Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board has ruled in favor of Cal/OSHA's 2012 citations against two employers because their Injury and Illness Prevention Programs (IIPP) failed to effectively address the hazard of indoor heat.
"This is the first case of indoor heat considered by the Appeals Board. In this case, the ruling affirms that California's IIPP standard can be used to address hazards that the standard does not specifically identify, including indoor heat," said Christine Baker, Director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). Cal/OSHA, officially known as the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, is a division of DIR.
The IIPP is a basic written program that every employer must develop to comply with occupational safety and health standards and effectively train employees in recognizing hazards.
The case stemmed from the January 2012 serious citations Cal/OSHA issued to Tri-State Staffing (TSI), a temporary staffing agency, and warehouse operator National Distribution Center (NDC) for the heat illness suffered by an employee in August 2011. A serious violation is cited when there is a realistic possibility that death or serious harm could result from the actual hazardous condition.
It was during this time that 49-year-old Domingo Blancas, a TSI employee hired to work in an NDC-operated warehouse, suffered heat illness while working inside a metal freight container with a temperature over 100 degrees. He reported his illness to his temp agency supervisor, who arranged for him to be transported to a local clinic by another employee who had also reported heat illness that day. The doctor at the clinic questioned if Blancas might be suffering from dehydration and referred him to the Emergency Room, but Blancas did not go to the ER and the next day he was hospitalized for three days due to heat stroke.
Both TSI and NDC were penalized $18,000 for failing to implement an effective IIPP. Both companies appealed the citations to an administrative law judge (ALJ). In March 2015. the ALJ issued its decision in favor of TSI and NDC, dismissing their citations. Cal/OSHA appealed that decision to the Appeals Board, stating the ALJ should have affirmed the citations because the employers had failed to effectively correct the hazard of indoor heat exposure, and had not trained employees on the hazard of indoor heat exposure and heat illness. The three-panel board agreed with Cal/OSHA and overturned the ALJ's decision.
This unprecedented decision also reinforces the fact that all employers have a responsibility for ensuring compliance with all Cal/OSHA standards, not just the employer in charge of the worksite, according to the agency.
Pay Equity and Sharing of Wage Information. An amended lawprovides that (among other things) an employer cannot prohibit an employee from inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing his or her wages or the wages of another employee. However, an employer may—in a written policy provided to all employees—establish reasonable workplace and workday limitations on the time, place, and manner for such inquiries, discussions, or disclosures.
Discrimination Based on Family Status Prohibited. An amended law (applicable to employers with 4 or more employees) prohibits discrimination in employment based on familial status.
Clarification Regarding Pregnancy-Related Conditions. A new measure clarifies that employers with 4 or more employees are generally prohibited from refusing to provide reasonable accommodations to the known disabilities—or pregnancy-related conditions—of an employee/applicant in connection with a job or occupation sought or held. Additionally, pregnancy-related conditions must be treated as temporary disabilities under the law.
The governor's office has issued a press release regarding the new legislation. Additional information regarding New York workplace nondiscrimination law is available from the New York State Division of Human Rights.
To review other state laws specific to New York, visit the State Lawssection, click on New York, and choose your topic of interest from the left-hand navigation menu.


This bold rustic necklace is amazing. Crushed peacock ore (also known as the mineral chalcopyrite) stones heavily embellishes a large brass plate in the shape of a crescent moon. The pendant is suspended on 20" long dark gunmetal chain. I love to see this piece paired with everything from jeans and a tee to a long maxi dress. Peacock Ore has wonderful multi-color metallic luster. The crescent plate is suspended by two clear vintage glass stones.


text:
Erdoğan says Turkey already bought Russian S-400 systems
Turkey has already bought the Russian S-400 missile defense systems, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 12, stressing that it is a done deal.
"I'm not saying Turkey will buy S-400 defense systems, it has already bought them; we've closed the deal," Erdoğan told his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) group meeting in the capital Ankara.
He noted that Ankara and Moscow had signed the deal with a pledge for a reasonable price and future joint production.
"This [S-400] system will be delivered to our country next month," Erdoğan added.
Touching on Turkey's procurement of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., Erdoğan said his country is not only a customer, but also co-producer of the jets.
Ankara had paid $1 billion 250 million for the F-35 jets until today, the president underlined.
Tensions between the U.S. and Turkey have reached a fever pitch in recent months with Turkey set to begin receiving the advanced S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system which Washington said will jeopardize Turkey's role in the U.S. F-35 fighter jet program and could trigger congressional sanctions.
Following protracted efforts to purchase an air defense system from the U.S. with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 system.
U.S. officials advised Turkey to buy the U.S. Patriot missile system rather than the S-400s from Moscow, arguing the Russian system would be incompatible with NATO systems and expose the F-35 to possible Russian subterfuge.
Turkey, however, emphasized the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.
Çavuşoğlu echoes President Erdoğan on S-400s
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu echoed Erdoğan's statement on the S-400s at a press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drain on June 13.
"We reject the wording the letter [by acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan] to our defense minister. Nobody can give an ultimatum to Turkey," Çavuşoğlu said. Turkey is a free and sovereign state and fulfills all of its commitments to NATO and other international organizations, he stressed.
Turkey has proposed the formation of a two-way technical committee to study whether the deployment of the S-400s on Turkish soil together with the F-35 aircraft would endanger the safety of the latter but is yet to be responded to, the minister said.
"President [Donald] Trump says 'Yes,' but other institutions [within the administration] say 'No.' These kinds of letters will not make Turkey back down from its decisions. Turkey has purchased the S-400s and they will be deployed. Works to this end continue," Çavuşoğlu said.
'No change in Russian S-400 position'
Meanwhile, Russia's stance on Turkey's purchase of its S-400 missile defense system has not changed, the country's ambassador to Turkey said on June 12.
Aleksei Yerkhov made the remarks at a reception in Ankara to mark Russian National Day.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal along with several foreign diplomats attended the event at the Russian Embassy.
"There is no change and will be no change in the stance and position of the Russian Federation related to the S-400 [missile system]," Yerkhov told reporters.
East Mediterranean,

