Bates starts off by offering inmates the soliloquy of Richard II in prison. She then asks for a written analysis. Depending on what people write, she either continues to work with them, or steps aside. Some would participate, others would not. Over the years Shakespeare had an influence on some inmates, but none struck so hard a cord as Larry Newton. At first I thought this book focused too much on this one person but then I realized that the book is a memoir written about a person who couldn't write it himself. I was very intrigued by what choices Bates made regarding the material she started with, and what she focused on, but I was even more interested in what Newton did with the contents of Shakespeare's works. I got so immersed in his words that many times I forgot that he is someone who would be labelled as extremely dangerous in our society. This book made me think a lot about rehabilitation, and what it means to have committed a crime in the past, incapable to prove that you have grown as a person. I find that readers can often analyze characters on paper in all their complexity but label real humans in society so fast without giving them a chance.
These are just two examples of literary analysis that completely escaped me and my fellow busy students in university. Newton had only Shakespeare to work with. He had time, silence, and could focus on this one thing, while contemplating that he is never getting out, and might never discuss this with anyone else other than Ms. Bates. Many of Shakespeare's characters are in a form of prison, whether literal or metaphorical, and most are murderers. Newton can understand all those thoughts much better than any one student in first year undergrad can even imagine. I wonder if Newton had had a richer education prior to the crime, how much would his thoughts have differed? If instead of Larry Newton it had been Dostoevsky post-solitary confinement with a larger literary corpus to compare, and philosophers to allude to, how would that differ to my reading experience of this book or to Laura Bates's discussions?
This book covers the history of Larry Newton, the context upon which Ms. Bates arrives, some problems with the prison system, and discussions on several Shakespeare plays. There are moments when Bates compares what students at the university produce from the same play to what Newton would write behind bars. I found myself almost annoyed, as if I could see the hungover student who wasn't reflecting, or thinking hard enough on these topics, and remembered that I too was one of them.


text:
Q: Bootstrap progress bar wizard stuck When you click Continue through the steps, then click Previous on Step 5, then click Continue (on Step 4), the progress bar doesn't move forward. It seems to get stuck. Any idea as to why this is happening?
http://jsfiddle.net/hmwqkpjf/8/

        STEP4

    Previous Step
     Continue

      STEP5

    Previous Step
     Start over

JS:
$('.next').click(function(){

  var nextId = $(this).parents('.tab-pane').next().attr("id");
  $('[href=#'+nextId+']').tab('show');
  return false;

})

$('a[data-toggle="tab"]').on('shown.bs.tab', function (e) {

  //update progress
  var step = $(e.target).data('step');
  var percent = (parseInt(step) / 5) * 100;

  $('.progress-bar').css({width: percent + '%'});
  $('.progress-bar').text("Step " + step + " of 5");

  //e.relatedTarget // previous tab

})

$('.first').click(function(){

  $('#myWizard a:first').tab('show')

})

A: This might be due to having multiple 'a' tags with data-toggle to same containers.
Make a similar implementation for the previous-button click, then all seems to be good.
// Previous button click event
$('.prev').click(function() {
    var prevId = $(this).parents('.tab-pane').prev().attr('id');
    $('a[href=#' + prevId + ']').click();
});

Here's your updated fiddle - http://jsfiddle.net/hmwqkpjf/12/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


because the reason we use groups to make decisions Is because we are uncertain.
And when we are uncertain we want to be influenced by other people.
We want their information to help us make more informed decisions.
The problem is when we are uncertain we are easily influenced by others.
We often look to other people to resolve our uncertainty.
because once people start talking in a group people start getting influence.
hear your unique information as influenced by the people who have already talked.
So we're going to lose your unique information.
So the real paradox of groups is, how do you get everybody to talk first?
A good example, this is provided by the movie 12 Angry Men.
they are trying to decide whether somebody committed a murder.
at the very beginning of the jury's deliberations.
that we vote the accused guilty, we've got to send him to the chair.
>> I think we know that.
>> Let's see who's square.
>> Yeah, we might as well.
>> Okay, anyone doesn't want to vote?
Okay then, just remember that this has to be 12 to nothing, either way.
All those voting guilty, please raise your hands.
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.
11 guilty, one not guilty.
Well, now we know where we are.
>> Boy, boy there's always one.
>> [LAUGH] Now what did we see in this clip?
some people knew exactly what they wanted.
indicating that they thought the person was guilty.
But what we also saw were some people who were clearly uncertain.
they weren't exactly sure whether they should raise their hands.
This is a good example of social influence in action.
their unique information to help the group make its decision.
Turns out, there are two examples of how this social influence occurs.
And there was a group of studies that was done by some researchers in the 60s.
none of whom rendered assistance to the person who was being murdered.
And the researchers wanted to understand why this happens.
that's the big red circle, and a couple of chairs, those are the small red circles.
that's a door in and out of the room.
So let's imagine you are going to complete a survey for me.
I tell you it's going to take you about 15 minutes to complete this survey.
you are alone in the room to fill out the survey.
suddenly some little wisps of smoke start to appear out from under the closet door.
will pour into the room until eventually the room will actually fill up with smoke.
Now, what do people do when this happens to them alone?
They go over they see is the door hot?
No the door is not hot.
Is the closet door locked?
on in the room, there's smoke pouring out of the closet.
but what happens if you're doing this with someone else.
not to react to the smoke.
So once again, you're brought into the room, there's now two of you.
You're given the survey to fill out.
You sit down to start filling out the survey.
I tell you okay it's going to take you about 15 minutes to fill out the survey.
Remember no talking you have to do this alone.
At that point I leave the room closing the door behind me you start in on the survey.
starts coming in from under the closet door.
What happens in this circumstance?
your head to see what the other person is doing.
I've told that other person not to do anything, not to react to the smoke.
so what we find is a lot of times people do not react to the smoke.
back to the survey, more smoke, other persons still not reacting.
continue filling out the questionnaire.
is that no one really knows what the right answer is.
But this may cause us to actually censor our own information.
We may not say I'm worried about the smoke.
We may not say I'm unsure about what's going on.
This is an example of process loss that comes from uncertainty about how to react.
Now it turns out there's another example of this problem.
how people react to group pressure.
the stimulus materials that we're actually used in the experiment.
the point of the study is to look at test lines, that's the line on the left.
determine which sample line is closest in length to the test line.
Which line do you think is closest in length to the test line?
Well most people think it's B.
In fact when people do this alone almost no one gets the wrong answer.
In fact 99% of the time people understand what the right answer is.
You don't get to do this alone.
When they did this they did this in groups of six or seven people.
didn't know that the other five or six people had been told how to respond.
So we started in on this study.
The first line comes up.
It's obvious what the right answer is.
You get the right answer, everybody agrees.
everyone always agrees until we get to the seventh line.
your own mind, hm the right answer must be B.
B is clearly the right answer.
But you don't get to answer first.
You get to hear all the other answers.
everybody else starts saying that they think that the right answer is A.
And you hear this over and over again, I think the right answer is A.
I think the right answer is A.
there's probably two things that are going on at this point.
that you have misperceived this situation.
about this because, when people disagree with you it makes people very anxious.
people went along with the group and said yeah, okay, the right answer is A.
they knew the right answer wasn't A.
It's that they didn't want to disagree with the group.
volunteer information which might help the group make a more informed decision.
So how do we overcome influence problems?
they find out what other people think.
write a little bit before you start talking about a problem.
When people write It means two things that are very important.
because all of us can write, but if we're talking, only one of us can talk.
So writing gives us more opportunity to surface unique information.
before you find out what other people are thinking.
to talk first before they know what others are thinking about.
a couple of very junior professors, and a couple of students.
And that's a good diverse group.
disagreeing with people who might have control over their careers.
it's always a good idea to have the lower status people talk first.
status people think which may influence what they are willing to say.
is to make disagreement more comfortable by legitimating dissent.
Some of you may have heard of the idea of the Devil's advocate.
The role of a Devil's advocate is simply to disagree with a group.
That's their role, is to create disagreement.
that makes everyone else that much more comfortable disagreeing with the group.
Let's go back to this particular situation.
B was clearly the right answer.
Well, let's imagine that one person said C was the right answer.
C is an answer which disagrees with the group.
So it breaks the consensus of the group.
much more comfortable for people to disagree with the group.
So the whole idea of the Devil's advocate is get someone to disagree with the group.
information which will give us a more informed decision.
diversity of information and perspectives.
That's the whole reason we use groups.
We use groups, well we don't know what the right answer is.
perspectives and experience and expertise.
the three problems we have talked about today.
The composition problem, the participation problem and the influence problem.


