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CJP vows not to 'let go' those responsible for APS tragedy
Supporters of Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri gather outside the Supreme Court during an anti-government march in Islamabad on August 20, 2014. Pakistani ministers and opposition politicians met anti-government protesters in a bid to end a week-long political crisis that has rattled the restive nuclear-armed nation. AFP PHOTO/FAROOQ NAEEM
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the government to submit its response on the report into the Army Public School (APS) massacre that killed 144 children six years ago, a private TV channel reported.
During the hearing, parents of the martyred schoolchildren appeared before the apex court and asked the bench to provide them with justice. "What happened to you was very wrong. This should have not happened at any cost," remarked the chief justice after hearing the parents. During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that "we will not leave those who are responsible for the APS tragedy" and expressed sympathy with the parents.
The dejected parents, after listening to the top judge, told the court that they cannot live in Pakistan as their kids are not 'safe' in the country. "Do not say such things. The court will give its decision on the facts that are included in this report," Justice Gulzar assured the parents. He also asked them what they wanted in 'justice'. "We should be provided a copy of the report," the parents responded to the CJP.
The CJP informed the parents that it was a secret report and the attorney general was being given a copy of that. "We have not read the report ourselves. We will see after the government's response is received. There can be no contradiction on this. We will take action according to the law and the Constitution," the CJP remarked. He added that the apex court will speak according to the constitution and law. "We formed the commission and we will take it to its logical end," said the CJP. He also vowed that the court will not 'let go' those who were responsible for the shortcomings.
The top court directed the attorney general to ask the government for instructions and brief the SC regarding the next steps. The case was adjourned for four weeks.
Last month, the commission set up to probe the APS attack had submitted an over 3000-page report to the Supreme Court. The then-chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had taken notice of the issue in April 2018 when during his visit to Peshawar several of the parents of the deceased students had approached him. Subsequently, on May 9, 2018, an SC bench headed by the chief justice had ordered conducting of an inquiry into the occurrence through a judicial commission headed by Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
According to the focal person of the APS Commission, Imranullah, the statements of 132 people were recorded by the commission that was formed four years after the attack. They also included over 30 officials of police, army, home department and others concerned.
Over 140 people, including 132 children were martyred in a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. The incident is considered as one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country and in the region that shook the entire world. The government had launched a National Action Plan across the country after the incident to go after the terrorist groups and improve the law and order.


