Hello Everyone! It' s me again and this post is part one of recommended books to assist you with grant writing, fundraising, and nonprofit management. I have used these wonderful books over the years and I can't tell you how helpful these books are to me.
Some of these books come with a CD-Rom to help beginners or even seasoned professionals grasp concepts and practice their skills. So, please take a gander and I hope these books help you as much as they have helped me. Enjoy!
Guide to Getting Arts Grants by Ellen Liberatori (Paperback – Aug 1, 2006)Buy new: $19.95 $13.57. 19 new from $12.18 14 used from $11.39.Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 15 hours and choose one-day shipping. Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.
Winning Grants Step by Step (The Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series) by Mim Carlson, Tori O'Neal-McElrath, and The Alliance for Nonprofit Management (Paperback – Oct 13, 2008)Buy new: $30.00 $20.91 (24)Other Editions: Kindle Edition, Paperback.
Excerpt – Front Matter: "… people with some experience who are seeking a refresher in Grant- writing 101. Though grantwriting basics can be generally applied to all …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets (Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers &) by Ellen Karsh and (Paperback – Aug 25, 2009)Arlen Sue Fox Buy new: $19.95 $13.57. 16 new from $11.53 11 used from $11.53.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. Only 1 left in stock – order soon. (33) Other Editions: Kindle Edition, Paperback, Paperback, Paperback; See All. Excerpt – Front Cover: "… ELLEN KARSH and ARLEN SUE FOX The Only GRANT- WRITING BOOK YOULL EVER NEED  VITAL NEW INFORMATION ABOUT HOW …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Buy new: $10.95 $7.88. 33 new from $5.13 19 used from $5.00. Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 16 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (4)Other Editions: Kindle Edition. Excerpt – page 2: "… funders with specific grant writing formats and applications (some are even online applications), Parts One …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Prospect Research: A Primer for Growing Nonprofits by Cecilia Hogan (Paperback – Sept. 5, 2007).Buy new: $62.95 $62.32.
17 new from $61.94.10 used from $61.91.
Get it by Thursday, Sept. 9 if you order in the next 19 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.
Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Second Edition by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye (Paperback – Jul 11, 2003). Buy new: $45.00 $24.75. 31 new from $24.75 25 used from $24.33. Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 16 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (21)Other Editions: Paperback. Excerpt – Front Cover: "… Strategic" Planning for Nonprofit ) Organizations A PRACTICAL GUIDE AND WORKBOOK .." Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Nonprofit Essentials: Major Gifts (The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series) by Julia Ingraham Walker (Paperback – Apr 7, 2006). Buy new: $45.00 $38.21 22 new from $36.30 16 used from $28.88. Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 18 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (2)Other Editions: Kindle Edition. Excerpt – page 12: "… serve can be a powerful motivational factor. Donors and Motivation Major gift fundraising …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Major Donors: Finding Big Gifts in Your Database and Online by Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield, Pamela M. Gignac, and Christopher Carnie (Hardcover – Apr 21, 2006)Buy new: $45.00 $30.09 24 new from $25.00 20 used from $23.07. Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 6 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.Only 3 left in stock – order soon. (2). Other Editions: Kindle Edition. Excerpt – Table of Contents: "… Major Gifts Fundraising 8 Prospecting 10 What Is a Prospect? 10 10 Steps …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Excerpt – Table of Contents: "… Gifts Fundraising Tools 146 The Life Cycle of a Major Gifts Donor in The Raisers Edge 151 Protecting …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Nonprofit Essentials: The Capital Campaign (The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series) by Julia Ingraham Walker(Paperback – Dec 24, 2004)Buy new: $55.00 $46.47 17 new from $41.99 16 used from $36.57.Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 18 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (3)Excerpt – Front Cover: "… Planning for your capital campaign Building leadership with your board Campaign budgets and staffing How …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 6 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (3). Other Editions: Kindle Edition. Excerpt – Front Cover: "… e ON PROFIT ESSENTIALS The Development Plan …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 15 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (10). Excerpt – page 19: "… experience will be affected by how you involve yourself. In marketing art music, we mustn't mistake listeners for consumers. They are co-producers …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 16 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (16) Other Editions: Kindle Edition. Excerpt – Front Cover: "… book. Take notes. Take action. II you work for a nonprofit, …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
Get it by Tuesday, Sep 7 if you order in the next 16 hours and choose one-day shipping.Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. (6)Other Editions: Kindle Edition, Hardcover. Excerpt – Front Cover: "… THE JOSSEY'-BASS HANDBOOK OF NONPROFIT 11 LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT ROBERT D. HERMAN 1SL ASSOCIATES …" Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
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The Mutual Implications of Social Security and Immigration Laws: the Case of Japan
Immigration is one of the latest responses of the Japanese administration in tackling both with globalization and the ageing of its population. As most of countries of the world, Japan has been faced in the last decades, with the pressing issue of an ageing population at the same time that it has been pressured (both internally by its economic actors and externally by Trade and Human Rights organizations) to open its borders to more immigrants, both workers and refugees.
Today we can state that over these years, Japan's administration has been prudently preparing itself to respond to those pressures. It has developed various and sophisticated immigration control mechanisms, educated the population, amended legislations including social security laws. My presentation will focus on this last aspect, combining responses both to an ageing population, growing immigration, and their mutual implications in these fields of law, changes that were made, and those to be foreseen in the future.
Previous PostDiscussantNext PostIdentity Politics and the Rise of "New" Populisms/Nationalisms in Europe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Destra Uncovered
She's fondly known as 'the Queen of Bachanaal'. She'a a soca diva who has become a household name in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and many other parts of the world. On stage, she's known for her pulsating hits that always leave a crowd in a frenzy. But who really is Destra Garcia? What means the most to her? How did she get the name 'Queen of Bachanaal'? How important is family to her? In this revealing and inspiring telephone interview, Destra gives Paradise Pulse's Lyn Davis an insight into her life, her beliefs and, of course, her music. We've included some extracts from the interview on this page but to listen to the entire interview, click below:
How do you feel about the soca songs released this year (2016)?
I think people didn't get enough time to get accustomed to all of them or you know to get enough of an opportunity to really feel the essence of what the songs will bring for the season. I know there's a lot of talk out there with people saying yuh know they not feeling the Carnival, they not feeling the J'ouvert. I think it's because the season is short and the people did not have a chance to really enjoy the contributions made by all of the artistes.
People are saying that Carnival isn't Carnival without Destra. What would you say to that?
(Laughs)! They are? I think I made a good contribution to Carnival, I think I've been a very important element for the past decade maybe, but I don't think that is a fair statement to make (laughs). What they probably trying to say is that Carnival, when you think of Carnival, you do think of Destra as one of the pioneers of Carnival, they like seeing me, they like the energy that I bring, and all of that, but as far as they saying it's not Carnival without me, I'm sure they said that back in the days of Kitchener and Sparrow and Rose, but they are no longer really an active part of it and it is still going on, so I think with every generation we just, you know, we bring, there are people that bring a value. I think I brought a value and if it's any consolation to anyone I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon. I think I have a lot to offer I think in terms of my talent and I think what I do bring to the table is an element that people always look forward to, so hope the market is still there.
You are the QUEEN OF BACCHANAL, a pseudonym everyone is fond of. What made you become the Queen of Bacchanal?
Well everybody, with the females all doing well and everybody getting better and better every year, I think the first name they started to call me was the 'Queen of Soca'. I don't know if I deserved it but they first started to call me that. I think Paul Richards was the first person to call me 'Destra the Queen of Soca' back when I sang 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'Carnival' and 'Fly' and at that time I was very very consistent with the hits coming out every year and that is when they decided that this girl not stopping at all, every year she have to have something that on the lips of everybody.
I haven't slowed down and they started to call me that, but there were some females that were also deserving of that title and I felt that I needed to separate myself from 'the queen of soca drama', so I decided that everywhere I went, it was time for a new name and in fact it was GBM and T.C. Jaiga, he was the first person that started to call me "the Queen of Bacchanal", him and GBM Nutron and GB himself when I sang 'Call Meh Name', that was the first time I mentioned they call me the 'Queen of Bacchanal' and then that name kind of stuck. I felt great, I was looking for a niche and here it is. Now I will be known as 'the Queen of Bacchanal' and then people start to abbreviate it now and call me QB which I like even more (laughs), cause it looks good on paper.
What is your most memorable experience singing soca?
It's always doing performances in places where I have never been before. I remember going to Belgium for the first time with Roy Cape, then going with Atlantic, then going with my own band and I remember seeing the crowd grow and grow and grow and becoming a house hold name. Now the thing about Belgium, they usually put your name on the flier in order of merit and they have a lot of big artistes and I see my name go from not being there (laughs), to being there and being like the second largest headliner.
I am talking about people from all over the world go to the Belgium festival and seeing my name in big bold print, the last time I was there, it was absolutely awesome and seeing the way that the people reacted to me and doing everything I said and half of them not being able to speak English, being able to use my French and my Spanish to communicate with them, those are some of my most memorable times…when I can use the skills that I have learned at school or growing up, to really get a crowd into a frenzy and kind of takes it to the next level. It's really great for me to be able to explore the French market. I do a lot of French work, Guadeloupe, French St. Martin, St. Barts, Martinique and France, and I'm making my second appearance in France before February is over and that is a major, major accomplishment for me, being able to speak to people that do not speak English and enjoy my music but still perform for them in their own native tongue.
What do you do on your off time?
My off time is very limited and when I am off I spend that time with my daughter, making sure that everything she does in school is on time. I do schedules for her, so that when I am away, when I am not with her , her schedule and her day goes on as if I were there and the support of my mother and sister and dad, that they pick up the slack, whether it's helping her with her homework or getting her ready for school and the days that I am not back yet, but as long as I am here, I am with her, taking her to activities, helping her with homework, spending time with her watching movies, playing, so that she remembers that I am really actively there and that even when I am not there, it's so much I give her, so much love and attention when she is with me so that when I am not, she knows that I am coming back.
What is the most inculcated value you learnt from your parents?
How to be patient, how to be down to earth, how to not let position in life change you from being the person that you were to be. My mother told me I would be a great mother in that she is over protective, really over protective and she worries a lot and though that was annoying growing up for me, I think I treasure that because I'm the same way with my daughter. My dad is always there to kind of tell me, don't worry about nothing, everything will be fine, don't worry about it, God is good, everything happens for a reason. There are so many things I can't just pinpoint one.
From hearing you speak about your daughter always put a smile on your face. How has your experience in motherhood been so far?
It's been amazing. She wasn't planned (laughs), but I'm so glad that she happened to me. Even if I'm having a bad day, the easiest thing is to kind of do is to talk to her and she is so grown up, she would say, mummy what are you worried about, don't study that, everything would be fine. She has such an amazing outlook on life, so positive, and so strong and so pure, it's almost like having a santuary to go back to and talk to and sometimes she doesn't even know what's going on but she can tell from a mood or maybe my change in demeanour or my aura and she would say, "Mummy, something is wrong, what is wrong with you, why you're not smiling?, "Mummy let's do this or let's do that." She's just, she's my everything.
If you had to stop singing today, what would you like to do or be?
If I had to stop singing, I'd like to make a difference in the world. There are certain things that I'm really passionate about, outside of what I've already spoken about. I'd really like to make a difference with women, and kind of motivate them to a point. We have a lot of women out there that don't feel that they deserve to be happy or they don't feel great about themselves and I'll like to be a factor in empowering women and letting them love themselves and work hard and know that they can do anything. A program like that is something I would really be interested in spearheading.
Also children that are abused, maybe have a foundation for that, so that we could have less children on the streets, less children that are exposed to abuse or bullying and also empower them to be better and then stand up for themselves in whatever forum that they are being abused. Those are the things that I am passionate about and maybe someday I'll be able to get into that. If all else fails though, I'll still like to be a teacher, and probably teach children foreign languages, because the way the world is, it's so much to see…after seeing so many things and going so many places, I would love to educate children and help them to communicate with the world.
Women as well as the younger generation look up to you. Is there anything you would like to share with your fans/supporters?
Well, I would like women to know that, a lot of times as women we face challenges, in a lot of things, whether its youth phase or being a mother or whether it's being a friend or whether it is dealing with people, you face challenges. Don't try to change for anybody, be the best self you can be. We try to co-exist in a world that is filled with egos and a world that is filled with chauvinism. People think that as a woman you can't do this and you can't do that, you can't excel at this or that. Sometimes people try to keep you down. If you know you have the potential to do something, go after it with all your heart and soul, be the best person you can be, the best mother you could be, the best employee you can be. Keep reaching for the stars, until you gave everything that you have to give, so nobody can say. "Yeah, she's just a woman." Let them know you're a super woman, not just a woman.
By: Linda Davis | FEATURES | February 2016


