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Bahā'-Allāh's later handwriting
An illuminated Scriptural Tablet of Baha'u'llah
The writings of Bahā'-Allāh (1817-1892 CE), An Introductory Note
1985 - Now under revision and completion 2014
Bahā'-Allāh's extant writings very largely date from the last 40 years of his life (1852-1892 CE) and were written in Arabic and / or Persian, and sometimes a mixture of these languages. The Persian of Baha'-Allah is often highly Arabized. For the most part his writings are letters written in honor of and /or in reply to Bābīs and Bahā'īs and varying in length from a few lines to several hundred pages. Though largely untitled a proportion, perhaps 500 or more, usually of the more weighty, doctrinally significant writings, have specific designations. In line with the conviction that they were expressions of waḥy (divine revelation), the sacred kalimat Allāh (Word of God), like the (original) Torah, Gospels and Qur'ān, many of these writings have specific designations derived, for the most part, from time-honored (largely) Abrahamic religious terminology. Key designations for Baha'u'llah's writings thue include :
(1) لوح , الواح Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ), scriptural `tablets'. (Per.) Lawh-i aqdas (The Most Holy Tablet');
(2) سورة / سور Sūrah, (pl. suwar). Surahs or (loosely), sections, `chapters'. Thus, for example, Surat al-Khitab ('The Surah of the Discourse'), Surat al-bayan (The Surah of the Exposition') ...
(3) كِتَاب/ كُتُب Kitāb (pl. kutub), book, writings, letters, pages .. hence (Pers.) kitāb-i iqan (Book of Certitude) or (Arabic) al-kitab al-aqdas ("The Most Holy Book" = Per. Kitab-i aqdas).
(4) صَحِيف / صُحُف Saḥīfa (pl. ṣuḥuf ) (scrolls, sacred writings'...), thus (Per.) Saḥīfa-yi Shattiyya (`The Scroll of the Torrent').
(5) Risala (pl. Rasā'il), Treatise... e.g. (Per.) Risala su'al va jawab ('Trestise expressing Questions and Answers');
(6) Tafsir (tafa'sir) or Sharh Commentary. e.g. Tafsir Surat al-shams (Commentary on the Surah of the Sun = Q. 91).
(7) Ziyarat-Nama (Visitation Tablets). e.g. (Per.) Ziyarat-nama-yi Tahira, Qurrat al-`Ayn (Visiting Tablet for Tahira [Fatima Baraghani, d. 1852 CE.], the `Solace of the Eyes')
(1) Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ), Tablet.
The Qur'anic Arabic word for scriprural Tablet is Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ) which corresponds to the biblical Hebrew ל֥וּחַ = luḥ (pl. luḥōṯ = הַלֻּחֹ֥ת = "the Tablets" ). This biblical term indicates, among other things, the חָר֖וּת עַל־ הַלֻּחֹֽת׃ , Tarot `al ha-luḥōṯ = " the Tablets of the Law (Torah)" given by God (on Mt. Sinai) to the prophet Moses (Exodus 32:16). The phrase הַלֻּחֹ֥ת ha-luḥōṯ, "The Tablets", occurs some 14 times in the Hebrew Bible largely in connection with the "Tablets of the Law" (see also, Exodus 32:19; 34:1, 28; Deut. 9:17; 10:2ff., etc.).
In the Qur'an the Arabic masculine noun lawḥ ("Tablet") or its plural alwāḥ occur five times. Three of these occurences are of the plural الواح alwāḥ and are found in the 7th Surat al-A'rāf ("the Heights"). They relate to the episode of Moses' receipt of the `Tablets of the [Israelite, Jewish] Law' on Mount Sinai and his subsequent destruction of them when he observed what Aaron and the people has done (see Q. 7:145,150,154):
Q. 7:145.
"And We ordained laws For him [Moses] in the Tablets (alwāḥ). In all matters, both Commanding and explaining All things (kulli shay' in), (and said): "Take and hold these With firmness, and enjoin Thy people to hold fast By the best in the precepts: Soon shall I show you The homes of the wicked,— (How they lie desolate)."
"When Moses came back To his people [from Sinai], angry and grieved, He said: "Evil it is that ye Have done in my place In my absence: did ye Make haste to bring on The judgment of your Lord?" He put down the Tablets (al-alwah), Seized his brother by (the hair Of) his head, and dragged him To him. Aaron said: "Son of my mother! The people Did indeed reckon me As naught, and went near To slaying me! Make not The enemies rejoice over My misfortune, nor count thou Me amongst the people Of sin."
"When the anger of Moses Was appeased, he took up The Tablets (alwāḥ) : in the writing Thereon was Guidance and Mercy For such as fear their Lord".
The fourth Qur'anic reference is connected with the story of Noah and his Ark found in Surah 54, the Surat al-Qamar (Surah of the Moon). The ark which bore Noah is referred to as a "well-planked vessel, well-cauked" (so Arberry trans.) This illustrates the sense of Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ) as a wooden plank, also suggestive of a flat surface which something might be written upon as is the case with inscribed scriptural "Tablets".
Q. 54:13.
"But We bore him [Noah] on an (Ark) made of Broad planks ( dhat alwāḥ) and caulked With palm-fibre (dusur in)"
The fifth and final Qur'anic reference to a (sing.) lawḥ is found in the eighty-fifth Surat al-Burūj, (The Surah of the Zodiacal Signs) :
Q. 85: [21-]22.
"Nay! Such is a Glorious Qur'an (Qur'an majid) [85] [inscribed] in a Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ in Mahfuz in)".
