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John Calvin: Neither Capitalist Saint Nor Theological Boogieman
Peter Feuerherd's recent column at JSTOR Daily discusses sixteenth century Protestant Reformer John Calvin and his influence on capitalism. Calvin is viewed negatively by most moderns, both because of his identification with the doctrine of predestination – that God has eternally elected those who will be saved – as well as for a common, if not quite accurate, styling of the Weberian hypothesis, that Calvin and Calvinists believed worldly affluence to signify divine election.
Starting with the last point first, Calvin never taught that temporal prosperity provides evidence of divine election. Not at all; he did not presage today's "Prosperity Gospel" in any fashion. If anything, he warned against trusting outward evidence of that sort as tokening one's salvation. To be sure, this styling of Weber's claim is a popular bowdlerization of what Weber in fact argues. Nonetheless, Weber does lead the horse to the water, writing that, for Calvinists, "in order to attain that self-confidence intense worldly activity is recommended as the most suitable means. It and it alone disperses religious doubts and gives the certainty of grace." Weber derives his evidence almost exclusively from Puritan authors, Richard Baxter in particular, whom he quotes selectively. Baxter himself nuances his argument in significant ways Weber ignores, and even then, Puritans, while (largely) Calvinists, are not necessarily representative of broader Calvinism, even at that time.
But more than the silliness of Calvin as a putative Prosperity preacher, his identification with predestination has marked him for moderns as an austere, severe reformer and theologian. The irony is that the revival in the doctrine of predestination, formalized at least since Augustine, and recognized in affirmations such as those at the Second Council of Orange in 529 AD, was not a Calvinist distinctive. Indeed, a revival of the doctrine spanned the different currents of the magisterial reformation, both Lutheran (or "Evangelical") and Reformed.
Indeed, Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will, his reply to an earlier work of Erasmus's defending free will, is a full-fledged defense of the doctrine of predestination and election. But that Luther would take this position should not surprise us entirely given that he was a member of the Augustinian Order before the start of the Reformation. The official confessional documents of Lutheranism more broadly all endorse and defend a very high view of the doctrine of election and predestination.
There is a bit of a puzzle here. Often forgotten today is that the Reformation, at least the magisterial Reformation, broadly recovered and reasserted the doctrine of predestination as one of its distinctives.
The magisterial Reformation is most commonly associated today with the doctrine of "salvation by grace through faith." Why would the doctrine of predestination and election been a Reformation distinctive as well, even if one ignored (if not rejected) by most Protestants today? Oddly enough, there was a connection between the motivation for teaching salvation by grace through faith and the motivation for teaching predestination and election at the time of the Reformation: the Reformers believed the medieval Roman Catholic Church placed too much emphasis on the role of human works in salvation. They thought this created too much angst about whether one was, or could be, saved.
In response, the Reformers emphasized both the distinctive of salvation by faith alone and the distinctive of God's election as doctrines that rejected the need for human works in salvation: Salvation, they argued, was received by faith alone, and that salvation resulted from God's work alone, without the need of human effort to add to God's work. Ironically, while the latter teaching is today taken as debilitating, the Reformers considered both doctrines to be liberating (at least initially): They thought they freed people from always wondering whether they had done enough to merit salvation, both because salvation required only faith, rather than works, but also because salvation was entirely God's work rather than humanity's. To be sure, what they did not entirely anticipate was that people would then worry not about whether they had done enough to merit salvation, but whether or not God has actually selected them for salvation. So it ultimately opened another set of questions and worries.
Surprisingly, however, given Calvin's reputation, in his major systematic theology, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, predestination is not a central focus or organizing principle. Calvin's approach in the Institutes is surprisingly pastoral and humanistic.
All of this is not to say that Calvin didn't have anything to say about social and economic relations and civil government. Of particular note is that he ends his Institutes with a discussion of civil government. There is little distinctive for his time in this section, however. He affirms natural law as the basis for government and law. While admitting that any form of government, monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy, would be permissible, he was critical of monarchy, preferring a mix of aristocracy and democracy. Here Calvin would not necessarily have identified aristocracy with hereditary aristocracy, but rather as a rule by the best. It is possible, although by no means clear, that he would have been comfortable with a system of representative democracy as a means to achieve the type of aristocratic government he endorsed.
He also discusses the right, indeed, the obligation, of lesser magistrates to resist greater magistrates if and when the latter became oppressive. The American colonists often appealed to this principle to justify why colonial authorities had the right and authority to lead the American colonists in resistance to the metropolitan authority in London. This provided a way for them to throw off the rule of Great Britain without also violating the injunction in Romans 13 to submit to the "powers that be."
While Calvin reflected the times in which he lived, and embraced beliefs increasing foreign to modern liberal society, contrary to popular perceptions, he is neither the capitalist saint, not the theological boogeyman, that moderns often take him to be.
The Original Meaning of the Fourth Amendment: What Does "the Place to Be Searched" Mean?
Mike Rappaport
James R. Rogers is associate professor of political science at Texas A&M University. He teaches and publishes at the intersection of law, politics, and game theory. He has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Public Choice, and in numerous other journals. He edited and contributed to the book Institutional Games and the Supreme Court, and served as editor of the Journal of Theoretical Politics from 2006 through 2013.
on September 04, 2017 at 13:50:41 pm
Three very good books on this topic are:
"Puritanism and Liberty" by ASP Woodhouse (1938) [this is focused tightly on the period 1640-50 in England and assumes one is a student of the English Civil wars and has been catechized using the Heidelberg Catechism] ;
"The Reformation" by Diarmaid MacCulloch (2003) [this is by an Anglican theologian and sheds useful light on why the CoE is often seen as neither fish nor fowl on the points raised]; and
"The Reformation of Rights" by John Witte, Jr. (2007)[this a good survey of Calvinism from the American low church perspective].
If your interested, read Witte first, MacCulloch second and Woodhouse last, if your still interested. But Woodhouse is certainly important.
It is my understanding that "evangelical" and "reformed" have been synonyms in the English language since 1533 and that evangelical, reformed and puritan have been synonyms in the English language since about 1600. Why am I wrong?
It is my understanding that magisterial Protestantism is associated with the CoE, English and Scots Presbyterianism and Fifth Monarchist Independents. Fifth Monarchist implies constitutional democratic-republican rule by the visible saints. The Massachusetts Bay Colony and Cromwell's Commonwealth might be best described as a Fifth Monarchist experiments rather than Presbyterian or Independent experiments.
All other reformed English protestant sects can be collected under the heading "Independent." What separates the Independents from the rest is that the Independents believed that the state should have no power over the church and that the Church should have no civil magisterial power - the state and the church must not be one. Am I wrong?
Calvin will be best remembered for establishing that under Christian dogma, Man does not have free will wrt "salvation." lt is the only rational way to read Rom. 8:28, et seq. And to make matters worse, we can't even choose our own leaders! Rom. 13:1-7.
ln short, we are less than slaves. Little more than robots. lt is difficult to imagine a bleaker fate than Christian dogma saddles us with. Or that a god more cruel and sadistic could possibly be imagined.
on September 05, 2017 at 09:52:32 am
Does ANYONE actually believe in Calvin's predestination? - which incidentally, at least to my mind, contradicts a long struggle, first expressed by the Zoroastrians and later Christianity, to separate Man from the tribe and offer a sense of personal salvation.
Rom. 13:-7 would appear to be the guiding principle for many of our progressive friends as well - "For the one in authority is God's [the State's] servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.
OMG - I actually quoted scripture. Dawg, ya made me do it! -Ha!
"Am I wrong?" - Nope and the long history of the civil authorities co-opting the Church, with predictably dreadful consequences affirms your assertion.
Then again, what is a poor Prince, born second-in-line to do when primogeniture was the Rule of the Land. He simply could not go off and found Google - so it was to be a Bishopric for he, and the power and prestige, provided by the Crown's intervention, of course were to be his rewards.
That's my point, gabe. ln the words of Pilate, "O gegrapha, gegrapha." Paul makes it clear that under his iteration of Christianity, you were either predestined for salvation or damned to hell before you were born.
Most cafeteria Christians find this plain reading of Holy Writ unpalatable, and have excised it from their NT with a proverbial X-Acto knife.
Ditto, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Matt. 7:12.
What you are left with isn't Christianity.
Fratricide. :)
"Does ANYONE actually believe in Calvin's predestination?"
Hard to read Romans 9 any other way.
Jared W Myers
De-Rigging Capitalist Privilege
Edmund Burke's Perennial Liberty
H. Lee Cheek, Jr.
Capitalism's Enigma and Its Future


