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Farewell Old Friend: S. 1348 And The Demise of Employer-Sponsored Immigration
by Gary Endelman
If you were not looking, you may have missed it, the closing of one era and the start of something utterly novel. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada introduced The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, colloquially known to the cognoscenti as S. 1348, employer-sponsored immigration to the United States may have ended. For those who want to fix the date of death with some precision, it was May 15, 2007. What comes next? A rigidly prescribed points system based on objective factors that lend themselves to ready quantification, meaning in non-legalese, that you can add them up. While the details of comprehensive immigration reform are still being hammered out, and will doubtless be subject to a torrent of analysis by friend and foe alike, one thing stands out above the rest: the very notion of a points system for employment immigration requires the disappearance of employer sponsorship as an organizing principle. Those who miss the centrality of the points system as the sun around which all else revolves, who seek to restore their favorite visa, category or benefit without reference to its gravitational pull, cannot possibly hope to succeed. As in any historic transition, it will take time to learn the language of points, to put away the ideas and thoughts that drove the now outdated engine of employer sponsorship. Make no mistake about it, put them away we must if we are to survive and prosper in the brave new world whose promise and power we are about to experience in full measure.
Funny thing is that those who will benefit most from S. 1348 now condemn it most loudly, while those who will feel its true fury are only now beginning to wake up to the maelstrom that is about to engulf them. Pick up any major newspaper, watch your Sunday morning talk show, and you will hear the same refrain shouted from the rooftop: THIS BILL WILL DESTROY FAMILY IMMIGRATION! In fact, quite the opposite is true. While some categories are lost, S. 1348 is the biggest boon to family immigration to come down the pike in a long time. Truth be told, advocates of family migration should be lining up to sing its praises. By contrast, employers, and those who make the living by representing them, would do well to sound the alarm and rush to the legislative barricades. There has not been a more direct assault on the very notion of employer-sponsored migration in our lifetime.
Let's look at the facts. S. 1348 would eliminate the ability of adult unmarried sons or daughters of US citizens and lawful permanent residents to immigrate here on the basis of family ties. Similarly, neither the married sons or daughters of US citizens, nor their siblings, will retain the claim to any special benefit by virtue of such a family relationship. S. 1348 also redefines immediate relatives to exclude the parents of US citizens and creates a new preference category for them with a miserly annual limit of only 40,000. There is a new temporary visa that enables them to visit the kids for up to 30 days, although some hope exists for a 180 day stay. Those who filed for family members after May 1, 2005 are shut out. Pretty grim, right? Well, maybe but, then again, not really. There will be 567,000 visas made available for family-based immigration each year until the entire family backlog is gone! You heard me right: in 8 years, there will be no more waiting lines for any family visa This is the wonder drug that family migration advocates have been praying for and, when they finally get it, they walk sightless among the miracle. No longer will families be separated. No longer will family immigration be a joke, waiting for Godot who never comes. People who have been in line for years without hope can celebrate the moment of their deliverance. S. 1348 does more for family based immigration that the current system, whose repeal is bemoaned with such gnashing of teeth, could ever do.
Yes, corrections have to be made and they will be. That is what amendments are for. Some are already here with more on the way. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CONN) sponsored an amendment to increase the green card cap for parents of American citizens up from 40 to 90,000. This will pass. Senator Robert Menendez ( D-NJ) has introduced an amendment to move the cut-off date for family sponsorship up to January 1, 2007, the same date that Z guest workers have to meet. This will pass. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) wants to treat the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents the same as the immediate family of US citizens, free of quota restrictions. This will pass. If it does not, there is every reason to think that, by way of compromise, the number of visas here will go up, even though the 87,000 figure represents precisely the same level of migration as under the current law. If the Senate does not go with along with Senator Menendez's proposal to allow family migration to benefit from a points system without having to amass 55 points under other criteria first, you can bet the ranch that the House of Representatives will, or insist that it be made part of any deal in conference. In sum, the primary beneficiaries of S. 1348 will be everyone in a family immigration waiting line who thought they would grow old and die while waiting for a current priority date
It is, rather, the employment immigration folks who should don black and curse the fates like Job. Look no further than what is about to hit our good buddy, the H1B temporary worker visa. No more can we substitute experience for education. No more can we dip into the 6,800 H-1B1 visas set aside for Chile and Singapore that are rarely used. No more can we confidently send our Indian and Chinese clients to US Consulate abroad secure in the knowledge that the presumption of immigrant intent will not be used by suspicious consular officials to turn them away emptyhanded. No more can we use the timely filing of an immigrant petition or labor certification before the end of their 5th year to extend H1B status past the normal six year limit. The so-called "training fee", a penalty tax in all but name, will now soar, thanks to Senator Bernard Sanders, the Socialist Senator from the Peoples' Republic of Vermont, from $1500 to $5000, not to mention the other $6,300 H1B "fees" that employers already have the privilege to pay. By the way, the Sanders fee does not exempt non-profits, universities, or small businesses.
As immigration guru Greg Siskind of Memphis accurately predicts in his running commentary on S. 1348, the best place to learn about the new law by the way, it is not hard to figure out what the Sanders Amendment will accomplish: " All this will do is cause American employers to look to accelerate outsourcing plans and employ workers overseas where they are both available and won't bankrupt the company. And non-profits and smaller companies will simply do without."[1] Robert P. Hoffman, a vice president of Oracle, had it right when he characterized the Sanders Amendment, ostensibly designed to underwrite scholarships for American students of engineering, mathematics, computer science or health care, as "an onerous tax on America's most innovative companies."[2] Oh, did I forget to mention that S. 1348 will force all medical residents to study on a J-1 exchange visa, thereby requiring them to go home for two years before they can get the green card? No longer can such graduate medical education or training be accomplished on an H1B. [3] With all that, increasing the H1B cap to 115,000 for FY 2008 with a possible escalation in future years to 180,000 visas is cold comfort indeed. This is very much like taking the shirt off a man's back and offering him cufflinks- he still has no clothes.
On the permanent side of the ledger, there is not much to cheer about. For the first 5 years after enactment, you have 247,000 visas but, out of this, 90,000 goes to eliminate the backlog, which is a tidy morsel, with another 10,000 set aside for "exceptional" Y guest workers, however that is to be defined, who seek to come here permanently from their home countries. For the next 3 or 4 years, until the undocumented now here can begin to adjust status, the level floats upward to 140, 000, the current level, with the same 90,000 set aside. Once the undocumented Z guest workers come on stream , the green card numbers rise to 380,000 with possible supplemental allocations if necessary. So, purely from a numbers perspective, legal immigration through employment does not experience a sustained variance once the factor of guest worker adjustments is taken out of the equation.
But, as our statistician friends are only to eager to tell you if they are honest, numbers are not the whole story. S. 1348 decapitates the entire employment preference system! Outstanding researchers, who cares? Extraordinary ability, forget about it! It gets only 8 points, or less than the 10 points awarded to someone holding a junior or community college diploma. Doing work in the national interest? We can do without it. Multinational managers? American business no longer needs them. Providing skilled workers for shortage occupations? Labor certification is as dead as the dodo bird. The talented musician, the genius computer systems designer, the innovative technology wizard who has weak English skills and no sheepskin, but does have the vision to create new industries that have not yet been born- is there a place under the points system for them? Right now, the answer is no: " Consider this," the Washington Post aptly noted this past Sunday, " If Bill Gates-who dropped out of Harvard-were foreign born and subject to the new point system, would Microsoft be able to hire him to live and work in the United States?".[4] Employers will have no way to bring in the best and the brightest to grow their companies, design new strategies or staff major projects. Add up the numbers and the merit-based point system spits out the winners. E. John Krumholtz, Director of Federal Affairs at Microsoft, may be forgiven for his less than charitable endorsement of S. 1348:" The deal is worse than the status quo and the status quo is a disaster."[5]
What is striking throughout is the clear message that S. 1348 sends to US employers: WE DON'T TRUST YOU! For that reason, we will take away your ability to file immigrant petitions or labor certifications; audit you more closely and more often; make you verify employment eligibility in an electronic fashion; and make you pay through the nose for the one visa you really want- the H-1B. From the Congressional perspective, the problem with the H is not that it is too onerous for employers but, rather, that they like it too much! Otherwise, why was the H quota used up in one day six months in advance ? This means that something is rotten in Denmark. Maybe, employers like the H because they can pay less? Well, if that is the case, thinks the suspicious Senator, what we will do is to make sure that the H costs more by hiking up the fee.
Wait, there is more! The end of employer-sponsored immigration and the inauguration of the points system do not take place at the same time. No kidding, there are two different dates when the old is no good and the new becomes available. If you can contain your excitement and read the finer points of Section 502(d)(1) of S. 1348, you will discover that the point system does not take effect until the first day of the fiscal year following enactment, unless (and there always is one) this is less than 270 days. What then? Not to fear. In that case, the point system does not "go live" until the first day of the FOLLOWING fiscal year. Keep reading! The point system in clause (1) is made expressly subject to clause (2) which has few surprises in store. It is not for the uninitiated or the faint of heart. These tender souls should protect their blood pressure and keep on reading. Pursuant to Section 502(d)(2), only those employment-based immigrant petitions on Form I-140 filed before the introduction of S. 1348 on May 15th will remain valid and serve as the basis for an immigrant visa after enactment. So what, you say? Well, suppose that President Bush signs the bill on September 10th 2007. That is the date of enactment. Now, the points system waits until October 1, 2008, the first day of the second fiscal year following enactment. From September 10, 2007 until October 1, 2008, over one year, we will have no employment-based green cards! You heard me right friend, no employer sponsorship based on anything after May 15th 2007 and no points system. This is Pat Buchanan's dream come true- an entire fiscal year without any green cards being issued on the basis of employment!
The problem is not with the points system itself. Indeed, such a scheme has much to recommend it. Most significantly, if the purpose of our employment immigration laws is to make the American economy more competitive in the global marketplace, and it is hard to imagine what other purpose it could possibly have, then the law should work the way the market works. It is simply beyond reason to have market forces operate in the real world but outlaw their presence within the cordon sanitaire of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is precisely this pervasive disfunctionality that has created the predicate for a comprehensive attempt at social engineering, precisely what S. 1348 represents. Nationally-syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer hit the proverbial nail on the head when he recently observed:
As the most attractive land for would-be immigrants, America has the equivalent of the first 100 picks in the NBA draft…Today, preference for legal immigration is given not to the best and the brightest waiting on long lists everywhere on Earth to get into America, but to family members of those already here. Given that America has the pick of the world's energetic and entrepreneurial, this is a stunning competitive advantage, stunningly squandered.[6]
The problem is not the notion of a points system but, rather, the kind of points system that the architects of S. 1348 have given us. There need not be any inherent incomparability between a merit-based system and one that respects individuality, creativity and extraordinary achievement. They can live together and enrich each other. There is simply no reason why modifications to a points system cannot be made that allow for all of the benefits otherwise provided by the Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership (SKILL) bill previously introduced by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of the Great State of Texas. Extraordinary ability, outstanding research, advanced expertise in science, technology, engineering or mathematics- all this can be saved for the future if the legislative expression of such benefits can be harmonized with, and given expression by, the point system. There is no reason why, as Greg Siskind so cogently advocates, family values cannot be built into a points-based immigration framework, thus providing an alternative to outright repeal of existing family options:
Rather than scrapping the categories for adult children, why not add elements of a points system where family immigrants would be prioritized based on a merit system. In other words, a sister of a US citizen with a Ph.D. will beprioritized over one with no high school degree.[7]
It is entirely the case that those who unnecessarily burden S. 1368 do not realize the consequences of their actions. Their intent is good, it is their execution that so troubles us. Take Sen. Sanders for example. What does he really want? To kill the H1B? Maybe. His comments on the Senate floor this past Thursday night certainly lend themselves to such an interpretation. However, there is another way to look at it. Senator Sanders wants money for a scholarship program for American students. Well, Senator, you won't get it through an exorbitant H1B that most employers will not want to or be able to pay. Not even Tony Soprano can get more out of a business than it makes. Those who decry the Sanders fee are going about it all wrong. Try a different tack. Rather than attacking Senator Sanders, convince him that he will NOT get the money he wants with a high fee, but WILL get it with a lower fee. I bet you that Senator Sanders will jump at the chance to change is own amendment. He is not on a suicide mission and simply does not realize that a $5000 fee is simply too high to yield much revenue for his pet project. Did Congress really intend to invalidate all labor certifications or I-140 petitions filed after May 15, 2007? Surely this is an act of omission, an occasion not of deliberate malfeasance but accidental inelegance. Either way, it can easily be fixed, either in conference or by a manager's amendment in the Senate. Restore rationality by grandfathering all immigrant petitions or labor certifications filed before the points system kicks in.
There is going to be a new immigration law based on a points system. Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Majority Leader of House Democrats, has already announced that the House of Representatives will take up immigration reform this coming July. The Senate will pass a bill and President Bush, anxious, indeed desperate for a domestic achievement, is sure to sign it s into law. The conservative bill that emerges from the Senate will be transformed and greatly liberalized by the House. The House will not accept a points system; Rep. Zoe Loefgren (D-CA), chair of the House Immigration Sub-Committee has already said that. In conference, Senator Kennedy will give the House almost all the goodies that it wants, but he will insist on retention of the points system, knowing he has pledged this to Kyl and realizing that on the honoring of this pledge depends Senate passage. So, in the end, the Conference will enshrine the more expansive goals of the House , but in the language of the Senate point system.
S. 1348 has taken all the flexibility out of the points system concept, making it more rigid and less useful than it has to be. Opponents deceive themselves at their own peril if they think Congress will scrap the points system or sunset it. That is why Sen. Obama's proposal to insert a 5 year sunset provision is a non-starter. The only way that Congress can legalize the undocumented and sell a massive guest worker program to a skeptical public is to tear up the current permanent system, throw it away, and start with something totally new. That is why the points system is a political necessity to the legislators who must attach their name and their votes to this experiment. So, the issue is not whether we will wind up with a points system, but, rather, what kind of points system. By restoring its' suppleness, the architects of the points system will not only defuse much of the opposition to it but, most importantly, enhance its value by preserving the best that the system of employer sponsorship has to offer. Yet, and here is where the business lobby must adjust its thinking, such preservation cannot take place in opposition to a points system but only as part of it.
Abraham Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress on December 1, 1862, said it best: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."[8] Amen.
The choice is ours.
1Greg Siskind's invaluable commentary on S. 1348 can be found at http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind
2 Robert Pear, "Many Employers See Flaws As Immigration Bill Evolves," New York Times ( May 27, 2007) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/washington/27immig.html
3Greg Siskind explains the utterly devastating effect of this change. Taking away the H1B option means that fewer international medical graduates will treat poor Americans in medically underserved areas. Beyond that, even if they wanted to, these newly-minted MD's could not do so since there are only 1, 500 J-1 waivers granted per year and 3 to 4 times as many foreign-born doctors come to the United States. So, as Greg Siskind aptly points out, the change will force this invaluable talent to leave the United States upon completion of residencies and fellowships. "Furthermore, " Greg notes, " many top medical research institutions don't qualify for those J-1 waivers and risk losing their best candidates to overseas institutions." What to do? Greg tells us:" A better approach would be to give incentives to H-1B physicians to work in underserved areas such as exemptions from the H-1B and green card caps." All this wonderful stuff can be found in Greg Siskind's blog on S. 1348. http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind
4 Anthony Faiola and Robin Shulman, " Top Talent Could Lose Fast Track to U.S." Washington Post ( May 26, 2007). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/25/AR2007052502472.html?sub=AR
5Robert Pear, "Many Employers See Flaws As Immigration Bill Evolves" New York Times (May 27, 2007).
6Charles Krauthammer, "Amnesty Acceptable It It's The Last." (May 25, 2007) http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/05/amnesty_acceptable_if_its_the.html
7http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/ May 27, 2007
8 http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html
Gary Endelman practices immigration law at BP America Inc. The opinions expressed in this column are purely personal and do not represent the views or beliefs of BP America Inc. in any way.


