text:
An Accepted Good
This blog entry is designed to further explore sociological understandings of human-nonhuman relations. Its focus, once more, is on the powerful societal role played by institutionalised animal welfarism.
Essentially, animal welfarism serves to regulate and control the human use and systematic exploitation of other animals while rarely attempting to totally end such use and exploitation. This is certainly true of orthodox forms of animal welfarism, while post-1970s "new welfarism" (law professor Gary Francione's controversial term) insists that step-by-step reform of exploitative practices may eventually abolish use, an ideological assertion disputed by abolitionist animal rightists.
From a sociological point of view, animal welfarism cannot be solely regarded as simply a set of legislative interventions enacted from the beginning of the nineteenth century to control, regulate and enforce the "humane use" of other animals. Orthodox animal welfarism undoubtedly seeks to perform its regulatory function: it regulates exploitation, while user industries can cope with welfare reforms if profits are not seriously dented - and yet animal welfarism appears to do far more than this. For example, it operates as a firmly entrenched institutionalised ideology that effectively helps to promote and maintain the value of "kindness to animals," and an ethos of "caring for" or "loving" nonhuman animals, while at the same time justifying routine harmful practices and time-honoured social attitudes.
As for user industries, it does them no real harm to be seen to respond to welfarist considerations – after all, they routinely claim the status of concerned welfarists, and they routinely reply to rights-based claims with animal welfare assurances. Typically, when animal welfare modifications are afoot, they spend a small proportion of their vast fortune initially opposing all reform attempts. Some fights they win, a few others they lose. However, aware of the transient nature of public attention, even in the latter cases, user industries can subsequently gain promotional benefits by characterising themselves as "animal welfare friendly" or "humane" - and all the better if they can secure ringing endorsements from former opponents in the national animal welfare corporations, which seem to come ever more frequently.
The apparent transience of public attention is matched by its failure to fully focus on precise detail. This is one major reason why modern-day politics is based on short ~and oft repeated~ sound bites. Likewise, public inattention also helps to explain why Francione, talking to Vegan Freaks Radio a few years ago, that his university colleagues assumed, due to PeTA's promotion of McDonald's limited welfare reforms, that the whole of McDonald's range was to be considered "humanely produced."
They even thought that Francione himself would be eating there.
Sociologists who study the mass media warn that there is an important issue of the encoding and the decoding of messages and – even in the age of the internet, the mass media are still the source of most people's knowledge of the news. In other words, while PeTA may believe they clearly highlighted the limitations of the McReforms, that in itself does little or nothing to guarantee that audiences will receive the message "as sent."
In general terms, animal welfarism is the accepted societal lens through which moral issues raised by the treatment of other animals are made sense of. Animal welfare opinion is so commonplace, and so firmly sedimented in the public consciousness, that regarding human-nonhuman relationships in any other way is most unusual and exceptionally difficult, even for "pro-animal organisations" and individual campaigners in the nonhuman advocacy movement. Therefore, ideological animal welfare has not only served to regulate exploitation but has also, for generation after generation, been a central support system justifying and excusing what humans have done ~and continue to do~ in the name of science, agriculture, and entertainment.
Conventional animal welfarism - the very name implies as much - is generally seen in a positive light. It is so firmly entrenched in the modern cultural imagination that it is regarded, according to research fellow at the University of Sydney, Barbara Noske, as "an accepted good in Western society." Furthermore, as stated, effective animal welfare legislation and "good welfare practice" has always been claimed, increasingly so in recent years, as the most serious concern - often the number one interest - of those who themselves wish to actively exploit nonhumans as a commercial or "sporting" resource. In other words, it is fairly rare to find even animal users who do not regularly articulate fervent support for the concept of orthodox forms of animal welfarism.
Since the emergence of animal rights philosophy represents both a radical rejection of the human use of other animals and also a fundamental challenge to its regulatory mechanisms, conventional animal welfarism responds to rights-based claims ideologically. It responds with a generalised charge that rights-based approaches are "unwarranted interferences," "extreme opinions" and, most of all, "unnecessary ideas." New welfarism reacts in a similar but not exactly the same way.
Thinking about rights and welfarist approaches to human-nonhuman relations means thinking about very different approaches to the subject, whereas traditional and new welfarists simply locate themselves in different places on a continuum that starts at least with regulating use. Essentially, traditional animal welfarism suggests that any desire to go beyond its own established precepts makes no sense, and serves no positive function, not even for nonhuman animals. New welfarists join in with pejorative claims about "utopianism" and "impracticality," while having abolition as their end game. Not only does animal welfarism stand like a monolith to inform the vast majority of discussions about human-nonhuman relations, fundamental and historical social conventions, and routine practices, gives succour to mainstream, society-wide, views that firmly state that:-
(1) human beings are entirely justified by many religious and philosophical canons in their use of other animals for their own purposes and
(2) this exploitative use, precisely because it is thought to be strictly controlled and regulated, can be properly regarded as ethically acceptable since the animals so used do not actually suffer in the course of their usage.
Fundamental social "truths" concerning human-nonhuman relationships are thought to be ~and repeatedly asserted as~ so self-evident that the norms and values which support mainstream views about other animals are unconsciously, and without controversy, transmitted on a daily basis at every level of primary, secondary and adult socialisation.
Put simply and directly, human beings in western societies are socialised to become animal harming animal lovers.
Since the "normal," "justified," and "proper" use of other animals is a central feature of western cultures, the apparent self-evident character ~and the unequivocal "correctness"~ of these embedded social attitudes means that any challenge to them can almost automatically be regarded as unneeded, beyond the pale, unreasonable, invalid, irrational and even "dangerous."
Claims from animal rights positions state that society is so prejudiced on the basis of species membership that, fuelled by notions of "human chauvinism," most people quite unproblematically instil speciesist ideology into children day after day, week after week, year upon year. They do this through routine discourse and everyday social practices - most obviously, at every mealtime (although the majority of speciesist parents do not appear to go out of their way to tell their children what ~i.e., who~ they are eating).
Similarly, speciesist sentiments are culturally transmitted in common stories told to children, and can be seen reflected beyond food choices, for example in clothing, social rituals, forms of entertainment and social gatherings. In terms of what children learn about human orientations toward other animals, the vast majority of youngsters are effectively socialised as speciesists well before they can be regarded as ethically aware individuals. In other words, most children are encouraged to participate in organised animal-harming activities (again, for example, at every mealtime) prior to developing the ability to morally evaluate what they are brought up to do with nonhuman property and animal produce.
Furthermore, they are routinely exposed to, and enticed to believe, the justifying ideology that accompanies the human exploitation of nonhuman "resources" – yet again, well before they know for themselves what their own and others' conduct entails for the lives (and, of course, the deaths) of other sentient beings. Indeed, in effect, adults may feel pressure to mislead their own children, or just lie to them, about the starkest realities of many human-nonhuman relationships.
This suggests that many parents may feel the need to obscure many of the details (if they know them) of what happens to the animals their children consume, especially those animals consumed as food. After all, who really wants to know the ins and outs of what humans do to other animals when they exploit them? Ironically, an average vegan is likely to know much more about how a piece of an animal's muscle arrived on a flesh eater's plate than most meat eaters.
The danger of the new welfarist approach to human-nonhuman relations is that it misleads the public into thinking that caring about nonhuman animals amounts to picking and choosing between different animal production systems. Pay a little extra, and look out for our endorsements, new welfarism seems to say, and then it points the public to animal produce they should eat and to those products they should not. Surely, openly advocating veganism as the baseline position of animal rights is much better ~and even simpler~ than getting our feet wet in such muddied waters?
Language, Power & Speciesism
Last month I had the pleasure of presenting to an informal philosophy discussion group that meets in Dublin. The group had requested that I focus on some sociological work on the issue of power in society. I wanted, in part at least, to include the "critical language studies" perspective of Norman Fairclough, especially as outlined in his 1989 book Language and Power. While many sociological accounts of power begin with Max Weber, I decided to place Fairclough's work in the wider sociological perspective provided by Peter and Brigitte Berger. Their "biographical approach" to sociology takes us through a human life story – from birth to death – and makes sociological points about every stage: in terms of teaching sociology, I've found it particularly useful for classes of "mature" students. In the course of the presentation, I realised that my focus on power and language speaks to what goes on in the animal advocacy movement in terms of (mis)understanding power relations reflected in language and in terms of not systematically challenging the dominant linguistic paradigm which is deeply speciesist in nature.