Here reference is made to the well-known "Guarded Tablet" (Lawḥ Mahfuz) about which a great deal has been written by Muslim Qur'an commentators as well as by the early Shaykhi leaders - Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i (d.1241/1826) and Sayyid Kazim al-Rashti (d. 1259/1843). Soo too both the Bab and Baha'-Allah.
Individual items of sacred writ deriving from Baha'-Allah are very often referred to as "Tablets" whether they be in Persian or Arabic (or both), very brief or very long; whether relating to matters "mundane" or to matters profoundly theological or to issues of global significance. Many writings are generally called `Tablets' despite the fact that they may have other names or deisignations such as are listed above. Thus, in other words, on occasion, the totality of Baha'i scriptural writings are reckoned alwāḥ (`sacred Tablets') as are writings also given other literary designations such as those discussed here, e.g. Surahs, Books, Treatises, Scrolls, etc.
(2) Sūrah, (pl. suwar).
(3) Kitāb (pl. kutub), "Book", "Letter" ...
The word Kitab in Arabic indicates a letter, book or written composition of some kind. A farly large numnber of Baha'-Allah's writings are designated books (kitab, pl. kutub). A well-known example would be the Kitab-i iqan or Book of Ceritude which dates to around 1862. From the Edirne or Adrianope period a weighty, over 200 page volume is his Kitab-i badi` (The Revolutionary or Wondroud Book). Books from the later West Galilean or (loosely designated) `Akka' period include his centrally important book of laws and injunctions designated in Arabic al-kitab al-aqdas ("The Most Sacred Book") which is often (loosely) rendered into Persian as Kitab-i aqdas. (c. 1873). Among the fairly short works of designated books is the late al-Kitab al-`Ahdi (The Book of My Covenant) again loosely rendered into Persian as the Kitab-i `ahd ("The Book of the Covenant").
4) Saḥīfa (pl. ṣuḥuf ).
Occurring eight times in the Qur'an (=Q.), the originally Sabaic word ṣaḥīfa (pl. ṣuḥuf) may have originally meant something like `document'. According to Arabic sources this word indicates a `sheet' or piece of material for writing upon; hence, `document' , `page of writing', `scroll', `scripture', etc (Jeffery, 1938:192-4; Ghédira, `ṣuḥuf'', EI2 VIII: 834-5; Maraqten, 1998:309). Though the Q. says very little about divine revelations sent down prior to the time of Moses, the word ṣuḥuf ("scriptures") is used in this connection. There is mention of the "earlier scriptures" (al-ṣuḥuf al-ulā), the ṣuḥuf Ibrahīm wa mūsā ("The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses" Q. 87:19).
In one way or another the Arabic words ṣaḥīfa and ṣuḥuf are quite common in Bābī-Bahā'ī sacred literatures, often indicating specific revealed writings as well as indicating pre-Islamic or especially pre-Mosaic divine revelation. Both the Bāb and Bahā'-Allāh used ṣaḥīfa in varied and diverse ways to indicate portions of their sacred writings. The Bāb, for example, wrote a Ṣaḥīfa bayn al-ḥaramayn usually loosely rendered `Epistle between the Two Shrines' [Mecca and Medina], (Muḥarram 1261/ mid.Jan. 1845) and Bahā'-Allāh authored the Ṣaḥīfa-yi Shaṭṭiyya (Scroll of the Raging Torrent, c.1857-8) as well as a Ṣaḥīfat Allah ("The Scroll of God", c. 1858) perhaps 25 or more years later (from or near Acre in Ottoman Palestine) addressed especially to a group of Iranian Jewish converts to the Baha'i religion.
(5) Risala (pl. Rasa'il), Treatise...
Risala (Treatise)
(e) risāla [-yi] ----- ) treatises
(6) Tafsir (tafa'sir) or Sharh Commentary.
An Islamic Tafsir writing is a commentary or work expository of portions or of the whole of the Qur'an though thuis work may be indicative of the attempt to explain some other weighty composition.
(f) tafsīr-i ----- ( commentaries).
Tafsīr-i - ( Commenty on ).
Sharh-i (Commentary on).
(7) Ziyarat-Nama (Visitation Tablets)...
Ziyarat-Nama (Visitation Tablets) as texts of varying lengh in Persian or Arabic (or both) which commenorate a deceased individual and is meant to be recited at his or her resting place. There are scores of Ziyara texts of importance in Shi`i Islam especially those centered upon the twelver imams, from `Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 40/661) to Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (d. 260/8XX), the twelfth Imam who is thought to be in the heavenly world in occultation (al-ghayba). There are Shi`i Islamic visitation texts for the Prophet Muhamad himself, his daughter Fatima and his descendants the twelve Imam. Some important Ziyara texts suffice for one or more of these Islamic worthies.
Very few of the the sacred `revelatory' (Ar. w-h-y) writings of Baha'-Allah indicated above, are studied or systematic compositions. Perhaps In excess of 500 works of Bahā'-Allāh were specifically titled by their author after terms or themes of central importance therein. Others are named or titled after the recipient (s) of the scriptural writing. Some writings have several titles or names such as the Lawḥ-i kāf-zā' (`Tablet of K and Ẓ', alluding the his major disciple Kāẓim Samandar who is honored therein) though this text is also known as the Lawḥ-i Fu`ād Pashā, the one-time Turkish Foreign Minister named Keçecizade Mehmed Fu'ād Pashā (1814-1869 CE) who is once directly addressed therein.
