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An entheogen, in the strictest sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious or shamanic context. Entheogens generally come from plant sources which contain molecules closely related to endogenous neurochemicals. They occur in a wide variety of sacraments of various religious rites [UDV/NAC] and have been shown (Good Friday Experiment) to directly provoke what users perceive as spiritual/mystical experiences. In a broader sense, the word "entheogen" refers to any molecule which stimulates the central nervous system through one of the two main neurological pathways: Phenethylamine [which is a brain chemical associated with the adrenaline pathway, and a precursor of Mescaline, 2-CB] and Tryptamine [a brain chemical associated with the natural metabolism of Serotonin, a precursor of Psilocin, DMT ]. (Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology, Cooper Bloom Roth - PIHKAL, Shulgin) In the aforementioned books the pathways of the neurochemicals are described as occurring from simpler precursors. Through enzyme reactions, the brain creates more complex molecules with a higher binding affinity with unique neurological and cognitive results. See Federal Analog Act.
These chemicals are the essence of the entheogens and are banned neurotransmitters, despite their use predating written language. Entheogens are molecules which induce alterations of consciousness identical in many ways to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional shamanic inebriants. Examples are far reaching ancient sources predating the modern era: such as Hebrew: manna; Greek: kykeon; African: Iboga; Vedic: Soma, Amrit. Entheogens have been safely utilized in a religious context for thousands of years.
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1 Terminology
2 Use of entheogens
3 Entheogen-using cultures
3.1 Africa
3.2 Americas
3.3 Asia
3.5 Middle East
3.6 Oceania
4 In the archaeological record
5 In classical mythology and cults
6 Judaism and Christianity
7 Entheogens in literature
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The word entheogen is a neologism derived from the ancient Greek : ἔνθεος (entheos) and γενέσθαι (genesthe). Entheos literally means "god (theos) within", translates as "inspired" and is the root of the English word "enthusiasm". The Greeks used it as a term of praise for poets and other artists[citation needed]. Genesthe means "to generate". So an entheogen is "that which generates God (or godly inspiration) within a person".
The word entheogen was coined in 1979 by a group of ethnobotanists and scholars of mythology (Carl A. P. Ruck, Jeremy Bigwood, Danny Staples, Richard Evans Schultes, Jonathan Ott and R. Gordon Wasson). The literal meaning of the word is "that which causes God to be within an individual". The translation "creating the divine within" is sometimes given, but it should be noted that entheogen implies neither that something is created (as opposed to just perceiving something that is already there) nor that that which is experienced is within the user (as opposed to having independent existence).
It was coined as a replacement for the terms "hallucinogen" (popularized by Aldous Huxley's experiences with mescaline, published as The Doors of Perception in 1953) and "psychedelic" (a Greek neologism for "mind manifest", coined by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, who was quite surprised when the well-known author, Aldous Huxley, volunteered to be a subject in experiments Osmond was running on mescaline). Ruck et al. argued that the term "hallucinogen" was inappropriate due to its etymological relationship to words relating to delirium and insanity. The term "psychedelic" was also seen as problematic, due to the similarity in sound to words pertaining to psychosis and also due to the fact that it had become irreversibly associated with various connotations of 1960s pop culture.
The meanings of the term "entheogen" were formally defined by Ruck et al.:
In a strict sense, only those vision-producing drugs that can be shown to have figured in shamanic or religious rites would be designated entheogens, but in a looser sense, the term could also be applied to other drugs, both natural and artificial, that induce alterations of consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional entheogens.
Since 1979, when the term was proposed, its use has become widespread in certain circles. In particular, the word fills a vacuum for those users of entheogens who feel that the term "hallucinogen", which remains common in medical, chemical and anthropological literature, denigrates their experience and the world view in which it is integrated. Use of the strict sense of the word has therefore arisen amongst religious entheogen users, and also amongst others who wish to practice spiritual or religious tolerance.
The use of the word "entheogen" in its broad sense as a synonym for "hallucinogenic drug" has attracted criticism on three grounds:
On pragmatic grounds, the objection has been raised that the meaning of the strict sense of "entheogen", which is of specific value in discussing traditional, historical and mythological uses of entheogens in religious settings, is likely to be diluted by widespread, casual use of the term in the broader sense.
Secondly, some people object to the misuse of the root theos (god in ancient Greek) in the description of the use of hallucinogenic drugs in a non-religious context, and coupled with the climate of religious tolerance or pluralism that prevails in many present-day societies, the use of the root theos in a term describing non-religious drug use has also been criticised as a form of taboo deformation.
Thirdly, there are some substances that at least partially fulfill the definition of an entheogen that is given above, but are not considered hallucinogenic in the usual sense. One important example is the bread and wine of the Christian (especially Roman Catholic and Episcopal) Eucharist -- assuming that the Eucharist was always non-entheogenic as it has been in most modern-era Christian groups. The 'bread' and 'wine' of early Christianity were discussed and treated in a way that fits the description of an entheogenic substance; ingesting the Eucharist induced the Holy Spirit, as a shared unity-experience in the mystic altered state.
Ideological objections to the broad use of the term often relate to the widespread existence of taboos surrounding psychoactive drugs, with both religious and secular justifications. The perception that the broad sense of the term "entheogen" is used as a euphemism by hallucinogenic drug-users bothers both critics and proponents of the secular use of hallucinogenic drugs. Critics frequently see the use of the term as an attempt to obscure what they perceive as illegitimate motivations and contexts of secular drug use. Some proponents also object to the term, arguing that the trend within their own subcultures and in the scientific literature towards the use of term "entheogen" as a synonym for "hallucinogen" devalues the positive uses of drugs in contexts that are secular but nevertheless, in their view, legitimate.
Beyond the use of the term itself, the validity of drug-induced, facilitated, or enhanced religious experience has been questioned. The claim that such experiences are less valid than religious experience without the use of any chemical catalysts faces the problem that the descriptions of religious experiences by those using entheogens are indistinguishable from many reports of religious experiences without drugs. The claim also depends on the assumption that the reports of well-known mystics were not influenced by ingesting visionary plants, an assumption which Dan Merkur calls into question[1].
In an attempt to empirically answer the question about whether drugs can actually facilitate religious experience, the Marsh Chapel Experiment was conducted by physician and theology doctoral candidate, Walter Pahnke, under the supervision of Timothy Leary and the Harvard Psilocybin Project. In the double-blind experiment, volunteer graduate school divinity students from the Boston area almost all claimed to have had profound religious experiences under the influence of psilocybin.
In 2006, a more rigorously controlled version of this experiment was conducted at Johns Hopkins University, yielding very similar results.
Use of entheogens
Naturally occurring entheogens such as psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine (in ayahausca) were, for the most part, discovered and used by older cultures, as part of their spiritual and religious life, as plants and agents which were respected, or in some cases revered. By contrast, artificial and modern entheogens, such as MDMA, never had a tradition of religious use.
Entheogens have been used in various ways, including as part of established traditions and religions, secularly for personal spiritual development, as a tool to augment the mind, secularly as recreational drugs, and medical and therapeutic use.
Entheogen-using cultures
The use of entheogens in human cultures is generally ubiquitous throughout recorded history.
The best-known entheogen-using culture of Africa is the Bwitists, who used a preparation of the root bark of Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga).[2] A famous entheogen of ancient Egypt is the blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea). There is evidence for the use of entheogenic mushrooms in Côte d'Ivoire (Samorini 1995). Numerous other plants used in shamanic ritual in Africa, such as Silene capensis sacred to the Xhosa, are yet to be investigated by western science.
Main article: Aztec entheogenic complex
Entheogens have played a pivotal role in the spiritual practices of most American cultures for millennia. The first American entheogen to be subject to scientific analysis was the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii). For his part, one of the founders of modern ethno-botany, the late Richard Evans Schultes of Harvard University documented the ritual use of peyote cactus among the Kiowa who live in what became Oklahoma. Used traditionally by many cultures of what is now Mexico, its use spread to throughout North America in the 19th century, replacing the toxic entheogen Sophora secundiflora (mescal bean). Other well-known entheogens used by Mexican cultures include psilocybin mushrooms (known to indigenous Mexicans under the Náhuatl name teonanácatl), the seeds of several morning glories (Náhuatl: tlitlíltzin and ololiúhqui) and Salvia divinorum (Mazateco: Ska Pastora; Náhuatl: pipiltzintzíntli).
Indigenous peoples of South America employ a wide variety of entheogens. Better-known examples include ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi plus admixtures) among indigenous peoples (such as the Urarina) of Peruvian Amazonia. Other well-known entheogens include: borrachero (Brugmansia spp); San Pedro Trichocereus spp); and various tryptamine-bearing snuffs, for example Epená (Virola spp), Vilca and Yopo (Anadananthera spp). The familiar tobacco plant, when used uncured in large doses in shamanic contexts, also serves as an entheogen in South America. Also, a tobacco that contains higher nicotine content, and therefore smaller doses required, called Nicotiana rustica was commonly used.[citation needed]
In addition to indigenous use of entheogens in the Americas, one should also note their important role in contemporary religious movements, such as the Rastafari movement and the Church of the Universe.
The indigenous peoples of Siberia (from whom the term shaman was appropriated) have used the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) as an entheogen. The ancient inebriant Soma, mentioned often in the Vedas, may have been an entheogen. (In his 1967 book, Wasson argues that Soma was fly agaric. The active ingredient of Soma is presumed by some to be ephedrine, an alkaloid with stimulant and (somewhat debatable) entheogenic properties derived from the soma plant, identified as Ephedra pachyclada.) However, there are also arguments to suggest that Soma could have also been Syrian Rue, Cannabis, or some combination of any of the above plants.
An early entheogen in Aegean civilization, predating the introduction of wine, which was the more familiar entheogen of the reborn Dionysus and the maenads, was fermented honey, known in Northern Europe as mead; its cult uses in the Aegean world are bound up with the mythology of the bee.
The extent of the use of visionary plants throughout European history has only recently been seriously investigated, since around 1960. The use of entheogens in Europe is thought, by most entheogen scholars, to have become greatly reduced by the time of the rise of post-Roman Christianity and especially during the great witch hunts of Early Modernity. European witches used various entheogens, including thorn-apple (Datura), deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) and henbane (Hyoscyamus niger). These plants were used, among other things, for the manufacture of "flying ointments". In Christian society, witches were commonly believed to fly through the air on broomsticks after coating them with the ointment and applying them to the skin.
Any association with these plants could have proven dangerous, leading to one's execution as a "practitioner of witchcraft". The vehemence of some Christian groups suppressing such use of visionary plants renders inconclusive the question of how widespread the use of visionary plants was throughout Christendom; from one perspective, clamping down on psychoactives appears to indicate the absence of use, if successful suppression is assumed, while from the other perspective, indicates widespread presence of use.
The imposition of Roman Christianity also saw the end of the two-thousand-year-old tradition of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the initiation ceremony for the cult of Demeter and Persephone involving the use of a possibly entheogenic substance known as kykeon. Similarly, there is evidence that nitrous oxide or ethylene may have been in part responsible for the visions of the equally long-lived Delphic oracle (Hale et al., 2003).
In ancient Germanic culture cannabis was associated with the Germanic love goddess Freya. The harvesting of the plant was connected with an erotic high festival. It was believed that Freya lived as a fertile force in the plant's feminine flowers and by ingesting them one became influenced by this divine force. Similarly, fly agaric was consecrated to Odin, the god of ecstasy, while henbane stood under the dominion of the thunder god - Thor in Germanic mythology - and Jupiter among the Romans (Rätsch 2003).
