Sourced directly from the farmers, h& roasted by one of our master artisan roasters, & roasted to order for optimal freshness. Beverage Type: Coffee; Flavor: Cafe Domingo; Packing Type: Bag; Capacity (Weight): 16 oz.
100% pure coffee using premium coffee beans. Roasted to exacting specifications to create a gourmet coffee. Beverage Type: Coffee; Flavor: Morning Blend; Packing Type: Bag; Capacity (Weight): 2 oz.
100% pure coffee using premium coffee beans. Roasted to exacting specifications to create a gourmet coffee. Beverage Type: Coffee; Flavor: Dark Roast; Packing Type: Bag; Capacity (Weight): 2 oz.
100% pure coffee using premium coffee beans. Roasted to exacting specifications to create a gourmet coffee. Beverage Type: Coffee; Flavor: Original; Packing Type: Bag; Capacity (Weight): 1.5 oz.


Long-term strategic and commercial partnerships with major industry operators and leaders are an important focus for Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) as it works to showcase and deliver Queensland experiences, packages and products to key target markets across Queensland, Australia and the world.
TEQ works to build relationships with stakeholders in the events and tourism industry to support the goal of achieving $30 billion in annual overnight visitor expenditure by 2020.
If you are interested in discussing commercial partnership opportunities please contact TEQ.


Life's little annoyances. Last night, I needed to find directions for a practice for my daughter. So I googled the place and came up with their Facebook page, went to the info page and clicked get directions. Well the directions were completely and totally wrong, like at least 45 minutes extra driving wrong. When I finally arrived at my destination (a half hour late for an hour long practice), I mentioned something at the desk thinking that this might be something they would want to fix. First they told me that they already had Bing fix this problem. Umm, no obviously you haven't. Then I showed them the link on my phone and they told me that was their old Facebook page. And I'm supposed to know this how??? Their attitude was totally, yeah so what do to want us to do about it??? I didn't want anything from them (well, an acknowledgement would have been nice), I just wanted to let them know that this problem was out there. Now I hope they keep it up there and annoy more customers.
Technology continued. A friend of mine put the following comment on the blog yesterday, "YIKES remember when we had to worry if the windows were open while yelling at our kids now we have technology." It reminded of this time years ago when my nieces were over. They were in the woods behind my house when their mom came to pick them up. One of my teenage neighbors asked me if I wanted her to call them on her cell phone. I told her that I would do it the old fashioned way and opened the door and yelled to them as loud as I could. They came back.
My so called vacation. I said to my husband last week during my vacation that I was more tired this week than if I had gone to work. During the vacation, I cleaned out the attic, the basement, and my daughters' room. Plus we rearranged their room so that one of them now sleeps on the 4' x 18' loft in their room which you can imagine involved moving all her furniture up 8 feet in the air. So very tiring week but very satisfying as well.
The date before the one with you had gone so badly - egoist, smoker, bad breath - that I'd vowed to delete my profile the next morning. Except when I went to do it, I realized that I only had eight days left in the billing cycle. So I gave it eight days. You emailed me on the sixth.
I am finding it unique and very clever.
Happy Friday everyone, enjoy the weekend!
Sometimes you read a book and have a WOW moment, or several of them. The book "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink is one of those books for me. It is about motivation and what works and what doesn't. My first WOW moment was "Try to encourage a kid to learn math by paying her for each workbook page she completes - and she'll almost certainly become diligent in the short term and lose interest in math in the long term." Apparently I agreed with this even before I read it since this is what I wrote in a letter a couple of years about the summer reading program for my kids' elementary school (by the way, I resend this letter every year): "I don't agree with programs like these. Though well intentioned, I feel that they are ultimately detrimental to a child's learning process. Children have a natural curiosity about the world around them and I feel that a results based program teaches them that things only have value if you measure them and get rewarded for them."
Reading "Drive" helped me to validate my instincts regarding my children's education and my business. I love to read and feel that it is one of the great joys of life and I want my kids to feel the same. Instead of pushing them to complete summer reading programs, I have tried to engage them in books in a variety of different ways. For the most part, I have been successful. All our children love to read, in spite of (or maybe because of) me refusing to force them to participate in the summer reading program. My oldest daughter, who has been subject to this particular parental instinct the longest, is a voracious reader, and often begs me to take her to the library. She almost never leaves home without a book, and if she does, will complain if she has 5 free minutes and nothing to read.
Here's a picture of the pile of books that I need to return to the library later today so you can see that I practice what I preach. Although ironically enough, the top book is my other daughter's summer reading book. My kids don't really like it if I complain about summer reading once they get to middle school. Since I feel strongly that part of growing up is making your own choices, once they get to middle school, I let them decide whether they are going to read the book or not.
As far as my photography is concerned, I am going to try to let my instincts guide me. You'll know where I'm headed as soon as I do!


text:
Teachers at the centre: the role and needs of Asia-Pacific teachers in addressing violence and school-related gender-based violence; Thematic brief
UNESCO Office Bangkok
UNESCO Office Bangkok and Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific
School violence refers to physical, psychological, and sexual violence that takes place in school, on the way to school, online, and wherever school relationships exist. Some forms of school violence may be explicitly or implicitly gender-based. School related gender-based violence (SRGBV ) is defined as acts or threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated as a result of harmful gender norms and stereotypes, and enforced by unequal power dynamics (UNESCO and UN Women, 2016). In a holistic approach to addressing school violence, including SRGBV, teachers have key roles at multiple levels. Drawing primarily on two recent studies, this brief highlights the experiences and voices of teachers in the Asia-Pacific region and argues for greater investment in teachers' professional development in violence prevention and response, as well as improvements in supportive structures in the education system.
School Violence and Bullying
Teachers at the centre : the role and needs of Asia-Pacific teachers in addressing violence and school-related gender-based violence; Thematic brief
Safe to learn: what do teachers think and do about violence in schools?
Around 35,000 teachers, 81% of whom were from Latin America, were surveyed for a UNESCO study as part of the Safe to Learn initiative to end violence in schools.
Lynne Sergeant 31 Jan 2023
Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions
In the present paper, we discuss the prevalence, age and gender differences, and various types of bullying, as well as why it happens and how long it lasts, starting from the large surveys carried out in western countries and to a lower extent in low- and middle-income countries. We will also focus on risk factors as well as short- and long-term outcomes of bullying and victimisation. Finally, a section will be dedicated to review what is known about effective prevention of bullying.
SandraFritz 30 Jan 2023