Only a small proportion of Bahā'-Allāh's "revelations" were written down by Bahā'-Allāh himself; largely revelations dating before the mid-1860s. The vast majority of them were rapidly dictated to amanuenses and subsequently `transcribed', neatly written for distribution and often checked by their author. [1] A proportion of the alwaḥ (Tablets) of Baha'u'llah contain sometimes abrupt changes of language, form, style and/or content and exhibit grammatical peculiarities. [2] Some were written as if by the Bāb or leading Bābīs, most notably Mīrzā Āqā Jān of Kāshān, Mirza Khadim-Allāh (`The Servant of God' d.190X) Bahā'-Allāh's leading amanuensis. [3]
Between 1852 and 1892 Bahā'-Allāh wrote or dictated something like 10,000 - 20,000 items of sacred scripture. There writings include a large numbers of Arabic and Persian poetical compositions, large quantities of prayers, meditations and various kinds of devotional texts including celebratory ziyarāt-namih compositions (commemoratory, `Visiting tablets') as well as Dhikr-type litanies, mystical revelations, visionary narratives, allegorical prophecies, ritual and legalistic directives and ethical exhortations. They include, furthermore, theophanological proclamations and commentaries upon biblical, qur'ānic and other sacred texts and religious traditions.
Apart from thousands of letters to communities, groups and individual Bābīs and Bahā'īs, Bahā'ī scripture includes a fairly large number of epistles addressed to Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sunnī or Shī`ī and Shaykhī Muslims, Azalī Bābīs, diverse oriental rulers, diplomats and freethinkers and a number of Western monarchs and leaders. [1] By the time of his residence in Edirne (1863-8) Bahā'-Allāh claimed to have revealed the equivalent of all that God had communicated to past prophets and Messengers. Towards the end of his life he estimated that his collected revelations would fill 100 volumes (Lawḥ-i Shaykh, XX ETr. ESW:115, 165 cf. GPB:xxx ).
The present writer is aware of about 35 major titled writings dating from the Iraq period (1853-1863), 50 or more from the Istanbul-Edirne period (1863-1868) and 100 or more dating to the years in Ottoman Palestinian, the West Galilean or (loosely) Acre (=`Akkā') period (1868-1892). Bahā'-Allāh did not keep a complete, centralized collection of his writings or arrange for such a collection to be made during his lifetime, though many important sometimes large manuscript collections were made before (and of course) after his passing in 1892 CE. In his Persian Lawḥ-i Sarrāj [Siraj] (c. 1867) he explicitly states that he did not desire any systematic collection and circulation of volumes of his writings as this could only be befittingly accomplished in the future (Lawḥ-i Sarrāj, 91 cf. RB2:269).
Up till now, by no means all of Bahā'-Allāh's writings have been collected together, classified, collated or studied by researchers working at the Bahā'ī world center in Haifa (Israel) or other scholarly individuals or institutions Only a small proportion of these writings (largely major titled alwaḥ ) have been published in the original languages and even fewer translated into English (or other languages). [3] Much research will need to be carried out before the Sitz-im-leben ('Setting in Life', context) and hence the specific meaning of a good many writings becomes clear. The exact or even general dating of certain major and many minor revelations remains uncertain. Only a limited number of alwaḥ are dated; most notably revelations as if by the aforementioned Mīrzā Āgā Jān of the mid-late West Galilean (Acre) period. Some works of Baha'u'llah are of doubtful authenticity or contain faulty insertions or interpolations. Others exist in several evolving recensions all "sound" expressions of the revelation of their author (e.g. Rashh-i `ama' 1852/60s/ etc and Surat al-haykal, 1867-8+73?). Critical editions of Bahā'ī scripture remain a thing of the future as does the befitting scholarly publication of autograph and scholarly editions.
Bahā'-Allāh used at least ten variously inscribed seals arranged in one diagram rather like one of the major Jewish mystical portrayals of the Sefirot or Divine "emanations" (see the plate facing p.78 of Taherzadeh's Revelation of Baha'u'llah vol. 1). He did not, however, seal all his revelations and writings falsely attributed exist. Printed scientific critical editions of Bābī and Bahā'ī scripture are largely a thing of the future. Currently published editions of Bahā'-Allāh's writings (or those printed in compilations) are by no means always based on autograph or reliable mss. In certain printed volumes, including Ishrāq Khāvarī's 9 volume Ma'idih yi āsmānī ("The Heavenly Table"), errors are legion, especially in Arabic alwāḥ copied by Persians and others without an adequate knowledge of Bābī-Bahā'ī scriptural Arabic, an admittedly complicated body of religious literature.
The exact person or multiple persons to whom many scriptural writings or (collectively) alwah were addressed, remains uncertain or unknown. This in part due to Bahā'-Allāh's extensive use of alphabetic and other ciphers (largely for security reasons) and the fact that many of the individuals addressed bore the same name(s). All in all the scholarly study of Bahā'-Allāh's writings has hardly begun. Many fascinating discoveries await the patient researcher of Bābi-Bahā'ī doctrine and history.


