text:
Belief & Creed
Sunni & Shi'a
Resurrection & Afterlife
God & His Attributes
Prophethood & Imamate
Quran & Hadith
Hadith Sciences
Hadith Collections
Qur'an Commentaries
Education & Society
Art, Images and Calligraphy
The 12 Imams
Imam Ali
Fatima al-Zahra
Early Islamic History
Imam al-Husayn and Karbala
Imam al-Mahdi
Laws & Worship
Hajj (Pilgrimage)
Zakat and Khums (Charity)
Islamic Laws
Hijab (Islamic Modest Dress)
Salaat (Ritual Prayer)
Imam Sadiq: Role Model for Humanity, Part 2
Rasul Ja'fariyan
The bolster of Shi'a jurisprudence according to Sunni narrations
Collections of hadith in the time of Imam Sadiq
Imam Sadiq and Sunni debates on Jurisprudence
Political pressures facing the Shi'a
Imam Sadiq and political issues
A. Zayd's uprising
B. Imam Sadiq, Abu Salamah, and Abu Muslim's summon
Rasoul Ja'farian
Translated by Fatemeh Soltanmohammadi
Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq was renowned by both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims for his virtues, education, and accomplishments. He was above all known for teaching Shi'a Islamic fiqh, called Ja'fari jurisprudence, and his all-encompassing information which had a great academic influence.
Part 1 included a brief biography of his life, his conduct, and his deep knowledge in jurisprudence; it also delved into the state of the Shi'as during his time as well as his political confrontations with the Ghulat, or extremists, who held ideas that resulted from overstating particular Islamic beliefs.
This part continues with material on Shi'a jurisprudence according to Sunni narrations, the Imam's hadith collections, his debates, and his political confrontations given the pressures facing the Shi'a during that time.
The era of Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq was the era of expansion of the knowledge of the Ahlul Bayt in various fields. This matter applies more to Imam Sadiq because part of his Imamah coincided with open political atmosphere, a result of a political vacuum caused by the destruction of the powerful Ummayyid Empire and the rise of the Abbasids.
The Imam directed the total and complete attention of the Shi'as towards the Ahlul Bayt and discouraged them from documenting other peoples' narrations; this act was the most important reason behind the formation of Shi'a jurisprudence. Its importance was relayed to a certain extent before and during Imam Baqir's lifetime. Nonetheless, here we will conduct an overview of the point emphasized by Imam Sadiq regarding this matter. The Imam said the following in a narration: "O Shi'a, ponder upon the effects of the Messenger of God and his way of life and the effects of the holy Imams from the Ahlul Bayt."1
Likewise, Imam Sadiq told Yunus bin Dhabyan: "Oh Yunus, true knowledge is with us, the family of the Prophet, for we have inherited the ways of wisdom and the method of detecting right from wrong."2
In Wasa'il al-Shi'a, Shaykh Hurr Amuli wrote a chapter titled: "The Obligation to Refer to an Infallible in all Jurisprudential Matters3" which entails narrations from the Imams regarding this subject.4
A follower of Imam Sadiq, Aban bin Taghlib explains the Shi'a faith as such:
The Shi'a are the people whom when a difference of opinion regarding a saying from the holy Prophet arises, they take the words of Amir al-Mu'minin and when a difference of opinion regarding a saying from Imam Ali arises, use the narration of Ja'far bin Muhammad al- Sadiq.5
Yunus bin Ya'qub told Imam Sadiq, "I heard you prohibit the science of theology." In response the Imam said, "I said: Woe to him who abandons that which I say and goes toward that which they want to go towards.6" For this reason the Imam would advise his followers to keep an eye out for each other; moreover he said, "God bless he who revives our instructions."7
Imam Sadiq would recount his tradition for his Shi'a and Sunni students and they would in turn record his narrations. The Sunnis would report the narration beginning with: "From Ja'far bin Muhammad, from his fathers, from the Messenger of God" and with the citation and chain of narration. The Shi'as cited their sources beginning with "From Abi Abdullah" without citing the chain of narration due to the Shi'a belief in the infallibility of the Imams and the authoritativeness hujjiyah of their sayings. Nonetheless, the Imam insisted that his narrations were none other than the Prophet's own narrations:
My narration is my father's narration and my father's narration is my forefathers' narration and my forefathers' narration is Ali ibn Abi Talib's narration and Amir al- Mu'minin's narration is the Prophet's narration and the Prophet's narration is Allah's command.8
Abu Zuhrah struggled to gather a set of leading narrators for Imam Sadiq to link him, other than through his pure lineage, to the Prophet; the only instance he found was with the name of Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr.9 However, if Imam Sadiq were to narrate like other renowned narrators of that era - such that we see in Tadhkirah al-Huffadh that each narrator mentions at least ten people as their leading narrators shaykh al-riwayah - through leading narrators other than his family line to the Prophet, he would have introduced his leading narrators, which he did not do. Rather, we find that he has only narrated traditions from his forefathers, which we cannot consider them as leading narrators.
The Imams emphasized this matter from the very beginning; that they do not have leading narrators and their knowledge originates from a source other than that of normal narrators. In describing this, Amir al-Mu'minin says:
My righteous genealogy and pure family is the most patient of people in their childhood and the most knowledgeable of people in their adulthood. We, the Ahlul Bayt, have received our knowledge from the knowledge of Allah and decree that which Allah has decreed and have heard the Prophet's truthful sayings. If you follow us and our works you will be guided through our insights; the flag of justice is with us, thus whoever follows it will reach the truth and whoever turns their back to it will drown in misguidance.10
Imam Sadiq said: "With us, the Ahlul Bayt, is something that with it we have no need of people but people have need of us. With us is a book that the holy Prophet dictated and Amir al-Mu'minin transcribed; a book that contains all jurisprudence including the lawful halal and unlawful haram rulings."11
In this case, it would be unfair for anyone to introduce Shi'ism as a composition of various opinions and ideas, prone to many illusions12. Thus, Imam Sadiq says the following when examining the common narrators of his time:
After the Prophet, people chose the way of the heart; thus they changed the religion of Allah and swerved it away from its actuality, and they added things to it and took away from it. Therefore, that which is currently in their hands is the distorted version of that which was revealed by Allah.13
Narrations riwayah of Shi'a Imams have penetrated Sunni jurisprudence as well and many of their narrators muhadithin have narrated traditions from Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq, in which a portion of them have been cited in their collection of traditions hadith and a great number of traditions can be found in Sunni books that at times are similar - at times in exact wording or similar content - to narrations reported from the Ahlul Bayt.14
After the passing of the Prophet, writing hadith was banned such that for many years after people were reluctant to write narrations. Even some Sunni narrators would refrain from writing hadith in the third century of Hijrah.15 In opposition to this method, from the very beginning, the family of the Prophet encouraged their companions to write hadiths and preserve it from going extinct.16
Like the way of his forefathers, Imam Sadiq also emphasized this point. Although during the time of the Imam a group of people had started to gather traditions hadith and write them, many were still reluctant regarding this matter. Alongside mentioning that Imam Sadiq was an advocate for writing hadith, Abu Zuhrah claims that this matter was prevalent at the time, such that Malik bin Anas compiled his hadith collection al-Mawta during that time.17
If we accept that Malik wrote al-Mawta during that period, it is clear that such an act was contradictory to the societal norm of that time, such that Abu Hanifah has refused even the slightest act regarding this subject. He said, "I have seen the study of the reporters of hadith rijal al-hadith and have learned traditions from them, but Ja'far bin Muhammad is a book." When Imam Sadiq heard of this talk he laughed and said, "He is right. I am a book; I have read the book of my ancestors and the book of Ibrahim and Musa."18
Relying on his forefathers' books shows that the Imam inherited a book from his ancestors and this in itself is an explicit conformation of this truth: that Shi'a jurisprudence was backed by written traditions from the time of the Prophet. In this regard, tens of narrations have been reported in Shi'a books of narration which proves the Imams would narrate traditions from this book of narrations for the people and at times were insisted upon people to see it.19
Many traditions have been reported from Imam Sadiq in regards to encouraging companions to record traditions in which this, in and of itself, shows that the inclination to write traditions at the time of the Imam was very weak. It has been reported that Imam Sadiq said, "Write whatever you know and distribute it amongst your brothers, and when you are to die, leave your books for your children as inheritance."20
The Shi'a jurisprudential school of thought in some ways differs from that of Sunni jurisprudence. During the period of Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq, jurisprudence was expanding various debates on the implementation of general jurisprudential laws upon new issues; furthermore, issues that still did not have a ruling were brought forth. During this time, the necessity for ijtihad decision-making process in Islamic law through personal effort arose among the Sunni school of thought and they started the process of deduction and deriving certain rules istinbat from narrations to find ruling.
The Sunni's main problem was the lack of sufficient resources for narration.21 The existing narrations - also memorized by people scattered in various and remote cities - in terms of content had many disparities among them. It was these narrations that made the problem even more drastic and it was for this reason that the Sunni scholars, through deeming the acts of the caliphs and companions sahabah lawful and even the generation of Muslims born after the death of the Prophet tabi'een, that Sunnis scholars were able to solve this matter to a certain extent. In regards to the weakness in narrated traditions in sects other than Shi'a Islam, Imam Sadiq said:
These individuals who consider themselves to be experts in Islamic Law faqih and scholars of Islam, and have derived istinbat all the jurisprudential and religious issues and all that which the people are in need of do not know anything of the knowledge of the Messenger; nothing from the Prophet has reached them. When inquiries regarding the rulings on the lawful and unlawful acts are asked from them, no trace from the Prophet is found with them in that matter.22
This weakness in Sunni narrations and their reliance of the acts of the sahabah and tabi'een weakened their jurisprudential foundation, since the differences of opinions and preferences between the sahabah and the tabi'een were so great that gathering the views and Islamic rulings fatwa was made very difficult. Abu Zuharah writes the following about the era Abu Hanifah and Imam Sadiq resided in:
During that time, narrations that pertained to rulings of the companions were so numerous that the Islamic jurists were completely engaged in the matter, such that they considered their narrations their guiding light in deriving religious rulings and were strongly influenced by it.23
In addition to relying on the companions' and tabi'un's way of life sirah, Sunni scholars also introduced another source for religious rulings; the most important of which was qiyas the process of deductive analogy. In justification of relying on qiyas, a Sunni scholar proposed the lack of corpus of ahadith and clear legal injunction nass 24. Imam Sadiq expressed this exact viewpoint at the time and in continuation of the aforementioned narration, in regards to the lack of Sunni traditions, he said:
They are ashamed of people ascribing ignorance and lack of knowledge to them and they do not like the inability to respond to peoples' questions; thus people obtain knowledge from them Ahlul Bayt and because of this they incorporated personal judgment ra'y and deductive analogy qiyas in God's religion and put aside the works of holy Prophet; and through this turned to innovations in religious matter bid'ah.25
In the abovementioned narration, the Imam stated the reason and cause of Sunni scholarship gravitating towards personal judgment and deductive analogy was their lack of narrations; this inclination in itself caused them to reject traditions.
