text:
Will America survive Trump?
Latest 8/12/21 by Jenifer (Zarknorph)
Will America survive Trump? America - all of it
Started 12/22/18 by Jenifer (Zarknorph); 134915 views.
Msg 33 of 581 to Jenifer (Zarknorph)Zarknorph
In reply toRe: msg 1
From: YVOORG
Not groovy
Msg 34 of 581 to ElDotardoElDotardo
In reply toRe: msg 19
From: Jim (JIMBURGARDT)
The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December. The departures of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president's thoughtless claim that America has long been a "sucker" in world affairs all defined his presidency down.
Donald Trump was not my choice for the Republican presidential nomination. After he became the nominee, I hoped his campaign would refrain from resentment and name-calling. It did not. When he won the election, I hoped he would rise to the occasion. His early appointments of Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Nikki Haley, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster, Kelly, and Mattis were encouraging. But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office.
It is not that all of the president's policies have been misguided. But policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency.
To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow "our better angels." A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring.
The world is also watching. America has long been looked to for leadership. Our economic and military strength was part of that, of course, but our enduring commitment to principled conduct in foreign relations, and to the rights of all people to freedom and equal justice, was even more esteemed. Trump's words and actions have caused dismay around the world. In a 2016 Pew Research Center poll, 84 percent of people in Germany, Britain, France, Canada, and Sweden believed the American president would "do the right thing in world affairs." One year later, that number had fallen to 16 percent. This comes at a very unfortunate time. Several allies in Europe are experiencing political upheaval. Several former Soviet satellite states are rethinking their commitment to democracy. Some Asian nations, such as the Philippines, lean increasingly toward China, which advances to rival our economy and our military.
The world needs American leadership, and it is in America's interest to provide it. A world led by authoritarian regimes is a world — and an America — with less prosperity, less freedom, less peace.
To reassume our leadership in world politics, we must repair failings in our politics at home. That project begins, of course, with the highest office once again acting to inspire and unite us. It includes political parties promoting policies that strengthen us rather than promote tribalism by exploiting fear and resentment. Our leaders must defend our vital institutions despite their inevitable failings: a free press, the rule of law, strong churches, and responsible corporations and unions.
We must repair our fiscal foundation, setting a course to a balanced budget. We must attract the best talent to America's service and the best innovators to America's economy.
America is strongest when our arms are linked with other nations. We want a unified and strong Europe, not a disintegrating union We want stable relationships with the nations of Asia that strengthen our mutual secu
...[Message truncated]
Msg 35 of 581 to Jim (JIMBURGARDT)JIMBURGARDT
From: ElDotardo
What Never Trumpers Never Do
The Andrew Klavan Show Ep. 632
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF32sJ4yerk
Good discussion with the author . . .
Msg 36 of 581
Full disclosure: I am a constitutional conservative. I am NOT a Republican, and have not been a party member since Watergate, and even prior to that I had to hold my nose when casting the first votes of my life for Richard M. Nixon . . . twice.
Mitt Romney's op-ed crystallizes all the reasons the old GOP establishment has been pushed aside
Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of "The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism."
Mitt Romney's op-ed Wednesday in The Post is being widely praised by the usual suspects in Never-Trump Land. This should be your first clue as to how wildly out of touch the senator-elect is with Republican voters.
What are some others? Let's start with the article's premise that President Trump's character is more important than his accomplishments or principles. Most Republicans simply don't accept this argument. Many instead see Trump's pugnacious and sometimes crude talk as an essential part of his virtue — he fights while other Republicans cower. Others would prefer he tweet less and do more, but still prefer Trump's fallen angel to a Democratic devil.
Romney would like you to believe you can have your cake and eat it, too — that you can be against Trump's character but for his policies. But that doesn't work in the real world. Railing about character hurts the president, and Republicans know that.
Romney's obliviousness comes through in other parts of his piece, too. He explains what aspects of Trump's tenure he supports, and — lo and behold! — they are the same as those he purportedly supported during his two failed attempts to become president. Notably absent from this approved list? Trump's immigration proposals. But these have everything to do with why he won. The vast majority of Republicans want illegal immigration controlled now. Nearly half want immigrants living here without legal authority to be deported, and more than 80 percent want Trump's wall.
Likewise, Romney omits Trump's tariffs and trade policies, which are far more extensive than simply confronting China. You can debate their effectiveness, but his renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and his ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union are seen as attempts to reset the global trade rules so that the United States keeps a larger share of the higher-paying jobs that manufacturing creates. Republican voters in the primaries thought that foreign trade was costing the United States jobs, and they like Trump's current stances even in the face of the near-unanimous opposition from the GOP establishment.
From: TheOracle1
I see Mitt Romney leading a division in the GOP, getting enough support to end the Trump/Pence/Putin administration
Msg 38 of 581 to TheOracle1TheOracle1
He's welcome to try, but then, they don't call the GOP the Stupid Party for no reason.
Romney still backtracking, but maybe that's because he's got a more malevolent plan
After caving a bit on his opening volley at President Trump, Mitt Romney is still on his backfoot, trying to explain again that he's really a nice, reasonable guy, because apparently the day earlier's retreat on CNN, didn't quite work.
Here's his new statement, trying to explain out that nasty attack he wrote in theWashington Post the other day as just namby pamby stuff about working together on stuff he agrees with and working apart on stuff he doesn't.
Oh, give us a break.
An attack like that, targeting President Trump right down to his character, isn't a thing about agreeing and disagreeing.
Where were Romney's character criticisms against President Obama, who spied on reporters, sent the IRS to target Tea Party dissidents, and then used the FBI and a phony foreign dossier paid for by the Democrats to try to derail candidate Donald Trump? Where were Romney's character scoldings on Obama officials' unmaskings of innocent Americans caught up in spy dragnets, or Hillary Clinton's illegal private server, set up to evade Freedom of Information Act public record requirements? Where was Romney when James Comey was laying out his hypocrisies all over the place as he touted his virtue? He seems to only get excited when the target is Trump.
And that puts his credibility at zero.
He's going to need to show a lot of agreeing before anyone is going to believe him about the 'working together' claim. When is he going to understand that we are tired of all the attacks on President Trump and think he deserves better? If we wanted attacks on Trump, we'd go to the Democrats.
It makes no sense. There's reason to be concerned about this whole thing, given that Romney, in his op-ed, has obviously sought the good will of the Washington Post, a paper that attacked him relentlessly and unfairly back when he was running for president.
Cliff Kincaid, who knows a thing or two about how the swamp works, put out a theory a few days ago on Renew America about what Mitt might really be up to as he seeks to assure us he's a nice guy while hurling arrows at Trump:
The new leader of the anti-Trump resistance in the Senate, Mitt Romney, will take the oath of office January 3. The former Massachusetts governor and failed GOP presidential candidate represents what could be called the reemergent Rockefeller wing of the GOP.
You may recall that Romney delivered the most scathing anti-Trump speech by a Republican during the 2016 election cycle, calling Trump a "phony" and a "fraud." Romney wrote in his
Dude!!
That was the last North African white Rhino! He died!
Inappropes!
This is something (else) I don't understand about your electoral process.
Can a Republican challenge their own incumbent President and run against them in 2020?
This cannot happen here. Yes, there are leadership spills which have resulted in... I've lost track of how many PMs we've had in the last decade... let's call it a clusterfuck.
I don't consider it democratic that 40 self-serving politicians can override the election results and change the Prime Minister.
So can Romney run? If Cruz ran, would you support him over Trump?
Can he do this?
US President Donald Trump has said he is considering declaring a national emergency to get a wall built on the southern border of the US.
The US Government has been in lockdown over disagreements on Mr Trump's proposed border wall since December 22
The President has designated a team to resolve the standoff over the wall this weekend
Mr Trump said he wanted to work with Congress but would use executive authority if he had to
Mr Trump's comments came after he and Democratic leaders failed to strike a deal in sometimes combative talks to end the partial shutdown of the US Government.
Emerging after more than two hours of talks as the shutdown hit the two-week mark, Mr Trump told reporters he could use executive authority to build the border wall, but wanted to try to negotiate it with Congress.
"I can do it if I want. We can call a national emergency. I may do it."
And he confirmed he had told top Democrats he was prepared to extend the shutdown for years if needed.
"I did say that," he said.
"Absolutely I said that. I don't think it will [last for years] but I am prepared."
The two sides are fighting over Mr Trump's request for $US5 billion to fund his signature wall on the Mexican border.
Mr Trump said he had designated a team that would meet over the weekend with politicians to resolve the standoff.
About 800,000 federal workers have been affected by the December 22 closure of about one-quarter of the federal Government.
Mr Trump is withholding his support for new funding until he secures the money he wants to start building the wall.
The wall was a signature campaign promise of Mr Trump's during the 2016 election campaign, when he repeatedly said he would force Mexico to pay for its construction.
Such a wall, he has argued, is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs over the southwestern border.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who was among those meeting with the President, said Mr Trump had threatened to keep the Government closed "for a very long period of time".
Senator Schumer said his party's leaders "told the President we needed the Government open — he resisted".
"In fact, he said he'd keep the Government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years," Senator Schumer said.
The new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, called it a "lengthy and sometimes contentious" meeting.
"We cannot resolve this until we open up Government," she said.
Before the meeting, Mr Trump sent a letter to Congress to try to gain support for his wall, suggesting he was unlikely to budge on his funding demands.
"Walls work. That's why rich, powerful and successful people build them around their homes," Mr Trump wrote in his letter.
"All Americans deserve the same protection."
Ms Pelosi has sought to separate the issue of the wall and Government funding, and called on Mr Trump and his fellow Republicans in the Senate to reopen agencies as border talks continue.
"The wall and the Government shutdown really have nothing to do with each other," said Ms Pelosi, who has rejected any funding for what she has called an "immoral" border wall.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that even though the new Congress had convened with the Democrats holding a majority in the House of Representative, "the basic steps that are needed to end this unfortunate standoff really haven't changed at all".