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Raymond F. Monroe
Home / Lawyers / Raymond F. Monroe
Ray Monroe counsels and represents local, national, and multi-national businesses and quasi-public entities in a broad array of industries from aerospace to utilities in matters across the full spectrum of government contracts and grants law. His over 30 years of experience includes bid protests; claims; compliance programs; construction; corporate governance; cybersecurity; disaster response and hazard mitigation grants; Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs); False Claims Act; FCPA; internal and external investigations; mandatory disclosures; public-private partnerships; Public Law 85-804 indemnification; subcontracts; suspension and debarment; terminations; and white collar matters. He has appeared before the federal bid protest forums that have existed over the past 30 years (including the GAO and the GSBCA), the federal Boards of Contract Appeals, and federal and state courts. He has also participated in arbitrations as both an advocate and a party arbitrator.
Ray counsels clients regarding the implementation of policy and procurement initiatives at the cutting edge of procurement law; the creation and refinement of corporate compliance policies and procedures; and the development and financing of renewable energy projects, including offshore wind.
Ray is Co-Leader of the Corporate and Securities Practice Group, which includes the Corporate, Tax, Health Care and Government Contracts practices. He leads a multidisciplinary team that draws on all of the resources of Miles & Stockbridge to meet each client's specific needs.
Before joining Miles & Stockbridge, Ray was a Partner in the Government Contracts Group of Crowell & Moring. Ray received his law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1980, with distinction, where he served as Executive Editor of the Duke Law Journal. Ray received his undergraduate degree from Hobart College in 1977, Phi Beta Kappa, where he majored in physics and history. Following law school graduation, Ray clerked for Justice Stewart G. Pollock of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Ray is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New Jersey.
Representative Matters:
Litigation: Contract Claims/Case of First Impression/Board of Contract Appeals
Appeal of The Boeing Company on behalf of Lockheed Martin Corporation, ASBCA No. 54853, 06-1 BCA 33,270 (April 12, 2006). Led a team representing the world's largest defense contractor in a $230 million sponsored claim before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals involving ten contracts and subcontracts to manufacture state of the art rocket motors during the Cold War. The case raised complex issues of first impression concerning government contract indemnification clauses authorized under Public Law 85-804, insurance, and recovery of environmental remediation costs and toxic tort litigation expenses coordinated with CERCLA litigation, remediation activity, and DCAA audits. The case established that the ASBCA has Contract Disputes Act jurisdiction over claims based on 85-804 indemnification clauses.
Litigation: Protests/Construction/Federal Court
Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA, Inc. v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Civ. Action 03-343-A (E.D. Va. Aug. 6, 2003). Successfully represented MWAA in a protest of the award of the $180 million design-build construction project for the Automated People Mover System at Dulles International Airport.
Litigation: Protests/Case of First Impression/Federal and State Courts
Washington-Dulles Transportation, Ltd., v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Civ. Action 02-1656, 87 Fed. Appx. 843 (4th Cir. Jan. 30, 2004), cert. denied, 543 U.S. 813 (Oct. 4, 2004). Successfully represented the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), the interstate compact that runs Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, in a protest of the award of the taxicab concession contract at Dulles Airport establishing in a case of first impression the review and oversight roles of the federal and state courts over MWAA.
Litigation: False Claims Act
Successfully defended a major government contractor in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against alleged violations of the Civil False Claims Act brought by qui tam relators concerning performance of inspections under a telecommunications contract at an Army Base.
Counseling: Disaster and Hazard Mitigation Contracts and Grants
Counseled on all aspects of the design and implementation of procurement, accounting, auditing, and compliance systems relating to expenditure of FEMA Stafford Act grant funds for disaster response and hazard mitigation by a private, for-profit entity acting as agent for a state entity under a unique arrangement created by state statute to enhance operations through the use of the private sector to operate and maintain a state-owned utility.
Counseled re-insurance companies on the federal procurement opportunities (and associated risks) under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which provides potential opportunities for privatizing reinsurance of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Counseling: Due Diligence
Organized and performed a multi-country due diligence in connection with the expansion of the international public procurement business of one of the world's leading providers of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cloud Computing.
Counseling: Energy, Renewable Energy, and Utilities
Counseled an international financing and investment firm on the legal risks involved in providing development financing to a major offshore wind energy project, including due diligence on federal, state, and local legal issues.
Counseled energy services companies and utilities from the inception of laws authorizing ESPCs and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), including how to continue operations and secure funding in light of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA), decision holding that Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) cannot be included in the calculation of "energy savings" under ESPCs and that the provisions in contracts that include SRECs in energy savings are "invalid."
Counseled companies on the requirements of The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), including the impact on utilities of MAP-21's Buy America provisions.
Represented a large non-regulated affiliate of a major utility to identify key risk areas and to mitigate performance issues in anticipation of potential high media and congressional visibility relating to the U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force's $7 billion multiple award task order procurement for locally generated renewable and alternative energy using Power Purchase Agreements or their equivalents.
Represented numerous contractors in internal and external investigations, including investigations relating to potential mandatory disclosures, criminal and civil fraud investigations, and grand jury investigations.
Represented contractors of all sizes in internal and external reviews and implementation of continual improvement measures related to mitigating the risk of suspension and debarment including compliance reviews, revised policies and procedures, self-imposed monitors, and presentations before suspension and debarment officials with matters often involving other overlapping criminal and/or civil proceedings.
Ray handled some of these matters before joining Miles & Stockbridge in 2014.
ABA Section of Public Contract Law and the Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association
"Integrating Governance, Risk Management and Compliance," M&S Government Contracts (October 26, 2016).
Corporate and GovCon Practices Close Sale of Cybersecurity Firm
Members of our Corporate, Securities & Tax Practice Group and our Government Contracts Practice Group recently represente...
Represented World's Largest Defense Contractor in a $230 Million Sponsored Claim
Appeal of The Boeing Company on behalf of Lockheed Martin Corporation, ASBCA No. 54853 06-1 BCA 33,270 (April 12, 2006). Led ...
Organized and Performed a Multi-Country Due Diligence
Organized and performed a multi-country due diligence in connection with the expansion of the international public procuremen...
Counseled Energy Services Companies and Utilities on Laws Authorizing ESPCs and UESCs
Counseled energy services companies and utilities from the inception of laws authorizing ESPCs and Utility Energy Service Con...
Counseled Companies on The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act
Counseled companies on the requirements of The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), including the impa...
Counseled Re-Insurance Companies on the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act
Counseled re-insurance companies on the federal procurement opportunities (and associated risks) under the Biggert-Waters Flo...
Represented a Large Non-Regulated Affiliate of a Major Utility
Represented a large non-regulated affiliate of a major utility to identify key risk areas and to mitigate performance issues ...
Represented the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in Award Protest
Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA, Inc. v. MWAA, Civ. Action 03-343-A (E.D. Va. Aug. 6, 2003). Successfully represente...
Defended a Major Government Contractor Against Alleged Violations of the Civil False Claims Act
Successfully defended a major government contractor in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Vi...
Successfully Represented the MWAA in Protest of Contract Award
Washington-Dulles Transportation, Ltd., v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Civ. Action 02-1656, 87 Fed. Appx. 843...
Counseled a Private, For-Profit Entity on a Disaster and Hazard Mitigation Grant
Counseled on all aspects of the design and implementation of procurement, accounting, auditing, and compliance systems relati...
Counseled an International Financing and Investment Firm on an Offshore Wind Energy Project
Counseled an international financing and investment firm on the legal risks involved in providing development financing to a ...
Represented Numerous Contractors in Internal and External Investigations
Represented numerous contractors in internal and external investigations, including investigations relating to potential mand...
Represented Contractors in Implementation of Improvement Measures Related to Mitigating the Risk of Suspension and Debarment
Represented contractors of all sizes in internal and external reviews and implementation of continual improvement measures re...
Governance, Risk Management & Compliance
"Lawline Provides Complimentary Disaster Relief Courses to Attorneys Nationwide," (Press Coverage) (August 31, 2017).
"Pete Dungan Joins Miles & Stockbridge's Growing D.C. Office and Government Contracts Practice," (Press Release) (July 11, 2017).
"Miles & Stockbridge Represents Proteus Technologies in Sale to Arlington Capital Partners," (Press Release) (November 21, 2016).
"Top Civil and Criminal Trial Lawyer William R. "Billy" Martin Joins Miles & Stockbridge's D.C. Office," (Press Release) (August 04, 2015).
"Linda S. Bruggeman Joins Miles & Stockbridge's Growing D.C. Office and Government Contracts Practice," (Press Release) (September 02, 2014).
"Miles & Stockbridge Taps Gov't Contracts Pro From Crowell," Law360 (Press Coverage) (March 19, 2014).
"Integrating Governance, Risk Management and Compliance," ACC Docket (October 26, 2016).
"Testing...Testing... FAA Selects Six Test Sites For Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research," Government Contracts Bullet Points (January 10, 2014).
"Trade Winds: Federal Government Announces Next Commercial Offshore Wind Leasing Auction," Government Contracts Bullet Points (December 18, 2013).
"Rise' of the Machines: FAA Publishes Plans for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations," Government Contracts Bullet Points (November 07, 2013).
"Cleared for Takeoff: FAA to Allow Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Later this Year," Government Contracts Bullet Points (July 30, 2013).
"Government Is Greening Energy Contracting," Government Contracts Bullet Points (July 23, 2013).
"Utilities React to Confusing Buy America Restrictions," (July 17, 2013).
"In Texas, Exclusive Means Exclusive," Government Contracts Bullet Points (June 20, 2013).
"Commercial Space Flight -- Navigating the Gravitational Pull of Budget Cuts," Commercial Space Flight -- Navigating the Gravitational Pull of Budget Cuts (June 10, 2013).
"Commercial Space Flight -- Navigating the Gravitational Pull of Budget Cuts," Government Contracts Bullet Points (June 10, 2013).
"Teaming Agreements: Date or Marriage?," Government Contracts Bullet Points (May 16, 2013).
"Coming to a Site Near You: Unmanned Aircraft Systems Testing," Government Contracts Bullet Points (February 22, 2013).
"Last Day Filings at the CBCA: Time is Not on Your Side," Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Legal Forum (Co-Author) (February 06, 2013).
"CFC Rejects Taxes Clause as Basis for Recovering Environmental Remediation Costs," Government Contracts Bullet Points (January 25, 2013).
"Not So Fast: Federal Circuit Reverses CFC Decision Limiting Indemnification Rights," Government Contracts Bullet Points (January 17, 2013).
"FY 2013 NDAA Shines a Spotlight on Contractor Indemnification," Government Contracts Bullet Points (January 04, 2013).
"Government Claims for Clean-Up Costs Related to Cold-War-Era Contracts Rebuffed," Government Contracts Bullet Points (October 10, 2012).
"Look Out Below!" -- Regulating the Domestic Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems," Government Contracts Bullet Points (September 28, 2012).
"Consortium Awarded $30 Million for Manufacturing Pilot Program," Government Contracts Bullet Points (August 23, 2012).
"DoD "Green" - Lights Massive Investments in Renewable Energy," Government Contracts Bullet Points (August 20, 2012).
"A Galaxy (Not) FAR Away? NASA Awards New Contracts in Space Privatization Program," Government Contracts Bullet Points (August 17, 2012).
"Airport Public-Private Partnerships Taking Off?," Government Contracts Bullet Points (February 29, 2012).
"NASA Pushes FAR, Far Away for Commercial Crew Program," Government Contracts Bullet Points (December 29, 2011).
"US Liable for Environmental Remediation Costs Under Contract Clauses," Government Contracts Bullet Points (November 04, 2011).
"Transportation Leaders Propose Massive Public-Private Partnership Project in Northeast Rail Corridor," Government Contracts Bullet Points (May 27, 2011).
"California High-Speed Rail: On the Fast Track," Government Contracts Bullet Points (May 13, 2011).
"Agency's Stafford Act Interpretation Rejected," Government Contracts Bullet Points (November 12, 2007).
"Jurisdiction Found Over 85-804 Indemnification Clause Breach Claims," Government Contracts Bullet Points (May 01, 2006).
"Report Highlights Problematic Katrina Contracting Practices," Government Contracts Bullet Points (February 28, 2006).
"Responding to Domestic Disasters: Federal Relief and Assistance Under the Stafford Act," Andrews Government Contract Litigation Reporter (December 19, 2005).
"OMB Reverses $250,000 Micropurchase Cap," Government Contracts Bullet Points (October 05, 2005).
"Postal Service Adopts New "Best Commercial Practices" Acquisition Rules," Government Contracts Bullet Points (May 01, 2005).
"Fourth Circuit Affirms Award By Interstate Compact," Government Contracts Bullet Points (March 01, 2004).
"Federal, State, and Local Bid Protests: The Forums, Rules, and Remedies," Webcast	(July 30, 2018).
"Utilizing Government Contracts For Disaster Relief and Hazard Mitigation 2017 Update," Webcast	(July 11, 2017).
"Introduction to Government Contracts Part II: Post Award Contract Administration," Webcast	(July 10, 2017).
"Introduction to Government Contracting Part I: From Formation Through Bid Protest," Webcast	(July 10, 2017).
"Risk Management: Assessing Risks and Avoiding Crisis," MCCA General Counsel Summit, Aventura, FL	(April 21, 2017).
"Utilizing Government Contracts in Disaster Relief," Webcast	(October 19, 2016).
"Top 10 Latest Labor Headaches for Contractors - Newly Released Rules Require New Guidance," Federal Publications Seminars Webinar, Tysons Corner, VA	(Speaker) (September 23, 2016).
"Understanding the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Proposed Rule and Guidance," Federal Publications Seminars	(Panelist) (July 01, 2015).
"The Role of Procurement in Achieving Objectives - Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History," The World Bank	(February 19, 2014).
"Cost Reimbursement Contracting," Federal Publications, Arlington, Virginia	(Presenter) (October 08, 2013).
"Claims, Disputes, and Terminations," Masters Institute in Government Contracting, Federal Publications, Arlington, Virginia	(Presenter) (December 06, 2012).
"Government Contract Changes: How they Impact Your Bottom Line - L2 Federal Resources," (Co-Presenter) (May 16, 2012).
"Claims: A Primer on the Disputes Process and Recovery," National Job Corps Association Conference	(Co-Presenter) (October 04, 2011).
"Contract Claims – Issues and Developments," Crowell & Moring's 2007 Ounce of Prevention Seminar	(Co-Speaker) (April 01, 2007).
"Positioning for Success As a Small to Medium Sized Business," BNA 3rd Annual Homeland Security Contracting Opportunities Conference, Arlington, Virginia	(Moderator) (May 05, 2005).
"Creative Partnerships: Opportunities at the State & Local Level," BNA 3rd Annual Homeland Security Contracting Opportunities Conference, Arlington, Virginia	(Presenter) (May 05, 2005).
"Airport Liability Risks And Homeland Security," Airports Council International - North America Legal Committee Meeting	(Presenter) (April 16, 2004).
Duke University School of Law, J.D. 1980, with Distinction.
Hobart College, B.A. 1977, Phi Beta Kappa.
New Jersey, 1980
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit


text:
Q: Is the set $X = \{(x, y, z) ∈ \Bbb R^3: y = 1\}$ a subspace of $ \Bbb R^3$? I am new to linear algebra and math in general. I understand that you need the zero vector  to be in set $X$, you need it closed under vector addition and vector multiplication. Is this closure for the set $X$ itself or in the general vector space.
For instance if I take two arbitrary vectors $(a_1, 1, a_3) \in X$ and $(a_4, 1, a_6)\in X$, then their sum is not in $S$ itself (since second entry would be 2)  but is in $\Bbb R^3$. Does this satisfy closure property of addition or is a counter example?
How is the zero vector property here coming in play?

A: Your argument correctly shows $X$ is not a subspace.
You state three conditions for $X$ to be a subspace.  If any one of the three fails, you can stop, and conclude it is not a subspace.  (In fact, in this example all three conditions fail.)

A: As is pointed out on the comments, you need to check for the zero vector to guarantee nonemptiness. If you already know your set is not empty, then you can skip this verification and use the fact that $v-v = 0$ together with the other two closure properties to get that zero is a member of your subspace.
Note that you can check for nonemptiness by any other means, but usually just checking for the zero vector is the easiest/quickest way. Furthermore, also note there is only one empty set, so the only way you could find a "subspace" that satisfies the two closure properties but has no zero vector would be by finding some properties which are preserved under addition and scalar multiplication but which are never satisfied by any vector.
An example of this cleverly disguised empty set can be found in in this answer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Шарам Тайби (, более известный как Шарам (); род. 12 августа 1970 года, Тегеран, Иран) — ирано-американский диджей и музыкальный продюсер, экс-участник диджейского дуэта Deep Dish. С 2006 года Ali Dubfire и Sharam работают как соло-музыканты.

Биография

Дискография

Альбомы
 2009 Get Wild

Синглы/EPs

1990-е
 1996 «Let's Rock»
 1996 «Keep On Move It»
 1997 «Preacher»
 1998 «Any Time Is Party Time»
 1998 «To The Beat / Last Battle»
 1999 «Phat Philter Killa»
 1999 «Into The Groove / 2 of Us»
 1999 «Let's Get It On» All Music Chart

2000-е
 2002 «Out of Your Mind»
 2006 «PATT (Party All the Time)» - #36 NED, #8 UK
 2006 «PATT (Party All the Time) (Remixes)»
 2008 «Secret Parkway»
 2008 «The One» - #28 NED
 2008 «Get Wild»
 2008 «Texi»
 2008 «Crazi»

 2008 «U Don't Even Know Us» (as Sharvais)

Сборники
 2003: [[GU025|Global Underground: Toronto: Sharam [Afterclub Mix]]] - #1 Top Electronic Albums, #20 Top Independent Albums, #29 Top Heatseekers
 2006: Global Underground: Dubai''

Ремиксы
 1994: Watergate — Lonely Winter
 1995: Aquarhythms — Ether's Whisper
 1995: De'Lacy — Hideaway
 1995: Ashley Beedle — Revolutions In Dub
 1996: MK — Burning
 2006: MYNC Project & Danny Rampling — Strobelight
 2006: Nalin & Kane — Beachball
 2007: Richard Grey — Tainted Love (Warped Bass)
 2009: Sharam — She Came Along (Danny Byrd Remix)