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Rhapsodes, Bards, and Bricoleurs: Homerizing Literary Theory
Egbert J. Bakker
Alcuni aspetti cultuali dell'aretalogia di Sarapide del poeta Maiistas
Volume 19	30 November 2021
The Aretalogy of Sarapis by Maiistas: Some Literary Remarks
La presenza giudaica e samaritana a Delo: i documenti e il dibattito…
The study of Homer has now for at least two centuries been a matter of determining how the Poet could say what he says no less than what he says. The discussion of ways and means, of the production, reception, and transmission of the epic tale, has at times clashed with the study of the poems' content, narrative structure, or their poet's intent. On the battlefield of the Homeric Question, the viewpoints related to the "how" and to the "what" have lined up as opposing camps whose cause and interests reflect the changing concerns of Homeric scholarship while staying at the same time remarkably constant. The Unitarians have been pitted against the Analysts, the Originalists against the Traditionalists, the Scripsists against the Oralists, and most recently Evolution and Intelligent Design have crossed swords in the Homeric arena.
The strife is not so much superimposed on Homer; the strife is Homer. Homer is so unknown and so unknowable as a historical poet that two virtually irreconcilable positions are forced upon the community of Homer's professional readers. The unreachable poet either becomes an entirely transcendental concept, a divine creator outside the scope of any historical research, or he comes to be identified with the poems themselves, with the mechanisms that not only were instrumental in their development but that also sustained their transmission and survival.
The transcendental Homer, who precedes the poems in time as the source from which they spring, is the "first" and the "best," the unsurpassed and unrivalled beginning of Greek literature and of the entire Western literary tradition. In a popular modern incarnation he is the "last," the ultimate oral poet, who happened to be singing around the time that writing became available for the recording of his songs. The transcendental Homer will typically reveal himself as a larger than life individual, an inventor, or an explosion of genius in a time when art and culture did not yet exist. And he easily transcends poetry. So, for example, for a reader like Quintilian, Homer is the ultimate orator, the inventor and repository of "all the parts of eloquence." [1] And for Strabo he is the quintessential traveler, the prôtos heuretês of geography. [2] Whether we see him as the founding practitioner of an art or occupation or as the model of morals or wisdom, Homer will serve any reader's professional interests.
The immanent Homer comes into play when the Homeric question begins to be asked by readers who feel that no informed appreciation of the poems can take place until the critical parameters for such an appreciation have been specified. Historicism challenges hermeneutics and higher criticism (or meta-criticism) poses itself as an obstacle between Homer's readers and any positive act of interpretation. The immanent Homer is just as protean as the transcendental one and is a function of the properties the critic assigns to the language we call "Homeric" and the text we call "Homer."
It is not the purpose of this contribution to choose sides between "transcendental" and "immanent" or to recount the history of the Homeric Question by charting the various incarnations of the immanent Homer – though I will discuss a number of key moments in the history of the Homeric Question in, as it happens, chronological order. I wish in these pages to draw attention to the way in which Homeric criticism, the search for an immanent Homer, bears remarkable similarity to a variety of critical positions in the study of language and literature at large in the 20th century.
There is no causal relation; the critical Homerists did not reach their positions through any conscious affinity with modern theory (the various attempts to "apply" modern theory to Homer are not part of this chapter)—indeed, some "immanentists" worked more than a century before the earliest 20th-century theorists in question. Nor is any modern theory based on any conscious familiarity of their proponents with Homer or his Question. But the link between Homer and modern criticism is not gratuitous or coincidental either. The immanentist Homerist and the modern critic share an interest in language and in the conditions under which the literary work is produced, received, and reproduced. They see language, medium, and process not as factors that are external to the work's meaning, but as an integral part of it. And they both question the notion of the poet or the author as the exclusive source of meaning, the creative force before, and outside, the literary work under study.
The Homer scholar and the poststructuralist critic arrive at similar conclusions, as will be argued in more detail below, but their questions are different. The Homerist's starting point is a text whose language, structure, and composition raise questions on authorship and originality. The modern critic, on the other hand, starts from language and literature in general, not from any specific work and its linguistic peculiarities. To the extent that Homeric language is, by common consent, a specialized language use, a Kunstsprache, the result of this difference is that immanent Homer can serve as live laboratory for the modern critical positions and theories, a hypothesis turned into reality, or a metaphor turned into observable fact. Just as transcendental Homer becomes a larger than life individual, so immanent Homer is larger than life theory. If Homeric language is concentrated, condensed language, then the concepts used in discussing it become concentrated theory. Theorizing Homer is homerizing theory.
Immanent Homer has been first introduced by Friedrich August Wolf, whose 1795 Prolegomena ad Homerum is not only the beginning of the Homeric Question in its modern version but also of Classical Philology as an academic discipline. Wolf's Homer may not be as immanent (a word that is of course not used by Wolf) as some of the Homers to be discussed later, but he is certainly not transcendent either as the poet of the Iliad and Odyssey. [3] Instead of being solely and exclusively responsible for the poems, he is the starting point of the process that led to the poems as we have them.
Wolf does not believe in a sudden burst of creation which put the Iliad and the Odyssey into the world in full literary splendor. His reasoning is historicist. A sudden act of creation would have required not only the existence of writing technology, but also the cultural infrastructure for the reception and dissemination of written texts. The latter is even more unimaginable than the former, so that an a fortiori reasoning applies: even if Homer could have written and created the Iliad and Odyssey from the beginning to the end, he would have had no one to read his creations, which would make his creation similar to the building somewhere inland, far away from the shore, of an enormous ship at the very beginning of the age of navigation. [4]
Wolf's Homer is a non-writing author of a written text: a real paradox. How can we get to know such an unknowable person, read an author who didn't write? Wolf's answer is: through the intermediary of the rhapsodes. These professional performers of Homeric poetry are of course familiar to Homerists. Many of us, especially the creationists and transcendentalists among us, see in the rhapsode a kind of mechanical stage in the transmission of the poems, someone who recites, repeats, what the divine bard, the aoidos, composed and created.
Not so Wolf. For Wolf, the rhapsodes are poets themselves, who are quite capable of modifying the composition they were performing, interpreting it, embellishing it, and adapting it to the circumstances of the moment. These rhapsodes are in fact no less responsible for the poems as we have them, and as the Ancients had them, than the poet himself:
For all the sentences and words are woven together with such simplicity of thought and language, flow along in such little clauses and short phrases, that it is extremely easy to change, subtract, and add at any point. Finally, it would have been a miracle if those rhapsodes who possessed a more noble inspiration and were themselves poets had not thought that here and there they could say something better, that some things had to be phrased more clearly for the sake of the listeners, and other things had to be brought into coherent form by stringing a number of poems onto one thread. For their greatest concern had to be, not to preserve these poems unadulterated just as the bard had uttered them at first, but rather to be understood and to be heard with pleasure by all.
Wolf 1985:111-112
Wolf stops short of calling the rhapsodes authors in their own right, but his conception is astonishingly modern, even postmodern: he assigns agency to the rhapsodes who received the work in its movement through the ages. In other words, Wolf's rhapsodes blur the distinction between reception and creation, between quotation and composition. They do not merely recite "the work"; they are the work at work, and in progress. Their reading is a creation, a physically altering the received text. In receiving Homer they become Homer, showing that reading or listening is not the passive condition of being at the receiving end of a transmission, but a creative activity in its own right.
In thinking about Wolf's rhapsodes, I am reminded of those modern literary theories that downplay the role and importance of the author as a creator, as the ultimate source of meaning, and stress the role and importance of the reader. Some of those theories, such as Hans-Robert Jauss's, focus on the way in which the meaning of the literary work changes as it is received by readers through the ages; [5] other theories (Roland Barthes comes to mind) will blur the distinction between author and reader, between writing and reading, presenting the text's readers as creators in their own right. [6] But all have in common the idea of reading, of receiving, as a dynamic, active process, rather than as a passive reception.
Still, in dynamically and creatively receiving, say, the Aeneid, Hamlet, or Madame Bovary, the reader does not actually, physically change the text; the rewriting is only metaphorical. Wolf's rhapsodes, by contrast, even if they did not write in the literal sense, nor read in our sense, did do a far more drastic reading and rewriting of the Iliad they received. They actually, physically, changed the work. These professionals of Homeric performance not only gave us Homer; they also embody modern reception theory, giving living presence to the way in which readers are ultimately responsible for whatever the literary work means and even for the very shape it takes.
The next immanent Homer emerges from the work of someone who has as no other asked what it means for Homer to be non-writing. This is Milman Parry. As is well known, Parry can be credited with the "discovery" of orality. He proposed, on the basis of extensive fieldwork on the Serbo-Croatian guslari, that the Homeric poems must have been orally composed by means of elaborate systems of formulas, which enabled the bard to sing the epic song without memorizing it.
Homer the oral poet is a popular concept especially, and perhaps paradoxically, to transcendentalists, who will think of him in this connection as some larger-than-life guslár: the ultimate aoidos, who represents the culmination of the Greek epic tradition as the last of a long line of singers. Even Parry himself, in his later publications, seems to think in this way, when he equates orality with "creation" as opposed to mere "memory." The consequences for the rhapsodes are considerable: Wolf's active, creative transmitters are now downgraded into passive, artless, reciters:
It should be added here that an oral poetry practiced by guilds of singers with masters and apprentices would tend to a more faithful keeping of the poems which had won fame, and that one singer might win such a name that his disciples would find their profit in keeping his poetry as nearly without change as they could; but then they are no longer singers but rhapsodes, their task is not that of creation but only of memory, and they are merely keeping from age to age the verse which was first composed by a singer who made his poetry, in the way that we have seen, by an ever varying use of what he had sung and heard others sing.
Parry 1971:337, emphasis added
This is a transcendentalist position. The rhapsodes are external to the work of the creative oral singer, the aoidos; conversely, the poet is external to the work as it is recited by the rhapsode: he is its creative source and precedes it in time. This Homer, the oral poet, is a maker, not a doer.