text:
April 27, 1963 Issue
A Visit to Armenia
By Sonia Shiragian
The New Yorker, April 27, 1963 P. 44
The writer is a young child who grows up in N.Y. surrounded by exiled Armenians - her one dream, like theirs, is to go to Armenia. Every experience and aspect of American life only heightens their recollections of Armenia, causing them to become more foreign every day. The child, how ever, begins to take on American characteristics through her constant association with other children in the neighborhood. After much nagging, her parents tell her they will take her to Armenia which they do in the form of an Armenian picnic.
Published in the print edition of the April 27, 1963, issue.
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Vodka, pineapple, and champagne cocktail, per "Sex and the City": eight letters.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"Because the DLC has records for so many previous aye-aye births, animal care staff could quickly calculate that the new infant's birth weight was only 67 percent of the average lemur birth weight," Beall wrote.
Agatha was placed on intensive monitoring and supplementation.
The lemur center and SAS developed a closer bond last summer.
Briana Ullman was a creative marketing intern at SAS's Cary campus, and her college roommate was interning at the Duke Lemur Center off Erwin Road.
Three weeks into Ullman's internship, SAS chief marketing officer Randy Guard encouraged his interns "to think outside the boundaries of what rules already existed," Ullman wrote in a blog-like post on her LinkedIn page.
When Ullman's roommate returned to their apartment with stacks of spreadsheets on lemur data, Ullman got an idea.
She dove into the research looking to further the two organizations' relationship and found retired SAS employees had already volunteered with the lemurs and their caretakers.
Ullman had been tasked with thinking up initiatives to better familiarize the millennial generation with SAS products, Zehr said. Ullman reached out to find out if lemurs might act as a middle man between 20-somethings and SAS – prompting introductions and promoting engagement.
Ullman was also tasked with developing ideas for more concrete collaboration, Zehr said. "We have lemurs, we're in the neighborhood, a collaboration could be helping to promote conservation or something, along those lines," she said.
On Aug. 23, Ullman gave a presentation to the center's staff and her own supervisor, Randy Guard, on the possibilities of new, robust institutional relations.


text:
"""
Computes and plots a summary statistics counting the relative number of events
in paleoclimate variability occuring in several records at the same time using
COPRA ensembles.

This script provides analyses for this publication:

J.F. Donges, R.V. Donner, N. Marwan, S.F.M. Breitenbach, K. Rehfeld,
and J. Kurths,
Nonlinear regime shifts in Holocene Asian monsoon variability:
Potential impacts on cultural change and migratory patterns,
Climate of the Past 11, 709-741 (2015),
DOI: 10.5194/cp-11-709-2015

For the COPRA algorithm refer to:

S.F.M. Breitenbach  et al. (2012),
COnstructing Proxy Records from Age models (COPRA),
Climate of the Past 8, 1765–1779, doi: 10.5194/cp-8-1765-2012.
"""

#
#  Imports
#

#  Import sys for command line arguments
import sys

#  Import cPickle for loading and saving data
import cPickle

#  Import np for fast numerics
import numpy as np

#  Import pylab for plotting
import pylab

#  Import progress bar for easy progress bar handling
import progressbar

#
#  Settings
#

#  Settings for statistics

#  Quantiles for statistical testing

# Used for surrogates of measure and summary statistics
Q_QUANTILE = 0.10
# Used for defining confidence bounds from COPRA ensemble
Q_QUANTILE_COPRA = 0.10

#  Settings for plotting

#  List of letters from "A" to "Z"
figure_labels = map(chr, range(65, 91))

#  Toggle plotting of confidence band
SHOW_CONFIDENCE_BAND = True

#  Set labels
AGE_LABEL = "Age (ka B.P.)"
DATA_LABEL = r"$\Delta \delta^{18}$O" #  (‰ VPDB)

#  Settings for plotting additional information

# See Mayewski et al., Quat. Sci. Rev. (2004)
BOND_EVENTS = np.array([10.3, 9.4, 8.2, 5.9, 4.35, 2.8, 1.2, 0.5])
RCC_EPISODES = np.array([[8., 9.], [6., 5.], [3.8, 4.2], [2.5, 3.5], [1., 1.2],
                         [0.15, 0.6]])

#  Settings for computation of summary statistics

INTERP_TIME_RES = 10. # years [a]
SIGN_WINDOW_SIZE = 100. # years [a]
# Number of surrogates for Monte Carlo significance testing of summary
# statistics
N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT = 1000

#
#  List of data files
#

#  List files in the desired plotting order
DATA_FILE_NAMES = ["results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_25_M_100_DETREND_True_DIMARSHIM.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_54_M_100_DETREND_True_QUNF.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_14_M_100_DETREND_True_HOTI.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_36_M_100_DETREND_True_MAWMLUH.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_22_M_100_DETREND_True_TIANMEN.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_46_M_100_DETREND_True_DONGGE.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_48_M_100_DETREND_True_LIANHUA.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_15_M_100_DETREND_True_HESHANG.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_18_M_100_DETREND_True_JIUXIAN.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_33_M_100_DETREND_True_LIANG-LUAR1.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_33_M_100_DETREND_True_LIANG-LUAR2.pickle",
                   "results_copra_ensemble_DIM_3_TAU_33_M_100_DETREND_True_LIANG-LUAR3.pickle"]

n_time_series = len(DATA_FILE_NAMES)

#
#  Load results for plotting
#

#  Initialize dicts
storage = {}
FILENAME = {}
NAME = {}
N_ENSEMBLE = {}
symbols = {}
time = {}
values = {}
step_sequence = {}
results = {}
surrogate_results = {}

#  Load from files
for i in xrange(n_time_series):
    print "Loading results from", DATA_FILE_NAMES[i]

    file = open(DATA_FILE_NAMES[i], 'r')
    storage[i] = cPickle.load(file)
    file.close()

    #  Store parameters
    FILENAME[i] = storage[i]["FILENAME"]
    NAME[i] = storage[i]["NAME"]
    N_ENSEMBLE[i] = storage[i]["N_ENSEMBLE"]

    #  Store symbols
    #  !!! Assume that the same symbols are used in all files!
    symbols = storage[i]["symbols"]

    #  Store raw input data
    time[i] = storage[i]["time"]
    values[i] = storage[i]["values"]

    #  Store axes
    step_sequence[i] = storage[i]["step_sequence"]

    #  Store results
    results[i] = storage[i]["results"]
    surrogate_results[i] = storage[i]["surrogate_results"]

    #  Derived properties
    print "Number of realizations for significance test:", N_ENSEMBLE[i]

#
#  Functions
#

def summary_statistics(is_significant, time_interp, n_records_at_t, n_window):
    """Compute summary statistics."""
    #  Initialize
    significant_number = np.zeros(len(time_interp))
    significant_relative = np.zeros(len(time_interp))
    max_records_around_t = np.zeros(len(time_interp))

    for j in xrange(len(time_interp)):
        #  Set window and treat boundaries
        start = max(0, j - n_window)
        end = min(j + n_window, len(time_interp))

