text:
Fractional approval voting is an electoral system using approval ballots (each voter selects one or more candidate alternatives), in which the outcome is fractional: for each alternative j there is a fraction pj between 0 and 1, such that the sum of pj is 1. It can be seen as a generalization of approval voting: in the latter, one candidate wins (pj = 1) and the other candidates lose (pj = 0). The fractions pj can be interpreted in various ways, depending on the setting. Examples are:

 Time sharing: each alternative j is implemented a fraction pj of the time (e.g. each candidate j serves in office a fraction pj of the term).
 Budget distribution: each alternative j receives a fraction pj of the total budget.
 Probabilities: after the fractional results are computed, there is a lottery for selecting a single candidate, where each candidate j is elected with probability pj.
 Entitlements: the fractional results are used as entitlements (also called weights) in rules of apportionment, or in algorithms of fair division with different entitlements.

Fractional approval voting is a special case of fractional social choice in which all voters have dichotomous preferences. It appears in the literature under many different terms: lottery, sharing, portioning, mixing and distribution.

Formal definitions
There is a finite set C of candidates (also called: outcomes or alternatives), and a finite set N of n voters (also called: agents). Each voter i specifies a subset Ai of C, which represents the set of candidates that the voter approves.

A fractional approval voting rule takes as input the set of sets Ai, and returns as output a mixture (also called: distribution or lottery) - a vector p of real numbers in [0,1], one number for each candidate, such that the sum of numbers is 1.

It is assumed that each agent i gains a utility of 1 from each candidate in his approval set Ai, and a utility of 0 from each candidate not in Ai. Hence, agent i gains from each mixture p, a utility of . For example, if the mixture p is interpreted as a budget distribution, then the utility of i is the total budget allocated to outcomes he likes.

Desired properties

Basic properties
Two basic properties of voting rules in general, and fractional-approval-voting rules in particular, are:

Anonymity - the names of the voters do not matter;
Neutrality - the names of the candidates do not matter;

Efficiency properties
Pareto-efficiency (PE) means no mixture gives a higher utility to one agent and at least as high utility to all others.

Ex-post PE is a weaker property, relevant only for the interpretation of a mixture as a lottery. It means that, after the lottery, no outcome gives a higher utility to one agent and at least as high utility to all others (in other words, it is a mixture over PE outcomes). For example, suppose there are 5 candidates (a,b,c,d,e) and 6 voters with approval sets (ac, ad, ae, bc, bd, be). Selecting any single candidate is PE, so every lottery is ex-post PE. But the lottery selecting c,d,e with probability 1/3 each is not PE, since it gives an expected utility of 1/3 to each voter, while the lottery selecting a,b with probability 1/2 each gives an expected utility of 1/2 to each voter.

PE always implies ex-post PE.  The opposite is also true in the following cases:

 When there are at most 4 voters, or at most 3 candidates.
 When the candidates can be ordered on a line such that each approval set is an interval (analogously to single peaked preferences).

Fairness properties
Fairness requirements are captured by variants of the notion of fair share (FS).

Individual-FS (also called Fair Welfare Share) means that the utility of each voter i is at least 1/n, that is, at least 1/n of the budget is allocated to candidates approved by i.

Individual-Outcome-FS means that the utility of each voter i is at least his utility in a lottery that selects a candidate randomly, that is, at least k/|C|, where k is the number of candidates approved by i.

 Individual-FS and individual-outcome-FS are insufficient since they ignore groups of voters. For example, if 99% of the voters approve X and 1% approve Y, then both properties allow to give 1/2 of the budget to X and 1/2 to Y. This is arguably unfair for the group of Y supporters.

Single-vote-FS (also called faithful) means that, if each voter approves a single candidate, then the fraction assigned to each candidate j equals the number of voters who approve j divided by n.

 Single-vote-FS is a basic requirement, but it is insufficient since it does not say anything about the case in which voters may approve two or more candidates.

Unanimous-FS means that, for each set S of voters with identical preferences, the utility of each member in S is at least |S|/n.

 Unanimous-FS implies single-vote-FS, but it is still insufficient since it does not say anything about groups of agents whose approval-sets overlap.

Group-FS (also callde proportional sharing) means that, for each voter set S, the total budget allocated to candidates approved by at least one member of S, is at least |S|/n.

 Group-FS implies unanimous-FS, single-vote-FS and individual-FS.
Group-FS is equivalent to a property called decomposability: it is possible to decompose the distribution to n distributions of sum 1/n, such that the distribution recommended to agent i is positive only on candidates approved by i.
Average-FS means that, for each voter set S with at least one approved candidate in common, the average utility of voters in S is at least |S|/n.

Core-FS means that, for each voter set S, there is no other distribution of their |S|/n budget, which gives all members of S a higher utility.

 Core-FS implies Group-FS.

Strategic properties
Several variants of strategyproofness (SP) have been studied for voting rules:

 Individual-SP means that an individual voter, who reports insincere preferences, cannot get a higher utility.
 Weak-group-SP means that a group of voters, who report insincere preferences in coordination, cannot get a higher utility for all of them.
 Group-SP means that a group of voters, who report insincere preferences in coordination, cannot get a higher utility for at least one of them, and at least as high utility for all of them.
Preference-monotonicity means that if a voter, who previously did not support a certain candidate X, starts supporting X, then the shares of the other candidates do not increase. This implies individual-SP.
A weaker variant of SP is excludable SP. It is relevant in situations where it is possible to exclude voters from using some candidate alternatives. For example, if the candidates are meeting times, then it is possible to exclude voters from participating in the meeting in times which they did not approve. This makes it harder to manipulate, and therefore, the requirement is weaker.

Participation properties
Rules should encourage voters to participate in the voting process. Several participation criteria have been studied:

 Weak participation: the utility of a voter when he participates is at least as high as his utility when he does not participate (this is the negation of the no show paradox).
Strict participation: the utility of a voter when he participates is strictly higher than his utility when he does not participate. Particularly, a voter gains from participating even if he has "clones" - voters with identical preferences.
A stronger property is required in participatory budgeting settings in which the budget to distribute is donated by the voters themselves:

 Pooling participation: the utility of a voter when he donates through the mechanism is at least as high as his utility when he donates on his own.

Rules

Utilitarian rule
The utilitarian rule aims to maximize the sum of utilities, and therefore it distributes the entire budget among the candidates approved by the largest number of voters. In particular, if there is one candidate with the largest number of votes, then this candidate gets 1 (that is, all the budget) and the others get 0, as in single-winner approval voting. If there are some k candidates with the same largest number of votes, then the budget is distributed equally among them, giving 1/k to each such candidate and 0 to all others. The utilitarian rule has several desirable properties: it is anonymous, neutral, PE, individual-SP, and preference-monotone. It is also easy to compute.

However, it is not fair towards minorities - it violates Individual-FS (as well as all stronger variants of FS). For example, if 51% of the voters approve X and 49% of the voters approve Y, then the utilitarian rule gives all the budget to X and no budget at all to Y, so the 49% who vote for Y get a utility of 0. In other words, it allows for tyranny of the majority.

The utilitarian rule is also not weak-group-SP (and hence not group-SP). For example, suppose there are 3 candidates (a,b,c) and 3 voters, each of them approves a single candidate. If they vote sincerely, then the utilitarian mixture is (1/3,1/3,1/3) so each agent's utility is 1/3. If a single voter votes insincerely (say, the first one votes for both a and b), then the mixture is (0,1,0), which is worse for the insincere voter. However, if two voters collude and vote insincerely (say, the first two voters vote for the first two outcomes), then the utilitarian mixture is (1/2, 1/2, 0), which is better for both insincere voters.

Nash-optimal rule
The Nash-optimal rule maximizes the sum of logarithms of utilities. It is anonymous and neutral, and satisfies the following additional properties:

 PE;
 Group-FS (decomposability), Average-FS, Core-FS;
Pooling participation (and strict participation);
 No other strategyproofness property (fails even excludable-SP);

The Nash-optimal rule can be computed by solving a convex program. There is another rule, called fair utilitarian, which satisfies similar properties (PE and group-FS) but is easier to compute.

Egalitarian rule
The egalitarian (leximin) rule maximizes the smallest utility, then the next-smallest, etc. It is anonymous and neutral, and satisfies the following additional properties:

 PE;
 Individual-FS, but not unanimous-FS;
 Excludable-individual-SP, but not individual-SP;
Weak-participation, but not strict-participation (since "clones" - voters with identical preferences - are treated as a single voter).

