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Do we love our pets more than people?
October 1, 2019 -- Living City
ethics in action
"A lot of people love their pets very much, and St. Francis saw God in every creature. However, for some people these pets end up as a child substitute, and people spend a lot of money for them. How should our relationship with animals be?" – A.F.
By Msgr. Michael Magee
People today seem to have a heightened sense of respect for the creatures that God has placed with us on earth. On balance, this respect is certainly a good thing.
Ironically, however, at the same time there is an observable lessening of respect for the dignity of human persons, especially in those situations where people require more demanding care from us — for example, in the difficulties of rearing children, providing care to the elderly or when society must contend with those who have committed serious offenses. People may be tempted to despise them simply as refuse to be discarded.
As we discern God's will in all these different situations, it is important to be open to the moral demands of the truth that you have already expressed so well, as ascertained by St. Francis of Assisi, who "saw God in every creature."
In fact, in every creature — and especially, every living creature — God reveals himself to us. It is his goodness that we revere in the care that we instinctively recognize that we owe to such creatures. In particular, we see his nature reflected in our fellow human beings, who are endowed with the spiritual faculties of intellect, will and emotion, being thus created — to use Scripture's own language — "in the image of God" (Gen 1:27). No illness, limitation or even moral guilt can take away this inalienable dignity of the human person.
Although animals operate on the levels of sensation and instinct rather than of intellect and will, their loyalty to human beings is in many ways vividly symbolic of God's own care for us, and their reliance on the care of human beings is often very life-giving for those who care for them. They may provide companionship to the lonely, and their unconditional affection for the human beings who care for them has powerful effects for those who might otherwise be deprived of steady companionship.
Their presence in people's lives can therefore be regarded as a true gift of God.
Your question, however, accurately expresses a critical insight that should be taken into account at the same time. In comparison with human relationships, the care of animals is relatively easy! Animals generally do not complain when they are treated with disregard, but continue to rely on whatever love human beings offer them.
They do not manifest consciousness of time, and therefore do not display the impatience that human beings can show when the fulfillment of their wishes is postponed. They tend to act in predictable ways. They seem incapable of holding grudges as people do, precisely because the pursuit of their needs does not lead them to any sense of indignation such as humans — including children — may experience by virtue of their heightened moral consciousness.
Ironically, relating to people can sometimes be much more challenging than relating to animals, precisely because other people are more like ourselves. This is the very reason why we are failing in the art of loving if we willingly prefer the relatively easy route of loving animals while shirking the challenge of loving our human brothers and sisters.
It does not seem, then, that anyone should be concerned about whether he or she loves animals too much. Instead, the question to ask is whether one loves human beings too little. Loving human beings is more difficult precisely because it is more important, since human beings are called to a higher vocation (that is, a higher kind of love), and also have higher needs than animals.
If someone is eager to show love to animals, but has no desire (as a married person) to have children and make the sacrifices that human parenthood entails, this may be symptomatic of a desire to take shortcuts, and to avoid the difficulties that authentically human love elicits. If someone loves her dogs and cats but has no time for her neighbors, it is a possible sign that she prefers a love that is less demanding.
Love does not seek the easy path, but stands willing to give away everything for the sake of someone else.
God has put animals with us to accompany us with their loyal affection and assist us in other ways. We should be grateful for such a gift and accord them the dignity that is theirs. But we must not use them to fill the place in our hearts that is meant to be filled by relationships with other human beings.
If you are interested to read more articles like this:
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^This song is about County Laois, Ireland where I was born and lived until I was 8 years old!
Does God have a playbook? What is our image of God, of the "Holy One?" Is God the "grand puppeteer?" Do we believe the outcome of this game is predestined by God? Does God take sides?
Perhaps today, we Christians (we who follow the Way of Jesus) are given some 'insights for our playbook' from today's readings.We hear two familiar stories about being called—the call of Isaiah and the call of fishermen: Simon Peter, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Last week, we heard the story of the call of Jeremiah and what that meant….. Lee and Kathryn relayed so well that Jeremiah reminds them about who they are, where they came from, and the power that is theirs.
As a church, we need not concern ourselves with doctrine and law, but imagine ourselves to be a living, evolving, changing church. For the last 35 years, we haven't been allowed to ask questions … we have been told that all the answers can be found in Canon Law or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. And then Jorge Bergoglio (Papa Francesco) comes along …. oh, God of surprises!!!!
Pope Francis officially named this year to be the "Year of Mercy." He opened this year in a Muslim neighborhood in Africa, not at the Vatican that is thought to be the very center of Catholicism. He seems to be constantly reminding us to refocus, to change direction, "to put out into the deep" if you will.
Like Peter in the Gospel today, we are being called to follow Jesus as modern day disciples. Perhaps, the question, we should be asking ourselves is : what "fish" do we need to leave behind in order to follow Jesus in world that is 13.7 billion years old?
During our recent weeks of study and reflection on Elizabeth Johnson's book, Abounding in Kindness, we have been sharing our understanding of Jesus mission to bring good news that God is everyone's God. Jesus came to show us how to live in the abundance of divine love, one with all beings in a dynamic, evolving universe.
We have discussed contemporary scholarship on the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.
In summary, here are a few insights. Jesus heals, liberates and restores to wholeness all those in need, especially the least and the last. He breaks rules and threatens the religious and civil authorities who put him to death.
As I was preparing this homily I asked myself What is the "fish" inclusive faith communities can let go of that will lead to deeper faith and understanding of the Gospel and our call to live the Christ Presence in our unfolding cosmos today?
After our discussions, I think many of us are ready to let go of medieval atonement theology that focuses on Adam and Eve's sin and embrace a theology of blessedness.
Atonement theology was the brain child of a medieval theologian, St. Anselm. He taught that an angry God demanded the death of a beloved son as repayment for the sin of Adam and Eve. Adam ate the apple, blamed Eve and Christ came to suffer and die in order to clean the slate of original sin.
Franciscan priest and spiritual writer, Richard Rohr describes an alternative to Atonement Theology that came from the Franciscan School of Theology which focused on God's extravagant love and abundance.
The Franciscan theological position was never condemned and was always held as an alternative by the institutional Catholic Church. However, most Catholics were not exposed to Franciscan theology, but this worldview fits well today with the spiritual journey of contemporary mystics in an emerging universe.
In his commentary, Rohr explains that the Franciscan School of Theology emphasized God as Outpouring Love, and our call is to live love each day.
In other words, we are created blessed and we are loved from the first moment of our existence as is all of creation.
So too, as we follow Christ in living love, compassion and working for justice in our world we, like Peter, will experience deep awe. But realistically, there will be challenges and suffering too as I am sure you have experienced. The cost of discipleship in an antagonistic world can be great. But, we can relax that we are blessed, but not perfect. The Spirit of God is loving, healing and making us whole as a work in progress.
So the take home message is: God is love and as St. Teresa of Avila in the Interior Castle, said, "we are called not to think much but to love much and so to do whatever awakens you to love."
When we go inward to the still point of our being, we grow in consciousness that the Christ Mystery at the heart of the cosmos is unfolding in every flower, in every living being and in you and in me.
Like the mother dove sitting on the nest outside my window, each of us is a word of the living God! In our giftedness and brokenness, Divine Mystery is nurturing us.
So let us embrace our blessedness and follow Christ in a great spiritual adventure today!
The Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 138:1-8; I Corinthians 15:1-11 and the Gospel, Luke 5:1-11.
First we see the prophet Isaiah reflecting on a dream he had in which he senses/sees the awesome holiness of God. He responds that he is "doomed"– he does not belong in the presence of the Holy of Holies as he is a "Man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips" and yet he has seen "the King, the Lord of Hosts/ the Ruler, YHWH omnipotent".
The Psalmist responds with deep heartfelt thanks for God's kindness and asks that God not forsake "the works of God's hands".
Paul describes himself as "the least of the apostles" not fit to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church, and he describes how hard he worked, with God's grace, to spread the gospel.
And, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus is teaching the great crowds near the shore, sitting in Peter's boat. When he is finished he tells Simon (Peter) to go out "into the deep water and lower the nets for a catch". Simon has already tried that and was putting the boat away for the night when Jesus chose get in it to teach at a little distance from the crowd. So he said to Jesus (we did that already to no avail, but) "at your command I will lower the nets." When the nets were filled beyond belief Peter was in awe and knew that Jesus was no ordinary man or prophet and said, as Isaiah did, "Leave me, for I am a sinner".
Jesus said to him "Do not be afraid; from now on you will fish among human kind. " Then Simon and his partners James and John brought their boats ashore and left everything and followed Jesus.
In each of these scriptures the human response to God's holiness, Presence, and power is first a sense of sinfulness, of not measuring up, of not being fit to be in God's intimate presence and not worthy of the call to follow. And in each case God continues to call and accept the gift of those that are called. Then, as in the case of Isaiah, God cleanses/heals Isaiah's unclean lips and calls him forth. Now Isaiah, cleansed, can accept the call: "Here I am send me".
I know well these very human and understandable responses. They were, and sometimes are still, my own responses as well. I still say to God, "what on earth do you want of me with all of my faults? Dear God, you know me so well, how can you send me?" I know my own sinfulness and limitations as the prophets and disciples knew theirs. I sometimes still say to God, "I am not worthy of the call, and I am not worthy of the priesthood". Fortunately, as God shows in the call of Peter and Paul and Isaiah, my worthiness is not required. (And, in fact, I am worthy because of Christ, even when I don't believe it or feel that way!) God asks only that I do as Peter did, even in moments of disbelief-do what I am asked to do. Then,as I separate myself from what may hold me back including my own sense of unworthiness, I can join the great company of people with many human frailties that God uses to answer the prayers of others, and to serve "the least of these", God's people.
Something beautiful happened this week: a woman prayed and prayed and Pastor Judy Beaumont and I and our ministry were used by God to answer her prayer. Within the last two years, 'Peg', a newly widowed older woman, lost her job and had to live with one of her children whose spouse could not tolerate her. Seeing the spouses fight over her was very painful and one day she left and having nowhere else to go lived in the woods. She was actually able to make a go of this hard life for ten months and did not complain. She told those who asked her that she prayed every night that God would protect her and help her to live, and God has done this. She asked God's blessings on all who were kind to her. She read her Bible but felt her clothes were not good enough to go to a church. Also she was disillusioned with the church, but full of faith in a loving God. Her sweet and upbeat spirit attracted many natural helpers to her who gave her what it took to survive outside until she got her own Social Security check-not an amount that facilitated housing in this pricy area. An influx of rough men, the recent heavy rains and threats of tornados and also a coyote in the woods brought new pressures upon her. A cat came to her little tent and soon they were best friends. When the cat took ill she took it to the Vet in the nearby plaza, Dr. Terry Sutton who is also our wonderful Vet. Dr. Sutton treated the cat and with Peg's permission told us about Peg. Before I even called Peg on the cell phone to set up a meeting Pastor Judy B. recognized her on the plaza from Dr. Terry's description and engaged her. I then came the next day and learned her story. Next we filled out an application for Senior Housing with her. But most of all we prayed that we would have an empty room behind the church, then filled with two men and a dog, so that she could live there until her Senior Housing was available. A day later one of the men called and said that he had saved enough to get a studio apartment and had moved out! Now Peg and her kitty had a home! She was ecstatic and was able to gather her belongings in two days and move in-just ahead of unseasonably cold, windy and rainy weather! She has attended a midweek meeting at the church and feels right at home. Her gratitude and joy is infectious and gives us new life. She said that we were her answer to prayer but we feel that she was an answer to our prayers, an affirmation of our call.
How amazing it is to be an answer to prayer when feeling the full weight of our own imperfections. God used us despite our failures and human frailties. How awesome is our loving God!
Peg moving into her new room with great joy. Thanks be to God!
Presider: Let us begin in the name of our God, a God of Love, Wisdom, and Liberation.
Presider: God of tender compassion ,You are our peace. ALL: Now and forever, we will be your peace.
Gloria: Glory to God, glory. O praise God, alleluia.
Glory to God, glory. O praise the name of our God.
Presider: O Lover of All, in this journey into the heart of compassion, we celebrate your love unfolding in the healing and wholeness of everyone and of every living thing.
You call us to see goodness and beauty everywhere and to live in harmony with creation. You call us to heal the wounds of hatred and violence, discrimination and oppression in our world. You call us to warmly welcome everyone who comes through our doors as your presence among us.
In communion with Jesus, our brother, and in the power of the Your Spirit, we will live your love poured out each day. ALL: Amen.
We believe in a God of extravagant love who dwells within us, rejoices with us in our blessed selves and who weeps with us in our struggles, losses and sufferings.
We believe in Jesus, whose life, death and resurrection, shows us how to live fully and joyfully and to serve others especially the outcaste and heavy burdened.
We believe that we are united forever with all who have gone before us in the communion of saints.
Response: God of all compassion, love through us.
Voice Three; We especially thank you, Nurturing God, for Jesus, Your anointed, who shows us how to love with a peaceful and courageous spirit. In Jesus, you show us how to care for those who face illness, and grief and how to help those who experience rejection and marginalization.
Voice Five In response to people's sufferings, Jesus broke rules and violated religious taboos. He shared meals with women, saved a woman from being stoned and said that prostitutes would enter heaven before religious leaders. He healed the sick and comforted the lonely. He challenged the priestly class and political leaders of his time and so they ridiculed, tortured and put him to death.
Voice Eight: God, who opens doors and hearts, enlighten our religious ministers and political leaders. May they welcome refugees, transform poverty into plenty, and work for human dignity and justice for all. We pray for our pope and bishops, especially _____ , and all God's holy people.
"You can relax now, I am with you.
but now you hear my voice and You can relax now."
on our journey into the heart of compassion! Amen.
Presider: Go in the peace of Christ. Let the service begin! ALL: Thanks be to God.
with its population of 1,500.
and healing people sick with various diseases.
and try to convince him to stay in Capernaum.
and that's where today's Gospel passage picks up.
a little more than an hour's walk away.
A crowd has gathered by the lake to hear Jesus.
the posture of the teacher in the Jewish tradition.
they would be catching people instead of fish.
into the big catch and the call of the disciples.
as a story of call to discipleship and sending on mission.
and he passed them out to lots of people.
were on rivers, lakes, or the Mediterranean Sea.
he leaves everything and follows Jesus.
Peter talking about that important moment over the years.
People also remembered that Peter was not perfect.
He was an ordinary human being.
He worked hard as a business partner with James and John.
prone to misunderstanding what Jesus was saying.
our life experiences change us.
or to leave a job, like Peter.
when we made an important choice.
or helping a grandchild with homework.
and put out a short distance from the shore.
and kept on washing the nets.
like Peter's leaving everything behind and following Jesus.
a call to volunteer for justice and peace.
and take the wrong way for a while.
Then, like Peter, we turn ourselves around.
our actions teach the Way of Jesus.
We become followers of the Way.
We become fishers of people.
"She appeared on a hill on December 9, 1531. She spoke to Juan Diego in his native tongue of Nahuatl; the language of the Aztecas. She asked for a church to be built at that very site in honor of her, the Virgin Mary. Juan Diego took the request to the local priest, but his story was not believed. On December 12, following further instructions from La Virgen, Juan Diego was able to find and pick roses not native to Mexico. He rolled them up in his tilma and returned to the priest. When he unrolled his tilmato present the roses, there on the tilma was the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe; she was as dark as the natives themselves.
Natives across Mexico and throughout the Americas endured the brutal realities of conquest, and experienced the relegation to second class citizens during the colonial period in Mexico. In particular, native women experienced oppression two-fold. This is evident in the fact that native men had privileges and opportunities within the public sphere of society which were denied to women, such as holding particular types of public service positions.
However, the view of this extraordinarily important female figure within the patriarchal Catholic faith changed and evolved over the centuries, particularly among Chicana female Catholic feminists. La Virgen de Guadalupe has been reclaimed by Chicana Catholic feminists. Much like the Aztecs in 1531, Chicana feminists have their own version of the Virgin Mary. Utilizing the power of art, Chicana and Chicano feminists are portraying La Virgen de Guadalupe in ways in which contemporary women can relate to, thus, creating a personal experience for women within their Catholic faith while challenging the patriarchal traditions within it."
Click on link above to see feminist images and read rest of article!
"What is it about the word "woman" that makes her any less important than a man? Are genitalia really an important factor to call to attention to when considering whether a person is worthy enough? Last fall I remember coming across an article on the Huffington Post about the Quebec Roman Catholic Archbishop, Paul-Andre Durocher, proposing that women should be appointed as deacons. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a "deaconess" is "a female religious leader in the Christian church; deaconesses have had different roles in different times and places" (Anderson and Young, 207). As deaconesses, women "could perform functions that male deacons currently do: preaching, baptizing, witnessing marriages and performing funerals" (207).
Another example is Lydia, known as the first Christian convert in Europe. Lydia was not Jewish by birth but it is recorded that she was a believer in God. She had settled in the city of Philippi, which was the location of the first labors of Paul, Jesus' apostle, in Europe. One Sabbath day, it is said that Paul found a group of Jews lingering outside the city, with Lydia among them. He preached to them and they converted to Paul's ways of Christianity. Being a Christian now, Lydia encouraged the missionaries to use her house as a sanctuary. Soon, her home became a gathering place, a church, for Christians..."
"Should Barbie Ger Her Feet Washed at Church" by Mary Hunt/Enjoy!
"Did it strike anyone else as odd that the Vatican announced that women could have their feet washed on Holy Thursday the same week Mattel announced three new Barbie sizes (and a number of other variations) for its iconic doll? The convergence was nothing short of astonishing in a news cycle when competition for the surreal is keen.
Rome got out ahead with its news on January 21, 2016. Women are now eligible to have our feet washed in the Holy Thursday liturgy, a privilege heretofore reserved officially for men though anatomically it appears that women's and men's feet are remarkably similar. Even Pope Francis has been known to wash women's feet in these ceremonies. Now it is company policy, proving there are some perks to being the pope.
To manifest the full meaning of the rite to those who participate in it, the Holy Father Francis has seen fit to change the rule in the Roman Missal… according to which the chosen men are accompanied by the ministers, which must therefore be modified as follows: … pastors may choose a group of faithful representing the variety and unity of every part of the People of God. This group may consist of men and women, and ideally of the young and the old, healthy and sick, clerics, consecrated persons and lay people.
Note the ease with which a male-only gender rule was erased by the addition of the phrase "and women," an act that has caused apoplexy among conservative Catholics. They fear that, because the ceremony is based on Jesus' humble action with his disciples at the Last Supper allowing women to participate (albeit passively), this change will open the door to women's ordination..."
Morning Prayer:" I Will Surrender"