        #  If any significant values inside a certain window, add an event / a transition
        significant_number[j] = np.any(is_significant[:, start:end], axis=1).sum()

        #  Get max number of records available in window around time j
        max_records_around_t[j] = n_records_at_t[start:end].max()

    #significant_relative[measure] = significant_number[measure] / n_records_at_t
    return (max_records_around_t, significant_number / max_records_around_t)

#
#  Calculate means and q-quantiles
#

#  Init dicts
q_elements = {}
median = {}
q_left = {}
q_right = {}
surr_q_left = {}
surr_q_right = {}

for i in xrange(n_time_series):
    #  Number of elements right and left of the quantile
    #  Divide by two, such that the total probability of false rejection of
    #  null hypothesis
    #  is equal to Q_QUANTILE_COPRA (two sided test).
    q_elements[i] = int(Q_QUANTILE_COPRA / 2 * N_ENSEMBLE[i])

    #  Get statistics for results
    median[i] = {}
    q_left[i] = {}
    q_right[i] = {}

    for measure in symbols.keys():
        results[i][measure].sort(axis=0)

        #  Get median
        median[i][measure] = np.median(results[i][measure], axis=0)

        #  Get q-quantiles
        q_left[i][measure] = results[i][measure][q_elements[i] - 1, :]
        q_right[i][measure] = results[i][measure][-q_elements[i], :]

    #
    #  Calculate q-quantiles for surrogates
    #

    q_elements[i] = int(Q_QUANTILE / 2 * N_ENSEMBLE[i])

    surr_q_left[i] = {}
    surr_q_right[i] = {}

    for measure in symbols.keys():
        #  Get quantiles from surrogates from all time series realizations for now
        surrogate_results[i][measure] = surrogate_results[i][measure].flatten()

        #  Sort
        surrogate_results[i][measure].sort()

        #  Get q-quantiles
        surr_q_left[i][measure] = surrogate_results[i][measure][q_elements[i] - 1]
        surr_q_right[i][measure] = surrogate_results[i][measure][-q_elements[i]]

#
#  Prepare time axis
#

min_age_list = []
max_age_list = []

for i in xrange(n_time_series):
    #  Get minimum and maximum age in time series
    min_age_list.append(time[i].min())
    max_age_list.append(time[i].max())

#  Get overall minimum and maximum age
min_age = np.array(min_age_list).min()
max_age = np.array(max_age_list).max()

#
#  Prepare summary statistics of significant transitions/events
#

#  Initialize
significant_number = {}
significant_relative = {}
event_length_dist = {}

#  Get significance window size
n_window = int(SIGN_WINDOW_SIZE / INTERP_TIME_RES)

#  Create regular time axis for interpolation of results
time_interp = np.arange(min_age, max_age, INTERP_TIME_RES)

for measure in symbols.keys():
    #  Initialize
    median_interp = np.zeros((n_time_series, len(time_interp)))
    q_left_interp = np.zeros((n_time_series, len(time_interp)))
    q_right_interp = np.zeros((n_time_series, len(time_interp)))
    is_significant = np.zeros((n_time_series, len(time_interp)), dtype=bool)
    event_lengths = np.zeros((n_time_series, len(time_interp)), dtype="int32")

    for i in xrange(n_time_series):
        #  Interpolate result median and quantiles piecewise linearly
        median_interp[i,:] = np.interp(time_interp, time[i][step_sequence[i]],
                                       median[i][measure], left=np.nan,
                                       right=np.nan)
        q_left_interp[i,:] = np.interp(time_interp, time[i][step_sequence[i]],
                                       q_left[i][measure], left=np.nan,
                                       right=np.nan)
        q_right_interp[i,:] = np.interp(time_interp, time[i][step_sequence[i]],
                                        q_right[i][measure], left=np.nan,
                                        right=np.nan)

        #  Determine at which time steps the result quantiles are outside the surrogate confidence band indicating events/transitions
        is_significant[i,:] = np.logical_or(q_left_interp[i,:] < surr_q_left[i][measure], q_right_interp[i,:] > surr_q_right[i][measure])

        #  Get frequency distribution of significant event length
        count = 0
        for j in xrange(len(time_interp)):
            if is_significant[i,j]:
                count += 1
                #  Treat boundary
                if j == len(time_interp) - 1:
                    event_lengths[i,count] += 1

            elif 0 < j < len(time_interp) - 1:
                event_lengths[i,count] += 1
                count = 0

    #  Add this to dictionary for each measure
    event_length_dist[measure] = event_lengths

    #  Get number of records available at each time
    n_records_at_t = n_time_series - np.isnan(median_interp).sum(axis=0)

    #  Compute summary statistics
    (max_records_around_t, significant_relative[measure]) = summary_statistics(is_significant, time_interp, n_records_at_t, n_window)

    #  Store results
    np.savetxt("time_axis.txt", time_interp)
    np.savetxt("max_records_around_t.txt", max_records_around_t)
    np.savetxt("summary_stat_" + measure + ".txt",
               significant_relative[measure])

#
#  Significance testing for summary statistics
#

#  Initialize
q_sum_stat_lower = {}
q_sum_stat_upper = {}

#  Create surrogate event series for each record and measure
for measure in symbols.keys():
    print "Generate surrogates for measure:", measure

    #  Initialize progress bar
    progress = progressbar.ProgressBar().start()

    #  Initialize array for holding generated surrogates
    event_surrogates = np.zeros((n_time_series, N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT,
                                len(time_interp)), dtype=bool)

    for i in xrange(n_time_series):
        #  Get indices corresponding to time boundaries of present record
        min_time = time[i][step_sequence[i]][0]
        max_time = time[i][step_sequence[i]][-1]

        min_time_index = min(range(len(time_interp)),
                             key=lambda i: abs(time_interp[i] - min_time))
        max_time_index = min(range(len(time_interp)),
                             key=lambda i: abs(time_interp[i] - max_time))

        #  Repeat until desired number of valid surrogates is generated
        surr_count = 0
        while surr_count < N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT:
            #  Create surrogate

            #  Loop over event lengths
            for j in xrange(1, len(time_interp)):
                #  Loop over all events of a given length j
                for k in xrange(event_length_dist[measure][i,j]):
                    #  Randomly draw index where event of length j begins and
                    #  make sure that event cannot exceed time span of
                    #  original record
                    index = int(np.random.rand() * (max_time_index - min_time_index - j) + min_time_index)

                    event_surrogates[i, surr_count, index:index + j] = True

            #  Count surrogate
            surr_count += 1

        #  Update progress bar every step
        progress.update(int(100 * i / float(n_time_series)))

    #  Terminate progress bar
    progress.finish()

    #  Initialize
    summary_stat = np.zeros((N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT, len(time_interp)))

    #  Initialize progress bar
    progress = progressbar.ProgressBar().start()

    #  Compute summary statistics for each ensemble member
    for j in xrange(N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT):
        summary_stat[j,:] = summary_statistics(event_surrogates[:,j,:],
                                               time_interp, n_records_at_t,
                                               n_window)[1]

        #  Update progress bar every step
        progress.update(int(100 * j / float(N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT)))

    #  Terminate progress bar
    progress.finish()

    #  Get confidence bounds for each time step
    q_elements = int(Q_QUANTILE * N_SURROGATES_SUMM_STAT)

    summary_stat.sort(axis=0)
    q_sum_stat_upper[measure] = summary_stat[-q_elements, :]

    #  Store results of significance test
    np.savetxt("summary_stat_ensemble_" + measure + ".txt", summary_stat)

#
#  Rescale time axis
#

for time in time:
    time /= 1000.

min_age /= 1000.
max_age /= 1000.

