id
stringlengths 50
55
| text
stringlengths 54
694k
|
|---|---|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24249
|
An Effective Exercise Routine for Beginners PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator
Friday, 23 March 2012 04:37
Let’s start with this very important rule: NEVER OVERDO THE FIRST FEW SESSIONS. Many beginners to exercising fall for this trap, especially when they do not have qualified trainers with them. They get overly excited and lose patience. They try to produce in two weeks what often takes years to accomplish.
They begin by going all out right from the start doing as much as they can. The next day, their joints and muscles lock up in pain. Then, they get discouraged, stop exercising for a while and give it up altogether. Workouts should start out smooth and easy.
Here is a warm-up routine to do 1 set of before every workout, but doing 3 sets of these alone can be a pretty good workout; particularly if you are a beginner.
Lean over deeply on your left foot while your right leg is stretched out to your right side. Maintain balance.
Slowly, raise yourself with your left leg to a standing position.
As you stand, spread your feet wide apart.
Repeat this for ten counts.
Do steps 1 to 4 again; this time, alternate the legs’ position (left becomes right, and vice-versa).
This exercise warms up your legs, calves, and abdomen.
Stand erect, chest out, with your buttocks protruding and your stomach in. Put your hands straight out in front of you. Relax.
Do squats by bending your legs to lower your body. Bend your legs until your upper legs (thighs) are parallel to the ground and you are in a squatting position. Keep your body erect as you squat.
Then raise yourself as you straighten your legs back to a standing position.
Do around 5 to 10 squats. Inhale deeply as you go down. Exhale as you stand up.
This exercise warms up your leg muscles, calves, and the muscles in your abdomen.
Stand with your feet about 3 feet apart. Relax.
Place your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the sides.
Very slowly, twist your body to your right without moving your legs or feet. Try to twist to your right as far as possible. Your face and body should be facing your right side while your legs remain steady. Then hold on to this position for 10 seconds.
Do the same to your left side.
This exercise warms up your legs, back muscles, and abdomen.
Simultaneously rotate both arms to the front. Do this 20 times each rotation.
This exercises your shoulders, arms, and back muscles.
Bring your right and left palms together. Have all fingers and palms pressing each other in front of you while pointing the fingers upwards.
Simultaneously push one palm against the other as hard as you can. Keep pushing for 5 seconds. Relax. Then push again for 5 seconds.
Do this ten times. Exhale as you push, and inhale as you relax.
Then press both palms in front of you while having their fingers pointing in different directions one set of fingers pointing to your left, the other set to your right. If your left fingers point to the right, your left hand should be under your right hand.
Push both palms against each other, the left palm pushing upwards, the right palm pushing downwards.
Exhale as you push, and inhale as you relax. Do this ten times. Then change the positions of your palms (left over right) and do the same procedures.
This exercises your forearms, arms, shoulders, and latissimus muscles (the muscles at the sides that give your body a V shape).
Gently move your head to your right side while your right hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently move your head to your left side as your left hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently move your head backwards as your left or right hand gently pushes back against it. Do this once.
Gently bow your head to the front as your right or left hand gently pushes against your forehead. Do this once.
This exercise strengthens your neck muscles. Never do neck rotations.
Do slow push-ups from 10 to 15 counts.
This exercises your arms, chest, shoulders, part of your abdomen, and part of your back muscles.
Jog in place for 3 minutes.
Then jog in place a lot faster for 2 minutes.
Then jog in place with a normal pace for another 3 minutes.
This exercise gives you a good leg and calf warm-up. This also serves as aerobics for your lungs and heart.
There! That ought to do it. After doing the above warm up exercises for some time, you should be ready start doing regular weight training and cardio workouts. Then just do 1 set of these exercises to properly warm up before you start each workout.
Last Updated on Thursday, 05 April 2012 12:51
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24258
|
The Jesuit New World Order
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Rome Comes into History
IT was in 264 B.C. that the great struggle between Rome and Carthage, the Punic Wars, began. In that year Asoka was beginning his reign in Behar and Shi-Hwang-ti was a little child, the Museum in Alexandria was still doing good scientific work, and the barbaric Gauls were now in Asia Minor and exacting a tribute from Pergamum. The different regions of the world were still separated by insurmountable distances, and probably the rest of mankind heard only vague and remote rumours of the mortal fight that went on for a century and a half in Spain, Italy, North Africa and the western Mediterranean, between the last stronghold of Semitic power and Rome, this newcomer among Aryan-speaking peoples. 1
That war has left its traces upon issues that still stir the world. Rome triumphed over Carthage, but the rivalry of Aryan and Semite was to merge itself later on in the conflict of Gentile and Jew. Our history now is coming to events whose consequences and distorted traditions still maintain a lingering and expiring vitality in, and exercise a complicating and confusing influence upon, the conflicts and controversies of to-day. 2
The First Punic War began in 264 B.C. about the pirates of Messina. It developed into a struggle for the possession of all Sicily except the dominions of the Greek king of Syracuse. The advantage of the sea was at first with the Carthaginians. They had great fighting ships of what was hitherto an unheard-of size, quinqueremes, galleys with five banks of oars and a huge ram. At the battle of Salamis, two centuries before, the leading battleships had only been triremes with three banks. But the Romans, with extraordinary energy and in spite of the fact that they had little naval experience, set themselves to outbuild the Carthaginians. They manned the new navy they created chiefly with Greek seamen, and they invented grappling and boarding to make up for the superior seamanship of the enemy. When the Carthaginian came up to ram or shear the oars of the Roman, huge grappling irons seized him and the Roman soldiers swarmed aboard him. At Mylæ (260 B.C.) and at Ecnomus (256 B.C.) the Carthaginians were disastrously beaten. They repulsed a Roman landing near Carthage but were badly beaten at Palermo, losing one hundred and four elephants there—to grace such a triumphal procession through the Forum as Rome had never seen before. But after that came two Roman defeats and then a Roman recovery. The last naval forces of Carthage were defeated by a last Roman effort at the battle of the Ægatian Isles (241 B.C.) and Carthage sued for peace. All Sicily except the dominions of Hiero, king of Syracuse, was ceded to the Romans. 3
For twenty-two years Rome and Carthage kept the peace. Both had trouble enough at home. In Italy the Gauls came south again, threatened Rome—which in a state of panic offered human sacrifices to the Gods!—and were routed at Telamon. Rome pushed forward to the Alps, and even extended her dominions down the Adriatic coast to Illyria. Carthage suffered from domestic insurrections and from revolts in Corsica and Sardinia, and displayed far less recuperative power. Finally, an act of intolerable aggression, Rome seized and annexed the two revolting islands. 4
Spain at that time was Carthaginian as far north as the river Ebro. To that boundary the Romans restricted them. Any crossing of the Ebro by the Carthaginians was to be considered an act of war against the Romans. At last in 218 B.C. the Carthaginians, provoked by new Roman aggressions, did cross this river under a young general named Hannibal, one of the most brilliant commanders in the whole of history. He marched his army from Spain over the Alps into Italy, raised the Gauls against the Romans, and carried on the Second Punic War in Italy itself for fifteen years. He inflicted tremendous defeats upon the Romans at Lake Trasimere and at Cannæ, and throughout all his Italian campaigns no Roman army stood against him and escaped disaster. But a Roman army had landed at Marseilles and cut his communications with Spain; he had no siege train, and he could never capture Rome. Finally the Carthaginians, threatened by the revolt of the Numidians at home, were forced back upon the defence of their own city in Africa, a Roman army crossed into Africa, and Hannibal experienced his first defeat under its walls at the battle of Zama (202 B.C.) at the hands of Scipio Africanus the Elder. The battle of Zama ended this Second Punic War. Carthage capitulated; she surrendered Spain and her war fleet; she paid an enormous indemnity and agreed to give up Hannibal to the vengeance of the Romans. But Hannibal escaped and fled to Asia where later, being in danger of falling into the hands of his relentless enemies, he took poison and died. 5
For fifty-six years Rome and the shorn city of Carthage were at peace. And meanwhile Rome spread her empire over confused and divided Greece, invaded Asia Minor, and defeated Antiochus III, the Seleucid monarch, at Magnesia in Lydia. She made Egypt, still under the Ptolemies, and Pergamum and most of the small states of Asia Minor into “Allies,” or, as we should call them now, “protected states.” 6
Meanwhile Carthage, subjugated and enfeebled, had been slowly regaining something of her former prosperity. Her recovery revived the hate and suspicion of the Romans. She was attacked upon the most shallow and artificial of quarrels (149 B.C.), she made an obstinate and bitter resistance, stood a long siege and was stormed (146 B.C.). The street fighting, or massacre, lasted six days; it was extraordinarily bloody, and when the citadel capitulated only about fifty thousand of the Carthaginian population remained alive out of a quarter of a million. They were sold into slavery, and the city was burnt and elaborately destroyed. The blackened ruins were ploughed and sown as a sort of ceremonial effacement. 7
So ended the Third Punic War. Of all the Semitic states and cities that had flourished in the world five centuries before only one little country remained free under native rulers. This was Judea, which had liberated itself from the Seleucids and was under the rule of the native Maccabean princes. By this time it had its Bible almost complete, and was developing the distinctive traditions of the Jewish world as we know it now. It was natural that the Carthaginians, Phœnicians and kindred peoples dispersed about the world should find a common link in their practically identical language and in this literature of hope and courage. To a large extent they were still the traders and bankers of the world. The Semitic world had been submerged rather than replaced. 8
Jerusalem, which has always been rather the symbol than the centre of Judaism, was taken by the Romans in 65 B.C.; and after various vicissitudes of quasi-independence and revolt was besieged by them in 70 A.D. and captured after a stubborn struggle. The Temple was destroyed. A later rebellion in 132 A.D. completed its destruction, and the Jerusalem we know to-day was rebuilt later under Roman auspices. A temple to the Roman god, Jupiter Capitolinus, stood in the place of the Temple, and Jews were forbidden to inhabit the city.The Growth of the Roman Empire
NOW this new Roman power which arose to dominate the western world in the second and first centuries B.C. was in several respects a different thing from any of the great empires that had hitherto prevailed in the civilized world. It was not at first a monarchy, and it was not the creation of any one great conqueror. It was not indeed the first of republican empires; Athens had dominated a group of Allies and dependents in the time of Pericles, and Carthage when she entered upon her fatal struggle with Rome was mistress of Sardinia and Corsica, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and most of Spain and Sicily. But it was the first republican empire that escaped extinction and went on to fresh developments. 1
The centre of this new system lay far to the west of the more ancient centres of empire, which had hitherto been the river valleys of Mesopotamia and Egypt. This westward position enabled Rome to bring in to civilization quite fresh regions and peoples. The Roman power extended to Morocco and Spain, and was presently able to thrust north-westward over what is now France and Belgium to Britain and north-eastward into Hungary and South Russia. But on the other hand it was never able to maintain itself in Central Asia or Persia because they were too far from its administrative centres. It included therefore great masses of fresh Nordic Aryan-speaking peoples, it presently incorporated nearly all the Greek people in the world, and its population was less strongly Hamitic and Semitic than that of any preceding empire. 2
For some centuries this Roman Empire did not fall into the grooves of precedent that had so speedily swallowed up Persian and Greek, and all that time it developed. The rulers of the Medes and Persians became entirely Babylonized in a generation or so; they took over the tiara of the king of kings and the temples and priesthoods of his gods; Alexander and his successors followed in the same easy path of assimilation; the Seleucid monarchs had much the same court and administrative methods as Nebuchadnezzar; the Ptolemies became Pharaohs and altogether Egyptian. They were assimilated just as before them the Semitic conquerors of the Sumerians had been assimilated. But the Romans ruled in their own city, and for some centuries kept to the laws of their own nature. The only people who exercised any great mental influence upon them before the second or third century A.D. were the kindred and similar Greeks. So that the Roman Empire was essentially a first attempt to rule a great dominion upon mainly Aryan lines. It was so far a new pattern in history, it was an expanded Aryan republic. The old pattern of a personal conqueror ruling over a capital city that had grown up round the temple of a harvest god did not apply to it. The Romans had gods and temples, but like the gods of the Greeks their gods were quasi-human immortals, divine patricians. The Romans also had blood sacrifices and even made human ones in times of stress, things they may have learnt to do from their dusky Etruscan teachers; but until Rome was long past its zenith neither priest nor temple played a large part in Roman history. 3
The Roman Empire was a growth, an unplanned novel growth; the Roman people found themselves engaged almost unawares in a vast administrative experiment. It cannot be called a successful experiment. In the end their empire collapsed altogether. And it changed enormously in form and method from century to century. It changed more in a hundred years than Bengal or Mesopotamia or Egypt changed in a thousand. It was always changing. It never attained to any fixity. 4
In a sense the experiment failed. In a sense the experiment remains unfinished, and Europe and America to-day are still working out the riddles of world-wide statescraft first confronted by the Roman people. 5
It is well for the student of history to bear in mind the very great changes not only in political but in social and moral matters that went on throughout the period of Roman dominion. There is much too strong a tendency in people’s minds to think of the Roman rule as something finished and stable, firm, rounded, noble and decisive. Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome, S.P.Q.R. the elder Cato, the Scipios, Julius Cæsar, Diocletian, Constantine the Great, triumphs, orations, gladiatorial combats and Christian martyrs are all mixed up together in a picture of something high and cruel and dignified. The items of that picture have to be disentangled. They are collected at different points from a process of change profounder than that which separates the London of William the Conqueror from the London of to-day. 6
We may very conveniently divide the expansion of Rome into four stages. The first stage began after the sack of Rome by the Goths in 390 B.C. and went on until the end of the First Punic War (240 B.C.). We may call this stage the stage of the Assimilative Republic. It was perhaps the finest, most characteristic stage in Roman history. The age-long dissensions of patrician and plebeian were drawing to a close, the Etruscan threat had come to an end, no one was very rich yet nor very poor, and most men were public-spirited. It was a republic like the republic of the South African Boers before 1900 or like the northern states of the American Union between 1800 and 1850; a free-farmers republic. At the outset of this stage Rome was a little state scarcely twenty miles square. She fought the sturdy but kindred states about her, and sought not their destruction but coalescence. Her centuries of civil dissension had trained her people in compromise and concessions. Some of the defeated cities became altogether Roman with a voting share in the government, some became self-governing with the right to trade and marry in Rome; garrisons full of citizens were set up at strategic points and colonies of varied privileges founded among the freshly conquered people. Great roads were made. The rapid Latinization of all Italy was the inevitable consequence of such a policy. In 89 B.C. all the free inhabitants of Italy became citizens of the city of Rome Formally the whole Roman Empire became at last an extended city. In 212 A.D. every free man in the entire extent of the empire was given citizenship; the right, if he could get there, to vote in the town meeting in Rome. 7
This extension of citizenship to tractable cities and to whole countries was the distinctive device of Roman expansion. It reversed the old process of conquest and assimilation altogether. By the Roman method the conquerors assimilated the conquered. 8
But after the First Punic War and the annexation of Sicily, though the old process of assimilation still went on, another process arose by its side. Sicily for instance was treated as a conquered prey. It was declared an “estate” of the Roman people. Its rich soil and industrious population was exploited to make Rome rich. The patricians and the more influential among the plebeians secured the major share of that wealth. And the war also brought in a large supply of slaves. Before the First Punic War the population of the republic had been largely a population of citizen farmers. Military service was their privilege and liability. While they were on active service their farms fell into debt and a new large-scale slave agriculture grew up; when they returned they found their produce in competition with slave-grown produce from Sicily and from the new estates at home. Times had changed. The republic had altered its character. Not only was Sicily in the hands of Rome, the common man was in the hands of the rich creditor and the rich competitor. Rome had entered upon its second stage, the Republic of Adventurous Rich Men. 9
For two hundred years the Roman soldier farmers had struggled for freedom and a share in the government of their state; for a hundred years they had enjoyed their privileges. The First Punic War wasted them and robbed them of all they had won. 10
The value of their electoral privileges had also evaporated. The governing bodies of the Roman republic were two in number. The first and more important was the Senate. This was a body originally of patricians and then of prominent men of all sorts, who were summoned to it first by certain powerful officials, the consuls and censors. Like the British House of Lords it became a gathering of great landowners, prominent politicians, big business men and the like. It was much more like the British House of Lords than it was like the American Senate. For three centuries, from the Punic Wars onward, it was the centre of Roman political thought and purpose. The second body was the Popular Assembly. This was supposed to be an assembly of all the citizens of Rome. When Rome was a little state twenty miles square this was a possible gathering. When the citizenship of Rome had spread beyond the confines in Italy, it was an altogether impossible one. Its meetings, proclaimed by horn-blowing from the Capitol and the city walls, became more and more a gathering of political hacks and city riff-raff. In the fourth century B.C. the Popular Assembly was a considerable check upon the Senate, a competent representation of the claims and rights of the common man. By the end of the Punic Wars it was an impotent relic of a vanquished popular control. No effectual legal check remained upon the big men. 11
Nothing of the nature of representative government was ever introduced into the Roman republic. No one thought of electing delegates to represent the will of the citizens. This is a very important point for the student to grasp. The Popular Assembly never became the equivalent of the American House of Representatives or the British House of Commons. In theory it was all the citizens; in practice it ceased to be anything at all worth consideration. 12
The common citizen of the Roman Empire was therefore in a very poor case after the Second Punic War; he was impoverished, he had often lost his farm, he was ousted from profitable production by slaves, and he had no political power left to him to remedy these things. The only methods of popular expression left to a people without any form of political expression are the strike and the revolt. The story of the second and first centuries B.C., so far as internal politics go, is a story of futile revolutionary upheaval. The scale of this history will not permit us to tell of the intricate struggles of that time, of the attempts to break up estates and restore the land to the free farmer, of proposals to abolish debts in whole or in part. There was revolt and civil war. In 73 B.C., the distresses of Italy were enhanced by a great insurrection of the slaves under Spartacus. The slaves of Italy revolted with some effect, for among them were the trained fighters of the gladiatorial shows. For two years Spartacus held out in the crater of Vesuvius, which seemed at that time to be an extinct volcano. This insurrection was defeated at last and suppressed with frantic cruelty. Six thousand captured Spartacists were crucified along the Appian Way, the great highway that runs southward out of Rome (71 B.C.). 13
The common man never made head against the forces that were subjugating and degrading him. But the big rich men who were overcoming him were even in his defeat preparing a new power in the Roman world over themselves and him, the power of the army. 14
Before the Second Punic War the army of Rome was a levy of free farmers, who, according to their quality, rode or marched afoot to battle. This was a very good force for wars close at hand, but not the sort of army that will go abroad and bear long campaigns with patience. And moreover as the slaves multiplied and the estates grew, the supply of free-spirited fighting farmers declined. It was a popular leader named Marius who introduced a new factor. North Africa after the overthrow of the Carthaginian civilization had become a semi-barbaric kingdom, the kingdom of Numidia. The Roman power fell into conflict with Jugurtha, king of this state, and experienced enormous difficulties in subduing him. Marius was made consul, in a phase of public indignation, to end this discreditable war. This he did by raising paid troops and drilling them hard. Jugurtha was brought in chains to Rome (106 B.C.) and Marius, when his time of office had expired, held on to his consulship illegally with his newly created legions. There was no power in Rome to restrain him. 15
With Marius began the third phase in the development of the Roman power, the Republic of the Military Commanders. For now began a period in which the leaders of the paid legions fought for the mastery of the Roman world. Against Marius was pitted the aristocratic Sulla who had served under him in Africa. Each in turn made a great massacre of his political opponents. Men were proscribed and executed by the thousand, and their estates were sold. After the bloody rivalry of these two and the horror of the revolt of Spartacus, came a phase in which Lucullus and Pompey the Great and Crassus and Julius Cæsar were the masters of armies and dominated affairs. It was Crassus who defeated Spartacus. Lucullus conquered Asia Minor and penetrated to Armenia, and retired with great wealth into private life. Crassus thrusting further invaded Persia and was defeated and slain by the Parthians. After a long rivalry Pompey was defeated by Julius Cæsar (48 B.C.) and murdered in Egypt, leaving Julius Cæsar sole master of the Roman world. 16
The figure of Julius Cæsar is one that has stirred the human imagination out of all proportion to its merit or true importance. He has become a legend and a symbol. For us he is chiefly important as marking the transition from the phase of military adventurers to the beginning of the fourth stage in Roman expansion, the Early Empire. For in spite of the profoundest economic and political convulsions, in spite of civil war and social degeneration, throughout all this time the boundaries of the Roman state crept outward and continued to creep outward to their maximum about 100 A.D. There had been something like an ebb during the doubtful phases of the Second Punic War, and again a manifest loss of vigour before the reconstruction of the army by Marius. The revolt of Spartacus marked a third phase. Julius Cæsar made his reputation as a military leader in Gaul, which is now France and Belgium. (The chief tribes inhabiting this country belonged to the same Celtic people as the Gauls who had occupied north Italy for a time, and who had afterwards raided into Asia Minor and settled down as the Galatians.) Cæsar drove back a German invasion of Gaul and added all that country to the empire, and he twice crossed the Straits of Dover into Britain (55 and 54 B.C.), where however he made no permanent conquest. Meanwhile Pompey the Great was consolidating Roman conquests that reached in the east to the Caspian Sea. 17
At this time, the middle of the first century B.C., the Roman Senate was still the nominal centre of the Roman government, appointing consuls and other officials, granting powers and the like; and a number of politicians, among whom Cicero was an outstanding figure, were struggling to preserve the great traditions of republican Rome and to maintain respect for its laws. But the spirit of citizenship had gone from Italy with the wasting away of the free farmers; it was a land now of slaves and impoverished men with neither the understanding nor the desire for freedom. There was nothing whatever behind these republican leaders in the Senate, while behind the great adventurers they feared and desired to control were the legions. Over the heads of the Senate Crassus and Pompey and Cæsar divided the rule of the Empire between them (The First Triumvirate). When presently Crassus was killed at distant Carrhæ by the Parthians, Pompey and Cæsar fell out. Pompey took up the republican side, and laws were passed to bring Cæsar to trial for his breaches of law and his disobedience to the decrees of the Senate. 18
It was illegal for a general to bring his troops out of the boundary of his command, and the boundary between Cæsar’s command and Italy was the Rubicon. In 49 B.C. he crossed the Rubicon, saying “The die is cast” and marched upon Pompey and Rome. 19
It had been the custom in Rome in the past, in periods of military extremity, to elect a “dictator” with practically unlimited powers to rule through the crisis. After his overthrow of Pompey, Cæsar was made dictator first for ten years and then (in 45 B.C.) for life. In effect he was made monarch of the empire for life. There was talk of a king, a word abhorrent to Rome since the expulsion of the Etruscans five centuries before. Cæsar refused to be king, but adopted throne and sceptre. After his defeat of Pompey, Cæsar had gone on into Egypt and had made love to Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies, the goddess queen of Egypt. She seems to have turned his head very completely. He had brought back to Rome the Egyptian idea of a god-king. His statue was set up in a temple with an inscription “To the Unconquerable God.” The expiring republicanism of Rome flared up in a last protest, and Cæsar was stabbed to death in the Senate at the foot of the statue of his murdered rival, Pompey the Great. 20
Thirteen years more of this conflict of ambitious personalities followed. There was a second Triumvirate of Lepidus, Mark Antony and Octavian Cæsar, the latter the nephew of Julius Cæsar. Octavian like his uncle took the poorer, hardier western provinces where the best legions were recruited. In 31 B.C., he defeated Mark Antony, his only serious rival, at the naval battle of Actium, and made himself sole master of the Roman world. But Octavian was a man of different quality altogether from Julius Cæsar. He had no foolish craving to be God or King. He had no queen-lover that he wished to dazzle. He restored freedom to the Senate and people of Rome. He declined to be dictator. The grateful Senate in return gave him the reality instead of the forms of power. He was to be called not King indeed, but “Princeps” and “Augustus.” He became Augustus Cæsar, the first of the Roman emperors (27 B.C. to 14 A.D.). 21
He was followed by Tiberius Cæsar (14 to 37 A.D.) and he by others, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and so on up to Trajan (98 A.D.), Hadrian (117 A.D.), Antonius Pius (138 A.D.) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180 A.D.). All these emperors were emperors of the legions. The soldiers made them, and some the soldiers destroyed. Gradually the Senate fades out of Roman history, and the emperor and his administrative officials replace it. The boundaries of the empire crept forward now to their utmost limits. Most of Britain was added to the empire, Transylvania was brought in as a new province, Dacia; Trajan crossed the Euphrates. Hadrian had an idea that reminds us at once of what had happened at the other end of the old world. Like Shi-Hwang-ti he built walls against the northern barbarians; one across Britain and a palisade between the Rhine and the Danube. He abandoned some of the acquisitions of Trajan. 22
The expansion of the Roman Empire was at an end.Between Rome and China
THE SECOND and first centuries B.C. mark a new phase in the history of mankind. Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean are no longer the centre of interest. Both Mesopotamia and Egypt were still fertile, populous and fairly prosperous, but they were no longer the dominant regions of the world. Power had drifted to the west and to the east. Two great empires now dominated the world, this new Roman Empire and the renascent Empire of China. Rome extended its power to the Euphrates, but it was never able to get beyond that boundary. It was too remote. Beyond the Euphrates the former Persian and Indian dominions of the Seleucids fell under a number of new masters. China, now under the Han dynasty, which had replaced the Ts’in dynasty at the death of Shi-Hwang-ti, had extended its power across Tibet and over the high mountain passes of the Pamirs into western Turkestan. But there, too, it reached its extremes. Beyond was too far. 1
China at this time was the greatest, best organized and most civilized political system in the world. It was superior in area and population to the Roman Empire at its zenith. It was possible then for these two vast systems to flourish in the same world at the same time in almost complete ignorance of each other. The means of communication both by sea and land was not yet sufficiently developed and organized for them to come to a direct clash. 2
Yet they reacted upon each other in a very remarkable way, and their influence upon the fate of the regions that lay between them, upon central Asia and India, was profound. A certain amount of trade trickled through, by camel caravans across Persia, for example, and by coasting ships by way of India and the Red Sea. In 66 B.C. Roman troops under Propey followed in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, and marched up the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. In 102 A.D. a Chinese expeditionary force under Pan Chau reached the Caspian, and sent emissaries to report upon the power of Rome. But many centuries were still to pass before definite knowledge and direct intercourse were to link the great parallel worlds of Europe and Eastern Asia. 3
To the north of both these great empires were barbaric wildernesses. What is now Germany was largely forest lands; the forests extended far into Russia and made a home for the gigantic aurochs, a bull of almost elephantine size. Then to the north of the great mountain masses of Asia stretched a band of deserts, steppes and then forests and frozen lands. In the eastward lap of the elevated part of Asia was the great triangle of Manchuria. Large parts of these regions, stretching between South Russia and Turkestan into Manchuria, were and are regions of exceptional climatic insecurity. Their rainfall has varied greatly in the course of a few centuries. They are lands treacherous to man. For years they will carry pasture and sustain cultivation, and then will come an age of decline in humidity and a cycle of killing droughts. 4
The western part of this barbaric north from the German forests to South Russia and Turkestan and from Gothland to the Alps was the region of origin of the Nordic peoples and of the Aryan speech. The eastern steppes and deserts of Mongolia was the region of origin of the Hunnish or Mongolian or Tartar or Turkish peoples—for all these several peoples were akin in language, race, and way of life. And as the Nordic peoples seem to have been continually overflowing their own borders and pressing south upon the developing civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean coast, so the Hunnish tribes sent their surplus as wanderers, raiders and conquerors into the settled regions of China. Periods of plenty in the north would mean an increase in population there; a shortage of grass, a spell of cattle disease, would drive the hungry warlike tribesmen south. 5
For a time there were simultaneously two fairly effective Empires in the world capable of holding back the barbarians and even forcing forward the frontiers of the imperial peace. The thrust of the Han empire from north China into Mongolia was strong and continuous. The Chinese population welled up over the barrier of the Great Wall. Behind the imperial frontier guards came the Chinese farmer with horse and plough, ploughing up the grass lands and enclosing the winter pasture. The Hunnish peoples raided and murdered the settlers, but the Chinese punitive expeditions were too much for them. The nomads were faced with the choice of settling down to the plough and becoming Chinese tax-payers or shifting in search of fresh summer pastures. Some took the former course and were absorbed. Some drifted north-eastward and eastward over the mountain passes down into western Turkestan. 6
This westward drive of the Mongolian horsemen was going on from 200 B.C. onward. It was producing a westward pressure upon the Aryan tribes, and these again were pressing upon the Roman frontiers ready to break through directly there was any weakness apparent. The Parthians, who were apparently a Scythian people with some Mongolian admixture, came down to the Euphrates by the first century B.C. They fought against Pompey the Great in his eastern raid. They defeated and killed Crassus. They replaced the Seleucid monarchy in Persia by a dynasty of Parthian kings, the Arsacid dynasty. 7
But for a time the line of least resistance for hungry nomads lay neither to the west nor the east but through central Asia and then south-eastward through the Khyber Pass into India. It was India which received the Mongolian drive in these centuries of Roman and Chinese strength. A series of raiding conquerors poured down through the Punjab into the great plains to loot and destroy. The empire of Asoka was broken up, and for a time the history of India passes into darkness. A certain Kushan dynasty founded by the “Indo-Scythians”—one of the raiding peoples—ruled for a time over North India and maintained a certain order. These invasions went on for several centuries. For a large part of the fifth century A.D. India was afflicted by the Ephthalites or White Huns, who levied tribute on the small Indian princes and held India in terror. Every summer these Ephthalites pastured in western Turkestan, every autumn they came down through the passes to terrorize India. 8
In the second century A.D. a great misfortune came upon the Roman and Chinese empires that probably weakened the resistance of both to barbarian pressure. This was a pestilence of unexampled virulence. It raged for eleven years in China and disorganized the social framework profoundly. The Han dynasty fell, and a new age of division and confusion began from which China did not fairly recover until the seventh century A.D. with the coming of the great Tang dynasty. 9
The infection spread through Asia to Europe. It raged throughout the Roman Empire from 164 to 180 A.D. It evidently weakened the Roman imperial fabric very seriously. We begin to hear of depopulation in the Roman provinces after this, and there was a marked deterioration in the vigour and efficiency of government. At any rate we presently find the frontier no longer invulnerable, but giving way first in this place and then in that. A new Nordic people, the Goths, coming originally from Gothland in Sweden, had migrated across Russia to the Volga region and the shores of the Black Sea and taken to the sea and piracy. By the end of the second century they may have begun to feel the westward thrust of the Huns. In 247 they crossed the Danube in a great land raid, and defeated and killed the Emperor Decius in a battle in what is now Serbia. In 236 another Germanic people, the Franks, had broken bounds upon the lower Rhine, and the Alemanni had poured into Alsace. The legions in Gaul beat back their invaders, but the Goths in the Balkan peninsula raided again and again. The province of Dacia vanished from Roman history. 10
A chill had come to the pride and confidence of Rome. In 270–275 Rome, which had been an open and secure city for three centuries, was fortified by the Emperor Aurelian.The Common Man’s Life under the Early Roman Empire
THROUGHOUT the third century the Roman Empire, decaying socially and disintegrating morally, faced the barbarians. The emperors of this period were fighting military autocrats, and the capital of the empire shifted with the necessities of their military policy. Now the imperial headquarters would be at Milan in north Italy, now in what is now Serbia at Sirmium or Nish, now in Nicomedia in Asia Minor. Rome halfway down Italy was too far from the centre of interest to be a convenient imperial seat. It was a declining city. Over most of the empire peace still prevailed and men went about without arms. The armies continued to be the sole repositories of power; the emperors, dependent on their legions, became more and more autocratic to the rest of the empire and their state more and more like that of the Persian and other oriental monarchs. Diocletian assumed a royal diadem and oriental robes. 1
All along the imperial frontier, which ran roughly along the Rhine and Danube, enemies were now pressing. The Franks and other German tribes had come up to the Rhine. In north Hungary were the Vandals; in what was once Dacia and is now Roumania, the Visigoths or West Goths. Behind these in south Russia were the East Goths or Ostrogoths, and beyond these again in the Volga region the Alans. But now Mongolian peoples were forcing their way towards Europe. The Huns were already exacting tribute from the Alans and Ostrogoths and pushing them to the west. 2
In Asia the Roman frontiers were crumpling back under the push of a renascent Persia. This new Persia, the Persia of the Sassenid kings, was to be a vigorous and on the whole a successful rival of the Roman Empire in Asia for the next three centuries. 3
A glance at the map of Europe will show the reader the peculiar weakness of the empire. The river Danube comes down to within Vandals, being pressed by the Goths, asked to be received into the Roman Empire. They were assigned lands in Pannonia, which is now that part of Hungary west of the Danube, and their fighting men became nominally legionaries. But these new legionaries remained under their own chiefs. Rome failed to digest them. 5
Constantine died working to reorganize his great realm, and soon the frontiers were ruptured again and the Visigoths came almost to Constantinople. They defeated the Emperor Valens at Adrianople and made a settlement in what is now Bulgaria, similar to the settlement of the Vandals in Pannonia. Nominally they were subjects of the emperor, practically they were conquerors. 6
From 379 to 395 A.D. reigned the Emperor Theodosius the Great, and while he reigned the empire was still formally intact. Over the armies of Italy and Pannonia presided Stilicho, a Vandal, over the armies in the Balkan peninsula, Alaric, a Goth. When Theodosius died at the close of the fourth century he left two sons. Alaric supported one of these, Arcadius, in Constantinople, and Stilicho the other, Honorius, in Italy. In other words Alaric and Stilicho fought for the empire with the princes as puppets. In the course of their struggle Alaric marched into Italy and after a short siege took Rome (410 A.D.). 7
The opening half of the fifth century saw the whole of the Roman Empire in Europe the prey of robber armies of barbarians. It is difficult to visualize the state of affairs in the world at that time. Over France, Spain, Italy and the Balkan peninsula, the great cities that had flourished under the early empire still stood, impoverished, partly depopulated and falling into decay. Life in them must have been shallow, mean and full of uncertainty. Local officials asserted their authority and went on with their work with such conscience as they had, no doubt in the name of a now remote and inaccessible emperor. The churches went on, but usually with illiterate priests. There was little reading and much superstition and fear. But everywhere except where looters had destroyed them, books and pictures and statuary and such-like works of art were still to be found. 8
The life of the countryside had also degenerated. Everywhere this Roman world was much more weedy and untidy than it had been. In some regions war and pestilence had brought the land down to the level of a waste. Roads and forests were infested with robbers. Into such regions the barbarians marched, with little or no opposition, and set up their chiefs as rulers, often with Roman official titles. If they were half civilized barbarians they would give the conquered districts tolerable terms, they would take possession of the towns, associate and intermarry, and acquire (with an accent) the Latin speech; but the Jutes, the Angles and Saxons who submerged the Roman province of Britain were agriculturalists and had no use for towns, they seem to have swept south Britain clear of the Romanized population and they replaced the language by their own Teutonic dialects, which became at last English. 9
It is impossible in the space at our disposal to trace the movements of all the various German and Slavonic tribes as they went to and fro in the disorganized empire in search of plunder and a pleasant home. But let the Vandals serve as an example. They came into history in east Germany. They settled as we have told in Pannonia. Thence they moved somewhen about 425 A.D. through the intervening provinces to Spain. There they found Visigoths from South Russia and other German tribes setting up dukes and kings. From Spain the Vandals under Genseric sailed for North Africa (429), captured Carthage (439), and built a fleet. They secured the mastery of the sea and captured and pillaged Rome (455), which had recovered very imperfectly from her capture and looting by Alaric half a century earlier. Then the Vandals made themselves masters of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and most of the other islands of the western Mediterranean. They made, in fact, a sea empire very similar in its extent to the sea empire of Carthage seven hundred odd years before. They were at the climax of their power about 477. They were a mere handful of conquerors holding all this country. In the next century almost all their territory had been reconquered for the empire of Constantinople during a transitory blaze of energy under Justinian I. 10
The story of the Vandals is but one sample of a host of similar adventures. But now there was coming into the European world the least kindred and most redoubtable of all these devastators, the Mongolian Huns or Tartars, a yellow people active and able, such as the western world had never before encountered.The Huns and the End of the Western Empire
THIS appearance of a conquering Mongolian people in Europe may be taken to mark a new stage in human history. Until the last century or so before the Christian era, the Mongol and the Nordic peoples had not been in close touch. Far away in the frozen lands beyond the northern forests the Lapps, a Mongolian people, had drifted westward as far as Lapland, but they played no part in the main current of history. For thousands of years the western world carried on the dramatic interplay of the Aryan, Semitic and fundamental brunette peoples with very little interference (except for an Ethiopian invasion of Egypt or so) either from the black peoples to the south or from the Mongolian world in the far East. 1
It is probable that there were two chief causes for the new westward drift of the nomadic Mongolians. One was the consolidation of the great empire of China, its extension northward and the increase of its population during the prosperous period of the Han dynasty. The other was some process of climatic change; a lesser rainfall that abolished swamps and forests perhaps, or a greater rainfall that extended grazing over desert steppes, or even perhaps both these processes going on in different regions but which anyhow facilitated a westward migration. A third contributary cause was the economic wretchedness, internal decay and falling population of the Roman Empire. The rich men of the later Roman Republic, and then the tax-gatherers of the military emperors had utterly consumed its vitality. So we have the factors of thrust, means and opportunity. There was pressure from the east, rot in the west and an open road. 2
The Hun had reached the eastern boundaries of European Russia by the first century A.D., but it was not until the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. that these horsemen rose to predominance upon the steppes. The fifth century was the Hun’s century. The first Huns to come into Italy were mercenary bands in the pay of Stilicho the Vandal, the master of Honorius. Presently they were in possession of Pannonia, the empty nest of the Vandals. 3
By the second quarter of the fifth century a great war chief had arisen among the Huns, Attila. We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. He ruled not only over the Huns but over a conglomerate of tributary Germanic tribes; his empire extended from the Rhine cross the plains into Central Asia. He exchanged ambassadors with China. His head camp was in the plain of Hungary east of the Danube. There he was visited by an envoy from Constantinople, Priscus, who has left us an account of his state. The way of living of these Mongols was very like the way of living of the primitive Aryans they had replaced. The common folk were in huts and tents; the chiefs lived in great stockaded timber halls. There were feasts and drinking and singing by the bards. The Homeric heroes and even the Macedonian companions of Alexander would probably have felt more at home in the camp-capital of Attila than they would have done in the cultivated and decadent court of Theodosius II, the son of Arcadius, who was then reigning in Constantinople. 4
For a time it seemed as though the nomads under the leadership of the Huns and Attila would play the same part towards the Græco-Roman civilization of the Mediterranean countries that the barbaric Greeks had played long ago to the Ægean civilization. It looked like history repeating itself upon a larger stage. But the Huns were much more wedded to the nomadic life than the early Greeks, who were rather migratory cattle farmers than true nomads. The Huns raided and plundered but did not settle. 5
For some years Attila bullied Theodosius as he chose. His armies devastated and looted right down to the walls of Constantinople, Gibbon says that he totally destroyed no less than seventy cities in the Balkan peninsula, and Theodosius bought him off by payments of tribute and tried to get rid of him for good by sending secret agents to assassinate him. In 451 Attila turned his attention to the remains of the Latin-speaking half of the empire and invaded Gaul. Nearly every town in northern Gaul was sacked. Franks, Visigoths and the imperial forces united against him and he was defeated at Troyes in a vast dispersed battle in which a multitude of men, variously estimated as between 150,000 and 300,000, were killed. This checked him in Gaul, but it did not exhaust his enormous military resources. Next year he came into Italy by way of Venetia, burnt Aquileia and Padua and looted Milan. 6
Numbers of fugitives from these north Italian towns and particularly from Padua fled to islands in the lagoons at the head of the Adriatic and laid there the foundations of the city state of Venice, which was to become one of the greatest of the trading centres in the middle ages. 7
In 453 Attila died suddenly after a great feast to celebrate his marriage to a young woman, and at his death this plunder confederation of his fell to pieces. The actual Huns disappear from history, mixed into the surrounding more numerous Aryan-speaking populations. But these great Hun raids practically consummated the end of the Latin Roman Empire. After his death ten different emperors ruled in Rome in twenty years, set up by Vandal and other mercenary troops. The Vandals from Carthage took and sacked Rome in 455. Finally in 476 Odoacer, the chief of the barbarian troops, suppressed a Pannonian who was figuring as emperor under the impressive name of Romulus Augustulus, and informed the Court of Constantinople that there was no longer an emperor in the west. So ingloriously the Latin Roman Empire came to an end. In 493 Theodoric the Goth became King of Rome. 8
All over western and central Europe now barbarian chiefs were reigning as kings, dukes and the like, practically independent but for the most part professing some sort of shadowy allegiance to the emperor. There were hundreds and perhaps thousands of such practically independent brigand rulers. In Gaul, Spain and Italy and in Dacia the Latin speech still prevailed in locally distorted forms, but in Britain and east of the Rhine languages of the German group (or in Bohemia a Slavonic language, Czech) were the common speech. The superior clergy and a small remnant of other educated men read and wrote Latin. Everywhere life was insecure and property was held by the strong arm. Castles multiplied and roads fell into decay. The dawn of the sixth century was an age of division and of intellectual darkness throughout the western world. Had it not been for the monks and Christian missionaries Latin learning might have perished altogether. 9
Why had the Roman Empire grown and why had it so completely decayed? It grew because at first the idea of citizenship held it together. Throughout the days of the expanding republic, and even into the days of the early empire there remained a great number of men conscious of Roman citizenship, feeling it a privilege and an obligation to be a Roman citizen, confident of their rights under the Roman law and willing to make sacrifices in the name of Rome. The prestige of Rome as of something just and great and law-up-holding spread far beyond the Roman boundaries. But even as early as the Punic wars the sense of citizenship was being undermined by the growth of wealth and slavery. Citizenship spread indeed but not the idea of citizenship. 10
The Roman Empire was after all a very primitive organization; it did not educate, did not explain itself to its increasing multitudes of citizens, did not invite their co-operation in its decisions. There was no network of schools to ensure a common understanding, no distribution of news to sustain collective activity. The adventurers who struggled for power from the days of Marius and Sulla onward had no idea of creating and calling in public opinion upon the imperial affairs. The spirit of citizenship died of starvation and no one observed it die. All empires, all states, all organizations of human society are, in the ultimate, things of understanding and will. There remained no will for the Roman Empire in the World and so it came to an end. 11
But though the Latin-speaking Roman Empire died in the fifth century, something else had been born within it that was to avail itself enormously of its prestige and tradition, and that was the Latin-speaking half of the Catholic Church. This lived while the empire died because it appealed to the minds and wills of men, because it had books and a great system of teachers and missionaries to hold it together, things stronger than any law or legions. Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. while the empire was decaying, Christianity was spreading to a universal dominion in Europe. It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. When Attila seemed disposed to march on Rome, the patriarch of Rome intercepted him and did what no armies could do, turning him back by sheer moral force. 12
The Patriarch or Pope of Rome claimed to be the head of the entire Christian church. Now that there were no more emperors, he began to annex imperial titles and claims. He took the title of pontifex maximus, head sacrificial priest of the Roman dominion, the most ancient of all the titles that the emperors had enjoyed.The Byzantine and Sassanid Empires
THE GREEK-SPEAKING eastern half of the Roman Empire showed much more political tenacity than the western half. It weathered the disasters of the fifth century A.D., which saw a complete and final breaking up of the original Latin Roman power. Attila bullied the Emperor Theodosius II and sacked and raided almost to the walls of Constantinople, but that city remained intact. The Nubians came down the Nile and looted Upper Egypt, but Lower Egypt and Alexandria were left still fairly prosperous. Most of Asia Minor was held against the Sassanid Persians. 1
The sixth century, which was an age of complete darkness for the West, saw indeed a considerable revival of the Greek power. Justinian I (527–565) was a ruler of very great ambition and energy, and he was married to the Empress Theodora, a woman of quite equal capacity who had begun life as an actress. Justinian reconquered North Africa from the Vandals and most of Italy from the Goths. He even regained the south of Spain. He did not limit his energies to naval and military enterprises. He founded a university, built the great church of Sta. Sophia in Constantinople and codified the Roman law. But in order to destroy a rival to his university foundation he closed the schools of philosophy in Athens, which had been going on in unbroken continuity from the days of Plato, that is to say for nearly a thousand years. 2
From the third century onwards the Persian Empire had been the steadfast rival of the Byzantine. The two empires kept Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt in a state of perpetual unrest and waste. In the first century A.D., these lands were still at a high level of civilization, wealthy and with an abundant population, but the continual coming and going of armies, massacres, looting and war taxation wore them down steadily until only shattered and ruinous cities remained upon a countryside of scattered peasants. In this melancholy process of impoverishment and disorder lower Egypt fared perhaps less badly than the rest of the world. Alexandria, like Constantinople, continued a dwindling trade between the east and the west. 3
Of course the oldest empires in the world were religious empires, centring upon the worship of a god or of a god-king. Alexander was treated as a divinity and the Cæsars were gods in so much as they had altars and temples devoted to them and the offering of incense was made a test of loyalty to the Roman state. But these older religions were essentially religions of act and fact. They did not invade the mind. If a man offered his sacrifice and bowed to the god, he was left not only to think but to say practically whatever he liked about the affair. But the new sort of religions that had come into the world, and particularly Christianity, turned inward. These new faiths demanded not simply conformity but understanding belief. Naturally fierce controversy ensued upon the exact meaning of the things believed. These new religions were creed religions. The world was confronted with a new word. Orthodoxy, and with a stern resolve to keep not only acts but speech and private thought within the limits of a set teaching. For to hold a wrong opinion, much more to convey it to other people, was no longer regarded as an intellectual defect but a moral fault that might condemn a soul to everlasting destruction. 5
Both Ardashir I who founded the Sassanid dynasty in the third century A.D., and Constantine the Great who reconstructed the Roman Empire in the fourth, turned to religious organizations for help, because in these organizations they saw a new means of using and controlling the wills of men. And already before the end of the fourth century both empires were persecuting free talk and religious innovation. In Persia Ardashir found the ancient Persian religion of Zoroaster (or Zarathushtra) with its priests and temples and a sacred fire that burnt upon its altars, ready for his purpose as a state religion. Before the end of the third century Zoroastrianism was persecuting Christianity, and in 277 A.D. Mani, the founder of a new faith, the Manichæans, was crucified and his body flayed. Constantinople, on its side, was busy hunting out Christian heresies. Manichæan ideas infected Christianity and had to be fought with the fiercest methods; in return ideas from Christianity affected the purity of the Zoroastrian doctrine. All ideas became suspect. Science, which demands before all things the free action of an untroubled mind, suffered a complete eclipse throughout this phase of intolerance. 6
War, the bitterest theology, and the usual vices of mankind constituted Byzantine life of those days. It was picturesque, it was romantic; it had little sweetness or light. When Byzantium and Persia were not fighting the barbarians from the north, they wasted Asia Minor and Syria in dreary and destructive hostilities. Even in close alliance these two empires would have found it a hard task to turn back the barbarians and recover their prosperity. The Turks or Tartars first come into history as the allies first of one power and then of another. In the sixth century the two chief antagonists were Justinian and Chosroes I; in the opening of the seventh the Emperor Heraclius was pitted against Chosroes II (580). 7
At first and until after Heraclius had become Emperor (610) Chosroes II carried all before him. He took Antioch, Damascus and Jerusalem and his armies reached Chalcedon, which is in Asia Minor over against Constantinople. In 619 he conquered Egypt. Then Heraclius pressed a counter attack home and routed a Persian army at Nineveh (627), although at that time there were still Persian troops at Chalcedon. In 628 Chosroes II was deposed and murdered by his son, Kavadh, and an inconclusive peace was made between the two exhausted empires. 8
Byzantium and Persia had fought their last war. But few people as yet dreamt of the storm that was even then gathering in the deserts to put an end for ever to this aimless, chronic struggle. 9
While Heraclius was restoring order in Syria a message reached him. It had been brought in to the imperial outpost at Bostra south of Damascus; it was in Arabic, an obscure Semitic desert language, and it was read to the Emperor, if it reached him at all, by an interpreter. It was from someone who called himself “Muhammad the Prophet of God.” It called upon the Emperor to acknowledge the One True God and to serve him. What the Emperor said is not recorded. 10
A similar message came to Kavadh at Ctesiphon. He was annoyed, tore up the letter, and bade the messenger begone. 11
This Muhammad, it appeared, was a Bedouin leader whose headquarters were in the mean little desert town of Medina. He was preaching a new religion of faith in the One True God. 12
“Even so, O Lord!” he said; “rend thou his Kingdom from Kavadh.” 13
Muhammad and Islam
THERE follows the most amazing story of conquest in the whole history of our race. The Byzantine army was smashed at the battle of the Yarmuk (a tributary of the Jordan) in 634; and the Emperor Heraclius, his energy sapped by dropsy and his resources exhausted by the Persian war, saw his new conquests in Syria, Damascus, Palmyra, Antioch, Jerusalem and the rest fall almost without resistance to the Moslim. Large elements in the population went over to Islam. Then the Moslim turned east. The Persians had found an able general in Rustam; they had a great host with a force of elephants; and for three days they fought the Arabs at Kadessia (637) and broke at last in headlong rout. 1
The conquest of all Persia followed, and the Moslem Empire pushed far into Western Turkestan and eastward until it met the Chinese. Egypt fell almost without resistance to the new conquerors, who full of a fanatical belief in the sufficiency of the Koran, wiped out the vestiges of the book-copying industry of the Alexandria Library. The tide of conquest poured along the north coast of Africa to the Straits of Gibraltar and Spain. Spain was invaded in 710 and the Pyrenees Mountains were reached in 720. In 732 the Arab advance had reached the centre of France, but here it was stopped for good at the battle of Poitiers and thrust back as far as the Pyrenees again. The conquest of Egypt had given the Moslim a fleet, and for a time it looked as though they would take Constantinople. They made repeated sea attacks between 672 and 718 but the great city held out against them. 2
The Arabs had little political aptitude and no political experience, and this great empire with its capital now at Damascus, which stretched from Spain to China, was destined to break up very speedily. From the very beginning doctrinal differences undermined its unity. But our interest here lies not with the story of its political disintegration but with its effect upon the human mind and upon the general destinies of our race. The Arab intelligence had been flung across the world even more swiftly and dramatically than had the Greek a thousand years before. The intellectual stimulation of the whole world west of China, the break-up of old ideas and development of new ones, was enormous. 3
