text:
Dark Buzz
Natura non facit saltus
Debunking the Paradigm Shifters
Roger Schlafly
Singular Values
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Friday, Feb 29, 2008
Family court tries to make a religious choice
Law prof Volokh writes:
I just got the trial court opinion in Kik v. Kik, the latest Michigan appellate case that counted a parent's greater religious observance as a factor in favor of the parent's custody claim. ...
Perhaps the decision wasn't this particular trial judge's fault, given what seems to be the Michigan state legal principles that push in this direction. But it seems to me unconstitutional nonetheless.
Most of the other family court criteria seem unconstitutional also. As one reader said:
One parent's (even both parents') preference for religious observance should at best be treated like any other recreational activity. Some parents regard going to to see the Red Sox as sacrosanct, but its ridiculous to suggest that the allocation of season tickets should be determinative in a custody dispute.
Yes, it is ridiculous, but there are comments from other lawyers who think up contorted justifications for such nonsense. The worst ones are those who think that judges are forced to resolve issues like this. They are not. The judge can and should just refuse to meddle in issues that are the responsilities of the parents. posted by Roger Schlafly at 10:29:00
Global warming propaganda is not working
Motl reports:
Paul Kellstedt, Sammy Zahran and Arnold Vedlitz examined results from an original and representative sample of Americans and found that "more informed respondents both feel less personally responsible for global worming, and also show less concern for global warming."
This result seems reasonable to me. The bad effects of global warming are nearly always much less than what people expect. Myself, I was very surprised to learn that the IPCC consensus was that sea level would only rise two feet in the next century. Yes, the more I learn about the subject, the less I am concerned.
The NY Times blogger John Tierney adds:
Paul Kellstedt, the lead author and a professor of political science at Texas A&M, told me that previous researchers found that a campaign to increase public understanding of genetically modified foods didn't lessen public fears, and that more widespread "scientific understanding" of research on embryos actually diminished support for that research. "What those two studies show, and what ours does, too," he said, "is that more information given to the mass public does not automatically translate into more support for what are (in the public's mind) controversial areas of scientific research. In fact, more information, in all three cases, seems to have the opposite effect, creating opposition to the research area in question."
This makes sense to me. Science public relations proponents are dominated by leftist intellectuals who are always arguing that the stupid public would adopt their leftist goals if only they were more educated. So they oversell their views with dumbed-down science. posted by Roger Schlafly at 10:08:09
Thursday, Feb 28, 2008
Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution
Prominent blogger and leftist-atheist-evolutionist PZ Myers writes:
'Evolution is a theory about the origin of life' is presented as false. It is not. I know many people like to recite the mantra that "abiogenesis is not evolution," but it's a cop-out. Evolution is about a plurality of natural mechanisms that generate diversity.
This is part of a discussion on how scientists can correct misperceptions about Evolution.
The trouble with this view is that there is no good scientific theory about how life started here on Earth. Life could have been planted here by space aliens, for all anyone knows. This quote shows that evolutionists like Myers are willing to use the term in a sense in which it is just a scientifically meaningless buzzword. posted by Roger Schlafly at 18:34:52
Why the Clipper chip died
Cryptologist Matt Blaze argues:
First, the Clipper Chip itself was abandoned not because of concerns about privacy (although it certainly became a lightning rod for criticism on that front), but rather because it was found to have serious technical vulnerabilities that had escaped the NSA's internal review process and that rendered the system ineffective for its intended purpose. I discovered and published in the open literature the first of these flaws ...
No, those flaws were minor and insignificant. I really doubt that they were any big surprise to the NSA. As I recall, Blaze's biggest point was that a 16-bit checksum should be a 32-bit checksum. If that were really the problem, the NSA would have just corrected it.
The Clipper chip was part of a Clinton administration plan to spy on the private lives of American citizens. It was even part of the Hillary Health Care Plan where it was supposed to be used to monitor peoples' health records and make sure that they were not getting anything beyond what has been rationed by the feds.
The Clipper chip was a hot political issue among civil libertarians on the internet, and it was threatening to become a liability for Al Gore and the Democrats in 2000. The Republicans were against this spying, and had blocked the Clinton administration's proposals in Congress. As Blaze acknowledges, the G.W. Bush administration has been pro-crypto.
A good history of the Crypto wars can be found in Steven Levy's Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age. posted by Roger Schlafly at 15:15:26
Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
Obama's legal views
Barack Obama's main expertise is in law, as that is the subject of his Harvard degree and he spent ten years teaching it at the Univ.o f Chicago. So you would think that he would be bragging about how he can improve the courts by making better appointments. Instead, all we get is silly stuff like this:
We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges.
He voted against Roberts and Alito, so he ought to be able to point out errors in their legal reasonings. He has not been able to do that. posted by Roger Schlafly at 14:53:50
Bob Bennett - world's worst lawyer
DC lawyer Bob Bennett is plugging his new book, and getting wide praise for being a great lawyer. I don't know why. He bungled his most famous case, Jones v Clinton, worse than anyone thought possible. He could have just defaulted on the case, and Clinton probably would have only had to pay $50K or so. Instead, he mishandled the deposition, got Clinton impeached, and ended up paying a huge settlement. posted by Roger Schlafly at 14:48:36
Monday, Feb 25, 2008
Academics for gun control
Chicago eggheads Gary Becker and Richard Posner post their arguments for gun control laws. These guy are supposed to be so smart, and yet they seem baffled as to why any would have guns or why guns might serve a legitimate purpose. They want to get rid of guns the way that a lot of people want to discourage smoking cigarettes -- with very high taxes, regulation, and propaganda campaigns. posted by Roger Schlafly at 10:37:30
Sunday, Feb 24, 2008
Digital files on discs
The NY Times reports on movie studios trying to save the DVD:
Fox DVDs, starting last month, now come with an additional disc holding a digital file of the title. ... "This puts the DVD at the center of the digital revolution and returns the business to a growth trajectory," ... the packaging of digital files with standard DVDs "has the real potential to steal the thunder from the Internet delivery of movies." ... Today, digital files on discs; tomorrow, mass downloading straight from the Internet.
Will someone please tell the NY Times that DVD discs only have digital files on them. The first "D" in "DVD" stands for "digital". Putting digital data on a DVD is not something new; that's all that has ever been on DVDs. posted by Roger Schlafly at 22:09:29
Swedism manhood suffers from UN resolution
News from Sweden:
Sweden's chief heraldists remain dissatisfied with a decision by the Nordic Battlegroup to remove a lion's penis depicted on its coat of arms.
But staff at the National Archives are hopeful that the Nordic Battlegroup will reconsider its position and re-erect the lion's member on its insignia.
"They stepped over the line when they made alterations to the badge without consulting us. It was a clear breach of copyright," state heraldist Henrik Klackenberg told The Local. ...
In an interview with Sveriges Radio, the Commander said he decided to give the lion the snip having read UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
This is a followup from last month. Our proud military symbols should not be emasculated by some silly UN resolution. posted by Roger Schlafly at 17:40:27
Fancy schools are a waste money
The London Times newspaper reports:
Middle-class parents obsessed with getting their children into the best schools may be wasting their time and money, academics say today. They found that children from privileged backgrounds excelled when they were deliberately sent to inner-city comprehensives by parents opposed to private schooling. Most of the children "performed brilliantly" at GCSE and A level and 15 per cent of those who went on to university took places at Oxford or Cambridge.
This is more evidence that fancy private schools are overrated. posted by Roger Schlafly at 17:40:27
Saturday, Feb 23, 2008
Debate over taping confessions
The NY Times reported last year:
Eight states, by law or court action, mandate taping of interviews with suspects in at least serious felony cases, turning a tape recorder or video camera into an important tool in convictions, like DNA tests, fingerprints and ballistics. More than 450 law enforcement agencies in major cities and smaller jurisdictions also require the taping of certain interrogations.
The F.B.I., a division of the Justice Department, has strenuously resisted the practice unless special permission is granted by supervisors, under the theory that it may discourage suspects from talking and expose juries to interrogation methods that the department would rather not highlight.
But the inability to tape suspects, especially those accused of sexual abuse and domestic violence, can seriously compromise a case, Mr. Charlton and other prosecutors said. ...
The F.B.I., in documents defending its policy, argued that taping was not always possible, particularly when agents were on the road, and that it was not always appropriate. Psychological tricks like misleading or lying to a suspect in questioning or pretending to show the suspect sympathy might also offend a jury, the agency said.
"Perfectly lawful and acceptable interviewing techniques do not always come across in recorded fashion to lay persons as proper means of obtaining information from defendants," said one of the once-secret internal Justice Department communications made public as part of the investigation into the dismissals of the United States attorneys.
Wow, I didn't know that the feds were so stubborn on this issue. I knew that interviews of Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby were not recorded, but I didn't know that this was a blanket federal policy.
If I were on a jury, I don't think that an unrecorded confession, if I knew that the police had deliberately not recorded it out of fear that the jury would be offended by the interrogation techniques.
The argument that taping is not possible when agents are on the road is bogus. The voice recorders are extremely cheap and convenient. posted by Roger Schlafly at 11:45:15
Solar panels a loser
The Si Valley paper reports:
Installing solar panels on homes is an economic "loser" with the costs far outweighing the financial benefit, a respected University of California-Berkeley business professor said Wednesday.
The technology, using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, is not economically competitive with fossil fuels and costs more than other renewable fuels, said Severin Borenstein, who also directs the UC Energy Institute.
"We are throwing away money by installing the current solar PV technology," he said. ...
Borenstein said he didn't take into account the feel-good benefit or societal value of installing a solar system on your roof. "Certainly people make these decisions for a variety of reasons," he said.
But installing better insulation would be a better bet economically, he said, although your neighbors won't know you did it.
The solar power industry is driven by govt subsidies. posted by Roger Schlafly at 11:45:15
Florida teaches evolution
USA Today reports:
Students in Florida must be taught that evolution is a theory and not a settled fact, according to standards that the State Board of Education just approved in Tallahasee. ... The compromise language approved today cites 'the scientific theory of evolution,' making it officially a theory rather than a settled fact.
The actual standard says:
Standard 15: Diversity and Evolution of Living Organisms A. The scientific theory of evolution is the fundamental concept underlying all of biology. B. The scientific theory of evolution is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence. C. Organisms are classified based on their evolutionary history. D. Natural selection is a primary mechanism leading to evolutionary change. ...
Describe the scientific explanations of the origin of life on Earth. ...
Identify basic trends in hominid evolution from early ancestors six million years ago to modern humans, including brain size, jaw size, language, and manufacture of tools.
I wonder what will be taught for some of those topics. There really isn't much in the way of scientific explanations for the origin of life on Earth. Human ancestors are thought to have diverged from chimps about 6M years ago, but there is very little agreement about which fossils are really human ancestors. posted by Roger Schlafly at 00:27:35
Only branch has acted unilaterally
A Slashdot reader writes:
Each branch has different powers, but none can exercise significant power without the consent of at least one other branch. Yes, there are areas where each has latitude to act unilaterally, but major initiatives generally require the consent of at least two branches. And before you say "Bush went to war on his own," recall that Congress has the power to limit or end funding for the war whenever it wants to. It may not have the will, but it has the power.
The only branch of the US government that has been able to act unilaterally has been the Judicial branch, and that is a phenomenon largely of the last 50 years. Congress has declined to exercise its powers to limit the Courts' jurisdiction as granted under Article 2 of the Constitution.
He is exactly correct. Surprising, for a nerd site. posted by Roger Schlafly at 00:27:35
Mrs. Obama's chip on her shoulder
Steve Sailer writes:
Newsweek has a long article on the wonderfulness of Mrs. Obama, but she sounds like she's got a log-sized chip on her shoulder from lucking into Princeton due to affirmative action. ...
One reason diversicrats want to bring all the black freshmen to campus before everybody else is so they'll bond to each other, not to random whites and Asians during the regular orientation week.
I attended Princeton a few years before Mrs. Obama, and it had peculiar racial policies back then. It recruited a lot of black students, but they didn't really socialize with the white very much. A lot of them, like Mrs. Obama, would take classes just for blacks.
This blog claims to have some excerpts from Mrs. Obama's senior thesis:
"I wondered whether or not my education at Princeton would affect my identification with the Black community. I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with Whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that Black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility."…
posted by Roger Schlafly at 08:37:08
Human Culture Subject To Natural Selection
Here is some goofy research from some leftist-evolutionist Stanford profs who sound like they don't really believe in evolution:
But Nina Jablonski, chair of the Anthropology Department at Pennsylvania State University, said she is sold on the research. "This paper is revolutionary in its approach … one of the most significant papers to be written in anthropology in the last 20 years," she said.
Authors of the study said their results speak directly to urgent social and environmental problems. "People studying climate change, population growth, poverty, racism and the threat of plagues all know what the problems are and what we should be doing to solve them," said Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford.
Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb and other books on dilemmas facing contemporary human society, said he does not understand why more effort is not going into urgently needed solutions. "What we don't know, and need to learn, is how cultures change and how we can ethically influence that process," he said.
Deborah S. Rogers, a research fellow at Stanford, said their findings demonstrate that "some cultural choices work while others clearly do not."
"Unfortunately, people have learned how to avoid natural selection in the short term through unsustainable approaches such as inequity and excess consumption. But this is not going to work in the long term," she said. "We need to begin aligning our culture with the powerful forces of nature and natural selection instead of against them."
So what did their research really find? They found that Polynesian canoe technology gradually improved over time. Because the islanders were considered to be too stupid to know what they were doing, the authors assumed that inferior designs were eliminated by natural selection, in analogy to biological evolution.
It is amazing what sloppy work passes for good research in this field. Because the authors make some wacky and unsupported left-wing conclusions, it gets raves from politically correct academics like Jared Diamond.
Update: Ehrlich gives an interview on the subject. posted by Roger Schlafly at 14:53:30
Girl has 4 kidneys
18-year-old Laura Moon has four kidneys. She would like to become a live donor, but she cannot legally choose a worthy recipient, and she cannot legally be compensated. I hope that she keeps all her kidneys, as I don't think that it would be ethical for any physician to remove her kidneys under the current system. Physicians should only be acting to benefit their patients. posted by Roger Schlafly at 13:48:27
Drake's formula
Here is a funny comic on the Drake equation for extraterrestial intelligence. posted by Roger Schlafly at 10:20:50
Law requires teaching climate change
The San Jose paper reports:
A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require "climate change" to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught.
The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change.
"You can't have a science curriculum that is relevant and current if it doesn't deal with the science behind climate change," Simitian said. "This is a phenomenon of global importance and our kids ought to understand the science behind that phenomenon."
The state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, Jan. 30 by a 26-13 vote.
The bill adds climate change to a list of 7 other environmental topics, such as "Energy conservation". I certainly hope that schools are teaching the first law of thermodynamics, with or without this law.
California has already passed SB 777 to require schools to comply with various LGBT objectives. It remains to be seen how the schools will implement this nonsense. posted by Roger Schlafly at 05:17:21
ID for illegal immigrants
Bruce Schneier is against a national ID card for several reasons, including:
And there are security benefits in having a variety of different ID documents. A single national ID is an exceedingly valuable document, and accordingly there's greater incentive to forge it. There is more security in alert guards paying attention to subtle social cues than bored minimum-wage guards blindly checking IDs.
But Schneier is all in favor of Giving Drivers Licenses to Illegal Immigrants:
Some states have considered a tiered license system, one that explicitly lists immigration status on the licenses. Of course, this won't work either. Illegal immigrants are far more likely to take their chances being caught than admit their immigration status to the DMV.
We are all safer if everyone in society trusts and respects law enforcement. A society where illegal immigrants are afraid to talk to police because of fear of deportation is a society where fewer people come forward to report crimes, aid police investigations, and testify as witnesses.
This is wacky. Where I live, it is usually pretty obvious who the illegal aliens are. They don't speak English. And if it is good to have different kinds of ID, then let's have an ID just for illegal aliens. posted by Roger Schlafly at 19:43:30
Lessig endorses Obama
Law prof Larry Lessig is thinking about running for Congress, and is endorsing Obama. His main argument is that Obama always opposed the Iraq War, and that Hillary Clinton might swiftboat him:
Barack Obama took to the streets of Chicago and made a strong call to stop the entry into this war. ... he had the moral courage to stand up for what was right in the face of very strong political opposition. ... A man who opposed the war at the beginning,
But it is not true, and Obama deserves to be swiftboated for it.
If Obama really was against the war, he failed to have to courage to say so in his most famous speeches, and in the US Senate. He was apparently afraid that the war would be popular, and only said silly things like "I'm opposed to dumb wars." If the war had turned out to be popular, he would have just said that he was glad that the Iraq War was not a dumb war.
A big problem with John Kerry's campaign for President was that his big selling point was his Vietnam War experience. But that experience did not hold up to scrutiny.
I think that it is going to be similar with Barack Obama. He and his supporters will constantly talk about his war opposition, but he will be exposed for the naive coward that he is. Obama is good at speaking meaningless platitudes, but that's about all.
Lessig claims that Hillary lied about Obama removing the 2002 speech from the web site, but I am not sure Lessig is correct. Look at this backup of Obama's site. It appears to me that the speech was there in 2003 but not 2004 or 2005. posted by Roger Schlafly at 11:41:56
Guns in space
Russian citizens are not allowed to own guns, unless they are in space:
Right now Russian Cosmonauts carry a gun on their Soyuz space capsule, which is attached to the space station.
Every spacecraft carries survival gear for crash landings, and the Russian Soyuz has a kit that includes the gun.
NASA expert James Oberg has more. posted by Roger Schlafly at 14:46:50
Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
ABA wants to ban guns
The Amer. Bar Assn. supports gun control in the DC gun case:
Stare decisis is directly at issue in this case. This Court and other courts have interpreted the Second Amendment's right to bear arms as related to maintenance of a well-regulated militia. See, e.g., United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939); ...
Accordingly, changing the longstanding interpretation of the Second Amendment would frustrate settled expectations, require courts to perform historically legislative functions, and would compromise important values of certainty and finality.
The US Supreme Court is just considering saying that the 2A protects an individual right, a position that is consistent with everything the Supreme Court and Congress have said for 200 years, and consistent with numerous state constitutions. The only inconsistency would be with certain lower federal court decisions of the last 40 years.
If the ABA is so much in favor of stare decisis, then it should be against all the death penalty appeals and a lot of other appeals. posted by Roger Schlafly at 09:52:54
Judges trying to decide a child's religion
The NY Times reports:
Across the country, child-custody disputes in which religion is the flash point are increasing, part of a broader rise in custody conflicts over the last 30 years, lawyers, judges and mediators say. ...
Judges do not want to take on custody disputes rooted in religion, said lawyers like Gaetano Ferro, who until recently served as president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Mr. Ferro said, "How will a judge say in any rational fashion that Islam is better than Buddhism, Catholicism better than Judaism, or Methodism better than Pentecostalism?"
As a result, more and more states have tried to keep custody disputes out of court by mandating mediation. But the effect has been piecemeal, and religious disputes have proven to be among the most difficult to resolve, lawyers said.
But judges do unnecessarily take on these custody disputes. Mediation cannot solve the problem as long as a dissatisfied party can still get court orders.
The only solution is to just remove such disputes from the jurisdiction of the court. The court has no business getting involved. posted by Roger Schlafly at 21:55:25
Judge blamed for not preventing abuse
A Mercury News Special Report documents some abuses by the California juvenile dependency courts, and says:
Dependency court judges must promptly make the most critical of decisions. Err one way, and a child may be sent home to a dangerous situation. Err the other way, and children are separated from their families for a life just as chaotic and fearsome. Growing evidence shows disruption can be worse for many children than remaining in their homes with the appropriate support services.
Worse, sometimes judges do not get the information they need.
On Dec. 26, 2002, San Mateo County's presiding juvenile judge, Marta Diaz, got a brutal reminder of that. A baby she had authorized to visit his home had been declared brain-dead. His father was accused of violently shaking him on Christmas Day.
I don't know about that case, but there is considerable scientific doubt about whether there is any such thing as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). I don't know whether there is or not, but I do think that it is absurd to expect judges to prevent SBS by taking babies out of their homes and putting them in foster care. posted by Roger Schlafly at 09:51:37
A Choice, Not An Echo
Mark Silva write for the Chicago Tribune:
"And the reason is simple,'' Huckabee said, alluding to the title of a book by Phyllis Schlafly which inspired him as a younger man.
"Let others join the me-too crowd,'' Huckabee said. "But I didn't get where I am today… by simply echoing the voices of others. I did it by staking out a choice, fighting for that choice… It's better to be right, and even to not win, than it is to be wrong.
"They say the math doesn't work out,'' Huckabee said, pointing to the primary elections remining. "Folks, I didn't major in math. I majored in miracles, and I still believe.''
Convicts lose parental rights
Here is Texas news:
A Williamson County jury has decided to terminate forty-two-year-old Phil Rian's parental rights. Rian, who was convicted in August of having an affair with a sixteen-year-old boy, will now have no contact with her two young children. The twelve men and women deliberated for approximately four hours before coming to a unanimous verdict yesterday afternoon. The jury also decided to terminate the children's biological father's parental rights. Timothy Nagel is currently incarcerated in California on drug charges.
The little boy and girl will now go up for adoption. They have been in foster care since Rian was arrested in the fall of 2006.
At least she got a jury trial. I don't think that any other state bothers with jury trials when they terminate parental rights.
Several psychologists testified they believe Rian to have bi-polar disorder, a diagnosis Rian rejects. She did not, as the therapists suggested to her, go to a psychiatrist for additional treatment for the chemical imbalance.
I hope the jury wasn't unduly influenced by this, because there is no proof that any mental disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance. Nor should they be listening to therapists on the subject of drug treatment, when the therapists are not even licensed to prescribe drugs. posted by Roger Schlafly at 13:10:48
Broken families, broken courts: How rushed justice fails our kids
The Si Valley paper has a special series on the state's juvenile dependency courts, a little-known arm of the justice system deciding the fate of families whose children have been removed by social workers.
The dysfunction permeating the dependency courts is unknown to most people. Cloaked in confidentiality designed to protect children's privacy, the system allows few outsiders in, holding hearings so secretive that the law provides for criminal charges if clients or lawyers discuss them.
Yet system insiders, as well as numerous outside legal experts, openly describe the overloaded courts as a threat to the fundamental legal rights of parents and children.
I am glad to see that system get some exposure. The people who work in that system are the most evil people I have ever met. posted by Roger Schlafly at 21:03:08
Firing people with nutty ideas
Bad Astronomer writes about Iowa State University firing Guillermo Gonzalez.
As I said before, that is 100% the correct decision. Tenure is given for many reasons, but one criterion is how well the candidate will represent the University. Supporting Intelligent Design would reflect very poorly on ISU. They know that, so they dumped him.
His previous post promoted the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Now there is a wacky project that should embarrass a university. Even if the galaxy is populated by intelligent races, there are overwhelming reasons for believing that the project will fail. Those who subscribe to a goofy unscientific belief in SETI are just as embarrassing as the creationists. posted by Roger Schlafly at 12:29:32
DC gun case
I have heard gun control advocates argue that we don't have any individual Second Amendment gun rights because the Supreme Court has never said that we do, that only the Supreme Court is entitled to interpret the Constitution, and that not even the NRA has argued in court that we have Second Amendment gun rights.
No more. The US Supreme Court is hearing a Second Amendment gun case, and here are the DC v Heller case filings.
The NRA doesn't believe in waiting around for the Supreme Court to tell us that we have rights. We have constitutional rights that you can learn by just reading the Constitution. The Second Amendment was written to protect our individual gun rights, whether the court agrees or not. posted by Roger Schlafly at 18:07:31
She calls herself Hillary
The Bad Astronomer blogger wife writes:
Has anyone else noticed that newscasters and commentators seem to feel it is perfectly appropriate to refer to Hillary Clinton as "Hillary" while referring to every other presidential candidate by their last name, or first and last name? ...
The only reason I can come up with for the inappropriately familiar use of "Hillary" alone is that she's a woman.
Just look at Hillary Clinton's web site. Her campaign slogan is "Hillary for President".
She is embarrassed by her husband. She would run as Hillary Rodham if she could get away with it. Her political success is entirely dependent on Bill, and she refuses to give him credit.
Mrs. BA says that she refused to take her husband's name, and refuses to open mail addressed that way. Sigh. People should just call her Mrs. Bad Attitude. Hillary's core constituency is feminists like her. posted by Roger Schlafly at 14:35:57
Blue-eyed Humans Have A Single, Common Ancestor
Here is some new research:
ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2008) — New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
"Originally, we all had brown eyes", said Professor Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. "But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a "switch", which literally "turned off" the ability to produce brown eyes".
The title is a little confusing, because the usual evolutionist dogma is that all life on Earth had a single common ancestor. Also, we are all descended from apes, and apes all have brown eyes.
Just a couple of months ago, Craig Venter claimed that we do not have the technology to look at someone's DNA and determine whether or not he has blue eyes. Somebody is wrong here.
Unless there is more to the research than the article explains, I don't see how it can prove that the mutation only occurred once. It claims that there is a blue-eyes switch on a particular gene, but it seems to me that if the mutation occurred once, it could have occurred several times. Perhaps the single-mutation theory could be proved if the switch were linked to unrelated DNA data that is shared by blue-eyed people, but the article does not say that.
The article goes on:
The mutation of brown eyes to blue represents neither a positive nor a negative mutation. It is one of several mutations such as hair colour, baldness, freckles and beauty spots, which neither increases nor reduces a human's chance of survival.
This is the sort of nonsense that comes from evolutionists who don't really believe that humans are evolving. Blue eyes are common in low-sunlight areas like Norway, and rare in sunny countries. It seems likely that blues eyes have been a survival advantage in Norway, and a disadvantage in Egypt.
There is just one other primate with blue eyes, the blue-eyed lemurs of northwest Madagascar. No monkeys or apes do. posted by Roger Schlafly at 13:35:34
USA and the Kyoto protocols
I just heard the NPR morning radio news say:
The United States is alone among industrialized countries in rejecting Kyoto limits on greenhouse gases.
I don't see how the USA is any different from the other countries. Pres. Clinton signed the Kyoto plan, and the US Senate rejected it as a treaty. That is more or less the same as what the European countries. The USA has exceeded the Kyoto limits, and so have all the other countries. So what is the substantive difference?
George writes:
At least the Europeans didn't repudiate Kyoto. They passed a cap-and-trade scheme to give incentives for reducing emissions.