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« Flogometer 1173 for Chris —will you be moved to turn the page? | Main | Flogometer 1175 for Sara —will you be moved to turn the page? »
A First-page Checklist (PDF here)
Sheila sends the first pages of Nina Back in Time, a middle-grade time travel mystery. The rest of the chapter is after the break. Remember to focus on writing craft regardless of genre. This might not be a genre for you, but you can surely judge the strengths of the opening page.
I thought I was a pretty good sleuth (British word for detective), but after my summer at Silver Lake, the camp I didn't want to go to, I'm sure of it. If you want to hear the whole story, read on. But it's long and involves some flying. If that makes you airsick, fasten your seatbelt. I'll start at the beginning, so you don't have to buckle up yet.
Back in March, I didn't want to go to camp. I didn't want to meet new people. "You can't just sit around all summer reading," Mom had said. SO annoying. She found a camp "in the middle of history," her words, in the middle of nowhere, my words. It turned out okay, because I met Elkie, who became a better friend to me than Stacey, my oldest friend, who came with me to camp because our moms still think we are best friends.
Oh, I should warn you, Elkie's got all kinds of super powers. I didn't know what that meant at first, so I'm telling you for your own good. If you don't like super powers, stop reading. But if you like surprises, read on. I'm not really giving anything away. Just warning you, like a hot sauce label does.
The big day arrived. After a hundred good-byes to Dad, my brother Benjie, my sister Bree, and most sadly, my bed, Mom drove me to the bus. "Bye, Mom." I don't like mushy good-byes. Mom pulled me into a big hug. Ugh. But I meant it when I said, "I'll miss you, Mom."
"Remember, Camp North Star Lake is in Seneca Falls, home of the early women's rights…"
"I know, Mom. You've told me like 1,000 times." She can't help it, she's a history professor.
Were you moved to want more?
I like the writing and the voice, especially the touches of humor. But . . .
While this opening page aims to tease me into a page turn with hints about super powers and more, it is basically all setup. There's no actual story here and, thus, no story questions. This character doesn't have a mystery to solve. We don't, at this point, even know his/her name nor his/her gender (or should I say "their" gender?). The character has no troubling problem to deal with, nothing is threatening their peaceful middle-grade existence.
I read on, looking for something to make me wonder what happens next (not finding it) and was even more engaged by the writing . . . but there was still no story. Hints of one, perhaps a haunting, but nothing really happens to the character other than meeting people and talking about things. I suggest you look deeper into your manuscript for something happening that matters, that the character has to deal with or suffer consequences. Or, at the least, what most mysteries start with, a body. It may be that the teases will draw in your intended audience, but why not make it stronger? You've got the writing chops, put them to work with dramatic happenings.
Flogging the Quill © 2023 Ray Rhamey, excerpt © 2023 by Sheila.
Continued:
"Who knows, you might even find a mystery in that history."
"Thanks, Mom, I'd like that. Love you," I said.
Buses are on the don't like list too, but I went for my favorite seat, third row. I know from experience it's the least nauseous row. I got there the same time as Stacey. My mom convinced her mom about the greatness of Camp North Star Lake.
"I can't believe we're going to an all girl's camp. Not that it's your fault," Stacey said loudly, loud as her orang-y red hair. "We'll meet new people."
That again. "Okay." She'll meet new people. I scrunched down in my seat. It smelled of old tuna sandwiches. Mom was sure I'd like camp. It will be good for you, she kept saying, meaning I will make friends. Away from Mom, Dad would whisper, If you don't like it after two weeks, I'll come and get you. It didn't sound like a real plan.
Stacey sat in the exact middle, the most popular seat, on the bus. "Hey, Nina," she waved, then turned to greet three girls, total strangers, in her chirpiest voice. We've been friends since kindergarten, but we're so opposite. Stacey's into fashion. I'm not. Once she tricked me into going book shopping. It turned out to be a bookless shopping spree. Still, Stacey's fun and I help her with book reports. I guess that's why we're still friends.
Stacey waved girls down the aisle as they got on the bus. One girl plunked down next to me. She looked unusual, not just because she was wearing purple instead of the camp colors, blue and white. She had the striking kind of looks that made me feel like I had no looks at all. Her hair stood to all sides like electrocuted cotton candy. Her eyes were shiny, like marbles, with golden glints.
"Hi, pleased to meet you. I'm Elkie. Royal. Sparks." She dragged out her name, like she was talking to someone who didn't speak English.
In my family, everyone talked fast. Sentences ran all over the place. No one finished one before starting another. "Hi, Elkie." What kind of name was Elkie Royal Sparks? Was she royalty or something? "I'm Nina Hoffman." My name's plain vanilla next to hers. She stared at me, marble eyes wide open.
"Just so you know, I'm psychic. Not 100%. But I'm working on it. My grandma Violet, some people would call her a witch, but I call her an Enchanter, because that's what her books are about."
"Books?" Now, this was interesting. "What's an Enchanter?"
"It's in her Books of Enchantment, spells and things. I'll show you the first book later."
"That's great." I glanced at Stacey, chatting away. "Do you like purple because your grandma's name is Violet? I'm sorry, I'm studying to be a detective, so I ask a lot of questions." Bree says I don't even know how to have a conversation without asking a zillion questions.
Elkie smiled. "I like questions. Purple's a royal color, royal, like my name." She kept talking, which was fine because I didn't have to. I couldn't interrupt her even if I wanted to.
The bus got strangely quiet after a turn onto a wide highway that lulled everyone to sleep, including Elkie. Her head rolled to one side.
I was thinking too much about camp to sleep. Would I have to play sports that involved catching balls? Singing out loud? And what about the ecumenical thing? I spelled it in my mind, which is how I remember hard words. Mom wanted a camp with all kinds of people, different races and religions. She calls it diversity. Dad wanted a camp like he went to as a kid, strictly Jewish and Hebrew speaking. It didn't know what I wanted because I'd never been to sleepaway camp, but I liked how much Dad liked his camp.
Mom had said, "Oh, they have everything, the highest ratings. And they have kosher food and vegan food. And a Shabbat option on Friday nights." Mom had a strong case. As usual, she got her way.
I took out my going away present, the Advanced Junior Sleuth Kit, Deluxe Edition. It was better than hair products. Bree convinced Mom it would be a waste on me. I checked the multi-color pen flashlight and audio recording device, took out the journal, magnifying glass, fingerprint kit, and stickers. I was about to put it all back in my backpack, when the bus swerved. My stuff fell out and rolled down the aisle.
Elkie's eyes popped open. Stacey stopped my pen roll with her foot and announced, "Nina's learning to be a detective." She thinks mouth first. I liked the British word "sleuth" better than detective, but no one here knows it. I learned it from the Fiona Figg book series, which is set in England. I'm always the first person at my library to take out the latest one.
A few girls turned toward me, and my ears burned. I was saved by a sudden lurch. The bus had stopped at the top of a hill. Below was Camp Silver Lake. It was an un-spectacular sight.
"Drab, isn't it?" Elkie said.
"Yes." The front entrance opened to a square building the color of mud.
Stacey said everyone's name as we got off the bus. Being popular is her super power.
"Nina, I want you to meet Zeena, your names rhyme," she said.
"It's Zinnia," a girl with wispy, long hair said.
"The flower? Do you like flowers?" I asked, ignoring Stacey's rhyming mistake.
"My mom does." Zinnia's voice sounded flowery, like her name.
""I'm Penelope Wang. You can call me Po, with a P. Flower Girl and I are third year campers. And her." She waved at Elkie like she was a pesky fly.
"Hi. I'm Nina, with N's."
Zinnia gushed, "Do you know about the haunted house and ghosts at the lake?"
"Ghosts? Really?" I asked.
Zinnia went on. "There's a legend about…"
"Don't spook her," Po interrupted. "There's never been exact proof."
"And there won't be. Everyone's too scared to investigate," Zinnia said.
Not me. But I kept quiet. Good sleuths don't talk about their investigations.
"On Ghost Night, some people saw a girl ghost dressed in long skirts and a bonnet. She floated across the lake," Zinnia said.
Po snorted, "Right, that's just a story from someone's imagination. Unless Elkie has proof."
"I have proof." Elkie said. "But it would take too long to explain to you."
Po frowned and turned away. We walked on, past buildings with paint peeling off. One looked worse than the rest. "What's that?" I asked.
"That's Gable Hall. Some people think it's haunted," Po hissed at Elkie. "I wish they'd fix it up. It's so ugly."
Elkie said, "I'll tell you about Gable Hall. There was a famous church behind it that got condemned knocked down a few years ago. They held ceremonies there celebrating its famousness."
"What was the church famous for?" I asked.
"Something to do with the Civil War."
No wonder Mom picked this camp. History. Even if it was awful, like the Civil War. "Like what?"
"I'm not sure, but we could investigate, right?" Elkie asked.
"I'd like that," I agreed.
We walked up and down a gravelly road until we got to the Gathering Place. Campers shoved their way in, cheering loudly. Glomming into each other, they squeezed through an entrance way into the dining room. I hung back in the entrance. It was dark from oil paintings, flowered wallpaper, tall bookshelves and all. A lady in a white bonnet stared out from the first painting, scowling. Her nameplate read Lucretia. She looked like someone who shushed children making noise.
In the next painting, a friendlier looking lady seated at a small desk seemed to be staring right at me. I almost stared. Her nameplate read Katie. Eliza, next, was holding a bunch of flowers. Her eyes were wide and they also stared at me. It was freaky. She looked familiar, like she could be famous. I almost said goodbye to her. By the look of their clothes, these ladies seemed like they had lived a long time ago.
I was the last one to enter the dining room. The air felt sucked out of it by the crowd. The ceiling sagged and a few giant fans whirred overhead. I stood back for some air and stared at the portraits again. Would anyone care if I spent a few minutes getting to know the ladies on the wall?
January 06, 2023 in Flogometer | Permalink