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At the heart of Einstein's "Special Theory of Relativity" is the notion that the speed of light is the speed limit in the universe and no other radiation or force can go faster. He taught further that this speed of light is constant everywhere in the universe. In contrast, and in contradiction to long-held belief, he argued that when bodies are in motion, time will contract or dilate. Thus, matters that travel at or close to the speed of light will experience 'time-dilation". Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" postulated that the space around large bodies such as stars that wield enormous fields of gravity will curve and thus light and other radiations will 'bend' in response. Gravitational lens effect is widely quoted as a direct evidence of this effect.
I will argue that at least gravity travels faster than light, perhaps even instantaneously across space. At lower speeds, such as light-speed, large bodies will not be able to influence lesser bodies at vast distances commonplace in the universe. Another common observation also hints at faster-than light travel. This is the case with neutrinos that stream out of exploding stars called Supernovae Type 1. For example, neutrinos attributed to the Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A) were detected at least 3 hours before the arrival of light from the same source. As the core collapse is followed by the explosion within a matter of seconds, there is no other explanation of this phenomenon but that neutrinos traveled faster. As light photons are known to have a finite weight, I propose that particles that move faster do so probably by the fact that they are smaller (and lighter). This applies to electromagnetic radiations such as radio waves that go through solid objects, while light is stopped by them. Finally, I propose that the bending of light rays around large bodies indicate that they are also probably slowed down by the pull of gravity. Thus, away from the influence of large bodies, essentially in the vast expanse of empty space that make up most of the universe, light rays themselves might be capable of traveling much faster! And that means the possibility of faster-than-light travel for human beings as well.
Many of the ideas proposed by Albert Einstein (1) have been formulated around the special properties of light. The second postulate of his "Special Theory of Relativity" contends that "the velocity of light is constant and will be the same for all observers, independent of their motion relative to the light source". If one travels at speeds approaching the speed of light, he stated that time "dilates" and one ages slower. Experiments conducted to test this hypothesis involved taking atomic clocks aboard planes on transcontinental flights (2) and comparing with, "twin" clocks kept stationary on earth. These experiments are believed to confirm the time dilation theory.
In his General Theory of Relativity, (3) he stipulated that the "gravity, inertia and acceleration are all associated with the way space and time are related". This relationship was described as "space-time curvature" and he went on to suggest that the "mass tells space-time how to curve and the curvature of space-time (gravity) tells mass how to accelerate". This space-time curvature would also bend light and other radiations. Then, researchers found, through 'gravitational lens effect' that light from a distant star was displaced by a star in the foreground (4). Since then many instances of this effect of gravity on light rays have been reported, some times a proximal galaxy's effect on distant stars or galaxies.
Other radiations such as radio waves are believed to travel at the speed of light but they have some special qualities. For example, radio waves go through walls with ease. There are stranger radiations (and particles) such as neutrinos, which can travel through trillions of tons of matter, also with ease. Some other strange phenomena in the universe that beg for explanation include the gravity and magnetism, both of which also go through almost anything. Then there is the question of how stars bun up hundreds of millions of tons of hydrogen every instant and yet live for billions of years and how, when a large star abruptly ends its life in a 'supernova explosion', it outshines the whole of its parent galaxy.
In this paper I present arguments that question some of the dogmas in current cosmology. With these I am able to explain many of the vexing questions hitherto unanswered. Like many a phenomenon in astronomy, proving some of these assertions may be difficult but I will outline some possible experiments to test them.
Terrestrial experiments have calculated the speed of light as 186,300 miles/second or 1/2999792458 Km/sec. As fast as light is, when considered in the context of the vastness of cosmos, it is not very fast at all. For example, it is believed light takes 8.3minutes to arrive from the sun, 16 mins. to cross earth's orbit and all of 5 hours to reach Pluto. And the closest star will demand 41/2 years of time. While it is not very surprising, it is indeed a humbling thought that light takes all of 100,000 years to travel from one of our galaxy to the other end. And, ours is but one among hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe.
Nevertheless, the speed of light is considered the speed limit of the universe. This is so well accepted that Einstein considered it the standard against which all other speeds are compared. He also suggested that it is the speed of light that is the constant in the universe and time will 'dilate' as one travels at speeds approaching the speed of light. He believed in this so completely that he even used this speed in his formula E=MC2 (where, E= the amount of energy, M= mass, C= speed of light).
Ironically, it was Einstein himself who predicted that the space and time warping effect of the intense gravity around large bodies such as stars will 'bend' light (3). In his General Theory of Relativity, he stated that "according to the general theory of relativity, the lack of constancy of the velocity of light in vacuum, which constitutes one of the two fundamental assumptions of the special theory of relativity… cannot claim any unlimited validity. A curvature of rays of light can only take place when the velocity of propagation of light varies with position". In other words, he even proposed that the bending of light rays necessarily means that light is also slowed around such objects. I will take the position that this effect is proof of not the 'space-time curvature' but that light has a finite mass. I will extend this observation to predict that not only will gravity slow light (and other radiations which have any mass), but this effect will be most prominent on the light that a star itself makes. Thus, most of the photons are held back at the point of origin, the surface of the star. By this same logic one could infer that away from the star, in the vacuum and near zero gravity state of the void of deep space, light will speed up infinitely. Also, light approaching a celestial body will accelerate due to increasing pull by its gravity. All these mean that the speed of light will vary depending on where such measurement is made, as well as which way the light is traveling in relation to large bodies.
Neutrinos, which are generated in large amounts as a by-product of the nuclear fusion reaction in stars and are released in vast quantities when large stars die in "supernova explosions", have been known to reach the earth significantly before light does. The traditional explanation of the latter phenomenon is that neutrinos are generated when the star's 'core collapses' and the light is produced at the instant of the supernova explosion and beyond . The curious thing is, however, that the time lag between the core collapse and the supernova explosion are seconds not hours. It took light 3 hours to reach the earth from supernova 1987A, after the flood of neutrinos was detected (6). This time lag can be explained in the context of the relative mass of photons and neutrinos. Although some believe neutrinos to be mass-less, generally they are thought to have a very small mass, probably much less than that of photons (7). Applying the logic I have outlined in the foregoing paragraph, one can infer that the reason neutrinos arrive earlier than light is their smaller mass although, all forms of radiations are produced by the explosion, at the same time. To me the most important inference from this phenomenon is that neutrinos probably travel faster than light. Thus, casting doubt on the time-honored tenet that light holds the speed limit in the universe.
It is known that light is stopped by almost any solid body, whereas other emanations such as radio waves and microwaves go through most solids. The conventional explanation of this phenomenon is that the radiations that penetrate solids (e.g.: radio waves) do so because of their wave lengths. However, some of the radiations with the shortest wave lengths (such as x-rays and gamma rays) also go through solids, thus disproving this assumption. The real reason for this phenomenon is probably that they have less mass than light and thus they are able to penetrate the nanospace between the electrons and the nucleus of the atom and between themselves. A useful analogy to understand this phenomenon is the ability of light to diffuse through the vapor of a solid, simply because the matter in this form is more loosely bound. Light is bent by refraction in water and other liquids and it is known to measurably slow down during transit through liquids. Recently, light has been experimentally slowed (9) and even stopped entirely (10). The principle is to confront the photons (in the form of a laser) with certain super-cooled atomic vapor, which then absorbs the photons. Now, could similar conditions exist in the far corners of the universe? Is it possible that even in nature, light could encounter the humiliating experience of actual stoppage? Such extreme examples again highlight the point that light does not have unlimited privileges in the universe….properties Einstein conferred on it.
Radio waves go through walls easily but metals do stop their transit; this may imply that these 'waves' are smaller than visible light but they still have enough mass to be stopped by the closely packed atoms of metals. In stark contrast, neutrinos pass though all solids with ease. Once again, one cannot escape the conclusion that this is due to its infinitely smaller size (compared to other radiations) and is less affected by gravity, enabling it to travel faster than all else.
Two of the fundamental forces in nature, gravity and magnetism also go through solids. In fact, in the case of the former, it is all pervading in the universe, at least where matter aggregates. Thus, in the domain of gravity there are no solid objects at all, only gravity fields, of varying degrees. In the context of the speed limit in the universe, I propose that gravity is the true contender and that it travels almost instantly across space. It is not so surprising at all because gravity does not have any opposing force to slow it down. Even gravity from another object is the vicinity might only help speed up this force. A simple investigation might help my contention that gravity is faster than light, here on earth. If the effect of moon's gravity can be observed on the oceans before the light from moon appears on the horizon, gravity has traveled faster! Also, if one measures the gravity of sun before, during and after a solar eclipse, one might see that it (the gravity) appears long before light…a full 8.3min ahead! Another proof is that NASA scientists, when they calculate exact times for space rendezvous, typically pretend gravity is instantaneous. Thus far, this assumption has not failed them!
Ever since the phenomenon of supernova explosion was discovered scientists have observed that for a short period such supernovae outshine the rest of the stars in the galaxy put together. No one has determined why one star at the instant of its death will muster so much energy. Large amounts of neutrinos also rush out of such supernovae (6,7) along with gamma rays and other radiations. All of these observations hint at the same phenomenon i.e.: at the instant of death the star loses all of its gravity and this releases all manner of radiations at one instant. In order to explain the large amounts of light and the other radiations that emanate from such supernova explosions, one has to speculate that vast amounts of the products of its own combustion remain captive by the intense gravity of the star. This is probably what creates and maintains a "photosphere" approximately 500 Km deep near the surface of our star, the sun and perhaps (by extrapolation), the other stars. And it is the release of these at an instant that makes the phenomenal outpouring at the time of the explosion.
A related puzzle that can also be explained by the effect of gravity on photons is how stars shine for as long as they do. How does a star burn up so much energy every instant and keep on doing it for billions of years? I think that the photons are not only held captive at the star's surface, but they are somehow recycled. In other words, the fusion reaction is itself fueled by its products, through infinite cycles.
This formula makes two statements: First, the 'mass' of an object varies with its motion in space. This is contained in the version of the formula: E=moc2 (where, M0 is mass at rest). The second is that the amount of energy contained in matter is somehow related to the speed of light. These assumptions are both contentious.
1) E=M0 C2. One has to make the necessary distinction between 'mass' and weight. The latter is the product of mass and gravity. For example, in zero gravity an object of any mass will have no weight. It is the weight that will go up with acceleration, not the mass (which is by definition, a collection of atoms and molecules). No amount of acceleration will affect this quantity. I contend that the observed increase in weight (of, for example, accelerating particles in particle accelerators) is really an effect of a drag (Galileo's inertia and Newton's universal gravity). I prefer the latter and, to indicate the distinction between gravity (as felt by stationary objects) and the pull on accelerating objects, I suggest this special effect be called "Grav".
2) The second objection I have for the formula is linking the speed of light to the energy output from a unit of 'mass'. It implies that the amount of energy increases with the speed of travel (especially acceleration). If this were true, the mass of light itself will become prohibitively high for its own high-speed travel. I also have a philosophical objection to linking the speed of light (or for that matter, any radiation) to energy output from an atom!
Any measurement of speed of light on earth or in close orbit of earth is bound to be influenced by the gravitational pull of the planet. Therefore, in any such measurement, gravity should be factored in. For example, the speed of light could be measured as light travels towards a celestial object, directly away from it or parallel to its surface. Also, the size (and therefore the intensity of its gravity) of the body should be considered. In short, light and all other radiations can have several speeds based on their intrinsic mass, the neighboring large body wielding strong gravity and the direction of their travel.
To support the consequences of his Special Theory of Relativity, that of time dilation, Einstein used a myriad of "thought experiments". In them he showed how an observer in motion will experience time differently from those who are stationary. While the first and the most basic effect of the relative motion is a gain in time (thus the famed "time dilation"), more subtle and contentious is his teaching that the observer in motion will also age slower.
The subject on the train is also reading a book; she has trained herself to read 10 pages an hour at a constant speed. She has a clock with her that is timing both her train journey and the time she takes to read the pages. The observer also times both events, using an identical time measuring device. At the end of the journey both devices compare notes; as expected, both declare that the traveler 'gained' time during the journey. But alas, both also recorded identical times as it applies to the traveler's reading. Now, how could this be? She couldn't have both gained time and not gained any time, at the same 'time'!
