. I'm fascinated with alternative energy, and love learning!
Why am I on this site? Most of us will probably agree that Ok Cupid is the worst dating site, except for all the other dating sites out there. I'm hoping that, after all the fun and frustrations of online dating, I meet someone who makes it all worthwhile.
What I’m doing with my life
Working, planning my next Epic Bicycle World Adventure, studying Electrical Power Systems and alternative energy, and getting into school for engineering.
I’m really good at
Learning, cooking, cleaning, making things grow, organizing and decluttering, fixing bicycles, fIxing my car, fixing houses, learning to fix anything, driving an ambulance, going to college.
The first things people usually notice about me
I’m an empty essay… fill me out!
Could be my height. Or maybe the exuberant talking.
Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and food
Help your potential matches find common interests.
I tend to burn through books. Once I've started a good read I feel compelled to finish it in a single marathon session.
I don't watch too many shows, there's not a lot of time for that, but I enjoyed seeing the Walking Dead.
- - - - -
Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Simon and Garkunkle, Earl Scruggs, Bach, Misfits, Ramones, Beatles, Jonathan Coulton...
The six things I could never do without
1. Information
2. Bicycles
3. Tools
4. A gardening spot
5. School
6. Books
I spend a lot of time thinking about
Going on another bicycle tour, fixing things, the nature of life, gas turbines, wind turbines, electricity, do people actually read the messages I send, can I make a solar stove for less than $100, what would it be like to have an airstream or a tumbleweed home...where could I fit all of my tools, moving to the west coast, staying in Florida, current leads voltage in a capacitor, but lags in an inductor...why?
On a typical Friday night I am
Studying, or cooking.
You should message me if
Offer a few tips to help matches win you over.
You're looking to meet an interesting guy who likes a lot more then just bikes.
You think that taking time to see the world by bicycle is a great idea.
I sent you a message and you are thinking about sending a reply. Don't be shy! | http://www.okcupid.com/profile/gabelikesbikes?cf=profile_similar | dclm-gs1-089310000 |
0.131124 | <urn:uuid:7bf9cb8f-852c-4d31-8b99-fd419f92e181> | en | 0.992439 | But Herod's concern at present, now he had gotten his enemies under his power, was to restrain the zeal of his foreign auxiliaries; for the multitude of the strange people were very eager to see the temple, and what was sacred in the holy house itself; but the king endeavored to restrain them, partly by his exhortations, partly by his threatenings, nay, partly by force, as thinking the victory worse than a defeat to him, if any thing that ought not to be seen were seen by them. He also forbade, at the same time, the spoiling of the city, asking Sosius in the most earnest manner, whether the Romans, by thus emptying the city of money and men, had a mind to leave him king of a desert, - and told him that he judged the dominion of the habitable earth too small a compensation for the slaughter of so many citizens. And when Sosius said that it was but just to allow the soldiers this plunder as a reward for what they suffered during the siege, Herod made answer, that he would give every one of the soldiers a reward out of his own money. So he purchased the deliverance of his country, and performed his promises to them, and made presents after a magnificent manner to each soldier, and proportionably to their commanders, and with a most royal bounty to Sosius himself, whereby nobody went away but in a wealthy condition. Hereupon Sosius dedicated a crown of gold to God, and then went away from Jerusalem, leading Antigonus away in bonds to Antony; then did the axe bring him to his end, This death of Antigonus is confirmed by Plutarch and. Straho; the latter of whom is cited for it by Josephus himself, Antiq. B. XV. ch. 1. sect. 2, as Dean Aldrich here observes. who still had a fond desire of life, and some frigid hopes of it to the last, but by his cowardly behavior well deserved to die by it. | http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/xmlchunk?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D354 | dclm-gs1-089390000 |
0.059988 | <urn:uuid:4740acf6-8aac-45e3-bbbd-0364e884045d> | en | 0.9529 | Another view: ATF must be given a fighting chance
AS President Barack Obama looks to reduce gun violence after the Connecticut massacre through reforms like reinstating the assault weapons ban, he and supporters of sane gun laws in Congress need to be equally serious about strengthening the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the beleaguered agency charged with enforcing federal firearm regulations.
Ending the bureau's leadership vacuum is the first challenge. The bureau, which has been mired in a scandal over Operation Fast and Furious, the botched scheme to investigate gun trafficking across the Mexican border, has been without a permanent full-time director for six years - ever since the National Rifle Association convinced Congress that the position should require Senate confirmation. Obama's 2010 nomination of Andrew Traver, now head of the bureau's Denver division, has stalled for no good reason, except for NRA opposition and White House reluctance to wage a battle to fill the post.
It is a fight worth having. The current acting director, B. Todd Jones, who also serves as the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, is the fifth acting director since 2006. Obama has called on the Senate to make confirming a permanent director "a priority." But it will take a lot more than a polite request to break the logjam.
One immediate task for Vice President Joe Biden, who is heading the new White House group on gun violence that will report recommendations in January, is to focus on dismantling the senseless obstacles impeding the bureau's day-to-day functioning.
The bureau - which should have a lead role in protecting the nation from gun crimes - has been severely hindered by an array of NRA-backed legislative restrictions. For example, a 1986 law prohibits ATF agents from making more than one unannounced inspection a year on a gun dealer, a rule that serves no purpose other than protecting unscrupulous dealers. (As it is, a lack of agents means that a gun shop can go years between inspections.)
The same law makes it extremely difficult to pull the licenses of rogue gun dealers. The government must show not just that the conduct was intentional but that the violator knew it was illegal.
Language included in every ATF appropriations bill since 1979 has prohibited the bureau from putting gun sales records into a central computer database. That means workers at the bureau's tracing center often must call gun makers and sellers and go through paper files to identify the buyer of a gun linked to a crime.
Finally, amendments attached to federal spending bills require the federal government to destroy the background check records of gun buyers within 24 hours of approval. That makes it very hard to identify dealers who falsify sales records.
On "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Obama reiterated his commitment to lay out a package of gun reforms quickly and put his "full weight behind it." In addition to a tough assault weapons ban, he should be pushing to bar sales of high-capacity ammunition clips and to close the loophole that allows felons and other buyers to evade background checks at gun shows. Empowering the ATF is another step that clearly needs to be part of his agenda.
- The New York Times | http://www.presstelegram.com/20130101/another-view-atf-must-be-given-a-fighting-chance | dclm-gs1-089460000 |
0.02302 | <urn:uuid:945f1bdc-5496-4512-93fc-0b6f957e17c7> | en | 0.943664 |
Home PS4 News - Latest PlayStation 4 and PS3 News
February 2, 2012 // 9:56 pm - Team17 Community Manager Mark Baldwin has announced today that Worms Ultimate Mayhem will be obliterating PSN on February 14, 2012.
To quote: We are delighted to be able to announce the U.S. release date of Worms Ultimate Mayhem is Tuesday February 14, 2012. We'd also like to introduce the game to you all and answer any questions you may have.
Can you introduce the game to us please?
Sure, Worms Ultimate Mayhem is a "best of" compilation of content from both Worms 3D and Worms 4: Mayhem, so it's got 38 weapons, plenty of customization options (including a selection of new ones) making for 115 individual customization elements in total.
In terms of visual improvements, we've brought the game up to date with a raft of enhancements. New water effects, up-scaled textures and fonts, higher polygon counts, specular materials, real-time lighting and dynamic shadows all get the game looking a little more modern while still retaining its attractive cartoon style visuals.
Oh, and I shouldn't forget the audio improvements too... we've a whole bunch of new music in the game, and some of the cut-scenes have been re-edited, voice-acted and lip-synched, which makes a massive difference!
What are the main gameplay features and mechanics in 'Worms Ultimate Mayhem'?
Despite being 3D, the game is pretty much built around the same principles as all the "Worms" games. There's the unique 3D deformable landscape and the satisfaction of destroying EVERYTHING. It's pretty satisfying blowing things up, and that mindless destruction has always been a staple of the brand.
There's the humor and genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, the crazy weapons (such as the Concrete Donkey, an Inflatable Scouser and a Bovine Blitz cow-themed airstrike!), the worms mugging to camera or the silly story sequences. Humor has always been an important ingredient, and it actually translates very well into 3D.
There's customizing things: from what their worms wear and what they say to tailoring individual game settings. There's also the ability to create your very own secret weapon, deciding how it's launched, what effect it has and what it looks like. I think that aspect has always extended the life of the game as it allows players to make it their own.
And lastly, there's the insane amount of content. We always try and over-deliver with the games we make, and Worms Ultimate Mayhem is no different: 60 single player missions, 8 challenges, 10 deathmatch challenges, 6 FMVs, 5 online and offline multiplayer modes, 1,000,000+ game style choices via Wormpot, 23 speech-banks, 115 customization items, 38 weapons and 5 Easter eggs. With plenty of PSN Trophies, including a Platinum, that's a lot of game to enjoy!
Worms Ultimate Mayhem will be priced at $14.99, with an additional launch discount for PlayStation Plus subscribers; we look forward to answering any questions you may have in the comments.
Worms Ultimate Mayhem Obliterates PSN on February 14, 2012
Worms Ultimate Mayhem Obliterates PSN on February 14, 2012
Worms Ultimate Mayhem Obliterates PSN on February 14, 2012
| http://www.ps4news.com/playstation-3-psn-news/worms-ultimate-mayhem-obliterates-psn-on-february-14-2012/ | dclm-gs1-089480000 |
0.067977 | <urn:uuid:1de885b5-faaf-4fb0-abf2-fa70454c72fc> | en | 0.919974 | Fit Body, Fit Mind? Your Workout Makes You Smarter
How can you stay sharp into old age? It is not just a matter of winning the genetic lottery. What you do can make a difference
or subscribe to access the full article.
Noah Clayton Getty Images
As everybody knows, if you do not work out, your muscles get flaccid. What most people don’t realize, however, is that your brain also stays in better shape when you exercise. And not just challenging your noggin by, for example, learning a new language, doing difficult crosswords or taking on other intellectually stimulating tasks. As researchers are finding, physical exercise is critical to vigorous mental health, too.
Surprised? Although the idea of exercising cognitive machinery by performing mentally demanding activities—popularly termed the “use it or lose it” hypothesis—is better known, a review of dozens of studies shows that maintaining a mental edge requires more than that. Other things you do—including participating in activities that make you think, getting regular exercise, staying socially engaged and even having a positive attitude—have a meaningful influence on how effective your cognitive functioning will be in old age.
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0.05731 | <urn:uuid:e207db28-9336-4340-89a7-4a368df8dc35> | en | 0.935189 | Subscribe | Contact | Advertise | RSS Feed Other Publications
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 00:00
Ending the curse of Babel may be our only, best chance
Written by
By Arthur Hancock
— Ecclesiastes 9:4
Do you agree with the following sentence? The survival of the human race is more important than anything else on Earth.
What does this statement mean? It means that the continuation of the human species is more important than freedom, liberty, custom, heritage, country, religion, private property, privacy, you name it. There is absolutely nothing more vital than the survival of human kind.
Four billion years of earthly evolution has produced a creature capable of going from horse and buggy to space shuttle in less than 100 years. For all its faults, homo sapiens represent the crowning achievement of our little blue planet.
Yet our days as a species may well be numbered. The twin threats of thermonuclear war and environmental collapse pose an unprecedented threat to our survival. We may be the very first species to annihilate itself; to self-extinct. This doesn’t say much for the most advanced life form on Earth does it?
The twin threats are rooted in ignorance — the source of all fear — and this fear is expressed as violence and greed. Thermonuclear war is the inevitable folly assured by continued reliance on fighting as the way to solve problems. From stone clubs to intercontinental ballistic missiles, the same primitive flight/fight animal survival psychology has dictated human behavior across the millennia. The citizens of the nuclear club nations (that’s us, Americans) are basically saying: “In order to protect my country I am willing to risk terminating the entire human race by using nuclear weapons.” This is madness. For 50 years now we have been standing at the brink of doomsday. And I’m not just talking about a deliberate nuclear attack; the least likely scenario. Remember Murphy’s Law: what can go wrong will. Accidents happen. Is it worth the risk? Crazy people say yes. Sane people say no.
As for greed, every tribe on earth insists on its “right” to do just as it pleases within its own borders. Stalin slaughtered untold millions to consolidate power. Pol Pot annihilated multitudes of his fellow Cambodians; Kim Jong Il dines on 15-course meals while his people starve; Brazil does nothing while a New Jersey-sized area of its precious rain forest is logged or burned every year, etc.
The curse of Babel continues today. We remain hopelessly divided by language, culture, religion, and border. Every tribe on this planet, from pygmies in the African jungle to the People’s Republic of China claims the “right” of national “sovereignty.” Every clan wants to be independent from every other; autonomous; free agents — and be able to behave just as they please.
Imagine each “sovereign nation” as a single survivor assigned to one seat in a small rubber lifeboat. Adrift on the unforgiving sea each survivor has the right to do as he pleases within his defined seating area. If a man decides to start stabbing at the rubber raft with a sharp-pointed object, then that is his “right” as long as he does so within his legally established space. Tolerating this dangerous behavior is as insane as the behavior itself.
“Give me liberty or give me death!” Those oft-venerated words of Patrick Henry are utterly absurd when applied to the entire human race. If we are all dead then “democracy” and “freedom” and “liberty” and “fair play” and “God” don’t mean a damned thing. Who cares what you died for if there’s no one left alive to care on your barren radioactive planet?
It’s really very simple. As long as humans are alive, there is hope of eventual global sanity. When every human is dead there is no hope at all.
Rather than risk killing off humankind to preserve our particular country or cause, we must have faith that eventually the truth will out. That’s because the truth is and always will be the truth ... and one day it will manifest. A lie will always be a lie. And the only creatures capable of realizing the truth on this planet are homo sapiens. This is why humankind must survive at all costs — even if that means individual liberty must be sacrificed for a few hundred years.
The human race needs to be managed. The human race needs to be managed firmly.
Here’s what my admittedly distasteful theory proposes:
A World Government established with the ultimate aim of nurturing a planetary population who share a common language, a common race, a common purpose, and a common sense of ethical responsibility. In order to achieve this goal the steady eradication of all countries, borders, cultures, traditions, languages, religions, will be necessary. This Herculean task will take generations to fully accomplish.
The immediate aim of the World Government, initially a coalition of the super powers, will be eradicating the twin threats to human survival: thermonuclear war and environmental collapse. Abolition of all nuclear weapons and preservation of natural resources will be a top priority. Resistance will be crushed. Petty tyrants like Kim Jong Il will be speedily neutralized and his disaster of a country occupied and liberated. The deforestation of the rain forests and all life-threatening pollution will cease.
The formation of this government will be motivated by the unequivocal realization that this course alone will prevent the self-annihilation of humankind.
I don’t know if this will happen or how this will happen or how many hundreds of years it will take. I only know that I have become convinced that we no longer have time for all the fragmented, ignorant, primitive, and insane peoples of the world to “grow up” and lose their entrenched tribal identities. Not to mention their individual egos.
The trick of course will be keeping the inevitable corruption out of the World Government. Further revolutions and refinements will doubtless be necessary. But the unprecedented danger to human survival that we face today will have been eradicated.
What if the majority of citizens in the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, and Japan simply stopped cooperating with the comparative handful of “leaders” who control them? I think it’s more likely that the global revolution required will come from the masses at the bottom. Those at the “top” are far too addicted to their power and privilege to change. The Internet seems a good starting point to start mobilizing. And pain is a good teacher.
Imagine someone who has had countless drunk driving citations, caused untold death and destruction behind the wheel, and yet who continues to be allowed to operate motor vehicles of ever-increasing size and complexity — culminating in a monster rig carrying a doomsday cargo which, if spilled, could destroy all human life. This person insists that it is his “sovereign right” to continue to have a license. Should he keep his permit? Or should it be taken away whether he likes it or not?
The human race needs to have its license revoked or at least heavily restricted. The stakes have just become too great to allow this endless folly to continue. Humankind must forever be deprived of certain “rights”: the right to blow up the world; the right to befoul the world for profit; the right to exploit and enslave the weak and the powerless; the right to risk terminating the lives of everyone on the planet for any “reason” whatsoever.
What every human really needs is the right to fresh water, the right to food, the right to education, the right to health care, the right to respect, the right to contribute the best they have within them toward the betterment of all humankind.
I remember reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World when I was 16 and being horrified at the total control the World Government held over the human race. Now, even though I probably would be among the first to die, I see this kind of system as possibly our only hope for survival. The doomsday clock is ticking towards midnight and we literally do not have the luxury of tolerating the curse of Babel any longer.
(Arthur Hancock livesin Highlands and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)
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0.084819 | <urn:uuid:af991cd9-d2ba-41ca-a367-51c74f38b232> | en | 0.860125 | TOL-3021 Phase 2a clinical trial press release
Tolerion Inc.
321 Dedalera Dr.
Portola Valley, CA 94028
Tolerion Inc. is a newly formed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of developing novel and targeted treatment candidates for autoimmune diseases. Leveraging its proprietary reverse vaccine platform, Tolerion’s product candidates are designed to restore a patient’s immune system “tolerance” to self-antigens by selectively eliminating specific, harmful immune responses while leaving the rest of the immune system intact. Through a targeted and selective approach, Tolerion’s product candidates have the potential to deliver superior efficacy, safety and tolerability relative to current therapies.
Tolerion’s lead product, TOL-3021, is a novel reverse vaccine that induces tolerance to the type 1 diabetes specific autoantigen proinsulin and thereby reduces disease activity. Results from a phase 2a study demonstrate that TOL-3021
is safe and preserves beta-cell function while reducing
disease-specific destructive T-cell activity in patients
with type 1 diabetes. These findings were
recently published in the journal Science
Translational Medicine | http://www.tolerioninc.com/ | dclm-gs1-089840000 |
0.273006 | <urn:uuid:f34fc649-d1ef-4393-9bcb-5084ff41c1eb> | en | 0.787765 | Skip to definition.
Noun: Sir Francis Bacon
1. English statesman and philosopher; precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626)
- Bacon, Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, 1st Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans
Type of: national leader, philosopher, solon, statesman
Encyclopedia: Sir Francis Bacon | http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SIRFRANCISBACON | dclm-gs1-090060000 |
0.133184 | <urn:uuid:a6b361a1-cd75-47b3-b740-98d1028881ce> | en | 0.956815 | 5511 The Mint vs. The Fed
August 27, 2009
The Mint vs. The Fed
By James Wilson
Quote of the Day: The government called three accountants to testify. The defense asked each one, "What is the proper way to calculate income for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code if you are paid in a gold coin that has a $50 face value on it?" All three of them responded, "I do not know; I'll have to research that." -- Mike Zigler, reporting on the 2007 case against Robert Kahre that ended in a hung jury
Subject: How can legal tender be illegal?
First, some background . . .
* The face value of the U.S. Mint's gold and silver coins are legal tender, meaning they must be accepted in payment of debt
* But a Gold Eagle coin that has "$50" printed on it is legal tender only up to $50, while its gold content is worth about $1,000 in Federal Reserve notes
After extensively researching the issue, Kahre . . .
* paid them in gold and silver coins, whose face value - that is, legal tender value - was so low that the workers legally didn't have to report it as income to the IRS
Even though the coins Kahre used were legal tender, the Justice Department alleged that Kahre's system was a fraudulent, tax-evading scam.
We agree with Jacob Hornberger who asserts that the federal government's prosecution of Kahre is self-contradictory . . .
* people would demand payment in the Mint's gold and silver coins and have far fewer reportable "dollars" in income, meaning fewer people would pay income taxes
* the market would soon prefer the coins produced by the Treasury Department's Mint that are regulated by law - not the inflated dollars created by order of the independent Federal Reserve Board
DownsizeDC.org, however, believes Kahre was on to something. That's why we endorse the "Honest Money Act," which would repeal the legal tender law that gives the Federal Reserve a monopoly over the money supply. This bill, along with the "Tax-Free Gold Act" and the "Free Competition in Currency Act," is a plank in our End the Inflation Tax Campaign.
Repealing the legal tender law would foster the creation of HONEST free market money, and protect people from the Federal Reserve's endless onslaught of legalized counterfeiting, which constantly reduces the value of your money.
Use your personal comments to mention the hypocrisy involved in the Kahre case. If the feds are going to make it a crime to FOLLOW the legal tender law, then that's just one more argument for repealing it. You can send your message here.
Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.
James Wilson
Assistant to the President
What Can We Do For You?
We'll give you an army.
We'll give you influence.
We'll make your voice heard.
We'll give you winning strategies.
We'll give you powerful tools.
Subscribe to the Consent Chronicle
Enter your email address twice: | https://downsizedc.org/blog/the-mint-vs-the-fed | dclm-gs1-090140000 |
0.028364 | <urn:uuid:b6813871-e348-44a5-a126-ccb9954e6fe8> | en | 0.79793 | CMDIChildWnd Class
Collapse the table of content
Expand the table of content
CMDIChildWnd Class
Provides the functionality of a Windows multiple document interface (MDI) child window, along with members for managing the window.
class CMDIChildWnd : public CFrameWnd
An MDI child window looks much like a typical frame window, except that the MDI child window appears inside an MDI frame window rather than on the desktop. An MDI child window does not have a menu bar of its own, but instead shares the menu of the MDI frame window. The framework automatically changes the MDI frame menu to represent the currently active MDI child window.
To create a useful MDI child window for your application, derive a class from CMDIChildWnd. Add member variables to the derived class to store data specific to your application. Implement message-handler member functions and a message map in the derived class to specify what happens when messages are directed to the window.
There are three ways to construct an MDI child window:
• Directly construct it using Create.
• Directly construct it using LoadFrame.
• Indirectly construct it through a document template.
Before you call Create or LoadFrame, you must construct the frame-window object on the heap using the C++ new operator. Before calling Create you can also register a window class with the AfxRegisterWndClass global function to set the icon and class styles for the frame.
Use the Create member function to pass the frame's creation parameters as immediate arguments.
LoadFrame requires fewer arguments than Create, and instead retrieves most of its default values from resources, including the frame's caption, icon, accelerator table, and menu. To be accessible by LoadFrame, all these resources must have the same resource ID (for example, IDR_MAINFRAME).
When a CMDIChildWnd object contains views and documents, they are created indirectly by the framework instead of directly by the programmer. The CDocTemplate object orchestrates the creation of the frame, the creation of the containing views, and the connection of the views to the appropriate document. The parameters of the CDocTemplate constructor specify the CRuntimeClass of the three classes involved (document, frame, and view). A CRuntimeClass object is used by the framework to dynamically create new frames when specified by the user (for example, by using the File New command or the MDI Window New command).
A frame-window class derived from CMDIChildWnd must be declared with DECLARE_DYNCREATE in order for the above RUNTIME_CLASS mechanism to work correctly.
The CMDIChildWnd class inherits much of its default implementation from CFrameWnd. For a detailed list of these features, please refer to the CFrameWnd class description. The CMDIChildWnd class has the following additional features:
• In conjunction with the CMultiDocTemplate class, multiple CMDIChildWnd objects from the same document template share the same menu, saving Windows system resources.
• The currently active MDI child window menu entirely replaces the MDI frame window's menu, and the caption of the currently active MDI child window is added to the MDI frame window's caption. For further examples of MDI child window functions that are implemented in conjunction with an MDI frame window, see the CMDIFrameWnd class description.
Do not use the C++ delete operator to destroy a frame window. Use CWnd::DestroyWindow instead. The CFrameWnd implementation of PostNcDestroy will delete the C++ object when the window is destroyed. When the user closes the frame window, the default OnClose handler will call DestroyWindow.
For more information on CMDIChildWnd, see Frame Windows.
Header: afxwin.h
This class is not supported in Smart Device projects.
© 2015 Microsoft | https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/hw5095wc(v=vs.80).aspx | dclm-gs1-090280000 |
0.031226 | <urn:uuid:8e6d6c05-92cb-419f-b922-3b43558ba086> | en | 0.961779 | Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Turn it up, don't tone it down
"I hate to bother you about this, and actually I almost feel silly but in all my reading about goth in articles and blogs online I've forgotten how to be over the top when it comes to goth..... I mean it seems there are always blog posts about how a goth should tone down their look, but never how to make their look more extravagant... and of course in our everyday world toning down one's wardrobe makes a bit of sense, but I'm tired of toning it down...." - Miss Grave
I almost envy you for having forgotten how to turn your Gothy dial up to thirteen - I have times when I feel I never really started (says she, writing in tracksuit bottoms, band tee, no eyebrows and scraggy ponytail - I was just at a fitness class)! It's true that for some people it can be easy to slip into a rut, and getting out of it again requires inspiration, motivation, creativity and time.
Nobody does all-spooky all-the-time like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Inspiration and motivation
Quite often when I slip into a jeans rut, I am startled out of it by either seeing a rather stunning spooky type dressed to the nines or by - don't laugh - reading a book, usually some awfully cheesy YA novel, about a very Gothed-up character. I don't know what does it for you. Maybe it's looking at pictures on Tumblr or watching WGT vids on YouTube, but whatever it was about Goth fashion that made you go 'wow!' in the first place, recreate it.
You can also collect ideas and inspiration from looking in such places. (And don't feel you need to be limited to Goth either - you can get inspiration for your style anywhere and everywhere. As an example, my tracked tags on Tumblr include deathrock, mori kei, decora, gyaru, lolita, punk lolita, psychobilly and bohemian.) Work out what delights you and then apply it to yourself! Even if you have to play around with your make-up in the evenings or spend mornings laying out different combinations and ensembles on your bed.
Think outside the box! Yes, I'm opening the 'creativity' sub-section with a cliche, but being trite doesn't make it less true. Buy a new eyeshadow colour you've never used before. Find an item you've never worn and make it work.
When we think of OTT looks, we think of big hair, big eyeliner, hats, corsets, extravagant parasols, canes, waistcoats, falls and more. Feel free to draw on these staples - pile on the accessories - but don't forget to add your own twist and keep it uniquely you. Accessorise where you wouldn't normally - add a band around your upper arm, a belly chain, a tiara... add decals to your nails or wear a darker shade of lipstick.
Face it, you know what Goth As Fuck looks like. It may take some time spent experimenting and you may make a few mistakes, but if you're reading this you probably spend enough time online to know what ubergoth means for you - all you have to do is get in front of that mirror and get your freak flag proudly flying.
Jeans and a tee take much less time than a festival worthy G.A.F. ensemble. Light, everyday make-up is different than a painted-doll face a la Lady Amaranth. You might need to choose an outfit the day before and get up half an hour earlier - only you know whether or not it's worth it!
Not being 100% ooky-spooky at all times doesn't make you any less Gawth. If it pleases you to put in the time, then go for it! But don't feel you have to do it every day if you don't want.
Of course, if you're getting your Goth on for an event or other occasion, whether you prefer to plan weeks in advance or like to select an outfit spontaneously right before leaving for the club, it does help to keep your hand in with fancy make-up and corset-wearing (not to mention balancing in silly shoes) to avoid last-minute panics and disasters.
I hand over the floor to you guys to share your own advice! Hope this is of some help. :-)
Nebel Finsternis Violet said...
What can I say? I agree with every word!
This should be an article at a Goth magazine! Seriously!
Cherry Divine said...
Ariadne Blackmoore said...
I always find looking at pictures on Tumblr, weheartit, and blogs (like this one and others) really inspiring. I guess I'm a very visual person. Even looking at certain items of clothing helps. Sometimes I go to online stores, not to shop, but to get ideas. If I were better at drawing I would probably try to sketch out some of my outfit ideas before trying them out, but I'm not so sometimes the outfits I thought would be amazing actually turn out to be horrible mistakes. Still, I try to not let that get me down. There are many days when I lack the effort to put on more than jeans and a T-shirt or I lack the creativity to think up something new so I just go with a trusted outfit. But I think those days actually help to boost my creativity by allowing it to rest for a while.
Laura Morrigan said...
I look for inspiration everywhere. I look for Victorian and steampunk outfits, accessories and hairdos online, when I am watching TV series with nice outfits, I try to do a quick sketch in my notebook. I also try and remember and draw cool outfits I see in the streets. There's also so much amazing handmade stuff on Etsy, so much more unique than you find in a lot of shops. And don't forget you can get patterns on Etsy, and make something yourself.
Hope this helps! :)
minana-banana said...
I love this post so much! :D
Great advice!
Dani DeathBiscuit said...
I love this!
gin said...
When gothing it up, my inspiration comes from the music I'm listening to at the moment. I tend to take ques from the artists for how I should dress that day. Same if I'm going to an event. I dress like might belong to a side show of the band I'm seeing. I pick out one piece that I want to take center stage and go from there to emphasize it, and then pickout a feature with my makeup and work that.
Anonymous said...
I say just go with what feels "right" to you; if you feel good in jeans & a band tee, so what? Don't try to go extravant in a corset & stilettos, with 7 layers of makeup if that's not your natural inclination.
Also, you have to consider your lifestyle. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so running errands in a tutu, heavy boots, and heavy black eyeliner in the Southern California summer heat just doesn't make sense. I worked in a bank a couple of years back, and again, it made more sense to wear a sweater set & slacks with "sensible" shoes (and then there's the fact there was a dress-code).
When it comes to dressing for an event, allow your instincts & personal aesthetic to guide you. Again, if you like to stay more comfy, so what? If yo enjoy elaborate outfits & OTT makeup, chances are you already know what to do. Sometimes it seems some try to "out-goth" one another, and by doing so, they seem so uncomfortable.
If it's out of your budget to dress the way you want, or if you *must* spend a significant amount of time in a uniform or adhering to a dress-code, remember, makeup washes off, and there are so many options for temporary hair-styles.
We *all* make fashion mistakes, but so does everyone, whether alternative or mainstream. If something doesn't work for you, can the idea and try something else the next time. Also, if you wear something that didn't quite turn out the way you envisioned, just act like it was intentional, own it, and walk with confidence. Chances are, there will be others around that have the same issue. Noone will remember your outfit, unless you make a major faux pas, and even then, if you act like it was intentional, chances are it will go over well.
Merrihel Wednesday said...
I'm not the only person to read (really, truly) lame YA vampire novels for the outfit descriptions? LOL! (I also keep a composition book to sketch particularly cool outfits I think up; as well as write down those aforementioned outfit descriptions, so they're handy after I return the books to the library!)
Nic said...
Great post, as always! I open my wardrobe all too often thinking "I really need to goth this shit up a little" - I think my goth side is on the inside.
linnea-maria said...
I would say: It's all in the details. As I dont have the time to put on makeup or fix my hair every morning I use jewellery, arwarmers, shoes and other accessories to define my style.
coraluca soleil said...
L<3ve it! )O(
Justine said...
Wonderful advice! c: I couldn't agree more.
Victoria Noire said...
I think Glenn Hetrick of Syfy's "Face Off" pulls it off fantastically. Certain cities of course cause one to aspire more in dress and fashion ;)
KatSaw said...
Hi there Amy
This has [some] bearing on your post; but actually I just really wanted to share this:
Today I was on my way to get groceries, dressed up to an unusual degree in a top hat (adorned with a pink satin ribbon tied into a bow), frilly tutu-esque-but-not-quite dress and lace-edged 'bloomers', vertical-striped stockings and lace gloves. An older woman was walking in the opposite direction, and she made brief eye-contact and smiled a little. I smiled back, unsure whether I knew her. Just as she was almost past me she said "You're gorgeous;" and the sincerity with which she said it was so unassuming and spontaneous; it made my day.
Katie Blackwell said...
I go to a trade school for part of the day and sadly we aren't allowed to wear nail polish or bracelets or basically anything fun... So unfortunately all I can do is maybe a weird shirt and jeans... but as soon as I graduate I'm going to follow every piece of advice here :)
Daniel_8964 said...
"Not being 100% ooky-spooky at all time doesn't make you any less Gawth" So you basically mean dressing not ooky spooky all the time doesn't make you a Goth?
Gawth: Alternate spelling of Goth, used snarkily online whining about non goth or mallgoths who think they are Gother than thou.
To me you don't have to dress to be Goth as it isn't important as the music and knowledge. I know you don't have to go 'on' 24/7 when you don't feel comfortable with the daily abuse and stuff. Fashion alone isn't exclusive as the knowledge and history of the subculture and music.
Christina said...
I have a few questions for you. Is there any way I can email you (or maybe you can email me)?
x-akurei said...
Well, I really hope things are starting to look a bit brighter for you!
I like this. Likewise, I no longer feel that I identify with the "real Goth scene", although I'm still very interested in it. I've kind of accepted the fact that I love a lot of other music and really, when I put things into perspective, the amount of that "other music" I enjoy is far greater than typical "goth music"... Clothes, too. I like a lot of highstreet fashion and now I've accepted that, on top of the music aspect, I'm so much happier. Really, I guess we're just always developing as people.
I'm looking forward to the person posts from you, if they do appear. I've always quite enjoyed them. It'll be lovely to have you back! :3
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger... | http://ultimategothguide.blogspot.fr/2012/09/turn-it-up-dont-tone-it-down.html | dclm-gs1-090790000 |
0.02234 | <urn:uuid:fc372897-4fc4-4008-8ebd-953a345f75a3> | en | 0.963069 | [Deep Focus]
As soon as it started making the rounds on the festival circuit, I started getting mixed signals on Irma Vep, the new on-a-shoestring feature from the underdistributed French director Olivier Assayas. My pal Mike couldn't stop raving about it, said I should get on my knees and pray for it to find distribution since I missed the New York premiere. Meanwhile, my pal Pablo reported back to me from the Telluride Film Festival with a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm. Pressed for details, he sort of shrugged (I imagine he shrugged, anyway; this was a telephone conversation) and mumbled something about half the audience sleeping through half the movie.
To my eyes, that about sums it up -- Irma Vep is an arguably brilliant film with the noncontradictory potential to bore half its intended audience and enchant the other half. In my case, I was bored and enchanted by turns.
I guess you could call me an Assayas fan, since I've managed to see four of the six features he's directed to date. At an Assayas retrospective in New York last year, I saw Cold Water (1994), a chilly and brilliant evocation of troubled youth, and Paris S'Eveille (1991), a less assured but more charming look at young people, the plans they make, and the way things turn out. I also sat through Une Nouvelle Vie (1993) -- a longish soap opera shot in widescreen and starring Jean-Pierre Léaud (he played Antoine Doinel in all those Truffaut movies). Nothing about this low-key film would have suggested to me the rigor, style, and compassion of the other two.
Irma Vep is a little like that. Just when I felt like drifting off into Neverland, something vivid and delicious would startle me awake. As a movie about moviemaking, Irma Vep is truly a navel-gazer, but navel-gazing is its text as well as its subtext, so there's no use complaining about it. Even so, the dictum of "show don't tell" could perhaps have been more closely followed, as the film is its liveliest and most convincing when Assayas is allowing performance and character to reveal each other rather than forcing didacticisms into his characters' mouths.
Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung stars as Hong Kong superstar Maggie Cheung, who can't speak a word of French but has flown to Paris to star in an ill-fated remake of a silent film curio called Les Vampires. (It's almost inconceivable that Cheung would agree to appear in such a low-profile film -- except that the fictional production of Les Vampires is no more obscure than Irma Vep itself! Go figure.) Cheung was cast because the film's aging director, René Vidal (Léaud), was taken by her performance in the outlandish Hong Kong actioner The Heroic Trio. She will be dressed up in a skin-tight rubber suit, and will skulk through the shooting schedule with a crew that's drifting further and further into entropy.
And that, more or less, is it. The production does not go well, and Vidal in particular is racked with self-doubt. Costumer Zoe (Nathalie Richard, who is especially fine) has a crush on Cheung of which much will be made by co-workers. The radiant Cheung, who has to communicate with everyone in broken English, can't figure out what the hell Vadim wants from her. The dailies are incomprehensible, and the set is an enclave of bitchiness, sniping, and backstabbing.
A beefy film critic shows up to heap praise on Arnold Schwarzenegger and wonders why Cheung hasn't worked with John Woo. Even better is a crusty old director's provincial distaste for "Jack Chan" films, or Vidal's seeming inability to reconcile his affection for the exuberant Heroic Trio with the trappings of "sophisticated" French cinema. Cheung herself will insist, to little avail, that the world of cinema is a better place for its plurality. One assumes that Assayas is off-camera, agreeing with her.
It all sounds like great fun, and in retrospect I think it may be more enjoyable to think about the movie than to actually watch it. There's a famous story about movie mogul Harry Cohn declaring proudly that he could tell whether a movie was any good or not by how much his fanny twitched while he was watching it. (Herman J. Mankiewicz's summary response? "Imagine -- the whole world wired to Harry Cohn's ass!") Mine was sliding out of the chair. A handful of sequences stand out -- including the one featuring a startling cameo by Arsinée Khazanjian (Exotica) -- but others are mighty dry, and I have to admit to getting really bored really quickly with Léaud's troubled Old Wave schtick.
The culmination of all this, however, is something to behold. In editing his final cut, Vadim turns into Stan Brakhage, and Assayas finds aesthetic truth in disintegration. (I found this twist particularly interesting, since the original Cahiers du Cinema crowd was not at all impressed with Brakhage or his avant garde American cohorts.) The ultimate message of this movie about movies does indeed have to do with the medium itself, and is played out more viscerally and breathtakingly than any other shadowplay you're likely to see this year. Scrapping all that has come before, Assayas seems to be calling for a reinvention of vision, and a new connection with the experimental. Accordingly, his resolution is beautiful and moving, both a forceful expression of near-madness and a tantalizing taste of a purer cinema.
Written and directed by Olivier Assayas
Cinematography by Eric Gautier
Edited by Luc Barnier
Starring Maggie Cheung, Nathalie Richard and Jean-Pierre Léaud
USA, 1997
You may want to know more about Maggie Cheung.
See a current release schedule for Irma Vep from Zeitgeist Films.
A completely subjective archive
DEEP FOCUS: Movie Reviews by Bryant Frazer | http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/irmavep.html | dclm-gs1-090870000 |
0.019249 | <urn:uuid:766b970a-dbfa-4fef-a5cc-d5525a77a984> | en | 0.945906 | Chaldean Catholic patriarch again begs the world to help Iraq
politics | Aug 19, 2014 | By Martin Barillas
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Pope Francis' personal envoy to Iraq, was accompanied by Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako, as well as local Catholic bishos, and met with the political leaders of the so-called Autonomous Region of Kurdistan. They also visited Christian and Yezidi refugees in the provinces of Duhoq and Erbil. The delegation witnessed the suffering of individuals and families who have been persecuted by Islamist rebels in Iraq. The forces of the Islamic State have forced Christians to leave their homes and property, especially in the city of Mosul. At Sinjar, IS militants have massacred members of the Yezidi people while others remained trapped on a mountain, surrounded by the Islamists
Patriarch Sako called upon the international community and aid organizations to come to the aid of beleaguered minorities in Iraq. "Many times did the people cry out to us: help us to return to just living our lives!", said the patriarch in a statement. Appealing again to the world, the patriarch said:
1. To intervene immediately in bringing help in providing basic necessities: such as water, food, medical supplies, sanitary services, etc.
2. To liberate the villages and other places that have been occupied as soon as possible and with a permanent result. The hope of these people must not be allowed to die!
3. To assure that there is international protection for these villages and so to encourage these families to go back to their homes and to continue to live a normal life in security and peace.
Here follows the text of an appeal sent by Pope Francis to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:
His Excellency
Mr Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General
United Nations Organization
It is with a heavy and anguished heart that I have been following the dramatic events of these past few days in Northern Iraq where Christians and other religious minorities have been forced to flee from their homes and witness the destruction of their places of worship and religious patrimony. Moved by their plight, I have asked His Eminence Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who served as the Representative of my predecessors, Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, to the people in Iraq, to manifest my spiritual closeness and to express my concern, and that of the entire Catholic Church, for the intolerable suffering of those who only wish to live in peace, harmony and freedom in the land of their forefathers.
In the same spirit, I write to you, Mr Secretary-General, and place before you the tears, the suffering and the heartfelt cries of despair of Christians and other religious minorities of the beloved land of Iraq. In renewing my urgent appeal to the international community to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway, I encourage all the competent organs of the United Nations, in particular those responsible for security, peace, humanitarian law and assistance to refugees, to continue their efforts in accordance with the Preamble and relevant Articles of the United Nations Charter.
The violent attacks that are sweeping across Northern Iraq cannot but awaken the consciences of all men and women of goodwill to concrete acts of solidarity by protecting those affected or threatened by violence and assuring the necessary and urgent assistance for the many displaced people as well as their safe return to their cities and their homes. The tragic experiences of the Twentieth Century, and the most basic understanding of human dignity, compels the international community, particularly through the norms and mechanisms of international law, to do all that it can to stop and to prevent further systematic violence against ethnic and religious minorities.
Confident that my appeal, which I unite with those of the Oriental Patriarchs and other religious leaders, will meet with a positive reply, I take this opportunity to renew to your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.
Something mysterious in Denmark: a skeleton revealed
Ancient murder scene reveals clues.
Short Link
| http://www.speroforum.com/a/OTTJGKRENV4/75109-Chaldean-Catholic-patriarch-again-begs-the-world-to-help-Iraq | dclm-gs1-091060000 |
0.082253 | <urn:uuid:d2648935-e6a1-424f-9787-8411b3d64b4d> | en | 0.972532 | A Transhuman Conundrum: Uploading Your Consciousness
By Erin Biba
This week we’re taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. We’ll present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. We’ll have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?
The scenario: Well, the singularity is here. Computers have surpassed humans in terms of processing power and level of intelligence. But the machines aren’t totally evil. They’re open to letting humankind upload their minds into the collective consciousness and live on as digital beings. You’ll have to give up your body, though. Still, it’s a small price to pay. Your knee has never been right since you tweaked it playing football in high school anyway. Plus: immortality! What do you do?
Image credit: Final Moments of Karl Brant
How Realistic is This?
Ok, this one is a bit of a leap. We’re nowhere near uploading our entire minds into a computer, depending on who you ask. But there are definitely some folks working on figuring out how to do it. Earlier this year, famous futurist (and director of engineering at Google) Ray Kurzweil said a conservative estimate would have us uploading our brains into a computer by 2045. And, hey, if Google says it will happen there’s no reason to think it’s not possible. Though, in the same speech he also said the singularity would be upon us by 2100. So, grain of salt. Others argue uploading our brains may actually never be possible at all.
The Ethical Conundrum
You’re going to have to decide how much you like your body and want to hang on to it. Once you upload your consciousness there’s very likely no going back. You also have no idea what to expect from living inside a computer, which means you’ll have to accept the fact that your very idea of consciousness might change once you’ve become fully digital. If your friends and family aren’t uploading themselves you’ll also have to decide if you’re willing to give up your current way of interacting with them. Or accept the fact that you may never see them again. But if the singularity has already happened, then you’ll get the added benefit of being smarter, faster, and better than a human.
Photo credit: CBS Home Video
What the Ethicists Say
There isn’t a whole lot of legitimate writing on the ethics of uploading the brain. But those considering it often point to The Ship of Theseus, or Theseus’s Paradox, which goes something like this (excerpt from Logical Paradoxes):
Theseus is remembered in Greek mythology as the slayer of the Minotaur. For years, the Athenians had been sending sacrifices to be given to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull beast who inhabited the labyrinth of Knossos. One year, Theseus braved the labyrinth, and killed the Minotaur.
The ship in which he returned was long preserved. As parts of the ship needed repair, it was rebuilt plank by plank. Suppose that, eventually, every plank was replaced; would it still have been the same ship? A strong case can be made for saying that it would have been: When the first plank was replaced, the ship would still have been Theseus’ ship. When the second was replaced, the ship would still have been Theseus’ ship. Changing a single plank can never turn one ship into another. Even when every plank had been replaced, then, and no part of the original ship remained, it would still have been Theseus’ ship.
Suppose, though, that each of the planks removed from Theseus’ ship was restored, and that these planks were then recombined to once again form a ship. Would this have been Theseus’ ship? Again, a strong case can be made for saying that it would have been: this ship would have had precisely the same parts as Theseus’ ship, arranged in precisely the same way.
If this happened, then it would seem that Theseus had returned from Knossos in two ships. First, there would have been Theseus’ ship that has had each of its parts replaced one by one. Second, there would have been Theseus’ ship that had been dismantled, restored, and then reassembled. Each of them would have been Theseus’ ship.
Theseus, though, sailed in only one ship. Which one?
In other words, if we upload our consciousness into a computer, removing our physical brain and body from the equation entirely, are we still human? At this point you have to ask, what makes us human? Another nearly impossible question to answer -- though some argue it’s our intelligence and creativity. According to The American Museum of Natural History, our brains play the biggest role:
All species on Earth, including humans, are unique. Yet our intelligence and creativity go well beyond those of any other animal. Humans have long communicated through language, created and appreciated art and music, and invented complex tools that have enabled our species to survive and thrive, though often at the expense of other species.
We owe our creative success to the human brain and its capacity to think symbolically. While some other species can solve problems and communicate with each other, only humans use symbols to re-create the world mentally and dream up endless new realities. Although humans have not lost their selfish motivations, symbolic thought has opened our minds to spirituality and a shared sense of empathy and morality.
Will we still be capable of these things once we’re inside the machine? And do we care? Maybe by the time we upload ourselves being human don't be so important anymore. It will be time to evolve beyond that.
So what say you? Should we leave our fragile bodies behind and embark on a brave new world of consciousness inside the computer? Or will uploading our minds make us lose everything that makes us human? Discuss! | http://www.tested.com/science/life/458545-transhuman-conundrum-uploading-your-consciousness/ | dclm-gs1-091080000 |
0.870507 | <urn:uuid:0073fff3-d799-42dd-a5bf-7733841edc5d> | en | 0.978429 | The English Method: UK taught modern torture to Brazil's dictators
The UK was apparently seen as having effective practices as it had faced a serious insurgency in Malaya up until 1960 and had latterly honed its techniques in Northern Ireland.
The method, using sensory deprivation coupled with high stress, has come to be known as the "Five Techniques". These were:
* standing against a wall for hours
* hooding
* subjection to noise
* sleep deprivation
* very little food and drink.
Many argue the techniques amounted to torture and they were officially banned by Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1972, after a furore over their use on IRA prisoners.
But in Brazil, these psychological interrogation methods fulfilled the military's need. The regime's dismal human rights record was beginning to attract adverse publicity around the world and the old physical forms of torture were killing too many victims. A method that would leave no marks and was still effective to extract information from prisoners was exactly what the generals wanted. They could combine these techniques with knowledge gleaned elsewhere.
Apparently, not only did army officers go on courses in the UK, but British agents went to Brazil to teach. A former policeman, Claudio Guerra, says they gave courses inside Rio's military police headquarters in how to follow people, how to tap phones and how to use the new isolation cell. He saw these agents when he came to collect the bodies of those who had been tortured to death by interrogators using the old system of physical pressure.
How the UK taught Brazil's dictators interrogation techniques [Emily Buchanan/BBC] | http://boingboing.net/2014/05/30/the-english-method-uk-taught.html | dclm-gs1-091300000 |
0.019359 | <urn:uuid:4119b1b6-d9e5-46ef-9fe8-b6327a34044f> | en | 0.947733 | (c) 2010 by Darek Mihocka, founder,
July 16 2010
[Part 32] [Table Of Contents] [Return to]
Fedora 13 and SONY drop PowerPC
This is the most shocking and disappointing news of the year so far for me. The PowerPC processor, the microprocessor of the Sony Playstation 3, the Xbox 360, the Wii, and many generations of Apple Macintosh computers, has been demoted to second class citizen status. The Fedora project officially dropped PowerPC support from the recently released Fedora 13 Linux release. Fedora 12, Ubuntu 10.04, the new Debian 5.05, and a handful of other older distributions such as Yellow Dog remain as the solely supported Linux releases for the great PowerPC processor.
Sony did much the same, dropping the "Other OS" option in the PS/3, locking people out of the one truly useful reason to own a PS/3 - it's ability to run Linux, surf the web with Firefox, and function as a terrific development platform. I myself have been running Fedora on my PS/3 since the Fedora 8 days. The PS/3 offered a way to test out code sequences and try code optimization techniques on something just about as different as any mainstream PC can get - big endian integers instead of little endian, 64-bit registers, in-order pipeline - long before the recent revival of the Pentium processor (in the form of the Intel Atom) or the ARM processor which powers today's cell phones and iPads. With Microsoft never releasing the "rumored" Helium (, Sony was the only company to give people a legal and easy way to run Windows and just about any other software on a $300 game console.
I am immensely pissed off about these two sad developments. I have been writing PowerPC code for over 17 years now, since I first got to see prototype PowerMac hardware at Microsoft in 1993 while working on "Visual Studio for Macintosh Cross-Compiler Edition". Yes, there really was such a retail product, two of them actually, one targeting 68040 Macintosh development and the other targeting PowerPC. Long before Xbox 360 and PS/3, not only was Apple using PowerPC to run Mac OS on, but Microsoft Windows itself ran on PowerPC-based IBM PCs. The 1990's were anything but a sure thing for Intel and x86, and I for one was convinced that PowerPC was the logical 64-bit successor to 32-bit Pentium based PCs.
The design of the PowerPC chip is so clean, so well thought out, that even back in 1993 the PowerPC instruction set already thought out hardware virtualization correctly (which AMD and Intel processors still can't agree on today with their competing versions of VT), already thought ahead to 64-bit wide registers and 64-bit addressing and how 32-bit and 64-bit code could even be mixed together in the same process. PowerPC design was years ahead of its time. No wonder that much of my 15-year career at Microsoft spanning the past two decades involved working on the Macintosh cross compilers, Mac Office, and the Xbox tools.
The slow death of the PowerPC points out once again what I started saying right back in part 1 of this blog, technically superiority doesn't mean success in the marketplace. Sony learned this the hard way in the Betamax vs. VHS battle two decades ago, and so it is a damn shame that they are active and willing participants in dropping the PowerPC Linux support from the PS/3.
Remembering the mighty PowerPC
The other shame about the demotion of PowerPC is that the PowerPC G4 and G5 were damn good processors at the time. The local Mac user group here in Seattle, dBug, recently had a liquidation sale to dump its "old" Mac hardware. By "old", they meant machines from the 2005 timeframe, like the Mac Mini and the "lamp shade" iMac G4, the forgotten generation of iMac that came between the original bubble shaped iMac and today's flat-screen iMac. I bought up the whole lot, as well as some dual-core and quad-core PowerMac G5 machines for about a couple hundreds bucks each.