Ссылки
 Официальный сайт
 Sharam на Ultra Records.com

Родившиеся в Тегеране
Хаус-музыканты
Электро-музыканты
Deep Dish

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Strange Topology That Is Reshaping Physics
Topological effects might be hiding inside perfectly ordinary materials, waiting to reveal bizarre new particles or bolster quantum computing
By Davide Castelvecchi, Nature magazine on July 20, 2017
Credit: Ben Miners Getty Images
Charles Kane never thought he would be cavorting with topologists. "I don't think like a mathematician," admits Kane, a theoretical physicist who has tended to focus on tangible problems about solid materials. He is not alone. Physicists have typically paid little attention to topology—the mathematical study of shapes and their arrangement in space. But now Kane and other physicists are flocking to the field.
In the past decade, they have found that topology provides unique insight into the physics of materials, such as how some insulators can sneakily conduct electricity along a single-atom layer on their surfaces.
Some of these topological effects were uncovered in the 1980s, but only in the past few years have researchers begun to realize that they could be much more prevalent and bizarre than anyone expected. Topological materials have been "sitting in plain sight, and people didn't think to look for them", says Kane, who is at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Now, topological physics is truly exploding: it seems increasingly rare to see a paper on solid-state physics that doesn't have the word topology in the title. And experimentalists are about to get even busier. A study on page 298 of this week's Nature unveils an atlas of materials that might host topological effects, giving physicists many more places to go looking for bizarre states of matter such as Weyl fermions or quantum-spin liquids.
Credit: Nature, July 19, 2017, doi:10.1038/547272a; Source: http://go.nature.com/2muzd4b
Scientists hope that topological materials could eventually find applications in faster, more efficient computer chips, or even in fanciful quantum computers. And the materials are already being used as virtual laboratories to test predictions about exotic and undiscovered elementary particles and the laws of physics. Many researchers say that the real reward of topological physics will be a deeper understanding of the nature of matter itself. "Emergent phenomena in topological physics are probably all around us—even in a piece of rock," says Zahid Hasan, a physicist at Princeton University in New Jersey.
Some of the most fundamental properties of subatomic particles are, at their heart, topological. Take the spin of the electron, for example, which can point up or down. Flip an electron from up to down, and then up again, and you might think that this 360° rotation would return the particle to its original state. But that's not the case.
In the strange world of quantum physics, an electron can also be represented as a wavefunction that encodes information about the particle, such as the probability of finding it in a particular spin state. Counterintuitively, a 360° rotation actually shifts the phase of the wavefunction, so that the wave's crests become troughs and vice versa. It takes another full 360° turn to finally bring the electron and its wavefunction back to their starting states.
This is exactly what happens in one of mathematicians' favorite topological oddities: the Möbius strip, formed by giving a ribbon a single twist and then gluing its ends together. If an ant crawled one full loop of the ribbon, it would find itself on the opposite side from where it started. It must make another full circuit before it can return to its initial position.
The ant's situation is not just an analogy for what happens to the electron's wavefunction—it actually occurs within an abstract geometric space made of quantum waves. It's as if each electron contains a tiny Möbius strip that carries a little bit of interesting topology. All kinds of particles that share this property, including quarks and neutrinos, are known as fermions; those that do not, such as photons, are bosons.
Most physicists study quantum concepts such as spin without worrying about their topological meaning. But in the 1980s, theorists such as David Thouless of the University of Washington in Seattle began to suspect that topology might be responsible for a surprising phenomenon called the quantum Hall effect, which had just been discovered. This effect sees the electrical resistance in a single-atom-thick layer of a crystal jump in discrete steps when the material is placed in magnetic fields of different intensities. Crucially, the resistance remains unchanged by fluctuations in temperature, or by impurities in the crystal. Such robustness was unheard of, says Hasan, and it is one of the key attributes of topological states that physicists are now eager to exploit.
Physics with a twist
In 1982, Thouless and his colleagues unravelled the topology behind the quantum Hall effect, which ultimately helped to win Thouless a share of last year's Nobel Prize in Physics. Like the electron's spin, this topology occurs in an abstract space. But in this case, the underlying shape is not a Möbius strip, but the surface of a doughnut. As the magnetic field ramps up and down, vortices can form and disappear on the surface, like the wind pattern around the eye of a hurricane.
Vortices have a property known as a winding number, which describes how many times they loop around a central point. Winding numbers are topological invariants—they do not change as the shape is deformed. And the total sum of the winding numbers of vortices that wink in and out of existence as a magnetic field is applied around the doughnut always stays the same. That sum is called the Chern number, named after the Chinese-American mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern. It had been known to topologists since the 1940s.
The most astounding discovery was yet to come. Until the mid-2000s, the quantum Hall effect and other topological effects had been seen only in the presence of strong magnetic fields. But Kane and his colleagues, and separately another team, realized that some insulators made from heavy elements could provide their own magnetic fields through internal interactions between electrons and atomic nuclei. This gave electrons on the surface of the material robust, 'topologically protected' states, which allowed them to flow with next to no resistance. By 2008, Hasan's group had demonstrated the effect in crystals of bismuth antimonide, which were dubbed topological insulators. "That was the beginning of the fun," he says.
The discovery shook the physics world, says Edward Witten, a theoretician at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the only physicist ever to have won a Fields Medal, the most coveted award in mathematics. Far from being exotic exceptions, topological states now seemed to offer a vast array of possibilities for discovering unknown effects in nature, he says. "The paradigm has changed."
One of the biggest surprises was that these states could often be explained by theories that had been invented to solve completely different problems, such as reconciling gravity with quantum physics. Concepts such as Witten's topological quantum-field theories, which had subsequently led to breakthroughs in pure mathematics, were now coming back to physics in unexpected places. "It was a marvellous circle of ideas," says mathematician Michael Atiyah, another Fields medallist, who is now at the University of Cambridge, UK, and who also worked on these theories.
Sheer weirdness
Another major source of excitement is that in a topological material, electrons and other particles can sometimes form states in which they collectively behave as if they were one elementary particle. These 'quasiparticle' states may have properties that are not present in any known elementary particle (see page 324). They could even mimic particles that physicists have yet to discover.
Some of the most hotly anticipated quasiparticles were found two years ago. Known as Weyl fermions, or fermions without mass, they were conjectured in the 1920s by the mathematician Hermann Weyl. All of the fermions that have been discovered in the menagerie of conventional particles have some mass. But Hasan calculated that topological effects inside crystals of tantalum arsenide should create massless quasiparticles that act like Weyl fermions. For a quasiparticle, being massless means that it moves at the same speed whatever its energy. In 2015, Hasan's team confirmed that experimentally, as did a group led by Hongming Weng at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Researchers hope that these sorts of material might one day be used in applications such as superfast transistors. Electrons moving through a crystal usually scatter when they hit an impurity, which slows their progress, but the topological effects in Hasan's tantalum arsenide crystals allow electrons to travel unimpeded.
Meanwhile, Marin Soljai, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and his colleagues had observed something very similar to Weyl fermions, but in electromagnetic waves rather than in a solid crystal. First, they built a gyroid structure—a mesmerizing 3D pattern that looks like a system of interlocking spiral staircases—by carefully drilling holes through a stack of plastic slabs. Then they fired microwaves at the gyroid, and saw that the photons—which are massless bosons—were behaving like the Weyl fermion quasiparticles in Hasan's material. One of the most exciting prospects for this booming area of topological photonics would be to use crystals to create optical fibres that allow light to go in only one direction. This would prevent light from bouncing back off imperfections and would dramatically increase the efficiency of long-distance transmissions.
On the sheer weirdness scale, perhaps the only quasiparticles that top Soljai's boson–fermions are curious things called anyons. Ordinarily, individual particles can be either fermions or bosons. But anyons—quasiparticles that live in 2D, atom-thin materials—break that rule. Researchers can observe this transgression when two identical particles swap places. In bosons, the swap has no effect on the collective wavefunction; for fermions, it shifts their wavefunctions' phases by 180°, similar to what happens when a single electron does a 360° turn. But for anyons, the phase of the wavefunction changes by an angle that depends on the type of anyon. What's more, theory suggests that in some cases, swapping the anyons back again does not restore their original wavefunction.
So if researchers could create several of these anyons next to each other and shuffle them around, their quantum states would 'remember' how they had been shuffled. Physicists can visualize this process by adding the anyon's 2D spatial motions to a third dimension, representing time. The result is a tracery of lines that tangle together into beautiful braids. In principle, such braided states could be used to encode quantum bits, or qubits, the units of information in quantum computers. Their topology would protect the qubits from external noise, something that has plagued every other technology for storing quantum information.
In 2005, Microsoft made a big investment in quantum braids when it put mathematician Michael Freedman in charge of its efforts on quantum computing. Freedman had bagged a Fields Medal in 1986 for cracking the topology of 4D spheres, and went on to develop some of the key ideas about braiding qubits in the 1990s. Initially, Freedman's team focused mostly on the theory side. But late last year, Microsoft hired several star experimentalists from academia. One of them was physicist Leo Kouwenhoven of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, who in 2012 was the first to confirm experimentally that particles such as anyons remember how they are swapped. He is now setting up a new Microsoft lab at the Delft campus, which aims to demonstrate that anyons can encode qubits and do simple quantum computations. The approach is at least two decades behind other forms of quantum computing, but Freedman thinks that the robustness of topological qubits will ultimately win the day. "If you're going to build a new technology, you have to get the foundation right," he says. Hasan is attempting similar experiments, but thinks that topological quantum computers are at least four decades away. "My projection is that topological phases of matter will remain in university labs for many years," he says.
A topological atlas
There might be a way to speed up the work, however. Experimentalists looking for new topological insulators have conventionally relied on a laborious process that involves calculating the possible energies of electrons in each material to predict its properties.
A team led by theoretical physicist Andrei Bernevig of Princeton University has now found a shortcut. The researchers created an atlas of topological matter by looking at all 230 different symmetries that can exist in a material's crystal structure. Then they systematically predicted which of these symmetries could, in principle, accommodate topological states, without having to first calculate all their energy levels. They think that between 10% and 30% of all materials could display topological effects, potentially amounting to tens of thousands of compounds. Until now, only a few hundred of these topological materials had been identified. "It turns out that what we know so far is just a small part of a multitude of topological materials that can exist, and there's a lot more," Bernevig says.
The team included three specialists in the mathematics of crystals at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, and researchers will soon be able to consult the Bilbao Crystallographic Server to find out whether a particular crystalline material is potentially topological. Wei Li, a physicist at Tsinghua University in Beijing, says that Bernevig's method is "definitely a more efficient way" to search for new topological insulators. "I believe there will be a lot of new materials coming out," he says.
"Knowing that a material has some topological state of matter, however, does not mean immediately predicting its properties," cautions co-author Claudia Felser, a materials scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany. These properties will still have to be calculated and measured for each material, she says.
Most of the topological materials studied so far—including those in Bernevig's atlas—have been relatively easy to understand, because the electrons inside them feel very little of each other's electrostatic repulsion. The next big challenge for theorists is to understand 'strongly interacting' topological materials, in which the electrons push hard against one another. If theorists can crack that, Hasan says, "you'll find a whole zoo of new physics phenomena that we cannot even imagine".
It is this interplay between maths and physics that lies at the heart of the field, says Kane: "What drives me is the intersection of something which is both incredibly beautiful, and also comes to life in the real world."
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on July 19, 2017.
Davide Castelvecchi is a senior reporter at Nature in London covering physics, astronomy, mathematics and computer science.
Watch Out for These Science Events in 2020
Japan Will Build the World's Largest Neutrino Detector
How Big Is the Proton? Particle-Size Puzzle Leaps Closer to Resolution
Nature magazine
Catastrophic Australian Bushfires Derail Research
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A Fuller Moon: High-Res Images Fill in Details about Lunar Topography
Cuttlefish Camouflage Inspires New Shape-Shifting Materials
June 22, 2015 — Maria Temming
Go from Quantum to Cosmic
Scientific American Space & Physics is a roundup of the most important stories about the universe and beyond


Project Goal : Create a password protected portal for the 2013 Sutherland Supermodel Search.
The portal had to be secure, yet easy for judges to log in and register their votes.
The portal required an easy to use CMS that enabled the client to easily add contestants including multiple photos and videos, easily manage judges and export voting results.
The front end of the portal needed to be clean, modern and easy to use to make viewing and voting for contestants easy for the judges.