Parry's earlier writings, however, give us a different picture, I think. Before he worked with the notions of "orality" and "oral composition," Parry spoke, in his French dissertation of 1928, of tradition. The formulaic diction of the Homeric poems, he said, could never have been the creation of any single poet. The extension of the formulaic systems – this is an important term – was such that they transcended any individual expressive intent. [7] The essence of tradition is not the "oral poem," created by the oral poet and handed down by the rhapsodes, but the system of formulas, the principle that generates the oral poem. The poet, if that is what we call him, cannot have designed it individually. Rather, he is caught up within it; he cannot but speak in formulas [8] – which means essentially that the formulaic system speaks through him.
This conception, in placing Homer "within" his formulaic language, is anti-transcendentalist, and goes against the grain of a largely transcendentalist, originalist, and creationist discipline which favored individual poetic genius. But rather than focusing on Parry's detractors, let us look more closely into his notion of tradition.
For Parry, Homer is traditional because he is formulaic; and he is formulaic because he is systematic; and he is systematic because there are systematic differences between the formulas. So, tradition must have something to do with these differences.
For Parry, formulas are less important for what they actually mean than for the way in which they differ from one another. For example, the difference between polumêtis Odusseus and polutlas dios Odusseus is for Parry not primarily that the one means "much-witted Odysseus" and the other "enduring godlike Odysseus" but that they are of different metrical length, and so fill different slots in the verse. The function of the formula is precisely to fill that slot, and not to express its meaning. So we may say that for Parry the formula is arbitrary with respect to its context.
When I formulate Parry's model in this way, I come very close to the model of structuralist linguistics that was put forward by Ferdinand de Saussure at the beginning of the 20th century – more precisely speaking, it was put forward by rhapsodes, the editors of his posthumously published Cours de linguistique générale, so that we will never know what Saussure himself really said. In any case, Saussure presents us language (la langue) as a system of differences, without positive terms: linguistic items mean what they mean because of their being different from other linguistic items, in systematic ways. Language is a system because it creates, in regular and predictable ways, difference within itself. Saussure also calls language a tradition, a system of arbitrary signs that was not created and cannot be modified by any individual speaker. [9]
What Parry has given us, working not on language in general but on the specific traditional idiom of an epic tradition, is a stronger, more "systematic," version of this model, just as Homeric diction systematizes and "strengthens" language. His "singer" takes the place of Saussure's speaker, and the Homeric formulaic diction takes the place of language in general. Parry's formulas are doubly arbitrary: first, there is nothing intrinsically in polumêtis Odusseus that means "much-witted Odysseus;" so far Saussure. But for Parry this formula is not even used to convey the meaning "much-witted Odysseus;" the phrase is doubly just a name, at two removes from any positive signification.
The system of formulas has been described, within the framework of Parry's conception, as "the 'grammar' of the poetry, a grammar superimposed, as it were, on the grammar of the language concerned." [10] The structuralist analysis of this poetic grammar as proposed by Parry is an idealized version of the structuralist analysis of the language concerned. Again, Homer has succeeded in boosting a 20th-century theory of language.
But it does not stop here. Homer also boosts the theories that came in the wake of Saussure's model, which we can capture with the catchword "poststructuralism." To get to poststructuralism, let us look once more at Parry's traditional, formulaic Homer. Parry's Homer is not a poet who has invented his own formulas; he does not speak through his formulas – rather, the formulas speak through him. Homer is inextricably caught in the web of formulas. This formulaic web is Homer.
One doesn't have to be well-read in modern literary theory to realize that this is what poststructuralist theory is all about. Building on Saussure's differential system of arbitrary signs, poststructuralist theory, through such essential names as Lacan, Foucault, and Derrida, holds that language does not originate in the subject; rather, the subject originates in language. We are what we are in and through the system of signs that we find ourselves in, and when we speak or write, we cannot but use signs that have been used before. Postmodern speakers are quoters, reciters, rhapsodes.
I am interested in this connection in the notion of bricolage that Claude Lévi-Strauss has introduced in his The Savage Mind (La pensée sauvage) as a way to talk about mythopoetic thought. [11] The bricoleur is someone who uses available means to arrive at a practical or intellectual solution; his set of tools "bears no relation to the current project, or indeed to any particular project, but is the contingent result of all the occasions there have been to renew or enrich the stock or to maintain it with the remains of previous constructions or destructions." [12] He cannot escape from his culture, his language. By contrast, there is the engineer, who creates the constitutive elements of his theory, and so stands outside the system, the language, or the culture. Whereas the bricoleur uses signs, and is constrained by what these tools always already conventionally mean, the engineer creates concepts, tools tailor-made for the project at hand. In Greek terms, the engineer is a real poiêtês, a maker.
In a re-reading of Lévi-Strauss, Jacques Derrida has argued that in using language we cannot but be bricoleur. [13] None of us has the means to invent the means by which we speak, and are what we are. All of us are what we are through and in language. The engineer, the one who creates language and so stands outside of it, can only be a myth, a myth concocted by the bricoleur:
If one calls bricolage the necessity of borrowing one's concepts from the text of a heritage which is more or less coherent or ruined, it must be said that every discourse is bricoleur. The engineer, whom Lévi-Strauss opposes to the bricoleur, should be the one to construct the totality of his language, syntax, and lexicon. In this sense the engineer is a myth. A subject who supposedly would be the absolute origin of his own discourse and supposedly would construct it "out of nothing," "out of whole cloth," would be the creator of the verb, the verb itself. The notion of the engineer who supposedly breaks with all forms of bricolage is therefore a theological idea; and since Lévi-Strauss tells us elsewhere that bricolage is mythopoetic, the odds are that the engineer is a myth produced by the bricoleur." [14]
The bricoleur and the engineer are suggestive ways to think about the two Homers that we have met, the immanent and the transcendent Homer. We saw that Wolf's Homer hides in the rhapsodes, whom we can now think of as bricoleurs. In fact, Parry's Homer, the user of ready-made formulaic tools that are not his own, who hides in and can never escape from the mechanics of formulaic bricolage, must be a bricoleur himself. If, on the other hand, the rhapsode-bricoleur ascribes the formulas, the entire poetic grammar, to some primordial maker called Homer, then Homer must become a myth, the myth of the engineer-poet.
If Derrida's notion of bricolage applies to any discourse, to language in general, then the application of it to Homer can only greatly intensify it, turning the engineer from a mere myth into reality, mythic reality. The immanentist Homerist through whose work this is achieved is Gregory Nagy. Nagy presents us Homer as precisely a myth, a retrojection of the entire tradition, or system, to a mythical founder, or proto-poet. Homer is the personification of the entire epic tradition with all its formulas, all its rhapsodes, all its performances. Any rhapsode that sings the Iliad becomes Homer, turning the myth into living reality. [15]
The engine of Nagy's Homer as the retrojection of an increasingly fixed epic tradition extending over an increasingly large area is Panhellenism, the shading over of the differences between numerous local traditions. The idea of a single, authoritative author as a way to counter the "difference" of a plethora of epichoric traditions can, again, be seen as a boosted version of a concept from contemporary critical theory. In a radical rethinking of the idea of transcendent authorship, Michel Foucault has proposed that instead of being a source, a proliferation of meaning, the author (or rather, the author-function) is a way, quite conversely, to counter the proliferation of meaning, to control it:
[T]he author is not an indefinite source of significations which fill a work; the author does not precede the works, he is a certain functional principle by which, in our culture, one limits, excludes, and chooses; in short, by which one impedes the free circulation, the free manipulation, the free composition, decomposition, and recomposition of fiction. In fact, if we are accustomed to presenting the author as a genius, as a perpetual surging of invention, it is because, in reality, we make him function in exactly the opposite fashion. [16]
Panhellenic Homer, in the combination of his contemporary transcendent understanding with his modern critical explanation, seems like the ideal incarnation of Foucault's idea. [17] The Homer who gave us the Iliad in taking away so much else, so much meaning resulting from difference, is, again, the myth become reality, the ideological illusion turned into historical fact.
Once more an anti-transcendentalist's Homer has become high-quality fuel for 20th-century literary theory. Many theorists have argued for "the death of the author," or for the author as a necessary myth; many have said such things about authors who are historically attested, and whose biography we can read; what they say applies a fortiori to Homer, the author who is totally absent from any public record, and yet who is totally present as soon as readers start reading or reciting him.
Now, would our protean proto-poet have given up his secret now that he has shown himself as a mythical engineer or the living example of a theoretical construct of "author-function"? I don't think so. A Homer who has told the whole truth and revealed himself completely would be the end of the Homeric Question, that is, the end of Homer himself. We have to go on disagreeing and fighting with each other, as long as Homer is read. When we ask the Homeric Question, there is much that divides us, but there is one big and important thing that links us all together: we're all rhapsodes. And so we're all Homer.
Bakker, Egbert J. 2001. "Homer, Hypertext, and the Web of Myth." Varieties and Consequences of Literacy and Orality (ed. U. Schaefer and E. Spielmann) 149-160. Tübingen.
Barthes, Roland. 1977. "From Work to Text." Image – Music – Text, pp. 155-164. New York.
Derrida, Jacques. 1978. "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences." Writing and Difference, pp. 278-293. Trans. A. Bass. Chicago.
Foucault, Michel. 1979. "What is an Author?" Textual Strategies: Perspectives in Post-Structuralist Criticism (ed. J. V. Harari) 141-160. Ithaca, NY and London.
Jauss, Hans-Robert. 1974. "Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory." New Directions in Literary Theory (ed. R. Cohen) 15-20. London.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1966. The Savage Mind. Chicago.
Lord, Albert. 1960. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge, MA.
Nagy, Gregory. 1996. Poetry as Performance: Homer and Beyond. Cambridge, MA.
Parry, Milman. 1971. The Making of Homeric Verse: The Collected Writings of Milman Parry. Ed. A. Parry. Oxford.
Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1982. Cours de linguistique générale. Ed. T. de Mauro. Paris.
Turner, Frank M. 1997. "The Homeric Question." A New Companion to Homer (ed. I. Morris and B. Powell) 123-145. Leiden and New York.
Wolf, F. A. 1795/1985. Prolegomena to Homer. Tr. A. Grafton, G. W. Most, and J. E. G. Zetzel. Princeton.
[ back ] 1. Quint. I. O. 10.1.46.
[ back ] 2. Strabo 1.1.11. At 1.2.29 Strabo refers to Homer's love of traveling (to philekdêmon) – thanks to Larry Kim for this reference.
[ back ] 3. On Wolf, see Turner 1997:125-131, who (131) uses the term "immanent" to characterize Wolf's Homer.
[ back ] 4. Wolf 1985:116.
[ back ] 5. Jauss 1974.
[ back ] 6. Barthes 1977.
[ back ] 7. E.g., Parry 1971:18 ("It is obvious that one poet could never have created this entire series of formulae.").
[ back ] 8. Parry 1971:14 ("without ever thinking of using other words to express the same idea, without ever so much as considering the possibility of utilizing the portion of the line taken up by the epithetic words for the expression of some original idea.").
[ back ] 9. Saussure 1982:172.
[ back ] 10. Lord 1960:36.
[ back ] 11. Lévi-Strauss 1966:16-36.
[ back ] 12. Lévi-Strauss 1966:17.
[ back ] 13. Derrida 1978.
[ back ] 14. Derrida 1978:285.
[ back ] 15. E.g. Nagy 1996:59-86.
[ back ] 16. Foucault 1979:159.
[ back ] 17. See Bakker 2001.


