Halfway to her opening, she pressed her pinky finger into the tiny "V" shape in the center of her mouth. Her deep-rose lipstick always landed there as she applied it in a flurry. It settled where it didn't belong, where it masked the delicate shape of her upper lip. Luckily, it only took one graceful swipe to remedy. One swipe … and her eyes were back on the road.
wasted time at home on makeup. Efficiency was of the utmost importance to her … a borderline obsession. Very light coat of base, eyeliner, mascara and lipstick were all on, in a matter of seconds. She often wondered if it was her Swiss roots, years of ballet training or just your everyday run-of-the-mill OCD that caused her to be so attached to efficient movements through time and space.
Wind blowing her hair dry (an artist, and a hippie at heart) she was able to time it so she could close the windows seconds before the wall of traffic assaulted her as the 110 merged with the 5 freeway near Dodger Stadium.
Unlike novice L.A. freeway commuters, she knew better than to be lulled into a sense of ease when faced with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Her eyes darting from cheekbones to approaching offramp, she always knew the moment her attention needed to snap back to the road.
She expertly avoided the trap of Sig Alerts, during which out-of-towners frequently found themselves smashed into the cars ahead as the crushing traffic blindsided them. This mistake of careless attention could make her late. She was never late. Again, Swiss roots, or OCD … she'd never know.
Her husband never acclimated to her innate sense of when to slowly brake before joining the ranks of domino-like rear-endings in the Southland. Due to his mistrust of her impeccable sense of timing, he drove everywhere. This is why, on opening nights, she went solo.
By her mid-20s the traffic patterns of the City of Angels were etched into her subconscious mind like the premature lines of her artist hands. Like a doctor, she'd washed her rugged hands thousands of times, going from acrylic paint to acrylic heels a flash. A planner and perfectionist, but also open to last-minute, necessary changes, she often was still working on her artwork as the sun set on her opening nights.
During her graduate show she'd had to sidle up to a piece hanging on the wall to dab a little drop of glue that threatened to land on her professor's Wallabees. "The most cohesive and mature senior show we've ever seen," the chair of the art department had said.
She loved Los Angeles as only a native could. Too-fast car rides in her father's Porsche from Northridge to Malibu — surfboard jutting up and back through the sunroof — and chatting with Sissy Spacek (a childhood idol) at the Whisky, among countless experiences that wed her to L.A.
Her rep, Agnes, greeted her with enthusiasm as she entered the gallery, responsibly early for an artist.
"Let's hope not," she countered.
"Of course you do. You vant to be alone. Such an arteest!" Agnes mocked.
Though vastly different from her dad's, her art revealed hints of her upbringing. Her two dads (one an artist, the other a surfer, both straight … long story) raised her (lovingly and loyally) with art and nature, and it showed in the work. Even the friendly but tumultuous divorces among her parents somehow whispered notes from a weathered and wizened childhood song into her pieces.
"Oprah! You made it!" Agnes called out loudly, clearly summoning her artist to the floor.
Now, she would have fun. Agnes was right. The woman she most admired, her biggest hero, had come on time, no … early, at 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night, to her little art opening! She could die peacefully now.
Searching the mirror that had been hung in the hallway for just these kinds of moments, she located the "V" in her upper lip and saw that her lipstick was still in place after that glass of wine, as she walked briskly toward a dream.


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


On December 16 2017, the annual Oromo graduation as held to commemorate and celebrate the year six, twelve and university graduates on their completion of their respective schooling levels and courses. I was one of the graduates, finishing year twelve, and personally, I found it to be a great source of motivation and encouragement especially taking into account that the ATAR score had come out a day before the graduation.
The youth are the pioneers of the future, there is no denying that, and that reigns true within the Oromo community as well. That is why it is so important to uplift and encourage Oromo youth to believe in themselves and push themselves in not only their academics but generally throughout their life so they can be the best and most prosperous versions of themselves. The Oromo graduation serves to do just that. For year six graduates, it aims to celebrate their achievements and encourage them to keep up the good work moving onto high school. One of the speakers on the day, Professor Jamal, thought it important to note that high school is a totally different environment to primary school, giving the graduates advice on how to operate past the primary school level.
For University graduates, the ceremony is of appreciation and support. It was to demonstrate the level of pride and awe we as a community have for the Oromo people who have managed to complete their Bachelors, Graduate degrees and Doctorates in spite of the obstacles they have faced. Often in individualist societies such as Australia, there is a lack of appreciation from a community and the Oromo community counteracts this culture by ensuring everyone receives praise for their hard work and perseverance, demonstrating the integral role communities play in building a prosperous future by providing positive reinforcement for those who do their best to succeed in their fields.
For year twelve graduates such as I, the ceremony is more than support and appreciation. It is reassurance. Aware of the fact that the ATAR score had come out the day before the graduation, Professor Jamal emphasized on the fact that the score does not define the person, or their academic abilities. For those of us worried about our academic futures, he reassured us that there are more ways to get into our preferred courses without the ATAR and further offered his time for those who wanted more advice after the ceremony.
Outside of the Oromo community, black children are often typecast as a lazy and thuggish, often being associated with the inability to achieve any academic excellence. This stereotyping often limits black youth from not only succeeding but also even trying because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is undeniable that there is a racial bias within the western community and this can have debilitating effects on black youth. The Oromo graduation brings together us all together and demonstrates that the stereotypes that would have society believe that we are incapable of achieving any sort of academic prosperity is nothing but a myth designed to maintain racial inequality.
Overall, the ceremony showed me the appreciation that our people have for me and other Oromo youths, and the readiness that Oromo people have to support their youth in everything that they do.
This type of support is important because it serves as a reminder of the fact that we are not alone and will always have our culture and our people to support us in our academic endeavors. It encouraged me to not give up and to continue to try my best in everything that I do, and I hope that this is the case with all the graduates at the ceremony.
Posted on February 1, 2018, in News. Bookmark the permalink.	Leave a comment.


Stone Nullah Tavern, our favourite Americana vacuum in Wanchai, is closing, and will be replaced with a new Italian-American concept "FINI" from the same owners. But don't be too sad just yet, Stone Nullah Tavern's best selling mac and cheese (the one with the egg in the middle) seems to have a seat on FINI's menu. We're not entirely sure if it will be exactly the same one, but from the looks of it, we think so. But that's a matter for another article, so let's get back on track: Stone Nullah Tavern will be leaving with a bang with a series of incredible pop-up dinners. Red Sauce Hospitality presents The Melting Pot, a series of three homely pop-up dinners with a different cuisine each week.
The first one (from 9th-11th of Jan) starts off with Nepal. The four-course meal starts with chicken syafale, a deep-fried pastry, Newari Honacha Ko Famous Bara Ra Jhol, a lentil pancake with minced buffalo, egg and bone broth. And continues to the main course of Khasi Ko Ledo Bedo, a tender lamb with gravy, nutrela soya chunks, chickpeas and pink paneer gravy served over cumin rice. The meal finishes with a reduced milk curd dessert with sweet saffron and nuts.
The second round (from 16th-18th of Jan) focuses on an up and coming hot cuisine that hasn't got as good rep in Hong Kong. But it's one of WOM's favourites: Filipino food! Starting off with the pork belly lechon stuffed with sinigang and 24-hour cooked bone marrow nilaga and wagyu beef tapa with beetroot pickled radish and quail egg.
The third round (from 23rd to 25th of Jan), will be the Pakistani menu starting off with appetisers of minced beef chapli kebab with coriander chutney and samosa chaat. The mains will include the chicken karahi with homemade masala, and spiced lentils with boiled egg. Sides of homemade pickled veggies and sauteed okra will also accompany the mains. The dessert is the ever loved gulab jamun with homemade vanilla ice cream, fragrant cardamom, coconut and pistachio.
Catch the Super Bowl live at Stone Nullah Tavern or Linguini Fini!