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The outsourcing industry offers employment to over 67,000 people within 215 companies, that have over 310 offices covering an office space of half million sq m spread throughout the country.
"In our calculation around 67,000 people are working within BPO, SSC and ITO in Romania, with at least another 5,000 new jobs in planning to be occupied within the next 12 months," states the study.
A relatively new branch, Shared Service Center, or SSC, is starting to gain momentum and has under employment around 15,000 employees.
Research & Development, due to its high-skill level of operation is a relatively small sector, has around 5,000 employees.
"On average, an outsourcing centre in Romania has 320 employees, with BPOs having almost 500, while ITOs around 270. More than half (47%) of the analysed companies are focused on Application Development & Maintenance, followed by companies dealing with a multitude of processes, including Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Support Services."
Pure contact centres (call centres) account for 12% of the companies analysed. Still, as the nature of the business entails large operations, these companies employ over 10,000 people (15% of total).
The presence of so many ITOs is not random – two factors are in stake: the high number of graduates with programming / IT skills, in all major regional cities – over 20,000 graduates with technical skills on a yearly basis, and the number and value of state incentives awarded by the Romanian Government to the IT industry.
This includes 100% exemption on income tax for IT employees and public financing for development of IT innovation parks.
Software and outsourcing companies alike can benefit from state aids for regional development, job creation and investment support for new technologies creation, as well as 50% tax deduction for R&D related cost of operations, according to ANIS (the Employers Association of the Software Industry).
While the last couple of years the exposure and size of outsourcing companies has increased substantially, these companies were very much present since as early as 1991.
Indeed, in the last four years, the number of SSCs has almost tripled in size, while a majority of other outsourcing companies expanded their presence.


TKDJS has been making bumping house music since July of 2014 when the three members, Scott, Paul and Mike forged a bond in an NYPD cruiser. Regardless of how they met, the Brooklyn group pairs up with our boy Ayer to bring you their most intoxicating track, "Don't Leave" Booming with that old-school house vibe, TKDJS adds their own touches with ambient vocals and a killer chord progression. Get your midweek pick-me-up by poppin' some bottles and blasting this tune below.


The collection of Americana of which this is a Catalogue forms only a part of the library of its owner. In its preparation no effort has been spared to make it as accurate and comprehensive as possible. Carefully prepared collations have been given of every work, including its plates and maps, to the latter of which insufficient attention has hitherto been paid.
The aim of these collations has been to aid in the identification of the editions or issues described. These collations are followed by bibliographical notes showing the differences which exist in various copies, editions, and issues; and by references to important catalogues and bibliographies in which these works have previously appeared. To aid still further in the identification of the works here described, free use has been made of photographic facsimile reproductions of title-pages, colophons, and other interesting features.
The chronological order of arrangement has been adopted as being the only one by which the works of contemporaneous writers can be kept together, and the gradual and natural growth of the subject unfolded. The sizes of the books herein described have been determined by their fold rather than by their dimensions, according to the rules formulated for that purpose by the Bodleian Library, at Oxford.