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The secret of great moderation: Being Genuinely Interested
August 7, 2016 By Fredrik Haren
(Stockholm, Sweden)
There are many "Superstars" in the world of professional speaking, and I have meet quite a few of them and learnt a lot from them – but today I met something even more impressive. Today I met with Ola Ahlvarsson, a man who is not just a superstar – he is a "Superman"- and he told me about his approach to moderating which I found very interesting.
But before I tell you about that, let me tell you about Ola.
Ola is one of Sweden's most popular international speakers and moderator. He has been chosen to host and lead discussions in some of the world's most prestigious events, amongst them at the World Economic Forum, DLD in Munich, World Knowledge Forum in Seoul and Le Web in Paris.
But he is so much more than that.:
Ola has been working with and managing leading internet ventures ever since the early days with Spray, Boxman, Blocket, and many more. As a specialist on innovation and internationalization Ola has been advisor to world leading organizations like Google, Ericsson, Samsung, Microsoft, and many more.
Being the founder of over 20 companies, his current portfolio exists of companies like: international expansion and innovations advisors Result, Star Stable, the world's largest game for girls passionate for horses, Sellbranch, a leading Nordic advertising technology agency (managing Twitter and Yahoo in Scandinavia), and Epicenter, a 30 000 m2 innovation house. In addition he holds a portfolio of angel investments select range of companies from psychology clinics to castles.
Ola has a unique background in martial arts with a World Championship and European Championship gold in Goju Ryu Karate, a bronze in Taekwondo World Championships and a World Championship in Kick-Boxing.
A speaker and moderator yes, but also – at the same time – a business man, an advisor, an entrepreneur, an events organiser, an athlete, a founder of social enterprises, a super networker – and an active dad.
You now understand why I call him a Superman? 🙂 (And that was an abbreviated version of his CV… you can read more about him at www.olaahlvarsson.com.)
Today I had lunch with Ola to discuss speaking and moderating. (Ola does more than 100 speeches, presentations and moderations per year.)
Ola is one of the best moderators I have came across, so naturally I asked him what he thought was the secret to being a great moderator.
He said: "To be genuinely interested."
I hope you see how unique that answer is.
Many moderators look at themselves as being a neutral entity, as someone who should not gett too involved in a panel, but just guide the discussion along.
Ola looks at it differently. He is on stage to learn. He really wants to find out what the panelists know, and he wants to know how that is relevant and useful.
Ola is one of the most curious people I know.
When Ola is on stage the audiences can feel how he wants to learn from the panelists, but it goes deeper than that. Ola sees his job as making everyone in the audience curious on what the panelists have to say, and he wants that so much that he will help the panelists get their message out. (Say, for example, that a panelists said something interesting but in such a way that the audience doesn't understand how interesting it is, then Ola will repeat the essence of what the panelist said but in a more energetic and fascinating way. He will magnify his panelists message, make them better by helping them shine.)
He is so concerned with creating great panels that he often plays an active part in deciding who the panelists should be.
I do not moderate panels, I just give keynote speeches. But I think Ola's message of "genuinely interested" is applicable for speakers too – especially when it comes to the research phase, when we conduct interviews, collect examples and find new things to talk about.
I was genuinely interested – and fascinated -by the meeting I had with Ola Ahlvarsson today. I left the lunch inspired to want to learn more.
I guess curiosity is contagious.
Previous post: "Finding your next big thing."
Next post: "Why do you (really) speak?"
How to remember what to say in a speech.
Bonus episode of Professional Speaking.
Virtual Speeches, What is Best: Recorded or Live?
Speaking is back!
Creative Virtual Meetings