What is a Wiki and What Could You Use One For?
ConvergenceCoaching, LLC > What is a Wiki and What Could You Use One For?
Wikis are online collaboration tools that allow individuals to post and contribute to shared files, documents, calendars, images, lists, etc. They are also perfect for posting firm-wide, read-only announcements, tools, and reference documents, such as human resources policies and forms for example. Wikis can be used as a means for collaborating on group projects and for sharing files and other content. They can serve as document repositories and provide version control because they have the capability of tracking changes and reverting to previous versions (if a contributor makes a mistake for instance). You can also password protect your wiki.
You can also use wikis to provide input in a way that makes things simple to manage. For instance, if you start planning a project using a series of e-mail threads, it could easily get confusing and you may find yourself struggling to find all of the e-mails related to that project. Instead, create a wiki as a centralized place for maintaining the project's details, agenda items, and components. And, you can be assured that your wiki will always have the most current documents and you won't have to put out an e-mail asking your group who has the latest.
Even if "wiki" is one of those terms you're still uncomfortable with, consider one wiki you have heard of — Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com), the online collaborative dictionary. Wikipedia is actually one of the largest wikis in existence and allows online collaborators to expand or enhance existing definitions. The risk of a public wiki like this is that the information it contains is only as good as its contributor, so you do have to pay attention to the sources and double check facts with other sources, too.
So, do you have a wiki? What do you use it for? If you don't have a wiki, what might you use one for?


text:
Locust Grove - Where Louisville Begins
561 Blankenbaker Lane, Louisville, KY 40207
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am to 4:30pm
Give to A Gift to the Locust Grove Annual Appeal below!
From December 24 – March 2, Locust Grove will be closed to the public. Staff will still be in the offices and will be answering phones and email.
Donate Calendar of Events
Locust Grove is committed to telling the stories and interpreting the lives of the enslaved men, women, and children who lived and worked at Locust Grove. Learn More
Give to Locust Grove
Your gifts help us continue our mission of discovery and preservation and help us share the stories of all who lived and worked at Locust Grove. Support Us
Rent Locust Grove
Book a Field Trip
Thursday - Tuesday, 1:00am
Locust Grove will be closed to the public from December 24 through March 2. Staff will be in the office and answering emails during this time. Please email lghh@locustgrove.org or call 502.897.9845.
Living Room Lecture Series | Dan Gediman: The Reckoning
Wednesday, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Dan Gediman: The Reckoning
Dan Gediman is the producer of the public radio and podcast series The Reckoning, which traces the history and lasting impact of slavery in America by looking at how the institution unfolded in Kentucky. The state remained in the Union during the Civil War, but many white Kentuckians fought to hang onto slavery and the wealth the enslaved provided. In the years that followed, former Unionists and Confederates banded together to violently deny black citizens a seat at the table. In the series, we meet members of two families, one white and one black, whose lives were intertwined through slavery. These families reflect how slavery touched nearly every person, place, and institution in America, and how the country still needs to reconcile this painful past with the impact slavery has had on the present-day health, wealth, and safety of African Americans. Gediman will talk about the series, the research that went into it, and his ongoing efforts to change the way history, especially as it relates to slavery, is taught in Kentucky's schools. This lecture will take place over Zoom. Reservations required and may be made here:https://bit.ly/GedimanLectureLG
A link will be emailed after your reservation is processed. Admission is free with thanks to our generous sponsor, PNC Bank.
Donations may be made here: https://locustgrove.org/participate/donate/
Please email Hannah Zimmerman at marketing@locustgrove.org with questions.
Emilie Strong Smith Chamber Music Concert Series | The Grand Tour in a Kentucky Drawing Room
Sunday, 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Emilie Strong Smith Chamber Music Concert Series | 37th Season
The Grand Tour in a Kentucky Drawing Room
The Chamber Music Concert Series is now virtual! Each concert will be emailed to you by 4:00 pm on the date listed. At 5:30 pm on each concert date, join our maestro Bill Bauer, our musicians, and your fellow chamber music lovers on Zoom for a conversation about the music.
Tickets to this concert here: https://locust-grove-museum-store.myshopify.com/products/chamber-music-concert-series-the-grand-tour-in-a-kentucky-drawing-room-february-21-2021
•	James Oswald — The Hawthorn
•	Dal'Abaco — Fantasia for cello solo
•	Anna Bon —Flute Sonata no 4 - d major
•	Ignace Pleyel — Piano Sonata No. 5
•	Turlough O'Carolan — "Carolan's Concerto"
Season subscriptions available here: http://bit.ly/hlgtickets
View 2021 Events
Locust Grove is a National Historic Landmark owned by Louisville Metro Government and operated by Historic Locust Grove, Inc.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Mr Porter x Off-White Capsule Is Our Favorite Menswear Collab of 2019 (So Far)
We Picked Out a Few Pieces for You...
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
Not sure if you can relate, but...
We've, like, totally been witnessing the breakdown of the traditional office space, as a result of the ubiquity of wifi and smartphones, more and more people working remotely, the rise of co-working spaces and a growing ambivalence towards, you know, cubicles and stuff.
Naturally, if the places where we work are evolving, the clothes we wear to these places should evolve with them.
That's (at least part of) the thinking behind Off-White's new collaboration with Mr Porter, aptly entitled "Modern Office." As Mr. Virgil Abloh is wont to do, the 44-piece capsule collection melds hallmarks of contemporary streetwear and his post-modern wit with workwear inspired by the workforce of today—and tomorrow.
There's a lot of cool shit in here, but below, we've selected a few of our favorites...
Here's a cool Off-White sweatshirt that tallies off the Off-White collections that preceded it. Or: here's a cool sweatshirt. $570, Mr Porter
A pair of pre-distressed white twill sneakers, with red leather accents, text dedicated to the "Modern Office" capsule and Abloh's classic red zip tie. $660, Mr Porter
Looks like a pretty standard shearling corduroy jacket. It is and it isn't. On the back is a label that reads "Denim Label." So you see this entire piece is in quotation marks now...$1,050, Mr Porter
These wide-leg cropped linen trousers are all business in the front. But in the back they feature Off-White's emblematic arrows down the leg (below the knee). We can dig it. $895, Mr Porter
It's cold out there. You could probably use a scarf. Or maybe this "scarf." (It's still functions as a scarf.) $170, Mr Porter
8 Things to Make You Look and Feel Good
This Is the Want List
How to Dress Like You're Playing at Wimbledon
The Year's Biggest Tennis Tournament Is Here. It's Time to Wear Some White.
Stranger Things Sneakers, To-Go Decanters and a Summer-Ready Hammock
10 Hawaiian Shirts to Show the World How Fun You Are
They're Not Just for Clothing Magnum, P.I.
Vintage Deck Shorts, the World's Lightest Suit and Manta Ray-Inspired Cocktail Strainers
The People vs. Beanies in the Summer
All Arise, and God Help Us All...
The Memorial Day Weekend Sales Report Card
Or: How to Jumpstart Your Most Stylish Summer Ever
Cocktail-Specific Glassware, Camp-Collar Shirts and a Glorious Ping-Pong Table


A year ago, during this time, Phantom of the Opera (World Tour) was playing eight times a week at Cultural Center of the Philippines. It was truly an exciting time, especially for Filipino "Phans" who've yet to watch the musical live.
The touring company was headlined by Jonathan Roxmouth (Phantom), Claire Lyon (Christine), and Anthony Downing (Raoul). Emilie Lynn played alternate Christine. It's also worth noting that 'German' Phantom Ian Jon Bourg was part of the ensemble.
here's my recount of my 2012 Phantom experience!
'Know that overwhelming feeling you get when you want to express something but your thoughts are just so incoherent that there's no other option but to feel? Well, that's where I am now. I have no words, which is a bit scary since I write for a living. But what can I do? My emotions are so raw; they come in palpable waves.
In 1998, the outrageous Italian film Il Fantasma dell Opera introduced me to The Phantom of the Opera. Frankly, the movie butchered the story. Thankfully, I heard about Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation. And after reading the book, watching videos one too many and listening to the songs repeatedly, I was just blown away. Hence, the start of my love affair with musicals.
Over the years, I fervently wished for a chance to see ALW's production. Alas, life often interfered with plans of going abroad to watch it. But as the old adage goes, good things come to those who wait. February 15, 2012, a twit about the [sic] "Phantom's producers fixing adjustments for the famous chandelier" rendered me berserk. I had to read the twit over and over to check if I interpreted the message correctly.
I was supposed to watch the show the first time around with my college friends but circumstances didn't end up the way we hoped for. Unknowingly, my sister, who went home for a quick vacation, sneakily purchased an advanced birthday present/ticket for me!
So I became nervous, excited, and pumped AND a tinee-winee bit disappointed. But standing inside the CCP, waiting for the queue to shorten, I realized that I didn't want him to perform if he wasn't feeling well. Quite a bummer, true, but at least I have another reason to watch the Phantom again!
Instead of the towering Jonathan Roxmouth, Ian Jon Bourg played the title role. Claire Lyon and Anthony Downing played Christine and Raoul, respectively. For more than two hours that night, I was stunned. I was constantly tearing up because I was enthralled with how everything went well together – the actors' voices, the props, the costumes and the music, my God, the music! Andrew Lloyd Webber is god.
I went home reeling from the feeling that I've just experienced one of the best nights of my year. I ended that night thinking I don't know why anybody does drugs when watching musicals can give you such a high.
A few hi-hellos, my question answered, and a "deal" made with Jonathan later, I planned another night with the Phantom with my college friends the following week. And what do you know, our schedules have gone crazy so in the end I purchased a ticket just for myself. Yep, solo flight again, until I told Phantom-Junkie-Friend about my plans. She nonchalantly asked for my seat number so she can buy herself her THIRD ticket!
October 3 came – sun all hiding, birds all shivering, rainbow (in my mind) appearing – and I was BEYOND nervous. You can say that Jonathan made quite impression on me and I was just looking forward to FINALLY hear him sing. Dressing up for the musical that night became a production of my own – several costume (dresses) change, an a capella version of Music of the Night, and a number of bouts of palpitations! But it was a good a feeling, like knowing you're going to receive a wonderful gift but you just don't know yet HOW wonderful it's gonna be.
So, amidst the heavy downpour of rain and the fever plaguing me all week, I met with Phantom-Junkie-Friend and with bated breath, waited for the clock to turn 8.
POTO started. The spectacular chandelier was revealed. The singing commenced. So far, so good. But by the end of Little Lottie, I was fidgeting on my seat, twisting the hem of my dress, anxiously awaiting for the mask's reflection in the mirror.
I tried so hard not to tear up because I knew that if I start, it would be difficult for me to control the sobs from coming. However, when the Phantom started singing All I Ask Of You, I gave up. Hearing the ache in his voice, seeing him covering his ears, left me raw inside. I was pretty much a human live-wire- all feelings, raw emotions, knees shaking, until the very end of the show. And that was even BEFORE Phantom-Junkie-Friend and I met Claire and Jonathan up close!
'Know that overwhelming feeling you get when you want to express something but you're just too emotionally invested to form words? That I am after my second night with the Phantom. The thing is I'm not trying to be melo-or-overly dramatic. On the contrary, I'm simply happy. Writing this down, I realized why my Phantom experience has this profound effect on me that leaves me blindly grasping for words.
The Phantom vibrates such a life force. And although it belonged to him and him alone, it has the kind of force that surges to those who hear him sing… a force that ripples to my being. To finally fulfill a dream to see the whole production and hear the Phantom sing brought me immense joy. And pain. Because after a year and ten months of losing Dad, I can finally say that even for a night, I was completely, utterly and peacefully happy. The Phantom's voice bruised my heart with joy. And 'know what, I wouldn't have it any other way.
One of my favorite Phantoms, Peter Jöback, singing one of my favorite songs, Hallelujah.


