Is Mesothelioma Hereditary or Contagious?
Mesothelioma is a very dangerous and aggressive cancer that is caused by asbestos exposure. Many people who are affected by asbestos exposure are people who have worked in the construction industry and were exposed to broken asbestos fibers in materials such as piping, drywall, and ceramic tiles. Although asbestos use was banned in the United States in the late 1970s, buildings that were constructed prior to the ban of asbestos still pose a risk for those who come in contact with the building materials. Mesothelioma is not hereditary or contagious, but many children of construction workers may have been exposed to asbestos fibers left on their parent's clothing.
If you or your child has been affected by asbestos exposure, it is very important to seek financial compensation for your injuries and treatment costs. Contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney of Williams Hart today at 800-781-3955 to discuss your financial and legal options.
Mesothelioma is incurable, but there are treatments that can make your life easier when dealing with this difficult condition.
If you or someone you love has been affected by asbestos exposure, contact an experienced mesothelioma attorney of Williams Hart today at 800-781-3955.


So the people that have known Byren and I for a long time will know that we didn't have a whole "wow" and "big" wedding day. In fact, our whole ceremony was 12 minutes long, and the reception was us going to the hospital to book my hospital bed.
See, I was five months pregnant when we got married. No, I didn't get to wear a white dress, or get married at the venue of my dreams, or had a cake, or a photographer that captured all the amazing photos.
Long before all this, long before I knew I was pregnant, we started planning. Almost every weekend, we traveled looking for the perfect venue. I already knew exactly what dress I wanted to wear, I knew what my bridesmaids would be wearing. I had an idea of the flower arrangements and I had an idea of how the cake should look.
Of course this planning doesn't set in on the day you decide to plan the wedding. No, these thoughts start when you're still a child, daydreaming about your big day. You even role-play your wedding with your friends when you're a little girl. Except I never did this. I don't remember once planning my big day in my head as a child. Maybe that's why the way we eventually got married didn't bother me. Love isn't about having the best wedding day and trying to outdo the one's around you, it's about coming together as one – no matter where or how you do it.
Just when we found the venue we both loved, I found out I was a few week's pregnant. This changed our plans quite a bit. When we worked out the dates, my due date and our wedding date were a week apart. There was no way we would be able to afford a wedding as well as a child in one year.
This wasn't an issue for us. We considered postponing our wedding to the next year and doing a big thing then. However, I know couples that also planned it as such; have a baby now, marry the next year. None of them actually kept to that plan. Some only married three or four years later because cash was just too tight with a growing child in the house.
So we decided to get married before our son was born. Did we have the money to do a big thing at such a short notice? No.
We took the next best step and opted to get married at the Home Affairs. Sounds like the perfect wedding, right? Not to some. In fact, there were family members that were completely against it and didn't even attend our little ceremony. My thoughts? They weren't going to contribute to our wedding in any financial way even if we did get married the "proper" way, why should they have an opinion in how we did our "I do's"?
We decided to stick to at least the date of the original plan – the 26th.
My mom bought me a flowing green dress (I didn't care that it didn't have a single white spot on it, green is my favourite colour!) which helped a little to hide my growing stomach.
My mom-in-law surprised me with a bouquet of flowers which matched my dress perfectly.
Byren stood next to me oh-so handsomely in a suit, looking a little nervous (I didn't try to show it, but I was nervous as hell too!).
Our whole ceremony lasted less than 15 minutes. There were about ten of our closest people present, to witness two become one. Everyone who supported our decision and most importantly, our happiness, was there with us. My mom surprised me completely by handing my grandmother's rings to Byren to give to me.
Afterwards, we didn't go out for lunch or anything. We got married on a Thursday so a lot of our guests had taken off a few hours from work to be there, so as soon as we wrapped up, we said our thanks and goodbyes and headed off in different directions.
We never had a honeymoon either. Every penny we had went to our child's birth and future care. Did we die because we never went to Mauritius or some other fancy holiday destination? No, we didn't actually care about those finer things.
Do I wish things worked out differently? You might as well have asked me if I wish I hadn't been pregnant so I could have had the wedding I wanted. Because no. I wouldn't change how we did things. This is part of our love story. It might not be the happily ever after version as princesses have it, but who cares? Ours is unique and different, and I proudly tell it to whoever asks me about my wedding day.
What does bother me is the 'sadness' I glimpse in some women's eyes that hear about my wedding day. I don't need you feeling sorry for me. Do you see me crying every time I think or talk about my wedding day?
Be happy for me because I got to marry the love of my life. Because I don't care how I got married, or what I was wearing or doing afterwards, I got to marry my best friend on that day (even though we had a fight just before the proceedings started lol). When you are marrying the right person, does it really matter how big or how small your wedding is? Does it matter if you say your "I do's" in court or in a church? Does it really matter what you wear?
A wedding is not there for fashion statements or who had the best idea for seating announcements, it's about two souls joining for eternity, vowing themselves to each other. Will wearing a wedding dress or eating wedding cake make those vows stronger and deeper? I think not.
We are thinking of doing a renewing of vows for our ten year anniversary. Although we still have a good few years before we reach 2022, I'm looking forward to it. We still won't be doing a big do.
Just an intimate affair with our closest family and friends to celebrate love, commitment and eternity.
I love your story and that dress is beautiful!
I so love your story ❤ you have correctly said nothing matters except the two people who are deciding to stay together through thick and and thins..


