By Philip Clements-Jewery and Simon Tatton-Brown.
In Edition 23 (October 2001), we published an article by Philip Clements-Jewery, which we entitled "Why Isn't It Working?". The article was a critique of present-day methods of evangelism and asked the question why, in spite of all the hype and activity, the church was still struggling to make a significant impact on the world in which we live and serve. A copy of that edition of Ministry Today found its way into the hands of Simon Tatton-Brown, an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Bristol, who, after a short E-mail exchange, replied to some of the points Philip was making. Simon's response is below, followed by Philip's response to Simon.
I'm sorry it's taken so long to reply to your email last October - and we are almost in December! First, a few words about myself. I am 53, single, and have been in parish ministry all my ordained life (with some diocesan posts thrown in for good measure). Before that I was a probation officer. I'm not an Evangelist in any sense. I've spent most of my theological life cringing at the sort of theology represented by Christian Unions, Alpha or the (1970s) Festival of Light, Call to the North and other such ventures. I suppose I'm a child of the sixties, and my theological formation was by people like Denis Nineham and Geoffrey Lampe. I believe the term 'liberal' needs to be rescued from those who use it as a term of abuse ('wishy-washy'), and that the Truth will set you free. Yet like Pilate, I also think the question 'What is truth?' is a very good one.
Can I begin with your paper? When I read the section 'A Modern Definition of Evangelism', I asked myself whether what was being discussed connects at all with post-modern man. You say that "Christians... find that their status has been objectively changed." I wonder. I was brought up to believe this was so. But then I can remember Honest to God, and my upbringing was in the days of the three-decker universe. Nowadays I don't believe in a spatial (or time-driven) heaven. I don't believe in life after death, because the concept of time makes no sense outside the material world of creation where E=mc2. So a discussion as to whether it is the evangelist or the Holy Spirit initiating the new Christian leaves me cold, except of course when I am talking theology in a very technical sense, using the jargon with initiates (like you), and checking out my beliefs against the historic expressions of Christian belief in the tradition.
Having said that, I have no other language than that of our tradition in which to explore these things. I find that the Christian story and stories are the best vehicle I know for exploring meaning in the world. They haven't let me down yet (though they do beg lots of questions). It's because I believe that this set of traditions, and the community which is formed by them, is the best option we have that I spend my life exploring them and helping others to explore. This is my justification for commending them to others. I believe they will be better off for entering into them themselves. To enter these stories, newcomers will have to be taught the language, and learn the art of moving around within the traditions. Hence the need for a catechumenate.
Is the Church worth joining?
Is the Church worth joining? The cynic in me says no. I tell objectors to Christianity that the church is a collection of sinners, and about the only good thing you can say about it is that it gets them off the streets for an hour or so on a Sunday morning.
More seriously, I think the church made an enormous, self-regarding theological error in the space between the crucifixion and the writing down of the first gospels. The error was to transpose Jesus' radical challenge away from themselves (as individuals and a community) and project it on to the Jews. When I had a parish in the Jewish area of Prestwich/North Manchester I was embarrassed to read John's gospel in church. When Jesus criticised the Pharisees, he was criticising his community. That's why they turned on him. When the church reads his criticisms we don't think they apply to us. We do what I once heard one of my Sunday school teachers do. She was expounding the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee (and did it very well). When she had finished she asked the children to put their hands together and close their eyes. "Heavenly Father" she prayed, "we thank thee that we are not as this Pharisee..."
The church, like any other human institution, is interested in self-preservation first. In fact, I've more than a suspicion that all the angst about evangelism we get at the moment is more to do with preserving the institution and the status quo (in the face of a catastrophic collapse in membership) rather than any real desire to make the world a better place.
That's how we are perceived. And for many, many people I meet daily in the parish, the church is the biggest obstacle they have to Christianity. It may be their childhood memories of 'being made to go to church', or their realisation that the church is not always truthful. A real problem at the moment is that the church quite self-evidently practices a less worthy morality than the secular culture. So the church (certainly George Carey) endorses the bombing of Afghanistan, while many people are appalled at the carnage; the church discriminates against women and gays; its ministers abuse children and then hush it up; the church defends (or is perceived to defend) privilege for itself - look at the opt-outs it negotiated for itself from human rights legislation, or how the bishops have managed to cling on to sixteen of their seats in the House of Lords. The church is largely seen to moralise and condemn (though I would actually want to defend the church's more recent record. But people still remember the Inquisition). And organised religion has a bad press - isn't it responsible for most of the wars that are going on? Until the church is seen to get alongside people, humbly, it hasn't any credibility.
A good social work method is always to start where people are. And the Christian story claims that God spent a couple of thousand years positioning a chosen group of people, so that when he was born among them they would be ready to respond. Even though most rejected him, they were talking a common language, they shared a common culture and expectations, at least they knew what they were rejecting.
The collapse of Christendom over the last 300 years means that all that good work has been undone. Or to put it another way, many of our people don't have the theological equipment or language to engage with us (in just the same was as you or I find it very hard to enter into the mindset of an eastern religion or philosophy). I therefore warmed to what was said by Gavin Reid about cultural evangelism and sowing evangelism. There is a lot that can be done here. One good example was the Seeing Salvation exhibition at the National Gallery last year. It was no coincidence that it was organised by a curator who is a practising Anglican. The crowds flocked to see. But there's no way of measuring results.
Corporate sin is the issue for this generation (including, as I've already said, the corporate sin of the church. One reason why Vatican 2 was so well reported in the 1960s was that people warmed to a church which was trying to address its own failings). I am sure that when the church is seen to engage with social issues there is always a positive response from the world, and there are always people who then want to find out more about what drives the church, about the story. Look at how the churches were full after September 11th, or how many people of good will joined in the Jubilee 2000 campaign. When this occurs we have an opening for Christian teaching and spiritual formation.
Many of the questions discussed, as to which method or approach is more important than what, are false dichotomies. I don't see a conflict between 'engaging with contemporary culture' and 'engaging with secularity'. I don't see that courses of teaching or programmes of spiritual formation (what a posh word 'process evangelism' is!) have to wait or come before other work. Because the people we are addressing are all at different stages, we probably need to be doing these things all together, in parallel, on many fronts.
At some point, the enquirer and the new member does need to be drawn into the community, and the tradition, and the teaching, and the theology. There does need to be at least a remnant church keeping these rumours of God alive, and possessing the skills and equipment to express them. Whether the church will ever be very large is another matter. You don't need much leaven for the lump. Which brings us to the question, what is evangelism for?
Our story tells us that Jesus did not come to set up a church, but to proclaim God's kingdom. His twelve followers made a hash of most of what they said and did (one even turned traitor). The story of the church may be one of triumph and growth. It's just as much a story of grief and sin, and Jesus must weep buckets over it.
I strongly believe that if people think we are evangelising so as to recruit them to the church, they will feel got at and run a mile. If we engage with people for the sake of righteousness, then some might stick.
We need to take the likelihood of failure very seriously too. It is quite possible that we are being faithful, doing all the right things, and have nothing to show for it. How many disciples did Jesus have at 3.05pm on Good Friday? Paul gloried in an apparent failure of Christ. We blame each other when our churches empty.
Lastly (for I'm running out of time now) most of the people in the gospels Jesus said were close to the kingdom were the outsiders. They weren't the disciples (except occasionally), and they were certainly not the people who thought they were righteous. God's kingdom is probably breaking in outside the walls of the church quite well, thank you very much.
And if you believe in grace, then no amount of methodology ('works') will help anyway. There's quite a lot in the tradition (especially Romans) to say that 'works' is absolutely the wrong path to follow.
Thank you for writing so fully and honestly in response to my article. I am going to respond in order to the points as they arise in your paper.
First, I should say that my own theological and spiritual pilgrimage began in the very sort of place that you say makes you cringe. I am the product of a Conservative Evangelical, University Christian Union background. As I look back on that now, I realize I am very grateful for the foundation in the Christian faith that it gave me. However, when I went to theological college, I began reading widely and soon realized that the horizons were much further away than I thought they were. I was grateful for that, too. I have now reached the point where I am again happy to accept the label 'evangelical', although I would also want to add descriptions such as 'radical', 'liberal', 'open', etc. because I have come to value insights from many sources. I suppose one might call my theology eclectic, although some might describe it as 'all things to all people' ('wishy washy' in your terms). However, I have always had a passion for mission in its various forms and I see evangelism as having an essential place in that context.
Second, you ask whether the concept of an objective change in a person when he or she becomes a Christian has any meaning in our post-modern culture. You relate this to metaphysical questions about the nature of the universe we live in. I know that postmodernity rejects any concept of metaphysics, but I believe we cannot operate without some sort of understanding of the world to which we relate. In any case, I reject the postmodernist rejection of meta-narratives. The story that there is no story is self-contradictory and is undermined by its own premises. That having been said, I too no longer accept the traditional theistic view that God's relationship to the world is entirely external, voluntaristic and arbitrary. I do not like the use of the word 'supernatural' because I prefer to think of God working from within the creation and from within human lives, rather than on them from outside. Process theology, deriving from the ideas of A N Whitehead and developed by theologians such as Charles Hartshorne, makes a lot of sense to me. I also agree with you that the concept of time makes no sense outside the material creation because time and change are bound up with each other and the one is the measure of the other. It follows from this that, where there is no change (i.e. where there is nothing to change or be changed), then there can be no time, and where there is no time there can be no change and so nothing can ever happen. However, I do believe in life after death, but do not consider this to be an existence outside of time any more than I think of God existing outside of time. I think the concept of eternity needs qualifying and perhaps replacing with one of everlastingness. Maybe you would agree with this?
As for the idea of an objective change in the spiritual status of people when they become Christians, the context of the point in my original paper was a sceptical one. Empirically, evangelists have no way of telling whether or not such a change has taken place. We can only work with what can be empirically tested, meaning that the processes of Christian initiation and nurture cannot be wholly written off when it comes to giving an account of how people become Christians. I would want to say that God works through these processes (and not these only, but others also) to draw people into a new way of living. Nevertheless, the Bible does use language about the new birth and a new creation. The point is how such language is to be understood. Maybe it is simply another way of saying what I wrote a couple of sentences ago about God drawing people into a new way of living through exposure to, and immersion in, the Christian story that centres on Jesus. I do want, however, to hold on to the affirmation that conversion is a process in which God is actively involved, and that it is more than a mere human choice to adopt Christian beliefs, values and lifestyle, although it is that as well.
I must say that I do warm to your paragraph about the Christian story and stories being the best vehicle for exploring meaning in the world, and the need to enter into these stories as the way to do this. Does this mean that you could accept even Alpha as a form of Christian catechumenate even if, like me (or even more than me), you are aware of its drawbacks and deficiencies? Joking apart, there is an issue that I touch upon in my paper of how we promote the story in a generation that has lost touch with it. Could we agree that one important form of evangelism is the telling and retelling of the story in ways that are culturally appropriate? I do concur with you that the Seeing Salvation exhibition at the National Gallery could in some senses be seen as a valid evangelistic enterprise. Some of the work the Bible Society is doing in this area, through its Open Book Project, and work with film (The Miracle Maker) and video (Tales from the Madhouse) also holds out a lot of promise, I think. Perhaps we could dialogue some more about evangelism as story-telling.
Third, the matter of whether the Church is worth joining or not. Certainly, some congregations are not worth joining. I agree with what you say about the teaching of Jesus being a radical challenge to his community which includes the Church down the ages as well as ourselves. But I think the heart of the issue so far as our discussion is concerned is what you say about institutions and self-preservation. The Church is not the only institution under threat from a post-modern distrust of institutions. Post-modern people by and large do not wish to belong any more. We have lost, or are fast losing, any sense of community. Individualism and consumerism are rampant ('if you don't like Tesco, shop at Sainsbury's instead' is the way many people regard the churches as well!). This is bad news for any group, like the Church, where community values are important. Some churches/congregations have decided (consciously or unconsciously) to go with the flow and blatantly preach a gospel that appeals to the individualism prevalent in our culture generally. Some are fairly successful in this, if numbers in the congregation are any guide. But whether this is the way the Church should go is another matter. What I am saying, to put it another way, is that many churches seems to have positioned themselves in the leisure sector and themselves as clubs which some people may join if they are so inclined. I am not sure that in the longer run this will prevent them from succumbing to the post-modern distrust of institutions, let alone whether or not this is an authentic expression of Christianity.
So, the question of motivation is vital when it comes to evangelism. I agree that the self-preservation of the Church and/or of the social and political status quo is not a worthy motive. It also contradicts the message of Jesus about losing one's life for the gospel's sake and that those who seek to preserve their life will lose it. On the other hand, some Christians would say that their motive in evangelism is to stop people going to hell and ensure that they go to heaven when they die. But again, apart from any other objections to this kind of approach, this is an appeal to naked self-interest that undermines the very nature of the gospel. If, as these kind of Christians would claim, the fundamental human problem is precisely that of self-centredness (sin), how can an appeal to the same self-centredness be an answer to the problem? A better, more Biblical, motivation would be that evangelism is for the sake of the glory of God. Inviting people to adopt the world-view, beliefs and lifestyle that accords with the Gospel is a conscious expression the response that the self-giving love of the Creator seeks from the creation (see Vanstone's book, Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense, which still makes a lot of sense to me). Included in this is the making of the world a better place that you seem to accept as a valid motive for evangelism. But perhaps we need to be clear in our terminology. I do not see evangelism as being the be all and end all of mission, but simply as one element within it. Mission, or evangelisation, is surely about advancing the cause of the Kingdom of God upon earth and so includes working for justice and peace, caring for people in all their needs and working to protect the environment, as well as the proclamation of a message. Nevertheless, I cannot accept that our mission is complete unless it includes this element of evangelism. However, it is first and foremost for the sake of the Kingdom and not the Church. Too many contemporary programmes and methodologies for evangelism (e.g. Church Growth, Church Planting, Purpose-Driven Church, etc.) centre on the latter rather than the former. As for your point about the church practising a morality less worthy than that of secular culture, that only goes to prove that the church needs to evangelise itself. Both religious individuals and religious institutions need to recognise that they have not yet arrived at perfection. I do not see preaching the gospel as being only to non-Christians.
As I read on into what you wrote, I see that many points have already been touched upon in what I have written above. Much of it I agree with. May I suggest that a fruitful dialogue might continue by addressing the issue of what evangelism is, what it is for, and then exploring ways in which it might be done.
The Revd Simon Tatton-Brown is Rector of St Andrew's, Chippenham, in Wiltshire. The Revd Dr Philip Clements-Jewery is a Baptist Minister in Huddersfield.
You are reading Is Our Evangelism Working? by Philip Clements-Jewery and Simon Tatton-Brown, part of Issue 29 of Ministry Today, published in October 2003.