Another thought experiment is described Brian Greene in his in his book "The Elegant Universe" (8). This illustrates a simple clock constructed using a single photon bouncing back and forth between two parallel mirrors, placed about 6 inches apart. A second is the time the photon takes to make a billion to and fro journeys. If the two mirrors then move in unison, the figure shows that the photon, as it has to travel at an angle ("from the perspective of an observer") (to fall on the opposite mirror at the predetermined location), the clock gains time or time dilates. One flaw of this thought experiment is that, in order to show significant tangential motion, the movement of the mirror is so exaggerated that they might be traveling at several times the speed of light. But the real problem is that whether it suits the perspective of the observer or not, the trajectory of the photon remains exactly perpendicular to the mirrors and the only effect the sufficiently rapid motion of the mirrors will do is that the photon might fall progressively behind by a certain distance. Eventually, the photon may even fly off through one end of the 'clock'.
In both of the above thought experiments and all the others, the proponents first make note of an illusion ("from the perspective of the stationary observer"), then make it and its consequence facts. Then follow great leaps of logic that lead to profound pronouncements. It's like declaring, after a magician produces a rabbit from a hat (again "from the perspective of" the fooled audience) and make the next great leap of logic that all rabbits come from hats. It doesn't stop there! You move to the next level. If hats make rabbits instantly, then rabbits are the fastest animals in the universe! This is analogous to the declaration that if time is not constant, speed of light is. Then on to, this speed is the speed limit of the universe and so on.
This is one of the principal constructs embodied in Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity". In his elevator and spaceship 'thought experiments' he showed that the subjects undergoing acceleration will experience the pull (towards the floor) and that they will not be able to distinguish that feeling from the effect of gravity. The feeling of weightlessness such subjects will have inside a free-falling elevator was also advanced to support this notion. He used this every day experience to explain the effect of gravity around large celestial bodies i.e.: by the "Principle of Equivalence" the gravity around stars and other celestial objects, he said, is identical to the above effect. He expanded this notion further to state that 'space-time' will curve around such objects and in response, the other objects accelerate towards the body. In other words, the satellites are in orbit as a response to this 'space-time' warping. He conjectured that one effect of this would be bending of all radiations, including visible light. His reasoning was that a ray of light coming through a window of a speeding space craft will appear to bend as its target keeps moving constantly upward. This is another example of the absurd leap of logic he has employed in other thought experiments. However, by plotting the position of stars in the background, both before and during a solar eclipse, scientists confirmed this 'gravitational lens effect' (4).
If the presence of a body curves the 'space-time' around it and this curvature tell the surrounding matter 'how to accelerate', what explains the actual congregation of dust and particles destined to become stars and planets, in the first place? Clearly, there is no pre-existing body to tell the surrounding matter how to behave. A mutual attraction by the matter (this is gravity) elegantly and completely explains this phenomenon.
The assumption of a spherical shape by all bodies that congregate as above is also very easily explained by this inherent gravity. What happens to such bodies next depends on how much matter has congregated in one place. If the amount is sufficient, the pressure and heat ignites the nuclear furnace; lesser bodies are relegated to the status of planets and others.
Space-time warping does not explain the universal phenomenon of the orbits of planets and satellites around the equator of stars and other parent bodies. If the smaller bodies are told to 'accelerate' towards parent body, why do they end up orbiting rather than colliding with it? All planets orbit our sun in an anti-clockwise fashion, as viewed from the north pole of the solar system. Sun's inherent gravity, working in concert with its spin completely explains this while one would be hard-pressed to ascribe it to a 'space-time warping' effect. Even a universal gravity as proposed by Newton will not explain this orderly orbit, without the addition of the spin. Interestingly, this spin both aids the satellites in their spin and keeps them at certain distances.
In the elevator/spaceship experiments, Einstein and his followers have ignored an important fundamental. The force that glues the traveler to the floor upon acceleration is actually the gravity (from the earth). As the spaceship gets free of the gravitational influence of the earth, the acceleration will have less and less effect and eventually cease to have any effect. This is testable in space travel aboard a rocket or shuttle. If an astronomer is placed on a chair with inbuilt weighing device, one will find that (despite the acceleration), the astronaut weighs less and less as the ship reaches farther and farther from the earth. At some distance, the weight will become zero or near-zero, again despite the acceleration. Even more compelling is what happens during free-fall of either an elevator (that is malfunctioning) or a plane during a free fall. Although both structures are accelerating towards the earth, (Galileo showed this to be 9.3Kg/sec) the inhabitants experience weightlessness. By Einstein's argument, they should instead be plastered to the ceiling of the plane or elevator. The reason for not experiencing the weight is that here the bodies are traveling in the same direction as the gravity of the earth. As the bodies are descending at relatively different rates (the heavier plane and the elevator, compared to the traveler confined in a quantity of atmosphere,) the inside inhabitants experience some degree of weightlessness.
Let us apply these ideas to what happens to space around large bodies: space that is devoid all matter, will not be affected by gravity. In other words, 'curvature' or 'warping' of 'space' is an unlikely scenario. Likewise, 'time' which has no physical presence and is also not composed of matter will not be affected by gravity.
Two interesting phenomena will help question the notion of 'space-time curvature', at least around the earth. The first is the way moon presents only one face to the earth at all times. This cannot be explained by such warping effect by earth's gravity. As the moon rotates on its axis while it also orbits the earth, only a constant pull from and synchronized spin with the earth can explain this phenomenon. The second is the appearance of the sunset and moonrise as seen from the earth. In both of these instances, the object at the horizon appears orange, larger, more or less oblong/oval and the edges appear somewhat serrated. Everyone knows the reason from the red orange color of the setting sun and the rising moon. The other phenomena are probably explicable by the fact that the atmosphere is progressively denser close to the earth; the atmospheric pressure (29.921 inches of Hg (inHg) or 760 mmHg at earth's surface) is an indirect effect of earth's gravity and tells us that the effect is diminishing in direct proportion to the distance from the earth. The observer's view of the setting sun and rising moon is through a very complex system of lenses made by layers upon layers of such variably dense air close to the earth. I contend that the oval, irregular images that appear at the horizon are actually produced by the refraction through such lenses and actually present themselves before the bodies are at that location. Then, it lingers for a while, starts getting smaller and then appears to rise and get even smaller, more round and with clean edges. It is educational to remind ourselves that Galileo's original observation of "acceleration of gravity" (which is 9.8m/sec2 at the surface of the earth) is just another proof that the attraction is an inherent property of the celestial body we inhabits! The third is the seemingly obsessive nature of the roots of all flora to grow towards the center of the earth. The space contributes nothing at all to this phenomenon; the incessant pull of earth's gravity has everything to do with it. Yet another example is the fate of light photons in the sun and all other stars. It has been reported that a photon that is made in the interior of the sun takes up to 1 million year to reach the surface! The reason for this is the incessant pull of sun's own gravity; the surrounding space plays no role!
The most important message from the above examples of natural phenomena is that the effect is emanating from the celestial body, in a progressively diminishing fashion. This is inconsistent with any 'space-time warping' scenario!
According to the principles set forth in this paper, light cannot boast any special place. It is not the fastest radiation; it simply is the visible one. This fact alone may be tip off to its mass (and therefore its speed); invisible parts of the spectra may be composed of electromagnetic radiations of smaller mass but the visible ones (photons) alone can excite the light-detecting layers of the retina. The "solar constant" or the solar incoming electromagnetic radiation per unit area is 1.361 kW/m2 (11) or approximately 4 lbs of light from the sun fall on the earth every second. Given this small but finite mass, the bending of light around celestial bodies is understandable, indeed expected. The new ideas proposed in this paper are that, the speed of light will be faster as it approaches such bodies and slower as it leaves the bodies due to gravitational pull from them. Also, in the voids of space between stars and galaxies, in the vacuum and zero or near zero gravity, it is proposed that light will escape the restraints and speed up considerably. By the same argument, those radiations that have less mass will be able to travel much faster than light. Neutrinos are at the extreme end of this spectrum. I propose, finally, that the fastest of all is gravity, as it has to regulate the orderly motions of the cosmos from one instant to the next. It couldn't possibly go as slow as light and take many hours to reach even the outer planets of the solar system!
In experiments showing that the speed of light is constant in 'every direction' (i.e.: north, south, east and west) it is interesting to note that all of these were done close to the earth's surface and necessarily parallel to it. Such experiments should be done as light travels perpendicular to the earth, both towards and away from it as well as far away from any body such as a star or planet, in zero gravity. Then many of the predictions in this paper may be proven correct.
Arguments have been put forward in this paper that light and travel probably do not affect the real quantity of time, only the artificial measures made by our various devices. To prove this fact experimentally, suitable time measuring devices must be constructed. They should not depend on divisions of time based on the earth's rotation on its axis (the day) or its orbit around the sun (the year) and their fractions. The flow time has to be charted by some other means, something not affected by our earthly goings on.
What about the slowing of clocks taken on high-speed flights and the slower decay of cesium in particle accelerators. I think in both instances the effect is probably related to disruption of the mechanism by the speed of travel (remember that in both, small, elementary particles were used; the atomic clocks' ticking and the decay of the atoms of cesium). It is the drag due to the pull of gravity in earth's vicinity that effected this, especially at the very past pace of travel of the particle accelerator experiments. If this is so, such experiments should be repeated in the outer space, in zero gravity and then measurements done comparing stationary clocks with those in constant velocity travel.
Newton's universal gravity had been very successful in predicting celestial events; a notable exception was Mercury's perihelion. However, considering the uncertainties of the myriad interactions between neighboring bodies as well as the parent star, even this slight error in prediction is acceptable. Einstein's version, using the 'space-time warping' effect from sun and the other bodies has been hailed as a stunning success as the perihelion's prediction was closer to the known (measured) value. My suspicion here is that Einstein worked on the value of the 'space-time curvature' until the equations gave this close-to-true value for the perihelion. We know that he did a similar exercise on his formula for 'cosmological constant' when he heard about the 'Big Bang' and the expanding universe. He then changed the formula, leaving out the lambda or cosmological constant.
The premise that Einstein used to arrive at the space-time curvature is his 'thought experiment' in which a ray of light filtering through a window of an accelerating space ship will appear to bend, as progressively a lower and lower part of the opposite wall of the ship will be presented to the ray. Since this apparent bending (as it appears to some one outside the ship) is due to the acceleration, he stated that acceleration of the celestial bodies will do the same (i.e.: bend light). This he called the "Equivalent Principle". Of course, acceleration alone cannot explain this phenomenon; otherwise humans at opposing surfaces of the earth will not all remain upright. He solved this problem by the notion of 'mass tells space-time how to curve' and this 'curvature tells mass how to accelerate'. "Acceleration" in this context apparently means the tendency for the satellites to remain in orbit.
I have great reservation about equating a hypothetical bending of light rays due to acceleration of a space ship to the exquisite phenomenon of gravity felt by all bodies; within themselves and between them. Many of my objections are in the main text but striking are the way all celestial bodies attain spherical shape, the very orderly orbits of planets in the plane of the equator (at least in our solar system), all orbits in an anticlockwise direction as viewed from the north pole of the solar system and all bodies (the star, planets and their satellites) are also rotating on their axes and at least many of the close-in bodies rotating in synchrony with the parent body. It is very hard for me to ascribe all these properties to a mere 'curvature' of empty space. A mutually attractive force that emanates from each body (of any size) explains all the phenomena; the contorted reasoning embodied in Einstein's 'space-time curvature' is an absurdity in comparison.
If the objection to Newton's universal gravity is simply the difficulty in grasping how a body will influence another at a distance almost instantly, I can understand. But there are innumerable phenomena in nature that we know exist but we cannot explain fully; with time a true explanation of this force will also become available. No matter how the effect is transmitted, my explanation of the phenomena of universal gravitation is as follows: it is a fundamental property of all elements of the universe; the relative strength depends on the size of that body.
In the realm of the gravity, physical bodies do no exist. The universe is composed of gravitational force-fields of varying strengths and of them interacting with one another. In a solar system for example, the largest body, the star has the most gravity and the other large bodies respond to it. Smaller bodies in close proximity to these other (satellite planets) bodies are influenced more by then than the star. There is a continuum of gravity throughout the solar system, thus imparting order. Should a dramatic change suddenly occur in this balanced system, immediately, adjustments of the gravitational force fields occur and restore another balance. For example, if the sun disappeared suddenly, lesser bodies will start orbiting Jupiter, after rearrangement of the fields are complete. This then is an almost immediate means of conveying gravity from one body's to the rest.
Einstein, A: (1916, translation, 1920), Relativity: The Special and General Theory,New York: H. Holt and company.
Walsworth R, Lukin M. Storage of light in an atomic vapor. Phys Rev Letters 2000 86:783-86 11) G. Kopp, J. Lean (2011).