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Home » Roman Mosaics - Studies in Rome and its Neighbourhood
THE VATICAN CODEX
Hugh Macmillan
Among the numberless objects of interest to be seen in Rome, a very high place must be assigned to the Codex Vaticanus, probably the oldest vellum manuscript in existence, and the richest treasure of the great Vatican Library. This famous manuscript, which Biblical scholars designate by the letter B, contains the oldest copy of the Septuagint, and the first Greek version of the New Testament. In addition to the profound interest which its own intrinsic value has inspired, it has been invested with a halo of romance seldom associated with dry palæographical studies—on account of the unreasonable jealousy and capricious conduct of its guardians. For a long time it was altogether inaccessible for study to Biblical scholars, and few were allowed even to see it. These restrictions, however, have now happily to a considerable extent been removed; and provided with an order, easily obtained from the Vatican librarian, or from the Prefect of the sacred palaces, in reply to a polite note, any respectable person is permitted to inspect it.
The first feeling which one has in the Vatican Library is that of surprise. You might walk through the Great Hall and adjoining galleries without suspecting the place to be a library at all; for the bookcases that line the lower portion of the walls are closed with panelled doors, painted in arabesque on a ground of white and slate colour, and surrounded by gilded mouldings, and not a single book is visible. The vaulted ceiling of the rooms is glowing with gold and ultramarine; the walls are adorned with beautiful frescoes representing the different Councils of the Church; and magnificent tables of polished Oriental granite, and of various precious marbles, vases of porphyry, malachite, and alabaster, and priceless candelabra of Sevres china—the gifts of kings and emperors—occupy the spaces between the pillars and pilasters, and cast their rich shadows on the gleaming marble pavement. A vast variety of objects of rare beauty, artistic value, and antique interest arrest the attention, and would amply reward the study of weeks.
The nucleus of the present magnificent collection of books and manuscripts was formed in the Lateran Palace in the year 465 by Bishop Hilary; and, augmented by succeeding pontiffs, the accumulated stores were transferred in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V., the founder of Glasgow University, to the Vatican. What Nicholas began was completed by Sixtus IV. The library was classified according to subjects and writers, and Demetrius Lucensis, under the direction of Platina, made a catalogue of it which is still in existence. During this period Vatican MSS. were lent out to students, as attested by authentic registers containing the autographs of those who enjoyed the privilege. A little later the celebrated Vatican printing press was annexed to the library; and the office of correctors or readers for the accurate printing of ancient books which were wanting in the library was instituted. Pope Sixtus V. erected the present splendid edifice, and used every effort to increase the great collection. Several valuable accessions were made to it after this date, including the library of the Elector Palatine of Germany, the library of the Dukes of Urbino, the libraries of Christina, Queen of Sweden, of the Ottoboni, commenced by Pope Alexander VIII., and of the Marquis Capponi, and the MSS. taken from the convent of S. Basilio at Grotta Ferrata. Under Innocent XIII. in 1721 an attempt was made to prepare for the press a full catalogue of all the MSS. in every language. It was edited by Joseph Simon Assemani and Stephen Evodius, and three volumes were published. But the task was found too great for any one's strength, and was given up finally on account of the political disturbances of the time.
The library is a vast unexplored mine of wealth. Unknown literary treasures are contained in the closed cabinets. Among the thirty thousand manuscripts may be hid some of the ancient classical and early Christian treatises, which have been lost for ages, and whose recovery would excite the profoundest interest throughout the civilised world. A large number of these manuscripts had once belonged to the library of the famous Monastery of Bobbio, in the north of Italy, founded in the year 614 by the Irish St. Columbanus. The Irish and Scotch monks who inhabited this monastery were in the dark ages the most zealous collectors of manuscripts in Europe. At the close of the fifteenth century the convent was impoverished and deserted by its lawful occupants; and the Benedictine monks who succeeded them gave away their literary treasures partly to the Ambrosian Library at Milan and partly to the Vatican Library. Cardinal Angelo Mai, who discovered more lost works and transcribed more ancient manuscripts than any one else, found among these treasures in Milan and Rome several most interesting treatises that had long passed into utter oblivion.
But though permission is freely granted to duly accredited visitors who may be desirous of consulting manuscripts, the labour of searching among the huge bewildering piles would be overwhelming, and the thought of it would at once paralyse effort. There is no proper catalogue of the printed books; and the list of manuscripts is so deficient as to be altogether worthless. During six months, from November till June, the library is open for study every day, except Thursday and the numerous saints' days, whose recurrence can be easily ascertained beforehand so as to prevent disappointment. I cannot imagine a greater privilege to a student. It is the highest luxury of learning to explore the literary wealth of these princely apartments, that seem to have a climate of their own, like the great Basilica close at hand—the climate of eternal spring—and whose atmosphere breathes the associations of much that is grandest and most memorable in human history. To the charms of some of the noblest productions of human genius working by pen, or pencil, or chisel—adorning roof, and wall, and floor—and vanishing down the long vista in a bright perspective of beauty—Nature adds her crown of perfection. For nothing can exceed the loveliness of the views from the windows of the Papal gardens outside, with their gay flowery parterres, sparkling fountains, depths of shadowy glades and half-hidden sculptured forms of rarest beauty; and, beyond, a purple mountain range, summits old in story, closing up the enchanted vista through the ruddy stems and deep green foliage of tall stone-pines; the whole glowing in the brilliant sunshine and the exquisite violet transparency of the Roman sky. How delightful to spend whole days there and forget the commonplace present in converse with the master minds of the ages, and in dreams of the heroic past; the half-closed shutters and drawn curtains producing a cool and drowsy atmosphere, in delicious contrast with the broiling sun without! Learning, however, would be too apt to fall asleep, and be shorn of its strength on the Delilah lap of such splendid luxury.
A few of the most interesting books and manuscripts are now contained in two handsome cabinets placed in the centre of the Great Hall of the library. These cabinets have two cases, an outer and an inner one, and are carefully double-locked. The librarian opened them for me, and displayed their contents, which are usually seen only through a thick plate of protecting glass. In the one cabinet were a manuscript of the Latin poet Terence, of the fourth and fifth century; the celebrated palimpsest of Cicero de Republica, concealed under a version of St. Augustine's Commentary on the Psalms, the oldest Latin manuscript in existence; the famous Virgil of the fifth century, with the well-known portrait of Virgil; the Homilies of St. Gregory of Nazianzum; the folio Hebrew Bible, which was the only thing that Duke Frederico of Urbino reserved for himself of the spoil at the capture of Volterra in 1472, and for which the Jews in Venice offered its weight in gold; a sketch of the first three cantos of the Gerusalemme Liberata in the handwriting of Tasso; a copy of Dante in the handwriting of Boccaccio; and several of Petrarch's autograph sonnets. In the other cabinet is the great gem and glory of the Library—the Codex Vaticanus, in strange association with a number of the love-letters of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, in French and English. This curious correspondence—which, after all that subsequently happened between the English monarch and the Papal Court, we are very much surprised to see in such a place—is in wonderful preservation. But though perfectly legible, the archaic form of the characters and the numerous abbreviations make it extremely difficult to decipher them. The tragic ending of this most inauspicious love-making invests with a deep pathos these faded yellow records of it that seem like the cold, gray ashes of a once glowing fire. In the same cabinet is seen another and altogether different production of this royal author—namely, the dedication copy of the "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinum Luther," written in Latin by Henry VIII. in defence of the seven Roman Catholic Sacraments against Luther, and sent to Leo X., with the original presentation address and royal autograph. The book is a good thick octavo volume, printed in London, in clear type, on vellum, with a broad margin. Only two copies are in existence, one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the other in the Vatican. For this theological dissertation Henry VIII. received from the Pope the title of "Defender of the Faith," which has descended to the Protestant monarchs of England ever since, and is now inscribed on our coinage. Luther, several of whose manuscripts are in the Library, published a vigorous reply, in which he treated his royal opponent with scant ceremony. The author himself had no scruple in setting it aside when his personal passions were aroused. And Rome has put this inconsistent book beside the letters to Anne Boleyn, as it were in the pillory here for the condemnation of the world.
But deeply interesting as were these literary curiosities, I soon turned from them and became engrossed with the priceless manuscript of the Greek Scriptures. I had very little time to inspect it, for I was afraid to exhaust the patience of the librarian. In appearance the manuscript is a quarto volume bound in red morocco; each of the pages being about eleven inches long, and the same in breadth. This is the usual size of the greater number of ancient manuscripts, very few being in folio or octavo, and in this particular resembling printed books. Each page has three columns, containing seventeen or eighteen letters in a line. It is supposed that this arrangement of the writing was borrowed directly from the most primitive scrolls, whose leaves were joined together lengthwise, so that their contents always appeared in parallel columns, as we see in the papyrus rolls that have recently been discovered. This peculiarity in the two or three manuscripts which possess it, is regarded as a proof of their very high antiquity. The writing on almost every page is so clear and distinct that it can be read with the greatest ease.
What astonishes one most is the admirable preservation of this Codex, notwithstanding that it must be nearly sixteen hundred years old. It has quite a fresh and recent look; indeed many manuscripts not fifty years old look much more ancient. No one, looking at the faded handwriting of Tasso, Petrarch, and Henry VIII., beside it, would imagine that they were newer by upwards of twelve hundred years. This peculiarity it shares in common with the architectural remains of imperial Rome, which time has dealt so tenderly with that they appear far more recent than the picturesque ruins of our medieval castles and abbeys. This singular look of freshness in the Vatican manuscript is owing to three causes. In the first place, the vellum upon which it is written is exceedingly fine and close-grained in texture, and therefore has resisted the dust and discoloration of centuries, just as the thin and close-grained Roman brick has withstood the ravages of time. Every one is struck with the wonderful beauty of this vellum, composed of the delicate skins of very young calves. And this feature is a further proof of the high antiquity of the Codex, for the oldest manuscripts are invariably written on the thinnest and whitest vellum, while those of later ages are written on thick and rough parchment which speedily became discoloured. In the second place, we have reason to believe that the manuscript was for many ages almost hermetically sealed in some forgotten recess of the Lateran and Vatican Libraries, and thus unconsciously guarded from the attacks of time. In the third place, a careful scrutiny of the individual lines reveals the curious fact that the whole manuscript, six or seven centuries after it had been written, was gone over by a writer, who, finding the letters faint and yellow, had touched them up with a blacker and more permanent ink.
It is a strange circumstance that none of the facsimile representations of the pages of the manuscript that have been published give a correct idea of the original, with the exception of that of Dean Burgon in 1871. Not only do the number of lines in a given space in all the so-called facsimiles differ from that of the manuscript, but the general character of the letters is widely different. The importance of seeing the original, therefore, for purposes of study, is apparent. The uncial letters are very small and neat, upright and regular, and their breadth is nearly equal to their height. They are very like those in the manuscript rolls of Herculaneum. Originally the manuscript had no ornamental initial letters, marks of punctuation, or accents; a small interval of the breadth of a letter at the end of particular sections serving as a simple mode of punctuation. The number of such divisions into sections is very considerable,—one hundred and seventy occurring in St. Matthew; sixty-one in St. Mark; one hundred and fifty-two in St. Luke; and eighty in St. John,—and in this respect the Vatican Codex is unique. Where these divisions do not occur, the writing is continuous for several consecutive pages. Thus, while each of the beatitudes, each of the parables, and each of the series of generations in the genealogies of our Lord, are marked off into separate paragraphs by the small empty spaces referred to, there is no break in the text from the twenty-fourth verse of the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew to the seventeenth verse of the twentieth chapter. So much has space been economised, that when the writer finished one book he began another at the top of the very next column; and throughout the manuscript there are very few breaks, and only one entire column left blank. This empty space is very significant; it occurs at the end of the eighth verse of the sixteenth chapter of St. Mark's Gospel,—thus omitting altogether the last twelve verses with which we are familiar. That this was done purposely is evident, for it involved a departure from the writer's usual method of continuous writing. The blank column testifies that he knew of the existence of this gap at the end of the Gospel, but did not know of any thoroughly trustworthy material with which to fill it up. And acting upon this authority our Revisers have printed the passage that has been supplied as an appendix, and not as a portion of the original Gospel of St. Mark. The only attempt at ornamentation in the Vatican manuscript is found at the end of Lamentations, Ezekiel, St. John's Gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles, where "an arabesque column of crossed lines, with dots in the intersections at the edge," and surmounted by the well-known monogram of Christ, so frequent in the inscriptions of the Catacombs, composed of the letter P in a cruciform shape, has been delicately and skilfully executed by the pen of the scribe. Most of the books have also brief titles and subscriptions.
Such was the original state of the Codex, but the critic of the ninth or tenth century already referred to introduced a great many changes. Not only did he deepen the colour of the ink; he, as Dean Burgon tells us, also accentuated the words carefully throughout, marking all the initial vowels with their proper breathings. He also placed instead of the small initial letter of each book an illuminated capital six times the size of the original uncial, painted in bright red and blue colours which have still retained nearly all their old brilliancy. At the top of the column, whenever a new book commenced, he also placed a broad bar painted in green, with three little red crosses above it. Nor was this all; he exercised his critical judgment in revising the text, and marking his approval or disapproval by certain significant indications. "What he approved of he touched up anew with ink, and added the proper accents; what he condemned he left in the faded brown caligraphy of the original and without accentuation." In this way the Codex may be called a kind of palimpsest, in which we have some portions of the original manuscript, and the rest overlaid with the later revision. We must discriminate carefully between these two elements; for it is obvious that it is the oldest portion that is most interesting and suggestive.
The Codex consists of upwards of one thousand five hundred pages, of which two hundred and eighty-four are assigned to the New Testament. Originally it contained the whole Bible, and also the Apocrypha and the Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians; which last was so much esteemed by the early Christians that it was regularly read in the churches, and bound up with the Scriptures—to which circumstance, indeed, we are indebted for its preservation to our own time. At present the greater part of Genesis and a part of the Psalms are missing from the old Testament; while, in the New Testament, the Epistle to Philemon, the three Pastoral Epistles, the latter part of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse, in the original handwriting, are lost; their place having been supplied, it is said, in the fifteenth century, from a manuscript belonging to Cardinal Bessarion. From the evidence of its materials—arrangement and style of writing—the very high antiquity of this Codex may be inferred. It is generally supposed to have been written in the beginning of the fourth century. Vercellone, who edited Cardinal Mai's version of it, argues, from the remarkable correspondence of its text with that used by Cyril of Alexandria in his Commentary on St. John, that it must have been written at Alexandria, where there was a band of remarkably skilful caligraphists. He believes that it was one of the fifty manuscript copies of the Holy Scriptures which Eusebius, by order of the emperor Constantine the Great, got prepared in the year 332 for the use of the Christian Church in the newly-formed capital of Constantinople. And a circumstance that seems to corroborate this opinion is, that the Vatican Codex does not contain, as has already been mentioned, the last twelve verses of St. Mark's Gospel, a peculiarity which Eusebius says belongs to the best manuscripts of the Gospels. On this supposition, the Vatican Codex would be the very first edition of the Bible that had the seal of a sovereign authority.
But it may be of even older date than the time of Constantine, for its marginal references do not correspond with the Eusebian canons; and this fact would seem to imply that it belonged to the third century. Its only rival in point of antiquity is the famous Sinaitic Codex, known by the Hebrew letter [Hebrew: alef], discovered in a most romantic way by Tischendorf in the Convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. Tischendorf has pronounced a decided opinion, not only that this manuscript is of the same age as the Vatican one, but that the Vatican manuscript was written by one of the four writers who, he infers from internal evidence, must have been employed upon the Sinaitic Codex. This opinion, however, has been disputed by other scholars; and it seems improbable, for the Sinaitic Codex has four columns to the page, whereas the Vatican Codex has only three. Its uncial letters are also much larger and plainer than those of the Vatican manuscript; and it has the Ammonian sections and Eusebian canons written in all probability by the original hand.