text:
Elementary "Folie a Deux" Review (Season 5 Episode 1)
CBS, Elementary, Reviews
On the season premiere of the fifth season of "Elementary," the team searched for the long-dormant Bensonhurst Bomber, who resurfaced in a new part of town, seemingly with a new MO, in "Folie a Deux." But was it the same person- or had the original bomber taught his methods to an all-new partner-in-crime to carry on in his absence?
We started off with a literal bang, as a would-be Good Samaritan tried to give back a wayward soccer ball to a group of kids playing in the park. But when a kid told him it wasn't their ball at all, he was in for a rude awakening when he looked down and noticed something off about the stitching of the ball- right before it exploded in his hands, killing him instantly.
After wrapping up their current case, which involved a gay man who killed his lover and was about to kill himself- at least before Holmes tried to talk him down off the ledge, that was, and failing that, Watson zapped him with a taser to cause him to fall off of it in the right direction and to safety- they joined the scene of the crime to investigate.
As is often the case with situations as these, the person in question showed up to see the aftermath of his handiwork, before a watchful Sherlock spotted him and gave chase. Alas, poor Holmes ended up losing him and getting hit by a car in the process. Fortunately, the perp involved touched a nearby cab while evading Sherlock, so Holmes made sure to detain the driver until a print could be lifted, as he saw to his minor injuries.
The print traced back to a Nathan Resor (Matthew Del Negro, "Scandal"), who had a previous record that had landed him in jail. Not so coincidentally, the bombings conveniently stopped when he was in prison. I can't imagine why! Though Nathan denied it to the hilt, Holmes suspected differently- but he couldn't prove it, so they were forced to let the man go.
However, Watson knew someone who was in prison at the same time as Nathan that might could help, so she paid him a visit at a local boxing gym, where he'd worked since his release. The man's name was Shinwell Johnson (Nelsan Ellis, Lafayette on "True Blood"), and once upon a time, Watson saved his life after he was shot five times, back when she was a doctor.
Johnson didn't really know Nathan, but knew of him and knew someone who might know him, so he promised to give the man a call and get back to her. Meanwhile, Holmes went through Nathan's trash, much to his chagrin, but the only remotely suspicious thing he found was a empty bottle of bleach, which was a component in making the bomb.
Holmes also confronted Nathan about a fire on one of his properties that he cleaned up on, insurance-wise, leading Holmes to believe Nathan might had started the fire himself on purpose to get said money. Naturally, Nathan denies it, so Holmes' next step was to talk to Nathan's ex-wife Elizabeth (Bianca Amato, "Powers"), who claimed that the reason they broke up wasn't prison, but that Nathan was working so much they never had time to repair the damage done by the prison sentence on their relationship.
According to Elizabeth, it involved a massive land development deal with a big conglomerate but she didn't know much beyond that, save that it had come between them enough to lead to a divorce, despite Nate's claims that he was going to make out like a bandit if she just hung in there. Obviously, she didn't.
Shinwell pays a visit to the brownstone, to find only Holmes there at the moment, who invites him in to share war stories. ("I was shot five times, too," said Holmes,"albeit on separate occasions.") Watson finally arrives to put poor Shinwell out of his misery and he tells her to look into Nate's cellmate, Cray (Lee Tergesen, "The Strain").
They do, and Cray is brought in and questioned. Naturally, he also denies any wrongdoing on Nate's part and says that he's great guy who gave him a job when he got out of prison. Then there's another bombing, but this time, Nate couldn't have done it, as he was being tailed by the police at the time, but Holmes remains unconvinced, saying that the only thing that proves is that Nate must have a partner.
Suspecting Cray, Holmes and Watson break into his house and find all the ingredients necessary to make a bomb of the kind that went off recently. Somehow managing to parlay this illegal search into an arrest, Cray is brought in again, this time to try and get him to confess to either being the bomber himself, or in cahoots with him. Or as Holmes put it: one taught the other, but who was the teacher, and who was the student?
The police make Cray a deal for "special considerations," including the opportunity to say goodbye to his family, but he refuses. He then says that if he does have a partner, he couldn't wait to see what he did in his absence, implying that there are bombs all over Flushing, the terrifying twosome's current haunt of choice. Holmes suspects he's bluffing, but they need more evidence to the contrary.
Holmes looks into the construction deal Nate had in place, realizing that all the current bombings were happening in that area. Realizing that Nate was trying to scare people off so that he would have an easier time securing the deal from a rival company after the current one bailed, Holmes talks to the company that signed the deal with Nate, which had just gone through.
Sure enough, said company bails on the deal, leaving Cray without a pay-off, which he had intended to give to his family, in lieu of getting caught. Now without a reason to stay silent, and nothing to gain from it, really, Cray flips on his partner, and that's all she wrote for Nate and Cray.
In addition, Watson admits that she misses the feeling she got out of helping people when she was both a doctor and a sober coach. Though Holmes points out that she helps people still all the time by doing what they do, she says it's not quite the same. She also points out that she thinks Holmes no longer really needed a sober coach, either, thus denying her that sense of helping as well.
Holmes, sensing her issues, and understanding and appreciating her honesty with him, encourages Joan to help Shinwell out, in terms of helping him secure a better job and take his life to the next level. She does, but when she arrives, we see that Shinwell is packing heat, and though he puts it away when Watson arrives, it certainly looked like he might be falling back into bad habits, but we'll have to wait until the next episode to be sure, as it could just be a simple matter of protection from old criminal acquaintances.
After several complicated seasons, the show seems to have streamlined things considerably this season, perhaps responding to some peoples' frustrations with how complex things had gotten in recent years. Though I didn't mind it, I can see where they might want to rein it in a bit this season to make things easier to follow, if indeed that is what this is.
If not, perhaps they are biding their time until after the debate next week, which might have been a factor, as the show won't be back until a few weeks from now. If so, then expect the show to begin laying the groundwork for an underlying ongoing narrative in the next episode. It's possible the thing with Shinwell might even be it, though I think that's more of a short-term thing. We'll see, though, you never know.
In the meantime, though this episode was nothing spectacular, it wasn't bad, either, and had it's moments. The opening bits were fun, and some of the interplay between Holmes and Watson was pretty enjoyable as well. I liked that Holmes remembered that Watson wore the same outfit twice, which she never does, which I noticed as well. As a big fan of Ellis' work on "True Blood," it will also be interesting to see how he handles a more conventional role this time around. So far, so good.
What did you think of the latest episode of "Elementary"? Was it good for you, or was it a bit on the meh side? What do you think of Shinwell thus far? Do you hope he sticks around, or is he trouble waiting to happen? Do you think he will figure heavily into the plot this season? Sound off on this and more down below, and see you in a few weeks!
CBSElementaryReviews
Mark Trammell
Mark Trammell is the former resident entertainment critic at UAB, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and recently achieved a Master's in Creative Writing. His impossible dream was that "Twin Peaks" will one day be resurrected and pick up where it left off. Little did he know that was actually going to happen. He's now currently waiting to see if pigs will fly as well. Until then, he bides his time writing entertainment reviews and watching entirely too many movies and television shows.