#
#  Plot summary statistics
#

#  Set plotting parameters (for Clim. Past paper)
params = { 'figure.figsize': (8.268, 8.),
          'axes.labelsize': 12,
          'text.fontsize': 12,
          'xtick.labelsize': 12,
          'ytick.labelsize': 12,
          'legend.fontsize': 10,
          'title.fontsize': 12,
          'text.usetex': False,
          'font': 'Helvetica',
          'mathtext.bf': 'helvetica:bold',
          'xtick.major.pad': 6,
          'ytick.major.pad': 6,
          'xtick.major.size': 5,
          'ytick.major.size': 5,
          'xtick.minor.size': 3,      # minor tick size in points
          'xtick.major.width': 1.,    # major tick width in points
          'xtick.minor.width': 1.,    # minor tick width in points
          'ytick.minor.size': 3,      # minor tick size in points
          'ytick.major.width': 1.,    # major tick width in points
          'ytick.minor.width': 1.,    # minor tick width in points
          'tick.labelsize': 'small'
           }

#pylab.rcParams.update(params)

#  Create new figure
fig = pylab.figure()

#  Plot maximum number of records available around a certain time
ax = fig.add_subplot(len(symbols) + 1, 1, 1)

pylab.plot(time_interp / 1000., max_records_around_t, "#DB232E")
pylab.fill_between(time_interp / 1000., 0, max_records_around_t,
                   color="#F1B08E")

pylab.ylabel(r"$N_r$", fontsize=16)

pylab.xlim(0, 10)
pylab.ylim(0, 10)

#  Add figure label
ax.annotate(figure_labels[0], xy=(-0.14, 1.1),
            xycoords='axes fraction',
            horizontalalignment='left', verticalalignment='top',
            fontname='Helvetica', fontsize=14, fontweight='bold')

#  Set time axis invisible
#ax.axes.get_xaxis().set_visible(False)

#  Enable minor ticks
ax.minorticks_on()

#  Add time labels and axis label to top subplot
ax.xaxis.set_label_position("top")
ax.tick_params(labelbottom='off',labeltop='on')

pylab.xlabel(AGE_LABEL)

#  Set colors for results subplots
colors_line = ["#3A89CB", "#9CD39A"]
colors_fill = ["#DDEAED", "#DBEDDA"]

#  Plot windowed measures
j = 1
for measure in symbols.keys():
    j += 1
    ax = fig.add_subplot(len(symbols) + 1, 1, j)

    #  Prepare lower bound for fill between to highlight episodes with
    #  significant excursions from "normal" climate state
    is_significant = q_sum_stat_upper[measure] < significant_relative[measure]

    #  Plot results
    pylab.plot(time_interp / 1000., significant_relative[measure],
               colors_line[j - 2])
    #  Fill insignificant episodes
    pylab.fill_between(time_interp / 1000., 0, significant_relative[measure],
                       color=colors_fill[j - 2])
    #  Fill significant episodes
    pylab.fill_between(time_interp / 1000., q_sum_stat_upper[measure],
                       significant_relative[measure], where=is_significant,
                       color=colors_line[j - 2])

    #  Plot confidence band for summary statistics
    #pylab.fill_between(time_interp / 1000., q_sum_stat_lower[measure], q_sum_stat_upper[measure], color="0.75")
    #pylab.plot(time_interp / 1000., q_sum_stat_lower[measure], "r-")
    pylab.plot(time_interp / 1000., q_sum_stat_upper[measure], "-",
               color="grey")

    pylab.ylabel("$n_" + symbols[measure][1:-1] + "$", fontsize=16)

    #  Plot additional information
    #  Plot RCC episodes
    for k in xrange(RCC_EPISODES.shape[0]):
        pylab.axvspan(RCC_EPISODES[k,0], RCC_EPISODES[k,1], fill=True,
                      edgecolor="0.8", color="0.8", zorder=0)
    #  Plot Bond events
    pylab.scatter(BOND_EVENTS, 0.9 * np.ones(len(BOND_EVENTS)), c='k',
                  marker='o', s=80)

    pylab.xlim(0, 10)
    pylab.ylim(0, 1)

    #  Add figure label
    ax.annotate(figure_labels[j - 1], xy=(-0.14, 1.1),
                xycoords='axes fraction',
                horizontalalignment='left', verticalalignment='top',
                fontname='Helvetica', fontsize=14, fontweight='bold')

    #  Render time labels invisible
    #ax.axes.get_xaxis().set_visible(False)

    #  Enable minor ticks
    ax.minorticks_on()

    #  Render time tick labels invisible
    ax.set_xticklabels([])

    #  Set number of ticks and tick labels
    #ax.locator_params(axis="x", tight=True, nbins=9)
    ax.locator_params(axis="y", tight=True, nbins=5)

#  Enable minor ticks
ax.minorticks_on()

pylab.xlabel(AGE_LABEL)

#  Save figure
pylab.savefig("summary_statistics_copra.pdf")

#  Show all figures
pylab.show()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Irina Todoran, PhD student of the Requirements Engineering Research Group, won a Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. Together with her fellow recipients from all over the world, Irina will participate in the Google Scholarship Retreat 2014, taking place in Zurich, July 6-9. The scholarship was launched in 2004 by Google in honor of their colleague Dr. Anita Borg. It was her vision to encourage women to actively participate in computer science, and she proposed the "50/50 by 2020" initiative, so that women earning computing degrees would be 50% of the graduates by the year 2020. We are still far away from that, but with these good news, we've again come a little step closer.