text:
TIB flags irregularities in flood relief effort
Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) found irregularities and nepotism in the relief programmes conducted by the government agencies in the flood-affected districts this year.
Even parts of the allocated relief fund were used in bearing the visiting costs of ministers in the marooned areas, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman told a press conference meant for revealing a study titled 'Preparedness for Fighting Floods 2019 and Observing Transparency in Relief Activities at its office in Dhaka city on Sunday.
The study covers ten most flood-affected upazilas under Jamalpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura and Sylhet districts that witnessed the calamity between July and August of this year.
It mentioned that as many as 73 per cent respondents -- who took part in the study -- said there were irregularities in distributing relief items like rice, dry food, ready food, cash, while 23 per cent respondents claimed nepotism in the programme.
A staggering 86 percent of the flood victims in the shelters also said the relief was inadequate.
The study also cited that only Tk 20 to Tk 767 was provided to flood-affected families in different areas.
Nearly 0.1 million families incurred huge losses due to the flood that marooned 4.0 million people, according to the report.
Many families each got only 2.0 kg of rice during the flood time, it found.
A total of 119 people died in the flood, most of them by drowning.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Re: We can't get fooled again, Nov. 2 letter.
Nov. 11, 2016 7:00 p.m.
In reading the above letter printed in last week's paper, I couldn't agree more with Jef Keighley.
The current Ministry of Children and Family Development has royally messed up, couldn't work with Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafonde when she did an excellent job as B.C.'s representative for children and youth, but I fear she rocked the boat and tried to change the way things are done in the ministry.
And for Minister Stephanie Cadieux (Surrey-Cloverdale) not to meet with her and work on difficult situations is appalling.
I wrote to her, MP Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands) and the department that Turpel-Lafonde worked with in regards to the little Metis girl that was taken out of the only home she knew. I think my letters express how disgusting the whole situation was and still is.
I suspect that whole situation is what was the final straw for Turpel-Lafond. I certainly won't be voting for Cadieux in the next election!