Other welfarist rules
For any monotonically-increasing function f, one can maximize the sum of f(ui). The utilitarian rule is a special case where f(x)=x, and the Nash rule is a special case where f(x)=log(x). Every f-maximizing rule is PE, and has the following additional properties:

 If f is any concave function of log, then it guarantees Individual-FS.
 If-and-only-if f is the log function itself, then it guarantees group-FS and unanimous-FS (this corresponds to the Nash-optimal rule).
 If-and-only-if f is a linear function, then it is individual-SP (this corresponds to the utilitarian rule).
If-and-only-if it is the utilitarian or the egalitarian rule, it satisfies excludable-SP;
If-and-only-if it is NOT the utilitarian nor the egalitarian rule, it satisfies strict-participation.

Priority rules
A priority rule (also called serial dictatorhip) is parametrized by a permutation of the voters, representing a priority ordering. It selects an outcome that maximizes the utility of the highest-priority agent; subject to that, maximizes the utility of the second-highest-priorty agent; and so on. Every priority rule is neutral, PE, weak-group-SP, and preference-monotone. However, it is not anonymous and does not satisfy any fairness notion.

The random priority rule selects a permutation of the voters uniformly at random, and then implements the priority rule for that permutation. It is anonymous, neutral, and satisfies the following additional properties:

 Ex-post PE, but not (ex-ante) PE.
 With the analogue of single-peaked preferences (candidates are ordered on a line and each voter approves an interval), random-priority is PE.
 Weak-group-SP.
 Group-FS.

A disadvantage of this rule is that it is computationally-hard to find the exact probabilities (see Dictatorship mechanism#Computation).

Conditional utilitarian rule
In the conditional utilitarian rule, each agent receives 1/n of the total budget. Each agent finds, among the candidates that he approves, those that are supported by the largest number of other agents, and splits his budget equally among them. It is anonymous and neutral, and satisfies the following additional properties:

 Individual-SP;
 Group-FS;
 Ex-post PE but not (ex-ante) PE.
It is more efficient than random-priority, both in theory and in simulations.
It always finds a distribution that is PE among the subset of group-FS distributions.

Majoritarian rule
The majoritarian rule aims to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of few candidates, while still guaranteeing fairness. It proceeds in rounds. Initially, all candidates and voters are active. In each round, the rule selects an active candidate c who is approved by the largest set of active voters, Nc. Then, the rule "assigns" these voters Nc to c, that is, it assumes that voters in Nc voted only for c, and assigns c the fraction |Nc|/n. Then, the candidate c and the voters in Nc become inactive, and the rule proceeds to the next round. Note that the conditional-utilitarian rule is similar, except that the voters in Nc  do not become inactive.

The majoritarian rule is anonymous, neutral, guarantees individual-FS and single-vote-FS.

Impossibility results
Some combinations of properties cannot be attained simultaneously.

 Ex-post PE and group-SP are incompatible (for ≥3 voters and ≥3 candidates).
Anonymity, neutrality, ex-post PE and weakly-group-SP are incompatible (for ≥4 voters and ≥6 candidates).
If we remove one of these properties, then the remaining three can be attained.
Ex-post PE, individual-SP and individual-outcome-FS are incompatible (for ≥3 voters and ≥3 candidates).
If we remove one of these properties, then the remaining two can be attained.
However, if we weaken individual-outcome-FS by allowing to give each agent only ε times his fair-outcome-share, for some ε>0, the impossibility remains.
Anonymity, neutrality, PE, individual-SP and individual-FS are incompatible (for ≥5 voters and ≥17 candidates).
If we remove either PE or individual-SP or individual-FS, then the remaining four properties can be attained.
If we remove anonymity and neutrality, the impossibility still holds, but is much harder to prove.
In contrast, in the analogue of single-peaked preferences (candidates are ordered on a line and each voter approves an interval), all properties are attained by random-priority.
If we weaken individual-SP to excludable-SP, the properties are satisfied by the egalitarian rule.
It is open whether PE and excludable-SP are compatible with strict-participation and/or unanimous-FS.
PE, preference-monotonicity and positive-share (a property weaker than individual-FS) are incompatible (for ≥6 voters and ≥6 candidates).
Anonymity, neutrality, PE, individual-SP and group-FS are incompatible (for ≥5 voters and ≥4 candidates).
If we remove either PE or individual-SP or group-FS, then the remaining four properties can be attained.
If we remove anonymity and neutrality, the impossibility still holds, but is much harder to prove.
When there are at most 4 voters or at most 3 candidates, a simple variant of random dictatorship attains all 5 properties: a dictator is selected at random, and the most popular outcome he likes is selected. This rule is anonymous, neutral, ex-post PE, individual-SP, Group-FS, and ex-post PE; but with at most 4 voters or at most 3 candidates, ex-post PE implies PE.
PE, individual-SP and positive-share are incompatible (for ≥6 voters and ≥4 candidates). This was proved with the help of a SAT Solver using 386 different profiles - probably the longest proof in social choice.
With anonymity and neutrality as additional properties, the incompatibility holds already for ≥5 voters and ≥4 candidates, and the proof is much simpler.

Summary table
In the table below, the number in each cell represents the "strength" of the property: 0 means none (the property is not satisfied); 1 corresponds to the weak variant of the property; 2 corresponds to a stronger variant; etc.

See also

 Justified representation - a property similar to fair-share, but for discrete outcomes.
Party-approval voting - the candidates are parties, and the fraction allocated to each party corresponds to the fraction of seats it should get in the parliament.
Participatory budgeting algorithms - other approaches for distributing a budget fairly.
Some authors studied the price of fairness of various distribution rules.
The distribution problem has been studied also in the more challenging setting in which agents have additive utilities.

References

Social choice theory
Approval voting

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace HIO_Backup.Model.Enums
{
    enum DestinationType
    {
        MountedDrive,
        NetworkShare,
        Server
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
What did you really get?
Seinfeld - The Cafe [S03E07]
Actors/Roles: Jason AlexanderGeorge Costanza
https://tv.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e56f904d-3326-4491-ba9e-fc9081cba037
#jump
#sniffing
#yelling
#excuseme
The Muppet Show (1976) - S01E15 Candice Bergen
Really? What did you get?
Resident Alien (2021) - S02E10 The Ghost of Bobby Smallwood
- Wow, did you really get
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005) - S03E13 The Gang Gets Whacked (2)
Really? That's great. Did you? Did you really?
Life Sentence (2018) - S01E09 What to Expect When You're Not Expecting
- You really did get off easy. - Easy?!
The Big Bang Theory (2007) - S07E21 The Anything Can Happen Recurrence
Really? What did you do?
House of Cards (2013) - S05E01 Thriller
What did you really think?
Desperate Housewives (2004) - S02E15 Romance
Really? What did you buy?
Gilligan's Island (1964) - S01E11 Angel on the Island
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008) - S03E04 Drama
What did you get me? What did you get me?
The Simpsons (1989) - S09E04 Comedy
What did you get?
Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994) - S01E06 Comedy
Mad Men (2007) - S02E07 The Gold Violin
Friends (1994) - S04E08 The One With Chandler in a Box
Friends (1994) - S01E01 The One Where It All Began
Mork & Mindy (1978) - S01E06 Family
The O.C. (2003) - S01E08 Drama

