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19 April 2010 4:20 PM
Philip Pullman takes the cat out of the bag, plus thoughts on the Pope
I believe this figure of speech (like 'no room to swing a cat') refers to a cat-o-nine-tails rather than to a moggy. Once the cat was taken out of its cloth bag by the Bosun, I believe, it was a signal that talking was over, and savage punishment was about to take place. But that's by the way. The interesting thing is that the author Philip Pullman, interviewed in Monday's Guardian by Laura Barton, lets us know what the Atheist Liberation Front (ALF?) actually think about the RC church and the paedophile scandal. And it is as I had thought.
Here's the relevant extract from Ms Barton's article: 'I ask him if he thinks the scandal will change the Catholic church. "I hope so," he says quickly, and then draws back. "Well why do I hope so? In one way, I hope the wretched organisation will vanish entirely. So I'm looking on with a degree of dispassionate interest." He does not, at this moment, seem so dispassionate.'
I'll say that's not dispassionate. But then remember his 2001 remark to the Washington Post's Alona Wartofsky, that he was 'trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.'
Mr Pullman, so far as I know, hasn't retracted this, though many of his media admirers plainly find it awkward and tend to say that he 'reportedly' said it, or use similar formulas to try and soften its effect. Possibly by pure coincidence, it doesn't seem to be possible to find it on the Washington Post site any more (I have my own copy). Why don't any of those who actually get to interview him ask him why it is that he's so cross with Christianity?
He's a funny fellow. My meetings with him have been brief. He once appeared at an Oxford debate - I attended, hoping to question him, but questions to him were severely limited. He once complained to a gossip column that I had stormed off after meeting him at the Oxford Marks and Spencer, which wasn't exactly my recollection of this brief and affable encounter at the check-out, as I struggled to persuade the automatic cashier (I don't use them any more) to let me buy three bottles of wine.
He went around for years saying that he had asked his publishers to put the words 'the most dangerous author in Britain', attributed to me, on the covers of the paperback editions of 'His Dark Materials'.The words are part of a headline 'Is this the most dangerous author in Britain?' which was placed on an article I wrote about him in the Mail on Sunday - and which is often reproduced elsewhere without the question mark. (He used to have the article stuck up on the wall of his writing shed.) Eventually he said it on a Radio 4 programme and I wrote to ask him which edition this had been, since I had never seen it and would very much like to obtain a copy. He wrote back to concede that the words do not in fact appear on any edition he can find. I'm not surprised. The publishers might be worried that innocent grannies and aunties might see them, and hesitate over buying them for little Wilhelmina, and little Tarquin. Which would never do.
I once wrote him a note (part of another correspondence) asking why there were Zeppelins but no trains in his imagined parallel Oxford in 'Northern Lights' (I was wrong. There are trains, though they play little part in the story). He wrote back saying that it was because they had been privatised.
And then he appeared in the left-wing weekly, 'The New Statesman' last Friday, and seemed to imply (at least his interviewer certainly formed that impression) that he believed that I and other Christians had felt 'offended' by his books. I can't speak for others, but I am not in the slightest bit offended by them. Nor do I want to ban them, as so many people who write to me seem to think. I have never said I want to ban them, for the simple reason that I don't. I'm against banning books.
And I loathe this fashion for being 'offended' by other people's points of view. I just think that Mr Pullman's current status in the literary world has more to do with his leftism and his atheism than it does with the quality of his books. Some of them are all right, but some (especially the latest 'The Good Man Jesus etc') are heavy-handed clunkers. The really interesting thing is that he has written a very large number of books, but most have come and gone without attracting much notice or praise. The ones with an anti-God agenda, on the other hand, get both praise and sales. I've discussed the workings of the book world elsewhere.
Mr Pullman, by the way, turns out to be predictably left-wing in his politics, which I would guess are those of the 1980s state school staff-room. Here's more from the New Statesman: 'Does he despair of the political class as a whole? "No. I always vote. Voting is a privilege. For much of my life, I lived in a safe Tory seat, but I still voted. Oxford in 1997 was fairly marginal and I wanted very much to get rid of John Patten, and I wanted a Labour government. But there was no point in voting Labour at that stage, so I had to vote Liberal Democrat. Our stupid voting system requires you to make calculations like that all the time. It's preposterous and we must change it." '
This is unintentionally funny. Mr Pullman should stick to fantasy. John Patten, a Tory Education Secretary who noisily fell out with education radicals (presumably the reason for Mr Pullman's desire to 'get rid of him') actually retired from the Commons in 1997, and did not stand in that year's election for Oxford West. Nor was it a safe seat. It fell to the Liberal Democrats, in the interesting shape of Dr Evan Harris. Since then, Mr Pullman has moved house, presumably because he has made so much money from his books that he can afford to live pretty much where he likes. I don't think I'm giving away any secrets when I say that he's still in the same Oxford West constituency as he was in 1997. Whereas, if he had moved to my bit of Oxford, he'd have had a Labour MP since 1987 - and indeed his vote might be crucial in saving Mr Smith from the considerable Lib Dem threat to unseat him on 6th May.
But back to the Roman Catholic Church. I'm struck not just by Mr Pullman's open desire to see it vanish, and by the similar hostility of some contributors. Do they really want it gone, including all its many charitable activities, its educational institutions, its provision of help and comfort at the end of life, its uncompromising stand on many moral issues (whoops, perhaps that's what they don't like).
And what of its artistic, musical and architectural heritage? How will that survive if the church that nurtured and sustained them is gone?
But there's another point here.
Let's go through the case as it stands in general.
Did Roman Catholic priests engage in abuse of children? Yes.
Were these crimes sometimes covered up? Yes.
Does the Church admit this? Yes.
Does anything in Roman Catholic theology or belief mandate or excuse such behaviour? No.
Is the RC Church the only institution in which such abuse has taken place? No.
Have the transgressors been punished and have steps been taken to prevent them having renewed opportunities to transgress? Yes, though not as swiftly as it should have been, some are now beyond the reach of the law, or dead.
Has the Church admitted that it was at fault? Yes, unequivocally and repeatedly.
Have steps been taken to prevent a repetition? Yes.
Has the current Pope in any way condoned the crimes? No.
Has he repeatedly and explicitly condemned them and those who failed to act against them? Yes.
So what I want to know, in detail, is what those who now call for the prosecution of the Pope specifically allege against him?
Then we can debate the strength of these charges.
But my point about pre-Christian societies and what we now call paedophilia remains. Some people will actively wish to misunderstand me here, so forgive me if I make this point in a rather heavy-handed way.
In some pre-Christian societies, activities which now rightly fill us with nauseated disgust, particularly the sexual exploitation of pubescent boys by older men, were once regarded as normal and acceptable. It was Christian sexual morality, with its belief that sexual acts should be confined to lifelong marriage between a man and a woman, which led to their being first made unacceptable and then made illegal. That morality has largely been discarded for heterosexual acts and our continuing taboos survive mainly because of public opinion (though as anyone over 50 can attest, public opinion on sexual matters can change immensely in a very short time).
If this is so, there appears to be no 'universal' instinctively-discoverable code of sexual ethics (independent of Christianity) which mandates that paedophilia is wrong. In which case, what precisely is the moral basis on which the atheist critics of the church found their ferocious disapproval of this activity, while they take a pretty much Kinseyist anything-goes attitude to almost all other sorts of sex? I'm not saying they don't have such a basis. I just would like to know exactly what it is. I have no doubt that 'consent' will play a major part in their answer. Yet this contains problems of its own. Are those who consent really capable of giving it? How old does someone have to be, to be able to make such a momentous decision free of pressure? It's a murky area.
For as I also pointed out, the radical materialist left has been active for decades in sweeping away almost all restraints upon sexual behaviour - in minimising the importance of marriage for heterosexuals, in separating sexual acts from their natural consequences with powerful drugs and easy abortion, and in lowering the age of consent, especially for homosexual acts. Some want it lower still. Even where the age of consent laws have blatantly been broken, the authorities are often highly reluctant to prosecute, so making the law a dead letter.
Meanwhile, what of all the other places where sexual abuse of the young takes place? Does anyone have any figures on how common sex abuse by priests is, as compared (for instance, to pluck some samples of other potentially risky occupations and relationships out of the air) to youth workers, scoutmasters, secular school teachers, sports coaches, stepfathers in marriage-free households, stepbrothers in similar situations, etc etc? Is our concentration on the undoubted misdeeds of the RC church proportionate?
Once we have sorted these matters out, we can decide if this is really a campaign on behalf of the victims of disgusting priests, or a campaign against the Roman Church, which some would like to vanish.
If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens, click on Comments and scroll down.
April 19, 2010 Comments (46) Categories: Pullman, Philip , Religion , Roman Catholicism | Permalink
Perhaps I should start by saying that am not a believer, but I was bought up as a nonconformist. I think that I remember enough of my old faith to think that it is too easy for Peter Hitchens to say, as he says in the eight paragraph of his essay, that he does not want to ban Phillip Pullman's books because he is against banning books.
What about Matthew 18.6&7? If Peter Hitchens thinks
1. that Phillip Pullman is using his books to attach Christianity
2. that he is a good writer
he has to face the possibility that Phillip Pullman might be getting somewhere, leading Christian children, and other children, astray.
What is Peter Hitchens going to do about this? Perhaps he does not have to go as far tying a millstone around Phillip Pullman's neck and tossing him into the sea, but is writing newspaper articles enough of a response? Would not banning, from Peter Hitchen's point of view, achieve more? It would make sure that children never hear Phillip Pullman words.