text:
Trump Announces $10 Billion Foxconn Plant In Wisconsin
Filed Under:Apple, Donald Trump, Wisconsin
WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Electronics giant Foxconn will build a $10 billion factory in Wisconsin that's expected to create 3,000 jobs.
The announcement comes at a critical juncture for a Trump administration that pledged to generate manufacturing jobs but has struggled to deliver results as quickly as the president promised. Trump's plans for health care and tax cuts face an uncertain future in Congress, while his administration is bogged down by an investigation into Russia's possible ties with his presidential campaign.
The factory will produce liquid-crystal display panels that are used in televisions and computer screens, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the announcement. Foxconn will locate its plant in the congressional district of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, although the official declined to provide a specific location.
Foxconn could eventually employ 13,000 workers at the factory, the official said. This would mark a substantial gain for a state that currently has 472,000 manufacturing jobs and is still recovering from factory layoffs — including the closure of a General Motors plant in Ryan's hometown — that hit after the 2008 financial crisis.
Taiwan-based Foxconn is perhaps best known for assembling Apple iPhones in China.
The official said the White House was closely involved in Foxconn's decision to locate a factory in the United States and that the president had met personally with Foxconn chairman Terry Gou.
Seven states had competed for the Foxconn plant. The administration said it did not help steer Foxconn to Wisconsin in what would appear to be a victory for both Trump and the state's Republican governor, Scott Walker, who is up for re-election next year.
Foxconn did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday. Other states vying for the plant are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Walker and several other Wisconsin officials, including Ryan and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, were expected at the White House announcement.
Republican leaders in the Wisconsin Senate have said Walker has been negotiating a memorandum of understanding with Foxconn to build such a factory in southeast Wisconsin.
Landing the multistate competition has been cast as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Foxconn is the biggest contract assembler of smartphones and other devices for Apple and other brands. It has been eyeing building the plant in a part of Wisconsin represented by Ryan, who said he has met with company officials at Walker's request.
Critics have cautioned that Foxconn has made promises before to invest in the U.S. and not followed through. Foxconn promised in 2013, for example, to invest $30 million and hire 500 workers for a new, high-tech factory in Pennsylvania that was never built.
Wisconsin could be on the hook for billions of dollars in incentives as part of the deal, though no details of the state's proposal have been released. State Sen. Alberta Darling, co-chair of the Wisconsin Legislature's budget committee, said any deal would be examined with a "fine-toothed comb" and need to win approval by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who is from Ryan's congressional district in southeast Wisconsin, told WTMJ-TV on Tuesday that Trump, when flying over the area in Kenosha County during a visit to Wisconsin in April, noticed vacant land where a former Chrysler Motors plant used to be.
"He said, 'That land should be used,'" Priebus said. "So when Foxconn came into the White House, into the Oval Office, the president said, 'I know a good spot that you should go to, that place in Kenosha.'"
That part of the state is an attractive location for a large plant because of the area's proximity to Lake Michigan and its abundant water supply. To make flat-panel displays, the company will need access to great quantities of water to keep work spaces dust-free, among other things.
The news sent a jolt of excitement across Wisconsin, even among longtime Democratic critics of Walker.
"It's an exciting opportunity," said Democratic state Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca. He also met with Foxconn executives and said Walker's administration told him the deal could lead to 10,000 or more jobs.
Barca, like many Democrats, voiced concern about how much taxpayers may have to contribute in tax breaks and other incentives.
"We want to make sure it's a fair deal for everybody," he said. "We want a win-win-win."
(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report.)