There is a rich sociological analysis of the role of social movements in civil society, including a long-standing programme on the subject initiated and run by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. In general terms social movements are seen as examples of popular political action. They may be regarded as a major threat to prevailing power relations, or seen as subject to domestication – "bought off" perhaps – within social contract ideologies. Popular political action may occur for a variety of reasons which can range from issues like the limitations of democratic systems, problems that arise within democratising societies, felt grievances, anger against injustice, and countermovement activity. In a more Foucauldian sense -in that power may be considered to be diffused throughout the fabric of society- social movements may represent and attempt to articulate the values of certain social constituencies at particular times. As a general matter, social movement analysis acknowledges on some level that power or social influence is embedded in language and language use; and sees social movements as playing a role in challenging - or upholding - the language traditions that tend to be an important constituent part of the concerns of social movement mobilisation.
It occurred to me as I prepared for my presentation that the animal advocacy movement has not been particularly good at challenging the dominant language forms of human-nonhuman relations, although the influence of how we speak about human relations with other animals is clear. Attitudes about human and nonhuman animals are embedded in socialisation processes and are transmitted generationally throughout the fabric of society. Philosopher Stephen Clark argues that human beings resist the notion that we are animals, and we hear it negatively if we hear that someone has treated another human "like an animal."[1] Marjorie Spiegel refers to how insulted many of us feel if compared to nonhuman animals, while Barbara Noske describes a "sharp discontinuity between humans and animals" in Western culture and discourse. Animal behaviourist Jonathan Balcombe argues that such ideas are part of our age-old "imperialistic view" of other animals. Even "Darwin's Bulldog," T.H. Huxley, subscribed to the "vast gulf" thesis that separates "manhood" and "brutes," even though he had argued that, "man is, in substance and in structure, one of the brutes."
'Postmodern' and post-structural thought is said to be posited on challenging oppositional and dualistic constructions; in the 'postmodern' age, rather than denying difference, the idea is tocelebrate it. While recent academic nonhuman animal advocacy incorporates criticism of Cartesian or Cartesian-inspired dualisms, especially those of mind versus body, human versus animal, and reason versus emotion, Marti Kheel is among eco-feminist authors to point out the continuingdualistic nature of society. To be sure, language is certainly central in the social construction and maintenance of such dualisms, perhaps especially that which concerns me the most in this paper, human versus animal. Not only has the animal advocacy movement been exceptionally poor in terms of mounting any sort of substantive challenge to the dominant language forms of human-nonhuman relations, worse still, the vast majority of members of the mobilisation for nonhuman animals seem rather carelessly to use language constructs which are themselves speciesist - not the best way to shine a critical light on this powerful social institution.
Language as a social institution and in power relations.
Sociologists Peter and Brigitte Berger argue that language is the first institution human individuals encounter, while recognising that most people would suggest that "the family" is the first. In a sense, both ideas are accurate and, certainly, the experience of family life is a significant part of most biographies and the location in which most of us initially learn languages and the meaning of words. The family is the usual site of foundational primary socialisation. However, when very young, children experience their families in ignorance of the fact that they are experiencing a family. I remember the first birthday party of a granddaughter who appeared to have absolutely no idea that all these strange people suddenly making a fuss of her were the members of "her family." Some she already knew well, others were infrequent visitors, and still more were with her for the first time.
While children experience interaction with the individuals around them – parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives like grandparents, and family friends and neighbours - they do so with no initial understanding that many of these people make up their families. This realisation comes later when familial members become known and known as family members – typically when people have been labelled as family members, and when children understand what such labels mean.
Language...impinges on the child very early in its macro-social aspects. From a very early stage on, language points to broader realities that lie beyond the micro-world of the child's immediate experience. It is through language that the child first becomes aware of the vast world 'out there,' a world mediated by the adults who surround him but which vastly transcends them (Berger & Berger, 1976: 81).
The picture we are presented with, then, is the image of language helping to create the sense and understanding of our micro- and macro-worlds. In her micro-world, the child's experience is structured by language. Furthermore, Berger and Berger suggest that, "language objectifies reality," meaning that all their experiences are "firmed up" and stabilised into "discrete, identifiable objects." Children rapidly learn to understand what surrounds them by learning the labels attached to the objects they experience in their lives. This is, the Bergers argue, certainly true of material objects, such as trees, tables, phones, and so on. However, the experience is more than just naming...it involves understanding how things might interact. A table can be placed under a tree someone wants to climb and the phone is of great help to request medical attention should she fall out. We get a sense of the experience of language developing –and of understandings and awareness expanding- from the centre outwards. Indeed, rather lyrically, Berger and Berger suggest that "mummy" is seen as a goddess whose throne sits at this centre of the expanding universe and, through language, we might come to know, or at least be told, that "mummy knows best." Importantly, they note that it is only through language that such ideas could establish plausibility. Even more significantly, children use language to fully understand what's going on as part of the crucial social experience of "taking the role of the other." As with many aspects of social learning,repetition is important too – it helps create recurring patterns, something sociologists learn to take a great interest in.
Berger and Berger state that,
It is language that specifies, in a repeatable way, just what it is that the other is at again - 'Here he goes with the punishing-father bit again,' 'Here she goes again putting on her company-is-coming face,' and so on. Indeed, only by means of such linguistic fixation (that is, giving to the action of the other a fixed meaning, which can be repeatedly attached to each case of such action) can the child learn to take the role of the other. In other words, language is the bridge from 'Here he goes again' to 'Watch out, here I come.' (1976: 83.)
As children understand social roles, so social roles structure their world. The micro-world of roles extends into the wider macro-setting, just as the macro-world can enter the immediate micro-situation. Social roles represent social institutions. So the punishing father (doing the "punishing-father bit") will use language (sometimes bad language) and, while some of his language can simply be expressing his own anger, other language of the father figure will invoke wider societal values. This acts to interpret and justify the punishment. While the offending act might be described, the fact that the punishment is well deserved is also articulated. The macro-world is involved because the punishment represents more than any individual's reaction. The punishment is placed in social context; part of a bigger world of social manners and morals, and vast ideological social constructions such as "God" may also play a part in the punishment, invoked often as an authority on good action and the moral difference between good and evil.
What Berger and Berger describe as a "little micro-world drama" is inevitably related to the social structure as the father represents a generalised system of morals and good behaviour within which,
Language thus confronts the child as an all-encompassing reality. Almost everything else that he experiences as real is structured on the basis of this underlying reality - filtered through it, organised by it, expanded by it or, conversely, banished through it into oblivion for that which cannot be talked about has a very tenuous hold on memory. (1976: 83-4.)
If this perspective reveals the important role of language in society as a general matter, Norman Fairclough, and others who work in "critical language studies," demonstrate the connections between language and power. Studying "the place of language in society," Fairclough argues that, "language is centrally involved in power, and struggles for power, and it is so involved through its ideological properties." He says that language requires being seen as social practice determined by social structures, and that discourse is determined by sets of conventions that are associated with social institutions, shaped by power relations, and located in both institutions and in society as a whole. Therefore, social structure and social practice exists within a dialectic relationship. Discourse affects social structures and social structures affect discourse and, therefore, discourse can contribute to social continuity and social change.
Fairclough provides a detailed analysis of an extract of a police officer interviewing a witness to an event defined as constituting a crime.[2] He highlights the power relations reflected in these social roles (police officer and witness), studies the language used, and concludes that social conditions determine properties of discourse. Fairclough says that, "one wishes to know to what extent the positions which are set up for members of the 'public' in the order of discourse of policing are passively occupied by them." He notes that the witness in the extract seems quite compliant -that the position of witness is "compliantly occupied"- and, given this compliance, the language used serves to sustain this type of power relationship. If the linguistic convention was challenged – on the other hand – that can be regarded as an attempt to change social relationships.