Every little girl dreams of her wedding day, of walking down the aisle to marry her prince charming in her perfect dress. When it come to actually planning the Big Day, however, many brides find themselves lost as they try to navigate everything that has to happen for a Big White Wedding. While fantisising about the man, the dress, and the hair is fun, actually organising everything, from the venue to the entertainment, is more than a little intimidating.
Because planning a wedding can be an overwhelming experience, wedding planning companies, like 1 Stop Wedding Shop, have become more popular in recent years. It's difficult to squeeze in organising a wedding with work and other commitments in today's fast-paced world. Wedding planners work with the happy couple to make their wedding magical while removing the stress of having to organise it all during lunch-breaks. And then there's the cost. Weddings can be phenomenally expensive, with venues charging several thousand pounds to host the event, and some photographers charging in excess of £2,000 for the day. Many people think that having a wedding planner will increase that cost, but the opposite is true. These companies want repeat business, so it's sensible to offer them a discount to planners, and that discount is passed onto the client, making everyone happy.
Wedding photographers can be expensive, and it's difficult to know beforehand if you're going to get someone that you trust to capture the celebration perfectly. The wonderful thing about having a wedding planner is that they work with photographers that they trust, and the price will be included in the wedding package as standard.
When it comes to the wedding reception, the food and entertainment are the most important parts of it. Once the ceremony is over, the speeches spoken, and the new Mr. and Mrs. toasted many times, everyone is finally able to relax, eat, drink, and dance. The food and the entertainment are so important, and so it is important to get them right. Your wedding planner will work with you to discuss whether you want a band or a disco, a buffet or a sit down meal, and ensure they find the right person for the job.
Knowing how much work is needed to put a wedding together, and of the cost involved, it is easy to see why wedding planning is a huge business, and, when you think about it, the happiest day of your lives should not be marred by all of the stress involved.
WHICH WEDDING DRESS TO CHOOSE FOR MY WEDDING?


UNISOKU UHV SPM systems with strong focus on cryogenic temperature, high magnetic fields and outstanding STM performance.
Instrumentation for Nano Probing by UNISOKU including a UHV 4-Point Probing System with optical or SEM navigation .
Optical products by UNISOKU like picoTAS, the unique picosecond transient absorption spectrometer and cryostats for common photo spectrometers.
This is followed by ancillary products and accessories for the SPM systems such as sources for metal or organic deposition, STM probe tips, single crystal, etc..
The products of BihurCrystal – e.g. the Atomic Layer Injection source ALI-DS001 – are collated in a separate section. The BihurCrystal products are distributed by nanoscore in Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.


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Lee Ann Womack:
Lee Ann Womack (born August 19, 1966 in Jacksonville, Texas) is a country music artist whom may best be known for her 2000 crossover hit, I Hope You Dance.
Her 1997 self-titled debut album brought her onto the country music scene as a herald of a more traditional country music sound, in a genre that had begun to sound more pop-oriented with the likes of LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill and Shania Twain topping the charts. The hits from that first album were "Never Again, Again", "The Fool" and "You've Got To Talk To Me."
Her second album, 1998's Some Things I Know brought us "A Little Past Little Rock", "(Now You See Me) Now You Don't", and "I'll Think Of A Reason Later", while her third and possibly most successful album to date, 2000's I Hope You Dance featured, along with the award-winning aforementioned title cut (to which Sons of the Desert supplied the backing vocals) also featured the hits "Why They Call It Falling" and "Does My Ring Burn Your Finger" as well as covers of the 1980 Rodney Crowell hit "Ashes By Now", and the Don Williams' 1970s classic, "Lord I Hope This Day Is Good."
Womack's fourth album, Something Worth Leaving Behind, released in 2002, was seen by many as an attempt by her to cross-over to the very pop-sound that she was the antithesis of five years earlier. The title cut was the only track on the album to reach the Top 40.
Her most recent album, 2005's There's More Where That Came From features "I May Hate Myself In The Morning," the album's first single, which is viewed by many as a return to the traditional sound that brought her success in her earlier career. Later in 2005, Womack won three awards at the CMT Country Music Awards, as follows: Single of the Year for "I May Hate Myself In The Morning," Album of the Year for There's More Where That Came From, and finally Musical Event of the Year, for her duet, "Good News, Bad News," with George Strait.
Womack also appeared in the video and supplied back-up vocals for Cross Canadian Ragweed's "Sick and Tired."
Womack has two daughters; Aubrie (with ex-husband Jason Sellers) and Anna Lise (with current husband Frank Liddell). Both daughters appeared in the video for "I Hope You Dance."
Houston Rodeo Tickets Online is your source for Lee Ann Womack tickets and all your entertainment needs. Order tickets online . Lee Ann Womack Official Site

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home » Dustin Lance Black says he's recovering from a 'serious head injury' | CNN
Dustin Lance Black says he's recovering from a 'serious head injury' | CNN
Dustin Lance Black revealed that he is recovering from a "serious head injury" that the Oscar-winning writer experienced about a month ago.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Black did not share how he sustained his injury but said it put him "out of commission."
"So I vanished for a while… A month ago I sustained a serious head injury that put me out of commission," Black wrote. "Showing little improvement, my doctors ordered me to shut off my brain in hopes of it healing. This has been a challenging, frightening time for a creative type who depends on what's in his skull to work, care and love. And now I understand the road back will be long."
Black, who won the Academy Award for original screenplay for the 2008 film "Milk," and, more recently, adapted "Under the Banner of Heaven" for FX and Hulu, shared a series of vacation photos with his post.
"This week my sweet, over the top husband took us to the Greek Islands to make me shut off," Black concluded his note. "I can already feel this trip is a step in the right direction, and I finally feel safe sharing a bit again. Thank you for all of your love and patience. More to come. Promise."
"Mama's Boy," a documentary about Black's life based on his memoir of the same name, is set to premiere on HBO on Oct. 19. (CNN and HBO are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Read More: Dustin Lance Black says he's recovering from a 'serious head injury' | CNN
Topics: Black CNN Dustin Hes Injury Lance recovering
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There was a time when the impression of Hollywood movie studios – at least to fans – was clear: it was the writers and directors who spawned the true creativity and 'art' that wound up lasting decades or reshaping the medium… and the producers who beat the drum of profitability and star power. That was, until the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – when producer Kevin Feige became the fans' favorite player and 'the man with the plan,' meaning the writers and directors actually making the film were simply bringing the studio's broad story to life.
Obviously that's not an entirely accurate description, as numerous writers and directors have claimed the productions themselves felt as fun as an indie movie. But it's the studio's decision that rules – a fact learned by both Edgar Wright and Alan Taylor, whose visions for their films were vetoed – and considering the studio's track record, the fans tend to argue it's for the best.
It's not just Marvel, since nearly every major franchise blockbuster sees rumors or reports of studio meddling at some point – which is why so many heads were turned (or eyebrows raised) when the first claims arrived that with the DC Extended Universe, Warner Bros. was favoring a "filmmaker-driven approach." In short, let the writers and directors tell their own stories, and figure out the bigger vision/plan as they went. In the eyes of those who believe Marvel is the formula everyone else should just copy, it seems like folly. But for the cast of Suicide Squad, it's changing their entire idea of where the comic book movie genre can go.
We had the opportunity to visit the set of director David Ayer's unorthodox story of 'bad vs. evil,' sending the baddest killers and criminals of the DC Universe on a mission to do some good… or die trying. It was a refreshing premise since the project was first announced: Warner Bros. handing one of the first entries in the larger DCEU, featuring some of the most in-demand and fan-favorite characters, to the mind behind Training Day, End of Watch, and Fury. And when David Ayer took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con after three months of shooting, he made it clear that the film would carry as much attitude, as much unapologetic swagger, and as raw a style as any of his past work.
Overnight, the movie stole the spotlight from Batman V Superman (let that one sink in) and it seemed to be for one reason: Warner Bros. had found a unique talent to craft their comic into a movie, and let them loose. Since then, the claims that the studio really was giving creative control to their directors have shifted aside for juicier topics.
Jai Courtney: I don't know if I came in with expectations. I was kind of opposed to the idea before it was ever… before this was ever conceptualized. It was David Ayer that really was the draw card, I mean that was the only reason I was interested in the first place. And I think that that and the property we're working with has meant that it's… I mean, I don't really see comic book films, I didn't grow up reading them. So I guess I'm not really sort of part of that fan [base]. It's not the world I'm necessarily interested in as an audience member. And it's probably changed my perspective on that a little, and I was probably guilty of having some ideas about where those sorts of films were headed. And I think what we're doing is really exciting, and I think we're really lucky to be a part of this one.
Margot Robbie: I thought doing a comic book movie would be a very formulated process, and so far this has been one of the most organic and spontaneous processes I've been through. This is the sort of process I would expect to do on a cool, gritty indie film, and we're doing it on this massive budget film where there's so many people giving their opinion on what we're wearing, what we're doing, blah blah blah… But at the end of the day, everyone's standing back and letting David do it the way he wants to do it. And fortunately for us, the way he wants to do it is a very raw, gritty way.
Courtney is no stranger to the massive, studio-controlled franchises in recent years. Having appeared in series like Die Hard, Terminator, and Divergent, the Aussie actor has seen the methods – and results – by which a studio will hope to protect their investment, appeal to a broad audience, and find success (or failure).
It's hard to say that Ayer has ever fit that bill: films like Harsh Times, Street Kings, End of Watch, and even Fury have never broken out into mainstream 'blockbuster' territory, but they were never really intended to, either. Certainly not with such adult, ugly, and violent realities the main pursuit.
But it's worth remembering, too, that those smaller budget, less 'broadly appealing' films are usually the ones which find a devoted audience, or critical acclaim. On the one hand, it makes sense for major studios like Disney and Universal to seek out the directors responsible for small, intimate, yet promising character pieces, hand them a bigger budget and property and ask them to "just do the same." But on the other, fans are now regularly confused when seeing those same directors micro-managed, or given properties or universe-launching sequels almost impossible to leave their mark upon.
JC: Just to elaborate on that, I think it's unfortunate that when you deal with sort of franchise properties, you know, directors aren't always afforded the freedom to take total control. And he has been and I think that's what makes the difference.
MR: It makes such a difference. For sure.
JC: And changes the experience for everyone involved. It may be riskier from a studio perspective, but if they're trusting in his vision - and he executes it well, which we have no doubt he will, it's going to be amazing – then I think it just makes for a much more enriching experience.
There's no guarantee that giving "total control" to a director will result in success; delivering critical flops like Batman V Superman are just as likely as hits like Guardians of the Galaxy. But as the current slate of comic book movies climbs into the dozens, there's a case to be made that different movies may be the path best pursued, instead of a reliable, yet formulaic universe.
And considering that not only David Ayer's vision, but the studio's decision to respect it has converted one non-believer, and seems to have the entire cast eager to make as many sequels as they're allowed, this "filmmaker-driven approach" may be worth the risk when all is said and done.
Suicide Squad is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 5, 2016; Wonder Woman is slated for release on June 2, 2017; followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash is currently without release date.