text:
module Finitio
  #
  # The Struct type generator allows capturing positional sequences of values,
  # such as pairs, triples and so forth. For instance, a Point type could be
  # defined as follows:
  #
  #     Point = <Length, Angle>
  #
  # This class allows capturing those information types, as in:
  #
  #     Length = BuiltinType.new(Fixnum)
  #     Angle  = BuiltinType.new(Float)
  #     Point  = StructType.new([Length, Angle])
  #
  # A simple Array is used as concrete ruby representation for structs. The
  # values map to the concrete representations of each component type:
  #
  #     R(Point) = Array[R(Length) ^ R(Angle)]
  #              = Array[Fixnum ^ Float]
  #              = Array[Numeric]
  #
  # where `^` denotes the `least common super type` operator on ruby classes.
  #
  # Accordingly, the `dress` transformation function has the signature below.
  # It expects it's Alpha/Object argument to be an Array with all and only the
  # expected components. The `dress` function applies on every component
  # according to its type.
  #
  #     dress :: Alpha  -> Point          throws TypeError
  #     dress :: Object -> Array[Numeric] throws TypeError
  #
  class StructType < Type

    def initialize(component_types, name = nil, metadata = nil)
      unless component_types.is_a?(Array) &&
             component_types.all?{|c| c.is_a?(Type) }
        raise ArgumentError, "[Finitio::Type] expected, got `#{component_types}`"
      end

      super(name, metadata)
      @component_types = component_types
    end
    attr_reader :component_types

    def representator
      component_types.map(&:representator)
    end

    def default_name
      "<" + @component_types.map(&:name).join(', ') + ">"
    end

    def include?(value)
      value.is_a?(Array) &&
      value.size==component_types.size &&
      value.zip(component_types).all?{|v,t| t.include?(v) }
    end

    def dress(value, handler = DressHelper.new)
      handler.failed!(self, value) unless value.is_a?(Array)

      # check the size
      cs, vs = component_types.size, value.size
      handler.fail!("Struct size mismatch (#{vs} for #{cs})") unless cs==vs

      # dress components
      array = []
      handler.iterate(value) do |elm, index|
        array << component_types[index].dress(elm, handler)
      end
      array
    end

    def ==(other)
      super || (other.is_a?(StructType) && other.component_types == component_types)
    end
    alias :eql? :==

    def hash
      self.class.hash ^ component_types.hash
    end

    def resolve_proxies(system)
      StructType.new(component_types.map{|t| t.resolve_proxies(system)}, name, metadata)
    end

    def unconstrained
      StructType.new(component_types.map{|t| t.unconstrained}, name, metadata)
    end

  end # class StructType
end # module Finitio

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


PHOENIX -- With a little more than three weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, it appears the D-backs are done constructing the position-player portion of their 2019 roster after officially announcing the signing of free-agent infielder Wilmer Flores to a one-year contract with a club option for 2020.
Flores is guaranteed $4.25 million in the deal, which includes a $3.75 million salary for 2019 and a $6 million team option for '20. Should Arizona not pick up the option, it would owe Flores a $500,000 buyout.
Flores, 27, has played at shortstop, second, third and first base during his six seasons with the Mets, but the D-backs see him as their primary second baseman, which will allow them to shift Ketel Marte to center field, where he would replace free agent A.J. Pollock.
"We feel like he's a quality player and from an offensive perspective [he] adds to our lineup," D-backs general manager Mike Hazen said. "He has a little bit of power, good contact ability, hits really good pitching. We just felt like he complemented our position-player group nicely."
After trading first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals in December, the D-backs knew they had to find a way to replace both him and Pollock, who is likely to sign elsewhere. Moving third baseman Jake Lamb to first base was an easy decision, given Eduardo Escobar's presence on the roster.
Finding a center fielder either on the free-agent or trade markets proved difficult, so the D-backs decided to shift Marte because there were more second-base options available.
Marte has played just two games for a total of 14 innings in center in the big leagues and logged nine games there while in the Minors, but he has taken fly balls out there and told manager Torey Lovullo last year that he would have no problem playing there.
Flores slashed .267/.319/.417 last season, numbers that are pretty much in line with his career figures. The D-backs like his ability to make contact and put the ball in play, which Hazen said would balance out the lineup a bit.
"I think one of the things we ran into a little bit is we were a little hit or miss with regard to [contact]," Hazen said. "We feel like his contact skills blended nicely with some of the other power options we have, and he obviously has some power, too."
Once he heard the D-backs were interested in him, Flores said he gave very little thought to signing somewhere else given the success he's had hitting at Chase Field, where he has a career slash line of .356/.396/.622 in 45 at-bats.
"Since Day 1, first and foremost, I always liked playing in Arizona," Flores said. "It's one of my favorite stadiums. When they've called me and I saw they were interested in me, I wanted to go there. I have [Arizona left fielder] David Peralta, I'm really close with him, and it seems like a really good club. When I heard they had interest, I had no question about going."
Nor does Flores have any doubt that he can handle playing second base despite advanced metrics not necessarily being kind to him.
Neither does Hazen, who said the scouting reports that he got on Flores were that he has good footwork around the bag when it comes to turning double plays.
The D-backs still have some payroll flexibility left as they continue to scour the free-agent market.
"I think we're probably pretty much done with the position group," Hazen said. "I think we're still focused probably on the bullpen."


Always left-facing and often rather portly, the creatures depicted by Catriona Hall are largely based on those that surround her studio on the edge of the High Peak moors. She also specialises in portraits of pets or favourite animals and houses, immortalising her subjects with quirky simplicity and an earthy palette. Her designs appear on a range of goods for sale exclusively at Chatsworth. Please telephone to arrange a studio visit.


For over 20 years, Soybean Management Field Days have been helping Nebraska growers stay competitive in the global marketplace. Our goal remains the same as the first field day – to help soybean growers maximize productivity and profitability through smart decisions and efficient use of resources. Meeting the world's growing food and energy needs starts right here in Nebraska – at the 2019 Soybean Management Field Days! Join us at a site near you – complimentary admission and lunch included. 2019 Soybean Management Field Days are Aug. 13 - 16. Watch for details on locations, speakers and topics.


text:
Q: Importing multiple tables from files in Sphinx in .rst format I want to import multiple tables from multiple source .csv files in a single .rst. Something like below .rst sample:
=======
Section
=======

subsection01
------------
.. csv-table:: my_table1
   :file: my_file1.csv

subsection02
------------
.. csv-table:: my_table2
   :file: my_file2.csv

However, this gives me an error:
Exception occurred:
  File "/var/jenkins_home/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/environment/__init__.py", line 612, in get_doctree
    doctree = pickle.load(f)
ValueError: unsupported pickle protocol: 4
The full traceback has been saved in /tmp/sphinx-err-IQAuoY.log, if you want to report the issue to the developers.
Please also report this if it was a user error, so that a better error message can be provided next time.
A bug report can be filed in the tracker at <https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues>. Thanks!
Makefile:20: recipe for target 'html' failed
make: *** [html] Error 2
Build step 'Execute shell' marked build as failure
Finished: FAILURE

I have to mention that if I put each import block above in a separate .rst, they will just works fine. But this is not what I need. The above message seems like a sphinx bug/issue to me.
Any thoughts/solutions on this?

A: A more recent version of Python is perhaps needed to read the pickle output :)
Pickles protocol version 4 looks like it was added in Python 3.4, updating might work!
Exception occurred:
  File "/var/jenkins_home/.local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/sphinx/environment/__init__.py", line 612, in get_doctree
    doctree = pickle.load(f)
ValueError: unsupported pickle protocol: 4


text:
package com.spaceproject.components;

import com.badlogic.ashley.core.Component;
import com.spaceproject.ui.Sprite3D;

public class Sprite3DComponent implements Component {

    public Sprite3D renderable;

}


text:
Colorado Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To Long-Term Extension
Image via denverpost.com
The Colorado Rockies have shown a willingness to spend big over the past couple of seasons, and they've done it again. On Wednesday, the Rockies announced that they have signed center fielder Charlie Blackmon to an extension. The deal has four guaranteed years, starting this season. It also includes two player options that could keep Blackmon in Colorado through the 2023 season.
If Blackmon ends up staying all six years, he will make at least $108 million. With incentives, he could make as much as $116 million. Rather than trying his luck on what was a rather frigid market last winter, Blackmon will make $14 million in 2018 and $21 million per season in each of the next three years. He will then have a $20 million player option for the 2022 season and a $10 million option for 2023.
"I weighed all of my options and chose what I feel like is the best decision for me and my family, and that's to stay in Colorado and stay a Rocky," Blackmon told reporters Wednesday. "I really like the people in the organization. I love my teammates. You can't pick a better place to play."
The 31-year old Blackmon has become one of Colorado's most important players over the last few years. He is a two-time all-star who has also won the Silver Slugger Award each of the last two seasons. Blackmon also won the National League batting title in 2017, hitting .331 on top his his 37 home runs and 1.000 OPS. Perhaps more impressive was Blackmon's 103 RBIs while hitting out of the lead-off spot.
With his performance the last two seasons, Blackmon has asserted himself as one of the top outfielders in baseball and an essential part of Colorado's future. He was a key part of the Rockies reaching the postseason last year. He will continue to be a cornerstone for the club. With star position players like Blackmon and Nolan Arenado, as well as a young and promising pitching staff, the Rockies hope to be World Series contenders in the years to come.
From Blackmon's perspective, it's hard to turn down a nine-figure contract in a place that's been good to him. Aside from a potentially tepid free agent market next winter, teams would have questioned his home-road splits. Naturally, Blackmon has been ore produtive at Coors Field than on the road throughout his career. But his road numbers the past couple of seasons have been solid. Obviously, that won't be an issue as long as he stays in Colorado.
Of course, the Rockies may need to worry about Blackmon's age. If he plays to the end of the contract, Blackmon will be 37. Most teams are making more of an effort to get younger and avoid long-term deals with players who are already 30. Despite his impressive numbers over the past couple of seasons, there is some risk in signing Blackon to a long-term deal at this point.
Despite some risk involved, the Rockies are wise to lock up Blackmon long term. Last season's success showed that their window to pursue a championship is open. Thus, they need to keep a star like Blackmon in Colorado while the window is open. At this point, Blackmon is too important to the Rockies for the team to let him go in free agnecy. In that sense, both sides should be pleased with the extension.
Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies, Coors Field, Nolan Arenado