Searching for a solution to solve their problem with the deficiency in hadiths through relying on personal judgment and deductive analogy was itself the reason why compliance to clear legal injunctions was replaced as the source of religious jurisprudence ahkam and religious rulings fatwa; such a jurisprudence with the resources could not be an authentic jurisprudence and in accordance with the reports.
Imam Sadiq took an opposing stance towards this jurisprudential school of thought, and dedicated most of his cultural activities in battling with ra'y and qiyas, such that numerous narrations have been reported from the Imam in this matter, mentioned in the following:
Abu Hanifah was amongst the individuals who preceded others in resorting to ra'y and qiyas; his jurisprudential school of thought was famous in Iraq for ra'y and this was because he did not consider the narrations reported by the Sunnis as authentic sahih. Ibn Khaldun writes the following: "His [Abu Hanifah] entire selection of accepted narrations only reaches to seventeen or about the same range, as Malik has found and accepted three hundred narrations as authentic."26
Abu Bakr bin Dawud says, "The entire selection of narrations of Abu Hanifah is around one hundred and fifty traditions."27
Abu Hanifah's inclination towards ra'y and qiyas and abandoning clear legal injunctions was the result of two reasons:
1.	He was willing to narrate and adhere to them as he considered the available traditions and reports as unauthentic.
2.	From the time he turned to ra'y and qiyas, such sources made him needless of even nusoos clear legal injunctions , such that he abandoned even the quantity that based on his opinion was authentic and reliable, and altogether turned over to ra'y and qiyas.
Iraq, considered the centre for the ra'y school of thought, was a Shi'a-populated country; clashes between the Shi'a and followers of ra'y was unavoidable, and it was along these lines that Imam Sadiq worked to repudiate the basis of ra'y, qiyas, and istihsan juristic preference.
In popular narrations reported in relation to Imam Sadiq's debate with Abu Hanifah, the Imam advised him to avoid deductive analogy in religion and reminds him in a few matters that qiyas can by no means be answer the problem. The Imam asks him, "Is adultery more important or the killing of a soul?" Abu Hanifah replied: "The killing of a soul." Imam Sadiq said, "God commanded four witnesses in adultery and two witnesses in murder for proof of allegation and this is contrary to condition of qiyas." Then he asked: "Is prayer more important or fasting?" He said prayer. The Imam said: "A woman is not obligated to fulfill the prayers not done during menstruation but still must complete the fasts not made and this cannot be rationalized with qiyas."28
Other similar examples have been mentioned in narrations as well.29 Through this, the Imam showed how the use of qiyas can lead a jurist in deriving religious rulings and holding opinions that counter fixed and clear religious jurisprudence of Islam. Muwaffaq Makki reported this narration in the book of Abu Hanifah; it would seem the debate took place between Abu Hanifah and Imam Baqir, rather than Imam Sadiq, and moreover, it seems that Abu Hanifah brought the examples for Imam Baqir. In the face of the Imam's protests, he showed that he does not agree with qiyas.30
The Imam would discourage his followers from participating in gatherings with those who believed in personal judgment, since they risked falling under their influence.31 Many narrations from the Imam displayed his condemnation of actions based on qiyas32 and he did not hide his deep concern from those who narrated traditions from him while acting upon qiyas.
Dawud bin Sarhan says: "I heard the following from Imam Sadiq who said": At times I report a tradition for someone and discourage him from arguing and disputing in Allah's religion and deductive analogy qiyas; then when he leaves me, he interprets my words contrary to that which intended.33
Certainly if Imam Sadiq did not stand against qiyas and its followers and innovators with such determination, Shi'a jurisprudence, which did not have much distance with followers of ra'y in Iraq, would have been influenced by it and would have lost its authenticity. On the contrary, however, we see how Shi'a jurists widely followed the clear legal injunctions nusoos and placed it as their permanent method of deducting religious rulings; throughout time, based on these clear legal injunction, expressed secondary rulings ahkam far'i and presented a rich jurisprudential school of thought, based on strong principles and rules which was a process that Shaykh Tusi, in al-Mabsut, played a pivotal role in.
In regards to the problem with citation, Sunnis had many difficulties lying ahead of them. For this reason, Abu Hanifah did not trust them, since most methods of narration were not trustworthy and non-Shi'a jurisprudence was dependent upon a collection of false traditions where reliance upon was hard.
However, the Shi'a were reliant upon infallibility 'ismah and the gracious source of the Ahlul Bayt in which Amir al-Mu'minin stood at the head, and from this point holds no complications. Many Sunni scholars held no reservations or doubt in the truth of the matter. Abu Hanifah himself accepted a substantial portion of narrations reported from the Ahlul Bayt34. Indeed, one day he heard a tradition from Imam Sadiq, and then left his presence. He was asked: "Why didn't you ask Ja'far bin Muhammad about his link to the holy Prophet?" Abu Hanifah said, "I accept the tradition in this form."35
The source that the Shi'a relied on was acceptable by Sunnis since Imam Sadiq would narrate traditions through his forefathers, the origin of which would reach Imam Ali and then after to the Prophet himself. Imam Ali spent many years in the presence of the Prophet and was a trusted jurists and narrator for all jurists and narrators muhadith.
During the time of the Banu Umayyads, works left by Imam Ali were forgotten through means other than Shi'ism and it was only his family who preserved his works. Generation after generation, they were able to pass it on to the Shi'a through their children.
Abu Zuhrah says the following, while pointing out the elimination of many of Imam Ali's sayings: "It is irrational that they curse Ali on the pulpit and yet allow his narrations to be used amongst the people as a rich source, full of Islamic knowledge. Thus, his works only remained amongst his family."
And because of this we conclude that the knowledge of the narrations from Imam Ali was preserved in its entirety in his family, such that his children have completely or almost completely reported the traditions that he narrated from the Prophet and also his religious rulings and jurisprudence.36
Imam Sadiq believed that the works of the Prophet were only completely in the hands of the Ahlul Bayt, because when others spoiled it, they held the complete and untouched works. The narrator says, "I told the Imam": Oh son of the Prophet, did the Prophet deliver all which was necessary during his time? He said: 'Yes, He delivered all that which was necessary until the Day of Judgement.' I said: 'Has anything been lost from it?' He said: 'No, it has remained with the family of the Prophet.'37
During Imam Sadiq's time, only during the third decade of the second century Hijri was it that a relative freedom existed; even during that decade the actions of the Imam and the Shi'a were monitored. However, before that through the Banu Umayyads and after that through Mansur, the Abbasid caliph, the harshest pressures were enforced on the Shi'a, such that the courage to voice any sort of self-expression was taken away from them. It has been reported in narrations:
A companion of Abu Ja'far al-Thani the tenth Imam asked him: 'Because of the harsh suppression during their time, our scholars refrained from narrating traditions and sufficed to only writing them down. Now that there are books at our disposal, can we narrate traditions?' The Imam said: 'The traditions in those books are authentic and you may narrate from them'.38
This narration portrays the political pressures on the Ahlul Bayt and their followers during the aforesaid era. The Shi'a scholars did not even have the opportunity to narrate traditions from the Imams. To protect themselves from Mansur's persecution, the Imam's companions were forced to do taqiyyah a form of religious dissimulation and be cautious of the smallest form of recklessness on their part. This restriction led to the abandonment of knowledge of the Ahlul Bayt and their religious rulings to a certain extent. Aban ibn Taghlib said to the Imam:
'I was sitting in the Mosque and people were asking about jurisprudential issues from me and would not leave me until I answered their questions. And if I expressed your viewpoints to them problems would arise. What should I do?' The Imam said, 'Tell the people that which you know from their viewpoints.'39
Imam Sadiq's continuous emphasis on taqiyyah was in and of itself proof of the political pressures. The danger of invasion on the Shi'a was so close that the Imam announced the abandonment of taqiyyah equivalent to the abandonment of prayer.40
Concerning this, the Imam told Mu'alla ibn Khunays who was killed by the rulers of his time: "Oh Mu'alla, keep our affairs secret, and do not divulge it publicly, for whoever keeps it secret and does not reveal it, God will exalt him in this world."41
Nevertheless, narrations exist showing the extents of pressures were such that the Shi'a would even walk by each other without showing any regard for one another42. Regarding the agents of Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, it has been said, "Mansur had spies in Madinah and would kill those people who would socialize with the followers of Ja'far."43
During this era, charging someone with being a Shi'a was enough to put an end to the security of their lives and wealth and would leave them confined and tortured.44
During Imam Sadiq's time, the major political events that took place was the Alawi movement Zayd ibn Ali's uprising and Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Hasan and his brother's uprising in 145 and 146 AH and the Abbasid movement, in which the Banu Umayyad dynasty collapsed afterwards and the Banu Abbas took over. Another event was the division between the Abbasids and Alawis, originating prior to Aal Abbas's rise to power.
We cannot comprehensively describe the important political and religious events that formed since the beginning on the first century Hijri by the Alawis and Abbasids Banu Hashim; however, we will try to explain that portion of events that are somehow related to Imam Sadiq.
The admiration that the Alawis especially the Fatimids included lovers of the Ahlul Bayt that the Aal Abbas did not have. This situation had different reasons, where the most important of them were the Prophet's encounters. Furthermore, the issue of Imam Ali's Imamate, a crucial matter, at least for the Shi'a, increased this admiration. The Fatimids were the only remaining survivors left from the Prophet.