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RANDELL E. HEDGES, SR.,	90, OF SEBREE DIED SUNDAY AT REDBANKS COLONIAL TERRACE NURSING HOME.
AND THEN AT BIG RIVERS ELECTRIC CORPORATION WHERE HE WORKED IN MANY CAPACITIES BEFORE RETIRING IN 1992.
HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY A SON, RANDY HEDGES; BY 2 BROTHERS, KENNETH HEDGES AND BOBBY RAY HEDGES AND BY 3 SISTERS, WILDA HEDGES ROBY, LILLIAN HEDGES LEE AND DOROTHY HEDGES.
FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE 11 AM THURSDAY AT TOMBLINSON FUNERAL HOME SEBREE CHAPEL.
BROTHER TONY APPUGLIES AND DR. BOB HARDISON WILL OFFICIATE.
BURIAL WILL BE IN SPRINGDALE CEMETERY.
FRIENDS MAY CALL FROM 4 TO 8 PM WEDNESDAY AND FROM 9 AM TO SERVICE TIME THURSDAY AT THE FUNERAL HOME.
FOR RANDALL E. HEDGES, SR.
RODNEY A. CURRY, 72, OF MANITOU,KY DIED FRIDAY IN CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE.
HE ATTENDED CONCORD GENERAL BAPTIST CHURCH. HE WAS A U.S. ARMY VETERAN OF VIETNAM.
HE HAD WORKED AT ISLAND CREEK COAL AND PEABODY COAL BEFORE STARTING AMERICAN MINING PARTS IN PIKEVILLE.
HE LATER BUILT AND CONTINUTED TO OPERATE WILDCAT MINI STORAGE IN MADISONVILLE.
A KENTUCKY COLONEL, HE WAS A SPORTS BROADCASTER OF HOPKINS COUNTY CENTRAL LADY STORM GAMES FOR OVER TWO DECADES.
HE ALSO SERVED ON THE COMMITTEE FOR THE KENTUCKY/INDIANA ALL STAR GAMES AND WAS COORDINATOR FOR THE JUNIOR ALL STARS.
HE HAD ALSO SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE JERRY-O TOY DRIVE.
HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS DAUGHTER, CRYSTAL CURRY CASH, WHO DIED IN 2004 AND BY A BROTHER, JESSE MOORE CURRY.
FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE 11 AM WEDNESDAY AT BARNETT-STROTHER FUNERAL HOME.
BROTHER EDDIE FLEMING AND CHAPLAIN PAT DEW WILL OFFICIATE.
BURIAL WILL BE IN NEW CLAY CEMETERY IN CLAY.
FRIENDS MAY CALL FROM 4 TO 7 PM TUESDAY AND FROM 10 AM TO SERVICE TIME WEDNESDAY AT THE FUNERAL HOME.