In Persia this fresh excited Arabic mind came into contact not only with Manichæan, Zoroastrian and Christian doctrine, but with the scientific Greek literature, preserved not only in Greek but in Syrian translations. It found Greek learning in Egypt also. Everywhere, and particularly in Spain, it discovered an active Jewish tradition of speculation and discussion. In Central Asia it met Buddhism and the material achievements of Chinese civilization. It learnt the manufacture of paper—which made printed books possible—from the Chinese. And finally it came into touch with Indian mathematics and philosophy. 4
Very speedily the intolerant self-sufficiency of the early days of faith, which made the Koran seem the only possible book, was dropped. Learning sprang up everywhere in the footsteps of the Arab conquerors. By the eighth century there was an educational organization throughout the whole “Arabized” world. In the ninth learned men in the schools of Cordoba in Spain were corresponding with learned men in Cairo, Bagdad, Bokhara and Samarkand. The Jewish mind assimilated very readily with the Arab, and for a time the two Semitic races worked together through the medium of Arabic. Long after the political break-up and enfeeblement of the Arabs, this intellectual community of the Arab-speaking world endured. It was still producing very considerable results in the thirteenth century. 5
So it was that the systematic accumulation and criticism of facts which was first begun by the Greeks was resumed in this astonishing renascence of the Semitic world. The seed of Aristotle and the museum of Alexandria that had lain so long inactive and neglected now germinated and began to grow towards fruition. Very great advances were made in mathematical, medical and physical science. 6
The clumsy Roman numerals were ousted by the Arabic figures we use to this day and the zero sign was first employed. The very name algebra is Arabic. So is the word chemistry. The names of such stars as Algol, Aldebaran and Boötes preserve the traces of Arab conquests in the sky. Their philosophy was destined to reanimate the medieval philosophy of France and Italy and the whole Christian world. 7
The Arab experimental chemists were called alchemists, and they were still sufficiently barbaric in spirit to keep their methods and results secret as far as possible. They realized from the very beginning what enormous advantages their possible discoveries might give them, and what far-reaching consequences they might have on human life. They came upon many metallurgical and technical devices of the utmost value, alloys and dyes, distilling, tinctures and essences, optical glass; but the two chief ends they sought, they sought in vain. One was “the philosopher’s stone”—a means of changing the metallic elements one into another and so getting a control of artificial gold, and the other was the elixir vitœ, a stimulant that would revivify age and prolong life indefinitely. The crabbed patient experimenting of these Arab alchemists spread into the Christian world. The fascination of their enquiries spread. Very gradually the activities of these alchemists became more social and co-operative. They found it profitable to exchange and compare ideas. By insensible gradations the last of the alchemists became the first of the experimental philosophers. 8
The old alchemists sought the philosopher’s stone which was to transmute base metals to gold, and an elixir of immortality; they found the methods of modern experimental science which promise in the end to give man illimitable power over the world and over his own destiny. 9
XLV. The Development of Latin Christendom
IT is worth while to note the extremely shrunken dimensions of the share of the world remaining under Aryan control in the seventh and eighth centuries. A thousand years before, the Aryan-speaking races were triumphant over all the civilized world west of China. Now the Mongol had thrust as far as Hungary, nothing of Asia remained under Aryan rule except the Byzantine dominions in Asia Minor, and all Africa was lost and nearly all Spain. The great Hellenic world had shrunken to a few possessions round the nucleus of the trading city of Constantinople, and the memory of the Roman world was kept alive by the Latin of the western Christian priests. In vivid contrast to this tale of retrogression, the Semitic tradition had risen again from subjugation and obscurity after a thousand years of darkness. 1
Yet the vitality of the Nordic peoples was not exhausted. Confined now to Central and North-Western Europe and terribly muddled in their social and political ideas, they were nevertheless building up gradually and steadily a new social order and preparing unconsciously for the recovery of a power even more extensive than that they had previously enjoyed. 2
We have told how at the beginning of the sixth century there remained no central government in Western Europe at all. That world was divided up among numbers of local rulers holding their own as they could. This was too insecure a state of affairs to last; a system of co-operation and association grew up in this disorder, the feudal system, which has left its traces upon European life up to the present time. This feudal system was a sort of crystallization of society about power. Everywhere the lone man felt insecure and was prepared to barter a certain amount of his liberty for help and protection. He sought a stronger man as his lord and protector; he gave him military services and paid him dues, and in return he was confirmed in his possession of what was his. His lord again found safety in vassalage to a still greater lord. Cities also found it convenient to have feudal protectors, and monasteries and church estates bound themselves by similar ties. No doubt in many cases allegiance was claimed before it was offered; the system grew downward as well as upward. So a sort of pyramidal system grew up, varying widely in different localities, permitting at first a considerable play of violence and private warfare but making steadily for order and a new reign of law. The pyramids grew up until some became recognizable as kingdoms. Already by the early sixth century a Frankish kingdom existed under its founder Clovis in what is now France and the Netherlands, and presently Visigothic and Lombard and Gothic kingdoms were in existence. 3
The Moslim when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of Poitiers (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary. He ruled over a multitude of subordinate lords speaking French-Latin, and High and Low German languages. His son Pepin extinguished the last descendants of Clovis and took the kingly state and title. His grandson Charlemagne, who began to reign in 768, found himself lord of a realm so large that he could think of reviving the title of Latin Emperor. He conquered North Italy and made himself master of Rome. 4
Approaching the story of Europe as we do from the wider horizons of a world history we can see much more distinctly than the mere nationalist historian how cramping and disastrous this tradition of the Latin Roman Empire was. A narrow intense struggle for this phantom predominance was to consume European energy for more than a thousand years. Through all that period it is possible to trace certain unquenchable antagonisms; they run through the wits of Europe like the obsessions of a demented mind. One driving force was this ambition of successful rulers, which Charlemagne (Charles the Great) embodied, to become Cæsar. The realm of Charlemagne consisted of a complex of feudal German states at various stages of barbarism. West of the Rhine, most of these German peoples had learnt to speak various Latinized dialects which fused at last to form French. East of the Rhine, the racially similar German peoples did not lose their German speech. On account of this, communication was difficult between these two groups of barbarian conquerors and a split easily brought about. The split was made the more easy by the fact that the Frankish usage made it seem natural to divide the empire of Charlemagne among his sons at his death. So one aspect of the history of Europe from the days of Charlemagne onwards is a history of first this monarch and his family and then that, struggling to a precarious headship of the kings, princes, dukes, bishops and cities of Europe, while a steadily deepening antagonism between the French and German speaking elements develops in the medley. There was a formality of election for each emperor; and the climax of his ambition was to struggle to the possession of that worn-out, misplaced capital Rome and to a coronation there. 5
The next factor in the European political disorder was the resolve of the Church at Rome to make no temporal prince but the Pope of Rome himself emperor in effect. He was already pontifex maximus; for all practical purposes he held the decaying city; if he had no armies he had at least a vast propaganda organization in his priests throughout the whole Latin world; if he had little power over men’s bodies he held the keys of heaven and hell in their imaginations and could exercise much influence upon their souls. So throughout the middle ages while one prince manœuvred against another first for equality, then for ascendancy, and at last for the supreme prize, the Pope of Rome, sometimes boldly, sometimes craftily, sometimes feebly—for the Popes were a succession of oldish men and the average reign of a Pope was not more than two years—manœuvred for the submission of all the princes to himself as the ultimate overlord of Christendom. 6
But these antagonisms of prince against prince and of Emperor against Pope do not by any means exhaust the factors of the European confusion. There was still an Emperor in Constantinople speaking Greek and claiming the allegiance of all Europe. When Charlemagne sought to revive the empire, it was merely the Latin end of the empire he revived. It was natural that a sense of rivalry between Latin Empire and Greek Empire should develop very readily. And still more readily did the rivalry of Greek-speaking Christianity and the newer Latin-speaking version develop. The Pope of Rome claimed to be the successor of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles of Christ, and the head of the Christian community everywhere. Neither the emperor nor the patriarch in Constantinople were disposed to acknowledge this claim. A dispute about a fine point in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity consummated a long series of dissensions in a final rupture in 1054. The Latin Church and the Greek Church became and remained thereafter distinct and frankly antagonistic. This antagonism must be added to the others in our estimate of the conflicts that wasted Latin Christendom in the middle ages. 7
Upon this divided world of Christendom rained the blows of three sets of antagonists. About the Baltic and North Seas remained a series of Nordic tribes who were only very slowly and reluctantly Christianized; these were the Northmen. They had taken to the sea and piracy, and were raiding all the Christian coasts down to Spain. They had pushed up the Russian rivers to the desolate central lands and brought their shipping over into the south-flowing rivers. They had come out upon the Caspian and Black Seas as pirates also. They set up principalities in Russia; they were the first people to be called Russians. These Northmen Russians came near to taking Constantinople. England in the early ninth century was a Christianized Low German country under a king, Egbert, a protégé and pupil of Charlemagne. The Northmen wrested half the kingdom from his successor Alfred the Great (886), and finally under Canute (1016) made themselves masters of the whole land. Under Rolph the Ganger (912) another band of Northmen conquered the north of France, which became Normandy. 8
Canute ruled not only over England but over Norway and Denmark, but his brief empire fell to pieces at his death through that political weakness of the barbaric peoples—division among a ruler’s sons. It is interesting to speculate what might have happened if this temporary union of the Northmen had endured. They were a race of astonishing boldness and energy. They sailed in their galleys even to Iceland and Greenland. They were the first Europeans to land on American soil. Later on Norman adventurers were to recover Sicily from the Saracens and sack Rome. It is a fascinating thing to imagine what a great northern sea-faring power might have grown out of Canute’s kingdom, reaching from America to Russia. 9
To the east of the Germans and Latinized Europeans was a medley of Slav tribes and Turkish peoples. Prominent among these were the Magyars or Hungarians who were coming westward throughout the eighth and ninth centuries. Charlemagne held them for a time, but after his death they established themselves in what is now Hungary; and after the fashion of their kindred predecessors, the Huns, raided every summer into the settled parts of Europe. In 938 they went through Germany into France, crossed the Alps into North Italy, and so came home, burning, robbing and destroying. 10
Finally pounding away from the south at the vestiges of the Roman Empire were the Saracens. They had made themselves largely masters of the sea; their only formidable adversaries upon the water were the Northmen, the Russian Northmen out of the Black Sea and the Northmen of the west. 11
Hemmed in by these more vigorous and aggressive peoples, amidst forces they did not understand and dangers they could not estimate, Charlemagne and after him a series of other ambitious spirits took up the futile drama of restoring the Western Empire under the name of the Holy Roman Empire. From the time of Charlemagne onward this idea obsessed the political life of Western Europe, while in the East the Greek half of the Roman power decayed and dwindled until at last nothing remained of it at all but the corrupt trading city of Constantinople and a few miles of territory about it. Politically the continent of Europe remained traditional and uncreative from the time of Charlemagne onward for a thousand years. 12
The name of Charlemagne looms large in European history but his personality is but indistinctly seen. He could not read nor write, but he had a considerable respect for learning; he liked to be read aloud to at meals and he had a weakness for theological discussion. At his winter quarters at Aix-la-Chapelle or Mayence he gathered about him a number of learned men and picked up much from their conversation. In the summer he made war, against the Spanish Saracens, against the Slavs and Magyars, against the Saxons, and other still heathen German tribes. It is doubtful whether the idea of becoming Cæsar in succession to Romulus Augustulus occurred to him before his acquisition of North Italy, or whether it was suggested to him by Pope Leo III, who was anxious to make the Latin Church independent of Constantinople. 13
There were the most extraordinary manœuvres at Rome between the Pope and the prospective emperor in order to make it appear or not appear as if the Pope gave him the imperial crown. The Pope succeeded in crowning his visitor and conqueror by surprise in St. Peter’s on Christmas Day 800 A.D. He produced a crown, put it on the head of Charlemagne and hailed him Cæsar and Augustus. There was great applause among the people. Charlemagne was by no means pleased at the way in which the thing was done, it rankled in his mind as a defeat; and he left the most careful instructions to his son that he was not to let the Pope crown him emperor; he was to seize the crown into his own hands and put it on his own head himself. So at the very outset of this imperial revival we see beginning the age-long dispute of Pope and Emperor for priority. But Louis the Pious, the son of Charlemagne, disregarded his father’s instructions and was entirely submissive to the Pope. 14
The empire of Charlemagne fell apart at the death of Louis the Pious and the split between the French-speaking Franks and the German-speaking Franks widened. The next emperor to arise was Otto, the son of a certain Henry the Fowler, a Saxon, who had been elected King of Germany by an assembly of German princes and prelates in 919. Otto descended upon Rome and was crowned emperor there in 962. This Saxon line came to an end early in the eleventh century and gave place to other German rulers. The feudal princes and nobles to the west who spoke various French dialects did not fall under the sway of these German emperors after the Carlovingian line, the line that is descended from Charlemagne, had come to an end, and no part of Britain ever came into the Holy Roman Empire. The Duke of Normandy, the King of France and a number of lesser feudal rulers remained outside. 15
In 987 the Kingdom of France passed out of the possession of the Carlovingian line into the hands of Hugh Capet, whose descendants were still reigning in the eighteenth century. At the time of Hugh Capet the King of France ruled only a comparatively small territory round Paris. 16
In 1066 England was attacked almost simultaneously by an invasion of the Norwegian Northmen under King Harold Hardrada and by the Latinized Northmen under the Duke of Normandy. Harold King of England defeated the former at the battle of Stamford Bridge, and was defeated by the latter at Hastings. England was conquered by the Normans, and so cut off from Scandinavian, Teutonic and Russian affairs, and brought into the most intimate relations and conflicts with the French. For the next four centuries the English were entangled in the conflicts of the French feudal princes and wasted upon the fields of France.XLVI. The Crusades and the Age of Papal Dominion
“It is only recently,” says Bury in his notes to Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, “that European history has begun to understand that the successes of the Mongol army which overran Poland and occupied Hungary in the spring of A.D. 1241 were won by consummate strategy and were not due to a mere overwhelming superiority of numbers. But this fact has not yet become a matter of common knowledge; the vulgar opinion which represents the Tartars as a wild horde carrying all before them solely by their multitude, and galloping through Eastern Europe without a strategic plan, rushing at all obstacles and overcoming them by mere weight, still prevailsƒ. 4
In the fourteenth century there was a brief revival of Mongol vigour under Timurlane, a descendant of Jengis Khan. He established himself in Western Turkestan, assumed the title of Grand Khan in 1369, and conquered from Syria to Delhi. He was the most savage and destructive of all the Mongol conquerors. He established an empire of desolation that did not survive his death. In 1505, however, a descendant of this Timur, an adventurer named Baber, got together an army with guns and swept down upon the plains of India. His grandson Akbar (1556–1605) completed his conquests, and this Mongol (or “Mogul” as the Arabs called it) dynasty ruled in Delhi over the greater part of India until the eighteenth century. 9
But it was not until as late as 1571 that the naval battle of Lepanto broke the pride of the Ottomans, and restored the Mediterranean waters to Christian ascendancy.XLIX. The Intellectual Revival of the Europeans
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE came to a sort of climax in the reign of the Emperor Charles V. He was one of the most extraordinary monarchs that Europe has ever seen. For a time he had the air of being the greatest monarch since Charlemagne. 1
His greatness was not of his own making. It was largely the creation of his grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519). Some families have fought, others have intrigued their way to world power; the Habsburgs married their way. Maximilian began his career with Austria, Styria, part of Alsace and other districts, the original Habsburg patrimony; he married—the lady’s name scarcely matters to us—the Netherlands and Burgundy. Most of Burgundy slipped from him after his first wife’s death, but the Netherlands he held. Then he tried unsuccessfully to marry Brittany. He became Emperor in succession to his father, Frederick III, in 1493, and married the duchy of Milan. Finally he married his son to the weak-minded daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Ferdinand and Isabella of Columbus, who not only reigned over a freshly united Spain and over Sardinia and the kingdom of the two Sicilies, but over all America west of Brazil. So it was that this Charles V, his grandson, inherited most of the American continent and between a third and a half of what the Turks had left of Europe. He succeeded to the Netherlands in 1506. When his grandfather Ferdinand died in 1516, he became practically king of the Spanish dominions, his mother being imbecile; and his grandfather Maximilian dying in 1519, he was in 1520 elected Emperor at the still comparatively tender age of twenty. 2
He was a fair young man with a not very intelligent face, a thick upper lip and a long clumsy chin. He found himself in a world of young and vigorous personalities. It was an age of brilliant young monarchs. Francis I had succeeded to the French throne in 1515 at the age of twenty-one, Henry VIII had become King of England in 1509 at eighteen. It was the age of Baber in India (1526–1530) and Suleiman the Magnificent in Turkey (1520), both exceptionally capable monarchs, and the Pope Leo X (1513) was also a very distinguished Pope. The Pope and Francis I attempted to prevent the election of Charles as Emperor because they dreaded the concentration of so much power in the hands of one man. Both Francis I and Henry VIII offered themselves to the imperial electors. But there was now a long established tradition of Habsburg Emperors (since 1273), and some energetic bribery secured the election for Charles. 3
At first the young man was very much a magnificent puppet in the hands of his ministers. Then slowly he began to assert himself and take control. He began to realize something of the threatening complexities of his exalted position. It was a position as unsound as it was splendid. 4
From the very outset of his reign he was faced by the situation created by Luther’s agitations in Germany. The Emperor had one reason for siding with the reformers in the opposition of the Pope to his election. But he had been brought up in Spain, that most Catholic of countries, and he decided against Luther. So he came into conflict with the Protestant princes and particularly the Elector of Saxony. He found himself in the presence of an opening rift that was to split the outworn fabric of Christendom into two contending camps. His attempts to close that rift were strenuous and honest and ineffective. There was an extensive peasant revolt in Germany which interwove with the general political and religious disturbance. And these internal troubles were complicated by attacks upon the Empire from east and west alike. On the west of Charles was his spirited rival, Francis I; to the east was the ever advancing Turk, who was now in Hungary, in alliance with Francis and clamouring for certain arrears of tribute from the Austrian dominions. Charles had the money and army of Spain at his disposal, but it was extremely difficult to get any effective support in money from Germany. His social and political troubles were complicated by financial distresses. He was forced to ruinous borrowing. 5
On the whole, Charles, in alliance with Henry VIII, was successful against Francis I and the Turk. Their chief battlefield was North Italy; the generalship was dull on both sides; their advances and retreats depended mainly on the arrival of reinforcements. The German army invaded France, failed to take Marseilles, fell back into Italy, lost Milan, and was besieged in Pavia. Francis I made a long and unsuccessful siege of Pavia, was caught by fresh German forces, defeated, wounded and taken prisoner. But thereupon the Pope and Henry VIII, still haunted by the fear of his attaining excessive power, turned against Charles. The German troops in Milan, under the Constable of Bourbon, being unpaid, forced rather than followed their commander into a raid upon Rome. They stormed the city and pillaged it (1527). The Pope took refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo while the looting and slaughter went on. He bought off the German troops at last by the payment of four hundred thousand ducats. Ten years of such confused fighting impoverished all Europe. At last the Emperor found himself triumphant in Italy. In 1530, he was crowned by the Pope—he was the last German Emperor to be so crowned—at Bologna. 6
Meanwhile the Turks were making great headway in Hungary. They had defeated and killed the king of Hungary in 1526, they held Buda-Pesth, and in 1529 Suleiman the Magnificent very nearly took Vienna. The Emperor was greatly concerned by these advances, and did his utmost to drive back the Turks, but he found the greatest difficulty in getting the German princes to unite even with this formidable enemy upon their very borders. Francis I remained implacable for a time, and there was a new French war; but in 1538 Charles won his rival over to a more friendly attitude after ravaging the south of France. Francis and Charles then formed an alliance against the Turk. But the Protestant princes, the German princes who were resolved to break away from Rome, had formed a league, the Schmalkaldic League, against the Emperor, and in the place of a great campaign to recover Hungary for Christendom Charles had to turn his mind to the gathering internal struggle in Germany. Of that struggle he saw only the opening war. It was a struggle, a sanguinary irrational bickering of princes, for ascendancy, now flaming into war and destruction, now sinking back to intrigues and diplomacies; it was a snake’s sack of princely policies that was to go on writhing incurably right into the nineteenth century and to waste and desolate Central Europe again and again. 7
The Emperor never seems to have grasped the true forces at work in these gathering troubles. He was for his time and station an exceptionally worthy man, and he seems to have taken the religious dissensions that were tearing Europe into warring fragments as genuine theological differences. He gathered diets and councils in futile attempts at reconciliation. Formulæ and confessions were tried over. The student of German history must struggle with the details of the Religious Peace of Nuremberg, the settlement at the Diet of Ratisbon, the Interim of Augsburg, and the like. Here we do but mention them as details in the worried life of this culminating Emperor. As a matter of fact, hardly one of the multifarious princes and rulers in Europe seems to have been acting in good faith. The widespread religious trouble of the world, the desire of the common people for truth and social righteousness, the spreading knowledge of the time, all those things were merely counters in the imaginations of princely diplomacy. Henry VIII of England, who had begun his career with a book against heresy, and who had been rewarded by the Pope with the title of “Defender of the Faith,” being anxious to divorce his first wife in favour of a young lady named Anne Boleyn, and wishing also to loot the vast wealth of the church in England, joined the company of Protestant princes in 1530. Sweden, Denmark and Norway had already gone over to the Protestant side. 8
The German religious war began in 1546, a few months after the death of Martin Luther. We need not trouble about the incidents of the campaign. The Protestant Saxon army was badly beaten at Lochau. By something very like a breach of faith Philip of Hesse, the Emperor’s chief remaining antagonist, was caught and imprisoned, and the Turks were bought off by the promise of an annual tribute. In 1547, to the great relief of the Emperor, Francis I died. So by 1547 Charles got to a kind of settlement, and made his last efforts to effect peace where there was no peace. In 1552 all Germany was at war again, only a precipitate flight from Innsbruck saved Charles from capture, and in 1552, with the treaty of Passau, came another unstable equilibriumƒ. 9
Such is the brief outline of the politics of the Empire for thirty-two years. It is interesting to note how entirely the European mind was concentrated upon the struggle for European ascendancy. Neither Turks, French, English nor Germans had yet discovered any political interest in the great continent of America, nor any significance in the new sea routes to Asia. Great things were happening in America; Cortez with a mere handful of men had conquered the great Neolithic empire of Mexico for Spain, Pizarro had crossed the Isthmus of Panama (1530) and subjugated another wonder-land, Peru. But as yet these events meant no more to Europe than a useful and stimulating influx of silver to the Spanish treasury. 10
It was after the treaty of Passau that Charles began to display his distinctive originality of mind. He was now entirely bored and disillusioned by his imperial greatness. A sense of the intolerable futility of these European rivalries came upon him. He had never been of a very sound constitution, he was naturally indolent and he was suffering greatly from gout. He abdicated. He made over all his sovereign rights in Germany to his brother Ferdinand, and Spain and the Netherlands he resigned to his son Philip. Then in a sort of magnificent dudgeon he retired to a monastery at Yuste, among the oak and chestnut forests in the hills to the north of the Tagus valley. There he died in 1558. 11
Much has been written in a sentimental vein of this retirement, this renunciation of the world by this tired majestic Titan, world-weary, seeking in an austere solitude his peace with God. But his retreat was neither solitary nor austere; he had with him nearly a hundred and fifty attendants; his establishment had all the splendour and indulgences without the fatigues of a court, and Philip II was a dutiful son to whom his father’s advice was a command. 12
And if Charles had lost his living interest in the administration of European affairs, there were other motives of a more immediate sort to stir him. Says Prescott: “In the almost daily correspondence between Quixada, or Gaztelu, and the Secretary of State at Valladolid, there is scarcely a letter that does not turn more or less on the Emperor’s eating or his illness. The one seems naturally to follow, like a running commentary, on the other. It is rare that such topics have formed the burden of communications with the department of state. It must have been no easy matter for the secretary to preserve his gravity in the perusal of despatches in which politics and gastronomy were so strangely mixed together. The courier from Valladolid to Lisbon was ordered to make a detour, so as to take Jarandilla in his route, and bring supplies to the royal table. On Thursdays he was to bring fish to serve for the jour maigre that was to follow. The trout in the neighbourhood Charles thought too small, so others of a larger size were to be sent from Valladolid. Fish of every kind was to his taste, as, indeed, was anything that in its nature or habits at all approached to fish. Eels, frogs, oysters, occupied an important place in the royal bill of fare. Potted fish, especially anchovies, found great favour with him; and he regretted that he had not brought a better supply of these from the Low Countries. On an eel-pasty he particularly doted.”ƒ 13
In 1554 Charles had obtained a bull from Pope Julius III granting him a dispensation from fasting, and allowing him to break his fast early in the morning even when he was to take the sacrament. 14
Eating and doctoring! it was a return to elemental things. He had never acquired the habit of reading, but he would make what one narrator describes as a “sweet and heavenly commentary.” He also amused himself with mechanical toys, by listening to music or sermons, and by attending to the imperial business that still came drifting in to him. The death of the Empress, to whom he was greatly attached, had turned his mind towards religion, which in his case took a punctilious and ceremonial form; every Friday in Lent he scourged himself with the rest of the monks with such good will as to draw blood. These exercises and the gout released a bigotry in Charles that had hitherto been restrained by considerations of policy. The appearance of Protestant teaching close at hand in Valladolid roused him to fury. “Tell the grand inquisitor and his council from me to be at their posts, and to lay the axe at the root of the evil before it spreads further.”ƒ He expressed a doubt whether it would not be well, in so black an affair, to dispense with the ordinary course of justice, and to show no mercy; “lest the criminal, if pardoned, should have the opportunity of repeating his crime.” He recommended, as an example, his own mode of proceeding in the Netherlands, “where all who remained obstinate in their errors were burned alive, and those who were admitted to penitence were beheaded.” 15
And almost symbolical of his place and rôle in history was his preoccupation with funerals. He seems to have had an intuition that something great was dead in Europe and sorely needed burial, that there was a need to write Finis, overdue. He not only attended every actual funeral that was celebrated at Yuste, but he had services conducted for the absent dead, he held a funeral service in memory of his wife on the anniversary of her death, and finally he celebrated his own obsequies. 16
“The chapel was hung with black, and the blaze of hundreds of wax-lights was scarcely sufficient to dispel the darkness. The brethren in their conventual dress, and all the Emperor’s household clad in deep mourning, gathered round a huge catafalque, shrouded also in black, which had been raised in the centre of the chapel. The service for the burial of the dead was then performed; and, amidst the dismal wail of the monks, the prayers ascended for the departed spirit, that it might be received into the mansions of the blessed. The sorrowful attendants were melted to tears, as the image of their master’s death was presented to their minds—or they were touched, it may be, with compassion by this pitiable display of weakness. Charles, muffled in a dark mantle, and bearing a lighted candle in his hand, mingled with his household, the spectator of his own obsequies; and the doleful ceremony was concluded by his placing the taper in the hands of the priest, in sign of his surrendering up his soul to the Almighty.” 17
Within two months of this masquerade he was dead. And the brief greatness of the Holy Roman Empire died with him. His realm was already divided between his brother and his son. The Holy Roman Empire struggled on indeed to the days of Napoleon I but as an invalid and dying thing. To this day its unburied tradition still poisons the political air.Appendix to Robertson’s History of Charles V.The Age of Political Experiments; of Grand Monarchy and Parliaments and Republicanism in Europe
THE LATIN CHURCH was broken, the Holy Roman Empire was in extreme decay; the history of Europe from the opening of the sixteenth century onward in a story of peoples feeling their way darkly to some new method of government, better adapted to the new conditions that were arising. In the Ancient World, over long periods of time, there had been changes of dynasty and even changes of ruling race and language, but the form of government through monarch and temple remained fairly stable, and still more stable was the ordinary way of living. In this modern Europe since the sixteenth century the dynastic changes are unimportant, and the interest of history lies in the wide and increasing variety of experiments in political and social organization. 1
The political history of the world from the sixteenth century onward was, we have said, an effort, a largely unconscious effort, of mankind to adapt its political and social methods to certain new conditions that had now arisen. The effort to adapt was complicated by the fact that the conditions themselves were changing with a steadily increasing rapidity. The adaptation, mainly unconscious and almost always unwilling (for man in general hates voluntary change), has lagged more and more behind the alterations in conditions. From the sixteenth century onward the history of mankind is a story of political and social institutions becoming more and more plainly misfits, less comfortable and more vexatious, and of the slow reluctant realization of the need for a conscious and deliberate reconstruction of the whole scheme of human societies in the face of needs and possibilities new to all the former experiences of life. 2
What are these changes in the conditions of human life that have disorganized that balance of empire, priest, peasant and trader, with periodic refreshment by barbaric conquest, that has held human affairs in the Old World in a sort of working rhythm for more than a hundred centuries? 3
They are manifold and various, for human affairs are multitudinously complex; but the main changes seem all to turn upon one cause, namely the growth and extension of a knowledge of the nature of things, beginning first of all in small groups of intelligent people and spreading at first slowly, and in the last five hundred years very rapidly, to larger and larger proportions of the general population. 4
But there has also been a great change in human conditions due to a change in the spirit of human life. This change has gone on side by side with the increase and extension of knowledge, and is subtly connected with it. There has been an increasing disposition to treat a life based on the common and more elementary desires and gratifications as unsatisfactory, and to seek relationship with and service and participation in a larger life. This is the common characteristic of all the great religions that have spread throughout the world in the last twenty odd centuries, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam alike. They have had to do with the spirit of man in a way that the older religions did not have to do. They are forces quite different in their nature and effect from the old fetishistic blood-sacrifice religions of priest and temple that they have in part modified and in part replaced. They have gradually evolved a self-respect in the individual and a sense of participation and responsibility in the common concerns of mankind that did not exist among the populations of the earlier civilizations. 5
The first considerable change in the conditions of political and social life was the simplification and extended use of writing in the ancient civilizations which made larger empires and wider political understandings practicable and inevitable. The next movement forward came with the introduction of the horse, and later on of the camel as a means of transport, the use of wheeled vehicles, the extension of roads and the increased military efficiency due to the discovery of terrestrial iron. Then followed the profound economic disturbances due to the device of coined money and the change in the nature of debt, proprietorship and trade due to this convenient but dangerous convention. The empires grew in size and range, and men’s ideas grew likewise to correspond with these things. Came the disappearance of local gods, the age of theocrasia, and the teaching of the great world religions. Came also the beginnings of reasoned and recorded history and geography, the first realization by man of his profound ignorance, and the first systematic search for knowledge. 6
For a time the scientific process which began so brilliantly in Greece and Alexandria was interrupted. The raids of the Teutonic barbarians, the westward drive of the Mongolian peoples, convulsive religious reconstruction and great pestilences put enormous strains upon political and social order. When civilization emerged again from this phase of conflict and confusion, slavery was no longer the basis of economic life; and the first paper-mills were preparing a new medium for collective information and co-operation in printed matter. Gradually at this point and that, the search for knowledge, the systematic scientific process, was resumed 7
And now from the sixteenth century onward, as an inevitable by-product of systematic thought, appeared a steadily increasing series of inventions and devices affecting the intercommunication and interaction of men with one another. They all tended towards wider range of action, greater mutual benefits or injuries, and increased co-operation, and they came faster and faster. Men’s minds had not been prepared for anything of the sort, and until the great catastrophes at the beginning of the twentieth century quickened men’s minds, the historian has very little to tell of any intelligently planned attempts to meet the new conditions this increasing flow of inventions was creating. The history of mankind for the last four centuries is rather like that of an imprisoned sleeper, stirring clumsily and uneasily while the prison that restrains and shelters him catches fire, not waking but incorporating the crackling and warmth of the fire with ancient and incongruous dreams, than like that of a man consciously awake to danger and opportunity. 8
Since history is the story not of individual lives but of communities, it is inevitable that the inventions that figure most in the historical record are inventions affecting communications. In the sixteenth century the chief new things that we have to note are the appearance of printed paper and the sea-worthy, ocean-going sailing ship using the new device of the mariner’s compass. The former cheapened, spread, and revolutionized teaching, public information and discussion, and the fundamental operations of political activity. The latter made the round world one. But almost equally important was the increased utilization and improvement of guns and gunpowder which the Mongols had first brought westward in the thirteenth century. This destroyed the practical immunity of barons in their castles and of walled cities. Guns swept away feudalism. Constantinople fell to guns. Mexico and Peru fell before the terror of the Spanish guns. 9
The seventeenth century saw the development of systematic scientific publication, a less conspicuous but ultimately far more pregnant innovation. Conspicuous among the leaders in this great forward step was Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) afterwards Lord Verulam, Lord Chancellor of England. He was the pupil and perhaps the mouthpiece of another Englishman, Dr. Gilbert, the experimental philosopher of Colchester (1540–1603). This second Bacon, like the first, preached observation and experiment, and he used the inspiring and fruitful form of a Utopian story, The New Atlantis, to express his dream of a great service of scientific research. 10
Presently arose the Royal Society of London, the Florentine Society, and later other national bodies for the encouragement of research and the publication and exchange of knowledge. These European scientific societies became fountains not only of countless inventions but also of a destructive criticism of the grotesque theological history of the world that had dominated and crippled human thought for many centuries. 11
Neither the seventeenth nor the eighteenth century witnessed any innovations so immediately revolutionary in human conditions as printed paper and the ocean-going ship, but there was a steady accumulation of knowledge and scientific energy that was to bear its full fruits in the nineteenth century. The exploration and mapping of the world went on. Tasmania, Australia, New Zealand appeared on the map. In Great Britain in the eighteenth century coal coke began to be used for metallurgical purposes, leading to a considerable cheapening of iron and to the possibility of casting and using it in larger pieces than had been possible before, when it had been smelted with wood charcoal. Modern machinery dawned. 12
Like the trees of the celestial city, science bears bud and flower and fruit at the same time and continuously. With the onset of the nineteenth century the real fruition of science—which indeed henceforth may never cease—began. First came steam and steel, the railway, the great liner, vast bridges and buildings, machinery of almost limitless power, the possibility of a bountiful satisfaction of every material human need, and then, still more wonderful, the hidden treasures of electrical science were opened to men.ƒ 13
We have compared the political and social life of man from the sixteenth century onward to that of a sleeping prisoner who lies and dreams while his prison burns about him. In the sixteenth century the European mind was still going on with its Latin Imperial dream, its dream of a Holy Roman Empire, united under a Catholic Church. But just as some uncontrollable element in our composition will insist at times upon introducing into our dreams the most absurd and destructive comments, so thrust into this dream we find the sleeping face and craving stomach of the Emperor Charles V, while Henry VIII of England and Luther tear the unity of Catholicism to shreds. 14
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the dream turned to personal monarchy. The history of nearly all Europe during this period tells with variations the story of an attempt to consolidate a monarchy, to make it absolute and to extend its power over weaker adjacent regions, and of the steady resistance, first of the landowners and then with the increase of foreign trade and home industry, of the growing trading and moneyed class, to the exaction and interference of the crown. There is no universal victory of either side; here it is the King who gets the upper hand while there it is the man of private property who beats the King. In one case we find a King becoming the sun and centre of his national world, while just over his borders a sturdy mercantile class maintains a republic. So wide a range of variation shows how entirely experimental, what local accidents, were all the various governments of this period. 15
A very common figure in these national dramas is the King’s minister, often in the still Catholic countries a prelate, who stands behind the King, serves him and dominates him by his indispensable services. 16
Here in the limits set to us it is impossible to tell these various national dramas in detail. The trading folk of Holland went Protestant and republican, and cast off the rule of Philip II of Spain, the son of the Emperor Charles V. In England Henry VIII and his minister Wolsey, Queen Elizabeth and her minister Burleigh, prepared the foundations of an absolutism that was wrecked by the folly of James I and Charles I. Charles I was beheaded for treason to his people (1649), a new turn in the political thought of Europe. For a dozen years (until 1660) Britain was a republic; and the crown was an unstable power, much overshadowed by Parliament, until George III (1760–1820) made a strenuous and partly successful effort to restore its predominance. The King of France, on the other hand, was the most successful of all the European Kings in perfecting monarchy. Two great ministers, Richelieu (1585–1642) and Mazarin (1602–1661), built up the power of the crown in that country, and the process was aided by the long reign and very considerable abilities of King Louis XIV, “the Grand Monarque” (1643–1715). 17
Louis XIV was indeed the pattern King of Europe. He was, within his limitations, an exceptionally capable King; his ambition was stronger than his baser passions, and he guided his country towards bankruptcy through the complication of a spirited foreign policy with an elaborate dignity that still extorts our admiration. His immediate desire was to consolidate and extend France to the Rhine and Pyrenees, and to absorb the Spanish Netherlands; his remoter view saw the French Kings as the possible successors of Charlemagne in a recast Holy Roman Empire. He made bribery a state method almost more important than warfare. Charles II of England was in his pay, and so were most of the Polish nobility, presently to be described. His money, or rather the money of the tax-paying classes in France, went everywhere. But his prevailing occupation was splendour. His great palace at Versailles with its salons, its corridors, its mirrors, its terraces and fountains and parks and prospects, was the envy and admiration of the world. 18
He provoked a universal imitation. Every king and princelet in Europe was building his own Versailles as much beyond his means as his subjects and credits would permit. Everywhere the nobility rebuilt or extended their chateaux to the new pattern. A great industry of beautiful and elaborate fabrics and furnishings developed. The luxurious arts flourished everywhere; sculpture in alabaster, faience, gilt woodwork, metal work, stamped leather, much music, magnificent painting, beautiful printing and bindings, fine crockery, fine vintages. Amidst the mirrors and fine furniture went a strange race of “gentlemen” in tall powdered wigs, silks and laces, poised upon high red heels, supported by amazing canes; and still more wonderful “ladies,” under towers of powdered hair and wearing vast expansions of silk and satin sustained on wire. Through it all postured the great Louis, the sun of his world, unaware of the meagre and sulky and bitter faces that watched him from those lower darknesses to which his sunshine did not penetrate. 19
The German people remained politically divided throughout this period of the monarchies and experimental governments, and a considerable number of ducal and princely courts aped the splendours of Versailles on varying scales. The Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), a devastating scramble among the Germans, Swedes and Bohemians for fluctuating political advantages, sapped the energies of Germany for a century. A map must show the crazy patchwork in which this struggle ended, a map of Europe according to the peace of Westphalia (1648). One sees a tangle of principalities, dukedoms, free states and the like, some partly in and partly out of the Empire. Sweden’s arm, the reader will note, reached far into Germany; and except for a few islands of territory within the imperial boundaries France was still far from the Rhine. Amidst this patchwork the Kingdom of Prussia—it became a Kingdom in 1701—rose steadily to prominence and sustained a series of successful wars. Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740–86) had his Versailles at Potsdam, where his court spoke French, read French literature and rivalled the culture of the French King. 20
In 1714 the Elector of Hanover became King of England, adding one more to the list of monarchies half in and half out of the empire. 21
The Austrian branch of the descendants of Charles V retained the title of Emperor; the Spanish branch retained Spain. But now there was also an Emperor of the East again. After the fall of Constantinople (1453), the grand duke of Moscow, Ivan the Great (1462–1505), claimed to be heir to the Byzantine throne and adopted the Byzantine double-headed eagle upon his arms. His grandson, Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584), assumed the imperial title of Cæsar (Tsar). But only in the latter half of the seventeenth century did Russia cease to seem remote and Asiatic to the European mind. The Tsar Peter the Great (1682–1725) brought Russia into the arena of Western affairs. He built a new capital for his empire, Petersburg upon the Neva, that played the part of a window between Russia and Europe, and he set up his Versailles at Peterhof eighteen miles away, employing a French architect who gave him a terrace, fountains, cascades, picture gallery, park and all the recognized appointments of Grand Monarchy. In Russia as in Prussia French became the language of the court. 22
Unhappily placed between Austria, Prussia and Russia was the Polish kingdom, an ill-organized state of great landed proprietors too jealous of their own individual grandeur to permit more than a nominal kingship to the monarch they elected. Her fate was division among these three neighbours, in spite of the efforts of France to retain her as an independent ally. Switzerland at this time was a group of republican cantons; Venice was a republic; Italy like so much of Germany was divided among minor dukes and princes. The Pope ruled like a prince in the papal states, too fearful now of losing the allegiance of the remaining Catholic princes to interfere between them and their subjects or to remind the world of the commonweal of Christendom. There remained indeed no common political idea in Europe at all; Europe was given over altogether to division and diversity. 23
All these sovereign princes and republics carried on schemes of aggrandizement against each other. Each one of them pursued a “foreign policy” of aggression against its neighbours and of aggressive alliances. We Europeans still live to-day in the last phase of this age of the multifarious sovereign states, and still suffer from the hatreds, hostilities and suspicions it engendered. The history of this time becomes more and more manifestly “gossip,” more and more unmeaning and wearisome to a modern intelligence. You are told of how this war was caused by this King’s mistress, and how the jealousy of one minister for another caused that. A tittle-tattle of bribes and rivalries disgusts the intelligent student. The more permanently significant fact is that in spite of the obstruction of a score of frontiers, reading and thought still spread and increased and inventions multiplied. The eighteenth century saw the appearance of a literature profoundly sceptical and critical of the courts and policies of the time. In such a book as Voltaire’s Candide we have the expression of an infinite weariness with the planless confusion of the European world. 24
The New Empires of the Europeans in Asia and Overseas
The Uneasy Peace in Europe That Followed the Fall of Napoleon
The Expansion of the United States
The Rise of Germany to Predominance in Europe
For the next forty-three years Germany was the leading power upon the European continent. There was a Russo-Turkish war in 1877–8, but thereafter, except for certain readjustments in the Balkans, European frontiers remained uneasily stable for thirty years.European Aggression in Asia, and the Rise of Japan
BUT a good year and more before the collapse of the Central Powers the half oriental monarchy of Russia, which had professed to be the continuation of the Byzantine Empire, had collapsed. The Tsardom had been showing signs of profound rottenness for some years before the war; the court was under the sway of a fantastic religious impostor, Rasputin, and the public administration, civil and military, was in a state of extreme inefficiency and corruption. At the outset of the war there was a great flare of patriotic enthusiasm in Russia. A vast conscript army was called up, for which there was neither adequate military equipment nor a proper supply of competent officers, and this great host, ill supplied and badly handled, was hurled against the German and Austrian frontiers. 1
There can be no doubt that the early appearance of Russian armies in East Prussia in September, 1914, diverted the energies and attention of the Germans from their first victorious drive upon Paris. The sufferings and deaths of scores of thousands of ill-led Russian peasants saved France from complete overthrow in that momentous opening campaign, and made all western Europe the debtors of that great and tragic people. But the strain of the war upon this sprawling, ill-organized empire was too heavy for its strength. The Russian common soldiers were sent into battle without guns to support them, without even rifle ammunition; they were wasted by their officers and generals in a delirium of militarist enthusiasm. For a time they seemed to be suffering mutely as the beasts suffer; but there is a limit to the endurance even of the most ignorant. A profound disgust for Tsardom was creeping through these armies of betrayed and wasted men. From the close of 1915 onward Russia was a source of deepening anxiety to her Western Allies. Throughout 1916 she remained largely on defensive, and there were rumours of a separate peace with Germany. 2
On December 29th, 1916, the monk Rasputin was murdered at a dinner party in Petrograd, and a belated attempt was made to put the Tsardom in order. By March things were moving rapidly; food riots in Petrograd developed into a revolutionary insurrection; there was an attempted suppression of the Duma, the representative body, there were attempted arrests of liberal leaders, the formation of a provisional government under Prince Lvoff, and an abdication (March 15th) by the Tsar. For a time it seemed that a moderate and controlled revolution might be possible—perhaps under a new Tsar. Then it became evident that the destruction of popular confidence in Russia had gone too far for any such adjustments. The Russian people were sick to death of the old order of things in Europe, of Tsars and wars and of Great Powers; it wanted relief, and that speedily, from unendurable miseries. The Allies had no understanding of Russian realities; their diplomatists were ignorant of Russian, genteel persons with their attention directed to the Russian Court rather than to Russia, they blundered steadily with the new situation. There was little goodwill among these diplomatists for republicanism, and a manifest disposition to embarrass the new government as much as possible. At the head of the Russian republican government was an eloquent and picturesque leader, Kerensky, who found himself assailed by the forces of a profounder revolutionary movement, the “social revolution,” at home and cold-shouldered by the Allied governments abroad. His Allies would neither let him give the Russian peasants the land for which they craved nor peace beyond their frontiers. The French and the British press pestered their exhausted ally for a fresh offensive, but when presently the Germans made a strong attack by sea and land upon Riga, the British Admiralty quailed before the prospect of a Baltic expedition in relief. The new Russian Republic had to fight unsupported. In spite of their naval predominance and the bitter protests of the great English admiral, Lord Fisher (1841–1920), it is to be noted that the British and their Allies, except for some submarine attacks, left the Germans the complete mastery of the Baltic throughout the war. 3
The Russian masses, however, were resolute to end the war. At any cost. There had come into existence in Petrograd a body representing the workers and common soldiers, the Soviet, and this body clamoured for an international conference of socialists at Stockholm. Food riots were occurring in Berlin at this time, war weariness in Austria and Germany was profound, and there can be little doubt, in the light of subsequent events, that such a conference would have precipitated a reasonable peace on democratic lines in 1917 and a German revolution. Kerensky implored his Western allies to allow this conference to take place, but, fearful of a worldwide outbreak of socialism and republicanism, they refused, in spite of the favourable response of a small majority of the British Labour Party. Without either moral or physical help from the Allies, the unhappy “moderate” Russian Republic still fought on and made a last desperate offensive effort in July. It failed after some preliminary successes, and there came another great slaughtering of Russians. 4
The limit of Russian endurance was reached. Mutinies broke out in the Russian armies, and particularly upon the northern front, and on November 7th, 1917, Kerensky’s government was overthrown and power was seized by the Soviets, dominated by the Bolshevik socialists under Lenin, and pledged to make peace regardless of the Western powers. On March 2nd, 1918, a separate peace between Russia and Germany was signed at Brest-Litovsk. 5
It speedily became evident that these Bolshevik socialists were men of a very different quality from the rhetorical constitutionalists and revolutionaries of the Kerensky phase. They were fanatical Marxist communists. They believed that their accession to power in Russia was only the opening of a world-wide social revolution, and they set about changing the social and economic order with the thoroughness of perfect faith and absolute inexperience. The western European and the American governments were themselves much too ill-informed and incapable to guide or help this extraordinary experiment, and the press set itself to discredit and the ruling classes to wreck these usurpers upon any terms and at any cost to themselves or to Russia. A propaganda of abominable and disgusting inventions went on unchecked in the press of the world; the Bolshevik leaders were represented as incredible monsters glutted with blood and plunder and living lives of sensuality before which the realities of the Tsarist court during the Rasputin regime paled to a white purity. Expeditions were launched at the exhausted country, insurgents and raiders were encouraged, armed and subsidized, and no method of attack was too mean or too monstrous for the frightened enemies of the Bolshevik regime. In 1919, the Russian Bolsheviks, ruling a country already exhausted and disorganized by five years of intensive warfare, were fighting a British Expedition at Archangel, Japanese invaders in Eastern Siberia, Roumanians with French and Greek contingents in the south, the Russian Admiral Koltchak in Siberia and General Deniken, supported by the French fleet, in the Crimea. In July of that year an Esthonian army, under General Yudenitch, almost got to Petersburg. In 1920 the Poles, incited by the French, made a new attack on Russia; and a new reactionary raider, General Wrangel, took over the task of General Deniken in invading and devastating his own country. In March, 1921, the sailors at Cronstadt revolted. The Russian Government under its president, Lenin, survived all these various attacks. It showed an amazing tenacity, and the common people of Russia sustained it unswervingly under conditions of extreme hardship. By the end of 1921 both Britain and Italy had made a sort of recognition of the communist rule. 6
But if the Bolshevik Government was successful in its struggle against foreign intervention and internal revolt, it was far less happy in its attempts to set up a new social order based upon communist ideas in Russia. The Russian peasant is a small land-hungry proprietor, as far from communism in his thoughts and methods as a whale is from flying; the revolution gave him the land of the great landowners but could not make him grow food for anything but negotiable money, and the revolution, among other things, had practically destroyed the value of money. Agricultural production, already greatly disordered by the collapse of the railways through war-strain, shrank to a mere cultivation of food by the peasants for their own consumption. The towns starved. Hasty and ill-planned attempts to make over industrial production in accordance with communist ideas were equally unsuccessful. By 1920 Russia presented the unprecedented spectacle of a modern civilization in complete collapse. Railways were rusting and passing out of use, towns were falling into ruin, everywhere there was an immense mortality. Yet the country still fought with its enemies at its gates. In 1921 came a drought and a great famine among the peasant cultivators in the war-devastated south-east provinces. Millions of people starved. 7
But the question of the distresses and the possible recuperation of Russia brings us too close to current controversies to be discussed here.The Political and Social Reconstruction of the World
No comments:
Post a Comment
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24262
|
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Aunt Esther's Fruit Salad
My cousin Alice had a great aunt named Esther. Alice never met her great aunt, but this salad that carries her name (we just call it "Aunt Esther's") has graced our Thanksgiving table for more than three decades. Wouldn't be the same holiday without the salad, or without remembering generations past. With Alice's kind permission:
Sauce for Aunt Esther's
Drain the juice from one can of pineapple slices into a saucepan and heat.