Now talk about a sweet machine. The Mac Pro G5 desktop, the predecessor to today's Intel-based Mac Pro machines, is a beautiful and quiet marvel of engineering. The whole machine can be taken apart and upgraded - memory DIMMs upgraded, hard disks upgraded, processor added - without so much as a screwdriver; everything just snaps out. That was true of the Mac Pro G5 as it is true of today's Mac Pro. The Mac Pro G5 uses DDR2 memory and SATA hard disks, the same types of memory and disks that most PCs today use. So why get rid of them?
Being 64-bit, most models of the Mac Pro G5 had no 4-gigabyte limitation ( as with many of today's PCs. Both of my G5 machines contain at least 6 gigabytes of memory each, which makes them great for hosting emulators and experimenting with virtual machines. In fact, back in the 2003 timeframe when Apple started shipping the G5 (when Intel did not even make or admit to making a 64-bit x86 processor) is it any wonder that Microsoft chose the PowerPC processor for the Xbox 360. And specifically, that the way that we (Xbox developers at Microsoft) bootstrapped the Xbox 360 development back then was to start with... you guessed it... the PowerMac G5 ( Your favorite Xbox 360 games such as Halo 2 started life on a Mac Pro G5! Not on an Intel processor, and not even on the 64-bit AMD Opteron processor which had also become available in 2003.
What is interesting is how quickly the video game industry - Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony alike - bootstrapped their current generation of consoles to use these 64-bit PowerPC processors. It meant not only designing hardware that used PowerPC but also developing software development kits for game developers and training game developers to write PowerPC code. By 2006, when Intel _finally_ shipped the 64-bit Core and Apple switched over their whole PowerPC-based computer line to Intel's Core and Core processors, to game industry had already "been there done that" as far as 64-bit computing. Only by about 2009 did the mainstream PC industry start pre-installing 64-bit versions of Windows and 64-bit Mac OS X 10.6 on most new computers sold. Most people out there are still running 32-bit operating systems and 32-bit applications, wasting their 64-bit hardware.
This begs the question, with the huge superiority of PowerPC years ahead of mainstream Intel products, what might have been if PowerPC had won?
Oops! Was I fighting for the wrong side?!?!
As with the Betamax vs. VHS war, where the lower price of VHS products ultimately prevailed, the higher cost of PowerPC based Macintosh computers likely kept them from becoming mainstream. I'm even guilty of fanning the flames against PowerPC. A decade ago I was running exhibits at Macworld and COMDEX shows selling the SoftMac product I developed to emulate Mac OS on Intel-based Windows PCs. My whole sales pitch was to convince people not to buy a PowerMac, but instead to buy a PC. That was based on three logical arguments which led me to develop the SoftMac product in the first place in the late 1990's:
1. that Windows based PCs, selling for about $2000 to $3000 in the late 1990's, were less expensive and more readily available to consumers than comparable Apple Macintosh computers which could easily cost $5000. Apple had always charged more (and made more profit) from what is about the same cost of hardware, a fact of life that has remained true to this day; although the "Apple tax" is much lower now in 2010 than it was in, say, 1999.
2. that most Macintosh users in 1999 were really still running old 68040 based applications which the PowerMac had to emulate in software on the PowerPC processor. Microsoft's Office 98 had just shipped the year earlier and consisted of native PowerPC code, but many applications still used in 1999 were actually 68040 code. My SoftMac emulator was able to run those in emulation as quickly or ever faster on an Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon based PC than on a PowerMac.
3. that for people who needed to run both Windows and Mac OS applications on a regular basis, going the other way (emulating a Windows PC on a Mac) was too painfully slow. The Virtual PC for Mac product from Connectix (which Microsoft bought out in 2003) was slow as molasses back in the 1990's.
What I offered people back in 1999 was an inexpensive way to run Mac OS and Macintosh applications at very decent speeds using software emulation on a PC, rather than having to run PC applications painfully slow on a much more expensive Macintosh. And in 2001, I was working on emulating the PowerPC and rightfully made claims back then that even PowerPC applications and Mac OS could run decently in software emulation on x86 processors. So it seems I myself helped point people at PCs as an alternative to the Mac, and not surprisingly Apple finally announced in June 2005 that it would switch over to using Intel processors. The transition was swift, by 2006 the PowerPC models were dead, and Microsoft dropped all support for Virtual PC for Mac.
I decided to put my decade-old logic to the test last month to see if those three arguments still held. With my new stash of PowerPC G4 Macs acquired from dBug, my existing PowerMac G4, my PowerMac G5 from Xbox development days, and a new Mac G5 I just picked up, I put my three logical arguments to the test.
The first argument, the "Apple tax". Well, funny thing, the older PowerPC based Macintosh computers are a steal these days. I picked up my machines from dBug for a couple hundred bucks each, and when I looked online on Amazon, I found no shortage of top notch Mac Pro G5 machines for sale. I picked one up from a dealer by the name of Mac Pro ( who delivered to me a beautiful 2.5 GHz quad-core Mac Pro G5 pre-loaded with Mac OS X 10.5.8 and the full Mac Office 2008 suite.
The second argument, the 68040 support, is rather moot today thanks to the existence of SoftMac, Basilisk II, vMac, Executor, and other legacy Macintosh emulators for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Mac users today are really running either PowerPC code or Intel x86 code. The issue therefore is how well the Intel based Macs emulate PowerPC compared to how well PowerPC based Macs can emulate x86.
Apple themselves bundle a package called Rosetta with the Intel based Mac OS X which allows PowerPC based applications to run, but at some performance cost. On the PowerPC, the product Virtual PC for Mac version 7.02 is the most current Windows emulator. Virtual PC was originally developed by a Mac shop called Connectix which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003.
Virtual PC was later ported to Windows and morphed into what are now the Hyper-V and Windows Virtual PC hypervisors in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server, but several releases of Microsoft-branded Virtual PC for the Macintosh did get release through 2005 until that product was discontinued. I benchmarked Virtual PC 7.02, as I will show you below, and was surprised that at the time the G5 and VPC 7.02 were discontinued, the performance was actually pretty good. Also available to the PowerPC Mac today as an alternative to Virtual PC 7.02 is the open source QEMU emulator. So between Rosetta going one way, and Virtual PC 7.02 and QEMU going the other way, there is ample freedom to emulate the software on both sides.
Which leads to the third argument - the speed of emulation - and the fact that between 1999 and 2005 the Virtual PC guys got their act together and made the product usable, making the whole Windows emulation problem mostly moot. Not entirely, as I will show you some benchmarks and compatibility issues below. I might add, issues that could be overcome with today's open source QEMU emulator which in many ways is already superior to Virtual PC.
Combined with the fact that between late 2000 and early 2006, the only desktop processors from Intel were the garbage known as Pentium 4, it seems to me that if PowerMac prices had been just a little lower, if Connectix had not taken so long to get Virtual PC optimized, and if Intel had not rescued its product line with the Core series in 2006, Macintosh users today might still be running PowerPC based machines.
As they say, "coulda, shoulda, woulda". I enjoy my tower of G5's (and Mac Mini G4 too, shown here sitting on top of a freshly built Core i5 Linux box), so let me show you how much life these machines still have in them. If you run across one or still own one of these machines, hold on to them!
Fun with PowerPC Macintosh
Although Apple the transition to using Intel processors a good five years ago now, support for PowerPC systems in terms of Mac OS X releases and even major software releases such as Microsoft Mac Office 2008 continued until very recently. When the folks shipped my quad-core G5 system this spring, they nicely preloaded it with Mac OS X 10.5.8 (the most recent PowerPC release of Mac OS), Microsoft Office 2008, and other applications. Although the hardware is five years old, it is hardly obsolete.
In fact, Apple was ahead of the curve. AMD shipped its first 64-bit Opteron processor in 2003 into a world of Windows XP which lacked any 64-bit software of course. It was a good two years before us Windows Core OS engineers at Microsoft even had a 64-bit release of Windows XP ready to make use of that hardware, and also that same year when Intel even brought any 64-bit Pentium 4 systems to market.
My personal copy of one of the first 64-bit Windows XP discs from March 2005
Apple on the other hand had already been shipping 64-bit iMac and Mac Pro systems. The machines supported up to 8 gigabytes of RAM back then, with up to 4 PowerPC G5 cores running at 2.5 GHz and beyond, which rivals many PC desktop workstations even today. Since Mac G5 machines use exactly the same DDR2 memory, PCIe slots, and SATA hard disks found in mainstream PCs, advances in technology such as faster hard drives (read my other blog posting from today about the new Seagate Momentus XT disk drive) the G5 machines can still be upgraded today and made even faster.
Take a look at this screen shot I just took of my Mac OS desktop. Can you tell that this is a PowerPC based as opposed to an Intel based Macintosh? If not, then next time you plan to spend 2 or even 3 thousands dollars on a new Intel-based iMac or Mac Pro, consider spend half that amount or even less on a comparable Mac G5 system. Looking on today, I see a dual-core Mac Pro G5 desktop for 399 dollars. Spend two hundred dollars to upgrade the hard drive and add some RAM, and you've got yourself a very decent 64-bit Mac desktop. Or for 999 dollars, the 2.5 GHz quad-G5 systems such as what I have.
The Irony of Virtual PC 7 for Mac
As I mentioned previous, I used to love going to Macworld shows and giving the Connectix guys a hard time about the slow speed of their Virtual PC product while setting up my own SoftMac booth a few feet away and showing my very fast Macintosh emulation product. Microsoft bought Connectix in 2003 and took over development of Virtual PC at version 6. In the summer of 2005 making the final Virtual PC 7.02 release which had been tuned for the PowerPC G4 and G5 processors. Microsoft then sadly discontinued the Virtual PC product. Ironically it was done at a time when Virtual PC's performance was just getting to the point of being competitive. Because if you actually benchmark Virtual PC 7.02, its performance is not too bad as far as emulators go, even today in 2010.
Click on the thumbnail above to see Virtual PC 7.02 in action, running both Windows 2000 and Windows XP virtual machines on top of Mac OS X on the Mac Pro G5. Based on my usual bag of tricks of benchmarks and tests, I have determined that the performance on a 2.5 GHz PowerPC G5 is comparable to about a 1 GHz Pentium III processor from the year 2000, which itself would be comparable to about a 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 processor from the year 2001, or an Atom netbook from the year 2008.
By 2005, the best Pentium M (the successor of Pentium III) and Pentium 4 processors were clocked at about twice those speeds. So thus Virtual PC 7.02 in the year 2005 actually delivered about half the top integer performance of the best PCs at the time, not bad for a software emulator running on a completely different processor. Even today in 2010, where Core i5 and Core i7 processors (the descendants of the Pentium III and Pentium M) have broken through the 3 GHz barrier, Virtual PC's speed of emulation is within a factor of 3 or 4 the best x86 processors today, which is exactly about the same ratio in performance as between an Atom processor and a top of the line Core i7.
And who knows what would have been if Apple had continued to use newer versions of the PowerPC processor. I notice for example, that just between my 2.0 GHz Mac Pro G5 and 2.5 GHz Mac Pro G5 systems, Virtual PC runs about 30% to 50% faster on some CPU intensive benchmarks, which is disproportionate to the 25% increase in raw clock speed between the two systems. The increase is due to another subtle different between the two processors - the 2.0 GHz chips contain 512KB of L2 cache, the 2.5 GHz chips contain 1MB of L2 cache. Double the on-chip cache means additional performance for memory intensive products such as emulators, which need additional fast memory for overhead such as code caches.
Now consider... What if Apple had the benefit of using PowerPC chips in 2010 built using 2010 standards such as 32nm process and having say, 6 megabytes of L2 cache? How much faster would those chips clock and how much faster would Virtual PC have run just as a result of newer processor technology? What if Apple was to build a Mac Pro based on the 5+ GHz Power7 chip? We can only speculate how well software emulation would have done against today's AMD and Intel chips.
What really I think ended up being the killer flaw of Virtual PC 7 that might have contributed to Apple switching to Intel was not the emulation speed directly. We've already determined that Virtual PC can deliver the speed of a netbook or low end laptop, which is perfectly fine for milions of users today. But consider the feature set limitations of Virtual PC 7:
• limited to emulating a maximum of 512 megabytes of RAM per virtual machine,
• limited to emulating a single x86 core per virtual machine,
• limited to emulating 32-bit x86 cores, with instruction set support only up through MMX, and,
• limited to actively running one virtual machine at a time, while others are paused (see my screen shot above for an example of that).
Viewed in this aspect, Virtual PC 7 delivers capabilities that barely even match up against a netbook. A 32-bit single-core 512-megabyte system would have been perfectly adequate for running Windows XP and Microsoft Office in 2001, even in 2005. But as any netbook user can tell you in this day and age of YouTube and Flash animations and multi-megabyte documents, 512 megabytes of RAM is barely adequate. To run Windows Vista or Windows 7 with latest versions of Office, web browsers, media players, and other applications can now easily require a gigabyte or two of RAM. Why Virtual PC has an arbitrary 512-megabyte limit, who knows, but that would be a deal break for running today's software.
The other limitations are just as serious. The lack of 64-bit support means that soon Virtual PC will not even be able to run new software being released, period. And the lack of multi-core support, or even the ability to concurrently run two virtual machines, hints at Virtual PC's obsolete 1990's design.
The lack of SSE support is the least of the limitations, as mainstream software in general was slow to adopt to using SSE. Windows 7 for example can boot up just fine with only MMX support, although you might have a hard time finding a video decoder that does not require at least SSE2 support. Adding SSE support on top of the existing MMX support would probably have been the easiest limitation to eliminate, a feat that people in the Xbox 360 group did pull off in implementing the 360's legacy game emulator in order to make your Xbox classic Halo 2 run flawlessly in emulation.
Fortunately, neither Bochs nor QEMU have any of these limitations today. The open source emulation community has implemented multi-core 64-bit guest support, has implemented SSE support, and most definitely allows running multiple VMs concurrently, and this can be run on the PowerPC versions of Linux today.
Linux Saves the PowerMac!
While Apple may have stopped Mac OS work for the PowerPC, Linux continues to support both 32-bit and 64-bit variants of PowerPC and provides more up-to-date software such as OpenOffice 3 and newer versions of gcc than are available on Mac OS X. Linux is what will continue to keep PowerPC machines useful for many more years to come.
Let me walk you through the simple steps of setting up Linux on a PowerPC based Macintosh. To follow along here, all you need is a PowerPC G4 or G5 machine such as a Mac Pro, a Mac Mini, or an iMac. You can also use a Sony Playstation/3 which uses a later derivative of the PowerPC G5 processor. I recommend installing Fedora 12 Linux, which is a mature release from late last year which thankfully installs beautifully and is still regularly maintained. Just a few weeks ago Debian Linux 5.05 was released, but I had a heck of a time trying to get either the PowerPC or the 64-bit x86 version to install. So for consistency I stick to only Fedora 12 and Fedora 13 across all my PowerPC, Intel Pentium, Intel Core, and AMD Phenom machines.
Using the same distribution of Linux across all platforms has its benefits, because setup, maintenance, the use of applications, and even software development remains virtually identical. I find myself spending hours at a time these days using Fedora Linux and playing around with Bochs and QEMU, surfing the web, responding to email, shopping online, and completely forgetting that I am doing so on a PowerPC based Macintosh and not one of my "PC" boxes. Which over the last few years has made me that much more a fan of Linux and the consistency of having the same look and feel and operating system interface, regardless of the hardware being used. None of this Windows on a PC versus Mac OS X on a Mac nonsense that so many people are obsessed about. PowerPC machines today make for affordable general purpose fast computers.
So, first download Fedora 12 for PowerPC. That can be found on the Mirrors page here:
Scroll down and select one of the mirrors closest to your geographic location. For example, I choose Portland State's mirror, navigate to the PowerPC ISO's directory here:
And you will want to download the DVD ISO image file Fedora-12-ppc-DVD.iso. Burn that to a DVD-R or DVD+R disc using tools of your choosing. Now what you have is a bootable Fedora Linux 12 setup DVD. Insert your DVD and reboot.
If your machine is a single-drive small format factor machine such as my Mac Mini G4 shown above or one of the older iMacs, I suggest you kiss your old Mac OS 9 or early Mac OS X release goodbye and just install Fedora over the whole drive. If you are using a large machine, such as the G5 which comes with two convenient SATA drive bays, it is quite easy to add a second SATA hard disk (the drive bays are shown in the top rear portion of the exposed Mac G5 above) and use that as your Linux. Then, after Linux installs, you will can dual-boot between your original Mac OS X drive and the Linux drive, switching between the two operating systems as needed.
Ferora 12 running on PowerMac G5
Shown here (click on the thumbnail above to see the full size screen shot) is my Fedora 12 installation running on the Mac Pro G5. I am actually running my Xformer 2000 Atari 800 emulator on top of the latest build of QEMU emulating Windows 2000, which itself is running on top of Fedora 12 "ppc64" operating system. How cool is that?!?!
Next posting I will return back to the discussion of QEMU and look at some of its strengths and weaknesses as compared to Virtual PC 7.02 and Bochs as a PC emulator.
| http://emulators.com/docs/nx32_powerpc_g5.htm | dclm-gs1-091450000 |
0.060727 | <urn:uuid:fb6e8d29-1435-4e2c-a18d-909453b85f1b> | en | 0.969743 | Skip to content
Congratulations on your BFP! Welcome to YOUR community!
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How far along am I?
An_251138 posted:
Hi!! I am pregnant! Yay! I'm so excited but the suspense is killing me.. I'm not sure how far along I am. My body is very regular and my periods are usually 3 days of spotting 3-5 days of heavy bleeding and three more days of spotting. February I spotted for three days, bleed heavy for 1 day and that was it. March 13th I took a pregnancy test and it was negative. March 19th I spotted for 3 days. I took a pregnancy test the 4th day when I didn't start bleeding heavily and it was pregnant. I have taken two more and they were positive as well. I am still not having any spotting or bleeding so I know the tests were accurate. My only question is am I one month or two months pregnant? Any help?
tlkittycat1968 responded:
You may need to have an ultrasound to determine how far along you are. Some women have bleeding in early pregnancy around the time they normally get their period so it's possible you are two months pregnant.
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0.54345 | <urn:uuid:6443df58-1d84-47a3-9168-8e062cd1bf4a> | en | 0.928414 | Sign up ×
What are the standard alternatives for the mechanics of attaching turrets and such to 3D models for use in-game? I don't mean the logic, but rather the graphics aspects.
My naive approach is to extend the MD2-like format that I'm using (blender-exported using a script) to include a new set of properties for a mesh that:
• is anchored in another 'parent' mesh. The anchor is a point and normal in the parent mesh and a point and normal in the child mesh; these will always be colinear, giving the child rotation but not translation relative to the parent point.
• has a normal that is aligned with a 'target'. Classically this target is the enemy that is being engaged, but it might be some other vector e.g. 'the wind' (for sails and flags (and smoke, which is a particle system but the same principle applies)) or 'upwards' (e.g. so bodies of riders bend properly when riding a horse up an incline etc).
• that the anchor and target alignments have maximum and minimum and a speed coeff.
• there is game logic for multiple turrets and on a model and deciding which engages which enemy. 'primary' and 'secondary' or 'target0' ... 'targetN' or some such annotation will be there.
So to illustrate, a classic tank would be made from three meshes; a main body mesh, a turret mesh that is anchored to the top of the main body so it can spin only horizontally and a barrel mesh that is anchored to the front of the turret and can only move vertically within some bounds.
And there might be a forth flag mesh on top of the turret that is aligned with 'wind' where wind is a function the engine solves that merges environment's wind angle with angle the vehicle is travelling in an velocity, or something fancy.
This gives each mesh one degree of freedom relative to its parent. Things with multiple degrees of freedom can be modelled by zero-vertex connecting meshes perhaps? This is where I think the approach I outlined begins to feel inelegant, yet perhaps its still a workable system? This is why I want to know how it is done in professional games ;)
Are there better approaches? Are there formats that already include this information? Is this routine?
share|improve this question
The question is a bit vague, what is your intended goal or final result? – AttackingHobo Jan 26 '11 at 21:23
are you looking for some easier model of usage than bones? Mean parent-child tranformations as you mention? I've implemented some tanks just using transformations and having objects for body, turret and gun. – Notabene Jan 27 '11 at 9:46
2 Answers 2
up vote 3 down vote accepted
Yap. Bones formats. MD2 is a vertex animation format, not bones based format. And in Blender, depends on the version you're working with, but can probably make use of:
• Directx *.x (I think in both 2.49 and 2.56 beta)
• *.md5 . Doom III, like md2, from Id Software, but much better than md2. Md2 has vertex position accuracy problems, normals/lighting problems, UVs have its issues too, etc. Still, all blenders do export it, and can be useful for the flag animation. But you can asign some bones to the flag, some weight painting, and have same effect.Even easier.
• Collada. But it is still not ended, in certain newest builds at I have checked to be working, at least in basic stuff which you need.
• You need to use Blender 'constraints' in your bone animations, to have the behaviours you mention, and then export with those "baked". Then code would do the rest.(and don't quote me on this, but I think md5 did export constraints also. And that you can use a md5 version with blender 2.41. I think , set as an addon, md5 can work well with 2.56, but have not tried yet.)
A good knowledge of Blender rigging (bones, weights, constraints) system and formats is quite needed for this, but seems pretty doable.
A lot of people just used to use Milkshape, ideal for these kind of things, and there were very good loaders for game programmers, for ms3d format.
IMHO you can achieve the same by loading for example an md5, there are good loaders out there, and am told is an easy to handle format for programmers. Collada anyway might be the best in long run: Is the definite Blender's bet, and in general, everybody, engines, etc, are trusting on it. But it's a very complex format, so making a loader might be hard, unless you can grab sth already made or whatever. I don't know, that's the programmer side of things.
share|improve this answer
How might you annotate things so the engine understands what the artist intended for the various meshes in the model? – Will Jan 27 '11 at 9:27
It's usually done by adding tags to certain bones, or having special bones named a certain way. For example every bone named starting with "foot" is assumed to be the bottom of a foot, the direction of it showing the direction the foot is facing; a bone named "projectile_start" is where you spawn the projectiles of your tank's cannon, and object parts tagged with "steel" have corresponding sparks when hit and have corresponding sound effects assigned. – Martin Sojka Jan 27 '11 at 10:02
Why is bones needed for simple mesh translation and rotation? Aren't bones used to actually deform the meshes while translating and rotating them while a simple mesh/layer parenting setup sounds a lot simpler for non-organic constructs? – Oskar Duveborn Jan 27 '11 at 17:13
@oskar Duveborn: True, so +1, but if you use bones you can add a deforming tank (with a cloth over the turret, or an organic alien tank, who knows) without needing the change the engine. – Bart van Heukelom Jan 27 '11 at 23:03
@Oskar Duveborn: Bones aren't strictly needed, just useful: they are usually already well-supported in modern engines and in your tool chain of choice, they have all kinds of constraints to the relative movement which you'd otherwise need to implement anyway, they allow for non-organic constructs to have flexible parts as well (connecting hoses, for example), and they allow you to apply IK solutions to your animation: from that perspective, there isn't a lot of difference between an arm moving to reach an apple, and a tank's turret and gun assembly turning around to aim in a direction. – Martin Sojka Jan 28 '11 at 7:05
I'm not entirely sure if I fully understood your question(s). But I'd definitely use a mesh format that supports bones and animations. Especially the bones are important if you wish to move separate mesh-parts individually.
The flag you're speaking of could be pre-animated (wave movement) and aligned in the direction of the wind by using bones. The speed of the animation could be controlled by the strength of the wind.
I can't give you any format recommendations though, since you didn't mention the engine/framework you're using. OGRE for example uses its own mesh format that supports bones and animations. Unity can load several popular native formats directly... and there's always Collada, an XML based 3D format which you could write a parser for (or use an existing one).
share|improve this answer
Pretty much this- existing formats use bones to support this. – DeadMG Jan 27 '11 at 7:40
Your Answer
| http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/7754/how-to-export-3d-models-that-consist-of-several-parts-eg-turret-on-a-tank/7760 | dclm-gs1-091510000 |
0.026813 | <urn:uuid:9100534d-8e7e-453a-b45c-80f4139ea1e9> | en | 0.845993 | - this week
Gender: M Pronunciation: eh-VAN-der Meaning of Evander: "bow warrior; strong man" Origin of Evander: Scottish; Greek
Evander is a name that could build on the popularity of shorter form Evan, and could work and play well with schoolmates like Zander and Xander.
Evander was prominent in Greek and Roman mythology: in classical lore Evander was a wise Arcadian hero who founded the city in Italy that preceded Rome, appearing in Virgil's Aeneid.
Evander also derives from a Norse name meaning bow warrior.
In modern times, the name has been associated with boxing champ Evander Holyfield.
Evander could make a more distinctive aternative to Alexander.
People who like Evander also like:
Alaric Aurelius Azriel Cedric Emrys Ezri Imperia Lazarus Lennox Madden Malcolm Minerva Rowena Sela Theodosia Show me more names similar to Evander Comment on Evander
Famous People Named Evander
Evander Holyfield, American boxer
Evander Kane, Canadian Hockey player
Evander "Ziggy" Hood, NFL football player
Pop Culture References for the Name Evander
Name of Chris Rock's daughter in the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)
Inspired by Evander?
Discover 1000s more amazing names you'll love with NameHunter
Hunt Me Some Names | http://nameberry.com/babyname/Evander | dclm-gs1-091640000 |
0.56562 | <urn:uuid:50362ec4-9a77-4544-83c5-8d6bcc6334ee> | en | 0.931507 | Shaving Cream Prank or Ship Tracks?
I could have sworn I saw this same foamy pattern the other day while cleaning my oven, but no, this is NASA’s latest image of ship tracks over the northeast Pacific Ocean near the coast of Oregon and Washington. The microscopic particles, or aerosols, in ship engine exhaust make good seeds for water condensation under the right atmospheric conditions, creating the clouds in their wake. Years ago it was debatable whether these anthropogenic clouds were helping to cool the Earth or warm it. Last I heard the verdict was that the clouds trap more heat in the lower atmosphere, thereby warming things up.
But the NASA Earth Observatory folks report a new twist to this:
The aerosol particles may be natural—such as desert dust or sea salt—or artificial, including the particles emitted by ships. The particles in ship exhaust are more abundant than natural airborne particles such as sea salt, so they generate more and smaller cloud droplets. Because of this, ship tracks tend to be brighter than other clouds. Water droplets are essentially tiny spheres, and a smaller sphere has a greater surface-to-volume ratio than a bigger sphere. In other words, a littler droplet has a greater surface area, relative to its volume, than a bigger droplet. The greater surface area means more sunlight reflected back into space.
Winter Wonderland Photos
That means ships can have two completely opposite effects on climate. One one hand they are releasing tons of climate warming carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels. On the other hand, they are helping to reflect more sunlight back into space, which keeps some solar energy from being captured by the oceans and atmosphere.
This visible light image was captured on January 15 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, and provided courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz of LANCE MODIS Rapid Response.
Recommended for you | http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/shaving-cream-prank-or-ship-tracks-130125.htm | dclm-gs1-091660000 |
0.018717 | <urn:uuid:890e52f8-98d3-4df4-8869-8647bf349844> | en | 0.902748 | Microsoft's Popfly: Mashup creation for the masses
Popfly, a hosted service built with Silverlight, lets people create embeddable widgets and mashups for their Web pages or blogs.
Microsoft on Friday morning launched Popfly, a service for creating mashup applications specifically designed for people who don't know how, or want to, write developer code.
The free service, which is now in private alpha, provides a visual way for constructing mashup applications and widgets which can be embedded in blogs or personal pages. Once a project is written, people can share and modify other people's mashups.
People can drag and drop icons that do things like display photos from Flickr in a photo gallery. Or they can combine these blocks to display photos tagged with the word "sunset" on the Virtual Earth mapping service.
Drop-down menus let people configure different Web services. If someone is comfortable writing JavaScript, XML or Silverlight code, the service lets you see the source and hack away.
There is also a tool for creating Web sites using templates and layout tools based on what Microsoft offers with Office Live, said Dan Fernandez, lead product manager for nonprofessional tools at Microsoft.
To service is built using Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in, which is now in beta. Microsoft will host 25MB of data.
The design surface of Popfly where people can connect blocks to build mashups. Microsoft
The idea behind the project, originally , was to bring programming concepts to untrained people without making them write code, said Fernandez.
There are already several do-it-yourself Web authoring tools and services for consumers and professionals. Google has a Google Maps mashup builder and Yahoo Pipes lets people combine RSS feeds to make an application. Ning is focused on letting people build social-networking sites.
In a demo, Popfly does look simple enough for someone without programmer expertise to use. The goal, said Fernandez, is to get millions of people creating applications and widgets, which will help drive demand for Silverlight and Microsoft's hosted Live services.
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by David Katzmaier | http://www.cnet.com/news/microsofts-popfly-mashup-creation-for-the-masses/ | dclm-gs1-092050000 |
0.079706 | <urn:uuid:b230e205-ef61-49dd-af20-4e6390adb6a6> | en | 0.991813 | How do I tell my best friend I got his mom pregnant?
Ok I have been sleeping with my best friends mom for 5 years now since I was 17. It started when we were back in high school and we were all in the basement partying and I had to go to the bathroom. Some guy was in the basement bathroom taking a sh*t so I went upstairs to use that one. His mom... Show More
why would somebody tell me to disregard a comment that wasn't even theirs? it was actually a pretty good answer I think.
Most Helpful Girl
• that is bad...hmmn he might be mad at first but over time he will probably begin to accept it and move on...i know guys fight a lot and get into physical fghts, so just be careful...this is something that's gonna take a long time to heal, especially for him...but also it might not be that bad because he knows your mom was dating around anyways and living the single he may be very accepting of it...the only things that might get him mad are the fact that you're his best friend and the age just be careful...but you can't do anything at this point except be honest... | http://www.girlsaskguys.com/sexual-health/q99372-how-do-tell-my-best-friend-got-his-mom | dclm-gs1-092220000 |
0.024764 | <urn:uuid:a3034ebf-93c9-4df3-97f0-ca309b52a637> | en | 0.950732 | Sculpture created in memory of The Rocket
CMC 2003.2.1 Sculpture created in memory of The Rocket
Artist: Michel Dusablon, 2000
Celebrity, National Figure, Icon
By the time of his passing in 2000, The Rocket has become a subject for painters and sculptors across Canada, his image carrying symbolic weight beyond his having been - as he used to insist - "just a hockey player".
"Maurice and Gordie"
Artist: Michael Davey, 2000
Sandblasted into each side of a black granite puck are the parts of the body - eye and elbow - associated with two rival hockey heroes: Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe. On one level, the artwork portrays their different playing styles as "two sides of the same puck"; on another, it represents the dialectic between French and English Canada.
Gold puck
CMC 2002.81.22
Photo: Stéphane Juteau
In 1999, a gold puck is presented to The Rocket at a gala celebrating the launch of a TV movie of his life. | http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/rocket/rokt633e.shtml | dclm-gs1-092250000 |
0.069622 | <urn:uuid:cee537ba-6a9e-4f60-bf37-7372b1943784> | en | 0.861098 | Huffpost Comedy
Love the Trampoline? Jump Here!
Posted: Updated:
Like the trampoline jumping?
Put your acrobatic trampoline skills to the test!
Use the arrow and the number keys together to perform each the on screen tricks. Each time you land, make sure your feet hit the mat. This will give you maximum bounce on your next jump.
Suggest a correction | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/12/love-the-trampoline-jump_n_166333.html | dclm-gs1-092280000 |
0.467227 | <urn:uuid:1af27927-bcbd-45a0-bcc8-86e1e7381cf6> | en | 0.972573 | 5 Barcoding Myths That Aren’t True
5 Barcoding Myths That Aren’t True
Barcode technology has been adopted by a lot of different businesses across many different industries, but there are some people who are unsure about it. They have heard different things about barcodes that make them think that it’s not the right idea for their business. There are five major misconceptions about barcodes that some people hear that may scare them away from trying it. [Read more…]
Importance of Your Credit Score
Credit Score
Term Insurance: The Best Way to Insure Yourself
Term Insurance
| http://www.moneyglare.com/ | dclm-gs1-092350000 |
0.109727 | <urn:uuid:889ab573-a140-4210-947b-10b9196f5bc7> | en | 0.954935 | Back Home Button
The Rush Limbaugh Show
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Take a Break, But Don't Give Up
RUSH: Jim in Indianapolis. Hi, and welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Love your show. First of all, happy holidays to you, your staff, your loved ones, and listeners.
RUSH: Thank you very much, sir. We all appreciate it.
CALLER: I want to give you a quick background on myself. I'm a white male in my mid-thirties. I work sometimes six to seven days a week. I go to school full time. I have a wife and two small boys. The reason why I do all this is because I need to be a role model for my boys and a man for my wife. That's my job, not the government's. I know eventually the Democrats will self-destruct as a party and, you know, the government will restore balance to this country. The point I'm trying to make to your audience is: Don't ever lose your high morals and values. Don't ever give up, stay optimistic, and eventually it'll pay off.
RUSH: Well, I know exactly what you're saying. Don't give up. Like Churchill said, "Never, never, never, never give up." Right now, I don't think a lot of people want to quit. I think people need some time off. It's been an intense year. There were a lot of expectations that turned out to be violently disappointing on election night. People felt this way when Clinton was elected in 1992, but this is a feeling that's a multiple of ten over that among people like you who have not compromised.
You have not cashed in.
You have not give up on the kind of country you grew up in and want your children to grow up in.
You have not.
So you feel outnumbered, and a lot of people do.
You're wondering, "Where is this all gonna end?"
Then you look at the Republican Party (I'm not being critical here, I'm just giving an honest assessment) and you don't see or hear anybody -- on a daily, regular, elected-person basis -- that speaks out in opposition to what's happening. You get somebody now and then who will say something and you cheer it, but there doesn't seem to be any leadership, politically right now, representing us. In fact, you might even think, "My God, there might not even be as many conservatives in the country or in Washington as we thought."
CALLER: Well, what's difficult with all of this is my family has money. My grandparents have money. My father has money. You know, I'm sitting in school trying not to think, "Eh, you know, I'd rather be at home. I'd rather be at home with my kids, my wife, my family."
RUSH: What do you mean you "have money"? You inherited money or do you well with your work?
CALLER: My family has money. They've done well.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: In their life. It's not my money. That's theirs. I have to instill in my boys, and as a normal person we have to instill these values back in society, 'cause we don't have any.
RUSH: I know.
CALLER: We don't have any values.
RUSH: That seems such a daunting task is what I'm saying. To a lot of people... You know, once the gravy train gets established and once it starts -- and once government is seen as the source of prosperity, once the government is seen as the source of fairness where grievances are addressed -- it's tough to turn that back, especially when you don't hear anybody speaking out against it, other than individuals who are not in any semblance of power to do anything about it.
So what's happened is that people do what you said. You are confident there will be an event, or a series of events, that will wake people up. Something will happen that will cause people to realize that this can't go on the way it is if we want to have lives and a country and live the way we have been and the way we've dreamed. You're exactly right. I always encourage people to try to stay upbeat and positive about things, because you only get one life.
Life in general is gonna present you with lots of suffering. But you don't have to add to it. You don't have to invent your own. Life presents enough of it as it is. Despite what's happening in Washington or elsewhere, it shouldn't govern your life. I'm not talking to you specifically. Everybody in general. People need to seize this great gift of life, realizing it's the only one you'll ever have, and to try to do the most with it for yourself, for your family, however that manifests itself to you each and every day.
That's the best you can do, and then let that influence others around you, and that's how I think this thing gets turned around. I do have ultimate faith like you do that it will. We're too great a country, we have too much at stake, and the world needs this country. Just like, folks, I need you in this audience. Every year at Christmastime is when I really get thankful, and I count my lucky stars and my blessings for the fact that we're here 25 years. You people have no idea what you have meant to me and my family, and I can't ever repay you or thank you enough for it.
But I do thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
RUSH: Thank you again, folks. It's been fabulous, and the best is still ahead of us. See you back here on January 3rd. Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year's Eve.
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0.47615 | <urn:uuid:c98ed919-1e0b-47f7-a921-ae290572ef8c> | en | 0.958865 | Server Reboot Wednesday: Your Computer's Just Not That Into You Edition
This from our IT maestro Paul Jensen...
As the computer age marches on, we jaded users tend to think of our computers as nothing more than boxes full of wires, chips and flashing lights. We forget that amidst the circuitry, computers have feelings too. This came up yesterday during a routine call. I was fixing an email problem for one of our employees whose name I won't mention here. "Paul," she said, sitting at her desk in her office next to Kenny's, "Why does my computer hate me?"
Good question, mystery employee. Let's find out together...
First off, in my years of IT work, I have found most computers don't really hate you - they just don't know you. Sure, you sit banging away at the keyboard day in and day out, but we rarely stop to think about our relationship with our computers. They're like people, people: treat a computer with respect, dignity and care, and computers respond in kind. The reverse is true as well - treat a computer badly, and they will turn on you like a cornered dog in a butcher shop.
A few common causes of computer hate:
1) They're Overworked - Computers live to please their owners, but even the newest, fastest computer has its limits. Let's see - you're downloading video, streaming audio, trying to attach a large PDF to an e-mail, watching a slide show on the Weekly website, have twenty Firefox tabs going, and you're cursing your computer for being a little slow? That's just cruel. Your computer is dancing as fast as it can. If your PC was a 1950s housewife, she'd be on her second Valium...or on her second torrid affair with the young McCormick boy across the street.
2) Puffy Stickers - Nothing will crash a hard drive faster that cutesy little stickers adorning the monitor. You may think they improve the look of your computer, but how would you like it if someone made you over by adhering puffy bird and clown stickers to your face? I know the answer to that one - you wouldn't like it at all. Save the stickers for your high school Trapper Keeper.
3) Jealousy - Oh, look! You've plastered the side of your computer chasis with photos of friends, family members, loved ones, that guy/girl you met at Ozzie's after five Irish Car Bombs, some hot celebrity photo from US Weekly etc. So where's the photo of your computer? You know, the computer that's with you eight or more hours a day, five or more days a week, working, slaving, being your pal and confidante when you don't even deserve its love? Computers get jealous, and jealous computers get even.
Now, what can you do to prevent computer hate? Three easy steps:
1) Names - Have you taken the time to name your computer? I'm not talking about its given name (Dell, HP, IBM) or what you call it when you're angry ("piece of shit" is popular). I'm talking about a nickname, a term of endearment - a little moniker to let it know that it is cared for and loved. For example, I have named my laptop Thor, God of Thunder. I believe giving it such a strong name empowers it, urges it to work harder and faster, and so far I've had very few problems. (Note: don't give your computer an ironic, "Little John"-type of name, like "Slow Bastard." Computers don't do irony.)
2) Go On a Date - My laptop Thor and I are inseparable. We go to lunch together, dinner sometimes, rent a movie, even a couple of trips to the beach (tricky, 'cause Thor doesn't like the sand.) You don't want to be couped up in your office all day, and neither does your computer. For those of you who don't have laptops, invest in a hand cart, red wagon and/or used baby stroller to take your PC out. Also: a really long extension cord.
3) Treat Your Computer to a Reboot - Giving your computer the updates and reboots it needs shows you care. A reboot is kind of a day spa for computers - it can kick back, relax, and let the complicated world of integrated chips and spyware slip away. A reboot once a week can do wonders for your relationship. Since tonight is Server Reboot Wednesday, why not treat your computer to a nice gentle reboot? Simply close all your programs, click Start > Shut Down and Restart. It's that easy. That little whirring sound you hear coming from your computer as it shuts down? That's the sound of love.*
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0.055212 | <urn:uuid:8997e483-c1ec-49a6-91e5-2af3a59a9157> | en | 0.979683 | The Spurgeon Archive
The New Park Street Pulpit
Final Perseverance
A Sermon
(No. 75)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 23, 1856, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
HERE are some spots in Europe which have been the scenes of frequent warfare, as for instance, the kingdom of Belgium, which might be called the battle field of Europe. War has raged over the whole of Europe, but in some unhappy spots, battle after battle has been fought. So there is scarce a passage of Scripture which has not been disputed between the enemies of truth and the upholders of it; but this passage, with one or two others, has been the special subject of attack. This is one of the texts which have been trodden under the feet of controversy; and there are opinions upon it as adverse as the poles, some asserting that it means one thing, and some declaring that it means another. We think that some of them approach somewhat near the truth; but others of them desperately err from the mind of the Spirit. We come to this passage ourselves with the intention to read it with the simplicity of a child, and whatever we find therein to state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we have hitherto held, we are prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one passage of Scripture.
Looking at the scope of the whole passage, it appears to us that the Apostle wished to push the disciples on. There is a tendency in the human mind to stop short of the heavenly mark. As soon as ever we have attained to the first principles of religion, have passed through baptism, and understand the resurrection of the dead, there is a tendency in us to sit still; to say, "I have passed from death unto life; here I may take my stand and rest;" whereas, the Christian life was intended not to be a sitting still, but a race, a perpetual motion. The Apostle, therefore endeavours to urge the disciples forward, and make them run with diligence the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus. He tells them that it is not enough to have on a certain day, passed through a glorious change—to have experienced at a certain time, a wonderful operation of the Spirit; but he teaches them it is absolutely necessary that they should have the Spirit all their lives—that they should, as long as they live, be progressing in the truth of God. In order to make them persevere, if possible, he shows them that if they do not, they must, most certainly be lost; for there is no other salvation but that which God has already bestowed on them, and if that does not keep them, carry them forward, and present them spotless before God, there cannot be any other. For it is impossible, he says, if ye be once enlightened, and then fall away, that ye should ever be renewed again unto repentance.
We shall, this morning, answer one or two questions. The first question will be, Who are the people here spoken? Are they true Christians or not? Secondly, What is meant by falling away? And thirdly, What is intended, when it is asserted, that it is impossible to renew them to repentance?
I. First, then, we answer the question, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF? If you read Dr. Gill, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert that these persons are not Christians. They say, that enough is said here to represent a man who is a Christian externally, but not enough to give the portrait of a true believer. Now, it strikes me they would not have said this if they had had some doctrine to uphold; for a child, reading this passage, would say, that the persons intended by it must be Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended to describe Christians, I do not see that he could have used more explicit terms than there are here. How can a man be said to be enlightened, and to taste of the heavenly gift, and to be made partaker of the Holy Ghost, without being a child of God? With all deference to these learned doctors, and I admire and love them all, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to be a little warped when they said that; and I think I shall be able to show that none but true believers are here described.
First, they are spoken of as having been once enlightened. This refers to the enlightening influence of God's Spirit, poured into the soul at the time of conviction, when man is enlightened with regard to his spiritual state, shown how evil and bitter a thing it is to sin against God, made to feel how utterly powerless he is to rise from the grave of his corruption, and is further enlightened to see, that "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified," and to behold Christ on the cross, as the sinner's only hope. The first work of grace is to enlighten the soul. By nature we are entirely dark; the Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution, and, in due time, revealing also Jesus Christ, so that in his light we may see light. I cannot consider a man truly enlightened unless he is a child of God. Does not the term indicate a person taught of God? It is not the whole of Christian experience; but is it not a part?
Having enlightened us, as the text says, the next thing that God grants to us is a taste of the heavenly gift, by which we understand, the heavenly gift of salvation, including the pardon of sin, justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and all those gifts and graces, which in the earlier dawn of spiritual life convey salvation. All true believers have tasted of the heavenly gift. It is not enough for a man to be enlightened; the light may glare upon his eyeballs, and yet he may die; he must taste, as well as see that the Lord is good. It is not enough to see that I am corrupt; I must taste that Christ is able to remove my corruption. It is not enough for me to know that he is the only Saviour; I must taste of his flesh and of his blood, and have a vital union with him. We do think that when a man has been enlightened and has had an experience of grace, he is a Christian; and whatever those great divines might hold, we cannot think that the Holy Spirit would describe an unregenerate man as having been enlightened, and as having tasted of the heavenly gift. No, my brethren, if I have tasted of the heavenly gift, then that heavenly gift is mine; if I have had ever so short an experience of my Saviour's love, I am one of his; if he has brought me into the green pastures, and made me taste of the still waters and the tender grass, I need not fear as to whether I am really a child of God.
Then the Apostle gives a further description, a higher state of grace: sanctification by participation of the Holy Ghost. It is a peculiar privilege to believers, after their first tasting of the heavenly gift, to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost. He is an indwelling Spirit; he dwells in the hearts, and souls, and minds of men; he makes this mortal flesh his home; he makes our soul his palace, and there he rests; and we do assert (and we think, on the authority of Scripture), that no man can be a partaker of the Holy Ghost, and yet be unregenerate. Where the Holy Ghost dwells there must be life; and if I have participation with the Holy Ghost, and fellowship with him, then I may rest assured that my salvation has been purchased by the blood of the Saviour. Thou need'st not fear, beloved; if thou has the Holy Ghost, thou hast that which ensures thy salvation; if thou, by an inward communion, canst participate in his Spirit, and if by a perpetual indwelling the Holy Ghost rests in thee, thou art not only a Christian, but thou hast arrived at some maturity in and by grace. Thou hast gone beyond mere enlightenment: thou hast passed from the bare taste—thou hast attained to a positive feast, and a partaking of the Holy Ghost.
Lest there should be any mistake, however, about the persons being children of God, the Apostle goes to a further stage of grace. They "have tasted the good word of God." Now, I will venture to say there are some good Christian people here who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have never "tasted the good word of God." I mean by that, that they are really converted, have tasted the heavenly gift, but have not grown so strong in grace as to know the sweetness, the richness, and fatness of the very word that saves them. They have been saved by the word, but they have not come yet to realize, and love, and feed upon the word as many others have. It is one thing for God to work a work of grace in the soul, it is quite another thing for God to show us that work; it is one thing for the word to work in us—it is another thing for us really and habitually to relish, and taste, and rejoice in that word. Some of my hearers are true Christians; but they have not got to that stage wherein they can love election, and suck it down as a sweet morsel, wherein they can take the great doctrines of grace, and feed upon them. But these people had. They had tasted the good word of God, as well as received the good gift: they had attained to such a state, that they had loved the word, had tasted, and feasted upon it. It was the man of their right hand; they had counted it sweeter than honey—ay, sweeter than the droppings of the honeycomb. They had "tasted the good word of God." I say again, if these people be not believers—who are?
And they had gone further still. They had attained the summit of piety. They had received "the powers of the world to come." Not miraculous gifts, which are denied us in these days, but all those powers with which the Holy Ghost endows a Christian. And what are they? Why, there is the power of faith, which commands even the heavens themselves to rain, and they rain, or stops the bottles of heaven, that they rain not. There is the power of prayer, which puts a ladder between earth and heaven, and bids angels walk up and down, to convey our wants to God, and bring down blessings from above. There is the power with which God girds his servant when he speaks by inspiration, which enables him to instruct others, and lead them to Jesus; and whatever other power there may be—the power of holding communion with God, or the power of patient waiting for the Son of Man—they were possessed by these individuals. They were not simply children, but they were men; they were not merely alive, but they were endued with power; they were men, whose muscles were firmly set, whose bones were strong; they had become giants in grace, and had received not only the light, but the power also of the world to come. These, we say, whatever may be the meaning of the text, must have been, beyond a doubt, none other than true and real Christians.
II. And now we answer the second question, WHAT IS MEANT BY FALLING AWAY?
We must remind our friends, that there is a vast distinction between falling away and falling. It is nowhere said in Scripture, that if a man fall he cannot be renewed; on the contrary, "the righteous falleth seven times, but he riseth up again;" and however many times the child of God doth fall, the Lord still holdeth the righteous; yea, when our bones are broken, he bindeth up our bones again, and setteth us once more upon a rock. He saith, "Return, ye backsliding children of men; for I am married unto you;" and if the Christian do backslide ever so far, still Almighty mercy cries, "Return, return, return, and seek an injured Father's heart." He still calls his children back again. Falling is not falling away. Let me explain the difference; for a man who falls may behave just like a man who falls away; and yet there is a great distinction between the two. I can use no better illustration than the distinction between fainting and dying. There lies a young creature; she can scarcely breathe; she cannot herself, lift up her hand, and if lifted up by any one else, it falls. She is cold and stiff; she is faint, but not dead. There is another one, just as cold and stiff as she is, but there is this difference—she is dead. The Christian may faint, and may fall down in a faint too, and some may pick him up, and say he is dead; but he is not. If he fall, God will lift him up again; but if he fall away, God himself cannot save him. For it is impossible, if the righteous fall away, "to renew them again unto repentance."
Moreover, to fall away is not to commit sin. under a temporary surprise and temptation. Abraham goes to Egypt; he is afraid that his wife will be taken away from him, and he says, "She is my sister." That was a sin under a temporary surprise—a sin, of which, by-and-by, he repented, and God forgave him. Now that is falling; but it is not falling away. Even Noah might commit a sin, which has degraded his memory even till now, and shall disgrace it to the latest time; but doubtless, Noah repented, and was saved by sovereign grace. Noah fell, but Noah did not fall away. A Christian may go astray once, and speedily return again; and though it is a sad, and woeful, and evil thing to be surprised into a sin, yet there is a great difference between this and the sin which would be occasioned by a total falling away from grace.
Nor can a man who commits a sin, which is not exactly a surprise, be said to fall away. I believe that some Christian men—(God forbid that we should say much of it!—let us cover the nakedness of our brother with a cloak.) but I do believe that there are some Christians who, for a period of time, have wandered into sin, and yet have not positively fallen away. There is that black case of David—a case which has puzzled thousands. Certainly for some months, David lived without making a public confession of his sin, but, doubtless, he had achings of heart, for grace had not ceased its work: there was a spark among the ashes that Nathan stirred up, which showed that David was not dead, or else the match which the prophet applied would not have caught light so readily. And so, beloved, you may have wandered into sin for a time, and gone far from God; and yet you are not the character here described, concerning whom it is said, that it is impossible you should be saved; but, wanderer though you be, you are your father's son still, and mercy cries, "Repent, repent; return unto your first husband, for then it was better with you than it is now. Return, O wanderer, return."