The team was overlooking the computer screen as Blake got onto the Slenderman page of Creepypasta Wikia. He zoomed in as far as the computer could go and they looked closely at the tajuk and saw that the words that made 'Slenderman' were made up of hundreds of tiny Reality Sigils.
Slenderman stood in a forest watching over the city of Dublin bathing in the midday sun. He could wipe this city of the map but he was under orders not to which angered him further than the fact that he was only saw as a fictional character. He had heard of people believing in him, this didn't raise his spirits. A creature cloaked in black walked out of the forest and stood seterusnya to him.
Tanith: just got here, anda ready?
Blake had been patrolling the streets for about an hour, he was bored and tired. He walked into the pub and sat on a stood sejak the bar, Scapegrace stood there in his female body as his zombie on was still falling apart, Thrasher sejak his side. Clarabelle was walking our from the door behind the pub to head off to the Sanctuary.
Blake: oh and anda always did what he said!
There was a scream coming from nearby. The two ran towards the scream and they saw a grey small vampire attacking a group of people. A black jubah, berjubah on the floor near him.
The two ran at The Rake. White Lightning burst from her fingertips and shadows swirled from Blake's gauntlet and both went towards The Rake. The Rake went flying once it was hit sejak both streams. The two sorcerers ran at The Rake, throwing punches and kicks at The Rake. But the creature was here to raise hell and pushed them both back. A Cleaver ran at it and with one swipe of it's claws the Cleaver was cut in half from the waist. It collapsed to the ground. The Rake turned to Valkyrie and ran but a whip of shadows grabbed it and pulled it towards a gauntlet.
Valkyrie looked to see Blake grab The Rake with his shadows, she saw anger in his face but them she noticed darkness on his face. She couldn't see clearly from the shadows surrounding him that stretched around The Rake's neck. She could see the aura around them both. The Rake had a dull grey glow and Blake had a dark blue. But when she saw that The Rake was either unconscious atau dead Blake dropped it and Valkyrie could now see the darkness on Blake's face.


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Paris Under the Gun
By David T. Zabecki
When a large explosion rocked the Quai de la Seine in northeast Paris at 7:18 on the morning of March 23, 1918, no one at first knew what had caused it. No German air- craft were visible, and although Germany had initiated its great Spring Offensive of 1918 just two days earlier, enemy ground forces remained well over 60 miles north of the French capital. No known artillery piece could fire a projectile even half that distance. The preliminary conclusion was that some sort of new high-altitude airship had dropped a large bomb. But then, about 15 minutes after the first explosion, there followed a second one, then another 15 minutes after that. By day's end Parisians had counted 21 similar explosions.
Within hours ordnance experts had recovered enough ballistic evidence from the various impact sites to determine that Paris was in fact being shelled by a gun or guns firing approximately 8-inch rounds. But that seemed impossible. One working hypothesis surmised the Germans had somehow infiltrated a gun far behind French lines, perhaps into the forests just outside Paris. By the next day, however, the French had gathered enough additional evidence to prove conclusively the shells had come from behind German lines, specifically from somewhere in the Forest of Saint-Gobain near Crépy, just northwest of Laon. But that was nearly 80 miles away. The only logical conclusion was the Germans had secretly developed and fielded a supergun.
In fact, they had fielded three.
The Germans had two names for the long-range artillery pieces bombarding Paris: ("Wilhelm Guns"), in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Pariskanonen World War I the British and American press, and even ("Paris Guns"). But for many years after Wilhelmgeschützen many historians, mistakenly called them "Big Berthas." The Dicke Bertha, however, was a completely different gun—a siege howitzer that fired 420mm concrete-piercing shells the Germans used to demolish Belgian fortresses in 1914.
The Paris Guns are among the most remarkable artillery pieces in military history. Their estimated maximum range of 82 miles far exceeded that of any operational gun built up to that time or since. Even today the Russian 203mm 2S7 Pion can achieve its maximum range of 34.5 miles only when employing a rocket-assisted projectile. In 1918 the Germans used conventional ammunition. The ordnance engineer who designed the Paris Guns was the brilliant Fritz Rausenberger, a director of the German arms-manufacturing giant Krupp AG. He had also designed the Big Bertha.
Krupp had a long tradition of ordnance research and development. Rausenberger for some time had worked through the problems of achieving ranges in excess of 60 miles. In 1916 he approached Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL), the German army High Command, seeking official support for a gun specifically designed to bombard Paris. Colonel Max Bauer, one of the more influential General Staff officers at OHL, convinced both Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg—chief of the General Staff—and his able deputy General Erich Ludendorff to support the project. By late 1917 Krupp had a working prototype, and it successfully fired the first gun on November 20 at the Altenwalde test range near Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast. After additional experimentation with propellant and projectile combinations, the Krupp engineers achieved a range of just over 78 miles on Jan. 30, 1918. Krupp immediately started manufacturing additional carriages and at least seven barrels.
Krupp assembled the barrel of each Paris Gun by inserting a 210mm liner tube into a bored-out 56-foot 380mm SK L/45 "Long Max" naval gun barrel. The liner extended 36 feet beyond the muzzle of the main barrel. A 20- to 30-foot smooth-bore extension was then attached to the front of the protruding liner, resulting in a composite barrel with an overall length exceeding 110 feet. An external truss system clamped atop the barrel reduced the droop of the tube caused by gravity. Krupp engineers had to mount a massive counterweight on the breech in order to elevate the gun for firing and depress it for loading. The carriage was a steel box assembly, with a pivot in the front and wheels in the rear that ran on a circular track. The gun could only be moved to its firing position by rail, assembled in place and fired from a prepared concrete firing platform. The barrel alone weighed some 140 tons, the carriage 250 tons, and the turntable-type firing platform 300 tons.
As might be expected, a Paris Gun was not easy to operate. Weighing either side of 400 pounds, the propellant charge could produce a chamber pressure of 69,600 pounds per square inch and a bore temperature in excess of 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. The corrosive propellant composition eroded several centimeters of steel from the barrel with each shot fired, thus increasing the volume of the firing chamber. After loading the next round, the gun crew had to measure the firing chamber volume and then increase the subsequent propellant charge accordingly.
In early test firings the extreme temperatures and pressures tore the traditional copper rotating bands right off the projectile body, preventing the round from spinning properly in flight. The solution was to machine rifling grooves with a 1-in-35 twist into the steel body of the projectile. Thus, the crew literally "screwed" each round into the chamber on loading. That solution worked, but it also drastically increased the wear on the bore, expanding its internal diameter with each shot. That, in turn, meant each succeeding round had to be slightly larger than the last. Each barrel, therefore, came with its own dedicated set of projectiles, numbered sequentially in exact firing order. Such attention to detail did not eliminate error, however; a mistake in the firing sequence on March 25 caused a tube detonation on the No. 3 gun, killing or wounding 17 men. Each tube had an estimated service life of 60 rounds, with round No. 60 having a diameter of 222mm. After that the crew replaced the barrel and sent back the old tube to the Krupp factory in Essen, where it was re-bored to 224mm and then reissued with a new set of shells. After the second set of 60 rounds the tubes were re-bored a second time, to 238mm.
The Paris Guns achieved their startling maximum range by seeming to defy the normal laws of ballistics. All artillery pieces, before and since, fire at their maximum range when the barrel is elevated to an angle of 45 degrees, or 800 mils. Anything over 45 degrees is classified as high-angle fire. As the elevation increases beyond that point, the shell goes higher, but the range decreases. The Paris Guns, however, achieved their maximum range at an elevation of 50 degrees, or 889 mils. Two factors contributed to this phenomenon. The first was the Coriolis effect with regard to the rotation of the earth. The round's time of flight from the firing point in Crépy to Paris was 177 seconds, almost three minutes. With the gun firing southwest and the earth rotating from west to east, that three minutes of flight added more than 600 meters to the achieved range—and also pushed the shell somewhat to the right.
The more important range factor, however, was what gunners call the maximum ordinate—the height the shell reaches in its trajectory. At 50 degrees elevation the shells from the Paris Guns reached an altitude of 138,800 feet. Reduced air density at higher altitudes causes far less drag on the body of the projectile, which resulted in the greatly increased horizontal range. The shells fired from the Paris Guns were the first man-made objects to reach the stratosphere, an altitude record they held for nearly a quarter century, until the Germans test-fired the first V-2 missiles in late 1942.
Despite the Paris Guns' incredible range, the tactical effect at the target end was less than impressive. The average projectile weighed 234 pounds, but much of that mass was in the body of the shell, which required reinforcement to withstand the massive firing pressures. The explosive charge itself was a mere 33 pounds, only a quarter of the total shell weight. The combination of the low explosive change and the thick shell body produced a small explosion with relatively few, though large, fragments. One shell that landed in Paris' famed Jardin des Tuileries left a crater just 10 to 12 feet across and 4 feet deep.
Nor were the guns accurate. What gunners call the range probable error was plus or minus 1.49 miles at maximum range. The deflection probable error (lateral dispersion) was plus or minus a half-mile. Paris in 1918, with its main administrative districts, was about 7.5 miles across. That meant that while the guns had a fair chance of hitting the city, just where in the city was anybody's guess. Between March and August the three Paris Guns fired approximately 367 rounds (French records claim 303), but only 183 landed within the city limits. The shells killed 256 Parisians and wounded another 620. The largest casualty count from a single shot happened on the afternoon of Good Friday, March 29, when a round hit the Church of Saint-Gervaiset-Saint-Protais. The explosion and subsequent collapse of the vault killed 88 worshipers and wounded 68.
Since the Paris Guns were essentially modified naval weapons, the Imperial German Navy supplied the crews. About 60 to 80 naval gunners and a support team of civilian engineers manned each gun. The three-gun battery initially operated under the direct command of Vice Adm. Maximilian Rogge, chief of the Imperial German Navy's Ordnance Department. An army infantry battalion provided ground security for the battery, and 10 squadrons of aircraft were assigned the air cover mission. By 1918 both Allied and German sound-ranging systems were technologically sophisticated enough to pinpoint an enemy battery to within 65 feet, under ideal conditions. Thus the Germans positioned 30 army heavy artillery batteries around the Paris Guns, timing their own firing to mask the firing of the main battery.
Kaiser Wilhelm II personally visited the firing positions on the first day of operations. Despite the initial French confusion and German efforts to keep the guns hidden, by March 24 the French had a general idea where they were. About noon that day the Paris Guns battery started receiving random French counter-fire. Although it was generally inaccurate, one shell hit a tree close to the No. 1 gun, and the resulting air burst wounded a half-dozen crewmen. The following day the No. 3 gun suffered its tube detonation.
The battery displaced forward twice during the war. Its second firing position was near Beaumont-en-Beine, the third near Bruyères-sur-Fère, less than 60 miles from Paris. The re-bored tubes, with reduced ranges due to their larger firing chambers, could only be used in these advance positions.
Despite the impressive tactical gains the Germans made during their 1918 offensives, they were forced to fall back in the face of the Allied counteroffensive that started on July 18. A German crew fired the last round from a Paris Gun on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 1918, after which the weapons were disassembled and taken back to Germany. As war's end approached, the Germans destroyed the Paris Guns, and Krupp incinerated most of the research and development records. The only remaining evidence of the guns are the concrete firing emplacements in the woods near Crépy.
Though the Paris Guns were an awesome technological achievement they had no impact on the outcome of World War I. But they could have.
The Germans chose to use an advanced technology as a psychological terror weapon, when they could have directed its power against far more militarily significant targets. One of the Allies' greatest vulnerabilities in 1918 was the fragile and over-stressed logistics system of the British Expeditionary Force. The BEF's communications lifeline to France ran from just a few key ports in Britain to only six main ports in France. Those ports were vital choke points the Germans, inexplicably, never sought to attack. Had they put the Paris Guns into battery in Flanders instead of Picardy, they easily could have bombarded Dover, England, and Boulogne or Calais, France. As early as 1914 Rausenberger himself told OHL he could build a gun capable of hitting Dover. Any degree of pressure on the BEF's ports would have caused far greater disruption than any sense of terror among the civilian population in the French capital.
The Germans made the same sort of strategic mistake again in World War II. This time the wonder weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket. But again the Germans targeted the population centers of London and Paris versus, say, critical Allied airfields on the continent. Only during the very last days of the war did the Germans start targeting the key Allied port of Antwerp. By 1944 the Germans should have had enough experience from both world wars to know that long-range terror attacks on civilian population centers not only don't work but also often produce the opposite of the intended effect—a lesson lost on many present-day military and political leaders.
Major General David T. Zabecki, U.S. Army (Ret.), is Weider History Group's chief military historian. He holds a doctorate in military history from Britain's Royal Military College of Science, and he is an honorary senior research fellow in war studies at Britain's University of Birmingham. He is the editor of the recently published four-volume encyclopedia Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History. For further reading Zabecki recommends The Paris Gun, by Henry W. Miller, and Paris Kanonen: The Paris Guns (Wilhelmgeschütze) and Project HARP, by Gerald V. Bull and Charles H. Murphy.
Originally published in the May 2015 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here.