Good morning and Happy Friday, everyone! We made it through the week (relatively) unscathed!
This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one for me- with a friend's birthday party and another friend's Wrestlemania party keeping me occupied most of my Saturday and Sunday nights- but I've got some things planned for the early morning hours and afternoons, too! This certainly won't be a weekend where I sleep in late- that's for sure.
Before I get started on the last of my tasks at my office for this week and try to get a jump start on my weekend plans, I wanted to share a recently discovered recipe that I think I perfected a couple of nights ago while playing around in my kitchen. Japanese Cheesecake, which is sort of a combination of cheesecake and souffle in both taste and texture (it jiggles!) takes a couple of hours to prep and bake- but once it's done- you have a light, airy, but still delicious dessert to serve with a piping hot cup of coffee or tea!
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment. Place a 3 1/2-inch-wide strip of parchment around the inside of the pan so that it comes up about 1 inch higher than the edge; set aside.
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the granulated sugar and continue beating on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes longer.
Place the cake pan inside of a larger pan and pour enough hot water into the larger pan so that it comes 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven to 250 degrees F and continue baking until the cake is doubled in size, golden brown on top and around the edges and jiggly in the center but set, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Carefully invert the cake onto your dominant hand (right onto your palm–this is the most gentle way to handle it), then invert it back onto a cake stand or plate so that the top is facing up. Sprinkle the entire top with confectioners' sugar and serve while still warm.
If I hadn't finished baking this fabulous concoction so late at night, I probably would have indulged in more than just one serving. I really enjoyed this cake/custard dish- which I can only describe as tasting like the right amount of cheesecake and yellow cake all at once and with every bite.
I think next time, I'll be topping it with some strawberries or kiwi slices to give it an extra kick of sweet/sour flavor (plus, fruit balances out the sugar and eggs, right?)– but even eating it as it was didn't make me that feel guilty at all! This dessert wasn't "heavy" and didn't weigh me down after I'd tasted it the way regular cheesecakes tend to do.
But, this deliciousness aside- I'm off to get things done!
Here's hoping you all have an amazing weekend. I'll see you all next week!
Saving this one… Looks so good!
Thank you! You're going to love it when you bake it!


text:
Ph.D. Thesis of Daniel L. Geiger
2000 Annual Award of the Malacological Society of London
Best Initial Contribution in Malacology
You can download my dissertation as a pdf file from this page. I give a brief description of each document and the file size.
Roman pages
These are the roman numeral pages containing the acknowledgments and table of contents. (900 kB)
This is essentially a slightly updated version of the paper (Geiger, 1998: The Nautilus) covering the taxonomy of all abalone species. (2,800 kB).
This is exactly the paper from Geiger & Groves (1999: Journal of Paleontology) discussing all fossil abalone records. (564 kb).
This chapter is unpublished as of now and details the philosophical basis of molecular character coding in cladistic analysis (176 kB).
This published chapter concerns the distribution and biogeography of all the Recent abalone (Geiger, 2000: Bollettino Malacologico) (10,500 kB).
This chapter concerns the phylogenetic analysis using four data sets, and the description of the morphological character states determined in this work. A the end, a summary of the major conclusions from each chapter terminates the narrative (1,900 kB).
All the references of all the chapters (122 kB).
Back to publications page | Back to Home Page.