In modern-era Christianity, at least, the Eucharist plays a symbolic role in religious tradition that has occasionally attracted the label of "entheogen" or "placebo entheogen", even though the modern-era mainstream Eucharistic practice does not conform to the definition of entheogenic as a vision-inducing substance.
The entheogenic use of substances, particularly hashish. Its use by the "Hashshashin" to stupefy and recruit new initiates was widely reported during the Crusades. However, the drug used by the Hashshashin was likely wine, opium, henbane, or some combination of these, and, in any event, the use of this drug was for stupefaction rather than for entheogenic use. It has been suggested that the ritual use of small amounts of Syrian Rue is an artifact of its ancient use in higher doses as an entheogen.
Philologist John Marco Allegro has argued in his book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross that early Jewish and Christian cultic practice was based on the use of Amanita muscaria which was later forgotten by its adherents, though this hypothesis has not received much consideration or become widely accepted. Allegro's hypothesis that Amanita use was forgotten after primitive Christianity seems contradicted by his own view that the chapel in Plaincourault shows evidence of Christian Amanita use in the 1200s. [3]
Indigenous Australians are generally supposed not to have used entheogens, although there is a strong barrier of secrecy surrounding Aboriginal shamanism, which has likely limited what has been told to outsiders. Natives of Papua New Guinea are known to use several species of entheogenic mushrooms (Psilocybe spp, Boletus manicus).[4]
Kava or Kava Kava (Piper Methysticum) has been cultivated for at least 3000 years by a number of Pacific island-dwelling peoples. Historically, most Polynesian, many Melanesian, and some Micronesian cultures have ingested the psychoactive pulverized root, typically taking it mixed with water. Much traditional usage of Kava, though somewhat suppressed by Christian missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, is thought to facilitate contact with the spirits of the dead, especially relatives and ancestors (Singh 2004). Also, it has been suggested that the Māori of New Zealand used the biologically related "Māori Kava" or kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum) as an entheogen (Bock 2000).
In the archaeological record
There have been several examples of the use of entheogens in the archaeological record. Many of these researchers, like R. Gordon Wasson or Giorgio Samorini[5][6], have recently produced a plethora of evidence, which has not yet received consideration within academia. The first direct evidence of entheogen use comes from Tassili, Algeria, with a cave painting of a mushroom-man, dating to 8000 BP. Hemp seeds discovered by archaeologists at Pazyryk suggest early ceremonial practices by the Scythians occurred during the 5th to 2nd century BC, confirming previous historical reports by Herodotus.
In classical mythology and cults
Although entheogens are taboo and most of them are officially prohibited in Christian and Islamic societies, their ubiquity and prominence in the spiritual traditions of various other cultures is unquestioned. The entheogen, "the spirit, for example, need not be chemical, as is the case with the ivy and the olive: and yet the god was felt to be within them; nor need its possession be considered something detrimental, like drugged, hallucinatory, or delusionary: but possibly instead an invitation to knowledge or whatever good the god's spirit had to offer." (Ruck and Staples)
Most of the well-known modern examples, such as peyote, psilocybe and other psychoactive mushrooms and ololiuhqui, are from the native cultures of the Americas. However, it has also been suggested that entheogens played an important role in ancient Indo-European culture, for example by inclusion in the ritual preparations of the Soma, the "pressed juice" that is the subject of Book 9 of the Rig Veda. Soma was ritually prepared and drunk by priests and initiates and elicited a paean in the Rig Veda that embodies the nature of an entheogen:
"Splendid by Law! declaring Law, truth speaking, truthful in thy works, Enouncing faith, King Soma!... O [Soma] Pavāmana, place me in that deathless, undecaying world wherein the light of heaven is set, and everlasting lustre shines.... Make me immortal in that realm where happiness and transports, where joy and felicities combine..."
The Kykeon that preceded initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries is another entheogen, which was investigated (before the word was coined) by Carl Kerenyí, in Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter. Other entheogens in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean include the poppy, Datura, the unidentified "lotus" eaten by the Lotus-Eaters in the Odyssey and Narkissos.
According to Ruck, Eyan, and Staples, the familiar shamanic entheogen that the Indo-Europeans brought with them was knowledge of the wild Amanita mushroom. It could not be cultivated; thus it had to be found, which suited it to a nomadic lifestyle. When they reached the world of the Caucasus and the Aegean, the Indo-Europeans encountered wine, the entheogen of Dionysus, who brought it with him from his birthplace in the mythical Nysa, when he returned to claim his Olympian birthright. The Indo-European proto-Greeks "recognized it as the entheogen of Zeus, and their own traditions of shamanism, the Amanita and the 'pressed juice' of Soma — but better since no longer unpredictable and wild, the way it was found among the Hyperboreans: as befit their own assimilation of agrarian modes of life, the entheogen was now cultivable" (Ruck and Staples). Robert Graves, in his foreword to The Greek Myths, argues that the ambrosia of various pre-Hellenic tribes were amanita and possibly panaeolus mushrooms.
Amanita was divine food, according to Ruck and Staples, not something to be indulged in or sampled lightly, not something to be profaned. It was the food of the gods, their ambrosia, and it mediated between the two realms. It is said that Tantalus's crime was inviting commoners to share his ambrosia.
The entheogen is believed to offer godlike powers in many traditional tales, including immortality. The failure of Gilgamesh in retrieving the plant of immortality from beneath the waters teaches that the blissful state cannot be taken by force or guile: when Gilgamesh lay on the bank, exhausted from his heroic effort, the serpent came and ate the plant.
Another attempt at subverting the natural order is told in a (according to some) strangely metamorphosed myth, in which natural roles have been reversed to suit the Hellenic world-view. The Alexandrian Apollodorus relates how Gaia (spelled "Ge" in the following passage), Mother Earth herself, has supported the Titans in their battle with the Olympian intruders. The Giants have been defeated:
"When Ge learned of this, she sought a drug that would prevent their destruction even by mortal hands. But Zeus barred the appearance of Eos (the Dawn), Selene (the Moon), and Helios (the Sun), and chopped up the drug himself before Ge could find it."
Judaism and Christianity
According to some scholars,[7] cannabis was an ingredient of holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts. The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosm (Hebrew: קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם). This is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple. Although Chris Bennett's research in this area focuses on cannabis, he mentions evidence suggesting use of additional visionary plants such as henbane, as well[8].
The Septuagint translates kaneh-bosm as calamus, and this translation has been propagated unchanged to most later translations of the old testament. However, Polish anthropologist Sula Benet published etymological arguments that the Aramaic word for hemp can be read as kannabos and appears to be a cognate to the modern word 'cannabis',[9] with the root kan meaning reed or hemp and bosm meaning fragrant. Both cannabis and calamus are fragrant, reedlike plants containing psychotropic compounds.
Although some scholars, particularly philologist John Marco Allegro, have suggested that the self-revelation and healing abilities attributed to the figure of Jesus may have been associated with a drug, there is only conjectural evidence which is dependent on interpretation, and little or no academic support, for associating Jesus with visionary plants. The ecstatic experiences of some Christian hermits and mystics could possibly have involved the use of entheogens, in conjunction with fasting[10].
Allegro's book, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, relates the development of language to the development of myths, religions and cultic practices in world cultures. Allegro believed he could prove, through etymology, that the roots of Christianity, as of many other religions, lay in fertility cults; and that cultic practices, such as ingesting visionary plants (or "hallucinogenic drugs") to perceive the mind of god, persisted into the early Christian era, and to some unspecified extent into the 1200s, as he argues based on interpreting the Plaincourault chapel's fresco as depicting the use of Amanita.
The historical picture portrayed by Carl Ruck and other authors associated with Entheos journal is of fairly widespread use of visionary plants in primitive Christianity and the surrounding culture, with a gradual reduction of use of entheogens in Christianity[11]. These entheogen scholars have found and published many instances of visionary plant depictions in Christian art. R. Gordon Wasson's book Soma prints a letter from art historian Erwin Panofsky asserting that art scholars are aware of many 'mushroom trees' in Christian art[12].
The question of the extent of visionary plant use throughout the history of Christian practice has barely been considered yet by academic or independent scholars. The question of whether visionary plants were used in primitive Christianity is distinct from evidence that indicates the extent to which visionary plants were used in later Christianity, including so-called "heretical" or "quasi-" Christian groups[13], and the question of other groups such as elites or laity within "orthodox" Catholic practice[14].
Entheogens in literature
The substance melange (spice) in Frank Herbert's Dune universe acts as both an entheogen and a geriatric medicine. Control of the supply of melange was crucial to the Empire, as it was necessary for, among other things, faster than light navigation.
Consumption of the imaginary mushroom anochi as the entheogen underlying the creation of Christianity is the premise of Philip K. Dick's last novel, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, a theme which seems to be inspired by John Allegro's book.
Aldous Huxley's final novel, Island (1962), depicted a fictional entheogenic mushroom — termed "moksha medicine" — used by the people of Pala in rites of passage, such as the transition to adulthood and at the end of life.
Bruce Sterling's Holy Fire novel refers to the religion in the future as a result of entheogens, used freely by the population.
In Stephen King's The Gunslinger, Book 1 of The Dark Tower series, the main character receives guidance after taking mescaline.
The Alastair Reynolds novel Absolution Gap features a moon under the control of a religious government which uses neurological viruses to induce religious faith.
^ The Psychedelic Sacrament: Manna, Meditation, and Mystical Experience by Dan Merkur, 2001, Park Street Press.
^ Bwiti: An Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa by James W. Fernandez, Princeton University Press, 1982
^ Allegro, John Marco (1970). The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-12875-5.
^ Benjamin Thomas Ethnobotany & Anthropology Research Page
^ Giorgio Samorini, "The 'Mushroom-Tree' of Plaincourault", Eleusis: Journal of Psychoactive Plants and Compounds, n. 8, 1997, pp. 29-37
^ Giorgio Samorini, "The 'Mushroom-Trees' in Christian Art", Eleusis: Journal of Psychoactive Plants and Compounds, n. 1, 1998, pp. 87-108
^ Kaplan, Aryeh. (1981). The Living Torah New York. p. 442.
^ Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible, by Chris Bennett and Neil McQueen, 2001, Forbidden Fruit Publishing.
^ http://www.njweedman.com/kanehbosm.html
^ Conjuring Eden: Art and the Entheogenic Vision of Paradise, by Mark Hoffman, Carl Ruck, and Blaise Staples. Entheos: The Journal of Psychedelic Spirituality, Issue No. 1, Summer, 2001
^ Wasson and Allegro on the Tree of Knowledge as Amanita, Michael S. Hoffman, Journal of Higher Criticism, 2007
^ Daturas for the Virgin, José Celdrán and Carl Ruck, Entheos: The Journal of Psychedelic Spirituality, Vol. I, Issue 2, Winter, 2002
^ The Hidden World: Survival of Pagan Shamanic Themes in European Fairytales, by Carl Ruck, Blaise Staples, Jose Alfredo Celdran, Mark Hoffman, Carolina Academic Press, 2007
Roberts, Thomas B. (editor) (2001). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion San Francisco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
Roberts, Thomas B. (2006) "Chemical Input, Religious Output—Entheogens" Chapter 10 in Where God and Science Meet: Vol. 3: The Psychology of Religious Experience Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
Roberts, Thomas, and Hruby, Paula J. (1995-2003). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy [Online archive]
Stafford, Peter. (2003). Psychedlics. Ronin Publishing, Oakland, California. ISBN 0-914171-18-6.
Carl Ruck and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth 1994. Introductory excerpts
Huston Smith, Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals, 2000, Tarcher/Putnam, ISBN 1-58542-034-4
Giorgio Samorini 1995 "Traditional use of psychoactive mushrooms in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)?" in Eleusis 1 22-27 (no current url)
M. Bock 2000 "Māori kava (Macropiper excelsum)" in Eleusis n.s. vol 4 (no current url)
Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers by Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, Christian Ratsch - ISBN 0-89281-979-0
John J. McGraw, Brain & Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul, 2004, AEGIS PRESS, ISBN 0-9747645-07
J.R. Hale, J.Z. de Boer, J.P. Chanton and H.A. Spiller (2003) Questioning the Delphic Oracle, 2003, Scientific American, vol 289, no 2, 67-73.
The Sacred Plants of our Ancestors by Christian Rätsch, published in TYR: Myth—Culture—Tradition Vol. 2, 2003–2004 - ISBN 0-9720292-1-4
Yadhu N. Singh, editor, Kava: From Ethnology to Pharmacology, 2004, TAYLOR & FRANCIS, ISBN 0-4153232-74
Spirituality Portal
List of Entheogens
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Categories: Entheogens | Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Entheogen". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
https://www.chemeurope.com/en/encyclopedia/Entheogen.html


