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FLUNKING
All the ways the new AP US history standards gloss over the country's racist past
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
The 2015 AP US history standards will lessen understanding, increase divisiveness.
By Jake Flanagin
July 31, 2015 This article is more than 2 years old.
The College Board, the non-profit company that designs Advanced Placement tests for US high schools, has announced new standards for its AP US history curriculum. The revisions are "clearer and more historically precise, and less open to misinterpretation or perceptions of imbalance," according to a statement released July 30.
These standards are guidelines by which AP US history teachers are to craft their lesson plans. The ultimate goal is to prepare students to take the AP US history examination at the end of the year. High exam scores may count toward college credit, saving university-bound students some money and time (AP credits may also be used to fulfill general education requirements at some institutions).
The revisions come after the 2014 standards were vocally criticized by conservatives for being "anti-American" and focusing too forcefully on "divisive" topics, such as slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the Trail of Tears. The Republican National Committee complained that the 2014 standards reflected "a radically revisionist view of American history that emphasizes negative aspects of our nation's history while omitting or minimizing positive aspects." State legislatures in Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma all introduced bills to eliminate the course from public high schools.
In the face of criticism, the College Board blinked—and future generations of US high school students will pay the price.
The revised AP curriculum significantly tones down language (and even mentions) of racial tension throughout US history. To illustrate, page 35 of the 2014 standards reads:
"Many Europeans developed a belief in white superiority to justify their subjugation of Africans and American Indians, using several different rationales."
This statement has been removed from the 2015 standards, and replaced with the softer (hardly more "historically precise") idea that interracial interaction in the colonial and antebellum years spurred "evolving religious, cultural, and racial justifications for [their] subjugation."
The 2014 standards were also more straightforward in describing the role of white Europeans in the near-extermination of Native peoples:
"By supplying American Indian allies with deadlier weapons and alcohol, and by rewarding Indian military actions, Europeans helped increase the intensity and destructiveness of American Indian warfare."
The new and supposedly improved 2015 standards get rid of this context, noting simply:
"The introduction of guns, other weapons, and alcohol stimulated cultural and demographic changes in some Native American societies."
And the hits keep coming. Regarding the basis of American slavery, the 2014 standards read:
"Reinforced by a strong belief in British racial and cultural superiority, the British system enslaved black people in perpetuity, altered African gender and kinship relationships in the colonies and was one factor that led the British colonists into violent confrontations with native peoples."
The 2015 standards have been revised to read:
"As chattel slavery became the dominant labor system in many southern colonies, new laws created a strict racial system that prohibited interracial relationships and defined the descendants of African American mothers as black and enslaved in perpetuity."
This is an especially dangerous amendment, as it suggests that white supremacy didn't inspire the slave economy, but was rather a byproduct of economic necessity at the time. It is, in essence, a very fancy way of saying slaveholding was practical and justifiable in the centuries it was practiced, and that the decades of anti-miscegenation laws and postbellum structural discrimination were merely byproducts of that economic necessity.
(And, in case the mere mention of such unsavory topics as "slavery" is too bruising to the fragile psyches of American students, the 2015 standards stress the relationship between "national identity" and "American exceptionalism," technically defined as the idea that the United States is inherently different from all other nations, but frequently invoked to express the idea of innate American superiority.)
At a time when our racialized history is particularly visible, stunting students with warped, sugar-coated notions of social and political history will only foster more divisiveness. Affluent, whiter schools tend to have a wider array of AP coursework than others. Indoctrinating these students with inaccurate portrayals of a historiographically flawless United States will cement an already extant unwillingness to understand or identify with groups that are still dealing with the reverberations of systemic disenfranchisement today.
Get excited for the inevitable 2016 revisions, where slavery will be referred to as "involuntary labor," Native Americans will be called "pre-Americans," and casus belli for the Civil War will be diluted down to a simple dispute on the true height of Lincoln's top hat.


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Drinking about 8 glasses equal to 68 ounces or 2 liters of water per day can make you burn about 96 more calories. This figure is widely used as a benchmark as the basis of food labels, such as the 'Percent Daily Intake' values," dietitian Robbie Clark told HuffPost Australia.
To find out how much energy you need each day, use this calculator as a guide. For this reason, drinking sugary soda doesn't make your brain automatically compensate by having you eat less of other things instead 11 Summary Lifting weights is important, as it reduces muscle loss and prevents your metabolic rate from slowing down.
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England's Under-20 squad have achieved what their senior contemporaries have failed to do since 1966 and won a World Cup after beating Venezuela 1-0.
The Young Lions stormed to victory courtesy of Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who managed the only goal in a tense game at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in South Korea.
The young Newcastle goalkeeper then stopped hearts leaping out of mouths with a fine penalty save from Adalberto Penaranda on 76 minutes.
However, Paul Simpson's boys eventually managed to hold their nerve and cling on to the narrowest of results to secure their place in football history.
England had cut a swathe through the likes of Mexico and Argentina to get to the final, while Venezuela overcame a tricky Uruguayan side on penalties in the semi-final.
England's progress in the tournament will have piqued the interest of fans from both the red and blue halves of Liverpool.
The Reds' new signing Dominic Solanke hit it off well with fellow youngster Sheyi Ojo, while Everton's Calvert-Lewis and Ademola Lookman provided England with the impetus to go on and win.
No doubt we'll be hearing the words 'golden generation' by time Monday morning rolls around.
Let's give these lads a little time to get their feet back on the ground first, hey?
Venezuela in the final… that tells all you need to know about the quality of the tournament.
England winning… that tells all you need to know about the quality of the tournament.