Private 15HA, Off the Grid!
Located on the shores of Lake Tinaroo is this 68 acre, state of the art equestrian property. The property is fully set up as a dressage horse stud and agistment facility. Alternatively this property would be ideal for a lifestyle block, or the place to build the dream home. The block is divided into 26 paddocks with concrete troughs and 12 coloured 8x4m concrete block shelters in paddocks. All fencing, post and plain and electric standoff with an additional area to run a small herd of cattle.
Two Houses, Acreage, Shed and Views!
This impressive 77.97 Hectare property is the definition of prime real estate and is located right in the heart of Atherton. The agricultural dream block currently runs dairy and beef cattle however the opportunities are endless whether you want to use the block for farming, cropping or seize the huge sub division potential.


text:
package com.github.mostroverkhov.firebase_rsocket.model.write;

import com.github.mostroverkhov.firebase_rsocket.model.Path;

/** Created by Maksym Ostroverkhov on 03.03.17. */
public class WriteRequest<T> {
  private final Path path;
  private final T data;

  public WriteRequest(Path path, T data) {
    this.path = path;
    this.data = data;
  }

  public Path getPath() {
    return path;
  }

  public T getData() {
    return data;
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    return "WriteQuery{" + ", path=" + path + ", data=" + data + '}';
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Intern at RazorX2, an IT consulting firm based in Reston. Worked extensively with Virtual Reality, 3D printers, and Android Development.
Spent 6 weeks at RazorX2, an IT consulting firm that works with the Federal Government and Local Contractors. Adopted Agile methodology and worked with 3D modelling, texturing, and animating. Created a game for the HTC Vive using both the Unity Engine and Blender. Created a "Magic Mirror", or a mirror with a user interface that uses facial recognition to deliver personalized data. Assembled a 3D Printer.
Teaching Assistant for TJHSST Summer School in Computer Science. Taught AP Curriculum while assisting wherever needed.
Hired for 8 weeks as a Teaching Assistant for TJHSST through Fairfax County Public Schools with the AP Computer Science curriculum. Tutored students in topics such as Recursion and Advanced Data Structures, graded papers and projects, gave lectures in game design, and assisted in administrative duties.
Self-employed as a tutor for middle school students in Math, English, Science, and History.
Currently work as a tutor multiple times a week in Math, English, Science, and History. I help with homework from school along with preparation for Mathematics contests such as AMC.
A hub for Webassign problems and solutions in order to simplify the process of receiving help and reviewing older problem sets.
Webassign is a platform used to assign word problems to students. TJ.WEBASSIGN is a hub for Webassign problems that will simplify receiving help and studying for cumulative assignments. This project creates an alternate repository for problems, as many at TJ currently use Facebook for help.
A way to make music more social! Through this application, phones play in unison to amplify music.
Tune Me Up! (name subject to change) is an application that will allow people to amplify music played on a device through connections with other selected devices by synchronizing timing and playing in unison. Uses a process called "Bluetooth Chaining".
A mobile application developed to ensure the safety of a child through GPS location of their cell-phone.
StaySafe was inspired by a recent string of disappearances within my state and community. This application utilizes GPS data to compute a path of a child, whether it be to school, activities, etc. in order to notify the parent when there is significant deviation from its course.
Head of committee that worked with school and school board to pass legislation allowing EV charging station installation on campus.
Head of Committee that worked with school officials along with school board, local, and state officials in order to pass legislation permitting the installation of EV Charging Stations in FCPS schools. Spent significant time analyzing current environmental laws while spearheadeding efforts to push for legislative changes and receive corporate sponsorship.
Research Paper was written about the effect of exposure time and increased gravity on tissue regeneration rate of Planarian. We reached the conclusion that there was no statistically significant correlation between the two.
Volunteered in Q?Rius, an interactive exhibit in the Smithsonian Institute for Natural History.
Volunteered in Q?Rius, an interactive exhibit devoted to exposing visitors of all ages to Natural History artifacts. Trained to interact with visitors with physical and mental disabilities. Learned a variety of information in Natural History Subjects i.e. Marine Biology, Human Anthropology, Paleontology, Insectology, Taxidermy, etc.
Mentor and Tutor through LIFE. Worked with mentally and physically disabled students in elementary grades and tutored them in STEM subjects. Used lectures followed by exciting experiments in order to illustrate scientific concepts and effectively engage them in the learning experience.
Captain of audition based dance team that performs a dance style popular in the 1920s to 50s.
Choreographed dances for competitions and performances in and out of school. Performed in multiple International-Nights, Talent Shows, and performances in Glen Echo.
President of club that teaches skills devoted to creative and humorous writing, producing, acting, and video editing through the creation of comedy sketches.
Led club that creates sketches akin to those found on Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, etc. In charge of approving ideas, writing sketches, creating screenplay, and directing filming. We teach and apply writing and filmmaking skills to publish our work within our school using students as actors.
Coach for 8th Grade Men's Basketball in FSBL. In charge of teaching players basketball skills while instilling the values of sportsmanship, respect, and determination despite all odds.
CTO of nonprofit that would hold various Computer Science workshops in elementary and middle schools in topics such as HTML, CSS, Python, and Scratch programming. In charge of developing curriculum that would engage students and excite them about applying CS to their interests.