Language and Animal Advocacy.
Criminologist Piers Beirne discusses language use in relation to animal advocacy and, in a passage entitled "Speciesism and the power of language," he points out that the distinctions between human and nonhuman animals carry with them cultural baggage, not least reflected in the perception mentioned earlier, that many humans tend not to see themselves as animals at all.
Beirne states that,
At root, the distinction assumes that non-human animals are necessarily the Other, among whose undesirable traits are uncleanliness, irrationality, untrustworthiness, lust, greed and the potential for sudden violence. (2007: 62.)
We seem to construct a world in which some lives are regarded as worthwhile and others are deemed less worthy, with little intrinsic value, or none at all. Beirne notes that we refer to ourselves as "human beings" without hesitation, yet we would find the term "animal beings" odd. While individual humans are understood as gendered beings of great complexity, nonhuman animals, with the exception of pets, "are seen as undifferentiated objects each of whom is normally identified not as 'she' or 'he' but an 'it' (it 'which'…)" Noting a link between speciesism and sexism, Beirne argues that both human females and nonhuman animals are seen as "objects to be controlled, manipulated and exploited." Moreover, he points out that, when men describe women "as 'cows,' 'bitches,' '(dumb) bunnies,' 'birds,' 'chicks,' 'foxes,' 'fresh meat,' and their genitalia as other species, they use derogatory language to position both women and animals to an inferior status of 'less than human.'" The fact that nonhuman animals are regarded as items of property, Beirne suggests, means that some forms of speciesist language are rather subtle. For example, "'Fisheries'…refers to no objective ontological reality but to diverse species that are acted upon as objects of commodification by humans and, as such, are trapped or otherwise 'harvested,' killed and consumed." Looking for other forms of "egregious misdescription," Beirne lists the following: "laboratory animals," "pets," "circus animals," and "racehorses." In relation to the latter, he says this term misdescribes horses who "are used by humans to race against each other over tracks and on courses. In fact, they are horses used as racehorses."
Since language can bolster or challenge conventional power relations and, since one recognised task of social movements may involve challenging prevailing linguistic convention, Beirne notes the attempts made to overcome a central juxtaposition –"humans" and "animals"- within the animal advocacy movement and academia. He suggests, for example, that the term "non-human animal" is in vogue within the advocacy movement although, in my experience, it is still most common for advocates, be it on email listings, forums, or in general correspondence to the mass media, to refer to nonhuman animals simply as "animals," thereby often missing the opportunity to challenge the status quo. Beirne further suggests that the construction, "animals other than humans," is rather cumbersome - and then there is fellow criminologist Geertrui Cazaux's lengthy acronym developed in her PhD, "animals other than human animals." Noting that these constructions do not fully escape the clutches of speciesism in the first place, Beirne says that his own practice is to outline these language issues and then enter "hereinafter, 'animals,'" after the term "non-human animals," so that he can move on. This sounds like a sensible strategy for a long article, especially when addressing a largely academic audience, whereas the point would probably be lost if used, for example, on an online forum.
The person who has most thoroughly analysed power and language in connection to human-nonhuman relations is Joan Dunayer, particularly in her first book published in 2001, Animal Equality: Language and Liberation. Dunayer argues that language is deeply embedded in the way we use nonhuman animals and in the way we talk about how we use them. She says, in fact, that we lie about what we do: we lie to ourselves and we lie to others. We lie about our own species while we systematically lie about others. Dunayer outlines in detail the role of language in our thoughts about human-nonhuman relations,
Deceptive language perpetuates speciesism, the failure to accord nonhuman animals equal consideration and respect. Like sexism and racism, speciesism is a form of self-aggrandising prejudice. Bigotry requires self-deception. Speciesism can't survive without lies. (2001: 1.)
The depth of this issue is emphasised in Dunayer's work when she points out that, "Standard English supplies these lies in abundance." Moreover, the linguistic lies we tell about ourselves and other animals take many different forms and range "from euphemism to false definition. We lie with our word choices. We lie with our syntax. We even lie with our punctuation." Toward the end of Dunayer's text, she includes "do" and "don't" style guidelines followed by a thesaurus of alternatives to speciesist terms. The style guidelines include advice on what to safely employ, and what to avoid, in terms of presentation, sentence structure, word choice and punctuation, while the thesaurus provides a comprehensive list of non-speciesist alternatives such as replacing words like "dam" and "sire" with "mother" and "father;" or "feed on" with "eat," and "gestation" with "pregnancy."
When I reviewed Animal Equality for a grassroots animal advocacy magazine, ARCnews, in 2001, I highlighted some of the more challenging recommendations in the book which I suggested wouldnot catch on or be taken up even within the animal advocacy movement. For example, Dunayer suggests the replacement of terms such as "caretaker," "collection," and "aquarium" with "captor," "prisoners" and "aquaprison" respectively. She also recommends replacing "bacon," "ham" and "pork" with "pig flesh," and "beef" with "cow flesh." She further proposes replacing "zoo handler" with "oppressor;" "beef producer" with "cattle enslaver;" "broiler chicken" with "enslaved chicken," "farm (with enslaved nonhumans)" with "confinement facility" or "enslavement operation," and so on.
Clearly, Dunayer's style guidelines and thesaurus were created with a strong language challenge in mind. In a similar way to which feminists have linguistically attacked patriarchal values, she wants animal advocates to systematically confront linguistic speciesism. Although it is clear that language is routinely utilised to maintain and bolster existing power relations, there is no evidence, as I foresaw, almost a decade on from the publication of Animal Equality, that animal advocates have taken up Dunayer's linguistic assault on speciesist language or even anything like it. As said, the vast majority of animal advocates appear content to use the term "animal" to describe nonhuman animals whereas, in Dunayer's view, "animal" should be used to describe both human and nonhuman animals when spoken about together.
Would Dunayer's aspirations for the animal advocacy movement still be worthwhile? According to Piers Beirne, "We humans routinely discriminate against non-human animals with our everyday usage of 'speciesist language', namely, utterances that express a prejudice or attitude towards one species – usually one's own – and against those members of other species." The key issue here, sociologically speaking, is the everyday usage of speciesist language. As part of socialisation processes – and embedded into the supportive pillars of speciesism: philosophy, theology and social practice - language use is a major means of transmitting normative values. Any social movement mobilisation would be wise to look very carefully at how orthodox language is used in the "battle of ideas" that they are involved in.
[1] While it is rare that human animals refer to themselves as animals, it is even less likely that we self-describe as apes or mammals. This issue arose when legal scholar and animal rights philosopher Gary Francione addressed an event during "Animal Rights July" at UCD in 2009. It was pointed out that humans do not make the "mammal connection" to cows when discussing cows' milk, especially in the light that many people still apparently believe that cows "give milk for life" without requiring to be made pregnant at regular intervals.
[2] Police officer (p). Did you get a look at the one in the car?
Witness (w). I saw his face, yeah.
p. What sort of age was he?
w. About 45. He was wearing a…
p. And how tall?
w. Six foot one.
p. Six foot one. Hair?
w. Dark and curly. Is this going to take long? I've got to collect the kids from school.
p. Not much longer, no. What about his clothes?
w. He was a bit scruffy-looking, blue trousers, black…
p. Jeans?
w. Yeah.
Sources used in this blog entry.
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Balcombe, J. (2010) Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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Beirne, P. (2007) "Animal rights, animal abuse, and green criminology," in P. Beirne & N. South (eds.) Issues in Green Criminology: Confronting Harms Against Environments, Humanity and Other Animals. Cullompton: Willan.
Berger, P. and Berger, B. (1976) Sociology: A Biographical Approach. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Nestled in the heart of enchanting Hadrian's Wall countryside, Bridge House boasts fabulous panoramic views of Milecastle 42, Cawfields and Hadrian's Wall which encompasses its entire northern outlook. Only half a mile from Bridge House sits the national trail set amidst spectacular scenery.
The house has two letting bedrooms; a double with an ensuite and a twin bedded room also with ensuite. Both bedrooms and ensuites have been newly refurbished to an excellent standard and possess tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryers and televisions with Freeview and a DVD player.
Bridge House also features a private dining area with a cosy log burning stove where guests can enjoy breakfast.
We provide a full English breakfast for all guests. Evening meals are available on request for a supplementary charge, however guests can make use of the highly regarded Milecastle Inn; renowned for its excellent food which is opposite Bridge House.
To see more of Bridge House, the rooms or find out what is situated nearby, navigate via the menu at the top or the pictures opposite.
If you have an queries or would like to book a room, click here or navigate to 'Booking & Contact'.
To get directions and a map of where we are, click here or navigate to 'Location'.