text:
Covid-19 patients admitted to very full intensive care wards are 19% more likely to die - the equivalent of being up to 11 YEARS older
Researchers from UCL have analysed data from 4,032 Covid-19 patients in ICU
Those in units at over 85% capacity were 19% more likely to die
But when ICU capacity was lower than 45%, mortality risk decreased by 25%
By Shivali Best For Mailonline
Published: 13:05 EST, 13 January 2021 | Updated: 17:02 EST, 13 January 2021
With total coronavirus cases in the UK now exceeding 3million and 3,500 patients on ventilators, hospitals across the country are stretched to their limits.
Now, a worrying new study reveals Covid-19 patients admitted to very full intensive care units are up to 19 per cent more likely to die than if the ICUs were less busy.
The researchers say that is an increase in risk equivalent to being up to 11 years older, according to the researchers.
The researchers hope the findings will underline the urgency of both vaccinating vulnerable groups as soon as possible and reducing Covid community transmission.
A worrying new study has revealed that Covid-19 patients admitted to very full intensive care units are up to 19 per cent more likely to die than if the ICUs were less busy (file photo)
In the study, published on medRxiv, researchers from University College London (UCL) analysed data from 4,032 Covid-19 patients who were admitted to NHS Intensive Care Units (ICU) between April 2 and June 1.
The analysis revealed that when ICU reached 85 per cent capacity, 38.4 per cent of patients admitted died. This mortality rate is 19 per cent higher than the baseline figure for ICU capacity of between 45 and 85 per cent full.
Figures show that when ICU capacity was lower than 45 per cent, the risk of death decreased by 25 per cent.
Dr Bilal Mateen from UCL, and author of the study, said: 'To put into context as to why these results are so important - at the end of 2020, 37 of 123 recorded NHS trusts were experiencing over 85 per cent ICU bed occupancy; 11 of these were completely full and the situation has only got more extreme.
'Our results show the association between risk of death and bed occupancy is linear and as occupancy increases the worse patients' outcomes become.
'In the worst case scenario (when mechanical ventilator ICU occupancy goes from zero to 100 per cent) a patient's risk of death nearly doubles, which suggests that every per cent counts and hospital strain must be reduced.'
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The analysis revealed that when ICU reached 85 per cent capacity, 38.4 per cent of patients admitted died. This mortality rate is 19 per cent higher than the baseline figure for ICU capacity of between 45 and 85 per cent full. Figures show that when ICU capacity was lower than 45 per cent, the risk of death decreased by 25 per cent (file photo)
Less than HALF of people who have developed Covid-19 symptoms have requested a test
Just 43 per cent of people who develop Covid-19 symptoms are getting a test, according to shock new data.
An ongoing UCL study has been tracking the social aspect of the pandemic and how the general public has been behaving and adhering to the ever-changing rules and guidance.
It started in mid-March 2020 and regularly quizzes more than 70,000 Britons about their life in lockdown.
Data released today shows a third of people requested a test every time they developed symptoms, one in ten got a test only on some of the occasions when they had symptoms and 57 per cent never requested a test despite having symptoms.
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v6/us/sciencetech/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html - ->Advertisement
Dr Harrison Wilde, first author of the study, said: 'What is unique about this study is that we've been able to put a number on the increased risk to patients for the first time in the context of surge capacity.
'For example, if a 40 year-old person is admitted to a full hospital, they effectively have the increased health risk of a 51 year-old.
'Unfortunately the association between occupancy and mortality risk is much larger than we ever suspected and with more people than ever being admitted to full hospitals we need to act with more urgency.'
The team hopes the findings will underline the urgency of vaccinating vulnerable groups, as well as reducing Covid transmission in the community.
Professor Christina Pagel, co-author of the study, added: 'We are often warned about the NHS being overwhelmed and we know that frontline staff, particularly those working in intensive care units, are being stretched and under a lot of stress.
'This paper highlights for the first time that putting such strain on ICUs during pandemic peaks does, sadly, mean that that chances of someone dying in intensive care are higher.
'Our work underlines the urgency of both vaccinating vulnerable groups as soon as possible and reducing Covid transmission in the community to relieve pressure on intensive care – both in England which is currently experiencing an awful second wave and in many other countries where cases and hospital admissions are rising steeply.'
NHS figures show critical wards are busier than this time last year despite 700 extra beds
Official NHS figures show that intensive care wards across the country are struggling more this winter even though an average 743 extra beds per day have been made available to try and cope with Covid patients.
NHS England data shows that, in the last week of December, there were 743 more intensive care beds available than in the same week of 2019 - 4,394 compared to 3,651.
But in the same week there were, on average, 828 more patients in critical care - 3,340 compared to 2,512 in the December 2019 - suggesting the strain of Covid-19 is bigger than hospitals had prepared for.
Many of the extra beds are in London - 253 of them - but even this hasn't been enough to stave off the surge in coronavirus patients.
Over the Christmas week, two hospitals' ICU wards were 100 per cent full, and another 11 out of 18 were more than 90 per cent full and had fewer than six beds each to use for any new patients.
Grim reports have emerged from the capital in recent days, with some of its major hospitals being forced to treat Covid-19 patients in ambulances outside or dismantling wards to make space for more intensive care patients.
Although the city has a huge Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre, nursing unions say there aren't enough staff to man it and equipment has been removed since it was put on standby in the summer.
NHS bosses warn that even hospitals that aren't full or almost full are struggling more than usual because of staff sickness rates and the fact that beds have to be spread out more across the hospital because of social distancing.
A national retrospective cohort study of mechanical ventilator availability and its association with mortality risk in intensive care patients with COVID-19 | medRxiv
Covid UK: Patients in very full hospitals have 19% higher death risk
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Have you ever wondered what the similarities and differences are between yoga and Buddhism? In the West, both can evoke assumptions about foreign and obscure Eastern spiritual traditions, perceived to be one and the same. Yet while yoga and Buddhism evolved as sister traditions and share many similarities, notable differences distinguish them, particularly with respect to views on the existence of the self, soul and God.
According to yogic scholar David Frawley, yogic traditions assert the existence of an Inner Self or Atman (our true nature as consciousness, authentic self or soul) and God as the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. Self-realization from the yogic path requires complete faith in the Atman and surrender to God (Ishvara-Pranidhana). The Atman is different from the ego (Ahamkara), which refers to mistaken identification of the Purusha, or true inner self, with the body, mind or external world.
By contrast, Buddhism denies the existence of a fundamental self or God and views these beliefs as constructed by the mind. Buddhists assert that karma and conditioning explains the creation of living beings and the illusion of the self (which is actually a non-self or anatman). Point to evidence of a self to a Buddhist, says Frawley, and they will argue that this is merely a construction, a fleeting thought or feeling, rather than anything enduring.
For westerners, these epistemological differences can have important implications. Modern yoga may be more accessible to the typical westerner, in that it doesn't require us to abandon the belief in individualism, the existence of a deeper self or soul or even God (indeed, modern yoga, bearing little resemblance to traditional yoga, accommodates all belief systems). Buddhism, on the other hand, significantly challenges these beliefs, positing they are delusional. Lacking the concepts of "God," soul and self, Buddhism may seem foreign or at worst, nihilistic to the typical western yoga practitioner.
Despite these key differences, explains Frawley, Yoga and Buddhism are both meditative systems that share many commonalities, including ethical values such as non-attachment, non-stealing, and non-violence. Both generally aim to facilitate transcendence of karma and rebirth, foster liberation through higher awareness, and reunite with the "true" reality obscured by the illusion of a separate self, or ego. Both also seek to reduce suffering intrinsic to all beings through realization of a higher consciousness.
Finally, it's important to consider that what many in the West consider "yoga" bears little resemblance to yoga as practiced in India and explicated in ancient texts. Western yoga practitioners primarily practice yoga asana, although of Patanjali's 200 yoga sutras, only three refer to asana, with most others referencing meditation, yoga's primary vehicle for self-realization.
Without this deeper frame of reference and engagement in meditative practice, it can be easy to mistake the ego, personality, and "yoga body" so celebrated in US society for Atman, the soul or higher self. "God consciousness" in the modern yoga community is often a new-age cliché referring more to the cult of individuality, personality and manifestation-based practices rather than the ultimate bliss (Ananda) referenced in yogic texts, which requires non-attachment to ego and its affiliations.
Do you identify more with yogic or Buddhist perspectives on God or the soul?
Hi Derek, Thank you kindly for your remark and clarifying this further for readers. I didn't go too deeply into the sense formations here, given the word length and surface-level analysis, but I appreciate your mentioning it and other readers likely will too. Likewise with your mention of the impermanence vs. permanence of the self.
Maybe certain sects of Buddhism, don't believe in a Creator God, but I don't think it's accurate to characterize all of Buddhism that way. Not only do many traditional Buddhists in Asia believe in a number of gods, like Quan-Yin, demi-gods and saints but I think even skeptical Zen Buddhists scholars would say Buddhism doesn't really have anything to say about a Supreme Deity's existence or non-existence. The Buddha was very much concerned with addressing the human condition during a person's earthly life. Recently I saw a documentary that had a Catholic priest who was also ordained a Zen Buddhist monk. I certainly don't think that would be possible if Buddhism had an atheist bent.
Hi Chris, Since writing this blog two years ago, I have come to appreciate that indeed it is far more nuanced than the word length and my knowledge at the time could afford. I would use different terminology had I the opportunity for a re-write, and emphasize the inclusiveness of these practices to all rather than the binary I articulated.
In my limited understanding, which is influenced by the Vipassana tradition, the gods in the Buddhist traditions are commonly viewed as archetypes of capacities embodied within oneself, and are thus not gods in the sense we might understand them in monotheistic or pantheistic cultures. Thus, at least in the Vipassana tradition, devotion towards the Buddha would be paying homage to the golden Buddha nature that reflects one's own capacities—rather than an omniscient, omnipresent, supernatural deity outside of us. Likewise to Quan-Yin, to the capacity for the boundless heart that resides within us all. Developing devotional practices to the qualities embodied by these deities can deeply support cultivation of these qualities within oneself without necessarily believing in these deities as something that reside exclusively outside; indeed, as in the metaphor of Indra's net, they are as much a part of us as we of they, profoundly interconnected.
It is this spaciousness that allows those of all faiths to engage in meditative practices should they so wish, without necessitating the renunciation of their belief in God (depending, of course, on whether their belief system will accommodate such practices).
Despite what I had initially wrote in this blog, you're correct that many on the path of the Buddha Dharma would not necessarily deny the existence of God. Certainly my teacher would affirm that this is unknown; we cannot know. Another seasoned teacher at a recent retreat offered a great story in which, facing the prospect of sudden unexpected death, her partner told her to "pray" in the absence of any other feasible action. I think there is a bit of a backlash in mainstream secular mindfulness practices to distance from the devotional aspects of these practices—which includes the deities that may make Christians or others suspicious of idol worship—in order to garner more widespread appeal, a worthy aim. But then something is certainly lost.
Nonetheless, it is technically correct that there is no Creator "God" or self at the center of Buddhist cosmology and cosmology (that I am familiar with) when compared to Hinduism or other theistic traditions. As noted, I believe this fertile void provides a container for those of all faiths to seek refuge in the teachings. Feel free to educate me and readers if you know otherwise.
One thing I most appreciate about the path of practice is its inclusiveness. There are those engaged in these practices who identify as atheists, agnostics, Catholics, and many others besides. The practice can enrich, deepen, and clarify one's relationship to source, whether one's orientation be conceptualized as atheistic, monotheistic, or polytheistic; I appreciate that richly. I sense room here for many cosmologies, and trust that the path itself and the wisdom it imbues will elucidate the topics we discuss to those who practice.
I have listened to Joseph Campbell lectures on eastern traditions for a long time now, and think I understand that yoga is a broad label that includes a wide variety of practice. I think yoga practice likely predates Buddhism, and also "includes" that kind of thinking.
As a hatha practitioner of approx 40 yrs I have a fairly solid sense of inner space that is beside the point of this or that teaching. You seemed to approach but not broach the idea of a Bodhisattva in your post.
Yes, yoga practice definitely predates Buddhism as the Buddha was a yogi.
The Yogic school of thought do not assume that someone possess a soul i.e. "I possess a soul". Instead, yogis and yoginis would argue that "I am a soul. When I die, I shall reincarnate in a fresh physical body". If Buddhists, who believe in reincarnation, yet reject the existence of the atman (according to this website), then what is it that gets reincarnated?
The karma is reincarnated, as in a new physical body (could also be a different kind of non-body form) as a manifestation of the karma.