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Martin Langford: The Human Project: New and Selected Poems
Posted on 1 March 2010 by Martin Duwell
Glebe: Puncher & Wattmann, 2009, 205pp.
The main strength of this collection which selects from twenty-odd years' work (Langford's first collection appeared in a three-authored book, Faultlines, in 1991) is the consistency of its concerns. Consistency is not the same as homogeneity and Langford's great themes of loss/entropy and what it means to be called human are developed in different kinds of poems, often in quite adventurous ways. It is not uncommon, in selections, for the consistency to be something that is retrospectively imposed when the earlier books are pruned, so that we see these from the perspective of the concerns of the most recent ones. But that hasn't happened here. Reading the earlier collections shows that there was always this same set of interrelated themes. A second response is to register how good these later poems are: a polite way of saying, perhaps, that Martin Langford might have been one of those poets who are slow to develop but, at the end, not only have something interesting to say but are ready to explore different poetic shapes that can be devoted to this saying.
Faultlines began with a poem about immersion in the natural world. It had a very Sydney feel to it, not only in its invocation of water and light (it read rather like a Brook Emery poem) but in its assertion of the primacy of immediate experience over language and story: "This is a gift from the sun and the planet. / This is not something that humans and words have made up." But the fourth and fifth poems are like a little introduction to Langford's essential material. The title of "The Shadow" refers to the shadow of the ape, that part of us which is responsible not, in Langford, for the glory of unmediated experience of the natural world, but for a true, old-fashioned brutishness. I have to confess that this has always made me rather uncomfortable. I thought that the modern world wanted to overturn that odd division of the self into animal and "higher" which surely only reflects the confederate prejudices of the Greeks (whose higher self was a philosopher) and the Christians (whose higher self was sexless). (One is reminded here of Gibbon's acid comment that it was a favoured opinion of the church fathers that had Adam not sinned, the congress of the sexes would have been unnecessary and "some harmless mode of vegetation" might have been invented for the propagation of the species.) Nowadays we rather want to focus on the fact that even the most violent animal predators are rarely cruel in the way humans can be, though, having said that, it's more than possible to see in chimpanzees, and other of our close primate relatives, features of the less desirable side of ourselves. And lions at a kill are an unattractive sight as are, down the pecking order, hyenas. On the other hand they don't build Auschwitzes based on crazy racial theories.
At any rate, it is not my place, as critic, to take issue with the author's position. A critic's task is to explain what that position is, as a distillation of the poems that it generates. The second poem, "Thermocline", is a much more successful piece. The poet listens to his grandfather as he "keeps on talking: / miniature, serious sounds, / getting things clear, / setting things right" while in the larger view "the canons of entropy / tick, tick through all space." Taking the laws of entropy and matching them with an old man's vulnerability to the "merest breeze" is daring and brought off well. The one encourages large-scale rhetoric, the other homely description and thus they balance each other out really well. The most elegant expression of this sensitivity to entropy is the final poem of the 2001 collection, Sensual Horizon, "The Currawongs":
No matter how fine-grained the present -
a clearing of brilliant, nibbed grasses:
centreless, endless, a sea of blond etching,
stem-shadows rhyming with seedheads,
tiny white stars nestling deep
in the creases and blacks -
there are always the farewells of currawongs,
rising through neighbouring forest
and wheeling away: Goodbye to the moment, Goodbye to the sacrament, detail.
One song, split up amongst many;
Goodbye to the Edens of presence . . .
From sun doodling neon on water at Circular Quay;
from shops of worn sandstone;
from luminous weed and warm steps;
diasporas - the part song departures -
never more potent than out through a silence:
the pause before rain starts;
through blue-shaded cumulus,
pale-green and wind-harried skies -
blown leaf scraps, keening and belling -
leaving you, always, behind, at your birthplace:
the bare rock no art can redeem -
the sweet-moment-just-passed.
The only thing that prevents me declaring this poem a masterpiece is that its rhapsodic mode is not something Langford does often and I can't escape the suspicion that he might here be trying on another poet's style and seeing how his material adapts to it.
At any rate, these issues form a kind of matrix in which the central issue of Langford's poetry – what it is to be human – can be worked at. We are, it seems, located at two kinds of horizon. The first locates us at the point of just having left the brute world but retaining a great deal of its shadow. We are not yet, apparently, able confidently to reject the animal past and, when we do things like go to war or sell real estate, we behave as though the animal imperatives still operated. This is the theme of poems as different as "Touch" from Faultlines and "The Olympics" from Sensual Horizon. The former laments the fact that touch between humans has to be framed inside understandings and contracts:
Where is its art-form?
Why do we do it so badly?
So ungracious, sly?
Not walking as children,
through bright, starlit caverns,
but butting each other with needs
on the floor of some kraal?
And the latter is a reasonably predictable attack on the culture of competition, success and conquest (not to mention the inevitable cheating) that is implicit in the Olympic games (no doubt about to be held in Sydney when this poem was written):
Passion for triumph's the perilous border
at which our whole project can fail.
If we can't get past this, we will never get clear
of the canines and ranks of the apes. . .
One of Langford's problems is that, having said this about our relationship to our animal ancestors, what is a poet to do? The 1993 collection, The Great Wall of Instinct (whose title reveals its position on this issue, though the book itself is radically pruned, contributing only five poems to this Selected) gives examples of one technique. A poem called "Fantasies" finishes with a rehearsal of the basic position:
But the stone of my coldness just sits there:
an ancient indifference -
like everyday selfishness;
programmed aggression from beasts
whose first task is to live.
And is followed by an example of a genre which is important in Langford's poetry: the portrait. Here the portrait ("Kelvin: Walking at Dusk on the Beach") is "infected" by the poet's ideas about human behaviour so that the animal world keeps poking its ugly face through:
As always, talk is just con.
Kelvin wants torsos, wants power;
money to screw with
and others to keep him -
soft, knobbly gargoyle that spruiks
by the drifting of sea.
Always, though, fear
makes him careful:
like me, some scene
where the warthog masks up -
lips, tushes, plastered with blood -
settling small eyes to explain
that he's kind, that he's nice . . .
Dusk-colours swirl and dim homewards.
Windless, deep, estuarine glass.
Working on friendliness,
pig-monsters plough
through the hopeless and silver-aired calm.
I don't think anyone, let alone the poet in the calm light of retrospection, would think that this was a successful poem. For a start it seems too happily judgemental (though the exact force of that crucial "like me" is difficult to determine) and it also succumbs to the problem that the "theory" automatically removes any humanness in the creature under observation: thus neatly begging the question. But a portrait is a way of embodying abstractions and thus a potentially fruitful area for exploration, more fruitful, probably than the beauties of "Currawongs" which promise, ultimately, no more than stretches of lovely rhetoric. The title poem of the collection in which both "Fantasies" and "Kelvin Walking at Dusk on the Beach" is another kind of portrait, rather more abstract in that it shows the moments when the animal instinct emerges. The second part of this poem, dealing with "your lover", is, presumably, interestingly close to home, but the first is a portrait of a "decent and hard-working" man:
And the most important thing,
of course, is not to get flustered,
when the face of the decent and hard-working father
who raves on and on about trade unions, sport,
somehow turns shiny and skink-like,
his prayer-knots of Articles
shrunk to the curious feints of a small desert niche -
tactics and tricks of the gene
in a sterile, red dust . . .
So much for our position as creatures not yet far enough removed from the "sad primate life" to be able to escape its shadow. The other horizon seems to be, rather, before us. It appears in Langford's poetry as a world or mode of existence in some way reflecting the natural world, especially the sky. Our current state, it says many times, is one of grids, lattices, bars, nets, snares, traps "" all symbols involving a division of space. And there is an emphasis on the division of time as well. Beyond this particular horizon is the undivided breadth of the sky and the vast mass of the sea. But, since this is, after all, a humanist not religious position, notions of transcendence have to be treated with great care and tentativeness: it is not a matter of earning something or learning a technique in order to leave the sordid present behind. This is good news for poetry since poetry, faced with the certainties of the conventional religious transcendences, really can't do much more than toe a party line and put itself, obediently, in a diminished position. Poetry seems flourish in the frustrating impossibilities of transcendence. Perhaps this is one reason why Sufi poetry, at its best conceived on the datum of the irritating absence of God, is as good as it is. At any rate, the tentative gestures of Langford's poetry when it looks towards the horizon in front, make for good poetry, I think. I especially like "Flooded Paddock" from the terribly titled 1997 collection, In the Cage of Love's Gradings:
One hundred years ago,
someone first pondered,
then got up
to slab fence all this:
smashed fragrant chips into sunlight;
clambered through tatters and hush . . .
Now it marks nothing but ocean:
somnolent hectares of wash.
Fence-posts, redundant, guard eddies -
sky-countries: cloudbanks and haze.
Undaunted – cheerful -
I head off to tension new work.
It is an interestingly optimistic poem and one which symbolically expresses the hope that freedom from contemporary divisions can be productive.
In Sensual Horizon, there is a fine set of poems about music, that notorious introducer of the topic of transcendence. The first describes a symphony (Mahler? Bruckner?) speaking of a large orchestral climax:
a pause for some piccolo griefs . . .
And then the great launch
of the final tiered claim: that we're home,
that we're on higher ground.
That we don't have to live
in the difficult rippling of now.
The second poem continues the reservations of the first, approving the music of Debussy rather than that of the romantics who surely didn't "believe in the triumph [they] pleaded". The sequence ends with an assertion of the homeliness of the true human position (having rejected the transcending gestures of a host of composers):
There's a home
in acknowledging
no other saves me -
a neighbourliness -
side by side, equal with.
Yet how will we ever again
source such power
if we're not fighting
masks of ourselves.
There is a slight flatness about this – the horizons are very limited indeed – so perhaps it is worth noting that this is the location of the great Mozart operas (masterpieces of an ambience of secular enlightenment or at least of a universe in which, as a later Langford poem says, "galaxies wheel past, regardless") which advocate, among much else, forgiveness as well as a refusal to impose stratospheric expectations on other human beings. It is remarkable though how many of the poems have, buried within them or overtly displayed, a double perspective. Often it is just a matter of the cosmos (the ultimate indivisible whole that we inhabit) making a guest appearance as it tends to do in the first series of poems from In the Cage of Love's Gradings were the explicit aim is to register the strangeness of landscapes: the strangeness, attractive to poetry, emerges because of our double position – we are seen in the perspective of the landscape but the landscape is seen in a far wider perspective as well. In "Clouds" the possibility of release is raised and all that seems required is that human beings should change their perspective. A site of competition, an urban basketball court, is constricted by wire and walls, but – the poem says – it takes only a few steps and a change of focus:
Wire and brick walls
round a basketball court:
cars;
and then ads,
as if everything sought to be food.
Every direction,
a montage of walls -
except, through a gap in the steps:
cloud upon cloud,
a fabulous slurry of greys.
Self disappears there.
Verbs have no subjects.
Ownership does not exist.
Luminous floodplain
of stories not broken by fear.
Just down this stairway.
Down these few steps and across.
Connecting our feral animal life with stories as the poem does here, uncovers another element of the Langford universe: the world of life on a restricting grid of ambition, violence and selfishness is also the world of narratives. Stories in this poetry are a means of self-location. They help us make sense of things but they also limit; they are, in the words of another poem, one of the "contraptions of identity". As one of the later poems, "Story", which talks about the possibilities and functions of poetry says:
keeps glancing at places
where it
cannot go:
where senses arc out
on the curve of the other -
where poetry starts. . .
Perhaps this is summed up best in an extensive prose poem, "Agon", in which the "narrative of the streets" is seen to be in competition with "the silence of the sky". What I like about this poem is its refusal to stop at the level of simple opposition or, even worse, of the trumping of one perspective by the other. The conclusion is complicated and sophisticated:
The sky was not a narrative itself.
But then: neither really, were the shops. Although they used language to trade with and dream with, such phrases and constructions as they used only really resolved into bigger fables with the creative use of elision: an upward drift of singularities, subsumed within the hierarchies of simplification. Really, like the great sky itself, there was simply rub and counter-rub, drift and counter-drift: in the case of the street, however, the atoms and particles were investments and obsessions, favourite sayings, private speculations.
Which did not prevent everyone from combining them into the convenience and simplicity of narrative. A narrative which, such was the general cast of mind, they habitually opposed to the ahistoricism, and the lack of context, which they thought of as being attributes of sky.
That neither, really, were narratives, meant little or nothing. The question remained, as potent as ever: which one was going to win?
"Agon" isn't included in New and Selected Poems though the book in which it appears, Sensual Horizon, is fairly generously represented. All of Langford's earlier collections – including Sensual Horizon – are reduced to a mere hundred pages or so. This is very ruthless but justified since the number of successes is fairly small. I do have a strong sense though of an increasing sophistication in the poems, a move away from the desire to state a philosophical position about where the human race is located to a desire to explore both what this means for poetry and the ways in which poetry can explore and exploit it. And the result is that The Human Project – the "new" in this New and Selected – is by far the most satisfying individual book of Langford's. Which means, I suppose, that a long, long apprenticeship must finally have borne valuable fruit. All of the book's themes are familiar from those of the previous ones, but they produce poems that are far more interesting and complex.
The first three poems act like a kind of overture for the entire book. "The Creature's Tale" is a faux-children's rehearsal of human history with a message that the earlier books have already prepared us for. At some stage a creature learns "to say choices" and to dream of a life "free of fresh blood". Almost immediately it is dining with friends and driving "out to vineyards and hills" and then sitting alone playing with words which tell "tales of enlargements". But, as with the other two opening poems, the tone is a lot more equivocal than we are used to because the tales that the mind can dream, and that language can tell, can make a world even more frightening than the old world of the instincts. I like this reservation and it continues into the second poem, "Lionspaces". Here the narrative is of the gradual human mastery of the environment, displacing the lions which had once dominated and, eventually, "clearing the forests of Europe, Iran". The conclusion is not entirely clear but there is no doubt that the tone is, again, equivocal:
Our fate, it seemed,
was to shape things forever:
the lions would never come back -
golden-eyed, blown, without pity,
crowding the yard in an impatient mood,
swarming sedately
while Grandfather's lawn disappeared -
twitching their tails, testing doors:
while you waited too - in a puddle of sweat -
not so concerned now with justice,
why it is some poems sound right.
This bringing together of two sides of the human – the side which is driven by animal instinct to build a world of grids and structures which will destroy animal life itself, and the side which is that of the language-using, world-dreaming humans, sensitive to others and especially to the animal other which is now under threat – makes for an engaging complexity and thus for a better poem. The final opening poem, "The Predators" extends the issue by describing humans as "word-haunted predators" and concludes:
We shall diminish the list of the warm ones
to foxes, five birds and rodentia.
Cousins. Hard cases like us.
Our landscape plans include:
stale exhaust, status-lined vistas;
the comfort of signage;
room for our families;
somewhere to nurse our regrets.
Easy to say we are SS who listen to Schubert.
But where did such genes learn such speech-arts?
Creatures defined by their teeth
but condemned to imagine?
Justice, for instance. Equality.
Kindness. And joy.
The old attitude to animals survives in poems like "Travelling with Birds" where, watching that wonderful film, Langford asks "What could be better than living the life of the instincts?" and answers by glossing it as "to give oneself over to precedence, lust, skill at war" – neatly taking out of play an entire poetic obsession with the issue of what a life of experience unmediated by language might be like. But generally animals now make an appearance under the flag of entropy – they are the diminishing and threatened. And some of the best poems of The Human Project are exactly about this including "The Silence of the Frogs", "The Animal Book" and "The Animals are Passing from their Lives" the last of which, rather in the tone of "The Creature's Tale", imagines the animals of the world rather shamefacedly acknowledging the "superior powers" of the humans, trotting calmly into oblivion, and thus forming a kind of reverse of the procession onto the Ark.
But in essence The Human Project is worried about the situation of the language users, especially the poets. And the general issue – what can I do and how should I do it? – is the same issue that, unspoken, has appeared in the earlier books. Does one write portraits? Poems of protest? Poems of endless explication? And why are these unsuccessful? Well one of the best responses to a strongly experience impasse is to express it – as impasse. There a lot of good poems here about poetry and the situation of the writer. In "The Monks", for example, the dream of brotherhood and forgiveness which motivated (in Langford's view at least "" my own might be more sceptical about the characters of medieval recluses) those monks who formed the manuscript-copying communities on the coast of Britain is destroyed by the instinct-driven barbarities of the Norse invaders. Doomed, their only bequeathable creations will be their manuscripts and their example:
On the horizon, a long-boat starts inching their way.
Nowhere to go so they may as well sing twice as loudly.
They sing me the room I write this in.
They sing me the question of what I should do with it now.
Again, these poems reject transcendent solutions. "The Answer" carefully reminds us of the dangers of such dreams and, by using the phrase "final solutions", neatly implies not only a criticism of closure but of the nightmare fantasies that have, historically, come from such visions:
What is it with artists?
Who told them
their wounds could dissolve
to an unchanging bliss?
The transformative poem.
The redemptive design.
Happiness does not stay still:
it's a mood that change takes.
Enough if we tease out of changes
a tension, a grace,
that might quicken heart's doze.
But to dream of a final solution!
What terrors -
what midnight desires -
can only be solved by re-birth?
I think "Mahler in Midsummer" is largely about that composer's dream of transcendence ("the great dream of being beyond terms") and its failure.
The dream of transcendence is also the dream of, in some way, defeating the fact of entropy which rules the universe as surely as gravity and some good poems engage this. "Lit Crit", the first of the section devoted to poetry and poets, goes:
The first test
is to ask
whether the poem
thinks that anything
can be saved.
If it says yes,
then don't trust it.
The poet was scared.
It is no good pretending that the correct context for the language-using animal is anything other than the prospect of death and nescience against a profoundly uncaring and unimaginably vast cosmos. All of Langford's earlier books, among their later portraits, have had poems dealing with the death of loved ones. Unfortunately as we get older there are more and more opportunities for such poems. The final sequence of this New and Selected Poems is a little suite on the death of his mother. Although it is a pendant piece, it gains from the entire context of the rest of his poems with their concern to identify the human and never to turn one's face away from inevitable losses.
This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged Martin Langford, The Human Project by Martin Duwell. Bookmark the permalink.