But it is Peter Hitchens problem not mine.
ps. I hope that I am not too late!
Posted by: urtis | 23 August 2010 at 08:10 PM
I'm so glad someone else avoids self- check machine in shops! They are ugly, inconvenient and are robbing people of their employment.
Posted by: Librarygirl | 28 April 2010 at 12:21 PM
Peter Preston,
I find your argument difficult to understand. Law as some kind of adjunct to religion, for when religion doesn't quite do the job? My original point was, I think, that man has no need for religion in regulating society; law on its own is perfectly good enough. The fact that some form of religion has always been around is an irrelevance.
I don't think I'm disagreeing with you here. My original comment was in response to Peter Charnley's apparent equation of "left wing values", with "apocalyptically inhuman" which I find ridiculous. To repeat, there's nothing left wing about killing millions of people. I agree that there's nothing in the New Testament version of Christian values about having to slaugher lots of people (unlike, obviously, the OT) – but I found the sanctimony of Peter Charnley to be aggressive and unjustified.
Posted by: Thucydides | 26 April 2010 at 12:08 PM
Hello Michael
Thanks very much- what a shame contributor Thucydides seems to have disappeared. I was looking forward to his (or her) explanation as to how Stalin's atrocities weren't connected to left-wing beliefs. With this cleared up I could then have voted Lib Dem with a clear conscience.
Unfortunately, because this explanation does not seem to be forthcoming I may have to pass up this opportunity...
On a different subject, I have posted a couple of comments on the "how to hang a parliemant" thread regarding your discussion with Norfolk Al and Stan. I'd be interested in your views on my (raw) idea. Actually, it probably wasn't my idea, think i got it from someone else on here...
Posted by: Mark | 25 April 2010 at 04:05 PM
Posted by: Mark 23 April 2010 at 04:32 PM.
Mark such insight thank you.
Posted by: Michael Williamson | 24 April 2010 at 06:37 PM
I am an atheist (in philosopher Antony Flew's sense of one who is not a theist).
I recall reading Philip Pullman's dismissive remarks about C. S. Lewis.
For all my specific disagreements with Lewis, he is an enduringly great writer. Pullman's remarks about him were enough to ensure that I never wasted a moment of my time reading Pullman's own works.
Posted by: Neil Saunders | 24 April 2010 at 12:31 PM
Contributor Thucydides, whom I thank for his kind reply, in response to my earlier question "can you think of any society in recorded history which had laws but did not have any religion?" writes:
" No, neither can I. What is your point?"
Well, if it should happen to be the case that two systems of moral imperatives, such as the law and religion. had always co-existed, people might reasonably suspect that they were in some way correlated. As I suggested in my earlier contribution, sir, perhaps without religion there is no law - or, of course, without law there is no religion.
Perhaps the law might be described as the religion of wayward Man, as a kind of 'belt and braces' system for preserving society. If God's commandments fail to keep us to the 'straight and narrow', wise laws will step in and by more temporal and secular threat of punishment prevent us from straying too far into the long grass.
Just a thought, for what it may be worth.
Posted by: Peter Preston | 23 April 2010 at 06:04 PM
Hello Thucydides
"Please don't cite Stalin here – his monstrous actions had nothing to do with left wing values. Besides, there's always the number of people who have perished as a result of Christianity to throw back at you – see Dawkins, Hitchens C etc."
It would be interesting to hear how and why Stalin's actions "had nothing to do with left-wing values". What were they connected to then, if not Stalin's left-wing beliefs, ie huge state control of everything?
A lot of people on here could say the same thing about Christianity, ie the atrocities caused by Christians during the Crusades were nothing to do with Christian values.
Interesting that when someone mentions Stalin a lot of left-wingers suddenly claim their beliefs are not connected to his atrocities oh no no no- but as soon as religious atrocities are thrown into the mix it is all Christianity's fault and not necessarily that of the person or people using it as a means to control others.
Sorry, you can't have it both ways...
Personally I think that it is the result of power hungry megalomaniacs who use religion or the almighty state to gain power for themselves. Correct me if I'm wrong but left-wingers usually believe in a strong state- which in turn always ends up somewhere unpleasant...
I lived in Leeds for 10 years, and nobody there ever said "oop", which can only rhyme with "hoop".
Anyway, "can you think of any society in recorded history which had laws but did not have any religion?" No, neither can I. What is your point?
Contributor Thucydides asls Peter Hitchens:
"... But why the need for some sort of external sanction? The answer to your question is the rule of law. That law evolves as society changes is a mark of its strength, not a weakness."
Not sure what all the abstract ideas in your second sentence actually mean, when the're "'at 'ome", as they say oop north, but can you think of any society in recorded history which had laws but did not have any religion? I can't, though I must admit that history doesn't interest me that much.
The orginal Thucydides was an historian; so perhaps he would have known.
Perhaps without religion of some kind there would be no law either.
Pullman "purposefully distorts [my values]. How so?
"He grows rich …" ie he writes books people want to buy. How awful.
"… holding my nations hand as it sleepwalks further and further towards disaster and chaos" – I disagree that the nation – my nation, too – is heading in this direction, but even so, don't you think that you're rather over-stating Pullman's influence?
" … whispering to it deliberately misleading lies based upon historically proven apocalyptically inhuman, left wing values." What lies are these? What evidence do you have that Pullman is being deliberately misleading? I suspect that you didn't mean to write "historically proven … left wing values", so I can't comment, but "apocalyptically inhuman left wing values"? Please don't cite Stalin here – his monstrous actions had nothing to do with left wing values. Besides, there's always the number of people who have perished as a result of Christianity to throw back at you – see Dawkins, Hitchens C etc.
OK, your faith (and, perhaps, right-wing political views) are very important to you. Fine. But as I indicated in my previous post, why the hyperbolic intolerance – because that continues to be how I read it – of one man's different view of man's place in the world? Is the Christian church so fragile that Pullman can really harm it?
Although the Roman Catholic church has an amazingly large number of homosexual and pederastic priests, that is not the real problem. Rather, the problem is that the bishops didn't care about anything but avoiding bad publicity and protecting their priests when they found out about the pederasty. Someone put it this way as far as America goes: A small minority of priests were pedophiles, but an actual majority of bishops covered up for them. That, too, is why lawsuits have cost the American church so much; the church wouldn't have been liable if it hadn't abetted the molesters.
My impression is that Pope Benedict actually was one of the most anti-pederast figures in the church, which is to say that he at least made a few comments that indicated he thought it was a problem. He hasn't punished anyone, though, or evenly criticized any bishop by name. (Actually, I don't think he even has criticized them in the abstract-- his comments are more abstract than to mention that the bishops ahve more blame than, say, the parishioners).
If the Roman Catholic church did collapse, it would free its many good members to join a less corrupt organization.
Posted by: Eric Rasmusen | 22 April 2010 at 02:37 AM
Thucydides:-
"Philip Pullman a "monster". What a ridiculous statement. He, along with many, many other people does not share your Christian views."
Unlike most others who do not share my values he purposefully distorts them and grows rich from holding my nations hand as it sleepwalks further and further towards disaster and chaos whilst, with the pen and from our screens, whispering to it deliberately misleading lies based upon historically proven apocalyptically inhuman, left wing values.
The memory of a TV interview Pullman did with Melvyn Bragg will always haunt me. It was a number of years ago and was the first time I had heard of him. I could barely believe the vile garbage I was listening to - particularly his analysis of C.S.Lewis's work, not just from his own fanatical anti-Christian standpoint, but from its conjoined ideological twin - fanatical, Marxoid, feminism.
Pullman is truly a monster in my eyes. The, so called, 'hyperbolic intolerance', you make reference to is the modus operandi of such people, and, as indicated, they do it with blatant dishonesty, from a perspective of ruthless extremism and their wallets grow fat in the process - whilst the present and future lives of their fellow citizens shrivel as a consequence.
The context of history will award people like Philip Pullman (and those he worships) an appropriate place. I also believe, as a Christian, so will God.
Posted by: Peter Charnley | 21 April 2010 at 10:35 PM
Bob, son of Bob
As I was quoting Bellamy's own reported words ie "the most stupid thing I ever did ", it is almost certain that he would also describe it as an error of judgement. But, perhaps he also lacked your acute insight in respect of the BBC...
Posted by: Norfolk Al | 21 April 2010 at 04:12 PM
@Peter Charnley,
Philip Pullman a "monster". What a ridiculous statement. He, along with many, many other people does not share your Christian views. He goes further than some and chooses to use his influence, as a successful author, to point out the many flaws in Christianity, with the explicit aim of undermining it – in the same way that CS Lewis actively supported it in the Narnia books. Your hyperbolic intolerance of a different point of view is revealing.
Mr Hitchens, others have dealt well with the weaknesses in your argument about paedophilia and the Catholic church. But you also make a more general point: "there appears to be no 'universal' instinctively-discoverable code of sexual ethics (independent of Christianity) which mandates that paedophilia is wrong. In which case, what precisely is the moral basis on which the atheist critics of the church found their ferocious disapproval of this activity …?" This seems to be one of the two main arguments that you put forward in support of Christianity, that it provides a necessary moral base (the other argument is around cultural heritage). But why the need for some sort of external sanction? The answer to your question is the rule of law. That law evolves as society changes is a mark of its strength, not a weakness.
In some parts of the world, cannibalism used to be (and perhaps still is) considered acceptable. I don't know if the bible has anything to say on the matter, but I don't feel the absence of a further moral basis for my – and my society's – view that eating people is wrong.
/The atheists et al are now having a 'field day' against the Roman Catholic Church - carry on - so be it - are your happy? Regarding the 'sins' of the abusers - terrible people - one does not throw a basket of good apples away because of some bad apples. All cases should have been brought to light - immediately, immediately.