I can no longer take part. Can I get a refund or transfer the entry?
Do I have to support a charity?
Where can I find advice on training?
Will late entries be accepted, including on the day?
Can I run the route before the race day?
Where is the car parking?
Are there any toilets or showers?
Where can I store my kit?
Can I bring my own special drinks?
May I carry a drink bottle?
Do both the Run and TAB race start at the same time?
Where do I get my medal?
What is the PARAS'10 Passport?
Do the Race Organisers Provide Bergens/Rucksacks?
Are there any specific regulations regarding bergan size/shape, is there any advice on making the bergen comfortable?
Are there any specific regulations regarding boots worn for the P Company TAB element of the Paras 10?
When will I receive my race number? and timing chip?
Your race number and timing chip will be issued at registration on race day. You will receive final information regarding the race via Email which will also be published on the website.
The minimum age to take part is 16 years old.
Refunds and transfers are not granted for this race. No runner should wear a race number belonging to another runner as this could incur grave consequences in the event of a medical emergency.
We urge you to support the SUPPORT OUR PARAS charity as they provide the support our service men and women deserve. However, you are free to support your own charity if you wish, but please do not collect sponsorship within the start/finish area.
Training advice can be found here: Training Advice.
Entries on the day are accepted, first come first served and charged at £45.
Visit the Colchester or Catterick page for info on accommodation at each event.
The time limit for the PARAS'10 is 3 hours. The course will then be closed.
Can I run the route before race day?
No, the route is made available for the day of the race only and is conducted on private military land.
Visit the Colchester or Catterick page for for specific info on each event.
There will be adequate parking within easy reach of the Start Point. Signs and marshalls will be on hand to guide you to the start point from the car parks.
Temporary toilets will be available on the day of the race at the start/finish point. Showers are not provided, please bring a change of clothing.
Please leave belongings in your car (this is at own risk) and keep your keys in a waterproof bag.
Drinks stations are shown on the route map.
Special drinks are permitted but there will be no facility to transport these to any drink points.
Do both the run and TAB start together?
No, the runners start first followed by the TABBERS 5mins later.
Medals will be given out in the area after the race finish line.
A passport sized document stamped at each PARAS'10 event with a different logo.
No. All 'P' Company Challenge and Team Challenge competitors are to bring their own rucksack, packed with 35lbs of equipment (excluding food & water), which will be weighed both at the start and finish by race officials.
From race rules perspective Bergen size & shape is irrelevant, but weight must be 35 lbs. Weight can be made up of anything, though I recommend it being wrapped in something soft like a sleeping bag. Comfort is something that you won't be able to achieve, but padded shoulder straps and a lumbar support are your best bets to try and achieve it.
Put simply boots must have full ankle support; sturdy hiking boots are fine.