After the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, it was Muhammad ibn Hanafiyyah that held a social-political status for a while. However, Imam Sajjad's academic and ethical figure slowly created a place for itself in society and became the distinguished figure of the Ahlul Bayt. He was the only son of Husayn ibn Ali that survived the tragic events of Karbala and with remaining alive he prevented the line of descendants of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet, from breaking through Imam Husayn.
Abdullah ibn Abbas was a notable academic figure throughout Islamic history who heard the Prophet's words first-hand and was considered one of the greatest narrators during his time. Until he was alive 68 AH there were no differences between the Alawis and Bani Abbas, though afterwards the differences slowly began to form. In the beginning of the second century, the Abbasids decided to achieve independence from the Alawis and privately attempted to encourage the public to follow them.
However, they were unsuccessful, since the public believed the descendants of Ali as the only survivors of the Prophet's lineage. The virtuousness of the Ahlul Bayt, especially after the events of Karbala, deeply increased their societal dignity.
The movement that Zayd ibn Ali ibn Husayn started emphasized the importance of the Alawis amongst the people of Iraq. Zayd ibn Ali was Imam Baqir's brother and even with Imam Baqir's great importance in academic standing in the society, a significant opportunity and revolutionary movement was not made for Zayd; although he was amongst the narrators and because of being Alawi was recognized by the people of Iraq.
Imam Baqir passed away in 114 AH. After him, Imam Sadiq, the sixth Imam of Shi'a Islam, drew people to his attention. In the later portion of the second decade of the third century Hijri, Zayd decided to protest against the governor after a series of differences and verbal disputes with Hashim ibn Abdul Malik. In the month of Safar 122 AH in Kufa, he initiated a revolutionary movement in which he was martyred after two days of military conflict.45 What is important for us is Imam Sadiq's reaction regarding Zayd's uprising and the emergence of the Zaydiyyah sect that arose in Iraq after Zayd's martyrdom.
According to Shi'a narrations, Zayd believed in the Imamah of the Shi'a Imam, including Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq, such that is has been reported from him: "Ja'far is our Imam in halal permissible and haram forbidden."46
And in a narration, Imam Sadiq has said the following about Zayd: "May Allah bless him; He was a believing man and a knowledgeable man and righteous man, who if victorious would have remained faithful and if he attained governance, he knew who to give it to."47
With the many traditions on this subject, one cannot mention Zayd ibn Ali without any connection to Imam Sadiq. At the same time, it is not unlikely that even though he had accepted Imam Sadiq's leadership imamah, he initiated this revolution without taking into consideration the Imam's orders and without claiming leadership for himself. In this movement, he led an insurgence against Banu Umayyah, which was a symbol of ignorance for him, where for close to eighty years there were struggles between both families over the caliphate.
In some narrations from Imam Sadiq, the report of Zayd's martyrdom in an area called Kanasah in Kufa was foretold.48 And in another narration, Imam Sadiq gave his approval of some Shi'as who sought to disassociate tabarri from Zayd.49 Both parts of this narration have been reported in Sunni sources and even though they are authentic, they do not portray the Imam's approval of the uprising, especially since certain criticisms have been made against Zayd's uprising in al-Kafi and other Shi'a collections of traditions.
After Zayd's uprising and especially after the rise of the Bani Abbas, Bani al-Hasan, and Bani al-Husayn separated from each other, and using Zayd and his son Yahya as a pretence, they brought a member of Bani al-Hasan, named Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn Hasan ibn Ali, to power. Slowly they gathered a group of Shi'a in which the label of 'Zaydiyyah' was given to them. We will see later the strong differences and fiery arguments that took place between the Ja'faris and Zaydis which led the Zaydis in targeting accusations against Imam Sadiq; it has been reported in narrations that the Zaydis accused Imam Sadiq of not believing in jihad holy war for the sake of Allah. The Imam, however, denied these accusations and said: "However, I do not want to put aside my knowledge for their ignorance."50
Imam Sadiq put much effort into training his companions, such that in jurisprudence and narration, they are considered to be the founders of the Ja'fari school of thought. The Imam's efforts against the existing governing rule and public claims of his right to the imamah and leadership of the Muslims were limited. He believed military aggression against the armed rulers without making preliminary preparations especially cultural matters would lead to failure. To perform this task, starting a Shi'a movement that believed in Imamah was necessary for victory against the rulers. Otherwise a simple and hasty uprising would not only endure but would allow others to take advantage of it.
Similar to how the Bani Abbas benefited from the movements led by Zayd, and after him, Yahya ibn Zayd in Khorasan, with the slogan, "To please the family of Prophet Muhammad," along with these efforts, they murdered a group of people who were advocates of Abu Hashim ibn Muhammad ibn Hanifah's succession.
The outcomes of these acts later revealed for Ja'fari jurisprudence became the foundation of a strong Shi'a sect that would grow day by day. However, the Zaydiyyahs and Khawarij, who mainly worked in the political realm, did not last for long. They were culturally limited and slowly lost their relatively powerful stature and started to decline. The Bani Abbas finally found political and military triumph and held the reins of the vast Islamic empire. This was while Bani Hashim's candidate was from the Bani Hasan, named Muhammad ibn Abdullah, where we will discuss his uprising later on. In this section, we will only discuss the portions that relates to Imam Sadiq and the Bani Abbas.
Bani Abbas's chief act of inviting and summoning people was in the hands of two people: Amu Salamah al-Khallal, who was famous for being the vizier of Aal Muhammad descendants of Muhammad51 and Abu Muslim Khorasani. The movement's slogan was "To please the family of Prophet Muhammad" and with hearing this slogan, people would think of only one person from the Alawis. But the Alawis' political weakness and the Bani Abbas's ongoing struggle changed events to their advantage. Also, the cipher was in the hands of Abu Salamah al-Khallal who had Saffah and Mansur ready in Kufa, and just when the Banu Umayyids fell, he got the peoples' allegiance for Saffah. However, sometime later he was killed after being accused of advertising for the Alawis and working to replace the Abbasid with the Alawis.
In that situation, no opportunity was available for Imam Sadiq; and Nafs al-Zakiyyah Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who held a favorable political position at the time, could not withstand the Abbasids. On this account, there was no opportunity for the Alawis to make any serious political efforts that were optimistic.
Imam Sadiq believed Abu Salamah's invitations had no basis, hence in response to a letter Abu Salamah wrote to the Imam, he said: "Abu Salamah is the Shi'a follower of another individual."52 According to some reports, Abu Salamah wrote a letter in this regard to Imam Sadiq and in response the Imam wrote back: "You do not invite me and neither is this time, my time."53
In either case, the Imam's reaction towards this movement was caution and disagreement with the summoning, such that he advised Abdullah ibn Hasan regarding Nafs al-Zakiyyah to do the same. Abu Salamah's allegiance to Bani Abbas and their inability to completely disassociate with this matter showed they were not serious about their invitation. Even if one assumes he was committed to his invitation, the ability to follow through with such a task, with the presence of individuals like Abu Muslim and the Abbasids, was not achievable and accepting it would lead to nothing but destruction.
1. Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 18, p. 23 and 61, narrated from Rawdha al-Kafi, p. 5:
ايتها العصابة عليك باثار رسول اللّه و سنّته و آثار الائمة الهداة من اهل بيت رسول اللّه
2. Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 48:
يا يونس إن اردت العلم الصحيح فعندنا اهل البيت فانّا و رثنا و اوتينا شرع الحكمة و فصل الخطاب
3. باب وجوب الرجوع في جميع الاحكام إلى المعصومين
4. Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 41.
5. Rijal al-Najashi, p. 9:
الشيعة الّذين اذا إختلف النّاس عن رسول اللّه اخذو بقول علي و اذا اختلف النّاس عن علي اخذو بقول جعفر بن محمد
6. Kafi, vol. 1, p. 171; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 45:
انّما قلت ويل لهم ان تركوا ما اقول و ذهبوا الى ما يريدو
7. Refer to Tarikh Jurjan, p. 170, 264, 265, 405, 570:
رحم اللّه من احي أمرنا
8. Kashf al-Ghummah, vol. 2, p. 170; Kafi, vol. 1, p. 5:
حديثي حديث ابي و حديث ابي حديث جدّي و حديث جدّي حديث علي ابن ابي طالب و حديث علي حديث رسول اللّه و حديث رسول اللّه قول اللّه
9. al-Imam Sadiq, Abu Zuhra, p. 88-90.
10. 'Aqd al-Farid, vol. 4, p. 67, narrated from al-Imam al-Sadiq, Muhammad Jawad Fadhlullah, p. 90:
الا انّ ابرار عترتي و اطائب ارومتي احلم النّاس صغارا و اعلمهم كبارا الا و انّا اهل البيت من علم اللّه علمنا و بحكم اللّه حكمنا و من قول صادق سمعنا فإن تتّبعوا آثارنا تهتدوا ببصائرنا معنا راية الحقّ من يتّبعها لحق و من تأخّر عنها غرق
11. Kafi, vol. 1, p. 241, narrated form al-Imam al-Sadiq, Fadhlullah, p. 95:
إنّ عندنا ما لا نحتاج معه إلى النّاس و إنّ النّاس ليحتاجون الينا و إنّ عندنا كتابا املاء رسول اللّه خطّ علي صحيفة فيها كلّ حلال و حرام
12. Abu Zuhrah, al-Imam Abu Hanifah, p. 111.
13. Tusi, ibid., p. 140:
إنّ النّاس بعد نبيّ اللّه ركب اللّه به سنّة من كان قبلكم فغيّروا من كانو بدّلوا و حرّفوا و زادوا في دين اللّه و هو متحرّف عمّا نزل به الوحي من عنداللّه
14. Refer to al-Shaykh Muhammad Qansuh, al-Riwayat al-Mushtarikah, published by the Organization for Islamic Propagation.
15. Tadhkirah al-Huffadh, vol. 1, p. 461 and 382-441; Jami' al-Bayan al-'Ilm, vol. 1, p. 78-79; Sunan al-Darimi, vol. 1, p. 119 and 120.
16. Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 6, p. 168; Taqeed al-'Ilm, p. 89-90; Rabi' al-Abrar, vol. 3, p. 294; al-Taratib al-Idariyah, vol. 2, p. 246 and . and refer to article on the History of Writing Hadith, Nur 'Ilm, Second Edition, Issues 9, 11 & 12.