shes perfect. SO SO happy for you friend!!
She is perfect. Lots and lots of smooches from IL!!!
So sweet and perfect! Lots and lots of smooches from IL!!!
CONGRATS! Love the pictures with the poochies!
Congratulations!! She is absolutely adorable!! You are so blessed -- best wishes to you all!!!!
beautiful!! so happy for y'all!
I am SO happy for y'all!!! She is SO beautiful!!!!


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"Bankers Must Work Together To Support Economic Growth" – Ecobank Chief
The Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Ade Ayeyemi says it is important for Nigerian bankers to work together to ensure that the banking industry does its bit to support the development of the Nigeria economy.
Ayeyemi who was responding to media questions during the conferment of Honorary Fellow on himself and some astute bankers by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos noted that there is also need to build capacity of people within the banking industry to be able to understand what needs to be done and to support the Nigerian government in doing the right things.
He noted that the Nigeria economy is not growing as much as it should and banks need to be able to participate by lending to the economy to grow and also to support the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to succeed in driving monetary policies for economic growth . He said "people that borrow need to pay back, because when they don't pay back, they make it difficult for the bank to continue to lend in the future; they are taking away those opportunities of young people who are entitled to financial institutions to lend to them. Those people who have borrowed need to pay back, so that people who are coming behind them will have the same opportunity". He stated
Further, Ayeyemi noted that the prospects and opportunity for the Nigerian economy to get to the peak is very bright. The country "has the large population, they have large market, we have people that are intelligent, we need to be able to convert those opportunities to real outcomes and that is why I said, the banking industry is important, but the people who are borrowing need to be diligent in paying back, not paying back is not a good business". He stated.
He contended that any "money that is denied or not payed back on time, is money denied permanently, just like justice delayed is justice denied. Money delayed in paying back is money denied as well.
The CIBN had conferred honorary Fellow on successful Nigerians in the banking industry both locally and internationally; these include Professor Benedict Oramah, President, Africa Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM); Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Chairman of First Bank Nigeria Limited; Dr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance; Mrs. Osaretin Demuren, Chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc; Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, CEO Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI); Mr Abba Bello, MD Nigeria Export - Import Bank (NEXIM) and Mr. Bakary Jammeh, Governor of the Central Bank of the Gambia amongst others.