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Big West: UC Irvine coach Russ Turner,…
Big West: UC Irvine coach Russ Turner, Anteaters still hungry for more
UC Irvine has had plenty of success under Coach Russell Turner, but he and his players know that another outright conference title won't mean as much if they don't follow it up by winning next week's Big West Conference Tournament at Honda Center. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
By Robert Morales | rmorales@scng.com | Press Telegram
The UC Irvine men's basketball program won its second consecutive outright regular-season Big West Conference title last week. It was the fifth conference championship under Coach Russ Turner's watch, with two of them shared with other teams.
It never gets old.
"Winning the championship is special and we've won a lot of them, but they're never less special, especially for the individuals who are doing that for the first time or are doing it for the last time like the seniors," Turner said. "The players only get limited cracks at it. As a coach, you take for granted that you get to keep going. The players don't have that.
"So it's really a great thing to experience for these guys. I'm proud of them, I'm happy for them. I'm also hungry for us to push for the next thing, which is the conference tournament championship, which we all value more even than the regular season."
Of course, because that's what is guaranteed to get the winning team to the NCAA Tournament. Turner got the Anteaters (21-10 overall, 13-2 Big West) there in 2015 and in 2019. UCI nearly defeated Louisville in the NCAA Tournament in 2015, falling 57-55.
As tough as that might have been to swallow, the Anteaters upset Kansas State 70-64 in last year's tournament, giving UCI the program its first win in the Big Dance.
It's not something Turner will ever forget. Even a year later, he speaks in sentimental tones about what it meant.
"Well, I think what's important is what it means to our program," said Turner, who is in his 10th season leading the Anteaters. "There's a recognition that comes with that type of victory that's hard to earn. It's a recognition of respect and I'm pleased that we've earned it.
"I'm also pleased that our university gets associated with that success because we've benefited as a program from the ways in which our university has grown and improved."
Turner, like so many, as a kid loved college basketball and its grand ball.
"Growing up as a college basketball person, you know how hard it is to win in the NCAA Tournament and how special it feels to be one of those teams that pulls off an upset and gains the recognition and respect that comes with that," he said.
"You know it's special and you continue to feel that after you've done it because more people recognize you and show that respect. So that's been fun to be a part of, I think, for all of us."
UC Irvine finishes its regular season when it hosts Cal State Northridge (13-17, 8-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The conference tournament is March 12-14 at Honda Center, with UCI already guaranteed the top seed.
CAL STATE FULLERTON, LONG BEACH STATE ON BUBBLE
Only eight of the nine Big West teams qualify for the conference tournament. Right now the odd team out is Cal Poly (7-21, 4-10). But Cal State Fullerton (10-19, 5-9) and Long Beach State (10-20, 5-9) are also in danger of being that team.
Wrightsell's late 3-pointer helps Cal State Fullerton edge UC Irvine
UC Irvine navigates Hawaii defense for key Big West win
UC Irvine can't slow UCSB in Big West showdown
UC Irvine men's basketball team clamps down on CSUN
UC Irvine makes defensive adjustment, rallies past Cal State Fullerton
Each team has two games left. The Titans will be at UC Santa Barbara (19-10, 8-6) on Thursday while Long Beach is hosting Cal Poly. CSF and LBSU will then tangle against one another in Saturday's regular-season finale at Fullerton.
Cal Poly finishes Saturday at UCSB.
The Titans have lost three consecutive games to teams ahead of them in the standings – UCSB, Hawaii and CSUN – by nine, 11 and seven points.
CSF coach Dedrique Taylor knows this week won't be easy, and he gave UCSB and Long Beach plenty of respect during a Tuesday afternoon telephone conversation. But to him, it's about his team.
"I look at our team, I think we have to do us for 40 minutes," he said. "We have to buy into the things that we believe it will take to allow us to win the game on Thursday. Right now the most important game is the one on Thursday.
"We have to execute at a higher level and be more consistent with our execution and be more consistent with our ability to play hard and trying to give ourselves a chance down the stretch."
Cal State Fullerton basketball
Cal State Fullerton sports
UC Irvine Sports
Robert Morales | reporter
Robert Morales covers the Los Angeles Kings for the Southern California News Group.
rmorales@scng.com
Follow Robert Morales @RMoralesPT
More in College Sports
Lassina Traore, Long Beach State cruise to road win at Cal Poly
Marcus Tsohonis scores 46 as Long Beach State edges UCSD in 3 OTs


Check the audio remote control switch (A) for resistance between connector 3 and 4 in each switch position.
Check the hands free remote control switch for resistance between terminals in each switch position.
Remove the hands free switch.
Install the hands free switch.


text:
"Even a bomb proof horse could be startled"
Mason Black Lawyers successfully defended a Supreme Court claim assessed by the Court in excess of $1.4m for the plaintiff's injuries incurred when her horse fell to the ground after being startled. The Court agreed that the plaintiff was involved in a dangerous recreational activity. This decision will have significant implications for insurers defending public liability claims.
Please click here to view a copy of the judgement.
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This weekend more than forty couples from our parish attended our Cana Dinner at Elsie's to give thanks for the gift of marriage and rededicate themselves to living it as a path of holiness. Our prayers are with them and with our engaged couples preparing to enter into the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. May they be fortified to live out their marriage vows.
Wedding vows are not merely about words, but much more about choosing to will the good of the other in a habitual way throughout a lifetime. Couples sometime forget their first fervor of love and dedication. We now approach the threshold of the season of Lent. It is a season given to us to rekindle our desire for God and recommit ourselves to living the Faith. We often emphasize how this season is about strength of will and inner resolve expressed in "taking on" or "giving up" certain practices, foods or disciplines. What we must not forget is that ultimately this is all about love! We are reminded of this as we begin the Lenten season on Valentine's Day!
Lent is a time for greater generosity and self-restraint. While strength of will is certainly an important ingredient in our ongoing conversion, perhaps even more than this, Lenten penance is aimed at "confronting our illusions about ourselves…not to confirm us in our sense of virtue but to bring home to us our radical need of salvation" (M. Searle, "The Spirit of Lent"). If we are first loved by God then we are called to love Him and our neighbor as the only satisfactory response. In this way the Lenten-triad of prayer, fasting and almsgiving show their interconnectedness; they are all about growing in love.
Lent is given to us as a "yearly observance" to call, evoke, invite, facilitate, deepen and purify our ongoing discovery of the "riches hidden in Christ". These riches are real and abundant if only we dedicate ourselves to pursue them. The Lord longs to encounter us throughout this Lenten season to pour every gift and grace upon us, especially to prepare us for the grace of celebrating the culmination of the Church's Liturgical Year in Holy Week.
I mentioned in last week's bulletin that I would share our plan for celebrating the Paschal Triduum as one parish. Although even last year, three distinct celebrations of the Triduum took place at Holy Cross, St. Clement and St. Hedwig, the documents of the Church strongly urge us to gather for a single celebration of Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil.
Additionally, Morning Prayer will be prayed each day of the Triduum and other devotions as well as a Musical Passion Play on Wednesday of Holy Week. Stay tuned for these details to follow.
I look forward to seeing you this week at the Sauerkraut Supper and at Ash Wednesday Mass as we enter into this Sacred Season in the pursuit of the riches hidden in Christ.


Fixed broken Kuva Siphon/Flood missions.
I'm loving the Discord Rich Presence!
Will Kronen Prime recieve a buff ever? The stats are very lackluster and Telos Boltace has more utility.
Let the Dino-Tan wars begin.
Fixing the fix that fixed the last fix being unfixed!
Can we have fixes for eidolon?
1-Sometimes shrine bugs like this; every teammate sees different amount of shards put in, resulting in eidolon not spawning with 4 shards in.
this comment under this thread is currently under review for being edited so many times, thank you for understanding.
Will you be lowering the Tiberon and Kronen Riven disposition to 3 anytime soon?
Thnx for the hotfix, but please bring the passives icons back!
That said, please fix Eidolon teleporting and shrine bugging out as reported by countless of people or at least *acknowledge* that the issues exist and you are working on it.
Still no Synoid Gammacor visual glitch DE? come on guys, it's been almost 2 months.