While the juice is heating mix together
1/2 cup sugar
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 egg
Add to the boiling pineapple juice, stirring constantly until it thickens. Let cool.
Beat 1 cup heavy cream into whipped cream (no vanilla or sugar)
Fold the whipped cream into the pineapple mixture.
Spread on top of a bowl of diced fruit
Whipping the cream and adding it to the sauce is best done just before you serve it. This recipe makes enough for a holiday meal, and is more than I otherwise want at one time - so I keep the sauce in the fridge for 5-7 days and add some to freshly made whipped cream when I mix a bowl of fruit. The fruit in this salad was pineapple, clementine, grapefruit, bananas, melon, empire apple, and pomegranate seeds
This is wonderful in summer with watermelon, strawberries, blueberries or bing cherries as part of the mix.
Linguini with Peanut Sauce
Peanut sauce
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/2 cup water
3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
>1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Add julienned cukes,
sliced scallions,
fresh snow peas or sugar snaps, or frozen green peas
The plate is Bennington Pottery blue agate stoneware
An Onion in Winter
You know how onions - especially sweet onions - sprout on the counter in winter? I leave a few to do that intentionally, since the sweet greens give me a few onion tops to use as I would chives or scallions.. If the leaves are pulled out they bring white onion with them, and then they're even more suitable as a substitute for scallions, but I usually only clip the greens, which continue to grow.
This year some of my yellow keeping onions stayed out on the lawn too long before I brought them in (as in, pulled them from the frozen ground where they had rerooted themselves, after the first snow of the year). They aren't going to be keepers as a result of rerooting, but they're doing a fine job of growing tops. Onions are biennials, and if left in the ground over the winter they'll send up a seed stalk the second year. These onions of mine now think it's their second year.
The greens from keeping onions are generally pretty hot in the summer, but are much milder when pushing their way out of the onion on your shelf. If you're buying onions to sprout then buy sweet onions, which start to sprout earlier in the winter. No need to put them in the window; they have plenty of light on the counter.
Lettuce Update Week 3
The lettuce hasn't grown as much this week as I would have expected. Could be it's colder than it usually is outside in the spring, even though 50-55 isn't too cold for them. They are also pretty crowded, and as soon as I took this picture I had my first microgreens, and thinned the plants. I'm afraid I saw a suspicious little critter that looked like a fruit fly around the lettuce, and I probably have fungus gnats.
The larva of Fungus gnats damage the roots and indoor plants grow slower because of it. Outside the fluctuations in soil moisture keep them from being a problem, even though they're around. Since I planted my lettuce in potting soil that's been outside for the summer it won't be a surprise if I have them, and I'd better start dealing with them, since I'll start all my seeds in this potting soil. Even though these are young plants, I'll let the soil dry out as much as possible before I water the lettuce again. I've only watered it once since I planted them, since the potting soil had plenty of moisture in such a deep pot for so little plant material. I'll also put a yellow sticky trap nearby and see if I catch any. This is a card covered with a sticky substance, and a great many insect pests are attracted to the color. It's mostly a monitoring device; it will let me know how many I have. But if the numbers are small and it kills the adults then I won't have to worry about them laying eggs, either, and the yellow sticky trap will also serve as a control.
Posted below is last week's picture, so you can see the growth in a week:
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Resolution Mac and Cheese
It's New Year's Resolution time. I may get mine posted soon, but of course I want to eat lighter for the new year - always do - and I'm especially using my bento boxes as a way to eat lighter lunches.
This macaroni and cheese is a modification of Laurel's Kitchen's Sandy's Macaroni, which uses toasted whole wheat flour and vegetables to develop flavor, and just 2 Tablespoons of parmesan for 8 ounces of macaroni. Not enough cheese for me, so I added 4 ounces of cheddar - about half of it in the sauce, and half on top of the mac and cheese to brown. I also added 1 Tablespoon of neufchatel to add the merest tang.
I toasted the topping separately so I could carry it in my lunch box and keep the topping crisp. When I had this for supper last night I sprinkled a teaspoon of Cabot's cheddar cheese powder on top, and that really punched up the cheese flavor. I'll probably add it to the sauce the next time I make this, and will update the recipe if I change it.
This doesn't have anywhere near the fat and calories of most macaroni and cheese, but then it doesn't have nearly as much cheese. It's a great light recipe, and worthy of being made. The dish made 6 of these 3/4 cup servings.
Resolution Mac and Cheese
8 ounces macaroni of choice, boiled, and cooled if
the dish is not to be eaten immediately
Saute together
2-3T finely minced yellow onion
1/4 cup minced mushrooms
1/2 stalk finely minced celery
1 clove finely minced garlic
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 cup flour (preferably some whole wheat) toasted in dry pan
added to sauted veggies
2 cups 2% milk
1 Tablespoon grated parmesan
4 ounces grated sharp cheddar, divided in half after grating
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional 1 Tablespoon neufchatel or cream cheese
Optional 1 Tablespoon Cabot's Cheddar Shake (cheese powder)
The crust topping
Coarse bread crumbs from 1 slice bread (or panko)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Directions: Boil the macaroni in salted water, and cool. Adding the sauce to cooled macaroni keeps the macaroni from absorbing the sauce. It's important to salt the water even if you usually don't, because cheese usually brings quite a bit of salt to the dish, and if you replace the salt you won't notice as much that the cheese isn't there.
You could skip the toasting of the flour, but it does deepen the flavor. Saute the veggies (or whatever ones you want), adding the garlic only when the other aromatics are just about done. Overcooked garlic is bitter. Adding the flour to the veggies keeps the sauce from lumping when you add the milk, since you haven't made a flour/butter mix. Add the parmesan, cream cheese if you're using it, and one half the grated cheddar. Be sure to cook long enough for the flour to lose its raw taste. Be sure you've added the salt necessary for this to taste like a cheese sauce.
Add the sauce to the macaroni. (I portioned the mac and cheese into 6 muffin cups which could take broiler heat, and sprinkled with the remaining half of the grated cheddar.) Put under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is pleasingly golden, brown, delicious. When cool the mac and cheese will cohere and slip out of the pan.
Saute the coarse bread crumbs (or panko) and butter until you like the color, and add 1 Tablespoon grated parmesan. Store this separately and it will be crisp when you eat your dish.
Of course, if you want to bake the mac and cheese to eat for a meal you can add the sauce to hot macaroni, add the topping with the grated cheddar when you bake it. 350 until brown on top. And if you want to eat this as stovetop mac and cheese you can add all the grated cheddar when you make the sauce, and leave out the topping.
(Laurel's Kitchen is one of my favorite Cookbooks - good simple vegetarian fare. This Mother Earth News story from 1977 tells about the book and gives a few recipes.)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Sweet Scent of Summer Salad
Sweet Scent of Summer Salad
1 minced stalk of celery.
1/3 to 1/2 minced sweet onion,
1/2 minced green bell pepper,
1 can black-eyed peas.
2-3 Tablespoon lime juice
2-3 teaspoons canola or olive oil
Salt and a good amount of black pepper
Optional: diced avocado.
Lettuce Update Week 2
The lettuce is coming along. This is 15 days since I planted it. The seedlings are still quite small, and leggy because I've forgotten to turn the lights on some days (sigh) so they've reached for the dim light from the window which is quite a ways away from their table. Poor little things. I may harvest them as micro greens, in which case I won't thin them. A few are already starting to show some red tinge.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24264
|
Article Text
Prevalence of classical swine fever, Aujeszky's disease and brucellosis in a population of wild boar in Switzerland
1. R. Leuenberger, PhD1,
2. P. Boujon, DVM2,
3. B. Thür, DVM3,
4. R. Miserez, DVM4,
5. B. Garin-Bastuji, DVM, PhD5,
6. J. Rüfenacht, DVM, PhD1 and
7. K. D. C. Stärk, DVM, PhD1
1. 1 Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, PO Box, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
2. 2 Institute Galli-Valerio, Rue César-Roux 37, 1014 Lausanne, Switzerland
3. 3 Institute of Virology and Immunoprophylaxis, Sensemattstrasse 293, 3147 Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
4. 4 Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Länggass-Strasse 122, 3001 Bern, Switzerland
5. 5 OIE/FAO Brucellosis Reference Laboratory, French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA), 94706, Maisons-Alfort, France
1. Dr Leuenberger's present address is Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
During two survey rounds of a national surveillance system for infectious diseases in wild boar in Switzerland, each lasting four months from November to February, between 2001 and 2003, 1949 blood samples and 62 tissue samples from the spleen and 50 from the reproductive organs were collected from hunted wild boar. The survey was designed so that freedom from infection could be detected with a probability of 95 per cent at a threshold prevalence of less than 1 per cent for classical swine fever and Aujeszky's disease and less than 1·5 per cent for brucellosis. There was no serological evidence of classical swine fever or Aujeszky's disease, but brucellosis due to Brucella suis biovar 2 was confirmed serologically and by bacterial isolation.
Statistics from
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24265
|
Acrobat Reader 2.1
Category: Utility
Year: 1996
Description:Adobe(tm) Acrobat(tm) software gives you instant access to documents in their original form, independent of computer platform. With the Acrobat Reader, you can view, navigate, print and present any Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Acrobat Reader 2.1 now runs under Windows NT 3.5 (or later), Windows 3.1, and Windows 95, as well as OS/2 2.11 or later in Windows compatibility mode.
Manufacturer: Adobe
Localization: EN
OS: Windows 3.x
Files to download
#4454ACROREAD.zip2.7 MB0xDEC8292D
Please register to leave comments here.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24270
|
Relax breast
relax breast
19 Sep Take a deep breath and read here for a handful of ways that can help you relax even in the face of breast cancer. Breast massage can be a relaxing experience that you can have performed on you, or that you can perform on yourself in the privacy of your own home. 4 Nov Breast tenderness, which is also called mastalgia, is very common a warm shower or bath will relax you and can help relieve breast pain.
Relax breast -
There are a number of exercises that you can do to relax. This helps to improve not only the health of the breast tissue but also helps to promote better breathing thus increasing the oxygen levels in solo girl pulling blood and tissue and this strengthens the immune. If breast pain is accompanied by lumpiness, cysts accumulated packets of fluidor areas of thickness, the condition is studs pickups called fibrocystic change. This should not be a rough or painful motion. Wearing comfortable relax breast that firmly support your breasts can help relieve pain and may also help protect against the effects of gravity. There are a number of exercises that you can do to relax. These exercises include breathing, muscle and mind. 9 Feb While we can't avoid stress altogether, there are ways that we help ourselves relax more and not let things stress us out so much. We've put. 28 Sep Because your breasts are made up of fatty tissues, breast bulk can be the first they'll shrink once your period starts and your hormones relax. relax breast
Comments 0
Hinterlasse eine Antwort
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24273
|
We provide various services related to Virtual Staging,Real Estate, Interior Design, Architecture Design. With flexible pricing, absolute quality, and supporting Service.
Virtual Staging
Placing 3D furniture into Empty funitureless photo of an Interior.
2D Floor Plan
Creating a graphic representation of a Floor Plan for Illustration purpose.
3D Floor Plan
Creating a 3d representation of a Floor plan for Illustration Purpose.
Virtual Furniture Replacement
Recreating an Empty Image by Removing the Furniture in the Photo
3D Interior Rendering
Creating 3d Interior Design for Illutration, and Presentation Purpose.
3D Architecture Rendering
Creating a 3d Architecture Rendering for Illustration and Presentation Purpose.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24294
|
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
J.C. Penney Pulls TV Ad Some Consider Sexist [VIDEO]
Harmless and creative? Sexist and offensive? You decide!
J.C. Penney has pulled a TV commercial after conservative watchdogs One Million Moms called the ad "blatantly disrespectful to all women," and urged readers to call the retailer.
The commercial titled, "It is seriously hot in here…
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24295
|
Golf in Cambodia
For learners, the driving range cost is $4 for a bucket of 120 balls. But for $80 per month, you can have unlimited time and golf balls for driving. On the main course, the greens fee is $60-$80 for 18 holes.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24297
|
J.M. Langston Focus School
Events & Activities
Easter Egg Hunt
The Langston Algebra I class thanks Mrs. Gayle Breakley for her help today with their Standards of Learning Easter Egg Hunt. Ms. Carter, Algebra Instructor at Langston, filled plastic eggs with SOL questions. Mrs. Breakley hid the Algebra I SOL Easter eggs on the Langston campus. The first block Algebra students ran from location to location finding the brightly colored plastic eggs. When the students had completed the egg search, they returned to their classroom to answer the Algebra Standards of Learning question found in each egg. Ms. Carter checked each student’s answers and awarded a piece of candy for each correctly answered Algebra problem.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24299
|
The Faith(s) of Abraham:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
COURSE DESCRIPTION Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D., Associate Professor
COURSE RESOURCES Prerequisites: RL 101 or equivalent
ASSIGNMENTS & EXAMINATIONS & an inquiring mind
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The three "Religions of the Book"--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--all claim Abraham, the Biblical patriarch, as their "father in faith." Jews and Muslims trace their genealogies back to the two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, while Christians claim adoption as "sons of Abraham" through their faith in Jesus Christ and their baptismal adoption into his Name. If Jews, Christians, and Muslims all are "children of Abraham" and heirs to his faith, then why do they follow three different religious traditions? This is the central question of this course. To answer this question, we will follow a cross-cultural approach to the study of these religions, with contemporary U.S. religious communities providing the case studies.
Some aspects considered are: the origins, formation, and development of these communities as they interact with their socio-political environment; their different theological perspectives--in regard to God, humanity and the world; their sacred writings and other sources of religious teachings; organization and leadership roles in their communities; their ethical, social, and political teachings.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: Through the successful completion of this course, a student will be able to:
1. identify founders and give dates of origin for these three religions
2. give dates for the significant events in the development of these three traditions
3. define the key terms relating to the three "Religions of the Book"
4. summarize and sympathetically discuss the key religious themes/doctrines and characteristics of the Torah, Gospels, and Qur'an
5. discuss the relationships of Christianity and Islam to their "mother faith," Judaism
6. delineate the ethnic, geographic and cultural contexts of these three religions
7. discuss their key political and ethical positions
8. name the most significant U.S. versions of these religious movements
9. demonstrate command of the comparative religions approach to religious studies
10. make fruitful use of the standard tools for RL research (e.g., specialized dictionaries and encyclopediae, archaeological reports, textual commentaries and critical apparatuses).
CLASS FORMAT varies: lectures and guest presentations; films, videos, slides, food and music; study and avid class discussions of the assigned readings; field research; student research presentations; creative papers; quizzes and reaction papers; unit and final examinations. Students are expected and encouraged to be active participants in the learning process.
The University expects that students will submit their own original work and properly cite sources for their ideas, including the Bible, web pages, handouts, class notes, and ideas from other students. I am sure that you intend to do this. Be careful about how you do your work. E.g., do not "loan" papers or other assignments to friends; this counts as academic dishonesty, too, and you face the same penalties as those who take the assignments and submit the ideas as their own. If you work with other class members to prepare an assignment, be sure to credit other persons' ideas so it will not look like you have copied their notes. See the JCU Student Handbook (p. 46) for further information. Any student who violates academic integrity will earn an "F" for the course.
ASSIGNMENTS & EXAMINATIONS are available on the Schedule page.
EXPECTATIONS: Students will do assigned readings before each class meeting, actively participate in class discussions and field trips, successfully complete quizzes and examinations, and submit written work on time. The schedule of readings, assignments, and topics for class discussion are found on the Class Schedule page. It is expected that all assignments be completed in order to receive a passing grade for this course.
ATTENDANCE: Bad hair day or not, the University expects prompt and alert student presence at every class meeting. Class discussion comprises a substantial component of the course grade, and one must be present to participate in discussion. Hence, students who absent themselves more than six times during the semester will have their total course grade docked one letter grade, and then one additional grade level for each subsequent absence. If you are ill, a medical excuse is necessary to receive an excused absence. If you have an unavoidable conflict which will prevent you from meeting class, please present your documentation of this conflict before the class absence.
Absences from class do not excuse the student from submitting the required course work on time, since every assignment is listed in the Course Schedule. Late assignments will be docked one letter grade for each day they are overdue.
A = 95% A- = 91% B+ = 88% B = 84% B- = 81%
C+ = 78% C = 76% C- = 70% D+ = 65% D = 60%
F = 0-59%
APPA (see below) 20%
Field Research 20%
Written Assignments 20%
Quizzes & Examinations (4) 40%
NB: For details of assignments and an illustration of precisely how each component factors into the final course grade, see the Sample Grade Calculation Form.
APPA [= Attendance (10%), Preparation (5%), Participation (5%), Attentiveness (5%)]. I give credit for class attendance, preparation for the session (e.g., evidence that you have done the reading, turning in the assignments), participation (e.g., talking in small group discussions, asking questions or making appropriate comments during lectures), and attentiveness (i.e., looking alert and interested in the class activities). Students in this class benefit not only from the instructor's presentations, but also from interaction with their classmates. Students learn better when they are prepared for the class discussion; they also learn better what they themselves say aloud. The overall course grade takes this into account in delegating 20% of the grade to the APPA score.
The University expects students to attend every class meeting. However, for serious reasons (e.g., illness, death in the family), a student will receive an excused absence. In such a case, it is the student's responsibility to provide documentation. Students who have six unexcused absences during the semester will have their total course grade docked one letter grade, and then one additional grade level for each subsequent absence.
Recognize that an absence from class, even an excused one, does not automatically grant an extension for an assignment. This would have to be negotiated before the due date for the assignment.
1. Each student will need a study edition of the Bible (not a paraphrase). The best available translations are: The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the New American Bible.
2. A copy of the Holy Qur'an would be useful, or read it on the Web.
1. Course Handouts (from the Instructor) and web page information
2. Corrigan, Denny, Eire, Jaffee, Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions (Prentice Hall, 1997).
3. Corrigan, Denny, Eire, Jaffee, Readings in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Prentice Hall, 1997).
CONSULTATION: I'm glad to meet and talk with you during office hours, or by appointment. I also welcome comments or suggestions about the course via the Feedback Sheet available at the course web site.
ADDITIONAL INTERNET LINKS are available through my home page.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24321
|
Friday, December 10, 2010
Things continue in much the same way they have always done
I got a link, via Cam, to this New Scientist piece about digital poetry. It's one of those pieces that is about new developments in the poetry world, only the new developments that are talked about aren't exactly new, and were mostly developed years ago.
For instance:
“It's hard to pick any quality that is essential to digital poetry, but there is a set of things and interactivity is one"
Anybody who grew up reading Choose Your Own Adventure Books or their antecedents know that this idea has been around for a while. I've made my own modest contributions to 'interactive' poetry here. (And the existence of the html code for that is good evidence that lots of other people have been doing similar things, I don't want to make any claims of originality for myself.)
Oh, also:
If people don't want to read poetry books, maybe the answer is to send them text messages. That is the idea behind Cell Poems, a journal that publishes via text message. It may sound frivolous, but the journal publishes original works by well-known poets and was honoured with the National Book Foundation's 2010 Innovations in Reading award.
When I first came to Melbourne about six years ago I remember they were advertising on television a 'flirty-poem' service, whereby you would text in the message 'FLIRTY' to a certain number and get a poem back - I even had a few sent to my phone because I had the vague idea of doing a review of them (Yeah, right – Ed.*) Mel and the rest of the Is Not Magazine team had a regular text-message story in their publication, too. Just how many times do you have to innovate with an innovation before it stops being innovative anymore?
But anyway, it’s not just the supposedly-original ideas that are silly, it’s the claims too. They quote the Cell Poems website
Our goal is not to shrink attention spans... we hope to present work that has undergone the duress of revision and come out hard-boiled and striking...
and leave you wondering, how can something have undergone ‘duress’ and come out ‘hard-boiled’ and ‘striking’ at the same time? Why trust the literary judgment of someone who comes up with a clumsy mixed metaphor while talking about the importance of literary revision? I’m sure they publish some good material, but holding them up as exemplars of some fantastically original idea is self-defeating.
They also say, twice:
Digital poets and programs free verse from the page
But despite the criticisms, there is no doubt that digital poets are taking a first shot at answering an important question: what will poetry become now it is freed from the printed page?
Which kind of assumes poems have up until now been limited or imprisoned on the page, though they aren't now and haven't ever been - anymore than a Bach cello suite is trapped in Yo-Yo Ma's cello. Just ask blind poets like Milton or Homer, or listen to a few ballads sung by artists like Steeleye Span or Leonard Cohen. Poetry was first a spoken-and-sung art and has continued that way, so a more realistic claim might be that technology has freed poetry from nothing and done nothing in particular to make it new. Though try that headline out on the media: ‘things continue in much the same way they have always done’. It doesn’t sound quite so inspiring, does it?
People have been claiming their art is new and exciting ever since being new and exciting was the new and exciting thing. The western fondness for novelty has been around since the Enlightenment, I’d guess – but with that fondness comes an increasing susceptibility to claims that something is original when it’s actually not. The analogy we use for this nowadays is ‘reinventing the wheel’, but poetry was never a tool like the wheel and wasn’t invented in the first place. So I think a better analogy is a person saying that they’ve invented this marvellous substance called ‘water’ – you can drink it, you can place it in tubs and bathe in it, if you’ve got lots of it you can swim in it, you can even decorate it with sand and put it in front of your house and turn it (your house, I mean, not the water) into a beachside property! Though in fact water has been there all along.
And so has poetry.
*I’ve no idea who that Ed guy is, he pops up from time to time.
No comments:
Email: timhtrain - at - yahoo.com.au
eXTReMe Tracker
Blog Archive
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24330
|
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Wobbly times number 169
My mother died yesterday. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with her on the phone a few hours before she passed away. The essence of what we spoke about is encapsulated in these reflections.
Lieutenant Recharda Benson WWII U.S. Army Nurse
That's why I love you
That's why I want you to be free
That's why I hate the sadists
That's why I'm a democrat
That's why I'm sympathetic with the poor
That's why I want kindness to replace hatred
That's why I don't care about riches
That's why I care about animals' welfare
That's why I go for the underdog
That's why I love the vivacity wild things exhibit
In short
My mom's the reason I care
In short
she's the reason I'm focussed on elan
not tied down to property and status
She's the reason
I've declared war on cruelty
ever since I was born
And why I think
It's nobody's business but my own
if I ride tear-filled waves of grief today
Recharda with her sisters and a friend late 1930s
My mom and I Christmas, 1949
My dad and I in the same place, 1949
Me, my mom, Bruce and Grandma Benson late 50s San Diego train station
My step-dad, Bruce, mom and me early 70s East Lansing
On my last visit to the USA in 2009
April 1, 1919-August 24, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Wobbly times number 168
An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx’s Capital
By Michael Heinrich
(translated by Alexander Locascio)
This book might more properly be titled, AN INTRODUCTION TO MICHAEL HEINRICH'S INTERPRETATION OF WHAT MARX MEANT BY: VALUE, PRICE, PROFIT AND THE SOCIAL RELATION OF CAPITAL. As much I appreciate Heinrich's effort on Marx, all too often, the man irritates me. For instance, right off the bat, he faults Engels as having a lack of understanding of Marx which led to the errors Heinrich perceives amongst the Marxists who would take up the cause of socialism in the 20th century. He's just plain wrong about this, as Marx would have had discussions with Engels over the supposed theoretical shortcomings in Engels' work, prior to his own death. It wasn't like Marx never spoke honestly with Engels about political-economy. It's more the case that Heinrich, like so many graduate student Marxists after the death of Engels, tries to replace Fred as the better interpreter of Marx with Michael. Is he?
For instance on page 15 he writes:
"In precapitalist societies, the exploitation of the dominated class served primarily the consumption of the ruling class: its members led a luxurious life, used appropriated wealth for their own edification or for that of the public (theater performances in ancient Greece, games in ancient Rome) or to wage war. Production directly served the fulfillment of wants: the fulfillment of the (forcibly) restricted needs of the dominated class and the extensive luxury and war needs of the ruling class. Only in exceptional cases was the wealth expropriated by the ruling class used to enlarge the basis of exploitation, such as when consumption was set aside to purchase more slaves, to produce a greater amount of wealth."
What Heinrich neglects to add, to his otherwise cogent observations, is that war itself was a slave generator thus, an expansion of Empire in the ancient world was largely founded on the accumulation of slaves, in short, of wealth producers as well as the wealth they produced.
Yet, there are parts of Heinrich's approach to Marx's critique of Capital which I do like and appreciate--many in fact. For instance, his hard headed approach to capitalism and the question of the morality of the capitalists themselves. On page 16 he writes:
"The fact that earnings do not primarily serve the consumption of the capitalist, but rather the continuous valorizastion of capital, that is, the restless movement of more and more accumulation, might sound absurd. But the issue at hand is not an individual act of insanity. Individual capitalists are forced into this movement of restless profiteering (constant accumulation, expansion of production, the introduction of new technology etc.) by competition with other capitalists: if accumulation is not carried on, if the apparatus of production is not constantly modernized, then one's own enterprise is faced with the threat of being steamrolled by competitors who produce more cheaply or who manufacture better products."
Of course, a similar relation between the accumulation of wealth and the possession of political power by the few in the ruling class over other human beings pertains to pre capitalist societies. More slaves meant more wealth and more slaves and wealth were part and parcel of the expansion of the empires of the ancients. Heinrich doesn't point this out. In his pretty good attempt, he demonstrates that capitalism is not based on moral choices, rather that capitalists are being forced to accumulate wealth as Capital in order to maintain political power over the producers of wealth and over their competitor capitalists in the arena, the marketplace of commodities. But, he fails to get beyond properly labeling this, the victory of abstraction, the victory of exchange-value over human beings, especially the producers of wealth. The problem with Heinrich's approach is that it makes pre capitalist exploitation look substantially different in content when it is actually only different in form. Slaves were commodities too. The product of slave labour time belonged to the slaves' owners. Surplus wealth in one area of class rule was traded for surplus wealth in another. The surplus wealth, whether from the application of labour power or the mere possession of natural resources becomes private property in class dominated society. Trade makes commodities of these use-values of wealth whether theses useful values are slaves, perfume, cattle or gold. The use-value of the commodity is, of course, both necessary and that necessity is perceived by the human subject/buyer i.e. in the eyes of the beholder in the marketplace of commodities.
Heinrich seems to me to continually put labour power i.e. the human producer in the backseat of the drive to accumulate wealth/capital. While he is spot on when he says, "..a critique that takes aim at the 'excessive profit-seeking' of individual capitalists but not at the capitalist system as a whole.." because that is too 'narrow', his outline of the system as a whole fails to give credit where credit is due--to its producers, its wage labourers. After all, without wage labour there can be no Capital. But Heinrich wants his readers to focus on how value becomes 'valorized', not how it is produced: how it becomes an abstraction in his version of exchange-value (essentially price), as opposed to the moral shortcomings of individual capitalists. Fair enough on the critique of liberal moralism, even radical liberal moralism. But in his paragraph describing how the system works, he writes things like:
"By capital we understand (provisionally; we'll get more precise later) a particular sum of value, the goal of which is be 'valorized,' which is to say, generate a surplus." p.16 How does an abstraction generate a surplus? Where does the surplus come from? It comes from the capitalist employing labour for wages, the price of the worker's skills in the labour market. But the price itself is not the living socially necessary labour time, the energy embodied in the finished, marketed good or service. That living labour time is what constitutes its value. The price of a commodity is determined outside the production process by consumer' demand in the market. The price fluctuates around the value of the supply of the produced commodity on the market and value is the socially necessary labour time embodied in those commodified goods and services.
But what does Heinrich say?
"The surplus can be obtained in various ways. In the case of interest-bearing capital, money is lent at interest. The interest thus constitutes the surplus. In the case of merchant capital, the products are purchased cheaply in one place and sold dearly in another place (or at another point in time). The difference between the purchase price and the sale price (minus the relevant transaction costs) constitutes the surplus." p.16
This sort of historical mystification is typical in Heinrich's INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE VOLUMES OF KARL MARX'S CAPITAL. Transaction costs? Like the socially necessary labour time of the sailors, the ship builders and others who use their skills to get the commodity bought, transported and profitably sold in the market?
No. These are near invisible to Heinrich. What he makes visible is the price which is in reality the abstraction. What he makes invisible is the producer who sells a skill to an employer for a wage and who thereby agrees to give up control and ownership of what s/he produces, i.e. the surplus wealth created within the labour time applied by the worker.
I point out these flaws, not because I want to nit-pick my way though Heinrich's book; but to demonstrate that the good professor neither has the grasp of Marx's critique of political-economy that Engels had, nor is he able to come up with a totally reliable application of Marx's theories of surplus value to the 21st century.
Heinrich just doesn't get the point that socially necessary labour time (snlt) is embodied in ALL commodities, including the individual worker's skills, skills which are being sold to an employer for their market price. He does see that commodities are exchanged on the basis of their snlt; but his emphasis on the act of exchange makes him deny the fact that without snlt the good or service would not exist in the first place to be compared for exchange. Thus, he does not take into account the fact that an electrical engineer's skills sell for a higher price than a worker who has no skills and only a high school education because the engineer's skills have more socially necessary labour time embodied them than the unskilled high school graduate does. This error leads to many, many errors in his INTRODUCTION TO MARX'S THREE VOLUMES OF CAPITAL. He seems to confuse the abstraction of price with value, the socially necessary labour time embodied in a commodity, pretty consistently.
Heinrich claims Marx intends the first chapter of the first volume of CAPITAL as purely theoretical and that the analysis of the commodity therein can't be placed in historical context. I think he is wrong. Socially necessary labour time can be seen in traded commodities during earlier, first modes of production and exchange-- C-M-C under class rule. A peasant knows about how much time it takes to produce something he wants to trade for something he is willing to trade from his own work. Generalised commodity production under the rule of Capital M-C-M' is generalised wage labour and this combined with the ubiquitous money commodity obscures, indeed fetishises the source of wealth and the socially necessary labour time embodied within it in the modern age. All of which is why Marx attempts to explain how all this snlt in commodities ends up being represented in the money commodity, even in the fetishised world of generalised commodity production and sale under the rule of Capital:
And further on in the same chapter of CAPITAL volume I, Marx writes:
D. The Money-Form
20yards of linen=
10lbs of tea=
40lbs of coffee=
1quarter of corn=
2ounces of gold=
½a ton of iron=
xCommodity A=
= 2 ounces of gold
In passing from form A to form B, and from the latter to form C, the changes are fundamental. On the other hand, there is no difference between forms C and D, except that, in the latter, gold has assumed the equivalent form in the place of linen. Gold is in form D, what linen was in form C – the universal equivalent. The progress consists in this alone, that the character of direct and universal exchangeability – in other words, that the universal equivalent form – has now, by social custom, become finally identified with the substance, gold.
In my opinion, Heinrich is just plain wrong about socially necessary labour time not being materially embedded in commodities. The finished commodity is the crystallisation of applied snlt. I think of snlt as energy which is equal to and embodied within the material object or service. E=Matter embodied in the Commodity through Time, if you will.
Other than that, Heinrich does a pretty good job of explaining many of the intentions and conceptual formations which Karl Marx put forward in his three volumes of CAPITAL. I especially enjoyed reading his critique of the tendency for the rate of profit to fall. So many self-described Marxists (NOT ALL) are wedded to interpreting this tendency as an unbending principle of Capital's inevitable self-destruction. Still, even here, his analysis is flawed because of his inability to adequately differentiate between the abstraction of exchange-value in market price and its concrete expression as socially necessary labour time embodied in goods and services at the point of production.
Yet, Heinrich does write with flashing brilliance at times. Here's an example:
"Wages, profits, and rent thus seem to be nothing other than the portions of the product's value that can be traced back to the functioning of wage-labor, capital, and landed property. At the same time, the transformation of the value of labor-power into the 'value of labor' (see section 4.5) is fundamental: precisely because the wage appears to compensate the 'value of labor,' the remaining components of newly added value, profit and rent, must emanate from the remaining two 'factors of production', capital and landed property. Since commodities are not exchanged at their values but rather at prices of production, this semblance cannot be resolved with regard to a single commodity. There does not appear to be any sort of connection between the expended labour on the one hand, and the average profit and rent on the other: profit depends (under normal conditions) upon the size of the capital employed, regardless whether many or few laborers are employed, and rent depends upon which land and how much of it is used." p.184
He follows that paragraph up with this zinger from Marx:
"..the mystification of the capitalist mode of production, the reification of social relations, and the immediate coalescence of the material relations of production with their historical and social specificity: the bewitched, distorted and upside-down world haunted by Monsieur le Capital and Madame la Terre, who are at the same time social characters and mere things" Marx CAPITAL
One more aspect of Heinrich's work which I would like to draw your attention to is his problem with reading Engels when it comes to the question of the political State. To Michael Heinrich, the modern bourgeois democratic State is not as much the political expression of class rule as it is an independent entity which mediates the abstractions of capitalism while attempting to control the periodic disruptions which erupt between workers and capitalists and between capitalists in the marketplace. Engels, and Marx for that matter, saw the State as the political expression of class rule through history. In no way did they see the State as being the same governing structure, whether ancient, feudal or the modern bourgeois democratic State. But when one reads Heinrich, one gets the impression that they did, especially Engels.
"Under capitalist social relations, direct political force is not necessary for the maintenance of economic exploitation: it is sufficient for the state as a force standing above society to guarantee that all members of society behave like owners of private property. However, the state must be a discrete, independent force, since it has to compel all members of society to recognize one another as private owners." p.204
Both Marx and Engels realised that capitalist democracy was not the same as the monarchist absolutism of feudalism or slave owning dictatorships of class rule. Why else would they be so keen on promoting the Social Democracy of their day and age? And while the capitalist class would like the State to appear as an independent force, cementing civil society together 'fairly', the reality is, as Marx put it in when he was in his 20s, "The existence of the state is inseparable from the existence of slavery."
Young Marx's observation aside, Heinrich sees the governing structure of capitalist class rule like this: "The state does in fact conduct itself as a neutral instance with regard to its citizens; this neutrality is in no way merely an illusion. Rather it is precisely by means of this neutrality that the state secures the foundations of capitalist relations of domination and exploitation. The defense of property implies that those who possess no relevant property beyond their own labor-power must sell their labor-power." p.205
Neutrality? Must is more like it. Tell it to the workers on the picket line, Professor Heinrich, especially when the police are sent in to defend the scabs crossing said picket line. To be sure, the political expression is more about class mediation than say the absolutism of the old feudal State. But the modern, industrial political State is not neutral; it is profoundly partisan defending the class interests of those who own and control the natural resources and the collective product of labour in either companies or via the State itself. Of course, many workers are under the illusion that government is neutral that is, until they have a run in with the armed bodies of men and women who are hired by the State to defend the property rights of the capitalists. When do the police arrest the capitalists for violating the rights of the workers to the product of their labour?