text:
Combining two open source tools for neural computation (BioPatRec and Netlab) improves movement classification for prosthetic control
Cosima Prahm ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9379-51101,5,
Korbinian Eckstein2,
Max Ortiz-Catalan3,
Georg Dorffner4,
Eugenijus Kaniusas1 &
Oskar C. Aszmann5
Controlling a myoelectric prosthesis for upper limbs is increasingly challenging for the user as more electrodes and joints become available. Motion classification based on pattern recognition with a multi-electrode array allows multiple joints to be controlled simultaneously. Previous pattern recognition studies are difficult to compare, because individual research groups use their own data sets. To resolve this shortcoming and to facilitate comparisons, open access data sets were analysed using components of BioPatRec and Netlab pattern recognition models.
Performances of the artificial neural networks, linear models, and training program components were compared. Evaluation took place within the BioPatRec environment, a Matlab-based open source platform that provides feature extraction, processing and motion classification algorithms for prosthetic control. The algorithms were applied to myoelectric signals for individual and simultaneous classification of movements, with the aim of finding the best performing algorithm and network model. Evaluation criteria included classification accuracy and training time.
Results in both the linear and the artificial neural network models demonstrated that Netlab's implementation using scaled conjugate training algorithm reached significantly higher accuracies than BioPatRec.
It is concluded that the best movement classification performance would be achieved through integrating Netlab training algorithms in the BioPatRec environment so that future prosthesis training can be shortened and control made more reliable. Netlab was therefore included into the newest release of BioPatRec (v4.0).
Performance of machine learning algorithms are constantly compared with one another to improve the classification of motion based electromyographic (EMG) signals in order to control a prosthetic device. Since mechatronically the number of controllable joints has increased and simultaneous control is replacing sequential control, the limiting factor to be improved in the future is the human-machine-interface.
Since this improvement is a challenging task, conventional control strategies for myoelectric prostheses have not changed much over decades [1]. Two bipolar electrodes are placed on one of the amputee's residual muscles each and a sufficiently high amplitude of the EMG signal triggers a threshold detection method which then activates a prosthetic movement [2, 3]. This conventional control strategy, even though proven to be reliable [3, 4], turns out to be tedious and slow when there is more than one joint to be controlled. To change a currently selected degree of freedom (DoF), e.g. from wrist to elbow, both electrodes need to be activated simultaneously. This manual switching between joints is far from the natural movement of a hand and prostheses users are quickly frustrated with the limitations of their device [3].
The machine learning approach for prosthetic control makes use of an array of electrodes instead of just two control sites and considers patterns of EMG activation to increase the number of motion classes. EMG pattern classification in its early stages focused mainly on controlling one DoF at a time [5], which was not very different from the user experience of the conventional control. In the last years, however, pattern recognition has been extended to concurrent classification of motion intent [6–8]. Each activation pattern received by the electrode array around the amputees residual muscles corresponds to either an individual prosthetic motion, or a simultaneous one that involves multiple DoF. This way, the pattern recognition approach enables simultaneous control and thus promotes natural interaction with the environment.
To achieve a high classification accuracy, several types of classifiers for myoelectric prosthetic control have been examined such as artificial neural networks (ANN) [9–11], linear discriminant analysis (LDA) [12–15], support vector machines [16], k-nearest neighbour clustering [17] and unsupervised clustering [18]. High classification accuracy is important to prevent misinterpretations of the prosthesis user's motion intent.
Previous studies proposed a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) classification strategy that outperformed an LDA based approach and improved the state-of-the-art classification [19]. However, the error rate was still high with 5 % which has also been reproduced in this study. In another study, accuracies of 96.3 % have been reached with a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based classifier compared to LDA with 95.6 % [13]. They also compared GMM to MLP but did not specify the MLP training algorithm and network properties. Since the MLP only achieved an accuracy of only 95.4 %, it suggests they did not use an optimized training algorithm such as scaled conjugate gradient (scg). Another research group achieved accuracies of up to 97.6 % comparing a self enhancing linear approach with a standard LDA that reached 94.1 % accuracy [15], which corresponds to the LDA accuracy achieved within this study. However, because both groups used their own data set which is not accessible, the results are not directly comparable.
This study aims to evaluate and compare the performance of four open-source, Matlab-based pattern classifiers taken from BioPatRec and Netlab on correctly categorizing offline EMG signals across different movements.
The classifiers used in previous studies by BioPatRec are (amongst others) LDA and MLP. Therefore this study extends the previous studies [7, 20] using optimized algorithms for MLP and generalized linear models (GLM) taken from the Netlab toolbox to improve classification accuracy. Regularly, many studies use their own data set to test algorithms, which limits generalization of their results across methods. To grant comparability across methods, this study works on the same openly available data set [21].
BioPatRec is a useful environment for pattern classification already operated in a clinical setting [22]. Because training the classifier took very long and the resulting accuracy looked improvable, other options to increase classification accuracy were considered. To keep the initial set-up, these other options should consequently be implemented into the BioPatRec environment. The goal of this study is to find the algorithm with the highest classification accuracy and least computational complexity and therefore lowest training time that increases the performance of a myoelectric prosthetic controller. Since the newest release of BioPatRec, Netlab has been successfully integrated.
A linear and non-linear classifier each, taken from both toolboxes BioPatRec and Netlab were compared with one another regarding offline movement classification performance and training time. The fastest algorithm within BioPatRec was LDA, which also is often used by researchers. The classifier reaching the highest accuracy within BioPatRec was MLP. Both classifiers were compared with Netlab's highly optimized training algorithms iteratively reweighted least squares (irls) and scaled conjugate gradient for GLM and MLP.
The main benefit of linear methods such as LDA and GLM is their low complexity and quick training [5, 12–14, 23]. Artificial neural networks such as MLP depend on specific training algorithms and are inherently capable of simultaneous predictions. They can still be cost effective despite their increased complexity [10, 11, 19, 24].
To enable repeatability, the algorithms were compared using an open access data set from the BioPatRec data repository. This set has already been used for comparing different classifiers in previous evaluations [25, 26]. Three DoF are available for motion classification and used for individual and simultaneous control strategies, resulting in 26 possible movement labels and one no-movement label, in which no intentional EMG signal occurs. The resulting algorithm accuracy reflects the correspondence of the instructed user motion intend to the recognized movement by the classifier. The higher the accuracy the more reliable is the movement recognition. It is calculated by the number of correct classifications divided by the overall number of performed classifications.
Netlab is an open source software toolbox with highly optimized training algorithms for data analysis, neural computation and neural network simulations which requires the Matlab environment to run [27–29]. The library includes a variety of implementations for data analyses and neural network simulations.
BioPatRec is an open source Matlab-based research environment for development and evaluation of pattern recognition algorithms for prosthetic control. Matlab's statistics toolbox is required. It provides tools for data acquisition, signal processing, feature selection and extraction, pattern recognition and real-time control and was developed by one of the authors—Max Ortiz-Catalan [20].
A. Data source and treatment
The data set which was used for comparing classification consists of 17 EMG recordings, one from each of the 17 healthy participants (mean age of 25.9 ± 4.9 years) and is available within the BioPatRec data repository [21]. Data was recorded by eight bipolar surface electrodes attached around the forearm. From each of the eight electrode channels, four time domain signal features (mean absolute value, waveform length, zero crossing and slope sign change) were extracted from 121 fixed time windows for each movement (200 ms with a time increment of 50 ms) which are used as feature vectors to feed the classifiers [20]. During recording the participant received a visual indication to perform a specific movement. Each movement was repeated 3 times with a recording time of 3 s. The first and last 15 % of that recording were removed to make sure only isotonic contraction will remain. Thus, a total of 121 windows were generated per movement. Out of these 121 windows per movement, 72 were randomly selected as training set and 49 windows were set aside as a validation set to evaluate generalization after the training phase and were not previously used for training. Performance accuracy was averaged over 100 iterations per subject (cross-validation), with a different random splitting into training and test set. All data was pre-processed and treated within BioPatRec.
Without normalization, features with different standard deviations would be weighted differently, error surfaces would be distorted and learning algorithms would not sufficiently converge. As a preliminary measure and because BioPatRec offers the possibility to choose among different normalizations, two commonly used linear normalizations in data processing were compared across all models: standard normalization \(\mu\) = 0, \(\sigma\) = 1 and a transformation to [−1;1] called "midrange 0 range 2". The comparison table can be found in the supplementary material. Due to equal or better performance of the standard normalization all data was treated with standard normalization.
Netlab is able to use multiple processor cores with an average workload of 80–100 % on a quadcore CPU. BioPatRec MLP uses one processor core with an average workload of 25 % on a quadcore CPU. The PC used in this study has an i5-2500K processor running at 3.3 GHz when multiple cores are occupied, and at 3.7 GHz when just one core is active.
B. Movement classification
There are 27 possible labels for classification which derive from six individual hand and wrist movements as well as their simultaneous combination and an additional no-movement state the participants were instructed to perform. The individual movements were hand open/close, hand flexion/extension and wrist pronation/supination. Possible output types are (a) one single active unit, that can either represent one individual movement or a simultaneous movement consisting of a combination of individual movements; and (b) multiple active units in which each output unit represents one individual movement. Simultaneous movements are a combination of multiple output units.