There can be little doubt that the Vatican manuscript goes, if not farther, at least as far back in date as the Council of Nice, and is the oldest and most valuable of extant monuments of sacred antiquity. It may have been transcribed directly from some Egyptian papyrus, or through the medium of only one intervening prototype. Perhaps it was a single copy saved from the fate of many surrendered to be burned by the class of Christian renegades called traditores, who averted the martyr's death in the great Diocletian persecution by giving up the sacred books of their religion to their enemies. For this pagan emperor endeavoured not only to deprive the Christian Church of its teachers, like his predecessors, but also to destroy the sacred writings upon which the faith of the Church was founded, and whose character and claims were beginning at this time to be generally recognised. The Alexandrine Codex—which is placed first on the list of uncial manuscripts, and therefore distinguished by the letter A—belongs undoubtedly to a more recent time. It is said by tradition to have been written by a noble Egyptian martyr named Thecla about the beginning of the fifth century, and was sent as a present to Charles I. by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, who brought it from Alexandria. It is now one of the greatest treasures of the British Museum. The voice of tradition is confirmed by internal evidence, for it has only two columns in a page, while capital letters of different sizes abound, and vermilion is frequently introduced—all marks of the period indicated.
How or when the Codex Vaticanus was brought to the Vatican Library is a matter that is altogether involved in obscurity. It probably formed part of the library in the Lateran Palace, which goes nearly as far back as the time of Constantine, and was transferred along with the other contents of that library to the Vatican in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V. We first hear of it distinctly in a letter written to Erasmus in 1533 by Sepulveda; although there is a somewhat obscure reference to it a few years earlier in the correspondence of the Papal librarian Bombasius with Erasmus. A Roman edition of the Septuagint portion based upon the Vatican MS. appeared in 1587. After that period to 1780 it was several times collated; among others, by Bartolocci, the Vatican librarian; by Bentley, who employed for the purpose the Abbate Mico and Rulotta; and by Birch of Copenhagen, who travelled under the auspices of the King of Denmark. Along with many of the best sculptures and most valuable art-treasures of the Vatican, the precious Codex was taken to Paris in 1810 by order of Napoleon Buonaparte, that unscrupulous robber of foreign palaces and churches for the aggrandisement of his own capital; and while there it was carefully examined by the celebrated critic, J.L. Hug, who was the first to determine, from the nature of its materials and its internal evidence, its very great antiquity. When it was restored, along with the other spoils of the great Roman Palace, it was sealed up by its jealous possessors, and could no longer be consulted for critical purposes. In 1843 Tischendorf could only see it for two days of three hours each. Tregelles, who went to Rome in 1845 for the special purpose of consulting the Codex, provided with a strongly-recommendatory letter of introduction from Cardinal Wiseman, was only permitted to see it, but not to transcribe any of its readings. His pockets, as he himself tells us, were searched, and his pen, ink, and paper taken away, before he was allowed to open it; and if he looked at a passage too long the manuscript was snatched rudely from his hands by the two prelates in watchful attendance. When Dean Alford, in 1861, made use of the manuscript for four days, his labours of collation were carried on in the face of much opposition from the librarian, who insisted that the order of Antonelli permitted him only to see the manuscript, but not to verify passages in it.
The reason alleged to the scholars of Europe for this childish jealousy was that the authorities of the Vatican were themselves preparing to publish a thorough collation, and they did not wish the glory of the achievement to pass away from Rome. Cardinal Mai began, indeed, to prepare an edition for publication in 1828; but it did not appear till 1857, three years after the cardinal's death, under the learned editorship of Vercellone. There was a rumour copied into the Edinburgh Review from Sir Charles Lyell's work on the United States, that the cardinal was prevented from publishing his work by Pope Gregory XVI., on account of its variations from the Vulgate, which had been solemnly sanctioned by the decrees of the Council of Trent and the Church's claims to infallibility. It was further asserted that he finally obtained permission to publish his edition on condition that he inserted within brackets the celebrated text 1 John v. 7, which was wanting in the manuscript. Whether this was true or not, it is certain that what the learned cardinal gave to the world was more an edition, a critical recension of the text, than a faithful transcript of the Vatican Codex. Although he had the MS. with him at his residence in the Palazzo Altieri—a circumstance which gave rise to the belief at the time that it had disappeared during the French occupation of Rome—he could only bestow upon the arduous task the scanty leisure available from more engrossing duties. The work was therefore so imperfectly done that the cardinal himself was reluctant to publish it; and the learned and honest Barnabite under whose editorial auspices it appeared was obliged to append a formidable list of errata, and to make a gentle apology in his preface for his friend's inaccuracies. But, with all its defects, the five quarto volumes of the cardinal's reprint has added largely to our critical knowledge of the Codex; and it derives a special interest from the circumstance that it was the first time the Greek Scriptures had ever been published in Rome.
Since then Tischendorf, during his second visit to the Eternal City, had an audience of Pope Pius IX., and offered to bring out at his own expense an edition of the Vatican Codex similar to that which he had prepared, under the auspices of the Russian emperor, of the Sinaitic Codex. This request the Pope refused, under the old pretext that he wished to publish such an edition himself. Tischendorf, however, was allowed to use the manuscript more freely than on the former occasion; though several times it was taken away from him, and his labours interrupted, because of alleged breaches of faith on his part. The result of this unusual privilege was that the great Textuary has issued by far the most accurate and satisfactory edition which we possess at present. Pius IX. carried out his intention of publishing a Roman edition in five volumes, printed by the famous press of the Propaganda. The New Testament instalment appeared under the editorship of Vercellone and Cozza in 1868; but Vercellone dying soon after, the subsequent volumes were prepared under less able supervision. The famous manuscript therefore labours under the disadvantage of uncertainty, there being no guarantee that any reading is really that of the original. And while the Alexandrine Codex has been reproduced by photography, and the Sinaitic Codex has been faithfully published, the exact palæography, or the genuine text as it stands, of the Vatican Codex is still a desideratum among scholars.
The total disappearance of all manuscripts previous to the Vatican Codex is a matter of surprise, for it has been calculated on sufficient evidence that many thousands of copies of the Gospels were circulated among Christians at the end of the second century. The loss may be attributed to the fact that the older manuscripts were written on less enduring materials. Previous to the second century the principal writing material was paper made of papyrus, a plant found at one time not only in Egypt, but also in the north of Palestine and various parts of southern Italy and Sicily, although now almost extirpated; and we have reason to believe, from one or two incidental notices in St. John's writings, that it was the material employed by the apostles themselves. This papyrus paper was of a very perishable nature, and manuscripts written on it, apart from the wear and tear of continual use, would succumb to the process of decay in a comparatively short period. We are indebted for the preservation of all the papyrus manuscripts that have come down to us from a remote antiquity to the fact of their having been kept in exceptionally favourable circumstances, as in the hermetically-sealed interiors of Egyptian tombs. Those exposed to the air have all disappeared ages ago. In the second century parchment was brought into common use as a writing material, and papyrus paper gradually fell into disuse. And with the change of material the shape of manuscripts was changed; the ancient form of the papyrus-roll giving place, in manuscripts written on parchment, to the form of books with leaves. How we should value the original rolls which contained the handwriting of the evangelists and apostles! With what profound interest should we gaze upon the signature and salutation of St. Paul affixed to the Epistles which he dictated to an amanuensis on account of his defective eyesight! How we should prize the apostolic autograph of the Epistle to the Galatians, of which the writer says, "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand." What a thrill would pass through us at the sight of those two pastoral Epistles, at the close of which St. John says,—"I had many things to write, but I will not with pen and ink write unto thee"! Our legitimate veneration, however, would be apt to pass over into idolatrous superstition. We should worship such precious documents as the early Christians worshipped the relics of the saints. It was, therefore, a wise providential arrangement that such a temptation should have been taken out of the way. All the original manuscripts of the sacred writings disappeared, on account of the fragile character of their materials, probably in a few years after the death of the writers, no special care having been taken to preserve them; and, as Dr. Westcott has remarked, not a single authentic appeal is made to them in the religious disputes regarding the exact words of certain passages in the Gospels and Epistles in the writings of the second century.
But though the Vatican Codex is the oldest manuscript of the New Testament in existence, it does not follow from that circumstance that it is the most reliable. Widely different views of its critical value are entertained by scholars. By some it has been accepted as the most authoritative of all versions, while others have regarded it as one of the most corrupt and imperfect. Indeed the conjecture has been hazarded that the very circumstance of its continued preservation during so many centuries is a proof that it was an unreliable copy long laid aside, and therefore exempt from the wear and tear under which genuine copies of the same date have long ago perished. These extreme views, however, are unjust. While it is not free from many gross inaccuracies and faults, it presents upon the whole a very fair idea of the Greek Vulgate of the early Church, and is worthy of as much respect at least as any single document in existence. The chief peculiarity of the Codex is the large number of important omissions in it; so that, as Dr. Dobbin says, it presents an abbreviated text of the New Testament. A few of these omissions were wilfully made, while the large majority were no doubt caused by the carelessness of the writer in transcribing from the copy before him; for there are several instances of his having written the same words and clauses twice over. On the supposition of the MS. being one of the fifty prepared at Constantine's order, the extreme haste with which such a task would be executed would account for the multitude of clerical errors. Besides the last verses of the Gospel of St. Mark already alluded to, and no less than three hundred and sixty-four other omissions in the same Gospel of greater or less moment, the doxology at the end of the Lord's Prayer, in Matthew vi. 13, is wanting; as also the description of the agony of the Saviour and the help of the angel in Luke xxii. 43, 44; the important clause, "For he was before me," in John i. 27; the miraculous troubling of the water in the Pool of Bethesda in John v. 3, 4; the narrative of the adulterous woman in John vii. 53 to viii. 11; the question of Philip and the answer of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts viii. 37; the significant and affecting incidents in Paul's conversion mentioned in Acts ix. 5, 6; and the well-known disputed text of the Three witnesses in Heaven, in 1 John v. 7. These omitted passages, which, from internal evidence, apart from the external testimony of the largest number of critical documents, we must acknowledge to be genuine, are the most serious of the lacunæ, amounting altogether to the extraordinary number of two thousand four hundred and fifty-six. They give the document a very distinctive character; while even the less striking disappearances from the text, which can only be apprehended on a close collation, more or less affect the sense. German critics have stamped several of these omissions with their approbation, especially those referring to the supernatural, owing to their well-known repugnance to the miraculous element in Scripture.
There are other peculiarities of the Codex which greatly interested me; but the discussion of them would require me to go too much into critical details. I must mention, however, the occasional use in the manuscript of a Latinised orthography. The name of Silvanus, for instance, mentioned in 1 Peter v. 12, is rendered into the Latinised Greek Silbanou, instead of Silouanou, the common Greek form; and in 2 Peter iii. 10, instead of the last word of the verse, katakaêsetai, "shall be burned up," occurs the singular word eurethesetai,—which means, "shall be found." The Syriac and one Egyptian version have the reading "shall not be found"; and either the "not" was accidentally omitted when the Vatican Codex was copied from an earlier exemplar that had that reading, or the writer had some confused idea of the Latin word urerentur, "shall be burnt up," in his mind, and adopted the word eurethesetai from its resemblance to it—as a Latin root with a Greek inflection. Some curious examples of Latin forms and constructions might be given; and this circumstance has led to the hypothesis that the origin of the Vatican manuscript might, after all, have been Italian, and not Alexandrian as is commonly supposed. The Codex has also been accused of theological bias; for in John i. 18, "only begotten God" is substituted for "only begotten Son." This is considered by some to be a reference to the polemics of the fourth century regarding the Arian doctrines; although this supposition would make it of later date. The order of the books of the New Testament in the Codex is different from that with which we are familiar. The Catholic Epistles from James to Jude follow the Acts, according to the order of the ancient Greek Church; then come the Pauline Epistles; and the Epistle to the Hebrews comes in between the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and First Timothy. Its sections, however, are numbered as if it had originally been placed between the Epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians; thus showing that this was the arrangement in the older document from which the Codex was copied. One of the Moscow manuscripts, it may be mentioned in connection with this novelty in location, places the Epistle to the Hebrews in a position as abnormal as in the Vatican manuscript—namely, before the Epistle to the Romans.
In the formation of the Received Text of our New Testament, the Vatican manuscript was not employed. The basis of the early printed editions—the Elzevir and those of Robert Stephens the celebrated Parisian printer—was the Greek New Testament of Erasmus, published in 1516, compiled with the aid of such manuscripts as he found at Basle, and the Complutensian Polyglot—so called after Complutum, the modern Alcala, in Spain, where it was printed in 1522, under the patronage of Cardinal Ximenes, whose text was said to have been formed from manuscripts sent from the Papal Library at Rome—the Vatican Codex certainly not being among the number, as abundantly appears from internal evidence. But though the Vatican manuscript was not employed in the construction of our Authorised Version, it has recently been used as the chief authority by the New Testament Revisers. Drs. Westcott and Hort have built up their Greek text with special deferential regard to it; and this exclusive devotion has been severely condemned by several critics, such as Dean Burgon, who regard it as an endeavour to balance a pyramid upon its apex. But apart from the contradictory views of such textuaries, there can be no doubt that the Vatican Codex has been of the greatest service in these later days in correcting the Authorised Version, and helping to restore the sacred text as nearly as possible to the purity of the original autographs. And it has added its most valuable testimony to that of the many other ancient manuscripts of the Sacred Writings in existence, that, notwithstanding unimportant variations of readings naturally caused by the great multiplication of copies, the sacred text from the time when it first appeared to the present has been preserved substantially uncorrupt; so that we have the same divine truth presented to us that was presented to the Christians of the ages immediately succeeding the time of the apostles.
With all these remarkable associations and points of interest connected with the Vatican manuscript, it is not to be wondered at that I should gaze upon it with a species of veneration. It transported me in imagination to a period when the canon of the New Testament was as yet in a state of flux. The evidence of the Muratorian fragment in the Ambrosian Library at Milan shows to us that the separate books of the New Testament had indeed been collected into one; and a belief in their Divine inspiration equally with the Old Testament Scriptures had begun to be entertained. But there was as yet no prevailing unanimity of opinion as to what books should be admitted into the Canon and what books should be excluded. No formal attempt had as yet been made to reconcile conflicting testimonies; or, if made, the recensions undertaken did not meet with general acceptance. Even a good many years afterwards, as late as at the Council of Laodicea in 361, doubts were still expressed as to the claims of the Apocalypse to canonicity. This book was not originally included in the Vatican Codex; for the manuscript copy of it bound up in the volume is of much later date, and in a different handwriting. And this hesitation regarding the full recognition of certain books, proves the great care that was exercised, and the deep sense of responsibility that was felt, in the collection of the other books. The formation of the sacred Canon was done gradually and imperceptibly; but the result to every thoughtful mind is more suggestive of the inspiration of that Spirit whose operation is like the wind that bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth—than if the process had been more formal and conspicuous.
‹ THE MARBLES OF ANCIENT ROME up ST. PAUL AT PUTEOLI ›