In the November issue of Fertility and Sterility, researchers reported their results to a study that looked at the link between the length of a woman's menstrual cycle and fertility.
A Swedish doctor by the name of Thomas Brodin and his colleagues looked at the delivery rates of women who took part collectively in 6,271 in-vitro fertilization cycles.
After refiguring the cycle lengths based on age, what they found was that the length of a menstrual cycle was linked to the likelihood of a successful pregnancy and delivery.
Specifically, when using in-vitro fertilization, the odds of a successful delivery for women with a menstrual cycle of at least 34 days was twice as great when compared with women who had menstrual cycles that were fewer than 26 days.
So, when you visit your fertility doctor, make sure to let him/her know the average length of your menstural cycle. It could be an important factor when determining your pregnancy plan options.


Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Hoban, G. and Reid, D. (2006) Transfer of online professional learning to teachers' classroom practice: An analysis of eight cases. In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA) 2006, 26 - 30 June 2006, Orlando, FL. pp. 1383-1389.
Professional learning is an important process in enabling teachers to update their pedagogical knowledge and practices. The use of online technologies to support professional learning has a number of benefits in terms of flexibility and scalability. However, it is not clear how well the approach impacts on teachers' classroom practices. This paper outlines a research study conducted on behalf of a state-based Department of Education to evaluate the transfer of professional learning from online modules about the integration of ICT to the practices of K-12 classroom teachers.