text:
/*___INFO__MARK_BEGIN__*/
/*************************************************************************
 *
 *  The Contents of this file are made available subject to the terms of
 *  the Sun Industry Standards Source License Version 1.2
 *
 *  Sun Microsystems Inc., March, 2001
 *
 *
 *  Sun Industry Standards Source License Version 1.2
 *  =================================================
 *  The contents of this file are subject to the Sun Industry Standards
 *  Source License Version 1.2 (the "License"); You may not use this file
 *  except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the
 *  License at http://gridengine.sunsource.net/Gridengine_SISSL_license.html
 *
 *  Software provided under this License is provided on an "AS IS" basis,
 *  WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING,
 *  WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE SOFTWARE IS FREE OF DEFECTS,
 *  MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGING.
 *  See the License for the specific provisions governing your rights and
 *  obligations concerning the Software.
 *
 *   The Initial Developer of the Original Code is: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *
 *   Copyright: 2001 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *
 *   All Rights Reserved.
 *
 ************************************************************************/
/*___INFO__MARK_END__*/
/*
 * PartialTimestampFormat.java
 *
 * Created on November 13, 2004, 7:03 PM
 */

package org.ggf.drmaa;

import java.text.FieldPosition;
import java.text.Format;
import java.text.NumberFormat;
import java.text.ParseException;
import java.text.ParsePosition;