In these middle Sundays of Lent, the Gospel readings call us to conversion, and the Old Testament readings give us a brief history of conversion in the Old Testament. This Sunday they give a dense meditation on the passage through suffering.
In the Gospel, "Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices." All year, we are in Luke's Gospel; here, in chapter 13, we are after 9:51, the pivot point, when "Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." Luke's Gospel, like Lent, is the journey to the Cross.
And some tell him about what horrible things Pilate does to people.
And so the second thing he says – twice, after two parallel stories – is "if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!" On the one hand, he says, don't worry about the suffering. Suffering is not evil, sin is evil, and suffering – such as the suffering inflicted by the evil man Pilate – does not prove that you are evil. On the other hand, suffering is the destiny of evil people.
He underlines this second point with the story of the fig tree: it is given a few chances, but finally, if it does not bear fruit – the fruit of repentance – it will be cut down.
There are two kinds of punishment. There is vengeance, an expression of hatred. But there is also correction, or discipline, which is an expression of love. Correction often makes us suffer; often it is precisely through suffering that we correct the ones we love, as when we punish our children. But that suffering is a tool.
God never hates, he is never purely vengeful. To the contrary, the only suffering that does not correct is the suffering of Hell. But that suffering is self-imposed: if we refuse to embrace the good, we end up without it. Suffering in this life is a tool of love, meant to save us from the meaningless suffering of eternal emptiness.
Our Old Testament reading, from Exodus, and our Epistle, from First Corinthians, are both about Moses in the desert. The desert is the place of suffering, the epitome of Lent.
St. Paul tells us "our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea." They were saved in a fearful way. The cloud (which led them through the desert) did not feel like enlightenment. The sea (which parted to let them escape the Egyptians) was terrifying – it saved them because it destroyed what would hurt them, the Egyptians. But God saved them through those fearful ways.
He provided for them in the desert, with "spiritual food" and "spiritual drink." It was precisely in lack that they discovered God's sufficiency. The suffering of the desert was not a bad thing. It was a place to discover God.
"Yet God was not pleased with most of them," and so "they were struck down in the desert." We have to use that suffering well. Going out into the desert, we have to find God. If instead we make it a place of grumbling, the corrective suffering of love turns to the empty suffering of Hell.
All of this, says St. Paul, a sign of our Baptism. We are plunged into the water. The Greek word for Baptism means the water goes over our heads, we are submerged. But if we find God, that drowning is a place of union.
In Exodus, Moses finds God in the desert. "Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God." Horeb itself is a Hebrew word for "desolation," in the midst of Sinai, which means "glaring," as in, glaring sun on glaring sand and rock. It is in the desert that he meets God.
God is in a bush with "fire flaming" – the doubling is an emphasis. God is fire – but not fire that destroys. God has "heard their cry of complaint," their "suffering," their "affliction." He has not abandoned them in the suffering. It is in their suffering, in the desert of Egypt, that they learn to turn to him.
And there Moses discovers God as I AM, as the only thing that is fully real. But we have to go to the desert, we have to pass through the suffering of Lent, to find him.
How is God purifying your sight through suffering?
I was recently discussing politics with a friend in Washington, DC. She is a faithful Catholic and involved in high-level things in Washington. Someone who knows some things.
But when it came to the upcoming presidential election, she said she had trouble caring. Apart from appointing Supreme Court justices, she said, the presidents don't really do anything. "I don't see what difference it makes." Democrat or Republican, and which one, they all end up more or less the same.
Now, this is not a web page of political commentary, and I have no intention of delving into particular issues or records or positions. But I think my friend's question, "What difference does it make?" can help us think about the connections between faith and politics.
These connections point both ways. On the one hand, our faith can help us think about political candidates. On the other hand, our involvement in politics is an important expression of our faith. Faith helps politics and politics helps our faith. Politics is part of Catholic spirituality.
Here's the central insight of this post: politics is about culture. When Bill Clinton was running for president, there was a saying, "It's the economy, stupid." That is, people don't really care about all the other little arguments: what they care about is the economy. Well, for the Catholic, we have to say, "It's the culture, stupid." It's always about culture.
Without wading in too deep, I think some of our candidates illustrate the point. One party (I'm going to talk about the other one, too!) is committed to abortion as a basic human right. There's lots to say about the marriage debate, but for us as Catholics the point is simply this: that party is also committed to saying there's nothing special about the relation between one man and one woman that has traditionally been called marriage. That party, furthermore, refuses to recognize the right of the Church – of the Little Sisters of the Poor! what a remarkable choice – to exercise its charitable functions while maintaining its beliefs about right and wrong.
Now, there are legitimate questions about how much economic difference these debate make in the long run. But the bigger point is, what kind of a culture are we creating? The President is a figurehead, a sign of what we believe as a country. Indeed, our laws themselves are a kind of figurehead. They have practical consequences – but before that, even more important, they indicate our values as a country. They both express and, by that very expression, shape our culture. To be a country – a culture, a civilization – that shrugs its shoulders at the family, religious liberty, the right to life: all of these things shape who we are.
Now, my friend would acknowledge all of this, and would not vote for candidates who hold those positions. But there are other problems in the other party.
Two major candidates in that party brag about their willingness to kill innocent people in the Middle East. We can debate terrorist policy, ISIS, Iran, Iraq, and all the rest. But one of the candidates was recently asked in a debate about his plan to "carpet bomb" Middle Eastern cities. Carpet bombing means indiscriminate, not just shooting terrorists but bombing all the people who live near them. Traditionally, it is precisely an act of terrorism: make the country capitulate by terrorizing them. He embraced the term.
Another candidate was asked about his plan to kill the wives and children of terrorists. He too embraced that plan. He said if they're going to fight dirty, we must too. We must become like them.
Both candidates embrace torture. One of them quibbles about the legal definition, apparently concerned more with whether its legally allowed than whether it's right and good.
The question is: what does that say about our culture – and what does it do to our culture, if we elect someone with such positions to be the figurehead of our nation? It might not "make any difference" in terms of whether we beat the terrorists (or it might) – but that's not the main question. The deeper question is what happens to our culture when we embrace targeting innocent civilians as a governmental priority.
Maybe they wouldn't even follow through on these promises – but to elect someone who makes those promises – as major priorities – is to destroy our culture. Maybe we as Catholics can't sway the election – but we can at least voice our opposition.
Standing with the popes and the bishops, I would suggest (more controversially, perhaps) that the way we treat our immigrants has similar effects.
Who are we as a nation? What do we aspire to? This is the deeper importance of politics. These are the questions our faith helps us answers – and the questions our faith demands that we involve ourselves in.
What kind of culture do you think the various candidates are promoting?
Today we begin a new series, exploring the sacraments through the Our Father. I laid out the general theme in a post several months ago. Now I want to take some time to consider how each line of the Our Father helps us think about a sacrament.
The purpose here points in both directions. On the one hand, we want to be able to pray the Our Father well. The sacraments can give some substance to the words, a way to focus on what we're saying. On the other hand, we want to appreciate the sacraments. The Our Father can give us a way to appreciate each of the seven sacraments – and, indeed, a daily way to rediscover them all, for they are all important to our lives. At the heart of the Our Father is the most powerful prayer for making a spiritual communion. But while we're at it, we can spiritually unite ourselves to all the other sacraments that surround communion.
We begin, then, with Baptism: Our Father, who art in heaven.
Baptism is the sacrament of rebirth. The word means "plunging." The original rite involved going down into the water and coming up again. (We have radically simplified that rite; the Latin Church sometimes likes to minimize the experiential aspect of the sacraments in order to emphasize the divine power, which does not rely on us.) So the symbolism is of dying, as we go under the water, and rising again as we come up. There is freshness, a cleanness, a refreshment in this new life – just as there is some fear and trepidation as we approach the water. Baptism is death and rebirth.
But behind this rebirth is another element of rebirth, regeneration. It is not just that we are born again from the womb of the Church our Mother. It is even more that we are conceived again by God our Father.
Jesus is the only-begotten Son, the only one who is Son by nature. But in Baptism we are joined to him, so that we become sons and daughters – "sons in the Son," says a traditional formula. We enter sacramentally into his human death, and so are reborn united to his divine sonship. We receive the power he put into the waters – and it is the "power to become children of God" (John 1:13).
We are born again "not of blood" – that is, this Sonship is not baked into our human nature. "Nor of the will of the flesh": our sinfulness turns away from this Sonship. "Nor of the will of man" (John 1:13), because we simply do not have the power to make ourselves sons of God. We are born again "of God," with the sonship only he can give us.
Every time we pray "Our Father, who art in heaven," we can remember that by Baptism we have been given a rebirth to heavenly life. We have been called – and truly are – sons and daughters of God. This dignity is heavenly, impossible to obtain apart from the infinite divine power of Jesus, through his sacraments. And it is heavenly, too, because our citizenship, our home, our inheritance, is in heaven, with the Father who has made us his own.
Every time we pray "Our Father, who art in heaven," we ought to remember how awesome our Baptism is. We carry that Baptism with us. It is our spiritual garment, the constant source of our spiritual dignity. And everytime we think of Baptism, we should realize that it has made us able to call the God of heaven our Father.
It is appropriate that Baptism comes first in the Our Father. Baptism is the door, the beginning. We remind ourselves of our Baptism at the door of the Church, because Baptism is our entrance into the mysteries of all the other sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the heart that beats at at the center of the Church, of the sacraments, and of the Christian life. Baptism is our wedding garment, without which we are not allowed entrance.
It is only a beginning. When we pray about Baptism at the beginning, we realize that it must be completed by worship (hallowed be thy name!), by service (thy kingdom come!), by endurance (thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!). It must be fulfilled by the Eucharist (give us this day our daily bread), by Penance (forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive), and by Suffering and Death itself (lead us not into the Test, but deliver us from the Evil).
We do not understand Baptism if we think it is the end. We do not understand our sonship if we think once we have it, nothing else matters. Baptism, and calling God our Father, is the beginning of our heavenly journey.
How does Baptism change the way you look at your life?
I was struck this year on Ash Wednesday by the Offertory Prayer, which asked that through our Lenten observance we "may become worthy to celebrate devoutly the Passion." The word for worthy could also be translated as "fit." It's hard to enter into Christ's cross unless we have some sense of the Cross ourselves. We need to spend some time meditating on suffering if we want to understand what happens for us on Good Friday.
Our readings this Sunday help us to think about suffering in terms of abandoning ourselves to God's care.
All that we have is a promised gift from God.
But from that nothingness, through the suffering of Egypt, God brought us to the promise. It is not we who are strong, it is the pure generosity of God.
That is the first reading's commentary on suffering: we join ourselves to Christ on the Cross, where we finally become aware that only God can raise us up.
Some of our Protestant brothers and sisters take this verse out of context, but the point is important.
"One believes with the heart and so is justified." We have no way of become just, righteous, good, except through faith – faith, indeed, in the promise. Christianity is all about promises, just as the Israelites experienced the Promised Land. I cannot raise myself from the dead – whether from physical death or from the more important spiritual death that is sin. Everything depends on the Promise and God's strength.
"And one confesses with the mouth and so is saved." And then we come to salvation, we reach the finish line, only if that trust in God's promise bears fruit in a life of conversion, a life that, with the mouth and every other part of our life, bears witness that Jesus is Lord.
Not just that Jesus is Savior, but that he is Lord: our life, our profession of faith, has to show that he is master of all of our life. We can only do that if we abandon ourselves to faith in him.
"The word – the word of faith that we preach – is near you, in your mouth and in your heart," says Paul in our reading from Romans, commenting on Deuteronomy.
Our Gospel this week is Jesus battling Satan in the desert. He embodies this teaching on two levels.
First, Jesus himself bespeaks his faith in the power of his Father by having the word of Scripture in his mouth. Jesus shows us that our greatest defense against the devil is to quote the Word of God against him, to trust in revealed wisdom.
So Jesus teaches us to rely on faith. But he is that faith itself: the most powerful word of Scripture is the very name of Jesus. He is the victor, he alone.
This is the Lectionary's commentary on suffering, to begin our journey toward the Cross. We must become absolutely weak, abandon our strength, and join ourselves to Christ, abandoned on the Cross – with absolute faith that it is God who will save these wandering Arameans from the power of Egypt.
How does your Lenten penance help you experience your weakness?