Frederick Engels
London, on the 20th anniversary
of the Paris Commune, March 18, 1891
So yes, do read Heinrich's INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE VOLUMES OF KARL MARX'S CAPITAL. But please remember that wealth, no matter which historical era it is produced in, whether it be produced by slaves, peasants or wage-slaves, that commodified product of social labour can be sold or traded for something perceived as being of equal socially necessary labour time and that is what makes a good or service or labour power exchangeable. In fact, I'd say that Marx's own speech to workers in 1865 is still the best introduction to CAPITAL. It's now called "Value, Price and Profit". Keep in mind as you read Heinrich's work, the fact that private ownership of wealth is, in itself, a political power over those who produce it. Socialism means the collective product of labour is owned and controlled by labour itself and the end of class rule and its political State.
In future, the perception of the subject-object relation is what I would have had Heinrich put more focus on: humans and their mental perception of their own and their fellow producers' labour time and what that labour time results in. Engels wasn't wrong with his interpretation of Marx's critique of political-economy. Heinrich just can't read Engels in historical context. Yes, Heinrich is spot on with his observations on the failures of mainstream Social Democrats and Marxist-Leninists to grasp the philosophical depth of Marx's dialectical analysis in CAPITAL. No, Heinrich does not give his readers an adequate explanation of what socialism meant to Marx and Engels, a socialism which could begin with labour vouchers based on socially necessary labour time--to make the relationship between the product and the producer transparent. This proposal is something which Heinrich rejects by associating it with socialist schemes which retain commodity production and exchange (see for example Proudhon).
"In Marx's time, this question was not a merely academic one. Various socialist tendencies, in devising alternatives to capitalism, aspired to a society in which private commodity production would continue to exist, but money would be abolished and replaced by certificates of entitlement to good or slips denoting hours of performed labor." p.57
Yet, contra Heinrich and his constant attempt to decouple socially necessary labour time from value embodied in goods and services, Marx suggests using labour time vouchers under a communist mode of production and exchange more than once:
CAPITAL Volume II, chapter 18, page 358
CAPITAL Volume III, chapter 36, page 607
Thus, Marx proposes to demystify the relations which occur with money and generalised commodity production. Marx and Engels hoped that this beginning for socialism would be developed by the producers, democratically organised in free association and as they shed the the scars of class society (e.g. the free-rider syndrome among others), the distribution of the collective produce of society would morph into one based purely what humans needed while gaining maximum sovereignty for the individual to decide what to do with their lives and free-time.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24333
|
You searched for: “aquagenic pruritus
aquagenic pruritus (s) (noun)
1. A skin disease characterized by the development of severe, prickling-like epidermal discomfort which is without observable skin lesions and that is evoked by contact with water at any temperature.
2. An intense itching that is the result of brief contact with water of any temperature, but which does not produce any visible changes in the skin.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24336
|
Labour market facts - London Economic Region - March 2018
This is a summary visual presenting the essential labour market indicators for the London Economic Region. The source for the information presented in the document is the monthly Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada, CANSIM - Table 282-0122 provides the monthly 3-month moving average estimates, unadjusted for seasonality.
2017 EmployerOne Survey Results
This document contains the slides' deck for the presentation titled "2017 EmployerOne Survey Results" from April 4th at the London Convention Center.
Intra-provincial and inter-provincial migration between 2011 and 2013: the London Economic Region
The report intends to explore and identify trends associated to the population migration in the London Economic Region (LER) during 2011-2013. Population migration is an important component in understanding the dynamic of the labour force in the region. Conclusions and forecasts resulting from the patterns identified in the report might help local and regional economic developers customize their policies to limit undesired effects.
Working Together to Build Tomorrow's Workforce
Four action themes have emerged during the planning process:
1. Accessing Talent
2. Skills Development
3. Understanding the Labour Market
4. System Solutions
Information and Communications Technologies Sector - 2014 Report
The present document attempts to inform the public about the current labour market trends in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector starting from a national view and narrowing progressively towards a local scope. The analysis is focused on basic economics such as sector associated GDP, productivity, structure of employers and employment, and governmental support.
A few select findings of the analysis are succinctly provided below.
Q2 of 2014 Internet job posting in EMO region
Ontario MTCU: Job trends forecast
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24337
|
Fire Punch
From Worms Knowledge Base
Revision as of 03:21, 16 January 2017 by FoxHound (Talk | contribs) (Tactics)
Jump to: navigation, search
(Up to Weapons)
Firepunchicon.png Fire Punch
Type: Close Combat
Keyboard selection: F4 (x1)
Standard effects: 30hp damage
Present in: Worms DC, Worms 2, W:A, WWP
Power settings
Power Maximum
11 15 hp
12 21
1 24
2 27
3 30
4 33
5 36
19 39
14 45
15 60
The Fire Punch is one of the standard close combat weapons available, and is usually found in infinite supply along with the Prod and Dragon Ball. Upon use, the worm will punch directly upwards, cutting through any land he happens to be directly underneath. The enemy worm will then be knocked in an arc that has more height and less distance than the one created from being hit with the Dragon Ball.
• The Fire Punch knocks an enemy worm further than a prod, so is more effective at knocking an enemy off of a cliff. It also does base damage, and is more likely to give higher fall damage, making it far more useful than a prod in most situations.
• The Fire Punch will cut through ground above you, allowing you to hit opponents that are directly above you (usually on a bridge) without running the risk of hurting yourself. It can also be used to create a path for you to travel through if the land is small enough.
• The Fire Punch can be used in mid-air, so you can gain almost double height by using it at the apex of a backflip jump. However, using it at this height will result in the user obtaining fall damage when he lands, thereby not receiving any retreat time.
• Using the Low Gravity utility will allow your worm to punch even higher, and using this in conjunction with a backflip will allow you to hit enemies really high above you.
• You can hit an enemy with a Fire Punch by standing directly on top of them, so a worm backed against a wall can still be hit away from the wall this way.
• If a worm is correctly trapped above you at the right height, it is possible to hit him two or even three times in a single punch, achieving up to 90 points of damage with one standard power Fire Punch. However, this is very difficult to achieve.
• Fire Punch can collect crates.
Criticisms, Problems and Weaknesses
• If the enemy worm is standing directly at the edge of a small hole, then the Fire Punch may knock him over the hole rather than into it, so the prod is more effective in this case. Similarly, a dragonball will send the enemy further if the landscape is flat.
• In WormsDC, the game will lock up if the active worm dies while executing a Fire Punch.
External links
Personal tools
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24342
|
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Ever just have one of those days...
...when you honestly believe that for some reasons or another, your brain decided to have a vacation with out you knowing about it. Kinda like those days when for some reason, it seems like you had lost your smarts from the previous day and became somewhat of a dumb ass. The days when you decide to eat everything within sight, and then go to the grocery store, and get some more. The days when after weeks and weeks of your friends trying to get you to do something that you would normally never do, you decide "Hey, what the hell. I'll try it!" and something horrible happens. The days that you'll remember for the rest of your life, and kick yourself in the ass for.
Those days are what make people, people. The reason being is that when we make mistakes or do something out of the ordinary, we gain something in return for whatever may have happened. That thing we get is knowledge. Knowledge to know never, EVER do that thing again. It's like when we were kids and the stove was on. Rather than tell us not to touch it, our parents just stayed silent as we slowly reached for the extremely hot metal/stove thing. Then we touch it, and it hurts like hell. You ask your parents why did they let you do something like that, and you know what they said? "Now you know not to touch something that is freaking hot."
The mistakes we make in life help build us up. It shows which paths not to take, and which ones are much better to travel. So even if you know it is a bad idea, you should at least try it once just so that you know that it was a really, REALLY stupid idea in the first place.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Point of View
Here is a short little essay that I wrote for my other blog.
Point of View
When I think about the world we live in right now, its kind of like looking into a future in which you are living. We have so many great things going for us, yet a lot of people just do not see it. When presented with something that could extend our lifetimes possibly indefinitely, they say that only pathetic pieces of shit would actually do it rather than face death like the rest of them. These people who are looking forward to such advances in technology are not doing so because they are "afraid of death" but rather they want to experience more than what their lifetimes could give them. They are the ones who want to see the human race one day leave this small planet in the corner of no-where, and go on to do great things. They are the ones who want to witness history as it is happening, and be apart of it too.
Sure, there are people who would do this just because they are afraid of death and all that comes with that, but who isn't? If you are not afraid to die then there is something seriously wrong with you. We as humans do not know what comes after this life, and we may never know. We have people who say they know what happens after death because it was told by a book written thousands of years ago. The reason why they had that all that time ago was that they still didn't know what happens after death, and they were making the best guesses they could with what they knew.
Now with all of the technology we have today, the idea that there is something "after" death is becoming more and more questioned. Now I'm not here saying that there isn't, what I'm saying is that we do not know. At least till our times come whenever that might be. And who knows... maybe there is some second chapter to our existence after we leave our earthly bodies. We will never know.
Anyways, what I'm trying to get across is that rather than being pessimistic about life and our world, we should be hopeful that we rise above the challenges set before us and come out as better people than we are today. If not us, our children and then their children. We have so much going for us as a species and people just don't seem to see that. There is a road of endless opportunities laid out before us that leads to who knows where, but we should follow it. It would be better than just sitting off to the side of the road thinking "I'm done" because if we try to do something, no matter how long it could take, I have a feeling that we will be able to do it one day.
And hey, it would be nice to see us humans exploring the galaxy one day, and then the Universe another. We just have to hope that the future us' will decide to stay on the road rather than stopping off to the side.
A short story called "Let's Watch the World Burn"
Let's Watch the World Burn
It was all over the news for the past couple of days. The growing tension between the United States and Russia has been growing with the assassination of the president and the coup that happened the following day. The conservatives finally had their government back. With the new president in power, changes have started appearing all over America. Many of them putting it back into a God fearing country from which it came from. I thought about fleeing, seeing as this country was not the one that I was born in, and that it was slowly moving towards war with most , if not all other World powers because of it idiocy which had taken shape with in. I thought about leaving, and going to country that was not apart of this stupidity that was about to take place, but my apathy dictated me to stay, and just watch how things developed.
It was a month after the new Government had taken over when it had declared war on the rest of the world, stating that it was not fit to exist except for under the "Democratic" flag of America. I should have left when this happened, but I didn't. I didn't think anything bad would happen if I just kept my head down and let the world continue on to its path of destruction. This is when I met her. She was exactly my type, and we hit it off great. We fell in love after the first week. Then we heard that our country was going to destroy the rest of the world so that only our country can exist. Well Russia was not gonna have any of that so they declared war on America the next day.
For some reason, no one knows now, someone fired the first shot that would end the world as we know it. After this shot, America with all its power decided it would make an example of Russia by glassing it over with its nuclear arms. Russia decided to stop this and used its own nuclear weapons as soon as we fired our own. When I heard what was happening, I realized it was too late, and ran for her. We then went to the top of the nearest building and watched as our world came to an end. As the mushroom cloud grew, and the shock wave got closer, I looked into her eyes and said "At least I found you in the end". We held each other as our world, and lives, came to an end in the blink of an eye.
Here is a short story I wrote in the span of and hour.
I posted this on my other blog some time ago.
Here it is
Middle of Nowhere "Hope"
It was a normal afternoon in this small town in the middle of nowhere. The towns people went about their daily lives with out the slightest clue on what was about to happen to them. They shopped, cleaned, talked, laughed without the knowledge of what was to come. The end was close alright, at least for this small town in the middle of nowhere.
It began on a seemingly normal afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, kids were out and about playing their silly games and their parents were working and talking with one another. Suddenly, a scream so loud and high pitch came out of nowhere and paralyzed the towns people. It was as if this noise was coming from inside their heads. Some began clawing at their face to hopefully stop it, but nothing helped. And as suddenly as it sounded, it vanished. A eerie silence over took the town and not a single noise was made.
As the people started to recover from this random and horrifying ordeal, something even worse appeared on the horizon. From the east, a great, black mist was barreling towards the town. Most people had enough time to make it in, but others were unlucky. They were trapped in this pitch black mist with nothing that would let them see. Even flashlights could not cut through this impenetrable darkness. As the people that were left outside began to try to find a way out of this darkness, the screams came. Not the ones heard earlier that day, but a different kind of scream. The kind only a man in his death throughs would make.
One man that was fortunate enough to find his way to a building began to see strange shapes in the dark, rolling mist. He called out to them, but there was no response. Suddenly more screaming and yelling was heard from multiple directions as if the whole world around him was being slaughtered. The man began to run and try to find a way inside this building that was acting as his one form of direction he could trust. As he began searching for a way in he stumbled over some sort of garbage someone must have left out. He fell hard against the cold ground just for a moment, and then he felt the wetness forming on his shirt. He then noticed a strange smell that he could only describe as the smell of iron.
At the realization of what he just stumbled over he began to panic. The sounds from whatever was out there were getting closer ans closer and he still could not find a way in. Then he saw it. A light in the darkness in the form of a store front windows. He began sprinting towards his only salvation when all hope drained from his world. Something stood in front of the windows. That something was not human, or animal, or anything he had seen before, but he felt like this was not the first time humans and these thing had crossed paths because he felt a sort of primal fear sweep across his body at the sight of it.
It looked, form a distance, like a very tall and skinny man. However in the light its features that differentiated them from us were all to obvious. The creature was so skinny, you could see its bones, or what he thought were bones poking through its hairless exterior. Its arms were abnormally long , reaching to the ground almost when the creature took a hunchback position. The limbs were very skinny, almost bone like and had the feeling of sharpness from them. What was worse of all was the head. Its skull looks like it was elongated at the back of the skull giving it a very strange, oval like appearance from the side. Then there was the face. The face is what really made the man drop to his knees and begin to whimper like a small child. The face seemed like it was stretched into a evil looking smile that reached from one side of its massive head to the other with long rows of sharp and point teeth. Its nose was what a humans would if there was no skin or cartridge on it. Then the eyes, they were sunken into the creatures head and made it so that when you look into them, you feel like your being swallowed up into a current of never ending horror and innocence.
The creature noticed this small man sobbing uncontrollable on the ground and made its way towards him. As the creature moved away from the window, the man saw what would happen if he even made it inside. Pieces of meat and flesh were strewn about the lite room as if the creature that did so was playing with the remains of the victims. He also saw a little hand print of blood made on the window that could have only came from a child...
The man knew he was going to die and then ripped apart to satisfy some otherworldly creatures desire and he knew nothing he could do would save him. He decided after seeing that small hand print, he would at least go down fighting. Even though nothing could save him, he still needed to try to live and not resign his fate over to this creature that stood before him.
He slowly got himself off the ground and was able to stand just barely, wobbling to the left and right as he tried to stabilize his fear induced tremors. He looked at the creature and said something under his breath as if to someone else and then he smiled. He rushed towards the creature and the creature rushed towards him. As he comes in closer to the creature, all doubt is gone within his mind. He was at peace with what was about to happen. They then reached each other as the black mist that blocked out all light, except for this one kindled inside this mans heart, hope.
New blog with hopefully new ideas.
Since on my other blog a great majority of what I post is stuff I write, I decided to actually have a blog specifically for that purpose. Since I do not have anything to post story wise at this moment, I am going to slowly add my other writings from the other blog here, along with short things like I write in like <20 minutes. Also, I am going to participate in the November writing thing where you have to write a 50000 word story. I think that will be fun! :D
Anyways, I hope you enjoy what this blog may become.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24343
|
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - Why I Won't Vote to Raise the Debt Limit - Opinion: Why I Won't Vote to Raise the Debt Limit
In fact, it's nothing more than putting off the tough decisions until after the next election. We cannot afford to continue waiting.
Sunday, March 20, 2011 - How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine - Opinion: How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine
It might not have been the most stylish, but for decades the top-loading laundry machine was the most affordable and dependable. Now it's ruined—and Americans have politics to thank.
How's that for progress?
The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency. Efficiency standards for washing machines aren't as well-known as those for light bulbs, which will effectively prohibit 100-watt incandescent bulbs next year. Nor are they the butt of jokes as low-flow toilets are. But in their quiet destruction of a highly affordable, perfectly satisfactory appliance, washer standards demonstrate the harmfulness of the ever-growing body of efficiency mandates.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - The Unhappy Paradox of Santa-Statism - Opinion: The Unhappy Paradox of Santa-Statism
The real problem [with budget cutting] is that cutting almost anything is impossible when what passes for governing philosophy is little more than a bromide such as, "The government should do nice things for people."
The president is hardly alone in this Santa-Statism. And to be sure, polls about the government doing generic good things for people elicit positive responses, even in these times of antigovernment fervor.
So it might seem like a winner for a politician to lard up every policy and speech with government kindness. But this leads to a terrible paradox for policy makers. While Americans favor "nice things" in theory, the resulting government—a kind of adlibocracy, if you will—ends up looking wasteful at best and predatory at worst.
The "doing good" philosophy cannot accommodate difficult but necessary budget decisions. It will always devolve into a drunken spending binge largely directed toward rewarding political friends like public-sector unions (witness the current mayhem in Wisconsin), engaging in social engineering (see the new health-care mandates), socializing losses (emergency loans and grants to failing businesses), and doling out pork (look almost anywhere in the stimulus).
So citizens say they want government to help them, politicians oblige, but citizens loathe the result. How do we cut this Gordian Knot? The solution is a real philosophy that outlines what the government should do—and, just as importantly, not do.
What is that governing philosophy? Here is an answer from the great economist and Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek: As regards the economy, the government should provide a minimum basic standard of living for citizens, and address market failures in cases where government action can do so cost effectively. That's all.
Monday, March 7, 2011 - Public Unions Get Too 'Friendly' - Opinion: Public Unions Get Too 'Friendly'
When union leaders negotiate with a politician, they're negotiating with someone they can hire and fire. Public unions have numbers and money, and politicians need both. When governors negotiate with unions, it's not collective bargaining, it's more like collusion. Someone said last week the taxpayers aren't at the table. The taxpayers aren't even in the room.
Friday, March 4, 2011 - The Truth About U.S. Manufacturing - Opinion: The Truth About U.S. Manufacturing
Is American manufacturing dead? You might think so reading most of the nation's editorial pages or watching the endless laments in the news that "nothing is made in America anymore," and that our manufacturing jobs have vanished to China, Mexico and South Korea.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - Let's Begin Obama's 'Conversation' on Entitlements - Opinion: Let's Begin Obama's 'Conversation' on Entitlements
Nobody should be surprised that public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are fighting to preserve every penny of their promised benefits.
Nobody should be surprised that state governors—and it doesn't matter which party—are trying to trim those privileges and benefits.
Medicare is the real killer. An average couple retiring last year can look forward to consuming Medicare benefits with a present value of $343,000, having paid Medicare taxes with a present value of $109,000.
Moving toward a system of real savings, in which payroll taxes would flow into some version of personal accounts controlled by the worker, would bring a big improvement to incentives. We could expect a sizeable growth dividend to help finance the transition.
By "finance the transition," of course, we mean today's workers having to reach into their own pockets twice, paying for their own retirement while also making up for the saving their parents and grandparents didn't do. When people talk about generational injustice, this is what they mean.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24346
|
plz help a 1st year student
Discussion in 'Computer Science and IT Students' started by Guest, Jul 1, 2008.
1. Guest
Guest Guest
helo...to all the readers.
i am Prateek..from BRCM college of E&T .i just passed my 1st year
exams and don't know on which topic I should concentrate so that
I can make myself placed in a reputed company.As all you there are
experienced engineers ..so i am sure that you will guide me.
2. Guest
Guest Guest
in my opinion..u better conce3ntrate in programming..u should be thorough with atleast one language
Share This Page
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24349
|
Using the Science of Drones for Investigating
Crescent Investigations, LLC says that in the recent years, the use of drones by private investigators has increased. This is after a ruling by a judge to lift the ban on the use of commercial drones. With that said, there are ways in which a private investigator uses drones for work. Here are four of these ways.
• Using drones to locate hidden items on people’s backyards, which is almost the same as law enforcement using helicopters to search marijuana fields.
• In accident reconstructions, private investigators and law enforcement can use drones to document events as they happen.
• Drones can be used to show real-time imagery, and when used with Google Earth, they can show clear evidence of how topology has changed over time.
• Private investigators can also use drones for surveillance instead of going to a suspect’s home in person. Using drones minimizes the chances of being shot or being accused of trespassing.
With the use of drones, it becomes easy for private investigators to provide information required by insurance companies, attorneys, and government officials.
Please visit the website here:
The Science of How an Air Conditioner Works!
How does an air conditioner work?
To be more precise, these machines operates in a similar manner just as the refrigerators. Instead of cooling just a small insulated area inside of the refrigerators, an air conditioner cools an entire room or a whole house.
Air conditioners use chemicals which regularly reverses itself from a gaseous state to a liquid state. These particular chemical transfers heat from the air inside your the house or a home to the air outside.
The central cooling system consists of three distinct parts, including the evaporator, the compressor, and a condenser. The evaporator is located inside the house, usually in the context of the furnace. It is the part which heats the house of yours. The condenser and the compressor are often located on the outside air part of the conditioner.
The working liquid reaches the compressor as an entirely low-pressure and a cooling gas. The compressor then squeezes this particular fluid. Scientifically, this process is aimed at packing the fluid’s molecules closely together. When the particles are firmly packed, its temperature and the energy increases significantly.
The working liquid then exits the compressor as a boiling gas with high pressure, as it flows slowly into the condenser. This working fluid then leaves the condenser as a liquid and is also much cooler since it was subjected to high pressures. It then enters the evaporator via a subtle hole which is narrow. On the other side, the pressure of the liquid drastically drops, and it starts evaporating again into a gas.
As the fluid changes to gaseous state, it extracts the heat from the air around as it evaporates. The heat in the air is vital in mobilizing the molecules of the fluid as they change from liquid to gas. It is also important to note that the evaporator is equipped with metal fins, which ensures an efficient exchange of thermal energy with the surrounding air. At the time when the working liquid comes out of the evaporator, it is a very cool and a gas of low pressure. For the continuity of the process, it goes back to the compressor to start the trip once again.
There is a fan which is connected to the evaporator. Its function is to circulate the air inside the house and make them blow across the fins of the evaporator. Bearing in mind that warm air is lighter than cold air, the hot air inside the room rises to the top. There is a vent there, by which the air goes inside the air conditioner, traveling through the ducts. The hot air is used in cooling the gas inside the evaporator. As the heat is being eliminated from the air, it undergoes cooling and then blown into your house via other ducts, which are often located at the level of the floor.
The process is repeated over and over, until your room the reaches your preferred temperature level. The thermostat somehow detects that the temperature has come to the intended setting, and therefore it automatically turns the air conditioner off.
You have now known how an air conditioner works! If you want to learn more check out Alpha Air, LLC website for more information.
The science of air conditioning – for cooling your home.
If you are struggling to live a comfortable and pleasurable life in hot summer months then air conditioning is the best option for you as it helps you to deal with the heat and dampness of summer in an efficient manner. The air conditioner is one of the most important home appliances that help in eliminating the unwanted heat from your room and thus it is important to know the science of air conditioning so you can hire a company like Alpha Air, LLC that can install it properly!
Air conditioners make use of refrigeration for chilling the indoor air so that you can have a comfortable environment inside your room. It also provides you an opportunity of relaxing within the confines of your room and the science of air conditioning is that the appliance takes advantage of the physical law. The liquid inside the air conditioner converts to the gas with the process known as phase conversion and it eventually helps in absorbing the heat from the environment. This appliance exploits the most important feature of phase conversion as it forces the special chemical compounds for evaporating and condensing over and over again in closed system of coils. The compounds that are involved in this process are known as refrigerants that have different properties that enable them to be changed at relatively low temperatures. The air conditioning unit also compromises of fans that move the warm interior air these cold and refrigerant filled coils. These air conditioners have whole system of ducts that are especially designed to funnel the air to and from the serpentine and air chilling coils.
The science of air conditioning is the use of cooling technology that is used for cooling the air inside the room and it also make use of the blowers that helps in pulling the heat and moisture from room air to filter. The air is then dehumidified by the blowers which are then blown back into the room and thus the air conditioner needs to have an opening so that the hot air is pushed outside from the room. The air conditioners are energy efficient as it consumes energy that is required for cooling the room rather than consuming a large amount of energy for cooling the whole building or house. It provides comfort cooling to the room where it is installed and it also helps in preventing appliances like computer from overheating and hence eliminates the risk of damage. If you want to read more about how air conditioning work you check out more about Alpha Air, LLC because they offer some of the very best air conditioning baton rouge has to offer the surrounding areas!
Here is a great article from wikipedia about air conditioning and how it works!
air conditioning baton rouge
What Is The Science Behind Home Electrical Systems?
Electricity refers to a form of energy that results from the existence of charged particles. These particles, such as protons and electrons may either exist in a static state as a result of accumulation of charge or dynamically as a result of the flow of current.
Electricity as a form of energy has many uses including supplying energy to industrial plants as well as residential homes. In this article we shall look at the exact process that entails the flow of electricity from the production plants to your home. Join me, therefore as we look into the science of home electrical systems.
At The Plants
The electricity production plants generate electricity through steam that results from the combustion of fossil fuels or at a hydroelectric or nuclear plant.
Once generated, this steam powers a turbine and the turbine spins a huge magnet that’s inside a copper wire. As a result, the heat energy generated transforms into mechanical energy before converting into electrical energy.
From the Plant to Your Home
Once generated, electricity flows from the plant through wires that are intermittently connected by a chain of transformers hung on electrical poles.
The sole purpose of these transformers is to raise the pressure of the electricity so that it can travel over long distances and finally reach your home, especially if you are located far away from the production plants. The pressure can be raised to 756 000 volts.
The current is then run through power lines to a substation transformer where pressure is further lowered to between 2000 & 13000 volts.
From the substations, electricity is taken through various lines to a pole transformer or a transformer box in case of underground connections. At this point, pressure is lowered further to between 120 & 240 volts.
From the Transformer To Your Power Control Panel
From the transformer, electricity travels to your home power control panel. This is usually a cabinet which contains a system of electrical wires as well as electrical components needed to control the motors and equipment. Depending on the size of your house, the panel could be located inside the house or in a specially designed shed outside.
Aside from housing the electrical components, the power control panel protects the contents from electrical wires from harsh weather, especially rain and storms that could trigger massive failures in the system.
Movement Within Your Home
It is important to note that not all homes have the Power Control Panels and in such cases, electricity is passed directly from the pole transformer to the meter box. The meter box is used to measure the number of units of electrical energy used in your home. These units are measured in kWh.
From the meter box, electricity will go through the main switch. The main switch plays vital roles as it can be sued to cut off the supply of electricity altogether, either for repair and maintenance needs or simply as a measure of caution.
Movement to Lighting and other Appliances
For electricity to flow to a light or an appliance, a path is provided through which it can also return to the generator. This path forms the circuit. The path must be made up of at least two wires namely the active or live wire that takes electricity away from the generator and to your home appliances and the neutral wire that takes the electricity away from your home appliances back to the generator. This explains why each appliance must have at least two wires.
Additionally, a large number of electrical outlets, also referred to as power points, need to be included in your home as these not only reduce the risk of overloading but also eliminate the excessive use of double adaptors and extension cords.
Risk-control measures
Last but not least, an efficient electrical system in your house should contain a fuse board. The board contain fuses that act as safety valves that protect the wires as well as the occupants of the house. In order to ensure that you and your appliances are safe, the fuse acts as a safety device and detects any extra loads beyond the amount it was designed to carry. This load will cause it to melt and low up, thereby disconnecting the devise from electrical supply and ultimately ensuring its and your safety.
Electrical Systems
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24387
|
Thank You Testo
Testo Thank You
[Jay-Z Talking]
Thank you, thank you very much
For comin' out this evening
[Verse 1]
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
You're far too kind
Hold you're applause
This is your song not mines
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Please hold your applause
For I just applied logic Keys keys open doors
Now I'm balcony, Opera, Black Tux, Binocula
Black luxe, Stop it I shouldn't be so popular
Name keep poppin' up Face keep poppin' up
On the tube I'm just watchin' Pacquaio box 'em up
How would I know HBO would get a shot of us
Sitting so close that we almost got snot on us
Please don't bow in my presence How am I a Legend?
I just got 10 #1 albums Maybe now 11
More hits than a Now! 11
That is no reason to treat me like I'm somehow from outta heaven
Heaven knows that I've made my mistakes
Thank God, what a guy as I say my grace
Who woulda thought by making birds migrate
For the winter I be fly all summer Might I say
Thank you, Thank you, thank you You're far too kind
Hold your applause This is your song not mines
Thank you, Thank you, thank you You're far too kind
Do me a favor, don't do me no favors I'll handle mines
[Verse 2]
Hovi Baby
We are really high, really high tonight
We tip the waiter a hundred dollars
To keep the ice cold, alright?
We the last guys to keep the Wise guys code alive
If I can't live by my word Then I'd much rather die
No no don't thank me, This is just how my suit is stitched
For the Color Of Money like a Tom Cruise flick
'Cept I put 8-balls in corners without using pool sticks
Beautiful music when champagne flutes click
Beautiful women sippin' throught rouge lips
Dangers approaches We're like wait who's this?
Let us save you some trouble son
What size suit you is?
This way after the Ruger shoots through a few clips
You can lay in your casket just as you is
We appreciate the target practices
We'll be sure to send flower baskets kid
[Repeat Hook]
[Verse 3]
I was gonna kill a couple rappers
But they did it to themselves
I was gon' do it with the flow
But they did it with their sales
I was gon' 9/11 'em, but they didn't need the help
And they did a good job them boys is talented as hell
They ran a plane into that building and when that building fell
Ran to the crash site with no masks and inhaled
Toxins deep inside their lungs until both of them was filled
Cuz they heard that second hand smoke kills
Niggas thought they was ill found out they was...ILL
And it's like you knew exactly how I wanted you to feel
We are really high, really high tonight
Lucky Lefty, kiss the wife tonight for me
Copia testo
• Guarda il video di "Thank You"
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24409
|
Saturday, September 09, 2017
Air France completes 50 years of Mumbai-Paris flight
Mumbai: Air France added Mumbai to its Far East network and launched flights from Mumbai on September 7, 1967. The airline now operates a daily service between Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport by Boeing 777-220.
Air France began connecting Far East Asia as early as 1930, and its first flights to India were from Jodhpur, Allahabad and Calcutta. As more powerful aircrafts entered the airline industry, it began Boeing flight connecting Paris to Tokyo via New Delhi or Calcutta. By 1967, Mumbai was expanding rapidly, and Air France started the Mumbai-Paris flight.
Presently, its flight AF217 leaves Mumbai at 2 am and reaches Paris at 8 am daily, while its flight AFF218 leaves Paris at 11.10 am and arrives in Mumbai at 11.30 pm.
On its flights, Air France offers an Indian vegetarian meal option, Bollywood movies in inflight entertainment and even provides Air France agents fluent in English and Hindi at Charles de Gaulle airport for Indian passengers.
08/09/17 Mumbai Mirror
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24413
|
As if unlawfully arresting the Faith’s leaders, intensifying propaganda campaigns and vilifying those willing to speak out on behalf of the oppressed isn’t enough, Iranian news agencies have reported the launch of a petition demanding the dissolution of Baha’i administrations in Iran. The text of the petition reads:
Baha’ism is an organized sect, with its leadership residing under the protective shade of the militantly aggressive occupier of Jerusalem [i.e. Israel], and has established its foundation by spreading lies against Islam and Iran, and by openly and fearlessly advancing the political, cultural and economic aims of global Zionism. This Zionist-Baha’i organization not only has targeted Islam for its cowardly attacks, but is negligent of humanity and its principle needs.
We, the undersigned, in carrying out our Islamic and human duty, request the country’s esteemed Attorney General to confront all elements of this organization and dissolve its administration.
Our initial reaction upon reading the article was to wonder: what Baha’i administration? In 1983, the government banned all Baha’i institutions and National and Local Spiritual Assemblies were disbanded.
At a time when Iranians are reportedly questioning their government’s propaganda, this latest development is critical as it could be used to justify the ongoing persecution by claiming it’s the will of the majority. Could it be meant to set the stage for the trial of the 6 arrested leaders?
Our dear brothers and sisters in Iran, we implore you to consider the following: everyday, you stand up in prayer and declare “In the name of God, the Most Gracious the Most Merciful”. Would a Gracious God sanction assaults against defenseless men, women and children? Would a Merciful God view the arson and destruction of homes approvingly? Would a Just God advocate the unlawful detention of innocent civilians? Would a God Whose first revealed word from the Qur’an was “Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created” [96:1] approve of depriving young children of their right to an education?
Would an Omnipotent God feel threatened by a religion whose tenets speak of love, unity and peace?
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24453
|
Mar 222018
On this date in 1638, following a number of civil and church proceedings against her, Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643), a Puritan and a major player in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony, was formally banished from the Colony. Her strong religious convictions were at odds with the established Puritan clergy in the Boston area, and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened to destroy the Puritan community in New England.
Hutchinson was born in Alford in Lincolnshire in England, the daughter of Francis Marbury, an Anglican cleric and school teacher who gave Anne a superior education for the time. She lived in London as a young adult, and there married her old friend from home William Hutchinson. The couple moved back to Alford where they began following dynamic preacher John Cotton in the nearby port of Boston, Lincolnshire. Cotton was compelled to emigrate in 1633, and the Hutchinsons followed a year later with their 11 children and soon became well established in the growing settlement of Boston in New England. Anne was a midwife and used that position to convey her personal religious convictions to women in her care. Soon she was hosting women at her house weekly, providing commentary on recent sermons. These meetings became so popular that she began offering meetings for men as well, including the young governor of the colony Henry Vane.
She began to accuse the local ministers (except for Cotton and her husband’s brother-in-law John Wheelwright) of preaching a “covenant of works” rather than a “covenant of grace,” and many ministers began to complain about her increasingly blatant accusations, as well as certain theological teachings that did not accord with orthodox Puritan theology. The situation eventually erupted into what is commonly called the Antinomian Controversy. Hutchinson’s visits to women in childbirth led to discussions along the lines of the conventicles in England.
As the meetings continued, Hutchinson began offering her own religious views, stressing that only “an intuition of the Spirit” would lead to one’s election by God, and not good works. Her ideas that one’s outward behavior was not necessarily tied to the state of one’s soul became attractive to those who might have been more attached to their professions than to their religious state, such as merchants and craftsmen. The colony’s ministers became more aware of Hutchinson’s meetings, and they contended that such “unauthorised” religious gatherings might confuse the faithful. Hutchinson responded to this with a verse from Titus (2:3-4), saying that “the elder women should instruct the younger.”
Hutchinson’s gatherings were seen as unorthodox by some of the colony’s ministers, and differing religious opinions within the colony eventually became public debates. The resulting religious tension erupted into what has traditionally been called the Antinomian Controversy, but has more recently been labelled the Free Grace Controversy. The Reverend Zachariah Symmes had sailed to New England on the same ship as the Hutchinsons. In September 1634, he told another minister that he doubted Anne Hutchinson’s orthodoxy, based on questions that she asked him following his shipboard sermons. This issue delayed Hutchinson’s membership to the Boston church by a week, until a pastoral examination determined that she was sufficiently orthodox to join the church.
In 1635, a difficult situation arose when senior pastor John Wilson returned from a lengthy trip to England where he had been settling his affairs. Hutchinson was exposed to his teaching for the first time, and she immediately saw a big difference between her own doctrines and his. She found his emphasis on morality and his doctrine of “evidencing justification by sanctification” to be disagreeable. She told her followers that Wilson lacked “the seal of the Spirit.” Wilson’s theological views were in accord with all of the other ministers in the colony except for Cotton, who stressed “the inevitability of God’s will” (“free grace”) as opposed to preparation (works).
Hutchinson and her allies had become accustomed to Cotton’s doctrines, and they began disrupting Wilson’s sermons, even finding excuses to leave when Wilson got up to preach or pray. Thomas Shepard, the minister of Newtown (which later became Cambridge), began writing letters to Cotton as early as the spring of 1636. He expressed concern about Cotton’s preaching and about some of the unorthodox opinions found among his Boston parishioners. Shepard went even further when he began criticising the Boston opinions to his Newtown congregation during his sermons. In May 1636, the Bostonians received a new ally when the Reverend John Wheelwright arrived from England and immediately aligned himself with Cotton, Hutchinson, and other “free grace” advocates. Wheelwright had been a close neighbor of the Hutchinsons in Lincolnshire, and his wife was a sister of Hutchinson’s husband. Another boost for the free grace advocates came during the same month, when the young aristocrat Henry Vane was elected as the governor of the colony. Vane was a strong supporter of Hutchinson, but he also had his own ideas about theology that were considered not only unorthodox, but radical by some.
Hutchinson and the other free grace advocates continued to question the orthodox ministers in the colony. Wheelwright began preaching at Mount Wollaston, about ten miles south of the Boston meetinghouse, and his sermons began to answer Shepard’s criticisms with his own criticism of the covenant of works. This mounting “pulpit aggression” continued throughout the summer, along with the lack of respect shown Boston’s Reverend Wilson. Wilson endured these religious differences for several months before deciding that the affronts and errors were serious enough to require a response. He is the one who likely alerted magistrate John Winthrop, one of his parishioners, to take notice. On or shortly after 21 October 1636, Winthrop gave the first public warning of the problem that consumed him and the leadership of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for much of the next two years. In his journal he wrote, “One Mrs. Hutchinson, a member of the church at Boston, a woman of a ready wit and a bold spirit, brought over with her two dangerous errors: 1. That the person of the Holy Ghost dwells in a justified person. 2. That no sanctification can help to evidence to us our justification.” He went on to elaborate these two points, and the Antinomian Controversy began with this journal entry.
On 25th October 1636, seven ministers gathered at the home of Cotton to confront the developing discord; they held a “private conference” which included Hutchinson and other lay leaders from the Boston church. Some agreement was reached, and Cotton “gave satisfaction to them [the other ministers], so as he agreed with them all in the point of sanctification, and so did Mr. Wheelwright; so as they all did hold, that sanctification did help to evidence justification.” Another issue was that some of the ministers had heard that Hutchinson had criticised them during her conventicles for preaching a covenant of works and said that they were not able ministers of the New Testament. Hutchinson responded to this only when prompted, and only to one or two ministers at a time. She believed that her response, which was largely coaxed from her, was private and confidential. A year later, her words were used against her in her 1637 trial, conviction, and banishment from the colony. This was followed by a March 1638 church trial in which she was excommunicated.
Hutchinson and many of her supporters established the settlement of Portsmouth with encouragement from Providence Plantations founder Roger Williams in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. After her husband’s death a few years later, threats of Massachusetts taking over Rhode Island compelled Hutchinson to move totally outside the reach of Boston into the lands of the Dutch. Five of her older surviving children remained in New England or in England, while she settled with her younger children near an ancient landmark called Split Rock in what later became The Bronx in New York City. Tensions were high at the time with the Siwanoy Indians. In August 1643, Hutchinson, six of her children, and other household members were massacred by Siwanoys during Kieft’s War. The only survivor was her 9-year-old daughter Susanna, who was taken captive.
Hutchinson is a key figure in the history of religious freedom in England’s American colonies and the history of women in ministry, challenging the authority of the ministers. She is honored by Massachusetts with a State House monument calling her a “courageous exponent of civil liberty and religious toleration.” She has been called the most famous—or infamous—English woman in colonial American history.
She has since been celebrated in memorials, with a river and a highway (the Hutchinson River Parkway), named after her. I drove the “Hutch” on my daily commute to work for 25 years. By some weird coincidence my first real girlfriend was also named Anne Hutchinson. Yet another Anne Hutchinson wrote the main textbook on Labanotation (dance notation) in English, which I used all the time in my research. Clearly, she is haunting me.
The cooking in colonial North American colonies of the 17th century very closely followed that of the home countries of the colonists, with some substitution of ingredients. This fricassee recipe comes from The Accomplish’d Lady’s Delight In Preserving, Physick, Beautifying, and Cookery (1675), and is a favorite of mine. Rabbit and chicken fricassee were undoubtedly popular dishes in the colonies, although more for special meals than daily cooking. The trick here is to use young, tender meats. Fricassees are not long-cooking stews. The meat, jointed, is simmered very quickly until just cooked, then the juice is replaced with butter and egg yolks to make a thick sauce along with some verjuice (which you can replace with white wine).
To make a Rare Fricacie.
Take Young Rabbits, Young Chickens, or a Rack of Lamb, being cut one Rib from another, and par-boyl either of these well in a Frying-pan with a little water and salt, then pour the water and salt from it, and Fry it with sweet Butter, and make sauce with three Yolks of Eggs beaten well, with six spoonfuls of Verjuice, and a little shred Parsley, with some sliced Nutmeg, and scalded Gooseberries; when it is fryed, pour in the sauce all over the Meat, and so let it thicken a little in the pan; then lay it in a Dish with the sauce, and serve it.
Mar 192017
Here’s my effort for the day:
Feb 102016
paul5 paul6
1 rabbit cut into 6 or 8 pieces
500ml red wine
3 whole garlic bulbs, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 bay leaves
salt and pepper
Serve with boiled new potatoes and marrowfat peas.
Serves 4
Jan 122016
On this date, HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey became operational. The date was given as January 12, 1992 in the movie, but 1997 is the year used in both the novel and screenplay. Here’s the relevant clip. HAL gives the date he went online starting at 3:10.
2001: A Space Odyssey came out in 1968 when there were extraordinary hopes and projections for the future. The plot was very simple; it could be summarized in two or three sentences. The movie was driven by images and special effects meant to convey the feel of a world that was right around the corner – video calls from pay phones, routine flights to a moon base, interplanetary flights etc etc. Arthur C. Clarke (author) and Stanley Kubrick (movie director) were both laughably wrong about these things. But their vision does capture the imagination. HAL 9000 is intrinsic to the movie (and the subsequent book), but not part of the original short story on which the movie was based.
HAL is initially considered a dependable member of the crew on a ship destined for Jupiter whose mission is secret (even from the crew). HAL maintains ship functions and engages genially with the human crew on an equal footing. As a recreational activity, Frank Poole plays against HAL in a game of chess. In the film the artificial intelligence is shown to triumph easily. However, as time progresses, HAL begins to malfunction in subtle ways and, as a result, the decision is made to shut down HAL in order to prevent more serious malfunctions. The sequence of events and manner in which HAL is shut down differs between the novel and film versions of the story. In the aforementioned game of chess HAL makes minor and undetected mistakes in his analysis, a possible foreshadowing of HAL’s malfunctioning.
In the film, astronauts David Bowman and Frank Poole consider disconnecting HAL’s cognitive circuits when he appears to be mistaken in reporting the presence of a fault in the spacecraft’s communications antenna. They attempt to conceal what they are saying by discussing their course of action in a place where HAL cannot hear them, unaware that HAL can read their lips (that programmer should have been fired!). Faced with the prospect of disconnection, HAL decides to kill the astronauts in order to protect and continue its programmed directives, and to conceal its malfunction from Earth. HAL uses one of the Discovery’s EVA pods to kill Poole while he is repairing the ship. When Bowman uses another pod to attempt to rescue Poole, HAL locks him out of the ship, then disconnects the life support systems of the other hibernating crew members. Dave circumvents HAL’s control, entering the ship by manually opening an emergency airlock with his service pod’s clamps, detaching the pod door via its explosive bolts. Bowman jumps across empty space, reenters Discovery, and quickly repressurizes the airlock.
The novel explains that HAL is unable to resolve a conflict between his general mission to relay information accurately, and orders specific to the mission requiring that he withhold from Bowman and Poole the true purpose of the mission. This withholding is considered essential after the findings of a psychological experiment, “Project BARSOOM”, where humans were made to believe that there had been alien contact. In every person tested, a deep-seated xenophobia was revealed, which was unknowingly replicated in HAL’s constructed personality. Mission Control did not want the crew of Discovery to have their thinking compromised by the knowledge that alien contact was already real. With the crew dead, HAL reasons, he would not need to lie to them. He fabricates the failure of the AE-35 antenna-steering unit so that their deaths would appear accidental.
In the novel, the orders to disconnect HAL come from Dave and Frank’s superiors on Earth. After Frank is killed while attempting to repair the communications antenna he is pulled away into deep space using the safety tether which is still attached to both the pod and Frank Poole’s spacesuit. Dave begins to revive his hibernating crewmates, but is foiled when HAL vents the ship’s atmosphere into the vacuum of space, killing the awakening crew members and almost killing Dave. Dave is only narrowly saved when he finds his way to an emergency chamber which has its own oxygen supply and a spare space suit inside.