Art15 kicked off in London last night and here are our top picks from the fair.
Photo: courtesy The October Gallery.
It is busy art week in London and Art15 kicked off with a packed VIP preview last night. Collectors were in attendance including Patrizia Sandretto of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin; Bianca Jagger was turning heads; and rubber clad art-and-fashion party regular Pandemonia was checking out what the fair had to offer.
Art15, now in it's third year (see Spotlight on Art13 London and Art14, London's Latest Fair, Sheds Light on Another Art Market) brings together galleries from 40 countries and the feel of the fair is very international.
There was a lot of digital and interactive art including a wall of butterflies that flew away when you touched them, and a plant that grew into a flower when viewers stood in front of it, but disappeared when they got bored and walked away.
This gallery hails from Cape Town and dedicated the entire booth to one immense work, Homing by Jenna Burchell. The structure is a "memory harp" that consists of many copper wires. Run your hands up and down the surface and it will play sounds from daily life.
The work seeks to explore how intimacy can be evoked by sound, and will expand as the piece travels with the artist while she adds sections with sounds from each city they visit. As it stands, the work includes 168 strings in sets of 7, making 24 string sets with heights varying from 250-900 cm.
Fresh to London–they literally opened last week–this Lugano based gallery was showing a mix of contemporary work including Joesf Albers, Agostino Bonalumi, Marc Quinn, and Alighiero Boetti.
There was definitely a buzz in the Cortesi Booth, and as the fair's preview closed last night they reported interest surrounding a Boetti embroidery piece, Douglas Gordon's Selfpotrait of you + me (Double Elvis), and a green Lucio Fontana Concetto Spaziale.
Pearl Lam had a hotspot right at the entrance to the fair and you couldn't miss the stand, partly for the line of large Su Xiaobai works which flanked the exterior wall and partly due to the fact that it was pretty much full for the entire fair.
The intricate beehives by Ren Ri drew a lot of attention. Made entirely from beeswax they represent human interactions with nature, displayed both as though on canvas and also as sculpture.
The October Gallery has had a presence in London for over 35 years and have always focused on the international and the contemporary. This was reflected in their choices for the booth with work from Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga, Romuald Hazoume, and Wang Huangsheng.
West African artist El Anatsui covered an entire wall of their booth with an enormous metal work. The other section was watched over by an intricate figure, part religious icon, part bird, by Adejoke Tugbiyele.
This solo booth was a first time for the US-based Upfor Gallery. As part of the fair, "London First" is a section purely for galleries that have never exhibited at a London fair before.
The gallery's focus is on contemporary and new-media art, and they presented works by Portland-based artist Brenna Murphy, who works with the latest technologies such as editing software and 3-D printing. With media ranging from prints to large textiles and 3-D printed artworks with pigment, Murphy combines the man-made and the organic creating a kind of visual amalgam.
The Brazilian gallery was showing work by James Kudo whose calm abstract paintings stood out in the main entrance hall of the fair. The story goes that the artist was part of a town in Brazil, which was inhabited only by Japanese people; the town was disbanded by the powers that be in Brazil and submerged in water, a fate which inspires his work.
Kudo's work, with its compositions of bright, clear colors and juxtaposing patterns and surfaces, subsequently draws both from nature and the industrial.
Spanish gallery 3 Punts' booth, situated on the top floor of the fair, was a lively sight with a mix of hyper-real and ceramic sculpture.
Founded in 1999, the gallery, with spaces in Barcelona and Berlin, caught visitors' attention with a series of huge faces grimacing at people as they went past, with Lady of Bubblegum by Gerald Mas standing out the most.
I first saw Kate MccGwire's work at Cob Gallery in North London, a huge site-specific sculpture made of feathers, which was almost freakish in its size. Both animal and inanimate at the same time, I didn't know whether to run and hide or jump right into it.
It was great to see her work again here at the Bristol-based Coates & Carry booth.
The New York gallery packed a lot into their booth including work from UBS Art Award winner, Masatake Kozaki, and the Swedish design duo-turned fine artists, Humans Since 1982.
Tomohiro Kato created a Japanese tearoom entirely from metal for the fair. The concept was born out of a desire to be rooted in the traditional, following the huge earthquake in Japan in 2011.
The work was interactive and willing participants crawled through the small entrance into the tearoom to be prepared a cup of traditional Japanese matcha. Inside the tearoom were traditional Japanese paintings and ornaments, all reproduced in metal, to great detail.
Inflatable celebrity Pandemonia was spotted contemplating a bowl of matcha but abandoned the idea fearing her head-to-toe rubber outfit may have been pierced causing relative scandal.


text:
A poor prognosis, with some cause for hope
Posted by Ini Ekott | Mar 15, 2021 | 0 |
Abuja Declaration: broken promises
African nations have largely defaulted on a 2001 pledge to commit at least 15% of their annual budgets to healthcare
Followers in front of the Yoff Layene Mosque during the Islamic festivity of Korite marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Dakar, Senegal, May 2020 Photo: John Wessels/AFP
Africa has so far seen controversial and even dramatic policy measures in response to the coronavirus crisis. From Tanzania withholding infection and fatality data as the government pushed conspiracy theories, to Egypt's clampdown on citizens disagreeing with the government's handling of the pandemic, to Madagascar's promotion of a botanical brew as an antidote without following the standard scientific approval steps, the continent has had its share of the blunders that have helped exacerbate the crisis globally. Few, however, have seemed as ironic as Nigeria's fiscal response at the peak of the crisis.
As the virus ravaged nations, overwhelmed health systems and devastated markets, the continent's biggest economy announced a steep health budget cut in June, citing a decline in crude oil revenues. The government sliced basic healthcare funding by nearly half, reducing it to 25.5 billion naira ($71 million). The move angered a public already enraged by the government's earlier plan to refurbish its parliament building with 37 billion naira. Before the pandemic, Nigeria's entire health sector received 8% of the country's total budget this year. That figure fell to 6% after the cut.
"This shows what is wrong with our country: poor prioritisation of projects," Sam Ohuabunwa, the president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, told the popular Lagos-based daily, Punch, at the time. "How come the renovation of the National Assembly is taking priority over healthcare and education? It does not make sense to me." But Nigeria's typically measly health spending this year is not unique. Kenya proposed to spend only 4% of its total budget on health this year before the pandemic started, and South Africa allotted 11.8% of its budget to the sector.
Besides being relatively low, all three budgets – and many others – share a thing in common: they fall short of a benchmark voluntarily set by African leaders in the Abuja Declaration in 2001, to yearly allocate at least 15% percent of their countries' budgets to health expenditure. Nearly 20 years after the Abuja Declaration, named after the Nigerian capital where it was signed, many African countries have largely failed to honour it. Their health systems are without needed resources to build and equip hospitals, train and pay health workers and implement health insurance for citizens. The World Health Organization says more than 37% of all of Africa's health spending comes from out-of-pocket payments.
Now, the COVID-19 pandemic, more than any other crisis in recent history, has shown how grim the situation is across the region. In April, the WHO said 43 African countries had just 2,000 ventilators and 5,000 intensive care beds, while 10 countries had no ventilators at all. Making up just 16% of the global population, Africa bears 23% of the world's disease burden, yet accounts for just 1% of the total global health expenditure in 2015, according to United Nations and WHO figures. "The COVID-19 crisis and its impact on health and other social policy sectors such as education as well as the economy, has brought to the fore the importance of strong healthcare systems to pre-empt and deal with such global threats," Kalipso Chalkidou, professor of practice in Global Health, Imperial College London, told Africa in Fact.
The Abuja Declaration was agreed to address the persistent funding problem that had seen health per capita public spending in Africa at a meagre US$70 in the early 2000s. A decade after the declaration, 27 nations had increased the proportion of their health expenditure, according to a 2011 report by the WHO. By 2013, only three countries – Rwanda, Botswana and Zambia – had achieved the 15% mark. By 2014, while the average per capita health spending rose to US$160, more countries (19) were spending less on health as a percentage of their budgets, a follow-up report by the WHO in 2016 stated.
Coronavirus awareness graffitti at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, March 2020 Photo: John Wessels/AFP
According to the report, countries whose health spending fell lower than the pre-2000s figures included Chad, Mozambique, Tanzania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Rwanda, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Comoros, Benin, Mauritania, Togo, Botswana, Niger and Central Africa Republic. Remarkably, the report found that a country's wealth did not exactly determine its allocation share to healthcare. For example, while countries with high per capita income (over $10,000) such as Algeria, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa did not spend as much on health, those with relatively lower per capita like Ethiopia, Gambia and Malawi, surpassed the 15% target.
"Despite increases in fiscal capacity, spending on health has been deprioritised as governments strive to meet other obligations," the report stated. "In low income settings, the deprioritisation of health in public expenditure tends to be associated with country-level fragility and political instability, poor governance and corruption." It also found that most countries prioritised high-end care, that is secondary and tertiary levels referral hospitals that treat mostly the middle and upper classes, and committed, on average, less than 40% of health expenditure to primary care that caters for the majority of the continent's poorest population.
In some countries, the allotted funds were never fully spent due mainly to unpredictable allocations, mismatch between policy and budget allocations, inappropriate budget structures, and under-performing execution systems. As much as 60% of the money remained unspent in Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance. The Nigeria case shows that years after the WHO's latest report, not much has changed across the continent. Nigeria's highest-ever public budget share for its health was 7%. A more recent assessment of specific countries in 2019 by a non-governmental group, Africa Health Budget Network, based in Abuja, found that only Burkina Faso (11.03%), Ethiopia (8.1%), Malawi (9.83%), Mozambique (8.35%), Rwanda (8.88%) and Tanzania (9.52%) made some level of progress in trying to meet the 2001 target.
Among all the countries reviewed, only Madagascar reached the 15% goal. "In the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic, health expenditure has nosedived, with many African countries relying on regional and international loans, grants, and donations," Aminu Garba, the coordinator of the group, told Africa in Fact. By 18 August, Africa had recorded over 1.1 million cases of the coronavirus and 26,346 deaths. Activists and health experts are hoping the COVID-19 experience will provide a new window for Africa's policymakers to take the decisive step of committing more resources to healthcare.
Chalkidou, who is also the director of Global Health Policy and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said with debt at unsustainable levels, they could do so by leveraging innovative and radical ways of generating revenue to not only protect but also to boost spending on health. Also, wealthier nations, although even worse hit by the recession, should do their bit by boosting rather than cutting development aid, she said.
"Radical tax reform, including revisiting fuel subsidies and introducing excise, including tobacco and alcohol taxes, smarter spending, leveraging pooled public procurement to improve procurement of pharmaceuticals where billions are wasted every year in a fragmented and inefficient fashion, and actively exploring underused tools such as debt swaps, must be at the forefront of the policy response," she said. Response measures should also include governments cutting unnecessary overhead and recurrent expenditures and ensuring judicious utilisation of all loans, grants and donations, Garba added.
Ini Ekott is the deputy managing editor at Premium Times, Nigeria. He has researched and written extensively on governance and leadership in Africa. He is a former Wole Soyinka investigative reporter of the year, and was a member of the global team of journalists that conducted the Pulitzer-winning Panama Papers reporting
https://gga.org/author/ini-ekott/
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text:
Q: Lemmatization of a list of words So I have a list of words in a text file. I want to perform lemmatization on them to remove words which have the same meaning but are in different tenses. Like try, tried etc. When I do this, I keep getting an error like TypeError: unhashable type: 'list'
    results=[]
    with open('/Users/xyz/Documents/something5.txt', 'r') as f:
       for line in f:
          results.append(line.strip().split())