text:
Constitution of India (Objective) (Pages :14)
91 How long the National Emergency can be imposed?
Ans : Six months. May be extended by six month on Parliamentary approval.
92 How long the President's rule can be continued as per constitution?
Ans : 3 Years on approval of Parliament in every 6 months.
93 How many days-time is given for the candidates to file their nominations from the date of notification of the election?
Ans : 8 Clays
94 How many languages have been originally listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India?
95 How many languages have so far been included in the Eighth Schedule of our Constitution?
96 How many members are appointed by the President to the Rajya Sabha?
(A) 12 Members(Specially qualified in different field like art
(B) science or literature)
Ans :()
97 How many members are nominated by the Governor in the Legislative Council of a State?
Ans : 1/12 of the total membership
98 How many members of the Lok Sabha must support a motion of 'no confidence' in the government, before it can be admitted by the Speaker?
99 How many members of the Rajya Sabha are nominated by the President of India?
100 How many members were there in Constituent Assembly?
Ans : 389
101 How many National Emergency has been declared so far:?
Ans : thrice
102 How many Parliamentary Constituencies are there in the Union Territory of Puducherry?
Ans : One
103 How many Schedules did the original Constitution of India contain?
Ans : 8
104 How many sessions are conducted by Parliament each year?
Ans : Three sessions – a) Budget session b) Monsoon session c) Winter session
105 How many times and when the preamble has been amended so far?
Ans : So far the preamble has been amended only once. On 18 December 1976 during the time of Emergency in India in Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi
106 How many times has the proclamation of National Emergency been enforced in India?
Ans : Three times
107 How the constitution empowers by the 68th amendment of article 356 in 1991?
Ans : Article 356 amended to permit President's rule up to five years in the state of Punjab.
108 How the Lok Sabha MPs are elected ?
Ans : The Lok Sabha MPs are directly elected by Indian public voting through Lok Sabha Election
109 How the members of Constituent Assembly were elected by?
Ans : By a single transferable votting system
110 How the Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by?
Ans : Rajya Sabha MPs(Member of Parliament) are elected by the members of All the State Legislative Assembly
111 How the Sarkaria Commission is related to Indian Constitution?
Ans : Sarkaria Commission can supervise the required changes of the constitution and the balance of power between state and central governments. Ranjit Singh Sarkaria is the head of this commission
112 Human trafficking and forced labour are the punishable offence by law under which article?
Ans : Article 23
113 If a stay order has been granted by the High Court in a case, the application of the affected party by such an order shall be disposed of by the High Court within a period of?
Ans : Two week
114 In Indian legislature how many seats there in Lok Sabha?
Ans : 545 Seats
115 In Parliamentary System how many seats are there in Rajya Sabha?
116 In Parliamentary term 'Crossing the Floor' means?
Ans : Leaving the opposition to join the party in power or vice-versa by a Parliamentarian
117 In the Indian Constitution article 45 deals with which issue?
Ans : Article 45 ensures Provision for free and compulsory education for children
118 In the Indian Constitution article 48-A deals with which issue?
Ans : Article 48-A ensures Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife
119 In which State in India, is a certain amount of grants paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the State for the maintenance of some Hindu temples and shrines, as per the provisions of the Constitution?
Ans : Tamilnadu
120 Indian Constitution was amended for the first time in:?
Ans : 1951
"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be overcome first"
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text:
Maryland's High Court Affirms Sanction for Spoliation of Video Evidence
The Ethical Dangers of Attorneys Using "Reply All"
Maryland's Intermediate Court Affirms Denial of Sanction for Spoliation of Video Evidence
Published by Michael Berman at January 8, 2021
Litigation Hold: Proportionality
Litigation Hold: Trigger
"I just delete. I delete – delete. Anything there that I don't want, don't need anymore, I delete." Peterson v. Evapco, Inc., 238 Md. App. 1, 21 (2018). That is an invitation to disaster.
Steamfitters Local Union No. 602 v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 469 Md. 704 (2020), involved spoliation in the context of novel issues of the duty owned by a landowner to two nearby properties. The nearby properties were damaged by a mulch fire that started on the landowner's property and that was spread by the wind. The cause of the mulch fire was discarded cigarette butts. The cigarettes were discarded by trainees who were in-between training classes on the landowner's property.
The landowner – Steamfitters – had video surveillance over or near the area where the fire started. The video was not preserved and could not be produced. The trial court gave an adverse inference instruction to the jury and the appellate courts affirmed.
It was undisputed that a preservation demand was sent to Steamfitters before the video was scheduled to be overwritten. It was likely – but not certain – that fire department investigators also timely requested it. However, it was not preserved.
The fire started on April 6, 2015. A preservation demand was sent to Steamfitters by plaintiff's insurer on April 23, 2015. 469 Md. at 738, 742. A fire investigator testified that he was aware that generally companies have rapid overwrite policies and his office generally tried to obtain video within seven days; however, he did not know the exact date of the department's effort.
The Court wrote: "Steamfitters failed to produce the video during discovery, and it was undisputed that the video was taped over and destroyed 30 days later." Id. at 738.
Thus, the duty to preserve was triggered before the preservation failure. The Court did not need to address proportionality. The damages exceeded $1 million and it would have cost virtually nothing to preserve the video. Relevance, state of mind, and prejudice remained to be established.
Steamfitters argued that the video was not relevant. Understanding that argument requires a brief review of the merits. Steamfitters argued that it had no tort duty to nearby properties because mulch was not dangerous. Plaintiffs responded that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of cigarette butts thrown in the mulch, making it dangerous and triggering a tort duty. Plaintiffs argued that the video would show that trainees were smoking, discarding butts, and Steamfitters had knowledge of the fire danger presented by cigarette butts in mulch. While no one knows what was on the video, the assertion is that it might have supported plaintiffs' claims.
The loss of the video is not explained in the decision. Steamfitters stated that its attorney asked it to provide footage, but the request from its attorney was after the thirty-day retention period "so we were unable to retrieve any of that." Id. at742.
While the opinion stated that plaintiff's counsel sent a preservation demand to Steamfitters, there is no indication as to whether or when defense counsel sent a litigation hold notice to Steamfitters. One may question why video evidence after a large fire was not immediately put on legal hold. However, it went missing.
Steamfitters attempted – unsuccessfully – to deflect sanctions.
First, Steamfitters argued that the video had been reviewed by a representative of plaintiff and was considered "useless." The testimony on that issue was disputed:
Steamfitters argued that Mr. Sclater, from plaintiff's insurer, viewed the video with two fire department personnel. Steamfitters said it offered to provide a copy on a thumb drive and they declined. It claims that the fire personnel said it "didn't show anything" and was "useless." Steamfitters asserted that Sclater did not disagree and did not ask for preservation.
Sclater disputed virtually every aspect of Steamfitters' description. He said that he was not present with fire department personnel. However, he could not dispute the "useless" statement, because he testified that he was not present with the fire department personnel.
That factual dispute was properly presented to the jury. Id. at 744.
Second, Steamfitters argued that the camera was not focused on the area at issue, stating that "this video might have showed people congregating here, it might have also been completely irrelevant, which is what Mr. Sclater told my folks. So why preserve it anyway? They haven't made a showing that there would be any reasons to ever preserve this video." Id. at 743-44.
"In response, counsel for the Plaintiffs argued that the video recording would have shown an area 'unbelievably close' to where the fire was alleged to have originated and might have shown what people were doing in the parking lot." Id. at 743.
The Court held that the relevance argument was without merit.
There was evidence in the record that the camera was pointed in a direction that would have captured persons present on Steamfitters' property prior to and at the time of the fire, as well as a portion of the property close to the origin of the fire. Video of that area may have captured other evidence similar to the evidence captured by the other video cameras, which were shown to the jury, such as the color of the smoke, wind direction, and speed.
Id. at 744. One might have also argued that Steamfitters' failure to preserve after receipt of a preservation demand was intentional spoliation and therefore a presumption of prejudice arose. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(e)(2)(A, B). Steamfitters should not be heard to argue that, because we failed to preserve the evidence, our opponent cannot prove what it would have shown.
The trial court instructed on both negligent and intentional spoliation. The Court held that there had been no objection to the intentional prong of the instruction; however, even if the issue had been preserved, the instruction was proper. Id. at 745 n. 8.
Third, Steamfitters argued that "the video recording had been taped over prior to receiving the litigation hold letter," relying on testimony from its corporate designee. Id. at 743. This was a pure heart, empty mind, argument, and it did not hold water.
It is well accepted that the duty to preserve arises when litigation is reasonably anticipated, and a preservation letter from an opponent is not necessary to trigger the duty.
While a litigant certainly may request that an adversary agree to preserve electronic records during the pendency of a case, … it is not required, and a failure to do so does not vitiate the independent obligation of an adverse party to preserve such information.
Thompson v. U.S. Dep't of Hous. & Urban Dev., 219 F.R.D. 93, 100 (D. Md. 2003). Further, the Court of Special Appeals' decision in Steamfitters stated that the plaintiff's preservation demand was sent by UPS on April 23, 2015, seventeen days after the fire, and Steamfitters' attorney acknowledged receipt on April 27. 241 Md. App. at 132. Thus, Steamfitters had actual notice of the claim before the video was overwritten.
It may be that Steamfitters was arguing that the video was overwritten before Steamfitters' attorney asked Steamfitters to produce it. If that is the argument, it would also lack merit. It has been established since Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC, 220 F.R.D. 212, 216 (S.D.N.Y. 2003), that the duty to preserve is triggered when litigation is reasonably anticipated. For a recent discussion of when the duty is triggered, see "Triggering the Duty to Preserve ESI."
One lesson learned is: "[I]f you anticipate relying on a surveillance video, send a preservation letter as soon as possible. Retention times vary, so the sooner the letter is sent, the less likely the video will have been over[written] or stored in an inaccessible manner." Donna Fisher and Matthew Hamilton, "New Cases Bring Lessons on Video Surveillance Preservation," JDSupra (Sept. 18, 2020).
For additional detail, see M. Berman and A. Shelton, "The Spoliation Doctrine in Maryland State Courts," in M. Berman, et al., eds., "Electronically Stored Information in Maryland Courts" (Md. State Bar Ass'n. 2020), Chap. 12, and a subsequent blog regarding an unreported decision.
SUPPLEMENT: See "Maryland's Confusing Spoliation Doctrine."