17. Abu Zuhrah, al-Imam al-Sadiq, p. 95
18. Rawdhat al-Jannat, vol. 8, p. 169
19. Furu' Kafi, vol. 7, p. 95-98 and 77; Makatib al-Rasul, p. 73 and 76; Rijal Najashi, p. 255
20. Kashf al-Mahajjah, Ibn Tawus, reported from Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 150; Kitab al-'Ilm:
أكتب و بثّ علمك في اخوانك فإن متّ فورث كتبك بينك
21. The main reason for this was that after the passing of the Prophet, writing narrations hadith was forbidden.
22. Tafsir 'Ayyashi, vol. 2, p. 321, .k; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 40:
يظنّ هٰولاء الّذين يدّعون إنّهم قد اثبتوا جميع الفقة و الدّين فمايحتاج إليه فما يحتاج إليه الأمّة و ليس كلّ علم رسول اللّه علموه و لا صار إليهم من رسول اللّه و لاعرفوه و ذلك انّ الشيء من الحلال و الحرام و الاحكام يردّ عليهم فيسألون عنه و لا يكون عندهم اثر عن رسول اللّه
23. al-Imam Abu Hanifah, p. 105:
و لقد كثر المأثور من فتاوى الصحابة في ذلك كثرة عظيمة شغلت عقول الفقهاء وأتّخذوها نبراسا في اجتهادهم فتأثروا بهافي اجتهادهم
24. Mustafa Hamd al-Zurqa', al-Madkhal al-Fiqhi al-'A, vol. 1, p. 74, narrated from Nur 'Ilm Magazine, number 10, p. 55.
25. Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 40:
و يستحيون انّ ينسبهم النّاس إلى الجهل و يكرهون ان يسألوا فلا يجيبون فيطلب النّاس العلم من معدنه فلذلك استعملوا الرأي و القياس في دين اللّه و تركوا الاثار و دانوا بالبدع
26. Introduction of Ibn Khaldun, p. 434, Beirut Edition.
27. Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 13, p. 416.
28. Hilliyyah al-Awliya', vol. 3, p. 197; Abu Zuhrah, al-Imam al-Sadiq, p. 296; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 29.
29. Wasa'il al-Shi'ah, vol. 18, p. 30; al-Ihtijaj, p. 196, t Najaf, Wafayat al-A'yan, vol. 1, p. 471.
30. Refer to, Abu Zuhrah, al-Imam Abu Hanifah, p. 69.
31. al-Mahasin, p. 205, hadith 356; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 16.
32. Wassail al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 23-29; Kafi, vol. 1, p. 58; 'Ilal al-Sharayi', vol. 1, p. 81-83; Rijal al- Kashi, p. 189 and 163-164.
33. Tusi, Ikhtiyar Ma'rifah al-Rijal, p. 239, 170-238:
إنّي لاحدّث الرّجل بالحديث و انهاه عن الجدال و المراء في دين اللّه و انهاه عن القياس فيخرج من عندي فيتأوّل حديثي على غير تأويله
34. Refer to al-Athat, when Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked about this chain of narration, from Musa bin Ja'far from Ja'far bin Muhammad from Muhammad bin Ali from Ali bin Husayn from Husayn bin Ali from Ali bin Abi Talib from the Prophet, he said: "If this chain of narration is read to an insane man he will become sane. Refer to Manaqib ibn Shar Ashub, vol. 2, p. 378.
35. Amali, Shaykh Mufid, p. 21-22.
36. Abu Zuhrah, al-Imam al-Sadiq, p. 195.
اصلحك اللّه اتى رسول اللّه النّاس بما يكتفون في عهده ؟ قال نعم و ما يحتاجون إليه إلى يوم القيامة فقلت فضاع من ذلك شيء ؟ فقال لا هو عند اهله
38. Kafi, vol. 1, p. 53; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 18, p. 58.
39. Tusi, ibid., p. 330.
40. Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 254 and 255; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 9, p. 459 onward.
41. Mukhtasar Basa'ir al-Darajat, p. 101; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 9, p. 465:
يا معلّى أكتم أمرنا و لا تذعة فإنّ من كتم أمرنا و لا يذيع اعزّه اللّه في الدّنيا
42. Tusi, ibid., p. 378, Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, vol. 12, p. 297-300; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 19, p. 32.
43. Tusi, ibid., p. 282 and refer to p. 283:
كان له بالمدينة جواسيس ينظرون على من اتّفق شيعة جعفر فيضربون عنقه
44. al-Mahasin, p. 119; Hayat al-Imam al-Baqir as , vol. 1, p. 256.
45. There are differences of opinion regarding the history of Zayd's martyrdom.
46. Tusi, ibid., p. 361 and refer to p. 356; Rijal al-Najashi, p. 130; Kifayah al-Athar, p. 327 and refer to Kariman, sirah and qiyam Zayd ibn Ali, p. 49 onward.
جعفر امامنا في الحلال و الحرام
رحمه اللّه امّا إنّه كان مؤمنا و كان عالما و كان صدوقا امّا انّه لو ملك يعرف كيف يضعها
48. 'Uyun Akhbar al-Ridha, vol. 1, chapter 25; Amali Saduq, Majlis 10, p. 40; Tanqih al-Maqal, vol. 1, p. 468; Sirah wa Qiyam Zayd ibn Ali, p. 468.
49. Khitat al-Miqrizi, vol. 4, p. 307; Nameyeh Daneshwaran, vol. 5, p. 92; Fawat al-Wafayat, vol. 1, p. 210.
50. Furu' al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 332; Tahdhib, vol. 2, p. 43; Wasa'il al-Shi'a, vol. 2, p. 32: و لكنّي اكره ان ادع علمي إلى جهلهم
51. al-Wuzara wa al-Kuttab, p. 84; He and Abu Muslim were considered to be of the Mawali non- Arab Muslims .
52. Muruj al-Dhahab, vol. 3, p. 269; al-Wuzara' wa al-Kuttab, p. 86.
53. Refer to Hayat al-Imam al-Ridha, p. 49:
ما انت من رجال و لا الزّمان زماني
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Bagneux was one of 21 clubs from France that had teams playing during Paris World Games 2018. They participated with two teams in Boys 18 and Boys Open respectively. The team in Boys Open made it to the the Final in Playoff A, but lost it against Lanka Lions by 0-50.
Bagneux comes from Bagneux which lies approximately 7 km from Paris, where Paris World Games takes place. The area around Bagneux does also provide 13 additional clubs participating during Paris World Games 2018 (Among others: Club Montreuillois, Club HEC, AC Bobigny 93, AM 92, RCP15, Massy Chilly, Club de Sucy, Terre de France, Paris Sud and PUC).


Breakups can be rough whether it be with a girlfriend/boyfriend, friend, or spouse. Finding someone you trust to speak to to get over the split is hard, let alone a trained professional that has the experience to wade through the situation. Even harder, is coping and finding a resolution to the often negative emotions that come with a split. At Relationship Hero, our expert breakup counselors in Attard are here to give you the breakup advice you deserve.
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I've played baseball since the age of 4. During my time as a little league player we made it to the state tournaments, and were city champs during my last year on the team. I took some time off in high school but returned to baseball once more in college. Upon graduating I wanted to remain in the game so I am now the play-by-play voice for three different organizations.
I specialize in OF but also have experience playing 2B and SS so I can help in those areas as well.
I will first meet with the player(s) and their guardian(s) where we will discuss what they believe the student needs work on. I will then evaluate the player and from there I will create a practice plan that I believe will be best suited for the player.
I have over 18 years of baseball experience.
$25 half hour, and $45 for an hour. We can also discuss rates for multiple lessons a month.


I woke up to a gorgeous winter day and decided I would take advantage. I was so tired of sitting at home and waiting for my concussion to be over with, so off I went!
I packed my backpack, some water, a few snacks and headed over to Hardy Lake Provincial Park which is about a 20 minute drive from where I live.
Hardy Lake is a lovely provincial park with a few different trail options.
There is a large loop that is 8km's and a few smaller 3km loop options.
After parking the car in a full lot and watching 2 people head off into the trail I wanted to head down, with 2 dogs running free, I decided to take a side trail that would loop back to that trail on the way out. It is hard to take pictures and videos with people and dogs in front of you on the trail. Plus, I was looking for peace and quiet on my adventure today.
It was a beautiful day, about -9 with the windchill, and the sun was just beaming. The terrain on my hike varied quite a bit and went from one extreme to another as I walked along.
The start of the trail was sheer ice. We had had some melts in the last few months and rain which made the trail several packed layers of snow, topped with ice.
As I continued on, however, I came to a lake, and in that area, there was barely any snow and it looked more like spring had sprung already.
There were plants popping up out of the ground and even some with berries and I was delighted to see the lovely colour of the earth and the greenery all around me. I was beaming just as brightly as the sun!
The lake was still covered in ice and snow but seeing the ground bare in so many places still gave me great joy! I continued on with my route.
Once I passed the lake, I was back into the forest and unfortunately, the snow.
And the more I walked, the more the snow returned, along with a gigantic hill.
Since getting my concussion in early January, I have noticed that I have been more cautious with everything I do. Walking in slippery areas, etc, and this was no different. The steep hill in front of me was daunting and my first thought was, what If I fall and hit my head and make it worse, so …. I got on my bum and did the smart, and fun thing, sliding down it on my rear end! LOL. It was awesome and an easy solution to a problem, and it gave me a good chuckle along the way. Never too old for this!
The sun still shone brightly above and I continued to smile feeling hopeful that spring was surely just around the corner, maybe even literally, again soon.
I was right. It was once again there, the bare spots on the ground, the beautiful pine needles covering the earth and lots of greenery. The only place there was snow at this point, was on the actual trail, funnily enough.
Which I was now calling, The Ice Trail. LOL. I dared not walk on it at all as it was so slippery and dangerous and walked alongside and around it wherever I was able to.
It was really neat to see the ice literally shrinking from the earth and starting to disappear though and it made me smile more.
Soon I came up to the creek I had seen many times before. The water came from above where the sun sat and it looked so pretty winding down the hillside between the snow, and the rocks and the trees, freezing in some places but mostly running free to the lake below.