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Annual Awards Voting Procedures
"Hurt Locker" leads 2009 awards
by nsfc2017 on January 3, 2010
Here are the results of the January 2, 2010 vote by the members of the National Society of Film Critics. The winners are marked with a *, followed by the second and third place runners-up. 46 members out of 64 voted, using a weighted ballot system (3 points for first place, etc.); the numbers represent the total votes for each nominee on the final, winning round.
*1. The Hurt Locker 64 (Kathryn Bigelow)
2. Summer Hours 23 (Olivier Assayas)
3. Inglourious Basterds (17) Quentin Tarantino
*1. Kathryn Bigelow 85 (The Hurt Locker)
2. Olivier Assayas 23 (Summer Hours)
3. Wes Anderson 18 (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
*1. Summer Hours 61 (Olivier Assayas)
2. Everlasting Moments 21 (Jan Troell)
3. Police, Adjective 20 (Corneliu Porumboiu)
3. 35 Shots of Rum 20 (Claire Denis)
BEST NONFICTION FILM
*1. The Beaches of Agnes 40 (Agnès Varda)
2. Tyson 30 (James Toback)
3. Anvil! The Story of Anvil 25 (Sacha Gervasi)
*1. Joel and Ethan Coen 33 (A Serious Man)
3. Quentin Tarantino 22 (Inglourious Basterds)
*1. Yolande Moreau 22 (Séraphine)
2. Meryl Streep 21 (Julie & Julia and Fantastic Mr. Fox)
3. Abbie Cornish 19 (Bright Star)
*1. Jeremy Renner 30 (The Hurt Locker)
2. Jeff Bridges 24 (Crazy Heart)
3. Nicolas Cage 15 (Bad Lieutenant)
*1. Mo'Nique 28 (Precious)
2. Anna Kendrick 24 (Up in the Air)
2. Samantha Morton 24 (The Messenger)
*1. Christoph Waltz 28 (Inglourious Basterds)
*1. Paul Schneider 28 (Bright Star)
3. Christian McKay 27 (Me and Orson Welles)
*1. The White Ribbon 33 (Christian Berger)
2. The Hurt Locker 32 (Barry Ackroyd)
3. Everlasting Moments – 19 (Jan Troell and Mischa Gavrjusjov)
*1. Nelson Lowry 43 (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
2. Rick Carter 28 (Avatar)
3. Henry Selick 12 (Coraline)
FILM HERITAGE AWARD
Restoration of Rashomon by Academy Film Archive, the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.
Bruce Posner for the restoration of "Manhatta"
Treasures from American Film Archives, Vol. 4: Avant Garde 1947-1986 (National Film Preservation Foundation).
Warner Archive Collection.
UCLA Film &Television Archive for its restoration of The Red Shoes.
Kino International Avant-Garde Volume 3 (Experimental Cinema 1922-1954).
"Social Network" dominates 2010 NSFC awards →
'Tár' voted best picture of 2022
Awards for year 2021
NOMADLAND TOPS 2020 AWARDS
"PARASITE" is voted Best Picture of 2019
"The Rider" is voted Best Picture of 2018
Lady Bird leads 2017 awards
Response to Disney blackout of L.A. Times
Awards for 2016
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
Awards for 2015 films
Did you know you can write your own about section just like this one? It's really easy. Navigate to Appearance → Widgets and create a new Text Widget. Now move it to the Footer 1 sidebar.
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.