The current approach to "reverse payment" settlements of drug patent litigation seeks to preclude only those settlements guaranteed to harm consumers, rather than all that could harm them. Antitrust tolerates the possibility of harm in order to give firms the freedom to make settlements that might benefit consumers, relative to what courts would achieve under patent law. Antitrust's mission is not, however, to improve upon outcomes under patent law, but rather to prevent harm to consumers. Accordingly, antitrust must minimize the possibility of harm, even if that precludes the chance of gain. I show that a ban on all settlements that fix a date of entry, regardless of the existence of a reverse payment or the number of generic challengers, is the best way to do that.
Ramsi A. Woodcock, Uncertainty and Reverse Payments, 84 Tenn. L. Rev. 99 (2016).
Woodcock, Ramsi A., "Uncertainty and Reverse Payments" (2016). Faculty Publications By Year. 2571.


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Drake Equation
Categories: Drake EquationExtraterrestrialFermi Paradox
New Model Predicts That We're Probably the Only Advanced Civilization in the Observable Universe
Using information from Gaia's second data release, a team of scientists have made refined estimates of the Milky Way's mass. Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC
The Fermi Paradox remains a stumbling block when it comes to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). Named in honor of the famed physicist Enrico Fermi who first proposed it, this paradox addresses the apparent disparity between the expected probability that intelligent life is plentiful in the Universe, and the apparent lack of evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI).
In the decades since Enrico Fermi first posed the question that encapsulates this paradox ("Where is everybody?"), scientists have attempted to explain this disparity one way or another. But in a new study conducted by three famed scholars from the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at Oxford University, the paradox is reevaluated in such a way that it makes it seem likely that humanity is alone in the observable Universe.
The study, titled "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox", recently appeared online. The study was jointly-conducted by Anders Sandberg, a Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute and a Martin Senior Fellow at Oxford University; Eric Drexler, the famed engineer who popularized the concept of nanotechnology; and Tod Ord, the famous Australian moral philosopher at Oxford University.
The Drake Equation, a mathematical formula for the probability of finding life or advanced civilizations in the universe. Credit: University of Rochester
For the sake of their study, the team took a fresh look at the Drake Equation, the famous equation proposed by astronomer Dr. Frank Drake in the 1960s. Based on hypothetical values for a number of factors, this equation has traditionally been used to demonstrate that – even if the amount of life developing at any given site is small – the sheer multitude of possible sites should yield a large number of potentially observable civilizations.
This equation states that the number of civilizations (N) in our galaxy that we might able to communicate can be determined by multiplying the average rate of star formation in our galaxy (R*), the fraction of those stars which have planets (fp), the number of planets that can actually support life (ne), the number of planets that will develop life (fl), the number of planets that will develop intelligent life (fi), the number civilizations that would develop transmission technologies (fc), and the length of time that these civilizations would have to transmit their signals into space (L). Mathematically, this is expressed as:
N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
Dr. Sandberg is no stranger to the Fermi Paradox, nor is he shy about attempting to resolve it. In a previous study, titled "That is not dead which can eternal lie: the aestivation hypothesis for resolving Fermi's paradox", Sandberg and his associates proposed that the Fermi Paradox arises from the fact that ETIs are not dead, but currently in a state of hibernation – what they called "aestivation" – and awaiting better conditions in the Universe.
In a study conducted back in 2013, Sandberg and Stuart Armstrong (also a research associate with the FHI and one of the co-authors on this study) extended the Fermi Paradox to look beyond our own galaxy, addressing how more advanced civilizations would feasibly be able to launch colonization projects with relative ease (and even travel between galaxies without difficulty).
As Dr. Sandberg told Universe Today via email:
"One can answer [the Fermi Paradox] by saying intelligence is very rare, but then it needs to be tremendously rare. Another possibility is that intelligence doesn't last very long, but it is enough that one civilization survives for it to become visible. Attempts at explaining it by having all intelligences acting in the same way (staying quiet, avoiding contact with us, transcending) fail since they require every individual belonging to every society in every civilization to behave in the same way, the strongest sociological claim ever. Claiming long-range settlement or communication are impossible requires assuming a surprisingly low technology ceiling. Whatever the answer is, it more or less has to be strange."
In this latest study, Sandberg, Drexler and Ord reconsider the parameters of the Drake Equation by incorporating models of chemical and genetic transitions on paths to the origin of life. From this, they show that there is a considerable amount of scientific uncertainties that span multiple orders of magnitude. Or as Dr. Sandberg explained it:
"Many parameters are very uncertain given current knowledge. While we have learned a lot more about the astrophysical ones since Drake and Sagan in the 1960s, we are still very uncertain about the probability of life and intelligence. When people discuss the equation it is not uncommon to hear them say something like: "this parameter is uncertain, but let's make a guess and remember that it is a guess", finally reaching a result that they admit is based on guesses. But this result will be stated as single number, and that anchors us to an *apparently* exact estimate – when it should have a proper uncertainty range. This often leads to overconfidence, and worse, the Drake equation is very sensitive to bias: if you are hopeful a small nudge upwards in several uncertain estimates will give a hopeful result, and if you are a pessimist you can easily get a low result."
Frank Drake writing his famous equation on a white board. Credit: SETI.org
As such, Sandberg, Drexler and Ord looked at the equation's parameters as uncertainty ranges. Instead of focusing on what value they might have, they looked at what the largest and smallest values they could have based on current knowledge. Whereas some values have become well constrained – such as the number of planets in our galaxy based on exoplanet studies and the number that exist within a star's habitable zone – others remain far more uncertain.
When they combined these uncertainties, rather than the guesswork that often go into the Fermi Paradox, the team got a distribution as a result. Naturally, this resulted in a broad spread due to the number of uncertainties involved. But as Dr. Sandberg explained, it did provide them with an estimate of the likelihood that humanity (given what we know) is alone in the galaxy:
"We found that even using the guesstimates in the literature (we took them and randomly combined the parameter estimates) one can have a situation where the mean number of civilizations in the galaxy might be fairly high – say a hundred – and yet the probability that we are alone in the galaxy is 30%! The reason is that there is a very skew distribution of likelihood.
"If we instead try to review the scientific knowledge, things get even more extreme. This is because the probability of getting life and intelligence on a planet has an *extreme* uncertainty given what we know – we cannot rule out that it happens nearly everywhere there is the right conditions, but we cannot rule out that it is astronomically rare. This leads to an even stronger uncertainty about the number of civilizations, drawing us to conclude that there is a fairly high likelihood that we are alone. However, we *also* conclude that we shouldn't be too surprised if we find intelligence!"
Is anybody out there? Anybody at all? Credit: UCLA SETI Group/Yuri Beletsky, Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory
In the end, the team's conclusions do not mean that humanity is alone in the Universe, or that the odds of finding evidence of extra-terrestrial civilizations (both past and present) is unlikely. Instead, it simply means that we can say with greater confidence – based on what we know – that humanity is most likely the only intelligent species in the Milky Way Galaxy at present.
And of course, this all comes down to the uncertainties we currently have to contend with when it comes to SETI and the Drake Equation. In that respect, the study conducted by Sandberg, Drexler and Ord is an indication that much more needs to be learned before we can attempt to determine just how likely ETI is out there.
"What we are not showing is that SETI is pointless – quite the opposite!" said Dr. Sandberg. "There is a tremendous level of uncertainty to reduce. The paper shows that astrobiology and SETI can play a big role in reducing the uncertainty about some of the parameters. Even terrestrial biology may give us important information about the probability of life emerging and the conditions leading to intelligence. Finally, one important conclusion we find is that lack of observed intelligence does not strongly make us conclude that intelligence doesn't last long: the stars are not foretelling our doom!"
So take heart, SETI enthusiasts! While the Drake Equation may not be something we can produce accurate values for anytime soon, the more we learn, the more refined the values will be. And remember, we only need to find intelligent life once in order for the Fermi Paradox to be resolved!
Further Reading: arXiv
Matt Williams is the Curator of Universe Today's Guide to Space. He is also a freelance writer, a science fiction author and a Taekwon-Do instructor. He lives with his family on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia.
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Pvt.Pantzov says:
I don't believe it to be so, but if it were true that we are the only advanced civilization in the observable universe, what a disappointment that we are the "best" that the universe has to offer.
Btw, MANY people have suggested the hibernation theory and even voluntary extinction. It's not new.
JMA8850 says:
One of the imperatives of humanity has been the creation of intelligent life either through imagination like Scifi or religion or through science either by biology or physics.
We always follow the same three steps: Set up the conditions for life, create life, and then create intelligent life.
A general rule is the model always reflects the charateristics of the artist.
Following that rule if we came into existance through intellence our artist would, of course, have that imperative.
If we came into existance by chance we now have that imperative. Based on the evidence of one intelligence, ours, we know that we will have other intelligents as soon as we can bring them into existance.
sandygpeasantqueen says:
The "reasonable conclusion" is that we are the only intelligent civilization in the Milk Way galaxy at the present? Yet the whole article, while fascinating and informative, seems to really state that no one has a clue what's out there. Given the massive distances involved between galaxies, it's not too hard to extrapolate that civilizations could come and go without our ever being aware. Indeed, we may disappear without anyone ever knowing that we existed. Really sad, when you think about it.
Buboo2 says:
I leave a comment with trepidation, but . . . . for people in these articles, smack of advertising for their profession, and it's how they monetize their lives, like YouTube videographers
there should be a reality check involved: for how long this universe has been around or burped out of a black hole how many times, and the time span for each burp, what small time span has "intelligent" life been part of these iterations and what small time span has that "intelligent" life managed to try to communicate out into the stars to other "intelligent" life forms at a similar stage of evolution . . . . . and to what end?
humans, as "intelligent" animals have only been around for a few hundred thousand years, developed "science" (the mathematics of measurement, compared to philosophy) for about 500+ years, and how long does it take for a "message" (at the speed of light) to get from here, to there, and back again? would we still be around? probably not
and to get there (again at the speed of light or FTL) would we still be around as a species?
so, who cares? let's just deal with the planet we've been dealt and hang in there appreciating our position in the cosmos; we should investigate what that position is, but not try to populate another planet or solar system like locusts hunting for it's next Eden to strip bare and poison
"just saying" . . . . and for you guys: get another gig ! !
tsv0728 says:
The same argument has been made, likely since we all lived in caves. "We've got plenty of Auroch's, so who cares what's out there". Yet exploration has been a benefit to humanity as whole (while admittedly being a detriment to pockets of us) since the exploring began. We learned from each other. We gathered more data for our science. We found new resources to exploit for our benefit..and on and on.
We will explore the stars too. We we live on new planets. Our species will survive our sun's nova. Hopefully we'll run across some other folks along the way, just because it'd be interesting. Maybe we'll become the other folks as pockets of humanity take different technologically driven evolutionary paths. We are human, there is no shame in behaving as such.
Robert Guzman says:
The model is absurd, but leave it to bubble room ivy league academics who couldn't think of soft-landing a booster, to come up with such an arrogant and anthropocentric perspective..
dallasgoon says:
Agree. Totally ridiculous, and, quite frankly, an embarrassing perspective. Oh, because can't see or hear or detect any form of intelligent life out there, there must be none?? Oh, please. I'm sure at one point, people on Earth though there was only one ocean, until somebody got in a boat and started sailing. Oh, we used to swear up and down we were in the center of the universe.
The GALL to suggest that we're the only intelligent life in the galaxy...oh please. We could be virtually surrounded by intelligent life, no smarter than we are, and no means of finding us out...just like us with them.
An ant in Spain has no definitive proof of other ants existing in California. That doesn't give the Spanish ants any grounds to say that the Californian ants aren't out there. They just don't have the means to travel to California to verify (actually, they kinda do...I mean, if that ant could float on a piece of driftwood, and, survive the ocean ride to California to see other ants, it COULD verify. But, then it would have to survive a trip back to Spain to tell other ants of its discoveries. Of course, this could take years to accomplish, and I don't think ants live for years, so, from its ant perspective, this could be impossible. Unless...it flew in a plane, survived that, went back, survived that, and...well, you see where I'm going with this. The odds are long, but not impossible. Humanity is not at that point where it can 'catch a ride' across the galaxy).
Then again, there could be a cosmic being who can see both of us, us being Earthlings and aliens, who is thinking along the same lines I'm thinking with this 'ant' example. Maybe they're thinking, these Earthlings and Aliens both wonder about each other's existence, but can't prove what their thinking. But I can be the bridge to connect them. Perhaps I should take an alien to Earth, or an Earthling to Alien planet, and let them SEE what they're thinking.
But then the cosmic being could be thinking, Well, if I did that, I'd be revealing myself as a higher power, when either side don't have definitive proof that I exist. They can only theorize. Maybe I should leave it alone, and let them discover each other. Oh, btw, it's kinda impossible for them, because space is so vast and impassable from their perspectives.
By this token, we may never know. But that doesn't mean we should blow off the potential existence of other life forms in the universe.
John Grabowski says:
I have no idea if we're "alone" (and neither does or can anyone else, so why we keep obsessing on this I don't know), but here's a point I never hear mentioned:
There are over a million species on earth just now, and since the beginning of time it's estimated there have been over a BILLION species, from the tiniest, most insignificant lifeforms to us. But how many have made it to intelligence, and by intelligence I don't mean able to communicate with sign language or sing songs under water, though these are impressive, but I mean sending spaceships to the stars and building radio telescopes that can listen to the cosmos? Just ONE. Out of a BILLION. Now, earth is just a sample of one, so it may not be significant or typical, but just judging by our own planet, intelligence is very rare. Maybe not life, but intelligent life. This is a distinction that gets blurred when people say there's "no way" we could be "alone" in the universe. Alone, almost certainly not, but lonely when looking for technological intelligence...quite possibly.
Even if the odds of 'intelligent' life out there are in the billions, the number of stars and planets there are in the multi-billions. There may be 250 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Just galaxies, not the individual stars within those galaxies. Those numbers are in the zillions. It's insane. It's even more insane to have the gall to think that we're alone out there. Hell, we might NOT be alone in just our local cluster of stars like our own sun.
Maybe the truth is, they're no smarter than we are, which means their reach into space is very shallow. We (us and them) could be like two people who live on opposite sides of a forest, who never go anywhere, totally unaware of each other's existence.
The article should specify that we are most likely the only intelligent civilization in this galaxy. This was already self-evident when considering that it would only take 50 million years to colonize the entire galaxy, even with our current primitive propulsion systems. Any advanced civilization already present in this galaxy would quite literally be everywhere by now, yet we have found no tangible evidence of anything.
alkemist says:
A really advanced civilization would have no need to colonize. If you had everything you ever wanted at home, and if you could go anywhere at the blink of an eye, why would you want to live somewhere else other than home? Also, a really advanced civilization probably would know how to handle immortality, so there would be no need to multiply/ reproduce. And if you don't reproduce, there is no overpopulation to move to other planets.
I believe that an advanced civilization capable of colonizing other star systems in their home galaxy will inevitably colonize their whole galaxy. Most likely such a civilization will display a fair degree of heterogeneity in its behavior and political thinking. Reasons are that different colonies separated by vast distances will diverge in thought from the mother colony much like what happened in the U.S. where the colonies rebelled successfully against the crown and went their own way politically. Just over the vast time scales some portion of the civilization will decide to expand into the frontier until nothing is left. Eventually some will want to move on to other galaxies but the effort and leap is much greater. It is harder to imagine a civilization that is so uniformly monolithic in thought, as well as so resource efficient, over vast time scales that it never expands outward to encompass the whole galaxy.
Bernard Zimmermann says:
I would go further because once a galaxy has been colonized in 50 million years, it is only 2.5 million light years to the next one. Assuming 10% to 20% light speed, they will be here colonizing in 10 to 25 million years
Franco Valestra says:
we don't know what's in our oceans yet we are bold enough to state that an unimaginable vast universe is void of evolved life. go figure :)
Richard Kirk says:
Fermi's 'Paradox' requires that 'Intelligent Life' should invade nearby star systems, and then distant start systems, and to carry on doing this one thing for the next fifty million years, in order to be considered 'intelligent'.
I like Drake's equation. We do not have a good handle of many of the constants, but every time one of the constants is changed by a new discovery, we can tell whether it is more or less likely. But, anyone multiplying all of them together and claiming 'to 30% probability' is fooling no-one but themselves.
Matt Williams seems to ignore the presence of UFOs. There is a lot of fraud out there, but I imagine the USAF would not be scrambled for some imaginary targets. If they are not from this galaxy, them they must come from a different galaxy/ neighborhood.
sorgfelt says:
I recommend the book "Secret Journey to Planet Serpo" by Len Kasten.
I wish I could find and post a cartoon I once saw of a SETI astronomer peeking through a telescope trying to find life, while a little ET was tapping on his shoulder trying to get his attention.
There are too many people pretending to be intelligent while ignoring anything that doesn't fit their theories.
weeasle says:
Quoting Dr. Sanberg:
"...Attempts at explaining it by having all intelligences acting in the same way (staying quiet, avoiding contact with us, transcending) fail since they require every individual belonging to every society in every civilization to behave in the same way, the strongest sociological claim ever. .."
Why is that the strongest sociological clam ever? I disagree for two possible reasons:
1. Any Intelligent society that had the means to travel such vast distances would likely also be able to observe long range and also probably have developed rules / laws that prohibit contact as not to alter the course of human development (a 'prime directive')...
2. If you were an alien conducting long-range observation of our society, would you really want risk your neck visiting and being captured, turned into an experiment and your technology transferred? Any scientist who thinks we humans with our millitaries and war machines would not behave in this way is being truly naive.
The 'sociological claim' is not so strong! Just common sense from an imagined alien viewpoint.
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According to a new book, most economists don't understand why people behave honestly, fairly, and generously.
Economists have long assumed that people act in their own best interest when making decisions. But research in behavioral economics and psychology has called that assumption into question, showing the many ways that moral sentiments and altruism also play a role in human behavior.
In The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens, author Samuel Bowles argues that most economists are way behind the curve in understanding what motivates people to behave honestly, fairly, and generously in economic interactions. Bowles, a behavioral economist at the Santa Fe Institute, reveals fascinating new research on economic decision making and encourages us to rethink the ways we design our workplaces and our communities.
Bowles provides ample evidence in his authoritative book that the model of Homo economicus doesn't bear out in real life. For example, in one study, when preschools instituted a fine for every minute parents were late in picking up their kids, parents responded by being late more often, not less. In another study, toddlers who had avidly and spontaneously helped someone in need helped less when given a toy as a reward.
Bowles suggests that incentives like these—rewards and punishments—often fail because they send an unintended message. In the first case, imposing fines for lateness implied that lateness was expected and okay, as long as parents paid; in the second case, rewards sent the message that altruism is something you do for reward, not because it's inherently gratifying. Incentives can overwhelm people's good intentions, says Bowles, leading to unexpected outcomes.
"Motives such as reciprocity, generosity, and trust are common, and these preferences may be crowded out by the use of explicit incentives," he writes. People behave differently than one might expect from economic theories of human nature.
Incentives may cause people to think in terms of cost-benefit calculations, rather than acting on natural goodwill. In one study, participant "investors" were given the opportunity to transfer money to "trustees," who then received triple that amount and could give some back to investors. When trustees were told that investors could impose a fine if they didn't return part of the gift, the trustee actually gave back less to the investor. In other words, imposing punishments to prevent the participants from being self-interested served only to crowd out their natural generous instincts. In addition, if the investor declined the right to impose a fine, and the trustee was aware of that choice, the trustee appreciatively gave back more to the investor than in the initial scenario.
"The experiments show that policies premised on the belief that citizens or employees are entirely self-interested often induce people to act exactly that way [self-interested]," writes Bowles.
Another way that market incentives might undermine morality is by encouraging a sense of distance and anonymity. In one experiment, people were entrusted with the care of a cute mouse. They were then shown a disturbing video of a mouse being gassed to death, and either offered payment to let their pet mouse be gassed or told they could sell their mouse to another student, who would allow it to be killed.
Forty-six percent would not let their mouse be killed in the first group, but 72 percent would in the second. The experimenters discovered that to get 72 percent of people in the first group to gas their mice, they would have to offer almost five times as much money—"a measure of the moral disengagement created by the market setting," writes Bowles.
Still, this is not the whole story—incentives are not always bad, and we can't dismiss the fact that some people will act in self-serving ways if given the chance. So, what does nudge people toward the most socially desirable behaviors—like generosity, cooperation, trust, and fairness?
Learn about our compassionate instinct.
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Though measuring the direct influences of societal norms can be complicated, he points to results from some of his own interesting cross-cultural research implying that when the right norms are in place, moral behavior is less impacted by incentives and more part of a person's everyday habits.
In this study, participants from societies exposed to a market system (such as farmers in rural Missouri) made significantly more generous offers to other players in the Ultimatum Game than participants from more market-isolated communities (such as hunter-gatherers in Hadza, Tanzania).
Similarly, in another game where ungenerous players could be punished, participants from cultures defined by a healthy rule of law, democracy, individualism, and social equality values (such as Melbourne, Boston, and Zurich) tended to hand out fewer antisocial punishments—punishments aimed at highly generous players, not just ungenerous players—than those without these social norms and institutions (such as Seoul, Riyadh, and Minsk).
Bowles suggests that market economies seem to increase overall generosity and social inclusion, perhaps because of increased trust.
"A plausible explanation of the more generous and fair-minded experimental behavior seen in the more market-oriented societies…is that people learn from their market experiences that fair dealing with strangers is often profitable," he writes.
Taken together, these experiments and others in Bowles's book suggest that creating good economic policies isn't simple and can't be based on theories of self-interest alone. His message—perhaps primarily aimed at economists though relevant to all—is clear: If we can figure out what policies and incentives nudge people toward generosity and fairness and away from cheating, we will no doubt create a better society for everyone. Bowles's book is a plea to take on that challenge.