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Barcelona's UAB and UB among 200 best universities worldwide, says study
Two Catalan centers best of Spain, according to QS World University Rankings 2023
UAB university rector's office building, on November 3, 2021 (by Albert Segura Lorrio) / ACN
ACN | Barcelona
First published: June 9, 2022 10:34 AM
Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and University of Barcelona (UB) have made it into the world's Top 200 according to the prestigious QS World University Rankings 2023.
The annual list set publicly funded UAB in the 178th overall position, its high since 2015. Its international research network, the citations per faculty and the academic reputation have been well regarded – yet, the faculty student ratio, the employment outcomes and the international students ratio have been seen as issues yet to work on.
UAB overcame another Catalan public university, University of Barcelona (UB), for the first time in a QS ranking in nine years, since the latter ranked 184th in the 2023 edition.
While UAB went 29 positions up compared to 2022, UB dropped 16 places.
International research network and academic reputation of UB are also well regarded, and employment outcomes are higher than UAB's. However, the faculty student ratio, the international students ratio and the employer reputation are the weakest aspects of the center, according to the annual report.
UAB and UB are the two best ones in Spain, and the ranking also includes other Catalan universities: Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), in 233rd place; Polytechnic University of Catalonia, in 343rd position; Ramon Llull University (URL), between 651st and 700th; and Rovira i Virgili University (URV), between 751st and 800th in the worldwide ranking.
Topping the global ranking, Massachusets Institute Technology (MIT), came first again, like in the ten previous editions.
University of Cambridge, Stanford University, University of Oxford, and Harvard University follow MIT on top of the list.
UBUABuniversityQS rankings