In both versions, Bowman then proceeds to shut down the machine. In the film, HAL’s central core is depicted as a crawlspace full of brightly lit computer modules mounted in arrays from which they can be inserted or removed. Bowman shuts down HAL by removing modules from service one by one; as he does so, HAL’s consciousness degrades. HAL regurgitates material that was programmed into him early in his memory, including announcing the date he became operational as 12 January 1992 (in the novel, 1997). When HAL’s logic is completely gone, he begins singing the song “Daisy Bell” (in actuality, the first song sung by a computer). HAL’s final act of any significance is to prematurely play a prerecorded message from Mission Control which reveals the true reasons for the mission to Jupiter.
Everyone watching the movie loved HAL. HAL is calm and resolute (until his demise), and its voice is so utterly serene even when killing the crew or refusing orders. It’s not the serenity of a cruel dictator, but the voice of pure logic. Priceless.
I’ve talked about food in space before. You can consult these posts for ideas about actual food on space craft and as experimented with in artificial colonies.
Back in the 1960s, Clarke speculated a little about food production in long-term planetary colonies. He took hydroponic farming (growing plants in fertilized water rather than soil), as a given. No problem. The question of animal protein intrigues me, though. For permanent colonies to be fully self sufficient, they would have to rear animals. Clarke felt that large mammals, including cows, sheep, and goats, might be necessary for variety, but they are inefficient meat producers with a lot of waste. Rabbits, on the other hand, are ideal because they breed quickly, mature fast, and convert plants to protein quickly. So rabbits would be a mainstay. That would be fine by me as it would be for Chinese or Italian colonists. It might not sit so well with people from other cultures. For me, creating variety using primarily rabbit meat would be a bigger issue. But rabbit can be treated much like chicken (no, it does NOT taste like chicken). You can make rabbit and dumplings, rabbit stew, rabbit noodle soup, rabbit curry, and so forth.
My absolute favorite is rabbit pie. It can be made to be eaten hot or cold. I use this recipe from Mrs Beeton (with the addition of her thoughts on rabbit breeding – apt for space colonists). I usually bone the rabbit; Victorians were not so fussy.
1. INGREDIENTS.—1 rabbit, a few slices of ham, salt and white pepper to taste, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, a few forcemeat balls, 3 hard-boiled eggs, 1/2 pint of gravy, puff crust.
Mode.—Cut up the rabbit (which should be young), remove the breastbone, and bone the legs. Put the rabbit, slices of ham, forcemeat balls, and hard eggs, by turns, in layers, and season each layer with pepper, salt, pounded mace, and grated nutmeg. Pour in about 1/2 pint of water, cover with crust, and bake in a well-heated oven for about 1-1/2 hour. Should the crust acquire too much colour, place a piece of paper over it to prevent its burning. When done, pour in at the top, by means of the hole in the middle of the crust, a little good gravy, which may be made of the breast- and leg-bones of the rabbit and 2 or 3 shank-bones, flavoured with onion, herbs, and spices.
Time.—1-1/2 hour. Average cost, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from September to February.
Note.—The liver of the rabbit may be boiled, minced, and mixed with the forcemeat balls, when the flavour is liked.
FECUNDITY OF THE RABBIT.—The fruitfulness of this animal has been the subject of wonder to all naturalists. It breeds seven times in the year, and generally begets seven or eight young ones at a time. If we suppose this to happen regularly for a period of four years, the progeny that would spring from a single pair would amount to more than a million. As the rabbit, however, has many enemies, it can never be permitted to increase in numbers to such an extent as to prove injurious to mankind; for it not only furnishes man with an article of food, but is, by carnivorous animals of every description, mercilessly sacrificed. Notwithstanding this, however, in the time of the Roman power, they once infested the Balearic islands to such an extent, that the inhabitants were obliged to implore the assistance of a military force from Augustus to exterminate them.
Oct 152013
Today is the birthday (1923) of Italo Calvino, acclaimed Italian author (and in my top 10 of the 20th century). Calvino was born in Santiago de Las Vegas, a suburb of Havana, in 1923. His father, Mario, was a tropical agronomist and botanist who also taught agriculture and floriculture. Mario Calvino had emigrated from Italy to Mexico in 1909 where he took up a position with the Ministry of Agriculture. In an autobiographical essay, Calvino explained that his father “had been in his youth an anarchist, a follower of Kropotkin and then a Socialist Reformist.” In 1917, Mario left for Cuba to conduct scientific experiments, after living through the Mexican Revolution.
Calvino’s mother, Eva Mameli, was a botanist and university professor. Eva was born into a secular family, and was a pacifist educated in the “religion of civic duty and science.” Calvino described his parents as being “very different in personality from one another,” suggesting perhaps deeper tensions behind a comfortable, albeit strict, middle-class upbringing devoid of conflict. As an adolescent, he found it hard relating to poverty and the working-class, and was “ill at ease” with his parents’ openness to the laborers who filed into his father’s study on Saturdays to receive their weekly paycheck.
In 1925, less than two years after Calvino’s birth, the family returned to Italy and settled permanently in San Remo on the Ligurian coast. Calvino’s brother Floriano, who became a distinguished geologist, was born in 1927. The family divided their time between the Villa Meridiana, an experimental floriculture station which also served as their home, and Mario’s ancestral land at San Giovanni Battista. On this small working farm set in the hills behind San Remo, Mario pioneered work in the cultivation of a variety of fruits and flowers including grapefruit, avocado, grapes, olives, and roses, eventually obtaining an entry in the Dizionario biografico degli italiani for his achievements.
The vast and luxuriant forests, ever present in Calvino’s early fiction such as The Baron in the Trees, derives from this legacy. In an interview, Calvino stated, “San Remo continues to pop out in my books, in the most diverse pieces of writing.” He and Floriano would climb the trees and perch for hours on the branches reading their favorite adventure stories. Less happy aspects of his paternal legacy are described in The Road to San Giovanni, Calvino’s memoir of his father in which he exposes their inability to communicate: “Talking to each other was difficult. Both verbose by nature, possessed of an ocean of words, in each other’s presence we became mute, would walk in silence side by side along the road to San Giovanni.”
Calvino was an avid reader as a child, especially Kipling’s Jungle Books, but felt that his early interest in stories (and the arts in general) made him the black sheep of a family that held literature in lower esteem than the sciences. Because they were austere, anti-Fascist freethinkers, Eva and Mario refused to give their sons any religious education. Italo attended the English nursery school St George’s College, followed by a Protestant elementary private school run by Waldensians. His secondary schooling was completed at the state-run Liceo Gian Domenico Cassini where, at his parents’ request, he was exempted from religious instruction but forced to justify his anti-conformist stance. In his mature years, Calvino described the experience as a salutary one : “it made me tolerant of others’ opinions, particularly in the field of religion, remembering how irksome it was to hear myself mocked because I did not follow the majority’s beliefs.” During this time, he met a brilliant student from Rome, Eugenio Scalfari, who went on to found the weekly magazine L’Espresso, and La Repubblica, a major Italian newspaper. The two teenagers formed a lasting friendship, Calvino attributing his political awakening to their university discussions.
In spring 1944, Eva encouraged her sons to enter the Italian Resistance in the name of “natural justice and family virtues.” Using the battle name of “Santiago,” Calvino joined the Garibaldi Brigades, a clandestine communist group and, for twenty months, endured the fighting in the Maritime Alps until 1945 and the Liberation. As a result of his refusal to be a conscript, his parents were held hostage by the Nazis for an extended period at the Villa Meridiana. Calvino wrote of his mother’s ordeal that “she was an example of tenacity and courage . . . behaving with dignity and firmness before the SS and the Fascist militia, and in her long detention as a hostage, not least when the blackshirts three times pretended to shoot my father in front of her eyes. The historical events which mothers take part in acquire the greatness and invincibility of natural phenomena.”
Calvino settled in Turin in 1945, after a long hesitation over living there or in Milan. He often humorously belittled this choice, describing Turin as a “city that is serious but sad.” He abandoned agriculture for the Arts Faculty at university in Turin. A year later, he was initiated into the literary world by Elio Vittorini, who published his short story “Andato al comando” (“Gone to Headquarters”) in Il Politecnico, a Turin-based weekly magazine associated with the university. The horror of the war had not only provided the raw material for his literary ambitions but deepened his commitment to the communist cause. Viewing civilian life as a continuation of the partisan struggle, he confirmed his membership of the Italian Communist Party (ICP). On reading Lenin’s State and Revolution, he plunged into post-war political life, associating himself chiefly with the worker’s movement in Turin.
His first novel, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (The Path to the Nest of Spiders) won the Premio Riccione on publication in 1947. With sales topping 5000 copies, a surprise success in postwar Italy, the novel inaugurated Calvino’s neorealist period. Ultimo viene il corvo (The Crow Comes Last), a collection of stories based on his wartime experiences, was published to acclaim in 1949. Despite the triumph, Calvino grew increasingly worried by his inability to compose a worthy second novel. He returned to Einaudi in 1950, responsible this time for the literary volumes. He eventually became a consulting editor, a position that allowed him to hone his writing talent, discover new writers, and develop into “a reader of texts.” In late 1951 he spent two months in the Soviet Union as correspondent for l’Unità. While in Moscow, he learned of his father’s death on 25 October. The articles and correspondence he produced from this visit were published in 1952, winning the Saint-Vincent Prize for journalism.
Over a seven-year period, Calvino wrote three realist novels, The White Schooner (1947–1949), Youth in Turin (1950–1951), and The Queen’s Necklace (1952–54), but they were not met with critical success. During the eighteen months it took to complete Youth in Turin, he made an important self-discovery: “I began doing what came most naturally to me – that is, following the memory of the things I had loved best since boyhood. Instead of making myself write the book I ought to write, the novel that was expected of me, I conjured up the book I myself would have liked to read, the sort by an unknown writer, from another age and another country, discovered in an attic.” The result was Il visconte dimezzato (The Cloven Viscount) composed in 30 days between July and September 1951. The protagonist, a seventeenth century viscount cut in two by a cannonball, voiced Calvino’s growing political doubts and the divisive turbulence of the Cold War. Skillfully interweaving elements of the fable and the fantasy genres, the allegorical novel launched him as a modern “fabulist.” In 1954, Giulio Einaudi commissioned his Fiabe Italiane (Italian Folktales) on the basis of the question, “Is there an Italian equivalent of the Brothers Grimm?”For two years, Calvino collated tales found in 19th century collections across Italy then translated 200 of the finest from various dialects into standard Italian.
In 1957, disillusioned by the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary, Calvino left the ICP. In his letter of resignation published in L’Unità on 7 August, he explained the reason for his dissent (the violent suppression of the Hungarian uprising and the revelation of Stalin’s crimes) while confirming his “confidence in the democratic perspectives” of world Communism. He withdrew from taking an active role in politics and never joined another party. Ostracized by the ICP party leader Palmiro Togliatti and his supporters on publication of La gran bonaccia delle Antille (Becalmed in the Antilles), a satirical allegory of the party’s immobility, Calvino began writing The Baron in the Trees. Completed in three months and published in 1957, the fantasy is based on the “problem of the intellectual’s political commitment at a time of shattered illusions.” He found new outlets for his periodic writings in the journals Città aperta and Tempo presente, the magazine Passato e presente, and the weekly Italia Domani. With Vittorini in 1959, he became co-editor of Il Menabò, a cultural journal devoted to literature in the modern industrial age, a position he held until 1966.
Italo Calvino
In 1962 Calvino met Argentine translator Esther Judith Singer (“Chichita”) and married her in 1964 in Havana, during a trip in which he visited his birthplace and was introduced to Che Guevara. On 15 October 1967, a few days after Guevara’s death, Calvino wrote a tribute to him that was published in Cuba in 1968 (and in Italy thirty years later). He and his wife settled in Rome in the via Monte Brianzo where their daughter, Giovanna, was born in 1965. Once again working for Einaudi, Calvino began publishing some of his “Cosmicomics” in Il Caffè, a literary magazine.
Vittorini’s death in 1966 greatly affected Calvino. He went through what he called an “intellectual depression” which he described as an important passage in his life: “I ceased to be young. Perhaps it’s a metabolic process, something that comes with age, I’d been young for a long time, perhaps too long, suddenly I felt that I had to begin my old age, yes, old age, perhaps with the hope of prolonging it by beginning it early.”
In the fermenting atmosphere that evolved into 1968’s cultural revolution (the French May), he moved with his family to Paris in 1967, setting up home in a villa in the Square de Châtillon. He was invited by Raymond Queneau in 1968 to join the Oulipo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle) group of experimental writers where he met Roland Barthes, Georges Perec, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, all of whom influenced his later works.
Calvino had more intense contacts with the academic world, with notable experiences at the Sorbonne (with Barthes) and the University of Urbino. He read classics by Honoré de Balzac, Ludovico Ariosto, Dante, Ignacio de Loyola, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Giacomo Leopardi. Between 1972–1973 Calvino published two short stories, “The Name, the Nose” and the Oulipo-inspired “The Burning of the Abominable House” in the Italian edition of Playboy. He became a regular contributor to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, spending his summer vacations in a house constructed in Roccamare near Castiglione della Pescaia in Tuscany.
In 1975 Calvino was made Honorary Member of the American Academy. Awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 1976, he visited Mexico, Japan, and the United States where he gave a series of lectures in several U.S. towns. After his mother died in 1978 at the age of 92, Calvino sold Villa Meridiana, the family home in San Remo. During the summer of 1985, Calvino prepared a series of texts on literature for the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures to be delivered at Harvard University in the fall. On 6 September he was admitted to the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, where he died during the night between 18 and 19 September of a cerebral hemorrhage. His lecture notes were published posthumously in Italian in 1988 and in English as Six Memos for the Next Millennium in 1993.
Here’s classic Calvino:
Sections in the bookstore
– Books You Haven’t Read
– Books You Needn’t Read
– Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
– Books Too Expensive Now and You’ll Wait ‘Til They’re Remaindered
– Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
– Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
– Books You’ve Been Planning to Read for Ages
– Books You’ve Been Hunting for Years Without Success
– Books Dealing with Something You’re Working on at the Moment
– Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
– Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
(If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler)
Calvino’s home town, San Remo, is in Liguria which is famous for being the birthplace of pesto. But this is more of a Genoese specialty than west Ligurian, where San Remo is (close to the French border). San Remo’s most popular specialties are baked bread items, including a special kind of foccacia. Less well known, even to tourists, are the home made dishes from local game. Here is a dish for wild rabbit (seems suitable for Calvino). This is very much a local dish using local ingredients – white Vermentino (Ligurian varietal), San Remo olives, and San Remo olive oil. You can manage with substitutions. You may not be able to find rabbit liver and kidneys either (in Argentina they come with a butchered rabbit). There is also a red wine version, using red Vermentino, but it is less popular. Roast potatoes are the usual accompaniment.
Coniglio alla sanremasca
1 rabbit (2 lbs/1 kilo) including the liver and kidneys
1 small white onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 large cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 ½ tsp dried)
3 cups (750 ml) Vermentino (dry white wine)
2 tablespoons of black olives in brine
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Cut the rabbit in 12 parts.
Heat a heavy skillet over high heat and brown the rabbit in batches, without oil.
Crush the garlic cloves with the flat of a kitchen knife and removed the skin. Place them with the diced vegetables in a clay pot with the olive oil and brown them over medium high heat. Add the rabbit and continue cooking for another 10 minutes until a crust forms in the pot.
Chop all the herbs . Remove the garlic and add the herbs, white wine, liver, and kidneys , and salt to taste. Cover and cook over low heat , stirring occasionally.
After about 40 minutes , add pine nuts and olives, and continue to turn the meat . If the wine is all evaporated , add a little wine to moisten. Cook another 10 minutes.
Remove the liver and kidneys, chop fine and return to the pot. Reduce what remains of the wine to form a glaze.
Turn off the heat, leave to rest for 5 minutes and serve.
Serves 4
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24454
|
Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays Test | Mid-Book Test - Medium
A. C. Cawley
Buy the Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. According to the Introduction, what "type" did Cain represent?
(a) "The Secular World."
(b) "The Realism of the World."
(c) "Jews."
(d) "The Decline of Mankind."
2. What does God tell Noah about his feelings about mankind? ("The Flood")
(a) He wished he had never made man.
(b) He wished that man would change his ways.
(c) He blames Eve for the fall of mankind.
(d) He wishes that Satan would leave mankind alone.
3. What does Eve say she and Adam would be if they ate the apple? ("The Fall of Man")
(a) Gods.
(b) Honorable.
(c) Sustained.
(d) Angels.
4. Why does Joesph leave Mary at the end of Scene II? ("The Annunciation")
(a) To get her a donkey.
(b) To find the Holy Spirit.
(c) To find her some food.
(d) To find her help.
5. Which play did the introduction to "Abraham and Isaac" claim had been the superior one?
(a) The Preston play.
(b) The Waterhouse play.
(c) The Chester play.
(d) The Brome play.
Short Answer Questions
1. Most of what from the original play was preserved for the text?
2. Where does Scene II open? ("The Annunciation")
3. What does "Natumque pariet" mean? ("Herod the Great")
4. How many windows does God tell Noah to put in the Ark? ("The Flood")
5. What kind of "beast" does God say that he wanted to create? ("The Creation of Adam and Eve")
Short Essay Questions
1. What did the Introduction state was the "unity of biblical history"?
2. What purpose does the "Doubt of Joseph" provide in the play?
3. For what other writings is the author of the "Shepherds' Pageants" responsible?
4. What "justifies" Lucifer's fall from Heaven?
5. In "Abraham and Isaac", why does God call for the sacrifice of Isaac?
6. What does the Introduction state as the tie between the conflict between Cain and Abel?
7. What does the editor state about the superiority of the Brome play ("Abraham and Isaac") over all others?
8. What does Herod order to insure that the Jesus does not make it to adulthood?
9. What does the editor state as interesting facts that surround "The Annunication"?
10. What does the introduction to "The Annunciation" state as its origin?
(see the answer keys)
This section contains 799 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays Lesson Plans
Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays from BookRags. (c)2018 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved.
Follow Us on Facebook
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24459
|
Sunday, August 21, 2016
They say these shabby birds were mighty dinosaurs...
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Empty Streets
I'm excited to unveil a new Ascent recording for you, Empty Streets. It captures the rock sound we've been featuring during our gigs this year. An upbeat, catchy song about the last survivors of the human race after an epidemic! Why not?
I wrote this song about two years ago, mostly in my head while out on a long bike ride. It's gone through several major stylistic changes since then. As I mentioned on this blog back in 2014, I'd asked Christina to supply me with two random words as inspiration to write lyrics. In this case it was "Epidemics" and "Oil Drilling." She was mostly asleep at the time, you see. You might not imagine these odd topics would lead to any coherent idea, but when I'm "getting away from it all" on my bike, my brain works overtime. If I focus on an idea long enough, it gains new life. I've always loved post-apocalyptic fiction - e.g. The Stand, Oryx and Crake, Dog Stars, Walking Dead, many more. So my mind went right to this idea of a few survivors huddled together by candlelight, thinking back on how they got here. The past looks beautiful, seen through the eyes of the end. And no way to get back there from here. Nature reclaims the city. The ironic setting is a "city of power," where all the oil and electricity used to come from.
As I've said before, writing lyrics usually suggests a melody to me right away, especially when I'm going over and over the words in my mind because I can't write them down at the moment (you need both hands on the handlebars, you know). And most melodies suggest chord changes. I've done this enough now I sort of know what the chord changes are without playing them. So this song basically wrote itself right away. When I got home, I figured out what the chords were on the piano, and that was that.
The way I originally heard this song, it was strictly a piano-driven thing. It had subdued drums, and a feel similar to the song "Bad Company" (by Bad Company, from the album Bad Company!). Maybe some eerie-sounding guitar over top. I imagined we'd record a version of it that sounded that way.
But when we play gigs, I don't play piano. I play guitar, electronic drums, samples and a looper pedal. We first learned to play "Empty Streets" as a slowish acoustic guitar song. We played it at a coffeeshop gig that way at least once. When it came time to play it at a bar gig, it needed to be updated to be more upbeat. Just playing the piano part on guitar sounded boring and repetitive. So I made up the riff at the start of the song to make it less repetitive. This worked well for our live arrangement, because I could loop the riff and then play the drums and loop that. And for some reason I decided to play those little ska-rhythm chords over that. On the verses, I played a clean chorus sound to simulate the piano part over the drum loop.
Sometime after breaking my collarbone in October 2015, and going through the recovery after that, we reinvented our live sound to be more consistently rock-oriented. Christina is as responsible for our crunchy sound as I am. Maybe more so. A gave her a little guitar power and she demanded more. So the clean guitar sounds on this song were dispensed with, and it got crunchy.
The recorded version of the song is influenced by the current live version. It's not exactly the same, because it's not looped. On the recording, I played acoustic drums and bass, and a few layers of guitars. No keyboards whatsoever. I could bore you all day with all the work I put into getting the drum recording to sound good, but I won't. I'll just say I recorded it in our living room with a whole bunch of microphones, and I did it over and over until I figured out the mic placement that really worked. I mixed in more overhead mics this time. The guitar is my PRS, and the guitar amp sounds come from the GT-100. The effects and amp settings are the same exact ones I use live.
Christina is a monster vocalist. You can hear her power and passion on full display here. She knows how to take the melodies I write and make them real. She puts her own personality on them without fundamentally changing them. She adds a sense of the blues and a "singerly-ness" (I just made up that word) I simply don't possess. I think this one was really easy for her to record, because we've played the song many times and she's got it down to a science.
I'm very happy with how this recording sounds right now. I will probably go back and update the mix on Jane Doe and For These Crimes to be closer to this overall sound. They are so last year! The rock version of Disappeared is already recorded. I'll be working on mixing that one down next.
Update: Here's the lyric video for the song:
Please visit our website at
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24466
|
For years, a team of NASA scientists had pondered over the enigmatic dark streaks lining the inner and outer faces of craters on the Martian surface, shown below.
But no longer.
NASA announced the answer to the conundrum Monday: The streaks are evidence of flowing water.
craterNASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Most mysterious about these streaks — which can be as long as a football field— was that they appeared to change in size over time, growing longer during Mars' warm summer months and shrinking during colder seasons:
If these photos were taken on Earth, the immediate conclusion would be flowing water. But this is Mars, a place where liquid water had never before been discovered.
All that changed Monday when the NASA team announced that these dark, mysterious features were, indeed, flowing water.
There are many pieces that had to fit together to finally conclude, beyond a doubt, that this was water and not a bizarre pattern from Martian weather. One of the convincing pieces of evidence was that the streaks flow downhill, as shown here:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
And here:
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
But what ultimately convinced the team that it was water, instead of another form of liquid, was when they used instruments onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a satellite in orbit around the Red Planet.
MRO has an instrument called a spectrometer, which scans the Martian surface and identifies the chemical makeup of what's down there. From these scans, the team identified hydrated salts within the dark streaks.
The importance of these salts is that they "would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly," NASA explained in a press release.
Here's a false-color image showing how prevalent these streaks are:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
This means that frozen salt water could thaw into a liquid at lower temperatures, which is important since the hottest days on Mars only reach about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whether the streaks themselves are flowing water or simply the result of it is still a mystery.
Nevertheless, "the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," Lujendra Ojha, of the Georgia Institute of Technology and lead author on the paper describing the team's findings, said.
The team identified a handful of places on Mars with evidence of these hydrated salts. In the map below, red triangles indicate where rovers have identified hydrated salts in the past. Blue triangles point to where the team found evidence for the salts:
The scientists don't know yet where this water is coming from and how much of it exists.
"Now that we know what we're looking for, we can begin to better search and look and see if there is an aquifer network supplying these, but that is actually the next step," Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, said during the media briefing.
Check out the briefing in the video below or on YouTube:
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24479
|
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Why the Flying Car Is a Bad Idea
I'm sure most of us have seen Back to the Future Part II by now, right? If you haven't seen the entire Back to the Future trilogy and you're still reading this blog, how have you made it this far? I'm sure I reference the movies all the time. Okay, I know what I'll do... I'll make a list of essential movies for you to watch. That's not today's post. I'll get to that eventually. Just something for you to look forward to.
Anyway, Back to the Future Part II has it's flaws, but it's a pretty decent movie in its own right. The greatest part for me, when I was a kid, was the glimpse we got of the future. It was awesome to see a holographic shark attack Marty in the street. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wanted a hoverboard when I left the theater, even though I would never even have the ability to master a skateboard.
And then there's the flying car.
On the surface, a car that hovers and takes off into the air seems like a really neat idea. Imagine soaring through the clouds in your Mustang convertible. Isn't that a nice image?
Now think about all those people in traffic that piss you off by being inconsiderate or not giving turn signals or running red lights. Imagine that every one of those irresponsible drivers has a license to soar through the sky right along with you. 'Cause you're just driving a car, so it's not like there would be a special law in place to require a pilot's license, right?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, there were over 30,000 fatal crashes last year. Could you imagine how much that number would grow if those crashes occurred thousands of feet above the ground?
What kinds of safety standards would have to be enforced? I don't think airbags would cut it at that point. Would every passenger in the car need to wear a parachute?
What about people who don't pay attention to the gas gauge? You see them pulled over on the side of the road and out of gas. What happens if they run out of fuel while in mid-air? It's not like you can just cut the engine and wait for AAA to come by in a helicopter to tow you to the nearest airport. That whole gravity thing would probably get in the way of your patient wait for the tow.
I guess one good thing would be the elimination of having a tire blow out because you ran over a nail. No nails on the invisible roads of the skyway.
But that also means that if you doze off at the wheel and you drift toward the shoulder, there's no rumble strip to wake you back up.
So, to anyone out there who still thinks a flying car would be a swell idea, think about the danger that it poses to the general public. Let's just focus on getting everyone a pair of shoes with power laces. We waste so much time in the morning by tying our shoes.
1 comment:
1. Flying car is a bad idea to have too many idiots gonna crash up and the sky and hit someone roof FLying car should be banned for good.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24484
|
« Prev Proof of the absurdity of the refusal to glorify… Next »
Chapter XXIV.
55. Furthermore man is “crowned with glory and honour,”11881188 Ps. viii. 5. and “glory, honour and peace” are laid up by promise “to every man that worketh good.”11891189 Rom. ii. 10. There is moreover a special and peculiar glory for Israelites “to whom,” it is said “pertaineth the adoption and the glory…and the service,”11901190 Rom. ix. 4. and the Psalmist speaks of a certain glory of his own, “that my glory may sing praise to Thee11911191 Ps. xxix. 12.;” and again “Awake up my glory”11921192 Ps. lvii. 8. and according to the Apostle there is a certain glory of sun and moon and stars,11931193 cf. 1 Cor. xv. 41. and “the ministration of condemnation is glorious.”11941194 2 Cor. iii. 9. While then so many things are glorified, do you wish the Spirit alone of all things to be unglorified? Yet the Apostle says “the ministration of the Spirit is glorious.”11951195 2 Cor. iii. 8. How then can He Himself be unworthy of glory? How according to the Psalmist can the glory of the just man be great11961196 cf. Ps. xxi. 5. and according to you the glory of the Spirit none? How is there not a plain peril from such arguments of our bringing on ourselves the sin from which there is no escape? If the man who is being saved by works of righteousness glorifies even them that fear the Lord11971197 cf. Ps. xv. much less would he deprive the Spirit of the glory which is His due.
Grant, they say, that He is to be glorified, but not with the Father and the Son. But what reason is there in giving up the place appointed by the Lord for the Spirit, and inventing some other? What reason is there for robbing of His share of glory Him Who is everywhere associated with the Godhead; in the confession of the Faith, in the baptism of redemption, in the working of miracles, in the indwelling of the saints, in the graces bestowed on obedience? For there is not even one single gift which reaches creation without the Holy Ghost;11981198 cf. Matt. xxviii. 19; 1 Cor. xii. 11; Rom. viii. 11; 1 Pet. i. 2. when not even a single word can be spoken in defence of Christ except by them that are aided by the Spirit, as we have learnt in the Gospels from our Lord and Saviour.11991199 Matt. x. 19, 20. And I know not whether any one who has been partaker of the Holy Spirit will consent that we should overlook all this, forget His fellowship in all things, and tear the Spirit asunder from the Father and the Son. Where then are we to take Him and rank Him? With the creature? Yet all the creature is in bondage, but the Spirit maketh free. “And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”12001200 2 Cor. iii. 17. Many arguments might be adduced to them that it is unseemly to coordinate the Holy Spirit with created nature, but for the present I will pass them by. Were I indeed to bring forward, in a manner befitting the 36dignity of the discussion, all the proofs always available on our side, and so overthrow the objections of our opponents, a lengthy dissertation would be required, and my readers might be worn out by my prolixity. I therefore propose to reserve this matter for a special treatise,12011201 Mr. C.F.H. Johnston conjectures the allusion to be to Hom. xxiv. “Contra Sabellianos et Arium et Anomœos.” and to apply myself to the points now more immediately before us.
56. Let us then examine the points one by one. He is good by nature, in the same way as the Father is good, and the Son is good; the creature on the other hand shares in goodness by choosing the good. He knows “The deep things of God;”12021202 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. the creature receives the manifestation of ineffable things through the Spirit. He quickens together with God, who produces and preserves all things alive,12031203 In 1 Tim. vi. 13, St. Paul writes τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζωοποιοῦντος πάντα. In the text St. Basil writes τὰ πάντα ζωογονοῦντος. The latter word is properly distinguished from the former as meaning not to make alive after death, but to engender alive. In Luke xvii. 33, it is rendered in A.V. “preserve.” In Acts vii. 19, it is “to the end they might not live.” On the meaning of ζωογονεῖν in the lxx. and the Socinian arguments based on its use in Luke xvii. 33, cf. Pearson, On the Creed, Art. V. note to p. 257 Ed. 1676. and together with the Son, who gives life. “He that raised up Christ from the dead,” it is said, “shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwelleth in you;”12041204 Rom. viii. 11. and again “my sheep hear my voice,…and I give unto them eternal life;”12051205 John x. 27–28. but “the Spirit” also, it is said, “giveth life,”12061206 2 Cor. iii. 6. and again “the Spirit,” it is said, “is life, because of righteousness.”12071207 Rom. viii. 10. And the Lord bears witness that “it is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”12081208 John vi. 63. How then shall we alienate the Spirit from His quickening power, and make Him belong to lifeless nature? Who is so contentious, who is so utterly without the heavenly gift,12091209 cf. Heb. vi. 4. and unfed by God’s good words, who is so devoid of part and lot in eternal hopes, as to sever the Spirit from the Godhead and rank Him with the creature?
57. Now it is urged that the Spirit is in us as a gift from God, and that the gift is not reverenced with the same honour as that which is attributed to the giver. The Spirit is a gift of God, but a gift of life, for the law of “the Spirit of life,” it is said, “hath made” us “free;”12101210 Rom. viii. 2. and a gift of power, for “ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”12111211 Acts i. 8. Is He on this account to be lightly esteemed? Did not God also bestow His Son as a free gift to mankind? “He that spared not His own Son,” it is said, “but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”12121212 Rom. viii. 32. And in another place, “that we might truly know the things that are freely given us of God,”12131213 1 Cor. ii. 12. in reference to the mystery of the Incarnation. It follows then that the maintainers of such arguments, in making the greatness of God’s loving kindness an occasion of blasphemy, have really surpassed the ingratitude of the Jews. They find fault with the Spirit because He gives us freedom to call God our Father. “For God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into” our “hearts crying Abba, Father,”12141214 Gal. iv. 6. that the voice of the Spirit may become the very voice of them that have received him.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24512
|
huggieoh ( wrote:
>Homer's problem solved,
>IMMORTALITY, you can't attain it and you can never lose it!
However one can lose sight of one's immortality, and thus live a
mortal life on death row with resulting infinite charge on infinite loss
of infinite futures.
Tell an immortal being whose future is endlessly beautiful that he
is going die forever shortly, and watch the sadness grow without bounds.
It actually brings the whole universe down.
True it is a joke the being plays on himself, but the purpose of
the joke is to get the humor of it all after a while, not to be a mortal
life after life forever and ever. So at some point in the travesty it
comes time for the being to wake up and get the Joke again.
>To strive after immortality is one of the oldest implants.
>They MAKE you be what you already have.
>Immortality is not a damned long time as the Abos believe. It is the
>everlasting Here and Now.
>There is no other place and there is no other time.
>If you can't help being immortal why not relax and enjoy it?
You are talking about ETERNALITY of the here and now.
Well many beings are actually headed for a kind of Hell forever.
They can relax all they want but are still headed for an abyss of
bugs, fire, torment and eventually cold tar, obsidian glass, crazy glue,
and concrete.
Often they become meatballs rather than face that fate, but of
course it doesn't stop the actual descent in to hell. Mortality is like
a short stop at an opium den on the way out the tubes.
Eventually they get booted out their drug den to slip down to the
next opium den on the way down the drain.
This oscillation between hell forever and death forever is the
result of an aberration arising from dramatization of forevers itself,
and it can and should be audited out.
This is because forever of anything (in time) leads to a
hell forever of boredom, which leads to the desire for death
forever at any cost, which is just another forever, but when the
guy dies he sees is a deceit and he is back in a hell forever.
Around and around we go.
Being glib about these things is not good for a being.
Having found myself about 10 opium dens down the way, and pulled
myself back from the brink, I can only say that some people need to
experience it to get real on it and stop "Oh Poshing" the condition.
If a being is high enough to get the joke himself and can thus
appreciate the beauty of beings rolling around the drain to hell, well
then they can appreciate the scene all they want and then go their way.
But when most people first gaze upon the oceanic flow of beings
down the river of Hell, their hearts stop for a moment and they feel the
undertow slowly taking them in the same direction.
These people, unlike you, might be interested in what I have to say.
Homer Wilson Smith The Paths of Lovers Art Matrix - Lightlink
(607) 277-0959 KC2ITF Cross Internet Access, Ithaca NY In the Line of Duty
Thu Dec 18 03:06:01 EST 2014
Send mail to saying help
Learning implies Learning with Certainty or Learning without Certainty.
Learning across a Distance implies Learning by Being an Effect.
Learning by Being an Effect implies Learning without Certainty.
Therefore, Learning with Certainty implies Learning, but
not by Being an Effect, and not across a Distance.
Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux)
Fri Dec 19 16:30:56 EST 2014
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24522
|
+ iSay.cgi = LOL (advice needed)
• - Check your core/addon documentation for possible solutions
Moderators: Spunkmeyer, Dale Ray, SrNupsen, Bluetooth, Jackanape
The Wizard has turned you into A Whale. Is this awesome?
Total votes : 3 + iSay.cgi = LOL (advice needed)
Postby Whatrevolution » Fri May 25, 2007 11:08 am
Coranto v1.25
Code: Select all
Script Location (Method 1): /var/www/coranto/
Script Location (Method 2): /var/www/coranto
Code: Select all
Unable to open /var/www/coranto/ Not a directory at line 281.
The line in is in sub CRopen:
Code: Select all
sysopen($fh, $filename, $flags) || die "Unable to open $filename. $!";
So the only reference in that looks relevant is this, line 933, which is in sub ReadSettings:
Code: Select all
$newsdatfile = CRopen($CConfig{'htmlfile_path'}. "\\".$CConfig{'NewsdatFile'});
The search terms are irrelevent, as it trips on the exact same comment file any time a search term matches.
Code: Select all
EElppFkykErTnZZBdV is the comment file of the top post in newsdat.txt, of course, and the URL pre-mangle would thus be:
Code: Select all
/me scrolls through more code.
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 9:49 am
Return to Troubleshooting
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24524
|
Thursday, September 8, 2016
When Does It End?
Can you spare a couple of minutes?
I have to deal with spells of depression (and will not go back on the meds after several years away from them), and have a tendency to look on the dark side of life. But still, this is important. (Did you know that Elijah, Jonah, and others in the Bible struggled with bouts of depression? Well, never mind about that now.) I'm saying that I get a bit reflective, possibly more often than some folks.
My parents and oldest brother have passed away. None of that was a shock, we knew their times were near. Several years ago, someone I knew who had self-medicated with a powerful medication she bought on the street overdosed and died, never having reached age 30. A couple of weeks ago, one of the few people I met on the Internet and also met in real life died. Then I learned that Kerry Stoutenburgh of Kingston, NY was swimming in Maryland, and "died from a rare infection caused by an amoeba known as Naegleria fowleri". She was 19.
Most of these people thought they had tomorrow waiting for them.
I had a recent visit to the doctor, and she wants me to have some tests done because the condition could turn cancerous; I could die. Although that would cause much rejoicing among certain atheists, and apathy among some Christians, I'd prefer to keep going on the work that God has given me. But when he whistles and says, "Saddle up, it's time to go home!", you can bet I'm a-goin'.
How long do we have? Sooner or later, and often unexpectedly, we all have to stand before our Creator. I'm ready. Are you?
Image credit: Morguefile / mensatic
Do I have tomorrow? I might not make it home from work, what with the way people drive here in Kingston. (I suspicion that they drive like maniacs everywhere nowadays.) For that matter, there have been a few times in my life when I almost wound up taking a dirt nap from traffic or other quirky circumstances. Or maybe that heart thing will act up. Until that time, I must remain faithful to my calling.
By the way, I have an offbeat sense of humor as regular readers of my sites have seen, but it occasionally gets a bit dark. I could be gone, but people wouldn't know it based on scheduled posts and articles, those could keep dropping in for days. Well, seems funny to me, anyway.
Will any of our lives make an impact? Will I be in the Creation Science Hall of Fame? (Not hardly! LOL!) It doesn't matter about our achievements, money, fame, prestige, power, status in The Company, or anything else. Only what we have done for God will matter in the long haul.
Whether I die moments from now, in a few weeks, or am left here to proclaim the truth of creation, refuting evolution, and the authority of Scripture, trying to edify and equip the saints — what about you? I don't care about your religion and rituals, "lack of belief", excuses, "reasons" for disbelief, compromise, that you watched a couple of religious movies. Guess what? Neither does God, because stuff you do doesn't make you right with him.
We are all going to stand before him, ready or not. I'm ready. God accepts me despite my many failings, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life. God the Son took the form of a man, died on the cross for my sins, was buried, bodily rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit has sealed and lives in me. Death has been defeated.
All I am, all I have, is through the grace and mercy of God. I have been saved by grace through faith, and that is not from any religious rituals or good deeds on my part, it is the gift of God.
There's no second chance when this life is over. Can you spare a couple of minutes? Here's a link that may be helpful to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Cowboy Bob Sorensen
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24543
|
Daniel T. Richards
Daniel T. Richards
Digital Strategist & Professional Rhetorician
6 Ways to Invent an Argument
Damn. You’re good.
Definition: General/Specific
I would argue that what we argue about most, though we seldom realize it, is the definition of terms. In fact many debates are reduced to #ArgumentJunk because the rhetors use different definitions for the same concept and simply talk past each other. Actively thinking about definitions of important concepts in your subject can be a great way to invent an argument. Or a great way to avoid one.
Sample Questions:
• What is “environment”?
• Has the meaning of “pollution” changed in recent years?
• Do people understand the meaning of “energy”?
• What are specific, concrete examples of what energy means to humans?
Division: Whole/Parts
Great inventors like to tinker. They take things apart and look at the pieces that make up the whole. Rhetors, too, should look at various parts of the subject individually and think about interesting angles for argument. Divide your topic and conquer.
Sample Questions:
• What are the various elements of “environment”?
• Are there different kinds of “pollution” that need to parsed out in my argument?
• What are the different kinds of energy production?
• Is “environment” itself part of a larger whole that needs to be discussed?
Comparison: Similarity/Difference & Degree
Perhaps the most prevalent topoi on the Internet is that of comparison. That is, looking at the similarities and differences of two or more things. Cats are better than dogs! Paleo is healthier than Veganism! The Millennium Falcon could destroy the Enterprise! Ad infinitum/nauseum.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the most important element of comparison is defining your criteria. If you’re claiming that Canada is better than America, you have to provide the standard of judgement—most maple syrup consumed per capita, for instance.
Sample Questions:
• Do arguments about the environment compare to arguments about other related issues?
• To what degree is recycling helpful/harmful?
• Is one energy source inferior/superior to another—and by what criteria?
• In what way is “wilderness” different from / similar to “environment”?
Relationship: Cause/Effect, Contraries, & Contradictions
The purpose of the relationship topoi is to think about how two things interact with each other. This is the topic of cause and effect, consequences, purpose, contradictions, etc. When thinking about this topoi, consider not only how parts of the subject relate to each other but also how the audience relates to the subject, if at all.
Sample Questions:
• Do humans cause catastrophic global warming?
• What do environmentalists want to accomplish?
• What must my audience know before they can understand my conclusion?
• What are the consequences of environmentalism / further industrialization?
Circumstance: Possible/Impossible & Past/Future Fact
While I said earlier that most arguments are implicitly about definitions, most arguments are explicitly about circumstance: facts, possibility, desirability, etc. When dealing with circumstance, you’re almost always dealing with logos, so be prepared to back up your facts with facts. And always have an iPhone ready to research in realtime.
Sample Questions:
• Is it possible to run our lives on wind and solar energy alone?
• Even if it is possible, is it desirable?
• What is required for the environmentalist argument to succeed?
• Who should be concerned with environmentalist arguments?
Testimony: Authority, Opinion, & Culture
If you’re really stuck or if your knowledge of the he subject is limited, then you might consider the topoi of testimony. That is, what have other people said about the subject? It’s kind of like cheating except that it’s encouraged. Testimony isn’t limited to professional text or expert opinion—though its usually good to start with such sources. Think also about popular opinion, maxims, commercials, culture, laws, etc.
Sample Questions:
• Who supports/opposes environmentalist policies?
• What’s the latest opinion poll on fracking?
• Are there any maxims, sayings, songs that shed light on industrialization?
• What are the new laws around hydraulic fracturing?
* * * * *
The purpose of topoi is not to provide a rigid set of guidelines for examining a topic, but instead to give you a way to think through possibilities. They’re a starting point to invention. Yes, it can get messy but embrace the creative chaos. It’s good for you.
Maybe looking at definitions will spark an idea about circumstance, or perhaps comparing two elements will make you think of a relationship you hadn’t previously considered. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even end up a better rhetor.
Happy persuading!
%d bloggers like this:
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24557
|
100 Word Post: Hurdia victoria
Illustration of Hurdia victoria by Marianne Collins. This marine predator lived 500 million years ago and reveals clues to the origins of arthropods. © J B Caron Royal Ontario Museum
Anomalocaris ruled the Cambrian seas but apparently so did a twenty centimenter cousin. Hurdia victoria, originally described in 1912, was known from just a jumble of crustacean-like pieces. An examination of new fossils, plus a few old ones, suggest a body architecture similar to the anomalocaridids including a segmented body with a head bearing a pair of spinous claws and a circular jaw structure with many teeth. However, Hurdia has a “prominent anterior carapace structure”, i.e. a head shield, but the emptiness of the structure suggests it did not protect soft parts and casts uncertainty about its purpose.
Daley, A., Budd, G., Caron, J., Edgecombe, G., & Collins, D. (2009). The Burgess Shale Anomalocaridid Hurdia and Its Significance for Early Euarthropod Evolution Science, 323 (5921), 1597-1600 DOI: 10.1126/science.1169514
Dr. M (1773 Posts)
, , , , , ,
2 comments on “100 Word Post: Hurdia victoria
1. I think you might have misread some units somewhere – the paper says “specimens are up to 200 mm in length” (in fact, the largest is 20.9 cm according to the supplementary information).
2. I had actually read in a discussion on Hurdia that the were quite large, if you scaled up from the largest known Hurdia fragment. However, I cannot seem to find the reference now. As you state the authors state their largest specimen is around 20cm.
Comments are closed.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24563
|
Insulin Routines
Insulin Therapy
Type 1
Type 2
Fine-Tuning Your Blood Glucose
Many factors affect your blood glucose levels, including the following:
• What you eat
• How much and when you exercise
• Where you inject your insulin
• When you take your insulin injections
• Illness
• Stress
Self Monitoring
Checking your blood glucose and looking over results can help you understand how exercise, an exciting event, or different foods affect your blood glucose level. You can use it to predict and avoid low or high blood glucose levels. You can also use this information to make decisions about your insulin dose, food, and activity.
For more information, see our Blood Glucose Control section.
Insulin Delivery
Many people who take insulin use a syringe, but there are other options as well.
Insulin Pens
Some insulin pens contain a cartridge of insulin that is inserted into the pen and some are pre-filled with insulin and discarded after all the insulin has been used. The insulin dose is dialed on the pen, and the insulin is injected through a needle, much like using a syringe. Cartridges and pre-filled insulin pens only contain one type of insulin. Two injections must be given with an insulin pen if using two types of insulin.
Pump Therapy
Insulin pumps help you manage diabetes by delivering insulin 24 hours a day through a catheter placed under the skin. Read more about insulin pumps.