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11 Reasons why Aam Aadmi revolution is not ready to reach Lok Sabha yet
Sunday, 12 January 2014 Edit this post
A debate has been going on whether AAP should fight the Lok Sabha elections or not. While there are equally strong points to support both the sides, I somehow feel that AAP should not 'rush' into fighting these elections. Here is why:
1) Throwing the Congress out
UPA-II has ruined India during the last 5 years. The boom that could be seen 7-10 years ago now seems like a bubble which was bound to burst. No one can argue that these elections are more about humiliating UPA so that they are never able to recover from this defeat. The presence of AAP will only give Congress a chance to survive this much required blow.
2) Delhi elections vs Loksabha elections
While I always believed that AAP was not a 'vote-cutting' party in Delhi, the Lok Sabha is going to be a very different story. The number of voters in every constituency is very high, and winning a constituency requires widespread influence, especially at the grassroot level. We already have a number of parties 'cutting' votes, AAP will only facilitate such MPs to retain their seats.
3) Economic Policies
Yogendra Yadav has long been mentioning the 31 committees that are working to formulate AAP's national policies. But what worries me the most is the economic policies of AAP.
– Prashant Bhushan has recently been very friendly with Marxist & Communist leaders, often sharing his views with them and getting appreciated. While AAP claims that it is neither Left nor Right, their inclination towards the Left is a cause of worry for the nation which is already reeling under high fiscal deficit and slow Industrial Growth.
– Though Kejriwal very clearly talks against freebies in his book 'Swaraj', free water is clearly one. Such expectations will be there if they fight the Lok Sabha elections. Not all states can afford free water and cheap electricity and subsidizing such basic necessities will put tremendous stress on our Current Account Deficit. Explaining these terms to a person in a village is not possible and AAP will have to realize it sooner or later that elections are not about announcing freebies alone.
– The socialist outlook of Mr. Yogender Yadav is also a cause of concern. We have already seen the outcome of the socialist policies of Nehru. It is very important for AAP to make it clear whether they will support the socialist policies or come out with some out of the box ideas. Until then, AAP should be seen as a burden to the already fragile and suffering economy.
– In Delhi, AAP has been focusing on corruption and cracking down on the inefficient bureaucrats. But what I fear might be neglected is the industrial growth and the revenue generation if no strong policies are made to encourage small businesses and young entrepreneurs, something that Kejriwal initially supported but hasn't spoken about lately.
– The economic policies and initiatives of BJP have been good and the fact that BJP governed states have actually shown strong growth even during the slowdown of the Indian economy does make one think that AAP may not be able to compete with BJP's economic vision.
– Opposing FDI throughout India is again a policy that will affect the economy. While opening ourselves completely might put our small home grown business at risk, the revenue and the employment generation does make up for the losses. So opening ourselves to restricted FDI in some of the industries can be a good move, but blindly opposing it will only cause the investors to be wary of investing in India.
4) Fragmented Parliament and risks of coalition
Parties like BSP, SP, CPI(M) etc. have always focused on opposing policies that affect their vote bank. How many times have we seen the coalition partners of UPA changing during the last 10 years? Almost every year someone withdraws support or rejoins. What did we get in the end? A 2G scam by a regional party DMK! Every party wants a good portfolio to siphon out money (like all Bihar leaders want railways!) All this is ONLY because of the arm-twisting that goes on for 5 years in the name of support. Major policies are opposed mindlessly and the populist policies are supported by everyone.
AAP by winning anywhere close to 30-50 seats could again fragment the parliament further and what we will surely see is more arm-twisting, this time by AAP. Let one party come close to majority for once, because anyway even coalition governments are difficult to bring down in less than 5 years.
5) Finding clean candidates is easy, but tracking their honesty is not!
While finding good candidates out of a billion people is not difficult, but let's not forget that AAP has only 3 months to look for such honest people. Can the leaders of AAP screen and judge so many candidates and be sure that the ones they choose will not work for personal gains? Managing Delhi was easy, and will be easy in the future as well since it geographically fits in a very small area. But managing candidates at an all-India level is just not possible without a well-defined process, something that is missing from AAP's structure.
6) Resources and availability of leaders
If one has analyzed why AAP was able to win Delhi was because of the convenient size of Delhi. Not much effort was required to travel from one constituency to another and AAP was able to manage with just 5-10 leaders. Jan-sabhas got good response since they were right in the neighborhood of the people. But is it possible to hold jan-sabhas in huge constituencies? Some of the constituencies may not have dense population, but could be half the size of Delhi! How will then AAP manage its resources and make its leaders available for jan-sabhas? And I'm sure, jan-sabhas will be replaced by rallies, like the Jan-Vishwas Rally in Amethi.
7) Swaraj – yet to be tested and risky!
While no one can argue that the concept of Swaraj is really attractive, but such changes cannot be incorporated overnight. What Arvind tried by holding his 'Janta Darbar' was actually a very predictable failure considering that no process had been defined to involve people and refine the frivolous complainants! Without seeing the practical implementation of Swaraj (and Delhi is the best place to show it), it is just a risky concept which may give power to people to fight against each other for resources.
8) National Policies- Referendums and the risks involved
Yes, it is now time to talk about Prashant Bhushan and his views that have caused an uproar everywhere. While there is no doubt that his intention is to make the life of Kashmiris better, holding a referendum for such issues could be disastrous. What may be successful in one state could mean expectations and hostilities in another, for example the North Eastern states. What if Kashmiris vote against army presence and the rest of India votes in favor of it? Whose referendum our we going to accept? Politics needs maturity, and though they are maturing fast enough, we cannot afford to put issues of national integration at stake by giving power in the hands of people who are yet to prove their worth politically.
9) Reservations and Mr. Yadav's recent views
The word that has ruined India and divided us on the basis of our caste- the R-word. While Kejriwal's views on reservations are impressive and give us some hope of seeing a revamped social structure, they will not be accepted by the people who are used to reservations. There will be stiff resistance and violent protests if the scope of reservations is decreased. But at the same time, Mr. Yadav supports including more communities in this framework. There are already many communities trying to get reservations and there are a number of political parties supporting them. How then is AAP different from others? We just can NOT afford to have any more parties which support reservations. Hope AAP will make its stand clear in the coming days and impress everyone, till then I would personally refrain from supporting AAP.
10) Religion and AAP's inexperience
The major mistakes of AAP have been while handling religion, even though Delhi is one of the easiest states to handle because of its tolerance for different religions and communities. But going national will mean having a very very sensitive approach towards religion and being secular- not like the BJP or Congress. Can AAP do it? Looking at the age and experience of its members, it seems very improbable. The media will hound the members of AAP to death, and any comment that fuels hatred will be repeatedly shown to gain TRPs. And considering that AAP has only 3 months to mature, it really is a difficult task.
11) Inexperience and immaturity
What makes me discuss inexperience? Because the actions of AAP after coming to power in Delhi have shown its inexperience. Mr. Vishwas has started talking more than before- challenging Modi was one thing he should have avoided right now. Prashant Bhushan has made very dangerous statements. Kejriwal and his young cabinet have been struggling to face the media, specially Rakhi Birla who has been rude at times. The Janta Darbar itself was a clear display of inexperience. Anyone could have predicted the chaos that one would witness without any defined process. Even Mr. Sisodia wants people to volunteer and monitor the government schools. But again, is it feasible without a well defined process?
I do agree that contesting on all seats is important for people to take AAP seriously. I would love to see AAP sitting in the opposition by cleaning up parties like SP, BSP and reducing Congress to a regional party. But by focusing on the downfall of BJP, AAP will surely put India's next 5 years at risk- political instability, policy failures & economic downfall might follow if AAP hurts BJP more than the regional parties.
It is therefore important to focus on Congress ruled states and some others states that are ruled by regional parties like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and. It will be great if AAP leaders fight against incumbent leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Digvijay Singh, Kapil Sibal, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and throw these people out. We all know AAP is the only party that has the potential to do so.
It is important to set examples of honesty and clean politics, but not at the cost of India's development.
Written by Manish Paul
An avid follower of politics. Believes that political revolution in India is long overdue.
AAP Arvind Kejriwal Congress Delhi Manish Paul Prashant Bhushan Swaraj Trending Yogendra Yadav
Indian Exponent: 11 Reasons why Aam Aadmi revolution is not ready to reach Lok Sabha yet
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http://www.indianexponent.com/2014/01/11-reasons-why-aam-aadmi-revolution-is-not-ready-to-reach-lok-sabha-yet.html