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What is a forensic and what are these reports for?
Forensic doctors are responsible, among other things, for determining the causes and the way in which an unnatural death occurred, as well as helping the judges in the procurement
Courts: BBVA blames the 'Villarejo case' on Francisco González and his team
Forensic doctors are responsible, among other things, for determining the causes and the manner in which an unnatural death occurred, as well as helping judges in the procurement of Justice by clarifying doubts about the circumstances of an alleged criminal act. Eliminating death and violence, this is broadly the task of forensic reports, documents that have gained relevance in recent months as a result of the alleged link between BBVA and Iberdrola with the 'Villarejo case'.
Both the entity chaired by Carlos Torres and the electric company led by Ignacio Sánchez Galán have hired PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) to prepare the exhaustive internal analysis that allows them to find out how far the alleged relationship of both companies with the Cenyt company, linked to the former commissioner, reached. of cop. But beyond these cases, why now everyone talks about forensic ?
What are these reports?
Forensics arise from the internal initiative of a company or someone linked to it, as directors, shareholders or partners, following a suspicion or indication of an irregularity that requires the reconstruction of what has happened to debug responsibilities and make decisions or If necessary, initiate legal proceedings.
"In general, this type of action arises when the company has some indication that there has been some illegal or unethical conduct, such as a case of fraud, misappropriation, accounting manipulation ...", explains Manuel Mendiola , Head of the Technology Risk Area at PKF Attest.
The forensic should not be confused with an internal audit , since the second is limited to the financial situation of the company and is governed by the criteria of the accounting regulations, while the first is a more in-depth work in which the treated matter
Why does it start?
In the development of the activity of a firm, situations of conflict or irregularities may arise that jeopardize its continuity or reputation, sometimes with irreversible effects. In those cases, the company considers scrutinizing the origin of the situations and requires the services of an independent third party to carry out this work.
What aspects do these reports investigate?
According to sources in the sector consulted, basically three: the misappropriation of assets by someone from the company, corruption between individuals or with public officials and the manipulation of financial statements, where an audit is usually not enough.
What techniques and procedures are used?
Depending on whether one issue or another, the procedures vary, although there are basically four: interviews with the perimeter of people who allegedly have information or have been involved in the irregularity; corporate intelligence analysis; copying and analysis of computer equipment (this includes personal computers, mobiles, tablets , etc.) and a substantive review of accounting type.
What elements should they include?
Manuel Gardeazabal, partner of Audit and Economic Consulting at PKF Attest, would highlight "the detailed description of the methodology used - referring to the methods followed and the premises that have served as the basis for the conclusions - that the report contains a clear conclusion and well argued about the purpose of the assignment and that it be properly accredited with all the necessary supporting documentation. "
Is it necessary for me to mediate a judicial proceeding?
No. Sometimes that is the trigger for the intervention, as in BBVA and Iberdrola, but this is not always the case. "Although in a very high percentage of cases, these works end up being provided as evidence in legal proceedings to prove a specific illegal or criminal act," says Alfonso Santamaria, partner of Audit and Economic Consulting at PKF Attest, a firm specialized in the sector.
What kind of companies turn to them?
There is no single profile, "fraud can affect any type of company," say the sources consulted. They agree, of course, that it is a matter of size rather than of sectors and that, the larger the firm, the more susceptible they are to suffer irregularities. Beyond that, among the companies that request a forensic investigation are listed and unlisted, family and non-family, large and less large ...
"We have found that it is more common in larger companies that have experienced high growth in a relatively short period of time and have not implemented effective internal control procedures in order to minimize these fraud risks. However, they are also numerous the forensic work we do for SMEs, "says Alfonso Santamaria.
Are they more common now than before?
Although investigations of this type are not new in auditing and consulting, in the sector they do point out that there is now a greater sensitivity within companies and in society to clarify possible irregularities, unlike before, when they preferred to remain hidden.
"In our firm, of course, it is necessary to read the newspapers to realize that this type of action is increasingly demanded," says Manuel Gardeazabal.
Who makes these reports?
KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC - the so-called Big Four - are the four major consultants that companies most frequently use for these tasks, but there are also a good number of law firms and boutiques specialized in resolving conflicts that they make up the universe of forensic investigation, economically speaking.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Waterhouse Price
Carlos Torres
Courts The report commissioned by BBVA excuses Torres and his entire board of directors of the 'Villarejo case'
Iberdrola vs ACSGalán prepares for the clash with Florentino Pérez: "Calm down. If you attack us, we will attack"
Economy BBVA blames the 'Villarejo case' on Francisco González and his team
Source: elmuldo
What is an IT Forensic?
Iron deficiency attacks these .. What are the symptoms?
What is ranitidine, what is it for and what medications have you withdrawn?
A year later, what is still motivating these yellow vests?
Not chosen yet? Mathematics teacher gives job guarantee, dance training not
What is and what is not fascism?
At what age should children have mobile?
Maeda Construction Listed companies of TOB group confront each other on Maeda Road