The bosses of Britain's biggest companies are now getting paid 183 times the size of the average worker in the UK.
The High Pay Centre revealed in a new report that chief executives at FTSE 100 companies earn on average £4.964 million ($7.78 million) in 2014. This is a slight increase from last year's £4.923 million ($7.72 million), and from the £4.129 million ($6.48 million) average in 2010.
In other words, this is around 183 times the earnings of the average full-time UK worker. This is up from 160 times in 2010. The High Pay Centre said that the report "will create pressure for further action to reduce gap between the super rich and low and middle-income earners." It also pointed out that shareholders have the ability to vote against CEO pay packets, but only 6.4% of votes went objected to their proposed salaries at Annual General Meetings.
"Pay packages of this size go far beyond what is sensible or necessary to reward and inspire top executives," said High Pay Centre Director Deborah Hargreaves in a statement."It's more likely that corporate governance structures in the UK are riddled with glaring weaknesses and conflicts of interest."
"The Coalition Government introduced some welcome reforms in 2013 that have at least enabled us to get a better understanding of the executive pay racket. However it's clear that these reforms didn't do nearly enough to start building a pay culture where everybody is rewarded fairly and proportionally for the work that they do."
According to the Office for National Statistics, Britons' average total pay is now around £488 ($764) a week as of June 2015.
Comparing April to June 2015 with a year earlier, wages in Britain increased by 2.4% including bonuses, and by 2.8% excluding bonuses. That's over a period in which there was zero consumer price inflation — so wages are rising while the prices of ordinary goods people buy aren't.
Looking at longer term movements since comparable records began in 2000, average total pay for employees in Great Britain in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for consumer price inflation) increased from £311 a week in January 2000 to £488 a week in June 2015; an increase of 56.6%.


In "Mirror Images", David Adam reflects on human encounters - on how we meet others in their otherness and through them the great 'Other' who is God. Characters in the book include the bird-watcher who has a greater sense of wonder and awe than many who call themselves Christian; the 'Snow White' woman who is fading away for lack of love; the man who needs to drink and cannot live easily without doing so, and the fan who is almost possessed by the team he supports. Each chapter ends with a look at a biblical character (Abraham, Jacob, David and Isaiah are among those featured), who has something to teach us about ourselves and our inner make-up. We will then be able to reflect further on our own way of living and how other people may see us.


text:
Diese Liste gibt den Fortschreibungsstand vom 8. Januar 2015 wieder und enthält 55 Baudenkmäler.

Ensembles

Ensemble Altstadt Betzenstein mit Burg

Das Ensemble () umfasst Burg und Stadt in den Grenzen der noch erhaltenen Befestigungsanlagen, sowie das sich in nordwestlicher Richtung erstreckende Scheunenviertel Beim Hinteren Thor. Die Befestigungsanlagen, die unter den Grafen von Leuchtenberg seit 1359 errichtet wurden, schließen sich an den Burgfelsen an. Tragende Achse des Stadtgrundrisses ist die sich zwischen dem noch erhaltenen Bayreuther Tor im Norden und dem ehemaligen Nürnberger Tor im Süden erstreckende breite Markt- und Hauptstraße. Sie fällt von Süden nach Norden leicht ab und gewinnt zugleich an Breite. Ihre beiden Längsseiten sind durch geschlossene Reihen bürgerlicher Giebelhäuser – darunter einige Traufseithäuser – bebaut, die meist dem 18./19. Jahrhundert entstammen. An der Westseite der Marktstraße springt der Turm der barocken Pfarrkirche vor die Flucht der Häuserreihen. Dadurch entsteht eine Untergliederung der Straße in zwei platzartige Räume. Östlich parallel zur Hauptstraße verläuft die schmale Schmidbergstraße. Sie weist eine geschlossene zweigeschossige Bebauung mit Giebel- und Traufseithäusern, zumeist ehemaligen Ackerbürgeranwesen, auf. Die Bauten gehören meist dem 18./19. Jahrhundert an, auf der Ostseite stoßen sie an die Stadtmauer. Westlich der Hauptstraße schließt sich ein Straßenbogen um die Kirche, der zugleich den Zugang vom dritten Tor der Stadt, dem Pfarrtor, aufnimmt. Dieser Bereich ist gleichfalls durch Ackerbürgerhäuser bestimmt, meist Giebelbauten des 17.–19. Jahrhunderts und sowohl geschlossen als auch locker bebaut. Im Südteil dieses Bereichs sind das ehemalige Rathaus von 1663 und das Alte Pfarrhaus erhalten, der Nordteil wird von dem ehemaligen Nürnberger Pflegamtsschloss aus dem späten 17. Jahrhundert beherrscht. Westlich vor dem Pfarrtor schließt sich das Scheunenviertel Beim Hinteren Thor an, dessen historische Bausubstanz aus dem 18.–19. Jahrhundert stammt.
Aktennummer: E-4-72-118-1.