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Vision 2020 Project Searches for Women Leaders
Written by Featured Partner on January 22, 2010
Also read: women executives, leaders, women, suffrage
In 10 years, our nation will mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. While winning this battle for suffrage was monumental, it wasn't just a step for women in the voting boothsit had a greater significance for social, economic, educational and political equality.
Starting next fall, a group of women leaders in Philadelphia will make sure that this work continues in the future.
On Oct. 2122, 2010, a congress of national delegates, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will meet at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for "Vision 2020: An American Conversation about Women and Leadership." Vision 2020 is a national project to celebrate the 2020 Centennial of the Suffrage Amendment. It will focus on advancing gender equality through dialogue about women and leadership.
To prepare for this leadership event, Vision 2020 is conducting a nationwide search for women to be part of the delegation that will contribute to the "conversation."
The two women co-chairing the delegation selection are Subha Barry, who recently left Merrill Lynch & Co., where she served most recently as a managing director and the global head of diversity and inclusion, and Karen Kaplowitz, president of The New Ellis Group, a business-development consulting firm.
Candidates should have a demonstrated commitment to and passion for helping women and girls. These women will represent their point of view during the American Conversation and should ideally be in a position through their activities professionally and/or as volunteers to lead the implementation of an agenda for change in their states or within their respective areas of expertise and focus.
The ideal Vision 2020 National Delegate selected would meet the following criteria:
Be a leader in or affiliated with an organization (professional, social or grassroots) that is working in one of the topic areas: Arts and Culture, Business, Law and Finance, Communications and Media, Health, Education, Faith, Family, Philanthropy and Volunteerism, Politics and Government, Engineering, Science and Technology
Must be willing to mobilize their individual and professional resources to bring about positive change as defined in the action agenda the delegates will develop
Must have a demonstrated commitment to helping women and/or girls
Must commit to serving a minimum three-year term as a delegate with Vision 2020 (20102013), attending the 2010 Conversation and the follow-up conferences in subsequent years, as an active participant and advocate for their positions
Must contribute to a diverse group of delegates who reflect the full range of American women in age, race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation
There is no cost to participate; Vision 2020 pays for National Delegates' travel and hotel expenses.
For more details on the National Delegates, how to nominate a delegate and to access the online application form, click here.
Nominations for National Delegates must be received by March 1.
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2020s >> 2023 >> no-1421-january-2023
50 Years Ago / World Cup of Shame
Britain Enters the Common Market
From the beginning of this month Britain has been part of the 'European Economic Community', to give the Common Market its official name. This means that the British government is pledged to pursue, along with eight other West European governments, common policies in such fields as foreign trade, transport and agriculture. By 1978 all trade barriers between Britain and the other eight countries should have been removed and all nine should have erected a uniform tariff against goods coming from outside their 'common market'.
For the capitalists of Britain, or most of them, this will open up a vast new market in which to try to sell their goods at a profit. But what about the workers? How will the Common Market affect the ordinary wage- or salary-earner in the factories and offices of Britain?
First, and this has already begun to happen, there'll be a rise in food prices as a result of the British government having to change its method of subsidising agriculture. (…)
The second change the ordinary wage-earner will notice is in the way the goods he buys are taxed. From 1 April this year purchase tax and SET will be abolished and replaced by a Value Added Tax (VAT). (….)
Thirdly, workers from Britain will be free to move to the other countries in search of a job and will be able to carry social security rights with them. And workers from the other countries will be free to come here on the same terms, of course.
Within ten years, however, we could be using a common European currency and voting in elections for the European Parliament at Strasbourg. And after that, perhaps, there'll be progress towards a 'United States of Europe' as another Great Power challenging the current world hegemony of America and Russia (…).
But, in any event, the emergence of such a new capitalist super-State, or the creation of a single European capitalist economy, is of no concern to the working class. Though it will affect them nevertheless. To try to mitigate these effects they will have to start thinking in terms of united action with their fellow workers in Europe. Already some trade unions, and trade unionists, have — wisely — been making contact with their opposite numbers in the other countries.
(Socialist Standard, January 1973)
The World Cup of Shame?
Many members of the Socialist Party, including the present writer, are keen football fans. We love the skill, the beauty, the athleticism of the game.. But at the same time we have severe reservations about the way it is organised and the conditions under which it is played. It is a kind of paradigm of capitalism as a whole, the system we all live under. What this means is that human beings produce the most potentially brilliant mind-blowing inventions and innovations and exhibit the most fantastic skills and ingenuity in putting them to use, whether that be in the field of technology, education, food and drink, sport, and much else. Yet there are almost inevitably serious warps in the way these are used and express themselves. That is partly because so much of what takes place in capitalism is focused on, bent towards money and profit rather than human need, but also because, through its system of forced wage and salary work as a means of survival for the vast majority, it engenders in the individual a sense of powerlessness, of being just a tiny cog, of being able unable to fulfil one's individual potential.
Most people cope with this by considering it somehow natural quite simply because they have never known or imagined anything else, but also because, as one writer has put it, 'distraction technologies and the entertainment industry sell us meaningless thrills to patch over the pain'.
Which takes us back to football and the spectacle the world is now emerging from, that of teams of highly talented footballers pitted against one another to win a coveted competition, the World Cup. One might have thought that the awful treatment – lethal in some cases – of those workers who built the structures and the infrastructures for the staging of the spectacle and the retrograde mentality of the rulers of Qatar (and apparently most of the inhabitants) would have led many of those with a degree of fellow feeling for other human beings to consider boycotting what one writer called 'the World Cup of shame'. But few, it appears, went down that road, the vast majority being swept up in patriotic (or nationalistic or jingoistic – choose the word) hero worship of their own team and its players, individuals whose wealth dwarfed anything their normal daily grind could allow them to even dream of.The pictures on the television screen often showed nothing short of mass hysteria as teams scored goals or won matches, a true bread and circuses for modern times.
Yet at the end what was left was anti-climax, even for the supporters of the team that won the competition as they returned to their normal everyday lives as wage slaves and the powerlessness inherent in that role. Perhaps the spectacle they had experienced was an example of what the writer Charles Eisenstein, in his book The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, calls 'a substitute for the expression of one's own greatness'.
Next article: January 2023 Meetings ⮞


Throughout my life other men I've known often talk about "The Unicorn" which in my circles means a woman who like the mythical horned creature exists only in fantasy. Too good to be true, too wonderful for reality yet an entity we all wish and hope is true.
Three years ago I was hired by a ballet company in Dallas, TX to create some promotional imagery for their troupe. It was at that time I met Christy. A bubbly positive young lady who like her fellow dancers is incredibly athletic and talented. I'm fortunate to meet so many talented artists and at first Christy fell right into that category to which I've become so accustomed. And believe me, I know I live a charmed and blessed life.
We shot in the heat of Dallas summer and I noticed almost immediately her attitude and behavior during those seven sessions at different locations throughout the day. Positive, happy and always willing to try whatever crazy ideas we came up with on location. Never a negative word, a complaint or rolling of a single eye….hum, "could this be a Unicorn possibility" was my initial thought. "Naw it must be because I'm hot, sweaty and hungry!" was how I thought about her Unicorn possibility….
Christy as she prepares for her makeup turn.
Traveling to Pescadero State Beach for our first shoot of the day.
I show Christy her makeup for the first shoot.
Christy gets her makeup applied by Isabella.
Just before it's her turn and yes, it's cold and windy there.
The girls look over the photos from the day at dinner.
So a week later the gals showed up and we trudged all around the Bay. From the deep sand of Pescadero State Beach, to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to the Marin Headland and finally to Land's End and Sutro Baths. It was COLD windy and many other things that are not pleasant. All of the young women were real troopers, but I watched Christy and she was actually ENJOYING the adventure. As we drove from place to place was she constantly on her mobile device? Nope. Was she chattering incessantly? Nope. She was simply looking around at views she had never seen before. When I took the girls to my favorite Japanese restaurant did she squeal about the food choice? Nope, as a matter of fact she tried things she had not tried before, with enthusiasm. I could go on and on, but at the risk of sounding (and being) a fan boy I won't. So now in my lifetime I have known two Unicorns, yes TWO. They are rare indeed, so if you are fortunate enough to know Christy, count yourself lucky.