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Cheer Up Libs, This SCOTUS Pick Isn't the End of the World
I know that a lot of liberals out there are beside themselves at the news that Neil Gorsuch has been nominated by Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. To a man and woman you feel as though that vacancy should've been filled last year by Merrick Garland, who was nominated by Barack Obama eleven months ago and yet never received the decency of an up or down vote in the Senate. I share your disgust over that disgrace.
And yet I'm not nearly as pessimistic over this pick as some may be. For one thing, Gorsuch is replacing Antonin Scalia, not Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so in essence the balance of the Court hasn't changed at all. There are still four liberal justices on the bench, along with two right-of-center justices, who have on occasion voted against the conservatives on the bench, much to the chagrin of the Far Right.
It was this Court that twice rejected challenges to the Affordable Care Act and gave us the Obergefell decision that to this day has stuck in the craw of conservative evangelicals throughout the country. And while it also struck down a vital part of the Voting Rights Act, on balance it was not as ideologically conservative as many think; at least not to actual conservatives.
The real challenge will come with the next vacancy. If it turns out to be a liberal seat - and it may well be - then we could be talking about a sea change of epic proportions. Forget gay rights, we could be looking at sixty years of jurisprudence out the window, starting with Brown v. Board of Education. I shit you not. This is where the Far Right wants to take this country: back to separate but equal and a woman's place is in the home.
They've made no bones about it. This is why the religious Right bedded down with this narcissistic asshole. They knew he was nuts, but they ignored all that because of the Supreme Court. In a way, Scalia's death motivated them far more than it did progressives, who should've seen the urgency, but for some strange reason didn't.
Conservatives have long held that the only way to return the country back to its "roots" as they say is through the courts; and what better way to do that then through the highest court in the land? Now they have their chance, courtesy of the most unstable man ever to occupy the Oval Office. But, for now, all they have achieved is the status quo.
Does that mean that Democrats should lay down and vote for this justice? Fuck no. They should do to Trump's nominee what the GOP did to Obama's; filibuster the shit out of it. And if Mitch McConnell decides to go nuclear then so be it. He runs the risk of having the same tactic applied to him if the Dems take back the Senate, which they might in two or four years. What goes around comes around in Washington.
In the meantime, cheer up Libs. This isn't the end of the world. In fact, given the way this would-be dictator is behaving, we could be looking at the shortest presidency since William Henry Harrison, assuming of course that Trump doesn't destroy the planet first.
Labels: Antonin Scalia, conservatives, Democrats, Donald Trump, Far Right, GOP, Merrick Garland, Mitch McConnell, Senate filibuster, Supreme Court
One week into this administration and it is all too clear that not only are we in unchartered waters, we could be witnessing the beginning of the destruction of the Republic. Bill Maher is correct: this is a right-wing coup.
Let's put aside for the moment the ridiculous press briefings and talk-show appearances of Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway concerning Donald Trump's "alternative" facts regarding the size of his inaugural crowd or his absurd assertion that 3 to 5 million fraudulent votes were cast in the election. Let's also put aside his pissing contest on twitter with Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto over who's going to pay for the wall that resulted in Nieto cancelling his meeting with Trump. And, finally, let's put aside his childish rants at the media over how "unfair" they've been to him since he took office. It's a given that we now have a president who is delusional, stupid and incredibly thin-skinned. Any one of these character traits on their own would be enough to raise eyebrows, but collectively they are deeply disturbing.
And yet, as strange as it might seem, I wasn't all that surprised by the above. Let's face it, if you were paying attention at all over the last 19 months, none of this should've surprised you either. He's behaved like a spoiled brat his whole life. Why should he change now? If you're waiting for him to grow up and behave like an adult, I have some advice for you: don't hold your breath. What we have here is a textbook case of the consummate narcissist in all his splendor, and barring an impeachment, we're going to have a front-row seat for this clown show for the next four years.
No, the thing that should concern all of us is the manner in which, slowly but surely, this administration is transforming the country into its own image. The executive orders are just the beginning. Did you happen to catch what Trump did with the National Security Council? He "removed" the Director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and inserted his buddy, Steve Bannon, to help run it along with retired lieutenant general Mike Flynn. That's right, a white supremacist and a conspiracy theory nut job are now in charge of the agency tasked with providing for the security of this nation.
I'll wait a few minutes while you change your underwear.
By the way, did you also catch what happened over at the State Department? The entire senior management "resigned." I inserted the quotation marks because nobody really knows for certain whether the exodus was voluntary or not. We've seen cases of officials resigning from government positions that really weren't resignations. These days, it's a polite way of saying "Your services will no longer be needed. Enjoy your retirement." But still, ALL of the senior management? That just doesn't happen. This was nothing less than a purge.
Then we have the fiasco over at the Environmental Protection Agency. In the event you missed it because you were paying too much attention to one of Trump's temper tantrums, the administration issued a gag order on the agency. Employees are forbidden from going on twitter or any other social media website to discuss climate science, which as far as Republicans are concerned is akin to believing in the Easter Bunny. Phil Plait is right: this is "no media blackout. It's censorship."
And what about that wink and a nod from the Justice Department over Trump's decision to hire his son-in-law as a senior advisor that came exactly one day after the inauguration? If you didn't see that one coming, you're in a coma. I guess if you can get away with being the leader of the free world while still owning billions of dollars of real estate - half of which is in foreign countries - what's a little nepotism anyway?
From his threat to impose a twenty percent tariff on Mexican imports, to his antagonism of our European allies, to his executive order to ban Muslims from entering the country - which was partially stayed by a federal judge - this president is taking this country down a dark path that could further damage its already tarnished reputation and will undoubtedly destabilize a world already on the precipice.
And while all this is going on, the media has become the "opposition party," according to Trump. Steve Bannon has said the press should "shut up." Kellyanne Conway, in an interview on Fox News, wonders why "people haven't been fired." The sheer arrogance of both statements underscores the real problem and the very grave threat.
This is a scary time for this nation. The lone bright spot is, once again, the pushback by the American people who for the second weekend in a row took to the streets to protest this president; this time over his Muslim ban. It was very reassuring that even as America's institutions are facing their toughest challenge since the McCarthy era, its citizens are determined to not let democracy die.
If only Democrats had such a spine. But then we're talking about a party that still hasn't fully come to terms with what happened last November; indeed what has been happening for the last seven years. Since the 2008 election that won them the White House and overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, the Democratic Party has lost the Congress, the majority of state houses across the country and now the White House. And yet, so far as the leadership of the party is concerned, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, so what's the big deal?
The same thing happened in 1912 when the Titanic sank. The White Star Line tried to rationalize the tragedy by saying it was a once in a lifetime event; that all the elements conspired against them that night. Finally, the truth set in and they were left with one inescapable conclusion: that it was their own arrogance that led to the sinking; the elements were superfluous.
Until and unless Democrats come to a similar epiphany, they will continue to lose at the ballot box, and this country will remain in the hands of a fascist regime.
Labels: Democrats, Donald Trump, fascism, GOP, Joseph McCarthy, Kellyanne Conway, Media., Muslim ban, protests, Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon
Why We Should Be Afraid, But Why We Should Be Hopeful
Let me be clear here. That was no mere transfer of power that took place Friday afternoon. Mitt Romney wasn't taking the oath of office up there. Nor was John McCain, or George W. Bush, or George H.W. Bush, or Ronald Reagan or even Richard Nixon. What we witnessed Friday was not only dark in its tone but ominous in its repercussions. Donald Trump stood in front of the nation and delivered what can only described as the most dystopian inaugural address ever given by a head of state.
If you weren't afraid before that speech, you no doubt are now, or at least you should be. I, for my part, am terrified. This is not an emotionally stable man; indeed, he may well be the most unhinged president ever to occupy the Oval Office, and that's saying a lot given that we endured six years of Nixon. In fact, the parallels between Nixon and Trump are staggering. Both men were thin skinned and both were consumed with power and contemptuous of anyone or anything that challenged their authority.
Witness the scene in the White House briefing room in which press secretary Sean Spicer attacked the "dishonest" media for reporting on the size of the crowd at Trump's inaugural compared to Barack Obama's in 2009. Forget for a moment that Spicer pulled his "alternative facts" literally out of his ass, or that there were millions of people around the world that very same day who were protesting against this president, your first press conference and you turn it into a Spanish Inquisition? Two days in and you come out guns ablazing? At least Nixon waited a few months before he began his assault on the media, which if I'm not mistaken was one of the things that helped bring him down; that and, oh yes, his own party. But back then Republicans had a spine.
This president is already in violation of the very Constitution he swore to uphold during his oath of office, and he has served notice to the nation and the world that he is clearly in charge and that things will be run his way. There was no hope anywhere in the speech, no outreach, no come together moment, no "shining city upon a hill." Just carnage and destruction. He painted himself as the deliver of the country the way all despots do; the way Hitler did in Germany.
Yes, I'm going there; you bet your ass I'm going there. Why? Because we should go there, before it's too damn late. To quote Edmund Burke, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." In this context, I would add "and be complacent." Because sometimes complacency is worse than doing nothing. The person who does nothing may still have given the matter some thought. A complacent person is one who is too smug to give a shit about a pending danger or threat to them. One wonders how many complacent voters decided to stay home on November 8.
His nominees look more like a retreat for wayward billionaires than a cabinet. And despite their reassurances that they will stand up to him, the fact is that, like his reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice, Trump will simply fire anyone who doesn't toe the line. In other words, we are in unchartered waters. We have a president who doesn't care what his advisers say, suffers from a Napoleonic complex and thinks he has a mandate to do whatever the hell he feels like.
This maniac has the nuclear codes. Let me say that again: THIS MANIAC HAS THE NUCLEAR CODES! How dangerous is that? If a Saturday Night Live skit can set him off, imagine what could happen if a real crisis were to arise. If you think I'm being hyperbolic, consider this: during the Cuban missile crisis, what saved the planet from a nuclear holocaust was the cool and clear-headedness of JFK, who rejected the advice of his generals and worked out a deal with Khrushchev that allowed the Soviet Union to save face while still protecting American security. Tell me with a straight face you can see Trump pulling that off. The sad truth is that if history were to repeat itself - and it very well might given the situation in North Korea - we're fucking toast.
But while things may seem bleak, all is not lost. There are a couple of hopeful signs that we can hang our hats on, and both occurred on Saturday. The first was the incredible turnout of countless demonstrations that took place throughout the world. Millions of people in city after city came out to voice their disapproval of Trump and his policies. The irony was that more people turned out in Washington D.C. to protest Trump on Saturday than showed up for his inaugural a day earlier. I wonder how Spicer will spin that, assuming Trump even lets him.
The second happened immediately after Spicer's dress down in the White House briefing room. The press and the media finally woke up and pushed back on the lies. On the Sunday morning talkshows, the moderators on Meet the Press, Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday called out the White House on their bullshit. Chuck Todd, usually a lackey for GOP propaganda, actually went after Kellyanne Conway when she tried to justify Spicer's lies as "alternative facts." "Alternative facts are not facts," he said, "they're falsehoods." It was refreshing seeing journalists practice actual journalism.
Only time will tell if the media's new-found resolve will hold or if this will just be a passing fancy. If it's the former, all I can say is it's about fucking time. They gave this con artist over a trillion dollars worth of free advertising throughout the campaign and, with a few notable exceptions, gave him a pass while dragging Hillary Clinton through the gutter. True, Clinton was a flawed candidate, but next to Trump she was Mother Teresa.
Let's be optimistic and say that the media is finally done being spineless; that they're now prepared to hold this president accountable for his lies. Couple that with the growing groundswell of countless people in this country and abroad, and what you have is the beginning of a resistance movement that might not remove this president from office, but will most definitely hobble him and his party.
If his poll numbers continue to plummet - he entered office with a 32 percent approval rating, the lowest of any new president in memory - you can bet Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are going to start sweating. If they lose the House and Senate in the midterms, both of them know the Democrats are going to go after Trump big time.
I know I'm getting a head of myself. Expecting the media to do its job is asking a lot given their track record. And while Saturday's protests were inspiring, it was after all just one day. We still have 1457 days left in Trump's first term, more than enough time for him to shred the U.S. Constitution or destroy the planet, whichever comes first.
Look, I've never been much of an optimist. In fact, I've often been called jaded. It's just that in this precarious time for our country, I'm looking for any reason to be hopeful and this is as good as it's likely to get.
Ironically, progressives have been looking for a cause to rally around for years. Donald Trump appears to have given it to them.
Labels: 2016 election, Donald Trump, GOP, Inaugural address, Media., midterm elections, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Presidential polls, press conference, progressives, White House
A Good President, A Better Man
Michael Tomasky has a piece in The Daily Beast on the Obama years that is a good take on the highlights and, yes, low points of his two terms in office. I won't rehash it here; you can read it for yourself.
What I wanted to do is take a few minutes and share some thoughts on the man who I believe when historians look back on this period in time will be regarded as one of the most effective and successful presidents of his generation.
When I think of Barack Obama, what will stand out most is his dignity and composure. In the face of some of the most vile and disgusting rhetoric ever spewed at a sitting president, he let it all roll off his back. Not once did he sink to the level of his opponents. Not even Joe Wilson calling him a liar during a joint session of Congress could provoke him. He was, as I've said many times, the Jackie Robinson of politics. A man who knew he was making history and was determined to make sure he didn't screw it up.
And he was by far the most mature adult in the room. Despite a fierce and coordinated opposition that was determined to block him at every turn, Obama always made an effort to reach out and seek some measure of bipartisanship. He was the consummate optimist and, like his favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, he sought out the better angels of those around him, perhaps not quite realizing that it was their worst demons who, more often than not, got in the way.
Maybe that's the reason that Obama, for all his virtues and attributes, was taken to the cleaners so many times by his rivals. The man worshipped Lincoln, but I suspect he never really understood him. Yes, Lincoln freed the slaves; yes, he went to war to prevent the South from seceding from the Union. But Lincoln was also the president who suspended Habeas Corpus and made every deal imaginable to get the Emancipation Proclamation passed. I suspect that had the Brooklyn Bridge been built, he might very well have auctioned it off to garner some votes. In a way Lincoln was the Lyndon Johnson of his era. Perhaps more refined, but hardly angelic.
Obama never quite got that fact. If he had, I suspect we might've seen a far more feisty and cunning president. Not cunning in the same manner as Nixon, or the soon to be occupant of the Oval Office. One needn't be a megalomaniac or pathological to posses a penchant for successful deal making.
As a salesman, one of the things that irked me most about Obama's negotiating style was his inability to play hardball when it mattered most. He always seemed more concerned about being fair-minded and arriving at an equitable solution, not quite realizing - or perhaps accepting - that his opponents often took advantage of his largesse.
Whether it was his healthcare law, which now appears all but certain to be repealed, or the stimulus, that many on the Left warned him would be insufficient to jump-start the economy, Obama's desire to seek a consensus when none was available became his undoing. Indeed, it plagued him throughout his presidency and was at least partly to blame for the midterm disasters of both 2010 and 2014 that cost Democrats both houses of Congress and a substantial portion of state governorships throughout the country.
But I keep coming back to that dignity and composure. Given what he had to contend with, it was nothing short of miraculous that the man didn't lose it on several occasions. Personally, I wouldn't have lasted a month before I went off. Thankfully, Obama was made of stronger stuff. He was a gentleman as well as a gentle man, a loving husband and a good father. As a family, the Obamas graced the White House in a way not seen in over a generation. Not one scandal plagued this administration - NOT ONE! He was, and is, by any and all accounts one of the most decent human beings ever to set foot in the Oval Office. A far cry from what we are about to see Friday.
I will miss him terribly when he's gone. I cried tears of joy the night of his election; and when he departs the White House for that last time tomorrow morning, I suspect I will shed a tear of sorrow for what the nation has lost, but even more so, for what the nation settled on as his replacement.
Labels: 2016 election, Democrats, healthcare reform, Lincoln, midterm elections, Obama, politics, Presidential election, stimulus
Cheer Up Libs, This SCOTUS Pick Isn't the End of t...
Why We Should Be Afraid, But Why We Should Be Hope...