The Roman Catholic Church will carry on with its great Hope and Strength.
Posted by: Rosemary Farrell - Ontario, Canada | 21 April 2010 at 02:58 PM
To Contributor Peter Preston
'I can't imagine what this contributor bases this absurd assertion on, if by "righteousness" he means freedom from sin. Hilaire Belloc, it seems to me, knew rather more about the subject and revealed his understanding much better, when he said that the very unrighteousness from which the Church suffered confirmed his belief that it must rely on more than mere human agency for its uncommonly durable existence. No merely human institution, he argued, with such corruption in it would last a fortnight.'
So Belloc's argument is that the church is so wicked that it should have collapsed under its own iniquity if not for the prop of divine approval? I can't say I disagree but that raises some awkward questions about God. By righteousness I mean that they define right as being the teachings of their church, they justify these teachings as 'right' by authority and not reason- condoms, no sex before marriage, homosexuality etc. If these teachings are traced back to their source they are not justified by reason, but are instead believed because of faith in priest or a book. Even after the liberalizing of doctrine following Vatican II, before which strictly only Roman Catholics went to heaven, the church still teaches that it is the ONE true church. You can define righteousness otherwise if you wish but this seems clear enough to me.
As to what the pope thinks or would or would not do- I have no desire to pry inside his filthy mind- I only state as I find based on evidence, which is all that any of us can do, if a criminal commits crime after crime and only stops once they are caught I think it is reasonable to state they would have continued to commit crimes unless they had been stopped and not to complain that the police have impugned their good character.
I am very well informed when it comes to this issue because it is vital. I admit to the fault of loathing the Roman Church with every fibre of my being, while loving Catholics as some of the best people I have ever known (in some cases partly because they are Catholic). The greatest threat to our society is moral relativism and the greatest weapon in the relativists arsenal is that the only emblems of moral absolutism are religions whose faith in their 'truth' is in direct proportion to their absurdity, their cruelty, their authoritarianism and their shameless hypocrisy. We need moral authority but that must come from truth through reason- the more people associate morality with the Roman Church the more the cause of morality will suffer.
To inform yourself I suggest you read Christopher Hitchen's blog alongside this one. A curious man could do worse than setting the brothers side by side then thinking carefully- they say essentially the same thing, one as an American, the other as a British Patriot.
Posted by: Tom Bumstead | 21 April 2010 at 01:07 PM
Norfolk Al says David Bellamy standing against John Major (1997) because he wanted a referendum on Europe caused him to be banned from TV , and adds 'Hardly a sign of sparkling judgement...'
Do you mean that to challenge the TV media's clear position on the question of the Europeon Union is foolish if you ever want to work for the TV media again?
You have to be totally on-message to be granted their backing. If you disagree with any one of their messages, they do not like it. Michael Portillo learnt this, and so did David Cameron. David Bellamy, on the other hand dared to stand up for Britain and was dealt with accordingly. The situation with David Cameron is slightly different, however, as unlike with David Bellamy, they would be forced to report what he said, however much it contradicted their own opinions.
There are plenty of people wanting to get into the media, so why should they help anyone who challenges any of their strongly-held convicions?
Posted by: Bob, son of Bob | 21 April 2010 at 12:35 PM
Of course Malcolm Muggeridge was one of many. Mary Whitehouse another . Who were laughed out of town. We with hindsight can now see the truth in everthing they said.
They are special only in that they tried to do something, whereas most of the others that thought exactly the same, were just to busy doing something else or nothing.
Today before an Election nothing has changed .The Brave are out there doing their damndest, but the same slippery gang, that fooled us Muggeridge was a stuffed shirt. Is alive and kicking.
Posted by: mikebarnes | 21 April 2010 at 12:28 PM
I think the response of some contributors who refer to themselves as Athiests etc. shows one thing, that they do not understand religion. If they wish to hate, ridicule and undermine religion that's fine, if they wish to think that all people involved with religion are deluded fools, then think away; but please be aware that whatever religion and faith are, they are not 'simple' but extremely deep and even academic subjects, Chucking out a few half-thought, half-learned examples about the ten-commandments or something is a poor argument.
Regarding abuse by Catholic priests which is of course criminal, we need to remember the the past is another country and so are other countries. The Catholic Church is a global institution, not a British or American one, we need to realise that it sometimes takes time for our superior systems to permeate the whole world. Also we need to realise that the way the catholic church acted 30 or 40 years ago was the way most organisations acted then. What do you think the Irish police would really have done had a bishop approached them about one of his priests back in the 50's or 60's? We all know what they should have done and what should be done now, but honestly do we think that would have happened? We rightly condemn any organisation for what happens now, but selecting one organisation from our wicked past for special attention?
There is never any excuse for abuse, but Mr Hitchen's is right there are other motives at play in the current persecution.
Posted by: Alan | 21 April 2010 at 11:01 AM
I have very recently embarked upon a study of a truly fascinating human being who died in 1990 . Somebody I hadn't, until very recently, thought barely anything about except as being a face that used to occasionally appear on TV during my childhood and whose physical eccentricities Mike Yarwood used to get his teeth into regularly. His name is Malcolm Muggeridge.
About this person I have, to date, barely dipped a toe in an ideological and literary ocean. But from what I have so far read I know I have unearthed a hitherto, for me, jewel.
He was a devout believer in traditional Christianity and a convert, very late in life, to Catholicism. He also predicted, with amazing accuracy, many of the things that are presently happening in our world, of which Philip Pullman, one of the most vile, hypocritical apologists for the openly nihilistic, fanatically secular, Left who is presently profiting form being under an increasingly dishonest and very deliberately warped spotlight.
I cannot go into detail here for obvious reasons. But I have just finished reading the publication of a lecture Muggeridge gave called 'Christ and the Media' in 1976 in All Souls Church, Langham. Also published in this small book is the question and answer session that followed which he dealt with along with a couple of BBC controllers of that time (e.g. John Lang and Sir Michael Swann).
If I had been present at that lecture, living in that era, I would have probably thought Malcolm Muggeridge to be somewhat puritanical and was perhaps scaremongering. Reading the message of that lecture now and his responses to the sometimes less than friendly Q+A challenges after over three decades have rolled by - I realise that everything he foretold was chillingly accurate.
The glorification of negative, one-dimensional, fanatics like Pullman (and the like of Dawkins and C.Hitchens) is the sickening legacy of Malcolm Muggeridge's prophecy.
I have only scratched the surface of this clearly remarkable human being. Someone who witnessed, first hand, the genocidal, nihilism of the atheistic Left and who saw how it relied, totally, on the local and global lies and the horrific murderous intimidation that were to be the pseudo communion bread for its false altar table. He foretold much. It is coming true. And that smirking monster in the picture accompanying this article is, oh so symbolic of Muggeridge's warnings.
There is much for me yet to read. I look forward to it with relish. I truly recommend him to others.
Contributor Tom Bumstead describes the Roman Catholic Church as "an institution that claims supreme righteousness".
I can't imagine what this contributor bases this absurd assertion on, if by "righteousness" he means freedom from sin. Hilaire Belloc, it seems to me, knew rather more about the subject and revealed his understanding much better, when he said that the very unrighteousness from which the Church suffered confirmed his belief that it must rely on more than mere human agency for its uncommonly durable existence. No merely human institution, he argued, with such corruption in it would last a fortnight.
You say also, sir:
"Has the current Pope in any way condoned the crimes? No.
(But he has covered up for them in the name of the 'good of the universal church' and would have continued to do so if not for the godless moral relativists of the secular world)"
From the readiness to judge others - whose culpability you are simply not in a position to know - which your words revealed I felt sure that sooner or later you would unveil the kind of logic which I suspected must underlie your thesis.
Even an intelligent child could have refuted that "and would have continued to do so if ........" with the simple question "How do you know what someone else would have done, if he hadn't done what he did?"
You see what I mean, sir? As I read your vituperations, my first thought was where on earth you had discovered all the things which you asserted so confidently. You seemed so incredibly well informed that I was starting to think that perhaps you might have a point, though i suspected it was one in which you seemed to revel somewhat.
Then you let the cat out of the bag - and my "cat" is the moggy variety - and by taking that step too far, you undermined the credibility of your whole thesis.
Like a concert pianist who has to read from the printed music on concert night, you simply hadn't practised your piece enough.
Bob, son of Bob 20 April at 09.45am
Re David Bellamy:
I seem to have read somwhere that Bellamy made his last TV programme some ten years before he changed his mind on global warming. He blamed his 'banishment' on the "most stupid thing I ever did" (and he carried out a few stunts in his time) which was to stand against John Major for the Referendum Party. Hardly a sign of sparkling judgement...
PH quotes Pullman as saying: "For much of my life, I lived in a safe Tory seat, but I still voted. Oxford in 1997 was fairly marginal and I wanted very much to get rid of John Patten, and I wanted a Labour government."
For anyone who is unsure for whom to vote, just Google "How should I vote 2010? Daily Telegraph". The site is at the top of the list.
The site suggested I vote for 1) UKIP, 2) Tory, 3) LibDem - not sure of those choices at all.
Posted by: James Hodson | 20 April 2010 at 06:40 PM
Contributor Richie Craze, having described himself as like a secular atheist, writes:
" I'm sure the great cathedrals will still be standing and vigorously preserved, just like the Pantheon (long since a Christian church), long after the last mumbo-jumboist has passed on. "
I sare say you're right there, sir, and perhaps "long after the last secular atheist has passed on too.