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday directed the Centre to stop the implementation of the 4.5% quota for minorities in the five election-bound states till the poll process is over.
The government had announced its decision to carve out the 4.5% sub-quota from the 27% reservation for OBCs on December 22, two days before poll dates were out and the model code of conduct kicked in.
In a retrospective decision, the EC has made the code applicable to the quota decision and instructed the ministry of personnel not to implement it in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
This comes fresh on the heels of the commission's notice to law minister Salman Khurshid for talking about doubling the sub-quota to 9%.
"It has been brought to our notice that the Centre has carved out a 4.5% sub-quota for minorities in violation of the code of conduct and it should be stopped," an EC statement said.
Commission officials said the objective was to ensure a "level playing field" for all parties. The panel felt the government's decision would impact the poll process in UP, where Muslims constitute 18% of the population.
"We will represent in an appropriate manner... to convince the commission there is no illegality or impropriety. We are confident our point of view will be understood and accepted," Congress' Abhishek Singhvi said.
The BJP has called the quota decision a "second Partition".


Hustle and Grind Tour featuring Too $hort, T.I. and many more!
HUSTLE AND GRIND WITH TOO $HORT AND T.I.
Don't miss Too $hort and T.I. along with specials guests Clyde Carson, Keak da Sneak, Dru Down + more on June 29th! Tickets on sale starting Wednesday, May 16th at 10 am.