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Drugs, Movies Miles Klee March 31, 2020
The infamous 'ass to ass' scene is now a standard of overwrought cinema
With hindsight, many critics now view 1999 as a high point for cinema. Not only did this period unveil an embarrassment of riches, it launched the careers of directors and actors who would become the titans of Hollywood in the decades to follow. But while genre-bending novelty and meta-narrative were the order of the day at the end of the 1990s, the year 2000 was rather more conservative: Gladiator, Almost Famous and Erin Brockovich racked up the awards, with Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon often the lone representative of fanciful filmmaking.
One auteur, however, sought to push the envelope while delivering a brutally old-fashioned morality fable. Darren Aronofsky, following up his psychological thriller Pi, a shoestring debut that became a cult favorite practically overnight, adapted the 1978 Hubert Selby Jr. novel Requiem for a Dream, which follows the tribulations of four addicts in New York. Selby's fiction is celebrated as a chaotic descent into the urban underworlds he knew — he had no creative training beyond the sound of the street — yet in Aronofsky's hands, this raw material would serve a polished aesthetic. His Requiem is composed of lightning-sharp edits, distorted colors, exaggerated sound, fish-eye lenses, punishing closeups (alternated with chilly long shots) and rhythmic pattern-making that builds to a horrifying climax over a relentless 100 minutes.
The slickness of Aronofksy's style made Requiem into a contemporary classic for any college sophomore dude half a semester into his first film class — the guy who thinks movies must be depressing and difficult to qualify as high art. In fact, apart from the in-your-face editing technique (Aronofksy calls it "hip-hop montage," which, ugh), there's not much complexity to this tragic arc: Harry (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) and friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are junkies high on a supply of heroin they meant to sell in hopes of improving their lives; meanwhile, Harry's mom Sara (Ellen Burstyn) is taking prescription amphetamines to lose weight, convinced she's going to be on TV one day.
All are lost to their drug-fueled delusions, and the finale covers a quartet of simultaneous agonies: Harry has an infected arm amputated while in prison with Tyrone, who suffers both withdrawal and racial abuse; speed-addled Sara is subjected to electroconvulsive therapy; and Marion reluctantly turns to sex work to feed her habit.
If it's Marion's degradation that sticks with viewers, that's down to an oft-cited phrase bound to conjure the corresponding visual: "Ass to ass." This is what a lecherous old fellow demands of Marion and another woman entertaining a debauched party of men in suits who howl their approval. The naked pair assume the position, each on all fours, so that a giant, lubed-up double dildo can anally penetrate both at once, the women pushing it back and forth between them.
Only the ass-positive youth of today can say whether this turn remains as shocking as it was 20 years ago. But back then, it was peak edginess to the aspiring film bro, a can-they-do-that-in-a-movie moment equally disturbing and titillating to the juvenile viewer. It's the kind of detail that earns Requiem's reputation as "too intense for some," "hard to watch" and "the best movie you never want to see again" — the traumatic remove that helps to keep it slotted under 2001: A Space Odyssey and above Vertigo on IMDb's list of the 250 top-rated films.
Because if you never revisited this grotesque melodrama, you might not realize how god-awful it is. "Ass to ass" lived on as a punchline for everyone from Deadpool to Daniel Tosh, a prime example of lewd cinematic overkill. It tips Aronofsky's heavy hand, and for what? To hammer the message "drugs are bad" all the way up your colon? Marion is already part of a grim, dehumanizing sex show, but it's not enough, especially after a decade of films that plumb the depths of heroin use — Drugstore Cowboy, The Basketball Diaries, Trainspotting, etc. Therefore, we get the dildo maneuver, a piece of one-upmanship more repulsive than the act itself.
Dir: Darren Aronofsky
(I'm so so so sorry) pic.twitter.com/Iyh72Ffuh2
— Yeah! Dan! (@yeah_dancerruti) March 24, 2020
the lady and the tramp spaghetti scene is the equivalent of the requiem for a dream double sided dildo ass to ass scene
— your own personal jesus (@Kappa_Kappa) November 16, 2019
everybody trump hires looks like one of the guys yelling ass to ass in requiem for a dream https://t.co/wbr3SVIUMZ
— Open Mike Eagle (@Mike_Eagle) July 12, 2019
If "ass to ass" were truly the harrowing signature Aronofsky wanted it to be — he must have liked the actor's delivery, since he then cast that guy as a creep who masturbates in front of Natalie Portman on the subway in Black Swan — I doubt it would have this enduring comic heritage. It's accidentally funny in how it discredits any empathy Aronofsky feigns for these characters; clearly, they exist to be punished, vessels for the baroque misery where an actual story might be appreciated, and the actors bear much of that indignity in their earnest attempt to bring his suffocating vision to life. (Jennifer Lawrence met the same fate in Mother!, his dreadful setpiece allegory of 2017.) It's all brought home by the looping, throbbing strings of the Kronos Quartet on the soundtrack, your unmistakable prompt to Take This All Very Seriously, Or Else.
How frustrated do you think Darren Aronofsky has to be that "ASS TO ASS" is the only thing anyone remembers from Requiem for a Dream?
— Langston Thee Show Pony (@LangstonKerman) August 3, 2019
Now, thank god, most of us know better, and we treat "ass to ass" as an allusion roughly equivalent to a South Park gag of the same era. If you put an ass-to-ass sequence in, say, a Megan Thee Stallion video, fans would brush it off as tame. The concept was never going to survive a world of infinite, hyper-accessible porn and fetish content — what possible cachet does it have for a generation that grew up on "2 Girls 1 Cup"?
Aronofsky has himself to blame, thinking he could break a taboo for the hell of it, or maybe to force his stigmatizing anti-drug PSA into the conversation with the legendary titles of transgressive cinema. It was hollow and desperate, another trick to stun you into believing Requiem was courageous instead of scolding, unbound rather than shackled to stereotypes. Even for those once appalled and mesmerized by the scene, only a dimmed memory of that initial response is left. For an instant, two women were joined, improbably, at the anus. Just a second later, the spell of that bond was broken.
Miles Klee
Miles Klee is MEL's resident tank-top dirtbag, shitposter and meme expert. He's also the author of the novel 'Ivyland' and a story collection, 'True False.'
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are going to keep Archie's godparents a secret
July 03, 2019	 by Alexandra Hurtado
Archie Harrison's godparents are being kept a royal secret. Buckingham Palace confirmed on Wednesday, July 3, that the royal baby's christening will take place on Saturday, July 6; however they also noted that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have decided to keep the names of their son's godparents private.
Archie's godparents will be kept private
In a statement, the palace said, "Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will be christened in a small private ceremony by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday, July 6th. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex look forward to sharing some images taken on the day by photographer Chris Allerton. The godparents, in keeping with their wishes, will remain private."
MORE: Archie Harrison is embarking on his first royal tour
Many have speculated that Meghan's famous pal Serena Williams, who is competing at Wimbledon this week, and close friend Jessica Mulroney are potential candidates for godmother. Meanwhile, Harry's mentor Mark Dyer, whose son Jasper was a pageboy at his royal wedding, and Soho House director Markus Anderson are possible options for godfather.
Meghan and Harry's son will be christened at Windsor Castle
It was previously reported that the baptism would be a private event. As many expected, the Duke and Duchess will share photos from the royal affair, though it's unclear when. The intimate christening, which will be taking place on Archie's two-month birthday, will be attended by less than 25 guests.
MORE: Prince Harry delivers speech about son Archie and mom Princess Diana
Archie's grandfather Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, and Kate Middleton are expected to attend, in addition to Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, who is flying in from the United States. One famous relative who will not be in attendance is Archie's great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth because of a prior commitment.
Archie Harrison
Meghan Markle volunteers incgonito at soup kitchen in never-before-seen photo
Royal babies and toddlers you might not be familiar with
Princess Beatrice cancels engagement party
Kate Middleton is stepping up her game with these private lessons
Princess Sofia turns 35: Celebrate with her and Prince Carl Philip's sweetest photos
Queen Elizabeth shares a throwback video from her first Christmas broadcast
The reason why Meghan Markle's top aide resigned
Prince Harry's exciting baby news revealed while he's on royal break with Meghan
PSA: Meghan Markle's favorite lash conditioner is on sale!