C. Network architecture of BioPatRec and Netlab
BioPatRec was used as a platform to execute both its own inherent classifiers (LDA and MLP) and the additionally implemented Netlab classifiers (GLM and MLP). Both models employ the two forms of output types mentioned above (single and multiple), that are implemented in Netlab with softmax and logistic output functions respectively. The advantage of using a softmax output function is an increase in accuracy, when there is a single classification problem.
Linear classification method of BioPatRec and Netlab BioPatRec's LDA is taken from the Matlab statistics toolbox. Because this LDA can not generate multiple outputs as a single classifier, a BioPatRec inherent multi class problem approach was used that consists of one LDA for each degree of freedom. The individual LDAs possess four output neurons, two are for classifying the agonistic and antagonistic movement of the respective DoF, one is for every other movement and the last one is for a no-movement state.
The Netlab GLM uses scaled conjugate gradient or iteratively reweighted least squares as training algorithm. Regarding multiple outputs, Netlab GLM also uses the same configuration as BioPatRec's LDA with one net for each degree of freedom and four output units.
Non-linear classification method of BioPatRec and Netlab The BioPatRec MLP is a feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) with backpropagation as supervised learning and gradient descent as training algorithm with a logistic activation function [20]. The standard configuration of BioPatRec consists of 32 input neurons, two layers of 32 hidden neurons each and a variable number of output neurons corresponding to the number of classes [7, 25]. However, the number of hidden layers as well as hidden units (HU) can be adapted. For comparison, this study employs one and two hidden layers with 32 hidden neurons each and the number of neurons as evaluated by cross validation for each model.
The Netlab MLP is also a feedforward ANN, but with scaled conjugate gradient as training algorithm. It consists of 32 input neurons, one hidden layer with 32 hidden neurons and variable output neurons. Because the Netlab architecture is based on Bishop [28], only one hidden layer is available. Output function used by the MLP was either softmax or logistic with a 0 to 1 output range.
Both training algorithms are limited to a maximum number of 200 iterations.
D. Analysis
The Wilcoxon Sign-Rank test with a significance level of \(\alpha\) = 0.05 is applied to all algorithms and their respective parameters to evaluate significance for each movement classification accuracy. The mean accuracy (Acc), standard deviation (SD) and p value of the models, as well as training time in seconds, will be given in the tables. The SD was calculated over the averaged iterations and across subjects and movements. Although training time is not regarded as an important aspect for offline classification, short training time has advantages in practical applications such as immediately available prosthesis control without a delay caused by the computing training algorithm. Fast training would also be a requirement for prospective online adaptive learning.
A. Performance comparison of linear models
The direct comparison of accuracies for BioPatRec LDA and Netlab GLM can be found in Table 1. Although LDA and GLM are both linear models, GLM performs better because it is based on the training algorithms scg or irls. For a single output model, GLM scg achieved significantly higher accuracies than GLM irls, although the difference is small. As for models with multiple output, the GLM irls and GLM scg training algorithms performed equally well. Highest significant accuracies are marked italics in Table 1.
Table 1 Comparison of linear models
B. Optimal number of hidden units
Considering that there was no indication in BioPatRec as to why two layers of 32 hidden units were used [20], an evaluation to find the optimal number of hidden units for each classification problem was performed. For each number of hidden units (1–100), 10 MLPs were trained and evaluated (cross-validation). The accuracy for each number of hidden units was averaged over those 10 MLPs and can be seen for simgle output type in Fig. 1a and multiple output type in Fig. 1b.
a Single output type: this figure shows the accuracy reached for every number of hidden units. After 64 HU there was no significant increase in accuracy. b Multiple output type: this figure shows the accuracy reached for every number of hidden units. After 74 HU there was no significant increase in accuracy
Because of time concerns, hidden unit evaluation was performed for Netlab. The Wilcoxon Sign-Rank test evaluated if an increase in the number of hidden units significantly improved the accuracy. The smallest number of hidden units out of 100 maximum permissible, for which no significantly higher accuracy could be observed are: (a) 64 hidden units for a single output type and (b) 74 hidden units for the multiple output type. However, from 30 to 40 hidden units on, the accuracy only slightly increases. The peaks seen on the curves cannot be attributed to statistical error but are due to systematic variance between the number of hidden units.
As the network for the multiple output (74 HU) problem is more complex than for single output (64 HU) it could be assumed that the multiple output problem is more complex.
C. Performance comparison of neural networks
MLPs with different network complexities were tested within Netlab and BioPatRec and results are shown in Table 2. Since the highest classification accuracy per output type has tested significant against all other methods in BioPatRec and Netlab, it is marked italics within the table. The Netlab neural nets achieved significantly higher accuracies in single as well as in multiple output type. This is expected due to the better performance of the scg training algorithm compared to gradient descent. With an optimized number of hidden units, the accuracy of the Netlab MLPs could be additionally increased from 98.3 to 98.7 % in the single output type and from 97.0 to 98.0 % in the multiple output type. For the BioPatRec MLPs there is no higher accuracy for the optimized number of hidden units. This is probably due to the weak performance of gradient descent in higher complexity networks. Another finding is the better performance of single output type against multiple output type for the respective settings with highest accuracy, which was Netlab MLP with an optimized number of hidden units.
Table 2 Performance comparison of non-linear models and optimal number of hidden units (HU)
E. Training time
Training time for linear models as well as artificial neural networks can be found in Table 3. Linear models train fastest and MLPs show a huge discrepancy between BioPatRec and Netlab, with Netlab MLP being 102 times faster than BioPatRec MLP.
Table 3 Training time (in s)
Netlab's GLM with irls training algorithm performed significantly better than BioPatRec's LDA and still maintained short training time. The performance accuracies of BioPatRec's MLP are best with two hidden layers of 32 neurons. However, Netlab's MLP consisting of one layer of 32 hidden neurons performed significantly better. During testing of different training algorithms for MLP which all had a maximum number of iterations of 200, the results showed that the scg learning algorithm for MLP was superior in accuracy. These findings correspond to the results of previous benchmarkings of scg against the standard backpropagation, the conjugate gradient backpropagation and the quasi-Newton algorithm [30]. The Netlab MLP with optimized number of hidden units achieved 98.7 % accuracy compared to 95.1 % of the standard BioPatRec MLP, which in terms of error rate is an improvement from 4.9 to 1.3 %. When comparing normalizations for preprocessing standard normal distribution was found to be superior to a transformation to mid-range of 0 and range of 2.
Multiple output types do not work well with linear methods because they seem to require non-linear separation (as can be seen in the classification accuracies) and single output types perform well with linear methods, however, non-linear algorithms are still considerably superior. Single output type always performs better than multiple output type (with BioPatRec MLP being the only exception). This suggests that the single output type is a more simple solution to the same problem, although multiple output type has the advantage to recognize combined movements with only having the single movements available. Future research could focus on the issue of recognizing combined movements after training only single movements.
Regarding training time, Netlab was possibly faster because it is a sophisticated toolbox especially optimized for neural computation and its utilization of hyperthreading.
However, it is important to not only look at offline performances, but also to take into consideration that several factors challenge the robustness and reliability of pattern recognition algorithms in real-time. Electrode condition and displacement as well as sweat and muscle fatigue influence conductivity of the electrodes [31–34]. Therefore this study's results will be incorporated into further movement classification assessments in real-time.
Integrating Netlab's efficient training algorithms for artificial neural networks and linear models into the BioPatRec environment resulted in an improvement of offline classification accuracies and training time. The Netlab toolbox for neural computation has been successfully implemented into the newest releaese of BioPatRec (v4.0).
ANN:
artificial neural network
LDA:
linear discriminant analysis
MLP:
multi layer perceptron
GMM:
Gaussian mixture model
GLM:
general linear model
EMG:
HU:
hidden units
Acc:
scg:
scaled conjugate gradient
irls:
iteratively reweighted least squares
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All authors contributed equally to this article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors would like to thank the Technical University of Vienna for funding this publication, and the Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft.
Availability and requirements
Project name: BioPatRec
Project homepage: https://github.com/biopatrec
Data Repository: https://github.com/biopatrec/biopatrec/wiki/Data_Repository.md
Operating system: Windows 7+
Programming language: Matlab
Other requirements: Matlab Statistics Toolbox
Licence: GPL
Any restrictions to use by non-academics: no
The data sets supporting the results of this article are available in the BioPatrec repository at GitHub: https://github.com/biopatrec/biopatrec/wiki/Data_Repository.md.
Consent to publish
All authors give their consent to publish.
Institute of Electrodynamics, Microwave and Circuit Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstr. 25, 1040, Vienna, Austria
Cosima Prahm & Eugenijus Kaniusas
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Lazarettgasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria
Korbinian Eckstein
Division for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Signals and Systems, Chalmers University of Technology, Campus Johanneberg, 41296, Gothenburg, Sweden
Max Ortiz-Catalan
Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23, 1090, Vienna, Austria
Georg Dorffner
CD Laboratory for Extremity Reconstruction, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria
Cosima Prahm & Oskar C. Aszmann
Cosima Prahm
Eugenijus Kaniusas
Oskar C. Aszmann
Correspondence to Cosima Prahm.
Prahm, C., Eckstein, K., Ortiz-Catalan, M. et al. Combining two open source tools for neural computation (BioPatRec and Netlab) improves movement classification for prosthetic control. BMC Res Notes 9, 429 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-016-2232-y
Upper limb amputation