text:
Q: How to get data value in string C# I have an object like this. How can I parse the Name Surname from this object?
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        }]
    }
}

I'm getting this data to an external api using HttpClient but I can't parse it by values. Can you help with this, the type of data is System.String

A: You have a couple of options. The most type-safe way would be to define C# classes which represent the schema of your JSON content and then deserialise into an instance of those like so:
public class Data
{
    public int Count { get; set; }
    public List<DataObject> Objects { get; set; }
}

public class DataObject
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string MiddleName { get; set; }
    public string Login { get; set; }
}

public class  MyJSONObject
{
    public bool HasError { get; set; }
    public string AlertType { get; set; }
    public string AlertMessage { get; set; }
    public Data Data { get; set; }
}

...

//Deserialise
var json = "<snip>";
var deserialised = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<MyJSONObject>(json);

//Extract the info you want
 Console.WriteLine(deserialised.Data.Objects[0].LastName);

A second, more quick and dirty way to do it would be to parse the JSON into a JsonObject (this is using System.Text.Json) and then extract out the info you need:
var jsonObj = JsonObject.Parse(Properties.Resources.JSON);
var objectsArray = ((JsonArray)y["Data"]["Objects"]);

Console.WriteLine(objectsArray[0]["LastName"]);

A similar method would work with Newtonsoft.Json as well, although you'd need to use JObject instead of JsonObject and JArray rather than JsonArray in that case.

A: If you use c#, save output in string and serialize, usa this library
using Newtonsoft.Json;

JObject json = JObject.Parse(str);

string Name= json.Data.Objects[0].FirstName

string Surname = json.Data.Objects[0].Lastname

A: If you are using System.Text.Json:
var jsonObject= JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonObject>(jsonString);