text:
Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing PDF full book. Access full book title Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing by Glenda C. Liell. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing
Author: Glenda C. Liell
Category : Psychology
Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing is a groundbreaking work that addresses the biases and inequalities within the field of forensic psychology. It gives valuable insights into individual practices and wider criminal justice approaches at an international level, while providing tangible solutions to tackle the disparities. This book constructively critiques current forensic practice and psychological assessment approaches through a variety of diverse voices from pioneering researchers around the world who offer their expertise on these challenges and assist the reader to consider their potential contribution to pushing forward the frontiers of Forensic Psychology. The authors also locate the origin of these biases in order to further dismantle them, and improve the outcomes for the forensic client base – especially specific diverse populations. They emphasise the need to be creative and evolve not just in line with the real-world changes of today, but also to prevent the issues of tomorrow before they become the next news headline. This is a must read for professionals working in criminal justice, forensic psychology, legal psychology, and related fields. It is also a compelling resource for students and researchers of forensic psychology with particular interest in social diversity and inclusion.
Ethics Challenges in Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Practice
Author: Ezra E. Griffith
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Forensic psychiatry and psychology involve specialized practice with unique patients, including children, the incarcerated, and involuntary clients, presenting practitioners with specific ethics challenges. In this volume, Ezra E. H. Griffith offers a selection of engaging essays that guide practicing forensic specialists through particular situations that often result in ethics dilemmas. In chapters covering topics such as forensic practice and critical feminist theory, neuroethics in court, work with asylum applicants, and ethics problems presented by the internet, the contributors demonstrate methods to help practitioners resolve problems that they are likely to encounter in forensic practice. The concentrated focus on thinking through ethics quandaries encourages forensic practitioners to reflect regularly on the ethics dimensions of their work and provides them with the tools to create ethics-based solutions that are transparent and understandable and best serve their clients. This essential book provides a roadmap for specialists in these evolving fields to recognize dilemmas through reflection and consideration, thoughtfully articulate the problems, and create solutions.
Coping with Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony
Author: David Faust
This highly effective guide is designed to help attorneys differentiate expert testimony that is scientifically well-established from authoritative pronouncements that are mainly speculative. Building on the foundation of Jay Ziskin's classic work, this updated text blends the best of previous editions with discussion of positive scientific advances in the field to provide practical guidance for experts and lawyers alike. Major contributors in the field summarize the state of the literature in numerous key areas of the behavioral sciences and law. Working from these foundations, the text provides extensive guidance, tips, and strategies for improving the quality of legal evaluations and testimony, appraising the trustworthiness of experts' opinions, and as follows, bolstering or challenging conclusions in a compelling manner. Distinctive features of this text include detailed coverage of admissibility and Daubert challenges, with unique chapters written by an eminently qualified judge and attorney; hundreds of helpful suggestions covering such topics as forensic evaluations, discovery, and the conduct of depositions and cross-examinations; and two chapters on the use of visuals to enhance communication and persuasiveness, including a unique chapter with over 125 model visuals for cases in psychology and law. More than ever, the sixth edition is an invaluable teaching tool and resource, making it a 'must have' for mental health professionals and attorneys.
A Casebook of Ethical Challenges in Neuropsychology
Author: Shane S. Bush
The American Psychological Association published a revision of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct in 2002.This text, a companion to the 2002 text Ethical Issues in Clinical Neuropsychology by Bush and Drexler, presents the reader with common ethical challenges in neuropsychology. This text examines the differences between the 1992 and 2002 APA Ethics Codes as they relate to neuropsychological activities. The authors present cases and discuss ethical issues related to neuropsychological practice with a variety of patient populations and in a variety of clinical settings. In addition, ethical issues in neuropsychological research and test development are examined. The text also includes chapters on emerging and particularly challenging aspects of neuropsychological practice, such as the assessment of response validity, and the use of information technology and telecommunications. Through the use of case illustrations, the authors examine ethical issues in neuropsychology and the new Ethics Code, offering a practical approach for understanding and promoting ethical neuropsychological practice.
Introduction to Forensic Psychology
Author: Curt R. Bartol
Publisher: SAGE Publications
"The text provides a great, general overview of different areas of criminal and civil forensic psychology." —Apryl Alexander, PsyD, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Denver Written by authors with extensive experience in the field and in the classroom, Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Research and Application, Fifth Edition demonstrates how to analyze psychological knowledge and research findings and then apply these findings to the civil and criminal justice systems. Focusing on research-based forensic practice and practical application, this text uses real-life examples and case law discussions to define and explore forensic psychology. This text introduces students to emerging specializations within forensic psychology, including investigative psychology, family forensic psychology, and police and public safety psychology. Students will develop a multicultural perspective with an ethnic and racial sensitivity, which is critical to the successful practice of forensic psychology. New to the Fifth Edition: Updated statistics, research, and case law, such as recent Aid in Dying legislation, as well as analysis of recent events, help students see the real-world applications to current events. Updated Focus boxes empower students to dig deeper into current issues, such as mental health courts, community-oriented policing, child abduction, hate crimes, the death penalty, and more. All Focus boxes also contain discussion questions for students to debate in a classroom setting. All new From My Perspective boxes provide students with information about career choices as well as helpful advice about pursuing their goals. Increased attention to immigration-related issues offers students additional insights into immigration proceedings and ways to consult with the courts. Additional coverage of human trafficking and online sexual predators enables students to better understand the psychological effects on victims and the services available to help. Current research on violent video games, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking provides real examples of the effects of violent media. New research on juveniles allows students to see the important contributions of neuropsychologists, particularly in terms of brain development in adolescents and promising community-based treatment approaches for juveniles. SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/bartol5e.
A Handbook of Geriatric Neuropsychology
A Handbook of Geriatric Neuropsychology: Practice Essentials (Second Edition) brings together experts in the field to integrate the knowledge and skills needed to understand and treat older adults who are experiencing problems with memory and other thinking skills. With three new sections, including coverage of other conditions beyond neuropsychological disorders, special assessment contexts, and more on interventions and ethics, as well as multiple new chapters, and significant updates from the first edition, this book provides a strong foundation for clinicians, educators, and researchers invested in the wellbeing of older adults. The impact and experience of aging, like the practice of neuropsychology, evolves over time. Similarly, through advances in science and professional techniques, neuropsychological practice has continued to evolve. Neuropsychological evaluation remains the most effective method of diagnosing age-related cognitive decline, cognitive difficulties that result from psychological factors, and other related disorders, as well as determining how the various disorders impact functioning and quality of life. This book explores these areas and offers state-of-the-art assessment techniques to assess changes in cognition and behavior and to distinguish normal changes from neuropathology. This book is a go-to resource and key reference for psychologists who serve older adults with known or suspected cognitive problems, as well as those who are invested in promoting brain wellness. It provides much of the information needed to establish and improve foundational and functional competencies in geriatric neuropsychology and establish practices that are personally and professionally rewarding, all aimed at promoting the understanding and wellbeing of older adults.
The Ethical Practice of Forensic Psychology
Author: Gianni Pirelli
Category : Medical
Highlights the ethical standards and guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association's (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (EPPCC) and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (SGFP). This Casebook provides readers with a practical review of these ethical standards and professional guidelines in the context of 35 forensic case vignettes with corresponding commentary by leaders in the field. Concepts are presented using a best-practices model that encourages and promotes engaging in empirically supported decision-making.
Handbook of Psychological Assessment
Author: Gerald Goldstein
Publisher: Academic Press
Handbook of Psychological Assessment, Fourth Edition, provides scholarly overviews of the major areas of psychological assessment, including test development, psychometrics, testing technology and commonly used assessment measures. Includes psychological assessment for all ages, with new coverage encompassing ethnic minorities and the elderly. Assessment methodologies discussed include formal testing, interviewing and observation of behavior. The handbook also discusses assessment of different facets of personality and behavior, including intelligence, aptitude, interest, achievement, personality and psychopathology. Features new authors, heavy revisions to previous chapters, and 65% new material, including the use of assessments in forensic applications. Encompasses test development, psychometrics and assessment measures Covers assessment for all age groups Includes formal testing, interviews and behavioral observation as testing measures Details assessments for intelligence, aptitude, achievement, personality and psychopathology Offers new coverage of assessments used in forensic psychology and with ethnic minorities Features 65 percent new material, with 5 new chapters
Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception, Fourth Edition
Author: Richard Rogers
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Widely used by practitioners, researchers, and students--and now thoroughly revised with 70% new material--this is the most authoritative, comprehensive book on malingering and other response styles. Leading experts translate state-of-the-art research into clear, usable strategies for detecting intentional distortions in a wide range of psychological and psychiatric evaluation contexts, including forensic settings. The book examines dissimulation across multiple domains: mental disorders, cognitive impairments, and medical complaints. It describes and critically evaluates evidence-based applications of multiscale inventories, other psychological measures, and specialized methods. Applications are discussed for specific populations, such as sex offenders, children and adolescents, and law enforcement personnel. New to This Edition *Many new authors and topics. *Thoroughly updated with current data, research methods, and assessment strategies. *Chapters on neuropsychological models, culturally competent assessments, psychopathy, and conversion disorder. *Chapters on psychological testing in child custody cases and in personnel selection/hiring.
"Widely used by practitioners, researchers, and students--and now thoroughly revised with 70% new material--this is the most authoritative, comprehensive book on malingering and related response styles. Leading experts translate state-of-the-art research into clear, usable strategies for detecting deception in a wide range of psychological and psychiatric assessment contexts, including forensic settings. The book examines dissimulation across multiple domains: mental disorders, cognitive impairments, and medical complaints. It describes and critically evaluates evidence-based applications of multiscale inventories, other psychological measures, and specialized methods. Applications are discussed for specific populations, such as sex offenders, children and adolescents, and law enforcement personnel. Key Words/Subject Areas: malingering, deception, deceptive, feigning, dissimulation, feigned cognitive impairment, feigned conditions, defensiveness, response styles, response bias, impression management, false memories, forensic psychological assessments, forensic assessments, clinical assessments, forensic mental health, forensic psychological evaluations, forensic psychologists, forensic psychiatrists, psychological testing and assessment, detection strategies, expert testimony, expert witnesses, family law, child custody disputes, child protection, child welfare Audience: Forensic psychologists and psychiatrists; other mental health practitioners involved in interviewing and assessment, including clinical psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and counselors. Also of interest to legal professionals"--
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In this high-energy Shakespeare comedy, we meet separated-at-birth-twins Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Egeus and their also separated-at-birth-servants. See where this is going already? Mistaken identity and hilarity ensues as one brother tries to find the other, one wife is flabbergasted that her "husband" has fallen in love with her sister and then a nun shows up at the end riding a deus ex machina! The Comedy of Errors really lives up to its name and is sure to provide laughter and an escape from our own comedy of errors.