text:
Q: Why do only the linear transformations that send an edge to an edge preserve the n-gon? I am asked to compute all the linear transformations $A:V\to V$ that preserve the general $n$-gon. We define the $n$-gon by using the roots of unity as vertices. I know that there are $2n$ such transformations, $n$ rotations and $n$ reflections, all of which send an edge to an edge.
A linear transformation is completely determined by its action on a basis; so, I take the vectors defined by two adjacent vertices, $v_1$ and $v_2$, as my basis, and define a linear transformation by choosing the points on the $n$-gon where I want to send them. Not every linear transformation that sends $v_1$ and $v_2$ to distinct vertices preserves the $n$-gon, though. Why do only the linear transformations that send $v_1$ and $v_2$ to adjacent vertices preserve the $n$-gon.
It might also be possible to approach this problem in another way because rotations are akin to multiplication in the complex field.

A: The edge $e$ from $v_1$ to $v_2$ can be parametrized as the set of points
$(1-t)v_1 + tv_2$ for $0 \le t \le 1$.  Since the transformation $A$ is linear, the image of $e$ under $A$ will be $(1-t)A(v_1) + tA(v_2)$ which is
the edge from $A(v_1)$ to $A(v_2)$.

A: Hint Two (nonantipodal) vertices $v_1, v_2$ are adjacent iff there is no vertex $v'$ that can be written as a linear combination of $v_1, v_2$ with positive coefficients.

So, if $A v_1, A v_2$ are not adjacent (NB they cannot be antipodal), there is some vertex $A v'$ that we can write as $$A v' = a_1 A v_1 + a_2 A v_2 = A(a_1 v_1 + a_2 v_2)$$ for some positive $a_1, a_2$, and, since $A$ is invertible, $v' = a_1 v_1 + a_2 v_2$. Thus, $v_1, v_2$ are not adjacent.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to set a random integer as the default value for a Django CharField? My models.py looks like this:
import random
random_string = str(random.randint(10000, 99999))

class Content(models.Model):
    ......
    unique_url = models.CharField(default = random_string)

When I add a content in admin, an integer in the range is generated and put into the charfield as its default value. From there, I can simple add more words to the charfield. However, the problem with my current set-up is that the integer remains the same every time I add a new article. I want to generate and insert the random integer as I am using the unique_url field to basically find each of my specific objects, and I am expecting a lot of content, so adding the random number will generally ensure that each content has a one of a kind unique_url.
Therefore, I am looking for a system which generates a random integer everytime a new content is added using the admin panel, and puts it as the default of one the fields. Is such a thing even possible in Django?