Then you can use jsonObject["Data"]["Objects"][0]["FirstName"] to get the data.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The strange saga of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
The strange saga of Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii continues. The serial originally had as a center-piece, the goings on in the life of a joint family, with the couple of Om and Parvati Agarwal (Kiran Karmakar and Sakshi Tanwar) respectively being the main driving force behind the family.
And then some time ago, mainly due to some misunderstanding / dispute between Kiran Karmakar and Balaji's producer Ekta Kapoor, the character of Om Agarwal had to die a sudden death in the floods in Gujarat (although this was a murder done by Trishna (Mita Vashisht) due to Om marrying her when he was already married). And then Parvati had to go through a period when she was framed for the murder, and vanishes for 18 years after staging a death in the jail. She then comes back in order to get revenge, and eventually gets revenge on Trishna by getting her to commit to doing the murder in front of the police and taken to jail.
But there was never any doubt that Om was dead; after all, it has been 19-20 years since he has been apparently dead, and there was a funeral organized for him with his own body. And now he is back in the serial when they suddenly see him in Varanasi along with a wife and children. The entire Agarwal family are amazed to see him in the role of Rishab and he does not acknowledge any traces of familiarity. Current speculation is that either he had a memory lapse and built up a new family, or that his current wife is forcing him to play that role for some specific reason.
Of course, it is quite clear that Kiran Karmakar has made his peace with Ekta Kapoor, and hence is back into this prime-time (10 PM) never ending serial. As an aside, if he is indeed Om, then why is Trishna in jail ?
Posted by Ashish Agarwal at 10/25/2007 03:39:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Alive, Character, Dead, family, Hindi, Marriage, Serial, Transformation, TV, Values
What's happening in Saloni Ka Safar
For the first time for a long time in Hindi Serials, I am at a loss to figure out what is happening on the Zee prime-time serial, Saat Phere - Saloni Ka Safar. At a time when Saloni has got pregnant, she suddenly starts feeling dizzy and faint.
And then the unthinkable happens. With a promise about her musical career, Saloni, whose life is all about her husband and relatives, starts misbehaving with all of them, to the extent that she speaks to her mother-in-law badly, does not attend Poojas at home, and horrors of horrors, tell Nahar as to whether they can postpone having the baby (imagine Saloni saying that she would go in for an abortion now !!). Nahar is positively disgusted with her behavior, and Saloni also starts belittling the young girl given shelter by Nahar, reminding her about her low status (something that you would not expect from Saloni).
And you always keep on wondering about how these people can never learn; all of them know that Kaveri can never reform herself, and yet they keep on overlooking all her issues. So, after getting to know that Kaveri had taken somebody else's baby and claimed it as her own, they kicked her out, and then got her back after Saloni pretty much convinced them; and now Kaveri will again try and do some mischief against Saloni.
Back to Saloni's behavior, it might be that she has been told that she is affected by a terminal disease, and that is why she is attempting to push Nahar away from her and towards that young woman. One can never understand what the motive is for characters inside Hindi serials.
Labels: Character, family, Hindi, Marriage, Saas Bahu, Serial, Transformation, TV, Values, Zee
Doordarshan Nostalgia: Nukkad: Streetlife
There are times when you get reminded of serials that one watched a long time ago, at a time when Doordarshan was the only channel in town and the only entertainment that you got on TV were the serials and Chitrahaar that Doordarshan would dish out.
One such very popular serial of the Doordarshan time was called 'Nukkad'. What does Nukkad mean ? It literally means the neighborhood, and was all about the characters who would live in the neighborhood or a locality (in the case of the serial, it was a locality of people that were not well-off by any means, in fact, they were poor). The idea of the serial was to show their life, and for many of us, it was a good awakening to see how people separate from us lived, what were their hopes and aspirations, and most of all, they emotions, their ambitions, and their despair.
The serial was directed by Saeed Mirza, and starred such actors such as Dilip Dhawan as Guru (Electrician), Avtar Gill as Kadar Bhai (Hotelier), Sameer Khakar as the drunkard Khopdi, Javed Khan as the barber, Pavan Malhotra as the cycle repair guy (Hari), Rama Vij as the wise teacher, Suresh Chatwal as Chotu, and many others.
So you had stories related to their everyday life and interactions, and you had stories about their attempts to do something like when Hari attempts to set a world record for the longest continuous time cycling and fails when very close, and another time when they play a cricket match and win with a shot from the most unlikely of sources.
Labels: Character, Classic, Comedy, Doordarshan, Hindi, Locality, Serial, TV
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa finale
The finale of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on the 13th of October, a Saturday was relatively star-less. It had just Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan as the stars, which seems somewhat less for the finals of a major reality show. However, the show, staged live, was held in a massive location with a large crowd.
Overall, I found the show to be somewhat disappointing, it seemed to follow a set pattern, with the organizer of the show having decided that the time of the event needed to be filled in. I found only 3 things of interest in the whole show, whereby Akshay Kumar sang a song live, the show got 10 crore votes overall, and they got Maulie Dave in to sing a song.
The show started with some commentaries from the family members of the 3 finalists, Amaanat Ali, Aneek Dhar and Raja Hasan. All 3 deserve to be there, with some great overall quality of singing. In many cases, with proper orchestra and the sound room support, these folks can start singing for movies. And they waited for Akshay to arrive, since he was delayed. They had the gurus coming in style, and showcasing the progress of people in the various teams under the gurus.
So the show moved on and on, and these 3 finalists got to sing more songs wearing all manner of costumes. But eventually, they announced the results, with Amaanat coming 3rd, and then after some more song and dance, having Aneek declared as the winner. And that was it. I liked the series in terms of the quality of singing, and the encouragement offered by the gurus, with Himesh being the master at screaming and otherwise making his presence felt.
Some videos from the event:
Labels: Competition, Hindi, Music, Reality Show, Serial, TV, Videos, Zee

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


TORONTO - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is offering to buy debt from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer creditors on condition they vote against a proposed combination with Spyglass Entertainment.
Icahn, Lionsgate's largest shareholder who is backing the Canadian mini-studio's rival run for MGM, said his group will purchase senior secured loans to the hobbled Hollywood studio at 45 cents on the dollar. He already owns about 13% of the $4 billion in debt.
Icahn's conditions include at least $963 million of the senior notes participating in the offer.
The offer to buy debt comes as Icahn lines up alongside arch-nemesis Lionsgate to defeat a rival bid to control MGM from Spyglass and succeed with their own.
His debut purchase offer will expire on Oct. 29 when MGM creditors are scheduled to vote on the proposed Spyglass combination.
Icahn said the Spyglass plan for MGM is a "prescription for disaster," and that it was being "ramrodded through with the typical fear tactic that the 'sky will fall' if the plan is not approved."
The activist investor said the sky was more likely to fall on MGM if its creditors approved the Spyglass plan.


text:
import re
import json
from urlparse import urlparse

from scrapy.selector import Selector

try:
    from scrapy.spider import Spider
except:
    from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider as Spider
from scrapy.utils.response import get_base_url
from scrapy.contrib.spiders import CrawlSpider, Rule
from scrapy.contrib.linkextractors.sgml import SgmlLinkExtractor as sle

from zhihu.items import *
from misc.log import *

'''
1. 默认取sel.css()[0],如否则需要'__unique':false
2. 默认字典均为css解析,如否则需要'__use':'dump'表明是用于dump数据
'''

class ZhihuSpider(CrawlSpider):
    name = "zhihu"
    allowed_domains = ["zhihu.com"]
    start_urls = [
        "http://www.zhihu.com/",
        "http://www.zhihu.com/people/jia-yang-qing-74",
    ]
    rules = [
        Rule(sle(allow=("/people/[^/]+/followees$")), callback='parse_followees'),
        Rule(sle(allow=("/people/[^/]+/followers$",)), callback='parse_followers'),
        Rule(sle(allow=("/people/[^/]+$",)), callback='parse_people_with_rules', follow=True),
    ]

    # need dfs/bfs
    all_css_rules = {
        '.zm-profile-header': {
            '.zm-profile-header-main': {
                '__use': 'dump',
                'name': '.title-section .name::text',
                'sign': '.title-section .bio::text',
                'location': '.location.item::text',
                'business': '.business.item::text',
                'employment': '.employment.item::text',
                'position': '.position.item::text',
                'education': '.education.item::text',
                'education_extra': '.education-extra.item::text',
            }, '.zm-profile-header-operation': {
                '__use': 'dump',
                'agree': '.zm-profile-header-user-agree strong::text',
                'thanks': '.zm-profile-header-user-thanks strong::text',
            }, '.profile-navbar': {
                '__use': 'dump',
                'asks': 'a[href*=asks] .num::text',
                'answers': 'a[href*=answers] .num::text',
                'posts': 'a[href*=posts] .num::text',
                'collections': 'a[href*=collections] .num::text',
                'logs': 'a[href*=logs] .num::text',
            },
        }, '.zm-profile-side-following': {
            '__use': 'dump',
            'followees': 'a.item[href*=followees] strong::text',
            'followers': 'a.item[href*=followers] strong::text',
        }
    }

    def traversal(self, sel, rules, item):
        # print 'traversal:', sel, rules.keys()
        if '__use' in rules:
            for nk, nv in rules.items():
                if nk == '__use':
                    continue
                if nk not in item:
                    item[nk] = []
                if sel.css(nv):
                    item[nk] += [i.extract() for i in sel.css(nv)]
                else:
                    item[nk] = []
        else:
            for nk, nv in rules.items():
                for i in sel.css(nk):
                    self.traversal(i, nv, item)

    def dfs(self, sel, rules, item_class):
        if sel is None:
            return []
        item = item_class()
        self.traversal(sel, rules, item)
        return item

    def parse_with_rules(self, response, rules, item_class):
        return self.dfs(Selector(response), rules, item_class)

    def parse_people_with_rules(self, response):
        item = self.parse_with_rules(response, self.all_css_rules, ZhihuPeopleItem)
        item['id'] = urlparse(response.url).path.split('/')[-1]
        info('Parsed ' + response.url)  # +' to '+str(item))
        return item