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were normal. Basically she was told she had post partum depression.
Her outcome was amazing. Her general malaise began to subside within the first 2weeks.
she went back to school to become a landscape engineer and designer.
take drugs model. Fortunately for her all turned well and more.
There is no such thing as overnight success, it takes hard work and dedication.
This is an informational discussion for you to present and share with your family and friends.


text:
HESS J1427-608 and - finally - its X-ray counterpart
Discovery image of of HESS J1427-608, from Aharonian et al. 2008. The gamma-ray excess at the right of the image is the hard X-ray source known as the Kookaburra/Rabbit.
The very high energy gamma ray source HESS J1427-608 (top image) was discovered already in 2007 in the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey (Aharonian et al. 2008), as an unidentified source without X-ray or radio counterpart. HESS J1427-608 is an extended source of about 3' Gaussian width, and has a rather hard gamma ray spectrum extending up to tens of TeV. If the gamma rays orginate from an electron population, one would normally expect accompanying synchrotron radiation in the X-ray regime. At least in the ROSAT data none was observed (Fig. 1), making this one of the puzzling 'dark' gamma ray sources.
Only recently, Suzaku X-ray observations revealed a plausible counterpart - a coincident extended X-ray source - Suzaku J1427–6051 (Fujinaga et al., 2013), see Fig. 2. The X-ray radial profile has an extension of about 0.9' (Fig. 3); the X-ray energy spectrum has a spectral index of 3.1, steeper than the gamma ray spectrum with its index of about 2.2. The 2nd Fermi catalog also lists a GeV gamma-ray source consistent in position with the H.E.S.S. source and the Suzaku source. A plausible interpretation of HESS J1427-608 / Suzaku J1427–6051 is a pulsar wind nebula; gamma-ray and X-ray spectra and yields are consistent if the radiation originates from high energy electrons in a region with about 5 muG magnetic field, and are consistent with the range of values observed for other pulsar wind nebulae. However, lacking the detection of both pulsed emission from the pulsar and of a radio nebula, Fujinaga et al. also discuss a possible supernova remnant origin.
Reference: "HESS very-high-energy gamma-ray sources without identified counterparts", H.E.S.S. Collaboration, F. Aharonian et al., Astronomy & Astrophysics 447 (2008) 353
and "An X-ray counterpart of HESS J1427-608 discovered with Suzaku", T. Fujinaga et al., arXiv:1301.5274
Fig. 1: H.E.S.S. significance countours of HESS J1427-608 (black) overlayed on a radio image; the green contours are from a ROSAT hard-band X-ray image (from Aharonian et al. 2008)
Fig. 2: Suzaku XIS image of the HESS J1427-608 field in the 2-8 keV band. Circles indicate the position and extent of the H.E.S.S. source and the error circle for the position of the Fermi source 2FGL J1427.6–6048c. The green contours indicate the intensity of the XIS image in linear scale. From Fujinaga et al., 2013.
Fig. 3: Radial profiles of the X-ray source in the 2-8 keV band, with simulations of a point source and of an extended source on top of a background. From Fujinaga et al., 2013.


text:
Толленьйо () — коммуна в Италии, располагается в регионе Пьемонт, в провинции Бьелла.

Население составляет 2679 человек (2008 г.), плотность населения составляет 893 чел./км². Занимает площадь 3 км². Почтовый индекс — 13818. Телефонный код — 015.

Покровителем коммуны почитается святой Герман Осерский, празднование 31 июля.

Мэром коммуны является Пьер Джузеппе Аккуадро.

Демография
Динамика населения:

Администрация коммуны
 Официальный сайт: https://web.archive.org/web/20060506141455/http://www.comunetollegno.it/modules/news/

Примечания

Ссылки
 Официальный сайт населённого пункта
 Национальный институт статистики
 Национальный институт статистики

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
La Sonate pour piano  opus 293 de Darius Milhaud est composée à Carpinteria en 1949 et dédiée à Monique Haas.

Histoire
Darius Milhaud compose sa deuxième sonate pour piano en 1949. Elle est créée à la BBC le 4 mars 1950 par Monique Haas, pianiste et dédicataire de l'œuvre.

Structure
 Alerte
 Léger
 Doucement
 Rapide

Analyse
Le deuxième mouvement est sur un rythme à .

Bibliographie
 François-René Tranchefort, guide de la musique de piano et clavecin, éd. Fayard 1987 p.529

Liens externes

Œuvre de Darius Milhaud
Milhaud


James White established Kwanto in 2006 and leads the company's growth and development.
With over 20 years of quantity surveying experience, James has worked on a variety of projects in New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore and Malaysia. James specialises in leaky building cases and provides quantum evidence for both plaintiffs and defendants at mediation, adjudication and High Court proceedings.
James' professional highlights include preparing quantum evidence for High Court, insurance valuation of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and publishing articles promoting the role of the Quantity Surveyor.
At the 2013 AGM he was awarded the President's Citation for his outstanding contribution to the institute.


text:
Q: How to manage a RestEndpoint with Spring Application Events? I´m developing a spring boot microservice and I´m raising application events to execute my services and do my business stuff.
It works well when I listen from Kafka, but also I want to implement an endpoint that returns a response.
I raise my application event in the restController but what I don´t know is how to get the result of the service to return the value in my controller.
    public String publisRequestEvent(@RequestHeader HttpHeaders httpHeaders,
            @RequestBody MyDto myDTO) throws InterruptedException {

        MyRequestEvent event =
                new MyRequestEvent(myDTO);
        applicationEventPublisher.publishEvent(event);

        //TODO how I listen to the result once the event has been processed?
        return "result.";

    } ```

A: You can not get result of your event. Both sync or asyn ApplicationEventPublisher returns void. And your event startes in another thread.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Der Renault Type Y war ein frühes Personenkraftwagenmodell von Renault. Er wurde auch 10 CV genannt.