    lemma= WordNetLemmatizer()

    lem=[]

    for r in results:
       lem.append(lemma.lemmatize(r))

    with open("lem.txt","w") as t:
      for item in lem:
        print>>t, item

How do I lemmatize words which are already tokens?

A: The method WordNetLemmatizer.lemmatize is probably expecting a string but you are passing it a list of strings. This is giving you the TypeError exception.
The result of line.split() is a list of strings which you are appending as a list to results i.e. a list of lists.
You want to use results.extend(line.strip().split())
results = []
with open('/Users/xyz/Documents/something5.txt', 'r') as f:
    for line in f:
        results.extend(line.strip().split())

lemma = WordNetLemmatizer()

lem = map(lemma.lemmatize, results)

with open("lem.txt", "w") as t:
    for item in lem:
        print >> t, item

or refactored without the intermediate results list
def words(fname):
    with open(fname, 'r') as document:
        for line in document:
            for word in line.strip().split():
                yield word

lemma = WordNetLemmatizer()
lem = map(lemma.lemmatize, words('/Users/xyz/Documents/something5.txt'))

A: Open a text file and and read lists as results as shown below
fo = open(filename)
results1 = fo.readlines()

results1
['I have a list of words in a text file', ' \n I want to perform lemmatization on them to remove words which have the same meaning but are in different tenses', '']

# Tokenize lists

results2 = [line.split() for line in results1]

# Remove empty lists

results2 = [ x for x in results2 if x != []]

# Lemmatize each word from a list using WordNetLemmatizer

from nltk.stem.wordnet import WordNetLemmatizer
lemmatizer = WordNetLemmatizer()
lemma_list_of_words = []
for i in range(0, len(results2)):
     l1 = results2[i]
     l2 = ' '.join([lemmatizer.lemmatize(word) for word in l1])
     lemma_list_of_words.append(l2)
lemma_list_of_words
['I have a list of word in a text file', 'I want to perform lemmatization on them to remove word which have the same meaning but are in different tense']

Please look at the lemmatized difference between lemma_list_of_words and results1.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Mike Mathews is President of Economic Growth Advisors (EGA). EGA is an economic development consulting firm that works with public and private sector clients to provide customized solutions that facilitate business and economic growth. Mike has 30 years of business experience in economic and community development, strategic planning, business consulting, business development, community relations, marketing, and public and private finance.
Mike's business experience includes 17 years (1983-2000) with Madison Gas & Electric Company (MGE) where he developed and led the company's Community and Economic Development programs. He also served as Vice President and General Manager of Central Wisconsin Development Corporation, a wholly-owned MGE subsidiary from 1997-2000.
In 2000, Mike joined Grant Thornton, LLP, a national accounting, tax and management consulting firm where he was Principal and Practice Leader for the Wisconsin Management Consulting practice.
From 2006 – 2011 Mike served as Senior Vice President of Ruedebusch Development & Construction (RDC), and was Founder and President of Technology Facility Advisors, a consulting division of RDC from 2008 – 2011.
Mike established Economic Growth Advisors, LLC in 2011 to provide a broad range of economic development planning and implementation services.
Mike's formal education and professional training provide a broad understanding and appreciation of how individuals, public organizations and private firms make decisions and respond to change. He has initiated several innovative entrepreneurial programs and achieved positive results within many public, private and non-profit organizations.
Mike has been actively involved in several business, professional and community organizations at the board and committee level including: Downtown Madison, Inc., the Wisconsin Economic Development Association (President – 1997), Forward Wisconsin, Wisconsin Venture Fair, Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium, the Governors Business Plan Competition, City of Madison Plan Commission, City of Madison Economic Development Commission, Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Weinert Applied Ventures in Entrepreneurship (WAVE) program at the University of Wisconsin – Madison Business School, Wisconsin Business Incubation Association and the United Way of Dane County.


Our eyes allow us to perceive the world around us, but they are also a window into the mind. In fact, an emerging body of research suggests that the way in which we move our eyes is affected by our personality.
Studies looking into this topic have found people with similar traits tend to move their eyes in similar ways. For example, optimists spend less time looking at negative emotional stimuli, like images of cancer, while curious people tend to take in all regions of a scene.
Recently, an international team of researchers from institutions in Australia and Germany tried to understand more about the link between personality and eye movements by developing a machine learning algorithm—a type of computer code that learns without the need to be specifically programed—New Scientist reports.
For a new study, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, the researchers gave 42 students at Flinders University in south Australia special eye-tracking glasses. They then asked the participants to walk around campus and visit a shop, as well as complete a questionnaire, which scored them on the "big five" personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.
Using the algorithm, the scientists found they were able to predict four of those traits—neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness—as well as perceptual curiosity, based only on the eye-movement tracking data.
At present, their technique is only 7 to 15 percent better than chance at predicting these personality traits, but the scientists note that they only had data from 42 people. As the algorithm receives more eye-tracking data, its predictions will become increasingly accurate, they say.
Furthermore, the findings "revealed new relations between previously neglected eye movement characteristics and personality," the authors wrote in the study. For example, pupil diameter was found to be important for predicting neuroticism but less useful for predicting other traits.
The findings of the study could enable the design of computer systems—including robots, smartphones and self-driving cars—which could automatically read users' personalities based on eye-tracking data and are able customize their experience accordingly.
Although, as consumers become ever more concerned about the quantities of data they are handing over to tech companies, this kind of technology may not appeal to everyone.
Did Anne Boleyn Really Speak After Being Beheaded?
Cheapter Nintendo Switch Coming in June?
At least 15 homes and meeting centers were hit in raids last week.
David Cay Johnston told CNN's Chris Cuomo the the Trump administration did not believe that Congress had an oversight function.
Governor Jay Inslee, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate whose campaign focus is climate change, could make U.S. history by signing a bill to legalize "human composting," a more eco-friendly burial method.
At its lowest ebb, the atmosphere is predicted to have less than 5 percent of its current pressure.


Freightos has launched the Freightos Marketplace, an online marketplace for international freight, with the goal of providing instant comparison, booking and management of freight services from multiple logistics providers.
Prior to the launch, Freightos automated millions of freight price quotes for some of the world's largest freight forwarders, including Nippon Express, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and CEVA Logistics, as well as shipper companies such as Sysco Foods, Panasonic USA, and Marks & Spencer. The same routing and pricing technology now powers the Freightos Marketplace, giving SME importers and retailers the ability to compare, book and manage freight rates in real-time.
Initially the Freightos Marketplace is focused on U.S. imports from China, by air and ocean. Customer support is available 24/7 to assist with shipment booking and management.


text:
Q: create event in apps script not receiving spreadsheet data I cannot get this to work and i am lost, i have searched and searched for an answer and i cannot see what is causing this to fail, i am pulling data from a spreadsheet and trying to add as an event to a google calendar-
 freezes at getcal()event, says cannot find method createalldayevent(string,string)-line71
i have modified the code to this but still...
\\function to get required information from sheets
and set as script properties to use in later functions//

function getsheet(getsheet){

var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet1 = ss.getSheetByName("Calendar Data");
var sheet2 = ss.getSheetByName("call form");
var sheet3 = ss.getSheetByName("Job Summary Sheet");

var getval = sheet2.getRange("A1:A").getValues();

var getlast = getval.filter(String).length;

var finval = sheet2.getRange(getlast, 1).getValues().toString();
var finval2 = sheet1.getRange(getlast, 2).getValues().toString();
var finval3 = sheet1.getRange(getlast, 5).getValues().toString();
var finval4 = sheet3.getRange(getlast, 6).getValues().toString();
var finval5 = sheet3.getRange(getlast, 12).getValues().toString();

var title = finval + '-' + finval4 ;
var startTime =  finval3;
var endTime =  finval3;
var location = finval2;
var description = finval5;

PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().setProperty('title', title);
PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().setProperty('startTime', startTime);
PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().setProperty('endTime', endTime);
PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().setProperty('location', location);
PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().setProperty('description',    description);

Logger.log(title);
Logger.log(startTime);
Logger.log(endTime);
Logger.log(location);
Logger.log(startTime);
Logger.log(description);

}

 \\\\function getsheet() works correctly-
 --gets last row of each required sheet and sets information as script   properties////

function getcal2(){
getsheet();
var title = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('title');
var Date = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('startTime');
var endTime =     PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('endTime');
var location = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('location');
var description = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('description');

////freezes at event2/////

var event = CalendarApp.getCalendarById('xxxxxo@group.calendar.google.com');
var event2 =event.createAllDayEvent(title,Date
);

Logger.log('Event ID: ' + event.getId());
Logger.log(title);
Logger.log(startTime);
Logger.log(endTime);
Logger.log(location);
Logger.log(startTime);
Logger.log(description);

}

\\\fails at event2-cannot find method-i am new to this

but your help is really giving alot of understanding...I appreciate it!////

A: At line 3 you're calling the method createAllDayEvent() when the variables title and startTime are undefined, just move the line  3 (where you define the var event) after the line var description = finval5 or call your function getsheet() with those arguments.
EDIT:
You're using the method createAllDayEvent(title, date) the two arguments that it receives are:

*

*title needs to be a String so make sure the value you're getting from the Spreadsheet is a String.

*date in needs to be a Date object so make sure the value in the spreadsheet is in a valid date format, if you edit the cell you must see a calendar, if not go to the menu Format > Number > Date

Google Sheets stores data depending on the value of the cell, the values may be of type Number, Boolean, Date, or String (Empty cells will return an empty String). When these values are used bye the Scripts, Apps Script treats them as the appropriate data type in JavaScript.
EDIT 2:
As I mentioned above the method createAllDayEvent(title, date) receives in the second argument a Date object, and now you're using PropertiesService to store the date values, but this service store the values as Strings, so now before you use your date to create the event, you need to transform it to Date object, something like this:
var date = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties().getProperty('startTime');
var dateObj = new Date(date); // create the Date Object
var event = CalendarApp.getCalendarById('xxxxxo@group.calendar.google.com');
var event2 = event.createAllDayEvent(title, dateObj);

A: It may be in your format.
Try this snippet for testing:
function setValues() {

var values = {};
values['title'] = 'Lunch Meeting';
values['description'] = 'Lunch Meeting';
return values;
}

function addEvent(){
var data = setValues();
var calendarID = 'primary';
var calendar = CalendarApp.getCalendarById(calendarID)
var event = calendar.createAllDayEvent(data.title,
new Date('August 22, 2016'),
{description: data.title});
Logger.log(data);
}

I used primary as a testing calendar ID. Then used setValues() to form the details for the Calendar Event (You can use the sheets to get the value then assign it to var values). Kindly check the document of createAllDayEvent(title, date, options) and google apps script calendar sample for some code implementation and correct code format.
Hope it helps!

A: Thank You Guys-
Problem Is Solved!!!
Two issues-
1-although at first i had the proper format, i was not calling "date" as a [date],
2-i was not calling any function for add event, just variables.
fix-
convert "date" to [date]
removed event 2 as variable and just called "event" create event()
and ran separate
 function run(){
  getsheet();
   getcal2();
  }


The ground-breaking discovery was led by Dr Nicholas Forsythe, Lead Researcher at the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) at Queen's, along with Dr Sandra Van Schaeybroeck and the late Professor Patrick Johnston, who was Vice-Chancellor at the University from 2014-2017.
Dr Sandra Van Schaeybroeck, Lead Researcher at CCRCB at Queen's, said: "This mutated BRAF protein causes a "short circuit" within the cell, continually passing signals for growth even in the absence of signals from the cell surface. This results in uncontrolled cell division and survival.
All media inquiries to Sian Devlin Communications Officer at Queen's University Belfast at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk or tel: 028 9097 5840.


What is Shoofly Pie, and Where Does it Come From?
You've got your classics—pumpkin, apple, and cherry. From there are the lesser favored blueberry, key lime, and sweet potato pies. A baker is never short of pie recipe options, but sometimes it comes down to trying something new to step away from the classics. A shoofly pie is definitely a lesser known option, but it's time to stop sleeping on it.
Whether you have heard of it or not, there's a lot to learn about shoofly pie and where it comes from—before we even get in to how it tastes. Here's all you need to know.
Shoofly's history is almost as rich as the pie itself. According to multiple sources, including The Washington Post, it dates back to the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 18th century. There's mixed thoughts on whether it's shoofly, shoo-fly or shoo fly, but the pie itself stays generally the same. The recipe speaks for itself when showing that they enjoyed their sweets at the time.
Go much further west of PA and you won't find shoofly pie in many bake shops. Closer to the source of the sweet treat, that being Pennsylvania Amish country, you'll find plenty of opportunities to try it.
With its simple origin, the ingredients are fitting. A Taste of Home recipe provides a solid look at the basic ingredients—that being fat, flour, brown sugar and molasses. Much like the spelling of the pie, there is a variation in the ingredients beyond the basic ones.
One of the main ingredients is molasses, which is like the superfood of sweeteners. It's known for its role in gingerbread, but it is so much more as far as enriching and adding flavor to a recipe.
Another main ingredient is brown sugar, which is essentially white sugar with molasses, according to The Sugar Association. There's that molasses again! Most baking calls for light brown sugar, classic chocolate chip cookies being one. Dark brown sugar has more of that molasses flavor in it. In looking at recipes, most do not specify for light or dark. Light brown sugar would be a safe bet consideingr it has less molasses and the rest of the pie already has so much.
These combined sweeteners, along with the other pie essentials like baking soda and flour, come together to form a sweet, rich flavor.
We have a few options to choose from for when it comes to the source of the name of the pie. The first one seems to make the most sense—to me anyway. Shoofly sounds like the strangest name for a pie until you think about how sweet it is. Flies are attracted to the pie for the sweet ingredients, meaning they'll be swarming it if you manage to have anything left after sitting down to eat it. And what do you say when there's flies? Shoo, fly!
There are chances the name simply comes from a name of a molasses company, which was Shoofly. That brand is hard to come by nowadays, if it is even around at all. Either way, the name of this pie goes above all else in its creativity.
Prior to trying shoofly pie, there was word around family and friends that it was amazing. I took to making it myself instead of buying one, which gives me even better or worse insight on the pie (you decide).
Shoofly is not for the faint at heart, or maybe for those who tend to stay away from sweets. It has hints of gingerbread cookies and just straight sugar, but overall a sweet treat that will have you forgetting about that resolution to eat healthier. Do yourself a favor an pick up some molasses and pie crust on your next grocery story visit.


The answers span the gamut, from learning for learning's sake, providing the education necessary for an individual to be employable, to, in the case of Christian school, raising up disciples to continue to build the Kingdom of God. Since one of the reasons for education today is to prepare students for jobs that don't even exist yet, let's take a little detour from the systems involved in education and examine world of work to see if there are systems in place there too. For our "tetrahedronic" purposes, recall that a system is composed of 5 elements that work together to produce an overarching principle.
When I discuss schools with teachers, school administrators and boards, I often use the visual example of a boat – either an ancient warship or a Viking vessel (a Karve) – with 5 oars on each side of the craft. I ask those individuals to picture their school as that boat, with the oars on the left side of the boat to stand for Founder's Heritage (I also use the term Faith Identity, but when you think about it, isn't our "Faith Identity" the personification of our founder's heritage too?), Activities, Curriculum, Technology and Surroundings (represented by the acronym FACTS), and the oars on the right side to stand for Development, Retention, Enrollment, Asset Management and Marketing (DREAM). Note the balance between the workings of the school, and the importance of the business processes. Continuing the comparison, FACTS are left-brain oriented, logical and concrete processes, while DREAM is right-brained, creative and abstract in nature. I've made the assertion that anything that has to do with the educational aspect of a school can fit into one of the five elements on the left, while anything related to institutional advancement is present in the five elements on the right side.
Think of any type of occupation, and consider if it can be classified within one of the categories listed.


He was a shining example for many European modern-jazz trombonists: J. J. Johnson, the man from Indianapolis, and the swinging half of the pair Jay and Kai. (Kai Winding was the white guy with the "cool" sound.) On this Columbia LP, recorded in August 1960, we can experience J. J. in three ways – as a soloist, composer, and arranger. To this is added a superbly well-rehearsed combo consisting of Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Jordan and one of the very best rhythm groups of late hard bop: Cedar Walton, Arthur Harper, and Albert Heath on the drums.
Thanks to having performed the works over the previous eight months in concerts before the recording, all the works sound wonderfully homogeneous, and the improvisations never once become stereotyped. The theme tune of "In Walked Horace" well illustrates Jay Jay's musical background, which lies somewhere between Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Horace Silver.
On the reverse side of the LP cover, J. J. Johnson describes his feelings during the recording session: »Wow! What a pleasure!« And the listener will certainly go along with that for the whole length of the LP!