In this video, we show you how to load two FDA Datasets, MAUDE and FAERS, into Elasticsearch. MAUDE contains medical device adverse event reports submitted by mandatory reporters (manufacturers, importers and device user facilities) and voluntary reporters (health care professionals, patients, and consumers). The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) contains information on adverse event and medication error reports submitted to the FDA.
Filebeat is a lightweight shipper for loading data into Elasticsearch, the heart of the Elastic Stack (formerly known as the ELK Stack). You can use Filebeat to ingest JSON data in bulk.
Don't overthink it. Filebeat can do all the heavy lifting — reading from files line by line, retries, checkpoints, and watching whole directories of files at a time.
Learn how to do neat things with JSON documents that are difficult to load, and pick up some tricks for processing weird things that you might encounter.
This is reusable. If you can create line by line JSON data like this, then you can use the same process to get your data into Elasticsearch.
Michael architects the world's most interesting projects. He has 15+ years of experience in information technology spanning biomedical research, logistics, digital Hollywood production, and electronic health records. Michael Heldebrant is a Solutions Architect at Elastic where he works with customers on architecting real-time data ingest, search, and analytics solutions using the Elastic Stack.


text:
Left, Right – Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada
in Book Review — by Jim Miles —	August 22, 2018
Left, Right – Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada. Yves Engler. Black Rose Books, Montreal. 2019.
This short work is another in a wonderful series by Canadian author Yves Engler that examines much of the foreign policy actions and policies of Canadian politics. In Left, Right, Engler examines the positions of many of the institutions and organizations of the supposed left – my word "supposed" as I am not sure there is a true 'left' remaining in Canada when looking at the broader actions and context of individual initiatives that focus on narrow issues without being related to a broader 'left' international view.
Regardless of my current position on the left, Engler has presented a strong compilation of the contradictions of those nominally on the left, acknowledging that they do contribute to many issues – especially domestic – for the left, but falter or fail on many other issues of foreign policy that support imperial endeavours and corporate-state control of other populations.
His first target, as it should be, is the NDP, considered to be a party of Canada's social conscience, helping to determine many policies for Canada. The Liberals in particular will steal social progressive ideas promoted by the NDP in order to maintain their 'centre' perspective in the eyes of Canadian voters. This was particularly evident in the last election in which the Liberals generally campaigned to the left of the NDP on a number of headline issues (e.g. debt financing). However for foreign affairs, the NDP do not have much to steal, as their foreign policy is very much in alignment with empire and corporate interests.
The labour movement is the next target, and again, while they have done a fair bit for Canadian workers, the union bosses are aligned very much with the corporate and political perspectives on foreign policy issues. The unions are also aligned significantly with U.S. unions, and union personnel are part of the ruling elites circle of friends making the rounds between politics, administration, corporations, and the military.
Several high profile people on the left are also criticized, essentially for the same reasons. While supporting strong left stances on certain domestic and even global issues, when it comes to actual global foreign affairs – being Canada's role in military interventions and corporate support over indigenous rights – these individuals again take on the role of supporting Canada's overseas adventurism.
In the second last chapter, "Ties that bind and blind", the intertwined relationships between the military, think tanks, corporations, politicians and relationships with the U.S. and other foreign policy influences (Israel, Britain, France – essentially NATO). Special significance is given to two groups whose histories of being victims of imperial/state interference/repression or worse, genocide, would indicate they might choose a much stronger anti-imperialist, anti-corporate, non-interference position. These two groups are the native people of Canada and the Quebec nationalists, both under the dominant British imperial tradition.
Unfortunately, money speaks power, influence, and the ability to move people beyond their own best long term interests for short term gain. This applies to the native groups as well as the Quebec nationalists. Unfortunately, part of the left's timidity on foreign relations might be the lack of true grit, the ability to withstand the programmed mainstream thought that Canada is a force for good in the world, a peacekeeping nation. The record, as viewed here in Left, Right and in Engler's other works, speaks differently about Canada's foreign policy actions.
The final section admits that change will not come easily and quickly. Engler posits that we need to support those smaller groups that are capable of standing up to the mainstream message of Canada's foreign policy. In addition he indicates that he is working to set up an initiative titled the "Canadian Foreign Policy Institute" on the web, on Facebook. It is to provide a central spot for many of the smaller organizations and individuals working to realign Canada's foreign policy to an acceptable internationally humanitarian position to have their voice heard. It is currently available on Facebook.
Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and a regular contributor/columnist of opinion pieces and book reviews for The Palestine Chronicle. Miles' work is also presented globally through other alternative websites and news publications.


18:05 Flight UNI642 is ready to depart LRLC with a final destination of EGGP.
21:36 Landed at -250fpm. With 3163kgs of fuel onboard and a pitch angle of 5deg.
21:42 Arrived safely at EGGP. We hope you enjoyed your flight!


Prior to joining bookmaker and funding your account in order to view Aguascalientes Railroaders – Toros de Tijuana, or any other particular event via the bookmaker live stream, you are strongly advised to check with bookmaker if, depending on your place of residence, it is possible to view this live stream.
The great teams are gonna meet at this game. The most expected match between two teams from the very top of the group (ranked 3 and 2). One and the other teams get a very uncertain game. Aguascalientes could have problems with physics compare with it opponent – last days they played more matches than their opponents. Recently Aguascalientes have a series of home games. Recently Toros de Tijuana have a series of guest games. In this match the chances to achieve triumph bor both teams are almost equal.
Last 52 head-to-head matches Aguascalientes won 18 matches, drawn 1 matches, lost 33 matches and goals 215-285. Including matches at home between the teams Aguascalientes won 11 matches, drawn 1 matches, lost 16 matches and goals 131-159.


Before we begin to talk about Monday night into Tuesday, we have to first talk about a weak storm system that will bring light snow to the area Sunday night into Monday morning. Initially it appeared this system would fall apart and only produce scattered snow showers. Instead, some of us will be looking at a period of light, but steady snow Sunday night into early Monday morning.
Area A: Snow accumulation of 1.5 – 2.5″ expected. School delays are possible due to slippery roads Monday Morning.
Area B: Snow accumulation of 1 – 1.5″ expected. School delays are possible in rural areas due to slippery roads Monday Morning.
Area C: Snow accumulation of a coating to 1″ expected.
Area A: Snow accumulation of 4 – 7″ anticipated, before turning to sleet and freezing rain. School cancellations are likely Tuesday as roads will be extremely hazardous from the early morning hours of Tuesday, through Tuesday Night. View the ice forecast below.
Area B: Snow accumulation of 2 – 4″ expected, before turning to sleet and freezing rain. School cancellations are likely Tuesday as roads will be very hazardous from the early morning hours of Tuesday, through Tuesday Evening. The bigger story in this area will be ice.
Area C: Snow accumulation of 1 – 2″ anticipated, before turning to sleet, freezing rain, and rain. School delays and cancellations are possible Tuesday due to icy roads in the morning. Be sure to view the ice forecast under this.
Area D: Snow accumulation of less than 1″ expected.
Area A: Ice accretion (accumulation) of .25 – .50″ expected. Scattered power outages likely.
Area B: Ice accretion of .10 – .25″ anticipated. Scattered power outages possible.
Area C: ice accretion of .01 – .10″ expected.
Share this important update with your friends and family using the button below, as many plans may need to be adjusted.


Following the integration of our brand new ticketing system, we are pleased to announce tickets for the Iron's home pre-season friendly against Championship side Sunderland are on sale now.
The game will be played at Glanford Park on Wednesday, 26th July (7.30pm kick-off).
The new ticket system means barcode entry will be in operation at Glanford Park this season and supporters will be able to print off their tickets at home rather than have a physical ticket posted or collected.
12th Man Season Ticket holder seats have been reserved for this friendly fixture (and will be until 12noon on Wednesday). They are available to purchase online now. Please note, you need to complete the form available here, in order to set up your username and password for your new online account. You will then be able to purchase your seat. If you are having issues with this, then please contact the ticket office to confirm the details we have on file are correct. This can be done via email to sufctickets@scunthorpe-united.co.uk or by calling during opening hours on 01724 747670. You can also purchase in person from the ticket office or over the phone.
Please note, there will be pay cash on the turnstile options in place for supporters using the Britcon Stand and Turnstiles 5A and 5B of the Clugston Stand.
Tickets for home and away league fixtures, as well as away travel for the first month of the season, will all be on sale over the coming weeks. You can purchase tickets in the usual ways, online from our new online ticketing portal, www.sufctickets.com, or in person and over the phone during ticket office opening hours.
With two weeks until the first home league game of the season, the 12th Man Season Tickets have been transferred onto the new system and the new season cards can be collected from week commencing Monday, July 24th. The ticket office will remain open until 7pm on Tuesday ahead of the Sunderland fixture on Wednesday as well as being open from 9am until 2pm on Saturday 29th for 12th Man season card collections.
For any questions relating to the new system, please email sufctickets@scunthorpe-united.co.uk.


text:
Study & Research in Germany
Overview: Study & Research in Germany
PhD and Research in Germany
Advertisements by German Universities
Eight steps to Germany
Learning German in Australia
Learning German in Germany
Study & Research in Australia
Overview: Find Funding
Scholarship Database
Overview: About Us
The IC Sydney
About the DAAD
Innovative, communicative, unique: Master of Manufacturing Technology at TU Dortmund University, Germany
© TU Dortmund
Apply for the two-year, fully English-taught Master´s program in manufacturing technology (MMT) from Feb. 1st – Mar. 15th at TU Dortmund University, Germany. The program is free of tuition fees.
The Master of Science in Manufacturing Technology (MMT) focuses on the analysis of advanced manufacturing problems with a strong emphasis on the combination of scientific theoretical courses and experimental industrial setups. The fully English-taught Master's degree program provides excellent university training for dedicated and highly motivated students and graduates of renowned German and international universities within a research-based framework involving industrial cooperation. Moreover, you can experience intercultural exchange with your classmates from all over the world. Studying the MMT program symbolizes the unique chance to enjoy high-class education in the land of engineers and likewise to be involved in a truly international classroom with students from all over the world.
Besides in depth theoretical lectures students will be engaged in real life research projects. The MMT program enables its graduates to analyze and optimize existing manufacturing processes, evaluate existing production systems, and design new techniques.
Embedded in the vibrant Ruhr area, the program excels by its long-standing tradition in manufacturing engineering and the involvement of industrial cooperation. The Ruhr area transformed from a former coal and steel industry hotspot to an educational and technological center within Germany and Europe. With its multicultural atmosphere, its various opportunities in the industry and education Dortmund is a very popular and encouraging location to study! Dortmund is one of the ten largest cities in Germany, but still offers affordable rents. This makes it a perfect city for students. The city of Dortmund is a green metropolis: almost half of Dortmund's urban area consists of open spaces. Dortmund is located in the heart of North Rhine-Westphalia. Whether by airport, train, freeways or public transport – Dortmund is an important hub in the center of Europe in all transport networks.
The program starts every October.
Do you want to become an MMT students?
Read more at: www.mmt.mb.tu-dortmund.de
Getting to Know Germany
FAQ Undergraduate Scholarship
FAQ Study Scholarship And Research Grants
FAQ on Study, Life & Research in Germany
Studying German at Australian universities
DAAD Information Centre Sydney
90 Ocean Street Woollahra, NSW 2025 Telephone: +61 (02) 72088119