text:
require 'spec_helper'

describe "SimpleDBAdapter ActiveRecord core actions" do

  before :each do
    ActiveRecord::Base.logger = Logger.new(STDOUT)
    ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection($config)
    ActiveRecord::Base.connection.create_domain($config[:domain_name])
    Person.create!(Person.valid_params)
  end

  after :each do
    ActiveRecord::Base.connection.delete_domain($config[:domain_name])
  end

  it "should be correct work with .all statement" do
    Person.all.should_not be_empty
    Person.all.first.is_a?(Person).should be_true
  end

  it "should be correct work with .first statement" do
    Person.first.is_a?(Person).should be_true
  end

  it "should be correct work with .last statement" do
    Person.last.is_a?(Person).should be_true
  end

  it "should be correct work with .count statement" do
    Person.count.should > 0
  end

  it "should be correct work with .find statement" do
    p1 = Person.create!
    p2 = Person.find p1.id
    p1.should == p2
  end

  it "should be correct work with .destroy statement" do
    p1 = Person.new
    p1.save
    id = p1.id
    p1.destroy
    p2 = Person.find_by_id id
    p2.should be_nil
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Scanadu Raises $2M For Medical Tricorder (video)
Scanadu's Medical Tricorder works with your smartphone to takes vitals and diagnose disease non-invasively and at home.
Star Trek fans rejoice, the Tricorder is here.
Medical tech startup Scanadu has created a scanner that appears to have been inspired by those of Drs. McCoy and Crusher. The 'Medical Tricorder' scanner can take vitals such as blood pressure, pulmonary function, and temperature, and sends them to your smartphone. The device can make the difference between a needed trip to the emergency room or a waste of time and money for conditions that don't need treatment.
The company just raised $2 million in funding from a group of investors that includes Sebastien De Halleux, co-founder of social network game maker Playfish. The money's an impressive accomplishment considering Scanadu isn't even a year old. Founded in January 2011, the company is staffed with a team of visionaries like Walter De Brouwer. The Belgian futurist co-founded Starlab in 1996 with MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte. He first got the idea for the Tricorder while at Starlab but the technology wasn't mature enough at the time. In 2006 his son was in a serious accident and hospitalized for three months. De Brouwer again got to thinking about leveraging technology to empower people by allowing them to auto-diagnose and make informed decisions concerning health.
De Brouwer is joined by fellow futurist Daniel Kraft, a physician-scientist who chairs the Future of Medicine Executive Program at Singularity University. Kraft gave a TED talk this past June entitled "Medicine's future? There's an app for that." He drives the main point behind Scanadu's philosophy that today's health care needs to catch up to the tools it's surrounded by. As co-founder and COO Misha Chellam said in a press release, we can do a lot better than the thermometer and band-aids in our medicine cabinets.
In its early days, Scanadu is targeting the Tricorder to parents who want to monitor their children's health better. Watch the company's trailer to get an idea how it might work.
Scanadu's diagnostic scanner is being entered into the Tricorder X PRIZE, a $10 million competition launched this past May to develop mobile diagnostic technologies. Their goal is to put health information directly in the hands of "health consumers." The competing Tricorders will be up against a panel of doctors to see if they can match the doctors in diagnosing an array of diseases.
Wireless technologies are revolutionizing medicine. Wearable scanners that give patients and doctors health information is expected to reach 80 million by 2016, according to ABI Research. The smartphone is already being used to read our glucose levels, check for sexually transmitted diseases, read a digital stethoscope, and give a doctor access to patient medical records. Earlier this year the FDA approved an app that allows doctors to view images from MRI, CT and PET scans on their iPad or iPhone. One company is working on a pacemaker smaller than a penny that will communicate wirelessly to a smartphone. There are even virtual clinics appearing in your corner drug store where you can dial up a doc if you have questions about a medication or condition.
The 'Tricorder' that wins the X PRIZE will add yet another tool to our augmented medical reality. Of course, these tools are not meant to replace doctors but to improve how both doctors and patients manage health. It'll probably take a while for people to learn to trust the Tricorders, as it should. I can totally see parents ignoring "Get rest" and taking a trip in to see the doctor anyway. Until the Tricorders have a proven track record, people will probably head over to sick bay just in case.
[image credit: Scanadu]
images: Scanadu
video: Scanadu
2020 in Neuroscience, Longevity, and AI—and What's to Come