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
/ Barack Obama got kicked out of Disneyland for doing this
Who gets kicked out of Disneyland? Barack Obama, that's who
Supplier: Travelweek
While at a rally for Democratic congressional candidates on the weekend, the former U.S. president recounted a tale about how he was once asked to leave 'The Happiest Place On Earth' when he was a teenager.
"We came down here not to go to the Matterhorn or do 'Pirates of the Caribbean', but to see Kool & the Gang," reports Newsweek. "After the concert, because we were teenagers you could still sort of hang out in the park, and we got in the gondolas. And I'm ashamed to say this, so close your ears, young people. A few of us were smoking on the gondolas."
Obama quickly clarified that he and his friends were smoking cigarettes – not marijuana – after which the Anaheim crowd cheered him on.
But unbeknownst to Obama at the time, smoking on the gondolas was a big no-no.
Obama is wilding out, sharing an anecdote about how he and his friends smoked cigarettes while they were getting kicked out of Disneyland during a trip to California to see Kool and the Gang pic.twitter.com/f8AxEGyAWT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 8, 2018
"As we're coming in, there are these two very large Disneyland police officers and they say, 'Sir, can you come with us?' and they escorted us out of Disneyland. This is a true story everybody. I was booted from the Magic Kingdom," he laughed.
He did add, however, that the officers told him he was "welcome to come back any time". He also added that he has long since quit smoking.


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Kvelling Corner
Rachel Haug Gilbert
with Rachel Haug Gilbert, The Dayton Jewish Observer
The Dayton Chapter of the American Advertising Federation awarded Linda Kahn, CEO and director of media services at The Ohlmann Group, with its Best Media Buyer Mercury Award. This was among five Mercury Awards The Ohlmann Group received this year from Dayton's AAF.
Scott Halasz tied for fourth place in the best feature category of the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Annual Writing Contest. There were 55 entries in Division III, which has the largest number of newspapers.
Franklin T. Cohn won a gold medal in a 10.25-mile cycling race, a gold medal in a 1-mile cycling race, a gold medal in singles tennis, and a gold medal in doubles tennis at the 2018 Senior Olympics in Cincinnati.
Tom Byvank received his Ph.D. in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University. Tom is the son of Bette Feist and Franz Byvank, and the grandson of Robert and the late Ruth Feist.
Matthew Diamond graduated from the University of Pikeville in Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in business management. A four-year collegiate bowler for UPike, Matt will be employed at Goldman Union Camp Institute this summer. Proud parents are Susan and Rob Diamond.
Rachel Rosen, a junior at Wright State University majoring in political science, will study this summer at the Université Lumiere Lyon 2, in Lyon, France. Rachel is the daughter of Suzanne Rosen and the late Ron Allen.
Send your Kvelling items to Rachel Haug Gilbert at kvellingcorner@gmail.com.
To read the complete July 2018 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.
Tags:Kvelling CornerRachel Haug Gilbert
S'mores Babka
Be prepared…even with regret


Alexis Piquer has worked for Lupicinio International Law Firm and Eversheds representing financial clients like Bankia, La Caixa or Banesto in mortgage and bankruptcy operations. Advising clients in financial operations and assisting with contracts and commercials agreements. He is mainly entrusted with complex proceedings dealing with civil law issues, commercial matters, insurance and banking-financial services cases (with a specific focus on forex matters). Likewise, Alexis has worked for international clients and helping them in international matters.
He speaks Spanish, Italian and English.
He graduated in Law from the University of Barcelona. He is mediator in Centro de Estudios Jurídicos y Mercantiles (Madrid) and Juris Doctor in the EEUU. He is member of the Barcelona Bar Association and member of the Catalan-American Bar Association. He is of Counsel.