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: quill editor is not displaying the html string I am new to angular and using quill editor in my angular app and I am using it to allow users to write HTML code and rendering the HTML code coming from backend and I am previewing that HTML in a separate div but unfortunately the quill editor isn't rendering any HTML code or any text in the editor. it is blank and getting Cannot convert undefined or null to object error in console. Any kind of help would be appreciated. thank you

public aboutOptions = { placeholder: "Enter About Text...", modules: false, theme: 'snow', format:'text' };

about:string = '<h1> hello world </h1>'

 onTxtEditorCreated(quill) {
    var toolbar = quill.getModule('toolbar');
    toolbar.addHandler('image', this.imageHandlerMain);
    this.txtQuill = quill;
       this.txtQuill.setContents(this.txtQuill.clipboard.convert(this.about));
  }
 <quill-editor id="about" name="about" [options]="aboutOptions" (ready)="onTxtEditorCreated($event)"  required [(ngModel)]="about">
 </quill-editor>

A: Demo
if you didn't install
 npm install @dimpu/ngx-quill --save

in html use
<ngx-quill #editor  [modules]="modules"  [(ngModel)]="about" ></ngx-quill>

in component declare your models
about:string = '<h1> hello world </h1>'
  modules = {
    toolbar: [
      [{ header: [1, 2, false] }],
      ['bold', 'italic', 'underline'],
      ['formula'],
      ['image', 'code-block']
    ]
  };

If you bind directly string with html tag, quil converts it.
replaceAll(string, search, replace) {
    return string.split(search).join(replace);
  }

replace your html string wiht code like
this.about=this.replaceAll(this.about, "<","<")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Not confirmed yet, but it basically is.
Instagram is always adding new features to its mobile apps, and now it looks like voice and video calling is next. According to a breakdown of one of the latest Instagram for Android APK's code (via TechCrunch), the social platform is looking to add voice and video calling to its Direct messaging service in the near future. Iconography and strings of code were all discovered in the app which points to the features debuting soon.
If you recall, Snapchat also has video and voice calling in its app, so it's fair to say it looks like Instagram is copying its biggest rival yet again. The first time Instagram did this was back in 2016 when they introduced Stories, an alternative to Snapchat's main selling feature. Ever since then, they've basically brought over Snapchat's entire app to different areas of Instagram's mobile apps. Now, it looks like they'll do the same with voice and video calling.
It remains unknown when Instagram will introduce the new features, but we'll let you know when they do.


text:
Q: How to display the selected image in reactjs I wanted to upload images and display the image which was chosen, How to display the image after choosing. this is my code, help me display the image, I made the function to post the image, I can post multiple images in one click but i can't display the image to preview before upload , i try to use file reader but cannot display and upload.

  const [pImg, setPImg] = useState([]);
  const [images, setImages] = useState([]);

  const addImg = (ImagesPostDto) => {
    const data2 = new FormData();
    [...ImagesPostDto].forEach((Images) => {
      data2.append("ImagesPostDto", Images);
    });
    Axios.post(`/shop/${shopID}/Product/${pID}/Images`, data2)
      .then((res) => {
        if (res.status === 200) {
          setMessage({
            data: `${res.data.MESSAGE}`,
            type: "alert-success",
          });
          onShowAlert();
        }
      })
      .catch((err) => {
        setMessage({
          data: `${err.response.data.MESSAGE}`,
          type: "alert-danger",
        });
        setLoading(false);
        onShowAlert();
      });
  };

  const handleImageChange = (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const ProductImg = e.target.files;
    setPImg(ProductImg);
const reader = new FileReader();

reader.onloadend = () => {
  setPImg(ProductImg);
  setImages(reader.result);
};
reader.readAsDataURL(ProductImg);
  };

  const handleProductSubmit = (event) => {
    event.preventDefault();
    addImg(pImg);
  };

  return (

        <Form>

            Upload images
            <input
              type="file"
              id="file"
              onChange={handleImageChange}
              accept="image/png, image/jpg, image/jpeg"
              multiple
            />

        </Form>

          {/* {images.length > 0 ? (

              {images.map((image) => (

              ))}

          ) : null} */}

A: If you want to render images then, create ObjectURL from files array and set the images State then it should work fine. I have commented the code related to API call so that we can focus on rendering the selected images.You can just simply copy this code and paste it in CodeSandBox it should work fine Here is your code a bit modified:

import "./styles.css";
import { useState } from "react";

export default function App() {
  const [pImg, setPImg] = useState([]);
  const [images, setImages] = useState([]);

  // const addImg = (ImagesPostDto) => {
  //   const data2 = new FormData();
  //   [...ImagesPostDto].forEach((Images) => {
  //     data2.append("ImagesPostDto", Images);
  //   });
  //   Axios.post(`/shop/${shopID}/Product/${pID}/Images`, data2)
  //     .then((res) => {
  //       if (res.status === 200) {
  //         setMessage({
  //           data: `${res.data.MESSAGE}`,
  //           type: "alert-success"
  //         });
  //         onShowAlert();
  //       }
  //     })
  //     .catch((err) => {
  //       setMessage({
  //         data: `${err.response.data.MESSAGE}`,
  //         type: "alert-danger"
  //       });
  //       setLoading(false);
  //       onShowAlert();
  //     });
  // };

  const handleImageChange = (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    console.log("event", e);
    const ProductImg = [...e.target.files];
    const images = ProductImg.map((image) => URL.createObjectURL(image));
    console.log("images", images);
    setImages(images);
  };

  // const handleProductSubmit = (event) => {
  //   event.preventDefault();
  //   addImg(pImg);
  // };

  return (

      <form>

          Upload images
          <input
            type="file"
            id="file"
            onChange={handleImageChange}
            accept="image/png, image/jpg, image/jpeg"
            multiple
          />

      </form>

        {images.length > 0 && (

            {images.map((image, index) => (

            ))}

        )}

  );
}

A: You need to fetch the Images from GET API and set the response in setImages than it will show right now the images variable is empty array.

A: As far I can understand your requirement, you need to preview the Images Either when you have selected or After uploaded.
What you can do is, whenever you are preparing the FormData or at the time of change event, you can store each selected file's ObjectURL in another state and Easily can display these images via the State.


text:
Sordo confirmed to replace Latvala for WRC's Rally Argentina
By Anthony Peacock
Ford's factory World Rally Championship team has confirmed that Dani Sordo will replace the injured Jari-Matti Latvala for the upcoming Rally Argentina.
The Spaniard, 28, will substitute for Latvala, who is unable to compete in South America after he broke his left collarbone in a fall while cross-country skiing as part of his regular fitness program.
Sordo's switch to Ford from the rival Prodrive WRC Team was made possible after his employer, Prodrive, agreed to a temporary release. However, Sordo will return to Prodrive for Rally New Zealand in June, while Latvala is expected to be fit enough to retake his place at Ford on the Acropolis Rally at the end of May.
"We're naturally disappointed that Jari-Matti will miss the rally, but ensuring a full recovery as quickly as possible is the most important thing for him and the team," said Ford World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson.
"We're fortunate to have a driver of Dani's caliber to join us. His experience at Rally Argentina was a key factor in the decision, having started the rally five times," Wilson continued. "The agreement is for one rally only, and I would like to thank the management of Dani's current team, who were extremely gracious in helping us in such challenging circumstances."
Sordo, the 2005 junior world champion, has never won a round of the WRC. However, he has scored 32 podiums, including his second-place finish for Mini on Rallye Monte-Carlo back in January.
Sordo tested the Fiesta RS WRC at Greystoke Forest in the United Kingdom before heading to Argentina.
"I am really excited," said Sordo. "When you are a rally driver all you want to do is to compete, so I am really happy that Prodrive has given me the chance to drive the Ford."
More From Rally
Remembering Ken Block
Porsche's 911 Dakar Is Factory-Ready Rally Fun
La Carrera Panamericana Is Still Going Strong
Pro-Drive P25 Is the Perfect Subaru WRC Replica
4 Nostalgic Rally Cars at the Goodwood Rally Stage
Audi and Ducati Debut RS Q e-tron and DesertX
Check Out This Group B Rally-Inspired EV Concept
Which One of These Would You Take on the SoCal TT?
Hot Tub Lincoln Road-Rallies With 3 Tons of Water
Can you rally a Jeep Wrangler? Team O'Neil Rally School finds out


text:
package nl.dulsoft.homeautomation;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.core.env.Environment;

import java.nio.file.FileSystem;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

@SpringBootApplication
public class SonoffMqttApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(SonoffMqttApplication.class, args);
    }

    @Autowired
    Environment environment;

    @Bean
    public Path configurationFilePath() {
        String configurationFilePath = environment.getProperty("configuration.file.path");
        return Paths.get(configurationFilePath);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Sling this glorious casual flat from Kenzo into your wardrobe for total versatility. Glossy patent leather upper in a casual two-piece style, with a round open toe, petite stitching accents, contrasting leather trim and curving overlay style front bands with offset center cutout. Heel sling strap with back elastic panel. Smooth leather lining, cushioned insole with printed heel pad. Lightweight midsole and stacked 1/2 inch flat wedge heel. Smooth leather outsole.


text:
Q: what happens when a Thread throws an Exception? If I invoke the run() method on a Thread and the run() method throws an uncaught Exception what would be the outcome ?
Who catches this Exception? Does the Exception even get caught?