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L-Acoustics and JH Audio Develop Contour XO In-Ear Monitor
Published 28th October, 2020
Contour XO provides the renowned L-Acoustics sonic signature in an IEM co-engineered with JH Audio
L-Acoustics reinforces its mission of elevating the listening experience for professionals and audiophiles worldwide with its first offering in personal audio, Contour XO in-ear monitor powered by JH Audio.
Jerry Harvey, the founder of JH Audio, focused on the in-ear experience. Challenged by mega-stars demanding better sound quality on stage, Harvey developed the first custom dual balanced armature in-ear monitor.
L-Acoustics, founded by Dr. Christian Heil, revolutionized the live sound industry by bringing the Wavefront Sculpture Technology of V-DOSC line source arrays to the masses in 1992, and then in 2016 deepened the connection between artist and audience with the first object-based mixing technology for live events, L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound.
Harvey and Heil combined their R&D teams' forces to reproduce the renowned L-Acoustics sonic signature frequency contour in a premium, 10-driver in-ear monitor (IEM) that elevates the standard for in-ear monitoring.
Designed to reproduce the nuances, emotion and impact of live music, L-Acoustics professional sound systems have their own "sonic signature". Widely viewed as the benchmark for the live music and performing arts industries, the L-Acoustics sonic signature is natural, dynamic, generous, and consistent. Contour XO provides that perfect reference IEM on stage, at the mixing desk, in the studio, or on the move.
Contour XO is a 10-driver balanced armature IEM with a 3-way crossover delivering the signature sound of live music in a compact footprint
"I was impressed by the jeweler-like precision with which JH Audio could tune to match our frequency contour in such a miniaturized enclosure," comments Christian Heil of the new Contour XO. "There's a very generous, deep low-end contour, and a high-end extension that I've never heard on an IEM before. The sound is natural and powerful! We recently launched sound systems for private use via our new division, L-Acoustics Creations, allowing music lovers to 'bring the concert home.' This IEM extends that lifestyle philosophy further still with the concept of L-Acoustics sound wearables to bring the concert with you, anywhere."
Jerry Harvey was pleased with the new audiophile tech fusion, "I've been trying to make my in-ears sound like an L-Acoustics PA for years. It wasn't until their team challenged us that we got as close as we could. The L-Acoustics R&D team has been great to work with!"
"It was an exhilarating challenge to collaborate with the fast-paced and talented team at JH Audio on the first L-Acoustics IEM. We knew that the outcome of our joint efforts would need to fulfil criteria that are both measurable and pleasurable," explains Christophe Combet, L-Acoustics Executive Director of Research and Development. "The testing process was iterative and uncompromising, right up through the final review and approval from our expert ears listening committee. Contour XO achieves pocket-size portability for our sonic signature, earning the same golden logo that adorns our PAs around the world."
The newly designed universal in-ear monitors bring listeners inside the music with ten balanced armature drivers and 3-way crossover in a quad low, dual mid, and quad high configuration. Contour XO offers control of the low end with bass adjustment of up to 15 dB above flat response. Artists, musicians, sound professionals, and audiophiles alike will appreciate the individual care and attention to detail transmitted by the limited-edition premium in-ear audio solution, Contour XO.
Guillaume Le Nost, L-Acoustics Executive Director of Creative Technologies, elaborates on how the IEM represents a creative product fit for the company. "Object-based mixing to achieve natural, spatialized audio is the future of sound. The success of L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology has led us to seek ways to further streamline the production process. L-ISA binaural software tools are scheduled to be released in early 2021. We are pleased to offer early access to this L-ISA binaural software package to first adopters of Contour XO."