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Imitation Game: A Review
February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews
As I said in my American Sniper review I saw it and Imitation Game on the same day and they are more similar than you might at first think. They are both about unusual men who saved lives in time of war.
The Imitation Game is about the mathematician Alan Turing who invented an early computer that helped the British to solve the enigma coding machine the Germans used.
At the end of the movie they say Christopher (Turing's machine) saved 14 million lives and helped end the war 2 years sooner. That is pretty amazing especially for someone I've never heard of before this year.
The reason why we haven't heard of Alan Turing is his untimely death in 1954 and the fact the entire code breaking enterprise was kept secret for 50 years.
In a lot of ways The Imitation Game is a lot like The Theory of Everything. Both about geniuses who aren't appreciated at first but end up making great contributions. Both have personal struggles that make it even harder for them to be accepted- Stephen Hawking his disability and Alan Turing being gay at a time where it was illegal to do so.
Both are good movies but I would say The Imitation Game is better although it falls into some of the same standard biopic formulas we've seen before.
Of the 4 biopics nominated for best picture I'd rate them- Selma, American Sniper, Imitation Game and Theory of Everything. And they are all good movies just Game and Everything are a little predictable and formulaic.
Benedict Cumberbatch is very good as Alan Turing and I thought Keira Knightley was pretty good as his fiance and friend. The rest of the cast is good with the exception of Charles Dance playing the obligatory stick in the mud boss who doesn't recognize genius we've seen in a million other movies. I could have also done without the cop interviewing Turing narration throughout that felt extremely phony. I don't think anyone had to tell a gay man in 40's England to keep quiet about their homosexuality. This is a genius we are talking about.
Matthew Goode and Allen Leach (from Downton Abbey) take small parts as members of the code breakers and all the sets and costuming is very well done. Alexandre Desplat's music is also very moving and not over the top like so many biopics.
The movie ends on a very sad note that is necessary as it is the real events but I couldn't help but wish the movie had been a little less formulaic to help absorb that sadness- it kind of came out of left field. But it was tragic for sure.
Cumberbatch is great as Turing. He is basically playing the same role as he is in Sherlock so if you like him there you will like him here. He is vulnerable and awkward yet still likable in a way few actors could pull off. The parts with the codebreaking were new and I learned something. And like I said the rest of the performances are great. Overall a very entertaining enlightening film.
It is also nice that it tells the story of a gay man without an agenda or vulgarity being shoved at the screen. It's just his story. I love that and think it is perhaps more impactful than some films that are more blatant and heavy-handed in their messaging. I certainly was moved by it.
As far as content it is pretty clean. There is a little bit of PG-13 level profanity and one sexually explicit joke I'm surprised they could slip by with but other than that a film appropriate for middle school and up and a worthwhile message and story to learn about.
Overall Grade- B+, Content Grade- A
Posted in live action, popular movies	alan turingAmerican SniperBenedict CumberbatchCharles Danceimitation gameKeira KnightleyMatthew Goodeoscarsoscars 2015popular movieThe Imitation Game
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This page addresses questions regarding program eligiblity and the application process. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we ask that you read these FAQs before emailing us personally. Please email further questions to hradvocates@columbia.edu.
ISHR strongly recommends completing your application well in advance of this the application deadline. We will not be able to accept late applications, even in the event of technical problems.
We cannot definitively assess your eligibility without reviewing your completed application. If you consider yourself eligible, please apply and demonstrate your eligibility in your answers to application questions.
Participants are selected on the basis of their previous work experience in human rights, commitment to the human rights field, and demonstrated ability to pursue graduate-level studies. Full-time students or government officials will not be considered. Applicants holding full or part-time jobs pursuing their advocacy efforts are preferred.
Advocates must work at the grassroots level. Applicants from high-income countries will not be considered except for those representing marginalized communities. Fluency in English is required. Preference is given to those who have not previously had opportunities to travel and study internationally.
Advocates must provide proof of institutional endorsement from their organizations for their participation in the Program and must commit to returning to that organization upon completion of the Program. Only one application per organization should be submitted. More than one application means all applications from that organization will be disqualified. It is up to the applicant to make sure he/she is the sole applicant from his/her organization.
I plan to work for an NGO, but do not currently. Am I eligible?
We can only consider applications from advocates currently employed at NGOs. You must have a letter of institutional support from the organization for which you currently work.
Are advocates with a disability eligible?
What are high income countries?
The World Bank maintains a list of high income countries. More information about the list is available from the World Bank's website, which includes a downloadable spreadsheet of countries' income ranking.
May students or professors apply?
Only advocates who are employed by a grassroots organization are eligible to apply. Students and university professors are not encouraged to apply.
How do I know if I work with marginalized communities?
HRAP is designed for Advocates working with marginalized communities. Please review the Program Overview, and use your judgment to determine if the program would be beneficial to your work. In your answers to applications questions, you are given the opportunity to explain how the program will be beneficial to your organization and those for whom it advocates.
May I reapply if I was rejected in the past?
When are the start and end dates of the program?
In 2019, we expect the program to start on Wednesday, August 28th and end on Monday, December 9th.
If I am accepted, my I postpone my participation to the following year?
No. You would need to reapply for acceptance in a future program.
Will my living expenses and stipend be covered if selected?
Only a very limited number of full scholarships will be awarded. Other admitted applicants will be asked to cover expenses such as living and stipend.
Is there a separate scholarship form?
There is NOT a separate form to be considered for full funding to attend HRAP. All questions regarding funding are included in the HRAP Application. No additional documentation is necessary.
How do I return to my application after I have begun and saved?
Log in to the ISHR website using your username and password.
You will automatically be directed to your personal user page that contains a link to your application. Alternatively, you can access your application by clicking the Start/Resume Application link in the lefthand HRAP menu.
After the deadline, neither you nor HRAP can make further changes to your application. Be certain to review your application before submitting.
Can I return to my application after I have submitted it?
You may continue to make changes to your application, even after submitting, up until the deadline. The online application system will automatically close at the deadline.
Why should I use the Save button?
Your application does not save automatically. Be sure to click "Save Draft" at the bottom of the page when you are finished making updates. This allows you to leave your application and return to it, and protects against unexpected interruption.
It is advised you make periodical saves when working on the application for extended periods of time to prevent against losing data in the unlikely case of a temporary network outage. If your internet connection is not strong, it is recommended you keep a copy of your typed answers in a personal text file in case of connection loss.
I am having difficulty uploading documents. Can you help?
Documents can be no larger than two megabytes (mb) and must be one of the formats listed on the upload page. PDF is highly preferred. If your file is too large, you may need to convert it to a different format, reduce the file size, or scan the file with different settings.
If your file is under two megabytes and not uploading, the file format may have been written incorrect. Try re-saving or re-scanning the file.
Must I submit a letter of institutional support?
Yes, you must support a letter of institutional support in order for your application to be considered.
What do you mean by 'proof of institutional endorsement'?
The letter of institutional endorsement should be from the applicant's supervisor at his/her current organization.
Who should sign the letter of institutional support if you are the director of your organization?
If you are the director of your organization, the letter of institutional support should be signed by the chair of your board.
To whom and to what address should letters of recommendation be addressed?
Letters may be addressed to The Institute for the Study of Human Rights, The Human Rights Advocates Program, or "To whom it may concern."
As they are uploaded to our online system, details such as an address block are not particularly important.
May I use the same recommendation letter as from a previous HRAP application?
Recommendation letters may be the same as from a previous year's application. However, the letter of institutional support must be current to this year's application.
Can the two references also work for the organization of which the applicant is affiliated?
While the references can be from the applicant's current organization, it is advised to seek letters from others who can attest to the applicant's work as a human rights advocate.
What should I use for end dates for organizational affiliations that are ongoing?
Please give the end date as February of the application year and mention in your description of that the relationship is ongoing.


text:
[![CI Status](http://img.shields.io/travis/xiaodong.zhang/BSPatch.svg?style=flat)](https://travis-ci.org/xiaodong.zhang/BSPatch)
[![Version](https://img.shields.io/cocoapods/v/BSPatch.svg?style=flat)](http://cocoapods.org/pods/BSPatch)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/cocoapods/l/BSPatch.svg?style=flat)](http://cocoapods.org/pods/BSPatch)
[![Platform](https://img.shields.io/cocoapods/p/BSPatch.svg?style=flat)](http://cocoapods.org/pods/BSPatch)

## Example

a BSPatch library for iOS. from https://github.com/mendsley/bsdiff.
bsdiff and bspatch are libraries for building and applying patches to binary files.

The original algorithm and implementation was developed by Colin Percival. The algorithm is detailed in his (unpublished) paper, Naïve Differences of Executable Code. For more information, visit his website at http://www.daemonology.net/bsdiff/.

## Requirements

## Installation

BSPatch is available through [CocoaPods](http://cocoapods.org). To install
it, simply add the following line to your Podfile:

```ruby
pod "BSPatch"
```

## Author

xiaodong.zhang, zhungxd@126.com

## License

BSPatch is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Coming at you with another high protein pasta dish. Who said you couldn't eat pasta!? Thanks to Banza pasta, you can now enjoy pasta that is made of chickpeas and contains 25 grams of protein! This mediterranean veggie pasta salad is made with cucumbers, red and orange bell peppers, red onion, feta cheese, and a red wine vinegar dressing! Enjoy!
Chop vegetables and mix with pasta, olive oil, spices, red wine vinegar and feta.
Yes... you read that right, cauliflower gnocchi. This is a semi-homemade meal thanks to Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's has frozen cauliflower gnocchi and it is the biggest hit not only with us, but most people all around the nation. It has the perfect texture and with the right sauce, taste exactly like traditional gnocchi. We used coach Bailey's homemade pesto sauce and it was perfecccttt. Great for a side dish to any meal or to have by itself with some extra protein of course!
We pan sear the gnocchi with olive oil until cooked through and slightly crisp on top. Trader Joe's directions say to boil. We find it is much better pan-fried!
cup raw walnuts OR pine nuts, almonds, pecans or pepitas.
This southwest quinoa salad with a cilantro-lime sauce is the perfect addition to your weekly meal plan! Plant based proteins and tons of veggies, it is a meal your family will love! Healthy, quick, and delicious! Yes please!
This might be one of the most refreshing salads we have ever made! Perfect for the start to Spring! Full of veggies, protein and fiber to fill you up and leave you satisfied!
Mix all ingredients together, chill and enjoy!


I thought that as an inexperienced teacher, I would have a hard time reaching the kids. However, certain moments made me realize that I can connect with the children and make them happy. For instance, Islam, a five year old girl, the first few days kept asking me when it was time to go home. On the Friday of the first week, she got upset when it was time to pack up and leave for the weekend and said "no, let's have another activity!" This moment made me feel like what I was doing was actually getting to the children in a fun and educational way and that these kids were starting to see their school as a second home.
As for me, I learned through my kids' singing and self-expressions a great deal. One day, we asked the kids to draw something about their future and this one kid, Nizar, drew a zoo and deliberately didn't put any of the animals in cages because "they should be free." I was really touched by the idea that this child who has no control over his life and whose stability was taken away from him is yet aware that it isn't right to cage animals. This episode showed me that whether you live in a developed country with all your basic needs met or as a refugee in a camp where you struggle for your essentials, a child's innocence shines through.
Alex volunteered at Jusoor's educational centers in Lebanon during July and August 2016 as part of the summer volunteer program. You can read more posts by our volunteers here.


Elle magazine Musica correspondent, Liza Ghorbani, sat down with Presley at her Medieval style estate outside of London, England. Lisa Marie talked about growing up the child of a Musica icon, her new album, and how motherhood has softened her once bad-girl image.
"I think people think I'm harder and più arrogant and cocky than I am because I know how to put on a front, but it's nothing like who I am inside. To be honest, I'm really overly, scarily sensitive," detto Lisa Marie.
Lisa Marie described her new album as no longer "pissed off and bitter" but "exposing her vulnerability" and "laying her soul bare with a 'this is me, take it o leave it' attitude."
"Her songwriting is Ribelle - The Brave and real. She's saying something," detto Oscar-winning producer T Bone Burnett, who helped produce her latest album. "I think it helps Lisa Marie to have that genetic makeup, because there wasn't a better singer in the last century than Elvis Presley. Her dad had extraordinary taste and I think she got that from him."
Both Lisa Marie and Burnett tell Elle magazine the album is something Elvis would have been proud of and both are pleased to have achieved that goal.
Read più of Lisa Marie's interview in the May edition of Elle magazine. Hear Lisa Marie's latest single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" on YouTube and pre-order her new album, "Storm and Grace," which is now available on Amazon.com. Visit www.lisapresley.com for più information about her upcoming album and tour dates.


text:
Le temps de regard vers le passé () est, en cosmologie, une estimation du moment depuis lequel a été émise la lumière d'un objet astronomique lointain, calculé en fonction de son décalage vers le rouge cosmologique. C'est une estimation de l'âge de l'objet, exprimé en temps cosmique. Par simple conversion en année-lumière, cette valeur permet de connaitre la distance parcourue par la lumière entre cet objet et la Terre.