Stadtbefestigung
Die Anlage wurde 1533–38 auf der Grundlage der Befestigung des 14. Jahrhunderts errichtet. Erneuerungen fanden im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert statt. Im Südwesten ist die Stadtbefestigung mit der Befestigung der Burg verbunden. Von den ehemaligen drei Toren sind zwei erhalten, das Bayreuther Tor (Hauptstraße 1 ()) und das Pfarrtor (Am Hinteren Tor 2 ()), das Nürnberger Tor im Süden wurde 1809/10 abgebrochen.
Aktennummer D-4-72-118-1.

Baudenkmäler nach Gemeindeteilen

Betzenstein

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Eichenstruth

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Hüll

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Illafeld

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Leupoldstein

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Ottenberg

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Reipertsgesee

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Riegelstein

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Stierberg

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Waiganz

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Weidensees

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Siehe auch
 Liste der Bodendenkmäler in Betzenstein

Anmerkungen

Literatur

Weblinks

  (PDF; 138 kB)

!
Betzenstein
Baudenkmaler Betzenstein

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Stocks bounce back but stormy water lies ahead
Super User_2 | Sep 19, 2008
Hong Kong: Bourses in Asia were the first to open after yesterday's dramatic move by US financial authorities to create a government-sponsored vehicle to acquire the so-called "toxic assets" which lie at the root of recent global financial turmoil. Asian stock markets set a trend that was to be reflected across the world as exchanges opened later in other time zones.
Chinese stocks reversed this week's downward spiral, surging 9.5% overall, with many of the country's banking shares well up in double digits. Hong Kong shares soared by a similar figure whilst the Nikkei climbed 3.8%, Australian stocks rose 4.3% and South Korean stocks shot up by 4.6%. Financial shares were in heavy demand across the world, following their heavy beating in recent days.
Despite widespread relief that the global run on shares had been brought to a halt, at least for the moment, macroeconomists are in little doubt that there will be some very stormy weeks ahead. For shipping too the outlook is more uncertain than at any time recently. As the credit squeeze has taken hold over the last 12 months, access to capital has become increasingly limited for shipyards and their owner customers.
But the repercussions are likely to spread further. If consumers weren't already rattled by soaring energy costs and the spectre of widespread inflation, they certainly are now. And it is consumer demand in Europe and the US which fuels container shipping requirements, for example, on the world's two most important liner routes out of Asia - to Europe and to the US.
The prospect of over-tonnaging is now a very real one ?" only this week, the New World Alliance announced it would shed some 16% of capacity on routes between Asia and the US, with effect from October. The Alliance blamed slower box growth and rising costs. [19/09/08]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The bedroom is the most intimate of spaces, where you start and end your days, and there are a few key pieces needed to bring this room to life – no matter how big or small the square footage. We created a checklist, if you will, with the help of Brady Tolbert, creative director of Emily Henderson Design, rock star interior designer and prop stylist. Here he walks us through the essential items that bring form and function to any bedroom. Take note!
It's more than just a room – it's a bedroom. The distinction is important – and, thus, so is the bed itself. It's the piece of furniture you use every day, for hours at a time. It's where you relax the body and mind. It's also the design item that anchors the room…so why haven't you invested in a quality bed frame again??
Enter Interior Define. The direct-to-consumer brand known for superior-crafted, customizable sofas recently added a line of bed frames to their portfolio. Simply select a frame style and then choose your fabric, color and legs. The Harper frame, here, has an elevated look and timeless silhouette.
Prioritizing your sleep experience goes beyond the bed frame: Your mattress and bedding will also impact your health, productivity and general happiness. So find the pillow density that's best for your sleeping style and the fabrics that feel good on your skin.
Again, opt for neutral bedding that can be punched up with accessories. We've been brainwashed into thinking that bedrooms have to be one-note, but play with color and texture! "In this example, we mixed linen, matelasse and velvet. We kept everything in a warm palette with saturated, tone-on-tone combos – creating visual interest without having the color combo feel chaotic," explains Brady.
Lighting should not be an afterthought, but, rather, a key design consideration from the start. Pay attention to both the size of the room and its natural light when selecting your fixtures – how much extra lighting will you need? Don't overlook wall lighting, either, because it's often the key to saving space – and to making a statement.
"This bedroom is small, and we wanted to free up some space on the nightstand. This sconce by Rejuvenation is perfect; on a practical level, it opens up more floor space. The shades emit a soft glow from the top and brighter, targeted light below," Brady explains. Separately, its streamlined design plays off the lines of the midcentury Mengel dresser, and the matte black ties back to the lamps on the other side of the room. "Choosing something more modern-looking balanced the brighter bedding accessories, and really elevated the entire look of the room," Brady explained. Let there be (wall) lighting!
You don't need a lot of furniture in your bedroom (sometimes less is more), but a standout dresser – like a bed – is imperative. The dresser should balance the stature of the bed and should accommodate your wardrobe essentials. Because you're likely to use this piece of furniture every day, invest in craftsmanship (preferably hardwoods, with dovetail joinery in the drawers). This vintage dresser by Mengel is cherry wood and adds a unique touch to the more contemporary pieces, like this hexagonal mirror from The Citizenry, featured elsewhere in the room.
Finally, fill in any gaps in the bedroom with greenery and flowers. Indoor plants are proven to boost moods, decrease stress and filter indoor air toxins (#winning). And they kinda just make an entire space more beautiful. Try a large, architectural plant for a more dramatic effect, then place smaller, in-season flowers on available surfaces to brighten the mood. A little goes a long way.