    def parse_followers(self, response):
        return self.parse_people_with_rules(response)

    def parse_followees(self, response):
        return self.parse_people_with_rules(response)


text:
Teaching retarded theories - varnamvarnam
Teaching retarded theories
By jk on August 5, 2005 in Religion & Spirituality
The other day President Bush made a telephone call to the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery and praised them for being risk takers for the sake of exploration. As President of United States, he leads a nation which is at the forefront of scientific research in almost every field.
But when there is a conflict between science and his religious beliefs, like medieval era Popes, he chooses religion and all logic goes out of the window. Recently when he was asked about teaching "intelligent design" in schools, he said he supported it. The theory is called "intelligent design" since it is dumb. It promotes the idea that an intelligent being is behind the creation of humanity, the intelligent one being God as mentioned in the Bible.
As the editorial in Washington Post notes
Of course the president is right that, in the context of a philosophical debate, it would be appropriate to discuss both sides of an issue before arriving at a conclusion. In the context of a religious discussion, it would also be very interesting to ponder whether the human race exists on Earth for a purpose or merely by accident. But the proponents of intelligent design are not content with participating in a philosophical or religious debate. They want their theory to be accepted as science and to be taught in ninth-grade biology classes, alongside the theory of evolution. For that, there is no basis whatsoever: The nature of the "evidence" for the theory of evolution is so overwhelming, and so powerful, that it informs all of modern biology. To pretend that the existence of evolution is somehow still an open question, or that it is one of several equally valid theories, is to misunderstand the intellectual and scientific history of the past century.[But Is It Intelligent?]
Since evolution is not banned, children in United States will get an education better than the one in Pakistani madrassa. If you question him further on this matter, President Bush being the intellectual giant he is, will start sounding like a broken record player. Recently after baseball player Rafael Palmeiro was suspended after he tested positive for steroid use, President Bush said, he believes Palmeiro's testimony that he does not use steroids. As Kevin Drum says, "It's like listening to a small child. He doesn't want to believe it, so it isn't true."
But if alternate theories about the origin of humanity is being taught, they should also teach that there is a possibility that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe.
Related Links: Religion on the rise
Stem Cell Battles One of the areas where President Bush and Senator Kerry disagree entirely is on the funding for Stem Cell Reasearch. Like the ancient Church, which opposed new scientific discoveries because...
Religion on the rise Discovery Times Channel had a documentary investigating the the roots of 9/11 and as part of that project they visited a madrassa in Indonesia. The children in the school, thought...
Natwar in Washington Natwar Singh was in Washington DC today and met President Bush in the Oval Office. Rediff calls this historic, as Natwar is the first Indian Foreign Minister to enter the...
← Just a phone call
Buddha in Kalinga →
5 Responses to Teaching retarded theories


text:
Rare Red Wolf Makes His Entrance at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
Posted on September 20, 2018 September 4, 2018
– Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo is pleased to announce the newest addition to the Zoo family, a three-year-old male Red wolf named Peanut. After arriving on July 18, 2018 from the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, the last several weeks have been devoted to making him familiar with his new home. Verified to be in excellent physical condition by the Zoo's on-site veterinarian, Peanut has joined the Zoo's existing female Red wolf, Shy, in the Red wolf habitat. Guests will be able to view Peanut and Shy between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily from the W.O.L.F. Cabin (Wolf Observation Learning Facility).
Born on May 2, 2015, Peanut's transfer is part of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP).
Red wolves are facing extinction in the wild for a second time. Thirty years after the Federal Government reintroduced Red wolves to the 150,000 acre Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, a mix of swamp and forest, the only distinctly American wolf is losing its fight for survival. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists introduced more than 100 captive-bred wolves into the refuge and saw the population peak at more than 225 wolves a decade ago. Their numbers have plummeted today to fewer than 40. Wolves have been shot by homeowners and farmers, hit by cars, and removed for doing what comes naturally to wolves: roaming to find new territory.
Seeing a red wolf in the wild today is one of the rarest sights in nature. The Species Survival Plan for the endangered Red wolf has played a critical role in preserving this imperiled species through carefully managed breeding. It is hoped that Peanut and Shy will breed to ensure the long-term sustainability of Red wolves in human care. The future of Red wolves in the wild remains unknown. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened a second public comment period for its final decision on removing management efforts from private lands, a move that scientists and Red wolf biologists fear will mean the end of the species in the wild.
"Peanut is a beautiful Red wolf, and an important ambassador for his critically endangered species," explained Gregg Dancho, zoo director. "Welcoming Peanut to the Zoo at this time gives us a platform for alerting our guests to the fragile state of Red wolves in the wild. They have a very uncertain future, except in SSP programs in Zoos."
"The Zoo's SSP/breeding program exists to bolster the dwindling number of animals still in the wild," explained Dancho. "It's a real testament to our Zoo's strong reputation for working to protect endangered species and to educate our guests about them. It's an important part of our mission."
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One thought on "Rare Red Wolf Makes His Entrance at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo"
farmstandculture September 20, 20184:57 pm Reply
That is one beautiful animal!


SmackDown Live superstar Alexander Wolfe hasn't been seen on television for quite some time now along with his fellow Sanity brothers, however, over the past weekend, Wolfe made a huge return to his home promotion of Westside Xtreme Wrestling in Germany.
Alexander Wolfe began training back in 2004 back in his native land of Germany. For his first major big break in Professional Wrestling, Wolfe started appearing for promotions such as German Stampede Wrestling, the German Wrestling Federation, and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw).
In 2012, Wolfe won the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship, before eventually being signed by WWE in 2015.
wXw is currently coming off a jam-packed second day of their annual 16 Carat Gold Tournament, which saw the likes of Shigehiro Irie, Chris Brookes, WWE NXT UK star Ilja Dragunov, and BJW World Strong Champion, Daisuke Sekimoto compete for the German crowd.
Now, speaking of champions, current wXw World Shotgun Champion, Marcus Al-Ani had issued an open challenge on Day 2 of the 16 Carat Gold, and the challenge was eventually answered by a returning Alexander Wolfe, who shocked the crowd at his alumni promotion.
Wolfe would be unable to win the title, however, his return to wXw was definitely a huge surprise for fans and further this also served as a reminder of the relationship between wXw and WWE.
Being a former wXw Unified World and Shotgun Champion, it was definitely great seeing Wolfe return to his home promotion after such a long period of time.
As of right now, Alexander Wolfe is currently assigned to SmackDown Live along with the rest of the members of Sanity. As a faction, the trio of Killian Dain, Eric Young, and Wolfe haven't done much ever since being called up, and it is pretty unlikely that the trio will also miss out on their first ever WrestleMania event, unless WWE decides to put all of them in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.