/**
 * This class coverts a PartialTimestamp to and from the DRMAA specified time
 * string.  In order to represent a PartialTimestamp object as a string, the
 * PartialTimestamp object cannot have an unset field that is less significant
 * than the most significant set field.  That is to say that if
 * CENTURY is set, YEAR, MONTH, and
 * DAY_OF_MONTH must also be set.  SECONDS and
 * ZONE_OFFSET are always optional.
 *
 *
Example:

 *
 *
   PartialTimestamp date = new PartialTimestamp();
 *   PartialTimestampFormat ptf = new PartialTimestampFormat();
 *
 *   date.set(PartialTimestamp.HOUR_OF_DAY, 11);
 *   date.set(PartialTimestamp.MINUTE, 30);
 *
 *   String timeString = ptf.format(date);
 *
 *   PartialTimestamp date2 = ptf.parse(timeString);
 *
 *   assert(date.equals(date2));
 *

 * @author dan.templeton@sun.com
 * @see PartialTimestamp
 * @since 0.5
 * @version 1.0
 */
public class PartialTimestampFormat extends Format {
    /**
     * 1 minute in seconds
     */
    private static final int ONE_MINUTE = 60 * 1000;
    /**
     * 1 hour in seconds
     */
    private static final int ONE_HOUR = 60 * ONE_MINUTE;
    /**
     * A formter for printing fields
     */
    private NumberFormat nf = null;

    /**
     * Creates a new instance of PartialTimestampFormat
     */
    public PartialTimestampFormat() {
        nf = NumberFormat.getIntegerInstance();
        nf.setMinimumIntegerDigits(2);
    }

    /**
     * Creates a copy of this object.
     * @return a copy of this object
     */
    public Object clone() {
        return super.clone();
    }

    /**
     * Translates the PartialTimestamp into a DRMAA specified time string and
     * appends the string to the given StringBuffer.  Since the
     * PartialTimestampFormat class doesn't use fields, the fieldPosition
     * parameter is ignored.  This method is equivalent to
     * stringBuffer.append (format (obj)).
     *
     *
In order to represent a PartialTimestamp object as a string, the
     * PartialTimestamp object cannot have an unset field that is less
     * significant than the most significant set field.  TThat is to say that if
     * CENTURY is set, YEAR, MONTH, and
     * DAY_OF_MONTH must also be set.  SECONDS and
     * ZONE_OFFSET are always optional.

     * @param obj the object to format
     * @param stringBuffer the StringBuffer to which to append the results
     * @param fieldPosition ignored
     * @return the stringBuffer parameter
     */
    public StringBuffer format(Object obj, StringBuffer stringBuffer, FieldPosition fieldPosition) {
        if (!(obj instanceof PartialTimestamp)) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot parse " + obj.getClass().getName());
        }

        return this.format((PartialTimestamp)obj, stringBuffer, fieldPosition);
    }

    /**
     * Translates the PartialTimestamp into a DRMAA specified time string and
     * appends the string to the given StringBuffer.  Since the
     * PartialTimestampFormat class doesn't use fields, the fieldPosition
     * parameter is ignored.  This method is equivalent to
     * stringBuffer.append (format (obj)).
     *
     *
In order to represent a PartialTimestamp object as a string, the
     * PartialTimestamp object cannot have an unset field that is less
     * significant than the most significant set field.  TThat is to say that if
     * CENTURY is set, YEAR, MONTH, and
     * DAY_OF_MONTH must also be set.  SECONDS and
     * ZONE_OFFSET are always optional.

     * @param obj the object to format
     * @param stringBuffer the StringBuffer to which to append the results
     * @param fieldPosition ignored
     * @return the stringBuffer parameter
     */
    public StringBuffer format(PartialTimestamp obj, StringBuffer stringBuffer, FieldPosition fieldPosition) {
        boolean fieldSet = false;

        if (stringBuffer == null) {
            throw new NullPointerException("stringBuffer parameter is null");
        } else if (fieldPosition == null) {
            throw new NullPointerException("fieldPosition parameter is null");
        }

        /* We ignore the fieldPosition since we don't use fields. */

        if (obj.isSet(obj.CENTURY)) {
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.CENTURY)));
            fieldSet = true;
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.YEAR)) {
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.YEAR)));
            fieldSet = true;
        } else if (fieldSet) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("In PartialTimestamp object, CENTURY is set but YEAR is not");
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.MONTH)) {
            if (fieldSet) {
                stringBuffer.append('/');
            }

            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.MONTH) + 1));
            fieldSet = true;
        } else if (fieldSet) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("In PartialTimestamp object, YEAR is set but MONTH is not");
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.DAY_OF_MONTH)) {
            if (fieldSet) {
                stringBuffer.append('/');
            }

            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.DAY_OF_MONTH)));
            fieldSet = true;
        } else if (fieldSet) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("In PartialTimestamp object, MONTH is set but DAY_OF_MONTH is not");
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.HOUR_OF_DAY)) {
            if (fieldSet) {
                stringBuffer.append(' ');
            }

            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.HOUR_OF_DAY)));
        } else {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("In PartialTimestamp object, HOUR_OF_DAY is not set");
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.MINUTE)) {
            stringBuffer.append(':');
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.MINUTE)));
        } else {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("In PartialTimestamp object, MINUTE is not set");
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.SECOND)) {
            stringBuffer.append(':');
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(obj.get(obj.SECOND)));
        }

        if (obj.isSet(obj.ZONE_OFFSET)) {
            int offset = obj.get(obj.ZONE_OFFSET);

            stringBuffer.append(' ');

            if (offset < 0) {
                stringBuffer.append('-');
                offset *= -1;
            } else { // offset >= 0
                stringBuffer.append('+');
            }

            int hours = offset / ONE_HOUR;

            offset %= ONE_HOUR;
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(hours));
            stringBuffer.append(':');

            int minutes = offset / ONE_MINUTE;

            /* We don't care what happens to the rest of the timezone offset. */
            stringBuffer.append(nf.format(minutes));
        }

        return stringBuffer;
    }

    /**
     * Translates the PartialTimestamp into a DRMAA specified time string.
     * This method is equivalent to format(obj, new StringBuffer (), new
     * FieldPosition(0)).toString().
     *
     *
In order to represent a PartialTimestamp object as a string, the
     * PartialTimestamp object cannot have an unset field that is less
     * significant than the most significant set field.  TThat is to say that if
     * CENTURY is set, YEAR, MONTH, and
     * DAY_OF_MONTH must also be set.  SECONDS and
     * ZONE_OFFSET are always optional.

     * @param obj the object to format
     * @return the DRMAA specified time string
     */
    public String format(PartialTimestamp obj) {
        StringBuffer buffer = this.format(obj, new StringBuffer(),
                new FieldPosition(0));

        return buffer.toString();
    }

    /**
     * Translates a DRMAA specified time string into a PartialTimestamp object.
     * This method will parse as far as possible, but after successfully parsing
     * the HOUR_OF_DAY and MINUTE fields, if it
     * encounters unparsable text, it will stop and will not throw a
     * java.text.ParseException.
     * @param str a DRMAA specified time string
     * @throws ParseException thrown if the string is not parsable.
     * @return a PartialTimestamp object
     */
    public PartialTimestamp parse(String str) throws ParseException {
        ParsePosition pp = new ParsePosition(0);
        PartialTimestamp pt = this.parse(str, pp);

        if (pp.getErrorIndex() >= 0) {
            throw new ParseException("Unable to parse DRMAA date string: \"" +
                    str + "\"", pp.getErrorIndex());
        }

        return pt;
    }

    /**
     * Translates a DRMAA specified time string into a PartialTimestamp object.
     * This method will parse as far as possible.  Upon completion, the parse
     * position object will contain the index of the last character parsed.
     * @param str a DRMAA specified time string
     * @param parsePosition the parse position object
     * @return a PartialTimestamp object
     */
    public PartialTimestamp parse(String str, ParsePosition parsePosition) {
        return (PartialTimestamp)this.parseObject(str, parsePosition);
    }

    /**
     * Translates a DRMAA specified time string into a PartialTimestamp object.
     * This method will parse as far as possible.  Upon completion, the parse
     * position object will contain the index of the last character parsed.
     * @param str a DRMAA specified time string
     * @param parsePosition the parse position object
     * @return a PartialTimestamp object
     */
    public Object parseObject(String str, ParsePosition parsePosition) {
        if (parsePosition == null) {
            throw new NullPointerException("parsePosition parameter is null");
        }

        char[] chars = str.toCharArray();
        PartialTimestamp pt = new PartialTimestamp();
        char[][] fields = new char[][] {new char[4], new char[2], new char[2],
        new char[2], new char[2], new char[2],
        new char[1], new char[2], new char[2]};
        int field = 0;
        int count = 0;
        boolean inWhitespace = false;
        int whitespaceIndex = 0;
        int minuteIndex = 0;
        int tzIndex = 0;