Again, falling away is not even a giving up of profession. Some will say, "Now there is So-and-so; he used to make a profession of Christianity, and now he denies it, and what is worse, he dares to curse and swear, and says that he never knew Christ at all. Surely he must be fallen away." My friend, he has fallen, fallen fearfully, and fallen woefully; but I remember a case in Scripture of a man who denied his Lord and Master before his own face. You remember his name; he is an old friend of yours—our friend Simon Peter! he denied him with oaths and curses, and said, "I say unto thee that I know not the man." And yet Jesus looked on Simon. He had fallen, but he had not fallen away; for, only two or three days after that, there was Peter at the tomb of his Master, running there to meet his Lord, to be one of the first to find him risen. Beloved, you may even have denied Christ by open profession, and yet if you repent there is mercy for you. Christ has not cast you away, you shall repent yet. You have not fallen away. If you had, I might not preach to you; for it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be renewed again unto repentance.
But some one says, "What is falling away?" Well, there never has been a case of it yet, and therefore I cannot describe it from observation; but I will tell you what I suppose it is. To fall away, would be for the Holy Spirit entirely to go out of a man—for his grace entirely to cease; not to lie dormant, but to cease to be—for God, who has begun a good work, to leave off doing it entirely—to take his hand completely and entirely away, and say, "There, man! I have half saved thee; now I will damn thee." That is what falling away is. It is not to sin temporarily. A child may sin against his father, and still be alive; but falling away is like cutting the child's head off clean. Not falling merely, for then our Father could pick us up, but being dashed down a precipice, where we are lost for ever. Falling away would involved God's grace changing its living nature. God's immutability becoming variable, God's faithfulness becoming changeable, and God, himself being undeified; for all these things falling away would necessitate.
III. But if a child of God could fall away, and grace could cease in a man's heart—now comes the third question—Paul says, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE RENEWED. What did the Apostle mean? One eminent commentator says, he meant that it would be very hard. It would be very hard, indeed, for a man who fell away, to be saved. But we reply, "My dear friend, it does not say anything about its being very hard; it says it is impossible, and we say that it would be utterly impossible, if such a case as is supposed were to happen; impossible for man, and also impossible for God; for God hath purposed that he never will grant a second salvation to save those whom the first salvation hath failed to deliver. Methinks, however, I hear some one say, "It seems to me that it is possible for some such to fall away," because it says, "It is impossible, if they shall fall away, to renew them again into repentance." Well, my friend, I will grant you your theory for a moment. You are a good Christian this morning; let us apply it to yourself, and see how you will like it. You have believed in Christ, and committed your soul to God, and you think, that in some unlucky hour you may fall entirely away. Mark you, if you come to me and tell me that you have fallen away, how would you like me to say to you, "My friend, you are as much damned as the devil in hell! for it is impossible to renew you to repentance?" "Oh! no, sir," you would say, "I will repent again and join the Church." That is just the Arminian theory all over; but it is not in God's Scripture. If you once fall away, you are as damned as any man who suffereth in the gulf for ever. And yet we have heard a man talk about people being converted three, four, and five times, and regenerated over and over again. I remember a good man (I suppose he was) pointing to a man who was walking along the street, and saying, "That man has been born again three times, to my certain knowledge." I could mention the name of the individual, but I refrain from doing so. "And I believe he will fall again," said he, "he is so much addicted to drinking, that I do not believe the grace of God will do anything for him, unless he becomes a teetotaller." Now, such men cannot read the Bible; because in case their members do positively fall away, here it is stated, as a positive fact, that it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. But I ask my Arminian friend, does he not believe that as long as there is life there is hope? "Yes," he says:
"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."
Well, that is not very consistent, to say this in the very next breath to that with which you tell us that there are some people who fall away, and consequently fall into such a condition, that they cannot be saved. I want to know how you make these two things fit each other; I want you to make these two doctrines agree; and until some enterprising individual will bring the north pole, and set it on the top of the south, I cannot tell how you will accomplish it. The fact is you are quite right in saying, "While there is life there is hope;" but you are wrong in saying that any individual ever did fall into such a condition, that it was impossible for him to be saved.
We come now to do two things: first, to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away, he cannot be saved; and, secondly, to improve the doctrine, or to show its use,
I. Then I am going to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away—not fall, for you understand how I have explained that; but if a Christian cease to be a child of God, and if grace die out in his heart—he is then beyond the possibility of salvation, and it is impossible for him ever to be renewed. Let me show you why. First, it is utterly impossible, if you consider the work which has already broken down. When men have built bridges across streams, if they have been built of the strongest material and in the most excellent manner, and yet the foundation has been found so bad that none will stand, what do they say? Why, "We have already tried the best which engineering or architecture has taught us; the best has already failed; we know nothing that can exceed what has been tried; and we do therefore feel, that there remains no possibility of ever bridging that stream, or ever running a line of railroad across this bog, or this morass, for we have already tried what is acknowledged to be the best scheme." As the apostle says, "These people have been once enlightened; they have had once the influence of the Holy Spirit, revealing to them their sin: what now remains to be tried. They have been once convinced—is there anything superior to conviction?" Does the Bible promise that the poor sinner shall have anything over and above the conviction of his sin to make him sensible of it? Is there anything more powerful than the sword of the Spirit? That has not pierced the man's heart; is there anything else which will do it? Here is a man who has been under the hammer of God's law; but that has not broken his heart; can you find anything stronger? The lamp of God's spirit has already lit up the caverns of his soul: if that be not sufficient, where will you borrow another? Ask the sun, has he a lamp more bright than the illumination of the Spirit! Ask the stars, have they a light more brilliant than the light of the Holy Ghost? Creation answers no. If that fails, then there is nothing else. These people, moreover, had tasted the heavenly gift; and though they had been pardoned and justified, yet pardon through Christ and justification were not enough (on this supposition) to save them. How else can they be saved? God has cast them away; after he has failed in saving them by these, what else can deliver them? Already they have tasted of the heavenly gift: is there a greater mercy for them? Is there a brighter dress than the robe of Christ's righteousness? Is there a more efficacious bath than that "fountain filled with blood?" No. All the earth echoes, "No." If the one has failed, what else does there remain?
These persons, too, have been partakers of the Holy Ghost; if that fail, what more can we give them? If, my hearer, the Holy Ghost dwells in your soul, and that Holy Ghost does not sanctify you and keep you to the end, what else can be tried? Ask the blasphemer whether he knows a being, or dares to suppose a being superior to the Holy Spirit! Is there a being greater than Omnipotence? Is there a might greater than that which dwells in the believer's new-born heart? And if already the Holy Spirit hath failed, O, heavens! tell us where we can fight aught that can excel his might? If that be ineffectual, what next is to be essayed? These people, too, had "tasted the good Word of Life;" they had loved the doctrines of grace; those doctrines had entered into their souls, and they had fed upon them. What new doctrines shall be preached to them? Prophet of ages! where whilt thou find another system of divinity? Who shall we have? Shall we raise up Moses from the tomb? shall we fetch up all the ancient seers, and bid them prophecy? If, then, there is only one doctrine that is true, and if these people have fallen away after receiving that, how can they be saved?
Again, these people, according to the text, have had "the powers of the world to come." They have had power to conquer sin—power in faith, power in prayer, power of communion; with what greater power shall they be endowed? This has already failed; what next can be done? O ye angels! answer, what next! What other means remain? What else can avail, if already the great things of salvation have been defeated? What else shall now be attempted? He hath been once saved; but yet it is supposed that he is lost. How, then, can he now be saved? Is there a supplementary salvation? is there something that shall overtop Christ, and be a Christ where Jesus is defeated.
And then the apostle says, that the greatness of their sin which they would incur, if they did fall away, would put them beyond the bounds of mercy. Christ died, and by his death he made an atonement for his own murderers; he made an atonement for those sins which crucified him once; but do we read that Christ will ever die for those who crucify him twice? But the Apostle tells us that if believers do fall away, they will "crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Where, then, would be an atonement for that? He has died for me; What! though the sins of all the world were on my shoulders, still they only crucified him once, and that one crucifixion has taken all those sins away; but if I crucified him again, where would I find pardon? Could heavens, could earth, could Christ himself, with bowels full of love, point me to another Christ, show to me a second Calvary, give me a second Gethsemane? Ah! no! the very guilt itself would put us beyond the pale of hope, if we were to fall away?
Again, beloved, think what it would necessitate to save such a man. Christ has died for him once, yet he has fallen away and is lost; the Spirit has regenerated him once, and that regenerating work has been of no use. God has given him a new heart (I am only speaking, of course, on the supposition of the Apostle), he has put his law in that heart, yet he has departed from him, contrary to the promise that he should not; he has made him "like a shining light," but he did not "shine more and more unto the perfect day," he shone only unto blackness. What next? There must be a second incarnation, a second Calvary, a second Holy Ghost, a second regeneration, a second justification, although the first was finished and complete—in fact, I know not what. It would necessitate the upsetting of the whole kingdom of nature and grace, and it would, indeed, be a world turned upside down, if after the gracious Saviour failed, he were to attempt the work again.
If you read the 7th verse, you will see that the Apostle calls nature in to his assistance. He says, "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." Look! there is a field; the rain comes on it, and it brings forth good fruit. Well, then, there is God's blessing on it. But there is according to your supposition, another field, on which the same rain descends, which the same dew moistens; it has been ploughed and harrowed, as well as the other, and the husbandman has exercised all his craft upon it, and yet it is not fertile. Well, if the rain of heaven did not fertilize it, what next? Already all the arts of agriculture have been tried, every implement has been worn out on its surface, and yet it has been of no avail. What next? There remains nothing but that it shall be burnt and cursed—given up like the desert of Sahara, and resigned to destruction. So, my hearer, could it be possible that grace could work in thee, and then not affect thy salvation—that the influence of Divine grace could come down, like rain from heaven, and yet return unto God void, there could not be any hope for thee, for thou wouldst be "nigh unto cursing," and thine end would be "to be burned."
There is one idea which has occurred to us. It has struck us as a singular thing, that our friends should hold that men can be converted, made into new creatures, then fall away and be converted again. I am an old creature by nature; God creates me into a new thing, he makes me a new creature. I cannot go back into an old creature, for I cannot be uncreated. But yet, supposing that new creatureship of mine is not good enough to carry me to heaven. What is to come after that? Must there be something above a new creature—a new creature. Really, my friends, we have got into the country of Dreamland; but we were forced to follow our opponents into that region of absurdity, for we do not know how else to deal with them.
And one thought more. There is nothing in Scripture which teaches us that there is any salvation, save the one salvation of Jesus Christ—nothing that tells us of any other power, super-excellent and surpassing the power of the Holy Spirit. These things have already been tried on the man, and yet, according to the supposition, they have failed, for he has fallen away. Now, God has never revealed a supplementary salvation for men on whom one salvation has had no effect; and until we are pointed to one scripture which declares this, we will still maintain that the doctrine of the text is this: that if grace be ineffectual, if grace does not keep a man, then there is nothing left but that he must be damned. And what is that but to say, only going a little round about, that grace will do it? So that these words, instead of miltating against the Calvinistic doctrine of final perseverance, form one of the finest proofs of it that could be afforded.
And now, lastly, we come to improve this doctrine. If Christians can fall away, and cease to be Christians, they cannot be renewed again to repentance. "But," says one, "You say they cannot fall away." What is the use of putting this "if" in, like a bugbear to frighten children, or like a ghost that can have no existence? My learned friend, "Who art thou that repliest against God?" If God has put it in, he has put it in for wise reasons and for excellent purposes. Let me show you why. First, O Christian, it is put in to keep thee from falling away. God preserves his children from falling away; but he keeps them by the use of means; and one of these is, the terrors of the law, showing them what would happen if they were to fall away. There is a deep precipice: what is the best way to keep any one from going down there? Why, to tell him that if he did he would inevitably be dashed to pieces. In some old castle there is a deep cellar, where there is a vast amount of fixed air and gas, which would kill anybody who went down. What does the guide say? "If you go down you will never come up alive." Who thinks of going down? The very fact of the guide telling us what the consequences would be, keeps us from it. Our friend puts away from us a cup of arsenic; he does not want us to drink it, but he says, "If you drink it, it will kill you." Does he suppose for a moment that we should drink it. No; he tells us the consequences, and he is sure we will not do it. So God says, "My child, if you fall over this precipice you will be dashed to pieces." What does the child do? He says, "Father, keep me; hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." It leads the believer to greater dependence on God, to a holy fear and caution, because he knows that if he were to fall away he could not be renewed, and he stands far away from that great gulf, because he know that if he were to fall into it there would be no salvation for him. If I thought as the Arminian thinks, that I might fall away, and then return again, I should pretty often fall away, for sinful flesh and blood would think it very nice to fall away, and be a sinner, and go and see the play at the theatre, or get drunk, and then come back to the Church, and be received again as a dear brother who had fallen away for a little while. No doubt the minister would say, "Our brother Charles is a little unstable at times." A little unstable! He does not know anything about grace; for grace engenders a holy caution, because we feel that if we were not preserved by Divine power we should perish. We tell our friend to put oil in his lamp, that it may continue to burn! Does that imply that it will be allowed to go out? No, God will give him oil to pour into the lamp continually. Like John Bunyan's figure; there was a fire, and he saw a man pouring water upon it. "Now," says the Preacher, "don't you see that fire would go out, that water is calculated to put it out, and if it does, it will never be lighted again;" but God does not permit that! for there is a man behind the wall who is pouring oil on the fire; and we have cause for gratitude in the fact, that if the oil were not put in by a heavenly hand, we should inevitably be driven to destruction. Take care, then Christian, for this is a caution.
2. It is to excite our gratitude. Suppose you say to your little boy, "Don't you know Tommy, if I were not to give you your dinner and your supper you would die? There is nobody else to give Tommy dinner and supper." What then? The child does not think that you are not going to give him his dinner and supper; he knows you will, and he is grateful to you for them. The chemist tells us, that if there were no oxygen mixed with the air, animals would die. Do you suppose that there will be no oxygen, and therefore we shall die? No, he only teaches you the great wisdom of God, in having mixed the gases in their proper proportions. Says one of the old astronomers, "There is great wisdom in God, that he has put the sun exactly at a right distance—not so far away that we should be frozen to death, and not so near that we should be scorched." He says, "If the sun were a million miles nearer to us we should be scorched to death." Does the man suppose that the sun will be a million miles nearer, and, therefore, we shall be scorched to death? He says, "If the sun were a million miles farther off we should be frozen to death." Does he mean that the sun will be a million miles farther off, and therefore we shall be frozen to death? Not at all. Yet it is quite a rational way of speaking, to show us how grateful we should be to God. So says the Apostle. Christian! if thou shouldst fall away, thou couldst never be renewed unto repentance. Thank thy Lord, then, that he keeps thee.
"See a stone that hangs in air; see a spark in ocean live;
Kept alive with death so near; I to God the glory give."
There is a cup of sin which would damn thy soul, O Christian. Oh! what grace is that which holds thy arm, and will not let thee drink it? There thou art, at this hour, like the bird-catcher of St. Kilda, thou art being drawn to heaven by a single rope; if that hand which holds thee let thee go, if that rope which grasps thee do but break, thou art dashed on the rocks of damnation. Lift up thine heart to God, then, and bless him that his arm is not wearied, and is never shortened that it cannot save. Lord Kenmure, when he was dying, said to Rutherford. "Man! my name is written on Christ's hand, and I see it! that is bold talk, man, but I see it!" Then, if that be the case, his hand must be severed from his body before my name can be taken from him; and if it be engraven on his heart, his heart must be rent out before they can rend my name out.
Hold on, then, and trust believer! thou hast "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth within the veil." The winds are bellowing, the tempests howling; should the cable slip, or thine anchor break, thou art lost. See those rocks, on which myriads are driving, and thou art wrecked there if grace leave thee; see those depths, in which the skeletons of sailors sleep, and thou art there, if that anchor fail thee. It would be impossible to moor thee again, if once that anchor broke; for other anchor there is none, other salvation there can be none, and if that one fail thee, it is impossible that thou ever shouldst be saved. Therefore thank God that thou hast an anchor that cannot fail, and then loudly sing—
"How can I sink with such a prop,
As my eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up?
And spreads the heavens abroad?"
How can I die, when Jesus lives,
Who rose and left the dead?
Pardon and grace my soul receives,
From my exalted head."
. . . or go back to
main page.
| http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0075.htm | dclm-gs1-092580000 |
0.029459 | <urn:uuid:8fb677f5-2cb4-490f-98c9-2cb1041be4a5> | en | 0.906478 | CGI vs. Practical – The Argument That Actually Doesn’t Exist.
Let’s start off with the match lighting the fire:
Got it? CGI sucks and movies suck and Hollywood sucks and everything sucks. Young millennials, come at me bro!!!
But….listen for a damn second while you try to find the caps lock button and take a sip of your sugar laced, whipped cream topped caramel-chocolate-pumpkin spiced-soy milk laden iced beverage that just-so-happens to have a cinch of coffee in it. Let’s actually get to the root of this non-argument argument. The truth is that this whole CGI vs. Practical Effects internet fight is a misstatement of the problem that older millennials and older generations have with today’s blockbusters. Using the ‘CGI’ excuse to downgrade today’s blockbusters (and yesterday’s Prequels – I can’t dismiss them from this because…well….Star Wars) is too easy for older fans and cinefiles to throw out there. But its a misstatement of the real critiques of sub-par films.
This whole ‘Pro-CGI’ and ‘Anti-CGI’ rift has been on my mind because I’m a Star Wars addict and young millennials are up in arms about Disney-Lucasfilm advertising their use of practical creature effects (because they’re so evil and terrible and hurt their feelings so much). To the Pro-CGI internet warriors the Anti-CGI crowd is old and nostalgic in its love for so-called ‘practical’ effects that they can’t appreciate that CGI is actually better and all that jazz. To Anti-CGI internet warriors, the Pro-CGI youngsters are lame and grew up watching too many cartoons instead of outside dodging cars and playing wiffle ball (which is probably true either way).
But both sides completely misunderstand their own argument, which is mostly to blame on lazy cinefile internet blogging and click-bait. CGI is the low hanging fruit of criticism. Its easy to say that a 50 ft. dragon or a green muscled giant or an entire battalion of chrome robots ‘looks’ fake. Of course it does. And its easy to contrast an army of Ultron bots to a singular T-800 crushing a human skull in one of the greatest opening shots ever.
So freaking cool! And it scared the crap out of my 7 year old self.
Yes, yes, I KNOW there was CGI compositing in that shot. Chill out and drink your almond milk latte that is probably responsible for half of California being lit on fire right now. But the Anti-CGI crowd isn’t upset about that amount of ‘CGI’, so set your strawman on fire and let it burn.
What many Anti-CGI internet warriors are really saying, and they say it stupidly, that CGI makes filmmakers lazy – it allows them to use CGI as a crutch and show no restraint in editing an action sequence or going to the lengths of ensuring an interesting and clean angle or long shot. Anti-CGI cinefiles are praising Mad Max:Fury Road for its use of real cars, explosions, fire, and crazy stunts as an example of incredible filmmaking that invalidates the requirement for heavy CGI use. But, as the following video explains, there is plenty of CGI used in Mad Max. Its used to composite together the large number of vehicles and to enhance what’s on film.
Now, I’m not saying that the Anti-CGI curmudgeons don’t have a point. There is a lot of…hmm…..miscalcuation…with a lot of films on what makes CGI effective and when its too much. There likely is a lack of restraint from some filmmakers when editing an action sequence and taking up running time that could be better spent developing a character or exploring an underlying story theme. For a prime example, you probably can’t convince me that the availability of the shiny new CGI tools that George Lucas enjoyed during the Star Wars Prequels run didn’t distract him from focusing on dialogue, acting, camera work, editing, and all the other arts and sciences that go into the creation of the emotional connection that great films make with their audiences. You can’t claim that a roughly 25 minute fight between our two (really, one) protagonists in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was completely effective. Even staunch prequel defenders should admit that the Obi-Wan Kenobi – Anakin Skywalker battle in Revenge of the Sith, was overdone and ‘video gamey’. In fact, there’s a point where I feel the characters had to remind us why they’re fighting because it got so lengthy and drawn out and solidly uninteresting. Obi-Wan and Anakin have to summarize the entire plot in this short exchange:
And this is edited between a Yoda-Palpatine fight that is ultimately completely INCONSEQUENTIAL. Nothing is solved or decided by the Yoda-Palpatine showdown other than they’re both cool and powerful and Yoda and the Jedi are done for in the time being – which was already previously decided.
Although, to give George Lucas an easy out here, the dialogue and acting was so uninteresting in the rest of the film, that it really may have done worse than an overly long fight. Not an excuse, but unfortunately it may have been a choice between bad dialogue and an overly long fight scene. He might have made the right Murphy’s Choice.
You’re so convincing………….ugh dfjaskl;fjdslaj;d
Ok, enough nostalgia. Bringing it back to the present two subjects of this non-debate debate: Jurassic World and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Anti-CGI crowd is split on the Avengers installments – which I’m sure young fans get angry about: “How can you dismiss the first Avengers and criticize Age of Ultron??” Completely valid point. And it’s definitely discussed in the CGI-defending video above. The editing of Age of Ultron is a mess. There’s too much teasing of future films, a sin that Jurassic World also suffers immensely from, and not enough development of Ultron’s character. Now, the CGI is not a major problem in Ultron although it is cited in many reviews as overly used. The editing of the film leaves little time to explore the villain’s character, which is a HUGE problem in any film, hero genre or not. The use of the anti-CGI argument in critques of Ultron is incorrect unless the argument is that ‘time used in the climactic bot-battle should have been dedicated to more explanation of Ultron’s character and character flaws’. That is a better argument – but its mostly an editing problem.
You might also say that lack of restraint caused by the availability of CGI resulted in even less time for the movie to explore the Ultron character. That isn’t a terrible argument and it reflects older Star Wars fans souring on George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. The gist of that argument is that: “The filmmaker is too busy playing with his newly available toys and not thinking whether he should use those toys.” And that reminds me of something………
Boom. Ian Malcolm to the rescue!! This is essentially the problem Anti-CGI curmudgeons have. Just because you have the ability to do something, doesn’t make that the use of it beneficial or even good. Their ‘argument’ is that CGI adds nothing to a bad story. CGI artists will get credit within the industry for good CGI work in a bad movie just like a good actor in a bad movie does. But the movie still sucks.
For posterity’s sake, I would say the Anti-CGI argument is likely 100% overstated in regards to Jurassic World. Jurassic World is a monster movie that falls short on editing – again, teasing sequels rather than developing characters in the current feature. Perhaps some of the cool aspects of the Indominous Rex are ‘created’ by the lack of restraint, but its still the extraneous need to tease sequels that obstructs an otherwise simple monster flick.
So the frustration of the Anti-CGI crowd is frustration with the overuse of a tool in the filmmakers toolbox, but not the mere use of it, or even use of a lot of it. Rather, its the lack of restrain of the filmmakers themselves, as well as the difficulties of actors acting opposite cardboard cut-outs and limitations of camerawork within a CGI-heavy fight scene (See: constant sudden close up shots of Count Dooku, Yoda and Palpatine in multiple lightsaber fights).
It would be nice if the Anti-CGI crowd actually articulated that argument correctly and not spout off anti-CGI rhetoric – its lazy.
But for the Pro-CGI crowd, CGI doesn’t necessarily add quality to a movie – it enables a filmmaker to do things (Heath Ledger Joker voice), but that doesn’t necessarily mean great CGI – like in some of the Transformers series of films – mean that a film should be appreciated more or less because of the quality of CGI. Battle sequences in Braveheart are just as meaningful and amazing as a CGI composite of Wookies, droids, Clonetroopers, Ultron bots or Gungans (ugh). Peter Jackson succeeded in using huge CGI armies in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and completely failed in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies even though those films are nearly a decade apart and many of the combatants – elves, humans and orcs – are the same. Legolas’s antics in The Lord of the Rings – jumping around an oliphant, grabbing ahold of a horse in full gallop – are similar to the ones in The Hobbit – using falling stones as platforms – but we love LOTR’s Legolas and the Legolas in The Hobbit was….just there, an elf of action in an action movie involving a lot of elves – his CGI antics were rendered beautifully by the graphic artists, but rendered useless by his character’s placement and use in the feature.
And it is also not true that practical effects don’t hold up. Take one look at the filmography of Guillermo del Toro and you’ll find not just Pacific Rim, but my personal del Toro favorite – Pan’s Labyrinth, a film that uses mostly practical creature effects to a haunting and emotionally stirring impact. That movie is incredible, along with del Toro’s Hellboy, which won the Oscar for costumes. If a main character can be as effective as Ron Pearlman’s Hellboy, then in no way should prequel defenders bitch about a bunch of practical creature effects being used on background characters. A practical ‘Dexter Jettster’ would have served just as well if not better than the CGI one in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. And you can’t complain about nostalgia-based marketing of a upcoming Star Wars film that many older fans are skeptical of because of the prequels – no matter what those reasons were.
You really need to see this film, simply incredible.
In conclusion, this debate is pointless and its a misunderstanding. Its laziness on the cynical cinefile blogger that doesn’t want to get into the specifics on why well-done CGI didn’t add any enjoyment to a poorly edited film. And its also a useless internet fight over one aspect of filmmaking that is groundbreaking but still only a means to an end. Just because you give Jackson Pollack a brand new paintbrush made of the finest genetically enhanced camel hair, doesn’t mean it will make his particular art better. Citizen Kane, Casablanca, A Miracle on 34th Street, were all masterpieces, milestones, and classics before they were colorized. Let’s keep these things in mind before we react to a lazy argument. We internet cinefiles will all be better for it.
Oh, and the original Star Wars Trilogy was a masterpiece before Lucas decided to put this ugly thing in it:
#HanShotFirst #HanShotOnly
Puerto Rico is supporting the US…not the other way around
Black Sheep Yoda:
“The island is a captive market of the US…the fourth largest market in the world for US products. 85 percent of everything purchased and consumed in Puerto Rico, comes from the US. “
War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony
There is a great misconception about who is supporting whom in the Caribbean.
Wall Street says that Puerto Rico “owes” $73 billion.
The US government says they “give” Puerto Ricans $4.6 billion per year.
But there is something suspicious about all this “owing” and “giving.” If the US is so generous, then why is everyone broke? Why is the per capita income of Puerto Ricans only $16,400…far less than any state in the union?
Consider the Slave
By way of context, consider a slave.
A slave does not pay taxes.
A slave does not suffer from unemployment.
A slave receives free food, housing, clothing and health care.
Described in this manner, a slave should pay his master, for the privilege of being a slave!]
Slaves who owe a public debt to their master
As ridiculous as this may sound, it is precisely the argument that many Southern slave…
View original 554 more words
The Deep Secret, of the Puerto Rican Day Parade
Black Sheep Yoda:
Que bonita bandera…..que bonita bandera…..que bonita bandera es la bandera Puertorriquena
War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony
In the 1950s, Puerto Ricans often found themselves unwelcome in New York City (and elsewhere in the US) as they tried to carve out a place for themselves and their families. Sometimes beaten by their neighbors, or by the police, they were given the lowest-paying jobs and the worst housing in the city.
And so, in 1958, Puerto Rican leaders decided to hold a modest parade where they could march arm in arm with pride through the heart of Manhattan.
Fathers taught their children…by pointing to floats dedicated to Puerto Rican towns known for sugarcane, coffee, tobacco, plantains and pineapples.
Mothers tapped their feet…to the bombas, plenas and aguinaldos that evoked memories of their island childhood.
By 1966, the parade was already a “must do” event for national celebrities and politicians.
Today, the parade is a star-studded TV spectacle with 90,000 marchers, 2 million spectators and a horde of corporate sponsors. Marc Anthony, J.Lo, Ricky Martin, Victor Cruz, and Mayor…
View original 525 more words | https://threebnyc.wordpress.com/ | dclm-gs1-092770000 |
0.025699 | <urn:uuid:bb788a14-e9f3-40cb-aff7-e49e71ea1239> | en | 0.929611 | March 27, 2013
Press Release
ResumeEdge Explains Why These Five Topics Should Never Be Brought Up in an Interview
Revealing Too Much about Your Personal Life and Beliefs Can Ruin Your Chances
LINCOLN, Neb., March 27, 2013—Every candidate wants to make a positive impression during a job interview. That means appropriate attire, impeccable grooming and a positive attitude. However, in this age of social media, the opportunity to engage with others online causes some individuals to take a casual approach to every interaction, whether it is personal or business. That can be a big mistake.
“Interviewing for a position is not the same as conversing with a friend or someone you’ve met on Facebook or even LinkedIn,” said Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge managing editor. “Candidates who make inappropriate comments or bring up hot-button issues won’t be called back for the second interview.”
Ben Kiser, ResumeEdge managing director, explains the importance of appropriate interview demeanor. “If, for example, a candidate makes a statement about being politically liberal and the organization where he’s interviewing tends to be conservative, that could raise a red flag. Not only does it highlight the candidate’s and company’s political differences, it shows that the job seeker isn’t considering what is and is not suitable to discuss.”
With individuals increasingly interacting through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, the line between appropriate and unsuitable subject matter may seem to have blurred. For a hiring manager, that simply isn’t true.
What are the problematic topics that a candidate should always avoid?
According to ResumeEdge, job seekers need to steer clear of these five subjects:
1. Politics. It’s never appropriate to indicate what party you support or how you feel about the current administration, even if you interview during a hotly contested political contest. A job seeker’s focus should remain on the position being sought.
1. Religion. Hiring managers aren’t allowed to ask about religious affiliation and a candidate should never offer that information. An interview is not the time to share faith. Even if the interviewer brings up the subject, the job seeker should remain neutral and engaged in expressing those knowledge, skills and abilities that align with the position requirements.
1. Off-color subjects. No one wants to hear an X-rated joke in a business setting. It’s never funny. It’s embarrassing. Sexist comments are equally offensive. The candidate who engages in this kind of behavior is seen as unprofessional and a risk to hire.
1. Racial issues. Companies are well aware of diversity and they attempt to meet the appropriate standards. Interviewers are wary of candidates who bring up and harp on racial problems in business, society or their company. An interview is not about fighting for beliefs—it’s solely about what value a job seeker can bring to the organization.
1. Problems with past employers and co-workers. The moment a candidate complains about a former boss or colleague, the new company writes that individual off as being difficult and unable to collaborate effectively on a team. Work is about compromise, seeing the other employee’s point of view and taking the correct measures to ensure that everyone succeeds.
Jeff Werley, director of talent acquisition & recruiting for Nelnet, ResumeEdge’s parent company, adds, “An office environment is not your home. Don’t drop by a fast food restaurant before you come in to interview, eat in your car and show up for your appointment with crumbs on your suit and a soft drink container in your hand. It shows lack of professionalism and will work against your candidacy.”
About ResumeEdge
Download Press Release | https://www.resumeedge.com/press/resumeedge-explains-why-these-five-topics-should-never-be-brought-up-in-an-interview/ | dclm-gs1-092800000 |
0.02892 | <urn:uuid:cb186f93-7cf0-42e5-ba5f-96e6b45d175d> | en | 0.979316 | Not falling for that old trick - pg.3 | allnurses
Not falling for that old trick - page 3
You know when they beg you to come in sick making all kinds of promises. You can leave if it is too much, we won't give you a big assignment, the charge nurse will help you. Just for a few hours, or... Read More
1. Visit Inori profile page
oh heck no if i'm calling in i'm gonna rest and sleep etc anything but go to work. Whats the point of me going in especiallyif i'm just as sick as the patients if not worst. I need to be at my sharpest to protect that license. AND when it comes down to it the charge nurse IS an RN too so let her work, shoot if there is no other nurse on the floor guess what? as the RN she is now legally bound to stay hah take that! so yea you called out followign rules, so stay out. wheover's there can deal with the rest of it. The way i see if when someone else calls out my workload increasescuz i'm sharing thier job functions and i work later well cuz there's no coverage. So why would i feel guilty calling out? none none at all and i'm a newbie
joanna73 likes this.
2. Visit Inori profile page
deleted duplicate post
3. Visit amygarside profile page
We are only human, we need to rest when we are sick.
4. Visit tokmom profile page
My last hospital was horrible. They guilted me into coming in even though I told them I had a 102 temp. I was promised just a few hours until someone could get there to relieve me. Like a sick, idiot, I fell for it. Of course once I got there, they made me stay. I had the assignment from hell, and the other nurses were at the desk laughing it up. My pt's took one look at me and knew I was sick.
I did make it to 1 pm on an 8 hr shift. I told the CN to find coverage because I was either going to be passing out, or I was going to leave.
Thankfully, my current employer demands we stay home if we are sick. No questions asked, other than concern.
5. Visit sissiesmama profile page
Oh, yes! I have heard some of the same lines - call in sick and whn youre on the phone with staff member you can hear the heitation in their voice - "... uh,...well, uh...ok." I knew that within 30 minutes I would get the call back - and if I anwered, it would be those same "deals"
- you can jut float, you can work just until the other person comes in (and you that person is nonexistant) - you can have just 1/2 a pt load, ect.
The last time I called in, I wa working in the ER and was asigned as the 11a - 11pm shift. I had laid down and woke up vomiting. I called the supervisor well within the allotted time frame for sick call. He argued with me, then tried to tell me another nurse had called in becase he had wrecked his truck. then supervisor tried to beg and bargain with me.
He finally made me come in, but by 0930 I wa SO sick I ended up as a patient in my ER -when the traige nurse called me, he found me sitting in my PJs in a chair in the corner, shaking and repeatedly vomiting into my trash can from home.
Anne, RNC
tewdles likes this.
6. Visit CloudySue profile page
For some reason, this has ALWAYS happened to me... I call out sick, and right after I do, I start to feel better and question whether or not I should still come in.
7. Visit SleeepyRN profile page
Quote from LTCNS
I was offered a free lunch once to stay over and work 7-3 after I had just worked the night shift, and that was after I had already pulled two consecutive 16 hour shifts. Lunch? Really? I told them I was exhausted and wasn't going to risk making med. errors for a free lunch and went home.
Yep. I turn the conversation to patient safety. "Im sorry, my illness prevents me from practicing safely today." If they try to argue that, THEY sound like the bad ones for willing to risk patient safety.
Libitina, tnmarie, and beeker like this.
8. Visit beeker profile page
Quote from Sirius Squint
That is good, I am going to use it next time! Thanks!
9. Visit tewdles profile page
If you are sick then do not let the "dialog" surrounding your absence deter you.
Staffing the hospital is not the responsibility of the staff is the responsibility of the administration and management. Most of us are lowly hourly employees and are under no obligation to work when we are ill, in fact, we are encouraged not to work ill when we are oriented to our positions. It IS an issue of patient safety when we encourage ill staff to work.
OCNRN63 and wooh like this.
10. Visit RNsRWe profile page
Thankfully I now manage a small ASC and the staff never abuses the concept of sick time---honestly! They JUST.COME.IN. If someone is sick, too sick to work, then she will call one of the per diems to cover her or one of the part-timers, or something....I typically just get a call telling me that the shift is covered.....period. Sounds like a fantasy, but it's true
However, I have worked for a hospital system where no matter WHAT you told the supervisor, no matter how ill, you had to deal with the wheeling/dealing/whining about how YOU are making life difficult for THEM. Truth be told, I know for a fact that they got lots of calls from lots of people who were anything BUT sick: they just wanted the night off, or they had it tough the previous night and didn't want to work shorthanded again, so....they were going to stiff those who were on tonight. MUCH different work ethics than I have the pleasure of working among now.
My tales to share? How about the time I called the supervisor with a stomach bug that wouldn't quit; I could NOT leave the bathroom for more than a few minutes, without exaggeration. So how was I going to drive a half hour to get there and do a 12 hour+ shift?? Supervisor response: Take an Immodium and get in. Seriously? Wish I'd thought of that....uggh. Sorry, I'm sick.
Or how about this one: Telling supervisor that I was too ill to work that night--I was on 7p-7a at that time--and was calling him at about 3pm because I hadn't yet slept that day from LAST night's shift and there was no way I could manage this. His answer: go sleep now and come in. Umm...nope. I'm SICK, which is why I'm not sleeping. Answer: Call me back at 5 (we had a two-hour window for call-ins) and he'd see if he needed me at 7. NO, pal. And then---ready for this?--"Well then call me at 7 and I'll let you know if I need you to come in at 11"!!! Seriously, dude?? I told him "I'm not ASKING to be out sick, I'm TELLING YOU I'm out sick tonight....and I'll let you know tomorrow if I"m coming in the NEXT night"!
Unreal. People who work "the real world" of office life, 9-5ers, I swear think we make this up.
OCNRN63 and tewdles like this.
11. Visit tewdles profile page
Some managers do act as if your sick time is negotiable.
If you do not abuse your time off you should not be hassled.
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12. Visit loriangel14 profile page
My work place's view is that it is their own best interests to encourage sick people to stay at home. They don't want us spreading it to other employees or patients.
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13. Visit NurseGuyBri profile page
You know, I'm sorry that some workplaces try to get you to come in sick. I'll tell you from being the "them", when someone calls out, it makes it difficult for everyone. Yes, I know you know that. I work crazy long hours in management. When a nurse makes an error, she usually writes a statement. I end up with hours of investigation reports, QA's, calls, etc. That's my job. So when I have to call around to get coverage for a nurse calling out *FOR A POOR REASON* it really hurts. It makes my other nurses tired and kills morale. Now here is my long-winded point- it's VERY difficult to know when the ones that call out are truly sick. I always give the benefit of the doubt, but I know there is some advantage being taken. I'm not saying that you should come in sick, you shouldn't. But know that as a manager, sometimes it seems like I'm being hard or mean, but I'm not trying to be. I just want everyone to come to work when they are supposed to; I have to trust your word and that can be hard. We're not all trying to pull one over or dupe you into coming in to work. I'll end on disclaimer- I dont think my words here are accurately portraying what I want to say :-(
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General discussion
continuing conversation from FRR audiobook Against Identity
just to say, there's more than one portal into identity politics
the analysis of identity politics in terms of 'spectres' and reducing unique individuals to instances of spectres has also gone on in, using other jargon, in mathematics, and parallel points have been made.
the two choices in mathematics are;
Questions About the Site..?
Just a few,
1) Are all those who write the articles for this website supposed to remain anonymous? Most people who enter in articles appear to be or use a group name, and there is no author name. What is the issue with using your name in the event it's just information or opinions? (I understand being anonymous for actions and such)
2) Does this site deny or frown upon members of any school of Anarchism? As I was checking it out it didn't appear that way, but just out of curiosity I'd like to know.
Anarchists Vs. Humor
Why is this site so PG with its humor now? Anarchists should offend, not the other way around. We are not fascists and you, the moderators, have been acting like fascists. This is the cop calling behavior people are not trusting with anarchists now. This sneaky talking to the police instead of handling your situations as individuals to other individuals. We should be about developing thicker skin and getting comfortable with using hostile language. This leftist poison you are drink, oh moderators, is leaving you sick in the head.
continuing conversation from topic of the week: old time religion
understanding the values based origins of social conflict
social dynamics tend to be understood 'scientifically' rather than 'intuitively' (intuition informs us more deeply than reason)
'reason' and 'morality' are at the top of Western values. what is required is a devaluation of these highest values.
take the example of 'black lives matter'. many people see this as 'racism' in a white-dominated society.
Articles on Syria
Articles about Syria from an anarchist perspective not being posted
So, what are important social castes of today and how do they affect us?
Yeah. So like, what are the important social castes of today and how do they affect us? By "us" I mean, where you are at, perhaps give some details on how you understand us and them. Are there distinctive behaviors to certain social castes that are generally unique to them? On roles in the economy, what roles do social castes generally fill and why? Is the complexity of one economy radically different between various nations, or can we expect similar economic behaviors on ownership and workers' rights.
The New Nihilism forum topic from the comment section
the fabric of the cosmos.
infinite becomings. the flow of relations.
both Wilson's magnificent essay and emile's prescient
response give to all of us ways for the opportunity express
ourselves and to allow us to experiment and experience different world-views
and different life-styles with a sense of creative satisfaction and wonderment.
how fortunate we are on this site to be able to partake in these explorations.
Submitted by azano on Thu, 08/20/2015 - 09:42
American Post-Left vs. European Ultra Left
I wanted to open this up for discussion. Seeing that the American context of theory has gone in dramatically different directions than the Europeans. I did see others talk about how post-left and ultra left held different things in value. I wanted to discuss just how different the context of European radicals to American radicals. What makes the two so different, but still similar? Why aren't we sharing a discussion with Europe in an International, as there once was? Other countries?
AnokChan is No More
In case anyone wanted to be made aware, AnokChan is no more. Interest was low, though still somewhat steady off and on for the past couple years.
AnokChan was started over 5 years ago in response to the ending of images in comments on Anarchist News as a way to give the trolls a sandbox to play in. The experiment had a peak probably in 2013 around the 3 year mark and expanded into making a wiki that covered memes from an anarchist troll's perspective.
Events listing...?
This site used to have an events calendar. I thought it was worthwhile and wouldn't mind seeing it come back. Perhaps it left due to technical reasons? Is there anywhere else on the Internet that has a good listing of anarchist events for North America? Do you think a NA wide list of anarchist events would be useful?
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About your Search
, in a controlled environment where he's had a lot of time to practice, where he's had an opportunity to sort of think a lot about what he wants to say and frame his arguments and he went out and delivered. but now he's going to have to go out there and defend those arguments, going to have to go out on the stump and talk to people, talk to reporters. again, articulate the vision that john was talking about which he's been unable to do. we'll see if he's able to take that performance out of a controlled environment and i think the onus is on the president as well. he certainly came out swinging yesterday and did a lot of things people wished he had done at the debate on wednesday night, but he's going to have to make the same argument. >> well, the next two debates will be fascinating, as will the vp debate. for now, thank you both very much. >>> coming up, education was a key part of the debate the other night but can you save our schools? we meet the man who is trying to do that. bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. y
they did because he showed them how dangerous and volatile and unpredictable the entire environment in libya was with at least 13 security incidents before september 11, backing up his case. as for his testimony this week, former u.s. ambassador to the u.n., john bolton, toll us today, he happenings the state department needs to listen and learn quickly. >> the state department should not wait for the conclusion of its own administrative review board, which won't report for 60 days, there ought to be an ongoing process to try to enhance the security of diplomatic and other official personnel in the middle-east and elsewhere. >> reporter: at the house oversight hearing, we will hear from sharl eep lamb, the deputy assistant secretary for programs at the bureau of diplomatic security and eric nordstrom, a regional security officer for the state department. >> shannon: thank you very much. some controversial anti-jihad ads in some anti-muslim will go up in the d.c. metro system this weekend, despite concerns about possible violent retailiation. a judge has ruled that the ads have to be
emergency action saying we can add the winter blend. it's worse for the environment, so you normally don't sell it until october 31st. they're going to try to start early. you've got people spending 100 bucks to fill up their suvs. >> wow. all right. very good. thank you so much. we'll continue tomorrow. we appreciate it. we'll be right back on "morning joe." i love this time of year. it's like its own new beginning. it's all about change. the kids are going back to school, it's the perfect time to get back to you. to do something for yourself. a perfect time to join weight watchers. you spend your life taking care of others, why not take this time to take care of you? why not join weight watchers and start losing weight and feeling good, right now? you deserve it. you just gotta believe. [ female announcer ] join now for free. hurry offer ends october 20th. [ jennifer ] weight watchers. because it works. hurry offer ends october 20th. capella university understands back from rough economic times. employees are being forced to do more with less. and the need for capable leaders is greate | http://archive.org/details/tv?time=20121006-20121014&q=environment&fq=topic:%22barack+obama%22&fq=topic:%22syria%22&fq=topic:%22pbs%22 | dclm-gs1-092910000 |
0.030828 | <urn:uuid:555849db-da30-4329-9a63-3e3d99d993c3> | en | 0.824091 | sound decision definition, sound decision meaning | English dictionary
a a periodic disturbance in the pressure or density of a fluid or in the elastic strain of a solid, produced by a vibrating object. It has a velocity in air at sea level at 0°C of 332 metres per second (743 miles per hour) and travels as longitudinal waves
b (as modifier)
a sound wave
2 modifier of or relating to radio as distinguished from television
sound broadcasting, sound radio
3 the sensation produced by such a periodic disturbance in the organs of hearing
4 anything that can be heard
5 a particular instance, quality, or type of sound
the sound of running water
6 volume or quality of sound
a radio with poor sound
7 the area or distance over which something can be heard
to be born within the sound of Big Ben
8 the impression or implication of something
I don't like the sound of that
9 (Phonetics) the auditory effect produced by a specific articulation or set of related articulations
10 often pl
Slang music, esp. rock, jazz, or pop
11 to cause (something, such as an instrument) to make a sound or (of an instrument, etc.) to emit a sound
12 to announce or be announced by a sound
to sound the alarm
13 intr (of a sound) to be heard
14 intr to resonate with a certain quality or intensity
to sound loud
15 copula to give the impression of being as specified when read, heard, etc.
to sound reasonable
16 tr to pronounce distinctly or audibly
to sound one's consonants
17 intr; usually foll by: in (Law) to have the essential quality or nature (of)
an action sounding in damages (See also) sound off
(C13: from Old French soner to make a sound, from Latin sonare, from sonus a sound)
soundable adj
English Collins Dictionary - English Definition & Thesaurus
See also:
sound, sound, sound, Sound
Collaborative Dictionary English Definition
the decision is yours
to say, pronounce, speak
ex.: The child sounded out each word out loud as she read her book.
(of sound) hollow and deep-sounding
Bookish knowledge; knowledge obtained through hearsay, has no sound basis
word used to describe the sound made by the wheels of a train
by extension, it can be applied to other rhythmic similar sounds (for example, the sound of a clock or of a typing machine)
cela te dirait de ?
it sounds interesting or attractive
avec de l'imagination on prend le son pour de la farine
ability to make decisions and take action without waiting for someone to tell you what to do
I showed my initiative when I became a group leader in class.
cela est évident, irréfutable
cela est évident, irréfutable
Or sign up in the traditional way
• Create your own vocabulary list
• Contribute to the Collaborative Dictionary
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need advice
bernadettebanks posted:
I have stage two kidney disease and have been on a diet so it does not get any worse, and have not had any alcohol. But this Saturday I had a few drinks, Sunday morning i woke up in pain, my right kidney, also had a huge bruise over the area also. It is now Monday and I'm still in pain. There is no blood in my urine, still alot of pain. Not sure what to do...should I see my doctor or wait to see if it goes away on it's own...
P.S. no i did not fall
john-skpt responded:
It's hard to conceive of chronic renal disease of any sort being the direct cause of bleeding or bruising.
What might be going on is that your hemoglobin and hematocrit are lowered due to renal disease, thus making the blood a bit "thinner" and making a bruise easier. Still, early renal disease does not generally affect hematocrit all that much.
So it is up to you whether to wait a bit or see the doc. But the bruising is unusual if you are absolutely certain that you didn't bump into something that might have caused the bruise. It probably is worth checking out in more detail.
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0.522674 | <urn:uuid:30b42e26-5037-44e1-a112-28f7721f1b9d> | en | 0.955883 | Thursday, December 10, 2009
What Causes Economic Growth?
. Thursday, December 10, 2009
Nothing. And everything. William Easterly reviews an important new article:
Despite Climategate, even a superficial reading seems to indicate that there is enough evidence for effects of man-made activity on the climate.
Surprisingly, there is a lot less evidence for effects of man-made activity on something that actually is completely man-made: the rate of economic growth in each country.
I had this frustrating thought as I was reading an important new paper, “Determinants of Economic Growth: Will Data Tell?” [1]
The paper gives a conclusive and resounding answer to the question in the title: no.
It has taken economists a lot of hard work to attain this level of sublime ignorance. There were three steps in the the great History of Evolving Cluelessness:
1. Economists spent the past two decades trying every possible growth determinant in sight. They found evidence for 145 different variables (according to an article published in 2005). That was a bit too many in a sample of only about one hundred countries. What was happening is there would be evidence for Determinants A, B, C, and D when tried one at a time to explain growth. But the evidence for A disappeared when you also controlled for some combination of B, C, and D, and/or vice versa. (Interestingly enough, foreign aid never even merited inclusion in the list of 145 variables.)
2. The Columbia economist Xavier Sala-i-Martin and co-authors ran millions of regressions on all possible combinations of 7 variables out of the many possible determinants of growth. Skipping a lot of technical detail, they essentially averaged out the millions of regressions to see which determinants had evidence for them in most regressions. There was hope: some were robust! For example, the idea that malaria prevalence hinders growth found consistent support.
3. This new paper by Ciccone and Jarocinski found that every time the growth data are revised, or if the sample is changed to another equally plausible one, the results vanish on the “robust” variables and new “robust” variables appear. Goodbye, malaria, hello, democracy. Except the new “robust” determinants are no longer believable if minor differences between equally plausible samples changes what is robust. So nothing is robust.
There is more at the link, including whether we should think of the growth literature as GrowthGate.
What Causes Economic Growth?
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Plane debris in Juneau for investigation
The wreckage of a Wings of Alaska Cessna 207 that crashed Friday, 18 miles from Juneau, was flown to Juneau International Airport by helicopter early Monday so a federal agency can investigate the flight equipment, the National Transportation Safety Board's regional office chief said.On Sunday, a recovery crew including NTSB investigator Chris Shaver traveled to the crash site, 1,330 feet above sea level in the forested mountains near Point Howard.
Woman killed musk ox to protect dog
NOME - A Nome woman, initially given a citation for killing a musk ox out of season, said she acted to protect her dog. The citation issued to Diana Adams after the July 17 incident was later reduced to a written warning.
NTSB officials examine Alaska crash wreckage
Juneau musher found after brief disappearance
Deborah Bicknell of Juneau, competing in her first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was located Thursday afternoon, hours after officials began searching for her along a treacherous stretch of trail.