What a beauty trout by Ant Glascoe Jr, and there's an awesome story to back it up!
" I have family that own land here, in the Manchester area. Real bandit land. I got permission to fish this small river. I remember from when I was a kid that this river was polluted, an absolute rotting smell.


Corporates Offices, factories, office campuses, and SEZ's rely on our expertise and services to implement energy-savings measures, manage energy supply and demand, set-up renewable power sources, and establish green campuses.
Institutions Academic, research, government and developmental institutes tap into our expertise and knowledge-base to gain insights into the clean technology sector, establish green campus, and develop capacity of their management, staff and students.
Startups Entrepreneurs and micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) count on us to provide advisory and capacity building services for business plan development, team building, fund raising, and coaching and mentoring.
Rural Farmers, village micro-enterprises, CSR Heads and NGOs depend on our rural services to implement electricity & cooking solutions, establish energy micro-enterprises and develop skilled workforce.
: How India's 'smart villages' are centralising solar power. : Nanogrid Electricity in India : A smart village which runs on solar power SunMoksha wins Millennium Alliance Round 4 Grant for Developing Smart Nanogrid Village in Jharkhand. SunMoksha, in consortium with IPE Global, wins PMC contract to develop 100 villages in UP.


East Bakersfield High School welcomes you to SchoolShelf!
These digital books and InfoGuides are great resources for Parents, Students and Staff to use throughout your academic career in here at East Bakersfield High School. If you have any questions or would like assistance, please contact Mr. Esparza in the Blade Parent and Family Center.


text:
using namespace eddic;

std::string eddic::mangle(std::shared_ptr<const Type> type){
    if(type->is_array()){
        return "A" + type->data_type()->mangle();
    }

    if(type->is_pointer()){
        return "P" + type->data_type()->mangle();
    }

    if(type->is_standard_type()){
        if(type == INT){
            return "I";
        } else if(type == CHAR){
            return "C";
        } else if(type == STRING){
            return "S";
        } else if(type == BOOL){
            return "B";
        } else if(type == FLOAT){
            return "F";
        } else if(type == VOID){
            return "V";
        }
    }

    if(type->is_custom_type()){
        std::ostringstream ss;

        ss << "U";
        ss << type->type().length();
        ss << type->type();

        return ss.str();
    }

    if(type->is_template_type()){
        std::ostringstream ss;

        ss << "T";
        ss << type->type().length();
        ss << type->type();

        auto types = type->template_types();

        ss << types.size();

        for(auto& sub_type : types){
            ss << sub_type->mangle();
        }

        return ss.str();
    }

    cpp_unreachable("Invalid type");
}

std::string eddic::mangle(const std::string& name, const std::vector<Parameter>& parameters, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    if(struct_type){
        ss << "_M";
        ss << struct_type->mangle();
    } else {
        ss << "_F";
    }

    ss << name.length();
    ss << name;

    for(auto& type : parameters){
        if(type.name() != "this"){
            ss << type.type()->mangle();
        }
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle_ctor(const std::vector<Parameter>& parameters, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    ss << "_C";
    ss << struct_type->mangle();

    for(auto& type : parameters){
        if(type.name() != "this"){
            ss << type.type()->mangle();
        }
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle(const std::string& functionName, const std::vector<ast::Value>& values, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    if(struct_type){
        ss << "_M";
        ss << struct_type->mangle();
    } else {
        ss << "_F";
    }

    ss << functionName.length();
    ss << functionName;

    ast::GetTypeVisitor visitor;
    for(auto& value : values){
        auto type = visit(visitor, value);
        ss << type->mangle();
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle_ctor(const std::vector<ast::Value>& values, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    ss << "_C";
    ss << struct_type->mangle();

    ast::GetTypeVisitor visitor;
    for(auto& value : values){
        auto type = visit(visitor, value);
        ss << type->mangle();
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle_ctor(const std::vector<std::shared_ptr<const Type>>& types, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    ss << "_C";
    ss << struct_type->mangle();

    for(auto& type : types){
        ss << type->mangle();
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle_dtor(std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    ss << "_D";
    ss << struct_type->mangle();

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::mangle(const std::string& functionName, const std::vector<std::shared_ptr<const Type>>& types, std::shared_ptr<const Type> struct_type){
    std::ostringstream ss;

    if(struct_type){
        ss << "_M";
        ss << struct_type->mangle();
    } else {
        ss << "_F";
    }

    ss << functionName.length();
    ss << functionName;

    for(auto& type : types){
        ss << type->mangle();
    }

    return ss.str();
}

unsigned int read_length(const std::string& mangled, unsigned int& i){
    std::ostringstream length;
    int digits = 0;

    for(; i < mangled.length(); ++i){
        if(isdigit(mangled[i])){
            length << mangled[i];
            ++digits;
        } else {
            break;
        }
    }

    return toNumber<unsigned int>(length.str());
}

std::string get_name_from_length(const std::string& mangled, unsigned int& i){
    int l = read_length(mangled, i);

    std::ostringstream name;

    auto start = i;
    for(; i < start + l; ++i){
        name << mangled[i];
    }

    return name.str();
}

std::string extract_type(const std::string& mangled, unsigned int& o){
    std::stringstream ss;

    char current = mangled[o];

    bool array = false;
    if(current == 'A'){
        array = true;
        current = mangled[++o];
    }

    bool pointer = false;
    if(current == 'P'){
        pointer = true;
        current = mangled[++o];
    }

    ++o;

    if(current == 'I'){
        ss << "int";
    } else if(current == 'C'){
        ss << "char";
    } else if(current == 'S'){
        ss << "str";
    } else if(current == 'B'){
        ss << "bool";
    } else if(current == 'F'){
        ss << "float";
    } else if(current == 'U'){
        ss << get_name_from_length(mangled, o);
    } else if(current == 'T'){
        ss << get_name_from_length(mangled, o);
        ss << "<";

        auto params = read_length(mangled, o);

        for(unsigned int i = 0; i < params; ++i){
            ss << extract_type(mangled, o);

            if(i < params - 1){
                ss << ", ";
            }
        }

        ss << ">";
    }

    if(array){
        ss << "[]";
    }

    if(pointer){
        ss << "&";
    }

    return ss.str();
}

std::string eddic::unmangle(std::string mangled){
    std::ostringstream function;

    std::string prefix;
    prefix += mangled[0];
    prefix += mangled[1];

    unsigned int o = 2;

    //Member function
    if(prefix == "_M"){
        auto type = extract_type(mangled, o);
        function << type << "::";
    }

    //Get the name of the function
    function << get_name_from_length(mangled, o);
    function << '(';