Site Rotation
The place on your body where you inject insulin affects your blood glucose level. Insulin enters the blood at different speeds when injected at different sites. Insulin shots work fastest when given in the abdomen. Insulin arrives in the blood a little more slowly from the upper arms and even more slowly from the thighs and buttocks. Injecting insulin in the same general area (for example, your abdomen) will give you the best results from your insulin. This is because the insulin will reach the blood with about the same speed with each insulin shot.
Don't inject the insulin in exactly the same place each time, but move around the same area. Each mealtime injection of insulin should be given in the same general area for best results. For example, giving your before-breakfast insulin injection in the abdomen and your before-supper insulin injection in the leg each day give more similar blood glucose results. If you inject insulin near the same place each time, hard lumps or extra fatty deposits may develop. Both of these problems are unsightly and make the insulin action less reliable. Ask your health care provider if you aren't sure where to inject your insulin.
Too much insulin or not enough?
High morning blood glucose levels before breakfast can be a puzzle. If you haven't eaten, why did your blood glucose level go up? There are two common reasons for high before-breakfast blood glucose levels. One relates to hormones that are released in the early part of sleep (called the Dawn Phenomenon). The other is from taking too little insulin in the evening. To see which one is the cause, set your alarm to self-monitor around 2 or 3 a.m. for several nights and discuss the results with your health care provider.
• Last Reviewed: June 29, 2015
• Last Edited: June 29, 2015
Articles from Diabetes Forecast® magazine:
Diabetes Forecast
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24577
|
Temperature Sensor Tutorial Plus Equipment Introduction And Buying Guide
A temperature sensor is one of the most simple, yet valuable. pieces of equipment available to monitor your server room, server closet, data center, or other telecom environment.
Frequently, temperature monitoring using temperature sensors is ignored or overlooked by network operators. Unfortunately, it is incredibly important (and also quite inexpensive) to monitor temperature in telecom and IT environments. Both extreme cold and high temperatures present a danger to your valuable telecom investment. You must take care to monitor for both of these potential threats.
Temperature sensors are simple, inexpensive and extremely easy to use.
Servers and other electronic equipment, by their very nature, generate large amounts of heat. If this heat is not monitored with temperature sensors, thermal shutdowns are inevitable. This can lead to service downtime and equipment damage. There's even a chance that thermal shutdowns won't happen in time. That can cause equipment damage and data loss.
Temperature Sensor Diagram.
Temperature sensors cut your costs and protect your revenue by alerting you at the first sign of trouble at your remote site.
Discrete versus Analog sensors:The pros and cons of the two types of temperature sensors
Discrete Alarm Temperature Sensors
Unfortunately, the simplicity of this first type of temperature sensor can also cause trouble. If your alarm threshold was set to 85 degrees F, analog might indicate that the temperature was 86 degrees F or 186 degrees F. You would have no idea of the intensity of the high temperature. Imagine that you have many sites with high temperature during a power failure or heat wave. This level of detail would not allow you to prioritize your technician dispatches to the hottest sites first.
Analog Alarm Temperature Sensors
An analog temperature sensor allows you to monitor the actual temperature at your site in near real-time. Instead of knowing that your temperature was merely "too high" or "too low", you would know that the temperature was, for example, 96 degrees F.
You may have access to very detailed temperature sensor data any time. That doesn't necessarily mean that you can set automatic alerts when the temperature crosses a certain level. Think about one more reason to select high-quality alarm remotes to deploy at your remote sites. You'll be able to specify several temperature thresholds that will trigger an alert message to you when they are crossed. The best remotes will give you minor and major, over and under thresholds (4 total). In this way, and intelligent alarm remote will provide dual functions. You'll get the continuous reporting of an analog temperature sensor. You'll also get the alert thresholds of a discrete temperature sensor.
D-Wire Temperature and Humidity Sensor
The D-Wire Temperture and humidity
analog sensor from DPS Telecom.
How will you power your temperature sensors?
In a recent telecom case study, a telecommunications company lost a remote site. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment was damaged due to the lack of temperature monitoring. With the added heat radiation of servers and equipment, the site quickly turned into an oven - cooking the equipment beyond repair.
Beyond temperature monitoring - establishing a more reliable HVAC system with secondary power supplies.
Don't forget to also provide a secondary power supply for HVAC systems. There is an often-overlooked aspect of power outages. Your telecom equipment will continue to run on backup power. Air conditioning, connected only to commercial power, will still be offline. Imagine having the perfect array of temperature sensors in place. You're ready to go. Then you can't respond quickly enough because you have no technicians near the failed-HVAC site. The equipment keeps running, the heat keeps rising, until the temperature forces a thermal shutdown.
NetGuardian 832A G5 RTU
Real-World Examples of UPS Monitoring and the industries that utilize it.
Backup Battery Cells.
Server Rooms, Data Centers, Network Operation Centers and War Rooms.
Server rooms and data centers also need temperature sensors. At DPS, we've spoken with several clients who have suffered multiple server shutdowns due to air-conditioning failures. We typically receive phone call that describe an all-to-common situation. It is:
In each of these cases, they successfully deployed small temperature sensors and a controlling RTU device. Both operate on the AC power typically available in IT environments. The sensors continuously monitor the server room temperature and send an e-mail notification when there's an issue.
(Refer to this alarm features definitions page for definitions of unknown terms in this article).
Related Topics:
Temperature Alert
Related Products:
Temperature Monitor Guide
Need a Quote?
Get it by: 4:15 PM Thursday (today)
Now: 5:15 AM
Next Step:
Send Us Your Quote Request
8:00 AM Thursday
We'll Start Work on Your Detailed Quote
4:15 PM Thursday
Get Your Quote (Email PDF)
Get a Quote
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24593
|
World Library
Add to Book Shelf
Flag as Inappropriate
Email this Book
The National Center for Toxicogenomics : Using New Technologies to Inform Mechanistic Toxicology
By Department of Health and Human Services
Click here to view
Book Id: WPLBN0000023779
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.6 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005
Full Text
Title: The National Center for Toxicogenomics : Using New Technologies to Inform Mechanistic Toxicology
Author: Department of Health and Human Services
Language: English
Subject: Health., Medical research, Medical reports
Collections: Medical Library Collection
Publication Date:
Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The science of toxicology has evolved from the empirical codification of dose-related effects to studies directed toward understanding the mechanisms by which individual agents cause their effects in humans. Due to technical limitations, this evolution has been relatively slow, being accomplished one chemical or one effect at a time. To prospectively use the understanding gained on the mode of action of a single chemical, it is also necessary to know about structurally and functionally related chemicals and their time- and dose-dependent biological effects. In addition to chemicals and drugs, there are a plethora of environmental factors and stressors, such as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, biological agents, and dietary and lifestyle components, that can contribute to the development of disease. The effects of all of these agents must be characterized to a progressively greater depth for us to understand the biochemical and genetic complexity of the cells in which adverse effects are manifested. In this view, toxicology will progressively develop from predominantly individual chemical studies into a knowledge-based science in which experimental data are compiled and computational and informatics tools will play a significant role in deriving a new understanding of toxicant-related disease (1).
Table of Contents
Click To View
Additional Books
• The Story of Robinson Crusoe
• The Eye of Alloria (by )
• Alice in Wonderland (by )
• Biennial Report (by )
• Annual Report of the Bureau of American ... (by )
Scroll Left
Scroll Right
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24611
|
indecisiveness is the emotional counterpart to gingivitis or pyoindecisiveness is the emotional counterpart to gingivitis or pyorrhearrhea
When I lived in Tempe, Arizona, 20 years ago, I met a couple of women who had pyorrhea. One lady was told that she needed to have all her teeth removed and was scheduled for surgery in two weeks. She was in her early 40s and desperate to save her teeth when she came to the herb section at Gentle Strength Coop where I was working. I instructed her to drink a tea made from equal parts of white oak bark, taheebo and lemon grass, telling her to drink large quantities of this tea in place of water. She was also instructed to put powdered white oak bark in between her gums and teeth each night before going to bed, keeping it in her mouth all night. She also decided to buy some 4 oz. bottles of concentrated taheebo extract to add an extra measure of surety. Needless to say, when she went to her dentist, he cancelled the surgery since there was no longer any sign of pyorrhea and her gums were totally healed.
My other friend did the same routine and had the same success story. With both women I mentioned that indecisiveness is the emotional counterpart to gingivitis or pyorrhea. Both women admitted that this was an issue in their lives and worked to clear this up, one of the women getting a divorce from an abusive husband and father of her two young boys.
Superior to Toothpaste
The following tooth powder has saved many people’s mouths from excessive dental work:
Tooth Powder
Mix together the following ingredients –
3 parts white oak bark powder
6 parts comfrey root powder
1 part powdered cloves
3 parts peppermint powder
½ part lobelia powder
3 parts horsetail/shavegrass powder
Toothaches are caused by an infection. Kill the infection and attract blood flow to the area with a remedy that is pretty tough to take, but it works amazingly well! Take a pinch of cayenne, a few drops of clove oil, a crushed clove of garlic, and some oil of oregano, and mush and mix it all together. Apply directly to the pain, and smear around it as well. Breathe through your mouth and hold it as long as you can, but no more than 5 minutes. It’s painful, but not nearly as painful as a bad toothache, and it will provide immediate relief. Do this three times a day and your toothache will be a thing of the past.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24619
|
For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to change the world. Maybe not so much change the world, as somehow matter in it. Or maybe even more specifically, to have mattered to someone.
A friend told me recently that in a large group setting a speaker asked how many in attendance could list the names of their great-grandparents. In a huge mass of people, only two raised their hands.
What is mattering in a space where you're most likely forgotten in just two generations, even by your own ancestors? I oscillate between thinking this is terrifying and freeing. If no one's gonna remember you in two generations, might as well wear those comfy brown sandals with black pants, right?
Nerdy clothing choices aside (both now and in the past), this desire to matter is what led me to teaching. In my small-town, many of the adult women who I saw working for a paycheck in a way that daily made a difference were teachers. While this desire to make a difference, this desire to matter has led me to good things, it has also time and again shoved me into a state of numbness as I try to somehow achieve myself into mattering.
In the last two-and-a-half weeks I've enjoyed teaching, meeting my new students, developing my classroom rapport, but outside of those class meetings, I've really missed the boat. It's like I've been zombie-ing through my days. I've been tired. I've been grouchy. I've been annoyed at toilet paper rolls that don't re-fill themselves. I haven't made time to create anything, let alone write a blog post. Not that I have to be writing to matter, but my desire to create has always been a huge barometer that lets me know just how far I've wandered from God.
I know that when working full time I won't be able to blog to the extent I have this summer. That's just a reality of commitments and hours in the day. But. . . I know that just because I'm busy, that doesn't mean that I'm truly living. If the task list is loud enough I can't hear anything else--let alone the sound of God knocking at the door. What if I left a good friend standing outside my house knocking on the door for two weeks? Wouldn't all of my in-house activity seem silly?
I wonder if while I've been busy planning, grading, tasking, tasking, tasking, if God hasn't been quietly there knocking, almost chuckling, saying, "Look at my precious Evi. . . there she goes again, spinning herself up, when only one thing is really required." I hope that God sees some progress in these fits and starts that make-up my life. I want my relationship with Jesus to be so much more than a big re-set button that I keep hitting as I ask for forgiveness again and again.
I'm starting to wonder if the real superheroes aren't the ones who are run ragged with trying to do the best they can. I wonder if God goes, "There's a SuperOne," when we put all of those to-do's in their proper place and take time to stop, take a breath, and answer the door. God won't just show up and distract me from the requirements with my life. God will hang out and help out, if we'll only quiet ourselves enough to realize the fun, enlivening, challenging, mind-blowing grace-filled, thought-provoking, heart-stirring, peace-enduing, ever-faithful friend quietly knocking, just waiting to come in.
No comments:
Post a Comment
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24698
|
Sweet And Sour Sauce Recipes
19 recipes to browse.
Filtered by
• saute
Narrow your search
Use the filters in this column to find the perfect recipe.
Ingredient Filters
meats vegetables fruits dairy uncategorized seasonings & flavorings
Maybe List
When you're ready, we'll help you decide between similar recipes.
Holding 0 recipes
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24738
|
After six years of you in my life, I can't imagine a day without you. You never tell me what to do, where to do, or how to do it. You have always been here with me, helping me achieve my goals. You are my own personal MacGyver. I can't believe you fixed my dehydrator with a pencil and my mom's camera with a toothpick in the same five minutes. You fix all my technical issues. I can always depend on you to get my school software, the Cactus Cooler out of your keyboard, and find Black Mirror. You are my hero every time you help me finish the projects I start, clean out my old milk film glued to the cups, and pack extra food in my suitcase. You wake me up with Famous Stars and put me to bed with grilled ham and cheese. I want to you to know that I appreciate all the great happiness you do for me.
We are very different people, but I am glad we are at least pieces of the same puzzle. We can usually compromise on our differences such as, when I am forced to watch Doctor Who and you have to endure Chowder. And if not, you are able to absorb my wrath, forget the words, and continue to love me like you always do. I love you ability to make me feel better. You have the best way to do so, like rubbing my back, holding me close, and listening. I melt right back into your arms. Thank you for never purposely making me feel bad.
You are a very considerate person. So much so, that there are times I have no idea why you make unique requests until someone explains to me that you are doing it for me because I wistfully made a random comment weeks ago and you apply it. You care for me in ways I'll never understand - because you are quiet. You are understanding when I promise I'll clean out the fridge and I wait too long. You are thoughtful when you eat all the pink marshmallows and pink animal cookies for me. You are accepting even after I eat a pickle.
You are a great friend, business partner, and roommate. Despite what I may say, you do know me. I promise to never purposely hurt your feelings. I'll care for your well being. I will love you and I will always keep you close to my heart.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24747
|
What does President Trump mean for the housing market?
Get smarter. Grow your referral network at Inman Connect San Francisco
Limited seating still available, July 17-20
Political pundits around the country were stunned last night when Donald Trump secured enough to votes to beat Hillary Clinton to become the next President of the United States. While supporters from both sides are still reeling from emotions, we woke up wondering what that would mean for real estate.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24792
|
The retail counters and wholesale dealers always seek certain ways to increase their sale and popularity. Hence they do it everything to attract the new customers and maintain their existing customers. For they provide attractive interiors and facilities at their shops and stores. The cash counters are the first place which the customer initially confronts while entering the shop.
Thus this area of the shop should always be attractive and comfortable for the person sitting. The designers always keep something unique and effective design which looks good and turns effective while working.
Effect of a good cash counter:
• In the perspective of sale:
The cash counters are the first object which is visible to the customer because of whom the impression of sore is eventually affected. This also attracts the customers to analyse and purchase the stuff. The thing to be kept in mind is that the cash counters should be so designed that the entrance and cash counter should be so maintained that the customer finds the good enough space to enter and interact the reception person.
• Brand:
The customer firstly interacts with the cash counter and gets all the important details about the store. Hence the special interest and attention should be given to the material design size shape and colour of the cash wrap. The counter should always compliment the interior decoration and design of the store.
• Space and comfort:
The cash counter or table should go completely along with being beautiful. The person sitting there should always be comfortable to open and close the shelves build in it. It should be completely spacious and categorised for certain types of stuff which avoids confusion and embarrassment in front of the customer.
• Employee convenience and comfort:
The employee sitting on the cash counter has to spend lots of hours doing different jobs. They have to check balances, help the customers in their confusions, and accept deliveries and much more. The entry and exit should be spacious and should be comfortable and in proper height to interact with the customer.
Facts about cash counters to help in increasing the sales:
The cash counters are the centralised structure of any store by which every customer has to go through. It describes the complete summary about the store. Some important fact should be kept in mind to increase the sales:
• The cash and reception counter must be spacious enough that customer should easily interact which the person.
• The cash counter must be tidy and uncluttered.
How to get a cash counter?
There are many online websites which sell the cash counters of every size and material. Before purchasing any counter, one must keenly analyse the space, interiors and colour of the store. The cash counters can also be manufactured by certain carpenters and local brands and companies. Some interior designers also design the perfect design for the counters. One can go with any as per their comfort and ease.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24795
|
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
New Kids On The Block
Many of you have been following along via facebook but let me recap our latest craziness.
2012-12-02 07.16.24.jpg
Over the summer this beautiful white and gray cat started showing up at our door, so naturally we put some food out for her. We didn't know it was a "her", we were just guessing. Until the day when we thought "she" had put on a little weight, followed by the day when she showed up with her brand new kittens.
We've always named our cats after characters we like (Trixie-Kill Bill, Ari-Entourage, Fiona-Burn Notice, Taco-The League) so I came up with the name Smokey because of all the splotches of gray and the affectionate nickname people had for the Smoke Monster in Lost.
When the kittens arrived we almost immediately dubbed them The Bandits as in Smokey and the Bandits. Because why not?
Fast forward a few months. Smokey is gone, baby, gone, and the Bandits are now old enough to find homes of their own. If only they weren't so comfortable in our garage. If only we hadn't given them names (Puff, Plume, Sonny, Bandit). If only they didn't come running when we refill their bowls and jump on us with trust and love.
Four cats in the house. Four cats in the garage. This is my life.
And this is where you come in. Short of punching holes in a few boxes and giving them as Christmas gifts I'm not sure what to do with our influx of cats. I could put a sign up on a telephone pole that says, "Free Kittens" but I'm the kind of person who'd want to interview each applicant and make them produce pictures of their homes so that I'd be sure our little Bandits were going someplace nice.
Worst case we bring them to the vet for fixing and then re-release them. Best case, someone who reads this says, "I've always wanted a kitten!" or "My cat is huge and the vet thinks having a younger playmate will help her lose weight." or "Kate and Kevin are so awesome, I can totally help them out."
It's your call. Unless you want a Christmas gift from us this year that might be a little angry when you open the box.
1 comment:
Kristen said...
ruh roh. Tough one; I feel for you. I imagine you know this, but cats can get pregnant at about 6-8 months so the fixin' needs to happen before that time. You might research to see if there is a clinic that might do them on the cheap as a feral cat colony. Good luck in the safe and happy redistribution of pussy. Can I say that here? I think I can.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24809
|
Re: Aircraft emissions techie question
Date: 17 Dec 99 01:57:45
From: MJ <>
Organization: CyberHighway
References: 1
Followups: 1
Next article
View raw article
or MIME structure
Jack Pease wrote:
> Don't suppose anyone can help me with a technie question.
> NOx emissions rise with engine power. NOx is saved if a pilot selects 85%
> thrust on take off rather than 100% thrust, and presumably save fuel, so why
> isn't this done all the time if the engines have enough in reserve???
Safety is the primary concern. Assume an engine is lost at or just
above V1 (the speed at which you either abort or continue a take-off if
an engine is lost). If your remaining engine(s) is only at "85%" (your
value) you must take the added step of throttling up the remaining
engine(s) to 100%. While the new generation of engines spool up much
faster than previous, it still takes time. This could mean the
difference between the situation being a non-event or a marginal event.
Further, there are still a significant number of birds out there that
are short on thrust, and eat up an awful lot of real estate in any case.
Based on what I know of NOx production from gas turbines in general, I
also suspect that the higher NOx production over a shorter period of
time (assuming a throttle-back after reaching a safe altitude) would
roughly equal the total NOx produced by a low-power departure. At
least, the difference would not be great.
Then, you have the added CO emissions likely brought on by reduced
firing temps of a lower-power departure. In a low-power departure, you
would be trading NOx for CO.
Add in the need to clear the runway as quickly as is reasonably possible
to allow for more ops (ten seconds or so per departure would really add
up over hundreds, or thousands, of operations per day), plus the added
time aircraft would sit idling, doing no useful work, but still emitting
to some degree) and you begin to see why full-power departures are
GENERALLY desireable.
> Does
> it reduce ambient noise if a plane shoots down the runway on 100% power then
> thrusts down once over the airport boundary, or is it better to be 85%
> thurst all the way but lower on the airport boundary?
Yes, in terms of lessening the impact for the most people, it makes
sense to depart at maximum performance, and then throttle back when
> Modern engines produce more NOx than old ones, but why do the authorities
> claim that PM10 emissions are dropping hugely when it appears there are not
> emission factors for this pollutant?
I don't completely understand your question. Are you saying that PM10
is not tested for from aircraft engines? In any case, yes PM10
production from aircraft engines is much less than w/ previous
generations. Remember what a B-707 looked like on departure? You don't
see that plume of particulate matter (including PM10) like you used to.
That is a result of much better combustion efficiency, of course. Which
is why NOx produced per-engine is up, of course.
> Why is SO2 considered irrelevent when if you plug in SO2 into the UK
> national emissions database ( ) do
> you get two dirty great red splodges over Gatwick and Heathrow? Where is
> this SO2 coming from, given that avgas is a light distallate??
Somebody else would be in a better position to answer that one (I think
I know, but am just not certain enough!)
To further discuss your concern re: NOx production, dry-low NOx
combuston systems suitable for use in aero engines (read: relaible
enough) are probably not too many years away. The bugs are being worked
out in aero-derivatives used in industrial applications (like power
generation and pipeline compression). While the teething pains have
been considerable with the first generation of products, the second
generation designs are much more reliable and operate satisfactorily
over a wide range of power settings. Not quite there yet for use in
aero engines, but getting close. Between the risks of higher emissions
levels (primarily NOx) or catastophic 'combustor rumble' I'll take the
higher emissions (for now) anyday!
> IS there anybody out there who can give an independent and authoritative
> answer on these questions?
Don't know about the authoritative part (just applying what I know as a
pilot, mechanical engineer and power-plant guy) but definitely
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24838
|
Food and Drink
Food & Drink
Our teacher will give us a healthy snack each morning.
Please can you help us to remember:
• To bring our water bottles every day (no juice please, only water.
• Order our lunches or bring a packed lunch
Once your child has turned 5, they are no longer entitled to free milk. If you wish for your child to continue having milk, this can be ordered and paid for at the office - thank you.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24839
|
A dozen journalists and technicians animate everyday FM Kalak, 24 ساعات 24. We present below some of the most popular voices on the air. Kalak FM broadcasting from Yaounde, Cameroon.
Kalak FM official website address is kalakfm.com
كلك FM
أرسل لنا مشكلتك
[ Cameroon : كلك FM ]
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24847
|
Theme Layout
Boxed or Wide or Framed
Theme Translation
Display Featured Slider
Featured Slider Styles
Display Grid Slider
Grid Slider Styles
Display Trending Posts
Display Author Bio
Display Instagram Footer
Dark or Light Style
Blog Archive
Copyright Love Bites and Silk . Powered by Blogger.
Google+ Followers
Everyone knows that happily ever afters only happen in fairy tales @mamad8 #Vampires #Menage
Romance on the Go ®
Everyone knows that happily ever afters only happen in fairy tales. Real life is cruel and painful. Bianca may fantasize about the two hunks in the shadows, but that doesn't mean they’ll ever notice her. Men as sinfully sexy as the two brothers won’t want a crippled redhead like her.
The New Year has always been a painful reminder for Bianca. She helps out at the annual orphanage’s fancy dress fundraiser to help chase away her demons—until it’s time to leave.
When Sister Maria insists that Bernhard and Archie escort Bianca home, the events that follow change her life forever. The hottest sex she's ever had cannot account for the changes Bianca sees in the mirror. Vampires aren’t real, right?
Previously published in Evernight's Just Vamps anthology
Archie’s hands dug into her bad leg, and she couldn’t help her flinch of pain.
“I’m sorry. How much does it hurt?” Archie asked.
“It’s not too bad. The fog doesn’t help.”
“Neither does running yourself ragged helping out at the orphanage.” Bernhard sounded almost angry, and she shrank away from the intense expression on his face.
“I do not run myself ragged, and besides, I love those kids. They have no one. I know only too well what that feels like.” Her voice was far too wobbly, and Bianca resolutely blinked the last few tears lingering on her eyelashes away. She didn’t want the brothers’ pity, damn it.
Not that the hungry way their gazes devoured her spoke of pity right now. Her flesh heated under their quiet regard. Her breath hitched, her heart galloped, and she sat like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, waiting for their next move.
An unspoken communication seemed to be going on between the two men, and Bianca melted a little inside when Bernhard smiled again. Oh, he really looked good enough to eat when he smiled.
“You have us now, my pretty.”
“Yes, little one.”
She turned her head to see Archie looking at her with the same steely determination that she’d seen in his brother’s face.
“You don’t have to sweet talk me, you know. I’m a safe bet.”
Archie laughed, and Bernhard swore.
“Are you now, little one? Well, in that case it would be most ungentlemanly of us to keep the lady waiting, would it not, Bernhard?”
“No one has ever accused us of not acting like gentlemen, brother, that’s for sure, but we should take this to the bedroom.” He rose as he spoke, and then it was Archie’s turn to scoop her up as though she weighed less than a feather. She clung to his shoulders, only letting go long enough to point in the direction of her bedroom when Bernhard asked where it was. He led the way, and Archie followed. Every step pitched the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzied orgy of excitement. By the time Archie lowered her onto the well-loved bedspread covering her bed, she was shivering in anticipation.
Bernhard claimed her mouth in a breathtaking kiss, and Archie trailed open-mouthed kisses along her leg. He nipped a path along the jagged scars with his teeth. His kisses left a delicious tingle in their wake that completely obliterated any leftover pains in that leg. Bernhard took the kiss deeper. He drank from her mouth as though it was the sweetest nectar. Their tongues dueled together in an ever more passionate dance, whilst his hands roamed her body and slowly pulled the dress off her shoulders until her breasts were exposed in their lacy bra. He broke the kiss and ran his knuckles over her nipples. Hard little nubs of sensitivity, they chafed against their confines, and Bianca moaned when Archie reached up and pulled down the bra cups.
“Beautiful.” His breath danced across her quivering abdomen, and she arched her spine. Bernhard took a nipple between his teeth and bit down gently. The sensation shot straight to her clit, and Bianca thrust her hips up at Archie in a silent plea. He smiled, and, reading her correctly, he slid the dress further off her body until she was just in her thong. He blew across the wet fabric barely covering her mound, and Bianca bucked as her clit swelled in response. She moaned and panted her arousal. The needy sounds coming from her seemed alien to her. Who was this person begging for them to take her, to not stop, to please, please fuck her?
Bernhard released her nipples with one last gentle scrape of his teeth and worked his way back up to her mouth. He caught her scream of surprise in his kiss as Archie pulled her thong off and latched onto that swollen bundle of nerves between her thighs. He pushed two fingers deep into her channel at the same time and curled them just right to have her climbing the rungs of sexual bliss in seconds. Bernhard’s tongue in her mouth mirrored Archie’s thrusting fingers, and Bianca gave herself up to the ever-increasing spirals of bliss traveling from her pussy outwards. Just as she hovered on the precipice of her orgasm Archie bit down on her clit, and Bianca screamed at the sharp pain. Pain that changed to white-hot shards of arousal rushing through her veins as Archie started to suck. She was dimly aware of Bernhard’s muttered curse in her ear, followed by another sharp pain to her neck that sent her tumbling into wave after wave of the most intense set of orgasms ever.
LoveBites AndSilk
Share This Post :
You Might Also Like
No comments:
Post a Comment
Follow @LBASBooks
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24862
|
Wall Eye Candy!
by Mari Robeson
In my little boutique I hand painted each wall. Two walls with a tree and some of my favorite sayings. The two longer walls have a damask stencil that took me an entire week up on scaffolding. That was almost three years ago...can you believe it's almost been three years!!! Every week someone asks me about the walls and how to recreate them. I explain the process but then I tell them about a much easier and inexpensive way to create the same look for more than half the time and dollars it took me. A new surge of artists have appeared on sites like ETSY that are taking their art and making wall decals from them. Vinyl cutouts are inexpensive (usually under $20) and come with a big bang for your buck. On the ETSY site alone there are dozens of resources to help you find your perfect wall art! Below is ETSY artist Leen The Graphics Queen.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24870
|
The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society
What did an Adams kid do for fun?
When John Quincy Adams was 59 years old, he wrote a nostalgic letter to his cousin William Cranch in which he pined for their shared childhood. This led me to wonder something—if you were an Adams kid, what did you do for fun?
John Adams’s absence from his family during this period provides a rich correspondence with their mother, Abigail, throughout which she describes the health and development of their “Little folks.” From Abigail’s letters, the children’s later reminiscences, and their skills evident as teenagers and adults, we can glean that Nabby, John Quincy, Charles, and Thomas passed most of their time with some combination of reading, shooting, chess, playing the flute, ice skating, keeping doves, and dancing.
When she wasn’t needed for household chores, Nabby could be found reading, playing cards, and gossiping with her cousins about their crushes. It is also probable that she accompanied her younger brothers when they went fishing, as she later describes fishing with John and Abigail while in England, or when they went on long walks, as her father believed in fresh air and exercise for young girls. Along the way, Nabby also must have become proficient in chess, as in 1786 her husband admitted to losing a game of chess to her.
Like their elder sister, John Quincy and Charles loved to read. When John wrote home from Philadelphia and asked the children what presents they would like him to send home, Abigail replied, “I call[ed] them seperately and told them Pappa wanted to send them something and requested of them what they would have. A Book was the answer of them all only Tom wanted a picture Book and Charlss the History of king and Queen. It was natural for them to think of a Book as that is the only present Pappa has been used to make them.” As they grew older, John Quincy and Charles went for long walks and swims together, went shooting and ice skating, and took flute and dancing lessons.
Thomas, the youngest, enjoyed many of the same amusements of his older siblings, as evidenced by the necessity of abstaining from ice skating when he sustained a broken ankle. The “innocently playful” Thomas had an especially soft spot for animals. His aunt reported to Abigail, “Tom, a Rogue loves his Birds and his Doves, makes bad Lattin and says as he grows older he shall grow wiser.” When Thomas returned to live with Abigail, his aunt continued to send him reports of the animals. At fourteen, Thomas still appeared enamored with his pets, though John Quincy steered him towards more serious matters. His aunt wrote, “Thomas is A fine Lad, and does not run so often to look of his Doves in studying Hours, since Mr Adams has been here.”
Though it appears inconceivable to have a normal childhood when the enemy army is a few miles up the road, ten-year-old John Quincy confessed to his father that his thoughts were “running after birds eggs play & trifles,” and five-year-old Thomas couldn’t wait until his father returned home so that they could get back to playing “jail.” It seems that even when the world is turning upside down and countries are being crafted, a kid is still a kid. Even an Adams kid.
permalink | Published: Wednesday, 11 October, 2017, 12:00 AM
Commenting has closed for this post. Thank you for participating.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24893
|
Please review these answers to the most commonly asked questions.
1 How do I report an issue with Street Wars?
2 How do I uninstall a game?
3 How do I report in-game abuse?
4 What are Creds?
5 How do I earn Creds?
6 What can I do with Creds?
7 Why did I receive a Creds bonus?
8 Why are there trophies on my profile?
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24902
|
The Lady in the Moon
For the Who Framed Klaris Cliff? Competition
1. The Lady in the Moon
Roxy lay in bed, pretending to sleep. She'd had a rough day; her mother was even worse than usual. When she wasn't sleeping off the drink, she was yelling at Roxy for being a 'selfish, lazy bastard'. Roxy knew she probably didn't mean it; it was just the whisky talking. Even so, it still hurt. This was why she'd learned to look after herself and did whatever she could to help. This didn't leave a lot of time for schoolwork (and honestly, who needs to what river is longest or when the Vikings invaded the British Isles?) or, in fact, friends (not that anyone wanted to friends with weirdo Roxy anyway). But Roxy didn't need any normal friends. She had the Lady in the Moon.
The Lady in the Moon was much better than any of the girls at school. She always appeared at midnight, even when the actual moon was obscured by clouds. Roxy only called her that because she shone bright and silver like a full moon in a winter sky, and looked just as pretty. The Lady in the Moon always listened to what Roxy had to say, and took her seriously, not like anyone else. She rarely spoke, but it was still nice to have someone to share all her feelings with. Sometimes she would dance with Roxy to cheer her up, or put her to sleep with some ageless, long-forgotten lullaby. Roxy liked to think that this was what it would be like if she had an older sister.
Roxy was quite sure that this was just her imagination. She might be a bit of a dreamer, but she wasn't stupid. No one else had ever seen the Lady in the Moon, not even the Marcus next door, and he often smiled at Roxy through the window. She'd often wondered if she was going mad. 'Well, if this is what madness feels like,' thought Roxy, 'it's not that bad.
As the church bell struck midnight, Roxy's room filled with a resplendent, pearly glow. Roxy sat up in her bed, grinning ear to ear. Everything would be alright now. The Lady in the Moon was here.
The Lady in the Moon smiled gently at Roxy. She reached her pale hand out towards the troubled child. "Come with me," she said in a voice as soft and sweet as acacia honey. Roxy took the Lady's hand, eyes shining. Not once did she look back as the Lady in the Moon led her away from her life. If she had, she might have seen that her body had been left behind. She might also have seen the nasty gash on her temple her mother had inflicted by throwing an empty bottle at her head.
But between you and me, I think she knew that her friend - imaginary or not - was taking her away for good.
Loading ...
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24903
|
Just Girls
Ryan, Aspen, and Grace are best friends. They are all 18. They love 5sos. They all work at this one 80s diner were you have to wear stupid little prissy pink waitress outfits and roller skate around. One day Aspen's washing the floors, Ryan is waiting on people, and Grace is at the register. What happens when 5sos come in and Calum slips on the wet floor and falls on Ryan? Read to find out!! These girls aren't Just Girls.
1. Open
I walked into the stupid little pink 80s diner. I hated this place. I mean its sort of cute and all but still, its super annoying. I had my little pink prissy diner girl dress on with the little fluffy lace waist apron. I sat down on a diner stool and slipped on my pink roller skates. I rolled over to the door and turned on the light up 'OPEN' sign on the glass wall. I went and started setting up tables when my friend Aspen walked in.
"Hey!" she said as she slung her bag down onto the counter.
"Hey! Could you do me a favor and take our bags off the counter and put them under the counter in the belongings drawer? Thanks!" I say not giving her a choice as I put down the ketchup bottle on the table. she nodded and did as I asked. Then my other best friend Grace walked in, flinging her bag at Aspen.
"OUCH!" Aspen said grabbing the area on her head she got hit on after she put the bag in the drawer. Grace laughed and plopped down onto a dine stool at the bar and put on her roller skates.
"Alright! Lets get this thing on a roll!!" I said, clapping my hands and shooing off the groaning girls. I went and got my note pad, pen, tray, and some straws and put them all in my big pocket. Grace went and stood behind the counter at the register and Aspen sat on the floor washing it as some boys walked in. They had beanies and sunglasses on.
"How many boys?"
"Four." one of them said.
"Kay. Come over here." I said waving my hand over at the table I was setting up. They all sat down and took off their beanies and sunglasses. I couldn't believe it! The boys of 5SOS were sitting in front of me!!!!
"OH MY GOD." I said and they all smiled at me.
"You a fan?" Ashton said as he looked up and down my body, checking me out. I nodded.
"What is it Ry- OH MY GOD." Aspen said as she got up and walked over to the table. Followed by Grace who was in awe to. The boys all smiled.
"Where is the bathroom?" Calum said getting up. I went to show him when I heard a yell from behind me and I turned around to look when some one crashed into me, sending me down onto the hard tile floor.
"OOOOOOWWW!!!!" I said, clutching my head. I looked up to see Calum on top of me. He smiled.
"Sorry." he said, getting up. He offered me his hand and I grabbed it. He pulled me up and when I got up to his level I started slipping on my roller skates. I fell into him and he caught me. My face was in his chest and I looked up at him. He smiled and I let go and brushed my hair out of my face trying to take it cool.
"Um its that way." I said pointing towards the bathroom.
"Uh, thanks." he said running a hand through his hair and looking at the floor, looking sad and embarrassed. I felt like a total piece of crap for doing that. He trudged of to the bathroom. I walked back over to the table. I looked at the girls and shot my thumb backwards over my shoulder telling them to go back to their posts and they did.
"So what do you guys want since your the only people here." I said, laughing a little. They smiled.
"We all just want some vanilla shakes please." Luke said as his eyes trailed from me slowly over to Aspen. I smiled and nodded, heading to the kitchen right when Calum came out of the bathroom.
Loading ...
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24913
|
Skip directly to content
omerXD's blog
Syndicate content
and what if i don't want to have a title ha?!
well... i'm really tired. and i don't mean i don't have enough sleep i mean i'm tired of all the bullshit with my mom. (well if you have the power and the will the read my complaints and maybe to give an advice for me you can read the full blog.... :) )
okay, so i need to do for web class a final project about robots XD
now... i've got an idea for a web to do for robots that want to take over the universe (for those who see doctor who i took it from the cyber man and daleks....XD look at the pic... this for those who want to sign up to the web - isn't that cute XD)
my friend is doing a web about a secret underground organization aginst the robots and i can't wait to see how she'll do it....!
but i thought maybe i'll get more ideas from people here because you have awesome ideas!
Agent purple Lilith.
more drawing :D
so it's the rest for now... bulletproof heart and destroya
this is my first two drawing
oh and you are welcome to tell me what you think! any feedback you want XP
drawing :D:D
ok so i'm not so great at it.. but i think it went good isn't it?
anyway this is SING and Summertime -
and that what i do on bible class... XD
tell me what you think - enjoy.
and i'm gonna upload more drawings of Danger days.. maybe i'll do for the bullets revenge and the black parade XP who knows?!
long time away from here... :)
god, the last time i was here was friday..i missed it here :):)
this week was soo wierd..
it started on friday, when my mom got mad at me(and she still don't talk to me... XD) and yelled at me that i need to go to a boarding school because there isn't enough place for me and her in home
- well i couldn't help but think of "honey this mirror isn't big enough for the both of us" :):)
than... on sunday, i had Sex education.. well, in an hour and a half i got a lot of information i didn't want to know.. :O:O:O
yesterday i had 3 hours of history class... with our freak, wierd and funny teacher -
not the best weekend of my life... :(
my mom wants to send me to a boarding school...
my sister i should (for my and my mom's sake)
i don't even want to ask my dad whar he thinks...
it would be really helpful if i could talk to someone.. the people here helped me so many times :)
vote you people!! vote!!...
don't know what about you but i'd like to see my chemical romance win this thing... :)
the only problem is 30stm have more votes!!!
oh well hell :\
i hate literature!.. i mean, who cares what the writer meant when he said when he put this and right this and mentioned that!?
if i'll ever be a writer , i wish my books will never - ever - EVER!!! be studied in school...
can't believe a doctor, his ho, a vampire mistress and an idiot homeless would ruin my final exams.. GREAT.. XD
~AgentPurpleLilith is out for studing :O~
my mom bought me a t-shirt of "i'm always right" for my b-day :)
i knew she would give up at last XD
do you sometimes feel like screaming? like there is a rock on your chest and the only way to get rid of it is to scream as loud as you can?
well i feel that way... where can i go and scream!? :O
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24940
|
Fracking May Pollute Groundwater with More Chemicals Than Previously Thought
June 26, 2014 4:09 PM
28 0
It turns out that there may far more contamination from fracking than once thought. Scientists have found that the oil and gas extraction method known and hydraulic fracturing may contribute more pollutants to groundwater than previous research has suggested.
Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, involves inject large volumes of fluids underground at high pressures. These fluids are combined with chemicals that help release gas and oil trapped in cracks in hard rock. The gas and oil is then extracted and the wastewater, in theory, is dis...
Read more
To category page
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24959
|
From OmegaWiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Ethnologue ISO-639-1 -
ISO-639-3 vmg
Babel user information
vmg-N This user has a native understanding of Minigir.
vmg-5 This user has professional knowledge of Minigir.
vmg-4 This user has near native speaker knowledge of Minigir.
vmg-3 This user has advanced knowledge of Minigir.
vmg-2 This user has intermediate knowledge of Minigir.
vmg-1 This user has basic knowledge of Minigir.
Users by language
Search user languages
Welcome to what is to become the language portal for Minigir. Please replace this text with what is appropriate in Minigir and help complete the missing templates.
Papua New Guinea
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24969
|
Tag Archives: servos
servo arm now drawing things with inverse kinematics
Reading Time: 2 minutes
you can see some of the error modes i was encountering in the ^ shaped “straight line” where theta1 was clipping out because I was feeding it negative values based on my inverse kinematics calculated angles
i blame servo jitter for how shaky the lines are :)
this took forever and a heaping bowlful of confusion to get to where i am. actually i’m still confused. but basically i spent all day sunday working on this, emailed out to MITERS, and finally a hallmate, pranjal, helped me out (https://github.com/pranjalv123/servoarm) today and fixed where I was stuck at in an hour or two.
essentially he rewrote the code in python (I was actually starting to do this) to graph and understand what was going on. For instance, the bottom-most image is the working envelope of the robot arm;
Isn’t that fascinating? It’s like a yin yang. If you play around with the servo arm this sort of working envelope makes sense.
So turns out my code was decently fine, the negative values just meant I was giving it bad inputs that it physically couldn’t reach given the arm link lengths I’d given it.
We initially tried to wrap the negative values around by doing mod180 ‘ing it,
theta1 = ((int)theta1+180)%180
but this gives the sort of trajectory shown in the upper image
(I think… it may also be that elbowup needs to be false to generate that sort of trajectory)
setting elbowup to be true fixed a lot of issues to (which makes sense physically as more x,y coordinates can be reached if the elbow is up rather than down, it’s easy to see if you play around with it … see the inverse kinematics chapter on http://www.eng.utah.edu/~cs5310/chapters.html if this elbowup/down stuff is coming out of nowhere — basically there are two combinations of theta 1 and theta 2 that will work for any given x,y coordinate and you just pick whether you want the elbow up or down solution)
and finally the working enveloped helped me pick correct x,y values to feed it. Initially I was just basing my x,y values off of the instructables www.instructables.com/id/Robotic-Arm-with-Servo-Motors/?ALLSTEPS but scaled down 1/3, which was just a guess of mine based on my servo joint limitations versus her motor joint limitations
it is also surprisingly close to the dimensions in mm I give it, eg.
will give me a line about 60 mm long (I put the link lengths in as mm), which is exciting.
I’m still not sure what’s going on with why the straight line up and down is at a 45degree angle, but that’s probably a constant offset problem. Fixable either in code or if I set the initial conditions on the angle the links are mounted on the servos better.
Next: faces?
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24974
|
Permalink for comment 342882
RE: Seriously? You got fooled!
by sanctus on Fri 9th Jan 2009 16:52 UTC in reply to "Seriously? You got fooled!"
Member since:
In some ways, yes it the same, but the way to look at it, makes it quite a lot different.
Just take how it works with contact. On a desktop, you must think of a procedure to accomplish something.
When you want to communicate with someone, do you think like a step-by-step process? I'll open an outlook text editor to send you a message via email? No! You either want to speak/im/email with your contact, that’s pretty much it.
So you go from 3 and more application (contact which is pretty static (does nothing but store information), msn, Skype, yahoo, gizmo, talk, outlook/mail/thunderbird/name it.) to only one task oriented application/card. So if the ratio keeps up, you'll go down from 20 open apps to 5 cards.
Maybe it's technically a small change, but if the paradigm works more like my brain does, well, I will benefits tremendously.
Reply Parent Score: 2
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24976
|
posted by Eugenia Loli on Sat 12th Aug 2006 23:42 UTC
Icon"Debian and Ubuntu. Ubuntu and Debian. How are they different? How are they the same? Well, most of the differences lie in the target userbase of the OSes. Debian is attempting the unattemptable by making a distro that's right for almost every use imaginable. Servers use it, workstations use it, monkeys I'm sure could use it too. That comes at a price." More here.
e p (0) 93 Comment(s)
Technology White Papers
See More
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24977
|
Thread beginning with comment 399140
To view parent comment, click here.
RE: Statement defensible
by StephenBeDoper on Fri 11th Dec 2009 20:34 UTC in reply to "Statement defensible"
Member since:
I'll go ahead and say it: his statement was completely defensible. He's clearly talking about search engines, not about what people do behind closed doors and shuttered windows.
Agreed. If you add the qualifier "in public" to his statement, it seems rather innocuous - if that's what he meant (and that's how I read the statement), then he's essentially just stating the concept of "reasonable expectation of privacy."
Reply Parent Score: 2
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/24978
|
Thread beginning with comment 535364
Android numbers don't seem accurate.
by devicehandler on Sun 16th Sep 2012 22:39 UTC
Member since:
Android 4.0 0.48%
Android 2.3 1.02%
Android 2.2 0.21%
Android 3.2 0.09%
- Am I the only one who this these numbers are flawed? According to the Google mobility blog "With a year-on-year growth rate of more than 250%, 850,000 new Android devices are activated each day, jetting the total number of Android devices around the world past 300 million"
According to Microsoft "Since October 2009, when the product launched, more than 630 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold."