A: You can generate a random string by passing the function as the default value. The function will run and set the default value with the return value of the function. Quoting the example given by @Wtower.
def random_string():
    return str(random.randint(10000, 99999))

class Content(models.Model):
    ......
    unique_url = models.CharField(default = random_string)

But this has a caveat : When you create a field and migrate an existing database the function will run only once and updates with the same 'random' number.
For example, If you already have 500 entries in the model. You will have the same string, say '548945', for every unique_url which will kill the whole purpose.
You can overcome this by changing the values of the existing entries in the database. This is one time job and can be done using django shell.
python ./manage.py shell

from appname.models import Content, random_string
# Change appname and file name accordingly

entries = Content.objects.all()
for entry in entries :
    entry.unique_url = random_string()
    entry.save()

A: This way you generate a random number once. You need to define a function such as:
def random_string():
    return str(random.randint(10000, 99999))

And then define your model as you already have, without () in order to pass a reference to the function itself rather a value returned by the function:
class Content(models.Model):
    ......
    unique_url = models.CharField(default = random_string)


At Central, we consider it a privilege to serve families with children in a fun and spiritually engaging environment. Through building strong relationships, we are committed to partnering with parents in cultivating disciples for Christ. It is our desire as a church to see kids realize that the most exciting life he or she can live is a life lived for Christ. Your kids are important to us, so we've created a place for them to learn about Jesus on their level. Each week, all children (K5 through 6th grade) experience safe, age-appropriate environments where the Bible is taught in a creative and relevant way.
Glory be to him, now and forever! Amen.
Each week your child will be taught and encouraged by our ministry volunteers with God's word and fun activities. Children in grades 5 and 6 are encouraged to attend the Worship Service with their parents and Sunday School at the opposite hour. There are Sunday School classes for grades 4-6 at each hour. Children in grades K5-4 have Sunday School at the 9 hour and Kidz Worship at 10:30. Sunday School is a time of small group Bible Study and activities. Kidz Worship allows children to also study God's Word, but includes other elements of worship including singing songs, prayer, and a time of offering. Kidz Worship gives children a worship experience designed for their age and attention span and prepares them for the years ahead when they will worship with the rest of the church.
During the school year we combine two exciting programs. The children in K5-6th grades go to music where they have fun singing, playing bells and other instruments, and generally having fun while praising God. After 45 minutes, they switch to missions education through RA's (Royal Ambassadors) for boys in grades 1-6, GA's (Girls in Action) for girls in grades 1-6, and Mission Friends for Kindergarteners. During this 45 minutes they not only learn about missionaries, but participate in mission projects and learn how they can spread the love of Jesus as they grow.
During the summer, we offer a change of pace. We begin with a time of guided recreation, then move onto a brief lesson. The time usually ends with a tasty treat. The more relaxed schedule gives us a chance to play and learn at the same time.
What should your kids wear?
Dressy or play clothes are always welcome! Central Kids is a fun, active environment. Your kids will be playing, singing, and dancing as they learn about Jesus in small groups and large groups.
Interested in touring Central Kids?
We'd love to have your family visit Central Kids during the week! If you're interested in a weekday tour or have any additional questions, please email our children's director, Katie Creery.
We encourage parents to keep the conversation going on the car ride home. Ask your child these two questions: Did you have fun? What did you learn? Our goal is to have a positive answer to both of those questions each week.
Want to know the latest news and updates from Central Kidz? Sign up for REMIND by texting @KidzHQ to 81010.


Kenneth Walsh BA(Econ) MA, FRSA, is a labour economist with over 25 years experience of research and consultancy in the fields of employment, labour markets, learning and skills. He has previously worked at the Institute for Employment Studies (where he remains an Associate Fellow), and ECOTEC Research & Consulting Ltd. He currently also holds posts as Executive Associate, HOST Policy Research and Research Associate at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. His background is in applied research with leading organisations in the field in the UK and abroad. He specialises in Policy Evaluation, Labour Market Information and Analysis, and European Labour Market Policy. He works ar the international, national and local levels.
TERN maintains a network of expert associates in the UK, European Union and in other countries who can be involved in projects as appropriate to requirements of the work, their particular skills and availability. For more information please get in touch.
TERN was established in 1992 and is based in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom though with a portfolio of work that stretches throughout the UK and abroad.


text:
Sofia Hernandez, Student Journalist
**This article is an ongoing project and will be published in three parts. Please check back for updates.
The United States, Mexico, and Colombia: Three different countries united by their protests. The people are standing up to the government. Their fight for justice is what unites these countries.
The people of the US, Mexico, and Colombia are having to pay the consequences of their negligent governments. They, now more than ever, find themselves need to change the laws and policies, of their corrupt and complacent governments, and the only way to do so seems though great struggle and protests.
Part 1: Mexico
On the night of May 3rd, another tragedy occurred in Mexico City. Two cars from the Mexico City subway, one of the biggest subway systems in the world, collapsed. This tragedy is a direct consequence of the past and present actions of the Mexican government.
To understand what caused this tragedy, and why many Mexicans are outraged, we must look into the past. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake struck in the early morning of September 19th at 7:17 with a magnitude of 8.0. The event caused serious damage to the greater Mexico City area and the deaths of at least 5,000 people. One would think that the damage was contained to 1985, but today, thanks to the negligence of the government, that tragedy continues to take more lives. The collapse of two cars from the Mexico City subway was a direct result of the government's failure to properly respond to the damage of the earthquake.
Julio Godinez, a report for Univision News, wrote that, "Neighbors of the Tlahuac area, where the metro convoy collapsed, leaving more than 20 dead and dozens injured, narrated on the same night of May 3rd to Univision News that they had already reported structural failures in the facility; nobody listened to them." He goes on to explain that the reason for the subway collapse, as stated in a report, is that it was not only once, but multiple times, that people reported damage to the structure after the earthquake of '85. The governor was tasked with repairing it, but he did not do so in the best way, since it needed continuous care. Even though the people still continued to complain about the state of the roads in that area, especially because it is an area sensitive to vibration which makes it more complicated than the other metro lines, the governor failed to listen.
The STC (the metro transport service), confirmed that, "At the conclusion of the analysis of the isism, the STC determined that a column located in the Nopalera-Olivos section (a station before where the incident occurred) was damaged by cracks. The damage weakened its integral function on the weight and elasticity support."
It was the government's job to use taxes for the improvement of the country's infrastructure and its maintenance (among other things). However, due to the large amount of corruption within in Mexican government, these funds are instead directed to the Chamber of Deputies (the governor and his close friends). Therefore, they are responsible for this Mexican tragedy by not addressing the complaints of their citizens and by stealing the funds that should have been used to prevent it. They could clearly see that the Line 12 was not in the condition to be used, and their corruption and negligence led to a large loss of life.
Colapsa puente de la Línea 12 del Metro con todo y vagones
Otra vez brota la solidaridad de extraños por accidente en Línea 12 del Metro
The people of Mexico City showed solidarity again in this terrible situation, as they tried to help each other no matter what, trying to open the doors of cars under the rubble and subway doors to save people who hadn't managed to get out the windows. The people blame the government for this accident, as neighbors in the area had noticed the state of the subway and were not heard, which caused 23 deaths and 70 wounded in approximately 10 seconds.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this article.
Sofia loves studying the arts, languages, and literature. She also loves traveling. When she graduates she plans to move away to study at university elsewhere...
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7 Apr, 2017 10:43am 3 minutes to read
Staff cuts reflect university's challenges
7 Apr, 2017 10:16am
University of Waikato.
By: Geoff Lewis
"Like any organisation, if you sit and do nothing, 15 years later someone will eat your lunch" - that was the comment by University of Waikato vice-chancellor Professor Neil Quigley about proposals to cut up to 17 jobs from the university's arts and social sciences faculty. In March, acting Dean, Professor Allison Kirkman forwarded proposals to restructure the faculty saying that the university was no longer willing to cross-subsidise smaller subject areas. The proposals, which are open to staff consultation and due to be reported back by late April, have raised concerns in the wider community, particularly about the proposals to cut jobs in the music department.
There is no question that government funding priorities have not helped ... We get twice the rate for engineering students as we do for social science students.
Neil Quigley, Vice chancellor
The proposals follow job losses in the university's School of Education last year. But Quigley explained the University works in a highly-competitive tertiary education sector and faces a series of issues which have to be addressed. While the university has posted mild financial surpluses in recent years it is sitting on tens of millions of dollars worth of deferred maintenance on buildings which have not had any significant upgrade since the 1970s. Then there are the effects of government policy decisions in funding tertiary education. The Education Ministry's Tertiary Education Strategy 2014 - 2019 sets out its priorities. In descending order - Delivering skills for industry, Getting at-risk young people into a career, Boosting achievement of Maori and Pasifica, Improving adult literacy and Strengthening research-based institutions. "There is no question that government funding priorities have not helped. We have had additional funding for engineering and IT graduate courses. That's not wrong, its just that there have not been funding increases in other courses. The government has different funding categories. We get twice the rate for engineering students as we do for social science students. We can cross-subsidise courses to a point, but there has not been even nominal funding increases for social sciences for seven years, and every year staff salaries go up," Quigley said. Then there is the great competition for students. Waikato has about 11,000 full-time-equivalent students, roughly a quarter the size of Auckland University only 120kms up the road and Waikato is not permitted to significantly increase its roll - or its income. "We are positively not allowed to take on more students as it drives government's costs up in student loans and allowances. The government doesn't want us to increase our roll even if we could find the students." Income from international full-fee-paying students is not what it once was as Asian economies develop and build their own universities. What was coming was predicted in an Education Ministry forecast, which warned tertiary institutions of a drop of nearly 10,000 degree and postgraduate enrolments among domestic students at least until 2019. The forecast was based on two major factors - fewer school leavers and a strong job market which meant more young people going directly into work rather than into study. Most major tertiary institutions around NZ have made adjustments to their staffing levels and moved to cut less popular courses. In 2014 Auckland University cut more than 100 jobs, mostly in administration. In October Victoria University dropped five full-time and two part-time positions from its Languages and Culture faculty. In December Otago shed 16 jobs in its arts faculty and in March this year a further 17 jobs in its Physical Education faculties. This was obvious to Waikato early last year when Quigley said the forecast fall was significant and would require big changes for universities. The good news, Quigley said, was that proposed job losses in Arts and Social Sciences, is likely the last large cut, at least for this year. His preference is to get Waikato's faculties to make small adjustments on a more regular basis. "In five years time, one thing I hope any changes we make in social sciences will have, is to allow us to invest in areas and develop courses that will help us attract more students."
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This week we are taking a virtual tour of Australia's longest running milk bar.
You might expect it to be based in Sydney or Melbourne but that's not the case. This piece of history can be found in the remote mining town of Broken Hill.
So pull up a chair and get ready to devour a milkshake at Bells Milk Bar.