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Trump: Making It Respectable to Be a Right-Wing Nut
By Rick Moran 2011-04-15T02:36:01
chat comments
There's no more hiding for Republicans. The wolf is no longer at the door. He has actually been invited in for tea and crumpets and is now sitting primly in the parlor chatting amiably while he plots mayhem and destruction for the party that once stood for prudence and probity.
Now it is in danger of standing for paranoid kookiness. As responsible adults in the party wring their hands in worry and frustration, a smiling Donald Trump unleashes the crazies, bringing them into the light and showering them with respectability dust. The Hofstadter Brigade of birthers, conspiracists, racists, and born again Birchers -- people who give right wing wackos a bad name -- have been given permission by at least one adult to go roll around in the mud and mess themselves without having to clean up before dinner. Giving this crew their heads by joining them in their fantasies is either the most irresponsible move ever made by a serious candidate for president, or a brilliant stroke of self-promotion that will pay big dividends for Trump when all the excitement about his candidacy dies down.
I suspect the latter. Trump, for all his bluster, can't seriously believe that the certification of live birth issued by the Obama campaign in 2008 and confirmed as authentic by the state of Hawaii is a forgery, or was planted by Communists, or was altered in some way. There is not one scintilla of evidence for any of those possibilities -- at least, evidence that would be accepted by someone with more than two brain cells working.
If altered or a forgery, then a conspiracy of gigantic proportions involving many members of the government of Hawaii has been hidden from all of us, except those few who have been vouchsafed the ability to see what isn't there. Members of the conspiracy that has aided Obama would include former Republican Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle and former Republican Lt. Governor James Aiona. Why they would want to hide the origins of Obama's birth can only be guessed at. Maybe they're closet commies or something.
Equally puzzling is the question of who might have planted fake birth announcements in Hawaiian newspapers. Trump believes it was Obama's grandparents:
TRUMP: The grandparents put that [birth announcement] in [the newspaper] because obviously they want him to be a United States citizen because in those days, people were much more proud than they are today unfortunately for being a United States citizen.
So they wanted him to be a citizen of the United States, for that purpose, and also for hospitalization, for welfare, for this, for that, for all the other assets you get from being a United States citizen. So there are a lot of very smart people who say that is routinely done and that was done by his grandparents.
The welfare state was only a twinkle in LBJ's eye in 1961 so one might wonder what kind of "assets" Obama and his family would be eligible for if they faked his birth announcement in a newspaper -- a piece of "evidence" that wouldn't be acceptable for identification purposes at any government agency in the first place.
But who are we to question a scam artist calling out other scam artists? For the record, however, please name just one of these "very smart people" who claim that this kind of scam was routine in 1961. An appeal to authority using "very smart people" isn't even employed in high school debating much less by someone supposedly running for the leader of the free world. It's statements like these that make one think that The Donald isn't very serious about running.
https://pjmedia.com/blog/trump-making-it-respectable-to-be-a-right-wing-nut/
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text:
Another definition of originalism
The recent exchange over originalism between Gerard Magliocca and Jack Balkin made me think again about what is distinctive about originalism. I'd like to suggest that originalism is a distinctive rhetorical strategy, one that somehow connects the proposed course of action, judicial or otherwise, with the revered framers of the Constitution. This is not just generic constitutional argument. It is a distinctive modality of constitutional interpretation. Its function is to connect our present course of action with the project of the framers. Originalist argument is any argument that aims to persuade you that this kind of continuity is possible.
Let me elaborate.
Originalists do not think that their field is in crisis. They should. They are now fragmented on multiple methodological questions. Is the object of inquiry the original intentions of the drafters of the Constitution, the original semantic meaning of the language, or its original public meaning? Is the meaning that matters that subjectively held at the time of enactment or the objective meaning of the language? Is it the actual understanding of those who lived at the time, or that of a hypothetical reasonable interpreter? Can original meaning include standards and general principles, which may be understood at a high level of generality? Is the law appropriately based upon the entire set of original expectations about the application of constitutional principles, or some original meaning more narrowly construed? Is construction, the practice by which the interpreter exercises discretion to create specific applications of broad and vague terms, legitimate? Originalists are now on all sides of these debates. As a consequence, originalism has fragmented into an enormous number of different theories.
In most scholarly fields, fragmentation is not a problem. Most scholarly fields are fragmented. John Milton observed long ago that diversity of opinion is a healthy sign of intellectual life: "Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making." In professional scholarship, the imperative of originality also doubtless plays a role. But the stated purpose of originalism is to produce unique and indisputable answers to legal questions in order to eliminate the possibility of judicial discretion. The proliferation of originalisms, and the certainty that none of them will vanquish its rivals, together with the concession in many of the sophisticated variants that interpretive discretion is unavoidable, make this enterprise a forlorn one. Multiple originalisms, then, are problematic for the same reason that multiple popes are problematic. Some writers have concluded that there is no longer any practical difference between originalism and nonoriginalism. Pamela Karlan analogizes originalism to a product whose name has come to refer to an entire category of products regardless of their source, like aspirin or cellophane. She argues that "it would be better if arguments over interpretive theory stopped trying to invoke this now-meaningless brand name."
Yet the appeal to originalism has continuing power. The proliferation of originalisms is testimony to that power: everyone wants to get into the act.
The explanation is local. Originalism is a manifestation of American exceptionalism. Jamal Greene observes that in Canada and Australia, whose legal systems in many ways resemble that of the United States, originalism has had no rhetorical or legal traction: almost no one makes such arguments. Many originalists claim that interpretation just is recovery of original meaning, that nothing else could count as interpretation. They think that because they are Americans. Greene offers several possible explanations for this distinctive national tendency: America's tendency to lionize its founders, our Constitution's revolutionary origins, the originalists' desire to constrain the Warren Court, the public nature of Supreme Court confirmations, assimilationist tendencies in American identity, and the fundamentalist elements of American religion. In a similar vein, Jack Balkin observes that faith in the Constitution involves a selective identification with the past: we take pride in our history because it is ours, because our forebears are part of the same political project that we are engaged in. Balkin notes that "originalist theories of interpretation may tend to piggyback on this identification," even though the official justification for originalism is different, having to do with claims about legal legitimacy. Jed Rubenfeld observes that some degree of identification with the past is an indispensible part of national identity.
It is the identification, and not any promise of judicial constraint, that is really doing the work in originalism. That is why the debate among originalisms can never end. There are many different ways of identifying with the past, because there are so many different aspects of the past with which one can identify. Original intention (to the extent that it can persuasively be shown), original public contextual meaning, and original semantic meaning each have a plausible claim to constitute a link to the revered framers, and so each has a plausible claim upon our attention. Similar points could be made about each of the other factional divisions within originalism. Each of these approaches therefore can do useful rhetorical work, and will be conscripted when that is likely to help with a constitutional argument. There is no way to stop constitutional interpreters from using all the tools they find in the kit, and so none of these can be permanently elevated to exclusive authority. Originalism is fundamentally about a narrative of rhetorical self-identification with the achievements of a founding historical moment. That is the real basis of its power. An originalist argument will be powerful to the extent that can persuade its audience that it can keep faith with that identification.
I do not intend to be pejorative when I say that originalist argument is a kind of constitutional rhetoric, connecting us with the past, constructing a narrative of national identity. Persuasive advocacy is an honorable undertaking. It can never be illegitimate to call your audience's attention to something that they care about, or ought to care about, such as "your father would have been appalled by what you are proposing to do."
Originalist argument can be an argument from authority, citing texts that lay down legal rules or from which such rules can be inferred, or they can describe commitments, laid down at the time of the framing and still attractive today. If the latter, then originalist argument must offer a story about the pertinent commitment. Where the commitment is a decision to break with the past in some way – and, I shall shortly argue, many constitutional commitments take this form – then a story must be told about what was wrong with that past. Then the argument must contend that the same kind of wrong is present in the instant case.
Understanding originalism in this way can explain some persistent puzzles. For example, originalists are committed to certain substantive results. Now that Raoul Berger has died, there is to my knowledge no originalist who does not think that originalism, properly understood, supports the result in Brown v. Board of Education. On the other hand, Jack Balkin is a heretic among originalists (and I'm going to be, too) because he thinks originalism supports Roe v. Wade. Yet Keith Whittington is obviously correct when he writes that "[I]nterpretive results are separate from interpretive methods." He notes with regret the "tendency to push originalists to meet some judicial litmus test and to evaluate interpretive approaches by their ability to reach desired results in designated cases." It is a matter of pull as well as push. Michael McConnell writes: "Such is the moral authority of [Brown v. Board of Education] that if any particular theory does not produce the conclusion that Brown was correctly decided, the theory is seriously discredited." Robert Bork thinks that the need to account for the rightness of Brown is "a matter of psychological fact, if not logical necessity." But the psychological fact might as well be a logical necessity. It is that inescapable. Thus originalists struggle with the problem whether the general purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment, to mandate the legal equality of blacks, should trump the framers' specific intention to permit school segregation and miscegenation laws.
The attachment to these specific outcomes shows that originalism's apparently consequence-insensitive methodology is embedded within a larger set of commitments in which originalism must be trimmed and modified to fit. In other words, theoretical tidiness will not do unless the theory as a whole is capable of inducing rhetorical uptake. The ultimate enterprise is not theoretical but rhetorical.
One may object that this understanding of originalism as a rhetorical strategy misrepresents originalism, which is in fact a distinctive set of theoretical claims, entirely unrelated to rhetorical considerations. But the question of definition is connected to the question of function. When I speak of a "chair," you may think of an assembly of arms and legs, but a chair can also be defined functionally, as an artifact designed for a person to sit on it. That is why a beanbag chair is a chair. Originalist argument is an artifact designed to recall the Constitution's origin and connect what we are doing now with that origin.
Once this functional definition of originalism is understood, it follows that the range of possible original arguments is quite broad. It is not, however, infinite. Karlan is right that originalism has now become a generic name for a number of different products, but that does not mean that the name is meaningless. If I ask you for some cellophane, please do not hand me an acetylsalicylic acid tablet (that is, an aspirin). Originalism is a distinct modality of constitutional argument. It is not precedent. It is not prudence. It is not even constitutional structure. It is a useful name for a specific kind of argument with a specific kind of function.
Posted 6:19 PM by Andrew Koppelman [link]


text:
By | on April 21, 2016
by PASTOR PAUL AND DANICA BARTELME
Have you heard of the phrase, "Money is the root of all evil?" Well, where did that come from… and is it true?
If asked, most people would say that this phrase came from the Bible, and yes, that's true, yet for some reason some words were left out! Actually the phrase is, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Now, that provides more insight into the phrase. But wait, there STILL are some words left out!
The phrase (with all of the words included this time) is "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." This is taken from the NIV version of 1 Timothy 6:10.
"Well, that's nice to know, but… so what?" Glad you asked. Well, those who represent the secular world would find it convenient to omit certain words in the phrase to justify judging the Christian Church at large for asking for money, well, because "money is the root of all evil," right?
Contrary to what we may see on the Internet or television, true Christian churches don't minister for the money, but without money they can't minister! So, churches ask, and they ask with the Biblical understanding that giving towards the cause of Christ benefits the giver! It's for the giver's benefit!
What about professing Christians who also find it convenient to omit certain words from this phrase? But why? Well, doing so will provide justification to judge another Christian who happens to be blessed with a lot of money. "Did they not know the Bible says that 'money is the root of all evil'? Need to pray for that brother!" Never mind that it's plausible that the very reason why said Christian has more money is because he or she learned to be a giver. "Sow generously, reap generously" as the Good Book says. (Hope I didn't leave out any words.)
—Paul and Danica Bartelme have been married for 22 years and have three children age 12 years and under. Jacob (12), Lily (11), and Luke (9). They've been residents of Escondido for 11 years and love Harley motorcycles and good music. They pastor Escondido's very own Sanctuary Church.
— Any questions or comments regarding the story? Got an idea for a story we should write? Email us at info@sanctuaryesco.org. Or check us out on the web at www.scesco.net.
More From Church News Go To The Church News Section
2021 – A Year of Overcoming!
In 2020 We Need A Little Christmas!
Community Lutheran Christmas display attract over 350 cars


text:
<?php

namespace Wirecard\Element;

use JMS\Serializer\Annotation as Serializer;

class IsoField
{
    /**
     * @var string
     * @Serializer\SerializedName("field-name")
     * @Serializer\Type("string")
     * @Serializer\XmlAttribute
     */
    public $fieldName;
    /**
     * @var string
     * @Serializer\SerializedName("field-value")
     * @Serializer\Type("string")
     * @Serializer\XmlAttribute
     */
    public $fieldValue;
}


www.thespacegame.com • View topic - How did you find Ascent?
How did you find the game Ascent?
Please take time to select how you find the game Ascent when you were looking. Jam is considering some advertising and I was thinking about this the other day. I think it would be good for us to give him some information as to how we came across the game. Might help him as he moves forward.
Feel free to post details and state how long ago you found the game. it would be interesting to hear how some of us old players found it also.
Re: How did you find Ascent?
Sooooo long ago... I'm not sure, realy how I found Ascent, but it will have started with a search for Space MMOs as the one I was playing at the time had just folded after about four years.
Found the online version first. Played for a week then bought it.
I did a Google search looking for an online space game as close to the Civilization 2 space version as possible.
Looking for a global means to promote my ideas on communicating by using images explained by text.
I hoped the game developer would see the advantages for the game using my ideas on OpenOffice communication.
Steam Search, I had bought Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous at the same time. I have almost 35 or 36 hundred hours on Ascent, 30 on Elite Dangerous and none on star citizen yet. I was searching for a Space MMO.