text:
Loving The Dead
An adventure for Cyberpunk 2020, GURPS Cyberpunk, and Cyberspace
by Laurence MacNaughton IV
Dirty rain pelts the windows. Yojimbo swallows the last of his recaff, stares at his deck. The featureless plastic case is slick and white, the color of a blank fax. He doesn't want to call her again. But the memory of her eyes tugs at him. Those cool blue eyes, like mountain lakes a thousand years old. His plugs ache to be inputted. Ache with the emptiness.
The pain lifts his hand, grasps the cables. It draws them in and locks them tight. Signals pour into him. The blood of the Net. He closes his eyes and hits the switch.
Joseph Enrikesson was the advertising manager for TransTechnic, Inc. He got to his position mostly by convincing Important People that an ad manager was what the company needed. He didn't actually do much. Except spend TransTechnic's money on lavish cruises and executive dinner parties. He was very popular in the marketing world, and rubbed a lot of elbows. But when his subordinates made one too many mistakes, those same people decided maybe they didn't need an ad manager after all. And Enrikesson was liquidated. Literally.
But he left behind a lot of financial wreckage. Among his many vices, Enrikesson enjoyed braindance. He spent a few million having a super-realistic Virtual Reality created in TransTechnic's mainframe. Even after his death, the program remained. No one knew it existed. Until one night, a hot-troded 'runner named Yojimbo busted in.
Interfacing the Party
The party should be good mix of netrunners and mercenaries. It doesn't really matter who the characters are, as long as they survive. A member of the group (pick one) has a long-lost friend, Yojimbo. The two of them went through hell and back together. A few years ago they parted ways (the specifics are up to you) and they haven't spoken since. At the start of the adventure, Yojimbo is drowning his sorrows at Skinner's when the characters stride in.
Yojimbo has a problem. He's fallen in love.
Skinner's
Read the following paragraph aloud to your players:
Skinner's is the place for cybertech chic. Every surface in here is stainless steel. Walls, floor, stools, tables . . . all coldly metallic. You walk in on the lower level, air conditioning blowing away the rotting night air outside. Above you, a steel grille catwalk leads to private booths. There's an empty stretch at the bar, and that's where you drift to. You can see your face in the steel, see the Street-worn meat and the chrome that pokes out from beneath.
Sitting next to them is Yojimbo. He's been in here all evening. Even after popping a few Sober-Ups, he isn't quite himself. "Hey!" he sloshes, "Haven't seen you in years!" He offers to buy a round of drinks. "You can get anything liquid here, choomba. Coffee, real beer, anything. A friend of mine once drank a CHOOH2 and nitric acid twister."
Yojimbo spends a while catching up with old times. Gloss over most of it, if you want. The players can try an average perception roll. Those who make it see beneath Yojimbo's cheer. Something haunts his eyes. But before they have a chance to figure out what, bad news shows up.
Bad news in this case being a three-man corporate hit team. At the bar, a corp sidles up next to Yojimbo. His short hair is slicked back to match his street-legal leisure suit. Any Solo who makes an Easy (10+) Combat Sense roll spots the smartgun snuggled up under his armpit. He orders a Gin and Synth, and knocks it over into Yojimbo's lap.
While Yojimbo swears and stands up, the Solo pulls his gun. Stats for the team are listed below.
INT 5, REF 8, COOL 6, MA 7, BODY 8
Enhancements: Neural processor with smartgun link. Cyberoptic with Low-Lite and Anti-Dazzle.
Notable Skills: Combat Sense 5, Awareness/Notice 4, Karate 5, Handgun 7, SMG 7
Gear: Leisure suit (featured in every gangster movie you've ever seen). Medium armor jacket. The Solo at the bar packs a smartchipped Sternmeyer Type 35. The other two carry Minami-10 submachine guns.
GURPS Cyberpunk
ST 12, DX 13, IQ 11, HT 12
Enhancements: Polarization, Light Intensification and Interface Jack.
Notable Skills: Guns-15 and Karate-13.
Gear: Leisure suit (see above). Medium Monocrys jacket. The one at the bar carries an interfaced Needler. The other two have Machine Pistols.
The hit men are fourth level Killers. Hits: 50. (AT)DB: LBA(5). Fire: +45. Melee: +50.
Enhancements: Lowlight Mk10, Antiglare Mk10. DNI to brain.
Gear: Leisure suit (see above). LBA Extended Flak Vest. The one at the bar has a smart (+10) Mirage 10X pistol. The other two pack Mirage S10 Rapier SMGs.
After the first round of combat, the other two hit men appear. They're on the second level, on opposite sides of the catwalk (see the map). Their SMGs open up, scattering drinks and bodies everywhere.
Because everything in Skinner's is made of steel, there's some excellent cover for the characters. Yojimbo dives over the bar when the party takes out Mr. Smartgun ('cause otherwise this adventure would be pretty short). He stays there under cover while the other two hitmen try to kill him. The Solos on the catwalk will fade if they encounter too much resistance. There's a back door on the second level.
I Say Hey Man, Nice Shot
The smoke clears, and the characters are pretty angry about getting shot at. Yojimbo apologizes profusely, once they're in a moving vehicle. Preferably heading far away from Skinner's. Read the following section aloud.
Yojimbo starts his story. "A couple months ago I got a gig to burn TransTechnic. The fortress was easy, just a code gate and some grey ICE. But while I was there, I stumbled into this secret downlink. Like, it wasn't on the directory at all. So after the run was over, I went back. And you would not believe what I found. A whole damn Virtual. Empty. Set up like one of those big white mansions from a few hundred years ago. Plantation, y'know? More real than life, and it was deserted. You could feel the breeze, man."
Yojimbo pauses to light a cigarette. His eyes narrow in the swirl of smoke. "So I stayed there a while, just checking everything out. It was like, so... so relaxing. I've never felt anything like it. There were fields and orchards, and just room after room of all this 19th-century stuff. So I kept coming back, and one day there was this lady there." He stops for a moment. Breathes out smoke.
"Her name's Abigail. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. At first I thought, Whoah, this is some chilled construct. But there's more to her than that. She tries to play like she's just part of the program. So I play along. But you know what I think? I think she's another 'runner like me who busted in. And I gotta find her." Yojimbo looks intently in your eyes. His voice drops to a whisper. "TransTechnic's caught on to me. I don't know if she's still alive. I don't even know who she is. You have to help me find her."
Love doesn't carry much weight in the gritty future. Especially against corporate hit men. But Yojimbo offers to pay for their time (6,000 eb per character in CP2020; $50,000 per character in GURPS; $12,000 per character in Cyberspace). It's everything he has at the moment, and he's willing to trade it all for finding Abigail.
But that won't be easy. Their only lead is buried somewhere in TransTechnic's computer.
Back at Yojimbo's cluttered apartment, he stuffs his deck and some peripheral gear into a duffel bag. "Can't stay here," he says, "Got anywhere to chill?" If the characters are keeping watch, have them make a few Awareness/Notice rolls. The heat isn't coming (yet), but they don't know that. Tell them someone's watching from the corner. Maybe a black vehicle slinks past. Keep 'em paranoid.
Yojimbo's immediate plan is to get lost. TransTechnic knows his identity and wants him flatlined. Nothing a face change and some adjusted records won't fix. But in the meantime, he has to find Abigail.
And that means burning Trans-Technic again.
Silicon Decay
Abigail isn't human. She's an entire AI subroutine, complete with simulated feelings and fabricated memories. Abigail was created specifically to match Enrikesson's psych profile; a perfect companion. Set against a backdrop of virtual romance, she was designed to fall in love with the corporate executive.
But Yojimbo isn't Enrikesson, and he has a different personality. With all the ingredients of "love" in the air, Yojimbo has become snared in a reality that wasn't meant for him. Unrequited love in the cybernetic age.
The virtual is a super-realistic "building" occupying a huge chunk of memory (and worth millions). The reality itself is based around a three-story mansion set in 19th-century South Carolina. It's chock full of objects and sensations. A sensualist's dream, built to be wandered through, to be experienced. There used to be roughly 30 rooms in the house itself, with another dozen areas outside (lake, garden, orchard, fields, etc).
The reality is squirreled away in normally unused memory. Without Enrikesson around, the memory space is being eaten up by other users. First the extra characters went, then some of the objects. Now entire rooms are being deleted.
When the party gets there, half the reality is completely gone. If they walk through the wrong door, they're back in the mainframe. And a prime target for the resident ICE.
Burning Transtechnic
The TT Data Fortress is set firmly in the downtown Net. The monolithic double-T icon has been scouted for years, but netrunners leave it alone. There isn't much worth stealing, and the ICE isn't tough enough to draw glory seekers.
Yojimbo has access codes to get into the virtual, so security wouldn't be a problem. But parts of the virtual have been erased and written over. Any time a character leaves the map, he is suddenly dumped into the TT mainframe. And that's where the ICE is. A lost netrunner can find his way back into the virtual. Roll Interface in CP2020, or Cyberdeck Operation in GURPS and Cyberspace.
The party begins in the Entrance Hall. After they've explored a room or two, a distorted woman's voice calls Yojimbo's name. It's Abigail. About to be deleted, the AI subroutine had enough vestiges of self-preservation to move into the CPU. Elements were lost in the transfer, and the remaining program is compressed in an unlabeled file. She doesn't have enough active programming to say more than, "Yojimbo? Help me . . ." No one can tell which direction her voice comes from.
Entrance Hall: Near the massive oak front door are divans and a pair of reading chairs. Sultry afternoon sunshine lights the room, setting the lace curtains aglow. There is an open doorway to the left and right, and a wide carpeted stairway leads up. As the characters stand there, checking out their new surroundings, they feel a tremor. The whole scene flickers, shifts, colors running rancid like a dying TV. Then everything's fine. Yojimbo looks panicked. "What the frack's going on?" he whispers.
Dining Room: A luxurious bay window opens out on a green yard scattered with trees. The long formal table is set with a bountiful feast. Huge covered dishes contain steaming piles of roast duck, boiled ptarmigan eggs in paprika, and other Victorian delicacies. There is no trace of the servants or how the food got there. But the wine is chilled, and the food is very, very good. If the characters leave and return later, the table has been cleared and only a few sandwiches (packed in ice) remain.
Master Bedroom: Unlike the rest of the mansion (which is spotless), the master bedroom looks well inhabited. The sheets are tousled, clothes are strewn about (both men's and women's), and someone's been writing at the desk. Characters examining the desk find handwritten love notes. A half-finished glass of wine sits beside the inkwell. It isn't hard to realize what syrupy nonsense the notes are. An average perception roll reveals that the writer wasn't Yojimbo. And a difficult roll reveals clues bearing Enrikesson's name (stationery, cards, name tags in clothing). In fact, it was Enrikesson who spent so much time here.
Trophy Room: This room serves one purpose: ego stroking. Stuffed animals lurk about in every pose. Each bears a plaque (such as "White Tiger, killed on Safari near the Euphrates"). All over the room are the trophies and memorabilia of Joseph Enrikesson's fabricated lifestyle. At one end of the room is a larger-than-life painting of Enrikesson, with an engraving of his name. Anyone who makes an average perception roll spots Enrikesson's pompous biography: From TransTechnic to Tycoon. Skimming through it, the characters read the adventures of a nobleman from some unmentioned country who commits dashing heroics in the face of direst danger, and eventually wins Abigail's hand in marriage.
Library: This dim room is home to thousands of books. Small tables (a few already stacked with tomes) are topped by elegant reading lamps. It's a difficult perception roll (or some other applicable skill - GM's option) to find a title that doesn't belong here: Executive Route to Mainframe. Pulling it off the shelf triggers a hidden switch. The bookcase slides aside to reveal a dark, cobwebbed secret passage. A few steps down the passage, a huge black wolf snaps and growls from the other side of a heavy iron portcullis. In CP2020, Hidden Virtue or SeeYa will reveal the iron portcullis as a STR 5 codegate, and the wolf as a Firestarter program. In GURPS, Recon reveals a simple Password-13 and linked Flatline-15 variant. The Flatline won't kill the netrunner - just fry his deck. In Cyberspace, the gate is a Security Code (Rtg 5) covering a Scrambler (Rtg 10).