Bear shot on peninsula older than first thought
KENAI - A bear that attacked a well-known biologist is much older than troopers previously thought. Alaska State Troopers killed the aggressive brown bear after it attacked 48-year-old Toby Burke while he was on a beach, the Peninsula Clarion reports.
Driver who fled police taken into custody
KENAI - Alaska State Troopers say a police pursuit that ended in a crash in Kenai involved a 30-year-old Anchorage man who had a child passenger in his car at the time.
Explosion at Cantwell gas station injures 5
FAIRBANKS - Investigators are trying to determine what caused an explosion and fire that injured five people at a gas station near Denali National Park in Alaska.
Yup'ik Eskimo fishermen defy river closure
MARSHALL - Fishermen from an Alaska village say they defied a closure on the Yukon River so they could catch king salmon, a revered food in the area.
Northwest Digest
Infant dies when van rolls into river, Brawl begins over a misunderstanding, New rule would make it easier to kill wolves
Weather disrupts search for avalanche victim
ANCHORAGE - Rain, low clouds and predicted high winds Sunday grounded searchers seeking the body of a ConocoPhillips Alaska employee missing and presumed dead in an avalanche that killed the head of the company.
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I've setup a seekbar, which is intended to be used to adjust the transparency of an image.
I've also got two nine patch images (one is just a transparent version of the other).
What I'd like to do is have the seekbar progress set the amount of transition between one drawable and the other. Is this possible? How Would I go about it?
public void onProgressChanged(SeekBar seekBar, int progress,
boolean fromUser) {
//Set percentage of transition between image1 and image2 equal to progress here.
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
As one gets more transparent, the other becomes more opaque.
share|improve this answer
Thanks for the response, but I'm trying to avoid using setAlpha (it doesn't worj for some reason, on my 9 patch images used as a layout background). That's why I've used a transparent 9-patch, else I'd just use one image and set the alpha on that image. – tmalseed Nov 12 '12 at 9:07
Your Answer
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0.019705 | <urn:uuid:b5deeece-cef8-4430-9c8c-b933c9df08d1> | en | 0.965161 | Bears Place 16th At CSA Team Championship
Senior #5 Chris Holter (Baltimore, MD) was the lone winner for the Bears against the Big Green, rallying for a 3-1 win, after dropping the first game.
Junior Blake Reinson (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and senior Alexander Hsu (New Hope, PA) both won their matches against the Quakers. Playing at number one, Reinson battled through a long 5-set match, winning the first, third, and fifth games. #9 Hsu lost his first two games, but then made an incredible comeback, winning the final three games to help Brown put another victory on the board.
Reinson also won his match against #14 Navy, winning the second, third and fifth games. Senior Eamon O'Connor (Toronto, Ontario), the third seed, also won his match by a 3-1 margin. Junior #7 Philip Holberton (Lincoln, MA) and #4 freshman Jack Blasberg (Boston, MA) played tough individual games to push their opponent to five sets.
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0.118504 | <urn:uuid:5e70bda6-1672-4291-9339-b3066eea5fab> | en | 0.917113 | poll: how many swarms do you have?
• Topic Archived
1. Boards
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
3. poll: how many swarms do you have?
3 years ago#51
JVel91 posted...
for life.
I usually just run UAV-CUAV-GUARDIAN
Works good.
Rainbow Dash is best pony.
brohoof anyone? ^-^ /) ? # of Brohooves gotten-170! :D Started Feb. 2012 (Tac-45 <3)
3 years ago#52
3 legit and 4 from care pack
3 years ago#53
Never even unlocked it.
I prefer to use my gun instead of streaks that do all the work by themselves.
3 years ago#54
0, and it'll probably always be that way. UAV - Free kill - CUAV
Proud to be a farm animal until someone tells me otherwise.
3 years ago#55
1 CP - 1 Earned
Didn't use it again though as I didn't have the patience to wait that long to get one and I like UAV - CUAV - VSAT more.
3 years ago#56
I normally cba to change my streaks once it's available and I prestige soon after anyway. Not going to spend a permanent token on it. Got a few in care packages though. Plus everyone always seems to switch to blind eye or hides inside when I see people use it, they hardly get any kills. Highest I run is dogs. Gonna spend my next perma unlock on dogs so I can get some use out of them without waiting so long.
PSN: theguitarist
3 years ago#57
Quit running it after it hit a thousand kills because it is the single-most surefire way to ruin a perfectly fine lobby. The chances of everyone on the other team leaving are so close to 100% that it simply does not measure up to that one 100+ you might get in the legendary coincidence that no one leaves.
Dogs and Lodestar are in the same boat, pretty much. Third row of scorestreaks masterrace.
3 years ago#58
ThugLife247 posted...
that's hypocritical, not ironic. doesn't matter because i'm not a terrible poster since i don't go off and correct people's grammar for entertainment on the internet no less
That isn't hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when you say "I hate people who run high scoresteaks because it ruIns the game." And then you run high scoresteaks.
That "he's a terrible poster" is subjective (based off an opinion) and it's too bad you can't take constructive criticism for your language usage.
3 years ago#59
30 right now. I'm kinda competing with a friend to see who can get the most.
\o/ Administering jolly ass-whoopings everyday.
3 years ago#60
3 for me. Twice on Raid. Once on Hijacked. All 3 times I got a rubbish amount of kills for a 1900 pointstreak, roughly between 4-6 each. I have only got K9 once, and that got me 18 kills.
GT: FixdSwine
1. Boards
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3. poll: how many swarms do you have?
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0.021942 | <urn:uuid:9bd8de4e-b0ee-44df-89c8-e5c5f629f486> | en | 0.936874 |
Best Gaming Headsets for under $100 US?
• Topic Archived
1. Boards
2. PC
3. Best Gaming Headsets for under $100 US?
2 years ago#1
I need one that can work well with the PC as well as the PS3.
I am currently looking at this one
Any other recommendations here would be appreciated.
This is not a signature
(message deleted)
2 years ago#3
I'm also looking for a new mic (one that works on PS3 as well).
I'm thinking of grabbing this one:
Still not sure though.
"Life doesn't run away from nobody. Life runs at people."
-Joe Frazier
2 years ago#4
Headsets are bad, though. Especially Surround headsets.
Head phones sound much better, and ones with good soundstage will give you better positional audio than surround sound in gaming.
This pair is within your budget, and has some of the best soundstage I've heard:
The caveat of course is that you will need analog inputs on your PC to use them. If you have a sound card with a built-in DAC, like any X-Fi card, you will have analog audio and can also have virtual surround sound for movies if you so choose.
Otherwise, get a DAC like this one:
The AD 700's are very easy to drive, and hence do not require an amp. So you should be set with just the headphones and a DAC.
Console war in a nutshell:
2 years ago#5
^ I recommend those because i've owned them for about a year and honestly its the best headset i've ever had, its extremely durable and the mic quality is great.
2 years ago#6
The official PS3 headset with the Razer surround software;
GREAT "surround" sound quality, wireless, works on both platform, long battery life, built in mic that is not cumbersome. Overall excellent product.
FX8350 / ATI Sapphire 7870XT OCed / Patriot 64GB SSD / 3x1TB WD Black / Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 / 12GB DDR3 / 750W C-Master GX / Corsair 300R / Steam ID : PatriBrod
2 years ago#7
I can't help with a headset that would also work with a PS3, but if I was buying a PC headset, I'd buy a Corsair Vengeance 1500 (the USB one).
-What is best in life?
2 years ago#8
PraetorXyn posted...
Great for competitive, but if you're looking for any sort of immersion, the anemic bass won't help out any.
TC, just look at some of the stuff here.
Based on your budget, the Skullcandy Slyr would probably be your best bet.
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0.040472 | <urn:uuid:e9c73b95-1900-4cc7-a92b-0d850b6786f4> | en | 0.961727 | Review by Phange
"Definitely the odd-man-out of the "Classics""
Ice Climber is not a very good game. It never was, and never will be. Through the grace of Nintendo Gods, Ice Climber gained marginal popularity because of its heroes starring in the incredibly popular Super Smash Brothers Melee. Ice Climber THE GAME is nothing more than a very simple mind-numbingly dull action game. Starting as "Popo", your job is to move to the top of one of 32 mountains. On the summit is a pterodactyl that will take you to the next level. In 2 player mode, a somewhat ingenious (but ultimately hindering) amount of cooperation is required. Popo and Nana must help each other from scrolling below the screen (which means certain death) and at the same time jump to normally impossible-to-jump-to ledges. This all sounds fine and dandy, but in actuality it is SO BORING.
Typical early NES fare. It isn't presented particularly badly, and the animals for the most part can be determined from their sprites. The GBA does a fair job emulating the original NES's sprite flickering and scrolling. Overall, Ice Climber is not a bad looking game, and in some respects it's probably one of the best looking games in the NES Classics series.
MAN this game is boring. It has absolutely no merit to its name. After scaling the first mountain, I felt like I had enough. I must admit, though, that 32 mountains is a pretty decent size. However, this game can hardly hold someone's interest through the first mountain. There's just NOTHING to do besides jump and avoid enemies. This worked well in Donkey Kong (nostalgically speaking) but Ice Climber doesn't have nostalgia on its side. Most Americans didn't even KNOW Ice Climber existed on the NES until Super Smash Brothers Melee introduced the characters.
The primary selling point of the NES Classics series is the nostalgia that each game brings. Sure, they're all a complete ripoff at $20 if one would judge them by today's gaming standards, but the point is that they're CLASSIC NES games. Ice Climber simply is NOT a classic NES game. It wasn't even a very good game when it first came out, and age tends to damage even the best of games.
The music is pretty catchy, actually. I could hum the Ice Climber tune for quite a while. Overall its an upbeat, whimsical melody that almost anyone would enjoy. The other sound effects are just standard fare.
This game would be fine as part of a LARGE compilation of games, but as just a single, $20 game for the GBA, its an absolute ripoff. With practically no replay value (and hardly no reason to play it the first time) this game is just not worth the money. Only die-hard collectionists should even THINK about picking this title up.
Reviewer's Rating: 1.5 - Bad
Originally Posted: 06/17/04
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0.106728 | <urn:uuid:66ec4b7b-2987-4e7a-900f-5455ab28b0a3> | en | 0.972549 | PM Won't Commit to Accepting Expert Panel's Advice on Socioeconomic Matters
Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni said main purpose of the meeting was find out what the prime minister was planning, since theFinance Committee would most likely have to approve Netanyahu's proposals.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not promising to accept the reforms proposed by the expert committee he appointed to dialogue with the tent protesters. He would, however, take them seriously, he told the Knesset Finance Committee yesterday.
"I'm not committed to accept the [panel's] recommendations, but I'll take its conclusions very seriously," he told the meeting, which took place at his office. "It's impossible to solve the problems in days, or by pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But it is possible within a few weeks, and I'll do so.
Prof. Yossi Yonah (center right) and Prof. Avia Spivak - Alon Ron - August 1
The alternative expert panel for socioeconomic change at a press conference in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2011. Alon Ron
"Israelis have trouble finishing the month, and the gaps in society are large," Netanyahu continued. "On one hand, my goal is to reduce the gaps and make life easier for the public, especially the middle class. On the other, it's to preserve Israel's economy and financial strength."
Consequently, he said, he wouldn't approve any recommendation that he believed would undermine Israel's economic stability.
Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) said the main purpose of the meeting had been to find out what the prime minister was planning, since the Finance Committee would most likely have to approve whatever proposals Netanyahu ultimately adopted.
But both coalition and opposition MKs took the opportunity to air their own gripes and offer their own solutions to the country's socioeconomic problems.
"Children have become something for the rich," complained MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen (Likud ), who also chairs the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee. "Middle-class children are the country's future, so we need to reduce the cost of raising children."
MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor ) blasted Netanyahu, defining the tent protests as "a deep ideological struggle between economic worldviews.
It's your capitalism versus the social democratic worldview I represent," Yachimovich continued. "Therefore, there's no realistic chance that you can satisfy the protesters' demands, as they are essentially social democratic."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak also weighed in on the protests yesterday, telling reporters during a tour of the Negev that he favored raising taxes on the rich and increasing the deficit, if necessary, to finance a "New Deal." But he said he would also support cuts in the defense budget as part of "a real package deal that addresses all the fundamental problems." | http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pm-won-t-commit-to-accepting-expert-panel-s-advice-on-socioeconomic-matters-1.378803 | dclm-gs1-095250000 |
0.052714 | <urn:uuid:6e7e8ce0-165a-45b9-b239-d064971e988d> | en | 0.947661 |
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock's husband Jesse James 'seeks forgiveness'
The husband of actress Sandra Bullock apologised yesterday for causing her "pain and embarrassment beyond comprehension" after recent claims he cheated on her while she was filming her Oscar-winning role in "The Blind Side."
Pandora: Hoon shoots well wide for top football job
Having recently fronted what has to be regarded as one of the most hapless political coup attempts in modern memory, it would be fair to venture that Geoff Hoon's stock hasn't exactly rocketed in subsequent weeks.
Bigelow scores historic first for female film-makers
In the end, like a well-made film, it all went according to the script: a David versus Goliath battle saw the little guy triumph, Kathryn Bigelow scored a historic first for female film-makers, and The Hurt Locker walked away with six awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the 82nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
Michael Oher: The American dream fulfilled
At 16, he was destitute and illiterate, his father dead and his mother addicted to crack cocaine. Now he is one of American football's biggest stars – and his life the subject of a Hollywood film. Rupert Cornwell tells the extraordinary story of Michael Oher
All About Steve: Trailer Now Available
"The Proposal's" Sandra Bullock, Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church, and "The Hangover's" Bradley Cooper star in a hilarious tale of a woman who, after falling hard for a guy, thinks they're an item; unfortunately, he thinks she's stalking him!
Speed Racer (PG)
Car-crash cinema to make you reach for the headache pills: How could they? The men who made 'The Matrix' have created a computer-game-style film that's so dull it hurts
Matthew McConaughey: Big Matt
Nine years ago, Matthew McConaughey was on a downward spiral. Now he's earning £4m a film – and life's grand, he tells Gill Pringle | http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/SandraBullock?pageNumber=2 | dclm-gs1-095350000 |
0.093518 | <urn:uuid:a83c6b24-76c7-46bd-a95f-634a55e710dc> | en | 0.965616 | The mega-million-dollar contracts of professional athletes have been well documented, and the debate on whether or not these athletes deserve such large wages seems to have no end. If you fall on the side of the argument that's angered by the wages professional athletes collect for "playing a game," then you'll certainly be surprised by the salaries paid to some prominent sportscasters for simply talking about a game. But if you believe that professional sports provides an important outlet for society, then you're likely to also appreciate the importance of having a competent and entertaining sportscaster who can build excitement in a sport and become as much of a draw for fans as the athletes are. Television networks understand the difference a sportscaster can make in the ratings, and that's why these sportscasters can draw million-dollar contracts that exceed the earnings of many of the players they comment on. (For more on pro sports, read Top 4 TV Sports Deals Of 2011.)
TUTORIAL: Economics Basics
Howard Cosell
Maybe the most famous sports commentator of all time, Howard Cosell had the ability to captivate, titillate and infuriate his audience. By 1954, Cosell had built an established law practice that earned him $30,000 a year. But when an opportunity to do interviews for ABC Radio came about that same year, Cosell seized the chance to work in sportscasting and gave up his practice in favor of a below-scale wage of $250 per week. While that initial pay cut was substantial, Cosell more than made up for the income later in his career. By 1985, ABC was paying Cosell $20,000 for each baseball game he broadcast, or just over $42,000 in 2011 dollars. Cosell solidified his status as an American icon by doing the play-by-play for ABC's Monday Night Football from 1970 to 1983, but his infamous arrogance and controversial opinions on the Vietnam War and the corruption in boxing made him despised by many. In the late 1970s, TV Guide conducted a poll to find America's most and least loved sportscasters … Cosell won both titles. Clearly, public opinion was divided on Cosell, but his self-esteem remained intact, as evidenced in his testimony to a Senate Subcommittee in 1986, "I'm a unique personality who has had more impact upon sports broadcasting in America than any person who has yet lived." At least he left the possibility of being usurped one day.
Don Cherry
He's loud, passionate, politically incorrect and one look at his flashy suits lets everyone know he has either immense confidence or severe insanity. Either way, Canadians still voted him in as the seventh-greatest Canadian of all time, beating out Wayne Gretzky and Alexander Graham Bell in the voting. The former coach of the Boston Bruins became a national icon as a commentator on the "Hockey Night In Canada" intermission-segment, "Coach's Corner," in which Cherry passionately opines on all things hockey and Canada, while his co-host/moderator, Ron MacLean, works to keep Cherry's rants on track and provide cogent counter-points to Cherry's antagonistic views. Despite (or maybe because of) his knack for offending many viewers, the "Coach's Corner" segment is an anomaly in the sports world, as it is the only intermission/half-time show that receives higher ratings than the game does. Cherry truly is larger than hockey and the NHL, and The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation pays steeply to keep his services. Although the terms of Cherry's latest contract were not disclosed, it's believed that he received a raise over his previous $700,000 per year contract. (To learn more about sports, see Which Pro Athletes Work The Hardest?)
Marv Albert
One of the most recognized voices in basketball, Marv Albert has been broadcasting NBA games for over four decades. In addition to his work for the NBA, Marv was also the voice of the New York Rangers for 39 years. Most recently, Marv has been hired by CBS sports to broadcast football. With the exception of a "biting" sex scandal, Albert may be best known for his signature catch phrase – "YESSS!" Albert reportedly earned about $1 million per year for doing local broadcasts of the New York Knicks, so it's safe to assume he's making much more than that for nationally broadcasting America's most popular league – the NFL.
John Madden
As a former NFL coach - and the namesake of one of the most popular video games of all time – John Madden's opinion is well-respected by football fans. His big voice and bigger persona make him a valuable commodity for marketing the NFL. Video game maker EA Sports paid Madden $150 million to use his name and likeness to sell its popular football game. In 2003, Madden accepted a $5-million-per-year contract to call "Monday Night Football" games with ABC. That salary is enough to put Madden up at the top end of his pay scale for his profession, but that contract doesn't compare to the $15-million-per-year contract extension that he turned down from FOX in favor of the ABC gig. As a veteran sportscaster, Madden was more eager to call the NFL's premiere matchup each week than he was to give a jolt to his $200 million net worth. Madden retired from the broadcast booth in 2009, but EA Sports continues to brand its football franchise with the "Madden" name.
The Bottom Line
Doctors save lives, teachers shape our society's future, soldiers defend our freedom, and they're all paid less than John Madden was to tell us how the Cowboy's defense stacks up against the Giant's offense. But, until a colonoscopy exam, trigonometry lesson or boot camp can sell out Cowboy Stadium, we have to accept that professional sports have the unique ability to generate tremendous revenues, and the people tasked with announcing and analyzing the top sports have a right to an enviable share of those profits. (For more on non-athlete related contracts in pro sports, read 5 Top-Paid Sports Commissioners.)
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0.938775 | <urn:uuid:489596a3-783e-449a-b78f-5fd9a2943287> | en | 0.929021 | Regional Check Processing Center - RCPC
DEFINITION of 'Regional Check Processing Center - RCPC'
A local Federal Reserve facility where checks that are drawn on depository institutions are processed overnight. A regional check processing center conducts check-clearing operations including paper and electronic, and interbank check clearing. A depository institution is a financial institution such as a savings bank, credit union, commercial bank or savings and loans where the public makes deposits. Due to the increasing reliance on electronic check processing, the Federal Reserve Bank mainly processes electronic forms of payment through credit cards, debit cards and online account transfers versus paper checks.
BREAKING DOWN 'Regional Check Processing Center - RCPC'
The Federal Reserve continuously updates its check processing systems and restructures its schedules in order to meet the demand of check processing and make it more efficient in accordance with technological advancements. According to the Fed, the number of checks written in the United States has been declining since the mid 1990s; however, electronic processing of checks is increasing.
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Any check or draft that is issued by an institution other than ...
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A type of check where the payment is guaranteed to be available ...
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0.034649 | <urn:uuid:fec3681a-f9e9-4bb2-b589-b45b645693c0> | en | 0.978431 | Friday, June 16, 2006
And Another Thing
This definitely proves the power of a buck:
Have you seen all these posters around for the new Michael Bolton album? I was in Boston last weekend and saw them in storefront windows everywhere. Not music stores, regular stores. There was some place called "Quality Meats" or something with it in there.
Now I'm seeing them in New York. People are willingly showcasing Michael Bolton in their window. Is there any other reason besides the promise of cash that anyone would do this?
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Oh, hi, I work for Michael Bolton's record label. I was wondering if I could put this huge picture of his face in your front window."
"No chance in hell."
"We'll give you money."
"Absolutely, then."
Grow a spine, shopowners of America!
Note: If anyone is about to comment to me that Michael Bolton is good, or that "Well, he is doing Sinatra songs...," well, you're welcome to do so, but immediately following that, you might as well turn off your computer, go to the window, and jump out, as your life is, for all intents and purposes, over already.
First Dude That Comes To Mind For Each Uni Number
1 McNamara, 2 Remy, 3 Rick Miller, 4 Doerr, 5 Nomar, 6 Buckner, 7 Spike Owen (also wore 5), 8 Yaz, 9 Ted, 10, Gedman of course, 11 Naehring, 12 Lyons (also wore 7), 13 Billy Jo Robidoux (Valentin came into my head quickly after the "Billy" in BJR), 14 Rice of course. By the way, the other day, saw a minute or so of Fever Pitch on HBO, noticed in the 1980 shot that they had a white guy wearing 14! TJ!, 15 Lamp, 16 also Buckner, 17 Barrett, 18 Hoffman, 19 Sellers, 20 D-Lew, 21 Clemens, 22 pass, 23 Bruno!, 24 Evans (sorry Manny, you popped in a second too late). 25 Larry Parrish, 26 Boggs unfortunately, 27 pass, 28 Doug, 29 Foulke, 30 Offerman (barforama), 31 pass, 32 Lowe, 33 pass, 34 pass, 35 nondescript manager, 36 nondespript coach (Rac Slider-ish?), 37 Lee (Piersall a second late), 38 WSBK, 39 Gator, 40, well, I'll stop there for now.
Try it yourself. But wait like two weeks so it's not affected by my answers. Rules: you have one second for each number. If no one comes into head after one second, you must pass.
Gale' Warning
Tonight starts the rematch of the would've-been 1948 World Series. The Braves, like their former city-mates, have lost quatro in a row. We should sweep them, if only because baseball always brings the unexpected, and the Red Sox look like the worst one-game-back team in baseball right now. But now that I'm expecting the sweep, that makes getting swept the unexpected. So, I'm actually expecting to get swept. (Now we'll sweep!) Did I say that out loud? Oh, no, there were parentheses, I'm safe. The point is, our hitting should be enough to save us even when our pitching is this bad. So, once they start doing that, which they will, and with the added bonus of some better pitching (Theo: That's your cue, buddy!) coming soon, I think, as I usually do, that we'll be fine.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Damn These Things!
McDonough was right. The Metrodome is a garbage dump.
Yanks Lose
The Yanks just lost to the Native Americans, so we're a half game back again. Also, we traded David Riske, lowering the "risk"-related joke quotient to 0.
Whoa, guy, you must be saying, did you just capitalize "Yankees"? Yes. Those lower case days are over as of five minutes ago.
I always did it because I never felt they deserved capitalization. And I still don't. However, for the sole purpose of further distancing myself from the dumber side of Dunbar District, I'm ending the tradition now.
The only reason I had before to stop was to maybe make this operation a little more professional-like. But I thought, What am I, a newspaper reporter? No. I'm some dude. If I want to spell Yankees with a lower case "y," I will. If it's the difference between the Globe asking me to do a column with me saying no to them and them not asking me, so be it.
Now, though, after so much talk of Yankee fans consistently screwing up "your" and "you're," and things like that, I'm finally taking that step, just in case they want to try to use it against me. Remember, never give them an inch, because they'll take 26 bought-off soul-less miles.
But that brings up another point. It's really "Yankees fans," whereas I always say the dirtier sounding "Yankee fans." I guess I have to change in that department, too.
Don't worry, the slander of the classy yankee, I mean, Yankee, I mean, Yankees name will continue, strong as ever. But I'll do it through the meanings of my words, not their spellings.
Note: I, of course, reserve the right to spell or use any word however I want without warning, and to change my mind about any of this at at any time. Terrible job? Ehhhh, NO, Peg.
This Day In Jere History
2005--Jere meets Witch City Sox Girl in person for the first time, at Boston's historic Fenway Park.
2004--Jere writes an optimistic post about the Red Sox that turns out to be prophetic, including such lines as "I'm gonna root my ass off for my team and this year it's gonna be fun right up until the end." and "'s in our hands. If we want to beat [the yanks], we can do it."
1985--Jere most likely goes to Pat's house and plays outside. Probably Wiffle Ball. Or Frisbee. Hey, kinda like his life now.
1981--Jere puts the finishing touches on a successful year in Mrs. Barkal's kidergarten class.
1975--Jere's hearing fully develops within the womb. As he reacts to sounds, his pulse increases. He begins to move in rhythm to music.
Shakespeare Sans Sunay
photo courtesy
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Chan news: He rarely updates his blog, but I just noticed another gem over there. Also, Chan told me this story the other day:
He was over at the park by the East River, which is actually a tidal arm, not a river, and someone had gone over the railing with their bike. Not into the river (actually tidal arm), but just down below to an area between the esplanade and the river, which, shouldn't be called a river (what with it being a tidal arm and all). So there were a bunch of cops and ambulances around, as rescue workers tried to pull the man up, stuck between a rock (the esplanade) and a hard place (say it with me: the tidal arm). As passersby did what they're known for, they'd stop and ask Chan what was going on down there, curious about all the rescue workers, as surely someone was in trouble. Chan's answer to them: "I dropped my keys down there..."
He told me that story while I got an ice cream cone at the Dunkin Donuts/Baskin & Robbins. Single scoop, sugar cone, with sprinkles. Guess how much it cost. Seriously.
Van B Boi
Something seems wrong about the following sentence:
"Thank god Jermaine Van Buren is back."
He's ridin' that Pawtucket ex-pres. The 8 train.
(Ex-pres line somewhat stolen from MattySox.)
Oh, by the way, did I fucking dream this: A Chips Ahoy commercial with a bunch of "punk" cookies chanting "Chips Ahoy! Oi! Oi!"? 2006: The Year Oi Broke? At the marketing division of RJR Nabisco? What's going on here?
For non-music fans, or Matchbox 20 types: click here.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Now maybe we get rid of shithead Tavarez. He can have temper tantrums, make homophobic statements, and pitch shittily on some other team. Hopefully the yanks. Does great on the first hitter, then hits the second, and that was it as far as I was concerned.
The 3-0 to Trot, why did he have a green light? He's the go-ahead run. Take a walk!
This loss combined with Mariano's one-and-a-half-times too wide home plate, and we're tied.
Stupid Tavarez.
Stupid, stupid tavarez.
I'm gonna tell my little funny story, but don't expect too much enthusiasm: So I see these guys all the time on the sidewalk, wearing blue jumpsuits and pushing garbage pails around. Their outfits say "Ready, Willing, and Able." I didn't know what they were supposed to be doing at first, but I think I've figured it out now:
Ready to stand around and gawk at women walking by.
Willing to rotate all the way around to stare at their passing butts until they're a block away, emabarrassing themselves and everyone around and turning our society back to when we were apes.
Able to do this for every female that walks by.
Terrible job, Bloomberg. Get your head in the game.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Pictures And Words And Stuff
Saturday, June 10th, 2 AC.* We got to the park around noon, wondering why the rain that was supposed to stop hadn't stopped. "Any minute," we thought.
Were we right? Eh, NO, Peg. Our seats were down in the field boxes, third base side. See that aisle in the above photo? On that aisle, nine rows from the field. Once a year I buy the best seats possible. I was kind of pissed that it turned out to be for a game in which we could've gone and sat there anyway, because of all the no-shows. (click all these to embiggen)
For an hour or so, we just chilled out under the overhang, waiting. The scoreboard said they would reassess the rain situation at 1:30. Other than that, we never got any updates.
I was effing around with pole/Pru picture ideas. I didn't get a triple double. I got this. Another idea would be to have the Pru hiding behind the pole, much like how Wes Anderson filmed a scene in Royal Tenenbaums with the Statue of Liberty in the background, only to have a character block it out on purpose. (Gene Hackman was in that scene, meaning I've mentioned him in two consecutive posts.)
I took this same shot on June 9th, 2004, on the day of Nomar's return from injury, in the pre-digital camera days. I've always wanted to re-take it, complete with rain and umbrellas. I had no idea one of the people glanced over at me--my head, actually, peeking out of the tunnel--until I saw the photo later. I think I like the old shot better. More cups and puddles on the ground. This one's cool, too, though.
Then we finally went underneath and watched the yanks-A's game on a huge TV. (It was also playing on the scoreboard in center.) We watched the last few exciting innings, including Jeter making the final out. Everyone went nuts. Then we made a call saying we wouldn't be able to make the 6:00 party we'd planned on attending, since it was five and the tarp was still on. My prediction turned out to be true: They'd call off game two and keep us here until they were ready to play.
We finally went down to the seats, a little before the tarp finally came off.
I love this shot of the grounds crew, waiting for the call to charge.
Shoot the curl-style.
A fifteen-foot breaker!
You can tell by the fact that I was ready to take these shots that I was actually excited for tarp-takin'-off action. And not just because it signaled the end of the longest rain delay in Fenway Park's history.
Jack Hank had some business to attend to in the left field corner, and signed autographs (or exorcising demons?) on his way back.
Work your way up: At left, ball girl, Kelly Barons. At right, owner John Henry.
Some actual players, finally.
Manny takes the field, as the game is about to start after we'd been at the park for six hours.
As Lester took the hill, Kelly balanced a little tiny Mike Lowell on her forehead.
I tried to get Lester's first pitch, but the ump and Lowell were directly between me and him. So this is one of Lester's first major league pitches.
Ortiz on second.
A really cool view of three Red Sox infielders in the shift.
A terribly blurry shot of Manny's homer in the eighth. We thought we were gonna win at that point, but then we were stabbed by Foulke.
It would be the next day's crowd that got the walkoff win. That was the longest I'd ever spent at Fenway. Nine plus hours. For having to wait all that time without ever being told what was going on, we each got a free hot dog. Which is like salt in the wound when you're a vegetarian. Couldn't they have added "...or a food item of equal value." Terrible job. It was quite funny to watch the mad dash for the exits after the hot dog announcement. I probably wouldn't have made it to the concession stand in time even if I did dig on swine.
About baseball stuff: Lester did a nice job. Got such an ovation for getting the first guy out. With today's internet society, we all hear about these prospects from the time they're conceived, so all the anticipation can lead to love-fests. Whereas yankee fans are all "who the hell is this guy? Hey, what a great catch! And he's not a hired gun! Yeah, let's start him every day and assume everything will be fine! Start gathering footage for the yankeeography, to air after David Cone's!" Oh, wait, I can't use that as a joke anymore, as there actually IS a Cone hour-long yankeeography now.
I call mark Loretta "The Mick" now. I'm convinced someone slipped him a mickey when he got to New York. He became a different player, striking out his first two times, totally uncharacteristically, and rarely got hits. The mickey has been slowly wearing off, but look at that missed ball at the game I was at, and the behind-the-back toss. He's still a little woozy, me proverbially thinks. Hopefully the Minnesota air will fully cure him.
Pauley will be fine eventually. In fact, after the hit-barrage, he ate up some innings and settled down somewhat.
Coco does that finger-waggle with his left hand, whether batting righty or lefty.
Nixon's doing great as usual in the year we traded one of our best pitchers for a guy to platoon with him.
Seanez is apparently still with the club. Can't we just pick any other guy, maybe out of a hat, to replace him. Maybe I'm not being fair, but I just don't trust the guy, and I don't trust Tavarez, either. It's kind of like how people tell me about all these wins David Wells had last year, but I just can't seem to remember any.
I'm gonna go out on a limb with Clement and say he'll finish the year strong.
And how sweet was it, Friday night, when Papelbon blew the save, but then did exactly what he always does in the ninth to get the win? On the same night when Randy was getting his ass booed at home, loudly and consistently. The ump was giving him nothing, he was complaining and pissed, and the more pissed he got, the fewer calls he got, and the more boos he got. Beautiful. Same with A-Rod this weekend. Boo-Fest '85. Just heartwarming. Really good weekend, is what I'm trying to say. Most fun I've ever had sitting through nine hours of rain and a loss.
*After Championship
I don't know about this Superman movie. That '77 version, well, that was my Star Wars. I was more of a Spider-Man fan as a pre-schooler, character-wise. But Superman, to my family, is almost like a home movie.
I can't even tell if this new one is a remake or a continuation or what, but I have a bad feeling. Someone other than Hackman as Lex Luthor? Not happening. You might as well remake Hoosiers with Jason Alexander as the head coach.
Stand' & Da Liver Poisoners
Terrible Job As Usual, Bush
I just read a brilliant article by Tom Turnipseed.
It pretty much sums up my feelings on the al-Zarqawi issue. When I heard he was killed, I wondered A. if they had a chance to capture the guy alive, and B. were any innocent people killed, too?
Unfortunately, it's yes to both.
They knew he was in that building. Why not just surround it and take him alive? Isn't that just basic common sense strategy anyway? Well, even if it's not, I thought the message we're trying to get across is that killing is wrong. People kill Americans, and they're called evildoers. Americans kill whoever they want, and it's called heroicism, and face of the dead guy is plastered all over the place in celebration. The Post and the News both sickened me, with the big, bloated, dead face of al-Zarqawi on their covers. Inside, it was cartoons of him in hell. I think it's ironic. They goof on the whole 72-virgins thing, but their headline is "al-Zarqawi Blown To Hell." What hell? The one with the stalagtites and fire and a red-suited devil with a pointy beard and tail? They use "hell" in their headline, implying it is truth that this man is now in this place, and then they go an make fun of his "crazy" religion. It's all crap, I say.
On top of all this, a woman and a child were killed in the attack. For some reason, this is ignored by the media, as they're too excited about the fact that a dude who kinda looks like bin Laden got killed.
And the father of a man who was beheaded by al-Zarqawi had some really great things to say, as you'll read in the above linked article.
End Of CabrEra
Sunday, June 11, 2006
I Got My Nina
Nine hours at Fenway Park yesterday. Twelve minutes without rain. A picture or two to come later.
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Location: Rhode Island, United States | http://www.letsgosox.blogspot.com/2006_06_11_archive.html | dclm-gs1-095480000 |
0.046567 | <urn:uuid:62f07216-c03f-44f2-9d54-999ec4968231> | en | 0.932167 | Vaginal Bleeding: When to Call the Doctor
Vaginal Bleeding
Medical Author:
Medical Editor:
Vaginal bleeding facts
• In order to determine whether bleeding is abnormal, and its cause, the doctor must answer 3 questions: Is the woman pregnant? What is the pattern of the bleeding? Is she ovulating?
• There are many causes of abnormal vaginal bleeding that are associated with irregular ovulation.
• Treatment for irregular vaginal bleeding depends on the underlying cause. After the cause is determined, the doctor decides if treatment is actually necessary.
What is normal vaginal bleeding?
Normal vaginal bleeding is the periodic blood that flows as a discharge from the woman's uterus. Normal vaginal bleeding is also called menorrhea. The process by which menorrhea occurs is called menstruation.
Unless pregnancy occurs, the cycle ends with the shedding of part of the inner lining of uterus, which results in menstruation. Although it is actually the end of the physical cycle, the first day of menstrual bleeding is designated as "day 1" of the menstrual cycle in medical jargon.
The time of the cycle during which menstruation occurs is referred to as menses. The menses occurs at approximately four week intervals, representing the menstrual cycle.
Menarche is the time in a girl's life when menstruation first begins. Menopause is the time in a woman's life when the function of the ovaries ceases and menstrual periods stop. Menopause is defined as the absence of menstrual periods for 12 consecutive months. The average age of menopause is 51 years old.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 2/17/2015
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Pelvic Pain and Vaginal Bleeding
Depending on the cause, pelvic pain can be acute and sudden in onset, or the pain can be chronic and longstanding. The characteristics of the pain -- location, timing, duration, etc., are important in diagnosing its cause along with any associated symptoms such as vaginal discharge or bleeding. Some types of pelvic pain may only be apparent at certain times, such as during sexual activity or during urination. Persisting pelvic pain should be evaluated by a physician. | http://www.medicinenet.com/vaginal_bleeding/article.htm | dclm-gs1-095530000 |
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0.594359 | <urn:uuid:ef029076-f89e-4c90-8575-0cb7b0d12c9e> | en | 0.919285 | Definition of:rootkit
A type of Trojan that keeps itself, other files, registry keys and network connections hidden from detection. It enables an attacker to have "root" access to the computer, which means it runs at the lowest level of the machine. A rootkit typically intercepts common API calls. For example, it can intercept requests to a file manager such as Explorer and cause it to keep certain files hidden from display, even reporting false file counts and sizes to the user. Rootkits came from the Unix world and started out as a set of altered utilities such as the ls command, which is used to list file names in the directory (folder).
Legitimate Rootkits?
Rootkits can also be used for what some vendors consider valid purposes. For example, if digital rights management (DRM) software is installed and kept hidden, it can control the use of licensed, copyrighted material and also prevent the user from removing the hidden enforcement program. However, such usage is no more welcomed than a rootkit that does damage or allows spyware to thrive without detection. See Trojan. | http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/55733/rootkit | dclm-gs1-095730000 |
0.018558 | <urn:uuid:13a76789-9d4b-469a-a0e9-02335a018eba> | en | 0.908463 | Conceptualizing men: A transdiagnostic model of male distress
Gateway House, Wymondham, UK.
Psychology and psychotherapy 03/2012; 85(1):83-99. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.2011.02017.x
Source: PubMed
This review aims to produce a comprehensive, parsimonious, and empirically based model of male psychological distress from the perspective of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) that may apply in the majority of clinical situations involving men in Britain and possibly elsewhere.
This paper reviews studies that pertain to male psychological distress. Studies are selected via examination of the literatures around men's psychological health. Criteria for inclusion of studies are direct and indirect relevance to male distress. Studies are examined on the basis of their possible contribution to a comprehensive yet critical model of male functioning, and are grouped according to their neurological, developmental, and cultural origins.
The review suggests that certain factors inform the psychological presentation of males across disorders, and can help predict therapy-interfering behaviours and outcomes. A transdiagnostic model of male distress emerges from existing data and theory containing the hypothesized reflection abandonment mechanism (RAM) that helps account for characteristic male externalizing and therapy-interfering behaviours.
Existing data and theory can be synthesized to produce a cognitive behavioural model of male distress that adds value to case conceptualizations regardless of the disorder involved, and has predictive value regarding men's access to and engagement with psychological services.
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ABSTRACT: Since the introduction of specified diagnostic criteria for mental disorders in the 1970s, there has been a rapid expansion in the number of large-scale mental health surveys providing population estimates of the combined prevalence of common mental disorders (most commonly involving mood, anxiety and substance use disorders). In this study we undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of this literature. We applied an optimized search strategy across the Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE and PubMed databases, supplemented by hand searching to identify relevant surveys. We identified 174 surveys across 63 countries providing period prevalence estimates (155 surveys) and lifetime prevalence estimates (85 surveys). Random effects meta-analysis was undertaken on logit-transformed prevalence rates to calculate pooled prevalence estimates, stratified according to methodological and substantive groupings. Pooling across all studies, approximately 1 in 5 respondents (17.6%, 95% confidence interval:16.3-18.9%) were identified as meeting criteria for a common mental disorder during the 12-months preceding assessment; 29.2% (25.9-32.6%) of respondents were identified as having experienced a common mental disorder at some time during their lifetimes. A consistent gender effect in the prevalence of common mental disorder was evident; women having higher rates of mood (7.3%:4.0%) and anxiety (8.7%:4.3%) disorders during the previous 12 months and men having higher rates of substance use disorders (2.0%:7.5%), with a similar pattern for lifetime prevalence. There was also evidence of consistent regional variation in the prevalence of common mental disorder. Countries within North and South East Asia in particular displayed consistently lower one-year and lifetime prevalence estimates than other regions. One-year prevalence rates were also low among Sub-Saharan-Africa, whereas English speaking counties returned the highest lifetime prevalence estimates. Despite a substantial degree of inter-survey heterogeneity in the meta-analysis, the findings confirm that common mental disorders are highly prevalent globally, affecting people across all regions of the world. This research provides an important resource for modelling population needs based on global regional estimates of mental disorder. The reasons for regional variation in mental disorder require further investigation.
International Journal of Epidemiology 03/2014; 43(2). DOI:10.1093/ije/dyu038 · 9.18 Impact Factor | http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230698789_Conceptualizing_men_A_transdiagnostic_model_of_male_distress | dclm-gs1-095970000 |
0.023745 | <urn:uuid:93444874-9446-4ea5-8409-70712990e948> | en | 0.990309 | Agency says it's still investigating Kansas school
St. John's has settled nine other abuse lawsuits since 2006.
He then was carried outside and thrown on the ground, where staff and students decided to "play with" him, the suit claims.
"They dragged him by his ankles, shaking them wildly, kicked him in the knees, demanded he stand up on his broken legs and threatened to punch him in his mouth if he did not stop screaming," according to the complaint.
The staff and students then stuffed him into a shopping cart and returned him to his dorm room, where he was dumped on the floor. Different staff and students visited him there to tell him he was weak and others were tougher than him, the suit contends.
The next morning Jesse was found on his urine-covered floor. When he couldn't stand, he was then put in a chair and rolled to the nurse's office, where an ambulance was called, according to the claims. Hospital X-rays showed he had two broken legs. The boy underwent emergency surgery to repair his legs.
He spent a week in the Salina hospital before being flown by medical staff to California, where he spent two more days in a hospital.
St. John's, in its formal response to the suit, denied the accusations about the boy being beaten as well as the allegations that he was told to resume physical training.
The school admitted in its court filing that the nurse treated the boy's leg and that he was transported by shopping cart to his dorm room when he was unable to walk. The school acknowledged hospital test results showed he had fractures to his legs.
The Associated Press | http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2012/apr/11/agency-says-its-still-investigating-kansas-school/ | dclm-gs1-096050000 |
0.023419 | <urn:uuid:2936037c-65b0-4fd0-968a-4f84751877d1> | en | 0.953289 | LONGMONT -- The city of Longmont and the Longmont Downtown Development Authority on Thursday hosted a couple of meetings for downtown property and business owners and residents, discussing plans for Alleyscape, part two.
2013 will see Alleyscape construction on the west side of Main Street between Third and Sixth avenues, which will be torn up and redone in the same manner the alleys on the east side were in 2012. Construction is expected to begin in late April and early May, according to Chris Huffer, the city's project manager for Alleyscape.
Along with the installation of new permeable pavers, new light fixtures will be put in and all of the wiring and utility cables will be buried.
The overhead power and utility lines behind the Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., will be a thing of the past when the Alleyscape project for the
The overhead power and utility lines behind the Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., will be a thing of the past when the Alleyscape project for the west side of Main Street is completed. ( LEWIS GEYER )
But the west side is significantly different from the east side, requiring a somewhat different approach, Huffer said.
"The east side has larger public lots and the turnover is greater," Huffer said. "On the west side the public lots are used extensively but they are much smaller."
Consolidating the trash containers will also be a bigger challenge on the west side, he said.
"On the east side we put the large trash receptacles, enclosures, in the public parking lots -- (LDDA) property," he said. "We don't have that luxury on the west side."
It's likely that on the west side, smaller enclosures will be shared by multiple businesses, but those details are still to be worked out, Huffer said.
As on the east side, the breezeway sculptures, Los Arcos de Longmont, will be removed and painted while Alleyscape construction is going on. Huffer said it's his hope that at the time the arches are removed from the west side breezeways the company doing that can also reinstall them on the east side in a different location.
Once redone, the breezeways on the west side will look a slightly different from those on the east side, Huffer said.
"We are looking to try to increase the amount of landscaping that's in the breezeways, while still leaving room for tables, benches and whatever else may come up in the future," he said.
The light poles and flower pots will be the same as those in the east side breezeways. As for the light poles in the alley itself, the ones on the west side will be slightly shorter, giving that alley a more "intimate, pedestrian feel" that better reflects the surroundings, Huffer said.
He said Greeley-based J-2 Contracting hasn't officially been signed to do the west side construction, as it did on the east side. Once the city's engineering plans are finalized, J-2 will submit its estimate. The city is under no obligation hire the company again, but Huffer said he doesn't anticipate having to put the job out to bid.
The $3.76 million Alleyscape project is being paid for by the city and the LDDA. The city's portion of the money is coming from the storm drainage, street fund and electric funds. The LDDA's share of the total cost is $943,750.
Aside from reinstallation of Los Arcos, all that remains to be done on the east side is to finish the southern end of the alley in the 300 block, install light poles in the breezeways and put in some final landscaping touches, Huffer said.
| http://www.timescall.com/news/longmont-local-news/ci_22445130/public-meetings-begin-preparation-west-side-alleyscape-construction | dclm-gs1-096330000 |
0.696477 | <urn:uuid:1fe07ea2-f155-4177-8c35-8211d2e59d30> | en | 0.968974 | Talk:Data Mining Extensions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
i'd like to know which library databases use relational model?
Changed 'then' to 'than'[edit]
I see this a lot, sometimes it seems like an honest mistake, and sometimes just plain .... you know what :)
"DMX syntax is more similar to SQL than MDX." Does this mean that DMX is closer stylistically to SQL THAN MDX is, or that DMX has more in common, stylistically, with SQL than it does with MDX? Please try to approach these subjects as would someone who knows nothing, because that's the target audience (in this case, me). If I had to guess, okay, I would say that DMX resembles SQL more than MDX does. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Data_Mining_Extensions | dclm-gs1-096680000 |
0.037978 | <urn:uuid:0e67c640-aa6f-4710-80a3-41f016995cc7> | en | 0.798812 | Logical Negation Operator: !
Logical Negation Operator: !
! cast-expression
The logical negation operator (!) reverses the meaning of its operand. The operand must be of arithmetic or pointer type (or an expression that evaluates to arithmetic or pointer type). The operand is implicitly converted to type bool. The result is true if the converted operand is false; the result is false if the converted operand is true. The result is of type bool.
For an expression e, the unary expression !e is equivalent to the expression (e == 0), except where overloaded operators are involved.
Operator Keyword for !
The not operator is the text equivalent of !. There are two ways to access the not operator in your programs: include the header file iso646.h, or compile with the /Za (Disable language extensions) compiler option.
// expre_Logical_NOT_Operator.cpp
// compile with: /EHsc
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int i = 0;
if (!i)
cout << "i is zero" << endl;
© 2015 Microsoft | https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1k6w8551(v=vs.80).aspx | dclm-gs1-096730000 |
0.062131 | <urn:uuid:63c99683-bdff-44b2-93de-47e5c054cf54> | en | 0.952648 | Printing press
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The printing press is a machine. It is used to make many copies of identical pages. The printing press today is used to print books and newspapers. It had a great influence on society, especially western society. It was "one of the most potent agents... of western civilisation in bringing together the scattered ideas of thinkers".[1]
Woodcut printing has been done for several centuries. But that was whole pages cut into wood, words and pictures. In the 15th century when Johannes Gutenberg improved the process. He used separate alloy letters screwed into a frame. This way a large set of letters could make almost any page for printing. This process was called typesetting. Each letter was in a block of metal, that was fixed in a frame. He could then move paper and ink over it, much like a stamp. This method was called letterpress. The letters would leave ink on the paper in the shape of the letters, creating text or illustrations.[1] Today printing presses are automated.
References[change | change source]
1. 1.0 1.1 Lefebre L & Martin H-J. 1990. The coming of the book: the impact of printing 1450–1800. London: NLB. | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press | dclm-gs1-096800000 |
0.065465 | <urn:uuid:722a3f7d-bae2-464b-baba-f8b021a55732> | en | 0.963206 | Courtesy Reuters
American Primacy in Perspective
Purchase Article
More than a decade ago, political columnist Charles Krauthammer proclaimed in these pages the arrival of what he called a "unipolar moment," a period in which one superpower, the United States, stood clearly above the rest of the international community ("The Unipolar Moment," America and the World 1990/91). In the following years the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia's economic and military decline accelerated, and Japan stagnated, while the United States experienced the longest and one of the most vigorous economic expansions in its history. Yet toward the close of the century readers could find political scientist Samuel Huntington arguing here that unipolarity had already given way to a "uni-multipolar" structure, which in turn would soon become unambiguously multipolar ("The Lonely Superpower," March/April 1999). And despite the boasting rhetoric of American officials, Huntington was not alone in his views. Polls showed that more than 40 percent of Americans had come to agree that the United States was now merely one of several leading powers -- a number that had risen steadily for several years.
Why did the unipolarity argument seem less persuasive to many even as U.S. power appeared to grow? Largely because the goal posts were moved. Krauthammer's definition of unipolarity, as a system with only one pole, made sense in the immediate wake of a Cold War that had been so clearly shaped by the existence of two poles. People sensed intuitively that a world with no great power capable of sustaining a focused rivalry with the
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0.323014 | <urn:uuid:dbe04df9-1ca0-4a7b-a1f3-657528713520> | en | 0.956622 | archive - go to homepage
Yoko Ono and John Lennon
on the "Feminine Revolution"
There are no two mouths alike. Our bodies, in fact, are an assurance of our uniqueness. But we share our minds and our dreams. A dream you dream alone may be a dream, but a dream we dream together is reality. Positive attitudes create positive situations. Let's learn to aim high in our dreams. Together, there is nothing we can't do.
To middle America who are afraid of youth and the future: Please don't be afraid. Don't try to stop running water. Join us. If change is inevitable, let's change for the better for all of us. Our future cannot be anything but brightness. The law of nature is that once one knows, one can never unknow what one knows. Rapidly, more and more people will be aware. Without trying, the world is heading for perfect awareness - and you are part of it. You are part of the running water. The fenceless and doorless world is soon to come. It's our fear which is keeping the doors closed and the fences high. Please don't be afraid. Open your minds, they belong to the world. The mind knows no pain in the act of sharing, while sharing bread is often pain. Join us! - in the doorless world.