text:
Tottenham Hotspur Players
Alfie Whiteman
Spurs hand new contract to talented young academy product who has broken into first team squad
The teenager has been rewarded for his recent first team involvement
Alasdair GoldTottenham Hotspur correspondent
Every player in Gareth Southgate's England squad for October
Tottenham Hotspur have handed a new deal to young goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman who has been involved with the first team in recent weeks.
The 19-year-old, who is born and bred in Tottenham and is a life-long Spurs fan, has been training with Mauricio Pochettino's side for the last couple of seasons and taken to matches in case of injury or illness, but with recent injuries to Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm the teenager has taken the next step up.
Whiteman found himself on the Tottenham Hotspur bench as back-up to Paulo Gazzaniga for the Premier League match at Brighton and then for the next two matches in the Carabao Cup against Watford and the league game at Huddersfield.
The young goalkeeper has been rewarded with a fresh two-year deal with the club and he will be hoping that with Michel Vorm's deal ending next summer he can push on to either step up into that third place spot or head out on loan to make his senior debut.
Whiteman, whose own previous deal was set to expire next summer, has featured on the bench before for Spurs, in last season's Premier League match against Crystal Palace, when Gazzaniga played as Lloris and Vorm were out.
Before that he was named on the bench for the EFL Cup tie against Gillingham in 2016 and has been named in the squads for both of Tottenham's past two US summer tours.
Whiteman has played at various age levels for England and played at the U17 World Cup in 2015.
The strange case of Lucas Moura, Son's drought, Sissoko's ovation - 5 Tottenham talking points
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Michel Vorm
Pedro PorroWe 'signed' Pedro Porro for Tottenham in January and he solved Antonio Conte's big problemPedro Porro has been identified as a target for Tottenham in the January transfer window, so we simulated the rest of the season with the Spaniard in the Spurs squad to see how he could perform.