Speaking the access code ("Enrikesson") will open the gate and tame the wolf. The passageway leads to the TransTechnic CPU. It's a "safe" route - netrunners using this path are recognized by the CPU as an executive superuser.
Other rooms: The rest of the mansion is just bursting with paintings, staircases, closets full of Victorian clothes . . . use your imagination. The outside areas have been deleted. Any time a character leaves the map, he's immediately dumped into the CPU.
The Transtechnic CPU
Outside the virtual waits TT's central processing unit. Through the cyberdeck interface, the CPU appears as a cavernous open chamber lined with points of neon light (accessible files). The AI's haughty chrome face floats in the center. There's some interesting stuff drifting around.
ICE: Every second that a character is logged on as an unauthorized user, he risks being hit by ICE. The TT mainframe contains free-roaming security programs. In GURPS, there's a 1-in-6 chance each turn of encountering a Trace-15 and linked Sever-12.
In CP2020, roll 1d20 every turn to see what shows up:
1 - Stun
2 - Sword
3 - Firestarter
4 - Knockout
5 - Killer IV
6 - Poison Flatline
7 - TransTechnic employee, who may or may not spot the character
8-20 - Nothing
In Cyberspace, make an unmodified 1d100 roll:
01-05 - Data Screen
06-10 - Bouncer
11-15 - Scrambler
16-20 - Shocker
21-25 - Chaos
26-30 - Breeder
31-35 - TransTechnic employee, who may or may not spot the character
36+ - Nothing
AI: The Artificial Intelligence won't speak unless spoken to. Its booming voice will announce information: "File closed," or "Intruder alert." Otherwise, it's silent, absorbed in its own affairs. In GURPS, it has an Intelligence of 15.
Building security: Here are the access codes to the building's security locks. Each type of code is listed under a separate file, and a skill roll is required to get each file. The files are: Exterior Doors, Elevator Over-Ride, Executive Offices and Tomb Access Elevator. There's also a link here to the elevator and security camera controls.
Virtual files: There's a file for each room. ENTRANCE.VRT, MSTRBEDR.VRT, ORCHARD.VRT, etc. There's also a database set aside from the rest: ABOUT ABIGAIL. Opening it, the characters find information detailing her clothing, mannerisms, and other features. It also contains a readout of Enrikesson's psych profile and the following note: "Abigail simulacrum created using compatible psych nodes. The construct contains romance patterns from VoyeurWriter V4.2 tailored to the client's profile." Abigail's actual programming isn't here. It's in a hidden file (see below).
Abigail (Unlabeled): Until he figures it out, Yojimbo thinks Abigail is another netrunner. But here in the main CPU is her programming data. Abigail is crammed smack in the middle of the CPU's memory, just one file in thousands. How long does it take to find her? Imagine this: While you close your eyes, have a friend run into an office and hide this magazine somewhere in the filing cabinets. Now try to find it.
Here's where you (the referee) have a choice to make. If the party is light on firepower, you could let them find Abigail here and now. This puts a completely different spin on the game. They have Abigail's program; now what? They don't have a Virtual to run her in. An entire adventure could revolve around finding one, or somehow finding a way to dump her onto the Net . . .
But searching so much raw data for one unlabeled program is hopeless. More likely than not, they can't get to Abigail before the ICE hits. Make a hidden die roll every turn. No matter what the result, tell the searchers that they fail, and the ICE is coming. Punch out or fry.
Back in the apartment, Yojimbo grins like a puppy. "Well, what's up?" he yips, pulling the cables from his wrists. "Did you find her?"
Now they have to break Yojimbo's heart. Abigail is just a construct, an illusion lost in TT's mainframe. The life fades from his eyes. He sits there, numb, not responding. Beyond pain. After a while he gets up and wanders over to his duffel bag. He comes back with a handful of debit cards. "Here," he says, handing the credits to the group leader.
If they have any compassion, the characters might try to refuse the money. But Yojimbo gets angry, even violent if he has to. A deal's a deal. Go ahead, play it up. Make 'em feel bad.
Because a few days later, Yojimbo comes back. He seems a lot better. "I've got an idea . . ." he says. He can't get in to see Abigail anymore. But he can get her out. He tells them about the Tombs. If they can break into the TransTechnic tower, they can steal the memory core that holds Enrikesson's virtual. Abigail can be with him forever.
The Tombs
Buried a mile and a half beneath Night City is the processing core for TransTechnic, Inc. When the corporate tower was built 20 years ago, decisions were made to ensure that the CPUs and supporting hardware would never be disturbed. They built the Tombs.
Isolated from the world, the computers are maintained by an army of AI-controlled remotes. The miniature robots scuttle among the data banks. They check circuits for integrity, replace worn components, and vacuum up what little dust accumulates in the 99.7% untainted air. Rebreathers are needed by humans. The air mix contains coolants and fumes which will incapacitate or kill the unprotected.
There's an access hatch in the tower's engineering sub-basement. Through that hatch is a restricted elevator, guarded by a high-powered security system. The elevator descends the full distance, all the way down into the computer core.
More Money?
Yojimbo can be talked into laying out some more cash. After all, tackling TT head-on wasn't part of the original deal. In CP2020, an Average (15+) Streetdeal roll sends him scurrying off. In GURPS and Cyberspace, roll Streetwise. He reappears later with another 6,000 eb (in CP2020 - $50,000 in GURPS or $12,000 in Cyberspace) per character. Don't ask where he got the money. He'd rather not think about it.
Grand Theft Cyber
The TransTechnic building is protected by a small security firm. All outside entrances are fitted with numeric keypad locks and security cameras. Inside, the party has a 1 in 6 chance of encountering a guard for every room or corridor they enter. The guards (60 total) are all in radio contact. As soon as a fire fight erupts, the whole building goes on alert.
INT 4, REF 6, COOL 8, MA 5, BODY 6.
Enhancements: Cyberaudio with Radio Link. Biomonitor.
Notable Skills: Combat Sense 3, Laser 5.
Gear: Armor Jacket, Flak Pants. Militech Laser. Handcuffs.
Enhancements: Radio Reception, Biomonitor, Cortex Bomb.
Notable Skills: Guns-14.
Gear: Combat Infantry Dress. Military Laser Carbine. Electronic handcuffs.
The guards are third level Killers. Hits: 20. (AT)DB: ABS(0). Fire: +35.
Enhancements: Sonic Range (Modulated Frequency). Biostatus Monitor with external readout.
Gear: ABS Pliable Breastplate & Greaves. Mirage XR 32. Magnetic handcuffs.
The tower is 20 stories tall, with a basement and sub-basement. The top three floors are executive offices. They're secured by a mixture of thumb-print locks and retina scanners. Security passkeys can be taken from the guards' bodies, if necessary. They'll open everything except the Tomb Access Elevator.
1. Offices: These large areas are subdivided into warrens of cubicles. The partitions provide visual cover only. During the day, all the offices are bustling with corps. At night, only a handful of workaholics remain.
2. Security Desk: There's always a security guard stationed here (unless he's getting a cup of recaff). The desk monitors show views of every room on that floor. A little tampering can create some incredible havoc, anything from blank screens to circuit loops.
3. Elevators: Standard elevators will go from the basement to level 17, but won't go above or below that without security clearance.
4. Stairs: These run all the way from the first to 20th floors, but the top three floors have security systems.
5. Parking garage: TransTechnic executives have the privilege of parking here. The lighting is sparse and dim, and the security cameras can be avoided with a little stealth. But two live guards stand watch at the elevators. There's a ramp to the street, blocked by heavy clamshell doors more at home on a space station.
6. Storage: Shelving units here hold everything from spare computer parts to soap and mops. An unprotected air vent leads straight down into the sub-basement.
7. Sub-basement: This is basically one huge room with a few concrete walls to divide it up. Ranks of humming power converters and climate-control systems dominate the room.
8. Tomb access elevator: This restricted elevator is covered by a reinforced hatch set deeply into the wall. Inside, it takes a very difficult roll against an appropriate skill (GM's choice) to bypass the codelock and activate the elevator controls. Characters may roll once per turn. When they make the roll, the access hatch clamps shut and the elevator begins the 20 minute ride down into the Tombs.
9. Diagnostics: There's no internal lighting here. Just section after section of computer banks. The spherical chamber houses diagnostic screens and emergency systems. Walls, floor, ceiling are all covered by rows of blinking lights. It's like being in the world's largest shuttle cockpit. The elevator opens onto a walkway which extends left and right.
10. AI core: The walkway hugs the sides of this room. Suspended in the center is the stark pillar of the Artificial Intelligence mainframe. Security sensors pick up the characters. "<VERIFY IDENTITY PLEASE.>" a simulated voice commands. After a pause: "<YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO VERIFY IDENTITY.>" The AI will only be satisfied with a proper security code. If they're still in the room when the time's up, or if they touch anything before answering, the room's laser cuts them down. The laser attacks one target per round. In CP2020, roll 1d10: the laser hits on a 7 or less, doing 5d6 damage. In GURPS, the AI is protected by a Defense Globe (skill 14) with a Laser Rifle. In Cyberspace: +30, Laser Mk3.
11. CPU and memory units: This is the meat of the computer system. It takes some work to locate which memory compartment holds the Virtual. Behind a wall panel, the unit they want is a bowling-ball-sized block of solid-state electronics. When they try to open the panel, a screen lights up. "<UNSCHEDULED MODIFICATIONS RESTRICTED. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF.>"
Uh, oh.
Unless they think fast, the AI will recognize them as intruders. The security remotes (1 to 3 per character) power up to attack. These small robots each have a targeting system and capacitor laser. In CP2020, a remote hits with a 5 or less on 1d10, doing 3d6 damage. There's a -5 penalty to hit the hubcap-sized remotes as they flit about the chamber. In GURPS, the remotes are HT 4, PD 4, DR 10, and armed with a Laser Pistol (Skill 12). In Cyberspace: +20, Laser Mk1.
Any stray gunfire blows sparking electronics from the opposite wall. Red lights flash, alarms sound. Smoke floods the chamber.
And they still have to fight their way back out. At the referee's option, there is a back door. Half-way up the access elevator's shaft is an abandoned passage. It could lead anywhere: old railway tunnel, underground waste dump, utility duct, someone's basement . . .
Force isn't the only answer, especially if the characters don't want to die young. The party could launch another assault against TT's computer via the net. With skill and a little luck, they might be able to download a copy of the Virtual onto their own decks. This requires attacking the data fortress from the outside. The specifics are left up to you; use the listed ICE as a guide.
And then there's the Dress Up Like Technicians And No One Will Notice Us approach. Instead of breaking in, the characters could bluff their way in. It would take a few Persuasion and Disguise rolls, but no one will question high-security techs. Suits are paid to mind their own business. The Tombs are scheduled for a manual inspection once every month. Usually, this involves a group of techs going down, glancing around, and coming back up. Maybe this month, the inspection is a little ahead of schedule . . .
As a final and more desperate option, Yojimbo knows a street doc who specializes in life support gear. If you like your cyberpunk dark and glittery, try this for a solution. They can smuggle Yojimbo down into the Tombs, plug him in, and hide his inert body in a ventilation shaft. Who knows how long he'll stay undiscovered, or even how long he'll live. But hey, there's a price you gotta pay for love.
Article publication date: February 1, 1996
Copyright © 1996 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.