Beschreibung
Die nationale Zulassungsbehörde erteilte am 14. Januar 1905 die Zulassung. Vorgänger war der Renault Type U (a). Den Type Y (a) gab es 1905 und den Type Y (b) von 1905 bis 1906. Die Nutzfahrzeugvariante Renault Type AJ von 1906 bis 1909 basierte auf diesem Modell. Nachfolger beider Ausführungen wurde der Renault Type AH.

Ein wassergekühlter Zweizylindermotor mit 100 mm Bohrung und 120 mm Hub leistete aus 1885 cm³ Hubraum 10 PS. Eine Quelle gibt davon abweichend 100 mm Bohrung, 120 bis 130 mm Hub und 1885 bis 2042 cm³ Hubraum an. Die Motorleistung wurde über eine Kardanwelle an die Hinterachse geleitet. Die Höchstgeschwindigkeit war je nach Übersetzung mit 42 km/h bis 51 km/h angegeben.

Renault Type Y (a)
Dies war die kurze Ausführung. Bei einem Radstand von 246 cm und einer Spurweite von 126 cm war das Fahrzeug 340 cm lang und 155 cm breit. Das Fahrgestell wog 750 kg, das Komplettfahrzeug 1100 kg. Der Preis betrug 7500 Franc bzw. 8600 Franc für einen Doppelphaeton.

Das Auktionshaus Bonhams versteigerte am 5. Februar 2011 einen Type Y (a) für 40.250 Euro.

Renault Type Y (b)
Dies war die lange Ausführung. Der Radstand maß 262 cm und das Fahrzeug 360 cm. Die Breite war identisch. Das Fahrzeug wog 1200 kg. Der Preis betrug 7800 Franc. Von diesem Modell war auch eine Limousine verfügbar.

Literatur
 Gilbert Hatry, Claude Le Maître: Dossiers Chronologiques Renault. Voitures Particulières. Tome 1: 1899–1905. Editions Lafourcade, Paris 1977, S. 144–197.

Weblinks

 Histomobile Hinweis: Die Abmessungen beziehen sich auf den Type Y (a).  (englisch, abgerufen am 16. August 2014)
 voitures.renault.free.fr (französisch, abgerufen am 30. August 2014)