text:
On Vision & Being Human 13: Menstruation and the Origins of Culture
It might seem, at first glance at least, that in tracing a path back to the evolutionary origins of our species, cognitively-modern Homo sapiens sapiens, some 180,000 years ago in the African Middle Stone Age, we have wandered far from our original theme of visionary experience. But as we have seen, visionary experience is just one element which partakes in the wider phenomenon of human symbolic cognition, and when we begin to look into how that could have evolved, we begin to sense the outlines of how the 'Otherness' of vision, and its perceptual ambiguities, could have arisen. With patience, over the next few chapters, we will see how this lengthy Darwinist (and, in time, ethnographic) excursion will throw a completely new light upon our visionary subject, beginning here with a subtle, complex and strange but powerfully predictive hypothesis from evolutionary psychology - the Female Cosmetic Coalitions model...
One of the perennial themes that emerges from even a casual glance of the australopithecine and hominid fossil record is a marked increase in brain size from a decidedly chimplike 350-500 cubic centimetres in Australopithecus afarensis (whose remnants include the famous 'Lucy' fossil) to around 1200-1600 cubic centimetres in anatomically-modern humans. This process, known as encephalization, was not however a steady, continuous one: rather there were two periods over which hominid brains appear to have taken major leaps in volume, the first being some two to one-and-a-half million years ago with the emergence of Homo ergaster, and the second between five and two hundred thousand years ago with the evolution of archaic Homo sapiens from ancestral populations of Homo heidelbergensis in Eastern and Southern Africa. It is the second of these periods which interests us here.
Menstrual Construal, Bruce Rimell, 2015
This extraordinary change in brain physiology would have had, from a Darwinian perspective, both costs and benefits to the hominids undergoing the process. The benefits of increased intelligence for an upright-walking hominid of average strength with little in the way of natural weaponry such as claws or fangs in the potentially hostile savannah, lakeside and coastal environments of late Pleistocene Africa need little commentary. A larger brain permits a hominid individual to invent solutions to overcome all sorts of challenges, including how to find food and how to defend oneself from predators.
However, what is perhaps less considered are the costs, most notably the reproductive costs to hominid females and the upper limit encephalization places on in utero brain development in the context of the width of the female pelvis. As brain size increased, the amount of time that it took to raise an infant to maturity lengthened as there was only a finite-sized aperture through which to be born, and to have altered the physiology of the female hips would have detrimentally altered the balance required to maintain an upright walking stance. Thus, much of the brain development which in apes and earlier hominids would have occurred in the womb now began to take place in the first few years of life. Knight, Power & Watts narrate some of the implications this phenomenon would have had:
"The extra costs arising from encephalization include the metabolic demands on the mother for sustaining brain growth in the infant... and the increased energetic requirements of foraging for a higher quality diet... Because [hominid] mothers bore these escalating costs, we must suppose that it was females who developed strategies to meet them. As maternal energy budgets came under strain, natural selection would have acted on... features of the reproductive cycle."
The most notable change would have been the progressive suppression of the human female oestrus, whose function in other primates is to advertise the female's fertility, and the concurrent amplification of a misleading signal related to, but not signifying, fertility: that of menstruation which signals the approximate imminence of oestrus rather than its actuality. This startling change in signalling behaviour, which seems profoundly odd from a primate perspective, would likely have facilitated, or perhaps evolved in combination with, the process of encephalization. The reasons for its emergence are subtle and relate to male investment in childrearing, a behaviour largely absent in chimpanzees. This would have advantageously reduced the spiralling costs to hominid females, as Knight, Power & Watts elucidate:
"To drive up male investment, females needed to counter male philandering strategies... The human female appears 'well-designed' to waste the time of philanderers by withholding accurate information about her true fertility state. Concealment of ovulation and loss of oestrus... eliminated any reliable cue by which to judge whether a female is likely to have been impregnated..."
Males would thus have been forced to engage in lengthy courtships without ever knowing if or when the female was fertile, and while this would increase the costs to males, it would also permit confidence in their paternity. Menstruation thus becomes a useful, if confusing, signal only to males who attend females for longer periods of time. From this, a 'virtuous circle' of behaviour could theoretically emerge: greater confidence in paternity would lead to greater parental investment. However, it could be argued that once the male was sure the female was impregnated, and this could be ascertained through evidential signs of pregnancy, he might consider his job done and move elsewhere. The female would still bear the vast majority of the reproductive costs and this fragile system would be broken by the philandering behaviour of the cheating males.
We can already see a kind of struggle for investment and energy here between the genders in this behaviour: the reproductive strategies of males and females remained markedly different, and the female attraction towards males showing less philandering behaviours could have easily been subverted by cheating males using their intelligence to deceive the females. Females in turn would have utilised greater discernment in seeking out males, and thus, this dynamic would have driven an evolution towards greater intelligence, and increased the rate of encephalization, exacerbating the initial problem. At this stage, individual and egotistic drives remain the dominant paradigm here, but the dichotomy was to be broken with the next innovation in female behaviour.
Goodall reports that chimpanzee females often group together in male-independent, kin-aligned coalitions to share the burden of child-rearing, and it is likely similar coalitions would have existed among archaic Homo sapiens. This collective behaviour may itself have confused some philandering males, but it also presented the females with another technique to modify male behaviour in response to encephalization costs: that of reproductive synchrony, probably linked to environmental clues initially but eventually to the lunar cycle. Knight, Power & Watts elucidate the advantages of this synchrony:
"If females synchronize their fertile moments, no single male can cope with guarding and impregnating any group of females. Local, previously excluded males are attracted into groups by potentially fertile females... More males become available to the synchronizing females..."
and thus, faced with a coalition of synchronized females whose dominant signalling is oriented towards the imminence rather than the presence of fertility, philandering males lose control of the whole situation while males who are more likely to invest parental time are welcomed into the group, thus increasing their likelihood of being able to father a child for another time. The female collective thus begins to 'police' the access that males have to females, and could even begin to fake signals to ensure continued male presence, such as a non-menstruating female 'borrowing' the menses of her sisters in order to maintain the investment of the males. Here, then, we have the glimmers of the beginnings of a symbolic culture: menstruation as a collective deceit to modify and manipulate male behaviour.
However, again, we find that this is another fragile system that may be cheated, this time by a female who, as it so happens, is not synchronous with the group and who might seek out a philandering male independently of the collective, thus guaranteeing her child genes from an outgroup which may be advantageous. Any independently-cycling female will also stand out to any observant males within the collective, and her individual signal of menstruation thus becomes a powerful method of gaining multiple male investment in her time. This cheating female thus becomes a threat to the incipient collective, and it is in response to this threat that the first decisive movement to symbolic culture occurred, embodied in what has been termed the 'sham menstruation'. Power & Aiello explain:
"...we would expect [all] females within kin coalitions to manufacture synchrony of signals whenever a member was actually menstruating... We might then expect them to resort to cosmetic means — blood-coloured pigments that could be used in body-painting — to augment their "sham" displays... Such coordinated body-painting at menstruation would function as advertising for extra male attention. Provided females maintained solidarity within their menstrual coalitions, even if males were aware of which females were actually menstruating, they would not be able to use the information."
In other words, the policing of male access to menstruating females, the confusion of signals with red ochre or other pigments and the collective bonds between females would have rendered even a true insight into who was really menstruating worthless, for the females would surely expel any male who attended too closely the genuine menstruants. We have here, then, proto-symbolic behaviour, a collective deception staged by a female coalition intent on maintaining continued male investment in parental concerns. This situation is near-unbreakable, simply because it is not worth cheating: the risks are too high. However, it is not true symbolism quite yet, though as Power & Aiello continue, by amplifying the 'sham menstruation' signals even further through regularity, archaic Homo sapiens females led themselves into an imaginary construct that was collectively-held and indefinitely-maintained, true symbolism:
"So long as female deceptive displays remained... constrained by the local incidence of biological menstruation, they would not be fully symbolic but tied to here-and-now contexts. Symbolic cultural evolution would take off when cosmetic displays involving use of pigment and body painting were staged as a default, a matter of monthly, habitual performance, irrespective of whether any local female was actually menstruating. Once such regularity had been established, women would effectively have created a communal construct of 'Fertility' or 'Blood'... no longer dependent on its perceptible counterpart. Ritual body-painting within groups would repeatedly create, sustain, and recreate this morally authoritative construct."
Thus the alignment of reproductive synchrony with the regular phases of the moon allowed pre-symbolic archaic humans to move into an incipient symbolistic cultural state that bore a wide range of advantages for the practitioners. For example, sham menstruation displays could also have been used in areas of intense foraging, to variously encourage and mobilise males to engage in the gathering of food. The red painted female figure thus became a moral figure, informing an emerging collective percept, an incipient sacred rule, that males should be helpful and not philandering, and in so doing, created the social environment which led our species from cognitively-archaic hominids to cognitively-modern humans. The monthly 'sham menstruation' discloses a non-functional import, a ritual wholly divorced from any real-world referent, opening up an imaginary world in which incipient constructs such as 'blood', 'fertility' and 'moral force' were expressed symbolically through pigment and display.
We might postulate that the cognitive capacity to visualise this new reality may have then engendered yet further encephalization processes – it is known that many of the symbolic cognitions in question appear to have their neurological foundations in the most recently-evolved frontal and pre-frontal cortices of the brain – and the spiralling costs would have created the conditions whereby even increased male attention could not meet the energy needs of the females and their children. Knight and Power & Aiello theorise that it may have then become necessary to utilise this new-found moral force to motivate the males to do something rather paradoxical in this context: leave the female collective to hunt, thereby procuring food from a wider area or to kill animals for high-quality and energy-rich meat.
This was a high-risk strategy, since in their banishment the males may have abandoned their female kin and resumed their philandering behaviour with unrelated groups, but if we assume symbolism was adaptive, we can expect many early cognitively-modern human groups to have exhibited similar behaviours and thus female collectives that were not their kin would have generally been closed to them. Perhaps ironically, with an expanded cognitive capacity due to their incipient symbolism, the males may now have gained as a by-product an enhanced ability to conceive of effective hunt strategies or predict animal behaviour, and the dynamic existing between menstrual blood and red ochre in the sham menstruation ritual may have easily conflated with the blood of the hunt, binding them in an emerging web of symbolic associations.
The females also likely compounded this associative web through a mixture of moral obligation and reward by staging a 'sex strike', in which as Kohn explains:
"...women's displays, loud and vivid and emphatic, inverted the normal messages of [animal] sexual assent. To confirm the possibility of mating, an animal needs to verify that the potential mate is of the right sex and species and that the time is right for fertile sex. The message of the women's ritual was 'wrong sex / wrong species / wrong time'; or, in a word, 'No!' They were refusing sex collectively unless men went out to hunt and returned with provisions."
Here, male behaviour is manipulated a further time, and Knight, Power & Watts surmise that the 'sex strike' may have arisen during a period of particularly high 'resource stress', perhaps caused by the re-establishment of an ice age some 160,000 years ago. Knight also notes an important implication of the strike for dynamics of autonomy and self-image among the emerging symbolic females:
"This [the 'sex strike'] was the way for females to demonstrate that their bodies now belonged to themselves. Just as the females in effect must have sexually boycotted the defeated Tyrant [an image of the philandering male which Knight uses here], so they would again have had to go on sex strike given any future signs of dominance-like [or philandering] behaviour in any of the males who were now allied to them... More precisely: any male who approached seeking sex without first joining his comrades in the hunt would have had to be met with refusal. No meat: no sex."
The earliest developmental characteristic of this strike was likely to be wrong time – 'no sex now: go hunting' – but as the adaptive advantage of this spread across human populations in early Middle Stone Age Africa, the red-covered female coalitions began to develop into displays whereby the females became male ('wrong gender'), or the application of the symbolic menstrual blood of the hunt on their bodies conferred animal characteristics ('wrong species') upon them. An important point is that none of these signals – maleness, animal attributes, infertility – would have been visually evident in the immediate context: the displaying females were still obviously female, but selective pressures would have caused visual evidence, as it were, the artefacts of this world, to be subordinate to the much more authoritative symbolic evidence of an emerging unseen world. Indeed, Power's summary of the model makes explicit the link between these menstrual signals and the incipient perception of deity:
"Because menstruation was valuable for extracting mating effort from males, non-cycling females 'cheated' by joining in with menstruating relatives, painting up with blood or blood substitutes to signal 'imminent fertility'… Simultaneous with advertising fertility using cosmetics, late archaic/early modern females constructed taboos indicating refusal of sexual access except on condition of successful hunting. These involved signalling 'we are the wrong sex and the wrong species' in costly ritual performance to deter advances of non-cooperative males. Such ritual metamorphosis into gender-ambivalent therianthropes, highlighted by amplified bloodflow, constituted humanity's first 'gods'."
The cognitive door was thus unlocked to reveal a variety of new social realities, including ideas of the sacred, that were understood according to non-perceptibly verifiable ideas which nonetheless had significant behavioural effects, and most elegantly, these symbols and their effects emerge easily from a Darwinian explication of the implications for encephalization coupled with what we observe for the sexual signalling behaviour of modern human females today.
ARCHAIC VISIONS
Bruce Rimell
Visionary Artist, Poet & Writer
ACADEMIA - Bruce Rimell
FaceBook Arts Page
Based in the twin cities of Leeds-Bradford in the UK, my work springs from an alchemy of vision and myth, ancestral past and shamanic future. Come & See, Look Within - What Will You Find...?
Bushman Rock Art Series
Minoan


Livingston County's voice in Congress has introduced a new bipartisan bill that seeks to close loopholes that allow foreign interests and governments to purchase advertising that could influence U.S. elections.
The bill was introduced Wednesday by 8th District Democrat Elissa Slotkin of Holly and New York Republican Elise Stefanik. Called the Preventing Adversaries Internationally from Disbursing Advertising Dollars Act, or the PAID AD Act, it comes less than two weeks after the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on the 2016 election, which clearly determined that Russia interfered in the election, particularly through social media ads targeted to states including Michigan. "Stopping foreign entities from influencing U.S. elections is not a partisan issue. As a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, I believe it's an issue of national security and preserving our democracy, and I'm proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in introducing this bill," Slotkin said.
While current law prohibits foreign entities from contributing directly to campaigns, they are still legally allowed to purchase ads supporting or opposing a candidate on social media up until Election Day and on television up to 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary election. The PAID AD Act would close those loopholes by, among other things, prohibit foreign entities from buying a campaign ad on television, radio, or the internet that promotes, supports, attacks, or opposes a candidate for federal office.