        // Initialize field arrays
        for (int field_count = 0; field_count < fields.length; field_count++) {
            for (int char_count = 0; char_count < fields[field_count].length; char_count++) {
                fields[field_count][char_count] = ' ';
            }
        }

        for (int index = parsePosition.getIndex(); index < chars.length; index++) {
            /* If the character is a digit, and we're in a numeric field, and we
             * haven't reached the end of the field, append the character. */
            if ((field != 6) &&
                    (((field == 0) && (count < 4)) || ((field > 0) && (count < 2))) &&
                    Character.isDigit(chars[index])) {
                /* If we're at the beginning of the minute, note where it
                 * started. */
                if ((field == 4) && (count == 0)) {
                    minuteIndex = index;
                }

                fields[field][count] = chars[index];
                count++;
                inWhitespace = false;
            }
            /* If the character is a colon, and we're not in the date, second, or
             * offset sign fields, and we're at the end of the field, advance to
             * the next field. */
            else if ((field != 1) && (field != 2) && (field != 5) &&
                    (field != 6) && (count == 2) && (chars[index] == ':')) {
                /* If we found the hour instead of the year, skip to the
                 * minute. */
                if (field == 0) {
                    field = 4;
                } else {
                    field++;
                }

                count = 0;
                inWhitespace = false;
            }
            /* If the character is a slash, and we're in the year or month, and
             * we at the end of a field, advance to the next field. */
            else if ((field < 2) && ((count == 2) || (count == 4)) &&
                    (chars[index] == '/')) {
                field++;
                count = 0;
                inWhitespace = false;
            }
            /* If the character is a space, and we're not in the hour, offset sign,
             * or offset hour, and we're at the end of the field, advance to the
             * next field. */
            else if ((field != 3) && (field != 6) && (field != 7) &&
                    (chars[index] == ' ') && ((count == 0) || (count == 2))) {
                /* Ignore consequetive space characters. */
                if (!inWhitespace) {
                    /* If we found the hour instead of the month, skip to the hour. */
                    if ((field == 0) && (count == 2)) {
                        field = 3;
                    }
                    /* If we found the hour instead of the day, skip to the hour. */
                    else if ((field == 1) && (count == 2)) {
                        field = 3;
                    }
                    /* If we found the offset instead of the second, skip to the
                     * offset. */
                    else if ((field == 4) && (count == 2)) {
                        field = 6;
                    }
                    /* The first field is allowed to have leading whitespace. */
                    else if (count == 2) {
                        field++;
                    }

                    count = 0;
                    inWhitespace = true;
                    /* Note where the whitespace started. */
                    whitespaceIndex = index;
                }
            }
            /* If the character is a minus or plus and we're in the offset field,
             * set the offset field. */
            else if ((field == 6) &&
                    ((chars[index] == '-') || (chars[index] == '+'))) {
                /* Note where the offset started. */
                tzIndex = index;
                fields[field][0] = chars[index];
                field++;
                count = 0;
                inWhitespace = false;
            }
            /* If we're not in a patch of whitespace, we're in the minute, second,
             * or offset minute, and we're at the end of the field, and we can't
             * parse the next character, we're done. */
            else if (!inWhitespace && (count == 2) &&
                    ((field == 4) || (field == 5) || (field == 8))) {
                parsePosition.setIndex(index);

                break;
            }
            /* If we're in a patch of whitespace, and we're in the second or offset
             * sign, and we can't parse the next character, we're done, but we have
             * to note the end of the string as being the beginning of the
             * whitespace. */
            else if (inWhitespace && (count == 0) &&
                    ((field == 5) || (field == 6))) {
                parsePosition.setIndex(whitespaceIndex);

                break;
            }
            /* If we can't parse the next character, we have a problem. */
            else {
                parsePosition.setErrorIndex(index);

                return null;
            }
        }

        /* Check for ending in the middle of something. */
        if ((count != 0) && (count != 2) && (count != 4)) {
            parsePosition.setErrorIndex(chars.length);

            return null;
        }

        /* If the hour field was set, parse it. */
        if (Character.isDigit(fields[3][0])) {
            pt.set(pt.HOUR_OF_DAY, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[3])));

            /* If the day field was set, parse the day, month, and year. */
            if (Character.isDigit(fields[2][0])) {
                pt.set(pt.DAY_OF_MONTH, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[2])));
                pt.set(pt.MONTH, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[1])) - 1);

                String year = new String(fields[0]).trim();

                /* If the year has four digits, parse the year and century. */
                if (year.length() == 4) {
                    pt.set(pt.YEAR, Integer.parseInt(year.substring(2, 4)));
                    pt.set(pt.CENTURY, Integer.parseInt(year.substring(0, 2)));
                }
                /* If the year has two digits, parse the year. */
                else {
                    pt.set(pt.YEAR, Integer.parseInt(year));
                }
            }
         /* If the day field wasn't set, but the month was, parse the day and
          * month from the month and year fields. */
            else if (Character.isDigit(fields[1][0])) {
                pt.set(pt.DAY_OF_MONTH, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[1])));

                String month = new String(fields[0]).trim();

                /* The month should only have two digits. */
                if (month.length() != 2) {
                    parsePosition.setErrorIndex(7);

                    return null;
                } else {
                    pt.set(pt.MONTH, Integer.parseInt(month) - 1);
                }
            }
         /* If the day and month weren't set, but the year was, parse the day
          * from the year field. */
            else if (Character.isDigit(fields[0][0])) {
                String day = new String(fields[0]).trim();

                /* The day should only have 2 digits. */
                if (day.length() != 2) {
                    parsePosition.setErrorIndex(4);

                    return null;
                } else {
                    pt.set(pt.DAY_OF_MONTH, Integer.parseInt(day));
                }
            }
        }
      /* If the hour field wasn't set, but the year was, parse the hour from the
       * year field. */
        else if (Character.isDigit(fields[0][0])) {
            String hour = new String(fields[0]).trim();

            if (hour.length() != 2) {
                parsePosition.setErrorIndex(4);

                return null;
            } else {
                pt.set(pt.HOUR_OF_DAY, Integer.parseInt(hour));
            }
        }
        /* If there is no hour, we have a problem. */
        else {
            parsePosition.setErrorIndex(0);

            return null;
        }

        /* If the minute field is set, parse it. */
        if (Character.isDigit(fields[4][0])) {
            pt.set(pt.MINUTE, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[4])));
        }
        /* If the minute field isn't set, we have a problem. */
        else {
            parsePosition.setErrorIndex(minuteIndex);

            return null;
        }

        /* If the second field is set, parse it. */
        if (Character.isDigit(fields[5][0])) {
            pt.set(pt.SECOND, Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[5])));
        }

        /* if the offset is set, parse it. */
        if ((fields[6][0] != ' ') && Character.isDigit(fields[7][0]) &&
                Character.isDigit(fields[8][0])) {
            int offset = Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[7])) * ONE_HOUR;

            offset += Integer.parseInt(new String(fields[8])) * ONE_MINUTE;

            if (fields[6][0] == '-') {
                offset *= -1;
            }

            pt.set(pt.ZONE_OFFSET, offset);
        }
        /* If the offset is partially set, we have a problem. */
        else if (!((fields[6][0] == ' ') && !Character.isDigit(fields[7][0]) &&
                !Character.isDigit(fields[8][0]))) {
            /* Figure out just where the problem is. */
            if (fields[6][0] != ' ') {
                if (Character.isDigit(fields[7][0])) {
                    if ((chars.length > tzIndex + 3) &&
                            (chars[tzIndex + 3] == ':')) {
                        tzIndex += 4;
                    } else {
                        tzIndex += 3;
                    }
                } else {
                    tzIndex ++;
                }
            }

            parsePosition.setErrorIndex(tzIndex);

            return null;
        }

        return pt;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Migratory shorebird populations are at great risk from rising sea levels due to global climate change, warns a recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. These birds play an important role in the distribution of nutrients within wetland and coastal ecosystems, and their loss could have unknown consequences for the rest of the world.
Many scientists have documented the accelerated melting of land ice that had led to higher sea levels, but until now researchers have not known how this would impact shorebirds. But utilizing a mathematical technique that models flow of water through a pipeline, scientists have developed an innovative method to measure the effect habitat loss on shorebirds.
A Red Knot. Photo by Robert Clemens at University Queensland.
They estimate that sea level rise will flood 23- 40% of intertidal habitat, causing a staggering population loss of up to 70% in some species. The impact of sea level rise is much greater for species where a large proportion of the population stops to refuel and feed at a single site on their journey, known as bottlenecks.
Coastal development in Perth, Australia. Photo by Robert Clemens at University Queensland.
A group of Knot and Godwits some of the species at risk due to sea level rise. Photo by Robert Clemens at University Queensland.
(11/01/2012) A life on the ocean is a perilous one for any bird. They must expend energy staying aloft for thousands of miles and learn to be marathon swimmers; they must seek food beneath treacherous waves and brave the world's most extreme climates; they must navigate the perils both of an unforgiving sea and far-flung islands. Yet seabirds, which includes 346 global species that depend on marine ecosystems, have evolved numerous strategies and complex life histories to deal with the challenges of the sea successfully, and they have been doing so since the dinosaur's last stand. Today, despite such a track record, no other bird family is more threatened; yet it's not the wild, unpredictable sea that endangers them, but pervasive human impacts.
(08/13/2012) Humboldt penguins was found along the western edge of South America in Chile and Argentina. They face a barrage of threats including overfishing, drowning as bycatch, El Nino conditions that affect food availability, and climate change. Significant population declines have led to the species being listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
(09/26/2012) Penguins have spent years fooling us. With their image seemingly every where we turn—entertaining us in animated films, awing us in documentaries, and winking at us in commercials—they have made most of us believe they are doing just fine; the penguin's charming demeanor has lulled us into complacency about their fate. But penguin populations are facing historic declines even as their popularity in human society rises. Overfishing is decimating some of their prey species, climate change is shifting their resources and imperiling their habitat, meanwhile pollution, such as oil spills, are putting even healthy colonies at risk. Now, a young organization, the Global Penguin Society (GPS), is working to save all of the world's 18 penguin species by working with scientists, governments, and local communities.