The capital city of Delaware, Dover, was struck by a M=4.1 earthquake just over an hour ago.
At 4:47 p.m. local time, a M=4.1 earthquake struck Delaware, near the capital city of Dover. The quake occurred at a depth of 8 km, and registered strong shaking near the epicenter. Additionally, based on felt reports, and the ShakeMap produced by the USGS, weak shaking would have been felt in Washington DC, and New York City. Less than 45 minutes after the earthquake, nearly 4500 people had reported feeling the quake on the USGS website, though over 55 million people would have been exposed to some degree of shaking. Due to the relatively moderate magnitude of this earthquake, damage should remain minimal.
This Temblor map shows the location of today's M=4.1 earthquake in Delaware. Based on this magnitude, it is the largest earthquake ever recorded in the state.
Based on the focal mechanism from the USGS, this earthquake was both compressional and strike-slip in nature. Even though earthquakes on the east coast are much less frequent than on the West Coast, they can be felt over a much greater distance. For example, according to the USGS, a M=4 earthquake east of the Rockies, could be felt over an area ten times larger than a M=4 quake in California. This is because the eastern U.S. is predominantly made up of sediments, uninterrupted by crystalline rock. Furthermore, due to lower building codes east of the Rockies, smaller magnitude earthquakes can cause more damage than a comparable quake in California.
This USGS map shows how earthquakes on the East Coast are often felt over a much wider region. This is because the eastern U.S. is predominantly made up of sediments, uninterrupted by crystalline rock.
From data from the Delaware Geological Survey, this is the largest recorded earthquake in the state's history. Previously, the largest recorded quake was a M=3.8 in 1973. Having said that, an earthquake in 1871 had an estimated magnitude of 4.1. This highlights how Delaware is not seismically active. Nonetheless, in 1997, the state was reclassified as a medium seismic risk state by the USGS and FEMA.
While earthquakes on the East Coast are infrequent, they can be damaging in nature. In 2011, a M=5.8 earthquake in Virginia resulted in $200-300 million in damage and over 140,000 reported feeling the earthquake on the USGS website. Therefore, it is always important to understand your seismic hazard and to check how you can mitigate your risk.


text:
Q: Teradata Store in Geoserver does not yet recognize Teradata Simplify method In my previous question i asked why Geoserver WMS on Teradata is noticeably slow. I looked into Geoserver log and it appears that: GeoServer expects Tessellation for spatial index while Tessellation method is deprecated.
Andrea Aime describes that this is because the code for connection to Teradata store is from 2013 and not kept up with current Teradata implementation.
Now i have another curiosity:
the other reason Teradata-backed GeoServer WMS is slow (well at least compared with default-settings PostGIS) is because GeoServer connection to Teradata does not recognize Teradata newly-implemented SimplifyPreserveTopology method (implemented on March 2014 on Teradata DB version 15.00).
Can anyone confirm the above understanding?

A: GeoServer can use PostGIS with an an-the-fly simplification by adding ST_Simplify() function into the database queries. This usually does make queries a little bit faster but may also lead to some issues Small features don't draw when zoomed out using Geoserver WMS.
If you have PostGIS available with the same data you can make your own test between Teradata and PostGIS by turning the on-the-fly simplification off from PostGIS settings. Then simplification has no role and if Teradata store is still slower the reason is in some other place.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package org.apache.cocoon.selection;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.zip.ZipException;
import java.util.zip.ZipFile;

import org.apache.avalon.framework.activity.Disposable;
import org.apache.avalon.framework.parameters.Parameters;
import org.apache.avalon.framework.service.ServiceException;
import org.apache.avalon.framework.service.ServiceManager;
import org.apache.avalon.framework.service.Serviceable;
import org.apache.excalibur.source.Source;
import org.apache.excalibur.source.SourceResolver;
import org.apache.excalibur.source.impl.FileSource;

/**
 * A selector that tests the type of a resource. Usage example:
 * <pre>
 *    <map:selector name="resource-type" src="org.apache.cocoon.selection.ResourceTypeSelector"/>
 *
 *    <map:select type="resource-type">
 *       <map:parameter name="src" value="..."/>
 *       <map:when test="not found">
 *           ...
 *       </map:when>
 *       <map:when test="directory">
 *           ...
 *       </map:when>
 *       <map:when test="zipfile">
 *           ...
 *       </map:when>
 *       <map:when test="file">
 *           ...
 *       </map:when>
 *       <map:otherwise>
 *           ...
 *       </map:otherwise>
 *    </map:select>
 * </pre>
 */

public class ResourceTypeSelector extends AbstractSwitchSelector implements Serviceable, Disposable {

  private ServiceManager manager;
  private SourceResolver resolver;
  private Source source;

  @Override
  public void service(ServiceManager manager) throws ServiceException {
    this.manager = manager;
    this.resolver = (SourceResolver)manager.lookup(SourceResolver.ROLE);
  }

  @Override
  public Object getSelectorContext(Map objectModel, Parameters parameters) {
    String src = parameters.getParameter("src", "");
    try {
      source = resolver.resolveURI(src);
    } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
      source = null;
    } catch (IOException e) {
      source = null;
    }
    return null;
  }

  @Override
  public boolean select(String expression, Object selectorContext) {
    if (expression.equals("not found")) {
      return source == null || !source.exists();
    } else if (expression.equals("exists")) {
      return source != null && source.exists();
    } else if (source instanceof FileSource) {
      File file = ((FileSource)source).getFile();
      if (expression.equals("directory")) {
        return file.isDirectory();
      } else if (expression.equals("file")) {
        return file.isFile();
      } else if (expression.equals("zipfile")) {
        return isZipFile(file) ;
      } else {
        return false;
      }
    } else {
      return false;
    }
  }

  private boolean isZipFile(File file) {
    if (!file.isFile()) return false;
    try {
      ZipFile zf = new ZipFile(file);
    } catch (ZipException e) {
      return false;
    } catch (IOException e) {
      return false;
    }
    return true;
  }

  @Override
  public void dispose() {
    if (source != null) {
      resolver.release(source);
    }
    this.manager.release(this.resolver);
    this.resolver = null;
    this.manager = null;
  }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Palczewice  (formerly German Palzwitz) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Darłowo, within Sławno County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately  north-east of Darłowo,  north-west of Sławno, and  north-east of the regional capital Szczecin.

For the history of the region, see History of Pomerania.

The village has a population of 113.

References

Palczewice

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
BOOST Conference Advisory Board
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
Dr. Katherine Bihr is the Vice President and Executive Director of the Tiger Woods Learning Center. Her responsibilities include providing direction to the personnel, programs and operations of the Tiger Woods Learning Center.
Prior to joining TWLC, she was the Principal of Vista View Middle School in Fountain Valley, CA. While there the school received recognition as a California Distinguished School, and Katherine was recognized for her leadership by the Council for Special Education. Additionally, Katherine served on the Superintendent's Cabinet in the Ocean View School District providing guidance in the areas of physical education and the visual/performing arts.
Dr. Bihr serves on the board of directors for the El Viento Foundation which provides education and enrichment opportunities for at-risk students from grades 4-12; and Project Tomorrow which supports the innovative uses of science, math and technology resources in K-12 schools and communities. In addition, Katherine sits on the Department of Education Leadership Council for the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Bihr has presented twice at the United States Department of Education and was an invited panelist in an International Education Forum at the United States Department of Education in November of 2008, focused on Fostering Global Responsibility and Leadership.
Her undergraduate degree in kinesiology was completed at Long Beach State University and she holds a Masters of Educational Administration from Azusa Pacific University. Katherine received a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education.
The Tiger Woods Learning Center provides career exploration and college preparation programs to high potential, low opportunity youth and families. During the school day, elementary students and their classroom teachers embark on a one-week indepth study of science. While students become marine biologists and forensic scientists, classroom teachers are provided instruction in developing and delivering hands-on science lessons and the effective use of technology in the classroom. After school junior high and high school students participate in hands-on career exploration activities that help bridge the gap between school and the real world. Outreach programming is also available for families to help them navigate the college application and financial aid processes – helping parent and child understand that going to college is not only affordable, but attainable. In 2008 the Tiger Woods Learning Center was recognized at the state level by the Association of California School Administrators as a Partner in Educational Excellence for its unique programs offered to young people ages 9-18.
BOOST Ambassadors


text:
Q: Gson: handle json object field that can return different primitive types? An API my application is communicating with sends responses that look like this:
{
    id:12345,
    active:1
}

The problem is that older versions of the API sends the response field as a boolean value rather than an int like so
{
    id:12345,
    active:false,
}

With Gson, how can I handle both with no knowledge of which version will be returned?