Such a beautiful sight and sound. I stood for a moment taking it all in and breathing deeply before continuing on my journey.
Soon, I came to the sign that told me to turn left to head back towards the parking lot. This did not make me sad as this section of the trail is the best part of it. I was once again in the snow and beside a frozen lake, but I would pass by two more before getting to the parking lot.
This, to me, was the prettiest part of the park and the hike, and I took my time walking slowly on the ice trail here, as so many people had walked on before me.
I saw this bare log waiting right beside the frozen lake for me and had a rest there and a snack. I knew that I was getting very close to the end of my hike and I didn't want it to be over, but I also was being reminded by my head, that it was time for me to rest.
After a bit, i got back up and continued on my way. The trail in this section was very icy as it is most likely the most walked part of the trail at this time of year. You can walk only a short ways to see so much beautiful scenery. It was a no brainer and I passed several people coming in with big cameras around their necks hoping to catch some pretty pictures with little effort.
I walked along very very carefully in the last section especially, as it was sheer ice and knew I could easily slip and land on my backside. Then, sadly, almost 3 hours after I'd started my 3km hike, it was over again. I took my time, taking photos and videos and retracing my steps to do so, but I wanted to spend as much time outside as i was able to and believe I'd done just that. Now, I needed to head back home and rest once again, but I hope to be back out soon to enjoy the places I love to explore and be at one again with nature.
I hope you enjoyed our hike at Hardy Lake and you come back and visit again soon. I am doing my best to recover as quickly as possible so I can get back to doing what I love and sharing my adventures with you. Until then, I will continue to post as many outdoor adventures and related blogs as I am able to.
Looking for the full adventure? Come for a hike with me at Hardy Lake through the video that goes with this post here!
So glad to here your enjoying the early spring and so glad to here you're being careful as well.
Here's to a speedy recovery for you, but take it easy.
Thank you Craig! Me too!
Ah a non-operating park, thus the reason I have never heard of it. So sorry your concussion is still causing you problems. They are terrible, I do hope the healing will become less painful for you. As for spring, I really don't know where the heck it has gone to? I wouldn't mind the cold so much but the days have been so dreary and without sunshine I find it all quite depressing.


Length: The wingspan is about 7-9cm.
The body of Graphium policenes is black but the underside is whitish.
The forewings are black or dark brown with a chain of big greenish spots in the middle of the wing, small greenish spots at the margin and short green stripes at the wing leading edge. The underside is a copy of upside, but the black change to brown.
The hind wings are black or dark brown and have very long tails. They have a chain of big greenish spots in the middle of the wing, small greenish spots at the rigid margin and a long green stripe nearby the body. The underside is a copy of upside, but the black change to Brown, all greenish areas are broader than upside and there is a red stripe in the middle of wing.
This butterfly don't have sexual dimorphism.
Graphium policenes is a butterfly of the Afrotropic ecozone and it easy to find in african continent at the south of Sahara.
In the larval period this species feeds of annonaceae species, as Annona, Artabotrys, Landolphia buchananii, Landolphia ugandensis, Monodora, Uvaria angolensis, Uvaria caffra, Uvaria versicolor.
Butterflies go through a life cycle. A butterfly has four stages in its life cycle, the eggs stage, the caterpillar (larve) stage, the chrisalys (pupa) stage and the butterfly (adult) stage. Each stage is different. Each stage also has a different goal. A butterfly becoming an adult is called metamorphosis.
Small Striped Swordtail don't have sexual dimorphism.
The species has continuous broods during warmer months.


yo mr Conrice and demon just wanted to say Hello how gose it!!
What's goin' on Stealth? Hows your RC running? How's your family?
I'm doing well, still in between houses and not moved into a place just yet, but I'm getting by.
You know how it is..... Making billable hours!
You put that extended swing arm on the rc yet?
Lol demon is correct! ! Yea still working on a family. And work for crazys ask demon he knows the story big time . But gearing up to open my own soon !! Yea its going to be awesome! ! Hows your builds and your kid? Still have that 954 drive train I need a roller or it will go into a shifter cart .
***BREAKING***AMA bought by Wayne Rainey&Co.


Just saying Hello really as we have just bought our Portafold at the beginning of the year and are looking forward using it.
Had to put a towbar on our 14 year old Vauxhall Corsa and it towed like a dream and is the exact width of the car, brilliant, now I have made a towbar (well not me) for my vintage VW Split Screen Van, and looking forward to touring to VW Shows and showing the Portafold.
Can anybody tell us what year its from.
The most popular year according to the people who have contacted me so far!
Your camper looks lovely in mauve.As well as the wolesley hornet i own, i also have a ford Anglia which i have owned for nearly 16 years now and that is mauve with a pearl coat roof so, it's good to know other people love the same colour .I don't tow our portafold behind either of my cars.
Mauve, you hit the nail on its head, people been telling me its pink, and I strongly disagree.
Will be a strange exerience towing the Portafold behind the Camper, as its not going fast as it is, but hupfully we'll be okay.


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High-Level Concepts
Thoughtful Code
Pair Program with David
November 13, 2018 Davidapproachability, context, testing, Thoughtful Code 2 Comments
I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes code "good." Let's take it for granted that "good" is so meaninglessly subjective that it's not really a useful term for one to use when talking about a program or block of code. So let's say that "thoughtful code" is code that meets my personal subjective definition of "good." But before you zone out, I want you to know that a lot of "bad" code is actually "good" and vice-versa. The counter-intuitive reality is that WordPress contains some of the best PHP code on the planet. Let me explain why…
In short, Thoughtful Code has four qualities: it is contextual, intelligible, verifiable, and cellular. We'll take them one-by-one.
What does it mean for code to be "contextual?"
The first thing that makes assertions that a specific line, block, library, or framework of code is "good" into meaningless wastes of time is that we don't first define the context in which the code will operate.
It is obvious, to me, that if you're writing code that needs to be tweakable by a sales person at your company, anything in a language more complex than Microsoft's Visual Basic is a mistake. (No offense intended, salespeople. You have many other valuable skills.) You expect that person be able to use your "beautiful" C++ code, and you're a fool and a jerk. I don't care if in the context of C++ lovers your code is good, you are a fool.
Code is only as useful as it can be in the context in which it is applied. This is also why code that is used to launch a nuclear weapon is unlikely to ever be "thoughtful." I suppose some low-level systems code that is used in that effort could coincidently be unscathed by its use their, but the moral context of that code does certainly affect it.
To a large extent, this idea that code is only good when it serve well the context in which is deployed is simply an effort to subvert a lot of useless sniping about "good" that we'd otherwise be suffering through. Though I do think it's a little deeper than that, I'll save the deeper nuances for another time.
The Basics of Code Intelligibility
After code is an adequate match to its context, the next quality that code should have is intelligibility. I started calling this a requirement that code be "understandable", but then it was pointed out to me that launching a nuclear missile can indeed be "understandable" even when it is in response to a minor romantic slight. So "intelligible," while being a little too hifalutin for my taste, is less commonly used in the context of "merely comprehensible" that "understandable" so often is in my vocabulary.
Code that is "intelligible" makes sense. The second reason that "intelligibility" inherently and necessarily be presented after "contextual" is that code is only intelligible in a context. I was recently dunked in the deep-end of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem. What I found was a sea of mediocre interfaces and jargon (especially acronyms/initialisms) so deep it made my rather-aware head spin.
Similarly what makes sense in the context of a Python program may be nonsensical to someone writing C. These two languages share a lot, but they're often written with very different goals. Where C is often used in contexts where performance is critical and real-time is a must (and so most optimizations aren't so "premature"), Python is more often appropriately written for broad approachability and comprehensibility from many comers who aren't familiar with specific desired performance criteria.
What It Means To "Verify" Code
Once code makes sense, the next quality I want it to have is the ability for me to quickly and easily verify that it works correctly. In programmer contexts, this would often and properly be understood as a robust and complete testing suite that extends as low as a single functions and also across the whole of the system being successfully orchestrated together. Both are within the purview of this level.
It is not by accident that "verifiable" comes after "intelligible." I would almost always prefer to pick up code that I couldn't easily verify that I could understand the purpose of. After all, even if code doesn't self-verify, after I understand its intent I can manually verify it. Verifiable but non-intelligible would let me verify it did something but struggle to discover what.
I'll also add that verifiability can be much more simple than automated tests. I'd consider spreadsheet-formula-writing to be "programming" and I would consider that stuff verified pretty adequately be a "sniff test" where I simply agreed that "those five well-labeled intermediate figures all seem about right."
How to Understand "Cellular" or "Atomic" Code
While all the letters of the Thoughtful Code acronym are still dynamic, and have changed since I initially thought of "CUVA", this one has been the hardest to let go of. "Atomic" and "cellular" are subtly and importantly different. "Atomic", especially in science circles, is meaning something like "as small as possible, indivisible" where cellular is also "quite small" but also "able to live independently" and "to collaborate seamlessly." But while CIVA is a pretty good evolution of CUVA, I'm less sold on CIVC.
Anyway: for code to be the best, once I know it works, I want it to be divided into independent, self-coherent, and useful units. I want it to be cellular in the sense that all the parts of the system do collaborate together — to make anything from a bacteria to a human body — but can also be examined and found useful on their own. Cells do not, generally considered, have phantom quantum entanglements with other objects in the ecosystem they inhabit. Most programs do.
This is a Work in Progress
I think this list, and the "CIVC" acronym doesn't capture the full array of ways I want code to work perfectly. But it's the best approximation I have so far of my value-system around software. "Does 'cellular' mean a dependency manager is good or bad?" is both an interesting question and one I don't have a clear answer for today. But I've been working on this framework for a while, and asked a few readers about it. So now I'm asking the rest. Is this framework useful to you? Is it interesting?
Oh? About WordPress. Well, its parts aren't very cellular. While it has automated tests of some hundreds, I wouldn't say that I (as not-its-developer) trust them. And much of the code is manifestly not intelligible to most modern programmers in the languages that WordPress is written. But it's good because none of those qualities matter in its context. What's its context? Its context is end-users who want the easiest, cheapest software they are able to pilot to make pages online. WordPress is that, so almost all other code quality metrics don't matter.