Einzelnachweise

Tourenwagen
Limousine


Small clubs don't have it easy. Very often they book top quality acts that play to a dozen people – most of whom spend the evening at the bar. There are some gigs where the hall gets lucky though, and the audience too. I remember seeing Robert Cray play a Portsmouth ballroom the week 'Phonebooth' took the UK charts by storm. More recently, Jack Savoretti played a small and sweaty set at MTC in Cologne before setting foot firmly in the UK Pop Charts with 'After the Storm'. Tonight it was Luxor's time to get lucky as a long queue that had begun forming an hour before doors were opened filtered into the narrow corridor leading directly to the stage for Blues music's worst kept secret – Larkin Poe.
3songs has raved about these girls for a while now, but a quick heads-up about the band for newcomers. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell are from Atlanta, Georgia. Their first tentative musical steps began in 2005 as a bluegrass combo with eldest sister Jessica but, as their many home-taped YouTube videos have shown since, the sister's hearts beat for the Blues. Jessica left the band (although I'm wondering if she might be the lady checking the guitars before the show tonight). Elvis Costello got them touring with him, and Glastonbury 2014 saw the sisters named best new band. Since then, three excellent CD's of raw, visceral blues and constant touring have led the talented sisters to the little venue of Luxor this evening but will lead them far, far higher soon.
There being two sisters leading the band, an expectant hush fell on the crowd just after 8pm as the lights went down on two front-stage microphones. Murmurs of surprise/disappointment followed when the spotlights revealed Anna Moss and Joel Ludford – better known as Arkansas band Handmade Moments. Ludford immediately sensed the atmosphere and countered with a swift "Not what you were expecting, huh?!". The ice was broken, and a couple of excellent songs in, all was completely forgiven on the expectancy front.
Handmade Moments delivered a solid set, punctuated by Moss with frequent 'Um, chahs!' into the microphone to replace background rhythms. Nice to hear someone doing it this way rather than the increasingly over-used loop pedals and plug-in sound effects. Just to be on the safe side about capturing a German audience, the duo did an enjoyable version of 'Mercedes Benz'. Hats off to the Handmade Moments, they are accompanying Larkin Poe on their European dates, and there is an audience in Europe now that is impatiently waiting to hear the girls. On this breezy performance, I'm sure a lot of that audience is also going home clutching a freshly bought Handmade Moments CD.
When sisters Megan and Rebecca first step onto the stage they really don't seem to take up very much of it. The first song of the evening. 'Tom Devil' sees the pair standing around a single microphone, tucked away in a corner. It's a far cry from the two-minute musical build-up by the band accompanying Ana Popovic's appearance in Bonn last week. It's a universe away from the Thin Lizzy style of 'In Your Face!' openers too. Larkin Poe don't go in for stage theatrics – they just stand around that microphone singing, until you realise you are already under their power. That subtle, hypnotic clapping, and the single drumbeat percussion behind. It's the magic that explains the duo's success perfectly – They have the ability musically and visually to just be amazing.
But how will they fill this stage? The answer comes immediately as Rebecca Lovell straps on 'Buttermilk', her Stratocaster's pet name, and suddenly launches into the meanest and dirtiest riff you could imagine this side of gasoline alley. Blonde elder sister Megan almost dances across the stage with her lap-steel guitar, and this is as good as any rockband I've heard this year has got. Excuse me gentlemen of the band for not noting your names – but you too played your excellent, hard rocking parts.
Between those two openers is the breadth of Larkin Poe at their best. Simple, nervy, swamp-blues that constantly smoulders like a Chinese fire-cracker. Just when you think things are all calm – wham! the girls put the throttle back down – "tripping the breakers" as they perfectly describe it on 'Wanted Woman'. Two of the band's best-known tracks come surprisingly early in the set: The raunchy 'Trouble in Mind' and Lead Belly's 'Black Betty'. I'm sure Huddie Leadbetter would never have dreamed that two young white girls would take his classic and give it a fresh coat of paint in the 21st Century. The same is true I'm sure of Son House. If you haven't heard Larkin Poe's gobsmackingly amazing version of 'Preaching Blues' then please check it out online and come back to this review afterwards – I don't mind waiting for you! I was ten feet away from Megan's lap-steel guitar on this one and it was like an electric current running out to my ears.
There's a similar treat in store on the new disc in the shape of Skip James' classic 'Hard Time Killing Floor Blues'. How do these girls get so perfectly into the skin of old black men singing old blues songs?. It's a conundrum that Rebecca Lovell can't explain either. "I grew up lucky, with loving, supportive parents. I get to play music with my sister. I've had it pretty good. But I still get a lot of negative voices in my head. Inner demons…" Her song 'Freedom' is the reminder that she doesn't need to be controlled by these demons.
If it all sounds a bit horror/macabre then you should also know two things about the Lovell sisters: 1 – the 'Poe' in their name comes from Edgar Allan Poe, a distant relative and 2 – Rebecca has the mantra 'Memento Mori' (Remember you are mortal) tattooed inside her right arm. I get the feeling that this amazing affinity to raw blues comes from a deep well.
There are lighter moments too I hasten to add, as when she remarks on the differences between America and Germany by mentioning that over here you have to pay to use the gas station toilets. "I've paid for him many a time!" she laughs, pointing at the rather embarrassed but smiling man on drums. "You never know quite what this one's going to say!" laughs Megan at her sisters surprise conversational direction.
It's been a long review, so I really should wrap it up. What I really wanted to finish with is that I came to this show expecting to see two girls who I already knew looked and sounded great. I went away feeling that I witnessed something much deeper than flesh, blood and guitar riffs. A feeling that we've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg where Megan and Rebecca Lovell are concerned. The depth of their love for the traditional Blues, coupled with a slight leaning to the macabre side of the family's ancestral outlook. Mean guitar and diamond cutting lap-steel solos. There is much now to enjoy, and so much great music still to come I'm sure. In a world of increasingly fake musical integrity, these girls are the real deal.
Right now Larkin Poe are Harmonie sized in popularity. I hope Bonn will get them down here when they come back to Germany next March – before the inevitable Cologne Kantine date beckons. With not too many concerts before the end of this year, I can pretty well safely say this was the best of 2018.
This entry was posted in Gig Reviews, News and tagged blues, Bonn, Larkin Poe, Live Music. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Guns From Londonistan: the $350 million fine paid by Lloyds TSB Group
By Reuben F. Johnson
Weekly Standard | Tuesday, January 20, 2009
"Londonistan" is the nickname given to the UK capitol in 1995 by France's counterterrorism service, partly out of frustration over the safe haven that the city offers to radical Islamist groups that have been exiled from their home countries and/or other EU nations. The year 2009 began with a story that offers a whole new dimension as to how that nickname fits better than most of us would have imagined.
This past week one of the major UK banks, Lloyds TBS Group, paid $350 million to New York State and U.S. Federal authorities in an out-of-court settlement. The fine was paid over charges that Lloyds obscured the fact that billions of dollars that had passed from its office and then through U..S banks and finally on to other foreign destinations had originated in Iran, Libya, and Sudan in violation of U.S. sanctions on those nations. It is the largest fine ever paid in the history of the Manhattan DA's office.
In all, some $300 million from Iran are believed to have transferred on to American financial institutions via Lloyds, and another $20 million from Sudan. Both nations are accused of financing numerous terrorist organisations, and it appears that the Iranian money may have been used to purchase materials that were used in that nation's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development programs. Lloyds activities in acting as a laundering agent in this manner date back as far as 1995, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
At first glance this subterfuge appears to be a one-off set of incidents, but there are nine other banks being investigated for engaging in similar transactions. Officials in the DA's office talk of a "systemic, wide-ranging scheme."
Funds from Iran and other nations that U.S. banks are forbidden by law from dealing with were made "anonymous" by Lloyds employees instructed in how to delete information that would identify the originating source,.
Lloyds has not even a shred of plausible deniability in this matter. A section of the bank's training manual for new employees instructed personnel how to strip out transfer data and then re-enter the payment information into the Lloyds payment system in order to make appear as though London — and not Teheran, Khartoum, or Tripoli — was the point of origin for untold millions in transfers. The training was obviously quite effective. U.S. authorities who handled the case were quoted as saying that Lloyds "went to great lengths to obliterate any identification" as to where all the money came from.
When the war between Iran and Iraq flared up after the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) and other branches of the nation's military were in dire straits. They owned and operated a fleet of largely U.S. and some British military hardware. Spare parts and other support for these systems were supposed to have been cut off by international sanctions that were the result of the Islamic Republic's actions, which included overrunning the U.S. Embassy in Teheran and taking its personnel hostage. Saddam Hussein's military was knocking on the door and Iran had huge fleets of military equipment that they could not support.
The Iranians then proceeded to set up an overseas procurement division for their armed forces, which operated out of a seven-story building at number 4 Victoria Street, London. The official entity at this address was the European headquarters of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). It was in a prestigious location, and the last place one would suspect as the center of a military procurement. Westminster Abbey was across the street and the famous Scotland Yard was also nearby. Nevertheless, the illegal purchase of American-made materiel became the second most important — if not the primary function — of the people inside the building.
This "Logistics Support Center" of the IRIAF moved into the NIOC building early on during the Gulf War with Iraq, as did the "Technical Supply Office" of the Iranian Navy. Previously both entities had worked out of a smaller office at 15 Young Street, which was close to Kensington Gardens. Their presence in both buildings was kept hidden from those on the outside and their activities were kept well under wraps to the extent possible.
The UK had been selected by Iran as the ideal nerve centre for these illegal arms sales for the same reason that Lloyds and other London banks later became such a convenient financial transfer mechanism. Not only is there an extensive network of Iranian business contacts in the UK, but London is also awash in banking, shipping, and insurance facilities. These institutions offer unlimited mechanisms for playing shell games with business interests.
Other than the "commissions" that UK financial, legal, and business fronts would make for handling millions in Iranian oil money, in the early 1980s Islamic Republic was also dangling the carrot of major sales for the British defense industry. The Iranians were looking to purchase — direct from the factories in the UK — hundreds of millions of dollars worth of engines, spare parts and munitions for the 890 British-built Chieftain tanks and 250 Scorpion armored cars that were in the Iranian military's inventory when the war with Iraq began.
But, the clinching factor in the Iranian decision to use London as the base for evading international sanctions was the porous nature of the UK's legal apparatus. In the UK at that time there existed no broad and vaguely worded conspiracy laws as there are in the United States. This made indictment of any arms smugglers almost impossible because the legal standard of proof was too difficult for any agency to prove definitively. The UK had not specifically outlawed the negotiation, sale, or shipment of spare parts to Iran, even if the sale and export of offensive military equipment was against the law.