Barnfind; Triumph T120R Bonneville from 1970, the most demanded model. Bike runs and rides and has Dutch registration an matching numbers. Has been standing for a long time so has to be checked technicaly or to be restored by new owner.


First we will learn about AD or Administrative Distance.
Administrative distance (AD) is a router's feature to choose best way when there are two or more than way to reach same destination with two different routing protocol. Administrative distance shows reliability from a routing protocol.
Every routing protocol being priority from another with value Administrative Distance (AD) Help.
The more smaller AD, the more high the value. If there are two or more routing protocol that run and send to same network, routing protocol will being choose with the smallest AD.
Please click in a picture to enlarge the picture.
In Routing protocol, u also must know about Load Balancing.
Have u ever heard about Load Balancing?
Load Balancing is distribution of traffic to two interface or more with same network destination.
Load Balancing is divide with 2 type: Equal Cost Load Balancing and Unequal Cost Load Balancing.
if there are more than 1 way send to same network destination with same metric, the traffic load will being divide equal.
if the metric is different, it must being done with routing protocol (IGRP & EIGRP).
To show in a network using load balancing or not, we can use command "show ip route".
Let's take a break a little.
after this, we will continue explain more about Distant Vector Routing Protocol.


Operates and maintains digital and analog electronics devices, repairs and troubleshoots assemblies to the module level. Documents maintenance efforts. This position typically works under close supervision and direction.
* Reads and interpret complex schematics, engineering drawings, work orders, technical manuals, and specifications.
* Initializes and determines readiness of electronic devices for correct operations.
* Analyzes and interprets device operations for malfunctions, replace spares, troubleshoot faults after isolation and repair modules with component parts.
* Prepares and maintains appropriate and required records.
* Use general purpose test equipment, basic hand tools and special tooling as required.
* May serve as Lead and assume additional responsibilities as assigned.
Two-year college degree, or equivalent, in electronics, computer science, information systems and/or related technical school, plus a minimum of two years of related experience. Must be able to become solder certified. Literate in computer usage. Good written and oral communication skills. Ability to follow written and verbal directions, prioritize work, complete multiple tasks, work under deadlines, concentrate and apply craft skills. Ability to read and interpret technical material. Must be able to lift 50 Lbs. Ability to walk, stand and sit for extended periods, and to climb stairs.
Cubic Corporation (Cubic) designs, develops and manufactures products, which are mainly electronic in nature, provides government services and services related to products previously produced by Cubic and others. The Company's principal lines of business are defense electronics and transportation fare collection systems. Principal customers for defense products and services are the United States and foreign governments. It operates in two segments: transportation systems and defense. Transportation fare collection systems are sold primarily to large local government agencies in the United States and worldwide. The Company's products include equipment for use in customized military range instrumentation, training and applications systems, simulators, communications and surveillance systems, surveillance receivers, power amplifiers and avionics systems, and automated revenue collection systems. In July 2008, Cubic announced the acquisition of Omega Training Group, Inc.
This company profile was created by AfterCollege and is about Cubic Corporation. This page is not endorsed by or affiliated with Cubic Corporation. For questions regarding company profiles, please email: care@aftercollege.com.