text:
Vittorio Maria Baldassare Gaetano Costa d'Arignano (ur. 10 marca 1737 w Turynie, zm. 16 maja 1796 tamże) – włoski duchowny katolicki, kardynał, arcybiskup Turynu.

Życiorys
Święcenia kapłańskie przyjął 1 marca 1760. 11 września 1769 został wybrany biskupem Vercelli. Sakrę przyjął 21 września 1769 z rąk kardynała Carlo Vittorio Amadeo della Lanze (współkonsekratorami byli arcybiskupi: Francesco Saverio de Zelada i Orazio Mattei). 28 września 1778 objął stolicę metropolitalną Turynu, na której pozostał już do śmierci. 30 marca 1789 Pius VI wyniósł go do godności kardynalskiej.

Bibliografia
 Sylwetka w słowniku biograficznym kardynałów Salvadora Mirandy
 Catholic-Hierarchy

Włoscy kardynałowie
Urodzeni w 1737
Zmarli w 1796
Ludzie urodzeni w Turynie


text:
Forgetting to Remember: The Unconscious
Posted on September 15, 2016 by Sinéad Donohoe • 0 Comments
This is the third post in the Mythology and the Psyche series, a list of all the posts in the series can be found here.
As Jung warns us, the ego and its attendant persona endeavour to "conceal the true nature of the individual." And while the ego is tasked with being the psyche's executive, its sense of control over our actions, emotions, and thoughts is an illusion. The conscious mind is only a fraction of the full Self, and the vast unconscious, meanwhile, exerts a profound influence on us. This is a problem for the ego because the unconscious contains what the ego simply does not know, but also all it does not want to know. Messages, echoes, and vapours ascend from the unconscious into consciousness, but much of what emerges is at odds with the ego's values. Sometimes, even only a whisper from the unconscious can destabilize or threaten the integrity of our waking identity. Thus, the ego and the persona seek not only conceal the true nature of the Self from others, but also ourselves.
There are two aspects to the unconscious world: the personal, and the collective. The personal unconscious is the bridge between our waking mind and the deeper unconscious. Jung refers to it as the "superficial layer of the unconscious," as we are not immediately aware of its contents, but they are near enough to the threshold of consciousness that they may break into our awareness – invited or otherwise. This personal realm is the reservoir for the forgotten experiences from your own life. These lost adventures could be as innocent as what you had for breakfast on this day two years ago, as radioactive as repressed abuse or the details of some traumatic shock. Jung sums up the personal unconscious as "Everything of which I know, but of which I am not at the moment thinking; everything of which I was once conscious but have now forgotten; everything perceived by my senses, but not noted by my conscious mind; everything which, involuntarily and without paying attention to it, I feel, think, remember, want, and do; all the future things which are taking shape in me and will sometime come to consciousness… [and] all more or less intentional repressions of painful thoughts and feelings."
It is within the personal unconscious that we form what Jung calls complexes. A complex is rather like a recurring theme in your life, something that we trip up against again and again. It's a constellation of charged emotions, beliefs, experiences, memories, and often fears, around a specific topic. An inferiority complex, for example, is marked by feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and self-doubt, and while culturally we use this term to refer to someone who constantly feels inferior to others, it can manifest in countless ways. The complex may be specific to certain tasks like driving or subjects like math or spelling. Essentially, an inferiority complex is a pattern of thoughts, beliefs, and feelings which create chronic discouragement and a sense of failure around a particular subject. Which subject the complex forms around will be completely unique to each individual's life experience: someone may form it around athletic ability, another around money (as an expression of self-worth). As psychotherapist Alfred Adler points out, however, the feeling of inferiority itself is not abnormal, in fact, it plays a critical role in the psyche's development, inspiring the inner drive to learn and grow. It becomes a complex when related thoughts and emotions knot around what Jung terms a "psychologically powerful event." It's possible, then, to have a complex around literally any significant psychological impression or experience, a complex is just an emotional-laden issue for you: it could be your body image, any kind of disability, the details of a traumatic or powerful experience (a time of day, a specific phrase, a certain location), your possessions, or money. Anything, really.