A: If there is an exception handler installed for the ThreadGroup, the JVM passes the exception to it. If it's an AWT thread, you can install an event handler for otherwise unhandled exceptions. Otherwise the JVM handles it.
Example of a thread group with a custom handler and how to use it:
public class MyThreadGroup extends ThreadGroup {
    public MyThreadGroup() {
        super("My Thread Group");
    }
    public void uncaughtException(Thread t, Throwable ex) {
        // Handle exception
    }
}

Thread t = new Thread(new MyThreadGroup(), "My Thread") { ... };
t.start();

Example of using an AWT exception handler:
public class MyExceptionHandler {
    public void handle(Throwable ex) {
        // Handle exception
    }
    public void handle(Thread t, Throwable ex) {
        // Handle exception
    }
}

System.setProperty("sun.awt.exception.handler", MyExceptionHandler.class.getName());

A: If you've submitted the Runnable to an ExecutorService you can catch the Exception as wrapped inside a ExecutionException. (Highly recommended over simply calling run())

A: It can if you assign it to a ThreadGroup that implements the uncaughtException(Thread, Throwable) method.


DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche could point to obvious flaws for their prolonged losing streak: Erratic goaltenders, floundering special teams, inconsistent scoring from players not on their top line .
"We just haven't played good enough," captain Gabriel Landeskog said.
The Avalanche were tied for the most points in the Western Conference after games on Dec. 7. Two months and a 5-15-6 record later, they're trying to get on track and climb back into playoff contention. It's been a perplexing freefall for an Avalanche team that hasn't won since Jan. 19.
Colorado's role at the trade deadline on Feb. 25 could be decided over the next few games. Once potential buyers — or comfortable making no moves — the team could become sellers. One thing Sakic won't do is mortgage the future. He said the two first-round picks are off limits, along with some of their prized prospects.
"For us, it's got to make sense going forward," Sakic said of a deal.
The recent struggles in net have plagued Colorado. Semyon Varlamov is 13-13-8 with a 2.91 goals-against average. Backup Philipp Grubauer hasn't been anymore steady, going 9-7-3 with a 3.47 goals-against.
"Got to get them playing with a little more confidence," Sakic said.
The power play of late has been problematic, too. Since Dec. 8, they're last in the league in penalty kill percentage and 21st in converting power play chances.
"Some losing teams kind of turn on each other, but everyone has each other's backs and we're trying to win with each other," MacKinnon said. "We know (with) losing comes changes and we don't want to change our team. So, the mood is still pretty good.


text:
"Pepe Escobar: China's Silky Charming Of Arabia". "China and Africa" (Natsin). Who could possibly have known that diplomacy and development would work so well?
"Don't Get Out of Syria" (Cafarella). Goyim, I . . .
"Germans Actually Want US Troops Out Of Germany, Poll Finds" (Durden). Who could possibly have known that people would object to the presence of an occupying army?
"Kushner Middle East "peace" plan involves a Palestinian sell-out" (Madsen). Dahlan pops up whenever the Khazars need a helpful Palestinian traitor.
"New Legislation Will Allow Israeli Settlers to 'Own' Illegally Occupied West Bank Land". It remains the most baffling mystery in the world how these sweet people keep finding themselves in trouble.
"Italy will not buy F-35s anymore, mulls walking out of existing contracts – Defense Minister".
"Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches to re-build sites in Syria." (Lang). "A Two-Pronged Attack on Orthodoxy and Russia" (Jatras). Fascinating tale of the convoluted liturgical conspiracies involving Ukraine. It pays to increase your word power: tomos and autocephaly.
"The 1943 Volyn Massacre and Ukrainian Nazis Today" The Poles are reliably, some might say stupidly, anti-Russian (except when it comes to things like buying gas for themselves), but the enemy of my enemy is my friend must sometimes give them pause. More complexity - the Poles have admitted hundreds of thousands - perhaps a million, and growing - of economic refugees from the failed state of Ukraine.
"Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu's interview with Italy's Il Giornale full version":
"Since US lawmakers and experts have been calling on the US government to clarify its strategy for Syria, our country is not the only one who does not get it.
In recent years during the continuation of this war, illegal from the point of international law, and even according to the US constitution, the official explanations for the presence of the US military contingent in Syria have been constantly changing.
I would like to recall that initially it was about defeating the ISIL, then about preventing re-emergence of the ISIL and now statements are being made about need to preserve military presence in Syria in order to deter alleged influence of Iran.
Therefore, it is hard to shake off the impression that the United States' chief objective in Syria is to prevent the situation from stabilizing, to prolong the conflict and undermine the country's territorial integrity by creating enclaves not controlled by the government on Syria's borders.
In the areas controlled by the United States for years they have been training militants, who are actively fighting with the Syrian government army and receiving supplies of weapons and ammunition.
In addition, it's not superfluous to recall that during the struggle of the US-led international coalition against ISIS, the territory controlled by terrorists only increased. Civilization and secular governance persisted only in a few pockets: in Damascus, the province of Latakia and partly in Deir ez-Zor.
At the same time, while declaring its 'noble' objectives and 'good' will in recent years, the United States has not allocated one cent of aid to provide real assistance to Syrian civilians devastated by long years of war. This applies even to the liberated by the United States and the coalition former capital of ISIS Raqqa, where munition and mortars left after massive bombardments by the "international coalition" still kill local residents. Every week, dozens of people are being killed, including children.
On the other hand, not a single incident involving civilians has been recorded after the Syrian troops' operations to liberate various regions and localities. Demining activities took place there, people received food and construction materials they needed to resume a peaceful life as soon as possible.
If there is some basis for our American counterparts' actions in Syria, it is too contradictory to be called a "strategy.""
"Tulare County Sheriff's cold case detectives say former Exeter police officer is a suspect in the murder of Jennifer Armour of Visalia" (Ellis). It is a cliché to blame all the unsolved crimes on the latest apprehended serial dirtbag, but DeAngelo appears to have been so prolific, and had the additional cover for a time of being a police officer, that it is credible that he was responsible for many crimes that have been blamed on others or are still unsolved.
Big-brain piece of the month (maybe of the year): "Why Was Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 Shot Down?" (van der Pijl) (strikingly straightforward timeline!; the commentators mostly hate it for its consideration of the deep politics rather than answering the question in the title):
"Still in Brazil before flying back to Moscow, Russian president Putin on the fringes of the football world cup finals also agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to pursue a comprehensive Land for gas deal. Its tentative provisions included normalising the status of Crimea in exchange for a massive economic rehabilitation plan and a gas price rebate for Ukraine. However, a special European Council meeting convened on the 16th could not reach agreement on whether the EU should follow the American lead this time, since countries with export interests to Russia and dependent on its gas, were balking. Instead, the Council stressed the EU's commitment 'to pursue trilateral talks on the conditions of gas supply from the Russian Federation to Ukraine' in order to 'safeguard the security of supply and transit of natural gas through Ukraine.'
The downing of MH17 on 17 July changed all that. As I said above, who did it and how remains obscure, although there are several pursued by people familiar with local circumstances, or revealed by insiders who know who which military assets were operating that day—but all that remains inconclusive. The official reports by the Dutch Safety Board and the JIT may be conveniently dismissed although the DSB rightly pointed at the questionable decision by Kiev to allow civilian planes to fly over a war zone. However, irrespective of the actual perpetrator, and whether it was an intentional act or an accident, there is no doubt about the West's intent to exploit the event to the maximum.
Former secretary of state and then-presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in a TV interview on the 18th called for making 'Russia pay the price' once its culpability had been established. Her to-do list for the EU included, one, 'toughen sanctions'; two, find alternatives to Gazprom, and third, 'do more in concert with us to support the Ukrainians'. The 'Land for gas' negotiations were shelved and on the 22nd Europe dropped the remaining hesitations when it underwrote the US sanctions targeting Russia's role as an energy supplier. As Mark Leonard, founder and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, noted in a newspaper interview a year later, 'without MH17 it would have been pretty difficult to find sufficient support for the increased sanctions on the Russian economy'."
"The downing of Flight MH17 also definitively sealed the fate of South Stream. Russian banks financing the project, led by Gazprombank, were hit by new sanctions, so that the necessary capital could no longer be raised internationally. Putin earlier had hinted at moving the transit of gas for the EU to non-European countries; in August, it was reported there was a Plan B in the works to export via Turkey. On 1 December 2014, during a state visit to Ankara, the Russian president announced that in light of Western sanctions and the refusal of construction permits in the EU, South Stream would be replaced by a 'Turkish Stream' pipeline, besides the existing Blue Stream link. However, in November 2015, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian fighter jet over northern Syria, throwing relations between Moscow and Ankara into a deep crisis and entailing the cancellation of Turkish Stream. This was only overcome after the July 2016 coup attempt against Erdoğan, in which Russia sided with the Turkish president, possibly even warning him in advance. Since the F-16 that shot down the Russian jet was part of a pro-NATO unit based at Inçirlik airbase that took part in the coup attempt, the incident over Syria would appear to fit in a framework that may also have decided the fate of Flight MH17: a provocation to throw relations with Russia into disarray, but we don't know for sure."
Part of The Clarification is that nobody - and least of all Trump! - still bothers to cloak the crass financial interests of the Assholian 1%, not to mention the supremacist aspirations of the Khazar bribers/blackmailers, behind platitudes like 'human rights' or 'international law'. Trump visits Europe wanting to sell US gas to Europe, wanting to block Putin's successful interference with the building of the Zionist Empire, and wanting to slow down the steep and accelerating decline of American imperial reach. Everything else follows from that. At least with Trump, the Eurotrash can't make any plausible claim that there were sweet talked by a charmer like Barry into falling for the same old bullshit once again.