Un décalage vers le rouge de  signifie que la longueur d'onde de la lumière émise par l'objet a été multipliée par le facteur , notamment par l'expansion de l'Univers. Un objet très proche aura donc un décalage vers le rouge proche de 0. Le décalage vers le rouge est une valeur objective mesurée par spectroscopie.

L'idée directrice des calculs qui donnent la formule du temps de regard vers le passé  est que le décalage vers le rouge  actuellement observé pour l'objet considéré est une donnée qui a varié au fur et à mesure de la transmission de l'information lumineuse à travers l'espace et au fil du temps, suivant les propriétés de l'univers aux époques traversées.

Ces calculs dépendent fortement du modèle d'univers utilisé : principe cosmologique, modèle de son expansion, divers paramètres cosmologiques comme la constante de Hubble , ou la densité d'énergie dans l'univers , dont les valeurs sont mal connues. C'est pourquoi les astrophysiciens ont tendance à mesurer l'âge ou la distance des objets lointains directement par le paramètre  de son décalage vers le rouge, une valeur objective mesurée par spectroscopie.

Le temps de regard vers le passé est donné par l'expression, en fonction du décalage vers le rouge  :

avec  la densité de matière et  la densité d'énergie de la constante cosmologique, par rapport à la densité critique.

Voir aussi
 Décalage vers le rouge
 Mesure des distances en cosmologie
 Expansion de l'Univers
 Temps cosmique

Notes et références

Paramètre cosmologique

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Unexpected endless byte for loop I have the following loop:
for (byte i = 0 ; i < 128; i++) {
    System.out.println(i + 1 + " " + name);
}

When I execute my programm it prints all numbers from -128 to 127 in an infinite loop.  Why does this happen?

A: byte is a 1-byte type so can vary between -128...127, so condition i < 128 is always true. When you add 1 to 127 it overflows and becomes -128 and so on in a (infinite) loop...

A: because when i == 127 and and you executes i++ it overflows to -128.

A: The type byte has a range of -128..127. So i is always less than 128.

A: Alright, so the reason behind this has been answered already, but in case you were interested in some background:
A bit is the smallest unit of storage which the computer can recognize (n.b. not the smallest number). A bit is either a 0 or a 1.
A byte is an 8 bit data type, meaning it is composed of 8 bit strings such as 10101010 or 0001110. Using simple combinatorics, we know that there are 2^8 = 256 possible combinations of bytes.
If we wanted to only represent positive numbers, we could do a straight conversion from base 2 to base 10. The way that works is, for a bit string b7b6b5b4b3b2b1b0 the number in decimal is dec = sum from n=0 to 7 of (bn * 2^n).
By only representing positive numbers ( an unsigned byte) we can represent 256 possible numbers in the range 0 to 255 inclusive.
The problem comes in when we want to represent signed data. A naive approach (n.b. this is for background, not the way java does it) is to take the left most bit and make it the sign bit where 1 is negative and 0 is positive. So for example 00010110 would be 21 and 10010110 would be -21.
There are two major problems with such a system. The first is that 00000000 is 0 and 10000000 is -0, but as everyone knows, there is no -0 that is somehow different from 0, but such a system allows for the number and 0 ≠ -0. The second problem is that, due to representing two zeroes, the system only allows for representing numbers from -127 to 127, a range of only 254 (2 less than before).
A much better system (and the one which most systems use) is called Two's Compliment. In Two's Compliment, the positive numbers are represented with their normal bit string where the leftmost bit is 0. Negative numbers are represented with the left most bit as a 1 and then calculating the two's compliment for that number (from whence the system gets its name)
Although mathematically it is a slightly more complex process, because we are dealing with the number 2 there are some short cuts. Essentially, you can take the positive version and (from right to left) take all zeroes until you hit a 1. Copy those zeroes and one, then take the NOT of the rest of the bits. So for example, to get -21, positive 21 is 00010110 we take the 10 and not the rest to get 11101010, the two's compliment representation of -21.
Two's Compliment is a much more difficult system to grasp, but it avoids the previously stated problems, and for an n-bit number can represent all digits from -2^(n-1) to 2^(n-1)-1 which for our byte means -128 to 127 (hence the problem in this question)
A couple of notes:
 - This is for integer representation only. Real number representation is another system entirely (if there is a request for it, I'm sure we could make a number representation CW post)
 - Wikipedia has a couple more number representation systems if you're interested.

A: After 127, when it increments, it will become -128, so your condition won't match  .

byte: The byte data type is an 8-bit signed two's complement integer. It has a minimum value of -128 and a maximum value of 127 (inclusive). The byte data type can be useful for saving memory in large arrays, where the memory savings actually matters. They can also be used in place of int where their limits help to clarify your code; the fact that a variable's range is limited can serve as a form of documentation.

It will work like this:
0, 1, 2, ..., 126, 127, -128, -127, ...

as 8 bits can represent a signed number up to 127.
See here for the primitive data types.

Picture says more than words

A: Best is if you do
for (byte i = 0 ; i < Byte.MAX_VALUE; i++ ) {
  System.out.println( i + 1 + " " + name );
}

A: Because bytes are signed in Java so they will always be less than 128.
Why Java chose signed bytes is a mystery from the depths of time. I've never been able to understand why they corrupted a perfectly good unsigned data type :-)
Try this instead:
for (byte i = 0 ; i >= 0; ++i ) {

or, better yet:
for (int i = 0 ; i < 128; ++i ) {

A: this should work
        for (byte i = 0 ; i<128; ++i ) {
        if(i==-128)
            break;
        System.out.println( i + 1 + " " + "name" );
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A delegation of the Ministry of Finance arrived in St. Petersburg to participate in an event organized by the Treasury of Russia on topical issues of treasury support of targeted budget funds investment and development of Treasury information systems.
The event is planned to involve representatives of the Treasury of Russia, including the head of the Treasury, the delegation of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia and the scientific community.
Following the event, it is planned to discuss a plan of cooperation between the Federal Treasury and the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2019.
One of the main areas of cooperation is the study of Russian experience in the implementation of treasury support of budget funds for capital investments through treasury personal accounts opened in the Treasury.
The studied Russian experience in treasury budget support showed (implemented since 2016) that the Treasury of the Russian Federation in the implementation of mutual settlements between the customer and the contractor, as well as subcontractors for construction work ensures the establishment of monitoring on the actual implementation of construction works including the acquisition of materials for the construction of the object.
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan plans to study the Russian experience for the further pilot implementation of the treasury support mechanism for budget funds in the field of construction. This will ensure transparency of payments, full payment of taxes to the budget, quality control of construction and targeted use of budgetary funds.
In addition, within the framework of the events, the delegation of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan plans to meet with a delegation of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia to elaborate issues on establishing bilateral relations on treasury execution.
The event will be held from 8 to 10 November this year in St. Petersburg.


Standing against bullies has never been easy. It takes a heavy load of courage and inner strength to overcome the fear that is created in the mind of the sufferer. That shadow of darkness that is created in and around the physical, mental and emotional side is very difficult to break that barrier of panic, distress and horror that the person who is bullying creates over the sufferer.
Whether with humans or with Animals, bullying should not be tolerated in any form at any level. Understanding this thought at a young age is even braver and a sign of maturity. Such an act was done by Wendell Overton. This young kid found out a group of grown up rowdy and wild boys, aged 5-13 years, torture a black and white cat that used to roam about in the neighborhood.
These boys crossed limits when they crossed over the poor cat with their bikes, pelted stones at the cat, threw him in the air and did all sorts of bad things. Wendell Overton could not take this dirty and inhumane behavior anymore and raised his voice against the bad gang. The gang had its own superiority complex, but the strong determination did not let Wendell go weak in front of them.
Overton bravely went in the group, pushed them away, picked the poor cat up and went home to his mother who in turn called up the Outer Banks Humane Society. When this act of kindness went viral, Wendell received accolades for showcasing inner strength.
Stand up and voice your opposition against bullying. Never let someone bully you and make you a victim. No human has the power to exercise dominance over the other.


text:
Category: Nostalgia Head
NerdomNostalgia Head
"Stranger Things" goes "Peanuts"
"A Stranger Things Christmas"- something you probably didn't know you needed in your life. Leigh Lahav and Oren Mendez created this short video for Youtube channel OnlyLeigh, where Lahav animates shorts clips of shows and pop culture. In this video Will Byers has returned from the Upside Down. Feeling altered, he turns to his friends.
By Elizabeth Fletcher	on October 28, 2016
Nostalgia HeadTelevision
Stranger Things: Kickin' it old school and keepin' it weird
There's a consensus about Stranger Things that everyone reviewing the show on the internet has somehow magically come to: a Spielberg/Stephen King, 80's homage to genre entertainment. It's a decent description for the show, but a bit of a generalization. There are a number of tropes pulled from 80's movies: bikes, bike lights, forests, flashlights, guys in ...
By Elizabeth Fletcher	on August 14, 2016
BooksMovies
Spielberg Directing Ready Player One: My Entire Life Has Built Up to this Moment
Ernest Cline's breakout novel, an ejaculation of everything nerds could ever wish for in one place, is set to be adapted into a film under the direction of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is a breakout director whose previous credits include some relatively unknown titles like, Indiana Jones, Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park. Ready Player One takes place in ...
By Elizabeth Fletcher	on April 3, 2016


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