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Flagging Down Taxi Drivers To Sign Up For Obamacare : Shots - Health News Supporters of the Affordable Care Act are working in Chicago and several other cities to sign up cabbies for health insurance as the March 31 open enrollment deadline nears.
There are more than 200,000 taxicab drivers in the U.S. And in a few big cities, supporters of the Affordable Care Act are working to sign up cabbies before this month's deadline. Taxi companies do not offer health insurance, since most drivers are considered independent contractors.
NPR's Cheryl Corley hailed a cab to get the lowdown.
CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: There are some 12,000 cab drivers in the city of Chicago. I'm just about to hop in a cab now, here on Chicago's State Street.
I'm going to Navy Pier, the back side.
My cabdriver, Dan Ware, has been driving a taxicab for more than a decade.
DAN WARE: Ten years. I stopped counting at 10 years. I think I'm a little over that, though.
CORLEY: But after years of driving, he still doesn't have what many jobs offer.
WARE: Yeah, I'm without health coverage. No health coverage.
CORLEY: And that's not unusual, says Chicago Public Health Commissioner Bechara Choucair.
BECHARA CHOUCAIR: What we know in Chicago is that around 70 percent of taxi drivers are uninsured.
CORLEY: That means about 8,000 cabbies could be eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Commissioner Choucair says a couple of years ago, a study here showed taxi drivers had plenty of health problems, largely due to the long hours they spend behind the wheel.
CHOUCAIR: They don't eat as healthy. They don't exercise as much. And those are definitely risk factors for diabetes, for heart disease, for strokes.
CORLEY: Add to that chronic back issues that can come from sitting, and health problems caused by traffic accidents. So now, enrollment workers are signing up taxicab drivers for ObamaCare at the facility where cabbies obtain or renew their city chauffeur's license.
SALVADOR CERNA: We've been enrolling an average of between five and nine people onsite.
CORLEY: Salvador Cerna is an outreach manager for the state. He says others make appointments to get help enrolling, and there are plenty here who want assistance. Ejaz Waheed has gone without health insurance for nearly a decade.
EJAZ WAHEED: Back in 2005, I was with a regular job, so I had it. Then I became self-employed, and I lost insurance.
CORLEY: Ghulam Memon began driving in 1994, and shares a similar story.
GHULAM MEMON: My wife has Medicare and Medicaid both, because she's 65-plus. I'm, like, 60 years, and I don't have anything.
CORLEY: So he's exploring his options, as is 24-year-old Orkhan Askarov. He was applying for his first taxicab license, and says he'll also apply for health insurance.
ORKHAN ASKAROV: And guarantee that if anything happen to me, I'm going to be on good hands.
ANNE FILIPIC: Our focus right now is to get the word out. We know that a lot of people still don't have all the facts and don't know, for example, that financial assistance is available. So we want to meet them where they are and get them the information that they need.
CORLEY: In Philadelphia, where there are about 5,000 taxi drivers, many cabbies are getting their information at the headquarters of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania. President Ronald Blount says, until now, many simply couldn't afford health insurance at all.
RONALD BLOUNT: Most drivers in Philadelphia are earning less than $5 per hour, 12 to 16 hours per day, six to seven days per week.
CORLEY: Blount calls the Affordable Care Act a godsend, and says about 700 taxi drivers have already signed up there.
BLOUNT: Drivers were finding plans as cheap as $35, to maybe $60 per month. That's something they can afford, and these are really good health plans.
CORLEY: And that's a boon for many cabbies who may take an easier route and seek out medical help early for any of the ailments that come from driving a taxi.


This old farm is about to be torn down and made into a public park to be used by the residents of Piscataway. It has been "in progress" now for years. I wish I knew more about he project, but will hate to see some of Piscataway's history disappear. So few farms are left….
I hope to return to shoot this location on a cloudy gloomy day…. more later then, I suppose.
Hope to include the rest of the images from this shoot – I've been wanting to get out there for a while now. I went on a bright sunny day….but I want to return & shoot it again when it's cloudy and dreary out. It will better suit the situation I think. Stay tuned….
Not looking quite as promising to get out & about today. As I have a closer look, the rainy day has me thinking it might be a good time to wash these filthy windows… (haha)… Or maybe curl up with a good book. Stay dry.
I wandered along the shore for quite a while today, enjoying the wind and sun on my face. It was a great day for people watching… thrill seekers out in the freezing water surfing the rough water, some found a quiet place to watch – grab a quick bite & read a bit, some were meeting up with friends, taking a bike ride, walking the pooch, running along the boardwalk, shopping among the quaint boutiques, visiting in a nearby cafe, working while gazing out over the ocean, and a few were chatting with "the guys" outside the local restaurant in adirondack chairs…. the village was hopping. Good stuff! Soon the shore will be jammed with beach-goers… very soon indeed, I suspect.
Beautiful days like today beckon us to venture outdoors to have a look around….
Plenty of evidence that Spring is just around the corner. Thankful for warm weather and sunshine which is so rare in the middle of February. Get outside – go for a walk – even if it is just around the yard! Take in a deep breath of "almost Spring" air and enjoy!


We are pleased with this ruling from the Saskatchewan court late last week, which found in favour of Manulife in the Mosten case, dismissing Mosten's claims against Manulife. As we have previously stated, we were always confident we would ultimately prevail in this matter and that it would not have any material impact on the Company's business.
This is consistent with our position that this case was legally unfounded and commercially absurd, and that consumers purchasing universal life policies, and the insurers issuing these policies, never intended to have the policies function as deposit or securities contracts.


This is an interview with Michael Tsarion on Coast to Coast AM, by George Noory, back from July 12, 2004.
Michael Tsarion is a New Age researcher and alternative historian who has written and spoken extensively on the occult, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, extraterrestrial life, Atlantis, the origins of life, and civilization.
George Noory is a radio talk show host, who took over as main host of Coast to Coast AM in 2003 after the previous host, Art Bell, retired. Coast to Coast AM is an incredible radio show; While program content varies, most nights are focused on topics such as the occult, remote viewing, hauntings, shadow people, the undead, psychic reading, metaphysics, conspiracy theories, UFOs, Area 51, crop circles, Cryptozoology, Hollow Earth theories, etc.


No matter how strong and beautiful your hair appear to you, pay careful attention to their hair care regimen to grow keep them at its best. Taking care of your hair becomes more important when you have a coarse, thin, curly, treated, damaged, dry, dull and oily hair. This section has hair care tips for all the hair types. Besides, you get to know more about natural hair care and remedies for hair care.Know about the effective ways of hair care at home using natural ingredients.Also get the expert tips on natural hair care.Visit this exclusive section and get solution for all your hair problems.
Are you still figuring out how to treat hair fall? Here are the best ways to treat hair fall with one simple and common ingredient- Onion. Read on to know different ways to use onion to promote hair growth.
It might be very stressful when you see hair everywhere. Hair fall has now become a common problem. Your few habits can also contribute to hair fall. Here some habits which you can change to stop hair fall.
Worried about hair fall? Try these essential oils and fight hair fall. You can treat other hair problems as well with these essential oils.
To avoid all those short-term solutions to increase the volume of your hair, here are nine easy hairstyles that can help you add volume to your hair.
Lack of nutrients can lead to severe hair loss and even damage your hair quality. Iron is one of the major nutrients required to maintain hair health. Iron deficiency and hair loss are related in many ways. If the deficiency is very severe you may also notice bald spots on your scalp.