And on that, I'll leave you. Enjoy 😝
→ All Programs Have a Surrounding Human Context. This Matters
← A Complete Guide to PHP Namespaces
2 thoughts on "Thoughtful Code is Contextual, Intelligible, Verifiable, and Cellular"
Scott Johnson says:
I am at the very beginning of programming (PHP). I have read, listened and discusses programming but haven't done programming enough yet to be called a programmer. In the context of my reading of this, it is understandable and coherent. It is beautiful. This beauty can be confused with verifiable but is not. I wonder if verifiable can be applied to writing about programming.
By the way, I thought to also add the label elegant both to your post and as a desired quality for code. Then I wondered what is meant by that word in the context of programming. Maybe I'll understand when I program.
Thank you for this inspiring post or perhaps for this new to programming, set of instructions.
"Elegant" is a fascinatingly slippery term in my experience of code discussions, nearly as commonly useless as "good." So I definitely appreciate your noticing that.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Telangana SSA Distance Education - Meena Radio Programme Broadcasting proceedings details as follows.
All the Project Officers of SSA, TS and District Education Officers are here by informed that, it is proposed to initiate broadcasting of Meena Radio in Telangana State from 27.10.2015 to 29.02.2016.
The programme will be broadcasted on every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of the week from 11.45 am to 12.00 noon except on holidays and term holidays between 11.01.2016 to 17.01.2016.
Hence you are requested to instruct the MEOs and Headmasters of all high schools and upper primary schools to organize the Meena Radio class for the students of 6th, 7th & 8th classes. Broadcast schedule of the programme is enclosed for sharing with all the concerned.
Further it is informed to all KGBV Special Officers to arrange the "Meena Radio Programme and ensure regular listening of the programme and availability of Radios in the schools without fail.


text:
Q: Finding the distribution of a card game where replacement happens until you recieve the card you want Here is a card game. At the beginning of the game, you choose what rank of card you will be taking. Every round, 5 cards are dealt. Any that match the rank you chose are kept, the rest are shuffled back into the deck before the next round. You win when you get 3 cards of the chosen rank.
What is the distribution for how many turns it takes to win?
At first I was looking at a binomial distribution for each deal, but I am unsure how to account for the removal of successful card draws.

Here's my working so far: Let's imagine I choose rank 5 as the card I want and we only need 2 of them to win. If we assume a binomial distribution and we want to work out the odds of winning on round 2. Is it right to assume 2 hands of 5 cards = 1 hand of 10 cards? Below, for 10 cards we have
$$P(X\ge2)=1-P(X = 0)-P(X=1) =1-\frac{\binom{4}{0}\binom{48}{10}}{\binom{52}{10}}-\frac{\binom{4}{1}\binom{48}{9}}{\binom{52}{10}}\approx0.481$$
This assumes the 2nd hand dealt is independent of the 1st, which I don't think is true. So, alternatively, if we look at a hand of 5 on its own and note down some probabilities:
$$P(Y=0)=\frac{\binom{4}{0}\binom{48}{5}}{\binom{52}{5}}\approx0.659$$
$$P(Y=1)=\frac{\binom{4}{1}\binom{48}{4}}{\binom{52}{5}}\approx0.299$$
Then,
$$P(Y\ge2)=P(Y_1=0,\, Y_2\ge2\,\,||\,\,Y_1=1,\, Y_2\ge1\,\,||\,\,Y_1\ge2)$$
(Where $Y_1$ indicates the $1^{st}$ deal, $Y_2$ the $2^{nd}$)
$$=0.659\cdot(1-0.659-0.299)+0.299\cdot(1-\frac{\binom{3}{0}\binom{48}{5}}{\binom{51}{5}})+1-0.659-0.299$$
$$\approx0.028+0.299\cdot0.271+0.042\approx0.151$$
These are vastly different results so I figure I've gone wrong somewhere, but I can't see it

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
A gay couple might also have a friend who would be willing to do this as well.
I have friends who are a lesbian couple, and they got a friend to "donate" so they could have a kid. Worked out pretty well all around. The guy sees it as beating the system -- he gets to propagate his genes while avoiding the responsibilities of fatherhood.
I said exactly what I meant.
Yes, there are ways around it, and the feeling is surely irrational, but that's how many people feel.
As for whether it is a result of social conditioning, considering where the sentiment seems strongest, that's probably true. But that's the case with most types of morality. Being an imposed social construct isn't enough to make something wrong.
Also, I don't think it even has to be an issue of control. There are many stories of children coming out to their parents, who are shocked, but eventually come around and become supportive. They weren't expecting or wishing for their kids to be gay, and there's nothing wrong with that.
By that logic noone would want to look after foster kids or at least be opposed to the idea. With an increase in gay couples you could start to see a deficit of children without parents.
Even if you don't share the same genes as your parents, they are still your parents.
Post edited by Omnutia on October 2008
Proposition 8 passed in California.
I am very disappointed with my fellow Californians.
You and me both.
Eryn
I guess HungryJoe (the real one) should append the thread title with "... Not! "
I'm both surprised and dismayed at the people in my state. Specifically, those in the central valley. We're supposedly the most progressive state. I'm sure that there will be a lot of appeals. Likely, this will be repealed in the next election. At least I hope so.
It'll be fixed eventually. Time is on our side.
Kilarney
That is most definitely true. The tide is turning. Things like this don't turn on a dime.
Post edited by Kilarney on November 2008
Neito
Things like this don't turn on a dime.
Did in Massachussets. But it's a well-known fact that MAssholes live in the land of imagination, anyway.
Did in Massachussets.
The big difference is that in MA it was solely an action of the court. MA doesn't have the referendum process that CA has.
MA doesn't have the referendum process that CA has.
We actually do. There were three questions on the ballot this year. It might not be as extensively used as California's, but we do have one.
CAs process is pretty wide open, IIRC.
We're supposedly the most progressive state.
That's really a common misconception. Yeah, we've got SF and LA, but we've also got the central valley, Orange County, San Diego, and the Inland Empire.
Oh motherfucker, I typed this all out and then backspace accidentally made me move back a page. UGH. Well, here we go again.
This is exactly why the position that marriage should be between "one man and one woman" is so silly. In addition to the points Mrs. MacRoss made above, biological sex is actually more like a continuum than two distinct categories. Looking at the full range of phenotypic variation possible in humans, there are closer to five sexes (or even more), based on the combination of sexual organs and/or secondary sex characteristics people can have. Depending on what criteria you use, approximately 1 to 3 percent of people are born intersexed, meaning they have ambiguous genitalia. Applying the more conservative prevalence rate to US population data from 2007, that would mean that around 3,011,399 Americans are neither biologically male or biologically female.
In light of that, how is it even feasible to establish marriage as between one man and one woman, or ensure a law like that is properly enforced? What are you going to do - get sex inspectors to examine people when they apply for a marriage license? Even if you did, is just or humane to deny the right to marry to over THREE MILLION Americans? And even if this is made into a matter of identity or social recognition - ie, marriage between one person who identifies as a man, and one person who identifies as a woman - what about transgendered people, cross-dressers, or foreigners with alternative sexual identities who are naturalized as citizens? People need to accept the fact that our cultural ideals don't always match up with reality, especially when it comes to issues of sex and gender. The only humane and reasonable way to handle this is to admit that we can't force marriage to be between solely a man and a woman, and that people should not be denied the ability to marry on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Five Sexes, Anne Fausto-Sterling.
Call the Sex Inspectors, William O. Beeman
Wikipedia.
I am an anthropologist.
WHY, California? This sucks.
edit: You should read Middlesex, Fred. It's a really good novel.
I voted against 8, but I don't particularly care that it passed.
What I found most interesting about this whole thing is the clamor prop 8 opponents have made, especially since one of their most common arguments is the injustice of discriminating against gays when gays being allowed to marry each other does not affect other people. By the same reasoning, shouldn't gays NOT being allowed to marry not affect other people either?
Can someone who buys into this particular argument explain this to me? No slippery slope please.
By the same reasoning, shouldn't gays NOT being allowed to marry not affect other people either?
I don't follow your logic. If gays are allowed to marry, it's good for them, neutral for everybody else. If gays are NOT allowed to marry, it's bad for them, and neutral for everybody else. Where's the problem?
The issue is a rights issue. If gays are legally allowed to marry, their right to marriage is fulfilled, and no one else's rights are infringed upon. But if gays are not legally allowed to marry, then THEY are harmed because they are being denied a right on the basis of an immutable characteristic.
Maybe it is just the area I live in, but I have heard whining all day about this result. 'Move to Canada' threats, racism against socially conservative (on gay marriage, at least) blacks and Hispanics, and general complaining. Presumably not all those people were gay.
The issue is a rights issue. If gays are legally allowed to marry, their right to marriage is fulfilled, and no one else's rights are infringed upon. But if gays arenotlegally allowed to marry, then THEY are harmed because they are being denied a right on the basis of an immutable characteristic.
It is by no means clear that this is a right gays have. In fact, my understanding is that as of today, the California state constitution says quite clearly that gays do not have the right to marry others of the same gender.
Most of the arguments I heard from Yes on 8 proponents are faith based, going along the lines of "My religious rights are being infringed upon because I don't want my kids thinking that gay marriage is okay. Marriage is between a man and a woman, nothing else can be considered marriage."
You don't need to be gay or a member of a persecuted group to support members of said group achieving full recognition of their rights.
There's a difference between a right and a belief. Rights are your abilities to do certain things based on your status as a human being or as a citizen of a certain country. For example, the right to marry, the right to free speech, the right to assemble peacibly, et cetera. A belief is a feeling or opinion. If gay marriage is recognized, it may well contradict these people's beliefs, but it by no means impinges on their freedoms in any way.
Marriage is between a man and a woman, nothing else can be considered marriage."
No offense to you social progressives, but it's been that way for many, many centuries. If we legalize gay marriage under the pretense of "it's only fair," then what's the stop the polygamists getting the same rights, or man marrying a man and a woman, or marrying a goat.
As a math student, I have a lot of sympathy for a defintional argument. Faith need not come into it at all.
If marriage is defined as being a specific contract between a man and a woman, then that's the defintion. Anything that is not between a man and a woman will not be marriage. This definition has been upheld twice by state initiative.