    //Get the parameters
    while(o < mangled.length()){
        auto type = extract_type(mangled, o);
        function << type;

        if(o < mangled.length() - 1){
            function << ", ";
        }
    }

    function << ')';

    return function.str();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Wells in the Making: July 1 to 4, various times - contact crichwelldressings@gmail.com for details.
Crich is located on minor roads northeast of Ambergate on the A6.
CAR: Usually reasonably easy to park in the village.
BUS: Mondays to Saturdays: hourly from Alfreton and Matlock, every 2 hours from Belper and Ripley; Sundays: every 2 hours from Alfreton and Matlock.
Amber Valley Borough, Derbyshire, England.


text:
Pope tells Europe to take refugees because, you know, the Vatican is taking none
Once again we see the leader of a major church, the Pope in this case, telling everyone to do something that he won't do himself.
The migrant crisis engulfing Europe poses a big challenge to Europe's values and traditions but the continent should be able to integrate the newcomers without undermining the safety of its citizens, Pope Francis says.
More than one million people sought refuge in Europe last year, many of them fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq.
A majority of the migrants are Muslims and Europeans are worried about how to integrate them, especially since the November 13 attacks by Islamist militants in Paris that killed 130 people. ? ?
"The present wave of migration seems to be undermining the foundations of that humanistic spirit which Europe has always loved and defended," the pope said in an annual address to diplomats at the Vatican City on Monday (local time), adding that he hoped countries would prove capable of welcoming the refugees.
"Europe, aided by its great cultural and religious heritage, has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its two-fold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to migrants."
The question of integration has dominated news headlines in the first two weeks of 2016 after assaults on women who had been celebrating New Year's Eve in the German city of Cologne.
I doubt the Pope could ensure the safety of immigrant boys if they were domiciled in the Vatican.
The point is this…these wombles and do-gooders were all warned, and they ignored those who did the warning. Worse, they abused them, calling them racists and intolerant. Well history has proved those who warned were right and the wombles and do-gooders were wrong.
The Pope should practise what he preaches…literally..let's see the?Vatican take in 100,000?refugees.
?- 3News
Tagged: Catholic Church • Europe • Islamism • Pope Francis
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SHOCKING: Gun City caught out by another loophole »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Catholic schools say gays and Nazis can go to hell
Spokesperson says remarks were taken out of context.
By Todd Pettigrew January 10, 2011
Last week, the blogosphere lit up with news that the Halton Catholic district school board in Ontario had banned Gay and Lesbian groups from its schools. Alice Anne LeMay, Board Chair threw gasoline on the fire when she defended the decision, in part, on the grounds that there are all sorts of groups the Catholic board bans. "We don't have Nazi groups, either," she was reported to have said.
Well, it turns out even school board officials know a public-relations disaster when they see one, and the board quickly issued an official statement. In it, LeMay claims to have been taken out of context:
It is unfortunate that the comments I made were taken out of context, and I apologize for the words that I used and the offense that was caused. It was not my intent to make any type of comparison between gay straight alliances and Nazi groups. Rather, I was providing a number of examples of groups that are not endorsed and permitted in Halton Catholic schools, for example, groups in favour of abortion or hate groups of any nature. I did not make a direct comparison between gay straight alliances and any of these groups, nor was that my intent.
Where to begin? Well, let's see. If the remarks were taken out of context in such a way as their meaning was misconstrued, why apologize for them? Is LeMay sure she knows what "out of context" means? Apparently not, because her apology essentially restates the original inflammatory remark. Her point (in context) seems to be that there are many groups not allowed in Catholic schools because they promote what is immoral. Like Nazis. And gays. Apparently, Ms LeMay doesn't know what "comparison" means either.
To be fair, I think what she is trying to say is that she does not think being gay is as bad as being a Nazi. But both are intolerable in schools.
Bizarrely, after quoting LeMay's clumsy clarification of her disastrous gaffe, the board goes on to say that none of that matters anyway. The real reason they don't allow gay and lesbian groups is that "The Catholic Church recognizes the dignity of all persons and neither defines nor catalogues them according to their sexual orientation."
Oh, well, that's a relief! It's because they are so tolerant, they don't even want to make sexuality an issue! You know, that's funny, because I was under the impression that the Catholic Church believed things like this:
There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law.
Now, where did I get a crazy notion that Catholics believed that? Oh, that's right: The Vatican. In the Vatican's official statement on gay marriage, the word "homosexual" is used to denounce gay people 52 times. The Catholic Church doesn't categorize people by sexual orientation? Are you sure you're talking about the Catholic Church? The one with the Pope and everything? This obvious lie would be funny if the lives of real kids weren't at stake, but they are and the Church knows it. From the same official document:
Lifestyles and the underlying presuppositions these express not only externally shape the life of society, but also tend to modify the younger generation's perception and evaluation of forms of behaviour.
Now, all of this is bad enough. Gay kids — many already isolated, confused, and bullied — are not only deprived the opportunity of supporting each other at school — a place where they are likely to get picked on the most — but are implicitly told by their school and their church that what they are is "contrary to natural moral law." Can they convince their teachers and principals to relent? No, because it is the Church. It is doctrine. I say the Halton Board can wrap it in the language of modern tolerance all they want, but it is what it is: bigotry and discrimination directed against those who are different. It's the old story of religious homophobia, plain and simple. And we still think that religion and education are a good combination?
All this is bad enough, except that in Ontario's atavistic system of education, Catholic schools are funded by the government. These are taxpayer-funded schools telling kids that being gay is unnatural, immoral, contrary to God's law, and on a moral spectrum somewhere to the left of Nazis (with whom the Catholic Church at the time did not have a big problem).
The Catholic Church needs to come out of the middle ages once and for all, but I don't expect that to happen any time soon. Meanwhile, how about publicly-funded schools stop bullying gay kids and lying about it to cover their asses?
FILED UNDER: Alice Anne LeMay ban doctrine gay gay marriage Halton Catholic District School Board homosexuality Nazis ontario public funding student clubs Vatican


The Program Review Committee examines and evaluates the resource needs and effectiveness of all instructional and service areas.
The Program Review Committee is charged with evaluating the effectiveness of programs and services. The current efficacy cycle for full review is every four years. However, in order to comply with Title 5 regulations, CTE programs are required to review their programs every two years.
The Program Review Committee conducts an annual campus-wide needs assessment each fall. Programs' requests for budget, equipment, faculty or classified are evaluated and ranked to inform college decision-making. Request for technology or facilities are forwarded to committees charged with evaluating those requests.
For regular programmatic assessment on campus, the Program Review Committee examines and evaluates the resource needs and effectiveness of all instructional and service areas. These review processes occur on one-, two-, and four-year cycles as determined by the District, College, and other regulatory agencies. Program Review is conducted by authorization of the SBVC Academic Senate.
Membership is comprised of at least 3 Vice Presidents or their designees, as appointed by the President, 10% faculty representation by Division, at least 3 classified staff members as appointed by Classified Senate/CSEA, and one student.


By default a SharePoint 2010 publishing site uses default.aspx as its welcome page.
There are so many conditions where we use our custom web part page as the default page for our publishing site in place of general default.aspx. The best example for this is an application dashboard as the default page.
Right-click the new page and click "Set as Home Page".
Now, navigate back to a site and see that the homepage is now set to the given page.