text:
Organ, Eye & Tissue Donation
Community Blood Donation
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Enroll as an Organ, Eye and Tissue Donor
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Enroll as an Organ, Eye, & Tissue Donor
The Gift of Life comes in many different ways through many different stories, personalities, lives, and backgrounds. Through organ and tissue donation, you have the capability to save and enhance the lives of up to 100 people. Few things we leave behind in life could be as important.
To register as an organ and tissue donor, follow these important steps. Please remember that signing the back of your driver's license is not enough! Although it is an act in support of donation, it does not enroll you in the electronic statewide database readily accessible by hospitals and procurement organizations.
STEP 1: Tell your family of your intention to donate. This is the most important step.
STEP 2: Complete the Donate Life Registry form online.
Frequently Asked Questions about the NYS Donate Life Registry
How can I be certain that my information in the registry will remain confidential?
Registry information is kept strictly confidential and can only be accessed by 1) Department of Heath employees when required for the performance of their official duties, 2) federally regulated organ procurement organizations such as ConnectLife, 3) New York State licensed tissue and eye banks and 4) other entities formally approved by the Commissioner of Health. Such access can only be for the purpose of identifying potential organ, tissue, and eye (cornea) donors at or near the time of death.
Is there any age restriction on joining the registry?
A 2017 New York State law now allows 16 and 17 year olds to register as organ, eye and tissue donors. Prior to this legislation, the minimum age required for enrollment was eighteen.
What do you mean when you say this is a registry of legal consent?
By enrolling in the New York State Donate Life Registry, you become a designated donor. It means that you are giving legal consent for the recovery of your organs, tissues and eyes for the purposes of transplantation and research at the time of your death. Your legally binding decision may not be overturned by any other person. It ensures that your decision will be shared with your next-of-kin or other authorized person; the donation process will be explained to them in great detail.
I am currently enrolled in the New York State Life Pass it On Registry – should I enroll in the Donate Life Registry? What is the difference?
The Life Pass It on Registry was established in 1999 as a registry of intent: It recorded someone's intention to be an organ, tissue, and eye donor. Intent registries require permission from next-of-kin or other authorized parson for donation to proceed in the event of the potential donor's death. In 2006, a new law created the New York State Donate Life Registry: a registry that records an individual's own legal consent to organ, tissue, and eye donation upon their death. To ensure that your decision to be an organ, tissue, and eye donor is honored, you must enroll in the Donate Life Registry.
How can I confirm that I am registered, make changes to my information or withdraw from the Donate Life Registry?
To find out about your New York State Donate Life Registry status, to make changes to your enrollment informationor to remove your name from the registry, you can contact Donate Life New York State at 1-866-NY-DONOR or registry@donatelife.ny.gov
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What Apple Knows That Facebook Doesn't.
Business week has an interesting article on the economics of platforms. Interesting, but flawed. They compare two platforms (Facebook, and Apple's mobile platform). The argument goes roughly as follows: Apple is using it's platform to create a new market by being open and Facebook is using traditional methods of using the market as a control point. Apple is creating an open market and Facebook is making an open market more closed. The author even goes as far as to associate the keywords good and evil here.
The article is flawed because in fact Apple is not creating an open market. They have been removing applications that don't fit their business model (e.g. anything VOIP related) and are still keeping people from writing about the APIs because NDA has not been lifted yet. Apple is acting as a dictator here. That it is a mostly benevolent one doesn't matter. It doesn't sound very open to me in any case. Or very new.
Sure, their platform is pretty nice and their online shop pretty usable. That's definitely disruptive to the mobile industry, which is not used to good quality platforms and well designed use-cases such as online shops for applications. However, there's a pretty big market for mobile applications and most people writing for the iphone don't do so exclusively and instead target multiple mobile platforms. You can download several VOIP applications for S60 or mobile windows and other platforms, as well as numerous games, productivity apps, etc. Then there is J2ME of course with a few billion phones in the market right now. You might say it is crappy but it has a huge reach. Incidentally, Apple also blocks components from their shop that would enable people to run J2ME applications since an open source Java platform has in fact been ported long before Apple even 'opened' up their platform. That's right, a good old case of reverse engineering. Apple's platform is quite unique in the sense that people were developing for it long before Apple decided to hand out developer kits.
Facebook indeed is also not very open but they were first to a market that they created, which is pretty big by now. As a viral way of spreading new services to users it is pretty much unrivaled so far. It is Google that has created a competition for more openness with their Open Social platform, which is in many ways similar but has open specifications and may be implemented freely by other social networks. Both Google and Facebook have a very similar centralized identity model that is designed to lock users into their mutual platforms (Google Friends Connect & Facebook Connect). Google is maybe being somewhat more smart about it but they are after the same things here: making sure trafic flows through their services so that they can sell ads.
So, Facebook's model is advertisement driven and Apple's business is operator driven. Apple makes most of their money from deals with operators who subsidize iphones and give Apple a share of the subscription revenue. That's brilliant business and Apple protects it by removing any application from their shop that has conflicting interests with this revenue stream.
However, the key point of the article that the platform serves as a market creation tool is interesting. Apple managed to create an impressive amount of revenue (relative to their tiny market share of the overall mobile market) and Facebook has managed to create a huge market for Facebook applications. Both are being challenged by competitors who have no choice to be more open.
Interestingly, Google is competing on both fronts and can be seen as the primary threat to both Apple and Facebook's platforms. Google could end up opening up the mobile market for real because it is not protecting any financial interests there but instead are trying to spawn a mobile internet market. Android is designed from the ground up to do just that. It needs to be good enough for developers, users and operators and Google has worked hard to balance interests enough so as to not alienate any of these.
All three are fighting for the favours of developers. Developers, developers, developers! (throws chair across the room & jumps like a monkey). That too is not new although Microsoft seems to have forgotten about them lately.


High level process mapping can be used to identify opportunites and a variety of tools can be applied to analyse and deliver improvements. From data driven statistical approaches to a "just do it" attack, each Lean Project will deliver measurable and sustainable improvements.
There's always a better way! No matter how efficient you believe your business processes to be, there's always room for improvement. You probably already know what needs attention? Or, a top level overview may be required to identify opportunities? Establish where you're at and take action to find a better way.
Analyse processes to eliminate waste, reduce lead time and minimise working capital. Apply this simple approach to any and all areas of business. Identify where there's a need to improve, set targets aligned with high level strategy and define Lean Projects to deliver results. Apply Lean techniques and tools to create a more agile, responsive environment focused on the customer.
Improved on-time delivery. Better service levels. Shorter lead times. Higher quality. Increased safety. Reduced costs. Greater productivity. Customer focused processes. A continuous improvement culture and a Lean Enterprise is the goal.


Tenders - The Unsung Heroes by Ralph Shanks Jr.
Lighthouses with their humanitarian keepers and ghost stories are well known to many. Lightships, though less popular, also have a wide following. But there is one aspect of the Lighthouse Service and its successor, the Coast Guard, that has been sadly neglected - the tender. Under the U.S. Lighthouse Service it was known as a Lighthouse Tender. Under the Coast Guard they are known as buoy tenders. This vessel tends buoys, hauls supplies, conducts search and rescue and law enforcement operations and sails in harms way. Under the USLHS tenders also towed lightships to station (prior to powered light vessels) and transferred the keepers, their families and possessions from station to station. The tender was the vehicle used by the District Inspector for his yearly white glove inspection of light stations.
The ships were not large, generally ranging from 90 feet or less on up to 200 feet or so in length. Although it varied with vessel size, most tenders averaged around 20 crewmen and a half dozen officers. A large boom was prominently mounted on the forward buoy deck and was used to work buoys and supplies.
It was common to see one or more buoys on the buoy deck as the vessel cruised along the coast. The larger tenders worked the open sea and dangerous offshore light stations. Smaller tenders serviced buoys, day marks and echo boards on bays and rivers. Interestingly light stations, even in protected waters, were usually supplied by the larger tenders and these ships are most commonly remembered by lighthouse families.
If you were an early light keeper (or spouse), the arrival of the lighthouse tender had great significance. First of all, it usually carried your pay during the days when gold coin was used. Secondly, it brought mail and news of friends and relatives. Third, the tender had on board your very means of survival – the vital supplies of food, fuel, medical aids, repair parts, and much more that you needed for the coming months.
The District Lighthouse Superintendent, the lighthouse inspector, was often on board, too. Many inspectors were men of the highest standards and they checked every inch of the light station. Captain Harry Rhodes of the 12th district in California was a legend in his own time. (See "Keeper's Log" Summer, 1985 for his photo). Captain Rhodes wore white gloves during his inspections and he ran them behind coal burning stoves and on top of doorsills looking for dust. He inspected the lens and lamps and the coal shed and the laundry. Old timekeepers swear that a supply clerk once accidentally issued 13 pencils instead of the regular dozen. The tender was requested to return the extra pencil on its next visit.
Captain Rhodes was strict, but his high standards helped earn the Lighthouse Service its prestigious reputation. It was his and his fellow District Superintendent's regular calls by lighthouse tender that enforced such high standards and tied the light stations to headquarters.
Family life, too, was linked closely to the lighthouse tender. It was on board such a vessel that the young keeper and his bride typically reached their first lighthouse home. Later, the tender would sometimes bring pregnant wives ashore to have their baby or, alternatively, bear the welcome face of a mother or aunt to the remote station to help with the anticipated birth. A child's first trip was usually by tender and it was on such a ship that treasured Christmas presents arrived. If a youngster was sent away to boarding school, as many light keeping families were forced to do, it was the lighthouse tender's arrival that symbolized entering the outside world. When there was a medical emergency, the doctor arrived on the tender. All through the decades, on shore leaves, station transfers, visits to the doctor or dentist, and trips to headquarters it was the appearance of the tender that was associated in memory with the moment. And, yes, when a keeper finally crossed over the bar, he or she made their last voyage on a lighthouse tender.
The lightship crews looked to the tender as well. Moored for endless months off America's coasts, these men often lived for the day when the tender arrived with mail, newspapers, and fresh food. Since the lightship wasn't going anywhere, the only way the lightship crewman was likely to get off the vessel was when relief crewmen arrived regularly by tender. Even if the lightship was scheduled to return to port for repairs, during the early days it had to be towed in by lighthouse tender since many lightships were unpowered until later years.
Navigational aids largely indicate the limits of where ships may go. They commonly mark the edges of channels, the presence of hidden dangers, the location of a sunken ship, or some other hazard. Buoys, lighthouses, and lightships all may mark a channel, but they are also telling ships to stay away from some nearby danger. It was in just such areas that the lighthouse tender had to routinely work, going where no other ship was supposed to go. Her reward was improved safety at sea for other vessels, but tenders often paid the heavy price of a ripped out hull.
Given such heroism and service, it is sad that lighthouse tenders (and their buoy tender offspring) have not received more recognition. They were the very life-blood of the Lighthouse Service, a lifeline linking isolated stations to civilization. We are making steady progress in preserving lighthouses. Likewise, lightships are displayed from Nantucket Island to Astoria, Oregon. But the ship most commonly used by lighthouse keepers remains tragically overlooked. I can find no listing of a maritime museum anywhere in the country, which owns a lighthouse tender, although I would be delighted to be proven wrong. Be that as it may, lighthouse (and buoy) tenders desperately need to be included in our historic preservation work.
The U.S. Lighthouse Service built lighthouse tenders right up through its merger into the Coast Guard in 1939. Among the very last built was the beautiful tender Fir. Construction was started by the Lighthouse Service and she was launched by the Coast Guard as a buoy tender. Thus, this historic ship spans both Services and links them closely together. The Fir was the culmination of lighthouse tender design and the foundation for modern Coast Guard buoy tender development. Her classic lines, graceful hull, traditional bridge, and proud bow all combine to make her the best example of a lighthouse tender afloat today.
Currently based in Seattle, retired Coast Guard Commandant Admiral J. S. Gracey called her "The last of a breed." I believe that her preservation has national importance, as do those of us who share our love of the Lighthouse Service and the Coast Guard. Lighthouse tenders have been overlooked in past preservation projects and the need is critical.