So according to Google and Microsoft those numbers are flawed, Android is doing about half of what Windows 7 is doing and this is considering Microsoft's long history with OS's, Google is relatively new in this arena however we aren't comparing apples with apples as the OS's play in different fields. Still those numbers are flawed.
Reply Score: 1
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25008
|
Annual dues to the Elder Association for alumni are $50.00. You can make online payments via PayPal with the buttons below.
If you prefer to mail payment, please make it out to “NYSCDA of Zeta Psi” and mail it to Jim Peta, 15 Blueberry Lane, New Hartford, CT 06057. Please be sure to include your name, address, and class year.
Automatic Donation Options
One-Time Donation Options
Alternative Donation Options
Brothers interested in donating to the chapter through Zeta Psi International HQ can do so via the Zete4Life Program.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25017
|
Music Mouse
Get Music Mouse essential facts below, , or join the Music Mouse discussion. Add Music Mouse to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
Music Mouse
Music Mouse is an algorithmic musical composition software developed by Laurie Spiegel.
Spiegel's best known and most widely used software, "Music Mouse - An Intelligent Instrument" (1986) is for Macintosh, Amiga and Atari computers.[1][2][3] The "intelligent instrument" name refers to the program's built-in knowledge of chord and scale convention and stylistic constraints.[4] Automating these processes allows the user to focus on other aspects of the music in real time.[5] In addition to improvisations using this software, Spiegel composed several works for "Music Mouse", including Cavis muris in 1986, Three Sonic Spaces in 1989, and Sound Zones in 1990.[6] She continued to update the program through Macintosh OS 9 and, as of 2012, it remained available for purchase or demo download from her website.[3]
See also
1. ^ Commodore Magazine, Sept. 1987
2. ^ Simoni, Mary (1998). "Profiles of Determination", p.20. Computer Music Journal 22 (4): 19-28.
3. ^ a b Laurie Spiegel. "Computer Software by Laurie Spiegel". Retrieved .
4. ^ Dean, R.T. (2003). Hyperimprovisation: Computer-interactive Sound Improvisation. p. 62. ISBN 0895795086.
5. ^ Hinkle-Turner, Elizabeth (2006). Women Composers And Music Technology in the United States. p. 47. ISBN 0754604616.
6. ^ Gagné, Nicole V. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music. p. 255. ISBN 0810867656.
External links
Music Scenes
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25029
|
Monday, March 6, 2017
SPX Update: The Market as a Quantum Probability
Quantum physics tells us that particles don't exist prior to observation. Instead what exists is a wave of probabilities as to where the particle might be found (note that this is not a wave of probabilities as to where the particle actually "is" -- the particle simply does not exist in any real sense until you observe it!)
Sometimes I think of the market in similar terms, as a "wave of probabilities." In a way, that's all it can ever be. Nothing is guaranteed -- although some patterns do seem to exhibit a form of causal determinism (often, once a certain portion of a fractal forms, the market seems compelled to complete that fractal). The challenge is that the market can sometimes go for decent stretches without forming such deterministic patterns in the first place. In those instances when no deterministic pattern is unfolding (at least insofar as this: even if the entire market IS causally determined, we can't always pinpoint the prior move (the "cause") -- so from a practical standpoint, we would still consider those patterns nondeterministic), which constitute the majority of market moves, then we are dealing solely with probabilities.
I think one of the errors folks, especially less experienced traders, sometimes make when attempting to apply Elliott Wave (and other systems) is in thinking that EVERY pattern is, or "should be," a clear manifestation of causal determinism -- so they believe they know exactly what's coming next. If one takes that view, then it leads to overtrading, over-commitment of capital, and/or frustration when things aren't clear-cut. It's always best to remember to allow for contingent possibilities, and to thus view the market more in a quantum framework than in a Newtonian framework.
Short-term, the probabilities seem to favor at least one more leg down. Though my first inclination is that we'll follow the blue path and bounce around a bit first, it is technically possible that b completed on Friday.
Bigger picture, the probabilities still seem to favor that the bull market isn't over yet:
In conclusion, there was little movement on Friday, so there's no material change from the prior update. I'm still inclined to think we'll see another leg down, but this rally has surprised me before. Trade safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25030
|
Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Ozric Tentacles - Spirals In Hyperspace CD (album) cover
Ozric Tentacles
Psychedelic/Space Rock
3.74 | 155 ratings
From, the ultimate progressive rock music website
4 stars I've been an Ozrics fan for some time now, a number of years since a friend of mine introduced me with 'The Hidden Step', a masterpiece of an album. This would be the first release they'd made since i'd been a fan of theirs, and I looked forward to it. It was interesting to see watching the Pongmasters DVD that certain jams became parts of songs (one jam appearing in part of the title track). I was a little dissapointed with that, I'd have liked a song based on that jam, although Spirals is certainly a good track. You can alo hear a bit of Slinky being played at the Nodens Ictus soundcheck. Despite the fact this is one of my favorite ozrics albums, I have to say I'm a little dissapointed the other members are left out (and despite Zia leaving, he's back, leaving Pazza no-where to be heard!) I also thought there was too much sequenced Bass on the album - I like the band for their ability to PLAY their music, not just sit back with a sequencer. Ed Wynne is a clearly accomplished musician so perhaps he should play more rather than sequence ;)
Even so, I still think it's a great album, good to get if your a newbie, but i'd go for The Hidden Step first :D
| 4/5 |
Forum user
Forum password
Share this OZRIC TENTACLES review
Social review comments () BETA
Review related links
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25077
|
Orchid flowers
Orchid flowers
B535/0224 Rights Managed
Request low-res file
530 pixels on longest edge, unwatermarked
Request/Download high-res file
Uncompressed file size: 50.2MB
Downloadable file size: 3.1MB
Price image Pricing
Please login to use the price calculator
Caption: Orchid flowers (Cyrtopodium andersonii). Each of the flowers has a yellow petal. This is the lip, a specialised structure that attracts pollinators and provides them with a landing platform. The Cyrtopodium orchids are found in tropical South America. This specimen is from Guyana. There are more than 30,000 species of orchids worldwide, many of which are grown as ornamental flowers.
Keywords: biological, biology, botanical, botany, cyrtopodium andersonii, flower, flowering, flowers, guyana, many, multiple, nature, orchid, plant, reproduction, reproductive, south american, tropical
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25082
|
Page 1 of 1
Reuban Sandwich
PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:29 pm
by Oysterpot
This my wifes and my favorite for the pie iron.
The Reuban Sandwich.
Deli Rye bread
Thick sliced corned beef
thick sliced swiss cheese
saurkraut w/caraway seed
thousand island dressing
butter (for spreading on outside of bread)
Ya make a sandwich with some of all the ingredients, and toast in the pre heated pie irons.
Serve with fresh potato chips and a wedge of cold crisp kosher dill pickle. And maybe a bowl of homemade bean w/bacon soup!
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25100
|
The Last Act
It was well after 2:00am on May 7th, 1945 when the first cars pulled up to a little red schoolhouse in Reims, France.
Shuffling inside, and out of the cold morning air, were representatives of most of the major combatants in Europe. Few were major commanders – the closest being Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, the chief of staff of Gen. Eisenhower. Accompanied by the Soviet liaison officer Ivan Susloparov and French Major-General François Sevez, the Allies awaited their guests.
Arriving in an Allied-driven staff car, Generaloberst Alfred Jodl and his staff entered the schoolhouse. Given the assignment of representing the German government by Admiral – and now, with the suicide of Adolf Hitler, President – Karl Dönitz, Jodl had arrived two days earlier with simple instructions – negotiate a surrender to the Western Allies only. Eisenhower had made it clear to Jodl just hours earlier that only a complete unconditional surrender would be accepted. Otherwise, Eisenhower would order the Western Front “closed” to German surrender, forcing the Nazis into the waiting arms of the Soviet Army. Neither Dönitz or Jodl wished that fate.
At 2:41am on May 7th, 1945, Nazi Germany agreed to unconditionally surrender by the following day, May 8th. The war in Europe was finally about to end.
German POWs in Soviet Custody – these men probably wouldn’t have smiled if they knew their fate. The Soviets confirmed that 380,000 German POWs died under their watch. Post-war estimates suggest that number was substantially higher
The events of May 7th/8th were the culmination of numerous, “smaller” surrenders over the preceding weeks.
1.5 million German troops had surrendered to the Western Allies in April alone. On May 2nd, an additional 1 million members of the Wehrmacht surrendered in Italy and Austria. Coupled with the 800,000 POWs the Soviets had captured in the war’s waning months, what was left of the once fearsome Wehrmacht was literally disintegrating.
Germany’s soldiers might no longer have been much of a threat on the battlefield, but as prisoners they were a serious threat to the Allies’ supplies. Still operating on an extended supply chain from Antwerp following the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies quickly found themselves responsible for millions of undernourished men, women and children. In addition to the millions of POWs, the Western Allies had to manage nearly 9 million displaced persons in Germany and Austria, millions of recently liberated slave laborers, and 14 million ethnic Germans the Soviets had forced out of Eastern Europe.
Despite the Allies’ supply largesse, there simply wasn’t enough food to go around. The Soviets had a simple solution to their part of the problem – starvation. Hundreds of thousands of German POWs officially died while under Soviet guard. Unofficially, the number might be horrifically higher as 1.3 million German POWs are still classified as “missing.”
Generaloberst Alfred Jodl signs for Germany’s unconditional surrender. He was signing his own eventual death sentence – convinced of war crimes at Nuremberg, Jodl was executed in 1946
The Allied solution was more bureaucratic, but it had a similar end result. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war were entitled to medical care and rations. Unable to provide both on the scale necessary to met the Convention’s standards, the Allies reclassified the Germans soldiers under their care to “disarmed enemy forces” – a term that implied that such forces needed to supply their own food and medicine, and could. Millions of German troops were stuck in a legal no-man’s land – neither fully a prisoner nor free man, and thus neither eligible for supplies nor able to procure them.
An estimated 790,000 German soldiers would die in the West (the exact figure is unknown and highly debated). Counting the official and unofficial losses from the East, plus those who already perished in combat, perhaps as many as 6.37 million German troops died within the Second World War.
The German Army was desperate to surrender. The only question was who was in charge enough to do so?
Times Square – more iconic images seem to have come from Japan’s surrender, but the mood was no less joyous in the U.S. and elsewhere in May of 1945
Nominally it was Karl Dönitz – who had been granted the post of Reichspräsident and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces in Hitler’s last will and testament. Dönitz had taken the post pretty much by default. Hermann Göring or Heinrich Himmler would have been logical choices for a successor, but in his final hours, Adolf Hitler believed both had betrayed him – Himmler by attempting to surrender to the West (his offer was declined) and Göring by insisting on the title before Hitler was ready to relinquish it. In Hitler’s mind, only the Kriegsmarine had not undermined the war effort and thus the Navy’s supreme commander should take over control of what was left of the German nation.
With the fall of Berlin, Dönitz relocated the government to Flensburg on May 2nd, where he attempted to piece together some form of government to be able to officially surrender. His first challenge was to convince his would-be rivals that the mantle of command had passed to him.
Göring had already been arrested – one of the last acts of Hitler’s control – but Himmler remained free. The head of the SS requested a meeting with Dönitz in the wake of Hitler’s suicide, arriving with six SS soldiers. Dönitz would later recall hiding a pistol underneath some paperwork on the desk where they met – half expecting that Himmler and his men would attempt to assassinate him. Instead, one of the most feared men in one of history’s most terrifying regimes was reduced to begging Dönitz for a role in whatever government the former Großadmiral intended to form.
“V for Victory” – the very concept of freedom might owe Winston Churchill a debt of gratitude as he proved Britain could fight alone against Nazi Germany. The British public thought otherwise, as the Tories lost 190 seats in July of 1945 and swept Churchill out of power
The answer was a firm “no.” Dönitz had hoped that by not appointing Himmler and others into his Flensburg government that the Western Allies would prove lenient. Perhaps even with Hitler gone, Germany could negotiate a separate peace with the West.
It was not to be. By May 23rd, Dönitz’s brief reign was over – Eisenhower had the Flensburg government disbanded and arrested. Unlike the end of the Great War, there would be no distinction between the civilian and military leadership of Germany. Germany’s surrender was to be complete – with no exceptions.
An end to the war didn’t mean an immediate end to the fighting.
Soviet troops in Berlin – Russia lost an estimated 360,000 men (killed and wounded) in the fight for the German capital
While most German Army units followed the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht orders to surrender, others held out. Axis forces on scattered Greek island announced their intentions to surrender on May 9th. The German troops on the Channel Islands between England and France – the only part of the English Isles to be occupied during the war – drew out their eventual surrender for several days. Troops on the Channel Island of Alderney didn’t allow British troops to take them prisoner until May 16th.
Not all prolonged surrenders were so bloodless. On the tiny Dutch island of Texel, members of the Georgian Legion rebelled against their German allies, killing 400 while they slept in their barracks. The Georgians were largely Soviet POWs and a handful of émigrés who had fled Georgia after the Soviet invasion in 1921. The Legion assumed the Allies would assist them if they liberated the island. They did not. Instead, the Germans reoccupied Texel, slaughtering the Georgians and those Dutch civilians who tried to shelter them. The fighting didn’t end until May 20th as a Canadian occupation force negotiated a German surrender. The delay cost, in part, the lives of over 550 Georgians and 120 Dutch civilians.
The civilian death toll in Germany is unknown, with wide ranging estimates going as high as 5 million. The Allied air campaign killed an estimated 570,000 civilians alone
Texel looked quaint to the scale of the largest “post-war” battle in Europe – the occupation of Prague.
The Czechoslovakian capital had been prized by all the warring parties – for its current and post-war value. The largest remaining German army in Europe, Army Group Centre and the remains of Army Group Ostmark, with nearly 1 million troops, was headquartered at Prague. In addition, possession of the capital would likely highly influence Czechoslovakia’s post-war politics. Despite Winston Churchill’s impassioned pleas for U.S. forces to strike towards the city before the Soviets could capture it, American forces pulled up short, allowing nearly two million Soviet and Soviet-allied soldiers to launch their invasion on May 6th, 1945.
The crushing weight of Soviet arms, and a massive uprising of Czech civilians (due in part to the mistaken belief that the American army was about liberate Prague), made the next 5 days what surviving German veterans would call the “Czech Hell.”
Not Over Yet – a postcard from the era, as American troops began to come home while others prepared to go to Japan
Not unlike most of the units in the German army, Army Group Centre had hoped to be able to surrender to the Americans. But with the group’s command center captured by May 8th, the ability to coordinate anything, including a surrender, was lost. Haphazardly, German troops attempted to fight past Soviet soldiers and engaged Czech partisans to get to George Patton’s U.S. Third Army. German Field Marshal (and Waffen SS leader) Ferdinand Schörner didn’t make it any easier on his troops – vowing to crushing the Prague uprising in “a sea of blood” while committing atrocities against the local population.
By May 11th, 1945, the fight for Prague was over. Amazingly, 860,000 soldiers of Army Group Centre managed to surrender. Unfortunately, most of those who surrendered did so to the Soviets. Few would come home.
The last remnants of the Nazi Germany had been defeated. While Japan remained unbowed – for the moment – the most destructive conflict in human history was nearly over.
The end – again. “The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany” – a dignified title to provide a legal end to the last aspects of World War II…in December of 1990
In practicality, peace had arrived. Legally, or diplomatically, it hadn’t. Not yet.
The German government had been abolished, leaving a myriad of legal conundrums as to how the Allies should (or could) proceed as victors. Beyond the haunting legacy of Versailles, the Allies wanted to establish as much of a legal basis for their continued occupation. As such, technically a state of war continued to exist between Germany and the Allies for years to come.
Not until 1950, in an effort to strengthen the legitimacy of West Germany, did the United States, Britain and France finally decide to “end” World War II (the Soviets did the same in 1955). American soldiers manning the new front line in the Cold War were now no longer occupiers but allies. Germany might have had it’s own government again, but it remained divided and limited in the control of it’s own territory (as in the case of East/West Berlin).
Only with the reunification of Germany did the country fully regain sovereignty in 1990. The Four Powers who divided Germany – the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain and France – all renounced their right to occupy German territory. It had taken nearly 46 years since the guns in Europe fell silent.
9 thoughts on “The Last Act
1. Ringer, have you read “The Last Battle”? It’s a true story of a battle to save French VIP prisoners confined in a Tyrolian castle after Hitler’s death but before the German surrender. The U.S. troops actually joined forces with German troops to rescue the prisoners from die-hard SS troops ordered to kill them.
2. I know a lady whose father was in the Wehrmacht and was captured by the Russians in the spring of 1945. He wasn’t released until about 1949. She said they didn’t recognize him right away when he showed up at their front door, after being starved and nearly worked to death by Stalin.
3. Yep. City I was born in was levelled after German occupation ended – only two buildings remained standing – Gov’t palace where occupation forces where HQ’d and an adjacent church, – rest of the city was reduced to ankle-high rubble. It was German POW’s who rebuild the city. Brick by brick. Nobody would ever say what happened to these POW’s after they were done.
4. Night Writer,
I’m not familar with the book, but I am familar with the story. I believe Mitch is (was?) going to mention it in a post, otherwise I would have covered it as well. It’s a fascinating tale.
5. Yikes. But then again, “that yellow magazine” was reporting how destroyed Europe still was–in 1955. Something you have to see to believe and understand.
I remember talking with a pastor in Kiel when I was there (1989) who had lost a few fingers in the Battle of the Bulge–probably within 20 miles of where my great uncle was reporting from, though I didn’t know about that yet. He noted that he really appreciated having been captured by the Americans, and how they’d explained exactly why the U.S. was fighting. Scary to think that the country that really made carpet bombing a reality was the one the Germans wanted to surrender to.
6. JPA: it was leveled….after the occupation ended? As in it was destroyed not in the fighting, but by the Red Army afterwards? Am I reading you right here?
And if I am, I’m guessing….you were born a little bit west of where “Mother Russia” drew her boundaries in 1939, perhaps Ukraine, Balarus, or one of the Baltic republics?
(you don’t have to answer, but I’m just curious….)
7. It was Minsk, and it was leveled by retreating Germans who destroyed everything on their way out.
8. That makes more sense–I was waffling between about what you said, and thinking “well, maybe Stalin was so nuts he’d actually destroy cities to show people who was boss, and then rebuild them.” Hard to overestimate the barbarity we can exercise towards our fellow man…..
9. Pingback: The Brave New World | Shot in the Dark
Leave a Reply
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25114
|
Life Science : Grassland Animals Quiz
*Theme/Title: Grassland Animals
* Description/Instructions
There are so many animals that live in the grasslands. Some animals roam the grasslands of Africa such as the African elephant, lions, zebras, giraffe, black rhinoceros, and many more! These animals are too large to hide in the grasses, so they must protect themselves in other ways. Take this quiz to find out more interesting facts about the animals that live in the grasslands.
Group: Science Science Quizzes
Topic: Life Science
Related Links
All Quizzes
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25130
|
SQL Server Performance
I am getting the following error when deployed...
Discussion in 'SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services' started by raaj, Mar 10, 2009.
1. raaj New Member
Hi Guys,
I am using SSRS 2005 (SQL SERVER REPORTING SERVICES 2005) to create a report.
Here is my scenario:
I am using datasource as SSAS cube which is on SQL SERVER 2000 (i.e cube is on SQL SERVER 2000).
Itsabsolutely running perfectly when I run the report with in the solutioni.e when i click preview tab and view , its working fine.
But, when I deploy it I am getting the following error :
An error has occurred during report processing.
Query execution failed for data set 'data set1'.
(Thereis also another report which I created using SSAS cube as datasourcewhich is on SQL SERVER 2005 (i.e. cube is on SQL SERVER 2005), itsworking fine and after deploying also the report is generatingsuccessfully.)
Any ideas????Is it a problem using SSAS 2000 cube as a datasource for creating a report in SSRS 2005???
2. satya Moderator
Have you tried the following;
- Back up the contents of C:program FilesMicrosoft SQL ServerMSSQL.2OLAPData
and then delete it.
Run DW recreate the cube and see whether it deploys properly
Share This Page
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25132
|
• Vetëvendosje as Resistance
Event1: Vetëvendosje as Resistance
Politics and Contemporary Art
Event1: Vetëvendosje as Resistance
Public Debate
22 September 2007, 13:00 hrs
Moderators: Besnik Pula
Panelists: Agon Hamza, Tina Finnas, Branimir Stojanovic, Shkumbin Brestovci and Dukagjin Gorani
Lëvizja 'Vetëvendosje! (Movement for self-determination) for a long time is seen as the only active voice against the current political process of negotiations for the final status of Kosovo. At the
same time it could be defined as the only active part of the society that is clearly using artistic
expression with political goals. Their actions resemble art interventions and activist art groups.
However, they are never brought forward to discuss their relationship with art practice and their
strategies in an art platform. Similar initiatives in our region such as Otpor movement in Serbia could be compared with the actions of 'Vetëvendosje!'.
Main points of this debate are finding answers to questions like: How can art be used and is used as a political tool? What are the differences of the activist art practice and the active art practice? Is 'Vetëvendosje!' the only case where activists/ politicians act as artists? Can the activities of movements such as 'Vetëvendosje!' be positioned in the framework of an art practice? How can we comment the statement of the Prime Minister '...we need to include more culture in the politics...'? Why ambassadors and other higher officials of influential states present in Kosovo have been given frequently space to exhibit personally in galleries and influence various cultural events with their presence? Is art being used merely as an instrument for existing politics, or can art serve as means to create new political identities and articulations?
The debate will try to position these issues in a platform of a discursive articulation and answer question of politicized culture and cultured politics.
Event1: Vetëvendosje as Resistance is part of the project 'Politics and Contemporary Art' initiated by Albert Heta and Vala Osmani, produced by Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina and supported by: Pro Helvetia - Swiss Culture Program in Kosovo, Kosova Foundation for Open Society, KIJAC and DZG.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25145
|
NCERT Class 12 Geography Mineral and Energy Resorces
Scroll down to download pdf file
India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure. Bulk of the valuable minerals are products of pre-palaezoic age (Refer: Chapter 2 of Class XI, Textbook: “Fundamentals of Physical Geography” and are mainly associated with metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsular India. The vast alluvial plain tract of north India is devoid of minerals of economic use. The mineral resources provide the country with the necessary base for industrial development. In this chapter, we shall discuss the availability of various types of mineral and energy resources in the country.
Types of Mineral Resources
On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main categories of metallics and non-metallics which may further be classified as follows : As, it is clear from the Fig. 7.1 metallic minerals are the sources of metals. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal and are included in this category. Metallic minerals are further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals. Ferrous, as you know, refers to iron. All those minerals which have iron content are ferrous such as iron ore itself and those which do not have iron content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc.
Non-metallic minerals are either organic in origin such as fossil fuels also known as mineral fuels which are derived from the buried animal and plant life such as coal and petroleum. Other type of non-metallic minerals are inorganic in origin such as mica, limestone and graphite, etc. Minerals have certain characteristics. These are unevenly distributed over space. There is inverse relationship in quality and quantity of minerals i.e. good quality minerals are less in quantity as compared to low quality minerals. The third main characteristic is that all minerals are exhaustible over time. These take long to develop geologically and they cannot be replenished immediately at the time of need. Thus, they have to be conserved and not misused as they do not have the second crop.
Distribution of Minerals in India
Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks. Over 97 per cent of coal reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari. Petroleum reserves are located in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore region in the Arabian Sea. New reserves have been located in the Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins. Most of the major mineral resources occur to the east of a line linking Mangalore and Kanpur.
The North-Eastern Plateau Region
This belt covers Chotanagpur (Jharkhand), Orissa Plateau, West Bengal and parts of Chhattisgarh. Have you ever thought about the reason of major iron and steel industry being located in this region? It has variety of minerals viz. iron ore coal, manganese, bauxite, mica. Find out the specific region where these minerals are being extracted.
The South-Western Plateau Region This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala. This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite. It also contains high grade iron ore, manganese and limestone. This belt packs in coal deposits except Neyveli lignite.
This belt does not have as diversified mineral deposits as the north-eastern belt. Kerala has deposits of monazite and thorium, bauxite clay. Goa has iron ore deposits.
The North-Western Region
This belt extends along Aravali in Rajasthan and part of Gujarat and minerals are associated with Dharwar system of rocks. Copper, zinc have been major minerals. Rajasthan is rich in building stones i.e. sandstone, granite, marble. Gypsum and Fuller’s earth deposits are also extensive. Dolomite and limestone provide raw materials for cement industry.
(i) In which one of the following States are the major oil fields located?
(a) Assam (c) Rajasthan
(b) Bihar (d) Tamil Nadu
(ii) At which one of the following places was the first atomic power station started?
(a) Kalpakkam (c) Rana Pratap Sagar
(b) Narora (d) Tarapur
(iii) Which one of the following minerals is known as brown diamond?
(a) Iron (c) Manganese
(b) Lignite (d) Mica
(iv) Which one of the following is non-renewable source of energy?
(a) Hydel (c) Thermal
(b) Solar (d) Wind power
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Give an account of the distribution of mica in India.
(ii) What is nuclear power? Mention the important nuclear power stations in India.
(iii) Name non-ferrous metal. Discuss their spatial distribution.
(vi) What are non-conventional sources of energy?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Write a detailed note on the Petroleum resources of India.
(ii) Write an essay on hydel power in India.
Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Geography Mineral and Energy Resorces
Latest CBSE News
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25147
|
How Ge Is Disrupting Itself
Topics: Developed country, Developing country, Emerging markets Pages: 2 (676 words) Published: November 7, 2012
How GE is disrupting itself?
Executive summary
Though having been launching products in emerging markets for few decades, GE’s leaders realized that it is vital to change their business model not only to reach their full potential growth but also for defensive reasons. Authors called the progress used to complete that task reverse innovation. Reverse innovation is all about decentralization and local market focus such as local based and managed market, which is believed to be able to make GE more successful in developing countries. However it is completely opposite to globalization that created unsolved conflicts between two strategies. In this article authors will reveal to us what GE did to overcome these conflicts.
In the realization that emerging markets are very different to markets in developed countries, they realized the necessity of adjusting the business model to adapt to the new environments, which may lead to two core assumptions: * Emerging economics will largely evolve in the same way that wealthy economics did. * Products that address developing countries, special needs can’t be sold in developed countries because they are not good enough to compete there. However research and analysis over India’s markets gave us the different results. It is reported that emerging market could develop even greater than in developed countries because of their great willingness to adopt new innovations. And on the contrary products that have been launched in emerging market could possibly create new markets in developed world.
For deeper understanding, the conflict is not only about the strategy which make globalization successful might make reserve innovation impossible and in return. It also lies at the executives who are not familiar to the new markets. Being aware of the difficulty company has to face when changing long established structures and attitudes, however for the sake of opportunity of future growth, GE came out with new business...
Continue Reading
Please join StudyMode to read the full document
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
• Essay about How Ge Is Disrupting Itself
• How GE is disrupting itself Essay
• Ges Essay
• Ge Energy and Ge Healthcare Essay
• How Volkswagen Rebranded Itself Essay
• How Apple Managed to Reinvent Itself over the Years Essay
• Essay on How Did Manifest Destiny Manifest Itself?
• Essay about Ge Matrix
Become a StudyMode Member
Sign Up - It's Free
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25174
|
Press "Enter" to skip to content
Posts published in “Day: January 10, 2018”
Learn The Fundamentals Of Repairing Bad Credit
The outcomes of a bad credit rating have been traumatic to handle. Whenever you’re coping with bad decisions of your previous, it may be frustrating. It might not be the simplest thing you will do, however, it’s likely to clean up your credit score. Continue reading for more useful tips.
The initial step in fixing your own credit is figuring out how a plan which is suitable for youpersonally, and sticking together. Just buy what you require, and overlook unnecessary purchases. You should only make a buy if it’s required and it fits into your financial plan.
If you’re checking to a credit advisor, make sure you learn information about these until you opt to utilize them. You’ll come across some advisers that genuinely need to assist you restore your credit position, though some might have various motives. Also bear in mind there are additional credit counselling services operate by dishonest men and women. These solutions are all scams and should be prevented at any price. A savvy customer will always do her or his research on almost any credit counselling service to make sure the service is valid.
Don’t become mixed up in things which can direct you to imprisonment. There are far less than honorable things which will explain to you the way you can earn a brand-new credit history. That is illegal and you’ll eventually be captured. Not only can lawful penalties accumulate, but you might wind up in prison.
Prior to agreeing to repay your debt, then you have to learn how your credit will probably endure later. Some arrangements will not harm you just as much as other people. That is the reason you need to research each one the available ones to you prior to signing a deal. They don’t fret about how your credit rating appears; they would like to acquire cash credit restoration guide.
If you discover an error on your credit score, make certain to dispute it! Speak to the credit bureau in writing, together with documentation to help the mistakes which you’re disputing. Email your dispute chart with receipt verification so you’ll have proof that the bureau has obtained it.
Should you follow the ideas in the following guide, you’ll be on the ideal path to your credit rating. Consistency is critical for this procedure, so make sure you stay current with your duties. It’s quite possible and you can reconstruct your credit, so only get to it!
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25190
|
Doubter's Prayer Book: Cindy Morgan
Every Sunday, we will look at a poem, painting, comic, song, short video, performance piece, dance, or other art form that in some way wrestles with the divine in an honest and heartfelt way. This is an exercise in contemplation and a celebration of the beauty that comes from struggle. As such, the art will be left to speak for itself and does not necessarily represent the views of the blog's editor. If you would like to suggest a piece of art or have an original piece you would like to share, send it to
This Week's Artist: Cindy Morgan
Song: Can You Hear Me
Context: The Loving Kind is a 1998 concept album retelling the eight days surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. Can You Hear Me imagines Jesus' anguish and doubt while in the Garden of Gethsemane, his impatience with his sleeping followers, as well as a response from God. The song reminds us that the Gethsemane narrative is perhaps the most relatable human element of the entire Passion story.
Hey can You hear Me
Are You really out there
Oh I am trapped in the cages
Of the scars I must bear
And I can't tell and I can't speak
I can't even repeat what it is
Hey can You see Me
See these hollowing eyes
Don't You think something is missing
In My calm peaceful smile
But I can't tell and I can't speak
I can't even repeat what is
Can You hear Me
Hear the sound of My pain
Can You hear Me
Hear the words I don't say
Hey what's your problem
Can't you hear what I said
I am here drowning in sorrow
While you sleep on your beds
And I can't tell and I can't speak
I can't even repeat what it is, oh
I get down on My knees
And I cry to You
Oh Lord give me all Your strength
Help Me make it through
I reach out to You
Oh can You hear Me
Hear Me, yeah
"Hey can You hear Me"
Someone whispered to Me
"I understand all Your hurting
How You ache how You bleed
But the scars that You bear
Will one day make the whole world free
Satan is a liar down in the mire
But I can hear You
I hear the sound of Your pain
I can hear You oh yeah
I hear the words You don't say
I can hear You, hear You
I can hear You
Can You hear Me?
Can You hear Me?'
Popular Posts
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25191
|
A woman requesting a full refund on her two-week-old Christmas tree because it died. Alleged sexual predator Bill Cosby mocking the #MeToo movement to a female reporter. Mixing Hershey's syrup in Slimfast to improve the taste. The crazy parade is never ending.
There are those moments I sit on the front porch of the world and am astounded by the amount of craziness passing by. Not just one or two head shakers every now and then, but a trombone-booming, bass drum-thumping parade of absurdity whose incredible frequency may be rivaled only by “Law and Order” reruns.
To paraphrase the late Cary Grant: Craziness doesn’t run in some people’s family, it practically gallops.
Like the man who wore a T-shirt with a pornographic message in a family photo with his young children.
And like the Florida teenager who videotaped himself driving like a madman and got into a car accident involving four other vehicles. He was seriously injured, and rushed to the hospital. So, what does he do while there? Of course, he uploads the video of him crashing into the other cars to YouTube, which helps police arrest him for reckless driving. Crazy bordering on nitwit.
I also know crazy personally. I’m reminded of a portly friend who years ago squirted Hershey’s syrup into his vanilla Slimfast to improve the taste. The contradiction escaped him. Seriously. Crazy.
There was also the friend who, after having spent his parent-mandated limit at the movie theater snack stand, used a quarter to call mom and dad from a pay phone to ask if he could spend — that’s right — another quarter on a box of candy.
Speaking of wrong numbers, there is Bill “Don’t believe those 50 or so women telling similar stories of me drugging and sexually abusing them” Cosby. Yes, Coz was at his loony best this week, the grand marshal of the crazy parade.
Cosby was dining at an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia on Wednesday with a friend and publicists. Some media were tipped off he was there, showed up and were invited into the restaurant to document the moment.
At one point, Cosby, who will be retried beginning on April 2 after a mistrial was declared last summer on a sexual assault charge, was approached by a female reporter. As he shook her hand, he said, “Please don’t put me on #MeToo; I just shook your hand like a man.”
Cosby not only clearly made light of sexual misconduct allegations against him, but also mocked the two-word hashtag used on social media since October to denounce sexual assault and harassment. You'd think someone in his tenuous position would refrain from stuff like this. But not Cosby, the stand up icon who, if the allegations are true, has shown himself to be anything but a stand-up guy.
People talk about the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Lots of shopping, lots of spending. It can get crazy. But holiday related events don’t get much crazier than what happened last week at a Costco in California.
On Jan. 4, a woman dragged back into the store a Christmas tree she bought there before Christmas. The tree — real, not artificial — was, as one would expect, dead.
But she wanted a full refund. Why? Because the tree was dead, of course, and because Costco’s customer return policy will reimburse a shopper for everything short of that half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza from their snack stand.
Is the woman crazy? Well, I haven’t decided which is crazier: That she demanded a full refund for a dead tree or that Costco actually gave her a refund.
There is silly, like the man who approaches random people at the mall, shows them his driver's license photo, and asks if they've see this man, and then there is crazy. Like the Christmas tree lady. And Cosby. Crazy. Galloping.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25196
|
Books I'm Addicted To
By Lucy Felthouse
So, books I'm addicted to... anything by Richelle Mead. Seriously, ever since I first picked up one of her Succubus books, I've devoured everything she's written. I read so much and so widely that I can't keep up with every new release by every author I like, but somehow I've managed it with Mead's books. I just finished The Indigo Spell within less than 48 hours of it dropping through my letterbox.
I can't quite put my finger on why I find her books so addictive. I guess it must be a combination of things - her easy-to-read writing style, the humour, the engaging storylines, fascinating (and sassy) characters, the forbidden relationships... Yeah, that's probably a large part of it. I'm a sucker for a forbidden romance, and I was totally gripped by the Rose and Dimitri storyline. I'd totally like to put myself in her shoes ;) Definitely a delicious book boyfriend!
I'm quite interested in Richelle Mead's audience, too. She writes two genres under the same name - young adult (the Vampire Academy books and its spin-offs) and urban fantasy (the Succubus and Storm/Iron books) which is a tad hot and a tad adult, if that makes sense. As I said, I found her urban fantasy/paranormal stuff first, and loved it. Georgina Kincaid is one of my favourite characters of all time. And it was the writing style that drew me to check out Mead's other books, which was great as I love vampire stories, too. I don't think I'll ever get bored of them :)
However, I'm an adult and therefore allowed to read whatever I like. So I wonder what happens when "young adults" check out the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines novels and then want to read the other books. I'm not a parent and have no idea how these things work, but I genuinely wonder if parents would allow their kids to read the urban fantasy stuff by Mead. I guess it all depends on the age and maturity of the minor in question.
So what do you think, everyone? Do two genres written by the same author get the same audiences? And what problems, in your opinion, does this present? And what authors will you continue to read, no matter what they write?
Popular Posts
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25222
|
20 thoughts on “The Seditious Democrats”
1. From the article: “And not just on immigration; California also just became the largest state to legalize marijuana, setting up a separate but no less serious conflict with federal drug laws.”
1. And which part of the Constitution authorizes such laws? Recall they needed an amendment to Federally outlaw alcohol.
I’ve always felt the BATF associated agencies were constitutionally questionable. Right now I’m being entertained by the large number of progs who has suddenly discovered the virtue of states rights and the Tenth Amendment.
1. Yes, and that is why I thought it a poor choice for the author to link with the issue of sanctuary status. But that got me wondering if there is any constitutional or even legal requirements for state and local LEO to cooperate with the feds on immigration control. Cooperation is desirable, but is it legally mandated?
1. Thanks, Rand. I had to look those up. For anyone else interested in a summary:
* Wickard was a 1942 decision which upheld the Feds’ right to limit a farmer’s wheat production (as part of a federal crop support program), even though the farmer wasn’t selling the wheat and instead using it for animal feed on his own farm, and thus not explicitly partaking in interstate commerce. The decision “dramatically increased the regulatory power of the federal government.”
* Raich was a 2005 decision which upheld the Feds’ right to enforce the Controlled Substances Act against medical marijuana users who, with a prescription and in a state which permitted medical marijuana use, home-grew marijuana for their own consumption. Wickard was used as a precedent despite the plaintiff’s argument that home-growing aided the federal government’s goal of reducing the interstate commerce of marijuana.
1. “and thus not explicitly partaking in interstate commerce.”
I would word this instead as “and thus explicitly not partaking…”. It’s clearer that way. If one is feeling sarcastic when explaining this horrible case, one might use, instead, the word “obviously”.
2. But if a state wants to enforce immigration laws then supremacy kicks in and they are forbidden.
The pot thing is easy to solve, pass legalization at the federal level. All the people wanting to ignore the law as it is rather than change the law need to think about the future implications.
2. The issue of federal nullification was decisively settled by Lincoln, Grant, political will and force of arms.
Apparently it wasn’t. If it was the president wouldn’t be tiptoeing with CA. Trump would be impeached if he did the right thing which is to send in the troops and arrest everyone breaking the law.
Allowing sedition to fester just takes us further from the rule of law. Let them have their day in court. If we are no longer a country, let’s make it official so we can stop pretending.
They say we can’t deport illegals from the country. Can we deport them from just one state? And charge anyone harboring illegals with treason.
1. Nullification is a dead letter. It’s been established that fighting the given issue via the Supreme Court is the proper avenue.
States rights are related to, but distinct from the theory of nullification. SE Morison pointed out more than once that the weaker side resorted to States Rights claims in the same manner as resorting to threats of secession.
Recall that the New England states gave serious thought to secession during the war with Britain, and in reaction to the Embargo Act. Sixty years later the same states were vehement in their support of the Union.
I must strongly disagree that violating Federal law is treason. A crime, yes, but not treason. It’s ironic that so many conservatives were dedicated Federalists until states started legalizing or decriminalizing pot.
Let’s let the courts work through the process. It’s slow and occasionally infuriating, but it’s the best way let these issues work their way out.
1. Treason: .the crime of betraying one’s country
A crime, yes, but not treason.
What is giving political power to and protecting illegal invaders if not treason? Especially when the point is to usurp power for themselves?
2. Federalism runs into problems when there are national laws that take precedence over what a state decides to do.
The federal government has been very lax in enforcing the law and it has allowed the country to see several different examples of legalization in action. So why can’t the congresspeople in pot states get together and write a bill?
Personally, I think they need to go the route of CO and allow people to grow their own rather than the WA route of government controlled cartels with sky high regressive taxes.
1. This also strongly suggest that federal law should be limited so that conflicts with state law don’t happen. If conflicts do happen then stronger scrutiny of the fed law should be considered.
The founders understood brevity.
3. Well, I would support them seceding if they want. In the meantime I would think that they need to obey federal law.
I would favor legalizing marijuana so that Session would stop whatever crazy crusade he just started.
1. California is hugely important to national defense. I endorse letting them leave the country (citizen or not) w/o taking CA with them.
2. From what I understand, he just allowed local federal prosecutors to act how they see fit on the issue?
1. It worked with the generals against ISIS and it’s exactly what an executive is supposed to do presuming he can trust his subordinates to do their jobs.
4. On topics like this, it would be fun to bash old Admiral Gerrib. He was a big supporter of the federal governments abuse of the Commerce Clause.
Then again, so is most of the State of California. Not only does the Commerce Clause and SCOTUS responsible for the federal government ability to regulate drugs. But it is the same decisions, clause, and federal agency that determines a certain weed to be illegal that also gives Californian’s the precious food label warnings.
Comments are closed.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25233
|
Cite This Page
IMPORTANT NOTE: Most educators and professionals do not consider it appropriate to use tertiary sources such as encyclopedias as a sole source for any information—citing an encyclopedia as an important reference in footnotes or bibliographies may result in censure or a failing grade. TRUMPipedia articles should be used for background information, as a reference for correct terminology and search terms, and as a starting point for further research.
As with any community-built reference, there is a possibility for error in TRUMPipedia's content—please check your facts against multiple sources and read our disclaimers for more information.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25236
|
[Fontinst] How to regenerate mtx files?
Lars Hellström Lars.Hellstrom at residenset.net
Sat Jul 21 14:56:39 CEST 2012
Michael Sharpe skrev 2012-07-21 07.47:
> I'm a relative newcomer to fontinst, and find myself constantly tripping over the issue that a fontinst script does not regenerate an existing mtx file, even if it is empty or incomplete. Is there a command I'm missing to instruct the script to overwrite an existing mtx?
Some high level commands (\installfont and the like, therefore also
\latinfamily) can skip the step of converting to an MTX file if one with the
wanted name already exists, whereas lower level commands (in particular
\transformfont, unless the source is a \fromany) always generate their
target file. So it depends on the what commands you're using.
What causes you to get empty or incomplete MTXes?
Lars Hellström
More information about the fontinst mailing list
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25238
|
Question: I need Smallville spoilers!!!!!!!
Answer: Actually, I believe what you need is a keyboard with an exclamation key that doesn't stick. What you want is Smallville scoop. See the difference? Make note of it. Anyway, when Dean Cain shows up later this season, he'll be sharing scenes with Lex, Clark and Chloe. (Oops, did I just give something away?) Also, at the end of the season premiere, Lana will take a page from Sydney Bristow's spy manual.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25244
|
Udaipur India
Eklingji Temple is a architectural marvel, located near the city of Udaipur. Read more about Eklingnath Temple at Kailashpuri, Rajasthan.
Eklingji Temple
Location: 22 kms in north of Udaipur, On National Highway No.8
Built by: Bappa Rawal
Built in: 734 A.D
Dedicated to: Lord Shiva
Highlights: 50 feet high image of Lord Shiva
How to reach: One can easily reach Eklingji Temple from the city by taking regular buses or by hiring taxis
The magnificent architecture of Eklingnath Temple is simply remarkable. The double-storied temple looks awesome with its pyramidal style of roof and distinctly carved tower. The outer walls of the temple are stretched with steps that descend touching the serene waters. Inside the complex, the main temple is a huge pillared hall or 'mandap' that is sheltered by hefty pyramidal roof. On entering this hall, you will be welcomed by a silver image of Nandi. In the temple, there are two other images of Nandi carved in black stone and brass respectively. You would find this temple full of mesmerizing fragrance.
The temple boasts of a striking four-faced idol of Eklingji (Lord Shiva) that is made out of black marble. Its height ranges around 50 feet and its four faces depict four forms of Lord Shiva. The east-facing part is recognized as Surya, the west-facing part is Lord Brahma, the north-facing part is Lord Vishnu and the south-facing part is Rudra i.e. Lord Shiva himself. The zenith of the multifaceted idol is known as 'Yantra that stands for the ultimate reality. The Shivlinga (Phallic form of Lord Shiva) garlanded by a silver snake, acquires the major attraction of people.
Being sited in the middle, Shivlinga is encircled by Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikay. Inside the temple complex, you would find statues of Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Yamuna. The main temple also boasts of heavy silver doors, which depicts Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikay guarding their father. To the north of Eklingji temple, there are two tanks namely Karz Kund and Tulsi Kund. Water of these tanks is consumed during the services of the Lord. The festival of Shivratri is observed here with full gusto and fervor. At this time, the image of Lord Shiva is adorned with jewelry.
Enrooted in the religious roots, the town comprises around 108 small and big temples. Near to Eklingji Temple, you can also trace various temples that are dedicated to Ambika Mata, Kalki and Lord Ganesha. One more temple by the name of Nathon Ka Mandir that dates back to 10th century catches the attraction. Lakulish temple is a fine temple that was built in 971. It is the exclusive temple of the Lakulish sect in India. Sas- Bahu temple is another temple that is all raised in marble of the 11th century. The Jain Temple of Adbhudji is made in black marble which dates back to the 15th century.