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Marching for all of it, 2019
Zillah Eisenstein on January 8, 2019 13 Comments
Organizers of the Women's March protest in New York City on International Women's Day, March 8, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)
There was a huge outpouring of anger, determination, resistance and more on January 20, 2016. No to it all—the Muslim ban, the misogyny, the white supremacy, the greed, the inequality, and yes, no to Trump—all of it. Millions marched. No one quite can say how this massive revolt occurred amidst such a varied group, but women marched!
Jump to now, and there is fraying around the edges, anger at the core, charges of racism, antisemitism, self-serving egoism, celebrity elitism.
Many of these charges were addressed months ago and yet they continue to fester and divide. I wonder whose interests are being served in all this division and that attention should be addressed here, rather than elsewhere.
A bit of back-story:
I am an atheist Jew. I was brought up by Communist parents so Israel and its practice of Zionism was always seen as problematic in my household—long before the newer histories of anti-Zionism, anti-Zionist Jews, organizing to support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), the atrocities done to Gaza and Palestine. Edward Said had not yet written The Question of Palestine. And, antisemitism was not on the rise as it is today.
Synagogues have never been a safe space for me, although I do not mean to blanketly indict them, given that I know little of them today. Most of the people attending them in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1970s feared and rejected my family's anti-racist commitments and civil rights activism. They made sure we did not live in their community. Be careful what you assume about me, and other Jews. We come in all forms. It is why prejudice against any homogenized group is so dangerous.
My father spoke of the mass murder of Jews in World War II as fascism and Nazism. (He was an MP and forward observer in the Army—assignments that Jews were relegated to—to hate them just a bit more—a case of antisemitism in the army supposedly fighting it). But he never used the term holocaust, as such. He thought, and taught me and my 3 sisters, that there have been too many holocausts—settler colonialism against Native Americans, the chattel slave trade and slavery, to name only a few.
So, in this moment, it is important to me to recognize antisemitism as part of the multiple systems of hatred and oppression, but with no singularity of "exceptionalism". I am thinking how important it is to recognize the specific struggles of any burdened group, but without recognizing the particular history as an "exceptional" one. Hatreds are connected through unique differences that also share commonality.
Consider the intricate lacing of racism and antisemitism. Most Jews in the US have come to be regarded as white but this whiteness does not erase the pain and suffering of antisemitism. Antisemitism constructs Jews as less than human, but our whiteness complicates the rendering of this.
I was the only Jew in North High School in Columbus Ohio, in 1963. Fellow students thought I was "different", weird, godless, a "kike". Boys said their parents forbade them to date me. I kept wondering what it was that I was supposed to think and believe as a Jew, given that I had no religious training at all.
I remember screaming at my parents one day: "I believe in God"—not having any idea what that meant, but comforted by the thought that at least I could say this. Of course they replied: believe in whatever you wish to Zillah. That seemed to end my foray as a believer.
In my largely white High school in Atlanta, Ga., I however, was a white girl. The school had desegregated the fall I entered. There was one Black student, Clemsey Wood. We talked, and then both of us were punished. I lived in the Black neighborhood where the faculty housing for Atlanta University was located. I lived in the Black community and walked through the poor white community to get to school. "White Bitch" and "Black N—–Lover" were my two identities. I was heartbroken most of this my senior year.
When I was visiting Egypt in 2008 a merchant stopped me on the street with his wares to sell and asked me if I was from Israel. I thought to myself: he sees a Jew so I am from Israel. I answered, "no, I am not from Israel and I am a Semite, like you".
These are some of my thoughts when I am asked to respond to the controversy surrounding the antisemitism of the Women's March. Tamika Mallory's association with Farrakhan and Linda Sarsour's implied connection as one of the March organizers has been used to nibble away at the tenuous alliances of all kinds of women.
New Marches are being called for: disabled women; women for Palestine; women against antisemitism, and so forth. The rift over anti-Semitism is further heightened by Alice Walker's endorsement of an antisemitic writer and her own antisemitic writings.
There is nothing new to the strains between some Blacks and Jews in forming camaraderie, or between some Black and White feminists. I remember speaking at Haverford College just shortly after Angela (Davis) was released from prison, with bell (hooks) on a panel organized by Hortense (Spillers) who was provost at the time—on "Racism in the White Women's Movement." It has been four decades now that women have been struggling through the racism of (some, too many) white women.
But, there have been successful and important alliances. Black and white women organizing for reproductive rights and against sterilization abuse; the socialist feminist coalition work that underpinned the Combahee River Collective work and statement of purpose; cross-class and racial alliances against the Vietnam and Iraq war.
So where are we? Not where we should be. More "isms" have been uncovered in the last several decades along with more identities and more oppressions. So "we" need more recognition of how we "intersect", "overlap", connect to each other, not less. This means risking alliances that are not perfect.
"We", the big we, need to come together committed to moving with and through our limitations and contradictions to find a world free of exploitation and racial hatreds especially white supremacy, antisemitism, xenophobia, capitalism, nationalisms, misogyny and its gender binaries.
I am for a march with many contingents. Mine is an abolitionist socialist feminist contingent supporting all the others without any form of hatred; a Feminism for the 99%.
Zillah Eisenstein
Zillah Eisenstein is a Professor of Anti-Racist Feminist Theory at Ithaca College and one of the organizers for the International Women's Strike.
Other posts by Zillah Eisenstein.
echinococcus on January 9, 2019, 1:25 am
"I am an atheist Jew"
Bullcrap, if you'll excuse my French. You may well be Eskenazi by the sound of it –if you don't have another distinct cultural identification like, say, Sefardí or such. Because that's the only possible historically "Jewish-related" cultural characterization, provided you actively carry the culture.
If you were culturally part of urban European society, like French, German, Italian, etc. (or, of course, American!) with theoretical Jewish ancestry, you wouldn't have any distinguishing cultural characteristics, as the only "Jewish" cultural elements would be liturgical/religious, period.
"Jew" characterizes the follower of a religion, given that there is absolutely zilch in common except religion, culturally or ethnically speaking, among the different populations that were nominally Jewish in history. Period. Is that still unclear? Has that ever been clearly answered or rebutted?
"I am for a march with many contingents. Mine is an abolitionist socialist feminist contingent supporting all the others without any form of hatred"
Oh. now that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Your march excludes anyone who opposes each of the characteristics of that "contingent". Meaning you are deliberately excluding a lot of supporters of Palestinian resistance. Meaning you are sabotaging. Thank you.
Mayhem on January 9, 2019, 6:06 pm
@echinoccus, the author is free to define herself and it is not for you to argue about the validity of someone's self-identification or credo, especially if it is genuine. There is an abundance of people who are ethnically or culturally Jewish, coming from a Jewish background who would classify themselves legitimately as atheist. Being Jewish is not just a matter of subscribing to a set of religious beliefs.
The women's march is tainted with anti-semitism and that is coming from those who very frequently subscribe to the Palestinian narrative.
Given you question the author's credentials I guess I am perfectly entitled to do the same when I hear people espouse the Palestinian cause based on what I believe is a false, concocted narrative contrived not in its own right but in knee jerk opposition to that of Zionism.
eljay on January 9, 2019, 7:11 pm
|| Mayhem: … Being Jewish is not just a matter of subscribing to a set of religious beliefs. … ||
Of course not. But because it is a religion-based identity, being Jewish is primarily a matter of:
– undergoing a religious conversion to Judaism; or
– being descended from someone who underwent a religious conversion to Judaism.
echinococcus on January 10, 2019, 12:34 am
Look at foaming-at-the-mouth Zionists who jump into the fray, completely unarmed with any facts, on behalf of "non"-Zionist tribalists :
" Being Jewish is not just a matter of subscribing to a set of religious beliefs"
Well, that's exactly what you tribals were challenged to establish with solid evidence.
When you assert (no matter how loudly) that a flea is an elephant, or that a tiger is cuddly lamb, or any other palpable nonsense, the world doesn't accept it on the basis of someone's subjective fancy. And the world is well-advised to reject such obviously absurd nonsense because it may have horrifying consequences. Which it certainly has in the case of the crazy, mythologic, racist "Jewish peoplehood" nonsense.
Again, there is no relationship between religion, an acquired and discardable characteristic, and the national or ethnic character people are unfortunately born with. Not with any religion, and not with Judaism, either.
Either these non-religious tribals come with solid proof of any pan-"Jewish" cultural element, natural language, or the like, or they limit their assertions to any cultural or ethnic cluster that can be proved: Eskenazi, Sefardí, Falasha, Mashriqi, Maghribi… or plain Western European with a more-or-less typical name period (who may or may not practice the religion of Zionism.) Subjective feelings are worth bupkis. Not introducible as evidence.
Obviously, the Zionist crime against humanity cannot be used as evidence for such "peoplehood", given that it was concocted, under our very eyes, based on this very nonsense of "peoplehood". And yet, so-called "non-" and even "anti-"Zionists continue to peddle this murderous myth that (necessarily) generated Zionism.
Eljay,
" being Jewish is primarily a matter of:
Being descended from anyone cannot confer religion or "religion-based identity" because religion is a matter of believing in a given set of metaphysical stuff, with or without the attendant mumbo-jumbo. No matter how religious one's ancestors, if one doesn't adhere to those beliefs or rituals then there is no such identity.
Your concept is shared by Ottoman law, which assigned to each a religion at birth, unrenounceable except sometimes by conversion, and on this basis made each person subject to the arbitrary temporal power of a given religious leader. It also justified horrible mass expulsions, migrations and mass murder, based only on the nominal "religious identity" at birth.
The Zionist entity is the only state today (with a variant in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) that continues to use this legal concept. It had been used by Germany until 1945.
Mooser on January 10, 2019, 7:13 pm
"There is an abundance of people who are ethnically or culturally Jewish, coming from a Jewish background who would classify themselves legitimately as atheist" "Mayhem"
Sure! Best of both worlds. All the advantages (in Israel) of ostensible Judaism, with none of the constraints.
Stephen Shenfield on January 10, 2019, 12:54 pm
She says: 'I am for a march with many contingents.' Those who don't qualify for her contingent can join the march as part of a different contingent. Unless they are not women, of course.
Fredy Perlman said that the only -ist he accepted as a label for himself was a cellist.
RoHa on January 10, 2019, 10:14 pm
Is cellism permissible in the 21st century?
hai_bar on January 11, 2019, 7:25 am
@Stephen Shenfield – Thank you for mentioning this name (Fredy Perlman). Spent hours reading in his work, precious information. Thanks.
tamarque on January 9, 2019, 8:31 am
I do relate to this piece. I am of the opinion that the divisiveness is like what we have seen many times when peoples come together to empower themelves. It is an insidious process, never in the mainstream discussions, but more importantly, never in the movements themselves. Thus we saw the impact of COINTELPTRO destroying the Movements of the 1960-70's and the FBI infiltrations and the media compliance of subtley and not so subtely using its powerful pulpit to create divisions and failure. Today we are seeing the same I fear with the NY Times doing what it does best–pretend to be liberal while supporting the oligarchy and waging its sinister divisiveness. So much history to learn and lean how to avoid repeating.
Ossinev on January 10, 2019, 7:08 am
@Mayhem
" There is an abundance of people who are ethnically or culturally Jewish, coming from a Jewish background who would classify themselves legitimately as atheist"
You seem to have some sort of expertise in self classification. I am an ex Catholic and I now self classify myself as an atheist. If push comes to shove what do you think is best – should I say that I am ethnically a Catholic or culturally a Catholic. I would point out if it helps that a part of me secretly would like to think that I have the same Catholic ethnic DNA as the Pope.
echinococcus on January 10, 2019, 9:15 am
Ossinev,
"a part of me secretly would like to think that I have the same Catholic ethnic DNA as the Pope."
Unfortunately, my friend, the sterling-quality DNA that "we" Jews continue to enjoy has experienced four negative mutations, with Christianity first, then the Schism and finally the Reformation and Counterreformation. A large number of nucleotide base pairs have been cut at each of these events, resulting in inferior DNA for the Catholic Nation. So, His Holiness is certainly a worthy and holy person but not a carrier of the best nucleic acids, of which we happen to have cornered the monopoly.
Citizen on January 10, 2019, 2:33 pm
US Senate just denied Israel another quick $38 Billion + interest (no ceiling, like Obama wanted) by a close vote resulting only from Democrats wanting to put federal job pay over Trump's wall.