Please help us to help you by ordering your repeat prescriptions at least TWO FULL WORKING DAYS (excluding weekends and Bank Holidays) before you wish to collect them.
By Hand. Please leave request slips in the prescription box.
Via your local Pharmacy. Please contact the pharmacy of your choice.
Online via Patient Access. Please follow the link below for this service.


Individuals and households can enjoy open-air Jeep Excursions to the San Andreas Fault, Palm Springs Indian Canyons, or the majestic Painted Canyon in the Mecca Hills Wilderness Area. New Mexico Jeep Tours invitations you to join us on one of the tours listed below as we explore the hidden treasures this land has to supply. Jeeps are comfy for 4 people or less, but when 3 people are pretty small (like kids), then you can have 3 within the back seat for a complete of 5 people per Jeep, but it will likely be tight.
Observe your guide from a separate car and drive into a nationwide park to learn concerning the native geology and Maya history. On this journey, we couldn't help however discover what great condition the Pink Jeeps are in. Tour guides are assigned their own autos, so they're very conversant in their operation.
Come and be part of us for day filled with enjoyable and Jeep adventures. Since 1960, our excursions have grow to be referred to as "should-do" experiences. Explore the island of Gozo by Jeep on a full-day tour from Malta. The city is a centre of commerce, farming, horticulture and small industries in South Iceland.
It takes about 5 weeks to transform a regular, run-of-the-mill Jeep into a Pink Tour Jeep. Your tour information won't simply drive you through these amazing sceneries in silence. The tour welcomes all ages and lasts for about 6 hours taking you on a visit that follows the Cripple Creek and Florence Railroad route.
All of the Jeep tours offered Online are the same, and a caravan tour. Custom excursions and personal guiding obtainable. Pink Jeep Tours believes in respecting and maintaining the environment for all folks to enjoy for a lot of generations to return.


Processing is one of the specialties of Cala Computer Technologien Gmbh. In what location other than in Unterfranken, Germany can one come across Cala Computer Technologien Gmbh. Processing isn't the only thing Cala Computer Technologien Gmbh is in the business of; repairs are one more domain of expertise. Industrial Equipments could be obtained from them. Dealing with processing, such as Cala Computer Technologien Gmbh does, is not rare being based in Germany.


Some young people either do not make serious efforts to find work or cannot find employment despite trying, and thus depend on their old parents for material support. This was not normal until some years ago in China. But an increasing number of young people today depend on their parents for financial support despite working because they don't have enough money to pay the high housing prices. Besides, there are some youths who depend on their elderly parents for almost everything.
In the United States, children are taught to be independent from an early age. Parents' wealth and savings are not necessarily meant for their offspring. Yet in China it is a tradition for parents to pass on their wealth to children rather than enjoying their savings in old age. In addition, they are also expected to take care of their grandchildren.
Most of the Chinese youths today could be financially independent if they want to get a job or start a business. Surveys, too, show that many Chinese parents are ready to provide necessary help to their children to make them financially independent.
But the problem is that salaries are too low compared with the overall prices of commodities, especially housing and other immovable assets that are important to lead a decent life. The share of labor in China's GDP is much lower than in other countries, which perhaps explains why grown-up children have to depend on the parents for a comfortable life.


2. Fixing "Customer Data" problems in SAP ECC.
3. Fixing "Business Partner Data" problems in SAP S/4HANA.
4. Creating an ongoing data governance process to maintain complete and clean customer and business partner data within SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA.
5. Data Cleansing: identifying and correcting data errors.
6. Data Enrichment: handling null values when target system is expecting a value, using external sources such as USPS and D&B to standardize and validate addresses and add D&B information.
1. appMDMTM offers clean customer master data in its hub.
2. appMDMTM helps integrate customer data and transactional data (via Complete Refresh and Change Data Capture) with big data sources such as Hadoop Hive, Mongo DB, Elastic Search, etc.
3. appMDMTM helps with generating reports in multiple dimensions.
4. appMDMTM offers state of the art data governance capabilties to help maintain customer and business partner data.


text:
Q: PHP shell_exec with fswebcam not executing I'm trying to make a simple webpage with a button which will call fswebcam program to update the photo viewed also by this paged.
I've started from this:
<?php
$output = shell_exec('/usr/bin/fswebcam -S 1 -r 640x480 -q /var/www/html/foto.jpg');
echo "<pre>$output</pre>";
?>

But it doesn't execute. I've added www-data user to video group. I also checked logs of php5-fpm and nginx but there are no errors.
How to make it execute?

A: According to this thread the solution is to uncomment cgi.fix_pathinfo = 1 in php.ini file. This worked well for me.


Become a member today and get free benefits!
Hit "JOIN NOW" and you are now on the Sponsorship page for citizens to consider. Only your name and agency will be viewed and a photo, IF you submitted one.
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text:
Q: How to use react navigation in other classes? I have a header and a cart button. This button is for navigate to cart Screen. When I press button I have see error.
Error: undefined is not an object (evaluating '_this3.props.navigation.navigate')
Header is in Header Class in Header file:
I use header in other screen like Wallet Screen.
<Header style={styles.headerStyle}>
      <Body>
        <Text>Logo</Text>
      </Body>
      <Right>
      <TouchableOpacity activeOpacity={0.5} onPress={() => {
                      this.props.navigation.dispatch(StackActions.reset({
                        index: 0,
                        actions: [
                          NavigationActions.navigate({ routeName: 'Cart'
      })
                        ],
                      }))
                    }}>
        <Icon type="MaterialCommunityIcons" name="washing-machine"/>
        {this.state.cartCountNumber != 0 ?(
            <View style={styles.cartCountBox}>
              <Text>{this.state.cartCountNumber}</Text>
            </View>
         ):null}
      </TouchableOpacity>
      </Right>
</Header>

Wallet Screen: When I used on-press in content of wallet worked!
export default class WalletScreen extends React.Component{

render() {
  return (
    <Container>
    <HeaderShow />  // My header is here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    <Content>
    <Text>Wallet Screen</Text>

    // When I use button and on-press here, working fine!

    </Content>
   </Container>
   );
  }

 }

A: If you access this.props.navigation in your Wallet screen, when you add navigation prop to Header in Wallet screen, it will work;
export default class WalletScreen extends React.Component {
    render() {
        return (
            <Container>
                <HeaderShow navigation={this.props.navigation}/> // My header is here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                <Content>
                    <Text>Wallet Screen</Text>

                    // When I use button and on-press here, working fine!

                </Content>
            </Container>
        );
    }
}


FCA regulated institutional FX and CFDs broker, Global Market Index Ltd (GMI UK) has just announced that it has partnered with MetaTrader technologies and integration specialist Gold-i.
GMI's integration with Gold-i aims to make its multi-asset liquidity accessible to Gold-i's global client base.
Gold-i has reliable, market leading technology and a worldwide client base. They are an ideal partner for GMI as we continue to evolve our business, expand globally and make our liquidity accessible to a wider audience. This latest development follows a major growth period for our business which has included significant investment in our technology, a number of new offices and a series of senior hires.
We are delighted that we are now able to provide GMI liquidity through Gold-i technology. GMI's multi-asset liquidity will be welcomed by our clients worldwide, particularly in Asia where GMI has a reputation for excellence and has built a strong brand from its local offices in the region.
GMI has recently announced a number of significant hires including two senior members from FXCM, Chris Hossain-Nelson, former Head of FXCM Pro and Aaron Brown, former Head of IB Partnerships, as well as Richard Bartlett, former Head of Sales at PrimeXM. ex DMM-FX executive Koji Miura has been appointed to head its Japan business and Exness executive John Taylor has been named its UK COO.
Gold-i, on the other hand, has recently opened an office in Sydney, Australia and formed a partnership with WMC in Japan on crypto switch and FX Broker products.


From the movie Labyrinth starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly, come the creature known simply as The Worm. He and his missus live among the twists and turns that make up the Labyrinth. They spend their days sipping tea and keeping poor lost travellers from taking a wrong turn and ending up in the court of the Goblin King.