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text:
Ask an Attorney
List Your Firm
The Purpose Of Earnest Money
Last updated: 04 December 2017 11:58
Created: 03 December 2017 11:53
A contract is already a proof that two or more persons have entered an agreement. However, there are instances when a written contract is not enough to determine one's sincerity in fulfilling what has been agreed on. An earnest money or "arras" is usually given by the prospective buyer to the seller. This is to show that the buyer is interested in purchasing the property. The main purpose of the earnest money is to bind the bargain. It is also considered as part of the purchase price and will be deducted from the total price. Once the earnest money is given to the seller, it will perfect the contract of sale. A payment will only be considered an earnest money if it constitutes as part of the purchase price. The money will be refunded if the sale did not push through.
Here is a scenario of how an earnest money is determined:
On March 28, 1990, respondent, through his counsel Atty. Ponciano Espiritu, wrote petitioners informing them of his readiness to pay the balance of the contract price and requesting them to prepare the final deed of sale.[3]
On April 4, 1990, petitioners, through Atty. Ruben V. Lopez, sent a letter[4] to respondent stating that petitioner Amparo Herrera is leaving for abroad on or before April 15, 1990 and that they are canceling the transaction. Petitioners also informed respondent that he can recover the earnest money of P100,000.00 anytime.
Again, on April 6, 1990,[5] petitioners wrote respondent stating that they delivered to his counsel Philippine National Bank Managers Check No. 790537 dated April 6, 1990 in the amount of P100,000.00 payable to him.
In view of the cancellation of the contract by petitioners, respondent filed with the Regional Trial Court, Branch 63, Makati City a complaint against them for specific performance and damages, docketed as Civil Case No. 90-1067.[6]
On June 27, 1994, after hearing, the trial court rendered its Decision[7] finding there was a perfected contract of sale between the parties and ordering petitioners to execute a final deed of sale in favor of respondent. The trial court held:
In the evaluation of the evidence presented by the parties as to the issue as to who was ready to comply with his obligation on the verbal agreement to sell on March 23, 1990, shows that plaintiffs position deserves more weight and credibility. First, the P100,000.00 that plaintiff paid whether as downpayment or earnest money showed that there was already a perfected contract. Art. 1482 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, reads as follows, to wit:
Art. 1482. Whenever earnest money is given in a contract of sale, it shall be considered as part of the price and as proof of the perfection of the contract.
Second, plaintiff was the first to react to show his eagerness to push through with the sale by sending defendants the letter dated March 25, 1990. (Exh. D) and reiterated the same intent to pursue the sale in a letter dated April 6, 1990. Third, plaintiff had the balance of the purchase price ready for payment (Exh. C). Defendants mere allegation that it was plaintiff who did not appear on March 23, 1990 is unavailing. Defendants letters (Exhs. 2 and 5) appear to be mere afterthought.
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One of the problems with travelling to these less popular destinations is a lack of infrastructure. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy to have to work a little harder to find places to stay in the evenings. Our applications were blank for much of Latvia, so we had to free-style, and use our guile to find a safe and quiet place to stay – which is easier said than done. Most of the side roads are driveways to private properties, so we thought we'd try and aim for a national park. It turned out to be just a forestry road, with no parking, but we found a tiny clearing that was flat and off the road, surrounded by dense pine forestation.
It was weird being so remote, and again I felt a little uncomfortable at the prospect of being away from the safety of city lights and other people. I know that deep down it's the other people that are the only threat, but my imagination still told me that there is safety in numbers. Opening the door after sunset, and stepping out in the pure black of night, there was a primordial fear that struck me. It was incredible to see the stars again, but I couldn't help want to return to the safe cocoon of our van. It took a while for me to get used to walking around in the dark in Australia, controlling my imagination. I clearly need more practise here.
For all the horror scenarios that played out in my head before going to bed, we only heard a single car while we were having breakfast – and they were probably more surprised than we were.
It was surprisingly cold this morning, with frigid winds chilling things down to low double digit temperatures.
We had to return to the motorway back along the corrugated unsealed road, passing old men on bicycles, again, unsure who was more confused at seeing the other on the road. The winds had really picked up overnight, and we were struggling directly into a headwind – which meant slow going, even on the flat roads.
There wasn't much to look at on our drive. It was flat, mostly featureless pine forest, with occasional farms breaking things up.
We were headed west to see an ex-Soviet military base, which was abandoned after the collapse of the USSR. It was a top secret RADAR facility, and housed several thousand soldiers and their families at the peak period of operation. After the collapse and withdrawal of Russian military, it sat unoccupied – and still continues to do so. Like many of the top secret Soviet sites, it was named after the nearest local town, and with a designating number. The town of Skrunda supposedly didn't know about this facility, but assumed something with radios once it started playing havoc with their TV/radio reception.
It's hardly a secret now – you can find it on Google Maps. There is currently official tourism organised, with a lady collecting entry fees (€4) at the gate. I read a rumour that the site has been put on auction several times, but is now back in the hands of the Latvian military, who plan to close the site to tourism at some point in the near future.
The small road connecting Skrunda-1 to the regular road was overgrown, with weeds growing out of the cracks in the slabs of concrete. We passed through the old gate, and using the provided map, we started exploring the overgrown, and now thoroughly abandoned city. It was eerie seeing so many large concrete buildings just sitting empty and idle. Trees were growing on the roof, and curtains were hanging out the windows and flapping in the breeze. The trees were starting to take over the open spaces, and apple trees were getting out of control.
While lots of the damage was due to nature, man had played a rather major role in the destruction, with fairly widespread vandalism. Hundreds of the windows were smashed, doors were kicked in, broken bottles of vodka, graffiti and garbage. Standing by ourselves in the large open areas, it was creepy to hear the sounds of the building, with the strong winds slamming doors through the complexes, as well as whistling through the rungs of the balconies and flapping the metal panels on the roof. We weren't completely alone, spotting a military duo, as well as a few other tourists. However, the complex was so large that we felt alone in this isolated environment.
Our first stop was the old officers club, which had walls decorated with some mediocre murals, as well as a giant mosaic of Stalin. Surprisingly, these were still intact and free from graffiti. Stepping further into the building, it was incredible to see just how poorly the building has fared from its time alone in nature. The wooden floor of the basketball court was almost entirely rotten, and the paint was all flaking. There was something beautiful to me about the dilapidation in this building. There was an incredible amount of rot, but still there was some colour.
I could imagine the parties that would have occurred here back while it was in operation, and it was weird to see it in this current state.
We visited a few of the buildings, scouring for something exciting. After visiting three or four blocks of apartments, traversing up five or six floors in each, it started to feel a little repetitive.
Looters had obviously visited at some point, and many of the metal fixtures had been cut from the building and likely sold for scrap. Wiring has been ripped out of the wall, and switchboards gutted, too. The is no furniture, or other fixtures, just hundreds and hundreds of empty, rotting rooms spread across a dozen or more multi-story buildings. The apartments seemed to be more rotten the further we headed up the stairs. I'm assuming that the roof is leaking, since trees are growing up there, and we can hear panelling flapping in the strong winds.
The first thing I thought when I saw these abandoned buildings was it'd make for incredible paintball matches. It seems that the Latvian army has one upped my modest thinking, and has been using this for training exercises, with some rooms filled with shells of blanks. It was strange at first to see so many empty bullets littering the floors, but once I realised they were blanks, things were calmer in my mind.
It's not to say that the apartments were completely empty. Some of them featured posters and paintings from the original inhabitants. Most were disturbing, but some were odd – like the giant MTV logos painted in a kids bedroom.
Some of the other tourists had made it onto the rooves of some of the buildings, but the only access I saw looked sketchy, using a DIY ladder made from branches and rope to access a manhole above a stairwell. I wanted to see it from above, but had to settle for the footage from the drone instead. I thought the two men from the Latvian military might have cared about the drone, but they gave it a quick glance, and continued on their routine.
To break up the apartments, we went to explore the old bunker. If walking through abandoned apartments or hospital hallways isn't creepy enough, you should walk through the corridors of an abandoned underground bunker. It's completely dark, the floor is wet, wires hang like spider webs, and it smells like a mixture of rust and damp – or blood, if you're creative enough. Again, left in the dark my imagination took hold, and I start remembering the movies or games that I've watched or played (The Descent and Silent Hill come to mind). This paranoia and fear wasn't helped by the torch on my phone being only shades better than useless – much like Silent Hill.
The hospital looked much the same from the outside, but much more open from the inside. The corridors stretched the length of the building, with light leaking in through all the doors that had been kicked open, or removed completely. The walls were all painted black, and I'm curious who went to that trouble – and why. The equipment had mostly been removed, with a few mounting fixtures from diagnostic equipment still remaining. Also remaining were the terrible murals painted in what I can only assume was a paediatric department.
We left the large residential area, and went to the other smaller area, which included the prison, as well as the canteen, which had been converted for military exercises with sandbags, blank shell casings, blocked windows and makeshift ladders.
We'd been here for nearly four hours, and we were exhausted and hungry – thankfully having our home in the car park, we didn't have to travel far to have lunch!
It was incredible to see something the size of a small town left to rot – though, I'm sure there are plenty of other examples out there. A friend visited a former Soviet mining town in Siberia, and we visited one in Japan. It was well worth the detour to visit.
After lunch, we continued driving towards the west coast of Latvia, before driving south towards Lithuania and the Curonian Spit. The whole coast seems to be fringed with beaches, and we happened to find one that we could park right next to – if we had a 4WD like in Australia, we'd be able to drive out and camp on the beach, but there was no chance I'd get near sand in our front-wheel drive motorhome!
The chilling wind we'd felt all day in Skrunda-1 was still blowing here by the beach. It looked surprisingly beautiful, but there was no way that I was getting wet today, as much as I wanted to be able to say that I've been swimming in the Baltic Sea. It was also surprising how soft and clean the sand was here. It's some of the nicest sand we've experienced since Australia – and we basically had it to ourselves.
Closer to sunset, a few brave locals headed to the beach with picnic baskets (and thick jackets). We'd love to sit and watch the sunset over the sea, but with the sand being blasted off the beach, as well as the cold breeze, we settled for what we could see from inside our van.
And, I'm glad that we didn't sit out there waiting for the sunset, because at the last moment, it disappeared behind clouds, and fizzled out.
I woke to learn a valuable lesson about property this morning. I left my sandy tripod outside the van last night, with thoughts about taking star photos later on. It was a remote park, and it was leant against our van. This morning, it was gone. It was a nice sturdy tripod, and brand new worth a reasonable amount of money. But, it's had a hard life, and was on the list to be replaced with something more portable. The most annoying part is whoever stole it won't be able to use it without the quick-release plates – plus, I don't have a tripod for the rest of our journey.