Literary friendships are the source of more compositional energy than we usually give them credit for. As Stephen Collis reminds us in this deeply engaging book-length essay set within his friendship with the poet Phyllis Webb, "all major literary projects are collaborations, collective efforts, whether this is acknowledged or not." Almost Islands spins out a web of connections from Collis's 2007 study of Webb's poetics, Phyllis Webb and the Common Good, taking pains to articulate the many dimensions of her unwritten poems and her self-described "poems of failure" — her uncompleted long poem about the Russian anarchist-geographer Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) and the "dream of the common good" that inspired his program of reform. In Almost Islands, Collis with great care blends politics and poetry within a materialist framework — an ars poetica for our time.
Both Phyllis Webb and Stephen Collis were born in Victoria, B.C. (she in 1927, he in 1965); both enjoyed relatively privileged upbringings and private schools; both were imprinted by the coastal landscape of southwest British Columbia, an invisible "peninsula" of apparent ("almost") islands connected at depth. The forty-year age difference between them is another way they are "almost islands," but this distance dissolves in the matrix of mutual attraction and curiosity. Both Collis and Webb are West Coast poets engaged with West Coast realities — geographical, political, ecological, and aesthetic.
Webb's painting began not so much "instead of" writing, but as a continuation, as Collis argues in Common Good, of the movement toward greater abstraction in her poetic practice, which included an emotional involvement with the artifacts and language of Indigenous spirituality. Collis acknowledges the irreparable fracture between Indigenous spirituality and colonial oppression (another instance of silencing and erasure), while at the same time recognizing a similarly "anarchist" spirit in Trickster Raven, trickster Webb, and trickster poetry. The felicity of Phyllis' surname imbues Almost Islands — a web of connections fleshed out by the "beyondery" of imagination.
I too had been drawn very strongly to Phyllis Webb's work in the early 1980s. Reading Wilson's Bowl inspired me to contact Phyllis and visit her at her home on Salt Spring Island — the beginning of a decades-long and continuing friendship. At that time, I hadn't so far encountered a Canadian woman poet whose work had such an impact on me, that lit so brightly my own path as a writer. Here was a singular poet whose work seemed to come from somewhere else entirely — neither romantic nor objectivist nor projectivist nor theory-driven nor even particularly "Canadian." She wrote with an eye and an ear perfectly attuned to fracture and loss.
The south coast of British Columbia has always been threatened by chthonic energies that could at any moment fracture and inundate the entire region. This beautiful, unstable place is where Webb chose to end, in the 1960s, a promising and lucrative broadcasting career at the CBC in Toronto, where among other things she created and co-produced the weekly series, Ideas. This was an early retirement — though Webb continued to do freelance work for the CBC and to teach in Victoria — by today's standards, and by today's standards even a crazy idea, but Webb was never a conformist, could never adjust herself to corporate expectations. Nor has she ever been, as Collis points out, "interested in the norms." Webb's insistence on living and writing on her own terms, without aspiring to an admirable public voice, has been one of the things I most cherish about her, along with the beautiful, sideways power of her work.
Since a writer can be not writing and still be a writer; can be not writing poems and still be a poet — or, be writing all the time and feel just as silent (or silenced, or unread) as the writer or poet who has been "abandoned by words," Collis almost convinces us that writing, or poetry, in the Anthropocene is not necessarily preferable to silence, especially if the silence is itself a form of resistance or activism. What is there to say, now, that doesn't end up sounding fatuous or absurd? What does a poet feel when boxes of his or her unsold books are returned by the publisher? Collis tells us from his own experience, one that many poets share. Even so, the dream of the common good must be kept alive, and I would insist that poets will always be on the side of such dreams, since this "good" is the nature of poetic imagination.
"All ways at once" describes Collis' poetic method in Almost Islands: a generous, lavish, loquacious, zigzag essaying-forth across the "peninsula" of Collis's own literary and political geography. The wide-ranging, poetic structure of the book enables connections between the sources of and inspirations for his writing, his politics, and the conditions of the Anthropocene. Collis raises urgent questions about writing, ecological devastation, and colonial violence, and receives advice — including to not write at all, for a while at least — from other poets and friends.
The meditations on mortality and silence that conclude the book I found deeply affecting. Collis writes, "In each and every poem I write, I pick my sister up, carry her across a page or two, and lay her down again. It is method and ritual and the very practice of everyday life." This final section of the book is where I feel Collis converting silence and failure to hiddenness and immanence.
When I first read Almost Islands, I was of two enthusiastic minds. One said "yes, and" and the other said "yes, but." The "yes, but" is the question, for me, of how far materialism can go in answering the problems Collis raises in this book. What if what lies outside the endgame of materialism — nothing, nowhere, and silence — is instead a thriving paradise of divine love? Perhaps that is what knocks at our hearts and imaginations and can no longer be heard, no longer admitted. Love is harder than connection. As Dante warns in the Paradiso, the poet is so burdened with a "ponderous theme" that he/she should not blame poetry if, under it, his/her "mortal shoulder" trembles. Poetry "is no passage for a little boat/ Nor for a pilot who would spare himself," says Dante.
Sharon Thesen is a B.C.-based poet, writer, and editor. Her eleven books and chapbooks include Oyama Pink Shale, The Good Bacteria, and The Receiver. She is Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing at UBC's Okanagan Campus. She edited two editions of The New Long Poem Anthology, two editions of Charles Olson's correspondence with book designer Frances Boldereff, and a Governor-General's award-winning Selected Poems: The Vision Tree, by Phyllis Webb. Her poetry workshops (Pinecone Poetry Workshops) are attended by Okanagan writers and provide a space for fresh engagements with poetics and prose.