Fotbot.org - What if Gibraltar were to use its 'Third Option' and integrate with the UK?
What if Gibraltar uses its 'Third Option' and integrates with the UK?
Since the news that Spain can veto any Brexit deal involving Gibraltar, a solution has been suggested to overcome this hurdle by making 'the Rock' an integral part of the United Kingdom, rather than the Overseas Territory it currently is.
This is not the first time such an idea has been mooted. The 1950s and 60s were a time when the British Government was desperately trying to unload itself of its imperial baggage which had become too heavy a financial burden and political headache for the metropole. Transferring sovereignty to nationalist movements who wanted their independence was one thing, but dealing with those that wished to continue or develop their colonial association was another. This was tested in February 1956 when Malta held a referendum on integration with the UK. This would have given Malta three seats in the House of Commons, made it administered by the Home Office rather than the Colonial Office, the UK would have retained control over defence and foreign affairs, with the addition of direct taxation, while Malta would maintain responsibility for local issues such as education. While 77% voted in favour of the proposals, only 60% of the electorate turned out after a boycott by the Nationalist Party, too narrow a mandate to press the issue in the face of opposition from the Archbishop and the Constitutionalist Party who wanted guarantees for Malta's Catholics. British Members of Parliament raised concerns about setting a precedent for other colonies, while the island's declining importance as a naval base saw the Admiralty dismiss 40 workers from its dockyard, leading Maltese Prime Minister Dom Mintoff to announce in 1958 that 'representatives of the Maltese people in Parliament declare that they are no longer bound by agreements and obligations toward the British government'. Mintoff resigned, and Giorgio Borg Olivier formed an alternative government which pursued independence and was granted it in 1964.
But this would not deter similar proposals for Gibraltar as, in 1963, the Integration With Britain Movement was formed. This was followed four years later by the establishment of the Integration With Britain Party (IWBP), which called for full integration with the UK and the election of MPs to Westminster. Following Gibraltar's 1969 elections, despite coming second, the IWBP was able to form a coalition government with the third-place Isola Group. This lasted until June 1972, and the IWBP lost the subsequent election. A further blow came in 1975 when British Foreign Office Minister Roy Hattersley, announced that integration could not be accepted by the UK Government. Gibraltar sent a Constitution Committee delegation to London in June the following year to discuss this, but were unable to convince the UK which issued a memorandum rejecting the proposals. Consequently, the IWBP was dissolved before the 1976 election.
Should it come to this, integration terms would have to be negotiated, and they would not necessarily follow previous plans drawn up for an earlier age, especially concerning the clause of direct taxation, as Gibraltar's offshore financial industry depends upon it retaining control over this vital part of its economy. To allow Gibraltar this economic freedom alongside representation in Westminster would spur calls for the devolution of tax control to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Considering this, a more appropriate relationship could be to replicate that of the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, whose economies are much more similar. Though this would not be full integration, it would allow Gibraltar to continue to govern its own affairs under the monarch, save for foreign relations and defence, with the least political upheaval (its Governor becoming the Lieutenant Governor). It would also counter Spain's veto, as any Brexit deal should automatically cover the other Crown Dependencies, preserving Gibraltar's self-determination and allowing the UK Government to negotiate an agreement that suits all parts of Britain.


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CALPIRG Discusses Latest Projects, Plans for Upcoming Year
October 3, 2019 at 12:59 pm by Jackson Guilfoil
At the Arbor, many students walk faster and put their earphones in when they see the clipboard-holding canvassers approaching, petitions in hand.
The most persistent of the canvassers belong to California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) – a statewide, student-led interest group that lobbies for various issues with an emphasis on environmental activism. The organization's latest venture? Eliminating single-use plastics on UC Santa Barbara's campus, according to CALPIRG Campus Organizer Veronika Michels.
Aly Witmer / Daily Nexus
The plastics petition is one of the four current projects the UCSB chapter of CALPIRG will be working on over the next year. The other three projects are registering students to vote, educating faculty on alternatives to expensive textbooks and trying to convert the entire UC system to using 100% renewable energy by 2050.
At last count on Wednesday, the petition to eliminate single-use plastics on UCSB's campus had 461 signatures, nearly a thousand short of the 1,400 signatures CALPIRG hopes to acquire before the quarter ends and a sliver of the 25,976 students currently enrolled at UCSB.
The single-use plastics ban would eliminate items such as straws, utensils and plastic foam take-out boxes distributed by on-campus restaurants.
CALPIRG decided on a petition to ban single-use plastics in order to demonstrate widespread student support for the policy to leaders such as UCSB's Chancellor Henry Yang or University of California President Janet Napolitano, according to Michels.
"The UCs are doing a lot for sustainability, but we think we can do more," CALPIRG's Organizing Director Kat Lockwood said. "It would make them a world leader [to ban single-use plastics]."
The UC system is already looking into ways to eliminate single-use plastics on campuses by turning to cities with laws minimizing single-use plastics as a model, UC Office of the President (UCOP) Senior Communications Strategist Stett Holbrook said in an email. Berkeley is one such city, which passed a plastic foodware reduction policy in January earlier this year. The UCOP website states that the UCs will ban expanded polystyrene, commonly found in plastic foam take-out containers, by 2020.
The UC system's Zero Waste 2020 initiative aims to "divert 90 percent of waste from landfills to recycling and composting facilities, not to eliminate waste by 2020," Holbrook added. However, the UC system currently measured a 69% diversion rate from 2017-18, according to the 2018 Annual Report on Sustainable Practices, with only three months remaining until 2020.
The report also shows that the UC's diversion rates have hovered in the high-60 and low-70 percentage points since 2017. Holbrook said the UC's slowed diversion rates are due to "various internal and external barriers, including turmoil in the international recycling markets and the limitations of local waste haulers."
Beyond eliminating single-use plastics, the UCSB CALPIRG chapter has been working on a project to inform professors about open-source educational resources, or OERs, in an effort to shift professors away from expensive textbooks. When the chapter began the campaign last year, 62 faculty or administration members signed on to show support for it, according to Michels.
"We've had a lot of students come up to our textbook tables and tell us things that they've had to give up," Jennifer Manning, fourth-year student and CALPIRG board member, said.
"One student said that her dad had to give up their family car in order to be able to afford to pay for her textbooks for that quarter. So we want to avoid people having to deal with struggles that are unnecessary when they have to purchase, like a $200 textbook, because their professor wanted the newest edition."
Both Manning and Michel said they were considering pushing for textbook prices to be included on G.O.L.D. when students sign up for classes but were still undecided on whether or not to pursue that initiative.
The UCSB CALPIRG campaign to get the UCs to run on purely renewable energy is also through a petition, run in the same style as the one banning single-use plastics. Its focus is the heating and cooling units for many on-campus buildings, in addition to the emissions from campus-owned vehicles, according to Manning.
CALPIRG typically works to sign up college students to vote, but this year, the UCSB chapter will pressure the student government to draft a resolution favoring a voting center on campus that allows same-day registration, which is only typically allowed at county elections offices and certain designated satellite locations.
Despite her faith that the UCSB community's values align with CALPIRG's, Michels admitted that right now, students primarily know them as nuisances with clipboards in the Arbor.
"I think a lot of it is just a misconception of what we do," Manning said.
"They just assume that we're just this annoying group that wants your signature and wants your money without actually understanding the dynamic of how the group actually operates."
When a CALPIRG volunteer approaches someone to ask for their signature, their goal goes beyond drawing support for a petition. It's also to get contact information, pledge money and possibly a new volunteer, according to Michels.
"When we find someone that's interested enough to sign that petition, we'll ask them to come to another event, so we kind of just exponentially increase the amount of work we can do," Michels said.
Each CALPIRG chapter needs to meet a quota of 10-15% of the student body to donate $10 a quarter. The UCSB chapter has never had an issue meeting that number, according to Manning.
Although it is not one of their immediate projects, Lockwood said CALPIRG's board is interested in implementing their quarterly fee as an official UC campus cost across the system. Michel said that the overall cost per student would be cheaper than the current $10 fee if they implement this change but did not have a new number representing what each student would pay.
"We wouldn't have to pester you for money because we wouldn't have to do our pledge drive," Manning said. "You want CALPIRG to stop bothering you on the Arbor? Then vote to upgrade our funding."
A version of this article appeared on pg. 4 of the Oct. 3, 2019 print edition of the Daily Nexus print edition.
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After a great business trip, sprinkled with some beautiful friendships and great sightseeing, it is time to go home…. and actually, I am ok with that…. after all, being in America for a year is a real privilege also and so far am loving it!
Costa Rica has a great phrase, used in all sorts of circumstances: Pura Vida! It's used as greeting, as response to questions, almost like a life mantra… and it shines through the whole culture as an upbeat, happy go lucky and friendly mantra. It translates literally as pure life… but actually it does not have a real translation as such. It's definitely a thought I want to keep holding on to.
so.. happy to be in my US home… and enjoying life!
Brave family or shall I say brave woman.
It's not easy to be separated by water.
God bless you and the family on your journey.
Your love for each other will just grow stronger.


text:
Q: I use MainCamera`ray to get the GameObject collided,but if the GameObject is Image,I can not collide the Iamge,What can I do? if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hit))
    {
        if (hit.collider.name.StartsWith("Image"))
        {//can not get image
            Debug.Log("OK");
            image = GameObject.Find(hit.collider.name).gameObject;
            Debug.Log ("image.name:"+image.name);
        }
    }

The code to get collision.
If the ray to the Image,I can not get collision event.
How can I get the Image collision