To the hard hats who think that they don't have the power to free themselves from the tyranny and suppression of the capitalists: It's not their power or money that is controlling you, as is generally believed. Their power depends on your fear and apathy. Once your awareness and confidence equals theirs, how could they keep you down? You outnumber them, don't let them close your eyes. I will send to you only in ESP.
To the youth who think they are silenced by the media and alienated from the world: The future is yours. Have the patience of a pregnant woman. But don't wait for the world to reach you. You are the aware ones. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out with love. Love communicates, whereas hatred, in the end, doesn't. Extend your hand to middle America with love. There cannot be a true world revolution without the support of the silent majority.
The world is now split into two kinds of people, and only two! One is the kind who communicate, and the other is the kind who doesn't. Those who don't, believe that they can't because they have no access to the communications media.
But you are the media. People are. Your message is the media not the other way around, and the media does not exist without people. Let's believe in people and their power. Total communication equals peace. Violence is to eliminate ignorance, apathy and hatred. Let's not fight among ourselves. Togetherness is the only power we have.
Water, on its own accord, always comes together. We're all water from different rivers. That's why it's so easy to meet. Barriers are products of our imagination. Why can't we focus our energies on a more positive image? Imagine there are no countries...all the people living life in peace. Imagine. Believe in it coming...sing about it, do something about it, and we are half way there.
Our society is driven by neurotic speed and force, accelerated by greed and the frustration of not being able to live up to the image of men and women we have created for ourselves - an image which has nothing do with the reality of people. How can we be eternal James Bond or Twiggy and raise three kids on the side? So we pass our kids on to babysitters, nursery and high school teachers - three of the most underpaid positions in our society! How can we help but do this when our wives constantly complain about insufficient material earnings, comparing us with Onassis. Or when we are living under the constant threat of losing our husbands to girls on the street with false eyelashes and the never-had-a-baby-or-a-full-meal look. In such an image-driven culture, a piece of reality like a child becomes a direct threat to our very false existence.
The only game we play together with our children is star-chasing; sadly, not stars in the sky, but "Stars" who we think have achieved the standard of the dream image we have imposed on the human race. We cannot trust ourselves anymore, because we know we have not "made it". Because we know that we are, well...too real.
The fact that we are not fake should make us happy, but instead, we are forever apologetic for being real. "Excuse me for shitting, excuse me for farting, excuse me for making love and smelling like a human being," we say, "instead of being that odorless, celluloid prince and princess image out there on the screen."
A professor who lives in a three tatami room in Tokyo (one tatami is a size of a mat for one person to lie down on) says he needs one tatami for himself, another for his companion, and the third for the two to breathe in. "In order for me to keep a room larger than a three-tatami in an overpopulated city like Tokyo, I have to use additional energy to fight for it. Any possession that is more than what you need belongs to someone who needs it. I don't want to waste my energies keeping it." He further claims that there are two poverty lines in this world. One is where you starve, the other is where you have excessive possessions. He has donated his only other possession - his books - to the local library.
In two-thousand years of effort, men have demonstrated to us their failure in running the world. Instead of falling into the same trap as men, women can offer something that society never, because of male dominance, had before. That is feminine direction.
Of course the question will be asked, "What is femininity and masculinity?" The stereotype ideas of femininity and masculinity really have nothing to do with the true nature of men and women. In fact, most people in our society show both masculine and feminine tendencies at the same time. But to a great extent, both men and women have believed in their own myths and have subsequently developed stereotype characters of themselves. As a result, quite apart from what men and women really are, so-called masculine and feminine tendencies do prevail in our society as characteristics of the society itself.
What we can do is to bring out the more feminine nature in society to replace the masculine one which is now at work as a very negative force. We can thus make more positive use of the feminine tendencies of the society which, up to now, have been either suppressed or dismised as something to be ashamed of or even as harmful, impractical and/or irrelevant in the making of that society. Obviously, a feminine society is not to be mistaken for a female-dominated society.
The contemporary society is competitive, logical (inasmuch as the society makes an or pretense of basing its thinking on logic) and power-oriented in its structure. Hypocrisy, violence and chaos result from this structure. We can now change the society with the feminine touch, or rather with feminine intelligence and awareness, into a basically organic, non-competitive one based on love rather than reasoning. The result will be balance, peace and contentment.
We can evolve rather than revolt, come together rather than claim independence, and feel rather than think. Now these are characteristics that are considered feminine and which men despise. But have men done so well by avoiding the development of these characteristics within themselves?
What our society needs now is not the speed born of competition, the invention of faster and faster machines, nor the so-called reality based on rational and practical thinking. The outcome of such reasoning is at best a two- to four- dimensional perception of reality, which is a limiting observation of life.
What we need now is the patience and natural wisdom of a pregnant woman; an awareness and acceptance of our natural resources (what is left of them); and the healthy existence of our bodies and feelings. Let's not kid ourselves and think of ours as an old and mature civilization. We are by no means mature. But that is all right. That is beautiful. Let's slow down, and try to grow organically, and as healthy as a newborn infant. The aim of the female revolution will have to be a total one, eventually making it a revolution for the whole world, since we can never separate ourselves from the world.
The above is extracted from articles contained in the Spring and Summer 1972 editions of Sundance magazine. Although the words are attributed to John and Yoko jointly, they would appear to be written largely by Yoko. | http://archive.8m.net/lennon&ono.htm | dclm-gs1-097150000 |
0.130294 | <urn:uuid:c83c8eb4-f653-4ae2-8a06-01d94bc4c36b> | en | 0.965732 | No friend to families
Brian Moench's "Spray at your own risk" (Opinion, May 5) troubled me. Pesticides harm humans and other animals, but our state government does little.
I used to believe Utah was a family-friendly state; no longer. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is family-friendly; the state of Utah isn't.
We won't pay for universal pre-school, not even for lower-income families, although research shows that makes a huge difference in a child's entire life. That should be no surprise, since of any state, Utah spends the least per student to educate its children.
We talk families out the wazoo, but we don't act vigorously to protect them from polluted air. No heathen, hedonistic, satanic California does that. So it should also be no surprise that we're not vigorously protecting families from pesticides.
Utahns believe we're family friendly, but when it comes down to money (where values hit the road), we choose lower taxes over our children, and being pro-business to the point of being anti-family.
The LDS Church won't (and shouldn't) get involved in political debates, but a little more focused teaching of applying correct principle and priorities would help.
Todd G. Williams
Salt Lake City | http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=56273583&itype=cmsid | dclm-gs1-097160000 |
0.350664 | <urn:uuid:6bd86bbb-05d0-43be-8c5d-eb82e75b8037> | en | 0.982616 | abstract concepts: my definitions of patience, generosity, loyalty, and humility
willingness and ability to wait and/or meet people at their pace.
willingness to give what resources you don't need, with zero desire of reward.
willingness to work shit out if and only if the other party is also.
being willing to accept critique and re-examine one's own behavior/ideas.
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icon: "queer (the Transcending Boundaries logo with the words "genderfree, queer, + trans / never a 1 or 0" overlaid on it)"
I realized as I filled out the national trans survey that the reason why I don't explain my gender to people more often is that I have too many variations from the default that would need explaining, and I don't want to center gender in my identity. Also I don't really have a gender so much as a negation of gender, and few binary people can even grasp the outside edges of that.
But far more central to my identity is wordweaving and thought remodeling: ethical use of language and concepts. I don't use slurs and it hurts me to have them used by others. I avoid oppressive language and coercive language and seek to listen and balance voices. I self-educate constantly. I dismantle stereotypes and problematic expectations in my own mind. This doesn't 'count' as an identity but more than anything else it separates me from others.
more on this...Collapse )
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abstract concepts: my definitions of conflict and peace
opposition of goals or resistance due to the belief that goals are opposed.
lack of conflict. Good peace comes through aligned goals, bad peace comes through elimination of opposition.
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review-by-elements: Octavia Butler's "Imago"
icon: "bluestocking (photo of a book lying open on a table with a bright window in the background, overlaid with a yellow fractal that looks like the sun shining through dust motes)"
"Imago" is a subset of sci-fi, "far-future humans on earth after alien contact." It follows a neuter-gender alien-human biracial person named Jodahs as they mature into an adult and navigate the difficulties of being the first of their kind. It includes themes of: primary motivation of sentient beings (suggesting the options of control/hierarchy versus consensus/learning), the value of fertility, and the importance of place. It complicates questions like what makes humans human? what is desire? What is sex? What is consent? What is a disease?
I most enjoyed the sex scenes, short though they were. They were of necessity not focused on genitalia, which is unusual and more creative than most depictions of sex. I also enjoyed the concept of an organ attuned to learning genetically, and feel disappointed that this was not explored more in-depth. I feel like there were many sensory aspects that were glossed over, but I quite enjoyed the small bit of exploration done of non-human sensory capacities. The need that the main character had for connecting to the environment is something I felt great resonance with.
Content note: possible triggers are the passive violation of boundaries (knowing that if something is left alone it will remove the possibility of choice for someone, but choosing not to inform them so that one can benefit from what they are forced into). [[[Spoilers this sentence: Jodahs allows their mates to become addicted to them without informing them.]]] It ruined some of the book for me.
Characters: The characters are all cis, all non-disabled, all straight. The main characters consist of: neuter-gender alien-human (Jodahs) who chooses to look 'male' and latinx, Jodahs' five parents (male alien, female alien, neuter alien, male brown human, female black human), Jodahs' twin (neuter-gender alien-human), Jodahs' human mates one male one female (both Spanish-speaking and brown), and a few side characters, all brown. The minor characters are interesting and unique. Other than Jodahs, there is little exposure of characters' feelings and motivations. There seems to be no prejudice except by some humans toward aliens, and by almost all characters toward the human-alien neuter-gender (though not toward the purely alien neuter-gender, such as Jodahs' agender parent). I felt that the story was very plot-driven, and not enough attention was paid to developing the characters. At only 220 pages I think it was simply too short and too thin, like a first draft.
Imagination: Concepts I hadn't seen before included a race which can perform genetic alterations with an organ in the body of the third (neuter) gender; organic spaceships/buildings which communicate with the alien race who designed them; sensory arms which function as sexual organs and have the ability to grow microscopic filaments which can reach into the flesh of other beings to inject substances or perform surgery or perform genetic alterations; sensory spots and sensory tentacles which allow for the sending and receiving of information and pleasure; reproduction by the conscious mixing of genetic material in the neuter-gender parent before incubation in the female parent; a race motivated by novelty/exploration on the micro level; desire for touch and sex controlled completely by pheromones.
Issues: Many of the interesting concepts just took too many assumptions. I felt this was extremely ciscentric and heterocentric, as the new family size was EXACTLY five, with two males and two females and one neuter. Trans people cannot exist in this world, intersex people cannot exist, polyamorous people cannot exist. The idea that after marriage, there is one hub who is the only way that any of the other four can touch ANYONE: this is horrifying but no one expressed horror. No one was horrified that they would cease to be able to be touched by anyone of the 'opposite' sex. It was assumed that all touch with the 'opposite' sex had to do with sex. I don't care how great being with one person is, I would not be willing to give up touch from half of the world. I really wanted to like this book, but it was so full of mental control and gender binary that I found it extremely frustrating.
Plot: the plot was quite well-paced and intriguing, though fairly simple as a coming-of-age story. It would have been easy to finish this in one sitting.
Setting: this is set on a future earth which has been ravaged by war and then healed for many years with assistance. Most people live in alien-human families in cities which are made from a single organism. Groups of humans called 'resisters' live in the wild and re-forested earth, some aliens live on spaceships, and Mars has been made into a colony for resisters to go live as exclusively human. Most of the book takes place in the re-born jungle.
Point of view: 1st person (Jodahs), but it doesn't feel intimate. Usually first person draws me in more to the character and helps me feel like I'm in the story, but I actually thought this was written in 3rd person until I double-checked. I feel like the book suffered from not being in 3rd person.
Dialogue: There's about the same amount of description as dialogue, making this a very easy read. The dialogue maybe passes the bechdel test- questionably, as the author writes Jodahs in a way that conforms to masculine stereotypes. Tone is hardly varied from person to person. I would say that the variety in speech patterns is less than average: notably too-similar, to the point that I have to double-check names to see who said what.
Writing style: Quite emotive, but spare. Many of the actions of characters are described with their emotions (which makes sense given that the main character is highly emotionally intuitive). It didn't create much of a visual but it created very clear moods in scenes with people.
Imago book cover Length, cover: 220 pages in paperback. The cover pictures a thin brown person with a narrow waist standing with back to the viewer, hair as tentacles, tentacles coming from elbows and fingers, lower half blue and scaly. They're topless, wearing a brown skirt, and a starry night sky is the background. Either the artist did not read what the main character was supposed to look like, or they created something they thought more likely to appeal to humans reading it (the sensory arms are supposed to come from underneath the strength arms, and should be much thicker). I think this speaks to Western white sensibilities, since multiple arms don't have a negative connotation in some Eastern cultures. The feel of it is extremely self-absorbed and passive, because the person is staring at their finger tentacles. It conforms to pose rules for female models, which is why it does not look neuter at all.
Author: Octavia Butler, feminist, black, age 42 at the time of writing this in 1989, dyslexic, cisgender, straight American woman. Butler wrote from the age of 10 (while growing up under Jim Crow), and this was approximately her 9th novel. In 1995, she was the first science-fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
Context of this reviewer: White, afab, genderfree, trans, queer, non-disabled, poly, add-pi neurodivergent, poor, intersectional feminist, age 32, from southern US.
on amazon: biracial agender alien coming of age. A great story but too spare, too short: needs more fleshing out.
My favorite author and biologist, Joan Slonczewski, wrote a review on this book and its two prequels (the last four paragraphs on the page cover this book).
connecting: , ,
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abstract concepts: my definitions of kindness and self-control
the unwillingness to deliberately cause harm, and the effort to avoid causing it accidentally.
ability to say no to one's impulsive desires in favor of long-term desires and to manage one's own emotions.
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overwhelmed exhausted / Topaz dealing w family / dear self, take down-time dammit! / links pls?
In case you couldn't tell from my sudden lack of presence here, I've been overwhelmed. I managed to post while visiting with my biofamily, which is a great accomplishment! but I never really got a rest, and I didn't get a chance to read my flist while I was there. It has been one thing after another. As soon as I got back, my car wouldn't start and my phone wasn't working and I was behind on bills so I was overwhelmed with money stress. At the same time, Topaz had two family members have serious health issues requiring hospitalization. Topaz was busy every day and on call when at home as both of their parents (who do all the caretaking in the family) were run ragged. So, I did my best to be supportive, but I didn't get the rest and healing time with Topaz that I was counting on after my family excursion.
We ended up having a fight near the end of the week, which only ever happens when we are both totally out of energy. Usually I can set aside any defensive or selfish reactions and empathize when Topaz tells me I upset them, but this time I didn't. I think I could have, but I was in the middle of the process when Topaz asked how I was feeling and the immature selfish part of me took that as an excuse to stop the process and talk about why I was feeling defensive instead of empathizing. And neither of us had the energy to do the self-calming necessary to pull it back to a calm discussion. We didn't do anything cruel like call names or attack character, but we had this whole unneccessary painful feedback loop where we both felt blamed and attacked. And really it was my fault, because I can look at the exact moment when I could have been more kind and I chose not to. I really hate that I reacted that way. And I know I wouldn't have if I had had more energy, because it's not what the majority of me would want to do, but getting defensive and focusing on my own feelings is SO much easier. We did get to a healing point and forgive each other, but I think we both felt upset at how much time was wasted on unneccessary pain.
Then Topaz went on their family vacation, and so I have been going back and forth from my house to theirs every day, taking care of my cat, the visiting cat, and Topaz' rat. I hadn't really seen Heather or Kylei for ages, so I made plans with them and spent time with Heather, Taz, and Hope on Saturday (at a book festival that was HUGE and full of people), then did Intimacy Practice with Heather and Anika on Sunday and met up with Kylei at a flow event (where people get together to hoop and spin fire and basically play with toys in a dancy way), spent time with a bunch of strangers, and spent the night with Kylei and hung out with them on Monday. Then Tuesday I got up early to go to the courthouse with Heather who accompanied me for moral support, picked up some paperwork, and then went to a thrift store that was having an outrageous sale and got some cool stuff for the free store I'm hosting next weekend.
Okay I'm feeling a little better about being so wiped out and drained, after I wrote all that out. I didn't realize I hadn't had a day free of intensity at all this week. It was too much. I must not plan anything else between now and Sunday, so that I can actually get the house in order (which I SOOO don't have the energy to do today).
I'm going to start back keeping up with LJ now, but please, if there is something that you wrote that 1) has great emotional significance to you, or 2) you think would be right up my alley, or 3) you want my input on, please do comment with links. I'm not going to be able to go back and catch up on everything.
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abstract concepts: my definitions of art and craft
a unique (not mass-produced) creation made as an aware expression of self or observation of that which is outside oneself. Awareness is necessary for art to be good; regurgitating societal norms without change or critique is not art, it's propaganda.
a unique (not mass-produced) creation made to be used in some practical manner. Some crafts are art, some are not.
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review-by-elements: Kirsty Logan's "The Gracekeepers"
"The Grace Keepers" is "Scottish magical realism" according to the author. I would describe it as a subset of sci-fi, "humans on earth moved far into a dystopian future." It follows a carnival worker named North and a funeral director named Callanish as they cope with a world almost entirely covered in water. It includes themes of: evolutionary development; the interactions of environment and religion, especially in regards to scarcity; relationships between humans and animals; sex as currency; gender as performance.
I most enjoyed the multifaceted way the author approached the change of culture that would arise from such a shift in environment. The connectedness and yet cliquishness of the carnival workers, the worship of that which is scarce while degrading and avoiding that which is plentiful, the refusal to accept nature's offerings in favor of continuing the way things have always been -- these all rang true to human nature. I also enjoyed the weird mix of beauty and horror in the carnival and in grace-keeping.
Content note: possible triggers are the threat of rape (not carried out) in the minds of some characters. I was tense expecting it, but it did not happen. Also, abuse to animals happens throughout.
Characters: The characters are all cis, all white, nearly all non-disabled, nearly all straight. The main characters consist of: a ship-dwelling carnival woman (North), a land-dwelling funeral director woman (Callanish), a messenger man, an over-the-top jealous pregnant woman, a woman who has dementia, and two men (ringmaster and son) who see women as objects. The minor characters are interesting but not distinguishable from each other. The only characters who have depth are North, Callanish, and to some extent the messenger man. While class is certainly part of the story, it seems to exist externally to the characters, as none of them apply stereotypes individually. I felt that the story was very plot-driven, and not enough attention was paid to developing the characters. I did like that gender did not interfere with love, but I didn't feel that that was supported in the culture of the book. If it was taboo, the characters should have had turmoil or fear about it, and if it wasn't taboo, then the carnival wouldn't have used it as part of their show.
Imagination: Concepts I hadn't seen before included the performance of gender as a paid job (but I was disappointed that this was not developed to make sense within the world culture), and the use of ritual to limit mourning periods in a world that faces too much death. Many of the interesting concepts were just not well-developed enough for me, such as the clash between revivalist and pagan traditions. I felt the revivalists would surely create a myth of the waters receding if enough people 'came back to god.' I mean, they had a flood myth already, it seems really obvious. And I would think that the pagans would worship the sea as much as the land, and give extra honor to people born with traits that could enable them to live in water. I feel like not enough research on the source religions was done.
Plot: the plot was the best element of this novel. I was intensely curious as to why Callenish felt so guilty, and also as to how North would escape a fate that seemed to be closing in. I read the last 75% of it in one sitting.
Setting: this is set on a future earth which is almost entirely covered in water. Most people live on ships, and the primary class difference is between those who live on land and those who live at sea. Somehow, everyone is white.
Point of view: 3rd person, usually watching North or Callanish but occasionally other people.
Dialogue: There's significantly more description than dialogue. The dialogue passes the Bechdel test easily, and tone is varied from person to person. I would say that the variety in speech patterns is about average: neither notably too-similar nor notably unique.
Writing style: somehow both rich and spare. Rather than multiple lines of description, the author layers description into the action. I found it less evocative than some but very effective nonetheless. It gave less of a visual image but more of a sense of mood.
The Gracekeepers book cover Length, cover: 308 pages in hardcover. The cover pictures a thin white woman walking among birdcages that are floating in water with a foggy background: the image is mysterious and to me, implies endless repetition and a sense of hopelessness. I'd take from the image that the audience is meant to be people who like the surreal and thoughtful. The summary on the inside jacket sketches a quick image of the lives of the two main characters and describes the story as their quest to end their loneliness.
Author: Kirsty Logan, 29-year-old white (seemingly non-disabled & cisgender) queer Scottish woman. This is her first full-length novel. She describes herself as a professional daydreamer, studied creative writing at university, and works as a literary editor as well as writing.
I received a free copy of this book from BloggingForBooks in exchange for my unbiased review. Also posted on amazon: fascinating plot, great concept, underdeveloped world-building.
connecting: , ,
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abstract concepts: my definitions of confidence and conceit
Trusting oneself and being aware of one's own skills, while being able to easily handle being wrong. Not needing external validation nor the status of being right.
Lack of willingness to look at one's own undeveloped spots, assuming that one's own ideas & perceptions are the best without ever testing them.
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Visiting parents, sibling, pibling, cousin, gparent: communication, priorities, name
This week I'm visiting my biofamily: parents M and P, sibling Ace, grandparent V, pibling (parents' sibling) L and cousin E. I don't have a laptop with me so I probably won't be able to read anything until September 2nd-ish, but I'm going to try to keep up with posting anyway.
Yesterday was the drive to meet my parents. Topaz brought me to my pibling's house and took me and Ace to coffee while we waited for everyone else to get ready. Parting with Topaz was difficult because we're both going to miss each other a lot, not least because we cuddle a LOT and they don't really cuddle with others and I am really particular about how I'm touched so negotiating cuddles with biofamily seems stressful and I fear I will just avoid touch (though, good job me, I asked for hugs this morning and got them). Wow run-on.
Before we left I was trying to convince Ace to consolidate their stuff into one bag to make space, and they got frustrated and told me that they were upset that I was bossing them around. I took that in and it took me like 30 seconds to respond, apologizing for being domineering. Usually when I see that my behavior is not ethical I immediately apologize without effort, but for some reason I had to really push myself to do it this time. I found that really weird. I know my biofamily tends to see that as 'losing' so maybe that made it harder. But once I did, Ace forgave me right away and it was done (and they were fine with consolidating stuff).
It took us forever to make the drive because we had to stop for a lot of different things. What we expected to take 4 hours took 8 and by the end my legs ached from being cramped up. But we had some good conversations while we were on the ride, about how to have a good partnership and lots of bits and pieces about memories.
I realized I get defensive when asked if I am hungry around my family, because I expect that they are asking because they think I eat a lot, as a fat person. (Actually part of the reason that I am fat is that I don't eat often enough and my body tries to store everything) But I think maybe they might be asking me for permission to eat. Especially my gparent, who is tinier than most 12 year olds and probably has the metabolism of a hummingbird. So I need to try to practice eating small snacks while I'm here, since I don't have to worry about running out of food.
Later P gave Ace a Canon DSLR. Ace was incredibly excited and I felt happy for them but at the same time I felt broken-hearted because it reminded me of being a kid, asking for a particular present, and being given a knock-off that did not even serve the same purpose, while my siblings got things that were more expensive and exactly what they asked for. I didn't handle it well, partly because I was already exhausted, and I went into my bedroom and cried. Ace came in and asked what was wrong and I explained, with a deliberate effort to be open. Then P came in and asked what was wrong and I explained that and that it reminded me of never being asked about my life as a child. P doesn't have the same memory, and I'm questioning my perceptions because I just don't remember shit. P told me that I won a science award for highest grade in my honors physics class which blew my mind. Like, the way they told the story it sounded exactly like me (I didn't care about the award but wanted to win) and felt true, but I have literally no memory of it. I want to know who it was I was so invested in beating.
I also talked about how M spends money on stuff that isn't necessary while knowing that I am suffering and barely getting by. M just bought a new car, while telling me that they don't have the money to help me with stuff I need. If they're going to put their wants above my needs, they could at least do that across the board and not be more generous to my siblings than to me. I found out that I get half of what my siblings do at christmas (each) and I just don't ask about birthdays. Mostly I put this stuff out of my mind. But when I can't, it really hurts. And it's why it is so fucking hard to even ask for the respect of being called by my name much less pronouns. If I ask and they refuse, they're not just being inconsiderate like now, they're telling me I don't matter every time they talk to or about me.
P was really defensive and I wish I knew if I was wrong. I can't trust their perceptions any more than I can trust mine, because they cannot handle making mistakes and they do not admit when they did something they're ashamed of, or failed to do something they feel they should have. Somehow the conversation turned, I stopped crying, and P left the room (in a neutral way). Shortly after, L and E came in and asked me what was wrong, then P came in. I pushed myself and told them, as briefly as I could with as little blame to P as I could. I didn't want P to feel bad about giving Ace a camera because I am genuinely happy that they made such a huge sacrifice for Ace. (P is poor - they make minimum wage and M doesn't share their giant salary) I also wanted to be frank about my sadness and I think I did okay because P didn't get angry with me. E said they could feel my sadness from the other room and we made eye contact and I felt their sincerity and L gave me pats and empathy. I felt like they all (Ace, P, E, L) cared about my feelings and that was a new experience with my biofamily (except for Ace).
Later P said that they were going to get me a camera too, when they could, and I said that I appreciate the thought but before making such a huge purchase, talk with me because if I can't fix the bug that is breaking my renders, then tools for that would be a much better gift to me than a DSLR. I have wanted one for a long time, but I can take photos that I am proud of on my little camera, and not being able to render my fractals is eating my soul. I want to be seen as a photographer, but I am at least as much a fractal artist as photographer, and I feel like my fractal art gives more to the world. There are many people who can take good photos of nature but not many who can make fractals and almost none who make them in my style.
When everyone went to bed I started reading a book I got as a review copy from BloggingForBooks, and I couldn't put it down until I finished. Partly because I desperately needed brain rest, partly because I missed my second ADD-PI meds and therefore had less control over my focus, and partly because it was a really good read. I'm gonna try to do a review for it soon. But I didn't go to sleep until like 5am and slept badly because the bed was awful and then people started being loud at like 11am. E and L came in and tickled my arms and I grumbled at them. Ace came in and rubbed my feet which was a pretty great way to wake up, after they gentled up (I have extremely sensitive feet). I got up and ready, slowly and tiredly.
I'm nervous about going swimming because walking around in a wet bathing suit gives me thigh chafing most of the time, and I super don't wanna deal with that. But I do really wanna go be in the ocean! So I'm gonna try it and hope for the best.
Ace uses my real name most of the time and E and L are trying. But that's because they asked me if I wanted them to call me by my chosen name and I said yes. I still haven't confronted anyone about my name. Yesterday I had a strange moment when Ace was introducing me to their girlfriend on skype and the girlfriend called me by my name and P said something like "they got your name right!" which felt really confusing because P usually gets it wrong. Maybe they aren't aware when they deadname me. M hasn't ever tried. Last time I talked to M about it was years ago and they didn't listen to me at all. I dunno how they'll react now but if the rest of the family is doing it they are more likely to be respectful.
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abstract concepts: my definitions of compassion and evil
valuing others' needs as much as (NOT MORE THAN) one's own.
valuing benefit (especially luxury benefits) to oneself over harm (by neglect or direct damage) to others.
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abstract concepts: my definitions of enthusiasm and apathy
being fully and passionately engaged in an experience or story, and expressing this in multiple ways (body, words, tone, actions, etc).
being disconnected from empathy and/or one's own emotion.
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review-by-elements: Sheri S. Tepper's "Shadow's End"
I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5: definitely worth reading at least once. [my rating system](1 star: worse than staring at a blank wall, possibly actively damaging to read. 2 stars: a waste of time, okay if you have lots of time to spare. 3 stars: worth reading at least once; you could borrow it from the library and be okay giving it back. 4 stars: worth reading at least twice; you should buy it if you can because you won't want to give it back. 5 stars: worth reading over and over because there is always something new to ponder or realize.)
"Shadow's End" inhabits a subset of sci-fi I'd sum up as "future humans interacting with alien species on non-earth planets." Three women from different cultures/classes are unwillingly pulled into a quest to learn how to stop an unexplained extermination of humans. It includes themes of: ecological responsibility; justice (especially sex-related); definitions of sentience, intelligence, and personhood; what it means to be noticed/visible; definition of deity; habits and uses of religion.
I was fascinated by the culture of Dinadh (the world where most of the story takes place) as it was slowly revealed and by the various unique creatures. I love the commentary on religion especially in its use of beauty and mortality as motivation, and the sense of connection between the narrator and the main character. I was left wanting to know more, while feeling satisfied with what I read.
Content note: TW for a ritualistic rape while restrained: it is not described directly but it is clear that it happens. Also possibly triggering is the method of indentured servitude, which is controlled through technology that does not allow resistance.
Characters: The characters are all cis, nearly all white, nearly all non-disabled, nearly all straight, nearly all upper-class. The main characters consist of: a brown highly-educated woman, two empath-race men, a king, an assassin who exemplifies patriarchy, an under-class woman in tech-enforced indentured servitude, an uneducated lesbian agrarian woman, a fat woman whose fat is constantly referred to in extravagant language, and a child who is considered 'non-human' because they do not speak, have sensory issues, and do not abide by societal norms. Out of the non-defaults, I think that the writing shows understanding of the under-class woman and the lesbian, but I am not so sure about the fat woman and cognitively disabled child. The fat woman is shown as a multifaceted person with skills that are valued, which I appreciate, but none of the other characters have traits which are referred to so constantly, so it feels objectifying. Still better than all the characters being the same shape. The cognitively disabled child is alternately presented as a burden that is undeserving of life or as a magical symbol, both of which are ableist tropes. I'm not sure how to take the wrap-up of the child's story, but most of the book does not treat the child respectfully.
I also felt queer-baited by [possible spoilers this paragraph]
< -- possible spoilers -- > the way that the main character spoke about two others. I thought they were implying an eventual poly lesbian triad, which did not happen. Also, the lesbian character did not get much time with their partner, so while it was great that they weren't all straight, most of the love and relationship in this book was straight. < -- end spoilers -- >
Imagination: As usual Tepper is vividly imaginative in creating creatures and cultures. Unfortunately to describe them is to spoiler you, as they are slowly revealed and explained. The use of taste as a sense is used in this book in a way I have never experienced and quite appreciated. The combined horror and mystery of "the beautiful people" is fascinating, more so as you come to understand them better. The main cultures, Dinadh and Firster, were easy to understand in the context of their history while still being unique. The main characters both critique and defend their cultures, sometimes within the same person. The poverty of the mostly-barren planet was shown in cultural habits and a seemingly simple agrarian society was revealed to have quite a number of layers.
pacing, plot, setting, POV, dialogue, writing style, length, cover, author info, reviewer contextCollapse )
connecting: ,
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bits from lately: Topaz' stress, friendship w Allison, healing reconnecting w Topaz, Topaz' family
icon: "summer in Georgia (photo of a line of trees curving along the highway, with the sun shining through)"
July 29: I've been keeping up with daily posting which is a BIG deal for me. And while I'm still very stressed, I have realized that a lot of my ambient stress is worry about Topaz, who has endured more crises in a quarter century than most people live through in 50 years, and a lot of it has been in the past year. Since realizing that I've started trying to be more careful about how "fixit" I get. Apparently I'm not actually any better at taking on responsibility for other people's happiness, I've just figured out some workarounds (like a minimum amount of alone time) and I lucked into a relationship with someone who actively desires for me to NOT take on their suffering. I'm feeling a little annoyed at myself for not having gotten better at resisting the urge to throw my entire self into caretaking for the entire time the person is in crisis, but at least I have workarounds. I need to keep this in mind and stay firm about my alone time and at-home time. I keep feeling guilty about not helping more and I'm not really sure what to do with that except try to ignore it.
Had a great conversation with Allison last week and I feel like our friendship is becoming solid. I have felt increasing closeness for a while but always felt like it was tentative and might disappear. I guess I wasn't sure if they were invested enough to maintain indefinitely, and I have old habits (from high school! Allison has known me the longest) that kept me from even thinking of asking about their intentions, like I would with people I'd met in the last decade. But yeah, thinking about it now I feel like we've moved to a new level. And they said that their person genuinely likes my tribe, which is awesome for lots of reasons. They'd said something like it before but I didn't take it seriously, I guess because I felt worried they were just trying to be nice. But when Allison explained the specific things they like, I could tell it was sincere and that made me feel really happy.
Aug 10: So disappointed that I broke my daily writing streak! I was so pleased with myself :-<
This weekend Topaz and I were supposed to go visit Kat and one of Topaz' friends but the money escaped us (well, escaped Topaz, and I don't have transportation that can handle more than a 2-hour trip nor would I have the money for gas - I was pretty much along for the ride). But it was good to have some days off for Topaz, as their job is frankly abusive. And it was happy for me to have some time with them where they were neither exhausted nor heavy with dread about going back. We didn't do a whole lot, overall, because it was mostly recovery time. But we had a lot of really good talks about stuff OTHER than stresses, which had gotten pretty rare lately because it takes a certain level of energy to have those talks.
We spent an evening with their family, where I was much more relaxed than usual because there were fewer people and none of them that would be bothered by me wearing something comfortable (which with my body, means that my boobs are going to be pretty noticeable). I think that was the first time I was around Topaz' mom where they seemed to genuinely relax around me. We all played a game that's like a spectrum from taboo to charades, and I enjoyed it -- the only games I like are ones where people are being expressive or are practicing reading each other in some way.
Yesterday Topaz and I went to a coffeeshop on a river and spent a few hours there. I hadn't realized how long it had been since we did something so relaxed (even when we have gone to nature it has been with a time limit that made it a little stressful). This felt really nourishing and I could feel their happiness and contentment at putting their feet in the river, which I'm just now realizing is the first time in months I've felt that coming from them, the poor creature. I had planned to meet someone else there earlier but they had to reschedule, so I asked Topaz if they would go with me, and I am so glad I did. It feels like a very serendipitous plan change, because setting that up and it getting changed at the last minute is the only way we would have ended up doing that.
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a positive moment in dealing with the symptoms of rape culture
So yesterday someone posted an image on a friend's fb status that was a two-panel photo, as a joke. [TW implied rape]
---- TW: implied rape ----
---- end TW ----
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Open letter to self-proclaimed reasonable white dudes
icon: "strong (a photo of me in warm light with my hair down around my face, staring intensely into the camera in a defiant mood)"
Dear 'intellectually-minded' white men who just want to have a 'reasonable conversation':
You start out by asking me a question after I have pointed out something problematic. Even though I know that it's rare that people in general are willing to learn from a stranger, and that as a white dude you're far less likely than average to be willing to learn, I give you the benefit of the doubt. Just in case you're sincere (and for the sake of non-responsive readers who might actually seek knowledge), I offer you a starting point for you to self-educate. This is partly because it would take a minimum of several verbal hours or 20 written pages to explain even the basics, and partly to test your willingness to learn. You respond by explaining why that starting point is wrong (after a max of 20 minutes of web searching). You think this is a conversation between equals.
I know it's really fun for you to have a theoretical discussion where you get to feel all 'edgy' with your advocating for the devil. You feel mentally stimulated and awake for the first time in who-knows-how-long. It's a startling novelty to you for someone to bluntly disagree and it's refreshing to go down new neural pathways. You're excited to find yourself on a new intellectual jungle gym. Also, you feel really sure you can win because you think clever conversation is about playing tricks and laying traps and you think there is no objective answer, so you can claim to win no matter what. In fact, your rule for winning is "get the last word."
But then I don't want to play, and at first you just don't take my no seriously. Then, when you realize I mean it, you're deeply offended. You just offered me the greatest gift of all - your attention - and you expected me to respond with eager attempts to persuade you to join my side. You really feel I owe you my attention because you gave me yours. You handed me a one-in-a-million chance to affect your thinking and I just threw that treasure in the trash! You feel insulted that I didn't cradle and nurture that rare chance - after all, you rarely give it to someone who isn't of your class. It's like your opinion doesn't even matter! On top of all that offense, you feel cheated out of your fun, and worst of all there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Not that that stops you.
I tell you I don't want to talk to you, and like a bad telemarketer you respond by pulling out all the stops to try and force me to talk to you. You trot out a few carefully-aimed insults and explain to me all the wonders I'm missing out on by not talking to you more. You're super reasonable and if only I had tried a little harder you probably would have given me that carrot. Instead, my obstinence has removed the chance of you giving a shit about justice. I've ruined everything by not convincing you, the bastion of reason and kindness, that there is a problem you should notice and act on. Too bad for all those people suffering injustice (who were nonexistent before I stopped bothering with you).
Too bad for you, I've heard every single bit of this bullshit already.
I don't care about winning and I genuinely don't care what motive you ascribe to my disengagement. I know you will refuse to believe that it's because your ignorant regurgitation of societal norms bores me and talking to you wastes my time and effort. You, boring? Inconceivable! Literally! You can't imagine it! Instead, you decide (and you let me know) that I just don't care enough about my causes, because if I did I would put in the work to win you over (and you pretend that's a possibility; you may even fool yourself). Your ideas are unique and vital and of course I've never been in this situation before. Or perhaps you decide that I don't know enough to argue, that if I did I wouldn't be able to resist laying it all out to win. Maybe you decide I'm lazy, or that I was lying.
Guess what? I don't give a shit, because I know the difference between an argument and a conversation. I will not argue, especially with someone whose ratio of knowledge to me is kindergartner to PhD. You cannot contribute anything meaningful with such a knowledge imbalance, any more than a U.S. kindergartener could tell a Swedish history professor about the various aspects of Swedish government over time. When you act like your ideas have relevance it's just annoying. I know that if I try to explain that your ignorance makes your opinion useless, you will get excited by further argument without even considering the possibility that you might actually be ignorant.
I know damn well what an actually reasonable person does when they learn of an injustice they were previously unaware of. They do not try to 'disprove' it: that is not a reasonable reaction to learning something new. They self-educate. If it sounds ridiculous to them, they look up what experts on the subject who agree with this position say*. A reasonable person knows they cannot learn about a topic by looking up things that contradict it. If it is a faulty position, you can discover that by the lack of evidence (if you know enough about the subject to create a decent search). If it's true, you won't find that out by searching for how to argue against it.
When you reacted to my initial offer of resources with "those aren't legit because..." I knew that you weren't speaking from years of study. I knew you weren't actually interested in learning. You're just trying to win. You want to play with other people's lives like game pieces and wax on about your ludicrously fact-less theories instead of discussing practical methods of righting injustice. I will not give you pleasure at my expense.
[an example of reasonable effort to understand]* For example, when someone told me that men are oppressed by women, I responded by looking up articles in support of such a theory, even though as an expert on the subject I could safely assume that they were simply wrong. Their legitimate examples of oppression were misattributed to women when in reality they were caused by sexism and racism (unable to dress how they want, getting imprisoned more often, etc.) Most of their examples were illegitimate because they were factually wrong. For instance, white men tend to get custody when they ever make an effort and the apparent disparity in custody disputes is primarily due to lack of desire. There was nothing I hadn't heard before, and the whole concept displayed a ludicrous lack of understanding as to how oppression works. If I hadn't already known the statistics involved I would have needed to look them up. If I hadn't already done many hours of study on how oppression works, I would need to have done that in order to tell that what they were calling 'oppression by women' was not.
See also: The White Folks Who Need “Proof of Racism”: "The whole point of them asking me to convince them is so that could pretend and tout that they made a good-faith effort all while hiding the fact that the goal was always to never be convinced."
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abstract concepts: my definitions of courage and fear
willingness to deliberately step out of one's own comfort zone.
the memory of pain (from one's own experience or shared memory) sparking the desire to avoid something.
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level 8 - most revealing questionsCollapse )
level 7Collapse )
level 6Collapse )
level 5Collapse )
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level 1 - least personalCollapse )
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abstract concepts: my definitions of love and desire
The willingness to spend effort in order to help the self and/or someone else grow and/or be nourished.
The yearning to consume or be enveloped in someone/something's presence or essence.
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wonder at nature is rare because it takes vulnerability
icon: "plant magic (a photo of pink tree buds with a forest in the background, taken early spring)"
A deep feeling of wonder at nature is not common and not something many people want to enter into on purpose (though they might if they are high on romance or drugs or something). It takes a level of willingness to be vulnerable, because wonder is associated with children and those deemed 'mentally deficient.' Most people just don't believe that a rock is or should ever be an emotionally-relevant object in its own right, and out of those who do believe, they're usually not willing to explore that. Most of the photos you see of people at places like the grand canyon are not of people feeling awe. They aren't really even noticing. They're just like "I'm in a place that has high status! look at me!" or maybe "this makes a great backdrop for my hike" or even "this is aesthetically appealing." But actually being emotionally moved? it's rare, and for me it is incredibly important.
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icon: "hissing (a photo of a snow leopard hissing with mouth open, whiskers back and ears flattened)"
I don't have chronic depression, but I have spent enough years of my life depressed to know about various effects. One of them is that seemingly 'little' things become huge and horrendous. Someone says something and (probably accidentally) implies something negative about you, and it hurts incredibly deeply. People will then respond with "oh it's not that big a deal" or "don't let it bother you" which is fucking ridiculous. It's not just perception; when you are already injured, small further injuries will have greater impact than they would if you were fine!
It's like depression is having a hand with broken bones in it, when the worst hand damage most people have experienced is a paper cut. And someone is like "why can't you high-five me, it's not that hard!" and sure, it's not much effort to lift your arm and aim your hand at the other person's hand. But you KNOW that it is going to hurt, it is going to cause you damage, and so you say "I just can't do high fives right now." And they get miffed that you're not willing to suffer a little to bring them some joy, because they high-fived you when they had a paper cut. Or someone shakes your hand and you cry out, and people are like "psh, that doesn't hurt, I do it all the time!" Or they tell you "oh it's probably just a hand cramp, I had one before and just needed to massage it out" and they grab your broken hand and start rubbing it! It sounds really obvious in metaphor but people really will try to apply their own diagnoses and then give you their 'cure' when it is absolutely going to make everything far worse.
Depression doesn't just sit in one spot, like disappointment or sadness, because it is not a fucking emotion. It is an illness, and it gets in every single part of your being. It's not something you can compartmentalize. It's not something you can ignore. It's something that has to be managed, and anyone who has been depressed for a length of time is far more of an expert on how to manage it than you are, if you haven't lived it.
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As a demisexual, I need to feel some kind of emotional connection with the person for there to even be a chance of sexual attraction. Often this is a connection on the spirit, soul, or heart level, but sometimes it's purely a mental connection in that we have shared a lot of intimacy in our conversations. Once I have this, the following four elements together may create sexual desire (in order of importance, not chronology).
The number one thing that determines my sexual desire is consent, both ways. To desire someone I need them to tell me that they want sex with me. No, I don't mean say flirty things or act attracted, I mean actually flat-out say "I want to have sex with you" or say an unequivocal "yes" if I ask if they want to. I'm pretty sure I won't ever feel sexual desire for anyone who doesn't feel it for me. I might have in high school (before I ever had sex), but not since I became sexually active. I also need them to be fully invested in my consent, not just asking but also showing awareness of my reactions and adjusting accordingly.
Next in importance is bodily respect: them not having terrible ideas about bodies, sex, or gender. No assigning stereotyped personality traits to body parts including genitals. No assigning body types/parts as attractive or unattractive (this is gross no matter what shape you decide is best). No ideas about more or less legitimate kinds of bodies. No believing in rules for genders. Never imposing gender on me. Not interpreting my fat as a cause or effect of my personality. Basically, not being sexist, cissexist, or looksist.
Next is awareness; self-awareness, awareness of me, ability and desire to maintain this awareness and express it throughout. To feel sexual desire for someone I need to be able to sense them letting my touch reach them emotionally. (otherwise I will feel unappreciated and/or worried that they don't really want it) I need a balance of reactive and attentive. I do not want someone who always turns into pure reaction (sometimes I might want to provide that space but not often, as it's exhausting!), but I also don't want someone who isn't reactive. I want a person who can stay mentally, spiritually, and emotionally present while feeling intensely. Someone who will still notice if I seem 'done' even if they are in the throes of sexual ecstasy. Someone who can make eye contact with me or grip my hand during sex and I can feel the 'click' of that connection.
Last is generosity (desire to give). If you could be happy only receiving every time we have sex (while knowing that I love being touched) or if you never offer anything and only give when asked, I'm not interested. I know some people are scared of not being perfect and that's why they don't want to give, and I can empathize with that, but it is not a turn-on. People who have no desire to give sexually would not be people I'd be sexually compatible with. People also need to not be so full of need that they subconsciously pull at me. That one I can't really explain, it's just a thing I feel. I don't think I can feel desire for anyone who is looking for salvation outside themselves.
If these are all met, I can have satisfying sex with a person. But each of these four elements is fucking rare. Especially awareness. So many people check out when they have sex and go to a purely physical place or have sex as a mental escape. I just don't find that remotely appealing.
Usually for it to go from "I can feel sexual desire" to "I actually want this enough to deal with the hassle of the STD/trigger/expectations conversation and the potential concerns of my current partner(s), therefore I will flip my internal switch and become sexually attracted to them" I have to be in love with the person. I don't find sex more nourishing than cuddles or conversation, so it's not worth the bother unless I am in love and therefore want to experience all possible connecting activities and want to bring them joy in any way available to me.
In a world without oppression where people valued awareness and giving, there would be many opportunities for me to want sex with people. as it is I am unlikely to want new sex partners very oftenCollapse )
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allosexual, asexual, demisexual, grey-asexual definitions & explanations & poll
A person who experiences sexual attraction in a way that matches the norm is called allosexual.
A person who never experiences sexual attraction is called asexual.
A person who experiences sexual attraction only in the context of an emotional connection is called demisexual.
A person for whom none of that is true (perhaps they experience sexual attraction very rarely, or in cycles, or only in certain situations) is called grey-asexual.
Another way the difference between allosexual and demisexual people is explained is by dividing sexual attraction into two types. Type 1 sexual attraction is when something external about the person (looks, smell, the way someone moves, their voice, their style, etc) creates sexual attraction for you. Type 2 sexual attraction is when emotional connection creates sexual attraction for you. Allosexuals can experience both. Demisexuals only experience Type 2. Asexuals don't experience either. Grey-asexuals vary. Still a bit confused? this FAQ answers a lot of questions in depth: Under the Ace Umbrella: Demisexuality and Gray-asexuality.
A lot of demisexuals have a time element to their sexual attraction (they need to know the person for a length of time before they can feel sexually attracted), but I don't think this is inherent. I think it just takes a good amount of time for most people to get to a place where they feel emotionally connected. I have spent a good chunk of my life reducing the amount of time it takes me to feel emotionally connected with someone, so I know how to build intimacy really quickly if the other person can be fully present and engaged. So, theoretically, I could feel sexual attraction to someone the same day I met them. This has happened once, when I met someone who was a violet spirit and feminist and trans and cuddly and we went to a cuddle party and talked about meaningful things the whole time. Usually it's not until I've had a 7+ hour conversation on intense topics with the person, and I really doubt it could ever happen in one day with someone who wasn't a violet spirit (violet spirit is a belenen-specific concept that references how I perceive the non-physical aspects of people). I've parsed out the four essential elements for me to feel sexual attraction to someone and I'll make that a separate post.
What about you?
Poll #2018055 (confidential - only I can see who said what)
choose which best fits or fill in the next blank!
if you use none of the above, what do you use instead?
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icon: "curvygirl -- me (belly) (a photo from 2007 of my breasts, belly, and arms, covered in spirals and drawings made with washable markers and glitter)"
[content warning: possibly triggering for those with disordered eating or eating disorders. talk of restriction, dieting, fat]
-- content warning: possibly triggering for those with disordered eating / eating disorders. talk of restriction, dieting, fat - ENTIRE POST-
First let me say, I do not take my own advice because I don't mind being fat and I don't like eating enough to eat more often (I tend towards one small snack and one big meal a day which can be bad for you, as you'll see if you read on). Secondly, this is more about what NOT to do than what to do. and lastly, take this as a starting point; I am not an expert.
Kay, so there is a shitton of misinformation out there about how to take care of your body and how to change the fat amount on your body. Do not believe anyone who tells you you can restrict your calories in order to lose fat permanently. That much is proven to be bullshit despite the fact that many people insist it's true. Restricting can take some fat off but if that is your sole method, it will come back not too far down the road. Read any good study on dieting and you will learn that it does not work. Why?
Because your body is a machine that is designed to protect you from starvation. There is a hormone called cortisol which will tell your body to retain as many energy stores as possible: it says, "store fat and don't burn it!" This hormone is activated by two things (among others I'd imagine): stress and low blood sugar. When you restrict, you activate this hormone and make your body more likely to store than to burn. It is incredibly counterproductive to restrict: even if you lose some fat at first, as this hormone builds up it will make you retain fat again.
Cortisol is also the reason that it is not only looksist to be anti-fat, it is sexist, racist, ableist, etc. Being oppressed is a constant stress that you cannot escape. Oppressed peoples often don't have access to healthier food and don't have spare energy or time to spend on working out, AND are under much more stress than people without those oppressions. People's bodies often change a great deal in how much they retain fat due to how much stress they are enduring. You can actually be eating a starvation-level diet and gain weight (so I have heard from people who have been through anorexia) because your body is so damn good at holding on when it thinks you are in danger.
Also, according to my nutrition prof, only fat gets stored. Proteins get used or shat out if you eat more than you need. Carbs only increase your body fat if you are also consuming fat, because the carbs are burned first and then if you don't have enough activity to need them, the fats are just stored. Eating fewer carbs just means that the fat you eat is more likely to get used. Carbs are your body's favorite, and complex carbohydrates are the best for healthy, lasting energy. (I have also been told that carbs can be stored as fat, so my nutrition prof may have been off - but that is a case of excess)
So my logical takeaway from this is that if I wanted to lose fat, I would need to practice as many anti-stress things as I know to do, as well as maintaining my blood sugar throughout the day and consuming less fat. Every 3 hours I would eat a small meal of mostly raw fruits and vegetables, and I would try to avoid ever getting actually hungry. I would try to be more active by doing anything that got my heart rate up. I would meditate daily and make sure to get outside for at least 30 minutes a day. I would drink damiana tea w cinnamon every day because that decreases my stress both in the ritual and in the substance. I would avoid any sugars except for fruit sugar and honey. Probably other things too, but you get the point.