The Queen has laid a wreath at a sombre ceremony in the Garden of Remembrance in Central Dublin.
The garden is a memorial for those who fought to end British rule in Ireland.
The Queen was accompanied by Irish President Mary McAleese.


Poppets and dolls have been used to effect change and make connections for about as long as there have been people. They serve as a link between you and a person, spirit or divinity. Sometimes they are used for healing. Sometimes they are used blessing. Sometimes they are used as pathfinders. Sometimes, just sometimes, they are used for darker cathartic purposes.
These poppets are helper dolls born out of a childhood story that insisted upon jumping out of the pages. Each Oddling is different and hand stitched with love, blessed, and enlivened through traditional witchcraft means. Therefore, the inventory here will change as new Oddlings are brought to life and others find homes in comfy pockets. I hope Baba Yaga finds these Oddlings adequate enough as not to devour me and Vasilissa would stick one in her pocket. Most of all, I hope that when you put one in your pocket, you find your way through all the challenges the seen and unseen world throws your way.
Rosemary to spark the memory's strength and frankincense to open its gate. Mustard to keep the mind's engine moving and crushed pearl to dive in deep. Rue to ward second guesses bane and heart of gardenia to usher in peace.
Meet Chloe! Chloe has her hair pulled back into a pony tail and is ready to get down to business with your studying practice. She thinks with a pencil and inspires doodles that inspire you to think in different circles. She makes the perfect helper to anyone who is striving to do well with tests and quizzes. Nothing would please her more than to go on a pocket parade in a library or school hall! Just don't expose her to too much dust. . . she hates dust. Book dust is the worst.
High John the conqueror, the master of victory, with leaf of the bay tree and the blood of the dragon to walk by her side. Blossom of calendula for justice, and blossom of cat's claw to see the right path, and basil to seal it all up. Her spine is of basil branch and he is sprinkled inside with powdered pearl and black tourmaline.
Eldair walks softly through the world and finds the most direct route to victory. Her owl companion brings to her messages from other realms and swoops silently and swiftly upon the enemy should there be one to be found. She enjoys an offering of fresh water and flowers and a good smudging with fine incense is always a great treat.
Even in Faery there is a desert, and Tanque lives there in the dunes where the wild wyrms rule and the monsoons sculpt the land. A mighty protector and champion these desert fae are. With her holy nail and back bone of sow weed she is not likely to fail you. Tanque is a stealthy scout and can penetrate any foe's defenses. She may be sweet, but she has a heavy spice to her as well. She prefers spicy offerings, dark chocolate, and sunlight. He wears the tattoo of the Wyrm made of blood of the dragon ink and a vertebrae of the rattle snake wyrm.
Even in Faery there is a desert, and Roe lives there in the dunes where the wild wyrms rule and the monsoons sculpt the land. A mighty protector and champion these desert fae are. With his holy nail and back bone of sow weed he is not likely to fail you. Roe is not only a fierce champion and protector, he is swift, light on his feet and is his clan's messenger as marked by the crow feather in his hair. He prefers spicy offerings, dark chocolate, and sunlight. He wears the tattoo of the Wyrm made of blood of the dragon ink and a vertebrae of the rattle snake wyrm.
High John the conqueror, the master of victory, with leaf of the bay tree and the blood of the dragon to walk by his side. Blossom of calendula for justice, and blossom of cat's claw to see the right path, and basil to seal it all up. His spine is of basil branch and he is sprinkled inside with powdered pearl and black tourmaline.
Tree Leaper is a sharp as a fine needle and as agile as a cat. From his vantage point in the trees he can see the path that will lead you to victory! He prefers to be offered smudgings of fine incense and left an offering of something boozy in his little bottle. After all, victory deserves a good celebration!