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Bernie Sanders says he'll ban police using facial recognition software
Leo Shvedsky
"IMG_0846" by Adrienne Campbell is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In an effort to avoid a dystopian sci-fi future where Artificial Intelligence knows pretty much everything about you, and a team of cops led by Tom Cruise run around arresting people for crimes they did not commit because of bad predictive analysis; Bernie Sanders and other Democratic candidates have some proposals on how we can stop it.
Recently Bernie Sanders unveiled a proposal that would outright ban the use of facial recognition for law enforcement purposes. It's part of a bigger proposal for a massive overhaul of the criminal justice system. It also comes on the heels of news and studies that have shown how wrong facial recognition algorithms can be, and the kind of damage these programs can do if deployed for law enforcement purposes.
A Georgetown University study found that the NYPD detectives used some creative methods to manipulate their facial recognition system to try and capture a shoplifter. Creative in this case means that the detective thought that the suspect looked like Woody Harrelson from blurry in-store security footage, and then fed a photo of Woody Harrelson into the facial recognition system. An arrest was eventually made in the case.
Another report from The Verge revealed that New Orleans was using its own facial recognition, and predictive analysis system in conjunction with its city-wide network of police cameras.
But law enforcement isn't the only place where AI can wreak havoc on people's lives study conducted by UC Berkeley found that consumer lending algorithms discriminate against minorities. And the ACLU found that an experiment using Amazon's facial recognition software produced some depressing results.
We used Amazon's facial recognition tool to compare photos of members of Congress to a database of mugshots — we got 28 false matches.
And even though they only make up 20% of Congress, nearly 40% of the false matches in our test were members of color. https://t.co/WdNRWtqZfa
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 26, 2018
While Bernie Sanders's proposal seems to go the furthest some of the other Democrats will not be outdone. Elizabeth Warren recently wrote a letter to financial institutions citing the UC Berkeley study.
For generations, lenders have given African American & Latino families fewer loans at worse terms than similar white borrowers. Tech alone won't fix the problem. A new analysis found that discrimination is hardwired into lending algorithms. I want answers. https://t.co/3FNd8bljfg
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 12, 2019
Julian Castro announced that a part of his plan to turn the data tables around the police and use a database to track police wrongdoing. Corry Booker, along with three other Senators, introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would require companies to study and fix all the systemic issues that Artificial Intelligence systems have with things like facial recognition.
However, it's also important to remember this isn't just that machines are out to get us, it is first and foremost a people issue.
The systems in question did not invent or build themselves, and the statistical models that they use are completely reliant on human input. The NYPD facial recognition system requires a detective to provide an image if camera footage isn't good enough, and if someone decides that someone looks like a movie star or a composite drawing then that increases the chances that a match could be incorrect without it being the machine's fault.
The systems that financial lending institutions use require analysts and data scientists to identify the variables that determine the predictive outcome. And if the people working on the system make unconsciously biased decisions that profile certain borrowers then the outcome will understandably be one-sided.
Something else to consider is the flow of money to the development of these systems, one study found that by 2020 investments in AI-based platforms will reach $1.25 trillion dollars. With that much at stake it's easy to image that more companies and governments will feel pressured to adopt lest they cause an economic downturn by refusing them.
Maybe we need a ban, and maybe we need to pressure out politicians to continue to be on the lookout for way to limit or stop not just the adoption of poorly built systems, but also to enforce way to make their use more a little bit less prone to human error and bias.
police technology politics