text:
TV ReviewsThe X-FilesSeason 9
The X-Files: "Daemonicus"/"4D"
The X-Files/Millennium
The X-FilesSeason 9
"4D" / "Daemonicus"
"4D"
"Daemonicus"
"Daemonicus" (season 9, episode 3; originally aired 12/2/2001)
In which "triumphs" is used ironically in a Scrabble game…
(Available on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon.)
I took a lot of notes for this episode, more than I usually do (I take notes but never use them, because of osmosis or something). This would suggest that a great many things happen over the course of "Daemonicus," but in retrospect, I'd have a hard time arguing that any of it matters. By the end, we learn that the whole story was a plot by serial killer mental patient looking to escape from incarceration—or else it was a complicated, somewhat inexplicable tale of demon possession and Satan and ectoplasmic vomit. Or both. I'd say the safe money is on "both," but it's hard to work up much enthusiasm either way. We have James Remar as Kobold, a former professor who used to murder coeds and grind up their bodies to serve as fertilizer. We have a pair of killers wearing pretty freaky demon masks. We have gruesome murders, corpses with snakes sown inside them, and illegal Scrabble words. And yes, we have a lot of vomit. Yet the meandering structure, over-emphasized grimness, and deadening pace render all of these elements inert.
Which isn't a first for the show, but after the snooze-fest of the season's two-part opener, it's disheartening to get back to monster of the week episodes and find that inspiration is still eluding pretty much everyone. Scully has been shunted over to a teaching position, which allows for some unnecessary, vaguely relevant lectures; I guess it's nice to be reminded yet again that her view of the world has changed, but the episode can't seem to decide if she's a central figure in the story or just someone on the periphery. (This becomes even more obvious at the end, when she's taken hostage by one of the killers; the attack is tense enough, but then we only see the aftermath through Doggett's eyes, which turns her into a guest star on what used to be her own show.) Doggett and Reyes are working together on X-Files, and yet the first case we see them teaming up on supposedly has nothing to do with the X-Files at all. Reyes is called in to investigate the murder of a married couple whose bodies were arranged in a way that maybe sort of suggests a Satanic cult of some sort. It's not officially an X-File, it just turns out to be one, which is the sort of coincidence the Mulder and Scully years at least had the decency to wait a few episodes to throw out.
Really, how the heroes get involved in the mystery has never been a huge issue on this show, regardless of who those heroes are. If Reyes and Doggett's efforts to track down the killers had proven an exciting, horrifying tale, I wouldn't give a shit how they got involved. But when an hour proves as listless as this, it's easy to fixate on the little flaws, because the big ones are harder to pin down.
"Daemonicus" is an episode that relies on mood. The show has managed to pull this off before, and in fact, one of The X-Files' great strengths is its deft grasp of tone, the ability to switch between grim, portentous horror and snide self-mockery without making either approach seem out of place. This entry is heavily on the "grim, portentous horror" side, but apart from a few isolated, eerie moments (most of them in the first half of the hour, before everything gets too obviously loopy to take seriously), the approach only manages to underline how hollow the story is. And it's some aggressive underlining, too. There are shots in this that call more attention to themselves than any shot I can remember seeing on the series before, and that's saying something; I'm thinking specifically of the fast-moving cloud cover that pops up in a few scenes, or the utterly bizarre overhead shot of the chessboard tile floor at the mental institution that transitions into a grid of white squares and clear squares that block the screen, briefly only allowing us to see the next scene through the grid. Bold directorial choices can work (and director Frank Spotnitz's first turn behind the camera for the show, the season eight episode "Alone," was pretty good), but this is absurd, and not in a good way.
It's also distracting, which may or may not be intentional. Spotnitz also wrote the script for the episode, and each new, increasingly desperate flourish has all the earmarks of a creative person trying to force relevance and intensity into a story which simply doesn't have the space for it. James Remar is a fine actor, but as far as terrifying presences go, Kobold is a blank slate, only briefly coming to life in the few scenes where he taunts Doggett with suggestions of inadequacy and references to Doggett's dead son. He's not particularly scary, no matter how many tight close ups and weird whispers swirl around him, and the realization that he planned the entire mess (right down to the initials of the people he killed spelling out the episode's title, a reveal which the episode presents as mind-blowing, but comes off as the last five minutes of any given Scooby Doo episode) isn't so much devastating as, well, whatever. I mean, I'm glad somebody was pulling all those strings, but Kobold is such a grab-bag of "evil genius" traits that he barely qualifies as a "somebody." Remar does what he can, and Kobold's seizure of vomiting is admirable for its commitment to a premise, but as boogeymen go, he's easy to not believe in.
As for Reyes and Doggett, the episode briefly dances around the idea that Reyes' instincts or heightened perceptions allow her to sense a legitimate demonic presence. It's a theoretical concept (she senses "evil," and later tells Scully, in a final line that's clearly intended to hit us straight between the eyes, that Doggett sensed it as well) that's difficult to demonstrate effectively, although I'm sure that's what all those distracting camera angles and strange edits were about. Doggett, on the other hand, is determined to prove that there isn't anything supernatural about any of this at all. He gets angry about it, and there's a conflict between Reyes (and Scully, who is now firmly Team Gut Feeling) and him in how to approach the case. A clash of philosophies between two well-intentioned people who fundamentally respect each other is one of the show's core concepts, but this really just feels poorly defined. The fact that Reyes and Doggett aren't carbon copies of Mulder and Scully is a good thing, and I don't need them to settle into intractable ideological lines. But the whole thing is so rote, and shapeless.
It doesn't help that Reyes' position—that the patient and guard who disappeared from the asylum where Kobold are actually possessed by demons, and, uh, something—is simultaneously wishy-washy and utterly absurd. That last is especially pernicious, because The X-Files was built off the terrifying possibility that even the most absurd urban legends and cultural myths might be true. It worked because the tone was right, and because Duchovny was able to sell these insane ideas with just enough self-mocking humor to make them viable. (It didn't hurt that Anderson's rebuttals always had the right sort of frustration, as though part of her was starting to believe in spite of all common sense to the contrary, and it was annoying the hell out of her.) Gish doesn't really have that, and so she flounders; her floundering, in turn, makes it that much more difficult to take anything that happens seriously. The over-the-top intensity of the episode's presentation requires either a sense of humor or a plot that deserves this level of theatrics. "Daemonicus" has neither.
Stray observations:
The cold open is definitely creepy though. And those snakes in the dead woman's stomach were a terrific visual. (The death-by-multiple-syringes, less so, although it did make me think about Basket Case, which is an odd, nifty little film.)
Since Todd covered the first two episodes of season 9 last week, allow me to take the opportunity to say how much I hate the new opening credits.
"4-D" (season 9, episode 4; originally aired 12/9/2001)
In which Doggett dies…
This one hurt a little.
"Daemonicus" is a mediocre to bad hour of television. It has a few striking visuals and eerie moments, but overall it's dull and doesn't accomplish a whole lot. But it's easy to forget. There's nothing inherent in the premise that makes it worthwhile, which also means there's no serious sense that a good concept was poorly used. Apart from time and some game performances, there's nothing really wasted; this could theoretically have been a good, maybe even great, episode, but it would have taken a lot of heavy-lifting and some serious script revisions.
"4-D" is also a mediocre to bad hour of television. But it could've have been good, and it wouldn't have taken that much effort to get there. Some sharper editing, a stronger structure, more urgency, and a better understanding of how to translate this particular idea from the page to the screen, and this could've been great. That it isn't has killed what little hope I had left for the rest of the season. Two bland mythology episodes and a clunker monster of the week, well, that's a bummer, but it's not the end of the world. While last season made it work surprisingly well, the mythology has been stumbling for a while; and every season before this one, even the great ones, had a standalone I wasn't crazy about. But "4-D" shows what happens when this creative team has a legitimately cool concept: it wastes the opportunity. There are bad times ahead, folks.
I suppose I'm exaggerating; one of the problems with the episode is a weak script, and if I wanted to really despair, I would need to see a great script handled poorly. But maybe there were changes made during the filming process. Regardless, I like the premise: a killer is able to pass between two similar but distinct dimensions, allowing him to murder with impunity in one while living a "normal" life in the other. While there's little effort given to explain how he figured all of this out, or exactly what the rules are (leading to an ending that is both heartfelt and irritatingly half-assed), it's a concept with potential for all kinds of different forms of mind-fuckery. Parallel dimensions, man! That shit is intense!
It starts off promisingly enough. Doggett, Reyes, and Brad Follmer are staking out an apartment building, looking to trap a man named Erwin Lukesh (Dylan Haggerty). Lukesh has killed a number of women, removing their tongues in the process, but our heroes have his name and his whereabouts, so Doggett and Follmer wait outside in a surveillance van while Reyes hangs out in the lobby, working on a bicycle. It all goes to hell, and before we cut to the (ugh) opening credits, Reyes has had her throat cut, and Doggett has been shot close range by Lukesh, who apparently has the power to disappear and reappear at will.
Not bad, huh? And it gets weirder when we come back from the credits to find Reyes settling into her new apartment, no injuries visible. Doggett comes buy with two Polish sausages, the two banter for a while, and then Reyes gets a call from Skinner that Doggett has been shot, and he's in critical condition. Which is impossible, since Doggett is right there in the living room, getting mustard all over his-
But he's gone.
The idea is that the Reyes, Follmer, and Doggett we saw in the beginning aren't "our" versions of those characters, but rather alternates from the parallel dimension in which Lukesh does all his killing. (Actually, if you want to get metaphysical about it, it could be that the Reyes, Follmer, and Doggett in the cold open are "our" versions, and this episode is just a transition from one dimension to another. Which is kind of mind-bending, but, given how things end up, impossible to prove either way.) This is a cool idea. But it's handled clumsily, as there's little to no effort to distinguish between the two dimensions. While I can understand wanting to stress that the Earth A and Earth B are very, very similar, failing to make either reality distinct means the whole confusion of Reyes rushing to the hospital and finding the man she'd seen in her home not five minutes before half dead and paralyzed is just, well, confusing. Inter-dimensional travel is not an easy concept to portray on film or TV, because, as helpful as spoken exposition is, you really need a visual way to convey the information so that your audience doesn't spend the time it should be caring about the story trying to figure out what the hell is going on. There's a difference between an intriguing mystery and a muddle, and "4-D" gets muddled early, and spends the rest of the hour trying to work its way out.
As villains go, Lukesh is passable; according to Wikipedia, he was inspired by Norman Bates in Psycho, but apart from a nagging mother, the guy doesn't seem that much different from a dozen other psychos the show has thrown at us through the years. (That said, his brief confrontation with Reyes at the police station is chilling.) The scenes with him and his mother at their apartment are creepy enough, but the real problem with the character is that his special ability to jump between dimensions is never clearly defined. We don't need specific step-by-step instructions, but some basic rules would be nice. Why is Doggett in our reality? He must've been dragged through by Lukesh, but why? Why does the other Doggett make our Doggett disappear? Reyes theorizes it's because the same two people can't exist in the same dimension simultaneously, which, fine, but what actually happens to our Doggett? Does he pop up in the other dimension and have his own set of adventures? But the end of the episode has Reyes unplugged paralyzed Doggett's life support (at that Doggett's request), and apparently resetting everything back to that first scene with them in her apartment. How the hell is that possible? What does it even mean?
A high concept needs rules to work. Not a ton of rules (too many rules and the concept feels overly designed), but at least a sense that this is something that doesn't simply exist at the whim of the narrative. We need the illusion coherent in order to invest in the results, and "4-D" never manages that. Instead, it gets bogged down in Reyes' struggle to prove her innocence, and everyone's general unsureness about what's going on. The fact that Lukesh used the other Reyes' gun to shoot Doggett presents a theoretically interesting plot point, but since Reyes is the main character of the episode, she can't ever be in serious danger of getting arrested for long; besides, the idea of her shooting Doggett is so ludicrous that no one takes it seriously after a few glares and tense words. Probably the most effective scenes are the ones between Reyes and the paralyzed Doggett as they try and figure out what's happening, because of the difficulties in communication between them (Doggett uses Morse code at first, then a typing button), and the strangeness of their circumstances. Reyes finally accepting paralyzed Doggett's wishes and turning off his life support is theoretically powerful, because even if he isn't our Doggett, he's still a good man dying in a world that isn't his own. But given that bizarre reset ending, even that fails to have any meaning. It's just a mess, made all the uglier by the fact that it could've, and should've, been better.
It's kind of clever that the episode starts with a stake out and then there's that stake out later on. It's less clever that the man with crazy science powers gets taken out with a simple headshot. (I mean, it was a well-aimed headshot, but still.)
"God I enjoyed you." Lukesh is a really fun guy!
I'm still mostly indifferent to Cary Elwes on this show, but his sniping at Skinner about "keeping the lines of communication open" was funny.
Next week: Todd holds the conch long enough to talk about "Lord Of The Flies," before reminding us all to "Trust No 1."


text:
package com.amazonaws.services.snowball.model;

import java.io.Serializable;
import javax.annotation.Generated;
import com.amazonaws.protocol.StructuredPojo;
import com.amazonaws.protocol.ProtocolMarshaller;

/**
 *

 * An object that represents the metadata and configuration settings for the Storage Gateway service Tape Gateway type
 * on an Amazon Web Services Snow Family device.
 *

 *
 * @see AWS API Documentation
 */
@Generated("com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-code-generator")
public class TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration implements Serializable, Cloneable, StructuredPojo {

    /**
     *

     * The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource limitations,
     * this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     *

     */
    private Integer storageLimit;
    /**
     *

     * The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     *

     */
    private String storageUnit;

    /**
     *

     * The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource limitations,
     * this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     *

     *
     * @param storageLimit
     *        The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource
     *        limitations, this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     */

    public void setStorageLimit(Integer storageLimit) {
        this.storageLimit = storageLimit;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource limitations,
     * this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     *

     *
     * @return The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource
     *         limitations, this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     */

    public Integer getStorageLimit() {
        return this.storageLimit;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource limitations,
     * this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     *

     *
     * @param storageLimit
     *        The maximum number of virtual tapes to store on one Snow Family device. Due to physical resource
     *        limitations, this value must be set to 80 for Snowball Edge.
     * @return Returns a reference to this object so that method calls can be chained together.
     */

    public TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration withStorageLimit(Integer storageLimit) {
        setStorageLimit(storageLimit);
        return this;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     *

     *
     * @param storageUnit
     *        The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     * @see StorageUnit
     */

    public void setStorageUnit(String storageUnit) {
        this.storageUnit = storageUnit;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     *

     *
     * @return The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     * @see StorageUnit
     */

    public String getStorageUnit() {
        return this.storageUnit;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     *

     *
     * @param storageUnit
     *        The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     * @return Returns a reference to this object so that method calls can be chained together.
     * @see StorageUnit
     */

    public TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration withStorageUnit(String storageUnit) {
        setStorageUnit(storageUnit);
        return this;
    }

    /**
     *

     * The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     *

     *
     * @param storageUnit
     *        The scale unit of the virtual tapes on the device.
     * @return Returns a reference to this object so that method calls can be chained together.
     * @see StorageUnit
     */

    public TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration withStorageUnit(StorageUnit storageUnit) {
        this.storageUnit = storageUnit.toString();
        return this;
    }