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Жан Юбе́р (, 13 января 1721, Женева — 21 августа 1786, Лозанна) — швейцарский художник и силуэтист, известный серией работ, изображающих Вольтера.

Биография
Родился в семье, происходившей из Шаффхаузена, но принадлежавшей к буржуазной верхушке Женевы с 1654 года. Был сыном Якова Юбера, члена Совета двухсот ( или ), и Катрин Васро де Венси. Жан Юбер поступил в 1738 году на военную службу в армию княжества Гессен-Кассель в полк гренадёров принца Фредерика, а позднее в 1741 году на военную службу короля Пьемонта Карла Эммануила III, за которого он воевал в звании капитана в Войне за австрийское наследство. Он был взят в плен и освобождён после осады Кунео в Пьемонте в 1745 году. Жан Юбер женился в 1747 году на Marie-Louise Alléon-Guainieret, которая родила ему троих детей: Франсуа Юбера (1750-1831), известного в своё время энтомолога; Жана-Даниеля, пейзажиста и гравёра; девочку по имени Мадлен. Проживал в Château de Vernaz, вблизи Женевы. В 1752 году стал членом Совета двухсот, а в 1756 году — его аудитором.

Художественное творчество
Юбер начал рисовать самоучкой в середине 1760-х годов. Его ранние картины изображают лошадей, сцены охоты, особенно соколиной. Позже он испытал влияние творчества Жана Этьена Лиотара и Жана-Батиста Грёза. Юбер получил известность как создатель графических силуэтов. Художник пользовался большим успехом в Швейцарии и у иностранных коллекционеров. Талант позволял ему создавать самые сложные сцены: он мог воспроизвести густые леса и далекие горы, портреты имели несомненное сходство со своими моделями.

Художник был близко знаком с Иоганном Вольфгангом фон Гёте, Жаном Антуаном Кондорсе и Дени Дидро, имел тесные отношения с представителями английской аристократии. Известны его многочисленные изображения Вольтера, которого он регулярно посещал с момента, когда тот поселился в Женеве в 1756 году, а затем в 1759 году переселился в Ферне (где жил до 1778 года). С 1769 года он создал серию картин, большое количество силуэтов и рисунков, представляющих Вольтера в его повседневной жизни.

Эта серия впоследствии пополнила коллекцию императрицы Екатерины II и была ей посвящена (серия из девяти картин получила название «Scènes domestiques de la vie de Voltaire» или «Voltairiade»). Сам художник получил прозвище Юбер-Вольтер (). Художник обладал несомненным даром карикатуриста. Вольтер писал в 1772 году Мари де Виши-Шамро, маркизе Дюдеффан: «Он сделал меня посмешищем от одного конца Европы до другого».

Юбер также сделал несколько автопортретов в технике пастельной живописи, которые хранятся в Историческом музее в Лозанне. Дипломат, публицист и критик Фридрих Мельхиор Гримм, который ценил его талант, сделал его творчество известным в Париже. Ему удалось заинтересовать работами художника таких богатых ценителей, как королева Швеции и король Дании. Он же обратил на художника и внимание Екатерины II.

В 1880 году критик Шампфлери назвал его «ремесленником, который не снискал хорошую репутацию, но тем не менее был наделен острым чутьём». Его силуэты, наиболее высоко оценённые современниками, почти полностью были утрачены, поэтому его творчество долгое время оставалось малоизвестным и недооценённым. Сейчас он воспринимается как один из основателей женевской школы живописи.