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2013 television commercials, the year of the witty dialogue and engaging repartee.
"Guess What year it is"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA
And let us not forget... Zombie "Cool, Cool, Cool". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTRvvDM-3eQ
There is another commercial that recently came out that also has a memorable commenting moment, but I can't remember it. Oops, will add it once I see it again or it seeps back into my forward lobe.
FOUND IT! Awesome "Take On Me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbRVMua0HUc&feature=player_embedded#at=35
These are probably my three favorite commercials of 2013, yet as engaging as these television commercials are, I have to admit I keep forgetting what product it is that they are representing. This is also known as the kiss of death, the nightmare that all exceptional TV commercial's fear is lurking in the absent minds of those who love the commercial but have forgotten the name of the product behind the awesome commercial.
I think what happens is sometimes a commercial is so clever that the commercial makers themselves can't wait to get it out and into the public and their exuberance actually causes them to forget to carefully analyze if people will remember the product being sold.
RedShark News - Super 8 is becoming popular again
Hi, Your comments matter greatly. If you post anonymously you can still tell everyone who are you, example..."I work for...." etc. Please no link ads unless you contact me first.
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If you really want to see how good anything from the past 25 years that is on videotape can still look on YouTube, please contact Alessandro Machi at the email address listed on the left margin of the AlexLOGIC.blogspot.com website. The improvement in quality will astound you, guaranteed.
Robo Responders have arrived, and we will all be the worse for it.
I got another Robo Responder call. This one allegedly represented Breast Cancer Research. The call came from Pleasanton CA, 926-271-2244.
How do I know the "sales person" I was interacting with was not real, but a compilation of one human's voice recordings cued to respond based on how I was answering their questions? I think my career in film / video production and editing probably helped me figure it out.
Once I realized I was dealing with a Robo Responder, I carefully chose my responses.
I don't know if the term Robo Responder already exists. I just coined it without googling it. Robo Responders interact via a pre-recorded human voice on the phone that is posing as an actual sales person.
(Quick update March 12, 2013, 11:13 am, the term robo responder is infrequently used, I found less than 70 google hits, primarily in regards to automatically sending emails to politicians. end update).
This was my second encounter with a Robo Responder (click here for the first). I asked where they were calling from and the voice said Michigan (they were actually calling from Pleasanton, CA). I then asked what the weather was like and they said they did not understand the question and would have me speak to a supervisor.
I actually laughed at one point during the short conversation and the Robo Responder spontaneously laughed at the beginning of their response.
Then came the "sell". Just like the first Robo Responder, they asked if I could make a "purchase/donation" in the amount of 25 dollars, as soon as I declined, the amount was lowered to 15 dollars.
They then asked if they could send an envelope in the mail and would I make a donation at that time.
I don't know if I am the first to report on robo responding, but if I am and you are the media, PLEASE credit me, Alessandro Machi of AlexLOGIC.blogspot.com.
Robo Responding is going to become a consumer nightmare as it gains traction.
Posted by Alessandro Machi at 10:16 PM No comments:
NBC makes a mistake by pulling the Plug on "The Office".
I watched much less of NBC's Thursday Night Line-up once CBS's Person of Interest burst onto the scene in the beginning of 2011. Factor in that Third Rock got off to a late start that season due to Tina Fey's pregnancy, and NBC's presumed ratings drop was a sure thing.
Last night I watched the Office, Primarily because of the promo's for the show. It was an hour long episode, and I was absolutely delighted at the twists and turns that Andy put us through when he decided to fight back over the loss of his doting girlfriend, Erin.
I found the entire plot line comically profound on many levels.
Just a couple of months earlier I watched as Erin and Andy formed what looked like a lifetime bond after Andy finally broke up with his girlfriend Jessica in front of Jessica's family and friends.
Andy and Erin have to make a mad dash for the car and escape as projectiles pelt the windows. At this point, Erin gives Andy a look, the kind of look a girl gives a guy that says, this is it, we're together for life. It kind of reminded me of the final scene from "The Graduate".
Of course I have missed several episodes in between and suddenly I see that Erin wants to move on, and the entire office is against Andy. Andy fights back and says many poignant things, even using the word empathy, or the Office's lack of it towards Andy, to make his point.
In the middle of his own crazy behavior, Andy says some solid stuff. I find this type of comedy spellbinding, crazy behavior mixed with extremely deep and coherent analysis of the present situation.
One of my favorite lines from Andy, "So you all want me to just move on, yet, where were you when I wasn't here and Erin and Pete were getting together"?
And there it is.
A punch out condemnation of present day society's fickle set of values. The Office "group" tells Andy he is supposed to respect and accept romantic decisions made by others, and be decent about it, yet that same society shamelessly witnessed the erosion of Andy and Erin's relationship for their own amusement.
Where was the Office's moral compass when Andy was slowly losing Erin because he was not there for a few weeks? The same group mindset that wants Andy to take a chill pill now is the same group that probably got the giggles watching Erin slip away from Andy while Andy was away.
And after Erin and Pete tell Andy to just be an adult and deal with it, Andy rises up to the challenge and is able to show both Erin and Pete just how it feels.
This is really deep stuff because there are no crazed gunman scenes, no slasher response, but rather a wickedly proper way to show Erin and Pete that it is easier said than done when it comes to letting go and moving on.
Which brings me to NBC and the cancellation of The Office.
Maybe somebody should tell NBC that the Office has morphed into it's own version of Saturday Night live, in which slowly the cast members change as the seasons wear on, but the popularity of the show still rings through.
Unfortunately, there appears to be an unwritten rule among the major networds, "You don't mess with my reality TV primetime programming by putting real shows with real actors against it, and I don't mess with your reality TV programming either".
Even if the Office has declined in ratings, it could easily improve if it were just put opposite prime time reality television. Apparently, the actors vs Reality TV battle is one duel the major networks are reluctant to parry on.
I was fooled into thinking I was talking to a human being when it was just a pre-recorded human voice able to respond to my responses.
Edit update, April 10, 2019 3:59pm. Just wanted to point out that this Article about fake real voice sounding phone call solicitations was was written and posted eight months before Time Magazine covered the issue. end of update.
I was called by a company out of Minnesota called Stepping Stones Entertainment. They wanted to know if I was interested in supporting family entertainment films.
The person who originally called me said they would be less than a minute and asked me three yes or no questions. I then agreed to a call back the next day so that a representative could give me more information about their quality family entertainment films.
Just as promised, I received a call the very next day. After a couple of minutes of conversation, I realized I was interacting with a cleverly constructed human voice that had been pre-recorded and was simply recognizing my yes and no responses and moving on to the next pre-recorded sales pitch, but all done in a very convincing interactive tone.
After I had my Soylent Green, "oh my gosh, its pre-recorded people talking to me," moment, I paid extra close attention to make sure my suspicion was correct. When the pre-recorded human "voice" heard me answer "no" to their final offer, I wanted to test my hypothesis that I was indeed talking to a human recorded voice.
I asked the human recorded voice what they thought of the super bowl. The voice did not have an answer and simply responded, "What did you say"?
I asked again in as clear and concise voice as I could muster, "What did you think of the Super Bowl", and the voice still did not understand, and then quickly said goodbye and the line disconnected.
The rammifications of this pre-recorded human sales voice technology are damming beyond initial comprehension.
It is one thing to have "Siri", a computer generated voice, respond to a human being. It is quite another to have one's time occupied by a pre-recorded human voice pretending to be a real human, and getting away with it and actually generating credit card sales!
Most Ponzie schemes eminate from the concept of, "If we could only ask enough people to purchase our product or service, and have it cost us as little as possible to communicate with them, we win".
As bad as ponzie schemes can be at times, when one adds in that the product being pitched is digitally replicable at pennies per copy, it becomes a ponzie schemer's ultimate wet dream if they can digitally generate tens of thousands of sales call interactions automatically, by paying a human being to record their voice reading various script response combinations, once.
In the next few years there could be literally hundreds of thousands of actual living, breathing telephones sales people being replaced by pre-recorded interactive human voices.
Many times phone sales jobs can be so stressful to have that at first glance it might look like not such a bad idea to take the human being out of the equation, unless you happen to be that human being and like your job.
However, the bigger victims are going to be the american consumer, and eventually the worldwide consumer, who will have to wade through never ending and ever increasing pre-recorded interactive sales calls while the actual company spends virtually no money per call hawking their product or service. We will be fooled, and deluged, whether we like or not.
If you recently made fun of Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o for being tricked into a relationship with a fake girlfriend who didn't actually exist, your karma points may soon expire and you could find yourself being tricked by a real human voice.
Another few hundred thumbtacks thrown in front of the consumer in the ever cluttering freeway of life.
Please Consider signing the Debt Neutrality Petition I started on Change Dot Org. This petition gives millions of consumers a fair chance to pay down their debts by freezing the interest rate charges, penalties and fees once an alleged credit card or student loan default has occurred.
Important Breaking News scoop to the first media outlet that contacts me and uses the story.
I (Alessandro Machi), recently discovered something that could have major job loss implications for the american workforce. But rather than break the story here, I would be willing to trade my information to a major news show (Including local television news) as long as AlexLOGIC.com is credited during the on air piece.
First to request the rather shocking, breaking news story will probably get first dibs. I will be willing to give the lead out to more than one entity, however, the first news entity that requests it will get a window of time to produce the piece.
I'm not looking for financial compensation, just on air credit. You can email via my bio located to the left of this article.
Me TV Network Television, speeding up some of its programming? Say it isn't so.
I recently discovered Me TV network and love it. Shows that were a bit before my time have come to life. Shows such as The Rifleman, The Fugitive, Combat, 12 O'Clock High, Hazel, The Flying Nun, Gidget, Petticoat Junction, Emergency, Perry Mason, Naked City and many more remind me how fun television programming can be when actors actually speak dialogue to each other rather than evade or exploit the latest special effect.
What I also find fascinating is how women are treated in these shows. Women are usually portrayed as knowledgable and clever, or fighting for more rights and respect, and sometimes treated as objects to be won or protected.
Yet lately I've noticed a disturbing trend on Me TV Network, it looks like some scenes in at least one show are being sped up even as the dialogue remains normal. The weird thing is the commercial breaks don't seem to be particularly longer. "The Saint", starring Robert Moore, seems to have some speeded up scenes, especially when there is no music playing and the scene is an action scene of some type.
I seem to recall that television show content back in the 50's, 60's and 70's used to run longer versus the amount of commercials per every half an hour. Sometime in the 80's television program content began to shrink in minutes per half hour, presumably so both more commercials and network television promos of upcoming television shows could be aired.
I don't like the speeded up scenes although I am relieved that the audio somehow remains intact and so far I don't think the speeded up virus has spread to all of their programs.
Kodak releases Vision 3 50 ASA film in the Super-8 format, see video below!
Kodak Vision 3 is amazing film and makes Super-8 film look like broadcast quality, wowzer.
2013 television commercials, the year of the witty...
Top Notch YouTube Uploads from your analog video t...
Robo Responders have arrived, and we will all be t...
NBC makes a mistake by pulling the Plug on "The Of...
I was fooled into thinking I was talking to a huma...
Important Breaking News scoop to the first media o...
Me TV Network Television, speeding up some of its ...
Kodak releases Vision 3 50 ASA film in the Super-8...


Being a superior school is not separated from the dark record. Every year, there will always be a mysterious death in these schoolgirls. Nany (Amanda Manopo) is one of them. Especially when he saw his mother killed himself, he was killed by a creature named "Black Devil". Until finally, when Nany had grown up. He wants to go to school in this mysterious place. Here he meets many new people. Shila (Rebecca Klopper) who later became a close friend, to rival in school namely Hilda (Nicole Parham) and Violet (Andira Hadley).