I checked with a health professional friend of mine just to be sure I wasn't way off and they told me the advice they give for people who want to lose fat (tailored to the person and situation since not everyone can walk, for instance):
"breathe. ... recommend a few YouTube relaxation videos to them. Drink water. Drink tea - green tea is great for your metabolism. Eat a balance of foods but make the majority of your plate fruit/veg. Lean proteins. Decrease carbs and sugar. Walk 30 minutes per day minimum. Laugh. And never ever ever beat yourself up if you splurge on a burger and a milkshake. Because it's about balance - life is about balance."
If you think that fat = unhealthy, read this entire article and all the links before you say anything to me about fat: These are the Fat FAQs. And just one quick note: BMI is bullshit, based on literally zero science as was never intended to measure health. It also changed significantly due to social reasons with again no science, no excuse. Weight cannot tell you about health. Correlation =/= causation. There are a million possible lurking variables, not the least of which is stress.
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abstract concepts: my definitions of luxury and need, poverty and wealth
something that brings pleasure but would not cause damage if one lacked it.
something that is necessary for physical or emotional survival.
not having access to getting all of your basic needs met. This can mean that you sacrifice physical needs to meet emotional ones or vice versa, or that you don't even have that option.
having so many resources that you can easily meet all your needs each month and have some left over, and are also able to manage unexpected expenses without sacrificing any needs.
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watching a show with Deaf characters and thinking about my relationship to hearing
Been watching a show with Deaf main characters and I feel such relief when a hearing person remembers that a character is Deaf and does something besides vocalize to get their attention. It's really obvious and necessary in that case but the idea of people doing that when talking at me is such a relief it makes me cry. I can't stand ignoring people- it feels incredibly disrespectful and I wouldn't even do it to someone I hated- but people don't know that or don't trust that so I feel constantly at risk of accidentally making someone feel ignored. This is incredibly annoying when someone calls my name from a room away and shouts something that I can't understand, because I feel impelled to go to them lest I ignore them. In general it takes so much energy to always have my antennae up to catch if someone has started talking to me. That's one of the reasons I need housemates to assume we are not going to just randomly strike up conversation. If I think they might just start talking to me it means I can't even relax at home.
To have someone make sure you can see their face when they talk to you, that also would be such a relief (though in the show, I mainly keep noticing hearing people not pointing their faces so that Deaf people can see them). I think I subconsciously read lips to help process things and if I can't see someone talk it is much harder to understand (part of why I hate talking on the phone - it takes so much effort). I wish people weren't such ableist shitheads in general and also because in a world without ableism I could ask for these accommodations and actually get them just because people would be used to thinking that everyone has different needs. But our world only makes accommodations when forced to and your average person doesn't want to think about non-average needs or desires.
I don't understand why my auditory processing seems to have gotten worse, but it has. I feel like I'm watching through dense fog when I watch a show without subtitles. Good thing I read fast, otherwise that relaxation technique would be gone.
I keep thinking about how culture and language is so entwined and wondering what it feels like to communicate exclusively in sign. I notice a totally different cadence, and so much more facial expressiveness. I really want to learn to sign, to learn how it feels to think in gestures.
Sometimes when I am really emotional I find it extremely difficult to speak, but I don't find it hard to communicate. I can write or gesture but making sound come out of my mouth feels impossible. One time this happened to me and there was someone around who knew sign language. I felt so incredibly relieved because even though I didn't know how to sign, they could understand my gestures and sort of interpret for me. I think there's a kind of watching that hearing people just generally never do. I want to learn to watch that way.
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Shoulder pain / Kanika's health and food
My shoulder which has now been hurting for two weeks got so bad today that I took acetaminophen and ibuprofen and it is still just aching very badly. I don't understand it. I'm bringing my exercise ball to work tomorrow and hopefully that will help.
But in encouraging news Kanika seems to feel much better. I went googling trying to find the ideal diet for a cat who gets recurring UTIs and apparently dry food is just all around a bad choice health wise? That many cats are chronically dehydrated because they have a low thirst drive and need to eat their liquids? So I've started mixing Kanika's dry food with hot water and flaked up freeze-dried turkey, and they're eating it with seeming enjoyment (I was really worried they wouldn't). When I can afford it, I'm gonna try getting them a pet fountain. Tellingly, they're playing more - they brought me a toy to throw both yesterday and today. I am dreading ever having to go out of town now, because it is a lot harder to find someone to come over daily, but I feel like I have hit on a solution that will keep them happier and healthier.
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Other red flags: they'll make jokes about boundary violations, especially rape; they'll cut you off in conversation and talk over you; they'll put you down; they will follow you with their touch if you pull away (kisses especially); they'll respond to your arguments dismissively rather than actually considering anything you say; they'll sulk if they don't get their way; they will say things that invalidate your identity; they'll touch you without permission in non-sexual ways; they'll touch animals or friends in ways that bother the animal/friend; they will call names and/or mock people; they'll do things deliberately to cause someone to be uncomfortable/annoyed (especially as a 'joke' reaction to someone setting a boundary); they won't stop doing annoying behavior when asked; they will use things that don't belong to them without permission; they will make sexual innuendos and find it funny if someone gets uncomfortable; they will show no interest in your thoughts/opinions; they'll get offended when you don't laugh at their jokes or tell them it isn't funny; they won't show remorse when you tell them they hurt you; they will get angry when you tell them they hurt you; they'll interrupt a conversation you are having by turning away and ceasing to engage, especially if you are saying something they don't like (note: this can be a healthy choice but it can also be a control tactic); they'll ignore you and/or make you repeat yourself; they won't notice if you get upset. Anything that shows that they aren't checking in with how their actions are affecting you or anything that shows that they think their opinion or desire is more important than yours is a giant red flag for being bad at consent. Of course, this is just a red flag, not an automatic marker, so check to see if there could be another reason for the red flag (for instance, they might communicate differently due to a neurological difference, which could be worked out with discussions about how you both want to converse), BUT if there is more than one red flag take it VERY seriously.
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0.01981 | <urn:uuid:973d39d8-b637-42fd-8fc0-fa580ebd7db4> | en | 0.968605 | Friday, April 15, 2011
Chasing has passed me by ...
This morning, in the wake of the news about deaths from tornadoes in Oklahoma and Arkansas, I found my FaceBook status messages filled with chasers crowing about their great chase days, shaky video showing chasers getting close to large tornadoes, and -- as an afterthought -- comments like "our thoughts and prayers are with CityXX."
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of my very first serious storm chase (on 18 April 1972). In the time that's passed since then, chasing has grown far beyond anything I could have imagined back then. Unfortunately, I may have had something to do with that growth, in my youthful ignorance of the consequences of extolling the virtues of chasing during interviews for crockumentaries about tornadoes and chasers. It's quite evident to me that chasing as a "sport" has passed by me, on its way to whatever destiny the future holds for it. I've become a gripy old curmudgeon, well removed from the "cutting edge" of storm chasing. I can't say I have any wish whatsoever to seek to keep up with what chasing has become, however.
I look at the videos people claim are fantastic on FB but I see almost no quality video. Most of it is the "edgy" sort of "reality video" that's all the rage these days. People cheering and having "stormgasms" while they bounce down some road on the way to a close encounter. In those close encounters, for the most part, the video sucks (by my standards). In fact, it's my opinion that seeing a tornado up close is not the most dramatic or exciting visual content. What's so spectacular about dust and debris filling the viewfinder as it flies by? I could get that in a microburst or gust front! No, the standard for video is now to get the "dramatic" shot -- OMG! We're in the $%#@ing tornado! We're in the tornado! We're in the tornado! -- even when the video shows clearly that they're not in the tornado. Clearly, this reflects the fact that for most chasers today, it's about them and not about the storms. Look at me! I'm doing something fantastic! Pay attention to me!! Such chasers are quite evidently immature and have little or no real appreciation for the atmospheric spectacle they're ostensibly seeking.
I've seen video from in tornadoes and -- no surprise here -- it shows little or nothing! Air filled with dust and debris in very dim light. Big whup! The desire to see inside a tornado may have its roots in some interviews with tornado survivors in the 1950s, whose accounts strike me today as likely to be pure fabrication, or at the very least, wildly exaggerated. Many of us have expected the view inside a tornado to be a disappointment, and what evidence exists seems to confirm this. It really has little point outside of those who are trying to gather scientific observations close to and within tornadoes. It's just a stunt, otherwise. But such stunts sell well in the media, of course. They make movies and "reality" series about pointless stunts, and there's fame and fortune to be had ...
A while ago, I posted some thoughts about my feelings after the 24 May 1973 Union City, Oklahoma tornado (see item #32 here). Doing the damage survey brought home the reality that tornadoes do devastating things to people. This feeling was reinforced after the 03 May 1999 tornadoes. If I'm going to be excited about seeing these, I had to come to terms with this aspect of tornado reality. Whatever excitement I feel about seeing a tornado needs to be kept to myself and never given voice in any medium where tornado victims might be present. Stormgasms on video aired publicly sullies the image of all storm chasers, reinforcing the impression that all chasers are thoughtless idiots. Come to think of it, this impression is apparently in the process of becoming more and more representative!
My feelings as an atheist are that prayers have essentially zero substance and can't be shown to have any effect. Offering your prayers for tornado victims is to offer them nothing! If you can't do anything more meaningful than offer prayers, I'd rather you kept your mouth shut. I suppose it amounts to an expression of sympathy, and if taken as that, it nevertheless remains valueless for the victims. Empathy (i.e., knowing how someone feels because you've experienced what they've experienced) is more meaningful, and might lead someone to do something more substantive than offer your "thoughts and prayers". Most chasers have not experienced the devastation brought about by a tornado, and so are incapable of empathy. I detest it when infantile chasers are bragging about their exciting chase day and then throw away a "thoughts and prayers" comment at the end of their exultation over seeing devastating storms. A statement of this sort at the end of a stormgasm in a public medium like FB or TV rings hollow and hypocritical. Chasers need to think this one through quite a bit more thoroughly.
Nowadays, some chasers attempt to get involved in search and rescue efforts after tornadoes pass through towns. If someone is injured and you're right there, by all means do whatever you can to help. But going into tornado-damaged areas to "help" is misguided. Most chasers are ill-equipped (both materially and in terms of training) to be of much assistance to first responders, so it's likely that those who do this are only going to get in the way of professionals (i.e., first responders) and are likely to cause more harm than good. Further, these amateurs may be injured themselves -- there's considerable danger in walking through piles of tornado debris, especially for untrained, ill-equipped folks -- thereby creating more work for the professionals. Chasers doing this may believe they're helping, but it's unlikely that they can be of much help. Think it through, people. Stay out of tornado damage tracks and let the professionals do their job. Personally, I think a lot of this is motivated by guilt feelings after a stormgasm, but whatever the motivation, I think it's an inappropriate response.
Yep -- chasing has passed me by -- and I pulled over and let it do so. | http://cadiiitalk.blogspot.com/2011_04_10_archive.html | dclm-gs1-097230000 |
0.073305 | <urn:uuid:f461f883-fa73-44df-912a-cac97d028880> | en | 0.833591 | Graphics Directives and Options
When you set up a graphics object in the Wolfram Language, you typically give a list of graphical elements. You can include in that list graphics directives which specify how subsequent elements in the list should be rendered.
In general, the graphical elements in a particular graphics object can be given in a collection of nested lists. When you insert graphics directives in this kind of structure, the rule is that a particular graphics directive affects all subsequent elements of the list it is in, together with all elements of sublists that may occur. The graphics directive does not, however, have any effect outside the list it is in.
The first sublist contains the graphics directive GrayLevel.
Click for copyable input
Only the rectangle in the first sublist is affected by the GrayLevel directive.
Click for copyable input
GrayLevel[i]gray level between 0 (black) and 1 (white)
RGBColor[r,g,b]color with specified red, green and blue components, each between 0 and 1
Hue[h]color with hue h between 0 and 1
Hue[h,s,b]color with specified hue, saturation and brightness, each between 0 and 1
Basic Wolfram Language color specifications.
The Wolfram Language accepts the names of many colors directly as color specifications. These color names, such as Red, Gray, LightGreen, and Purple, are implemented as variables which evaluate to an RGBColor specification. The color names can be used interchangeably with color directives.
The first plot is colored with a color name, while the second one has a fine-tuned RGBColor specification.
Click for copyable input
The function Hue[h] provides a convenient way to specify a range of colors using just one parameter. As h varies from 0 to 1, Hue[h] runs through red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and back to red again. Hue[h,s,b] allows you to specify not only the "hue", but also the "saturation" and "brightness" of a color. Taking the saturation to be equal to one gives the deepest colors; decreasing the saturation toward zero leads to progressively more "washed out" colors.
When you give a graphics directive such as RGBColor, it affects all subsequent graphical elements that appear in a particular list. The Wolfram Language also supports various graphics directives which affect only specific types of graphical elements.
The graphics directive PointSize[d] specifies that all Point elements which appear in a graphics object should be drawn as circles with diameter d. In PointSize, the diameter d is measured as a fraction of the width of your whole plot.
The Wolfram Language also provides the graphics directive AbsolutePointSize[d], which allows you to specify the "absolute" diameter of points, measured in fixed units. The units are of an inch, approximately printer's points.
PointSize[d]give all points a diameter d as a fraction of the width of the whole plot
AbsolutePointSize[d]give all points a diameter d measured in absolute units
Graphics directives for points.
Here is a list of points.
Click for copyable input
This makes each point have a diameter equal to onetenth of the width of the plot.
Click for copyable input
Here each point has size 3 in absolute units.
Click for copyable input
Thickness[w]give all lines a thickness w as a fraction of the width of the whole plot
AbsoluteThickness[w]give all lines a thickness w measured in absolute units
Dashing[{w1,w2,}]show all lines as a sequence of dashed segments, with lengths , ,
AbsoluteDashing[{w1,w2,}]use absolute units to measure dashed segments
CapForm[type]give all lines endcaps of the specified type
JoinForm[type]give all lines joins of the specified type
Graphics directives for lines.
This generates a list of lines with different absolute thicknesses.
Click for copyable input
Here is a picture of the lines.
Click for copyable input
The Dashing graphics directive allows you to create lines with various kinds of dashing. The basic idea is to break lines into segments which are alternately drawn and omitted. By changing the lengths of the segments, you can get different line styles. Dashing allows you to specify a sequence of segment lengths. This sequence is repeated as many times as necessary in drawing the whole line.
This gives a dashed line with a succession of equallength segments.
Click for copyable input
This gives a dotdashed line.
Click for copyable input
Dashing can be turned off by specifying an empty list. Here, Dashing is turned off for only the second line.
Click for copyable input
Graphics directives which require a numerical size specification can also accept values of Tiny, Small, Medium, and Large. For each directive, these values have been fine-tuned to produce an appearance which will seem appropriate to the human eye.
This specifies a large thickness with medium dashing.
Click for copyable input
This specifies that the entire multipoint should use large, green points.
Click for copyable input
The CapForm directive lets you specify the shapes of the end caps of lines. End cap shapes can be , , or .
This shows the different shapes available to CapForm.
Click for copyable input
CapForm["Butt"] specifies that lines end exactly at their endpoints. end caps extend one-half line width beyond the ends of a line. end caps are half-circles whose diameter is the width of the line.
You can also specify the shapes of the joins between line segments via the JoinForm directive.
Here are the shapes available to JoinForm.
Click for copyable input
JoinForm[{"Miter",d}]extend the join by at most d times the line width
Specifying the maximum length of miter joins.
When the angle between adjacent line segments is small, the point at a miter join can be very long. Excessively long points are by default truncated to bevel joins. The length at which this happens, the "miter limit", is by default set so that the points of 5-pointed stars are sharp, but more acute joins are beveled. You can specify an explicit miter limit using JoinForm to control exactly when sharp joins are beveled. The miter limit is the number of line widths that the point at a join is allowed to extend past the vertex of the join before it is beveled.
The points on this 7-pointed star are blunted by the default miter limit.
Click for copyable input
Specifying an explicit larger miter limit gives a pointed star.
Click for copyable input
RoundingRadius->rspecify that corners should be rounded with radius r
The RoundingRadius option to Rectangle.
The corners of Rectangle primitives can be rounded with the RoundingRadius option, which specifies the radius of the rectangle's corners. The actual rounding is limited to the half-length of an adjacent side.
Here are rectangles with various amounts of corner rounding.
Click for copyable input
One way to use Wolfram Language graphics directives is to insert them directly into the lists of graphics primitives used by graphics objects. Sometimes, however, you want the graphics directives to be applied more globally, and for example to determine the overall "style" with which a particular type of graphical element should be rendered. There are typically graphics options which can be set to specify such styles in terms of lists of graphics directives.
PlotStyle->stylespecify a style to be used for all curves in Plot
PlotStyle->{{style1},{style2},}specify styles to be used (cyclically) for a sequence of curves in Plot
MeshStyle->stylespecify a style to be used for a mesh in density and surface graphics
BoxStyle->stylespecify a style to be used for the bounding box in threedimensional graphics
Some graphics options for specifying styles.
This generates a plot in which all curves are specified to use the same style.
Click for copyable input
A different PlotStyle expression can be used to give specific styles to each curve.
Click for copyable input
The various "style options" allow you to specify how particular graphical elements in a plot should be rendered. The Wolfram Language also provides options that affect the rendering of the whole plot.
Background->colorspecify the background color for a plot
BaseStyle->colorspecify the base style for a plot, affecting elements not affected by PlotStyle
Prolog->ggive graphics to render before a plot is started
Epilog->ggive graphics to render after a plot is finished
Graphics options that affect whole plots.
This draws the plot in white on a gray background.
Click for copyable input
This makes the axes white as well.
Click for copyable input
Translate this page: | http://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/GraphicsDirectivesAndOptions.html | dclm-gs1-097570000 |
0.150358 | <urn:uuid:03266469-bb18-4aa5-b889-920c56ed6bb1> | en | 0.929413 | Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop
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The Courts
Submission RIAA Sued for Malicious Prosecution
Submission Apple Considering iPhone Rebates?
Enuratique writes: The San Francisco Gate reports indications Apple is considering a small rebate anywhere between $50 and $150 for its upcoming iPhone. Despite long resisting the industry practice of subsidizing new phones, Apple may concede in return for a revenue sharing bounty with AT&T.
From the article: Shaw Wu of American Technology Research reported today that his sources say Apple is considering a rebate or subsidy for the phone in the range of $50 to $150. That would put the iPhone around the $350 to $550 mark, depending on the version. Still expensive but more palatable.
| http://slashdot.org/~Transdimentia | dclm-gs1-097610000 |
0.043183 | <urn:uuid:468e6aa8-c403-477b-8950-c6cea0d53775> | en | 0.957138 | LINK CITY: Paul Holmgren Hit By Car, Bizarre Tweets about Crosby
Links that really want to like How I Met Your Mother, but can't because the lead character is a joke.
Paul Holmgren, GM of the Flyers, got hit by a car while riding his bike. [ Sportingnews ]
It appears that he might have hit a rut or something as he was biking in Avalon," said Peter A. Luukko, president and chief operating officer of Comcast-Spectacor. "I know Paul, he’s pretty fast on that bike so he probably went over pretty hard. The good news is that it’s certainly nothing life-threatening and we;ll have him back. “He has some broken ribs, broken shoulder and some stitches on his leg and arm, but Paul’s tough so he’ll be right back in the game.
Yeah, Paul is fine. He'll be back in his office making terrible decisions soon.
He will also apparently be cast in "No Country For Old Men II."
What an idiot.
ALSO: Crosby reaction, GIF, Wiki-read…
One of our favorite things about Twitter is when something big happens, some journalists start on the defensive for no reason.
For example, after the news about Crosby broke this morning, several journalists rushed to shoot down every rumor imaginable:
Uhh, no one said this.
Come on, James.
This next one is the best:
No word on who he is talking to. So strange.
GIF of the day:
Wiki read: Gravitational Singularity | http://thepensblog.com/tpb/link-city-paul-holmgren-hit-by-car-bizarre-tweets-about-crosby.html | dclm-gs1-097650000 |
0.249597 | <urn:uuid:08836875-7ed4-4c35-968e-445677c0d9a2> | en | 0.974628 | You Are At: AllSands Home > Science > Animals > How to identify a bagworm
The moment a bagworm hatches and before it begins to eat, this caterpillar begins making is case or bag. Once this is complete the caterpillar will crawl inside the case and never emerge again until it changes into an adult moth. The cases appear to act as a protection against predators and are often well camouflaged. Each caterpillar of the species makes a very distinctive case, which has made it easier to identify the species than a study of the adult moths. The cases are fashioned out of silk and usually include some plant material, twigs, leaves and fibers that are cemented into the matrix. The size of these cases will range from 1\4 inch up to 6 inches in some species.
When the caterpillar finishes its bag and has crawled inside it can begin feeding. As it eats the head and thorax stick out from the case but it quickly retreats inside to rest after it has finished securing the bag to solid object with silken threads. The rear end of the bag is left open for the disposal of its excretions. As the bagworm begins to grow it simply adds more materials to the front of the bag to increase it in length and diameter. Like all caterpillars, the bagworm feeds voraciously on the leaves of some plants. They are considered to be pest of fruit trees, sometimes completely stripping the tree completely bare.
Once a bagworm has eaten its fill they pupate inside their bag. In the pupa stage the bagworm's body is completely reorganized as it is transformed into a moth. The male bagworms turn into adult moths that are strong fliers but with short lives and incompletely developed mouth parts so they cannot feed. The female bagworms in some cases stay inside their pupal shell inside their bag. Others develop much like the males but become degenerate being forced to subsist on food that was stored up when she was a caterpillar. The female's legs and wings are reduced and in some cases even missing leaving her to become little more than an egg laying machine. In some species the females are able to crawl completely out of the pupal case and the bag where they wait for the males to find them.
It is believed that the male bagworm is guided by scent that is emitted by the female. Once fertilization has taken place the female will crawl back to her bag, lay her eggs and die. When the female is unable to leave her bag the male will mate with her through the open end of the bag. The female will then die with the eggs still inside her body and the baby caterpillars make their way through her body to begin construction of their own bags. There are many species of animals besides the bagworm whose powers of movement are very limited. Even so these animals have been able to spread, in some cases enormous distances.
Scientists believe that the bagworm is able to move great distances due to other agents that carry them. Just as water animals get carried on mud on the feet of birds or mammals, many small animals are carried by the wind, being swept high enough to be carried across oceans to other continents. There is at least one way known that bagworms are spread. The eggs of this caterpillar are very hard shelled and when a bird eats the contents of a bag containing the body of the female and her eggs, the eggs are passed through the birds system unharmed to be dropped miles away. | http://www.allsands.com/science/animals/science/animals/bagworm_zwm_gn.htm | dclm-gs1-097740000 |
0.018149 | <urn:uuid:e2c7018b-afdb-4c68-8de7-7f8a0d7886e0> | en | 0.975352 | After all the promises made by the central agency regarding offering employment for the Bedoon of Kuwait, Bedoon applicants were faced with rejection when they went on Monday to apply for jobs according to the official instructions, Al-Qabas newspaper reported. The Central Agency said those who apply should hold the 1965 census, have no ‘security holds’, and should be aware that they will only be considered after citizens. The Bedoon community has been describing this attempt as a lie made to fool the international community and that the whole system was created in a way to make employment impossible for the Bedoon.
Many ministries have indicated yesterday that they got instructions to receive Bedoon applications for employment which shows how the authorities are not serious about granting the Bedoon their rights to employment, per promises made to the international community. The ministries of education and health stated yesterday that if a Bedoon gets a job, he/she has to wait for 25,000 citizens to get jobs before any bedoon gets a chance to be hired!
What is interesting is that the number of Bedoon who went to apply for employment was significantly small as they are aware of how the promises made are not true. Every now and then, Kuwaiti authorities announce opening the door for bedoon to get jobs every now and then, but they were never hired. This constant strategy practiced by authorities made the community unable to trust any of the statements and promises as they are made part of a state propaganda that tries to take international pressure off the country. | http://www.bedoonrights.org/2012/03/27/bedoon-employment-applications-rejected/ | dclm-gs1-097790000 |
0.161886 | <urn:uuid:0a35f70d-0c17-4837-81c4-8ca6352cf4c4> | en | 0.969494 | Wednesday, December 31, 2008
No-knead bread
I'm sure many of you foodies have made or eaten this bread by now. It originated with Jim Lahey of the Sullivan St. Bakery in New York City, and its fame spread exponentially when Mark Bittman wrote about it in the New York Times. So much so that the weekend after the recipe was printed, food blogs reported that stores in the city were sold out of yeast.
Is all the fuss worth it? Well, if you've eaten it, you already know the answer. If you haven't tried it, or made it yet, get thee to a grocery store. Quickly. Right Now. Before the stores close for the day or run out of yeast. Well, alright, read this post first.
Fresh out of the oven and placed on a board, this bread speaks to you - literally. It starts to make a crackling sound that augurs all the goodness in the eating ahead - a crust so crunchy and an interior so chewy and full of texture you'd swear it was baked by a real Italian baker in a brick oven.
My husband, whose father was a real Italian baker with a brick oven (and who later migrated to the U.S. and started his business all over again) swears this is almost as good as the bread he used to eat growing up. His cousins in Italy still maintain the bakery in a small village in Abruzzo. Having been there many times, I can say that the family's bread (and pizza) is fantastic and special for different reasons, not the least of which is the nostalgia quotient.
But in the U.S., Lahey's bread is the best substitute. It will spoil you against ever eating ordinary bread from a supermarket bakery again. Make this bread and you will have instant friends. Make this bread and you may even get a marriage proposal. It's that good.
I have altered the original recipe to include more salt, since I thought Lahey's version was a little bland in flavor. I always use King Arthur bread flour. The first time I made it, I used ordinary flour, and it wasn't as good. Below are the ingredients for one loaf. After having made this recipe countless times, I now double the recipe and make two loaves at the same time, using two pots. The secret, as you'll read, is in the technique. You need a good sturdy pot with a lid that can go into the oven, like a Le Creuset dutch oven pot. It doesn't have to be cast iron or enameled cast-iron though. Even a heavy steel or aluminum pot will do. When I make it, I use one small, enameled cast-iron pot (in the photo) and one heavy aluminum pot that's much larger and more squat. As a result, I get one small loaf that has a rounder shape, and one large loaf that is more spread out in size.
Enough explanation, here's the recipe:
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast (yes, that's right only 1/4 tsp.)
2 tsp. salt
1 5/8 cups water, or more as needed
cornmeal, as needed
1. In a large bowl, place the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir with a wooden spoon. It may need more water, depending on the humidity in the air that day. When I first made this recipe, I followed the recipe and used ordinary flour and the dough was very loose and impossible to work with - kind of shaggy. Now that I use bread flour, it is always a stiffer dough, and I find I have to add more water than the 1 5/8 cups. I add just enough water to make a dough that looks like it wouldn't hold together into a ball if made outside the bowl, but not so loose that it looks like a batter. Each time you make it, you'll get a better feel for what it should look like. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap
2. Go and solve the world's problems (or play scrabble or go to sleep) while you let this rise a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 18-20 hours. After that time, remove the plastic wrap, and the dough should look like it's dotted with little bubbles. Flour your hands as well as your work surface, and turn the dough onto the board, folding it over on itself. Let it rest for about 15 minutes.
3.Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface or fingers, shape it into a ball shape and place it on half of a linen or cotton towel (not terrycloth) that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. You can use flour if you like instead. Sprinkle the top with more cornmeal or flour and cover with the other half of the towel. Let it rise another two hours.
4. Before the two hours are up, heat your oven to 450 degrees and place your pot or dutch oven inside. Let it heat with the lid on, for 1/2 hour. Carefully remove the pot from the oven, and remove the lid. Slide your hand under the dishtowel and pick up the dough, letting any extra cornmeal fall into the sink or onto the counter top. Turn the dough upside down into the pot. Don't worry if it's not centered or looks a mess, or seems to have deflated. When it's fully cooked, it seems as if magic has taken place inside the pot and you will have bread that looks professionally baked.
5. Put the lid back on the pot and cook for 1/2 hour. After that time, remove the lid and bake for another 1/2 hour.
6. Remove from the oven. At this point, an intoxicating smell will have permeated your house and it will be hard to resist cutting into the bread. Try. Try hard. The sound of the crackling of the crust will begin while it's resting and continue for five minutes or so. It's also much easier to cut after it's cooled a bit. Cut into the bread while it's warm, savor the goodness and graciously accept the kudos from all your friends and family. And ponder that marriage proposal.
This is some of the bread in my husband's cousin's bakery in Scerni, Italy (region of Abruzzo). Not round, but just as wonderful.
1 comment:
Anonymous said...
My daughter and I agreed that this is a perfect bread and that we would make it again and again! Carol | http://www.ciaochowlinda.blogspot.com/2008/12/no-knead-bread.html | dclm-gs1-097820000 |
0.042441 | <urn:uuid:b2d4102c-9467-48b3-bbde-c37dd4811656> | en | 0.953109 | Huffpost Entertainment
Leslie Sisman Headshot
Popcorn Preview: Reality
Posted: Updated:
Film: Reality (2012)
Cast includes: Aniello Arena (first film), Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone (Welcome to the South)
Writer/Director: Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah)
Genre: Comedy | Drama (116 minutes) Italian with subtitles
As the camera lovingly scans the rooftops of Naples, a gold-gilt horse-drawn carriage eventually catches our eye. We follow the carriage into La Sonrisa, where we join an extravagant wedding celebration. After photos in front of the waterfall, there's dancing and other festivities. Luciano, a natural born Italian ham, normally acts as MC... but today the main attraction is Enzo, the host of a popular TV reality show called "Big Brother." So Luciano enlivens the act by playing a drag queen heckler. It's a great show, and everyone has a wonderful time. Enzo leave the newlyweds with a lovely thought, "Hold on to your dreams. Never give up." The next day, the glitter and extravagance have given way to daily life. Luciano is a fishmonger in the town square, plus he always has a couple of moneymaking schemes on the side. His charms never fail to win customers and friends.
When Luciano's kids learn that Enzo is back in Naples for Big Brother tryouts, they beg their dad to audition. Luciano reluctantly agrees and thinks no more about it when the audition is over. But much to his surprise, Big Brother invites Luciano to a second audition in Rome. This time when it's over, Luciano is elated. He knows he has to wait for the phone call, but he's positive he's aced it. Back in Naples, he gets a hero's welcome home. It's hard to contain the exhilaration... "Luck only knocks once. If I win Big Brother, we'll be set for life." No more selling fish, no more selling questionable kitchen gadgets, no more struggling to make ends meet. The next day a stranger comes by the fish stand and asks for free fish. Luciano sends him away. But come to think of it... that wasn't the only odd thing that happened today. What if Big Brother is still watching him? If this is a test, Luciano's not going to fail.
Luciano remembers what Enzo always says... "Hold on to your dreams. Never give up." Well, he won't give up! Anyone who's ever bought a lottery ticket knows how seductive the dream is... until they draw the numbers and they aren't yours. So it's not hard to put yourself in Luciano's place. Luciano really is the life of the party... of course, they'll choose him... without a doubt... except... why haven't they called yet? Everyone loves Luciano, so they want to believe, too... up to a point. Reality is a raucous, enthusiast joy ride with great music and shades of Fellini. Many think Aniello Arena gives a breakout performance as the lovable Luciano... although "breakout" might not be the best choice of words... as Arena, in real life, is serving a life sentence for a double murder. He began acting in the prison theater company, where he was discovered. (Really!) He had to return to the prison each night after filming. Challenging as that may have been, the writer/director feels that his biggest challenge was to maintain the delicate balance between fantasy and reality. Luciano's grip on reality is obviously distorted by his belief that "Big Brother may be watching." Cut to a scene at Sunday mass... in the real world... the one where friends and neighbors never behave irrationally. After all, Big Papa may be watching.
4 popped kernels (Scale: 0-4)
A fishmonger wins an audition for a popular Italian reality show and loses his grip on what's real and what's a reality show
Popcorn Profile
Rated: R
Audience: Grown-ups
Distribution: Art house
Mood: Neutral
Tempo: Cruises comfortably
Visual Style: Unvarnished realism
Character Development: Engaging
Language: True to life
Social Significance: Thought provoking
Read more Popcorn Previews at
You may want to read about other recent Italian films:
The Double Hour
We Have a Pope | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-sisman/popcorn-preview-reality_b_2869450.html | dclm-gs1-097940000 |
0.03459 | <urn:uuid:7aa27451-84dc-4097-a434-4de31e637b27> | en | 0.95502 | Top 10 Superfoods
red bell pepper, Superfoods, Food Cures
Red Bell Peppers
A little known fact: one red bell pepper has twice as much vitamin C as an orange. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps clear your body of free radicals and keeps your skin and blood vessels healthy and strong. The vitamin C in bell peppers may also help prevent arthritis or slow the progression of the disease. Red bell peppers also deliver beta-carotene and lycopene, two more antioxidants that have been associated with decreased risk of eye diseases like cataracts. And, thanks to their high water content, bell peppers of all colors are a high-volume, low-cal food that's very figure-friendly. | http://www.joybauer.com/photo-gallery/top-10-superfoods/Red-Bell-Peppers.aspx | dclm-gs1-098000000 |
0.143175 | <urn:uuid:98b1cb13-8b46-4ac5-981f-8ef472707f1a> | en | 0.945827 | Academic Support Center (ASC)
Online Writing Lab
Welcome to the DeVry Orlando Online Writing Lab (OWL). I am Miss S. A. Writer, your hostess for the lab. When you have questions about grammar, writing, and research, you can come to me for assistance. Of course, you may also seek answers to your questions in conferences with your professors, in your English course textbooks, and in the Academic Support Center on campus. Those resources, however, are available only during campus hours. The OWL is always here to serve you. I hope that you find its contents helpful.
Oh, I must mention one thing. Our OWL is a fledgling, so we ask for your patience as it grows. If you wish to see a topic added to Owl's content, please put your request in writing and give it to one of the English professors, who will pursue the addition.
Grammar and Mechanics Parts of Speech Punctuation Sentences Writing Formats
Additional Resources
Did you not find what you need here? Do you need more help? Following is a brief list of additional writing resources. Each OWL in this list has links to other sites. The largest OWL on the Internet is the Purdue University site. One of the most student friendly OWLs is the Grammar and Writing Guide site.
The rules for abbreviations in academic writing are simple.
Spell out words, except standard abbreviations, in formal writing.
Wrong: We will meet Sue & Doc. John in the SUB at 6 on Fri.
Right: We will meet Sue and Dr. John in the Student Union Building at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Writers in different disciplines follow various rules for presenting numbers in print. In college essays, the rules are simple.
1. Spell out any number that can be written in one or two words unless you are writing a paper that contains many figures.
Seven million nine hundred eighty-seven
forty-two percent
2. Do not start a sentence with a number.
3. Use numbers for dates, addresses, time.
Our class will start on October 15, 2000, at 9:00 a.m.
I live at 700 Main Street, Orlando, Florida 32807.
Adjectives and Adverbs
We cannot describe anything without using adjectives and adverbs. These words specify item, color, size, place, time, extent, etc. Adjectives usually come before the nouns and pronouns that they modify, but they may also follow them, and they answer many questions:
What kind? Which one? How many? What color? What size?
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They also answer many questions:
When? Where? How? How often? How much? To what degree? Why?
Most, but not all, adverbs end in ly. The best way to recognize adverbs is to understand how they work in sentences.
We must be careful not to misuse adjectives and adverbs. Although many words in the English language can be a noun in one sentence, a verb in another, an adjective here, and an adverb there, we must be careful not to misuse some words.
Good is an adjective. It is never an adverb. One cannot play good.
Well is an adverb. It is never an adjective. One does play well.
Adjectives and adverbs are often used for comparison.
• The positive degree is the simplest form of an adjective or adverb; it involves no comparison.
This red book is big.
The small dog runs fast.
The child quickly opened the present.
• The comparative degree shows a relationship between two things. To form the comparative degree, we add er to a word, or we use the word more or less with the positive form of a word.
This green book is bigger than the red book.
The medium dog runs faster than the small dog.
The child opened the bigger present more quickly.
• The superlative degree shows the relationship among three or more things. To form the superlative degree, we add est to a word, or we use the word most or least with the positive form of the word.
Yes, but this yellow book is the biggest of the three.
The big dog runs the fastest of all the dogs.
The child opened the biggest present most quickly.
Of course, in English some words change completely when compared. Good becomes better and best. Bad becomes worse and worst. Many becomes more and most. Be aware of changes, and keep a dictionary handy.
Do you remember my telling you that we should always strive for clarity in our writing? Trouble sneaks in occasionally when we work with adjective and adverb phrases and clauses (Do you remember the difference in a phrase and a clause?), and we create confusion for our readers. This trouble appears when we place modifiers in positions where they may be misread. Look at the following sentence:
Running down the sidewalk, the garden hose tripped Junior.
Who was running down the street? The garden hose? We know that a garden hose cannot run, but that's what the sentence says. We need to revise the sentence:
Running down the sidewalk, Junior tripped over the garden hose.
We can also create trouble by placing any word in the wrong place. Look at the differences in these sentences.
The almost exhausted man finished the marathon. (The man is not quite exhausted.)
The exhausted man almost finished the marathon. (The man is exhausted, and he didn't quite finish the race.
We almost won a million dollars in the lottery. (We didn't win anything.)
We won almost a million dollars in the lottery. (We won a lot of money, but less than a million dollars.)
Be aware of the placement of words. Say exactly what you intend to say.
The boy went to the store, and the boy bought some bread because the boy wanted to make a sandwich for the boy and the boy's girlfriend before the boy and the boy's girlfriend went to a movie that the boy and the boy's girlfriend had been waiting to see. The boy and the boy's girlfriend ate quickly so that the boy and the boy's girlfriend would not be late, but when the boy and the boy's girlfriend arrived at the theater, the boy and the boy's girlfriend discovered that the boy and the boy's girlfriend had the boy's and the boy's girlfriend's dates mixed up. The movie would not arrive at the theater for another week. The boy and the boy's girlfriend went home disappointed.
Wow! Did you read that paragraph? Doesn't it sound awful? Why? Don't you get tired of seeing/hearing "the boy and the boy's girlfriend"? Does the following paragraph sound better?
The boy went to the store, and he bought some bread because he wanted to make a sandwich for himself and his girlfriend before they went to a movie that they had been waiting to see. They ate quickly so that they would not be late, but when they arrived at the theater, they discovered that they had their dates mixed up. The movie would not arrive at the theater for another week. They went home disappointed.
What is the difference in the two paragraphs? That's right! Pronouns! Without pronouns, what we say can be awkward, wordy, and complicated. We must respect pronouns, however. We can't just throw them around haphazardly. Like everything else regarding the English language, we have to follow rules. Let's look at some of those pronoun rules in a PowerPoint slideshow.
Verbs - Tense, Mood, Voice
Verbs are arguably the most important words in sentences because they indicate exactly what happens. They also indicate time - when the action takes place. When speaking of verbs and time, we use the word tense. The three basic tenses are past, present, and future. Not all actions fit neatly into those three categories, however. Sometimes actions start in the past and continue into the present, and they may go on into the future. To properly state action, we must sometimes use the helping verbs has and have. Probably no one will ask you to tell whether a verb is in the present tense, past perfect tense, or future progressive tense. You will simply need to use verbs correctly in your writing. The key is consistency; if you start in one tense, you should stay in it and not jump back and forth between tenses.
Another little piece of verb knowledge regards the mood of verbs. Mood expresses the attitude of the writer. Verbs have several moods:
• Indicative - used for statements of fact and for asking questions
• Subjunctive - makes a statement contrary to fact
• This is the only mood that may sound strange, so you need to be aware of it.
• Example: If I were you, I would stay in school.
• I can never be someone else, so this is contrary to fact.
• Imperative - expresses a command
• Conditional - used for statements that depend on each other; one statement is true only if another statement is true
We have one other item to cover regarding verbs: voice. Voice tells us whether the subject of a sentence is the actor or is acted upon. Most of the time in formal writing we want to use active voice because it is more immediate and places the reader closer to the action. Rarely will we use passive voice because it distances the reader from the action. Wouldn't you rather attend a good party than have someone tell you about it? It is more exciting, more fun to be in the center of the action. Active voice is more exciting, more fun. Passive voice allows us only to hear about the excitement and fun.
• Active voice example: John ate the whole pie!
• Passive voice example: The whole pie was eaten by John.
Punctuation - Commas and Semicolons
When we speak, we pause for emphasis or to catch our breath. In written sentences, commas show these pauses. Commas also work like road signs to guide readers to the message that we want to convey. The textbook gives us many comma rules, too many to remember. Some of them simply state specialized cases of other rules. If you learn the basics, everything else will fall into place. As always, we strive for clarity so that readers receive the precise message that we send.
1. Place a comma before a conjunction in a compound sentence Mary went to the store, and she bought some bread.
2. Place a comma after an introductory phrase or clause When I was in school, I turned in every assignment on time. If you want to succeed in this class, you must complete all assignments. Consequently, you will receive a good grade. Daniel, what are you doing?
3. Use commas to set off parenthetical words, phrases, and clauses (words, phrases, and clauses that you can remove and still have a good sentence) Martha, my older daughter, teaches math. She rushed, holding the report in her hand, down the hall to the office.
4. Use commas to separate items in a series. The college raised fees, reduced maintenance, fired assistant professors, turned down the heat, but went bankrupt anyway. Mathilda tried on prom dresses of red, blue, and yellow, and green polka dots. HOT TIP: Grammar rules say that the comma before the conjunction and final item of a series is optional. As you can see in the last example, if we don't put a comma after yellow, we might have a yellow-and-green-polka-dot dress instead of a yellow dress and a green-polka-dot dress. If you put the comma before the conjunction, you will never be wrong; if you don't put the comma before the conjunction, readers may misinterpret your writing.
5. Use commas with quotation marks to set off direction quotations from the clause that names the source of the quotation (except when other punctuation is used) "I'm sorry," she said, "but all sections of the course are closed." "Are you sure?" he asked.
6. Use commas to separate parts of dates, addresses, and numbers Susie lives at 601 Main Street, Orlando, Florida, and has for ten years. (Notice the comma after Florida.) Jody enlisted on April 15, 1983, and began boot camp on April 16. (Notice the comma after 1983.) Based on the last census, Orlando has a population of 1, 784, 693. HOT TIP: Avoid overusing commas. Learn the rules and apply them consistently.
Semicolons are stronger than commas, but not as strong as a period. If you think of road signs, a comma is a Yield sign, and a period is a Stop sign. Consider a semicolon a rolling stop. We use semicolons in two conditions:
1. to join closely related independent clauses Mary needed bread; she went to the store.
2. to separate items in a series when one or more items contain commas Several people went to see Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney last night: John, my older brother; Adam, a friend; Mary; and I.
Without the semicolons, we wouldn't know whether my older brother is Adam, John, or a separate person; or whether the friend is Mary, Adam, or another person.
Commas seem to give some people fits, and semicolons seem to intimidate. Learn a few rules and gain control over these punctuation marks. They will make your life easier....
Other Punctuation
This section deals with punctuation other than commas and semicolons. We'll start with end punctuation: periods, question marks, and exclamation points.
Place periods at the ends of sentences that make simple statements, give mild commands or make mild requests, or ask indirect questions.
Use question marks after sentences that ask clear, direct questions.
Exclamation points appear at the ends of sentences that show shock, surprise, or some other strong emotion. Use them sparingly.
Other punctuation marks include apostrophes, quotation marks, dashes, colons, parentheses, brackets, slashes, ellipses, and hyphens.
We use apostrophes to show possession and to indicate that words, numbers, or letters have been deleted.
• Possession:
• Singular words - add an apostrophe followed by an "s" Judy's car Mr. Jones's house
• Plural words:
• If the plural is formed by adding an "s," just add an apostrophe
• If the plural does not end in "s," add an apostrophe and an "s" The Joneses' house
The children's room
The boys' bicycles
HOT TIP: It may help to remember that the item belongs to whatever is to the left of the apostrophe.
• Contractions:
• The apostrophe goes where the omission occurs. do not = don't
1999 = '99
it is = it's
you all = y'all
Quotation marks enclose titles of poems, magazine articles, newspaper articles, songs, short stories, essays, and other short works. They also enclose words spoken in dialogue, words taken verbatim from someone else's work, and words and phrases to which you want to give emphasis.
Did you read John's essay titled "How to Make an 'A' in English Class"? John said, "Making an 'A' is easy if you know how." Anyone can make an "A" if he or she works at it.
Dashes set off words, phrases, sentences for special emphasis. They are dramatic markers and should be used sparingly.
I can write - and I write well - but I don't like to write.
Use the colon to introduce lists, to indicate the time of day, to separate a title and subtitle of a work. Colons also follow salutations in business letters.
We need three things: paper, pen, and a desire to succeed. Our plane leaves at 7:03 p.m. tomorrow. Have you read Composition: Staying Composed While Composing? Dear Dr. Edwards:
Parentheses always work in pairs. Use them to set off information that breaks the flow of thought within a sentence or paragraph.
You should receive your paycheck on Wednesday (or as soon thereafter as the mail carrier delivers it).
Square brackets set off material within quoted matter that is not part of the quotation, and sometimes they enclose editorial notes, page numbers, or other documentation inserted in a text.
In formal writing, we use slashes only to separate lines of poetry when the lines do not occur as originally written.
An ellipsis indicates omitted words, phrases, or sentences - usually in quoted material.
Hyphens are bridges between words. We use them to form compound words like mother-in-law and terms like state-of-the-art.
My brother is a one-of-a-kind-food-consuming machine.
You will rarely use these last punctuation marks, but you should keep a grammar handbook handy so that you can look up the rules governing them if you need to use them.
Phrase, Clause, Sentence
Although no one out there in the real world will ever ask you to pick out the subjects and verbs in sentences, and no one will ask you if a pronoun agrees with its antecedent, you need to understand these and other grammatical things so that your professors and you can discuss your writing, what you're doing well and areas on which you need to focus. In school, we concentrate on standard formal English. That means that we follow the conventions set forth by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the collection of scholars, the "they" who make all rules governing the English language. We may speak in our various dialects and use our colloquialisms in conversations, but we must write formally. Things acceptable in informal oral communications are taboo in formal written communications.
We'll start with phrases, clauses, and sentences. How do we differentiate these three items?
• A phrase is a group of related words.
• A clause is a group of related words that contains both a subject and verb. We have two primary types of clauses.
• An independent clause expresses a complete thought, so it can stand by itself.
• A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, expresses only part of a thought, so it cannot stand alone.
• A sentence is an independent clause that may or may not be combined with other clauses to convey a complete, and sometimes complex, thought.
You must be able to recognize phrases, sentences, and clauses so that you can tell whether you have written complete sentences and so that you can punctuate your sentences correctly.
To determine whether a group of words is a phrase or a clause, you must be able to find the subject and predicate. (Predicate is another term for a verb.)
• The subject is the part of a sentence that tells who or what the sentence is about. To find the subject, ask who or what is doing something.
• The predicate is the part of a sentence that asserts something about the subject. It expresses action or state of being. To find the predicate, ask what the subject is doing.
HOT TIP: Because verbs change form to show time (tense), you can locate verbs easily by forcing a change in a sentence. If you use a word like yesterday, today, or tomorrow at the start of a sentence whose verb you're trying to identify, the only word that changes will be the verb.
Mary writes letters to her grandparents.
Yesterday, Mary wrote letters to her grandparents.
Tomorrow, Mary will write letters to her grandparents.
Since writes is the only word that changes, writes is the verb.
Once you find the verb, you can easily find the subject by asking who or what does the action of the verb.
Example: Who writes? Mary writes, so Mary is the subject of the sentence.
HOT TIP: The subject of a sentence will NEVER be in a prepositional phrase. This is important to know because subjects and verbs must agree in number (singular/plural). Sometimes the object of a preposition comes between a subject and verb, making the subject a little more difficult to find and causing agreement errors.
In the example sentences, we also have a direct object and an indirect object.
• A direct object is something or someone that directly receives the action of the verb.
Example: What does Mary write? She writes letters, so letters is the direct object.
• An indirect object is someone for whom or to whom the action is done.
Example: To whom does Mary write the letters? She writes to her grandparents, so grandparents is the indirect object.
Many other elements occur in sentences. Our language would be pretty boring if we had only subjects and verbs, direct objects and indirect objects in our sentences. We couldn't say all that we want to say without other parts of speech. Well, what are those other parts of speech?
You will find them listed in a PowerPoint presentation on Parts of Speech.
While we're discussing sentences, you should know that there are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. The number of independent and dependent clauses determines the type of sentence.
• A simple sentence contains one independent clause.
Example: Mary went to the store.
• A compound sentence contains two independent clauses that usually are joined in one of two ways:
• A comma and coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)
Example: Mary went to the store, and she bought some bread.
• A semicolon
Example: Mary went to the store; she bought some bread.
HOT TIP: Omitting the comma makes this a run-on sentence. Because this is the number one error in student writing, you should pay close attention to this rule. Notice that there is a subject and verb on both sides of the conjunction and semicolon.
• A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
Example: Mary went to the store because she needed bread.
• A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Example: Mary went to the store, and she bought some bread that she needed.
Run-on and Fragment
In formal writing, we must write in complete sentences, and we want to increase the level of sophistication. In our efforts to construct sophisticated sentences, however, we sometimes fail to include proper punctuation. When this happens, we create run-ons and comma splices. We must pay close attention to our sentence structures, because run-ons and comma splices will quickly destroy an otherwise good piece of writing.
Remember that every independent clause has a subject and verb set, so a run-on sentence has more than one subject-verb set without proper punctuation between the sets.
Example run-on: Mary went to the store she bought some bread.