    /**
     * Returns a string representation of this object. This is useful for testing and debugging. Sensitive data will be
     * redacted from this string using a placeholder value.
     *
     * @return A string representation of this object.
     *
     * @see java.lang.Object#toString()
     */
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        sb.append("{");
        if (getStorageLimit() != null)
            sb.append("StorageLimit: ").append(getStorageLimit()).append(",");
        if (getStorageUnit() != null)
            sb.append("StorageUnit: ").append(getStorageUnit());
        sb.append("}");
        return sb.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
        if (this == obj)
            return true;
        if (obj == null)
            return false;

        if (obj instanceof TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration == false)
            return false;
        TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration other = (TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration) obj;
        if (other.getStorageLimit() == null ^ this.getStorageLimit() == null)
            return false;
        if (other.getStorageLimit() != null && other.getStorageLimit().equals(this.getStorageLimit()) == false)
            return false;
        if (other.getStorageUnit() == null ^ this.getStorageUnit() == null)
            return false;
        if (other.getStorageUnit() != null && other.getStorageUnit().equals(this.getStorageUnit()) == false)
            return false;
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        final int prime = 31;
        int hashCode = 1;

        hashCode = prime * hashCode + ((getStorageLimit() == null) ? 0 : getStorageLimit().hashCode());
        hashCode = prime * hashCode + ((getStorageUnit() == null) ? 0 : getStorageUnit().hashCode());
        return hashCode;
    }

    @Override
    public TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration clone() {
        try {
            return (TGWOnDeviceServiceConfiguration) super.clone();
        } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Got a CloneNotSupportedException from Object.clone() " + "even though we're Cloneable!", e);
        }
    }

    @com.amazonaws.annotation.SdkInternalApi
    @Override
    public void marshall(ProtocolMarshaller protocolMarshaller) {
        com.amazonaws.services.snowball.model.transform.TGWOnDeviceServiceConfigurationMarshaller.getInstance().marshall(this, protocolMarshaller);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Thin client vendor IGEL is enhancing the security capabilities of its products, both under its own steam and in collaboration with technology partners. Ovum sees these developments as important for the next wave of thin client computing, which will be software-based – particularly if the desktop-as-aservice (DaaS) market is to take off.
HP (each at around 1.2 million units annually) and China's Centerm, which only sells into its home market.
good reasons for hackers to target thin clients, despite the inherent security of their having no local storage.
Thus, the security initiatives both at IGEL itself and its partners are to be welcomed. Ovum sees a clear requirement for increased security in this market, particularly as thin clients go mobile and as users seek to access their desktop environments from anywhere, at any time, and from any device.
Thin clients are desirable targets for hackers.
IGEL is beefing up its security functionality.
Partners are adding further security capabilities.
Download and read the 'IGELl's Security Enhancements for Thin Clients' White Paper here!


text:
<!doctype html>

  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1">

  <title>Wookmark Sorting Example</title>
  <meta name="description" content="An example how to setup Wookmark with tile sorting">
  <meta name="author" content="Christoph Ono, Sebastian Helzle">

  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">

  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../bower_components/normalize.css/normalize.css">

  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/main.css">

Wookmark Sorting Example

Click the words below to sort the grid.

Back to overview

Name

Price

Popularity

Icebear / 20 € / ★★★★

Hand / 24 € / ★★★

Water / 12,50 € / ★★

Runner / 100 € / ★

Street / 42,12 € / ★★★

Bathroom / 15 € / ★

Sign / 70 € / ★★

Camera / 18,99 € / ★★★★

Winter / 5 € / ★★★★

Kitchen / 7 € / ★


text:
Q: dropDown function - When pressing multiple times and fast setTimeout deletes border when the height is 500px First of all, no, I'm not going to use jQuery.
So, I have this project I'm working on, and I want to do a slide toggle element. Everything is nice and good until I press the button really fast. Then the borders dissapear and the element has reached its final height(500 px in this case).
Perhaps my explanation wasn't that accurate, but I'll give you the code.

var div = document.getElementById('div');
var btn = document.getElementById('button');

function clickFunction(){
 if(div.style.height === "0px") {
     div.style.height = "500px";
     div.style.borderStyle = "solid";
  } else {
  div.style.height = "0px";
   setTimeout(function(){div.style.borderStyle = "none";}, 500);
  }
}

btn.onclick = clickFunction;
div#div {
transition: 500ms ease;
width: 100px;
height: 200px;
margin-top: 20px;
}

.container {
  width: 120px;
  background-color: red;
  padding: 8px;
}
<button id="button">
Press me
</button>

I also tried using clearTimeout() but it wasn't working. Yes, I set setTimeout as a variable, but it doesn't do anything.
Any ideas? Cheers.

A: Your current code uses combinations of inline styles and an id selector in conjunction with the inline style being updated by JavaScript in an if/then as well as with a setTimeout() callback. All of these instructions, coupled with the speed at which the client can repaint the UI are all contributing to the problem.
By cleaning up the approach to toggling the styles and how the styles are applied in the first place, there is much less potential conflict in instructions and timing.
Remove all the static styles from the HTML and set up CSS classes for the normal and expanded states of the element. Then just use the element.classList.toggle() method to seamlessly toggle the use of the expanded class. No timers needed.

var div = document.getElementById('div');
var btn = document.getElementById('button');

btn.addEventListener("click", function(){
  div.classList.toggle("expanded");
});
.container {
  width: 120px;
  background-color: red;
  padding: 8px;
}

.normal {
  transition: 500ms ease;
  width: 100px;
  margin-top: 20px;
  border:0px solid black;
  height: 0px;
}

.expanded {
  height: 200px;
  border:2px solid black;
}
<button id="button">Press me</button>

NOTE:
Be careful when setting up CSS selectors that are id based because they become very difficult to override later. I'm not saying never use them, but more often than not, CSS classes provided the most flexible solutions and help to avoid gobs and gobs of inline styles.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Practical, comfy and super cute! I'm obsessed with my new tan Dream Pairs. I decided to wear them with my red jumpsuit and they were a perfect match! Although I love wearing black heels, every girl needs a cute tan pair as well. I really liked that the shoes are attached via Velcro, which makes my life easier when putting them on! No zippers that snag, etc.
I wore them out to dinner and they were comfy throughout my night. No blisters at the end of the night and no sore ankles! The best part about my Dream Pair shoes is that you can buy them through Amazon, ie. very little wait time on shipping and they're really reasonably priced!


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Safer opioids actively being reviewed for epidemic: chief public health officer
OTTAWA — Public health officials across the country are seriously considering increasing the supply of safer opioids to quell a crisis that newly released data show helped claim more than 2,000 lives in the first half of the year.
Canada's chief public health officer said Wednesday a toxic drug supply is a key part of Canada's opioid epidemic.
Creating a safer opioid supply is "being actively reviewed and discussed" with provinces and terri-tories, Dr. Theresa Tam said, and will require exploring what treatments people require.
Tam said clamping down on the market-driven supply of illicit drugs won't be easy, adding she also hopes Canadians come to understand the seriousness of the problem.
"Across Canada, not everybody is on the same page," Tam said. "I think my plea is an escalated, compassionate response. To implement a lot of these measures, you need society to be on side."
British Columbia's provincial health officer praised the decision to look at a more safe supply — something the province has long pushed for.
"Right now, the issue that we are dealing with in B.C. and increasing across the country, is the poi-sonous, toxic street-drug supply," said Dr. Bonnie Henry.
"That is what is killing people in this province right now. We know, that coupled with the stigma and the fact that people who have addictions, they need these drugs. It is not like it is a choice and they can say 'Oh, I'm not going to take them anymore."
Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, has said a safer supply of opioids is a "no-brainer" to ensure people are not forced to turn to a "deadly, illegal market."
Figures released Wednesday by the Public Health Agency show that 94 per cent of opioid-related deaths this year were classified as "accidental poisonings." Nearly 72 per cent were unintentional deaths involving highly toxic fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.
Fentanyl — a highly potent and addictive opioid — is estimated to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine and is commonly mixed into opioids sold on the street, meaning users don't know the potency of the drugs they take.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information also reported data on a 27-per-cent increase in hospi-talizations due to "opioid-related poisonings" over the past five years. Hospitalization rates last year were 2.5 times higher in smaller communities, with populations between 50,000 and 100,000, compared to Canada's largest cities, the institute said.
Canadian health-care experts have also encouraged Ottawa to adopt Portugal's approach to drug policy, which decriminalizes limited amounts of drugs for personal use, while offering education and social supports. Henry argued the Liberals should consider decriminalization.
"The federal government at this point is not look at decriminalizing people at a national basis," Henry said.
"We are facing a crisis in B.C. where we need to do more."
– Kristy Kirkup
News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2018
Opioid prescriptions up across country, but daily doses dispensed down: report
B.C. health official wants to put safe and common opioid in vending machines
OxyContin maker will stop promoting opioids to doctors
PM says work to address opioids is a priority as Hamilton sees spike
opioids crisis
opioids epidemic
Police across Canada probe bomb threats as U.S. authorities dismiss 'hoax'
The financial investigation element • A global perspective