Kendra R Chamberlain is a Louisiana-based storyteller, writer and multimedia investigative journalist. She covers topics related to climate change, environmental policy, and the innovation and technologies that are driving the global transition to low carbon economies. She blogs at www.TechnigraphMagazine.com.


text:
Meet Su-Lyn
The Cost of Poor Maintenance To Health Care Workers
AUGUST 30 -- At first glance, the news of a fatal ambulance crash in Slim River, Perak, on August 4 seemed like an everyday road traffic accident story.
I didn't pay much heed to it until someone posted photographs of what looked like a tyre tread that had come off the ambulance's burst tyre, sparking speculation as to whether the Slim River Hospital ambulance had used a retreaded tyre (tayar celup).
So, I started digging deeper. Eight Slim River Hospital staff told me that an ambulance had, in fact, suffered a tyre blowout just one week before the fatal August 4 crash. They claimed this happened a few times this year, and a few more times last year.
The government hospital staff were clearly angry that authorities appeared to blame their colleague, the ambulance driver who perished in the crash along with a patient. These health care workers poured out their frustrations to me about the allegedly shoddy maintenance of the ambulances, with one describing his fear of working in those "silent killer" vehicles every day. The workers' complaints about poor maintenance, they claimed, were often ignored.
UEM Edgenta – the government-linked company (GLC) under Khazanah that has a 10-year concession with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to maintain vehicles in 32 MOH hospitals in the northern region, among other hospital support services – has yet to issue a statement, despite my repeated attempts to contact them.
And just two days after my story about Slim River Hospital ambulances' multiple tyre explosions came out Monday, an ambulance from the MOH hospital got yet another tyre burst!
The Slim River Hospital story isn't unique. In July last year, a Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital ambulance got into a fatal road accident after its tyre exploded, killing a patient.
Yet, in my conversations with the hospital staff, some seemed totally blasé about tyre blowouts: "Tayar pecah jer". It appears as if burst tyres are a normal occurrence among ambulances, which is frightening. Just how safe are Malaysia's public ambulances?
Never mind the long wait times at government hospitals, now do we have to fear that we may never even get to the hospital in the first place if an ambulance picks us up for an emergency? Then there are poor patients living outside major towns and cities, like Slim River, who are transported via ambulance to larger hospitals for non-emergency matters like CT scans.
The public don't seem very fussed about Slim River Hospital ambulances' many tyre blowouts either. Perhaps it's because few of us use the ambulance. Vehicle maintenance isn't a very "sexy" topic either. Malaysians have a "tidak apa" attitude when it comes to standards and maintenance.
Plus, we have gotten used to dangerous roads. Malaysia reportedly has the third highest fatality rate from road traffic accidents in Asia. According to the World Health Organization's Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018, Malaysia's estimated road traffic death rate per 100,000 population in 2016 was 23.6. Compare this to Singapore's rate of only 2.8, Indonesia (12.2), or Philippines (12.3).
We also rarely hold people accountable for negligence, even when it results in death. If the fatal ambulance accident had happened in the United States, the victims' families would probably have filed a lawsuit.
So, government officials and powerful corporations in Malaysia get away with a lot of things.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye promised to investigate Slim River Hospital ambulances' multiple tyre bursts. I certainly hope MOH thoroughly probes the ambulance maintenance in its hospital, instead of looking for the whistleblowers who risked their jobs to speak out simply because they were terrified for their lives.
MOH can start by publishing useful statistics about ambulance accidents, like the number of deaths involved instead of just listing whether the crashes caused injuries. Otherwise, how can MOH make meaningful policy to improve vehicle safety?
The front liners in health care who aim to rescue people in emergencies by rushing them to hospital deserve to work in a safe environment. Our doctors, nurses, senior health care assistants (PPK), and ambulance drivers should not have to risk their lives to save other people.
Workers' safety should be more important to MOH than some concession. Decade-long concessions are also ridiculous as they will only breed mediocrity. Why bother competing with better products and services when you have a comfy 10-year contract? Government concessions should be no more than three to five years' long. But public procurement is a topic for another day.
For now, it would suffice for MOH to start protecting their workers and patients, and to ensure that concessionaires don't give crappy services paid for by taxpayers' ringgit.
Join BEBAS!
boosulyn
Copyright © 2020 Su-Lyn BooDesigned by CCS


A recent decision from a federal appeals court affirms the fact that beneficiaries who receive disability overpayments may have to pay the money back to the government. The Social Security Act does require some sort of adjustment when a beneficiary receives more than he or she should have. The issue is how the Social Security Administration ("SSA") can get that money back. More information on obtaining Social Security disability benefits is available from a Tulsa Social Security disability lawyer.
Getting overpaid money back from beneficiaries depends on the financial situation of the person. The SSA's own regulations mention that this is only possible if (a) the person is not at fault, and (b) the recovery would not "deprive a person of income required for ordinary and necessary living expenses." In other words, the SSA cannot recover the money if doing so would ruin the financial life of a beneficiary.
In the recent federal case, the court required the applicant to repay the overpayment amount. It looked at the legal record, which indicated that the man had $50,000 in stocks, bonds and cash and a half interest in a home worth $100,000. The man also testified that he was financially okay and did not have any debt. He represented himself throughout the appeals process. A Tulsa Social Security disability attorney can provide disabled workers with expert guidance on disability benefits.


Most dads don't get to be outside as much as they would like, and when they do get outside…it's often to cut the grass. This Father's Day, take dad outdoors to do something fun.
A crab feast is not just a meal…it's an activity all true Baltimoreans love. What better way to celebrate your father than over crabs?! (He's so crabby sometimes, you know.) Gibby's on York Road in Timonium sells large male crabs for $56.00 a dozen.
The fire-pit below is from Wal-Mart, but they can be found at Lowe's, Home Depot and Stebbins Anderson. They range in price from $40-$200. S'mores, anyone?
Take him out to the ball game! Orioles tickets can be found online at www.stubhub.com (or at the door) and can be purchased for as little as $14.
A gift card to Samuel Parker Clothier in Lake Falls Village. Let him shop for himself!
Or go for an extra-special treat with a custom-made suit from J.Hilburn. The bespoke luxury menswear company will have a local Style Consultant visit dad in the home or office to take measurements and get an idea of his likes and dislikes. Baltimore preschool teacher Cindy Knipp is the local in-home salesperson. Contact her at [email protected] for more information.


Psychologists have always been leaders in the provision of quality mental and behavioral healthcare to their clients. As part of their commitment to continuity of care, psychologists are increasingly working collaboratively with physicians surrounding the psychopharmacological treatment of the individuals they serve. In the next step in this process, psychologists have achieved prescriptive authority in several states and other settings. Preliminary evidence finds them to be safe and effective prescribers. It has even been suggested that psychologists have an ethical obligation to continue their training in psychopharmacology and the impact of biological factors on emotional disorders (Barnett & Neel, 2000).
The M.S. Program in Clinical Psychopharmacology was developed as a postdoctoral program for licensed psychologists in psychopharmacology to prepare for prescriptive authority. In fact, graduates of the program are currently prescribing in all settings where psychologists have achieved this authority, including Louisiana, New Mexico, the Indian Health Service, the Public Health Service, and the military. Whether psychologists choose to become better collaborators with other prescribing professionals or independent prescribers, the M.S. Program in Clinical Psychopharmacology offers the additional education and training necessary to achieve that goal. The program is dedicated to training psychologists in clinical psychopharmacology in a way that respects and builds on psychologists' traditional competencies in assessment and diagnosis, psychosocial intervention, and empirically based methods.
The M.S. Program in Clinical Psychopharmacology is an APA-designated program. APA designation means the program meets standards for preparing psychologists as prescribers set forth in APA's Designation Criteria for Postdoctoral Education and Training Programs in Psychopharmacology for Prescriptive Authority based on the APA Recommended Postdoctoral Education and Training Program in Psychopharmacology for Prescriptive Authority.