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George Meniuc (n. 20 mai 1918, Chișinău – d. 8 februarie 1987) a fost un director de revistă, eseist, poet, prozator, publicist și traducător din RSS Moldovenească.

Biografie
George Meniuc născut la Chișinău în 1918 într-o familie de origine proletară, George Meniuc a început a compune versuri in 1932, la vârsta de 14 ani, iar în 1934 a publicat prima poezie, La țară, în revista "Mihai Eminescu".

A absolvit liceul "Mihai Eminescu" din Chișinău în 1937, după care și-a continuat studiile la Universitatea din București, Facultatea de Litere și Filozofie (1937-1940), unde i-a avut ca profesori pe Tudor Vianu, Petre P. Negulescu, Dimitrie Gusti, Mircea Florian ș.a. L-a avut coleg pe Ovidiu Bîrlea, cu care a și colaborat ulterior.

A debutat la București în anul 1939, cu placheta de versuri Interior cosmic, urmată în 1940 de volumul de eseuri Imaginea în artă. În 1940, după absolvirea facultății, George Meniuc s-a reîntors la Chișinău, fapt pe care avea să-l regrete ulterior. În timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial a fost evacuat în Uzbekistan.

După al Doilea Război Mondial, regimul sovietic l-a constrâns la oportunism, deoarece a activat modest în publicistică și a scris poezie de inspirație folclorică și basme în versuri pentru copii, abandonând modernismul, considerat inacceptabil de autorități. A fost membru al PCUS din 1953.

Timp de peste doi ani și jumătate, George Meniuc s-a aflat în funcția de redactor-șef a revistei "Nistru", organ al Uniunii Scriitorilor, perioadă în care au apărut 33 de numere.

Abia în 1969 îi este reconsiderată poezia din anii 1937-1940 și aceasta este republicată în volumul Vremea Lerului. În 1972 i-a fost decernat Premiul de Stat al RSSM pentru literatură, iar în 1982 a obținut titlul de Scriitor al poporului din Moldova. Beneficiază de traduceri în rusă, armeană, franceză, spaniolă (realizate și difuzate în Moldova și URSS).

A fost înmormântat în Cimitirul Central din Chișinău.  A avut trei căsnicii, din care a rezultat o  singură fiică - Olga.

Scrieri

Poezii
 1948 - Cântecul zorilor
 1954 - Poezii
 1956 - Strofe lirice
 1957 - Poeme
 1958 - Versuri alese
 1969 - Vremea Lerului
 1979 - Florile dalbe
 1983 - Toamna lui Orfeu

Nuvele
 Delfinul
 Scripca prietenului meu
 Întunecatul april
 Cei trei
 Umbre
 Povestea vorbei
 Amurg
 Nostimă și cu picățele
 Negură
 Ultimul vagon
 Caloian
 Ceasornicul vesel
 Sentimentul de recunoștintă
 Prichindel
 Micul Icar
 Vagonul
 Era noapte
 Amintiri
 Accidentul
 Mătăhală

Eseuri
 1940 - Imaginea în artă
 1959 - Iarba fiarelor
 1966 - Cadran solar
 1967 - Eseuri

Cărți pentru copii
 Vulpea isteață, Editura Prut Internațional, Chișinău; ISBN 9975-69-354-7

Note

Legături externe

Nașteri în 1918
Nașteri pe 20 mai
Decese în 1987
Decese pe 8 februarie
Oameni din Chișinău
Directori de reviste români
Eseiști moldoveni
Eseiști români
Poeți moldoveni
Poeți români din secolul al XX-lea
Publiciști moldoveni
Publiciști români
Scriitori moldoveni
Scriitori români din secolul al XX-lea
Traducători moldoveni
Traducători români
Absolvenți ai Universității din București
Români basarabeni
Membri ai Partidului Comunist al Uniunii Sovietice
Poeți sovietici
Scriitori sovietici
Dramaturgi sovietici
Scriitori români de literatură pentru copii
Ziariști români
Jurnaliști moldoveni
Jurnaliști sovietici
Decese în Chișinău

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Find listings of Wigan Gas Service Engineers. Featured listings include Ashton Cooker Centre, J D Gas, Mark Heard Gas Services, Winstanley Heating, and Bennett Gas Installation. To suggest a listing in this category click here.


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Deputies re-elect Byron Rushing vice president, unopposed
Pat McCaughan
[Episcopal News Service – Salt Lake City] The House of Deputies on June 29 re-elected Byron Rushing for a second term as vice president. He was unopposed.
Deputy Sarah Neumann of Massachusetts nominated Rushing. President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings suspended the rules of order and called for the election to take place immediately; Rushing was re-elected by an overwhelming voice vote, cheers, applause and a sustained standing ovation.
Rushing addressed deputies and Jennings briefly. "You know that most of the time the words vice president appear in the canons they appear with the words, resignation, death, absence, inability," he told Jennings amid laughter. "Let me tell you, I pray for you every day. I have even been known to reach deep into my Anglo-Catholic roots and light candles."
Growing serious, he added, "To work so closely with you and to have your support has meant so much to me."
To the deputies he said, "You know I love Jesus. You know I love God's mission and you know I love this house. You are a great house because you are so key, you having all of us in this part of God's great church be so effective in following Jesus. Thank you."
Jennings added that Rushing has served the house with distinction for 14 General Conventions and attended the 1970 convention as part of the youth presence. "We are so fortunate all of us in this house to have his wisdom and counsel, his great love, not only for Jesus but for The Episcopal Church. He has been the best to work with, thank you."
The House of Deputies also elected six lay members of Executive Council, whose elections have yet to be confirmed by the House of Bishops.
Also elected June 29 were:
The General Theological Seminary Trustees:
* The Rev. Yamily Bass-Choate, Diocese of New York;
* Anne Clarke Brown, Diocese of Vermont;
* The Rev. Tommy Joe Dillon II, Diocese of Olympia;
* Dianne Audrick Smith, Diocese of California
Members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops
* The Rev Canon Suzann Holding, Diocese of San Diego
* The Rev. Erik W. Larsen, Diocese of Rhode Island
* Deborah Stokes, Diocese of Southern Ohio
* Marcellus Smith, Diocese of Alabama
The General Seminary trustees help guide the direction of the seminary and support the dean and student body. The Disciplinary Board for Bishops serves as a court of the church to have original jurisdiction over matters of discipline of bishops, to hear bishops' appeals from imposition of restriction on ministry or placement on administrative leave and to determine venue issues as provided in Canon IV.19.5.
— The Rev. Pat McCaughan is part of the Episcopal News Service team covering General Convention.
General Convention General Convention 2015 House of Deputies


Prime Minister John Key says he has no intention of pulling out of the job early if his National Party wins a fourth term.
But he's stopped short of being definitive and is keen to point out the party has to actually win it first.
Asked on TV3's The Nation program whether there could be a situation where National could win the election only for Mr Key to pull out afterwards, he replied: "Well, that's not my intention".
"But, the first point I've got to make is you've got to win a fourth term," he said.
The National Party has only had one four-term prime minister: Keith Holyoake whose time ran from 1960 to 1972.
A One News Colmar-Brunton this month had National holding steady at 48 per cent, with Labour and the Greens sitting at a combined 39 per cent – although Labour rejected that result, saying it differed largely from other recent polls that showed the gap closing.
Newshub-Reid Research's August poll had National at 45.1 per cent, compared to the Labour Green bloc at 44.2 per cent.
It is probably true it isn't John Key's intention to back away early in a fourth term, but that doesn't mean he won't.
Still an awful lot of water to go under the bridge, but bookmark this page: if a National-led government makes it to a fourth term, I predict John Key will not lead National in the 2020 election.


"It only became illegal when UPRR took over....we got a LOT on trains built kicking cars."
The first SD-45's that made it to Eureka in 1971 were SP 8992 & SP 9043 I believe.
Hello are you called be a nik name of fast freddy. If not i'm sorry I was think of somebody at work on the NWP at one time.
I spent my summers in Loleta from 1950 until 57. I visited often after that until I joined the Air Force in 1967. I did make several trips north after that. If you go to my page to my photos you can see photos I made starting in 1958, between Eureka and Scotia. The NWP folks alwats treated me and my train crazy friends nicely.
I'm sure the photos will stir some memories!
Fred, could you share when you worked the north end of the NWP? And in what capacity?
Loleta was my summer home for several years! I tried never to miss a train.