Location of Hospital: Sky Ridge is located on a 57-acre campus at the southwest corner of I-25 and Lincoln Avenue in Lone Tree, Douglas County, Colorado (south Denver Metro area).
Hospital Overview: The development of Sky Ridge Medical Center was, in significant part, the result of an outcry from both the community as well as elected officials in Douglas County, including the Douglas County Commissioners and former Senator John Evans. Until the opening of this hospital, Douglas County has been without an acute care hospital to provide for the healthcare needs of the community.


text:
By Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko
Pope Francis arrived in Maputo, Mozambique yesterday September 4 at the time recent indications of rebel activity in the north of Mozambique, and a tentative peace agreement with long-term political rival Renamo, leave much at stake for the country.
This photo shows a child standing outside his home in Beira, Mozambique on March 27, 2019. Pope Francis's sixth foreign trip of 2019 will take him to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius Sept. 4-10. It is also at the time Mozambique will hold presidential, legislative and provincial elections on October 15 2019, the date which was unveiled amid negotiations on consolidating peace between the government and former rebels, the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo).
Renamo and the ruling Frelimo fought a 16-year civil war that ended with a peace deal in 1992, but Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama took to the bush again in 2013 as his supporters waged a new low-level insurgency. In December 2016, Dhlakama announced a truce with the government, which until now is yet to culminate in a formal peace accord. Dhlakama and Nyusi have agreed on constitutional reforms that will decentralize power... The reforms, currently under debate in parliament, will allow voters to directly elect provincial governors, who at present are appointed by the president. Renamo has long sought greater decentralization of power and better integration of its supporters into the police and military.
Pope Francis is visiting the country thirty years after St. John Paul II begged Mozambicans to end their civil war. Francis will also reach out to Mozambicans affected by back-to-back cyclones that ripped into the country earlier this year, leaving more than 650 people dead and destroying vast swaths of crops on the eve of harvest.
Part of the decentralization debate concerns the adequate provision of social and economic services to rural and marginalized territories. Included in this is the need for greater transparency in natural resource–related project concession negotiations and development.
Assembled in the Spirituality Centre and Mission of St. Paul of Laulane in Maputo, from 16th till 19th April 2018, the Catholic Bishops of Mozambique were concerned about the increasing deterioration of the social and etic values in the country, visible in the hidden debts which seem to have no solution and nobody seems responsible for.
This is especially about the frequent kidnappings that sow so much fear and insecurity, the generalized violence, intolerance, degradation of the quality of life, the ever widening gap between the rich and the powerful and the People who are getting poorer, the increase of the population and decrease of the means of production, the degradation of public health, the incoherence between what is stated /said and what actually happens.
Unfortunately it is becoming a way of life to promise one thing and do another or hide and privatize information which everyone should know. The bishops were also very worried about the news that came from Mocímboa da Praia – Cabo Delgado – about the attacks and violence


Working out the portfolio Mario was drawn in Adobe illustrator and the magazine was done in photoshop and InDesign.
The first run of Dead Woods is completely sold out! But don't worry you're not going to miss out folks printing more off as we speak!
heres an updated DVD cover.


Also known as Longjing, this tea has the depth and customary toastiness expected from a fresh Chinese green tea. This 2018 harvest took it's time this year, but it is well worth it. It's a pleasure to carry such a good quality version of this tea as there is a lot of inferior versions that don't actually come from the original Westlake region.
This is the most asked-for Japanese tea. The toasty flavor imparted by the roasted, popped rice brings such a pleasant flavor to the Sencha base. Genmaicha was developed during WWll in response to the shortage of green tea. After the war it was shunned as a "poor person's tea", but has gained a new popularity.
A high quality, unique, savory green from mainland China; its full body and grassy depth reminds me more of a high quality Japanese tea. We're lucky to carry this again in 2018 (the Chinese government keeps threatening to convert the land for manufacturing). This is from a small family farm in the mountains of Guangdong Province and the care and attention to quality is highly evident in the wonderful buttery flavor.
This tea is a lovely small leaf, organically grown green from Fujian Province. It steeps up grassy and sweet–a great value!
Fukamushi Sencha means "deep steam" sencha and I totally love the taste difference in this tea. Sencha is the most commonly consumed tea in Japan and this particular one is full of rich flavor–it easily stands up to two steeps. Personally I prefer the first steep of my green teas because I think most of the L-theanine comes out in the first steep and I like the sweet flavor it imparts.
Steeping this tea at 170F brings out the savory, delightfully grassy character of the tea.
This is a wonderful shade-grown green tea that is about as savory and rich as anyone could want. Why shade-grown? It stresses the tea plant and forces intense color, flavor and sweetness. It's also a little higher in caffeine.
A wonderful blending green tea that tastes great on its own or blended with flavors and botanicals.
A lovely green tea grown on the island of Shousan off the eastern coast of China. This tea is bright and fresh with the tiniest hint of toastiness. A great value.
Rolled into tiny pearls, these shiny, grey-green, hand-rolled leaves typically make a strong, somewhat astringent cup, with a characteristic smoky edge from high firing.


My first property is a low-cost apartment bought from developer in Kajang. It is still under construction at that time.
At the time i buy it, i am not so sure whether it is for my own stay or to be rented. Actually i am a little bit blur at that time, don't really plan it strategically. I just think, i can rent it to factory workers there but if it cannot be rented or the rental rate is too low and not profitable, i will stay on it. It is still in a convenience distance to travel to and from office. 20km.. 20 minutes.. ok la..
At last, i stay on it.
Yes, i started to study on property investment since 2005. i read books on Cukup Wang hati Tenang by Hajjah Ruhani, Jutawan dari planet Jupiter, Menjadi tuan rumah Jutawan and Jutawan Hartanah by Azizi Ali. At that time, i started to build my dream to be a property millionaire as what pictured by Azizi Ali. He is absolutely my inspiration.
At that time, i have not yet join any property investment seminars and i am alone. i dont have friends with the same passion, same dreams. I only have few friends that also interested to buy their first property for their own use.
what makes you decide to buy it?can u tell me the stories behind?
However, to buy a low cost apartment, i noticed that there are certain restrictions. So, looking at my salary and my condition at that time, i comply with the restrictions.. but not starting next year. Then, i know i have to buy now, not next year. Then i start to actively looking for new projects and subsale on low-cost apartment. I don't have any idea on auction yet at that moment. I am looking for an apartment with lift but not too high rise with 16 floors. i want an apartment with less than 10 floors, ample parking, quiet environment and clean.. hate to be in some flat where the lift, floors and surrounding are so dirty and congested.
So, when i met this project.. only 8 floors with lift and the surrounding is quiet.. near to government clinics and pasar malam.. i like pasar malam! Then, since this is a new project, the price is low, as set by the government... starting from 42K only.
and the best thing is, when i put the booking, it is then followed by 9 of my friends. 7 of us bought the low cost and the others bought the medium cost. I am so excited!
I dont encounter any big problems actually.. just a little bit blurred, which financing package i should take. Also, i am short of money to pay the legal fees for the loan document because no banks give financing on it. Therefore, to settle it, I apply for KWSP withdrawal. It took 2 weeks for the money to be deposited into my bank account.
No because i dream of having a kampung style house since young, with the Johorian old house design. But now, i think that dream faded away.. maybe due to progress of time.
After the purchase, i become eager to study more on property. I started to dream to buy one apartment that i noticed people are selling at 160K a year later and 180K for the 2nd year. I know i have to start doing it seriously. I started to join mini seminar by azizi ali and preview by renesial leong plus few more property investment books in my reading collection. 2 years after the 1st purchase, I able to buy that apartment at the price of 170K with mark-up s&p of 180K.
Your advice to all property virgins and home buyers out there?
Property is an investment you wont regret to do if you know what you are doing. Any time is a good time to start because it keeps increasing in value. But please don't buy it blindly or just following somebody else's talking. Do your own research. Even if you buy for your own stay, you will enjoy capital appreciation. The house is yours compared to pay rent monthly that makes your landlord smile happily.
If you have children, instead of buy an insurance with education fund, buy a house for each of them. Believe me, it generates more return to your child's education need. Even low cost apartments work.
eun young ni korean ker?
eun-yong ni nama watak heroin dlm drama korea spring waltz. citer ni la yg bagi inspirasi nama domain propertywaltz ni.