Corrected: Mary went to the store; she bought some bread.
Example run-on: Mary went to the store and she bought some bread.
Corrected: Mary went to the store, and she bought some bread.
We can correct run-ons in several ways:
• Separate simple sentences
• Semicolon between the clauses
• Comma and coordinating conjunction between the clauses
We use the above correction methods when the ideas in each clause carry equal weight. Sometimes, however, we can make one clause depend on another by using a subordinator like when, because, although, if, etc.
Example: Mary bought some bread when she went to the store.
Example: When she went to the store, Mary bought some bread.
Example: If she goes to the store, Mary will buy some bread.
Example: Mary will buy some bread if she goes to the store.
Notice that when the dependent clause begins the sentence, a comma separates the clauses. When the dependent clause comes at the end of the sentence, no comma is needed.
HOT TIP: When you start a sentence with a subordinating word, you set up a condition. When you get to the end of the condition, you put a comma and then say what will happen if the condition is met.
Example: If she goes to the store, she will buy some bread.
What will happen if she goes to the store? She will buy some bread.
Occasionally in our efforts to eliminate run-on sentences, we create fragments. A fragment can be a phrase without a subject and verb; or it can be a dependent clause, which has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone because it does not express a complete thought. You must proofread carefully to find and eliminate fragments. Following are some ways to correct fragments:
• Join the fragment to the sentence that comes before it or the sentence that follows it. Your intended meaning will determine where the fragment goes.
• Add or remove words to convert a fragment into a complete sentence.
• Change the form of words (look particularly at verbs) in the fragment to create a complete sentence.
HOT TIP: Reading your work slowly and aloud will help you find sentence errors. Read only what is on the paper; neither add words that are not there nor omit words that are there. Your ears will detect problems more easily than your eyes.
Coordination, Subordination, Parallelism
One of our goals in college is to improve our writing, to make it more sophisticated. One step toward achieving this goal involves sentence structures. We want to write well-constructed compound-complex sentences so that we can express multiple layers of thought. If we write only simple sentences, our work will sound elementary. To achieve our desired level of sophistication, we can combine thoughts through coordination and/or subordination. We must be careful, however, that our combinations carry their intended weight.
We can establish equal emphasis between parts of a sentence by using coordinating conjunctions or suitable punctuation or both. Coordination gives equal emphasis to words and ideas as well as clauses.
Example: John and Mary rode their bikes and swam in the pool for exercise, and they were tired at the end of the day.
Coordination (equal emphasis):
• John and Mary
• rode their bikes and swam in the pool
HOT TIP: You must be careful not to create comma splices and run-on sentences when you join independent clauses.
When you coordinate, you must assure balance by using the same form in each part. We call the repetition of grammatical structure parallelism. To be parallel all the items must match, must be in the same part of speech, and must follow the same form.
• Example: John and Mary rode their bikes and swimming in the pool. This sentence sounds strange because the verbs are not parallel.
Corrected: John and Mary rode their bikes and swam in the pool.
• Example: They like to ride, swim, and cooking together.
This sentence sounds strange because cooking has an ing, and ride and swim do not. These words are not parallel.
Corrected: They like to ride, swim, and cook together.
In some sentences, one idea depends on another. One condition or event may cause another; one event may come before another; one observation may explain another. Subordination establishes the dependence of one idea on another by shifting emphasis away from supporting elements so that major statements emerge clearly. You can subordinate single words, phrases, and clauses by using subordinating conjunctions (like after, because, if, since, when, although, unless, etc.) or by embedding words and ideas. Embedding compresses a great deal of information into a few words by establishing subordination.
Example: John and Mary exercised. They have bikes. They rode them. They swam in the pool. They got tired. The day ended.
• After riding their bikes and swimming in the pool for exercise, John and Mary were tired at the end of the day.
• John and Mary were tired at the end of the day because they had ridden their bikes and swum in the pool for exercise.
• John and Mary, after riding their bikes and swimming in the pool for exercise, were tired at the end of the day.
Subject-Verb Agreement
You have identified subjects and verbs in sentences. Now we will discuss some specific details regarding those subjects and verbs, specifically agreement. Subjects and verbs must agree in person and number.
Number refers to whether a subject and verb are singular or plural. If a subject is singular, the verb must be singular also. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. For most speakers of English, this agreement occurs automatically; however, we do have rules that control the forms of subjects and verbs. Of course, the English language contains many, many exceptions to the rules.
Most singular nouns do not end in s; most singular verbs do end in s.
The baby wants her toy.
The teacher writes on the chalkboard.
The child plays happily.
Most plural nouns end in s; most plural verbs do not end in s.
The babies want their toys.
The teachers write on the chalkboard.
The children play happily.
As you know, not all subjects of sentences are nouns. We can also use pronouns as subjects. When we use pronouns, we must address person when checking for subject-verb agreement.
First person : I (singular) we (plural)
Second person: you (singular) you (plural)
Third person: he, she, it (singular) they (plural)
• Third person singular pronouns require singular verbs.
• First person I requires the plural form although it is singular.
• Second person you requires the plural form in both singular and plural instances.
• Plural pronouns require plural verbs.
• Two singular nouns or pronouns joined by and create a plural subject and require a plural verb.
Jami sings beautifully.
Jackson sings beautifully.
Jami and Jackson sing beautifully.
HOT TIP: Words can come between the subject and verb in a sentence. Remember that the subject is NEVER in a prepositional phrase, and it is NEVER in a phrase or clause that is set off by commas. (Grammar Check often chooses the noun closest to the verb as the subject of the sentence, so you need to be smarter than Grammar Check.)
• The words or and nor indicate choice. If both words in the choice are singular, then the verb is singular.
Either the teacher or the student writes well.
If both words in the choice are plural, then the verb is plural.
Either the teachers or the students write well.
If one word is singular and one word is plural, then the word closest to the verb controls the form of the verb.
Either the teachers or the student writes well.
Either the teacher or the students write well.
• Indefinite pronouns (anybody, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, nobody, no one, one) are singular and require singular verbs.
Everyone loves his or her teacher.
• Relative pronouns who, that, which can be singular or plural, depending on the noun to which they refer.
The student who completes the work early will receive a reward.
The students who complete the work early will receive rewards.
• Collective nouns refer to a unit and require singular verbs.
The jury reaches a verdict.
The team plays its last game next Saturday.
• Some nouns look plural although they are singular.
Economics is a difficult class.
Politics is a subject that I avoid.
Always check your work for subject-verb agreement.
Spelling and Capitalization
Correct spelling is a sign of literacy. Errors in spelling and grammar give people the impression that you are careless or ignorant, which invalidates anything you have to say. Now you will not learn to spell every word in the English language in one easy lesson, so I will not try to convince you that you can. I can only recommend that you keep a good dictionary handy - and use it. Also, take advantage of your computer spellchecker, but remember that the computer does not identify words that are misused. If it recognizes a group of letters as a word, it will accept that word even if it is used incorrectly. You must be smarter than the spellchecker.
We may not be able to fix all the spelling problems, but we can work on capitalization by noting a few rules:
• Capitalize proper nouns and their abbreviations
Mary Uncle John January Sept. House of Blues
• Capitalize historical events, names of movements, and titles of literary and art works
the Civil War Louisiana Purchase Romanticism Star Wars
• Capitalize the first word of dialogue
She cried, "Help!"
Underlining and Italicizing
Italics give words a special designation. Anything that should be underlined in writing may be italicized when using a word processing program. Underlining and italicizing are the same thing, but you never do both. So what do we italicize?
• Titles of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, paintings, ships, television shows (series, not individual episodes), ships, aircraft, court cases
• Foreign words and phrases
• Letters used as words
• Words that we want to emphasize
Introduction to Writing and the Writing Process
I don't like to write . . . but I love having written!
I am Miss. S. A. Writer, your guide to grammar, writing and research. Students frequently inform me that they don't like to write. They don't like all the time required to get their thoughts on paper. They don't like having to make their writing conform to "all those stupid rules." They don't like hearing the criticisms of their peers and teachers. They don't like receiving papers "bloodied" by their teachers' red pens. They don't like seeing the words, sentences, and paragraphs that they placed on their papers overruled by comments of "frag," "agmt," "RO," "logic," "punct," or other problem indicator. I listen to the students, and as they speak, I nod my head in agreement because I share their sentiments. Writing, for me, is a painful process. My mind races with ideas, and my thoughts run in all directions. It takes me forever to gather them and get them down on paper. When I finally accomplish that goal, I look at my work and think "What a mess!" It takes me hours to write a paper and get it to an acceptable level - not necessarily perfect, but something I can live with. In college, my professors always complimented my work, and my grades indicated writing excellence. I've published a couple of pieces, so apparently I do write well. Although I can accept that fact, I still don't like to write . . . but I love having written. I enjoy the satisfaction of completing a task. I enjoy seeing other people read my words, accept them, and validate my thoughts by their acceptance. I enjoy moving people to laughter, tears, introspection, action, or whatever emotion the piece evokes. I love the power of the written word.
Why do I tell you all this? Whether you like writing or hate it, you can write - and you can write well. You may have much to learn about writing, but you can learn. If you already write well, you can become even better. Even the most successful contemporary writers - Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Danielle Steel, Maya Angelou, and others - readily admit that they learn something new with every project they undertake. Writing, like any other skill, requires practice. So, let's begin.
Writing is a process that consists of five steps: prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing (also delineated in a PowerPoint presentation). Each step moves you closer to your final product.
• Prewriting: Generating ideas and details
• Questioning
• Freewriting
• Listing
• Diagramming
• Outlining
• Writing: Assembling ideas and details into sentences and paragraphs
• Revising: Working with content - reorganizing sentences and paragraphs, adding details, deleting superfluous details, including transitions - to achieve your writing purpose
• Editing: Proofreading and checking sentence skills: grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and usage
• Publishing: Printing your final paper
This process is recursive, which means that the steps may be repeated as many times as necessary to achieve a satisfactory final product.
HOT TIP: When proofreading, read your paper aloud. Read only what is on the paper; do not add words that are not on the paper or delete words that are there. Reading aloud enables your ears to pick up problems that your eyes overlook.
Thesis Sentence
Basic Requirements of a Thesis Sentence
2. It reflects the essay's purpose, a clear and definite commitment that expresses the writer's stand on the topic.
3. It includes a focus, an assertion that conveys the writer's point of view.
4. It uses specific language, wording that is precise, unambiguous, and grammatically correct.
5. It is a single declarative sentence that contains both the subject and main point about the subject.
6. It usually appears in the first paragraph of the essay. At DeVry Orlando, the thesis sentence will always be the last sentence of the first paragraph. It establishes the structure of the essay. By writing the main thought in one sentence and placing it at the beginning of the essay, the writer will be better able to stay focused during additional drafting stages, and the reader will quickly have a clear sense of the purpose of the essay.
7. It may give the major subdivisions of the essay's topic.
What a Thesis Sentence Is Not
• It is not a question: Will the Gators win the national championship?
• It is not a title: The National Championship
• It is not simply a statement of fact: The Gators will win the national championship.
• It is not an announcement: In this essay I will discuss why the Gators will win the national championship.
Thesis: The University of Florida Gators will win the national championship because of a superior offensive line, an aggressive defense, and a seasoned quarterback.
Writing a Paragraph
As you write papers for class or for any reason, ask yourself two questions, and then make sure that anyone who reads your papers can answer them: "What is my point? What is my support for that point?" Clearly state your point and support it with specific details.
A paragraph for a formal academic essay should contain 150 words or more. It does not necessarily consist of five sentences. It does have a topic sentence, a sentence that states the main point, followed by other sentences that provide specific details that support the main point.
A slideshow summarizes the process for writing a paragraph.
Writing an Essay
The basic process for writing an essay is the same as the one used in writing a paragraph. We follow the same steps. An essay, however, requires more thought and effort not only because it contains more information but also because we must provide road signs to guide our readers to a shared understanding of our thoughts. A PowerPoint slideshow discusses essays.
An important part of any essay is the introduction. Like most areas of life, we want to make a good first impression. We must stimulate readers' interest and place the thesis in a meaningful context. Five strategies help create a context:
• Supply background information: This is like setting the scene for a play. You lead up to the thesis by identifying a situation, events, or issues that are relevant to your point.
• Relate an anecdote: An anecdote is a brief story or narration of an event. The story may illustrate your thesis, or it may show how you arrived at the idea for your essay.
• Use a quotation from a book, poem, newspaper or magazine article, expert in a field, famous person, personal interview, etc. If you begin with a quotation, you need to explain what it means and how it relates to your thesis.
• Use interesting facts and figures: Facts and figures such as dates, times, names of people, places, and statistics add interest and realism to your writing.
• Ask a rhetorical question: A question used in an introduction should be new, surprising, or something readers may not have thought to ask.
Once you create interest and tell your audience what you intend to discuss, you must develop the body of your essay. You must state your message clearly and completely so that readers can identify with you and follow your ideas. You must move logically from one point to the next. Transitions play a major role in moving the reader along with you.
A good conclusion brings your essay to a close that satisfies readers and does not leave them hanging. Have you ever watched a movie that just left you hanging at the end? It gave no clear resolution of the conflict and left you disappointed? Well, similar feelings occur when an essay has no clear conclusion. The reader gets to the end, turns the page, and finds nothing there. You need to make clear that you have said all you intend to say about your topic. You don't want to say, "That's all, folks," or "The end" or "In conclusion." You should be more creative than that. You can end an essay in many of the same ways that you start one - anecdote, quotation, facts and figures. You should never simply repeat your introduction, but you can state the same ideas in different ways.
Revising an Essay
When students write paragraphs and essays for class assignments, they frequently and quickly throw something on a piece of paper and turn it in, thinking it is good enough. Sometimes it is good enough - when a student has innate writing talent. More often, however, the writing is not good enough, the student receives a low grade, and the student's distaste for writing increases. Only when students become involved with their writing will their skills improve. To become involved, students must care about what they say and how they say it. They must also want to become better writers, and they must be willing to look critically at their work and to accept suggestions for improvement. They must revise and rewrite until they overcome weaknesses. Just as athletes must train constantly to improve their skills, so must writers train constantly. It takes time to develop good writing skills and habits.
Most of the time when we talk with our friends, family, and coworkers, we don't worry about the grammatical correctness of what we say. As long as we communicate, we're okay. People overlook, or are unaware of, our mistakes. When we write, however, we must write correctly. We must be aware of our mistakes so that we can eliminate them. The revision process forces us to focus on finding and eliminating errors. It forces us to look critically at our work.
When we receive papers that have low grades on them, we must review them, look at our most serious problems, look at repeated problems, examine the rules for correcting those problems, and apply the rules to our writing. When we prepare our next piece of writing, we should look back at our previous work, review the rules and corrections that we made, check specifically for those kinds of errors in our current work, and correct them. This process seems tedious, but it pays off. It is the only way that we can become better writers and receive those high grades that we desire.
Following is a checklist for revising your papers. Print it and keep it handy so that you may refer to it often.
Revision Checklist
1. Review your goals. Study your outline. Read any instructions your instructor may have given to make sure your paper meets the assignment.
2. Does the introduction grab the reader's attention? Does it set up the rest of the paper?
3. Is the thesis clear?
4. Are there enough facts and details to support your thesis?
5. Are your ideas clearly organized and transitions logical?
6. Are there repetitive or irrelevant details that could be deleted? Are there missing or confusing ideas?
7. Is the language precise? Are there vague phrases that could be more sharply stated?
8. Does the tone or "feel" of the paper suit your audience?
9. Does the conclusion bring the paper to a logical end?
HOT TIP: Read your paper aloud. It is far easier to hear errors than to see them.
Writing an Argument-Persuasion Essay
Argument and Persuasion
What is it?
Arguments are assertions designed to convince readers to accept an idea, adopt a solution, or change their opinions. Writers use reason and facts to support their arguments, often disproving or disputing conflicting theories or alternative proposals in the process.
Three basic appeals:
Logic: reasoned arguments and evidence that support a point of view or proposed action:
Test results
Expert testimony
Eyewitness testimony
Emotion: images, sensations, or shock techniques that lead people to react in a desired manner by calling on their deeply felt needs and desires:
Ethics: combination of reasoning and deeply held convictions that reflect shared values:
Note: Effective writers frequently mix factual details with emotional appeals.
Appealing to Hostile Readers
• Openly admit differences
• Address opposing viewpoints
• Avoid judgmental statements
• Stress shared values, experiences, problems
• Ask readers to maintain an open mind
• Overcome negative stereotypes
Comparison and Contrast
A Compare/Contrast paper shows how things are alike or different. It does not have to address both sides; it may simply indicate similarities, or it may address only differences.
1. To explain by drawing distinctions between related subjects
a.Eliminate confusion
b.Inform: fairly show both subjects, but do not choose one over the other
2. To persuade readers to make a choice
a.Eliminate confusion
b.Persuade: show how one subject is preferable to the other
i. TV commercials - product superiority
ii. Political ads - one candidate is better than another
iii. Business proposals - one product/service is better than another
Selecting Topics:
Be sure subjects share enough common points for meaningful discussion. If a point is addressed on Subject A, it must also be addressed on Subject B.
When comparing broad or complex subjects, carefully limit the topic.
1. Subject-by-subject
• Divide the paper into two sections
State all information about Topic A
State all information about Topic B
• Actual comparisons usually occur in the second part, where B is discussed in relation to A.
• Simple, straightforward method suited for short papers and abstract topics
2. Point-by-point
• Compare Topic A and Topic B on a series of specific subtopics
• Following an introduction, discuss A and B in a number of comparisons
Discuss one aspect of A and B
Discuss second aspect of A and B
Discuss third aspect of A and B
• Useful for long papers that can be broken into units
• Allows easy comparison of specific information
3. Blending
• Combine the Subject-by-subject and Point-by-point methods
• Clear organization is essential to avoid confusion.
Writing a Description Essay
Description is the soul of writing and the source of much surprise. Writers surprise us when they suddenly make us see familiar objects in new ways, describe people who seem to come alive on the page, or recreate places and events so that they seem real. Whatever you write, descriptive words and phrases give it life and create interest for the reader. Description is rarely used alone; it almost always combines with other patterns. The ability to describe is a skill that you can develop. By carefully choosing descriptive details, you can create pictures in your readers' minds, engage their interest, and give them a sense of being there.
Describing comes naturally to people. Description is a familiar means of self-expression you use whenever you want to tell a friend about a movie you have seen, a book you have read, a person you care about, or a place you have been. You describe your symptoms to a doctor. You describe previous work experience to a prospective employer. These people can ask questions for clarification when they don't understand something. Readers of your essays, however, do not have opportunities for questions; they have only your words on a piece of paper. Your descriptions must enable them to "see" what you are talking about.
When describing something, you should try to involve as many sensory details - sight, sound, touch, taste, smell - as possible. You can be objective and report information without bias or emotion, or you can be subjective and explain by expressing your feelings and impressions. Whether you choose to be objective or subjective, you need to include in your thesis a controlling idea that provides an overall impression of whatever you are describing. Then you must support that idea with details
Writing a Process Essay
If you are a mother or father, you probably have had to assemble a toy for your child. If you work in an office, perhaps you have had to change the ink cartridge in a printer, clear a paper misfeed in a copier, or fax a document. At home, you probably follow directions for preparing meals; you may read the directions on a box or follow a family recipe. Have you ever had to give someone directions to reach a certain destination? If you receive financial aid, you had to apply for it. All of these activities are processes. Even writing an essay is a process. For each process, there is an expected outcome, a goal to reach, a good reason for performing each process, and definite steps to follow.
Process is a pattern of thought and organization whereby the writer explains steps or stages that lead to an outcome. In some processes, like a recipe, the sequence of steps is essential. You cannot fold blueberries into the muffin batter before you put in the flour and egg. In other processes, like how to manage time, the sequence of steps may not matter.
When writing about a process, you must include a few things. The PowerPoint presentation on process writing discusses those things.
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Aqua-cycling takes the typical spin class and submerges the fitness bikes in a pool.
2:26 | 05/06/13
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Transcript for New Fitness Craze Takes Place Underwater
Amy got to be in london. We're at the "gma" pool. A swim-up refreshment bar here. We're talking about a workout. It's like a spin class. It takes place underwater. It's called aqua cycling. You can pedal your way to finance. Bianna golodryga checked it out. Reporter: In just a few years, cycling has gone from this to this. Pulsating music. Intense instructors. And lots and lots of sweat. Now the newest fitness sensation to make a splash is aiming to take the intensity and sweat and, well, dunk it. This is aqua cycling. It's very similar to indoor cycling class. The main difference is you pedal against the water. Take the right hand. Reporter: Already popular in europe, esther is hoping aqua cycling make waves in the u.S. She just opened aqua studio in new york. The first its kind in the country. How does that differ from pedal on land? It protects your muscles, your bones. Reporter: Fins, towel, ready to spin. Let's do it. Three, two, one, down. How is everybody doing? Reporter: I am starting to sweat. Me, too. You feeling that bianna? Yeah. You can feel the buns firing up. Reporter: And it's not just your legs getting a workout. Up for two. Take it down. Reporter: And while spinning in a two piece might not be ffr everyone, the women in this class took it swimmingly. This takes it to another level. Reporter: At $40 a class, it's not cheap. I felt like I got a full-body workout. Perhaps the best part of aqua cycling, no one can tell how much you sweat. Speaking of someone taking it for the team, natalie and I are freezing in the water right now. We don't recommend throwing your old stationary bikes in the pool. These are specially made for the water. You need special shoes to protect your feet. We don't have them right now.
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scaring the republicans. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this, with hope. i think we're getting somewhere with this fisc cliff problem. now say the republicans would face hell if they let this country go over the fiscal
let's listen to the back and forth. >> revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates, which we believe will harm our economy. >> let's allow higher rates to go up for the top 2%, that includes all of you, yes. but not in any way that's going to affect your spending, your lifestyles, or the economy in any significant way. let's make sure that 98% of americans don't see it -- a single dime in tax increases next year. >> so, john boehner, the speaker for the republican party in this partisan fight is saying, he's already socking it to the rich. he's willing to raise their taxes in various forms but just not the rate. isn't he agreeing in principle to the president's argument of
fairness? isn't he in a weaker position to deny a rate change? governor? >> sure he is, chris. number one, he hasn't specified what deductions so we don't have a clue. number two, as bill clinton and president obama point out, the math doesn't add up when you're trying to do this just on deductions. you need to do both deductions and loopholes and, of course, raise the rate. that's the only way the math works. and as far as hurt the economy, let me say for the 10,000th time, bill clinton raised tax rates on the top 2% in 1993 and we then proceeded to grow the economy by 23 million jobs. so, that's a bunch of bull, speaker boehner. >> let's go back to alex with the same question. i will argue that even though he hasn't specified the deductions or the loopholes he's going to close, the governor is right, there isn't enough at the top to close to make up for this advantage they have now but it seems he's accepting the moral argument. he's saying, the rich should get
socked, too. that was an amazing admission for him to say to that. your thoughts. >> i agree with you. the fact that john boehner is out there saying we are asking the rich to pay more in taxes is not something they ever would have done in 2011. if you remember, math by details in the sitdown between boehner and obama last year. boehner's office wouldn't write the number 800 billion in its initial offer to the white house because they didn't want other house republicans to see that. the fact that that figure is on the table and boehner is taking to the air waives to say, you know who's going to get soaked here? the rich. is a shocking reversal of where the republican party was i agree ago. >> look at this. these are some smart conservatives. byron york in "the weekly standard," and john padora, bill kristol are all saying the republicans have to do something.
they're playing a losing hand. fedoris writes, every way you look at it, the gop is trapped. republican politicians will cave and give the president most of what he wants. the only real question is, when? the answer is, probably at the worst possible time when they've done even more damage to the party's brand. governor, if you were a republican today, would you sitting down say, you know we have to eat this, deal with this top 2%, we can't be seen as hanging out for the rich guys, rich women of this country and we don't want to be doing it during a thunderstorm economic hell in january. let's do it now. what do you think their thinking is in this fight? >> it's got to be clearly that. they're going to lose this eventually. no question about it, even if we go over the cliff. the president will make sure there's no legislation restoring the top 2%. everyone will restore it for the other 89 98%. they shouldn't let the democrats shop for republican votes.
speaker boehner should say, i'm bringing the bill to the floor for a vote. and i am urging republicans to do it. these are people who deserve to have their tax cut continued. in this economic time we can't raise taxes on them, period. get the issue off the table. >> would you -- let me talk about how this fight may occur in the next couple of weeks. if you were speaking would you agree to separate vote, everyone behind $250,000 to get their tax cut -- >> separate vote, separate vote now. >> your thoughts, alex, is that a point of letting the regular people off the hook here? >> yeah, i guess i would probably do a separate vote. i think at the end of the day -- the republicans want to make the biggest -- they need to make the biggest deal possible. we know this is a messages war, right? it's telling boehner went out with this message. not to the white house. he and president obama are
battling the air war right now. this is all about rejoiner to what i call the president's tour of 2012. the president making an announcement at business round table, meeting with ceos who voted for romney, showing he's bipartisan. john boehner now making the fairness argument? it's a shocking turn of events but a testament to the fact that the republicans know optics are not in their favor. >> here's where it looks like it's heading. republicans float i think a face-saver in the new york times. quote, if no deal can be struck to avert the bush era tax cuts and onset of deep across the board spending cuts gop leadership could foresee taking up and passing legislation this month to extend the tax cuts for the middle class and then resume the bitter fight over spending and taxes as the nation approaches the next hard deadline and statutory barring. that's the debt ceiling coming up later this year, early part of next year.
here's the question right now, governor. it seems that's a face saver because they say taxes deferred or delayed are taxes avoided. if they say we'll get to defending the rich later. we'll let their taxes go up in january. it seems that's a face-saver even if they say we'll get to it later. >> well, i think what happens, chris, though is think about the issue of leverage -- by the way, no one is thinking about what's right for the country. let's think about the issue of political leverage. >> oh, you and i are. >> that's right. and alex, too. >> what about me? >> and alex. >> i said you too, alex. president obama has all the leverage because he knows if it goes over the fiscal cliff, tax cuts expires and he'll never let the top 2% get that tax cut reinstated. if they do what you suggested, vote the tax cut, continue it for the 98%, then the leverage switches to them come the time of the debt limit. they might be able to make a deal where they save some of it so it doesn't go up to 39%. maybe goes up to 37.5%. maybe they do the buffett rule
and only raise rates on people making $500,000. they have a little room to leverage but right now they have zero leverage, zero. >> do you agree with that? i don't know if i agree with that. it's hard once the rates go back to 39.6 or whatever they go to, to go back and say, now we to want cut taxes for the rich. what's the reason to do it? the republican party says we have to stop the government, stop paying our debts, don't pay our bills anymore because we have to help out the rich now. that would be the worst situation to be in. >> as the conversation shifts really to the bottom line in the deficit. at the end of the day the whole thing is about -- it's optical illusions and face saving for republicans. whether it's the notion they may not vote yes but just present, which is complete smoke and mirrors or the fundamental argument which is closing loopholes is not a tax increase. of course it is. at the core this is about asking americans to pay more americans to the federal government.
this is just -- it's -- bill clinton called it kabuki theater. it's a way for republicans not to be ashamed and walk back the ideological core they've run on for the past few years. >> if president obama is able to come out and say i'm going to support getting rid of tax ducks for charitable organizations, hospitals, universities, religious organizations, i want to get rid of that tax deduction f he puts his finger -- his hand anywhere near that decision, he's going to be a loony toon every hospital, church, philanthropic in the united states, from the rockefeller down to the littlest catholic charity will fight that. they need those tax cuts to survive. it's a loony toon idea. i'm sorry. a little joke there. let me ask you this.
let's take a look at president's last comment of the day. this is his response to gop's what i consider a face-saving proposal. here's the president. >> if congress in any way suggests they're going to tie votes to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation, which by the way we have never done in our history until we did it last year, i will not play that game. >> what does that mean to you, governor, quickly? what does it mean to say, i will not play that game? does he need a signature approval by congress of debt ceiling increase? >> he needs a debt ceiling increase for sure. he needs to get this done. we need to stop playing games and get the big deal done. the big deal is more than just tax rates. it's more than a lot of important things and the president has to lead on that, chris. >> thank you, governor ed
rendell of pennsylvania, and alex wagner from the show "now," which is a great show -- >> 9 a.m. pacific, chris. >> what a calculation that was. want to know what a real fiscal crisis looks like? check out greece. that's what happens when a country avoids making tough fiscal decisions for too long. a top republican pollster about what went wrong on their side. a lot of information coming here and why if republicans don't change the way they do business they may be on the losing end of elections for years to come. plus, the black helicopter crowd is at it again. republicans in the senate reject a united nations treaty to ban discrimination against the disabled. they say it would allow u.n. officials to come into this country and force home-schooled children into government-run, that is public schools. senator john kerry joins us to cut through the nonsense. also tonight, the simpson's mr. burns gives us a rich man's look at the fiscal cliff.
gifts. i should put the quote marks around that. the much maligned 47% came out in force. last night paul ryan distanced himself from his running mate's remarks. take a look. >> both parties tend to divide americans into our voters and their voters. let's be really clear. republicans must steer far clear of that trap. we must speak to aspirations and anxieties of every american. >> you know, it's hardly a month and he's gone already. what a running mate. he ran away from his mate. the problem for republicans in 2012 is that romney failed to speak to those aspirations and anxieties just mentioned. in a much read analysis david winstin argues romney lashed him to george w. bush. the bottom line is romney could not counter the obama narrative that he wanted to go back to the policies that got the country in trouble in the first place.
this was largely due to his campaign's strategic decision to try to make the election solely a referendum on obama. as a result, there was little clear rationale for a romney presidency, other than he would not be obama. david winstin joins us, adviser to john boehner, unpaid, advised newt beginning rich. david, thanks for joining us. i was trying to read your thinking here and post election analysis. i think it's so interesting. if you get people angry about the way things are economic alley you think they'll blame the incumbent but it seems like a lot of people said, yeah, things aren't that great, especially poor working people, bush. >> governor romney thought this would be a referendum of barack obama. case closed. when you take a look at group of voters who said the economy was not so good, so you would think that would be an opportunity for
governor romney, actually the president carried them by 13 points. 55-42. obviously, the economic argument on the refer side was not made. it was just a referendum. it was just a contradiction to what the president was saying instead of -- >> i want to ask you quickly on this. i thought when obama went in the first debates, i went nuts, i thought the president dropped the ball but romney was strong in the first debate because he kept saying, i'm a business guy, i can create jobs. business equals jobs. the one strong punch he had, he kept at it. then after he got out of that one he starts talking about benghazi and all this other stuff and lost that one argument. could he have won if he said, i'm the guy you need for this job. >> part, you need to go back and show why the policies were going to work. for example, if you take a look at 2003 bush tax cuts, by 2007, $800 billion more revenue had come in and the deficit was cut from $370 billion to $260 billion. did you hear him say that? that's what he needed to do,
full-throated defense of republican policies that bush implemented but also he could have used to show why his policies would work. ultimately when you make it a referendum, you take the arguments off the table. >> do you buy that he should have defended all the republican policies of bush and his own? >> no, because those policies got us in trouble in 2008 in a great many ways. bush inherited a surplus and left with a massive deficit. didn't monitor the financial system and so on. the most important point is david's right about, which is there's no such thing as a presidential referendum election. i've covered ten of these and they've all been choices. why? because these two candidates live in everybody's living rooms. people make a judgment about their character -- >> reagan was partially positive, just anti -- >> oh that became a choice election after reagan appeared in that one debate against carter and people said, hey, he isn't so bad.
i have a choice. >> one of the other players, besides the two candidates was bill clinton, the former president, don't think anybody made a better case of making the case for obama than bill clinton. at the convention a critical moment when he explained the arithmetic of what obama inherited. >> in tampa the republican argument against the president's re-election was pretty simple, pretty snappy. it went something like this. we left him a total mess. he hadn't cleaned it up fast enough. so fire him and put us back in. when president barack obama took office, the economy was in free fall. it had just shrunk nine full percent of gdp. we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. are we doing better than that today? the answer to that is yes. >> david, i don't know you at all but i have to tell you, who would you rather have make your case to st. peter than this guy,
bill clinton? this guy can sell. what did you think of the impact of his convention address. >> part of that was set up by the fact -- i thought it was an unfortunate statement by republicans, were you better off than you were four years ago? you couldn't have picked a more unfortunate contrast. ultimately by setting it up as a contrast to four years ago created an opportunity for clinton to deliver that speech. again, i want to go back for the opportunity here that romney had. in the exit poll 63% of americans said they don't want to cut taxes in order to increase the deficit. governor romney made it a referendum and didn't take advantage of the country still being a center right company. >> 47% of plurality said raise taxes for people over $250,000. >> you frame it as bush and you make it all that dynamic, which obama had set up, or do you make it about the broader economic policy of what do you do with
taxes -- >> in all fairness, didn't the president do a pretty good job of focusing on that differential between the top and the middle -- >> i'm not arguing didn't lay out the case well. by default, unfortunately for republicans -- you see speaker boehner dealing with it right now, not only trying to deal with difficult negotiation but he has to reargue what should have occurred this fall in terms of the campaign and the economic policies. >> what i was impressed by in this campaign after it was over and looking at everything, is the liberal message. we have new numbers that show there was a slight movement, about 4% or 5% from center to left f you use those terms. what happened in north dakota with heidi and jon tester, everywhere, the widest outposts of democratic potential were reached, and voted for marijuana, same-sex, it was like the west village got to vote in the whole country.
i want to go to joe on this because he's -- how did the get country get so liberal in this one moment? >> i think the demographics are changes -- >> north dakota they ain't changing. >> well, what's happening in north dakota is you have like negative unemployment because they have an oil boom going on -- >> and a population that's smaller than it was in the '30s. >> i saw a poll today out of south carolina where the president's approval rating is 48%. >> that's good. >> yeah that's very good. the fact is the republicans have been very much with out of touch with a lot of issues. right now that figure, 61%, don't want to raise taxes to close the deficit. that's because deficit closing is only an issue here and on the upper east side of new york. >> i know. david, last thought, what did you holistically look at the election, the anecdotal, cultural statements?
>> looking back in 2010, we won women in 2010, house republicans. back in 2010 we got 38% of the hispanic vote, 28% this time. what was it we were not saying and engaging economic issues and trying to win the economic issue. we just did not do that. as a result it wasn't the specific group slipping. it was collectively we did not make the economic argument like we should have. >> it worked in the first debate. stay on the line you're winning on. thank you, david, please come back. joe, as always, great columnist. up next, mr. burns from the simpsons effects the fiscal cliff as it affects rich people. ♪
back to "hardball." first, jon stewart on the status of the talks between democrats and republicans and how to avoid that cliff. >> so is there a deal? >> there's of course no deal -- >> of course! is there a prospect for a deal? >> there's not a prospect for a deal. there aren't even very many talks going on. >> you're killing us. give us something. >> for the first time there are numbers on a piece of paper from both sides. >> numbers on paper! highway are negotiations being conducted before they decided to put numbers on paper? were the two sides just spray painting a side of a camel hoping it wandered by the other's office? >> there's that. here's one on the stakes of
going over the fiscal cliff from mr. simpson's mr. burns, very unpopular and rich ceo. >> any word from karl rove. >> despite what he's been telling you, it's over. romney lost. >> damn it. i guess it's time i explained to these good people the upcoming fiscal cliff. think of the economy as a car and the rich man is the driver. if you don't give the driver money, he'll drive you over a cliff. it's just common sense. furthermore, rich people feel things more deeply than the common man. >> well, the rich are hardly the only ones to suffer from a fiscal cliff. did you see the book? nate silver "can't add" and some binders full of women. alan simpson has joined forces with can kicks back, trying to get young people to
recruit their friends and use social media to encourage congress to come to a deficit reduction deal. there's alan simpson doing his part with a homage to internet sensation gangnam style. >> stop instagraming your breakfast and tweeting your first world problems and getting on youtube so you can get gangnam style. ♪ gangnam style >> and start using those social media skills to go out and sign people up on this baby, take part or get taken apart, boy these old coots will clean out the treasury before you get there. >> we need more senators like alan simpson. also from simpson/bowles to panetta/burns? i told you about the new ppp poll showing most republicans think a.c.o.r.n., which no
longer exists, was to blame for obama's re-election. what percentage of those polled said they supported the deficit reduction plan they were told was being offered by leon panetta and former montana senator conrad burns? well, there is, of course, no such plan. but here goes. 8% of the people polled said panetta/burns should be a go. 17% say they disapproved of the plan. so, that's 25% of those polled with a firm opinion on a totally made-up, fabricated plan that doesn't even exist. does that tell you something about what people say to pollsterses? up next, if you're concerned a u.n. treaty to protect the disabled could cost america its sovereignty, fear not. 38 republicans have protected you from those black helicopters. you're watching "hardball."
welcome back to "hardball." it was an iconic sight yesterday
in the capitol when former senator bob dole was wheeled on the senate floor to rally support for the u.n. convention for rights of persons with disabilities. more than 125 countries have ratified this treaty already. here at home it was supported by a bipartisan group, including john kerry and john mccain. but the vote fell short of the 66 required votes, two-thirds required. an issue is belief by some republicans, many of them, that by signing the treaty the united states would somehow surrender some sovereignty to united nations. with me now are two advocates of this treaty, senator john kerry of massachusetts, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee and ted kennedy jr., a long-time champion of disability rights and president of the mal marwood group. it's hard for me to understand the ideological.
of notion of something it taken over in our world that we have to fight even though we can't put our finger on it. >> they argued they were afraid we were giving up sovereignty of nation and somehow the united nations would be able to tell us what to do. neither are true. there is no requirement in this treaty whatsoever that any law in the united states would be changed, no new right would be created that doesn't exist already in the united states and most importantly because of the terminology of the treaty, the treaty language, that it's not self-executing, that means nobody has recourse in any court in the united states of america to enforce the treaty. you might ask, why sign up to the treaty, then? the reason is this treaty is based on the gold standard of how america treats people with disabilities. it's based on americans with
disabilities act and raises other countries to our standard. it's really exporting american sovereignty to other nations. it's exporting our values. and most importantly, it makes a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities, you know, born with a disability or something happens to them in life and they have one or veterans, for instance, who want to travel abroad, work abroad, study abroad, you know, just visit. this would have raised their quality of life and these senators turned their back on that out of completely fictitious, totally made up, entirely fear marketing rationale. we want to change that and we will. >> here's mike lee of utah, who beat conservative bob bennett by running to his right. he was the floor manager opposed of the treaty. here's some of what he argued yesterday on the floor.
>> i and many of my constituents, including those who home school their children or send their children to private or religious schools have justifiable doubts that a foreign u.n. body, a committee, operating out of geneva switzerland, should decide what is in the best interest of the child at home with his or her parents in utah or in any other state in our great union. >> oh, my god. let me go to ted kennedy on that. ted, have you a disability. you lost a leg to cancer years ago. i've always admired how you've handled it. what does it mean to someone disabled, this bill, to an american? >> well, for disabled americans we feel the republican party have really turned their backs, because what this treaty does, by the way senator kerry has been our champion on this and so many other issues, so i commend senator kerry and senator lugar and the other senators who bucked the trend of the pressure
in the right wing of this party to somehow mischaracterize this treaty. the treaty is simple. it simply says a disabled american, including disabled american veterans, are afforded the same rights overseas as they are here at home. which is why 21 leading veterans organizations, including the vfw, american legion, wounded warrior project, hardly left-wing organizations, have been strong backers of this treaty. in addition, as senator kerry knows, and has eloquently described so well, this treaty was also endorsed by the u.s. chamber of commerce. why? because it expands opportunity, business opportunities. many of the -- there's a billion people with disabilities living around the world. many of whom need wheelchairs and medical products designed and fabricated by companies here in the united states. so we just feel that our rights
have been neglected. and that is why we want to support those senators who stuck their necks out -- >> senator, have you to read the votes and count them. of the senators you lost on this vote, you fell five short. can you get them back early next year? how soon do you think you can get them back? >> first of all, we had two senators who voted yes on the floor and then they changed their votes because of what was happening. in addition to that, there are several senators who have said to me, when we're out of the lame duck session and beyond the fiscal cliff, they'll be prepared to vote for it. in addition to that, i believe we can satisfy with additional language to resolution of ratification, i believe we can satisfy even these sort of out of the blue sky, fictitious concerns. we'll address them.
i think we can come back within the first three months of next year and i want to say to bob dole and to every person with disabilities who cares about what happened yesterday, this is not going to go away. we're going to come back. we can address the concerns of people and hopefully we'll pass it because it makes a difference to the quality of life of americans traveling abroad and to all those people whose standards will be raised because of what we've done. this is as pro-america as pro-american values and as noninvolved with the united nations as you can be. the only thing the united nations has is its name on the treaty. it has no rights, no ability whatsoever to change one thing that we do in the united states. >> i like the phrase united nations. thank you. i know the politics on the hard right. ted kennedy, thank you for coming on. thank you, senator kerry. coming up, what a country looks like when its leaders
ignore financial problems for too long. greece is the word. we got somebody just back from greece, a greek-american will tell us what it's like over there. it is horrific. this is "hardball," the place for politics.
what's a few million years between friends? anyway, last month republican senator marco rubio punted on the question of how old the earth is, calling it a great mystery. it's not a mystery it's what the
potential presidential candidate for 2016 was playing to the large number of evangelicals who believe in the literal truth of the bible. fast forward to today where rubio was given a retake on that pop question by politico's michael len. >> there is no scientific debate on the age of the earth. it's established pretty definitively. at least 4.5 billion years old. i was referring to a theological debate, which is a pretty healthy debate. >> rubio went on to say americans should teach children science but they also have the right to teach them religion. that's interesting. senator, you can't teach religion in public schools. by the way, think about it, what religion would you teach in public schools? we'll be right back.
welcome back to "hardball." what is the washington gridlock on fiscal negotiations look like to the rest of the world, particularly europe where eurozone are taking drastic budget cuts and austerity measures that make our situation look tame. chris just returned from a trip to europe's capitals, including athens, and shares his experience of the complete devastation in greece currently dealing with. jared bernstein, storm former economic adviser. we don't know what the risks are of what might happen january 1st. there's a risk it could be horrible. that's all i'm saying. tell me what you saw in athens n greece when you were just there. >> i've traveled to greece quite a bit over the last few years for political work i've done there in the past. i don't know how to express it any more clearly than it was
unbelievably sad and depressing. i mean, the country is in a great depression. unemployment is about 25%. unemployment among youths is about 55%. the economy contracted by 7.2% in the last quarter. those are numbers. i'll tell what you i saw which i think is more powerful. you go through different parts of greece, the greek stores closed everywhere. you go down near the acropolis, where there's a shopping area, called the palatka, and stores closed everywhere. the most powerful story was i was in a cab going back to my hotel and i said, how are things going, and he said, terrible. after expenses, i live on $10 day. the protests are not as frequent as sometimes you see. but there were protests when i was there. but it has to do with a general despair that is now pervasive -- >> so, quickly, the country went too far with fiscal chaos and
not taking seriously the difference between spending too much and too much bureaucracy and raising not enough money to deal with it, and then they had the medicine from the international community or the european community, which was the real terror, that you had to pay to fix the problem. >> the medicine is killing the patient right now. you have severe austerity, where you have having cuts among those who are the most vulnerable. tax increases in a country -- >> who do the middle class people blame? >> you have two parties that are basically the republicans and democrats, senator left, the leadership parties. when they won in 2009, they were 44%, one of the largest victories in greek history. i worked on that campaign. they're at 7% now. >> so the world, jared, this is my question. we look at greece and wonder, why can't they get their act together? we look at spain and portugal and ireland even, get your act together. you know the problem. shake out of it. what's the world thinking when they look at us? setting up the fiscal cliff, a man-made challenge, what do they
think of us? >> actually, they look at us and think we're going to work it out. >> to put it differently, they can't believe we will screw up. >> they're kind of thinking about the debt ceiling debate. they're not following this like we are. and they remember the last time we were in a situation. >> last time we got downgraded. >> it didn't seem to have much economic impact. people are just looking at us figure, oh, you know those crazy americans, they'll work it out at the last minute. >> what will they say if they get up january 2nd or 3rd after the new year and see we didn't work it out. >> it's my hope, towards later december, we'll actually have -- i want to convince people on the right, i think it's the president's job to convince the slower learners on the republican side that this is serious business. and we have a deal now, as if you know what's going to happen in january.
there's going to be a january. we know that. there's a december, there will be a january. do you want to be in january when we haven't done this thing and jr. a republican and you're hanging on to the rich people and looking out for them do you want to be that guy or woman? i don't. your thoughts. you would blame the republicans then, mostly. >> of course, i think you have to blame the republicans in this. because their position on tax rates is untenable. i mean, we're not talking about raising taxes like france to 75%, to the top rate. we're talking about 39.6, and let's be honest, with other loopholes and other deductions, it's going to be a lot lower. at the end of the day, you cannot deal with the fiscal situation this country faces without raising taxes, raising revenues. it's that simple. >> because we're only bringing in 17% of the gdp and sending 23 or 24. >> 15 1/2. >> i've got a new number. you sure that's the recent one? >> that's the most recent one -- >> there's a big differential. >> we're not bringing enough for everybody. but the ironic thing, and what makes us different from greece in this regard, i think a lot of the functionality is alarmingly familiar.
but if we go over the cliff, what we actually do is resolve too much of our debt situation all at once. i mean, unlike greece, whose fiscal profglasy has them where they are today. >> except that if we go over the cliff and given how tenuous this economic environment is right now, i mean, the message that sends to business leaders, employers, let alone the american people, is this place is not only ungovernable, it is dysfunction beyond dysfunction. >> a friend of mine, a wealthy california guy, a liberal, said, if you think they're going to trust you after you miss the january 1st deadline, they'll be no trust. they'll say, if you can't meet your own deadline, why would you meet anybody else's. >> and the markets, whether it's europe or american, are pricing in a solution. you see it really quite clearly. >> somebody was on -- mcmahon yesterday was wrong, they're not pricing a failure, they're pricing in a solution.
thank you, chris kofinis, for that report from greece. jared bernstein, as always, thank you. when we return, let me finish with the ghost of fiscal cliff yet to come. wait until you see this story. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.
let me finish tonight with this. remember the ghost of christmas yet to come in "a christmas carol"? he's the scary one, the ghost who comes last. he shows ebenezer scrooge the end he's heading the for, that cold, lonely, miserable future to which his greed and selfish view of the world is taking him. in the next weeks, president obama has to be the ghost of christmas yet to come. he has to show the republicans how horrible it will be to be them if they don't change their path. he has to show them how disrupted and frightened the world will be, how bad they will look in that world beyond this december 31st if they hold true to a tight and jealous protection of wealth. the reason the president must be the ghost of christmas yet to come is stark. unless he shows them the future now, we will be in that future, we will be together, this country of ours, over the precipice. we'll be holding on to our economic life by the most precarious of lifelines. the fast diminishing faith of the world money markets. we will be a still-great country | http://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20121206_070000_Hardball_With_Chris_Matthews?q=greece | dclm-gs1-098560000 |
0.648454 | <urn:uuid:91e54e54-cfe9-4d9c-afaa-b526e73a19d5> | en | 0.767909 | poor as a church mouse meaning, poor as a church mouse definition | English Cobuild dictionary
( poorer comparative) ( poorest superlative )
1 adj Someone who is poor has very little money and few possessions., (Antonym: rich) The reason our schools cannot afford better teachers is because people here are poor..., He was one of thirteen children from a poor family.
The poor are people who are poor., n-plural the N
Even the poor have their pride.
2 adj The people in a poor country or area have very little money and few possessions., (Antonym: rich) Many countries in the Third World are as poor as they have ever been., ...a settlement house for children in a poor neighborhood.
3 adj You use poor to express your sympathy for someone.
ADJ n (feelings) I feel sorry for that poor child..., Poor chap<endash>he was killed in an air crash...
4 adj If you describe something as poor, you mean that it is of a low quality or standard or that it is in bad condition.
The flat was in a poor state of repair..., The wine was poor.
poorly adv ADV -ed, ADV after v
Some are living in poorly built dormitories, even in tents...
5 adj If you describe an amount, rate, or number as poor, you mean that it is less than expected or less than is considered reasonable.
...poor wages and working conditions.
poorly adv ADV -ed, ADV after v (=badly)
During the first week, the evening meetings were poorly attended...
6 adj You use poor to describe someone who is not very skilful in a particular activity.
usu ADJ n, also v-link ADJ at -ing/n
He was a poor actor..., Hospitals are poor at collecting information.
poorly adv ADV after v
That is the fact of Hungarian football<endash>they can play very well or very poorly.
7 adj If something is poor in a particular quality or substance, it contains very little of the quality or substance.
v-link ADJ in n
...soil that is poor in zinc.
dirt-poor , dirt poor
A dirt-poor person or place is extremely poor. adj
If you describe something as piss-poor, you think it is of extremely poor quality.
INFORMAL, RUDE adj
...a piss-poor comedy directed by John Landis.
poor relation ( poor relations plural ) If you describe one thing as a poor relationof another, you mean that it is similar to or part of the other thing, but is considered to be inferior to it. n-count usu N of n
Watercolour still seems somehow to be the poor relation of oil painting.
Translation English Cobuild Collins Dictionary
Collaborative Dictionary English Cobuild
officer of the Church of England
sweat excessively
syn.: "it ain't over till it's over"
something not worthy; something of poor quality; a crap
[Slang] This book is a bag of wank, I am disappointed.
bon critique, mauvais travailleur
chat timide fait souris effrontée
chat timide fait souris effrontée
chat miauleur n'attrape pas de souris
au pauvre, un oeuf vaut un boeuf
à pauvres, enfants sont richesses
ce qui est plus près du clocher, c'est l'église
au pauvre, même sa nuit de noce est courte
à pauvre gens la pâte gelée au four
assis sur les genoux d'une mère pauvre, tout enfant est riche
chez les riches, les choses se font selon ses ordres; chez le pauvre, selon ses forces
c'est le nid d'une souris dans l'oreille d'un chat
c'est la montagne qui accouche d'une souris
Or sign up in the traditional way
• Create your own vocabulary list
• Contribute to the Collaborative Dictionary
• Improve and share your linguistic knowledge | http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/poor%20as%20a%20church%20mouse | dclm-gs1-098870000 |
0.139768 | <urn:uuid:ae903b9c-89da-4036-851c-06a729b3e3d6> | en | 0.965582 | DRKJGHDSKJGBKS basically I need to vent~
Discussion in 'iPod' started by Tramp, Feb 2, 2007.
1. macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2006
SO! I am a fairly new Mac user. I love my MacBook v. v. much, I got both it an my iPod Nano wayyy back in mid-December.
The first iPod didn't work. Wouldn't sync, computer wouldn't recognize it. Sent it back. Got a second one. Same problem, which was flat-out weird, so I wait on sending it back until I could take it to the certified Apple repair place downtown to get it check out. Still not working, even with different USB cables and on different computers.
Sent it back.
Got my new one today.
even the guy on the phone was like, "This is ****ing weird."
so basically I am pissed off, my mom is even more pissed off and that is NOT FUN because I am getting yelled at for not bitching out the Apple customer service people, and yes.
I just want a ****ing mp3 player so that when I'm on campus I can avoid people and pretend I can't hear them! oh and to listen to music of course
this is ****ing insaneeee ):
(they think, by the way, that the USB cord is... somehow shorting out the iPod? doesn't exactly make sense but oh well)
2. macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2004
on the sofa
3. macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2006
That is really wierd, itll work out eventually. Bring you laptop into an apple stoer and try them out there, they will let you, and once one work leave with your new WORKING ipod, sorry. Hope it gets resolved soon
4. macrumors 68030
Mar 24, 2005
A religiously oppressed state
Maybe it's your computer, do other USB devices work?
5. thread starter macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2006
My USB ports work perfectly, I've tried the iPods on other computers using other USB drives, I've updated my software, ANNNDD if it was just my computer, they wouldn't have replaced the iPods in the first place.
6. macrumors 603
Jul 11, 2006
That's weird, hopefully you get a working one soon.
7. macrumors 68040
Dec 27, 2003
Portland, OR
Your mom is bitching at you too? Nice.
8. macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2006
9. macrumors 6502a
Sep 12, 2005
far away
Now I start to understand why iPods are so damn popular. :cool:
10. macrumors G4
Jul 4, 2005
Yeah, because shouting at the customer service people really makes a difference.
1. They didn't build your device.
2. They're there to help you.
It's like when people yell at a waiter when a steak comes out not cooked how they ordered it - 99% of the time the kitchen stuffed up but for some reason the customers think the waiter personally cooked the food.
Don't yell at the service folk - you'll get better results and keep your hair into later life if you de-stress and just listen to what they're saying.
11. macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2006
Northern California
Wait, so you tried the iPods on other computers? Did they or didn't they work? If they only don't work on your computer, then it's pretty clearly an issue with that and NOT the iPods.
12. macrumors regular
Jun 30, 2006
Granted, I'm not the topic creator, but guessing by what he said in his first post:
I'd say the iPod didn't work on other computers either.
13. macrumors 68020
Feb 4, 2003
New HAMpshire
Makes me think something on the computer is frying the iPods??? Maybe exchange the iPod at the store- try it before you take it home- then if it doesn['t work I would look at the Macbook for the issue.
I have never heard of this sort of luck- wait- check that- I remember reading more than one post on the boards that has this happen to people on their computers where they get one DOA and then a second one...maybe you have some bad karma going on- or Mars is in retrograde right now???
Good luck figuring it out.
14. thread starter macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2006
Yeah, where did I say I was yelling at the customer service people? I even said that my mother was yelling at me for not doing that.
Reading. You should try it.
15. thread starter macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2006
The closest Apple store is about five hours away. ): I don't think it's the MacBook, but if it is I will have to cut a bitch, 'coz I've just finished transferring all my stuff over and have no desire to do it again.
Twice, I can understand. Three times is something seriously wrong. MAYBE IT IS the USB cord... though honestly that doesn't make much sense.
Maybe Steve Jobs heard me making fun of his turtlenecks. OH SHI-
16. macrumors 68020
Feb 4, 2003
New HAMpshire
Woops, my mistake- I thought I read where there was an apple store near you- was another poster suggesting it.
Yeah, I have no idea...must be the turtlnecks- I sure hope he has more than one cause it must be pretty stinky by now wearing it so much.
17. macrumors member
Jan 17, 2007
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0.156381 | <urn:uuid:e1561b30-cafd-4fea-a4d7-1fd576812c0c> | en | 0.975924 | EA: No FIFA 14 on Wii U Because Last Game Didn’t Perform Well
In an update to a story on Friday over at Eurogamer about Madden NFL 25 not coming to the Wii U and a decision about the fate of FIFA 14 on the platform, an unnamed rep from the company confirmed that the latest football title from EA Sports would be a no-show. This is not news to anyone who paid attention last week when EA said it had no games in development for the Wii U currently. Obviously that also includes every imaginable EA Sports title.
What is interesting is why EA claims it isn't bringing the game to the Wii U: the last game in the series for Wii U performed very poorly, according to the publisher:
"Six months ago FIFA 13 was a launch title on Wii U," an EA spokesperson told Eurogamer. "Although the game featured FIFA's award-winning HD gameplay and innovative new ways to play, the commercial results were disappointing. We have decided not to develop FIFA 14 on Wii U."
So that's EA's answer on that franchise and it's likely the answer it will give for every established franchise they own. EA does not see any games it could release on the Wii U making it any money… What we all wonder is at what point did EA make that decision, because the Wii U hasn't been on the market all that long…
Source: Eurogamer
1. 0
Zen says:
I don't think EA is even trying to make any kind of "positive" slant on this anymore. I can understand if a company wants to only work on a particular piece of hardware, but this is sad when they basically go fanboy ranting crap everywhere that they themselves have proven to be untrue lol.
2. 0
lomdr says:
I think these stories are going to continue to run as them denying the U titles are running against them trying to keep their postitive deal with Nintendo up
3. 0
Zen says:
EA sent their games to die on the Wii U on purpose. Show Mass Effect 3, then immediately sell a collection for the same price on everything else (they could have EASILY made this a Wii U title). Follow up by bringing in your sports games, telling people they are limited, and then expecting the money to flow like wine.
As much as EA keeps making these statements (we get it, you guys don't like the Wii U) they are trying on purpose to sour people on a console they could not control how they wanted. Ironically one of their own developers (good ole Criterion) made a game on the Wii U that not only ran well, it featured better graphics and more features than the 360 and PS3 versions…which goes against EA's latest rant.
I know a bunch of sites are running all of these events as link bait, but I really don't care about what EA is saying anymore because just like when a kid starts throwing a tantrum for not getting their way I ignore them as they sit in the corner lol.
What I would like to know though is why after EA made the announcement that they are making no games for the Wii U, why is everyone still saying it is news when they say each individual title isn't coming?
4. 0
Andrew Eisen says:
Gee, FIFA 13 on the Wii U didn't sell well? You think it had anything to do with the fact that you got caught trying to pass off FIFA 12 as last year's game?
I'll say it again, EA: STOP BULLSHITTING US!
Andrew Eisen
5. 0
lomdr says:
Funny, EA, as there are reports that there were missing features from Madden 13 and Fifa 13 compared to the rest that ended up having a hand in them not performing well on the U
Leave a Reply | http://gamepolitics.com/2013/05/20/ea-no-fifa-14-wii-u-because-last-game-didnt-perform-well/ | dclm-gs1-099080000 |
0.020105 | <urn:uuid:a6570005-16de-4350-aaeb-18f388fb7bd9> | en | 0.914024 | Bonneville Phoenix Network
KTAR News
Arizona Sports
92.3 FM KTAR
Hearing set in Arizona-Kansas lawsuit on voting rules
TOPEKA, Kan. — A federal judge has scheduled a Dec. 13 hearing on a
lawsuit by Arizona and Kansas asking a federal agency to help them fully enforce
proof-of-citizenship requirements for new voters.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita will hear the two states’ request
for a preliminary injunction to force the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to
modify a national voter registration form.
The two states want the agency to include instructions for their states’
residents to comply with laws requiring new voters to present a birth
certificate, passport or other proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering.
The injunction the states are seeking would take effect before their lawsuit is
The states contend their laws prevent election fraud. Critics said they suppress
voter turnout.
comments powered by Disqus | http://ktar.com/story/78675/hearing-set-in-arizona-kansas-lawsuit-on-voting-rules/ | dclm-gs1-099260000 |
0.033144 | <urn:uuid:e4efee85-4277-4426-b8f0-0f71dee73478> | en | 0.660539 | 2 definitions by Rikcon007
Top Definition
Gees is the Afrikaans (South Africa) word for 'spirit' or 'motivation.' Pronounced using the rolling G sound common with many other South African words.
Wow that party was great, there was so much Gees!!
door Rikcon007 15 februari 2012
Moving swiftly with gees and savagery
I was hussing through the forest on my mountain bike.
He was hussing hard on that dancefloor
They hussed up to the top of Table Mountain
How was the music at the festival? It was hussing pal.
door Rikcon007 15 februari 2012
Dagelijkse gratis email
| http://nl.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=Rikcon007 | dclm-gs1-099440000 |
0.027862 | <urn:uuid:0ffe015a-45ac-4b96-9840-e436fe80c4c7> | en | 0.929693 | Tuesday October 06, 2015
Snook Fishing At Sebastian Inlet
World Famous Snook Fishing in Florida
Sebastian Inlet is reknowned for some of the best snook fishing in the continent of the United States. Federal and State laws have protected the snook from overharvesting with managment and enforcment as numbers are close to their natural condition prior commercial harvesting in the 1950's and early 60's. Snook have become the highest ranked and most prestigious inshore gamefish in Florida as a difficult quarry and a tasty set of fillets over other several other inshore species like sea trout, redfish, tarpon and jacks. During the year you'll find anglers drifting baits and lures in the inlet current from the rocky and mangrove shorelines to jetties and catwalks. Angling from a boat in Sebastian Inlet is the preferred method for guiding on the inlet and night drifting is often very productive way to catch world class snook and tasty seafood for the table.
Snook Fishing on Florida's Mosquito Lagoon.
Where Are
Sebastian Snook?
Every angler wants to know the answer to this question and the answer lies in the season, water temperature and food source for these gamefish. Sebastian Inlet itself is a gateway between the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing when are where the snook spawn is a major step in the right direction for an angler to find fish. Snook spawn on the beaches near and around the mouth of inlets. Some snook will find solitude miles from an inlet or Port but the lionshare will not stray too far from the inlet mouth. Snook spawn during the summer months of June thru August and then rush to the nearest food source to catch up on the fall bait runs before hunkering down in the leaner winter months. With this information at hand, anglers can often predict and follow the movements of snook in their seasonal places. Sebastian Inlet is known for fall snook fishing from September to December. During the summer you can often catch them around the mouth of the inlet and beaches. Wintertime is a tough time for snook at the inlet itself and it's often better to fish the Sebastian River.
When Can You Catch
Sebastian Inlet Snook?
The best time to catch a Sebastian Inlet snook is from May till mid December in the Inlet itself. Snook are tropical and barely sub-tropical fish that have difficulty surviving water temperatures less than 60° and often have to migrate southward toward Jupiter Inlet eighty miles south to the Loxahatchee River or milder temperature Intracoastal Waterways and inlets to combat the colder Central Florida winters. Other snook seem to tough it out in the Sebastian River and are difficult to target during the winter unless the temperatures are mild. The "short of it" is that snook in the Sebastian area are targeted mainly in the warmer times of the year late spring thr the mid to late fall depending on the approaching winter temperatures.
What Do You Catch
Sebastian Inlet Snook on?
Snook eat anything when the moment's right! In many of Florida's inlets you'll observe large schools of snook laying headlong in the current waiting for the right moment to feed. When snook want to be finicky it can be frustrating and unrewarding for anglers,White baits or Pilchards for bait but a knowledgeable snook expert knows that it's just the matter of timing and often waits for that certain time period and tide that will turn them on. Casting from the shoreline with bucktail jigs or large swimming lures is very productive in the fall and knowing how to present a jig is deadly during the early falling tide. Drifting in a boat with live bait is extremely productive but experienced local knowledge is required to do night drifts in the swift inlet currents with multiple boats around. One of the best baits to use during the day for inshore of the inlet is the abundant pilchards that can be used to chum up even the finickiest snook often.
Where are the snook in October?
Fill Out Form for Charter Fishing Information
Florida Snook Regulations
Florida Snook Record
44 Pounds, 3 Ounces
View Indian River Lagoon's Popular Boat Launches in a larger map
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Comment Re:Well, they ARE taught to shoot to kill. (Score 1) 369
Two kids with skateboards are a lethal threat to a single officer. Non-lethal weapons generally have major disadvantages against multiple opponents. If a cop knows what they are going to face ahead of time they can have the necessary tools ready, but if they knew that, they would be able to prevent crimes before they happened.
Comment Re:Newtonian physics (Score 1) 369
When firing a weapon you can distribute the energy transfer over a larger window of time than when getting hit by it. Having said that, I doubt this weapon will have anywhere near the necessary energy, unless you count shooting someone in the leg causing them to fall over as knocking them down.
| http://slashdot.org/~Imrik | dclm-gs1-099670000 |
0.018486 | <urn:uuid:87aa43af-2255-4328-a29a-8a96e9076d9a> | en | 0.979382 | MEIKHTILA, Myanmar (AP) — The top UN envoy to Myanmar toured a central city Sunday destroyed in the country's worst explosion of Buddhist-Muslim violence this year, calling on the government to punish those responsible for a tragedy that left dozens of corpses piled in the streets, some of them charred beyond recognition.
Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Myanmar, also visited some of the nearly 10,000 people driven from their homes after sectarian unrest shook the city of Meikhtila for several days this week. Most of the displaced are minority Muslims, who appeared to have suffered the brunt of the violence as armed Buddhist mobs roamed city.
Nambiar said he was encouraged to learn that some individuals in both communities had bravely helped each other and local religious leaders were now advocating peace.
"There is a certain degree of fear and anxiety among the people, but there is no hatred," Nambiar said after visiting both groups on Sunday and promising the world body would provide as much help as it can to get the city back on its feet. "They feel a sense of community and that it is a very good thing because they have worked together and lived together."
But he added: "It is important to catch the perpetrators. It is important that they be caught and punished."
Nambiar's visit came one day after the army took control of the city to enforce a tense calm after President Thein Sein ordered a state of emergency here.
The bloodshed marked the first sectarian unrest to spread into the nation's heartland since two similar episodes rocked western Rakhine state last year. It is the latest challenge to efforts to reform the Southeast Asian country after the long-ruling military ceded power two years ago to a civilian government led by retired army officers.
There are concerns the violence could spread, and the bloodshed has raised questions about the government's failure to rein in anti-Muslim sentiment in a predominantly Buddhist country where even monks have armed themselves and taken advantage of newfound freedoms to stage anti-Muslim rallies.
No new violence was reported overnight, but residents remained anxious.
Muslims, who make up about 30 percent of Meikhtila's 100,000 inhabitants, have stayed off the streets since their shops and homes were burned and Buddhist mobs armed with machetes and swords began roaming the city.
Residents complained that police had stood by and done little to stop the mayhem. But "calm has been restored since troops took charge of security," said Win Htein.
The struggle to contain the violence has proven another major challenge to Thein Sein's reformist administration, which has faced an upsurge in fighting with ethnic Kachin rebels in the north and major protests at a northern copper mine where angry residents — emboldened by promises of freedom of expression — have come out to denounce land grabbing.
The devastation was reminiscent of last year's clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya that left hundreds of people dead and more than 100,000 displaced — almost all of them Muslim. The Rohingya are widely perceived as illegal migrants and foreigners from Bangladesh; the Muslim population of Meikhtila is believed to be mostly of Indian origin.
Residents and activists said the police did little to stop the rioters or reacted too slowly, allowing the violence to escalate. "They were like scarecrows in a paddy field," said San Hlaing, a local businessman who said he counted 28 bodies.
Khin Maung Swe, a 72-year-old Muslim lawyer who said he lost all his savings, complained that authorities did nothing to disperse the mobs.
"If the military and police had showed up in force, those troublemakers would have run away," he said, inspecting the remains of his damaged home.
Occasional isolated violence involving Myanmar's majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities has occurred for decades, even under the authoritarian military governments that ruled the country from 1962 to 2011. | http://townhall.com/news/world/2013/03/22/lawmaker-says-least-20-people-dead-in-central-myanmar-after-2-days-of-buddhistmuslim-riots-n1545906 | dclm-gs1-099880000 |
0.340394 | <urn:uuid:0f4c23ea-995f-44af-a9af-eaf2ba7663dd> | en | 0.928855 | 3 Responses to “How to Get the Most for Your Carnival Fun Points”
1. mikes says:
Interesting. This doesn’t seem like a loophole, but more of a benefit to the company. You are potentially paying (way) more points that necessary.
Seems like the takeaway here is: if you’re in an IS for $800, bump to a balcony or suite to make the $1251 break point and you’ll essentially have a free upgrade since it’ll cost the same points (or less!)
2. Bobby says:
Hello, thank you for this information. Do you know if this is still in effect 9.26.12
3. aewhite says:
I do not know. I’ve switched CC companies recently. | http://www.andrewewhite.net/wordpress/2011/03/16/carnival-funpoints/ | dclm-gs1-100010000 |
0.106839 | <urn:uuid:462a8fb7-f09c-43cd-b5d8-b66089d3bd1a> | en | 0.974347 | Days of our Lives: November 13 Live Thoughts
Days of our Lives: November 13 Live Thoughts
Days of our Lives begins today with Bo (Peter Reckell) searching St. Luke's for clues. Hope (Kristian Alfonso) joins him. Bo is tempted to turn the case into a cold case, but Hope warns him not to bend the rules. Bo is afraid that the shooting was a result of a Brady conspiracy and that the family he is going to bring down will be his own.
Stefano (Joseph Mascolo) swears to Roman (Josh Taylor) that if his son dies then there will not be a Brady on earth who will have another moment of peace.
Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) comforts Sami (Alison Sweeney) at home. Lucas has some major nose-whistling going on.
Not all titles featured on BuddyTV are available through Amazon Prime.
Philip (Jay Kenneth Johnson) asks to meet Kate to discuss the gun. He brings the gun to breakfast, which makes Kate (Lauren Koslow) nervous. He asks her if she shot EJ (James Scott).
EJ's surgery is over, and Roman asks the doctor if they were able to retrieve the bullet. The surgeon says that he's afraid that they have just made the investigation a lot more complicated.
Sami tells Lucas that she's gotta get back to the hospital or else more Bradys will die. Lucas reminds her that they are not victims anymore.
Kate tries to explain that she's so jumpy about the gun because she's caught between the Bradys and the DiMeras in the vendetta. Philip tells her that there was gunpowder residue on the handle, so if she didn't shoot it, then who did/
The surgeon tells Stefano that the bullet is lodged in EJ's spine and that he's paralyzed from the waist down. The surgeon also recommends that he find some way to re-instill within EJ the will to live because of the difficult road that is ahead of him.
Hope believes that Roman would never hurt anyway, even EJ. Bo says that he has enough suspects to keep him busy, like Lucas.
Speaking of the nose-whistler, he's still talking to Sami. Sami's getting all sympathetic of EJ, which doesn't escape Lucas' attention. Sami pleads with Lucas not to talk like he had something to do with the shooting.
Kate tells Philip that she took some practice shots with the gun in the woods, but she didn't shoot EJ. She says that she got the gun from an old business associate. Philip isn't believing a word of this and refuses to dump the gun for her.
Stefano promises that he'll find out who shot EJ and will make them pay. EJ asks for Sami. But Sami is at home with Lucas. Lucas asks Sami to take off her wedding ring, but Sami is afraid of what Stefano will do if she acts like she's not married to EJ. Lucas tells her that she never consummated her marriage, so they can find a way to annul her marriage to EJ. Sami says that it's not that simple because she wasn't the only target at the church--one of those bullets was meant for her.
This episode bores me and here's why: NOTHING IS HAPPENING. All that is going on is that everyone is just recapping all that happened in last week's episodes of Days of our Lives. Bo and Hope are basically summarizing stuff that we all know. Now, they're talking about Kate Roberts. Bo wants to get a search warrant so they can look for Kate's gun.
Kate tells Philip that she was at the church during the wedding. She took out the gun and pointed it at EJ, but then she couldn't decide whom she hated more, EJ or Sami. She closed her eyes, and then the gun went off. She knows that she didn't shoot EJ because the last person she was aiming at was Sami.
Stefano calls Lucas' apartment and isn't surprised when Sami answers. He tells her to go to the hospital.
Hope asks Bo to bring Shawn in on the case. Bo was impressed with Shawn's work so far, but is disappointed that he took off to check on Claire without telling a superior first. Roman comes in to the church to tell them that they can't recover the bullet. Bo asks Roman to spy on Kate (without a search warrant) but Roman refuses. He doesn't think Kate's a killer, and he says that if Bo thinks she is, then Bo should do the spying.
Philip takes Kate's gun and says that they never had this conversation.
EJ is pretty lucid for having been in major surgery only a little while ago. He can't feel his legs, and Stefano gives him the bad news that he's paralyzed from the waist down. EJ asks Stefano to leave him alone.
Philip finally relents to Kate's badgering and agrees to take care of her gun.
Sami shows up at the hospital and finds out that EJ is paralyzed and that her truce with Stefano is tenuous at best.
Next on Days of our Lives: Cordy is the only way to prove that Ford is the campus rapist, Sami talks to EJ, Kayla questions Steve's alibi.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
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0.285175 | <urn:uuid:c0a67304-f82d-4239-aa25-4c89a83efc4d> | en | 0.962365 | CP Politics
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015
Can Israel Survive Obama?
• (Photo: Reuters/Yuri Gripas)
By Noah Beck , CP Op-Ed Contributor
November 12, 2013|10:53 am
In the spring of 2012, when I wrote The Last Israelis, I thought that the pessimistic premise of my cautionary tale on Iranian nukes was grounded in realism. I had imagined a U.S. president who passively and impotently reacted to Iran's nuclear ambitions, leaving it to tiny Israel to deal with the threat. But something far worse is happening: the Obama administration is actively making it harder for Israel to neutralize Iran's nukes, and more likely that Iran will develop a nuclear arsenal.
A few months after my apocalyptic thriller was published, The New York Times reported that "intense, secret exchanges between American and Iranian officials [dating] almost to the beginning of President Obama's term" resulted in an agreement to conduct one-on-one negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. In those secret talks, did Obama long ago concede to Iran a nuclear capability? If so, then the current Geneva negotiations merely provide the international imprimatur for what Iran and the US have already privately agreed. That might explain why France (of all countries) had to reject a Geneva deal that would have left Iran with a nuclear breakout capability.
An investigation by The Daily Beast also reveals that the "Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran's new president last June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva..." The report notes that Treasury Department notices show "that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June."
Obama's desperately eager posture towards the smiling Mullahs has doomed any negotiation to failure by signaling that the U.S. fears confrontation more than anything else. Obama's pathetic approach to the world's most pressing national security threat also makes U.S. military action virtually impossible from a public relations and diplomatic standpoint because it promotes the naive idea that more diplomacy will resolve what a decade of talking hasn't. And as long as the Iranians are "talking," world opinion will also oppose an Israeli military strike, so naturally Iran will find ways to keep talking until it's too late for Israel to act.
Obama has been downright duplicitous towards key Mideast allies. When in campaign mode or speaking to Israel supporters, Obama emphatically rejected containment as a policy option for dealing with Iranian nukes but he's now taking steps that effectively make containment the only option available (while repeating the same empty reassurance that he has Israel's back and won't be duped by the smiling Iranians).
Despite his repeated reassurances, Obama rejected Israel's estimates for how much more time Iran needs to develop its nuclear capability, and accepted overly optimistic timetables that assumed at least a year for more talking. Soon afterwards, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) confirmed Israel's estimates that Iran could be just weeks away from the critical nuclear threshold. Ignoring these critical facts, Obama has given diplomatic cover to Iran's nuclear program by seizing on the cosmetic changes presented by the Iranian regime's Ahmadinejad-to-Rouhani facelift.
That this makeover is just a ruse becomes obvious from this video, in which Rouhani boasts about masterfully manipulating diplomacy to achieve Iran's nuclear objectives. So Obama must have known all along that "talks" are a fool's errand that allow him to "fall back to" what has been his position all along: containment.
And despite repeated assurances from Secretary of State John Kerry that "no deal is better than a bad deal," the current Geneva talks appear headed towards precisely that: a bad deal that leaves Iran with the very nuclear breakout capability that a diplomatic "solution" was supposed to prevent.
On the other hand, after Obama's weak response to Syria's crossing of his "red line" against the use of chemical weapons, the threat of U.S. force against Iranian nukes lost all credibility, making it even harder to change Iranian nuclear behavior without force. So containing the mess produced by weak negotiations is really all that's left of Obama's Iran "strategy."
Only epic ineptitude or anti-Israel hostility no longer checked by reelection considerations can explain Obama's moves on Iran. And the stakes couldn't be higher for the rest of the world. After all, if Iran is the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism without nuclear weapons, what will terrorism look like once Iran goes nuclear? And there are already hints of the nuclear proliferation nightmare that will follow Iran's nuclearization: Saudi Arabia has Pakistani nukes already lined up for purchase. Remarkably, Obama has known this since 2009 and apparently doesn't care about that consequence any more than he does about Israel's security. How else to explain his acceptance of the dreadful Geneva proposal granting Iran a nuclear weapons capability?
Exacerbating an existential threat against Israel is bad enough, but Obama has been an abysmal ally in other respects. Despite being history's most aggressive president to punish leakers (except when they make him look good), Obama's administration has repeatedly leaked sensitive Israeli information that could have easily provoked a Syrian-Israeli war. Obama summarily dumped a decades-long alliance with Egypt (that is also key to Israeli security) over some Egyptian state violence that is dwarfed by the decades-long brutality and terrorism of the Iranian regime now enjoying Obama's overzealous courtship. And Obama's image as a multi-lateralist who subordinates U.S. interests to higher principles has been exposed as a fraud following reports that he knew that the U.S. was spying on close European allies (contrary to his denials).
Add to that list Kerry's increasing hostility to Israel and reports that the U.S. plans to impose its undoubtedly risky vision of peace on Israel in a few months, and you have Israel's worst nightmare in the White House. The irony is that the less Israel feels secure because of Obama's betrayals, the less likely it is to behave as Obama would like. Why humor Obama's requests and take unrequited risks for peace with the Palestinians or indulge yet another round of counter-productive "talks" about Iran's nuclear program when Obama has apparently abandoned Israel anyway?
As if Israel didn't face enough threats and challenges, it must now survive the Obama nightmare until he's out of office in 38 months. Isolated like never before thanks to Obama, the stark choices facing Israel's leadership are unimaginably difficult. With roughly 75 times more territory, 10 times as many people, and two times as big an economy, Iran is a Goliath compared to Israel, and has repeatedly threatened to destroy it. So what does David (Israel) do now that Obama's perfidy has been exposed? If the neighborhood bully is bigger than you, has threatened you, and is reaching for a bat, do you preemptively attack him before he gets the bat and becomes even more dangerous?
Source URL : http://www.christianpost.com/news/can-israel-survive-obama-108599/ | http://www.christianpost.com/news/can-israel-survive-obama-108599/print.html | dclm-gs1-100170000 |
0.353485 | <urn:uuid:e2a61160-66cf-4d51-b36b-fba2fa987839> | en | 0.950796 |
Comments Threshold
And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By tigz1218 on 9/23/2010 10:27:01 AM , Rating: 5
...produce about 5x the energy of this entire farm.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By AssBall on 9/23/2010 11:08:08 AM , Rating: 2
Again, you disregard the energy waste in transfer and maintenance of an offshore wind farm. What you get at the outlet is not the same as what you produce 10 miles out into the ocean on a "OMG ITS NOT WINDY TODAY" day. Your figures are maximum lossless production.
The cost of a nuclear plant is artificially inflated by legislation.
The cost of a wind farm is artificially reduced by legislation.
Wind energy is a fine idea, but don't go skewing the costs and efficiencies with hand picked information.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By AssBall on 9/23/10, Rating: 0
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By GreenEuropean on 9/23/2010 12:24:40 PM , Rating: 1
The transmission lines into shore is quite cheap. So I dont see your point. We already got endless amount of powercables below the sea for country to country connections.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By AssBall on 9/23/2010 12:37:29 PM , Rating: 4
The point is you live in a country that is SEVEN times smaller than my state, which is only the tenth largest in the US. When you have population density and tax rates like Denmark, you can afford to be as inefficient as you like.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By AssBall on 9/23/2010 1:03:46 PM , Rating: 2
New Yorkers have the distinction of not having to pay 25% tax. This gives them the option to NOT have to pay for 1GBit and artificially inflated energy costs.
I think they even have a word for it... oh yeah... "Freedom".
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By DrApop on 9/23/10, Rating: 0
By AssBall on 9/23/2010 1:47:42 PM , Rating: 4
You get the same run around in Europe too, so call it 70%?
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By clovell on 9/24/2010 3:53:11 PM , Rating: 1
What? It's always windy 10 miles offshore. I realize you're making a point, but there's no need to get hyperbolic about it.
By clovell on 9/27/2010 12:31:16 PM , Rating: 2
Rated down by the nuclear cheerleaders for making a perfectly valid point - get lives, people.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By Zingam on 9/24/2010 1:12:19 AM , Rating: 2
There would be no need for nuclear power if all people were dead!
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By Aloonatic on 9/23/2010 10:54:13 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, but think of the terrrrooooorrrrr!!!!!
Seriously though, it seems that people in the UK are pretty much like people in the US (going by this site), i.e. can't understand why more reactors aren't being built.
There are a few problems though. Firstly, just to get a reactor through planning would take years. Secondly, British energy was sold off to the French (EDF) and I believe that they said that they were going to build more reactors at the time, but no sooner had the ink dried on the contract, they said, nahhhh, forget it.
I have no idea why they [the powers that be] find it so hard to see that nuclear is the only real way to go, or at least the best option for the core of power generation. I'm not sure how much supply/demand/pricing is a factor to be honest. If you build a couple of nuclear power stations and increase the potential capacity for generation, then will that have an affect on how much they can charge?
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
Being energy indenpendent is the best option ;)
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By sleepeeg3 on 9/23/2010 3:02:27 PM , Rating: 5
No, one modern nuclear reactor produces about *12x* as much as this entire farm. This wind farm only produces 100MW (average 30% efficiency of wind) and each of Georgia's Vogtle nuclear reactors produces over 1200MW (total 2430MW).
This farm also costs nearly 4x as much as nuclear! ($1,300 million for 100MW of wind vs $367 million for 100MW of nuclear). That's not even factoring in the cost of replacing these turbines 3x as often (20 year lifespan vs 60+).
This wind farm also requires 35 SQUARE KILOMETERS of space! Compare that to the Vogtle power plants, which only take up a few acres.
So what happened to supporting nuclear, JM?
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By FaaR on 9/23/10, Rating: -1
By Shatbot on 9/25/2010 4:15:33 AM , Rating: 1
Compare that to the 35 sq km x 24 farms = 840 square km of land
Of water you mean, I agree the whole issue of how much area a sea wind farm takes up doesn't really factor into the equation, unless you are talking about costs going between the turbines.
There's a whole lot of ocean. In England there isn't a lot of land.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By iwanttobehef on 9/23/10, Rating: -1
By sleepeeg3 on 9/23/2010 10:21:21 PM , Rating: 2
Fine, you want to nitpick? I will give you 10 sq km for a nuclear plant, since I could not find any data on it. Compare that to the 35 sq km x 24 farms = 840 square km of land, 37-story wind turbines would have to occupy to output the same amount of power as the two reactors at the Vogtle plant. Does wind still make sense?
Nevermind those pesky cost issues...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By cannonac on 9/24/2010 5:24:28 AM , Rating: 2
ROFL! 4 sq miles? Have you any idea how stupid that makes you sound?
Looking at Google maps, Sizewell B, Britain's most modern reactor, occupies a plot of land approximately 400x600m. Now, I'm a physicist, but even my maths can't make 400m x 600m into 10 sq km!
Now, where's that new keyboard...
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By iwanttobehef on 9/24/2010 1:40:20 PM , Rating: 1
Is there a reason every one must be so hostile? I only spoke to the plants I have physically been to. Lets look at one of the plants I have worked in. Lasalle county IL. Its cooling pond alone is 2058 acres more than 8 sq km. add in the plant itself and it looks like I was being conservative.
I understand this is wikipedia so here is a link to exelon corp saying it is on a 3055 acre site. or more than 12 sq km.
Now I did your homework why don't you study some more next time.
By Digimonkey on 9/24/2010 2:14:15 PM , Rating: 2
That cooling pond is also referred to as a Illinois state park and opened to the public for boating/fishing. So the land serves another purpose. Just like how you can have windmill farms and still farm the land around them. So actually this whole conversation is rather pointless.
By cannonac on 9/25/2010 8:32:26 AM , Rating: 2
Touchy aren't we?
All of the British plants (apart from Trawsfynydd) are located on the coast, so you could say that they occupy millions of acres, but I digress.
Anyway, I think I misunderstood you purely because we don't use cooling ponds. The only cooling ponds that we use are the fuel cooling ponds, and they are really quite small.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By mars2k on 9/24/10, Rating: 0
RE: And one modern nuclear reactor can...
By WikiChici on 9/25/10, Rating: 0
By cannonac on 9/25/2010 8:41:33 AM , Rating: 3
Interesting that this has been brought up.
Chernobyl was a reactor design that would never be licensed in the West. For one thing it has a phenomena called positive power coefficient, which means that if the temperature of the coolant increases, then the power of the reactor also increases. Western reactors are all designed to operate with a negative power coefficient, so they are basically self regulating, to a certain extent.
In Chernobyl, the safety systems were turned off as part of a test (to improve safety, if you believe it) but the operators and the utility didn't really understand how the reactor was going to behave, again, something that wouldn't happen in the west.
So, with the buildup of reactivity (basically, stored power in the reactor), the positive power coefficient and the lack of training, plus control rods that took far too long to motor into the core, we get a multiplication of the power being produced. If I remember rightly, the power produced was 10,000x the rated power of the reactor for an instant.
This heated up the steam so it reacted with the fuel cladding which started to burn, burning the graphite core bricks and causing a steam explosion. There was no containment, so everything was ejected out of the core.
By kingius on 10/13/2010 4:13:50 AM , Rating: 2
Wind power generates free energy. It's a no brainer, even an idiot can understand this.
| http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=19701&commentid=618937&threshhold=1&red=636 | dclm-gs1-100300000 |
0.704735 | <urn:uuid:28de9265-7c75-413d-ab98-15909e053bbc> | en | 0.853391 | Sunday, September 2, 2007
Example please...
I've been working hard recently on a native Cocoa XMPP library. (If you don't know what xmpp is, you can read the wikipedia article. It's the protocol behind jabber and google talk.) One of the difficulties I ran into was implementing SASL digest authentication. The XMPP RFC gives an example, but doesn't tell you how it created the proper response. After some googling, I stumbled upon the RFC for Digest Authentication as a SASL Mechanism. Here I found a rather cryptic (yet detailed) algorithm of how to create the proper responses. Of course, I couldn't apply the algorithm to the XMPP example in the RFC since the author didn't bother to tell us what password he used. Fortunately the SASL document had an example. The only problem was I couldn't get my code to match it. Where was I going wrong?
That's one of the problems with writing code. It's basically like a long math problem. And in the end if your answer doesn't match what's in the back of the book, the only thing you know is that there's a mistake somewhere between step 1 and step 80. Happy hunting!
So for the benefit of the community, I'm going to break down an example step-by-step.
First an overview of the stream communication, with data coming from the server in blue, data being sent from the client in orange, and my comments in gray. The authentication will be for user "test" and password "secret".
<mechanisms xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-sasl'>
<auth xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-sasl' mechanism='DIGEST-MD5'/>
<challenge xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-sasl'>
There's actually no spaces or formatting anywhere in the
challenge above. I added it for readability. The data is
encoded in base64, and here's what it says:
<response xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-sasl">
Again remember that there's really no spaces or formatting in the
response above. I added them simply for readability. The payload
is encoded in base64 and says (without spaces/formatting):
<success xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xmpp-sasl'>
No spaces, base64, etc:
The big thing to figure out is the response (37991b870e0f6cc757ec74c47877472b) value. How do we go about getting this value?
We'll need to hash (md5) a bunch of values together to get this response. Here's what we'll need:
The username and password are what we're using to authenticate.
Where did the realm come from? Sometimes it's supplied by the server inside the challenge. In this particular example it wasn't, so we used the domain identifier of the server. Our server is an ejabberd server running on the local machine, which is why it has a funny name. But in your case it would be something like "", "", "", etc. IE - if your JID is "" then your realm (if not otherwise stated in the challenge) is "".
The nonce and qop values were supplied by the server in the challenge. The nonce will be different for each challenge the server sends. In this case it looks like a random value.
cnonce is a random string we provide. To make one yourself you could simply use a random number generator. Mine is a UUID (universally unique identifier), and I choose to use UUID's because they're so simple to generate using Carbon's CFUUID class.
digest-uri is easy to make: xmpp/[domainID]
So if you were, then your digest-uri would be "xmpp/"
And nc is the nonce count. It's the count of how many times you've sent info to the server. But since we're only going to be sending one packet, we really don't have to worry about it. Just make it 00000001 like I did.
Step 1: Combine username:realm:password and md5 hash them.
So we hash "test:osXstream.local:secret" (without the quotes) and store the result in a variable called HA1data.
Here's the trick - normally when you hash stuff you get a result in hex values. But we don't want this result as a string of hex values! We need to keep the result as raw data! If you were to do a hex dump of this data you'd find it to be "3a4f5725a748ca945e506e30acd906f0". But remeber, we need to operate on it's raw data, so don't convert it to a string.
Step 2: We need to combine the result from step 1 with the nonce and cnonce.
So we hash [HA1data]:nonce:cnonce
But wait, the result from step 1 is in raw data format, and the new stuff is a string. So we convert our string ":392616736:05E0A6E7-0B7B-4430-9549-0FE1C244ABAB" into raw utf-8 data, and append this to the end of HA1data.
Step 3: Hash the data from step 2, and store it's hex value in a string HA1.
The value of the string will be "b9709c3cdb60c5fab0a33ebebdd267c4".
Step 4: Hash the string AUTHENTICATE:[digest-uri]. So we'll be hashing "AUTHENTICATE:xmpp/osXstream.local", and we store it's hex value in a string HA2.
The value of the string will be "2b09ce6dd013d861f2cb21cc8797a64d".
Step 5: Hash: HA1:nonce:nc:cnonce:qop:HA2
So we'll be hashing:
Store it's hex value as the result. It should be:
And we're done! That's the hard part. Now you just package up the response value along with all the other stuff, encode it as base64, and send it across the wire.
A few other things I should mention:
Sometimes the server sends back the rspauth in another challenge element. Servers do this because this is how the example is given in the original RFC. The client then has to send an empty response to this prior to receiving the success element. Hopefully, in the future, servers will put an end to this insanity and implement it like my example, since this is how it probably should be. 1, 2
After you've authenticated, you'll still need to bind your resource.
After binding, some servers require you to initiate a session before they'll communicate with you.
Anonymous said...
I have any same trouble regarding making the XMPP clients response. I failed in the final step of the Challenge-response of SASL. XMPP Server sent "not authorized". I found one question. I can get same solution of your step 2 of making response. But I could not get same data in step 3 "b970....". Is same the utf-8 encoding data for pure ASCII code, for example, "3a4f5..."? In other words, "3a4f572..." raw data string is as same as "3a4f572..." utf-8 encoding data, because we use only a ASCII code.
Could you explain how to encoding the raw data to the utf-8 encoding data?
Why do we use the utf-8 encoding for the ASCII-code? Is contents of data same?
Are the utf-8 encoding data different from pure raw data?
Or could you tell us the nice utf-8 encoding sample?
PS: Sorry, I'm an asian. English is not well.
Anonymous said...
Sorry I foget to describe my name "mam" in above comment.
For example , I calculated step 2 of making response.
(Of cource . this is a bad example....)
* concatenate as string...
H(A1) =
Why should not we calculate above?
--- mam ---.
Robbie Hanson said...
Hi anonymous,
I'll do my best to help you get the problem solved. It sounds like you're having problems with the really tricky step.
First, here's example source code. This may clear up a few things. I'll try to expand upon it in another comment.
(you may have to copy and paste to see it all)
SSCrypto *crypto = [[[SSCrypto alloc] init] autorelease];
NSString *HA1str = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%@:%@", username, realm, password];
NSString *HA2str = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"AUTHENTICATE:%@", digestURI];
[crypto setClearTextWithString:HA1str];
NSData *HA1dataA = [crypto digest:@"MD5"];
NSData *HA1dataB = [[NSString stringWithFormat:@":%@:%@", nonce, cnonce] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSMutableData *HA1data = [NSMutableData dataWithCapacity:([HA1dataA length] + [HA1dataB length])];
[HA1data appendData:HA1dataA];
[HA1data appendData:HA1dataB];
[crypto setClearTextWithData:HA1data];
NSString *HA1 = [[crypto digest:@"MD5"] hexval];
[crypto setClearTextWithString:HA2str];
NSString *HA2 = [[crypto digest:@"MD5"] hexval];
NSString *responseStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%@:00000001:%@:auth:%@",
HA1, nonce, cnonce, HA2];
[crypto setClearTextWithString:responseStr];
NSString *response = [[crypto digest:@"MD5"] hexval];
return response;
Robbie Hanson said...
Here is a better explanation of the "raw data" vs "hex string" difference.
First, note that hashing (such as an md5 hash) works on the raw binary data. Think 1's and 0's...
In step 1, the result (in raw data, printed in hex) from the hash is this:
However, if you convert this to a string, then you convert it to an array of characters "3a4f..." But wait! This is a problem. Because what is the raw data of a character? It's very different! The raw data, printed in hex, of the UTF-8 character 3 is 33. And a = 61. So if you convert it to a string, then it's raw data becomes this:
33613466 35373235 61373438 63613934 35653530 36653330 61636439 30366630
(spaces added for readability)
This is the difference between "raw" and string values. Why did the SASL Digest RFC people decide to make it so complicated? I don't know. Digest access authentication in HTTP doesn't do any of this "raw" data stuff...
Anonymous said...
Dear Robbie Hanson,
Oh it is very clear explanation.
string "3" is actually "33" binary data=(ASCII code).
I will try it.
Thank you very much.
For example, I saved "3a4f" strings in text file vv by editor, and convert "nkf -w80 vv", so I get same answer "3a4f".
This means that the contents of file = 0x33 0x61 0x34 0x67.
If we keep this concept, we go to the trouble. I'm in the loop in 2 months.
Anonymous said...
great write-up. I couldnt find this info anywhere.
Anonymous said...
Nice article!
Great! Fantastic! Thank you very much :)
(I wrote jabber server ;) )
Anonymous said...
Here a PHP function string2hex, usefull to get a correct "raw format".
(do not forget to do a loop on the entire string!)
function str2hex($string) {
$hex = "";
for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($string); $i++) {
$hex .= (strlen(dechex(ord($string[$i]))) < 2) ?
"0" . dechex(ord($string[$i])) : dechex(ord($string[$i]));
return $hex;
Brmm said...
Great post, the only one I could find on the internet which explains SASL auth response for XMPP.
I know it's been a long time since you posted this, but..
I dont understand the critical part with the raw data. If you're not allowed to save the MD5 hash output as a String because it has to stay raw data, then how do you put it in a variable anyway? What is the data type then, so you can work with it?
I'm using this for an actionscript project and I'm saving it in a byteArray, but that doesn't seem to work for me. I always get the wrong hash output.
I think I'm not following here.
Robbie Hanson said...
Hi Brmm,
In Cocoa we save it in NSData, which is just a byte buffer.
Anonymous said...
I am not familiar with the language you are using.
For the 'tricky part', could you please post a php version? I am still not coming up with the same values you are using and it breaks down when I combine the $HA1data with the nonce and cnonce strings. I come up with a completely different value. I am beginning to wonder if this can be done in php.
Thanks for your help!!
kai said...
At last I got this right! Thank you very much for this post! It helps a lot. :D
Anonymous said...
2011? Better late than never. Thank you for the nice example. It was still quite some trouble for me to figure out how to get it done with abraction whatsoever. Anybody attempting this with C++ should just store nonce+cnonce as unsigned char*, same thing goes for the intermediate HA1 result. Concatenate and hash.
Anonymous said...
just wanted to say: thanks! with this example i was able to pinpoint a bug in my code. now it works!
Chamini Perera said...
I'm also trying to implement this with c++.It didn't work for me, gave me the same result Mam got (as mention above ), please any idea to implement this with c++
Andrew Poltavchenko said...
Thank You, people!) This article very helped for me. May be I'm a stupid, but only after reading this text I have progress))).
P.S. I'm sorry - I'm russian and english is my weak side)))
John said...
Stumbled across this while looking for a walkthrough for exactly this. I was able to step by step create and test a method to reproduce your results!
Many thanks for taking the time to post this explanation!
Thank you!
Anonymous said...
Hi everyone,
Great article, very useful to have actual test values when debugging auth.
in PHP, the easiest way I found to do the "tricky part" is to use the pack function
$Y = pack('H32', md5($X));
PHP sample code can be found here :
Jakub Švestka said...
Very helpful. Thanks | http://www.deusty.com/2007/09/example-please.html | dclm-gs1-100370000 |
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Provides a unique emphasis on the practical aspect of implementing biomedical signal processing systems The book contains a learner-centered approach in which readers are motivated to explore, design and build solutions to given problems, with the authors providing the reader with solutions and software codes for common biomedical problems. The code guides the reader to a deeper understanding of the solution proposed and it is a starting point for further algorithms development and improvement. To reach these goals, each chapter/topic is divided into three parts: 1) fundamental & background, 2) learning assignments; 3) case-study assignments Presents a logical step-by-step tutorial on biomedical signal processing, from the theory to the practical (using Matlab coding). Focuses on worked examples and practical projects for teaching the subject which makes it an ideal practical text for lab-based courses in biomedical signal processing. Divided into two main sections whereby the first section (Chapter 2 to 6) introduces basic topics in biomedical signal processing, while the second section (Chapter 7 to 11) deals with advanced and novel biomedical signal processing methodologies. Companion website hosting online instructor manual with solutions of selected homework problems.
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0.018264 | <urn:uuid:56b11e8f-7f36-4a1f-8279-14711421bd2a> | en | 0.937668 | October 05, 2015
Passos Coelho wins, but no majority in parliament
Our main story today are the Portuguese elections. Please note we have not economic data today, due to technical problems.
The coalition of PSD and CDS won the elections but failed to win a majority in parliament. The ruling coalition received 38.34% against 32.38% for the Socialists. This translates into a total of 104 deputies for the ruling coalition, far from the 116 needed for a majority in the 230-seat parliament. These Portuguese government's results from the full count for domestic precincts, which elect 226 seats of the 230, is:
PàF38.34%104centre-rightPSD/CDS coalition
BE10.22%19radical left
CDU8.27%17green leftCommunist/Green coalition
PAN1.39%1animal rights
The biggest winner and a surprise given the pre-election polls, was the Left Bloc (BE), which increased its share of the votes to 10.22%, doubling their number of deputies in parliament to 19 to become the third strongest party. The traditional Communists (CDU) obtained 8.27%, and 17 deputies. Both, Left Bloc and Communists, put pressure on Antonio Costa not to led the PSD/CDS form a government, according to Diario Economico. Both parties strongly oppose Portugal’s membership to the euro, saying they would not support a minority government under Passos Coelho.
Adding up the numbers, theoretically we have two constellations for a minority government, the centre-right coalition and a coalition of the Socialists with the Left Bloc (the Communists already said they won't participate). The foreign vote, determining the remaining 4 MPs, could be decisive if the either of the PS or CDS-led coalitions get at least three, though this seems rather unlikely as the 4 seats are elected in two 2-seat districts, for Europe and for the rest of the world. An alliance between Socialists and the Left Bloc is, however, also not evident, as the Socialists seem to have more in common with the ruling coalition when it comes to eurozone membership or fiscal targets than with the Left Bloc.
If the president were to ask Passos Coelho to form a government, he would be the first leader to be reelected in Europe despite harsh austerity measures, as many in the press already pointed out this morning. It will certainly become part of the success narrative about bailout programmes. The coalition also won against what the polls predicted only months ago, when none of them predicted a victory. But the two parties lost heavily compared to the 2011 elections where they got together 50.4% of the vote and 129 deputies. In terms of votes, the two parties lost a total of 738,301 votes, down to about 2.06m.
The prospect of a minority government makes for an unstable outlook for Portugal. The extent will depend on the Socialists and whether, in opposition, they will harden their stance under pressure from the Left Bloc. Antonio Costa said the Socialists would not team up with more radical parties to form a “negative majority” against the minority government, the FT reports. But Costa is under pressure from inside and outside his party. Costa said that they won’t support policies that go against the Socialists and that a large majority of the Portuguese in fact voted for change. He also insisted he will not resign.
Passos Coelho said that they will make the necessary compromises to ensure a stable government for the next four years. In his carefully calibrated victory speech, he talked about recovery of income, progressive abandonment of austerity measures and recovery of public-sector wages in the context of the 2016 budget. He announced to develop parliamentary initiatives with the Socialists. Both the Socialists and the coalition share their commitment to the euro and to meet the fiscal targets of the bailout programme.
Domestic participation was 56.93% or under 5.4m of over 9.4m registered voters. Abstention was 43.07% or under 4.1m people.
Our other stories
We also have stories on the macroeconomic consequences of VW, of the sharp fall in producer price in August, on a really gloomy outlook by Peter Praet, on why the ECB is an employer from hell, on the list of 48 actions, on an increase in the estimate of the number of refugees; on Spain's budget, on long-term unemployment in Spain, and the Podemos-clause in financial contracts.
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