Ask almost any web developer: a strong suite of development apps and plugins is central to our productivity. However, finding the right apps can be a frustrating experience because of the app selection has grown dramatically over the past year thanks to the Mac App Store, as well as the spread of GitHub and app news resources like Hacker News, Dribbble and Twitter.
To cut through the clutter, I thought it would be helpful to go over the most important tools to my daily web development workflow. Note that app usage stems from personal, idiosyncratic decisions; what works for me may not work for everyone else. Yet this is a solid toolbox and if you're at all considering trying something new, consider an option from the list below.
A good text editor is arguably the most important app in a web developer's toolkit; you're only as good as your code, and you code in a text editor. I was a die hard TextMate fan for years, but TextMate's development has reached a dead end. I had to look at alternative options, and while I toyed around with Espresso and BBEdit, Sublime Text 2 emerged as a clear choice. I love the editor's speed, even with huge directories open, the TextMate-like Cmd+P fuzzy file search and the multiple selection mode. It also has full compatibility with TextMate bundles and themes which made the transition away from TextMate seamless.
Emmet – version 2.0 of the popular web developer plugin Zen Coding – is a revelation. I was admittedly bearish on the initial Zen Coding plugins; something about the syntax never clicked with me. But Emmet is different. It's faster and far more refined than older Zen Coding tools. With the plugin's HTML snippets and slick CSS resolver, I can code most HTML and CSS much faster. Even if you've been dissuaded by some Zen Coding quirks in the past, give Emmet a try over the course of a coding day; most developers should see a difference after just a few hours of use.
Any web developer who also designs or works off design comps has to frequently deal with alignment and size issues among images and HTML elements. I've seen coworkers try ad hoc measurements by using the top edge of an app window to measure alignment, or taking an actual ruler against the screen to compare the relative size of two elements. Don't do this; there are far more accurate and faster dedicated measurement apps out there.
The most popular pixel measurement tool is inarguably IconFactory's xScope. It's an excellent app, but its separate mini tools never meshed well with my personal workflow. Instead I prefer Snap Ruler, an app that only focuses on tools I use heavily: a loupe and an on screen ruler. You can size elements and export CSS code in three clicks. It's fast, lightweight and has solid keyboard shortcut support.
I bought ScreenFloat on a lark. It was on sale for $2 and I needed something simple to float a web page. Little did I know at the time how awesome this app is for web development. I use ScreenFloat almost exclusively for floating Photoshop comps and wireframes on top of the web browser as I write code. ScreenFloat's secret weapon is its adjustable transparency; I combine mouse wheel movement to adjust comp transparency along with a global keyboard command to hide or show the comp entirely. These quick shortcuts allow me to focus on just the code instead of fiddling with the comp itself. Overall, the app greatly increases my development speed and accuracy, especially with high precision "pixel perfect" comps.
If you work with CSS, you need accurate, consistent hex colors in code to match your ideas and graphical comps. It's true that you can generate hex colors via screenshots and the Photoshop eyedropper. Yet this workflow requires a lot of unnecessary clicks and Photoshop is a heavy app to keep open for just this purpose. Instead, get a dedicated hex color picker; there are many good ones on the App Store, but I like ColorSnapper the most. It couldn't be easier to use: I click on an onscreen color with the app and a corresponding hex color gets pasted to my clipboard. It's also retina display friendly and I can easily switch the code color format from hex to other popular options (e.g. rgb).
If you do any sort of file comparisons you owe it to yourself to try out Kaleidoscope. The app was originally developed by (the now Facebook owned) Sofa but is updated and maintained by Black Pixel. These are two crack design and development shops and the pedigree shows. There are many other file comparison apps out there, but I find none have the level of polish that Kaleidoscope has. I use it every day as a simple Git diff tool before my code checkins or rebases.
Over the course of a full day of coding, the Refresh button on a web browser can turn into an annoying time sink. You're constantly saving work, switching over to the web browser and tapping refresh to get your web content up to date. LiveReload takes that action out of your hands: HTML changes auto-reload the page when you save while CSS changes take their effect instantly, no reload necessary. It also can auto-compile pre-processor code like SASS and LESS automatically in the background. Note CodeKit tends to be the more popular auto-refresh app choice with its cleaner UI and extra customization options, but I found LiveReload to be a slightly faster experience overall.
Alfred is a bit of a cheat falling on this list given it isn't really a web targeted app. Yet it's such a productivity booster that I can't imagine my Mac without it. Alfred is a keyboard 'launcher' app: hit a keyboard shortcut and a text box pops up where you can quickly launch applications, run shortcuts, search the web and much more. The Verge ran a great introduction to the app last month if you want more of a primer before diving in.


The 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday with five games. Here are some notes, predictions and my bracket for the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With a record of 26-6 after Round 1, my entry in the 2019 NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge from CBS Sports is off to a decent start.
The 2018 Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals begins on May 28th. Here are some notes, the schedule and my predictions for the Final.
The 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals start tonight. Here are some notes, the schedule and my revised predictions for Round 3.
The second round of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs start on Thursday. Here are some notes followed by my revised predictions for Round 2.
Here are my predictions for 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament. I have Duke, Michigan, West Virginia and Kentucky advancing to the Final Four, which is being held in San Antonio, TX March 31 – April 2.


Have you ever found yourself in a place you didn't want to be?
The people of God had been taken as slaves by their enemies. Israel was captive and in exile - they were in the Diaspora.
We too can find ourselves in exile - in a diaspora of our own. It can be a partial diaspora, maybe we're disobedient in one area of our lives, or perhaps we have walked away from the Lord completely. However, we have a God that wants to stir our spirits to return to Him - to help us arise and rebuild a life of faith.
How to get back to the basics of faith.
How to deal with sin.
What to do when we encounter enemies.
What it looks like to be obedient.
How to recognize when God moves in and around us.
How to be a servant of God.
Ready to start? Download the EZRA study guide here!


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Res Judicata: Shareholders Get One Bite at the Derivative Suit Apple
When filing a shareholder derivative suit, it 's important to get the job done right the first time, as other shareholders may not get a second bite of the proverbial apple.
In Noor v. Mahmood, the Second Department upheld Justice Lawrence Knipel's Order which granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, dismissing a shareholder derivative action pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata where a previous derivative action commenced by a different shareholder against the same defendants and based on the same alleged wrongdoings had already been dismissed.
In the earlier action, commenced in 2015, a shareholder brought a derivative suit on behalf of the corporation based on defendants' alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and diversion of corporate assets. That action was dismissed pursuant to CPLR 3211 as a result of the shareholder's failure to adequately allege demand futility. There, the majority of the board consisting of disinterested directors had exercised their business judgment and refused to authorize the derivative suit (click here to read my blog on avoiding dismissal based on demand futility).
In 2017, plaintiff, a different shareholder, brought a separate derivative suit against the same defendants with identical allegations as those raised in the 2015 suit. Interestingly, plaintiff in this action was one of the disinterested directors who had refused to authorize the derivative suit in the earlier action.
In an effort to save the second derivative suit from the same fate of the earlier action, plaintiff argued that because he had changed his mind and decided to file suit, there was no longer a disinterested majority that considered the action meritless. Furthermore, plaintiff argued that the prior dismissal was not on the merits and cannot be the basis for res judicata.
The Second Department, however, reasoned that claims asserted in a shareholder's derivative action belong to and are brought on behalf of the corporation, not the shareholders themselves. Thus, a judgment in an action brought on behalf of the corporation by one shareholder precludes other actions brought by other shareholders where they are predicated on the same wrongdoing (Grika v. McGraw, 161 A.D.3d 450 [1st Dept. 2018]).
This case is in line with the public policy behind the doctrine of res judicata: to ensure finality, prevent vexatious litigation, and promote judicial economy (Xiao Yang Chen v. Fischer, 6 N.Y.3d 94, 100 [2005]).
The holding in Noor is also consistent with the precedent established in New York federal courts: that a determination on the merits in a shareholders' derivative action is res judicata in subsequent actions as to the corporation and all of its shareholders, including those who were not parties to the prior derivative action, as long as the parties' interest were adequately represented in the original action (Lee v. Marvel Enterprises, Inc., 765 F.Supp.2d 440 [S.D.N.Y. 2011]; see, e.g., Henrik v. LaBranche, 433 F.Supp.2d 372 [S.D.N.Y. 2006]).
The court in Henrik v. LaBranche noted that the general rule precluding other actions brought by subsequent shareholders where they are predicated on the same wrongdoing is not without exception. There, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York discussed the possibility for a different result where the plaintiff shareholder in the first action is alleged to have inadequately represented the interests of all of the shareholders and there is a showing that the "representative failed to prosecute or defend the action with due diligence and reasonable prudence, and the opposing party was on notice of facts making that failure apparent" (Henrik, citing Restatement (Second) of Judgments,§ 42).
Takeaway: Recognizing that shareholders may not get a second bite of the apple when filing a shareholder derivative action, it is important to analyze the merits of a derivative suit and determine if any claims may be brought by the shareholder individually. Additionally, shareholders contemplating a subsequent derivative action should also consider whether their interests were adequately represented in the earlier action.