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Exclusive: The New Music World of Devon Graves
Devon Graves, the voice of Psychotic Waltz and also one of the most unique artists in recent rock music shares his thoughts about music business and presents exclusively through Rocking.gr his new way to share his music straight with his fans.
The music business is in a dire state. Record companies are either going bankrupt or selling to whatever major will take it over.
Everywhere, the world is turning to the internet to find what they are looking for, be it music or anything else. Because of that, the world of physical media for music is fast disintegrating. It is easy to blame illegal downloads and pirating for record sales dropping over the last years. But I think this is not the real problem. LPs in the 1980s sold for $7.99 (and there was another invention called a cassette tape recorder by where you could record a friend's copy of an album for free). Vinyl LPs cost to manufacture was incredibly high by today's comparison, since the equipment was very expensive, very delicate, and took scientists to operate. Studio time for major studios was also thousands of dollars per day for a production. Millions were spent on recording budgets alone at times. When CDs first came out they cost 13.99. Nearly double the price of a vinyl LP. A CD player cost $700. A CD recorder cost $20,000. A blank recordable Compact Disk was $15.99 The cost was justified by bringing in all new technology into manufacturing. Well, let's look at it now: Digital production and manufacturing devices are dirt cheap. A recordable CD is 0.50 cents retail, and everybody has a free CD recorder with their laptop. Digital recording has become so affordable that nearly anyone in the world can have a full production recording studio for less money than a bad used car. And labels are paying pennies on the dollar (or Euro) to the artist compared to 20 years ago, and often noting at all. So now, why is it that a new CD costs $17.99 or so, when on all other counts, the costs to produce are next to nothing?
I think people stopped buying it because the price crossed over the value level, plain and simple.
Movies on DVD, for example, cost a lot more to make than music albums, and are infinitely more complex to produce and create. Making a movie is probably the hardest thing in the world to do. Plus the DVD medium is a major upgrade as well. The DVD retails for about the same 17.99. In 3 months that price drops to 9.99 (that is when I buy a lot). A few more months on that same DVD is going for as low as 4.99 by early the next year. I buy movies up at that price. Ones I never heard of even. It's just a great deal to me because I love movies.
I love music too, but I don't want to spend 16.99 for a two year old CD when I can buy a two year old movie on DVD for 4.99 and sometimes less.
So I decided try something a bit different.
Welcome to my World...
www.devon-graves.com (coming soon...)
This is not simply a web site to promote my music, but a complete revolution in the way I want to connect to my listeners, and bring my new (and some not so new) music to those who want to hear it.
I intend to bypass the music labels, distributors and retailers, each of whom needs to double the return of their costs along the way. In fact I am bypassing everyone who stands between the music and the listener with their hands out to be paid. My music, direct from me to you. In fact, it connects all the fans directly to me, and I directly to them. People can contact me directly and I can respond personally either through our Discussion Forums, or by Email. This is my personal grand project. To create my own platform. My own way of bringing my music and more, to the world. This will be the core of my World, and the official fanclub, if you like.
How much do I ask for my music? Answer: How ever much you feel it is worth to you. What sounds fair to you? Just donate whatever you can, or think is fair. A CD for 5 Euros? Fine. Even 1 euro is better than nothing to me. In fact, if you really cannot afford to pay anything, or it's impossible for you at the moment for any reason (You don't feel like it, for example), I would rather give it to you than keep it from you. There are people who will find a way to download it free even if I make it impossible here. So let me just make it easy for everyone. I give it freely, and you can donate (or not) freely in return via Paypal (or not).
The distribution is via internet, full CD resolution downloadable as well as MP3. All freely available to anyone who has an email address. I also plan to make physical media like CDs, Vinyl LPs and DVDs available by mail order. In a way it is my own label for my own work. My own radio station, my own record store. My own connection to the people that dig my music. If I get enough support, I will continue onward this way always. Sounds like fun to me!
Devon Graves


text:
Poll: Who Deserves to be called Selena? Selena Quintanilla or Selena Gomez?
BY Omar Villegas | September 17, 2015 AT 2:06 pm
By Omar Villegas September 17, 2015 at 2:06 pm
Selena Selena Gomez Selena Quintanilla
Selena's Family Says They're Ready For The Grammys And They'll Accept The Award For Her
By Justin Lessner January 14, 2021 at 5:07 pm
BY Justin Lessner | January 14, 2021 AT 5:07 pm
TARA ZIEMBA/AFP via Getty Images
Recently, it was announced that this year's Grammy Awards were postponed until March thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. The news disappointed many Selena fans who were excited to see her posthumously awarded a lifetime achievement award.
However, her family has reiterated their intent to collect the award on Selena's behalf, with her brother telling TMZ that they plan to make a family affair out of it.
Selena's brother A.B. says the family is ready to accept her posthumous Grammy.
Queen Selena Quintanilla will be honored at the 2021 Grammy's with the "Lifetime Achievement Award." ♥#selena #selenaquintanilla #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/20tZ4dyQki
— uɐʇs ɐuǝlǝs x ɹǝʞlɐʍuooɯ (@mjxag) January 12, 2021
Selena's older broth, A.B. Quintanilla recently spoke to TMZ about the family accepting Selena's latest Grammy on her behalf. He said with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Selena's parents will most likely stay home and that he and his sister Suzette Quintanilla will be in attendance if there's an in-person ceremony.
"Coming on the end of [the pandemic], I would say that it's not safe for my mother and father," A.B. said. "They probably would be staying in."
The Academy recently announced that the award show would be a smaller, virtual event taking place in March. But that's no issue according to A.B. He said that he's got grand plans to turn his sister's award into a family affair and that they've got their popcorn ready.
He also says it feels like Selena's still here whenever she wins an award or sets new records, even though it's been a quarter-century since she was murdered.
"It's kind of bittersweet because she's breaking these records and she's doing wonderful things but unfortunately she's not here," he admits. "It's strange how people in their mindset, and even with me sometimes, it feels like she is here…I'm just happy to have been a part of it and that people are still enjoying the beautiful art that made because those pieces that Selena made, in the music world, those are van Gogh's."
A.B. also spoke about Netflix's Selena: The Series, which debuted last month.
¡Selena y Los Dinos! pic.twitter.com/QQUYVz0YHv
— Selena: The Series (@selena_netflix) October 6, 2020
He said the series sheds more light on how their family played a part in Selena's success. A.B. was Selena's primary producer and songwriter and Suzette was the drummer in her band.
It would be great to see the whole family [accept Selena's award]," A.B. said. "As people are seeing in the series, this was a family effort. A lot of people are in shock going, 'Whoa A.B.! We didn't know you were the guy that wrote the hits and you wrote the music and you had so much pressure on you.' I'm very grateful for the series and for people learning from the series."
The Grammy will not be Selena's first.
In 1994, she became the first female Tejano singer to win in the Best Mexican-American Album category. During her award acceptance speech, Selena thanked her family. Her brother and sister helped to write, produce, and also played instruments on the album. Selena's father Abraham worked as her manager.
Selena was nominated after her first Grammy win in 1995 for her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido. Though she did not win the award, was thankful to be thought of in such high regard. She told a reporter at the time, "Just to be around these artists who are considered to be heavyweights is an honor."
familiaGrammy awardsSelena Quintanilla
Selena Gomez Is Holding Tech And Social Media Accountable After Trump Mob Shuts Down Congress
By Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez January 7, 2021 at 2:15 pm
BY Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez | January 7, 2021 AT 2:15 pm
VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images
A pro-Trump mob stormed Capitol Hill Jan. 6 following months of President Donald Trump and his allies attacking the 2020 elections. Selena Gomez, like most Americans horrified by the attack, spoke out on social media about what happened. She made it clear that part of this falls on tech companies and social media companies.
Selena Gomez called out social media and tech companies for enabling hateful rhetoric.
. @Facebook, @Instagram, @Twitter, @Google, Mark Zuckerberg, @SherylSandberg, @jack, @Sundarpichai, @SusanWojcicki pic.twitter.com/df3ZLR5Ruk
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) January 7, 2021
President Donald Trump and his supporters have used social media to spread misinformation since he was elected in 2016. Americans have watched as President Trump used Twitter to spread falsehoods and conspiracy theories. There have been so many debunked claims that President Trump and his allies have spread with no consequence.
Recently, Twitter started to flag some of President Trump's tweets as disputed or misleading. It was the first time a social media platform did something that checked President Trump and his rhetoric.
People quickly came to Gomez's side to uplift her statement.
Selena Gomez gets it! https://t.co/nzHN8HDVqi
— Bridget Todd 💁🏿 (@BridgetMarie) January 7, 2021
President Trump has a long history of hateful and dangerous rhetoric on social media. He has misled her supporters with false statements and has incited violence. The president has defended white supremacists on multiple occasions and even retweeted a video of a man shouting white power.
Social media platforms are finally muzzling President Trump with bans and suspensions.
THANK YOU SELENA GOMEZ pic.twitter.com/0KRBaOco90
— IVAN (@ivanmoratroya) January 7, 2021
Twitter has put the president on a temporary suspension after he incited the crowd that breached Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg enhanced the original 24-hour ban to a indefinite ban that will last at least until President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. However, people think it is a little too late for these actions.
"Disinformation and extremism researchers have for years pointed to broader network-based exploitation of these platforms," Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said in a statement. "As I have continually said, these platforms have served as core organizing infrastructure for violent, far right groups and militia movements for several years now – helping them to recruit, organize, coordinate and in many cases (particularly with respect to YouTube) generate profits from their violent, extremist content."
What happened Jan. 6 at the nation's Capitol was avoidable, but it's clear who incited this violence.
LISTEN TO EVERY WORD !!pic.twitter.com/0RnBRmzJyL
— Holly Lee (@LeeHolly81) January 7, 2021
Congress has officially certified President-elect Biden's win. What should have been a quick process to certify an election turned into a horrifying scene. It is a day that will always define President Trump's legacy.
READ: Far-Right Trump Supporters Violently Storm The US Capitol Forcing Lockdown
FacebookPresident TrumpSelena GomezTwitterWhite Supremacy
Video Shows AP Photographer Attacked By Capitol Hill Rioters Accusing Him Of Being Antifa
Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez / January 8, 2021 Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez
Far-Right Trump Supporters Violently Storm The US Capitol Forcing Lockdown
President Trump Caught On Tape Begging Georgia Secretary Of State To Change Election Results