My background is in conferences and event management which I've been doing for over 20 years now. Starting in the world of taxation, I then moved to specialize in energy events. Nowadays I turn my hand to most industries. I can count commercial event companies, athletes, lawyers, accountants, tax advisers, entrepreneurs, royal households, heads of state and even a NASA astronaut amongst my previous client list. In my early years, much of my event work focused around the UK and Europe, but that quickly expanded to include the US, Canada, Asia Pacific and lots of time in the Middle East.
I still love to be hands on with every event that I'm involved with and even after all these years, still get the buzz from working on a really great event. I'm a team player, a list maker and will always find a way to make things happen.
Having spent some 30 years involved in sport and business, I have extensive experience in Sports Marketing and Events, business improvement, and managing complex change projects.
After a 14 year career as a rugby player, playing for Saracens, Llanelli Scarlets and Wales at international level my focus has been elite performance within business across different sectors.
Apart from an extensive client base in sport, other sectors have included manufacturing, industry, construction and finance.
My approach is practical, direct and principle based. I bring expertise, honesty and enthusiasm to ensure every project gets results.
After a successful career in sales, 18 years ago, I wanted to put my sales ability into sales-led marketing so I retrained and qualified in Marketing. As a result, I have always been less about the "fluff" of marketing and more about the results.
A very creative brain is let down by the unwillingness of my hands to be able to draw the fine art that's in my head. Creative marketing bridges that gap and has enabled me to be at the helm of many successful creative campaigns for a huge variety of clients ranging from international brands to the NHS.
Whilst specialising on SME marketing, I have worked with many businesses from conception – and, years later, I am still delivering fun and creative ways to get results.
I have been working in conferences and events for over 13 years, mainly in commercial conferences and their peripheral events. Starting my career in Asia and specialising in financial events throughout the region, I have an excellent skill set that can be applied to any event. Whether it's running the event from start to finish, organising logistics or simply stepping in to assist on site.
Much of my work also revolves around programme and speaker management, working with programme committees, running call for papers campaigns and taking ownership of a programme of anything from 20 – 200 speakers.
My background is in conference development and programming. In the early years of my career, I was responsible for the establishment of the conference division of Softworld and prior to that worked for the two largest conference companies in the world: IIR and IBC.
I have worked with leading keynote speakers from Accenture, AMR, Cranfield University, Gartner, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers as well senior users from Barclays Bank, BBC, BT, BUPA, Cabinet Office, GlaxoSmithkline, Prudential, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, Scottish Power, Texaco, Yorkshire Water and many others including Princess Anne.
I have lots of international event experience having run conferences throughout Europe and in recent years Thailand, China, Abu Dhabi and Singapore.
Nigel Lewis is an award winning journalist, writer and editor who has worked for national newspapers, magazines and websites and who also has wide experience of PR campaign management as well as creating content for marketing and search engine optimisation teams.
His specialities lie in writing, editing, property, motoring and personal finance.
RUN has a pool of skilled associates who work as and when required on key projects. Their skills include conference production and subject research, conference management, exhibition operations, health and safety regulations, social media, digital marketing, website design and creation, event project management, graphic design, copywriting, blog writing and of course consumer and b2b marketing.


monovalent is a topic covered in the Taber's Medical Dictionary.
Venes, Donald, editor. "Monovalent." Taber's Medical Dictionary, 23rd ed., F.A. Davis Company, 2017. Taber's Online, www.tabers.com/tabersonline/view/Tabers-Dictionary/730225/all/monovalent.
Monovalent. In: Venes D, ed. Taber's Medical Dictionary. 23rd ed. F.A. Davis Company; 2017. https://www.tabers.com/tabersonline/view/Tabers-Dictionary/730225/all/monovalent. Accessed April 24, 2019.
Monovalent [Internet]. In: Venes D, editors. Taber's Medical Dictionary. F.A. Davis Company; 2017. [cited 2019 April 24]. Available from: https://www.tabers.com/tabersonline/view/Tabers-Dictionary/730225/all/monovalent.


text:
Halep stuns Williams to win Wimbledon title
By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Serena Williams' wait for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title goes on after Simona Halep stunned the off-key American 6-2 6-2 in a one-sided Wimbledon final on Saturday.
An inspired Halep took full advantage of an error-strewn display by seven-times champion Williams to become the first Romanian to win the Wimbledon title.
The 27-year-old Halep broke serve in the opening game and raced into a 4-0 lead. She remained rock solid throughout and Williams simply could not respond.
There were signs that Williams was finding her range in the second set but Halep was undaunted and reeled off the last five games, the contest ending after Williams buried a forehand into the net after 56 minutes.
It is the second year running that Williams arrived in the final seeking to match Margaret Court's record 24 singles majors. Last year she failed to get a set against Angelique Kerber. She then went on to lose the U.S. Open final. (Reporting by Martyn Herman Editing by Toby Davis)


text:
The NBA is the world's premier basketball competition. It's also one of the most popular sports in the world to bet on, allowing you to wager on multiple games each day.
Our team of NBA experts have a proven record of profit betting on the NBA – and they're here to share their picks, analysis and best bets each day, for free! These picks include straight up winners, against the spread (ATS), player prop bets, and playoff predictions.
Read on to see our free NBA picks for today's games.
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers 2017-18 Record: 35-47, 11th in the Western Conference 2018-19 Preview It's hard not to start with the most...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: New York Knicks
New York Knicks 2017-18 Record: 29-53, 11th in Eastern Conference 2018-19 Preview The Knicks 2017-18 season was another frustrating one for...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings 2017-18 Record: 27-55, 12th in the Western Conference 2018-19 Preview The Kings weren't drastically busy during the off-season, however,...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets 2017-18 Record: 28-54, 12th in the Eastern Conference 2018-19 Preview The Brooklyn Nets were easily one of the most...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks 2017-18 Record: 24-58, 13th in the Western Conference 2018-19 Preview The Mavericks had one of their leanest season in...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls 2017-18 Record: 27-55 2018-19 Preview Going into the 2017-18 season the Chicago Bulls had arguably the worst line-up of...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis Grizzlies 2017-18 Record: 22-60, 14th in the West 2018-19 Preview The Grizzlies started last season as one of the contenders...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic 2017-18 Record: 25-57, 14th in the East 2018-19 Preview The Orlando Magic will be disappointed with their 2017-18 season...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns 2017-18 Record: 21-61, 15th in the West 2018-19 Preview Last season went exactly how the Suns front office would've...
2018-19 NBA Team Preview: Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks 2017-18 Record: 24-58, 15th in the East 2018-19 Preview The Atlanta Hawks enter the new season with a clean...


text:
Q: Addressing of branch equal in MIPS in tricky example (MIPS Assembly) Cheers, given the following MIPS assembly command: loop: beq $s0, $s1, loop which is the value of the lower 16 bits of the instruction in MIPS? When I put it into QtSpim I see that the lower 16 bits are ALL zeros, but that doesn't make sense to me. My thinking is:
Let the instruction be in position e.g. 80000. beq uses PC-Relative addressing. So when it's executed PC is also 80000. But it calculates the steps according to the NEXT instruction. So I say that: 80000 = 80000 (PC) + 4 (next instruction) + x (offset)*4. So I get x = -1, which makes sense to me, but this doesn't seem to be the case. What am I thinking wrong?