Discussion in 'Road Warriors' started by kltk1, Sep 14, 2015.
I know there have been more than a few delivered. Any owner's here that can give us a first hand experience review as to ownership so far?
Looking forward to seeing any ride reviews.
So they're finally available to the public?
Hell , they're already sitting and waiting for parts .
WürmIntrüde and Husker_Varna like this.
Yours? Who's Motus is awaiting parts? Which parts?
TommyJ Muscle cars, Kentucky Rye, fast bikes.
Mine's headed this way! Noob here, long time lurker.
BMWDavid, RedDogAlberta, mixxedupmedia and 14 others like this.
Found this on the web. Check out the canted valvetrain. I wondered why the little bumps on the valve covers looked like that. Heavy NASCAR influence.
Eatmore Mudd, PullingG's, Lornce and 1 other person like this.
SelfPropelledDevo and motorhead748 like this.
Neat bike. Wonder if there's a dealership out here?
You may have noticed in the other Motus thread that I got my bike last Wednesday. I finally got to do a little riding the last couple of days.
The Motus now has 494 miles on it. These pics were taken yesterday afternoon at Lake Crockett, just north of Honey Grove, TX. It's about a hundred miles from my house, but only about 40 miles north of Commerce, TX where I went to college. I used to fish there a lot when I was living closer to it. Back then, there were lots of bass, crappie, and large bream in that lake. Great for fly fishing. Where the bike is sitting in these pics, it would have been on the front porch of the marina/restaurant/bait shop that was there 40+ years ago.
The bike has been running great. Very comfortable and no hiccups. I said after the demo ride that the Motus is the best bike I've ever been on, and so far nothing about it has changed my mind. The steering/handling is absolutely neutral with no tendency to fall into or stand up in a curve at all. Just rock solid all the way through. The weather has been nice the last couple days without much wind, so I don't really know how cross winds are going to affect it, but buffeting from semis barely moves it at all.
Shifting seems a little rough/sticky at times, but there seems to be a little bit of "technique/finesse" involved. Downshifts are smoother if you blip the throttle to match the revs even when you don't let the clutch out while doing it. Like going from second to first, I might not always use engine braking in first if I'm just easing up to a stop. But the shift is still smoother if you blip the throttle anyway with the clutch in. I know, it sounds like the clutch is dragging, but it isn't more than any other bike. I'm curious to see how much it's going to smooth out as it breaks in and I get more familiar with it.
Mileage has been a very pleasant surprise. My calculation on the first tank showed 41.5mpg, and I haven't checked since. The on board computer is showing an average of 44mpg for the total mileage. Most of that has been highways or country roads, but a good bit of the highway miles were at 75mph.
I love having cruise control again, although this one is not very sophisticated. You engage it by pushing the "start" button at any speed above 40mph. It turns off with any actuation of brake or clutch levers or by pushing the start button again. There are no "resume" or +/- functions. It's either engaged or it isn't, no other options involved. But it does an excellent job of maintaining speed.
Another first on a motorcycle for me, an accurate speedometer. Some of the Harleys I've owned were pretty close much of the time, but this one reads identical to my Zumo GPS at any speed.
The Sargent seat is excellent. I've never had a motorcycle seat that I would call perfect, and this one isn't either, but it's up there with the best I've ever had. No complaints on a 250 mile run.
So far, I'm delighted. It's everything I was hoping for.
VEXX, vegasphotog, Rider and 7 others like this.
Thanks for posting your early impressions. It's nice to hear from someone with actual experience for a change. I hope we hear from more.
They do NOT have a Motus in stock, I assure you. I was just there two weeks ago.
Of course, I didn't ask about it either.
Congratulations on the bike. I like this bike and wish they were here and that I had the dough, and also like that someone has put something different and a bit radical, but still practical, into production. From afar this reminds me of the Hesketh, not in specs but in concept. Old Heskeths are being advertised for big money and new ones from the resurrected company for even bigger. The price reflects the cost of starting up and manufacturing of a high end product on a small scale.
I hope your Motus gives you some of the times of your life.
Hey, you didn't ask if they had one in stock, only if there was a dealer. I doubt that any dealer has one on hand unless someone has backed out of a presale.
Adventure Motorsports of NW Florida in Pensacola has one on the floor, unsold, ready for delivery.
Might not be in stock YET but they are most definitely a Motus dealer.


text:
package org.zmpp.blorb;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;

import org.zmpp.base.Memory;

/**
 * This class encapsulates the a memory object within an input stream.
 *
 * @author Wei-ju Wu
 * @version 1.0
 */
public class MemoryInputStream extends InputStream {

    /**
     * The memory object this stream is based on.
     */
    private Memory memory;

    /**
     * The position in the stream.
     */
    private int position;

    /**
     * Supports a mark.
     */
    private int mark;

    /**
     * The size of the memory.
     */
    private int size;

    /**
     * Constructor.
     *
     * @param memory a memory object
     * @param offset the byte offset
     * @param size the memory size
     */
    public MemoryInputStream(final Memory memory,
            final int offset, final int size) {
        super();
        this.memory = memory;
        position += offset;
        this.size = size;
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    public int read() throws IOException {
        if (position >= size) {
            return -1;
        }
        return memory.readUnsignedByte(position++);
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    public void mark(final int readLimit) {
        mark = position;
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritDoc}
     */
    public void reset() {
        position = mark;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sites of Impact
▲ Wolfe Creek Crater, Western Australia
Every now and then I pick up a 'got to go there' book, you read it or look at the pictures and that's what you immediately think. Judith Schalansky's Atlas of Remote Islands was a fine example, she claimed she hadn't been to any of the 50 weird and wonderful islands in her book. I could put ticks beside just five of them – Rapa Iti (in the Austral group of French Polynesia), Robinson Crusoe Island (off Chile), Easter Island (even further off Chile), Pitcairn Island (keep travelling west) and Deception Island (Antarctica), but I'd like to add some more.
◄ The Stan Gaz photo- graphs in Sites of Impact – Meteorite Craters Around the World is certainly in the same category with its eerily beautiful black & white photo- graphs of 10 meteorite craters. I've been to three of them – all in Australia – which leaves another Australian crater, three in the US, one in Canada, one in Namibia and one in South Africa to think about.
Back in 1994 I was only 43 miles from Meteor Crater in Arizona, USA when I stopped in Flagstaff on Day 8 of our family coast-to-coast in a 1959 Cadillac trip. Why didn't I make the detour to that crater back then?
The crater in the book which I'd really like to see is, unfortunately, one of the most difficult to reach – the New Quebec (aka the Pingualuit or Chubb Crater). Check it out on Google Earth at 61° 17'N, 73° 40'W – that's way north in Canada, Hudson Bay to the west, Greenland to the east.
Equally remote is a crater Stan Gaz regrets he didn't reach, the Tenoumer Crater out in the Sahara desert in Mauritania – 22° 55'N, 10° 24'W on Google Earth and it looks fabulous. And a long way from anywhere. How close have I been to that crater? Well in 2005 Maureen and I flew up the west coast of Africa in an old Convair 580 aircraft. The day we flew from Timbuktu, Mali to Marrakech, Morocco we would have started out about 700km south-east and got a little closer (but not much) as we flew north.
Two years later we drove from London to Banjul in Gambia on the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge – Africa or Bust we dubbed that trip. As we drove down the coast of Morocco through the Western Sahara region and into Mauritania we were about 500km from the crater.
▲ I've been to the Wolfe Creek crater in Western Australia twice. Flying over it on a plane on one occasion and then driving to it along the Tanami Track from Alice Springs.
Austral group
Convair 580
Deception Island
Hudson Bay
Judith Schalansky's Atlas of Remote Islands
New Quebec Crater
Pingualuit Crater
Plymouth-Banjul Challenge
Rapa Iti
Robinson Crusoe Island
Sahara Desert
Sites of Impact – Meteorite Craters Around the World
Stan Gaz
Tanami Track
Tenoumer Crater
Wolfe Creek Crater


If you are in need of reliable and experienced property inspection services by the best building inspectors in Adelaide that you can trust to carry out the most thorough and professional service, you need to contact Precise property Inspections today.
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Contact Precise Property Inspections to help find all your properties imperfections!
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I have no hesitation in recommending Daniel and Precise to buyers and sellers.
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When I have finished a project I ask all my clients if they'd mind writing me a testimonial. This one from Casey Sheridan popped into my inbox today.
I originally contacted Lucy Felthouse at Writer Marketing Services for help with promotion for my release of Ruby Red Metallic.
Once we discussed a few options, Lucy wasted no time setting up guest blogs and interviews for me at a number of places, handled two or three giveaways, sent out my book for review and posted links to all my appearances on Twitter and Facebook.
Lucy was able to work within my budget and with my odd schedule. She was always available to answer my questions and address any concerns.
Promoting a book can be an overwhelming task for a relatively unknown author. Hiring Lucy was the best thing I could have done for my book and myself. Lucy is well known and well respected in the publishing industry, her contacts and insights made for a flawless experience.
I plan to contact Lucy for future releases.
I highly recommend Lucy Felthouse at Writer Marketing Services.
Naturally, I'm very pleased that Casey is pleased – I do my best to be there to answer questions and assist with any concerns, making sure my clients are happy with what I'm doing. Thanks for the testimonial, Casey, and I look forward to working with you in the future!