This loophole was partially closed in September 1987, when the British government announced its intention to close the Iranian buying offices on Victoria Street, but this decision was not accompanied by a crackdown on British traders and companies selling weapons to Iran. And although to date the UK has been a reliable ally of the United States in Iraq and with NATO forces in Afghanistan, the door has never quite been closed completely shut on London being used as a base for Iran's skirting of the international sanctions that are supposed to keep it from equipping and arming its military.
* In May 2003 a "favors for friends" scandal broke inside the UK Government when it was revealed that David Mills, the husband of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, used his wife's contacts to discuss a contract for Iran with Baroness Symons of the Foreign Office. The contract was for a fleet of RJ146 short haul passenger aircraft, which are made by BAE Systems but use a US-made Honeywell AS900-series jet engine. Under U.S. law the sale would be illegal because the propulsion technology in these engines is forbidden for sale to Iran due to its military applications. Mills asked Symons to go through the British Embassy in Washington and ask the U.S. Commerce Department if an exception could be made on this sale. The United States turned down the request, but the incident raised a number of questions as to why the husband of one of PM Tony Blair's inner circle decided to use his prestigious position and posh office space in Mayfair at one of London's most well-known law firms to become the head of ILTC, a secretive Iranian trading company. It is suspected that the Iranians sought out Mills because of his well-known ability to set up networks of difficult to comprehend off-shore companies. (Mills had created such a network at one time for the current Italian PM, Silvio Berlusconi, which later became the center of a major investigation into corruption under Berlusconi's administration.) These UK corporate labyrinths that obscure the true end destination of a product shipment are precisely what the Iranians have used time and time again to acquire technologies and implements of war that would otherwise be denied to them.
* July 2003 saw U.S. Customs and Defense Criminal Investigation Service raids on the offices of 18 U.S. companies under suspicion that they had violated the laws preventing the sale of arms equipment to Iran. These 18 firms had been acquiring parts for U.S.-made F-4, F-5, F-14 aircraft, Hawk air defence missiles, several U.S. model radars and other spare parts before shipping them to a London-based company called Multicore Ltd, which also operated under the name AKS Industries. The company had been under investigation since 1999 by U.S. and U.K. authorities, who determined that the parts the firm was purchasing were being transshipped to Iran. It is estimated that in total over 50 U.S. firms shipped spares to Multicore that ended up in Iranian hands.
* In September of 2003 an Iranian national named Serzhik Avasappian was arrested at his hotel in Miami by U.S. Customs agents three days after his arrival from (you guessed it) London. Avasappian had told U.S. Immigration officials that was visiting this country to negotiate the purchase of "medical equipment," but rather than a pile of contracts for medical systems what the agents found in his hotel room were numerous documents — all hidden between the mattress and box springs of his bed — proposing the illegal sale to Iran of $750,000 worth of spare parts for the Grumman F-14 fighter.
"There are allies and then there are allies," a pilot from a NATO country lamented in the 1980s when it was revealed that although a number of German and other foreign pilots wanted to have the experience, RAF pilots were the only non-U.S. military personnel that had been permitted to fly the then-super secret Lockheed F-117A Stealth Fighter. Indeed, the "special relationship" that has existed between Washington and London for decades has never been stronger than under current programs like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
But the persistent uncovering of UK entities willing to provide the mullahs with what they need to keep missiles in development, nuclear enrichment facilities humming, and Iranian military aircraft supplied with spares is more than troubling. Add this to the 2007 scandal surrounding BAE Systems and the accusations of a slush fund of more than $100 million that supplied kickbacks to Saudi Arabia and one begins to develop troubling conclusions about the influence oil-rich Middle Eastern states exert on major British institutions.
Thus, Lloyds' long-term subterfuge on behalf of Iran is shocking but not surprising. At a minimum the bank showed unpardonable duplicity by undermining the public position the British government has tried to maintain in the war on terror. There may be no silver lining in a story that involves Iran being able to spend untold millions on its weapons procurement, but at least this UK institution's actions debunk the popular myth that it is only the U.S. that will conveniently ignore international norms of behavior for the sake of a reliable oil supply.
Reuben Johnson is a regular contributor to THE WEEKLY STANDARD Online.
Shell, Saudi Arabia, Arms-for-Oil, Corruption, & Radioactive Contamination: 5 December 2008
Posted in: Corruption, Iran.
Tagged: BAE Systems · Lloyds TSB Bank · Saudi Arabia
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text:
STUDY IN THE JOHN DAY COUNTRY
Dalton D. Baldwin
Division of Religion
When information from science and sacred history are studied together, one's conclusions differ from those deduced when each is studied alone. The purpose of the Bible-Science Subcommittee is to explore the relationship of these two avenues of information. Previous reports of this group's activities are given in Origins 1:37-39; 2:44-45. The May 1975 meeting was held in Prineville, Oregon, near the John Day Country, famous for its fossil mammals and plants (Figure 1).
FIGURE 1. Dr. Dwain L. Ford examining a petrified upright tree trunk in the Triassic Clarno Formation near Hancock Park in central Oregon. His right hand rests in the cast of a horizontal tree trunk.
Three participants at the conference had made extensive studies of the John Day Country. Stuart Nevins (a guest from the Institute for Creation Research) who had already published on the geology of the area provided particularly valuable assistance throughout the conference. Harold Coffin, from the Geoscience Research Institute, described the geology of the Pacific Northwest as an orientation for a field trip. Ervil Clark of the Biology department at Pacific Union College exhibited a number of specimens which he had collected in the area and discussed the significance of their depositional environments. During a full-day field trip through the John Day Country, problems were faced with candor, and evidence was cited which supports transport of many fossil remains rather than growth at the site of deposition.
A number of papers at the conference were based on material reported in past meetings of the committee. Eleven of the studies were presented by individuals who received their advanced education in the area of the empirical sciences. Leonard Brand of the Biology department at Loma Linda University with pictures and other evidence showed that fossil vertebrate footprints in the Coconino Sandstone of the Grand Canyon are similar to those made in very wet sand or under water. This evidence is more consistent with a flood model than with the commonly accepted wind-blown sand model. Dwain L. Ford, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Andrews University, reviewed various theories regarding the origin of evaporites (minerals formed by evaporation) and suggested a model which could account for the formation of major salt beds within the context of a flood model. Harold Coffin reported on accumulating evidence from directional orientation which suggests that many fossil remains were transported rather than growing in the location where they are now found. Three computer studies were presented by Ray Hefferlin of the Physics department at Southern Missionary College. By using a computer terminal at the meeting in Prineville, participants were able to determine the quantitative distribution of water on the earth under postulated conditions. His other reports dealt with variations in C-14 production with different creation and flood models.
Ariel A. Roth, chairman of the Bible-Science Subcommittee, surveyed seven lines of evidence which support a flood model: reduced provinciality in the fossil record, spores of land plants in the lowest Paleozoic sediments, prevalence of turbidites, extent of sedimentary deposit, paucity of erosional features at unconformities, paucity of local depositional features, and inconsistencies of various time clocks. Harold James of the Geoscience Research Institute reported on sedimentary characteristics of some Miocene deposits in Colombia, South America, and the importance of these characteristics in interpreting the past. Ivan Holmes, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at Loma Linda University, and Richard Martin, a student, described X-ray diffraction analysis of alternating mineral layers from the Petrified Forests north of Specimen Creek in Yellowstone National Park. Arthur Chadwick of the Biology department at Loma Linda University suggested a test to determine if trees of the Yellowstone Petrified Forests grew in place or were transported. He proposed that if large roots often end abruptly, this would constitute critical evidence against growth at the site of deposition. He also described logistic problems encountered in searching for such evidence. James Riggs of the Physics department at Loma Linda University discussed the difficulties of developing a model which can account for the cooling of batholiths with an approximately 6000-year chronology for life on the earth.
Three of the papers were written by those who approached the theme of the committee from a theological viewpoint. Dalton Baldwin of the Division of Religion at Loma Linda University suggested that ideas rejecting a scientific approach to religion may be seen as harmonious with those advocating a scientific approach to religion, if the rejected science is found to be science "falsely so-called" and the recommended science is true science. Raymond F. Cottrell, secretary of the Bible-Science Subcommittee, surveyed recent developments in astrophysics and cosmology and discussed their relationship to origins. Gerhard Hasel, Assistant Dean of the Theological Seminary at Andrews University, presented a paper on Genesis cosmology which showed the striking differences from other cosmologies of the Near East. He placed emphasis on creation as the absolute point of origin, God Himself as creator, creation by divine fiat, and the limitation of the creation account to this earth.
Considerable time was devoted to the development of a statement of belief with respect to creation. The chairman of the committee had prepared a questionnaire designed to pool the judgment of the participants regarding various factors which might be included in the statement. The Geoscience staff was requested to draw up a statement reflecting the oral and written responses to the questionnaire for presentation at the next meeting.
The stimulation of the carefully prepared papers and the subsequent active discussions challenged the participants to further study in preparation for the forthcoming meeting to be held at Price, Utah, where extensive coal deposits are found.
Theology and Creationism
If I accept a creationist worldview, what are some implications on my understanding of God…
Genesis Account of Origins
Dig deeper on the richness of information and meaning provided in the Genesis account of origins:…
The biblical record of a 6-day creation thousands of years ago appears to be impossible to reconcile with the Darwinian theory of evolution over billions of years. Surprisingly, this doesn't stop people from trying to find some kind of compromise between these two very different perspectives. We will look at the most commonly embraced "compromise" position among Christians and ask whether or not it really works, either as science or theology. How does the true account of origins given in the Bible tell us about the Creator that other views contradict?
Martin Pröbstle is professor of Old Testament and Dean of Theology at Schloss Bogenhofen Seminary in Austria. He is the author of several books and has published numerous articles in specialized theological magazines.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Forces the MobiLink Listener to shutdown.
After shutdown, the MobiLink Listener stops handling push notifications and stops synchronizing device tracking information. You must restart the MobiLink Listener to continue with server-initiated synchronization.