A: If image is a UI Image. You can use Event System's raycast.
Or If by Image you mean a 2D object with sprite renderer attached to it. you need to have a Box collider attached to it.
And by the way image = GameObject.Find(hit.collider.name).gameObject; is wrong.you can get gameObject like this : image = hit.collider.gameObject;


text:
Bleach: The Hollowfication Question
July 24, 2015 Dominic Sceski	Leave a comment
Sometimes we see this when the main character of a story is fighting against an enemy of seemingly unsurpassable might; with no other power to turn to, the main character resorts to teaming up with evil in order to defeat evil. And maybe, maybe, he'll even draw his strength from this person or source of evil.
BACKGROUND OF BLEACH
(If you already know all of this, I would encourage you to skip to the section in bold which reads "The Question")
Ichigo Kurosaki is such a main character. The manga and anime Bleach is easily one of the most popular Japanese comics and television shows out there, particularly in the shonen (boys) category. The story follows the adventures of fifteen year-old Ichigo Kurosaki, who becomes a Soul Reaper in order to protect his family from the hunger of a Hollow: a fallen soul/spirit of the underworld.
Ichigo as a Soul Reaper battles a Hollow
Ichigo is plunged into a life of protecting innocent souls from Hollows, as instructed by Rukia Kuchiki, the Soul Reaper that gave him his powers as a Soul Reaper. Soul Reapers have the duty of saving souls from Hollows, sending those souls to the Soul Society, and purifying the Hollows so that they too may be admitted to the Soul Society.
THE ZANPAKUTO
Every sword that a Soul Reaper has—called a "zanpakuto"—possesses a spirit in itself. This spirit, in both its form and personality/countenance, is a reflection of the Soul Reaper that wields the zanpakuto. There is also an element of mystery encompassing the nature of the spirit which is within every zanpakuto.
The spirit of Ichigo's zanpakuto, Zangetsu
These spirits have minds of their own; and although they cooperate with their Soul Reaper in order to further the advancement of power their Soul Reaper is able to unleash, sometimes the spirits might endeavor to control their Soul Reaper.
Once a person becomes a Soul Reaper and possesses a zanpakuto, his soul becomes intertwined or merged with the spirit that fills his sword. The Soul Reaper draws strength from his zanpakuto, and the spirit of the zanpakuto teaches the Soul Reaper how to wield and unlock the power that the spirit possesses. This bond between Soul Reaper and zanpakuto is intense.
Which is why, if a Soul Reaper isn't careful, the spirit of his zanpakuto might turn on him.
THE HOLLOW WITHIN
Ichigo's inner Hollow is exactly like Ichigo but all the light and darkness of his appearance is reversed
Ichigo's zanpakuto, and the spirit accompanying it, is named Zangetsu. Originally unknown to Ichigo, there is another side to Zangetsu—a darker side. Zangetsu is one with a Hollow; they are the same person, but one side is good while the other is evil.
The evil side of Zangetsu was said to have been "born" when Kiskue Urahara—Ichigo's hippy-of-a-mentor—forced Ichigo into regaining his Soul Reaper powers by using a method called "Encroachment". Encroachment caused Ichigo to run the line between turning into a Hollow himself, or becoming a Soul Reaper (since he had lost his power as a Soul Reaper). The result on the surface appeared to be that he became a Soul Reaper again—clean, plain and simple. However, underlying his transformation was the merging of Zangetsu with Ichigo's inner Hollow, who was brought about by Encroachment—as a side effect, so to speak.
Ichigo's Hollow mask begins to form as he undergoes Encroachment
Yet, it proved to be a much bigger "side effect" than Ichigo expected. When Ichigo battles Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of Squad Six of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, in order to save Rukia from being executed, Ichigo is suddenly possessed by his inner Hollow. The Hollow saves Ichigo's life, but states that Ichigo is too weak to be using Zangetsu/himself. At the time, Ichigo is unaware that the Hollow and Zangetsu are the same person.
Ichigo is possessed by his Hollow as he fights Captain Kuchiki
Ichigo regains control of himself. But ever since his battle with Captain Kuchiki and his possession by his inner Hollow, Ichigo is now always subconsciously aware of the Hollow within himself. And the Hollow wants to come out—to control and possess Ichigo. The struggle to maintain control of his own body and soul steadily grows more intense for Ichigo.
At the same time, Ichigo's enemies become greater too. After Ichigo saves Rukia from being executed in the Soul Society, Captain Aizen of Squad Five rebels against the Soul Society. Aizen is incredibly powerful, and he plans to completely wipe out Ichigo's hometown and kill the king of the Soul Society. Aizen is also surrounded by an army of Arrancars—Hollows with the abilities of Soul Reapers—and the Espada, who are high-ranking, super strong Arrancars. These Arrancars, along with Aizen himself, present a huge threat to Ichigo, his friends, and both the members of the Real World and the Soul Society.
Aizen in all of his evil glory
Ichigo knows he isn't powerful enough to defend everyone he cares about. What's more, whenever he fights and uses more of his own spiritual power, the chances of him being possessed by his inner Hollow skyrocket. His resolve being torn down by the emerging of his inner Hollow, and the threat of exceedingly strong enemies, leaves Ichigo confused and unsure of how he can protect his friends.
THE VISOREDS
Shinji and the rest of the Visored crew
Shinji Hirako, along with his team of rogue Soul Reapers, invite Ichigo to become a Visored; a Soul Reaper that learns to subdue, control, and use the power of his inner Hollow. They are called Visoreds for the Hollow masks they wear, which are the center of their power. If Ichigo learns how to control his inner Hollow and use its power, he'll gain an immense amount of spiritual strength. Without the knowledge of how to maintain his inner Hollow, and facing the danger of Aizen and his Arrancars, Ichigo turns to the Visoreds for assistance.
In the end, Ichigo goes within himself and battles his Hollow, defeating the dark form of Zangetsu and therefore being able to harness his energy. The Visoreds continue with his training, and Ichigo gradually learns to control and use his inner Hollow. The more he battles, the more power he possesses, and the more he relies on using "Hollowfication" as the source of his might.
Is it right for Ichigo to resort to using the power of his inner Hollow for the sake of fighting Aizen and saving his friends? Zangetsu, or the dark side of Zangetsu, is clearly something evil by nature. His appearance, his motives, his methods—everything about Ichigo's inner Hollow possesses some sense of malice and morbidity. Ichigo fights his Hollow and conquers it. Nonetheless, the Hollow doesn't go away; instead, he allows Ichigo to draw power from him. This power is clearly something dark; Ichigo joins with the evil-side of his soul in order to produce intense spiritual attacks.
So, what's wrong with this picture?
In order to answer the question of whether it is right to use evil to fight evil, we need to look at the situation from a logical perspective. All of this can be simplified by this basic moral truth:
The end doesn't justify the means.
This logical statement works could be explained with this example: Say a man wants to become rich. Becoming rich is the "end". Let's say further that the man's "means" of achieving his "end"—becoming rich—is robbing a bank.
The example with the man is similar to Ichigo's: both ends are good. Ichigo wants to protect his friends and save the world; the man wants to become rich. Nothing is wrong there. But if we say that "the end justifies the means", then, according to that statement, any means found necessary is "okay". Why? Because the end, in-and-of-itself, is something good. However, we can see that this is flawed from a moral perspective. Just because the end is good, that doesn't mean it's right to reach the end using immoral means. That's a problem. We could win all wars by torturing the enemy's citizens until the enemy surrenders—winning a war: good; torturing people to do it: bad. (#lameexample…I know)
So here's where the truth comes in: The means justifies the end.
This is a logical/moral principle that encourages people to build good upon good. A good means should bring about a good end. Let's go back to the man that wants to be rich, but make the example different; now his means is getting a job and working hard, and watching his everyday budget: good. The end? He becomes rich: good. That's the way it's supposed to work. Not everybody will become rich, of course, if they work hard and watch their budget. But you get the idea.
But then, what's wrong with Ichigo? What's wrong with his means?
The main thing wrong with the story, in that Ichigo obtains his source of strength from his inner Hollow, is that the line between what's good and what's evil becomes blurred. Ichigo takes on the form of something evil, bringing down his own good character, for the sake of something good. This can lead some people into confusion: is that what heroes do? They join themselves with evil to do good? Do heroes turn into monsters or evil spirits for the sake of what's right?
And ah: monsters and evil spirits don't do what's right.
"No, but Ichigo does."
In a sense, Ichigo does do something good. After all, his end is pure. But his means is not. Evil doesn't produce good. We can become stronger through dealing with a form of evil that surrounds or threatens us. But evil is never the producer of good.
This might sound like a story from the Bible, to some viewers. Joseph, the son of Jacob, (the one with the swagged-out, colored-cloak) is sold by his brothers into slavery to the Egyptians: bad. However, he rises through the ranks of Egypt to become second-in-command and help his family in a time of famine: good. The "bad" stuff—being sold into slavery—didn't produce the good—Joseph becoming second-in-command and helping his family. In the story, God gave Joseph a way to react to the evil, so to speak; a loophole. But the evil didn't create the good.
Nevertheless, Ichigo clearly endeavors to do the opposite. He draws upon the power of evil and assumes an evil form itself. A flaw, or falsity, therefore, corrupts the nature of the story of Bleach. Bleach, whether or not the author Tite Kubo intended this, preaches that we can reach into ourselves and pull out our "inner Hollow" and use it for good.
If we think about it, we can see how this negatively morphs society's perception of heroism. If Ichigo is equated with being a hero—the one who "defeats the bad guy"—and at the same time is merged with a form of evil, isn't there a chance those people that look up to Ichigo will think it is right to merge with evil to produce good? To the people of the anime world, Bleach is saying, in however an indirect way, that the face of a hero…well, may indeed look like this:
Ichigo in his "Hollowfied" form
The face of something good is portrayed using the face of evil…doesn't this seem twisted in any way? Doesn't that bother you, or seem wrong?
Ichigo's means? Using evil.
Ichigo's end? Saving his friends and the world.
Logical? No.
Moral? No.
The means justifies the end, not the other way round.
Tell me what you think and share your thoughts…I'm really looking forward to hearing your take on this!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Aul
P.S. Through the end of July only, my eBooks are free at Smashwords.com!
P.P.S. Just a shout-out to my really smart dad who helped me with all of this logic and philosophy 🙂 You know your stuff, Dad!
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