text:
Dead by Daylight Wallpaper
Download Dead by Daylight Wallpaper for free, use for mobile and desktop. Discover more background Wallpaper, dark Wallpaper, dark knight Wallpaper, desktop Wallpaper, iphone Wallpaper.
Please rate this wallpaper.
DOWNLOAD Dead by Daylight Wallpaper
30 downloads in total.
Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric survival horror video game developed by Behaviour Interactive.Dead by Daylight was released for Microsoft Windows in June 2016, released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, released on Nintendo Switch on September 24, 2019, and a mobile port was released on iOS and Android on April 17, 2020. The Stadia version was released in October 2020, with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions set to release in late 2020. The game is played as a one versus four online multiplayer where one player takes on the role of the savage killer, and the other four players play as survivors, trying to escape the killer and avoid being caught and sacrificed to a malevolent force known as the Entity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_by_Daylight
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Hello everyone...I'm in the planning stages for a home theatre. Getting mixed responses at AVS Forum regarding centre channel speakers. I want to keep my business in Canada and pull the pin for Axiom speakers soon. I would like to use M60's for L and R. Have been told to use a 3rd M60 behind an A/T screen instead of a VP160. ( off axis response?) My problem is that I will have two rows of seating....tweeters are best at ear level... How can a position a M60 upright and project to the second row? Should I just keep the " sweet spot" for the first row and have tweeter height positioned as so?
I've read a bunch of conflicting stuff as well on horizontal CC speakers & it seems that everyone has an opinion. While I suppose that a third identical speaker is ideal as long as it is not blocked by a TV, stand or whatever, it is often not feasible to do in many HT systems.
Based on my unscientific experiments with 3 horizontal CCs of different brands, I found that in my room there were no audible deficits until one was way off axis (outside of 30 degrees), & then there are more nasty problems seeing & enjoying the display. IMO, the artifacts caused by comb filtering & dispersion of horizontals are way over hyped & in the real world are just not a significant factor. I found them to be really negligible & I suspect most people would find similar results in their own room.
Yes, three of the same speaker is preferred, if you can get away with it -with an AT screen you have that opportunity. I'd keep all 3 m60's at the same level and angle. You can probably split the difference between the height of the first and second row for tweeter position, but I'd focus on the front row. One gets used to the sound, regardless of seating position, pretty quickly; even IMAX theaters don't have their tweeters aimed at every seat.
Conrad, welcome to Axiom. The VP160 has a T/M configuration that creates no off-axis problem, so it can be considered to be essentially identical in response to the M60.
As far as the question of tweeter level goes, this would be somewhat of an issue regardless of what center speaker(or mains)that you use, but generally this would have a minor effect on the second row if the height was optimal for the first row.
Perhaps I am off base and just not knowing..
But if you have an issue with the tweeter for the center speaker and the second row, would you not have the exact same issue for the Left and Right speaker also? The Center is not like a Sub where you can set all the high frequency to be crossed over to it.
Yes dialog for the most part is in the tweeter range, and most movies dialog comes from the center channel as people talking generally are mid screen, but you can and will get just as much higher frequency from the Left and Right too.
I would say that if you have an AT screen and can get away with aligning the M60's to all be at the same height across the front, then you would get perfect timber matched sound and by far a better sound experience for everyone.
I will have the option to use an existing horizontal CC or lose my rear surrounds in favour of having three matching towers behind the screen. This will give me a bed of 5 vs 7 channels. I'm tinkering with the idea of doing this and moving the CC to a front middle height channel and laying the extra tower on top of a shelf as a rear middle height channel. These will be in addition to 4 in ceiling speakers. Thoughts? Still just a crazy idea at this point. Really want to try three matching fronts.
I should have included a bit more info maybe. I will be listening to lots of two channel music where I will have my L/ R speakers flanking outside my screen on a front stage. Most likely the listener will be myself in the sweet spot in the front row seat. For movies, it will be 2 rows of people. My concern was , years ago people would mount a centre channel below a non AT screen, now everyone is saying for movie watching you should mount it above the screen to project above the first row heads to the second row. Having said that....My real deal question is why wouldnt HT builders at least raise/ toe down a centre channel behind an AT screen to catch BOTH listening rows of seats?
I also own a Pioneer SC57.... Hoping to keep my speaker setting in memory. 2 channel listening M60's not obstructed behind a screen at all, and then a speaker setting for movies only. Am I getting to involved with this centre channel idea lol?
They dont do it because pans across the front soundstage arent as smooth when the tweeters are not at the same height. Placing the CC above the other tweeter heights may reduce the seamless presentation and increase the likelihood of timbre matching/off axis response issues. I'd agree with the first row being priority and the guest row response being easily acclimatized to by guests. The only reason we tweak and obsess over such details in our setups is because we live with them and notice even miniscule optimizations. Your guests may not even notice once they are in front of a huge screen. My experience is guests are most impressed by LFE and clarity.


The AOS1 C-term Pab (Cat. #AP2511b) is used in Western blot to detect AOS1 in mouse heart tissue lysate.
Western blot analysis of AOS1 (arrow) using rabbit polyclonal AOS1 Antibody (C-term) (Cat.#AP2511b). 293 cell lysates (2 ug/lane) either nontransfected (Lane 1) or transiently transfected with the AOS1 gene (Lane 2) (Origene Technologies).
AOS1 Antibody (V315) (Cat. #AP2511b) western blot analysis in 293 cell line lysates (35ug/lane).This demonstrates the AOS1 antibody detected the AOS1 protein (arrow).
This SAE1 (AOS1) antibody is generated from rabbits immunized with a KLH conjugated synthetic peptide between 300-329 amino acids from the C-terminal region of human SAE1 (AOS1).
SAE1 (AOS1) Antibody (C-term) is for research use only and not for use in diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
The heterodimer acts as an E1 ligase for SUMO1, SUMO2, SUMO3, and probably SUMO4. It mediates ATP-dependent activation of SUMO proteins followed by formation of a thioester bond between a SUMO protein and a conserved active site cysteine residue on UBA2/SAE2.
The dimeric enzyme AOS1 acts as a an E1 ligase for SUMO1, SUMO2, SUMO3, and probably SUMO4. It mediates ATP-dependent activation of SUMO proteins and formation of a thioester with a conserved cysteine residue on SAE2.
Desterro, J.M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274(15):10618-10624 (1999).
Gong, L., et al., FEBS Lett. 448(1):185-189 (1999).
Okuma, T., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 254(3):693-698 (1999).


text:
ThinkFest: Inside the Catholic Church Scandal With Josh Shapiro
Pennsylvania's attorney general has become internationally known as the face of the state's clergy abuse investigation. At ThinkFest, he'll discuss the scandal's far-reaching implications.
By Claire Sasko·	 11/5/2018, 12:53 p.m.
When Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced in August the findings of a highly anticipated grand jury investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic priests in six state dioceses, the nation — and the world — shook.
The 884-page document, which was partially redacted, identified 301 Catholic priests as "predator priests" who sexually abused children while serving in active ministry in the church. It also detailed accounts of more than 1,000 children victimized by those "predator priests," and claimed that senior church officials, including bishops, monsignors and others, knew about the abuse but routinely covered it up.
The probe is regarded as the most comprehensive report on clergy sex abusers by a U.S. state. Immediately after its release, international news organizations detailed Shapiro's harsh condemnation of the priests who had allegedly abused hundreds of children — and the church officials who had known about and covered up that abuse. Shapiro quickly became known as "the face behind the bombshell investigation."
On November 15th, at Philadelphia magazine's annual ThinkFest event, Shapiro will discuss in depth the journey leading up to his office's sobering announcement, as well as what it means for the survivors of sexual abuse. Plus, he'll ruminate on how the Catholic institution — in Pennsylvania but also across the world — could better prevent such harm, as well as the legislative fight to allow survivors of clergy abuse to sue the Catholic church.
Shapiro is among dozens of influencers set to appear at ThinkFest 2018, which will be held at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts on Penn's campus. Other movers and shakers include North Philly rapper Meek Mill and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin (who will discuss criminal justice reform), as well as Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and Philadelphia City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart.
Check out the full event lineup here and get your tickets for ThinkFest 2018 before it sells out.
Josh Shapiro
ThinkFest
Claire Sasko	Staff Writer @ClaireSasko
csasko@phillymag.com
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Opportunities to Volunteer and Celebrate in Philadelphia
Permits, Parking and Kiddie Pools: How to Throw a Raging Philly Block Party This Year


Comfortable and safe in any road condition! A turbocharger is also included as an economical means of increasing performance. With just over 35,000 miles on the odometer, this 4 door sport utility vehicle prioritizes comfort, safety and convenience. Chevrolet infused the interior with top shelf amenities, such as: a rear window wiper, high intensity discharge headlights, and cruise control. Under the hood you'll find a 4 cylinder engine with more than 170 horsepower, and for added security, dynamic Stability Control supplements the drivetrain. All wheel drive keeps this model firmly attached to the road surface.


I curate music - spinning records predominately belonging to the genres of EDM, HipHop, Pop, R&B, and degrees in between. Also, I focus on sound down to the minute detail (i.e., production, audio engineering, sound design) on behalf of The Audio Plaza. This is where I keep a log of it all.
Also, you will find the occasional update regarding something interesting going on in the world and information on events I would like for The Audio Plaza's following to know about.
..and go see what the hell Neoclaide is talking about.
Listen to what's on display.
If you're looking for more executive information, visit the Corporate site to review The Audio Plaza's EPK.
Copyright © 2019 The Audio Plaza. All rights reserved.


text:
The small charity with
the BIG heart
Welcome to the home of the African Oyster Trust.
The trust is a small charity dedicated to the relief of poverty and sickness in the former British colonies of Africa, particularly The Gambia.
By focusing on carefully selected local projects, and by working closely with reliable contacts on the ground, we believe that a small charity like ours can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of families.
At present we are particularly focused on supporting educational and health projects not funded by the government, believing education to be one of the most powerful and long-lasting ways of breaking the cycle of poverty.
We are currently delivering nursery education to more than 500 children every year, and supporting the provision of health care to thousands of Gambians of all ages.
This website contains more details about the work we do, and some of our individual projects.
It also includes a regular news update in the form of the Trust's own blog, and information about The Gambia, one of the smallest – and poorest – countries in Africa.
All our funds are raised by individual and corporate donations and through fund-raising events – and all the money we raise goes directly to projects on the ground.
Please do click here if you would like more details on how you could get involved and support that work.
News from our volunteers: Read the latest updates from our supporters and volunteers in the Gambia and the UK - Read more
Make a difference: Discover how supporting a small charity like the African Oyster Trust can can make a lasting impact, from just £2 a month - Read more
Sign up: Subscribe to receive our email updates directly to your inbox. Read more
All content copyright 2018 by The African Oyster Trust. Registered Charity No 1118298.
The Old Stables, Units 3/4 Newhouse Farm Business Centre, Langley Road, Edstone,
Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire B95 6DL