After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation of Citigroup Technology Inc. in Tampa, the employer paid 882 employees a total of $1,870,009 in back wages and a civil penalty of $97,680 for repeat violations. The division's investigation focused on CTI's Anti-Money Laundering Division and its practice of classifying analysts improperly as administratively exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirement. By misapplying an exemption to these workers, CTI denied them overtime compensation when they worked more than 40 hours in a work week. The employer also failed to maintain required time records for these employees, as required by law.


text:
Research project co-led by Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan shows
poverty reduction impacts infant brain activity
IRVINE, Calif. (Jan. 24, 2022) — Principal investigators of an unprecedented research project, including UCI School of Education Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan, released a study demonstrating that after one year of monthly cash support for low-income families, one-year-olds exhibited brain activity patterns associated with the development of higher cognitive skills.
The research project – known as "Baby's First Years" – is the first clinical trial in the United States to assess the impact of poverty reduction on family life and infant and toddlers' cognitive, emotional and brain development. The study – published today in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences and co-authored by Duncan – presents the project's initial findings.
"This study provides the first causal impact of a monthly unconditional cash transfer on child brain development for the infants of low-income women," Duncan said. "Most of us on the team were expecting to see impacts after several years of the payments, but not necessarily as soon as one year – it is very exciting to detect differences in brain functioning so quickly."
Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan
Under the direction of its lead neuroscientist, Kimberly Noble, Professor of Neuroscience & Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, the study measured brain activity among a sample of 435 one-year-old children who are participating in the "Baby's First Years" project. The project enlisted 1,000 mothers with low incomes from postpartum wards in a dozen hospitals in four U.S. metropolitan areas: New Orleans, New York City, Omaha, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Shortly after they gave birth, participating mothers were randomized to receive either a cash gift of $333/month or a cash gift of $20/month. The gifts were disbursed on debit cards, and the mothers, most of whom are Black or Latina, were free to spend the cash gifts in whatever way they chose, no strings attached. The study found that infants whose mothers received $333/month had more high-frequency brain activity compared with infants whose mothers received $20/month.
"I hope that these findings help to promote a realization that poverty reduction can provide tangible and potentially important benefits for children's healthy development," Duncan said. "That knowledge should factor into policy discussions of the wisdom of programs that increase economic resources for low-income families."
The new study reports the initial findings on infant brain activity after the first 12 months of the poverty reduction intervention. The mothers will continue to receive the cash gifts, funded by charitable foundations, until their children are at least four years old.
Moving forward, Duncan said the research team will study whether the differences in brain development persist through age four and also lead to differences in children's more general cognitive and behavioral development. Additionally, they plan to study which experiences were involved in generating the impacts on brain development – for example, how the mothers spent the money, or how the additional money might have changed parenting behaviors, family relationships or stress.
"I hope that these findings help to promote a realization that poverty reduction can provide tangible and potentially important benefits for children's healthy development. That knowledge should factor into policy discussions of the wisdom of programs that increase economic resources for low-income families."
- Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan
The team is currently drafting proposals to extend the work so that they can observe the children transition into traditional schooling at age 6, and to assess whether older siblings benefit from the cash payments as well. If impacts persist, Duncan said, they would like to follow the children into adulthood.
The interdisciplinary team – which, in addition to Duncan, includes professors from Duke University, Columbia University, New York University, University of Maryland and University of Wisconsin – began meeting weekly to plan the project in 2011.
More than two dozen organizations provide support for the project, totaling more than $20 million. This includes the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which, in 2016, awarded Duncan a $7.8 million grant to UCI for the work.
"I have very much enjoyed working with our interdisciplinary team of PIs as we have confronted and solved problems of pulling this study off," Duncan said. "We began planning and meeting weekly in 2011, so it is wonderful to see our efforts bear fruit."
To read the entirety of the newly released study, click here. To review a press release announcing the study's findings, click here.
An economist by training, Duncan's interest, he said, has always been children's development and learning, and ways to make trajectories more positive, especially for kids with disadvantaged backgrounds. His other recent work focuses on how school-entry skills and behaviors influence children's later school achievement and attainment and how increasing income inequality over the past several decades have affected schools and influence children's life chances.
In 2015, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – at the direction of U.S. Congress – began a comprehensive study of child poverty, looking to identify evidence-based programs and policies that would reduce the number of children living in poverty in the U.S. by half within 10 years. The National Academies asked Duncan to lead the study's committee. In its 2019 report, the Committee identified as promising a policy that would convert the existing Child Tax Credit into the kind of child allowance used in the Baby's First Years experiment.
Duncan is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2015, Duncan received the Society for Research in Child Development Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy and Practice in Child Development. In 2014, he was named the Kenneth Boulding Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Distinguished Professor Greg Duncan speaks to The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019.


The artists in this exhibition work with modest and easily available materials. They are neither mean nor sneaking in their daily temperament, but as artists they function like scavengers, and forage the outskirts of society for forgotten or neglected, but still valuable material.
Have photos of this show? Tag them with artcat11115 to see them here.


Kalrez® slabs and sheets are available in a variety of standard sizes and thicknesses. Other sizes are available upon request. A wide variety of compounds are available, providing many options to use Kalrez® as a flexible sealing solution.
Kalrez® slabs and sheets are often used to produce simple two dimensional shapes such as disks, washers, flat gaskets, etc.


text:
Full STEAM Ahead Navigation
• by Jim H. Smith
Adelphi professors are combining "A" for Arts with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to create innovative learning experiences.
While the STEM acronym (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has been in use for several decades, STEAM is a way of integrating the arts with STEM to encourage student inquiry, critical thinking and dialogue.
"STEAM places a high value on creativity and innovation," said Cindy Maguire, Ph.D., associate professor of arts and design education, acting associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and director of Adelphi's undergraduate art and design education program. "It's about how artists and designers incorporate technology, engineering and science into their art making. We invent to learn rather than learn to invent.
"In a rapidly changing world," she continued, "it is important that we educate well-rounded global citizens who have the imagination and skills to conquer new challenges, such as climate change and poverty. There are kids in elementary school today who will have jobs that haven't even been imagined yet. STEAM helps to prepare them for those jobs."
In 2014, Dr. Maguire began to collaborate with three Adelphi science educators. Two years ago, they launched the STEAM Consortium, an effort to promote the infusion of STEAM into course content across the Adelphi curriculum.
A result is the University's STEAMLab, a community makerspace equipped with a range of materials—from 3-D printers, laptop computers, microprocessors and sensors to sewing machines, scissors, paint and cardboard—where the Adelphi community can explore and invent using a variety of tools and materials.
"The STEAM Consortium aims to break down traditional academic silos and engender a broader spirit of creativity," said Clinical Associate Professor Mary Jean McCarthy, one of Dr. Maguire's collaborators.
The four professors have reached out to their colleagues across a wide range of disciplines to promote STEAM at Adelphi, and now professors on both sides of the STEAM equation are incorporating STEAM into their classrooms.
Harnessing the Power of STEAM
Here's how three Adelphi professors are jumping into STEAM
Louise Geddes, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and a Shakespeare scholar, collaborated with Valerie Fazel, Ph.D., an Arizona State University professor, on a study of online Shakespeare fan fiction published in the journal Shakespeare. The two professors are currently co-editing a book that will explore the wide range of digital platforms a vast, variegated audience of Shakespeare aficionados are using to reinterpret the Bard's words.
John Drew, assistant professor of communications, acquired a small, camera-equipped drone so that students can partner with Operation Splash, a nonprofit dedicated to cleaning up Long Island's waterways, to use the device to produce a video. He envisions utilizing the drone in future classes to produce documentaries and videos about issues like drought and meteorological devastation.
Lee Stemkoski, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics and computer science, developed a video game design minor that addressed both sides of the STEAM equation: the arts-related visual and narrative aspects of games' stories and the technical components that bring those stories to life.


Has Time Come for Probe into Trump Russia Ties?
AUGUSTA, Maine – The question was made famous during the Watergate scandal: What did the president know and when did he know it? Now, just over three weeks into the Trump administration, some are asking the same question.
National Security Advisor Mike Flynn's apparent lies about contacts with Russia sparked his resignation on Monday. Now, even GOP senators such as John McCain say it's time to investigate President Trump's ties to Russia.
Jon Rainwater, executive director of Peace Action, a national grassroots organization with a New England chapter, agrees.
"It's absolutely an important question," he said. "You know, you just look at the president's statements. He's resonating with kind of back-door outreach to the Russians."
Flynn tendered his resignation after the Washington Post reported that then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates warned the administration three weeks ago that Flynn may have been compromised by Russia.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump asked for the resignation, not because of legal issues but trust issues. Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland questioned why Trump said Friday he had not heard of the issue.
Rainwater says Congress needs to probe beyond Flynn, and include what he calls the "extreme" views of Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon.
"Bannon's views just have no place in the White House," he added. "This is another person with Islamophobic views, with racist views, who's really responsible for the fact that we have something that can honestly be called a Muslim ban."
House Speaker Paul Ryan says it was a good thing Trump accepted Flynn's resignation, and Rainwater agrees.
"Normally, if you had a national security advisor leaving at three weeks, you'd be pretty concerned about the national security of the country," continued Rainwater. "But we live in such strange times that it's a good thing for national security."
House Democrats have called for an investigation into Flynn's Russia ties. Ryan offered no comment as to whether a probe is needed.