It's 1870 and your pocket is full of small change. What does it look like?
We have the two-cent piece, copper and featuring that godly motto. The three-cent nickel with the Liberty head joins the Indian princess of Liberty on the cent. The little bitty "trime" or silver three-cent piece features a shield within a six-pointed star. (Not a five!) The newly developed nickel five-cent piece, just five years into production, shows a similar shield (and motto) as the two-cent piece. Lastly, we see the silver half dime with the seated Liberty goddess. That issue was only four years from retirement, thanks to the Shield Nickel.
The shield motif was in vogue now, even in miniature on the reverse of the Indian cent.
I tried to get the relative sizes about right. During the days of Vatican I, this nineteen cents would buy a fair bit. Today, these nice, shiny coins would be worth considerably more.
Not too shabby at all. Oh, for the return of the symbolic on the general circulation coins….
I have several canadian coins. One, Two, and Five dollar denominations. I also am from northern New York.


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After receiving a ticket, you will have several options available to you. This includes the option to pay for the ticket. This is probably the best choice. By paying the ticket, you will fulfill the obligation you have for the traffic violation you were cited for.
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There's a third option. You could contest the ticket in court. By disputing the ticket before a judge, you may be able to avoid paying the cost of the ticket. This might sound like a good idea, but the chances are slim, especially if you represent yourself in court.
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You might need an attorney if you didn't pay for a ticket. The reason is that a court will most likely issue a warrant for unpaid tickets. I am recommending that you talk with an attorney that specializes in tickets. I can represent you well in this matter. If you aren't sure what to do, call me today. I can explain some of the issues that are related to your case. I can also tell you about the benefits of hiring me. A ticket may not seem like a huge concern, but it can affect your future if it isn't properly taken care of. But don't give up your rights just to put this matter behind you. See what options are available and see if you have a legitimate argument that could save you money, time, and needless hassles.
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Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated January 14, 1969, and I have noted the contents. I am pleased to note that you enjoy going out into the streets chanting and preaching from Bhagavad-gita. This is a very good attitude and in accordance with the teachings of Lord Caitanya that the process of Sankirtana should be presented to men all over the world. So as you are able you should continue to go into the streets to chant, and I am sure that the others at your temple will appreciate going with you as they are available. Surely this practice will attract many people there to take some interest in this Krishna Consciousness movement.
Regarding your request for cooking information, it is best if you will consult Yamuna Dasi in London. She is very expert cook, and will be able to answer any questions you have regarding prasadam preparations. I understand that Yamuna has written a recipe book which they are trying to have printed in London soon, so this also will be available to help you in this connection.
Regarding serving your godbrothers, this is a very good practice. The Spiritual Master is never without His followers, so to serve the Spiritual Master also means to be the servant of His disciples. When you want to serve the king, you must also serve his minister, secretary, and everyone who serves him. And to serve his servants may please him more than to serve the king personally. So the Spiritual Master is not alone. He is always with His entourage. We are not impersonalists. We take care of every part of the whole, as much as one should take care of his hat as well as his shoes. Both are equally important for the upkeep of the body. I hope that you will understand this rightly.
It is important that we preach the message of Krishna Consciousness exactly as we have heard it from our Spiritual Master. The same philosophy and spirit must be there exactly. Just like we preach in this country exactly as we have heard from our Spiritual Master, but there are changes due to the time, circumstances, and the trainees. The spirit of the disciplic succession may not be changed, but there may be adjustments made to suit the special circumstances.
Regarding your last question about the importance of chanting; this chanting process is the only way of attaining full Krishna Consciousness in this age of kali yuga. Lord Caitanya stressed upon this point, and we may take it from His authority that no other method will prove to be successful in this matter.
So continue to push on our Hamburg center as far as possible. You have gone to Germany, not even knowing how to speak their language, and you are trying to give to them the rarest jewel, Krishna Consciousness. I know that Krishna is very pleased with all of your efforts there, and surely He will give you all facilities to come out successful in your efforts. I hope this will meet you in good health.