Bicycles require some regular maintenance plus occasional mechanical service and/or overhaul. We can do it for you, or we're glad to help you learn as much as you're interested in.
Before every ride, make sure your bike is working like the fine tuned machine it has potential to be. Check the brakes, shifting, headset and tire pressure. At the beginning of the season or before a major ride, bring it in and we'll inspect it for any service it may need.
200 Miles: Lube suspension fork sliders, check fork pressure, look for tire cuts.
500 Miles: Wash and clean your bike, clean/lube chain, check wheels for true/round, overhaul air forks.
1000 Mile: Change chain, chekc brake adjustments and pad wear, lube cables, overhaul coil forks and perform suspension maintenance as perscribed. Check tire wear.
1500 Miles: Check cassettes and chain ring for wear and/or damage, check bearings for adjustment and smoothness.
3000 Mile: Check fork bushings and seals for contamination, replace if necessary. Change the cassette. Overhaul and/or service bearing parts( Bottom bracket, head set, hubs).
Twice a year: Check helmet for cracks or damage to the shell and overall fit.


Last week I had the privilege of being a judge at Hong Kong's newest startup pitch event, Slush Hong Kong, where 18 startups had 3 minutes apiece to present their companies to a panel of 5 judges. The grand prize--an all expenses trip for the winning team to compete at Slush 2014, November 18-19 in Helsinki, Finland.
Slush was founded in 2008 and is supported by founders of tech notables MySQL, Rovio, Supercell and Skype. It's a two-day conference where startups and investors can find each other. The first Slush events attracted mere handfuls of attendees, but this year the event is expected to have over 10,000 attendees including 2,500 companies, 500 journalists, and hundreds of investors representing over $200B in venture capital funding. Startups that attend have opportunities to meet with investors, demo products, participate in pitching events, and network at round tables. And according to Slush's Chief Strategy Officer Martin Talvari, during the week of Slush there is a distinct spike in the number of deals being struck in saunas.
Jong Lee, an entrepreneur and investor based in Hong Kong, helped bring Slush to the region. "For me, the importance of bringing a Slush event to Hong Kong was to underscore the interconnectedness and global nature of the startup world and Hong Kong," Lee says. "Like London, NYC and the Silicon Valley, the best come to work with the best and to pursue their dreams, and it's important for Hong Kong based startups to travel and engage with the best and brightest in the world who will be at the Slush event in Finland."
What are the barriers to entry?
Why is your team qualified to run this business?
Why did you start this business?
Third place, Think Group. Like CrazyEgg or other solutions that produce heat maps to track visitor behavior on websites and allow website owners to optimize, Think Group does the same in the offline world by placing cameras in retail stores and generating analytics data based on visually observable shopper behavior, combined with permission-based data obtained from shoppers via WiFi and Bluetooth.
Second place, uHoo. Following in the steps of Internet connected smart devices like Nest, uHoo offers a device, about the size of a can of soda, which provides information about the air quality in your home. It records data about carbon dioxide levels, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (or airborne chemicals), temperature and relative humidity, and allows you to access this information through a smartphone app.
First place, BitMEX, or the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange. BitMEX aims to be a platform for investors to trade Bitcoin derivatives. BitMEX offers centrally cleared futures and options contracts on Bitcoin vs. fiat and other crypto currencies. By attracting additional investors to markets related to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, BitMEX will reduce volatility in the value of these currencies, increasing their potential for everyday use.
BitMEX is putting the finishing touches on their exchange, perfecting its systems so that BitMEX will have ample liquidity on the first day of trading, which will happen within a few weeks. Just prior to attending Slush 2014 in Helsinki, BitMEX will be off to Web Summit in Dublin where they will exhibit their platform at the conference.
There was also a community choice award, which was won by TechPacker, an app that allows clothing designers to quickly and easily create a "tech pack" and submit it to a manufacturer. The term tech pack is common in the manufacturing industry and is used to describe a document product designers use to tell a manufacturer all the parts necessary to create a product.
It might be of interest to future pitch event participants to know that there was quite a bit of variability in the voting amongst the judges. BitMEX and uHoo could have easily traded places with the change of a vote or two.
Slush is just one of many pitch events now being held regularly in Hong Kong. CoCoon, a cowork space in Hong Kong, has a monthly pitch event which has directly led to millions raised for Hong Kong startups. Hong Kong angel investor Simon Squibb has embraced frequent pitch days through his firm NEST. The largest pitch event in Hong Kong, the StartMeUp Venture Programme, is hosted by the Hong Kong government and will take place this November.
Joshua Steimle is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency with offices in the U.S. and Hong Kong.


Jethmalani Ram- History & Achievements.
a)	The family inherits its surname Jethmalani from shri Jethmal who was a living legend and governor under the Mirs of Shikarpur . He later became a minister in Afghanistan.
b)	Jethmal`s son,Shri Notandas was appointed as the first district magistrate at Shikarpur.
c)	Shri. Notandas first son, Shri Gurmukhdas was a learned lawyer and was the President of the local municipality, he earned many laurels in his profession..He was known as a man of integrity.
d)	Sri Jethmalani was born on 14th september1923 to Shri Boolchand (son of gurmukhdas) and Srimati parvati. The priest Lachman Maharaj predicted "Jethmal is back".The new born had a horoscope that praedicted success and fame. This child prodigy was named Ram.
e)	Shri Ran Jethmalani is the only son of his father and only grandson of his grand father, both of whom were eminent lawyers. Thus, he has law in his blood.
f)	Shri Jethmalani shared a deep bond with his mother, He was her friend and confidant.
g)	Shri Jethmalani won many accolades and prizes both in school and college ( New Era school, Sind model school Chellanram Sitaldas college, D.J. Sind college in Karachi, Sahani Law College, Karachi). He became a full-fledged lawyer before completing the age of 18.
A)	In 1977 he received Human Rights Award instituted by World Peace Through Law for his fight against authoritarianism at Phillipines.
B)	In mid-1986, Mr Jethmalani undertook a tour of strife-torn Punjab with the belief that that peace was still possible. He along with his supporters carried banners which read "Kill us before you kill the next innocent man, women or child" The response was amazing, most people made a commitment to eschew violence.
C)	With a Holtor monitor attached to his heart he pleaded before the Supreme Court for the release of Sant Longowal and the court released him unconditionally Thus, he endeared himself to sikh and ensured the traditional sikh loyalty to India. This helped to stop terrorism in Punjab and the Rajiv-Longowal accord was signed on 24 July 1985.
D)	He always supported the idea of National Judicial Commission in the belief that both the method of recruitment tried so far have miserably failed.
E)	He has initated efforts to promote Sindhi culture, language literature and arts. He has established and has founded The International Sindhulogy Institute. He established along with his friends in Chicargo an Institute of Sindhalogy which has made the Indus Valley Civilization a popular subject of study all over America.
a)	He was a Member of House of People 1977-79 and 1980-84. He defeated Gokhale who was a minister in Mrs. Gandhi`s ministry during emergency by about 150,000 votes on 16th march 1977.
b)	He is the oldest member of Parliament commencing from 1977.
c)	He was a Member of Council of States in 1988.
e)	He became The Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs 1996.
f)	He became The Union Minister of Urban Affairs and Employment,1998.
h)	He has been an elected Chairman of Bar Council of India for four tenures both before and after the emergency.
a)	He was a professor in Pakistan before partition.
c)	Currently he is the Professor Emeritus Of Symbiosis Law College, Pune.
d)	He was the main architects behind the idea of establishing the NLS,Bangalore. He is on the visiting faculty list of National Law School, Bangalore .
e)	He taught Comparitive law at International Law at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
He along with Advani got an excellent oppurtunity- but wasted it. Their role for Sindhyat had been just a small bit.
M/s. Seth Manghomal Lonidasingh & Sons, belonging to Jeetmalani Bajaj, was the most prominent firm of those days. They contributed their share to charity as well. Seth Lonidasingh built a Narishala (ladies home) and a Musafirkhano (traveler's rest house) at Shikarpur named after Seth Satramsingh Manghomal.
Seth Satramsingh had four sons: M/s. Lonidasingh, Jesasingh, Narainsingh and Chellasingh.
In Quetta a dharamshala in Seth Jesasingh's name was built by them.