A: Register a CustomDeserializer for boolean and when ever a boolean is encountered inside any object, gson will try to deserialize with the rules that you defined.
@Data
class JsonTestClass {
    Boolean active = new Boolean(true);
    Integer id;
}

class BooleanJsonDeserializer implements JsonDeserializer<Boolean> {
    @Override
    public Boolean deserialize(JsonElement json, Type typeOfT, JsonDeserializationContext context)
            throws JsonParseException {
        JsonPrimitive jsonPrimitive = json.getAsJsonPrimitive();
        if (jsonPrimitive.isBoolean()) {
            return jsonPrimitive.getAsBoolean();
        } else {
            return jsonPrimitive.getAsInt() == 0 ? false : true;
        }
    }
}

// TempJson
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
            .registerTypeAdapter(Boolean.class, new BooleanJsonDeserializer()).create();

    System.out.println(gson.fromJson("{id:12345,active:1}", JsonTestClass.class).getActive());
    System.out.println(gson.fromJson("{id:12345,active:0}", JsonTestClass.class).getActive());
    System.out.println(gson.fromJson("{id:12345,active:false}", JsonTestClass.class).getActive());
    System.out.println(gson.fromJson("{id:12345,active:true}", JsonTestClass.class).getActive());
}

Output:
true
false
false
true

A: PFB the way to handle this.
public static void main(String[] args) {
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    JsonObject obj = gson.fromJson("{    id:12345,    active:1}", JsonObject.class);
    JsonPrimitive prim = obj.get("active").getAsJsonPrimitive();
    if(prim.isBoolean()){
        System.out.println("boolean");
    }else{
        System.out.println("number");
    }
}


If you would like to embark on a career as a law clerk, paralegal, or legal secretary the Introduction to Wills, Estates and Probate can help you move into an entry level role, or complement your existing legal knowledge and skills.
The precise wording of a will is an important legal task as it must comply with strict legal requirements. This online introductory course will provide you with the skills and knowledge required to prepare wills and probates, power of attorney and other deceased estate documentation.
In this online course, you will discover the process of preparing wills and estate plans in easy-to-understand language to help you grasp what can often be a complex process. You will also learn the procedures relevant to drafting wills and become familiar with the initial planning and preparation necessary for a comprehensive estate plan.


text:
Article Education June 1994
By Baker, Fred A small group of individuals on the 1989 Board of Directors had a vision that a separate organization to manage and pursue education in project management, primarily through student chapters and…
Article Talent Management, Resource Management, Education July 1993
Creating a technical work force for tomorrow
By White, Richard L. In the United States, many citizens have long help that the belief that achieving professional and personal success begins with attending college and earning a four-year degree. But as recent…
Article Education July 1993
"Education in project management" at PMI '92
By Teplitz, Charles J. During PMI's Seminars & Symposium 1992 event, the author--a professor of project and operations management at the University of San Diego--moderated a panel featuring four project professionals…
Article Talent Management, Resource Management, Aerospace & Defense, Education August 1992
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) distance education initiatives in program management
By Bergseth, Robert R. The United States Department of Defense's Acquisition Professional Development Program (APDP) was mandated by law to maximize the professional development and mission capabilities of DOD's…
Education and training of program management personnel in DOD
By Rush, Benjamin C. The United States Department of Defense (DOD) has established a career development program that is funded and coordinated by the Defense Acquisition University. The Program Management Course (PMC)…
Article Quality Management, Talent Management, Resource Management, Education August 1992
Total Quality and higher education
By Boileau, O.C. This article highlights the remarks of several keynote speakers at the Second Annual Symposium on the Roles of Academia in National Competitiveness and Total Quality Management, hosted in Los…
Article Education October 1991
Project education in Denmark
By Illeris, Knud In Denmark, projects have been used as an educational method for the past fifteen to twenty years and introduced throughout the Danish educational system from elementary schools to universities. As…
Article Career Development, Talent Management, Resource Management, Education October 1991
Project management education
By Wirth, Itzhak This article reviews a panel discussion about project management education that occurred at the 1990 PMI Seminar/Symposium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Five project management experts discussed the…
Article Innovation, Complexity, Technical Skills, Telecommunications, Education October 1990
Innovation In Education
By Ward, Dennis | Hart, Neal This article describes the process by which AT&T, in collaboration with Educational Services Institute and The George Washington University, developed two innovative, graduate-level curricula in…


Nautilus is a company with a clear objective: to achieve the best training. Nautilus works so that all its products are designed, above all, for training and improving the performance of any type of user. Whether it's a power machine, a bicycle or a tape. Nautilus always seeks the specific biomechanical analysis of each movement, creating all its products to reproduce them and make them possible. Nautilus is firmly committed to users who choose this great equipment. Nautilus believes that if you spend time training, you have to design the best machines and fitness equipment.


A few days ago we showed you what the future of mobility looks like in the minds of young Canadians, but now it's time to take a glance at the more realistic future of mobility as seen by slightly older young people, in particular at the Toyota Future of Mobility Challenge winners. Toyota recently created the Next Generation Mobility Challenge, a competition that inspires millennial minds to come up with the answers for today's mobility problems. The competition saw three victors from colleges in the United States, and we thought we'd take a look at each of the possibly world-changing technologies.
– Latondra Newton, Group Vice President and Chief Social Innovation Officer, Toyota Motors North America, Inc.
After seeing the miniature communities that spring up around food trucks all over the world, Carolyn Taclas, Keala Verigan, Sydney Quinton-Cox and James Greisen of the University of Oregon decided they could utilize the food-truck craze in a different way: the betterment of society, by parking Mobile Community Centers that offer a host of different services in public places. Check out the video below for a more detailed look at P.E.T.E.
Apparently giving ideas human names is in these days, as the second winner was Alfred, created by Maria McKiever, Szymon Gluc and Shangyanyan Li from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois. Their idea was to outsource trunks, creating mobile mailboxes that would give society another method of delivery while decongesting roads across the nation – be it the US or Canada or anywhere else for that matter. Check out the video below for a more detailed look at Alfred.
Perhaps the most ambitious, and with 63.6% of the votes officially the overall winner of the Toyota Future of Mobility Challenge AKA Next Generation Mobility Challenge, is StreetSmart, a mobile application created by Ester Kim, John Mathai, Ayush Singhal and Niklaus Sugiri from Babson College, RISD and Olin College. StreetSmart is an app that utilizes preexisting technology to create a navigation system for the blind and visually impaired. Check out the video below for a more detailed look at StreetSmart.


text:
Dione Knop, Angel Hugs appear on British TV
Dione Knop, Angel Hugs appear on British TV Dione Knop, Angel Hugs appear on British TV Check out this story on sheboyganpress.com: http://shebpr.es/1Ly64sa
Sheboygan Press Media Published 12:53 p.m. CT Oct. 16, 2015 | Updated 8:57 p.m. CT Oct. 16, 2015
In this photo taken from the Project Angel Hugs Facebook page, Dione Knop, center, sitting, is shown with a girl who is enrolled in the Project Angel Hugs program during the annual Polka Dot Dress Party, which was aired on British TV recently.(Photo: Project Angel Hugs photo)
Dione Knop, Sheboygan County district attorney victim/witness coordinator, appeared live via SKYPE recently on the BBC television show "Loose Women" – the British equivalent of "The View."
Dione was invited to appear due to her work with Project Angel Hugs, a Sheboygan County-based non-profit cancer survivor group for children and their families that currently serves 107 families in Wisconsin and 237 families in 42 other states..
Dione is a breast cancer survivor having undergone a treatment regime of chemotherapy and surgery eight years ago.
During the process, she bought a polka dot dress as her personal sign of hope and strength as she struggled to get well. Once her treatment was completed and she was cancer free, she organized a polka dot dress party, a celebration of life and survival.
The first party was limited to family and friends, but the second was expanded and used as a fundraiser for Project Angel Hugs. For the last eight years, Dione has hosted her annual polka dot dress party, raising more than $23,000 in money donations and another $5,000 in gift donations to support Project Angel Hugs.
Betsy Alles, the executive director of the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce and a cancer survivor herself, offered the use of the agency's building and communications equipment for the broadcast and IT professional Cole Sheldon volunteered his skills to facilitate the transmission.
Dione appeared with a large group of polka dot-dressed supporters, including Anna – a 13-year-old two-time survivor of leukemia. After the broadcast, the Facebook page of Project Angel Hugs lit up with comments from Great Britain and Scotland.
Read or Share this story: http://shebpr.es/1Ly64sa
Sheboygan library overdose death: Woman pleads no contest
Man arrested for second drunk driving after rollover crash
Organic ice cream company moves all production to Sheboygan
Residential addiction recovery facility to open in Sheboygan
New village of Kohler subdivision begins first phase
Green Bay man charged in Sheboygan nursing home abuse


The small muscles in the wrists, hands, and fingers are involved in fine motor tasks. Developing these muscles allow children to pick up and hold a toy, feed and dress themselves, turn pages, cut with scissors, write, use a computer, and so much more. Gaining proficiency in toys that help develop fine motor skills takes repetition. Play provides countless, fun ways to develop eye-hand coordination and build small muscle strength and flexibility.