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The association of echogenic fetal lungs with trisomy 21.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between echogenic appearing lungs on ultrasonographic examination of the fetus and aneuploidy. METHODS: Cases in which echogenic lungs were prospectively identified on ultrasonographic examination were collected. Other abnormal ultrasonographic findings were documented, as were patient data pertinent to the risk of aneuploidy, such as maternal age and results of serum screening. The chromosomal complement of each identified case is reported. RESULTS: Five fetuses were identified with diffusely echogenic lungs on ultrasound examination over a two-year period. In three of the five cases, there were other ultrasound abnormalities, although in only one of these was a major congenital abnormality detected. In all three of these cases, the fetal chromosomal complement showed trisomy 21. In 1 of the 2 cases in which the echogenic lungs were an isolated finding, the fetus also was found to have trisomy 21. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral and diffusely echogenic lungs appear to have an association with fetal trisomy 21.
Wang, Endi
Grobman, WA; Wang, E; Shulman, LP
10.1002/pd.1112
Fetal Diseases


text:
ACT (12)
TSI (13)
(-) VIC (19)
(-) Caring for Country (11)
Childhood (3)
Commercial development (9)
(-) Employment (5)
(-) Heritage (6)
Emissions Reduction Fund Australian Department of the Environment and Energy. Not specified. ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TSI, VIC, WA Caring for Country, Environment
Ian Potter Foundation: Environment and Conservation Program The Ian Potter Foundation Over $100,000 per project. ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TSI, VIC, WA Environment, Caring for Country
Living Heritage Program Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Between $20,000 and $200,000 per project. VIC Heritage
Local History Grants Program Public Record Office Victoria Not specified. VIC Heritage
Murray–Darling Healthy Rivers Program: Large Grants Community Grants Hub Ranging between $100,001 and $2,000,000. ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, VIC Caring for Country, Environment, Commercial development, Employment, Business, Community development, Land and water
Murray–Darling Healthy Rivers Program: Small Grants (Round 2) NT Department of Environment and Natural Resources Range between $5,000 and $100,000. ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, VIC Caring for Country, Environment, Land and water, Employment, Business, Community development, Commercial development
Regional Infrastructure Fund Regional Development Victoria Up to $500,000 per project. VIC Business, Commercial development, Training, Employment, Education
Sidney Myer Fund and the Myer Foundation Grants The Myer Foundation Various. ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TSI, VIC, WA Community, Caring for Country, Environment, Arts, Culture, Education
Support for Indigenous Businesses impacted by COVID-19 Indigenous Business Australia Up to $200,000. All Emergency, Business, Employment
Victorian Landcare Grants Victorian Environment, Land, Water and Planning Up to $20,000 per project. VIC Environment, Caring for Country
Victorian Recreational Fishing Grants Program Victorian Fisheries Authority Small Grants Program: up to $5,000 per project. Large Grants Program: up to $100,000 per project. Large priority projects: over $100,000 per project. VIC Education, Caring for Country, Environment
Visions of Australia Australian Department of Communications and the Arts Various. ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TSI, VIC, WA Arts, Heritage, Culture
Wildlife Rehabilitator Grants Victorian Environment, Land, Water and Planning Not specified. VIC Environment, Caring for Country, Natural disaster, Emergency
William Buckland Foundation Grants William Buckland Foundation Various. VIC Education, Health, Community, Caring for Country


It doesn't take long to recognize a healthy versus a toxic work environment. I was talking with a seasoned executive recently about one of her leaders and the poor atmosphere in his division. She said, "The problem is that he is allowing the culture to lead instead of leading the culture."
The result was a lack of leadership resulting in poor accountability and low awareness of the overall vision and mission of the company. In the absence of an intentional effort to consistently define and re-enforce expectations, teams will experience confusion, apathy and polarization.
We cannot assume that a strong culture of ownership, accountability and direction will simply manifest like magic in our work environment.
Just like developing strong healthy relationships takes intentional work and energy, building a successful and effective culture takes determination and consistency. Leaders who do not invest in creating such an environment will not be successful in the long term.
Take a minute to consider the work (or home) environment for which you are responsible. Are you leading with intentionality to create the culture you desire? Choose to lead the culture instead of allowing it to lead and you will make a difference.


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Author: Ben Wylie
Wayne Smith's appearance on Sky Sport NZ's The Breakdown this week was an eventful one.
As well as casting his discerning eye over the "robotic" shapes of modern professional rugby, he also provided some great insight into how he has approached his role as Director of Rugby at the Kobelco Steelers in Japan's Top League since taking over — alongside Kiwi head coach Dave Dillon — in 2018.
Continue reading "Statistical analysis: Wayne Smith's rugby blueprint" →
Top League
On Monday 22nd February, I'll be co-hosting a webinar with Brian Fitzpatrick of BF Sports Analysis previewing the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa season. If you're interested in attending this event, you can sign up to receive more details here.
We'll be collaborating to dive into the detail of some of the tactical and technical trends that are likely to be prominent in the 2021 edition of the competition, taking a look at each of the 5 teams in the process.
One of the questions we'll be addressing is what to expect from the Chiefs, who went winless during Super Rugby Aotearoa 2020 and have appointed Clayton McMillan as their interim head coach for the year in Warren Gatland's absence.
McMillan has been the head coach of the Maori All Blacks since 2017, and led the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the Mitre 10 Cup between 2015 and 2020.
In this article, we'll briefly discuss what his 2020 Steamers side (who made it to the Premiership semi-finals) looked like on the field — but be sure to sign up for our webinar on the 22nd to discover how this tactical approach might play out on the field in Hamilton in 2021.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa preview: analysing Clayton McMillan's style of play" →
Sign up to The Tip-On, a free weekly newsletter containing analysis of professional rugby in New Zealand, for coverage of the Farah Palmer Cup every Thursday throughout the competition.
With Sevens stars Tyla Nathan-Wong, Portia Woodman and Stacey Fluhler all a chance to line out alongside established Black Ferns Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, Kennedy Simon and Chelsea Alley, Saturday's Waikato vs. Northland fixture to open the 2020 Farah Palmer Cup will be the perfect introduction to a star-studded tournament.
Continue reading "2020 Farah Palmer Cup preview" →
Farah Palmer Cup
Sign up to The Tip-On, a free weekly newsletter containing analysis of professional rugby in New Zealand, for post-match insight on Thursday 10th September.
One of the most common refrains heard from commentators on rugby in New Zealand is that, for the nation's governing body, it's "always…all about the dollars".
Continue reading "Steinlager North v South preview" →
August 28, 2020 March 2, 2021
Sign up to The Tip-On, a free weekly newsletter – beginning on Thursday 18th June – containing analysis of professional rugby in New Zealand.
Without Beauden Barrett in their squad for the first time in a decade, head coach John Plumtree having left the franchise for Ian Foster's All Blacks coaching team and with Ardie Savea injured on the sideline, the Hurricanes can almost be forgiven for starting 2020 with a whimper. An unedifying 27-0 loss to the Stormers at Newlands in which they weren't able to fire a shot felt like an apt metaphor for a club still scrambling to find its feet as the season kicked off.
However, after sneaking a late victory over the Jaguares in Buenos Aires a week later – thanks in large part to Beauden's younger brother Jordie, who finished the match with a 63m penalty kick and try-saving tackle to his name – they were away, and home wins over the Sharks and Sunwolves swiftly followed.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Hurricanes" →
Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Highlanders
Situated in the smallest of the 5 urban centres to support a Super Rugby franchise and over 300 kilometres to the south of their nearest competitor, the Highlanders are in an unenviable position relative to the other New Zealand clubs.
The Dunedin side has consistently been reliant on bringing in players from other provinces to supplement those from its own catchment area – aided by the fact that it is a student town with a strong university rugby club – and with a steady period of good recruitment and "continuity" in the later years of the Jamie Joseph-Tony Brown-Scott McLeod ticket, they were able to challenge consistently at the top end of the Super competition.
However, in the 3 years since Brown and McLeod departed – the former joining Joseph with Japan, having succeeded him as head coach for a season, and the latter moving into a position with the All Blacks – there has been significant turnover and disruption. Although Brown has returned to Dunedin for the 2020 season as an assistant – and brought some exciting ideas back with him from the Brave Blossoms – Aaron Mauger has had to watch on as the majority of their title-winning side of 2015 departs for overseas clubs.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Highlanders" →
Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Crusaders
With the end of 2019 came a changing of the guard in Christchurch. The departures of Kieran Read and Tim Bateman – whose time at the franchise was broken up by stints at the Hurricanes and in Japan – saw the final threads between the current Crusaders' playing squad and the Robbie Deans era broken, both players having started the 2008 final victory over the Waratahs.
A number of other household names also moved on: between them, Owen Franks, Matt Todd, Ryan Crotty and Israel Dagg contributed a substantial proportion of the 380 All Blacks caps and 1,009 Crusaders appearances which left Rugby Park at the conclusion of last season.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Crusaders" →
Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Chiefs
Upon his return to Hamilton after 13 years in Wales, new Chiefs head coach Warren Gatland made clear his views on the need for the franchise to evolve its on-field approach:
"[T]he Chiefs have tended to go out there and play and expansive game, and we want to encourage them to do that, but we also want them to be smart…talking to the other coaches, they've felt that in the last couple of years they've tried to play a little bit too much rugby, and haven't been smart about having the balance between playing a little bit of territory and putting pressure on other teams."
Super Rugby: Warren Gatland wants Chiefs to play smarter brand of footy
He clearly implemented a number of tactical changes in the team's 6 games before the Super Rugby competition's suspension, and this was accompanied with markedly improved performance relative to last year: the Chiefs are 4-0-2 with an average points margin of +11.0 per game, after finishing Colin Cooper's final season with a mark of -1.1 and a record of 7-2-8.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Chiefs" →
Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Blues
As the only Kiwi franchise not to have won Super Rugby outright in the last 8 seasons, the Blues will have been more disappointed than most when the 2020 iteration of the competition was halted after 7 rounds as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sitting with a 5-0-2 record at its premature conclusion, their average scoring margin of +8.3 points per game over their 7 fixtures would have comfortably been their best single-season mark since 2012; their highest figure over this 8-year period is the +2.7 points per game they achieved in 2017.
Continue reading "Super Rugby Aotearoa: what to expect from the Blues" →
What to expect from Super Rugby Aotearoa
The sun rises in spite of everything. After weeks of deprivation and uncertainty, hope has appeared on the horizon – or, at least, to those European rugby fans willing to set their alarms early on coming weekend mornings.
Whether you're a Super Rugby regular who has risen ritualistically for years to watch the likes of Larkham, Carter and du Preez or a casual fan of the sport, the advent of Super Rugby Aotearoa is a heady prospect. The ten-week double-round-robin competition featuring the five New Zealand franchises – the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes – kicks off next Saturday at 6:05am (UK time), with a number of interesting rule variations.
Continue reading "What to expect from Super Rugby Aotearoa" →