text:
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новость дня Ледянки и тюбинги. Как правильно кататься на снежных горках (ИНФОГРАФИКА)
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Gabriel and Lukerya. What names did the residents of the Grodno region give their children in 2020
Last year, parents most often called their sons Nikita, and the previously popular names Matvey and Mikhail did not even get into the top 10. Perspektiva has compiled a rating of popular male and female names in 2020.
The main exhibition of the Old Castle in Grodno will begin to receive visitors in the summer
ID-card instead of passport: what will change for Belarusians
85-year-old grandfather weaves baskets from a vine with one hand
How to choose and store honey and how to make an antiviral from propolis? Mykola Khalkos advice - head of the scientific beekeeping center
How future grandmasters are raised in Skidel
Lesson at a distance: a single information and educational resource in Belarus will start working in January 2021
"Multiton MAZ is not a "passenger car": Motorist and road worker's Day will be celebrated in Belarus on October 25
Conquering a multiton MAZ is not an easy task. But for a professional driver, this is not a problem. Evgeny Kalinin has been working as a driver in the SEC "Progress-Vertelishki" for four years, and he has been driving a powerful truck for the same amount of time.
Sanitary and Epidemiological Service calls for coronavirus prevention measures
The Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of the Minsk Region calls on citizens not to lose vigilance and return to compliance with the requirements of personal and public prevention of coronavirus infection, BelTA learned from the Minsk Regional Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health.
Employees of the state control Committee of the Grodno region took part in the "clean forest" сampaign
October 19 is the day of writing messages to the future
Residents of the Grodno region also have a unique chance to appeal to their descendants.
Whole epoch: how a collector from Porechye collects Soviet motorcycles
The house of Henrik Dzitko stands on the outskirts of the agricultural town of Porechie, surrounded by tall thuja and overgrown wild rose. Well – kept yard, and in the middle- a huge hangar. It is there that almost three dozen iron horses stand peacefully. Powerful "Ural", compact "Java", graceful Hungarian "Pannonia" and old-school scooters.
The Volovichi Palace in Svyatsk is planned to be partially opened for guests by early next year. What work is being done on the renovation project?
The palace and park complex in Svyatsk, where reconstruction is now in full swing, is an important tourist site that they plan to open for guests as soon as possible. Yesterday the complex was visited by the chairman of the regional executive committee Vladimir Karanik, aide to the President - inspector for the Grodno region Ivan Lavrinovich, first deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov and Minister of Culture Yuri Bondar. They got acquainted with the progress of work at a large-scale facility. During the meeting, the governor gave specific instructions to speed up the reconstruction of the complex.
September 15 – Day library in Belarus. How does work library in Skidel today?
What Do We Know about the Most Famous Church in Grodno?
The most ancient sight of Grodno and one of the oldest shrines in Belarus. It's all about Saints Boris and Hleb Church or, as it's called by locals, Kolozha Church.
Dina Drevilo Is Still Working in Her 82. A Unique Woman from Grodno Region
She has never taken sick leave. She is cheerful and resilient, adores ice-cream and doesn't lose optimism.
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When creating new content on a page, there is a tab called Templates (Mallar) which contains som pre-configured content elements. These can often contain a specific set of fields like header, image, text and a link for example. When using this type of element, they have a specific design for example, so that the header always has the correct format and the image is placed correctly.
Mostly they are used on the start page of a site, or as promo boxes on subpages.
This section will take a look at a couple of these, to give you a general idea on how they work.


Wood Bees "Carpenter Bees" Nasty to get rid of. They come back year after year and more holes only attract more the following spring. And woodpeckers love to eat them. Once they bore into the wood and lay eggs, the woodpeckers will tear the place down getting at the larva.
Get a spray bottle and put dawn dish washing liquid and mix half with water putting more dishwashing liquid then water and spray in the holes where they have been and watch them fall to ground dead !!! and spray surrounding place where they have been .. it really works i live in a log house and they drill holes in my wood and i tried it and i couldnt belive the bees that came out of the hole within minutes and was dead..


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SEO involves technical and creative ideas that are often grouped into 'Onsite SEO' and 'Offsite SEO'. This terminology is quite dated, but it is useful to understand, as it splits practices that can be performed on a website, and away from a website.


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'I Didn't Steal Funds' : FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Says In Newsletter Launched To Defend Himself
Fallen cryptocurrency founder, Sam Bankman-Fried launched a newsletter Thursday, January 12, in his latest attempt to defend himself from fraud allegations leveled against him by the US government.
Bankman-Fried, founder of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, wrote on his new Substack, "I didn't steal funds, and I certainly didn't stash billions away."
The 30-year-old executive was charged by the FBI in December with leading "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history." He posted $250 million bail and was placed under house arrest at his parents' home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to prosecutors, Bankman-Fried used customer funds from FTX to finance the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research. Alameda made a series of high-risk bets that failed, all while Bankman-Fried and his pals spent the money on luxurious properties and political donations, investigators said.
Bankman-Fried claimed in earlier interviews and again in Thursday's post that he was not in charge of Alameda, as prosecutors allege, and the company went bankrupt only because of crypto market crashes. He said Alameda's bankruptcy then roped in FTX, similar to earlier crypto collapses in the interconnected industry.
"Alameda lost money due to a market crash it was not adequately hedged for — as Three Arrows and others have this year," he wrote in the post. "And FTX was impacted, as Voyager and others were earlier."
Legal experts in the US have opined on social media that Bankman-Fried would be wise to keep quiet and negotiate with prosecutors, but he wrote Thursday that "I have a lot more to say."
Share:'I Didn't Steal Funds' : FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Says In Newsletter Launched To Defend Himself


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Q: How to turn a simple python script to basic webapp? I would like to know what is the fastest way to turn a simple Python script into a basic web app.
For example, say I would like to create a web app that takes a keyword from the user and display the most retweeted tweet on Twitter. If I write a python script that is capable of performing that task using Twitter's API, how would I go about turning it into a web app for people to access?
I have looked at frameworks such as Django, but it would take me weeks or months to learn how to use it. I just need something quick and simple. Any such alternatives?

A: Make a CGI script out of it. You basically get the request information from the webserver via environment variables and you print the desired HTML to stdout. There are helper libraries such as Werkzeug which help with abstracting away the handling of the environment variables by wrapping them in a Request object.
This technique is quite outdated and isn't normally used nowadays as the script has to be run on every request and thus incurs the startup cost all the time.
Nevertheless this may actually be a good solution for you because it is quick and every webserver supports it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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1 of 38All photos are pre-hurricane Florence.
Very comfortable house for a party of 9. Easy walk to the beach and right by the shops in Sirf City. Beautiful sound view!
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Continuing the Atlas A-Z series, this article is brought to you by the letter H. H is for Historical Data.
Atlas aims to be the go-to place for all things media-metadata-related. It goes to great lengths to make sure that the information it dispenses is as up-to-date as possible. But sometimes it's not only current data that's important: things that were and things that have not yet come to pass can be just as relevant. To support these requirements Atlas stores a variety of historical data about its resources.
One such resource type where historical data is particularly important is the channel. Channels change surprisingly often. They start, they stop, they change number in a region, they change title and they change their images. Managing those changes to keep a schedule accurate requires a fair amount of both hindsight and foresight.
From the above it's pretty straight forward to see that the channel's name changes to Sky Movies Superheroes HD temporarily.
Atlas also retains details about all the broadcasts and on-demand locations for a content item, even after broadcast is over or the location is no longer available. This means that historical schedules can be created and items marked as currently unavailable to view.
In fact, well-identified data is almost never removed from Atlas but it may be updated in such a way that it's automatically filtered from view. For example, if a broadcast is cancelled for some reason it won't be removed. Instead it will marked in such a way that it won't appear on the API.
It's worth noting that all this historical data is kept in-line, directly on the items and channels meaning there's no real cost to retrieving it beyond the data transfer. There are no additional database queries required to gather it. Obviously this can be a fair amount of data, and it'll grow as time passes, so one of our aims for the v4 API is to provide as much control as possible over the data returned using filters and annotations.
If you have any comments or questions about historical data in Atlas please don't hesitate to get in touch either below or via the Atlas discussion group.


By planning, building and planting an African-style low-maintenance garden, UK children are learning about why organic farming is important, where food comes from and how people live in rural Africa.
African Garden Days is a hands-on programme to engage primary school pupils in nutrition, the principles of organic farming and how sustainable, chemical-free farming is helping people in Africa escape poverty. The programme is run by development charity Send a Cow.
Send a Cow has worked with farmers in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years, helping over 1 million people develop the skills and knowledge they need to make their living from the land. African Garden Days shares our experiences with pupils in the UK: over the next three years we will engage 30,000 pupils in over 150 schools, focusing on low-income areas in the West of England.
An African Garden Day begins with an assembly explaining what daily life is like on a small farm in Africa and the challenges people face in finding enough food, water and money to survive. Pupils learn how farmers gain new skills in sustainable organic agriculture, enriching the soil with compost and manure to make it more productive. Later on in the day children divide into teams to make their own African-style keyhole garden with a raised bed and central compost chamber for low-maintenance, healthy vegetables.
After the African Garden Day, teachers access an innovative virtual scrapbook site packed with ideas about how to use the keyhole garden as a learning resource across the curriculum. There is also an online forum where teachers can share their experiences and ask questions. Schools have reported that the keyhole garden becomes a permanent and valued part of their learning resources.