A complex is the site where the unconscious usurps the ego and takes control of our actions, thoughts, and emotions, like a big, shiny, red button capable of short circuiting the ego's supervision of the conscious mind. To some extent, the development of a complex is influenced by the ego: we may get hung up on something because it contradicts our ego's values, like a violent impulse; or because it enhances or protects the ego's self-image, like perfectionism. A complex is often the neurotic trap caused by an inner conflict or contradiction, our psyche's weak spots, aspects of ourselves we impulsively defend or compensate. However, Jung insists that while complexes tend to have negative emotional results, they can also create positive outcomes. Jung uses Napoleon as an example, whose complex about his height drove much of his desire to succeed. Complexes also help support our internal comfort zones and a psychological feeling of safety. Likewise, a complex defines the inner emotional danger zones our interactions with the external world so often trespass.
Jung describes complexes as being little minds of their own, microcosms of the total psyche that are autonomous to the conscious self. But as they reside in the more "superficial" layers of the unconscious, you may be completely aware of one complex, and totally ignorant of another (you didn't think you only had one, did you?). In psychotherapy, healing a complex often entails finding and confronting its root cause, or, alternatively, it may involve conditioning a new response to a complex's habitual trigger and overcoming it by sheer force of will. On the level of myth, complexes are simply the symptoms of too rigid an ego which amplifies, resists, and rejects our painful experiences or aggrandizes its own delusions. Healing occurs when we puncture the illusion that the ego is in control, and when we release our attachment to its perspective. As Campbell warns, it is not the ego's job to "try to dictate to [the psyche] to say how square it should be," and we get into trouble when the ego tries.
As they form around particular, personal experiences, complexes and the personal unconscious are completely unique to each individual. The second aspect of the unconscious, its deeper layer, is the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious does not originate from personal experience, rather, it's inherited at birth and shared with every past and every living human. In fact, each species has its own collective unconscious: it can be seen in the innate ability of birds to build nests, or spiders to spin webs, they do not need to attend seminars to learn how to do it, they just know. Likewise, just as all humans inherit similar biology, Jung uses the term 'archetypes' to refer to the shared architecture of the psyche – this is the very foundation for Campbell's model. The ego, the persona, even the collective unconscious itself, are all archetypes. Our modern understanding of archetypes tends to over-simplify their meaning, however. Typically, use of the term 'archetype' is found in the context of storytelling patterns or in writing guidebooks, and they are explained as recurring images which carry a universal meaning or significance. For example, the appearance of "the wise old man," occasionally woman, in stories is about as old as the hills, and is taken to be a universal symbol for wisdom.
I am not an archetype.
Obi-wan Kenobi of Star Wars is the quintessential 'wise old man,' but he is not, himself, an archetype. Archetypes are unconscious, and they cannot be directly accessed by the conscious mind. So to say that they are a certain image or pattern which takes a fixed shape or meaning is absurd. These recurring images are, instead, symbols, the conscious mind's representation of its fleeting impressions of the archetypes, the hidden aspects of the psyche. Obi-wan acts as Luke's mentor and is the first to teach him about the path of the Jedi, a forgotten tradition based on faith in the mystical 'Force.' In fact, Luke's family has purposefully hidden this heritage from him. Thus Obi-wan is not simply Luke's teacher: he initiates Luke into what is, essentially, a spiritual life, bringing him into contact with what binds all of life, and the universe itself, together. This isn't merely wisdom. Obi-wan is a phantasm, a messenger, of the collective unconscious.
While dreams, populated by images laden with personal associations and meanings, arise primarily from the personal unconscious, mythology emerges from the collective unconscious, the reservoir of the whole species. While in our model the unconscious seems defined by the bounds of the circle, below the threshold of consciousness the circle really just disappears. There are no true boundaries to the unconscious because it simply isn't knowable: it is forever expanding, and its collective aspect reaches back to the emanation of the visible world. Trying to "know" the whole unconscious is as vain as trying to separate every drop of water in the ocean. The recurring symbols and images of myth are only shadows of semblances. Our relationship to the unconscious is analogous with the Joni Mitchell lyric: "It's clouds illusions I recall / I really don't know clouds at all." This is why the symbols of the archetypes are so variable. The collective unconscious may often be "the wise old man" in cultures of the West, but in other places, at other times, this archetype has taken the form of a fox, a frog, a well, a fairy godmother, an enchanted castle, among countless others. What's significant is the readiness of the psyche to recognize the archetypes in their many iterations. As Joseph Campbell suggests, we recognize the same hero in "a thousand faces." The wise old man, himself, cannot be an archetype because his specific form is culturally determined, and, according to Jung, "such variable representations cannot be inherited." We inherit the ability to understand the image, not the image itself. The collective unconscious is not something we can touch or directly experience, we intuit its existence, encounter it in brief moments or clarity or insight. We recognize Obi-wan as the visible vapour of the collective unconscious, that which we have always known but have forgotten. But he is a finger pointing at the moon.