A: The offset is relative to the instruction in the branch delay slot. Presumably, you have configured QtSPIM such that delayed branches are disabled, which means that there are no branch delay slots. Apparently, QtSPIM's assembler then chooses to make the offset relative to the branch itself (i.e. zero).


text:
Who introduced Christianity to Spain?
How did Christianity come to Spain?
Who spread Christianity in Spain?
Did the Romans bring Christianity to Spain?
How did the Roman Catholic Church in Spain gain power?
What religion was Spain before Christianity?
Is Spain still a Catholic country?
What is the religion for Spain?
How did Spain spread Catholicism?
How did Spain defend and spread Catholicism?
Did any apostles go to Spain?
Is Spain mostly Catholic?
What religion did ROME bring to Spain?
How Catholic is Spain?
When did Spain became a nation?
How did the Spaniards spread Christianity in the Philippines?
In 587, the Visigothic king at Toledo, Reccared, converted to Catholicism and launched a movement in Spain to unify the various religious doctrines that existed in the land. This put an end to dissension on the question of Arianism.
According to Romans 15:28 in the Romans, Christianity began in Spain when St. Paul went to Hispania to preach the gospel there after visiting the Romans along the way. After 410 AD, Spain was taken over by the Visigoths who had been converted to Arianism around 360.
In the years following 410 Spain was taken over by the Visigoths who had been converted to Arian Christianity around 419. The Visigothic Kingdom established their capital in Toledo, their kingdom reaching its high point during the reign of Leovigild. Visigoth rule led to the expansion of Arianism in Spain.
A few years later –in 312– the emperor Constantine I (ruled 307-337) himself was converted and Christianity was on the road to becoming the official religion of the Empire. (It became so in 380, when the Spanish-born emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the religion of the Empire.)
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How did the Roman Catholic Church in Spain gain power? Roman Catholic rulers decided to force the Muslims and Jews out of Spain. The Spanish monarchs ordered the Spanish Inquisition to find and punish any Muslims or Jews left in Spain. … Nearly all of southern Europe, like Spain, France, and Portugal, were Catholic.
Before the arrival of Christianity, the Iberian Peninsula was home to a multitude of animist and polytheistic practices, including Celtic, Greek, and Roman theologies.
Catholic Roots have proven hard to change
Around six centuries later, Spain is still mostly Catholic. It is the the national religion and, in 2017, almost 70% of the population consider themselves to be Catholic. And just over 25% of these people practice religion at least once a month.
The religion most practised is Catholicism and this is highlighted by important popular festivals, such as during Holy Week. Other religions practised in Spain are Islam, Judaism, Protestantism and Hinduism, which have their own places of worship that you can find on the Ministry of Justice search engine.
5th–8th centuries) saw the brief spread of Arianism, Catholic religion coalesced in Spain at the time. … In 587, the Visigothic king at Toledo, Reccared, converted to Catholicism and launched a movement in Spain to unify the various religious doctrines that existed in the land.
Answer Expert Verified. Spanish missionaries spread Catholicism through America by preaching the doctrine to the native Indians. The Franciscan religious order was one of the first that arrived after the conquest and started their missions because the Pope had said that "Indians wer capable of learning Catholicism".
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Fructuosus, who that the tradition of Paul's mission to Spain is a mere extension of an intent. Treating the apostle's journey as an undoubted historical fact, John Chrysostom mentions that "Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain," and Jerome states that the apostle reached Spain by sea.
The majority of the Spanish population is Catholic. The presence of Catholicism in Spain is historically and culturally pervasive. However, in the past 40 years of secularism since Franco's death, the role that religion plays in Spaniards' daily life has diminished significantly.
During the Roman domination, Spain received Christianity. Today, Roman Catholicism is the leading religion in the country with 76% of Spanish population identifying themselves as Catholics.
According to the Spanish Center for Sociological Research, 60.2% of Spanish citizens self-identify as Catholics, (40.5% define themselves as not practising, while 19.7% as practising), 2.7% as followers of other faiths (including Islam, Protestant Christianity, Buddhism etc.), and 35.5% identify as atheists (13.7%), …
Spain introduced Christianity to the Philippines in 1565 with the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. … While Islam was contained in the southern islands, Spain conquered and converted the remainder of the islands to Hispanic Christianity.
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Treated as Near Threatened by BirdLife International, the Wedge-tailed Hillstar was formerly considered endemic to southern Bolivia, but has, like several other Bolivian 'endemics' recently been found in extreme northwestern Argentina. In common with other hillstars, both sexes possess greenish-brown upperparts. Males are further characterized by their green throat, black line down the central underparts bordered by chestnut, and rufous and black tail, whereas females are orange below with a gray-spotted throat pattern, and also possess white on some tail tips. Like other hillstars, the Wedge-tailed Hillstar is an inhabitant of relatively open high-altitude habitats, reaching up to 4000 m above sea level.


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Grand Chute site picked for indoor sports facility, will open fall 2019
The facility will include about 150,000 square feet of space for ice and hard-court sports such as hockey, figure skating, volleyball and basketball.
Grand Chute site picked for indoor sports facility, will open fall 2019 The facility will include about 150,000 square feet of space for ice and hard-court sports such as hockey, figure skating, volleyball and basketball. Check out this story on postcrescent.com: http://post.cr/2AhkKdt
Madeleine Behr, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 11:45 a.m. CT Dec. 13, 2017
The Champion Center will be located north of Greenville Drive and east of McCarthy Road in Grand Chute.(Photo: Courtesy of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau)
GRAND CHUTE - Come 2019, a $25 million indoor sports facility will open in the Fox Cities, bringing an expected economic impact of close to $5 million in its first year.
The Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau announced Wednesday morning that Grand Chute had given 20 acres of town-owned land, located within the northeast corner of the McCarthy Road and Greenville Drive intersection, for the long-anticipated sports facility. The land is estimated to be worth $1 million.
The facility will house about 150,000 square feet of space for ice and hard-court sports, including hockey, figure skating, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and more.
"It's going to be a game-changer for what we do here," said Matt Ten Haken, director of sports marketing for the FCCVB. "We envision a facility that's going to be a destination for teams and athletes across the Midwest. We envision it putting us on the map as the place to be for indoor sports in the Midwest."
Pam Seidl, executive director of the FCCVB, said the bureau is looking to keep the cost of the facility at about $25 million.
A study commissioned by the FCCVB reported that the facility would bring in $4.8 million of economic impact in the first year and increase to $7.8 million by the fifth year.
It's expected to be a destination for youth and adult teams and tournaments.
Stakeholders are working on the final master plan for the site and will release design plans in the spring, Seidl said.
The facility would be owned by the nonprofit Fox Cities Sports Development, which is a subsidiary of the FCCVB. The bureau would also hire a management company to operate the facility once it's completed, Ten Haken said.
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It will be funded by hotel room tax dollars from 10 municipalities — Appleton, Fox Crossing, Grand Chute, Kaukauna, Kimberly, Little Chute, Menasha, Neenah, the Town of Neenah and Sherwood.
A room tax, for the most part, is not a tax on local residents. Rather, it's a user tax on travelers who stay at hotels and motels.
When 10 municipalities raised their room tax to 10 percent in 2016 for the Fox Cities Exhibition Center, the increase included the creation of a fund to pay for tourism facilities. The indoor sports facility was mentioned as a possible future project to come from the fund.
The breakdown of room taxes is as follows:
3 percent for the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau
2 percent for the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
3 percent for the Fox Cities Exhibition Center
1 percent for the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau Tourism Facilities Fund
1 percent for the respective municipality
After the PAC debt is paid, that 2 percent tax will be rolled into the tax for the Tourism Facilities Fund, bringing it to 3 percent and keeping the overall room tax at 10 percent.
Seidl said the FCCVB is still working on the financing package for the project, and that it's considering municipal bonding through Grand Chute or using conventional loans. Those loans would be paid back through room-tax collection from the 10 municipalities.
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