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text:
With No National Standards, Policies For Arming Teachers Are Often Left To Local School Districts
KERA | By Matt Richmond
Matt Richmond
Guns & America
Butler County Sheriff Deputy Doug Hale has worked as a school resource officer for 24 years in the Lakota Local School District near Cincinnati.
Teachers or other school staff in districts in 31 states can legally carry weapons in schools, according to a review of state laws and local news coverage by Guns & America.
In five states — Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and South Dakota — teachers or other school staff are explicitly authorized by state law to carry firearms in schools, according to a report by the Education Commission of the States.
Another 26 states leave approval, policies and training requirements up to local school districts, or allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms in schools. That means districts can legally allow armed teachers.
» RELATED | Go to more stories from the Guns & America project
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have laws explicitly banning the arming of teachers. An ongoing court case in Pennsylvania will likely decide whether or not local districts can decide to arm teachers there.
Many schools employ school resource officers (SROs), which the U.S. Department of Justice defines as "sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools." In many instances, the SRO is a member of a local police department or sheriff's office.
There is no standard training for armed teachers, however, or set of federal guidelines to help states create policies for allowing teachers to carry firearms. That leaves in many areas a patchwork of protocols and training that depends on the local school district.
'When Something Happens, Everything Changes'
Lakota East High School sits in the middle of open fields, not far from the freeway, 25 miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio. On a recent February morning, Butler County Sheriff's Deputy Doug Hale walked the wide hallways as some of the school's 2,300 students streamed past.
"I can remember when we first opened the building here, 22 years ago," Hale said. "You'd leave the doors unlocked. We never had a problem."
Hale is a school resource officer, county law enforcement's connection to the school. He is there to help students and as an armed presence, in the case of a school shooting. For years, Hale's training required him to wait for backup if a shooter attacked the school.
"I had to wait for three others if something happened in here," Hale said. "Well, you know how it is when something happens, everything changes."
Everything changed in Butler County and in schools across the country after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. News footage showed the armed school resource officer waiting outside while children were being shot inside.
"And so now we're being trained — solo engagement," Hale said. "If something's going on, I'm the only one here. I'm not waiting on backup."
School shootings are extremely rare, but districts everywhere are under pressure to show they're keeping kids safe.
Many districts have in recent years added more school resource officers or law enforcement personnel. Some districts, though, decided armed police like Hale aren't enough.
Lack Of Consistent Policies
State laws in Connecticut, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, and 21 other states leave the choice to arm school staff to local districts. In Georgia, the first district to arm teachers adopted the policy shortly after the Parkland shooting. In Connecticut, state law leaves the decision to districts, but according to the state's Department of Education, none have adopted an armed teacher policy.
Some school districts in Ohio have decided to allow armed teachers. It is unclear how many because there is no official statewide tracking mechanism. In 2013, a gun rights lobbying group called the Buckeye Firearms Association stepped in and began offering training for teachers and staff who would carry firearms.
Buckeye's three-day training session shows teachers how to stop an active shooter. It includes role-playing and a crash course in police tactics.
According to Buckeye Firearms executive director Dean Rieck, nearly 200 districts across Ohio have attended. Rieck said training sessions were carefully chosen to fit school shooting scenarios.
"We went to the trainers who train police and train SWAT and train military," Rieck said. "So we went to the people who are at the top of the food chain for this type of training."
Parents Sue Over Training
The school board in Madison, Ohio, near Cincinnati, approved a plan to arm teachers by a unanimous vote in April 2018. The board also approved the Buckeye Firearms training program as a requirement for any armed teacher.
The district, however, classified many of the specific policies used for arming teachers as confidential. Details like how teachers are selected to be armed; the weapons they are allowed to carry; when teachers would begin carrying guns; and the rules for engaging with a suspected threat were not released when parents requested them.
In 2018, five parents in the Madison Local School District sued the state, saying that Ohio state law does not allow school districts to arm teachers without requiring teachers to undergo hundreds of hours of training to become a certified peace officer.
Some parts of the district's plan were revealed in court filings: armed teachers are required to carry their gun at all times; they are not supposed to pursue a shooter; and using their firearm is supposed to be a last resort, if lockdown or escape fails.
The number and names of armed teachers approved by Madison's board remained confidential.
Safety In School
Ben Adams is one of several plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He has five children in Madison schools. Adams insisted armed personnel like school resource officers aren't the problem.
"We have two SROs in our building," Adams said. "We have never said that was a bad idea. Because we know that they're properly trained. They have experience."
At the end of February, a judge in the Butler County Common Pleas Court ruled against the parents' lawsuit, ruling that local school districts can arm teachers under existing state law. Though the state requires school resource officers to undergo more than 700 hours of training, those requirements do not apply to teachers, the court ruled.
Ohio districts are free to rely on Buckeye's training.
Research on whether arming teachers makes kids safer is sparse. At this point, few studies have examined the effects.
Adams, a gun owner himself who works in the local fire department, says he thinks about what he has seen as a first responder when he imagines a teacher at his kids' school trying to stop a shooter.
"Adrenaline kicks in," Adams said. "You have to have training to guide you through those moments. I've just seen it. I can't not know that now."
Adams is debating whether to join an appeal to the state Court of Appeals. He and his wife say they're also considering moving their children to another school district.
KERA is part of Guns & America, a national reporting collaborative of 10 public media newsrooms focusing attention on the role of guns in American life. You can find more Guns & America coverage here, and learn more about the collaboration here.
NewsGuns & AmericaGunsSchool Shootingsteacherseducation
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