Don't concentrate on the finger.
The personal unconscious rests on the deeper ground of this collective aspect and opens up to it: many of our complexes form around archetypal images. Obsession is easily attracted to the symbols we intuitively understand are important, that resonate. The concept of 'Mother' is a deeply seated archetype (explored in our next post), and so our emotions, beliefs, and experiences naturally knot around our own mortal mothers and other maternal figures. We come into this world wired to recognize patterns and to both create and interpret the mythology of those symbols. Of course, Campbell explains that one of mythology's main functions is "the cosmological function." Mythology is the story we create to order and explain the natural world, what, for example, moves the sun across the sky, and our place in the larger universe. Campbell is adamant that for mythology to stay relevant in a society it "must itself incorporate the modern scientific world." From the point of view that a mythology becomes irrelevant and loses its power within a society once modern scientific knowledge outstrips what the myths teach about the nature of the universe, Galileo's imprisonment by the Catholic Church for heresy when he observed that the Earth was not, in fact, the centre of the universe is understandable. However, this is only one aspect of mythology's purpose. Myths aren't just a way to explain the natural world, they are also the vehicle through which we represent our inner Selves. Myths are the landscape of the soul: they are the mirrors through which the conscious mind comes to know the Self. But, only to the extent that the mind is ready to receive its messages – which so often means, only to the extent that we are ready to release the ego's righteousness. For this is not the realm of the ego. It is rather the threshold beyond which the ego fails.
It's the ego who grabs onto the images of the unconscious realm and decides they have a fixed meaning, that they represent 'the truth.' The ego can understand and control images. It has a harder time with symbols who signal unknowable depth, mystery the ego's ferocious desire to be right will not see. Campbell uses the analogy of visiting a restaurant, where you are typically given a menu with a list of items you can order, sometimes the menu has pictures of various dishes, but you understand that the words and pictures refer to food that will be prepared for you. Reducing a symbol to its surface image is equal to going to a restaurant and eating the menu. This is what he means when he urges that the ego shouldn't dictate to the unconscious "how square it should be." This is the impulse which leads to extremism.
Rather, the ego must learn to let go of its own importance. To become transparent enough that it may serve its true function: to interpret the messages of the unconscious realm and "try to bring [the] impulse system [below the threshold of consciousness] into relationship to the conditions of the environment which ego has constructed… a cooperation between the Self, you might say, and the ego." The hero's journey itself represents the process of the ego coming back into relationship with the unconscious, and beyond that, the eternal. It is a guide to bring our own minds back into relationship with our inner Selves, to break the ego's habitual pattern of rejection, resistance, and fear. As Campbell reminds us, "mythology is the language of the Self speaking to the ego system, and the ego system has to learn how to read it." The trouble is, of course, "for the most part, we in our world have forgotten" how to do that. This is, perhaps, why we have not yet tired of the many hero's journeys of the world: we still need a map back to our Selves.
Yet, once the hero is called to adventure, he must make the decision whether or not to risk the perilous quest. For crossing the threshold into the journey is crossing the threshold headlong into the unconscious realm. Here he encounters deep, serious, threatening challenges to his waking identity. He will encounter what he fears most, embodied by two of the most important archetypes in the psyche to the hero's journey: the anima/animus, and the shadow. We visit the anima next.
Filed Under: Mythology
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About Sinéad Donohoe
A writer from London, Ontario. These are her adventures in writing, movie loving, and general mayhem.
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