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Lighter Than My Shadow Creator KATIE GREEN Joins @lionforge At #NYCC 2018
Simon October 1, 2018 Comic Book Industry, Comic News, Comic-Books, Comicbooks, Comics, Convention, Convention Connection, Lion Forge, Lion Forge Solicitations, NeW York Comic Con, NYCC, Panels, Uncategorized
Just over a week ahead of the opening of the exhibit hall at New York Comic Con 2018, Lion Forge is proud to announce hosting artist Katie Green in her first-ever consumer convention appearance stateside!
"I am beyond excited, though I really have no idea what to expect," says Katie Green. "I'm looking forward to the experience of a lifetime, and it's such an honor to be able to be there because of my book."
"I first saw Lighter Than My Shadow when it was published in the U.K., and when I went to Lion Forge, I knew that it would be the perfect home for the book and for Katie Green," says Lion Forge's VP of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, Rich Johnson. "I am proud that I played a part in bringing her amazing story and beautiful art to a new audience."
Katie Green's 2017 Lion Forge graphic novel is nominated for the Harvey Award for Book of the Year, with the award to be given out on Saturday, October 6. A complete list of nominees can be found here.
Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak they prey on the weak, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure and to eventually find happiness.
Lighter Than My Shadow, Green's moving memoir, will be available for purchase in the Lion Forge booth, with signings throughout the show. Days and times are outlined below:
Health and the Challenges That Inspire Authors
Many graphic memoirs share a common theme of mental health issues that the subject has encountered as a spouse, child, or family member, or that they have overcome or continue to deal with. This session will explore the ideas that inspired these creators to share this experience. How can educators and librarians use these stories as a way to either instill compassion and empathy or to help that reader find a way to resolve their own challenges?
Time: 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Location: New York Public Library, 476 5thAve. – Trustees Room
Speakers: Lys Galati, Andi Green, Katie Green, Tracy White, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Chris Hunt
Lighter Than My Shadow signing (Booth #1936)
Time: 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Lion Forge Presents: Representation in Graphic Storytelling—From the Comic Shop to the Tabletop
Lion Forge Comics strives to publish comics and more that everyone—regardless of background, ethnicity, or gender identification—can connect with. With multiple imprints, including an entire line of books for younger readers and one of the most diverse superhero universes in comics history, the St. Louis publisher makes good on that promise every Wednesday. Join Lion Forge's Senior Publicist Jeremy Atkins, Rolled & Told editor Christina "Steenz" Stewart, Katie Green (Lighter Than My Shadow), writer and artist Joel Christian Gill (Strange Fruit), writer David F. Walker (Superb), and McDuffie Award winner Ezra Claytan Daniels (Upgrade Soul) for a discussion on what inclusivity and representation truly means for the worlds of comics, gaming, and pop culture at large.
Location: 1A02
Speakers: Jeremy Atkins, Christina "Steenz" Stewart, David F. Walker, Katie Green, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Joel Christian Gill
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Now reading: Anna Atkins
In October 1843, the great botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799–1871) wrote a letter to a friend. "I have lately taken in hand a rather lengthy performance," revealed Atkins. "It is the taking photographical impressions of all, that I can procure, of the British algae and confervae, many of which are so minute that accurate drawings of them are very difficult to make." Atkins proceeded to inquire whether a mutual acquaintance, also interested in aquatic plants, would care to receive a copy of her recently completed book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.
Atkins learned of photography through its British inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot. Only months after Talbot patented his most successful photographic process, in 1841, Atkins and her father, a respected scientist, decided to replicate the "talbotype" at their home. "My daughter and I," Atkins's father wrote to Talbot, "shall set to work in good earnest 'till we completely succeed in practicing your invaluable process." Ultimately, it was a different photographic process—the cyanotype—that captivated Atkins. Developed by her friend and neighbor Sir John Herschel, the cyanotype process produced blue-and-white prints that Atkins prized for their sharp contours and striking colors. Atkins added hundreds of new plates to Photographs of British Algae throughout the 1840s and early 1850s, all the while refining cyanotype chemical solutions and exposure times.
After completing Photographs of British Algae in 1853, Atkins turned from aquatic to terrestrial plants. The same year, she began to produce cyanotypes of ferns, including Polypodium Phegopteris (1853), Aspidium Lobatium (1853), and Pteris Rotundifolia (Jamaica) (1853). As in the algae cyanotypes, each fern is arrayed on a simple ground, its stems and leaves—and, in some cases, roots—captured with clarity and precision. Perhaps inspired by her first book, Atkins gathered many of these prints in Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Plants and Ferns (1853), widely considered her most accomplished publication.
More about Anna Atkins
Buy our digital cyanotype prints inspired by Anna Atkins.
Sutton Hoo & The Dig


For the cat or dog lover in your life, these books are the best present. If you love animals, you love reading stories about the crazy, funny and heroic antics of your pet of choice.
I read I Can't Believe My Dog Did That and have been laughing out loud. A few times I couldn't stop snickering for a while. I still snicker when I think of the dog that was shut in the laundry room when they went out and they came back to find him in the washing machine.
Most of the stories are funny or amazing but there was at least one heartbreaking one. I was not prepared for that and was deeply upset. I would have preferred it wasn't included or at least had a warning before it. Otherwise the rest of the stories were great and I gifted the cat one to a cat lover friend.
As is common with Chicken Soup books, the stories are separated into chapters but the chapter names are not very descriptive so it was still "blind" reading.