Likewise, if the definition were to be changed to allow for any two consenting adult people, then the new 'marriage' would still not include polygamy, or bestiality. I don't understand how the 'man marrying a man and a woman' case is distinct from polygamy.
Of course not, and if it were only those persecuted who ever stood up for their rights, this would easily lead to a tyranny of the majority. My point is that it seems contradictory, or at least ironic, that those who argued their case largely on a premise of 'it doesn't affect anyone else' should act like it does affect them so strongly when the measure passed.
what's the stop the polygamists getting the same rights, or man marrying a man and a woman
Whats wrong with that? Why not let people live their lives how they want to? If all parties consent to the arrangement, what's wrong?
biological sex is actually more like a continuum than two distinct categories.
I'm sure you figured I'd say something here.
I agree with the gist of your post 100%. I would, however, make a technical argument that it's not entirely accurate to say that biological sex is "more like a continuum." There are definitely two distinct sexes with associated phenotypes that occur in the vast majority of cases. Occurrences of intersex individuals, ambiguous genitalia, additional sex chromosome mutations, and the like are all the result of mutations and recombination errors, and are (relatively speaking) rare, in comparison to other sorts of genetic anomalies. Many of these anomalies also result in sterility, so I wouldn't say that they're biologically functional sexes per se. It's a bit off to say that there's a true continuum of sexes in humans.
Culturally, though, I agree completely. It's stupid to say that only a "man and a woman" can marry when there's any level of occurrence of sexual ambiguity. Or, y'know, just in general. People need to remove their heads from their asses and just deal with it. Seriously.
Whats wrong with that? Why not let people live their lives how they want to? If all parties consent to the arrangement, whats wrong?
I'm just saying look further down the road than the first bus stop. Things may not always lead where you want them.
And women were property for many, many centuries. So were black people.
EDIT: But if you need a clarification, a goat can't give consent, nor can it sign a contract. Two (or three, or eight) humans sure as fuck can, though.


Join us June 6 at the Edison Ballroom, in the heart of Manhattan's theater district.
Ranked one of New York's top 100 events by BizBash, the Silver Anvils Award Ceremony will feature a cocktail reception, multi-course sit-down dinner and open bar throughout the evening.
Please note, tables of 10 are available.
View photos from the 2018 Silver Anvil Ceremony.


text:
Los Angeles soft drink executive Bob Munro needs a vacation. His kids are disrespectful. His sleazy boss seems poised to replace him with a young go-getter. And keeping up with the Joneses is eating him alive. Bob hopes that an upcoming trip to Hawaii will release that tension and bring the family closer together.
Unfortunately, the Munros must trade leis and luaus for a week crammed inside a recreational vehicle when, in an attempt to save his job, Bob agrees to trek into the Rocky Mountains to deliver a key merger proposal—without telling his family the real reason for their trip. Along for the ride are his reluctant but loving wife, Jamie; his sarcastic teenage daughter, Cassie (a vegetarian and armchair social crusader); and Carl, the adolescent son who compensates for his small stature by lifting weights and listening to tough-sounding rap music.
Once on the road, nothing goes as planned. Whether attempting a simple K-turn, emptying the septic system or ridding the vehicle of raccoons, one comic speed bump after another threatens to destroy the RV, not to mention any remnant of family togetherness. One such mishap introduces them to the Gornicke family, a cloyingly friendly clan of country bumpkins who've made RVing a full-time pursuit. They're gracious, but annoying. Attempts to ditch the Gornickes prove futile. They stay hot on the Munros' heels all the way to Colorado, where Bob must slip away from his kin and make the presentation that will change his family's lives forever.
The film opens with Bob putting a 5-year-old Cassie to bed, playfully tickling her and promising that they'll always be best friends. A sudden jump to Cassie's present-day sullenness is a powerful reminder that parents should cherish childhood sweetness while it lasts and, if at all possible, preserve that friendship into adolescence. Bob realizes the need to reconnect with his children before it's too late ("I'm running out of time with my kids") and learns to define wealth in terms of love. Devotion to his family inspires him to work feverishly and, when it becomes apparent that his family needs more than a sizable paycheck, make a very noble career choice.
Some backwards good-ol' boys kindly attempt to help Bob drain his septic system. When their advice leads to disaster, a stranger named Travis Gornicke steps in, cleans Bob up and, along with his wife, MaryJo, and their children, shows the Munros hospitality. The Gornickes are initially painted as a happy-go-lucky caricature of cosmetics-selling, Jesus-loving, home-schooling, folk song-plucking simpletons, only to have the Munros learn that there's much more to these people than meets the eye. They are revealed to be honest, loyal, extremely intelligent friends worthy of respect. At one point Travis gives Bob the benefit of the doubt, even when he doesn't deserve it.
Bob's boss, Todd, is vilified for being a narcissistic opportunist. The fallout from Bob duping his family shows the need for honesty, specifically in marriage. Cassie realizes that her parents sacrificed opportunities for "fun" by having children, and Dad assures her it was a worthwhile trade. The teen also concludes that rebellion only takes a person so far and that obedience is a life skill ("I get it: Sometimes if you want to succeed you have to just do what they tell you"). Aware that his son is self-conscious about his size, Bob gives Carl a tender pep talk.
MaryJo and Travis can't wait to tell the Munros how Jesus miraculously saved them from a tornado.
Women wear immodest outfits that show cleavage. The most explicit instance finds MaryJo leaning out of her RV (and practically her top), jiggling vigorously. Two teens are shown briefly "making out." Cassie sings a few lines from the Joan Jett song "Cherry Bomb," which is about a girl claiming to be a wild child ("I'm the fox you've been waiting for ... let me grab ya 'til you're sore"). Bob and Jamie speak slyly to each other about sneaking away for sex. At one point the kids appear to be wise to their euphemisms.
Bob makes a joke about MaryJo being a hooker. A grown man leers at Cassie. A young boy walks in on Bob in a bathroom stall and notes that he has "a nice one" (after a moment of uncertainty, we learn that he's referring to the man's laptop computer).
Primarily mild slapstick and physical comedy with RV-related destruction. A girl throws a drink in a man's face. Carl flips a guy onto his back.
About a dozen profanities ("h---," "d--n," "son of a b--ch," "a--") and exclamatory uses of God's name, often from teenagers. Carl calls his sister a "b--ch." There are also a number of crude, scatological terms sure to disappoint families.
Jamie asks Bob if he wants wine or a martini, to which he replies, "Both, with a Prozac pack." The couple is shown sharing drinks.
Bob humorously recalls a nasty remark his father once made toward his mother, and his co-workers grouse disrespectfully about their wives and ex-wives. Bob lies about having intestinal distress (complete with sound effects) to get out of going on a hike with his family. He also deceives his boss, who thinks he's sick and working from home. Cassie unknowingly eats deer organs, then searches for a place to vomit. A septic explosion drenches Bob in human waste. The Munro children are extremely disrespectful toward their father. Cassie uses sarcasm as a weapon, calls her dad a "dork" and gives him the finger (off-camera).
In the tradition of family road-trip movies such as National Lampoon's Vacation and Johnson Family Vacation, RV strands parents and adolescents on a traumatic cross-country adventure. The main difference here is the size of the vehicle. And the PG rating. At times the script strains for originality the way Bob Munro's recreational behemoth strains to navigate a steep Rocky Mountain pass, though the movie packs a few deserved chuckles and a warning about letting the demands of life reorder our priorities and undermine family unity. It's good to see that, when given something funny to do (improvising a slang-slathered gangsta-rap riff or single-handedly trying to dislodge a hung-up RV), Robin Williams can still bring it with the best of them.
On an offensiveness scale of one to 10, the worst moments in RV rate around a five. For example, there's immodesty and innuendo, but no nudity or sex. A boy squeals on his sister for flipping off dad, yet we're spared the actual obscene gesture. The film doesn't go as far as it could have. Still, it goes farther than it should have. With so many of these "lesser" crudities and vulgarities piled atop each other, there's a cumulative ick factor to what is, ostensibly, a family film. Characters may never use the s-word, but hearing "turd" more than a dozen times and seeing a man showered with feces leaves the same bad taste.
"My theory has always been the worse the experience, the better it is when you describe it in retrospect," said director Barry Sonnenfeld, referring to the road-trip-from-Hades concept. "I passed four kidney stones. Each one was horrible, but those stories are some of my best and funniest stories." Sorry, but this cinematic kidney stone isn't likely to improve with age. RV's great messages about prejudice, developing respect for others and what it really means to put family first become roadkill beneath the wheels of bathroom humor, innuendo and profanity.
ComedyKids
Robin Williams as Bob Munro; Cheryl Hines as Jamie Munro; Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Cassie; Josh Hutcherson as Carl; Jeff Daniels as Travis Gornicke; Kristin Chenoweth as MaryJo Gornicke
Barry Sonnenfeld ( )


text:
(-) Identity
Bullying & Bias (2)
Gender & Sexual Identity (5)
Race & Ethnicity (13)
Rights & Activism (8)
Bookmark A Personal Mission: Sammy Younge Jr.
A Personal Mission: Sammy Younge Jr.
Although raised in a prosperous and prestigious African-American home in Tuskegee, Ala., Sammy Younge found himself drawn most to the civil rights movement. While the cause cost him his life, his actions and determination helped to transform this Southern city.
Teaching Tolerance Staff
Race & Ethnicity Class
Bookmark New Girl in School
This story follows a girl who befriends the first African American to attend High Point Central High School, as a result of desegregation. What begins as an unintended and awkward experience in the cafeteria, becomes a strong and admirable friendship.
Carol Passmore
Race & Ethnicity Class Bullying & Bias
Bookmark Walking with the Wind
Walking with the Wind
In this excerpt from his book, Walking with the Wind, John Lewis describes his involvement in the sit-ins in Nashville, Tenn., in the spring of 1960.
Bookmark Si Se Puede
Si Se Puede
"In response to legislation that would have criminalized immigrants, thousands of high school students from across the country walked out of their classrooms and into history."
Bookmark Teaching Tolerance Interview With John Lewis
Teaching Tolerance Interview With John Lewis
In the graphic novel March, Congressman John Lewis documents his experiences as a young civil rights activist. Hear him describe his first arrest employing a nonviolent resistance strategy, as captured in the book.