In addition to the farmers, there are some smart kids who go to the ag school -- as there are at all state universities.But most people who majored in "communications" at an ag school don't act like Marshall Scholars or go around mocking graduates of Regent University Law School.It may seem cruel to reveal the true college of someone who already wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worried that he's a fraud.
Kurulus amacimizin en onemli unsuru Devletcilik olmustur.
Ulkemizin kurumlarina, devlet adamlarina, manevi degerlerimize yapilan saygisizliklari ulkemizin butunlugune yapilan bir saldiri olarak goruruz ve ona gore adimlarimizi belirleriz.
You may not realize it now, Keith, but you will look back on this day and say, "That was the best thing that ever happened to me!
" Finally, you can stop pretending that you went to the hard-to-get-into Cornell.
Olbermann relentlessly attacked low-level Bush administration employee Monica Goodling for not going to a name-dropping college, saying -- approximately 1 million times -- that she got her law degree "by sending 100 box tops to Religious Lunatic University." I would venture to say that the students at Goodling's law school at Regent University are far more impressive than those at the Cornell agriculture school -- the land-grant, non-Ivy League school Keith attended.
Keith went to an affiliated state college at Cornell, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (average SAT: about that of pulling guards at the University of South Carolina; acceptance rate: 1 of every 1.01 applicants). Weill, Floyd Abrams, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Ginsburg, Janet Reno, Henry Heimlich and Harold Bloom.
Olbermann's incessant lying about having an "Ivy League education" when he went to the non-Ivy League ag school at Cornell would be like a graduate of the Yale locksmithing school boasting about being a "Yale man." Among the graduates of the Ivy League Cornell are Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Thomas Pynchon, Paul Wolfowitz, E. Graduates of the ag school include David Le Neveu of the Anaheim Ducks, Mitch Carefoot of the Phoenix Road Runners, Darren Eliot, former professional hockey player, and Joe Nieuwendyk, multiple Stanley Cup winner.
Fortunately, we have Keith Olbermann to point out that Rush Limbaugh did not accurately quote the preamble to the Constitution in his CPAC speech last weekend.
I'm not sure what scam Olbermann imagined Rush was trying to put over on the American people by saying conservatives believed in the "preamble to the Constitution" and then quoting words from the Declaration of Independence -- but Olbermann put an end to that cruel deception!
Keith Olbermann and Laura Ingraham Relationship Details.


text:
Adele Breaks Down In Tears Reuniting With Former Teacher During Concert
Copyright Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
By: Marie Rossiter
Posted at 12:00 PM, Nov 22, 2021
Adele has a lot to be happy about these days. The 33-year-old award-winning singer's new single "Easy on Me" recently broke the record as Spotify's most-streamed song in a single day. She had a televised concert special and exclusive interview with Oprah that won rave reviews. And, Adele announced her first concert dates in 5 years to perform cuts from her new album, "30."
As if all of that wasn't enough to lift her mood, Adele recently experienced an unexpected reunion onstage with someone special from her past: a beloved teacher. The moment was captured as part of a televised special on ITV called "An Audience with Adele."
During the televised performance from the London Palladium, Adele stopped to take questions from the audience, including one from actress Dame Emma Thompson. The "Love Actually" star asked Adele if there was anyone from her childhood who "supported and inspired her."
Adele didn't hesitate to open up about Miss McDonald, a teacher she had while attending Chestnut Grove School in Balham, England, during her middle school years.
"She left when I was in year 8," she shared with the audience. "Yeah, it was just one year, but she was like, she got me really obsessed into literature."
AP Newsroom
Not only did this special teacher help Adele connect with words in a way that would inspire her to write incredible lyrics years later, but the woman's talent in other areas wowed her, including her interest in street dance, her sense of style and the way she engaged her students beyond the classroom.
"She was so bloody cool," Adele continued. "So engaging. She really made us care, and we knew that she cared about us."
Thompson also asked the superstar if she ever stayed in touch with her former teacher. Shortly after Adele said she hadn't, the audience started to murmur and cheer.
"Is she here? Is Miss McDonald here?" Adele called out from the stage, trying to look into the audience.
In fact, Miss McDonald made her way to the stage to surprise her former student, who was overcome with emotion at the reunion.
As McDonald took the stage, she hugged Adele and said "Oh my God, I'm so proud of you!"
"I didn't know you were coming!" Adele exclaimed with joy as she embraced her former teacher, beginning a quick catch-up.
"You really did change my life," she said.
The entire, beautiful reunion was shared on Twitter by ITV. Make sure you have some tissues nearby because the happy tears are sure to flow. (At the end of the clip, Adele passed the mic to Alan Carr for a hilarious few minutes to touch up her makeup after those happy tears.)
We all have that one teacher who changed our life… such a beautiful reunion!
*PS, would totally buy Alan Carr's version of 'Make You Feel My Love* @Adele #AnAudienceWithAdele https://t.co/2ZZI2RS0mI pic.twitter.com/hlTOOZKt5j
— ITV (@ITV) November 21, 2021
The reunion continued for a few lovely moments on stage as the pair caught up about what McDonald has been doing over the years, and Adele sharing how she still has all her books from class. The singer asked her former teacher for her phone number before she left the stage so they wouldn't have to wait so long to reconnect in the future.
Thanks to all of the teachers who make a difference in their students' lives! You have no idea the impact you have and how it affects your students' future.


text:
Brain Cells Can Harbor and Spread HIV Virus to the Body
Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) - no specific institute
URL: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/brain-cells-can-harbor-spread-hiv-virus-body/
NIH-Funded Study Highlights the Importance of Addressing the Brain in HIV Cure Strategies
Researchers have found that astrocytes, a type of brain cell can harbor HIV and then spread the virus to immune cells that traffic out of the brain and into other organs. HIV moved from the brain via this route even when the virus was suppressed by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), a standard treatment for HIV. The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and published in PLOS Pathogens, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"This study demonstrates the critical role of the brain as a reservoir of HIV that is capable of re-infecting the peripheral organs with the virus," said Jeymohan Joseph, Ph.D., chief of the HIV Neuropathogenesis, Genetics, and Therapeutics Branch at NIH's National Institute of Mental Health, which co-funded the study. "The findings suggest that in order to eradicate HIV from the body, cure strategies must address the role of the central nervous system."
HIV attacks the immune system by infecting CD4 positive (CD4+) T cells, a type of white blood cell that is vital to fighting off infection. Without treatment, HIV can destroy CD4+ T cells, reducing the body's ability to mount an immune response — eventually resulting in AIDS.
cART, which effectively suppresses HIV infections, has helped many people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. But some studies have shown that many patients receiving antiretroviral drugs also show signs of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, such as thinking and memory problems. Researchers know that HIV enters the brain within eight days of infection, but less is known about whether HIV-infected brain cells can release virus that can migrate from the brain back into the body to infect other tissues.
The brain contains billions of astrocytes, which perform a variety of tasks—from supporting communication between brain cells to maintaining the blood-brain barrier. To understand whether HIV can move from the brain to peripheral organs, Lena Al-Harthi, Ph.D., and her research team at Rush University Medical Center transplanted HIV-infected or noninfected human astrocytes into the brains of immunodeficient mice.
The researchers found that the transplanted HIV-infected astrocytes were able to spread the virus to CD4+ T cells in the brain. These CD4+ T cells then migrated out of the brain and into the rest of the body, spreading the infection to peripheral organs such as the spleen and lymph nodes. They also found that HIV egress from the brain occurred, albeit at lower levels, when animals were given cART. When cART treatment was interrupted, HIV DNA/RNA became detectable in the spleen — indicating a rebound of the viral infection.
"Our study demonstrates that HIV in the brain is not trapped in the brain — it can and does move back into peripheral organs through leukocyte trafficking," said Dr. Al-Harthi. "It also shed light on the role of astrocytes in supporting HIV replication in the brain — even under cART therapy."
This information has significant implications for HIV cure strategies, as such strategies need to be able to effectively target and eliminate reservoirs of HIV replication and reinfection, Dr. Al-Harthi added.
"HIV remains a major global public health concern, affecting 30 to 40 million people across the globe. To help patients, we need to fully understand how HIV affects the brain and other tissue-based reservoirs," said May Wong, Ph.D., program director for the NeuroAIDS and Infectious Diseases in the Neuroenvironment at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which co-funded the study. "Though additional studies that replicate these findings are needed, this study brings us another step closer towards that understanding."
Grants: MH100628; NS108796
About the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. For more information, visit the NIMH website.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is the nation's leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
Lutgen, V., Narasipura, S. D., Barbian, H. J., Richards, M., Wallace, J., Razmpour, R., … & Al-Harthi, L. (2020). HIV infects astrocytes in vivo and egresses from the brain to the periphery. PLOS Pathogens