text:
require 'medo/task_writer'
require 'medo/terminal'

module Medo
  class TextTaskWriter < TaskWriter
    def initialize(tasks, output_stream = STDOUT)
      super()
      @tasks = tasks
      @output_stream = output_stream
    end

    def write
      presented_active_tasks    = present_tasks(@tasks.active)
      presented_completed_tasks = present_tasks(@tasks.completed)

      presented_active_tasks.each do |t|
        @output_stream.puts t.to_s
      end

      if presented_active_tasks.any? and presented_completed_tasks.any?
        @output_stream.puts "-" * (presented_active_tasks + presented_completed_tasks).map(&:to_s).join("\n").each_line.max_by(&:size).chomp.size
      end

      presented_completed_tasks.each do |t|
        @output_stream.puts t.to_s
      end
    end

    private

    def present_tasks(tasks)
      tasks.map { |t| WrappingTaskPresenter.new(t, Terminal.instance.size.first) }
    end

    class WrappingTaskPresenter
      def initialize(task, max_length)
        @task = task
        @length = max_length
      end

      def description
        format_component(@task.description)
      end

      def tag
        "[#{@task.tag}]" unless String(@task.tag).empty?
      end

      def notes
        return "" if @task.notes.empty?
        "\n\n" + @task.notes.map { |n| note(n) }.join("\n") + "\n\n"
      end

      def note(n)
        format_component(n)
      end

      def to_s
        "#{tag} #{description.lstrip}#{notes}".lstrip
      end

      private

      def format_component(str)
        r = break_line_to_fit(str)
        pad_str(r)
      end

      def break_line_to_fit(str)
        str.gsub(/(.{1,#{length}})(?:\s+|\Z)|(.{1,#{length}})/m, "\\1\\2\n")
      end

      def pad_str(str)
        padding_str = " " * padding.to_i
        str.each_line.map do |line|
          padding_str + line.strip
        end.join("\n")
      end

      def padding
        2
      end

      def length
        @length - padding
      end
    end
  end
end

Dir.glob(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/text_task_writer/decorators/*_decorator.rb') do |decorator|
  require decorator
end


Time Warner Cable posts its political file online, so why the fuss, NAB?
If posting already-public information on political ad spending is so damaging to broadcasters, as the National Association of Broadcasters argues, then why has one of the country's biggest cable providers been doing it since 2010?
Back then, Time Warner Cable created an online portal to search information regarding political ads sold on its system. Initially the portal served only the east coast, but has since provided data nationwide since 2011, according to a Time Warner spokesman. The ad buy records are available as downloadable PDFs.
Current law requires TV stations to keep political ad purchase orders on file at their stations — a rule that goes for broadcasters and cable networks alike.
So, if Time Warner isn't required to post the records online, why is it doing it anyway?
Because it's easier, cheaper and better, according to Alex Dudley, spokesman for Time Warner Cable. He said it makes complying with audits easier and reduces paperwork headaches.
Meanwhile, broadcasters have tried to block the rule, saying it would reveal sensitive ad rate information to advertisers and competitors. The FCC rebuffed this argument by pointing out that the information was already public, just not online.
And it's not only NAB that is trying to stop the rule. Last week, House Republicans tried to block the rule by defunding it.
The rule is still awaiting approval from the Office of Management and Budget. It could come into effect as early as next month, but might take longer if the OMB delays or has concerns. The NAB asked OMB to reject it this week.
We've sent an email to NAB asking for comment on Time Warner's portal and are awaiting a response. We will publish that as soon as we get it.
Free Press, a media reform group that has been pushing for the FCC rule for years (and with whom the Sunlight Foundation has been advocating for online access of the files), applauded Time Warner's portal.
"This points out what we've pointed out all along, which is this information is public and that putting this information online doesn't change the marketplace incentives," said Free Press attorney Corie Wright.
"If (Time Warner) thought it was so competititively sensitive, why would it do that?" she added.
Looking at the portal shows that American Crossroads, the super PAC brainchild of GOP operative Karl Rove, bought a two-week block of time in Portland, Maine, for nearly $3,000. The record shows when they aired on all cable networks–from CNN to Fox News to the History Channel. Fox News claimed the most expensive prime-time slot at $37 for a 30 second spot. A spot on CNN's American Morning cost $8 for 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, for about a month from early May to early June, the Obama campaign paid more than $6,000 to run ads on Portland's Time Warner cable networks.
Some of the information goes back to the 2010 election. For example, records show ad time bought by Dan Maffei, a Syracuse-area Democrat who lost his Congressional seat that year and is now trying to win it back. Records also show what's coming: he has already bought time in September.
The fact that Time Warner Cable puts this information online was pointed out by the Honolulu Civil Beat, which is published by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, founder of the Omidyar Network, one of Sunlight's funders.
Meanwhile, so long as the rule remains in limbo, and given the fact that it will only apply to the nation's top 50 markets, Sunlight is asking for volunteers from the battleground state of Wisconsin to help track the files down.
6/15/2012, 6:10 p.m. ET: Updated to clarify that in two years, all broadcast stations would be required to post political ads online.


text:
South Africa 'pioneer in real estate life'
We continue to focus on residential properties in South Africa in this week's issue of The properties module.
In this episode, I speak with New World Wealth wealth analyst Andrew Amoils about the country's top properties and market trends.
New World Wealth has done a lot of research over the years on high net worth individuals, both locally and internationally, as well as the luxury or wealth sector in general, including residential properties in South Africa.
The highlights of her interview appear below. You can also listen to the full podcast above or download it from iono, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
Andrew Amoils, Wealth Analyst at New World Wealth. Image: supplied
"We have been rating the best properties in South Africa since approximately 2015. Based on our latest ratings, the best properties are Val de Vie, Fancourt, Pezula, Steyn City, Steenberg, Arabella, Atlantic Beach and Simbithi. That's in the general category of lifestyle real estate. "
"South Africa is a pioneer in the real estate life. Well, you could call it that because properties have been big in South Africa for quite some time, since the early 1990s, while in places like the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand and other parts of the world they have started to take off only in the last few years. five years or so. "
"I think there are several reasons for its popularity. They are becoming very popular with wealthy people because they offer a lot of security and privacy. "
"Obviously, there is a lifestyle and a community element to [estates] in terms of parks and playgrounds. And then of course there are all the facilities. Many properties have in-house gyms, offer golf, horseback riding, tennis, biking, jogging trails. "
"There are [also] the element of having limited and controlled traffic, which is very important to families or people with young children. Many of the properties have underpasses under the roads or have fairly strict rules about fast driving. I think that for a lot of people that appeals to them in terms of raising children on farms. "
How do these properties appear on your top five or ten list?
"We tend to focus on luxury [estates], although that is not the only element. If you were to look only at the most expensive properties, the most expensive properties in South Africa in terms of average price are probably Silverhurst in Cape Town, Pezula Private Estate, Leopard Creek [and] An estate on Forrest Road in Inanda [Sandton] they're probably the high-end ones. "
"But many of the properties that we look at are high-end, they are luxury, but many of them offer apartments. Some of them are entry-level, normally around R3 million for a smaller apartment or a small townhouse. So we definitely take that into account. "
"[However], we look at a lot of other things in terms of activities and facilities on offer. Obviously the main thing is how well the farm is maintained… We mainly focus on farms that have some kind of common areas, so in terms of general townhouse developments, we wouldn't really consider them because they don't. So yeah, there are several elements that we look at. "
Is there a possibility of further real estate development in South Africa, or perhaps you expect it to sell out at some point?
"There is definitely room to grow. Many of the properties are not completely overcrowded with people, so they obviously have to grow larger. Many of the farms were built 20 years ago, high-level farms, they are not yet full; not all plots have been developed. So there is still room to grow on the existing heritage. "
"In terms of building new properties, that part of the market could be a bit slow. But I think that the great trend that we have seen in recent years is a movement away from houses towards apartments ".
"I think if you look at the properties in South Africa, particularly the golf properties, a lot of them were built in the 1990s or early 2000s. But if you really look, over the last five to 10 years, the Developments being made, the big ones have been Umhlanga Arch, which is obviously mixed-use, Brookfield at Royal on the golf course in Joburg. , New Downtown Steyn City, those are all apartment-like developments. I think that's where it's headed …
"Apartments are more convenient than houses, and for people having a big house is not as attractive as it used to be, because you have to get people to take care of maintaining the house. It is not as good as a lock-up-and-go. So obviously the fees and taxes are much higher on the houses. "
"There is a movement, even at the higher end of the market, towards apartments and away from the type of traditional golf estates that have houses scattered around the properties and more and more estates, the same estate, but with apartment blocks within and maybe townhouse developments within them. "
"I think Steyn City is a good example of that because it has townhouse developments, houses and apartments, different apartment developments. So that's probably where the housing industry is headed. "
"Obviously there have been properties for wildlife and properties for retirees. There has been a lot of growth in the last 10 years or so, but that has also started to slow down in the last two years; but I think there was pretty strong growth between 2010 and 2015. "
"For life on a retirement farm there has been tremendous growth there, particularly on the Garden Route, in the West Coast area, over the last 20 years …
"That area is very popular for retirement properties. Now he's starting to see that the North Coast has also started creating retirement properties in recent years. "
"There are also quite a few in Joburg and across the country. I think there has been quite strong growth in that sector, so it is difficult to know if it is already a bit saturated. These trends tend to pick up only after many of the developments have increased, so I think the big growth in retirement properties is over. "
"But if you can really build a fantastic retirement estate, there is always potential to get people because there are a lot of people in that age group who do have money. In particular, I think that in areas like the north coast of Natal, Garden Route and Hermanus, there is a lot of potential for retirement properties. "
PrevBetter-than-expected tax collections bode well for South Africa
NextRaubex targets the renewable energy space