Fox Business reports about Plosser's comments on inflation and the Fed.
"I think we will probably have to begin raising rates sometime in the not-too-distant future," Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser told Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal in an interview.
A renowned inflation hawk at the Federal Reserve is at it again, trying to pull more dovish Fed officials under his wingspan of influence to get them to do more to battle incipient inflation.
And the timing of Plosser's comment is interesting, notes Charles Brady, senior editor of the Fox Business Network.
The Fed is selling [on treasury's behalf] a record amount of weekly debt, $115 billion now coming up, a sum that tops the previous weekly record of $104 billion set just last month. The bond glut pushes yields higher because so many bonds means a lot of competition, which means the Treasury has to offer enticing, come-hither yields to lure investors in.
"The impending glut of supply has been pushing Treasury yields higher," says Brady. "What better way to try and keep a lid on rates ahead of this debt sale than to have a Fed official say that policy makers are likely to begin raising rates sooner rather than later."
Plosser has been notably direct in saying that inflation must be higher on the Fed's list of priorities.
For one, the US central bank's gross exposure to the bailout programs is $6.8 trillion out of the government's potential $23.7 trillion. Because it's difficult to pull monetary levers when rates are effectively at zero, the Fed under chairman Ben Bernanke has made a quantum leap in its balance sheet, and the markets fear Fed officials cannot stop this science project from exploding into inflation.
Put it into perspective. One trillion is now the new billion, analysts say. A trillion is greater than the GDP of Australia, $1 tn is enough to buy the Toronto stock exchange, it is twice the cost of FDR's New Deal, and $1 tn could buy every home foreclosed in 2007 and 2008, estimates show.
And now, the bond market is bracing for $2 tn in government debt issuances within the next 12 months to pay for the government's spending programs, the $787 bn stimulus package and the $3.6 tn budget.
"If you sell it, they will come, is the US Treasury's Field of Dreams," quips Peter Boockvar, an extremely sharp, smart Wall Street analyst with a big following at Miller Tabak, where he is a managing director and equity strategist.
But he adds that "if the stock market is right and the economy in the second half of the year will have a strong rebound, then interest rates are going higher due to higher inflation and the demand on the part of foreigners, who own half our debt, and others for higher yields for the enticement of buying the enormous new supply."
The Goldilocks economy of strong growth and low inflation was 1990's fiction, Boockvar says. Unless, of course, gridlock over health reform in a rampantly reckless Washington might now create the new Goldilocks economy, jokes economist Ed Yardeni.
Boockvar notes that all of this spending is starting to sting the US dollar, which is now falling to just shy of its lowest level since December 2008 versus the euro.
And listen to what Richard Bernstein, Merrill Lynch's former chief investment strategist, is now saying, that America still blowing bubbles. The US government in a post-bubble environment simply is genetically incapable of waiting for economic growth to rebound to soak up excesses, and instead reflexively acts without thinking in the face of growing voter unease over job losses.
So the US has now embarked on Japan's post-bubble strategy, which it did during the 1990s, that is, to support excess capacity by reflating the economy via gunning the mints, moves which stymie the post-bubble consolidation forces, Bernstein notes.
Easy money is like tequila, tasty, but dangerous, another inflation hawk, Dallas Fed official Richard Fisher, has warned.
Bloomberg reports that tightening credit becomes Bernanke bind in bond purchase unwind.
July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Now that the U.S. economy shows tentative signs of recovery, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, wants the Fed to adopt a plan for taming the inflation he expects may follow the end of the recession. Unless the central bank puts a strategy in place and presents it to the public, inflation expectations may run rampant, Bullard says.
He's pessimistic such a plan will be forthcoming. "I think I'm an army of one on that," Bullard said in an interview after a speech in Philadelphia on June 30.
The Fed always faces a hard choice as recessions run their course (this one began in December 2007): It can keep pushing to revive growth and avoid deflation -- an extended drop in prices like the one that devastated the U.S. economy in the early 1930s -- or it can take aim at inflation and risk strangling the recovery before it takes hold.
The unprecedented steps the central bank has taken to battle the credit crunch, especially its purchases of mortgage- backed securities, pose an inflation risk that's trickier than in previous recessions, says Joseph Mason, a banking professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Don't count on the Fed to get it right, says economist Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University in Pitt sburgh. The central bank has often lacked the resolve to pursue unpopular policies to keep prices in check, says Meltzer, who's the author of two volumes chronicling the Fed from 1913 to 1986.
"The Fed throughout its history has carried out a strategy of taking care of today's problems, not looking to the future," Meltzer says.
So far, inflation has shown no signs of heating up -- nor has deflation reared its head. The U.S. core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy costs, fell to 1.7 percent as of June from 2.4 percent at the beginning of the recession. In the Great Depression, consumer prices fell for more than three years, at an annual pace as high as 10 percent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who has published academic research on the Depression's causes, is wary. He said in June that the Fed continues to watch for deflation, and he testified to Congress this week that the economy still needs support to recover, especially in light of rising unemployment. The central bank has the tools it needs to reverse its monetary easing when it's time to fight inflation, he said.
Among the Fed governors and reserve bank presidents who oversee monetary policy, most see slow growth and deflation as a bigger risk than inflation, based on speeches they have delivered in recent months.
Bullard, among the minority worrying more about inflation, says the real risk is simmering on the central bank's balance sheet. By making loans and buying securities to unfreeze the credit markets, the Fed has doubled its balance sheet assets to $2 trillion in the past year.
About half of that expansion came through short-term lending to financial institutions. The Fed is scaling back those facilities. It's the rest of the balance sheet growth that concerns Bullard -- especially $661 billion of MBSs acquired to push down rates on home loans. The Fed has said it may buy as much as $589 billion more.
"I call those the politically toxic assets," says Benn Steil, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Selling those bonds would boost home buyers' borrowing costs and stall the recovery of the housing market.
Traditionally, the work of a central banker has been simpler: lower your benchmark rate to counter a recession and raise it when the economy recovers to prevent inflation. The current crisis shows the limits of that approach. Even after the U.S. federal funds rate was cut to zero late last year, the economic slide worsened. U.S. gross domestic product fell at a 5.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2009. Bernanke responded with the loans and the purchases of MBSs, an approach known as quantitative easing.
One way to counteract the easy credit the Fed has created might be to raise the interest rate on the reserves that lenders hold at the central bank, Bernanke says. U.S. financial institutions had $781 billion of such reserves as of this week, up from just $32 billion in September 2008. The central bank got authority in October to pay interest on those funds. It has been paying 0.25 percent and can change the rate at any time.
Banks will withdraw this money when they feel it's safe and profitable to make loans. By paying higher interest, the Fed would make it less attractive for banks to pull that money out and pump it into the economy.
There's little precedent for managing the money supply with interest on reserves, so it may be impossible to figure out where to set the rates. "We don't know what a percentage point change in the interest rate on reserves will do to lending by banks," says Mason at Louisiana State.
Meltzer is skeptical that Fed policy makers will act, even if they figure out how. In the 1960s and 1970s when inflation was rising, the Fed set out goals to fight it at least four times only to back down under political pressure. Paul Volcker, who became Fed chairman in 1979, was the exception. He ignored politicians and pushed the benchmark fed funds rate as high as 20 percent in the early 1980s.
Central bankers tilt toward stimulating growth, Meltzer says, partly because Depression-era deflation is imprinted on their minds, while periods of deflation prior to the 1930s that didn't wreak havoc are forgotten.
The perception that a central bank won't move against rising prices can actually contribute to inflation, says William Silber, a professor at New York University. When the public expects inflation, it's easier for retailers to raise prices and for workers to demand wage increases, he says.
Silber is writing a book about Volcker's fight against inflation in the 1970s, when prices rose even during recessions. The public's view that there was a lack of will to fight inflation helped cause this phenomenon, known as stagflation.
This is one reason Bullard wants the Fed to actually publish a plan for tackling inflation and not just draft it for internal purposes. To contain inflation, the battle often needs to begin before it's visible -- never a politically pleasant task. Acting now promises to be especially unpalatable, with unemployment at 9.5 percent in June and home foreclosures coming at a record pace in the first half of this year.
My reaction: Instead rehashing the skepticism in the two articles above, I want to take a look at the Fed's growing financial liabilities and its deteriorating asset quality.
Now that the Fed has started paying interest on reserves, balances held at the Fed should be regarded ultra-short-term, variable-interest-rate US debt. These short term financial liabilities hit a new high this week of 951 Billion.
By paying higher yield than the one month Treasury despite the shorter maturity, the Fed is overpaying interest on bank reserve balances.
1) The shorter the maturity, the lower the interest rate. The exception to this is the interest paid on reserves by the fed, which has a daily maturity and pays more than one month and three months treasuries.
2) One month treasuries were trading at around 3 percent in January 2008. When inflation starts picking up, the fed will need raise interest paid on its reserve to above 3 percent to keep up with one month treasury yields. The difference between paying .25 percent and 3 percent on 951 billion dollars is huge.
The screenshot of the Fed's balance sheet shown below illustrates the Fed's problem of unsellable assets. The blue circle represents assets which could be sold to shrink the money supply and loans to foreign central banks which are being repaid. The red X represent loans to insolvent financial institutions (which means loans can't be called in) collateralized by toxic 'AAA' securities (which are virtually worthless).
Liberty Grotto looks at asset sales from Federal Reserve holdings in terms of the asset quality.
The graphic below shows the distribution by maturity of Treasury Securities held by the Fed in December 2007 and July 2009. It is clear that the average maturity of treasuries on the Fed's balance sheet has changed drastically.
Conclusion: The Fed has no workable exit strategy. The US is about to enter a period of stag(hyper)inflation worst then anything experienced in over a hundred years.
This entry was posted in Currency_Collapse, Federal_Reserve, Market_Skepticism, News_Developments. Bookmark the permalink.
So we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, eh?
By trying to curb deflation the Fed threw money into the system to try and create mild inflation.
But now that with so much money into the system there is risk of true inflation.
So the option will become, when inflation hits, to increase government spending and increase the money supply, while also decreasing taxes.
Hmm, sounds like a vicious cycle that could last a while... say like a decade?
How come no one here ever looks at a true example of currency on the brink of collapse, but never did: the yen?
After reading that Numonic, tell me, does 1+1 always equal 2?
There is too much complexity for the Fed to control, and they will ultimately fail. If Bernanke is worried about deflation, then anyone in their right mind should be concerned about inflation. Some quotes of Bernanke's that still make me laugh are: 2005 July - "I think home prices will slow and maybe stabilize", 2006 November - "Motor vehicles sector may already be showing signs of strengthening", and 2007 February "There's not much indication at this point that subprime mortgage issues have spread into the broader mortgage market, which still seems to be healthy"!!!!! How is that for comedy? 1 point inflationists, -1 points for having Bernanke on the deflationist side.
If you say, "The US is about to enter a period of stag(hyper)inflation...", then do you have an estimate of when this period will begin?
I'm betting some time in October.
Anonymous, what the Fed is doing is not the cause for the rise in yields in Treasuries. The yields in treasuries are rising in spite of what the Fed is doing and would be allot higher had the Fed never started buying Treasuries. The Fed can't print fast/large enough to keep treasury yields down. We are looking at massive defaults unless Zimbabwe size bills begin being printed and thrown at the Treasury and all this other debt. In order to keep yields down more Fed Notes have to be printed but the printing presses are running at full capacity so the only option is to create larger bills. To assume that this depression will last a decade is to assume that the govt.'s printing presses will keep up with the massive defaults(which are the cause for rising yields/inflation) for 10 years. That will not happen, proof is in the economy today, tangible money does not move as fast as electronic and forget what you heard the bailouts are tangible not electronic. The debt is electronic the bailouts are physical. There is not a shortage of people who can type numbers in to a computer(which would be a need for an electronic bailout), there is a shortage of physical base money which is what the Fed is giving to the Treasury and to all the banks and companies in this bailout. So if we don't see news of the Fed creating the $1 million bill soon, prepare to see massive defaults(perhaps a bank holiday). Prepare to not be able to get any dollars out of your bank account. Prepare for more IOUs(which will not be accepted by the banks or anyone). Prepare for the stock market to crash to new lows. Prepare to see the massive debt veiled commodities rally as debt is destroyed revealing the true value of the commodities.
"The Federal Reserve Bank" and "fractional reserve lending," are simply in direct violation of Article I, Section VIII, and Section X. Founding fathers, like Roger Sherman, are shouting from their graves, "I TOLD you so, but YOU wouldn't listen!"
Glenn Beck today, had Yaron Brook of the Any Rand Institute on this show today. He had a "whiteboard," with written at the top INCOME TAX. Right below that, he has 1913. The same year of the Federal Reserve Act. To the right of that, he has 1% (common) to 7% (rich), noting that the Fed promised not to let taxes go above 10%. Then he shows in 1917 (WWI) that the tax bracket for the "rich" was at 77%!!!
Now you know why the mess that we are in. Flat out. THEY LIED!!!
Back to Sherman. "I TOLD you so!"
If it is not too late, END THE FED!
Find business opportunities at Business consultants.
I have been following your posts and regarding your reasoning that the FED is printing "tangible" money; actual paper. I haven't come across any info that said that the demand for actual paper has been on the rise. I agree that bailout are quite tangible but that doesn't translate to increased demand for paper or supply since you mention that that is what FED is giving to Treasury,.... What am I missing here?
Anonymous, you obviously haven't been following my posts because I've explained more than once how the shortage of physical cash came to be and I am getting tired of repeating myself so here is a past response to someone in another blog questioning what the bailouts are.
"i ask you what is the point of a bailout? Why is credit contracting? The point of a bailout is to stop a default. A default is an inability to give out promised money. And what would cause a default? The answer is an inability to give out physical cash. One can't default on digital money because all that is needed to give out digital money is to type the number in to the computer and the only way there can be a failure to do that is if the banks couldn't find someone that was capable of using a keyboard. The banks are not short of people who are capable of using a keyboard they are short of physical cash. I know physical cash is only used in a minor part of daily transactions but because credit expanded so much, that 1% of 100 people that use cash turned in to 1% of 1,000,000,000 people and greater. So even though the percentage of daily transactions stayed the same, the number of those transactions grew stretching the dollar thin. Maybe I'm just not a big spender but i use physical cash allot, allot more than credit/debit.
But it makes no sense to say some of the bailouts are deigital/electronic. How can you even explain that? Does someone from the Fed come in to the commercial bank and press the 0 key a few times to add to the banks balance? First of all why can't someone at the bank just do that and second how does adding money digitally to banks account make the bank go from insolvency to solvency? What was the bank insolvent of? people who can use a keyboard? No the banks are insolvent of physical cash and that's what the bailouts are physical cash."
The Fed won't be able to issue/sell it's own debt because the underlying collateral to back it up is toxic crap and unmarketable. It amounts to putting lipstick on a pig. Toxic unmarketable assets are just that. No matter how you package them! Although they can always print money to pay back the bondholders...hmmm inflation anyone?
there is a special place reserved in hell for Paul Krugman.
The bond the other day failed.
Talk about a bunch of negative-Nancies, no wonder they call you doomsters.
For real, all you guys are hoping and paying that the American economy will fail because you have a vested interest in it.
Ya'll need to wake up, put down the crack pipe and look around.
Things are not as bad as they seem.
Anonymous, I'm not a doom and gloomer, a global credit collapse = global prosperity. I'm partying. Your socialist world is ending, too bad for you. You must be a masochist. To bad the world won't choose to starve like you want to, but you can do it yourself. Starve if you want to, i doubt you'll be able to find people to do the same with you. Too bad, you want to be Jim Jones but the world won't go along with you to drink the kool aid/commit suicide. Too bad for you.
"...a global credit collapse = global prosperity."
That is what you claim, but history does prove you wrong.
"Your socialist world is ending..."
The world has never seen socialism, and if you think it has I can see why you're so irrational - you believe in things that never existed.
"...world won't choose to starve like you want to..."
The world will not choose what you or I would want, this you can mark my words on.
I cannot wait to see the horror on your eyes when you see that puzzle you put together is nothing like you thought it would be.
Anonymous - are you the dollar rally guy? Hard to tell you anonymouses apart. If so, tough day, for you. My condolences.
it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, did it?
So what the dollar hit a lull today, it will be back up.
Even this entry of Eric's supports the fact that the dollar will rise again, how long it will stay there - know one knows.
But it will rise again... like a king riding in from the horizon after wining a war.
Anonymous - I got a name for you - King Dollar - it would be easier for me to rib you when the dx falls and you can call me out when it rises.
In my Tract The Age of Turbulence: Plea for a New World Economic Order, I explain the nature and causes of economic depressions.
A new, bigger Crash will come causing a real depression.
Preparing for the Crash, The Age of Turbulence. Proposes a way to profit from The Crash.
Using the yield curve as a predictor that strategy covers Treasuries, Corporate Bonds, Minerals (Oil, Precious Metals and Base Metals.) and Stocks.
Its aim is to profit from both the Asset Price Bubble and Irrational Exuberance and The Crash and Economic Depression that will ensue.
A turbulence in fluid dynamic is a chaotic state of a liquid or a gas. It Owns Most of the Proprieties of The Liquidity Trap, Origin of The Crash.
"That is mission impossible. Indeed, the international financial community has made numerous efforts in recent years to establish such oversight, but none prevented or ameliorated the crisis that began last summer.
Much as we might wish otherwise, policy makers cannot reliably anticipate financial or economic shocks or the consequences of economic imbalances.
Financial crises are characterised by discontinuous breaks in market pricing the timing of which by definition must be unanticipated - if people see them coming, then the markets arbitrage them away."
The clear evidence of underpricing of risk did not prod private sector risk management to tighten the reins.
In retrospect, it appears that the most market-savvy managers, although conscious that they were taking extraordinary risks, succumbed to the concern that unless they continued to "get up and dance", as ex-Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince memorably put it, they would irretrievably lose market share.
Instead, they gambled that they could keep adding to their risky positions and still sell them out before the deluge. Most were wrong."
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World [Economic Order?].
��$ Enter Your �5 in The Cra$h R�gi$t�r.
but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
or would be consistent with liberty and justice.
it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary.
A regulation which obliges all those of the same trade in a particular town to enter their names and places of abode in a public register, facilitates such assemblies. It connects individuals who might never otherwise be known to one another, and gives every man of the trade a direction where to find every other man of it.
An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Inequalities Occasioned by the Policy of Europe.
Buy Now The Tract That Will Be Published September 17th, 2009.