Amongst other temples of Kailashpuri (better known as Eklingji), temples of Pataleshwar Mahadeo, Arbada Mata, Rathasan Devi and Vindhyavasini Devi are worth mentioning. The wonderful architecture of these temples makes the onlooker to ponder over the artistry of those times. The city of Eklingji or Kailashpuri is located amidst a beautiful valley on the lands of Rajasthan that houses some of the marvelous temples of India. While planning your trip to Udaipur, don't forget to include Eklingji in your itinerary, otherwise you would be at a miss.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25250
|
Lukis Bros Transformers Collector Site
News Item
eBay Goodies
Posted by:
Perceptor at 2009-04-28 8:46 am
Powered Shadow Commander said, - 2009-04-28 10:24:01
Thats pretty cool, considering I dont Really like Ebay.
Sabrblade. said, - 2009-04-28 10:35:43
Of those, I own RiD Prime, Depth Charge, and the RiD 'Bot 3-pack.
Cheetor2 said, - 2009-04-28 12:33:32
It's a shame that this is all on ebay. I won't deal with them anymore because of their shady practices. They suspend accounts for no good reason and then don't give an expaination and take all their fees anyway. Then they send all that information to paypal and they hold your money forever and when toy try to get an answer on the phone, they just keep putting you on hold and pass you around. God forbid you want to tlk to a supervisor. They just pass you around even more.
starscreamer said, - 2009-04-28 18:52:08
I truly don't care for ebay .much less buy anything from ebay.
Jumpercliff said, - 2009-04-28 18:54:18
Man, you guys have got great stuff!
I have some things if your interested in trading (and they are out of package, and you could either customize them or sell them to the next guy. Look for me at Botcon, if attending).
Black Starscream said, - 2009-04-28 22:09:13
Wow I never knew ebay was so harsh. I pretty much love ebay but that's only because its the only place I can find goodies that I can't normally buy cheaper than anywhere else. Anyway you guys have some hardcore stuff but I'd only really be interested in the landquate since its ungraded and relatively recent. Basically for me as a collector I tend to either go for the newest items at a cheap price, or anything 4-6 years of age or older I try to get used in as best mint condition as possible (with box and inserd and most/ all documents or at least the backing card.) If you guys ever have anything used mint condition I'd be totally interested.
On a slightly related note I'm finally fully registered and going to my first botcon!! If their's anything I should know to make the expirience even better tell me plz ^-^
Black Starscream said, - 2009-04-28 22:38:50
Wow I looked at the Lanquake 1 second before it ended O_O
Add a comment:
help remove inappropriate comments
Return to Lukis Bros Transformers Collector Site
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25281
|
Forum | Latest web development tutorials
Pentaho Tutorial
Pentaho Reporting is a suite (collection of tools) for creating relational and analytical reports. It can be used to transform data into meaningful information. Pentaho allows generating reports in HTML, Excel, PDF, Text, CSV, and xml. This tutorial provides a basic understanding of how to generate professional reports using Pentaho Report Designer.
This tutorial is designed for all those readers who want to create, read, write, and modify Dynamic Reports using Java. In addition, it will also be quite useful for those readers who would like to become a Data Analyst.
Before you start proceeding with this tutorial, we assume that you have prior exposure to Core Java, Database Concepts, and SQL Queries.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25293
|
Tiny Frogs in Dutchess County, New York
These are some tiny frogs we saw at the Bethlehem Rod and Gun Club in New York
Created on Thu Feb 19 2009 by ericw
Last modified: February 19, 2009
Send comments to: Eric Wedaa
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Eric Wedaa.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25300
|
Keep your eyes wide shut for the Mayan's Kubrick Film Festival
Either you like Stanley Kubrick or you don't, but if you fall in former category, you probably can't get enough, even when it hurts to watch. I, for one, can't count the number of times I've seen Dr. Strangelove, which has to be one of the most stunningly, insidiously funny movies ever made in the 20th century. If you're like me, well, get out your bowler hats and creepy gazes and head for the Mayan Theatre, 110 Broadway, for the first of four screenings this month as part of a Kubrick Film Festival.
Tonight's opener, 2001: A Space Odyssey, with its Arthur C. Clarke script, chillingly pits Dave against Hal once again (and rehashes one of the most purely psychedelic sequences in film history) during shows at 7 and 9:45 p.m. The series continues weekly on Tuesdays in September with Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. Tickets are $10 (or $7.50 for seniors and children).
• Top Stories
Sign Up >
No Thanks!
Remind Me Later >
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25319
|
Chelsea In A Kilt II
27 Feb 07
Once more I received a request to do this shoot, in my little kilt and a pair of black stockings, so I hope this is ok and that you all like the pics especially you simon, love and kisses chelsea xxxx
Preview Image 1 Preview Image 2 Preview Image 3
Only Members Can See The Whole Upload
Upgrade Now To:
• See all pictures from Chelsea
• Exchange sexy messages
• and much more...
Upgrade Now
Members Also Get:
• Full access to millions of hardcore pictures
• Thousands of explicit videos
• Search, chat and meet more horny People
Hardcore Preview Image 1 Hardcore Preview Image 2 Hardcore Preview Image 3
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25320
|
Curvy Claire & Devynn Devine
21 Nov 05
I was in the very fortunate position of being able to put up Devynn Devine on her recent trip from America to England. Naturally we had to do a set of pics together! -) Claire xx
Preview Image 1 Preview Image 2 Preview Image 3
Only Members Can See The Whole Upload
Upgrade Now To:
• See all pictures from Curvy Claire
• Exchange sexy messages
• and much more...
Upgrade Now
Members Also Get:
• Full access to millions of hardcore pictures
• Thousands of explicit videos
• Search, chat and meet more horny People
Hardcore Preview Image 1 Hardcore Preview Image 2 Hardcore Preview Image 3
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25331
|
Sentence Examples
• Zinc and hydrochloric acid in the cold convert it into alloxantin, hydroxylamine gives nitroso-barbituric acid, C 4 H 2 N 2 0 3: NOH, baryta water gives alloxanic acid, C 4 H 4 N 2 0 5, hot dilute nitric acid oxidizes it to parabanic acid, hot potassium hydroxide solution hydrolyses it to urea and mesoxalic acid and zinc and hot hydrochloric acid convert it into dialuric acid, C4H4N204.
• Tartronyl urea (dialuric acid), C0[NH CO]CH OH, formed by the reduction of alloxan (J.
• C ALLOXANTIN $ H 4 N 4 0 7.3H 2 0, a product obtained by the combination of alloxan and dialuric acid, probably possessing the constitution NH - CO CO - NH O - O - H NH - C CO - NH one of the three molecules of water being possibly constitutional.
Also Mentioned In
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25337
|
ABC Radio National
Late Night Live
Date/Time 21 Jun 2018 10:41:49pm
Firstly, Social Democratic/Labour Governments disengaged from the people, not the other way around. Having raised the educational and career prospects of the populace they then abandoned them, left them with nowhere to go. They stopped listening, didn't want to hear what peole had to say.
Secondly, the Working Class is now a meaningless term ranging from casual cleaners on a pittance to highly paid miners. There needs to be a fresh assessment of why people vote for Labour/Social Democratic parties and the politicians have to be willing to listen.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25363
|
At least there aren’t any lions
– Norman very kindly offered to teach me some of the tree species I would be studying. I was very grateful… no, I was desperate, and unfortunately this mindset instantly put us at odds. Norman was having a nice, relaxing walk through the bush, enjoying some interesting conversation with his new acquaintance from America. I was on a schedule; I needed diagnostic traits, scientific names, and phylogenetic sketches of each scrubby tree we passed. I needed confirmation, absolute certainty, a moment to put down a GPS point and no time to waste otherwise. The sun was going down, damn’it. I can only imagine the rictus smile I presented to him as he strolled through the shade of a jackalberry tree (Diospyros mespiliformis), speaking wistfully of his youth and his ambitions for the future. This actually was all very interesting, and I reflected on it later, but at the time there were certain situational priorities that needed attending and a substantial checklist of species to get through. The walk was, inevitably, less productive than I had hoped, but I did get a great black mamba story out of it.
– Black mambas are not, in fact, black. They are a dusty greyish color that blends in well with the scrub and the dirt paths that wind throughout Wits Rural. They get their name from the color of the inside of their mouths, a black that reflects the despair of your soul right before you’re bitten by one. A black mamba can kill a full-grown man in twenty minutes. Fittingly, it has a “coffin-shaped” head, and its venom is paralytic. Black mambas can grow up to 14 feet long, and can move at 20km/h, or 5 meters per second, or faster than you or I. “Common highly dangerous snakes of South Africa” has this to say about the black mamba: Many people have survived being bitten by black mambas. (Oh, good). The biggest thing is to remain calm. (Excellent).
– Norman returned from a long trip to find a black mamba in his house. This is the house directly behind mine. The situation arose thusly: He got home late at night, and fully exhausted, paused only long enough to drop his bags before collapsing into bed. In the early hours of the morning, he awoke to a strange scraping sound. At first he ignored it, but the sound persisted, and when he opened his eyes he was unable to locate the source. It stopped as he was looking for it, and he was about to return to bed when he noticed a slight movement above him. There was a black mamba perched on top of his bedroom door, presumably because this was the closet thing it could find to a tree branch. He vacated his house and called a park ranger of his acquaintance. His friend was not pleased with being woken up so early in the morning and wondered why a grown man couldn’t kill a single snake. When he arrived he realized it was because the snake was over 12 feet long and as thick as his arm and he promptly called for back up. It took three of them to wrestle the snake out of Norman’s house. Norman assures me that he’s not afraid of snakes, but he was happy to see it go.
– Norman’s story was not only interesting, but like calling the name of the devil, slightly prophetic.
– The next morning I prepared for my first day of sampling. I had my backpack, snacks and water, my crappy tree identification guide, a dbh tape and a clinometer. My mind was largely occupied with my troubles: my tree identification guide was unsalvageable crappy, my clinometer required a clear line of sight up to 10 meters and an unobstructed view of the base of the tree. Where did it think I was, a golf course? I needed another set of hands, a map that actually mapped, and someone to tell me what all these stupid trees were. Thus preoccupied, I wasn’t paying much attention to where I put my feet, as I wasn’t even sure where I was going. Suddenly, I was startled nearly out of my skin by a harsh hissing sound, like steam escaping from a burst pipe. I froze, and looking down, saw that I had almost stepped on a snake. I remember thinking what a strange looking snake it was. It was very short and blunt, no more than a foot or two long, but nearly as thick around as a man’s bicep. I didn’t jump back or run, I was still catching up on what was going on and in my experience snakes usually flee themselves before you get a chance to. I was also thinking about how Hloniphani had told me that in all his years here he had only seen a snake once, and here I was tripping over one on the third day. By this point it was clear the snake wasn’t going to strike, it was far too cold, but it wasn’t running away either. I was perplexed, almost insulted, by its cavalier unconcern. Finally it began to move away in a sluggish, ungainly series of flops, resentment clear in every S-shaped curve of it.
– As is always the case after a snake encounter, I was mildly more jumpy and vigilant for a time, but eventually the encounter slipped my mind. It was only later that evening, sitting in front of my computer, that I thought about it again and realized the snake had enough distinctive characteristics that I might be able to do an amateur ID. My first stop was the aforementioned “Common highly dangerous snakes of South Africa” and there it was on the front page, right beneath the black mamba. The puff adder (Bitis arietans) kills more people every year in South Africa then any other snake. They are dangerous because they don’t move out of your way, and they have large fangs that inject venom deep into your skin. The venom is cytotoxic and haemotoxic, and one of its effects is to cause the skin near the bite site to die and fall away. Though the venom causes severe pain and swelling, death usually occurs from the secondary effect of kidney failure. Reading all of this on “Common highly dangerous snakes of South Africa,” I very quietly began to hyperventilate.
– Other wildlife sightings have been exceedingly more pleasant. The giraffes in particular are always a treat. I have never seen such curious animals. If they catch sight of you in the bush and you aren’t doing anything too alarming, not only will they stand and watch you, they’ll move around to get a better view, staring placidly as they chew on a mouthful of leaves. They remind me of those old couples you sometimes see in restaurants, the ones that ran out of things to talk about twenty years ago and instead openly stare at the diners around them. Giraffes have that same guileless gaze, and they chew their food in the exact same way. Sometimes I stop whatever I’m doing to stare back at them, but it’s a face-off I’m doomed to lose. As soon as I find better internet I’ll post a video of them.
– There is a bird that I want to kill. I have yet to catch sight of it, but I know it’s indecently pleased with itself. It thinks the whole world is one, never-ending hilarious joke. If I laughed that long and that often I’d be committed or shot. As I don’t own a shotgun, I told it to get a job.
– Avoiding impala poop is hard.
2 thoughts on “At least there aren’t any lions
1. Pingback: When Snakes Appear – What’s the Spiritual Message? | Kitchen Cures
2. Happy you missed the rotting flesh around wound aspect of this. I almost stepped on a rattlesnake recently. Life changing.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google+ photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25367
|
Archive for category Excel
Excel/Windows: Change default date display format
To change the default date format in Windows:
3. Click OK.
Excel: Just one sheet by default, please
1. Go to Office Button –> Excel Options.
Excel: Sort by cell color
Note: Applicable to Excel 2007 or later
For example:
1. Select the region to sort.
2. On the Data ribbon, select “Sort.”
4. Choose Cell Color to sort on.
5. Select the color you would like on top.
7. Click OK to complete the sort.
My sort window looks like this:
The result looks like this:
CaseWare: Export automatic documents directly to Excel to preserve formatting
2. Select “Save as Excel file…”
The exported file should look just like the automatic document:
NOTE: The totals and subtotals are NOT formulas.
Excel: Use top border for underline
Ever have to expand a list of numbers in Excel that has a total at the bottom? Ever get annoyed when the line between the list and the total sticks with the list (see below)?
A while back, a client shared a trick with me that keeps the line with the total. The key is to place a TOP border on the SUM line, not a bottom border on the last item in the list. It is quite simple to do.
1. After creating the list and adding the sum at the bottom, select the total cell.
2. On Font section of the Home ribbon, click the arrow on the borders button.
3. Select Top Border from the list.
Now when you add a new row at the end of the list, the line stays with the total:
To make this an even quicker process, see this blog post on customizing the Quick Access Toolbar to add a button for top borders.
Microsoft Office: Customize the Quick Access Toolbar
Do you find yourself looking for a button on the toolbar that used to be quickly accessible in the old version of Office? Do you frequently use an uncommon feature? Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar in Office 2007 can put the features you use the most right where you want them.
Here’s how:
1. Right-click on the Quick Access Toolbar and select “Customize Quick Access Toolbar…”
2. Use the menu that appears to find the commands you would like to see. Click the “Add” button to add to the toolbar. Click OK when finished.
3. You can also right-click on the toolbar and select “Show Quick Access Toolbar Below the Ribbon” to make it even more accessible.
As shown below, I’ve added buttons for creating a new document, doing a print preview, and printing the document. I’ve also moved the toolbar below the ribbon.
BONUS: If you extensively customize the Quick Access Toolbar, you can double-click on the title section of the ribbon to hide it and give yourself more space for your document! Double-click again to bring it back.
1 Comment
Excel: Color icons for due-date status
Here is an example:
Here is how to create this:
2. List the project due dates in column B.
7. Under “Format Style” select Icon Sets
%d bloggers like this:
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25376
|
aftown limited, a company located in accra, ghana is bound by the copyright laws of the republic of Ghana.
what is copyright
copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of artistic authorship. the purpose of copyright is to allow creators to gain economic rewards for their efforts and so encourage future creativity and the development of new material which benefits us all. copyright material is usually the result of creative skill and/or significant labour and/or investment, and without protection, it would often be very easy for others to exploit material without paying the creator.
most uses of copyright material therefore require permission from the copyright owner. however, there are exceptions to copyright, so that some minor uses may not infringe copyright.
copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be.
the copyright law
- for musicians
the copyright law act no. 609 protects you, as the creator of a work of music, from “intentional distortion, mutilation or other modification of that work which would be prejudicial to your honour or reputation.” this is the most powerful right granted under the copyright provisions.
length and transferability of copyright law act protection
full copyright protection normally lasts for the entire lifetime of the artist, 70 years after publication and/or 70 years after the death of the artist. once the artist dies without transferring his rights, the copyright law act protection can only pass on the moral rights his successors, and the rights continue to pass to the next successors as time passes. his or her economic rights cease to exist, and the work can be distributed in public or changes can be made to the original work and sold without seeking consent.
only the copyright holder is permitted to transfer rights. the copyright holder can transfer all or only some of his rights. however, that transfer is limited only to economic rights. even when the copyright holder transfers all of his economic rights, he retains control of that of his moral rights until death. the copyright holder can also issue a license to use his work. this means that the copyright holder retains control of his rights, but permits the licensee to temporarily share at least one of those rights.
- for non-musicians
how much of someone else's work can i use without getting permission?
under the current copyright law act no. 690, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. there are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances.
how much do i have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work?
only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent.
could i be sued for using somebody else's work?
if you use a copyrighted work without authorization, the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. there are circumstances under the copyright law act, where a quote or a sample may be used without permission.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25389
|
Plugged in Public
“But I don’t want to do this!” Jane shrieked.
Kyle ignored her. This was part of the game. pinnedShe complained, he reacted. As long as she didn’t say “Ice Cream” it was a go. He pushed her head wrists in one hand and smacked her creamy, plump ass with the other. She squirmed and whimpered, but when he check her slit he found it as wet as he’d expected.
“Keep it up, young lady, and I’ll take your underwear away as well,” he threatened. Promised really. They both knew he’d never threatened. He warned and promised.
“Fifty more swats. Count in tens for me,” he ordered. Jane sobbed but obeyed. She almost always did. It wouldn’t be any fun if she obeyed all the time. After each ten, Kyle stopped, ran his fingers over her slit and pushed them deep insider her dripping pussy. He gather wetness and then pushed it inside of her asshole. His cock hardened at the sight of her wiggling, red bottom and at the thought of what he was planning on doing to her.
“Please, Kyle. Don’t make me go out like this,” she begged.
“Let’s do the last twenty all at once, shall we?”
Now not only her ass, but her upper thighs were red as well. Yep. That pinkness should last little while – at least an hour or so. Her whimpering continued, but she’d stopped wiggling away, a sure sign that Jane’s mind frame was just about where he wanted it to me. Soft. Compliant. Submissive.
He finished her spankings and again pushed wetness into her tight anus. Then, he pressed the tip of the plug, something new he’d picked up on his way home from work. He hadn’t allowed her to see it. It was slightly bigger than what she was used to, but he’d been training her tight little ass for weeks now, and he knew she was ready for it. Jane raised her hips slightly and Kyle praised her. Her training was paying off. He knew she her body was acting on instinct how. The spanking had relaxed her somewhat, but the feel of the plug against her wet hole was now a trigger. She pressed against the hard steel, her body stretching to accommodate tumblr_n6dxm4WqwO1td88ywo1_540the girth. A moment later, all that could be seen of the large, steel plug was the pretty jewel. His cock was so hard, he’d never make it through dinner.
“That’s perfect, Jane. Now, turn around. You’ve been such a good girl I’m going to let you suck me off. Make sure you swallow it all, or no panties tonight at the restaurant. You don’t want that, do you?”
“No, sir.”
Kyle closed his eyes as she took him in her hot mouth. Seriously, he really was the luckiest man in the world.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google+ photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25399
|
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: We all have at some time in our lives experienced this ‘lost and found’ situation and rejoiced when what we initially thought was lost was ultimately found! I can remember very vividly when we went to a shopping mall nearly 20 years ago and my eldest son Jeremy was just about 8 years old. Suddenly to our shocking reality, he was missing. It was crowded and my heart went tachycardic (means…fast!). I became frightened and shocked and worried and went cold. In the panic, I found myself running up the escalator in the wrong direction. I kept on running up and the escalator kept bringing me down and everyone was wondering what was wrong with me. But I do remember it was hard work and effort trying to go up against the movement of the escalator that was going down. I had lost all sanity of my situation, enveloped in fear of what might be lost – my son.
We loose all sense of direction and bearings when we are in a situation and state of ‘lostness’. The feeling that overwhelmed me most was fear. Fear that my son Jeremy was lost and most of all what he might be going through while looking for his parents. Incidentally, he was later found at the information counter oblivious to what had happened!
The Lostness of Man: In the spiritual context, the ‘lostness’ of man is a state of insanity where the heart and soul is hardened to the things of God and deceitful beyond cure. There is no fear of God but rebellion of the soul towards the holiness of God. This is the result of the plague in one own’s heart and until we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, only then can we be found as a child of God.
The world is no friend to grace. Any dead fish can swim downstream. The gravity of the world is overcome by the aerodynamics of the Spirit and the purity of heart is to will ONE thing – to fear God. Ken Boa
August 10, 1879: 135 years ago on August 10th, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century, preached a sermon entitled: The Plague of The Heart, 1 Kings 8:38 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, England.
Charles H Spurgeon 1834 – 1892
Charles H Spurgeon 1834 – 1892
“My Friend, do not write that word, “saved,” unless you can honestly and sincerely say, “I have looked to the Savior Jesus of Nazareth and He has saved me.” But suppose you are forced, in honesty to your conscience, to write down the word, “lost,” as your true description? It will be both wise and useful to do so. The thorny waste shall bear fruit a hundred-fold! He will take you from among sinners and put you among saints. And putting you among the saints, He will make your very experience of sin to be instrumental for good.”
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7: 24-25
Lost and Found, Robin Mark
When the rain falls
And it some days will
And the pavement under my feet
Sparkles silver in gold
In reflective light
That I otherwise wouldn’t have seen
When the storm comes
And the strong wind blows
I will bow my head to push through
And every step that I take
I will watch and pray
And be sure my foothold is true
Jesus, don’t you keep me from that storm
I want to walk that sacred ground
For You are Master of it all
And I am but a lost and found
And in the dry place
In the wilderness
When Your words seem so far away
I will think of my life and I will
Bless Your name
For Your promises never have failed
And when the night falls
At the end of days
I will lift my eyes to the Heavens
And we will shine like the stars
For eternal days
In Your presence forever and ever
Jesus, don’t you keep me from that storm
I want to walk that sacred ground
For You are Master of it all
And I am but a lost and found
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25406
|
This weekend, the big auto show opens here in Los Angeles. It's $10 to get in, $25 billion to get out.
And in a stunning announcement, the Office of the National Drug Control Policy reports that San Francisco now has more medical marijuana dispensaries than it does Starbucks. Well, yeah. That's because marijuana is a lot cheaper than Starbucks.
Al Qaeda released a new tape today in which they used a racial slur directed at President-elect Barack Obama. Hey, Al Qaeda thought it was tough dealing with the U.S. military? Now they've got Al Sharpton coming after them, all right?
Are you excited about Hillary Clinton? It looks like she'll be named secretary of state. They're talking about that. And she'll also receive the home version of the presidency and some other wonderful prizes.
CARTOONS (CARTOONS, CLOCKWISE BY, Jim Morin: The Miami Herald, King Features Syndicate; Steve Kelley: The Times-Picayune, Creators Syndicate; David Horsey: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, King Features Syndicate; Steve Breen: The San Diego Union-Tribune, Creators Syndicate)
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25416
|
Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states; words like storge, philia, eros, and agape each describe a unique “concept” of love. Love has additional religious or spiritual meaning. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.
Although the nature or essence of love is a subject of frequent debate, different aspects of the word can be clarified by determining what isn’t love. Love as a general expression of positive sentiment is commonly contrasted with hate; as a, less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships.
Impersonal love
A person can be said to love an object, principle, or goal to which they are deeply committed and greatly value. For example, compassionate outreach and volunteer workers’ “love” of their cause may sometimes be born not of interpersonal love but impersonal love, altruism, and strong spiritual or political convictions. People can also “love” material objects, animals, or activities if they invest themselves in bonding or otherwise identifying with those things. If sexual passion is also involved, then this feeling is called paraphilia.
Interpersonal love
Interpersonal love refers to love between human beings. It is a much more potent sentiment than a simple liking for another. Unrequited love refers to those feelings of love that are not reciprocated. Interpersonal love is most closely associated with interpersonal relationships. Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment. Lust is the feeling of sexual desire; romantic attraction determines what partner’s mates find attractive and pursue, conserving time and energy by choosing; and attachment involves sharing a home, parental duties, mutual defense, and in humans involves feelings of safety and security. Three distinct neural circuitries, including neurotransmitters, and three behavioral patterns, are associated with these three romantic styles.
Psychological basis
Following developments in electrical theories such as Coulomb’s law, which showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human life were developed, such as “opposites attract”. Over the last century, research on the nature of human mating has generally found this not to be true when it comes to character and personality—people tend to like people like themselves. However, in a few unusual and specific domains, such as immune systems, it seems that humans prefer others who are unlike themselves, since this will lead to a baby that has the best of both worlds. In recent years, various human bonding theories have been developed, described in terms of attachments, ties, bonds, and affinities.
Comparison of scientific models
Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, like hunger or thirst. Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love. However, with Greek, it has been historically difficult to separate the meanings of these words totally. At the same time, the Ancient Greek text of the Bible has examples of the verb agape having the same meaning as phileo.
Eros is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Greek word erota means in love. Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth by eros. Some translations list it as “love of the body.” which is also used in the plural form to indicate love affairs or sexual adventures. This same root also produces amicus—”friend”—and amicitia, “friendship”. Cicero wrote a treatise called On Friendship, which discusses the notion at some length. Ovid wrote a guide to dating called Ars Amatoria, which addresses, in depth, everything from extramarital affairs to overprotective parents.
Chinese and other Sinic cultures
In contemporary Chinese, Ai is often used as the equivalent of the Western concept of love. Ai is used as both a verb and a noun. However, due to the influence of Confucian Ren, the phrase ‘Wo ai ni’ carries with it a very specific sense of responsibility, commitment and loyalty. Instead of frequently saying “I love you” as in some Western societies, the Chinese are more likely to express feelings of affection in a more casual way. Consequently, “I like you” is a more common way of expressing affection in Chinese; it is more playful and less serious. This is also true in Japanese. The Chinese are also more likely to say “I love you” in English or other foreign languages than they would in their mother tongue.
The Japanese language uses three words to convey the English equivalent of “love”. Because “love” covers a wide range of emotions and behavioral phenomena, there are nuances distinguishing the three terms. The term, which is often associated with maternal love however it is considered by most to be too stalwart a term for interpersonal love and is more commonly substituted for ‘doost dashtan’. In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life.
In Turkish, the word “love” comes up with several meanings. A person can love a god, a person, parents, or family. But that person can “love” just one special person, which they call the word “aşk.” Aşk is a feeling for to love, or being “in love”, as it still is in Turkish today. The Turks used this word just for their loves in a romantic or sexual sense. If a Turk says that he is in love with somebody, it is not a love that a person can feel for his or her parents; it is just for one person, and it indicates a huge infatuation.
Religious views
The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman—eros in Greek—and the unselfish love of others, are often contrasted as “ascending” and “descending” love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing.
Agape: In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.
Christian theologians see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves. Benedict XVI wrote his first encyclical on “God is love”. He said that a human being, created in the image of God, who is love, can practice love; to give himself to God and others and by receiving and experiencing God’s love in contemplation. This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.
In Hebrew, Ahava is the most commonly used term for both interpersonal love and love between God and God’s creations. Chesed, often translated as loving-kindness, is used to describe many forms of love between human beings.
The commandment to love other people is given in the Torah, which states, “Love your neighbor like yourself”. The Torah’s commandment to love God “with all your heart, with all your soul and with all you might” is taken by the Mishnah to refer to good deeds, willingness to sacrifice one’s life rather than commit certain serious transgressions, willingness to sacrifice all of one’s possessions, and being grateful to the Lord despite adversity. Rabbinic literature differs as to how this love can be developed, e.g., by contemplating divine deeds or witnessing the marvels of nature. As for love between marital partners, this is deemed an essential ingredient to life: “See life with the wife you love”. The biblical book Song of Solomon is considered a romantically phrased metaphor of love between God and his people, but in its plain reading, reads like a love song. The 20th-century Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler is frequently quoted as defining love from the Jewish point of view as “giving without expecting to take”.
Love encompasses the Islamic view of life as universal brotherhood that applies to all who hold faith. Amongst the 99 names of God, there is the name Al-Wadud, or “the Loving One,” which is found in Surah as well as Surah. God is also referenced at the beginning of every chapter in the Qur’an as Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, or the “Most Compassionate” and the “Most Merciful”, indicating that nobody is more loving, compassionate and benevolent than God. The Qur’an refers to God as being “full of loving kindness.”
The Qur’an exhorts Muslim believers to treat all people, those who have not persecuted them, with birr or “deep kindness” as stated in Surah . Birr is also used by the Qur’an in describing the love and kindness that children must show to their parents.
Eastern religions
The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself to take on the burden of a suffering world. The strongest motivation one should take the path of the Bodhisattva is the idea of salvation within unselfish, altruistic love for all sentient beings.
In Hinduism, kāma is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools, it is the third end in life. Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers; he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Rati and his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season.
In certain Vaishnava sects within Hinduism, attaining unadulterated, unconditional and incessant love for Godhead is considered the foremost goal of life. Gaudiya Vaishnavas who worship Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the cause of all causes consider Love for Godhead to act in two ways: sambhoga and vipralambha —two opposites.
In the condition of separation, there is an acute yearning for being with the beloved and in the condition of union there is supreme happiness and nectarean. Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider that Krishna-prema is not fire but that it still burns away one’s material desires. They consider that Kṛiṣhṇa-prema is not a weapon, but it still pierces the heart. It is not water, but it washes away everything—one’s pride, religious rules, and one’s shyness. Krishna-prema is considered to make one drown in the ocean of transcendental ecstasy and pleasure. The love of Radha, a cowherd girl, for Krishna is often cited as the supreme example of love for Godhead by Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Radha is the internal potency of Krishna, and is the supreme lover of Godhead. Her example of love is beyond the understanding of material realm as it surpasses any form of selfish love or lust that is visible in the material world. The reciprocal love between Radha and Krishna is the subject of many poetic compositions in India such as the Gita Govinda and Hari Bhakti Shuddhodhaya.
In the Bhakti tradition within Hinduism, it is believed that execution of devotional service to God leads to the development of Love for God, and as love for God increases in the heart, the more one becomes free from material contamination. Being perfectly in love with God or Krishna makes one perfectly free from material contamination. and this is the ultimate way of salvation or liberation. In this tradition, salvation or liberation is considered inferior to love, and just an incidental by-product. Being absorbed in Love for God is the perfection of life.
Political views
Free love
The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It claimed that such issues were the concern of the people involved, and no one else.
Many people in the early 19th century believed that marriage was an important aspect of life to “fulfill earthly human happiness.” Middle-class Americans wanted the home to be a place of stability in an uncertain world. This mentality created a vision of strongly defined gender roles, which provoked the advancement of the free love movement as a contrast.
The term “sex radical” is also used interchangeably with the term “free lover”, and was the preferred term by advocates because of the negative connotations of “free love”. By whatever name, advocates had two strong beliefs: opposition to the idea of forceful sexual activity in a relationship and advocacy for a woman to use her body in any way that she pleases. These are also beliefs of Feminism.
Philosophical views
There were many attempts to find the equation of love. One such attempt was by Christian Rudder, a mathematician and co-founder of online dating website OKCupid, one of the largest online dating sites. The mathematical approach was through the collection of large data from the dating site. Another interesting equation of love is found by in the philosophical blog ‘In the Quest of Truth’. Love is defined as a measure of selfless give and take, and the author attempted to draw a graph that shows the equation of love. Aggregately, dating resources indicate a nascent line of variables effectively synchronizing couples in naturally determined yearning.
Love at first sight
Love at first sight is a personal experience and a common trope in literature in which a person, character, or speaker feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them.
Importance of love in life
Love is the beautiful feeling that express honesty, affection and at the same time friendship. Around the world people are concerned about solutions for many of social problems. The feeling of love could be the key for many of those problems. Although, some people do not believe that it is possible. Problems that include world hungry and violence are some example of social matters that love could solve.
The most important reason why love could help the hungry problem around the world is the fact that love ties people together in a way to help each other. First of all, feelings such as caring about others and helping each other are also included in love. Besides, someone moved by that magic feeling are more likely to do little actions that todays are being more and more rare. For example, to join a non-governmental institute that helps people with hungry or even feeding someone who need food is a simple attitude that this feeling incentive people to do. Secondly, the spirit of sharing is not very common in today’s world. In fact, people tend to be more selfish and caring less about others. However, love flourishes that feeling and makes people more likely to share what they have. For instance, sharing the half lances with someone who do not have or even giving a piece of fruit is attitudes that people moved by love often do. Therefore, love incentive people do help solving social problems as hungry, which is just by us and we don’t realize.
Another important social matter that love could help to solve is the violence. It is undeniable that the first thing to associate with love is peace.
One thought on “Love
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google+ photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25419
|
4 Influential Figures in the History of Forensic Psychology
Photo courtesy of jjay.cuny.edu.
Forensic psychology is a fascinating specialty that focuses on researching human behavior, as it relates to the law. To that end, forensic psychologists utilize their research, experience and skills to consult within the legal system – in both civil and criminal law matters.
This branch of psychology has evolved significantly over the past 150 years. Here are four individuals who were instrumental in such evolution, and who have helped shape forensic psychology into its modern-day form.
Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920)
Wilhelm Wundt was a German physiologist and psychologist, who is widely recognized as the founder of experimental psychology. In short, experimental psychology is the process by which scientific methods are used to collect relevant data that allows psychologists to perform research on both human and animal test subjects.
Prior to Wundt, psychology was generally considered a branch of philosophy. This meant, that most theories and determinations were made by rational analysis as opposed to any sort of scientific method. Wundt’s advancements in this field had a profound impact on the future of psychology, and its eventual acceptance into the world of science.
Wundt’s further significant contributions include establishing the world’s first psychological laboratory, and psychology journal. His impact on forensic psychology is monumental. Wundt’s methodology provided the framework for the modern-day study of trial testimony, criminal behavior and motives, and jury selection techniques.
Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916)
Hugo Munsterberg was a German-American psychologist, who had a medical degree and a doctorate, which he earned under the tutelage of Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig. Considered to be a pioneer in the field of applied psychology, Munsterberg was recruited by Harvard University to run the learning institution’s experimental psychology lab.
Utilizing the experimental techniques developed by his mentor, Munsterberg pushed forward the field of applied psychology – which uses psychological theories and principles to resolve practical, real world issues.
Munsterberg was also an avid supporter of psychological parallelism, which holds that a body’s physical processes and brain processes always act in tandem. His greatest work focused on applying his research to questions that addressed industry, education and law. With respect to legal issues, Munsterberg delved into psychological factors affecting trial outcomes and the viewpoints of jury members.
Munsterberg’s most impactful book in the field of forensic psychology is “On the Witness Stand,” which contains a collection of essays on psychology and crime.
Harry Hollingworth (1880 – 1956)
Also a pioneer in applied psychology, Harry Hollingworth was used as an expert witness in a famous legal action brought by the U.S. government against Coca-Cola.
In 1909, federal agents set up a stakeout in Tennessee, right near the state’s border with Georgia. The agents wound up intercepting a delivery from Coca-Cola’s Atlanta plant on route to the bottling plant in Chattanooga. The government’s seizure (40 barrels of Coke and 20 kegs of syrup) was made under the authority of the Pure Food and Drug Act.
The theory? The government alleged that Coca-Cola was selling a product that was injurious to health because it contained a harmful ingredient – namely, caffeine.
Desperate to defend its product and in effort to disprove the government’s position, Coca-Cola hired Hollingworth to conduct experiments on caffeine and its impact on humans. Up until that point, Coca-Cola had only experimented the effects of caffeine on animals.
Hollingworth completed the experiments in 40 days. His masterful execution of the studies is used today as a teaching tool to illustrate how one should conduct forensic experiments.
The conclusions reached by Hollingworth’s experiments were quite favorable to Coca-Cola. He testified that the soft drink was merely a mild stimulant for both motor and cognitive performance. Most importantly, Hollingworth’s testimony revealed that there was no evidence of any injurious effect on people’s physical and mental capacity, as alleged by the government.
Prior to reaching the jury, the judge dismissed the government’s case against Coca-Cola.
Photo courtesy of discinsights.com.
William Marston (1893 – 1947)
An American psychologist and attorney, William Marston made an impact in both forensic psychology and pop culture. Although he is often wrongly credited with inventing the polygraph machine (which was invented by John Larson), Marston did have a significant impact on the machine’s genesis.
Specifically, Marston was the creator of the systolic blood pressure test. His research into this area led him to the conclusion that one’s blood pressure rises when that person is telling a lie. Utilizing Marston’s research, Larson developed the polygraph machine that would eventually become the modern day lie detector test. Marston’s research was so influential, that the U.S. government requested his assistance with lie detection during their investigation into the infamous 1930s Lindbergh kidnapping.
Marston’s other notable impact on forensic psychology was his findings on how a person’s will and sense of power has an effect on that person’s personality and behavior. His theories and principles on these topics led to the future study of personality traits and behaviors of criminals.
On a different note, Marston led a somewhat unorthodox life (especially for his time period). Marston fathered 4 children, two with his wife and two with his live-in mistress. His wife worked to support the family financially, while his mistress stayed at home to raise all four children.
Marston’s unconventional lifestyle led him to another interesting creation, namely – Wonder Woman. In a world dominated by male superheroes, Marston believed that women needed their own superhero, who exuded independence and power. Wonder Woman was created by Marston under the pen name Charles Moulton.
Are there any other historical figures that you believe should be included on this list?
Please join me:
Newsletter Sign-Up
Author Blog: https://authorjenniferchase.com/
Books: Compulsion Dead Game Dark Mind Dead Burn Dark Pursuit
Silent Partner Body of the Crime Screenwriting
DEAD COLD, An Emily Stone Thriller
About jchasenovelist
Published thriller author, criminologist, and blogger.
2 Responses to 4 Influential Figures in the History of Forensic Psychology
1. As always, Jennifer, well written and thought-provoking
Liked by 1 person
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Google+ photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25424
|
Passer la navigation
Last week in Azure: OSBA, DevOps and Kubernetes, VM sizes, and more
Publié le 11 décembre, 2017
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Whether you followed KubeCon in Austin, or SpringOne Platform in San Francisco, there were several announcements of interest last week – especially if containers are of interest to you. See the links below to learn more about the Open Service Broker for Azure, projects that are bringing DevOps capabilities to Kubernetes and serverless on Azure, and the updated Azure Management Libraries for Java. In addition, several storage-optimized and burstable VM sizes are now available in GA.
Announcing the Lv2-Series VMs powered by the AMD EPYC™ processor - Lv2-Series VMs are next-generation storage-optimized VMs powered by AMD’s EPYC™ processors to support customers with demanding workloads like MongoDB, Cassandra, and Cloudera that are storage intensive and demand high levels of I/O.
Announcing the general availability of B-Series and M-Series - Burstable VM sizes (B-Series) and the largest VM sizes available in Azure (M-Series) are now GA.
cloud-init for RHEL 7.4 and CentOS 7.4 preview - Now you can migrate existing cloud-init Linux configurations to Azure from other environments. cloud-init allows for VM customization during VM provisioning, adding to the existing Azure parameters used to create a VM.
Connect your applications to Azure with Open Service Broker for Azure - The Open Service Broker API is an industry-wide effort to meet that demand, simply and securely that provides a standard way to connect applications to services available in the marketplace.
Azure brings new Serverless and DevOps capabilities to the Kubernetes community - Learn about announcements made at KubeCon about more Kubernetes community projects and partnerships that extend what you can do with Kubernetes and Azure.
Java: Manage Azure Container Service (AKS) and more - The latest release of the Azure Management Libraries for Java (v1.4) adds support for Azure Container Service (AKS) and more.
Partners enhance Kubernetes support for Azure and Windows Server Containers - News about two new collaborations with Heptio (bringing Heptio Ark to Azure) and Tigera (Project Calico), as well as some progress we’ve made working with SIG Windows (Windows Server Containers support in Kubernetes 1.9).
Lift, shift, and modernize using containers on Azure Service Fabric - Learn about some of the container orchestration capabilities in Service Fabric along with a peek at what’s coming soon, such as updates to the Service Fabric Explorer UI.
Resumable Online Index Rebuild is generally available for Azure SQL DB - Resume a paused index rebuild operation from where the rebuild operation was paused rather than having to restart the operation at the beginning, all while using only a small amount of log space.
Database Scoped Global Temporary Tables are generally available for Azure SQL DB - Global temporary tables for Azure SQL DB are stored in tempdb and follow the same semantics as global temporary tables for SQL Server; however, they are only scoped to a specific database and are shared among all users’ sessions within that same database.
HDInsight Tools for VSCode supports Azure environments worldwide - You can now connect HDInsight Tools for VSCode to all the Azure environments that host HDInsight services, including government and regional clouds.
Performance best practices for using Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Learn about the categories of performance issues for an application or service using Azure Database for PostgreSQL service and how to resolve them.
#AzureSQLDW cost savings with Autoscaler – part 2 - In this continuation of the post from November, #AzureSQLDW cost savings with optimized for elasticity and Azure Functions – part 1, learn how to get the most from Azure SQL Data Warehouse with an Autoscale solution you can deploy.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service is generally available - Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service provides zero-touch device provisioning to Azure IoT Hub, and it brings the scalability of the cloud to what was once a laborious one-at-a-time process.
Microsoft IoT Central delivers low-code way to build IoT solutions fast - Build production-grade IoT applications in hours and not worry about managing all the necessary backend infrastructure or hiring new skill sets to develop the solutions with Microsoft IoT Central.
Deployment strategies defined - An exploration of common deployment strategies, such as Blue/Green Deployment and Canary Deployment.
What’s brewing in Visual Studio Team Services: December 2017 Digest - Buck Hodges provides a comprehensive overview of recent VSTS updates, including Azure DevOps Project and hosted Mac agents for CI/CD pipelines.
Don’t build your cloud home on shaky foundations - Learn the six top design considerations you should consider when laying the foundational components for a structured governance model in Azure.
Bringing hybrid cloud Java and Spring apps to Azure and Azure Stack - At SpringOne Platform we announced improved support for Pivotal Cloud Foundry across Azure and Azure Stack, and unveiled three new products and updates to improve support for Java and Spring on Azure.
Control how your files are cached on Azure CDN using caching rules - Learn how you can control Azure CDN caching behavior by intelligently caching files on CDN edge servers located in various geographic regions with CDN caching rules.
Azure Application Architecture Guide - An overview of the Azure Application Architecture Guide, which the AzureCAT patterns & practices team published to provide a starting point for architects and application developers who are designing applications for the cloud.
Free eBook – The Developer’s Guide to Microsoft Azure now available - A free eBook written by developers for developers to give you the fundamental knowledge of what Azure is all about, what it offers you and your organization, and how to take advantage of it all.
Service Updates
Azure Shows
Azure Location Based Services - Chris Pendleton joins Scott Hanselman to discuss Azure Location Based Services, which is a portfolio of geospatial service APIs natively integrated into Azure that enables developers, enterprises, and ISVs to create location-aware apps and IoT, mobility, logistics, and asset tracking solutions. The portfolio currently comprises of services for Map Rendering, Routing, Search, Time Zones and Traffic.
Azure Availability Zones - Raj Ganapathy joins Scott Hanselman to discuss the new addition to Azure's resiliency offerings – Availability Zones. Azure Availability Zones are fault-isolated locations within an Azure region to help protect customers applications and data from datacenter-level failures with independent power, network, and cooling.
Azure Security Center, Suspicious processes and JIT access - Corey Sanders, Director of Program Management on the Microsoft Azure Compute team shares some of the coolest demos from his recent Microsoft Ignite talk to help manage your infrastructure in an easier way. In this episode he covers Azure security center enhancements, tracking suspicious processes with AI and Just-In-Time (JIT) access.
The Azure Podcast: Episode 207 – Functions & Serverless – In this special All-UK episode, Russell Young has an in-depth discussion with Christos Matskas, a Senior Azure PFE in the UK, about the growing popularity of serverless computing in Azure using services like Functions and Event Grid.
Cloud Tech 10 - 11th December 2017 - Kubernetes, cloud-init, Cloud Foundry and more! – Each week, Mark Whitby, a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft UK, covers what's happening with Microsoft Azure in just 10 minutes, or less.
|
global_01_local_2_shard_00001658_processed.jsonl/25426
|
What is Functional Specification Document(FRD or FSD)?
A Functional Specification document is a blueprint for like how we want a particular project or application to look and work. It also details what the finished product will do and how a user will interact with it. The Functional Specification is in essence a contract between the business customer and the IT project team, describing from a technical view what the customer expects.
Business Analyst translate the business requirements into system functionality in technical terms. BA, personally, worked with tech lead to come up with the high level architecture. This system architecture can be broken down in functional modules based on the requirements. These functional modules are component of the system, which can be clearly distinguished from the other system. In between, initial recommendation of the technology will also help in designing the functional specification document. I documented the functional module behavior in use case diagrams and use case scenarios.
Please feel free to call us for Online and Class Room Based Training .
Ashok Das
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Google+ photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.