text:
In Defense of the Faith Apologetic Ministry
Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."
Articles and Podcast
The State of Apologetics 2020
Glenn November 3, 2020
Apologetics, Podcast
2020, Apocalypse, Apologetics
Behold the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
Romans 11:22, ESV (modification mine)
Last year, in 2019, my 'State of Apologetics' focused on the continuity of our duty as Christians to keep doing what we've been doing for 2000 years since King Jesus came into the world. Now that 2020 is nearing the end (of all things?), I cannot tell you (with any confidence) that I foresaw these events that have unfolded since last November. Yes, the world had changed from 2009 to 2019… but the amount of change that has occurred in the world during 2020 is nothing short of spectacular and unprecedented!
Since November of 2019, President Donald Trump was impeached by the Democrat controlled House of Representatives but was not removed from office due to the Senate being controlled by the Republican Party. When 2020 and the State of the Union happened this year, the world was still consumed by the impeachment of Donald Trump and the impending Democratic nominee being declared for the November 3rd Presidential election just around the corner. Then on March 11, 2020, the entire world changed. The World Health Organization declared the most unprecedented pandemic of our lifetimes, even more dramatic than the H1N1 scare a decade earlier. Immediately after declaring the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic, the 2020 shutdowns began. China – where the virus originated – had already started their own lockdown, but because of their negligence to share what they knew about this particularly nasty form of Coronavirus, it had already spread far and wide across the globe. The United States had already shut down travel from China in January (hoping to control the spread), but as time progressed infection rates rose in both Europe, North America and abroad… leading to global economic and social lockdowns everywhere the virus went. But this was just the beginning…
May 25th came and the killing of a black man (George Floyd) occurred in Minneapolis, MN, at the hands of law enforcement. Due to the use of counterfeit money, the convenience store Floyd had visited called police to report the use of fake money and police responded while Floyd was still sitting in his vehicle. In standard procedure, Police were able to detain him and began to investigate what had occurred at the store. But instead of remaining a calm interaction, Americans witnessed the video footage of onlookers showing a distraught Floyd crying out that he could not breath while the arresting officer continued to keep Floyd pinned to the ground with a knee to Floyd's neck. George Floyd eventually died on the scene and the video footage went viral on the Internet. News media outlets decried the abuse of the arresting officers who did nothing to alleviate Floyd's suffocation while he cried on the ground and this single event lit the fire that has become known as the George Floyd protests of 2020. These protests (and riots) have not yet ceased (as of the writing of this entry) and new deaths refuel the protesting and rioting as black Americans are killed (even in justified police responses) due to violent encounters that result in lethal force. To organize these protests and riots, two primary anarchist groups in America – Antifa (meaning antifascist) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) – have vowed "no justice, no peace" until major structural change occurs in cities and states where policing and the use of force continue to lead to black indivudals being severaly harmed or killed in the process. And if we thought the pandemic was bad in March, none of us had seen anything yet: Cities set on fire, local stores pillaged, and violent fights against police and security forces filled the streets of many major cities. Everything was suddenly up for grabs and government monuments and buildings were decried by protestors as symbols at the heart of 'systemic' racism – which they say is the entire American system. America had reached a tipping point with "anti-racist" rhetoric claiming that the American system was inherently and systemically RACIST.
I can testify today that the combination of COVID-19 state and local shutdowns with all the race riots and protests has become more than many people can stand. Groups seeking to protect their community businesses have formed in America. Individuals, who never believed they would have to own a gun, have purchased guns and ammo to the point that even the supplies to reload your own ammo casings are not plentiful enough to buy anymore. As of the end of October 2020, businesses in major cities are boarding up their store fronts to protect from the anticipated rioting and looting to come if the election is undecided or, especially, if President Trump wins again. Even the White House is erecting a 'non-scalable fence' around its perimeter and we are about to find out just how serious these anarchist and revolutionary groups are, come the week of November 3rd.
All this leads us to the question… what is the state of Christianity and the discipline of Apologetics in 2020? Given the purpose and meaning of the word, Apologetics deals with a wide variety of areas: philosophy, worldview, world religions, cults, etc… But I must say that this year, 2020, has presented us with new challenges to the Faith that we have never experienced in our lifetime. The following are the primary challenges that I believe Christians face in the West, particularly America, as 2020 nears an end:
Critical Theory and Intersectionality
Widespread Cultural Apostasy
Political and Social Pressure
Critical Theory and Intersectionality (CTI) have been described as Cultural Marxism and movements like Black Lives Matter stand as exemplary CTI organizations. They have even given a formal confession of faith that is blatantly atheistic and secular in worldview and communist in political and social ideology. (Note that the link above to the statement of beliefs is an Internet archive because BLM removed it due to public concerns and opposition narratives that were working against their goals – but that is still what they believe.) These various forms of Cultural Marxism are not simply staying "out there" in the culture. Instead, they are entering the church and doing what genuine heresy always does – divide. The divisions have been forming for years now with a slow march of infection, but now that we are in 2020 and have witnessed the new race riots and protests, those heresy preachers of this Neo Marxist doctrine of Critical Theory have come out loudly and boldly to be seen by everyone. After eight years of President Obama laying the groundwork for 'oppressed' minorities to become 'empowered' by his high-handed affirmation of LGBTQ rights and Critical Race Theory (CRT), the mainstream media and mainstream denominations in America have embraced it, without any caution. And as of 2020, faithful denominations (like the one I belong to) are being forced into compromise and fence sitting to try and keep their public face while maintaining the namesakes of the institutions and buildings that have 'racist' founders who either owned slaves or formed fellowships due to the American Civil War between the North and the South. The genuine propensity for further divisions to form in already small denominations – that decades ago broke away from the liberal mainstream – stands to weaken the remaining faithful churches and make Christians in America even more irrelevant in the culture wars of the 21st Century. This issue stands to be the most prominent issue in Christian Apologetics for at least a decade to come.
The question of whether "Cultural Christianity" is a good thing or a bad thing has been highly debated over the decades, but it was this past decade (the 2010s) that resulted in a watershed moment for Christians in America as census data and polling research found a rapid drop of 12% in the number of total Christians in the United States. As of 2020, the percentage of Americans identifying as Christian stands near 60% of the population. This smaller majority presses faithful Christians further and further towards the proximity of cultural minority status in a society who's founding documents depend fundamentally on a theistic, Christian worldview and covenantal structure of society. Is it any wonder that the cultural revolutionaries are calling for the end of the Constitution and Bill of Rights as outdated documents for a 21st Century world full of 'progress' and technological advances that make them 'obsolete'? America's Christian heritage is being lost at light speed and unless the culture remains broadly Christian, the fate of America as a Constitutional Republic will remain in question for years to come due to a society that no longer holds to the worldview that produced it. The loss of this seemingly innocuous thing called 'Cultural Christianity' will be revealed as something much more devastating to American than those, who are happy to see it go, will ever admit. As it pertains to Christian Apologetics, this new cultural context presents a much harder path to live faithfully as a Christian in a society that no longer understands or sympathizes with our worldview and lifestyle commitments. Thus, "defending the faith" will be one of the most important disciplines in support of Gospel living and evangelism in a post-2020 American landscape. But even more than a mere discipline, the greatest challenge will be this: Can we successfully use Apologetics to save fellow Christians in our circles from mass cultural apostasy? An apostasy that is growing at a faster rate than any of us alive today have ever witnessed.
Political & Social Pressures
I end with this final challenge to Christian Apologetics in the year 2020. Buffeted by the winds of apostasy and Cultural Marxism, it has never been more apparent to me that the original, New Testament context of doing apologetics will become a reality for Christians in America at some point this next decade. Barring a massive revival here in the States, serious forms of slander and persecution will be seen over the next 10 years if the society continues to reject America as a Constitutional Republic and a majority of the society embraces a dominant, secular religion and culture. Why do I say this? Because Christianity as a religious and cultural minority is the very context in which the Apostles wrote their letters to Christian churches in the Roman Empire nearly 2000 years ago. The Apostle Peter wrote the primary text for doing Apologetics in the following cultural setting (note the underlined):
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…
Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil…
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 1:1; 3:13–17; 4:12-17 ESV
I end now with the promise of judgment that I began with. If it is true that we are to "Behold the kindness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22), then it also stands that God's judgement begins with us. Regardless of what happens in 2020, regardless of who is elected as President of the United States, regardless of how many leave the Faith over the next decade… God calls all his people to a fundamental devotion: Faith in Jesus Christ and his Kingdom. No matter the cost, no matter the danger, no matter the division, no matter the fairness… every one of us will be called to persevere in the Faith until the end. Whether in peace or in persecution, whether in prosperity or famine, whether in Christian or Secular society… all of God's chosen people will be tested and examined by our great King Jesus to see whether we are loyal to him and to his Kingdom. Therefore:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing… [for] blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:2-4,12 ESV
In Defense of the Faith Podcast – Pilot Episode
Six Years In: Living With Lot Among The Sodomites
© 2000, In Defense of the Faith Apologetic Ministry.


The eCore online course tuition is the same for both Georgia residents and non-residents.
For a complete description of eCore tuition and KSU fees please visit the Bursar's Office website.
Textbooks and special materials required for courses are not included in tuition rates. Students who register for traditional classroom courses or other distance education courses offered at KSU will be billed for all of the courses, in additional to any mandatory fees.
Tuition for eCore 8 Week, Session II courses will be due and payable immediately upon registration.
Every eCore course requires at least one, and no more than two, proctored exams or proctored experiences. The KSU Testing Center charges a $25 test administration fee for eCore exams.
Dual Enrollment students are also eligible to take eCore courses.