AMP Sound Systems is dedicated to providing the best skills and equipment to bands, theatre, musicals etc. Along with some of the latest technology in the business, all our gear is accompanied by an extremely experienced sound engineer.
From small band gigs, to full scale theatre productions and concerts, AMP Sound Systems has the equipment and expertise required to make your event sound the best!


text:
From 1 April 2021, this website will not be updated.
The seven north east London clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) – City and Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge – will become a single organisation called North East London CCG from 1 April 2021. We are in the process of transferring our information to a new site. For more information, contact wel.comms@nhs.net
NHS Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group
Patient Reference Group (PRG)
Patient Participation Groups (PPGs)
Events and opportunities
You said, we did reports
Children and Young Peoples Participation
Patient and Public Participation Newsletter
General Practice Patient Survey 2020
Aligning commissioning policies
INEL System Transformation
Reshaping Surgical Services within the Barts Health Group
Medicines Optimisation
Improvement Assessment Framework
How we commission services
Primary Care Commissioning Committee (PCCC)
North East London Commissioning Alliance
East London Health and Care Partnership
Provider contact details
Waltham Forest awarded £400,000 grant to extend social prescribing
Waltham Forest's social prescribing service is to receive a three-year grant totalling £400,000 to extend the range of advice, support and activities it provides to local people.
The grant from the Health and Wellbeing Fund will enable extra support to be provided to people with disabilities or low level mental health issues, carers and the over-50s.
Originally set up as a pilot in June 2016, the borough's social prescribing service is part of the Managed Network of Care and Support developed by partners through the Better Care Together Programme.
Health or social care professionals, including local GPs, can suggest to a person that they might benefit from social prescribing – which includes a range of non-clinical services and support. If they agree, a social prescriber will make contact to discuss the options available.
The activities and services that people are referred to in Waltham Forest are generally delivered by the voluntary and community services sector, which is a key local partner.
Some of the social prescribing connections that are made for people include:
• Benefits and debt advice
• Opportunities to become more active or increase healthy eating
• Access to local groups such as art classes or gardening sessions
• Connections with local befriending or volunteering schemes
• Training to help build confidence or move into work
• Assistance with a cold home or other housing issues.
The grant, which is £250,000 in the first year, reduces over the three-year period and will be replaced by local funding as the programme's prevention and early intervention pathways mature.
A formal launch of the extended social prescribing programme is due to take place in the autumn.
Suna Panayiotou, Chief Executive at Citizens Advice Waltham Forest, which is the lead partner for the extended programme, said:
"We are very excited at the opportunity this funding brings and especially pleased to be working with other partners from the local community. All partners are already providing key help and support to local residents and we will draw on this expertise. This funding will ensure that we are helping more people and will enable us to assess the impact of our work."
Dr Anwar Khan, a local GP and Chair of Waltham Forest CCG said:
"The social prescribing service gives GPs a single referral point where residents can get help with non-medical issues and get the support they need. It prevents the 'medicalisation' of social issues and allows patients to access the right services for their needs. The programme helps improve health and wellbeing and reduces demand on core NHS services in Waltham Forest."
Cllr Naheed Asghar, Chair of the Waltham Forest Health and Wellbeing Board, added:
"The council is excited about the opportunities this new funding provides to extend our successful social prescribing scheme. We look forward to working with voluntary and community sector colleagues over the next three years."
© NHS Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group,
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Certified Master Resume Writer
Earning the Master Resume Writer credential clearly distinguishes the resume writer as the "best of the best" in the resume-writing industry.
Awarded by Career Directors International (CDI), the Certified Master Resume Writer is the careers industry's oldest master-level resume credential and the only one endorsed by an active professional association.
Meg was among the first people to have earned this distinguished credential, joining a select group of elite resume writers who proved themselves by submitting a portfolio of work that has been judged by a panel of CMRW peers. Professionals who themselves are Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) Award Winners and worldwide leaders of the industry.
The portfolio submitted must stand out for its innovation, for advanced formatting that grasps the attention of the reader, and for superior command of the language that makes every bullet point an unfolding story.
Meg also earned the Career Management Alliance's Master Resume Writer credential in 2008 — New Jersey's first Master Resume Writer and the 9th career professional worldwide to have earned this top honor.
She is one of only a handful of Master Resume Writers to also hold the Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist and Reach Certified Online Identity Strategist credentials – also gold standards.
Executive resumes have changed dramatically in just the past few years, in response to the constantly changing needs of recruiters and hiring decision makers, and the impact of the Internet.
These days more and more decision makers are reviewing resumes on their PDAs. To accommodate their needs, resumes need to immediately and concisely communicate the candidate's brand and value proposition, and what differentiates them from their competition.
Are you thinking you may need help with your executive resume? Review my contact page and get in touch with me to discuss whether we may be a good fit to work together.
Here are two related posts you may find interesting:
4 Reasons You Can't Write Your Own Executive Resume
What's Wrong with Copying an Executive Resume Sample?


We tackled in Qurish (1) the birth of new Qurish with some programs, now the country is undergoing some development with recent political events that has internal and external dimensions required a need to remind about our goals and to review our plans, consolidating what has been achieved in order to fulfill your noble objectives.
As you know, the three tribes of Al-Galieen, Al-Danagla and Al-Shaigea became obstacles between us to rule Sudan for a period of a century, and whatever pretext they undertake such as pretending to be Arabism, but they are crossbreed that became a race and culture a part of the interwoven Nubbin-Egyptian, and this group will cling on power forever, where it recently reached us that, these three tribes took oath that the power should continually be circulated among them.
A- The general deadline 2020 on maximum limit.
B- The goal is Quraish (2).
C- The present phase: the six regions of the western.
D- Planes, programs and means.
1- Special emphasis on education quality and quantity and to prepare highly skill group in different sectors, political economical, information, security and military.
2. To join the army and security organs in great numbers with great consciousness.
3. To continue pretending corporation with present authority as planned.
4. To preserve present working relations with some major personalities from the ruling tri-tribes.
5. To coordinate with relative tribes in the east and centre.
6. To emphasize the importance of border tribes, and to incite the state for more supports, armaments and training [popular defense, Mujahdeens, peace troops].
7. To incite able relatives to join peace troops.
8. To keep contact with the Dinka tribe.
9. Total commitment with articles of Shahin operation for South Kurdufan.
10. To contain sing of sedition between Nohud and Fula, and to call our people in countryside to avoid internal conflicts that consumed energies.
11. Never to raise the petroleum issue before extracting it.
12. To contain events at Nyala and its consequences, and to work to release the riders.
13. To secure enough pastures for nomadic in Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic.
14. To fight customs related to possession of land [Hawakir, Dyar etc] by all means.
15. To focus on our national role in fighting no-Arabic tribes in the west as a natural extension for the rebellion.
16. To increase the confidence gap between central government and non-Arabic tribes, by pushing selected leaders of blacks to be more extreme in expressing the injustice in west, and to comply with them consciously in expos of racism and regionalism.
17. To get more constitutional post in the centre and states.
18. To preserve achievements of Jamos program for western Darfur with its calculated consequences.
19. Ali Al-Turafi (2) and Turaiti (3) to continue the work for empowerment of Qurashians in Darfur.
20. Preparation for state elections in the six states.
21. To behave with great disciplines and to avoid bad manners like talking about the state of Baggara.
22. The leaders should take more care about positive in formations.
23. Top leaders of Quraish should stay in the national congress 3 among Qurish 3 on decision making, according to the situation.
1. To strengthen coordination and consultation with Quraishians in neighbor countries.
2. To develop strategic understanding with Libya according to the plans of [Bagalani Asil and Sheikh Ibn Omar].
3. To develop camel race, and use it and strengthen relations with brothers in Gulf States.
God says "And We wished to do a favour to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors * And to establish them in the land, and We let Firáun (Pharaoh) and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared".


text:
import type { IApiSettings } from './apiSettings'
import type { ITransport, IRequestProps } from './transport'
import type { IAuthSession } from './authSession'

export class ExtensionSession implements IAuthSession {
  sudoId = ''
  transport: ITransport

  constructor(public settings: IApiSettings, transport: ITransport) {
    this.settings = settings
    this.transport = transport
  }

  isAuthenticated() {
    // Assume if the extension exists then it is authenticated
    return true
  }

  async authenticate(init: IRequestProps) {
    return Promise.reject(
      Error(
        `Authenticate ${
          init ? 'request property overrides' : ''
        } not supported from ExtensionSession`
      )
    )
  }

  async getToken(): Promise<any> {
    return Promise.reject(
      Error('Access to token is not allowed from ExtensionSession')
    )
  }

  isSudo(): boolean {
    throw new Error('isSudo is not allowed from ExtensionSession')
  }

  async login(sudoId?: string | number): Promise<any> {
    return Promise.reject(
      Error(
        `Login ${sudoId ? 'for sudo' : ''} not supported from ExtensionSession`
      )
    )
  }

  async logout(): Promise<boolean> {
    return Promise.reject(Error('Logout not supported from ExtensionSession'))
  }

  reset(): void {
    // noop
  }
}