Race & Ethnicity Class Rights & Activism
Bookmark I Am a Man
Richard L. Copley took this photograph in 1968 at the Memphis sanitation workers' strike -- the reason Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis on the day he was killed.
Richard L Copley
Identity Justice Action
Bookmark Welfare is a Women's Issue
Welfare is a Women's Issue
This essay expounds on the injustices and false perceptions faced by women in the welfare system. Tillmon contends that the system is overrun with sexism and that until American women are liberated by equal pay, the welfare system will continue to be a trap for them.
Johnnie Tillmon
Race & Ethnicity Class Gender & Sexual Identity Rights & Activism
Bookmark We Can Do It!
The iconic poster was designed by J. Howard Miller during World War II for Westinghouse Electric. In recent decades, the image has gained wide popularity as an emblem for feminism and various other political and social movements.
J. Howard Miller
Class Gender & Sexual Identity Rights & Activism
Identity Justice
Bookmark Choices
This essay places side by side the historical oppression of African Americans in the South and the recent surge of African Americans moving back to the South of their own free will. In her discussion, Maya Angelou questions why such choices are considered remarkable.
Identity Diversity Justice


The new HiOS 5.0 software offers increased security through standard authentication mechanisms and user-definable roles.
A redundant network topology is a key contributor to total network availability. HiOS provides the latest state-of-the-art protocols, plus backwards compatibility with widely deployed proprietary protocols.
Mirroring data to a network analyzer is an essential fault finding tool. HiOS encompasses advanced mirroring techniques, to simplify the network administrator's task.
Authentication, the process of identifying a person, is a key security function. HiOS previously offered RADIUS. This latest version of HiOS offers LDAP, enabling single sign-on across an organization, for example using Windows credentials.
Device Level Ring (DLR) is a widely used topology redundancy mechanism in Allen Bradley networks. Hirschmann now offers DLR on a wider variety of network switches than any other manufacturer.
HIPER Ring is a proprietary redundancy protocol deployed in many Hirschmann networks throughout the world. HiOS now offers HIPER Ring compatibility, ensuring users can expand existing networks with minimum disruption.
To facilitate fault finding, HiOS offers multiple ports to single port mirroring (N:1), as well as VLAN mirroring.
RSPAN allows network administrators to mirror traffic from one switch, across the network, to another switch. This speeds up fault finding, because the administrator does not waste time by changing location.
HiOS 5.0 is a new software release that offers additional functions for the latest generation of Hirschmann's industrial Ethernet switches.


text:
2022 Budget: Govt makes concessions – No consensus yet on E-levy – Finance Minister
Local, News December 7, 2021 Kennedy Mornah
The government has made concessions in the 2022 Budget Statement as part of consensus-building around the policy document.
The concessions include the exclusion of mineral royalties collateralisation in the Agyapa Royalties deal, the earmarking of about GH¢10 million to complete feasibility studies and engineering for coastal communities adversely affected by tidal waves, as well as the introduction of measures to avert any hardships that will result from the planned reversal of the discount policy on benchmark values.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who disclosed this at a press conference yesterday, added that he had written to the Speaker of Parliament, formally communicating the details of the modifications in response to emerging concerns by all stakeholders, including the Minority in Parliament.
He said the government would also revise the budget's position on the Aker Energy transaction to reflect a July 6, 2021 resolution of Parliament.
"Relating to the Aker Energy transaction, we shall amend Paragraph 829 of the 2022 Budget on the acquisition of a stake from Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum by GNPC to reflect the resolution of Parliament, dated 6th July, 2021, that 'the terms and conditions of the loan for the acquisition of the shares shall be brought to Parliament for consideration, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution'," he said.
E-Levy
Supported by the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen; deputy ministers of Finance and other officials of the ministry, Mr Ofori-Atta, however, noted that the government and the Minority were yet to reach consensus on the electronic transactions levy (E-Levy), which announcement on November 17 generated heated controversies in and outside Parliament.
The minister expressed optimism that the various concessions reached, which had been communicated to Parliament, would pave the way for the relevant committees of Parliament to reflect on the modifications in the 2022 Budget, as well as begin considering the various estimates of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Although Mr Ofori-Atta did not say what the government was prepared to trade-off with regard to the introduction of the E-Levy, he said it was confident that a consensus would be reached between both sides for the Appropriation Bill of 2022 to be passed before Parliament rose on December 17.
"We believe that the concerns raised in Parliament on the 2022 Budget should be resolved during the discussions of the Budget Estimates of MDAs, other government obligations and bills at the committee level in Parliament as we have always done. Indeed, there have been occasions that Parliament, through the Finance Committee, had revised fiscal measures," he said.
He added that there had been several instances when estimates of some MDAs had been revised to reflect recommendations of the committees of Parliament, saying: "It is not uncommon for the allocations in the appropriations to change to reflect the discussions at the considerations stage."
The budget was rejected by Parliament on Friday, November 26, this year, before it was approved on Tuesday, November 30, this year.
The controversy that surrounded the 2022 Budget bordered on concerns by the Minority on the Agyapa Royalties deal, the Aker Energy transaction, the lack of budgetary allocations to victims of the Keta tidal wave disaster, the E-Levy and the proposed reversal of the 50 per cent discount policy on the benchmark values.
Ghana needs the 2022 Appropriation Bill to be passed before the end of the year to ensure that public spending continues uninterrupted.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the national budget remained the single most effective tool to address the greatest challenges of the nation.
"As a country, we cannot allow such a strategic national tool to be held hostage by partisan interests, especially when the consideration stage offers every opportunity for such redress," he said.
Budget pillars
The Finance Minister added that the 2022 Budget had an added layer of significance for the government, as it drove forward "the great economic mission of our time — building a sustainable entrepreneurial nation".
He pointed out that the budget sought to address "the triple helix albatross of our time — high unemployment, high debt and inadequate infrastructure — even as we pursue our agenda for increased social mobility and justice for all".
Employment menace
The minister said the 2022 Budget had outlined measures to tackle the unemployment menace, which was said to affect about 11 million people.
The budget, therefore, introduced "the ground-breaking multi-year GH¢10 billion YouStart Programme, a historic intervention which will involve the collaboration of our local financial institutions, development partners and international financial institutions. It seeks to tackle comprehensively the youth unemployment issue".
"Like the senior high school programme, the YouStart will have an equally momentous impact on our society — a game changer in social mobility, decent jobs and having dignity. This programme is designed to provide relevant skills and access for long-term affordable," Mr Ofori-Atta said.
Revenue efforts
He also emphasised the need for the country to increase revenue generation by broadening the tax net, stating that the E-Levy was the country's best attempt to broaden the tax base and increase the tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 20 per cent.
"We are determined to enhance domestic revenue mobilisation. The essence of our proposal on the E-Levy is to widen the tax net and generate the required revenue to support entrepreneurship and youth employment, build our infrastructure, especially roads, and reduce our debt," Mr Ofori-Atta stated.
To lessen the impact of the E-Levy on consumers and subscribers, especially the more vulnerable, he said the government would work with all the stakeholders, including the telecommunication companies (telcos) to ensure that the all-inclusive cost was reduced by 0.25 percentage points.
"We shall also ensure that administrative measures will be taken to avoid attempts at evading the E-Levy taxes," Mr Ofori-Atta stressed.
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February 27, 2012 February 27, 2012 EnlaceLeave a Comment on Anonymous Hacks Private Prison Company Website
Anonymous Hacks Private Prison Company Website
By Chris Kirkham | The Huffington Post | Feb 24, 2012
After high-profile takeovers of recording industry and Justice Department websites last month, hackers affiliated with the Anonymous movement had a new target Friday: the for-profit prison industry.
Hackers defaced the website for the Florida-based GEO Group, the nation's second-largest operator of private prisons, calling the attack "part of our ongoing efforts to dismantle the prison industrial complex."
The domain http://www.geogroup.com was replaced Friday morning with a black screen headlined by the symbol "#antisec," a term for the Anti-Security Movement, which is affiliated with the online coalition known as Anonymous.
The hacked site also featured a photo of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther whose death sentence for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer has since been converted to life imprisonment. Abu-Jamal's case has received international attention from opponents of the death penalty.
"While most folks are suffering under the economy, many billions of dollars are being funneled into this sinister conniving alliance of capitalist and statist forces," stated a message on the hacked site. "What they did not figure into their plans was a determined effort to shut them down."
As of early Friday evening, the company had removed the messages, but the website was still down. A blue screen told viewers "This domain is under construction and will be available soon." A spokesman for the GEO Group did not return an email seeking comment.
Private prison corporations, which profit through contracts to build and manage prisons for state and federal government customers, have been criticized by civil rights groups and public employee unions. More recently, companies such as the GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America have been targets of the Occupy movement, which has ties to Anonymous.
Protesters throughout the country declared a "national occupy day in support of prisoners" last Monday. The #occupywallstreet tag also was listed at the top of the defaced GEO Group site on Friday.
Anonymous did not list the GEO Group attack on its website Friday, but a post from one of the group's Twitter handles stated, "GEO GROUP ROOTED. NO MORE STATE CONNIVANCE FOR PRISONS BUSINESS."
Both the GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp.) and Corrections Corporation of America have rapidly grown over the past few decades — first during the expansion of state prison systems at the height of the "war on drugs," and more recently as the federal government has embarked on an unprecedented push to lock up undocumented immigrants.
The companies have been major donors to federal and state political campaigns. Executives from the GEO Group and its affiliates donated more than $800,000 to campaigns in Florida alone during the 2010 election cycle, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
Republican lawmakers in Florida earlier this year pushed legislation that would have led to the largest expansion of private prisons in the nation. The GEO Group was actively pursuing the opportunity in Florida until the legislation was rejected by the Senate last week.
HuffPost's Gerry Smith contributed to this article.
Categories ArticlesTags Articles, For Profit Prison, GEO, Private Prison Lobbying
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Enlace, in partnership with community groups and unions across the US, is calling on all public and private institutions to divest their holdings in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group, America's largest private prison corporations which have profited from billions in taxpayer money. The major investors in the private prison industry include Wellington Management Company, Wells Fargo Bank, General Electric, FIdelity Management, Capital Research Global Investors and others.
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