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text:
Муша́ббихиты ( — «уподобляющие», антропоморфисты) — общее название последователей различных неортодоксальных догматических школ, представлявших Аллаха в атрибутах и образах творений. Мушаббихитов также называют муджассимитами (придающими Богу телесные качества).

В Коране
В Коране нет прямого уподобления Аллаха человеку, но есть выражения, дающих основание для их сравнения: об Аллахе говорится как о видящем, слышащем, восседающем на Троне, имеющем Лик, Руки, Глаза и т. д. Вместе с тем в Коране настойчиво подчеркивается непохожесть Аллаха ни на что в мире.

Противоречивость Корана в этом вопросе на многие века предопределила разногласия в мусульманском обществе. Учения о божественной сущности и атрибутах стали одним из предметов острой полемической борьбы среди мусульманских богословов, часто обвинявших своих оппонентов в склонности к антропоморфизму.

История
Основателем мушаббихизма считается Джахм ибн Сафван (ум. 746), отрицавший Божественные атрибуты и уподоблявший Аллаха человеку. Абдуль-Кахир аль-Багдади (ум. 1037) в книге «аль-Фарк Байн аль-Фирак» подразделял мушаббихитов на 2 группы:
 уподоблявшие Божественную сущность сущности творений
 уподоблявшие только Божественные атрибуты атрибутам творений.

По словам исламского ересиографа аш-Шахрастани, основатель хашимитской секты Хашим ибн аль-Хакам в споре с мутазилитом Абуль Хузайлом доказывал ему, что Бог имеет конкретное тело, подобное человеческому, и даже указывал на длину некоторых его органов.

Настаивавшим на буквальном понимании антропоморфических выражений в Коране (прежде всего захиритам), противостояли мутазилиты, которые отрицали наличие у Аллаха свойств, порожденных человеческими представлениями. Мутазилиты считали, что соответствующие коранические выражения необходимо толковать аллегорически и обвиняли в антропоморфизме тех, кто признавал наличие возможность лицезрения Аллаха в раю и нахождения Аллаха на Троне (арш). Некоторые басрийские мутазилиты, в определённой степени, допускали в своих воззрениях антропоморфизм, считая, что Божественная воля идентична воли человека или способность разговора у Бога аналогична человеческой. Опираясь на формальную логику, мутазилиты считали, что Аллах должен занимать определённое место в некоем пространстве.

Представители ортодоксального ислама считали, что в вопросах Божественных атрибутов, находящихся в сфере иррационального, нельзя опираться лишь на доводы формальной логики. Описанные в Коране и Сунне атрибуты непостижимы для человеческого разума и носит лишь иносказательный характер на уровне восприятия человеческим разумом. Согласно ортодоксальному исламу Божественные атрибуты являются безграничными, идеальными и извечными. Маликиты, учили безраздельно верить этим выражениям и не пытаться истолковать их смысл (би-ля кайфа).

Буквальное понимание антропоморфических выражений в Коране и Сунне логически и естественно приводило к представлению Аллаха в образе человека. Первыми к антропоморфизму пришли «крайние» шииты (мугириты, мансуриты, хаттабиты и др.), обожествлявшие шиитских имамов или своих избранников. Баяниты представляли Аллаха в виде человека из света. Джаваликиты — наполовину полым, черноволосым, но бестелесным. Мукатил ибн Сулайман (ум. 767), Дауд аль-Джавариби и др. наделяли Аллаха человеческими атрибутами («Аллах есть тело, плоть и кровь наподобие человека»). При этом они считали, что Аллах не похож ни на что и ничто не похоже на него.

Мусульманские богословов относили к мушаббихитам тех, кто в антропоморфическом духе судил о божественных атрибутах и отрицал их предвечность или прибегал к аллегорическому толкованию. «Правоверные» богословы выступали как против уподобления Аллаха человеку (ташбих), так и против лишения его атрибутов (татиль).

Примечания

Литература


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