text:
Summer floods
The big grey man of Ben MacDhui
The break-in
The mountain railway
Nigel Marsh • 13 March, 2015 • 0 Comments
First published in the October 2013 issue of Spotlight
He had been sleeping lightly for the past hour or two, his troubled mind rocked by the constant throbbing of the boat's engine. Yawning, he looked at the illuminated dial of the big watch he always wore when sailing — the one she had given him for his 30th birthday. It told him it was now nearly 3 a.m. He got up slowly and felt the salty breeze on his face. The wind had picked up while he had been sleeping, and there was enough now to fill the sails, even if the direction was not ideal. He turned off the auto – pilot and the motor for the first time since the previous evening and set the sails.
Once he was satisfied that the yacht was more or less on course, he looked across from the softly lit compass to the blackness straight ahead. He picked out a pattern of stars that he could focus on. By making sure the prow was lined up with these stars, he would keep the little boat heading in the right direction, his steadying hands on the wheel.
Was this little group of stars a constellation? Perhaps, but not one he recognized. She would have known, of course. She knew everything about the sun, the planets and the stars, about the world and how it all fitted together. But she wasn't here. He thought about the stars and what lay between him and them. Nothing more than a thin wisp of gas that clung to the rock and water of the earth — like mist across fields on a summer morning, ready to be burned away by the sun. After that, there was nothing but the loneliness of infinite space and scattered dust.
The lump that he felt in his throat made it hard for him to breathe. The stars blurred for a moment, and he blinked several times. The sails suddenly fluttered as the boat drifted briefly, until he turned the wheel hard to port, bringing the yacht back on course.
Where was he travelling to in this little boat? Somewhere that held memories, or somewhere that would hold nothing to remind him? Was it even important, just as long as he kept on moving?
Under his feet, the wood and fibreglass boat moaned. This was a strong pocket cruiser that could comfortably sleep a crew of four, a little family yacht for holidays and adventure. But the four berths lay empty, and he felt as if he were the only living creature breathing the cool air.
He looked at the horizon. Apart from the stars, there were no lights in any direction, no friends in the night in this dark bowl of ocean.
Below the boat, the rolling waters carried on down to the earth's crust.
This was the right place for him, this cold emptiness, where he could think about all that had happened.
The deep quiet of his thoughts was broken by a sudden sound, a gently explosive rasp. Had he imagined it? He listened, and there it was again, just off to the side of the little yacht, to his right.
Keeping one hand firmly on the wheel, he moved to the side of the boat and looked down into the darkness of the waters. At first he could see nothing. But there, with the next rasp, came a shower of seawater through the air from a darkness more solid and smooth than the ocean itself. Up ahead was a patch of shining green, a reflection of his starboard light.
Slowly he could make out more of the beautiful living thing that had chosen to join him and keep him company on his journey — bigger than his boat, moving with gentle power at his side.
For the next hour, the great whale matched the speed and direction of the yacht exactly, keeping so close that he was sure he could have leaned out and touched it if he had wanted to.
Each time he looked out across the water, the sight of the whale's steady presence brought joy to his heart, and he breathed in the cool night air deeply and easily.
Soon after the first light of dawn appeared in the east, washing the darkness from the sea, the whale's head rose for a moment, as its back arched and the whole of it sank into the depths, the great tail following last.
The wind dropped, and the sails fluttered. He wondered if he would need to start the motor again, but very soon came a more favourable wind than that of the night, and he was on his way. The sails filled grandly as the sun rose, and the little boat moved eastward through the ocean towards the morning.
Filed in: Fiction
About the Author: Nigel Marsh
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Chinese Mythology Podcast is the first and only English podcast focusing on Chinese mythology where you get to join Yang's husband Eric as she tells him of myths and legends she grew up with. We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we do!
Listen to the podcast and subscribe on Itunes Podcast, Soundcloud, Stitcher & TuneIn !
Join us in the live chat group to talk about Chinese mythology on Discord!


text:
Cast : John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy	Screenplay : Chris Columbus	Release : May 24, 1991	Director : Chris Columbus	Genre : Comedy, Romance	Stream Now
Posted by Tim Brayton Posted on Nov - 15 - 2011 0 Comments
John Hughes (Producing) Retrospective: Late bloomer
The 1991 Hughes Entertainment production Only the Lonely was not directed by, nor written by, producer John Hughes, which on the face of it makes it a poor candidate for a John Hughes retrospective, but I had my reasons. For one, it was the last time that Hughes worked in any capacity with actor John Candy, and it seemed better to save my final thoughts on that extremely profitable collaboration for a film in which Candy had a more substantial role than "uncredited Target manager" in the dreadful Career Opportunities; for another, it is one of only two movies Hughes ever produced that he did not also write (the other is 2001's New Port South, written by his son James and directed by Kyle Cooper; and anyway, that was an "Executive" Producer credit, which is a different thing altogether), and it seemed worthy of mention in that capacity. Neither of these, would be ultimately good enough reasons, of course, and the real reason I have elected to include it here is that Only the Lonely, though written and directed by Chris Columbus (who had previously worked with Hughes on Home Alone and would work with him again on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), has all the feel of its producer's touch and sensibility, as surely as something overseen by Spielberg in the 1980s or Judd Apatow in the 2000s is ultimately its producer's baby as much as it is the nominal writer's and/or director's. And this is maybe because Chris Columbus is one of the most gruesomely impersonal directors ever to churn out an international megablockbuster. Hard to say for sure.
The film is frequently referred to as an unofficial remake of Marty, which isn't quite true, but it's close enough to get us in the ballpark: Danny Muldoon (Candy) is a Chicago cop in his thirties living with his sharp-tongued mother, Rose (Maureen O'Hara, who came out of a 20-year retirement to make the movie), and it seems pretty clear that he's gotten to the point where even though he's not "happy" happy, he's comfortable enough that it doesn't seem worth the work to change things around. Until, that is, he's obliged to travel to a morgue in the course of his duties, and meets Theresa Luna (Ally Sheedy), the pretty daughter of the mortician, and instantly develops a huge crush on her. His singularly unassertive approach to courtship charms her in despite of herself, and they end up falling love pretty quickly; but she's not exactly thrilled to be dating a man who's so tied to his mother, particularly when his mother is a curt old Irish racist prone to using phrases like "Dago" and "Polack" in reference to her son's Italian-Polish girlfriend.
It's never, ever not clear where this is going, but compared to some of Columbus's other warmhearted movies about the difficulties of being in a family - I am chiefly thinking of the nauseating Stepmom - Only the Lonely is a pretty easy ride, almost entirely because of Candy and the miraculous casting of O'Hara: though they are not altogether believable as mother and son (one wonders what kind of man the arch-Irish Rose must have wed to end up with a boy like Danny), they have a wonderful rapport that makes up for it and then some. Better still, the actors' respective personae flow together beautifully: Candy's pleasant, insecure gentleness makes both an easy target for O'Hara's tart sarcasm, and gives his character a natural defense against it. And that relationship dynamic allows Columbus to present the two characters with a kind of sentimental brittleness that never devolves into sourness.
That central relationship is most of what Only the Lonely has going for it, admittedly. Sheedy, never the most flexible of the Brat Pack crew, is just too damn young to play her part convincingly; she lacks the worn-out quality that seems like it ought to be an important part of her character; the film's humor is by and large more warm and sweet than it is actually "funny", and the few attempts at active comedy a collapse under the weight of Columbus's indelicate touch (I am chiefly thinking here of the repeated motif of Danny's fantasies about the horrible things that might happen to his mother when he abandons her for a date or a sports event or the like, big sprawling slapstick gestures that fall flat). And while the ending is foreordained, it doesn't have to be the case that the stakes feel so low as they do here: as much as it's easy to root for Danny, it's much harder given how low-key every single moment of the film is, to feel much investment in his success - it shall happen in its due course, and that is that, and only Candy's immense likability keeps the film interesting.
On the other hand, for all the Columbus is absolutely not in any way an interesting or challenging or surprising filmmaker, he uses Chicago as well as it could possibly be used; better, in fact, than Hughes ever did (he was fantastic at using the North Shore suburbs, but when it came to the city itself, the best he ever did was Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which feels awfully like a tourist's view of the city). It is odd, maybe, that a man whose Chicago bona fides consist mostly of Adventures in Babysitting should be able to outperform a longtime resident on that front, but there you have it: he gets the geography right, he gets the feeling of the neighborhoods right - and having lived for four years all of a fifteen minute walk away from the location of Rose's apartment, I like to fancy that I know the feeling of the neighborhoods involved - and he even gets one of the tiniest details right that I have ever seen in a Chicago movie: Danny, a good Irish boy, is a White Sox fan and waxes nostalgic about the soon-to-be-demolished Comiskey Park, even though every movie character in every Chicago movie is a Cubs fun, unless it is made a specific plot point.
So anyway: the film is light, it is pleasant, it is forgettable. But it is very Hughesian - the comforting family-firstness of it, the gentle way it pushes two people into a love story that is companionable more than it is aching and passionate, the Chicago setting, John Candy. It is not the best of Candy's performances in a Hughes production (it is maybe, in fact, the worst, but that is a very relative sort of judgment), but it is perhaps the most Candyian: Danny is an exceptionally gentle, peaceable, self-denying figure, decent and nonthreatening and full of love for everybody but himself. If I have repeatedly suggested that the character and the actor are the only thing saving the film from mediocrity, it's because that seems to be such an important point: that Candy was an inordinately likable performer, and his characters were very nice; and no filmmaker ever exploited that so well as Hughes. Even if the result is, in this case, an absolutely inessential movie that is nothing but a cozy way to spend a couple of hours, it is still a gift to be able to create characters who are so warm without feeling in the least bit condescending, to either the role or the audience, and there is no such thing as a chance to see Candy in such a part that is a waste of time. Only the Lonely might not do much, but it surely does that.
Categories: comedies, john hughes, love stories, shot in chicago