Former Top Gear star was said to be filming in Switzerland at the time with Jeremy Clarkson.
TV presenter Richard Hammond was rushed to hospital by helicopter after being involved in a car crash in the Swiss mountains.
The former Top Gear star, 47, is believed to have been filming a race scene for the second season of Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour.
Also on location were co-stars Jeremy Clarkson, 57, and James May, 54, who were unharmed, with Clarkson writing on Twitter afterwards; "It was the biggest crash I've ever seen and the most frightening but incredibly, and thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK."
Pictures of the crash soon began to appear on social media showing a large fireball engulfing the vehicle.
They confirmed that he was conscious at the time.
He was pictured smiling alongside one fan just a few hours before with the location tagged as the Bergrennen Hemberg race.
It is thought to have been taken not long before the accident occurred, alongside the jokey caption: "New colleague".
According to BBC News, he "walked out of the car himself" and "has sustained a fracture to his knee".
An Amazon spokeswoman told The Sun: "Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland in a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for The Grand Tour Season 2 on Amazon Prime, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury.
"Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames.
"He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over revealing a fracture to his knee.
Hammond was previously involved in another horror collision in 2006 while filming for Top Gear.
During the incident, his helmet embedded itself into the ground with the visor open, forcing soil into his mouth and damaging his left eye.
Hammond had been attempting to break the British land speed record.
Although lucky to escape with his life, the dad-of-two, who has been married to Amanda Etheridge for 15 years, suffered brain injuries and later reported loss of memory, depression, plus, difficulties with emotional experiences.
"For years I thought of it especially," he said in an interview with Radio Times.
"It was a lot to deal with. I had a pretty tricky few years. The knock-on effects of the injury meant I was susceptible to depression, obsession, compulsion and paranoia, although I wasn't aware of that at the time. It gave me an unnatural platform from which to observe my own mental state, which was exhausting."


text:
Why creatives and peregrine falcons love Epsilon's historical perch
Marketing company Epsilon moved into a Loop perch at the Monroe Building, 104 S. Michigan Ave., in Oct. 2012. Janet Barker-Evans, the firm's executive creative director, took Blue Sky for a tour.
(Meg Graham)
Most popular baby names for baby boomers
States with the highest and lowest tax rates
Metros where homes are selling the fastest
Credible compiled a list of 20 U.S. metro areas where homes are selling the fastest, using data from Zillow and ranking homes according to the average number of days they were listed before there was a pending sale in December 2020, the most recent month in which data was available for all metros.
By Ellen Wulfhorst, Stacker
America's most dangerous states
States with the most liberals
Study: These are the best colleges in America for 2021
Billionaires who live in small towns across the United States
100 best '90s movies
Study reveals the 30 best small cities in America to live in
The richest people in the world


text:
Q: Mixare Augmented Reality Engine: Replacing 2D planes with 3d objects? Does anyone have a solution how to replace the 2D images with 3D objects?

A: There is a contribution to mixare (open source augmented reality browser: http://www.mixare.org) available here:
https://github.com/ferdinandtorggler/mixare/commit/0a8a7e070ef076239e0cb39606f3ac85faa324fe
It's used to display a grid on the horizon, so that's not quite what you want, but shows how to use openGL 3D objects inside mixare.
HTH


This was posted on my former Pastor's Facebook as they filled the building site for their future sanctuary with loads and loads of supplies for the victims of the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma. To me this has always been the essence of ministry - feed the hungry and clothe the poor. They are based in OKC, so rather than just giving money, they are serving as a distribution center for bottled water, gatorade, wipes, diapers, baby formula, hand towels, individually wrapped snacks, work gloves, toiletries (feminine products, paper products, hygiene items), baby bottles, bags, backpacks or plastic tubs to carry items, etc... and hand delivering to those in need. They are continuing to accept donations here.
I and my Oklahoma family and friends thank them from the bottom of our hearts. :) I too like seeing the donations go directly to local organizations. They're the people who won't leave, and will continue to support the impacted areas and people until they are fully back on their feet.


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France hit by second day of massive strike over pension reform
PARIS-Agence France-Presse
Travellers across France endured a second day of chaos on Dec. 6 as unions vowed to keep up their strike until President Emmanuel Macron backs down on controversial pension overhauls.
Rail operator SNCF said 90 percent of high-speed TGV trains were again canceled, and several airlines dropped flights including Air France, EasyJet, and Ryanair.
Nine of the capital's 16 metro lines were shut and most others severely disrupted, sparking some 350 kilometers (220 miles) of traffic jams in the Paris region, well above the usual 200 km, the traffic website Sytadin reported.
Many employees were unable to get to work and several schools again provided only daycare, though fewer teachers were on strike compared with Dec. 5 when some 800,000 people demonstrated across the country according to the interior ministry.
Bike paths were crowded with bikes and electric scooters, with metro operator RATP sponsoring special deals for commuters with a range of ride-hailing companies and other transportation alternatives.
The walkout is the latest test for Macron after months of protests from teachers, hospital workers, police and firefighters as well as the "yellow vest" movement demanding improved living standards.
Unions say his "universal" pension system, which would eliminate dozens of separate plans for public workers, forces millions of people in both public and private sectors to work well beyond the legal retirement age of 62.
Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Dec. 6 that the government had "heard" the protesters' anger and would meet with union leaders to discuss the reform on Dec. 9.
The government has yet to lay out the details of its plan, and Buzyn told Europe 1 radio that "there is indeed a discussion going on about who will be affected, what age it kicks in, which generations will be concerned -- all that is still on the table".
Yves Veyrier, head of the hardline FO union, warned on Dec. 5 the strike could last at least until Dec. 9 if the government did not take the right action.
But it remains to be seen if the protests will match the magnitude of the 1995 strikes against pension overhauls, when France was paralysed for three weeks from November to December in an action that forced the government to back down.
Macron, a former investment banker, has largely succeeded in pushing through a series of controversial reforms, including loosening labour laws and tightening access to unemployment benefits.
But this is the first time the various disgruntled groups have come together in protest.
So far Macron has not spoken publicly on the stoppages though a presidential official, who asked not to be named, said on Dec. 5 that the president was "calm" and "determined to carry out this reform" in a mood of "listening and consultation".
While most of Dec. 5's rallies were peaceful, police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of black-clad protesters smashing windows and throwing stones during the Paris march, with one construction trailer set on fire. Sporadic clashes were also reported in some other cities.
Many people were bracing for further disruptions over the weekend, including the prospect of fuel shortages as unions blocked most of the country's eight oil refineries.
The minimum pension age in France is 62, one of the lowest among developed countries, but there are 42 "special regimes" for railway workers, lawyers, opera employees and others offering earlier retirements and other benefits.
The government says a single system will be fairer for everyone while ensuring its financial viability while acknowledging that people will gradually have to work longer.
yellow vests,
Weinstein accuser's ex-roommate backs up sexual assault allegation
7.7 quake hits between Cuba and Jamaica, but no injuries
Regime forces enter key rebel-held town south of Idlib
Over 39,000 flee northwest Syria as Assad pushes closer to Idlib


text:
an integration in iOS and a lowered price
Apple is on the verge of finalizing the integration of the Beats Music service into its own ecosystem. According to sources close to the music industry reported by 9to5Mac, Apple could thus directly offer Beats Music in the Music application of iOS, as well as in iTunes and Apple TV.
But Apple would not be limited to this, and to continue providing the service already offered to subscribers using other platforms, a new application could be offered on Android (no other version of the Windows Phone application is mentioned for the moment).
Still according to 9to5Mac, the Beats Music application has undergone a graphic overhaul in order to better integrate with the various Apple services.
The good news, in addition to finding the service in the next version of iOS, is in the price of subscriptions, revised downward. Formerly billed $ 9.99 per month, access to the platform's music catalog will be offered at a price of $ 7.99 per month.
We are far from the $ 5 monthly mentioned by Apple as the ideal price to bring together the majority of users of this type of platform, but the Cupertino company would have found it difficult to impose this idea on the majors. Nothing is announced regarding a possible free version financed by advertising.
Tags:integration, iOS, lowered, price
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti: the graphics card is official and worth less than 420 €
three configurations of which here are the prices
How to fix the Honor 20 battery life issues