Увлечение орнитологией
Современникам художник был известен, как музыкант, сокольничий и наездник. В конце жизни художник заинтересовался зоологией и механикой, пытаясь использовать особенности движения хищных птиц в полёте для управления воздушными аппаратами. В 1783 году Юбер опубликовал в «Mercure de France» записку «Note sur la manière de diriger les ballons, fondée sur le vol des oiseaux de proie». В 1784 году он опубликовал в Женеве «Observations sur le vol des oiseaux de proie», сопроводив книгу семью рукописными схемами. Незадолго до смерти начал работу на книгой «Histoire des oiseaux de proie».

Галерея

Примечания

Литература
 Biographie universelle et portative des contemporains.V. 5. Histoire par ordre alphabétique de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes avec la collaboration de plus de 300 savants et littérateurs français ou étrangers, 2e édition, Paris. 1836. C. 330.

Ссылки

 Garry Apgar. Huber, Jean (dit Huber-Voltaire). Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. — 1998.

Художники-портретисты Швейцарии
Художники-пастелисты
Художники XVIII века
Художники рококо

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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"Where Next on Policing and Criminal Justice": Ian Blair's 2019 Longford Lecture Read Now
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Clive Stafford Smith: 'They Just Don't Get It: British Politicians and the Lessons They Learn from America'
A dual passport holder, British-born Clive Stafford Smith has represented prisoners on America's Death Row and in Guantanamo Bay. He founded the charity Reprieve.
Introduction by Judith Kazantzis, poet and daughter of Lord Longford.
There are many ways to describe Clive Stafford-Smith. Ebullient, provocative, just plain wrong or profoundly right, unreasonably stubborn or brilliantly determined. Recently in the UK he has become a well known public figure in the fight against Guantanamo Bay. He even earned a snide portrait in the rightwing press to prove his credentials as a fighter for human rights. Yet even that interviewer could not resist a certain engaging quality about this year's Longford Lecturer. And we saw it in action on the night. There was plenty of legal challenge but this was no dry as dust lawyer. A dual passport holder, British-born Clive has spent twenty-five years as a US defence attorney fighting for prisoners on America's notorious Death Rows. He told us about friends who were men about to die, and legal foes whose whiskers he clearly enjoyed singeing.
Based back here since 2004, he is Legal Director of Reprieve, the anti-death penalty campaign he founded. He and his colleagues have fought vigorously for the habeas rights of Guantanamo detainees, the great majority of whom are transparently innocent of any connection to terrorism, and all of whom have been arbitrarily denied their rights under international law. The death penalty, and lack of due process, these are two great campaigns fought against the overweening power of the state, whether it is US states power or a murky international torture gulag of which Guantanamo has proved the iceberg tip.
Typical of the man, his talk breaks his own mold. He chose not forensic detail but broad views. His subject was not America wrong but for all his experience America basically right. He was wide-ranging, thoroughly unpredictable, enjoyable, and finally inspiring, ending as he did on a moving statement of hope, the need to keep hold of the good while fighting the bad. Stafford-Smith is married to an American and has spent his working life in the States. Engagingly, he introduced his method on the night as that of a 'hopeless ranter' who trusted everything would make sense to us in the end. And so it did, though rather differently than some of us in the large audience might have expected. Nevertheless our lecturer got a big hand afterwards and general satisfaction in a full hall. This was the Longford Lecture with a political flourish we hadn't seen before. Here was a 'rant' maybe, but a rant with a light touch. Despite his long experience of Death Row, despite the ongoing lawlessness of the current administration, here, from one who spends his days opposing that lawlessness, was an enduring faith in the heart of America: the checks and balances provided against absolute power by the American Constitution. Commentators have suggested that the great American 'project' for democracy has ground to an end with the so-called 'War on Terror.' Not, apparently, the man who has seen more of its ill-doing than most of us. Not only that but we got a weighty condemnation of the Cabinet system thrown up by our own unwritten constitution. This led on, for a penal reform audience, to the most enjoyable rocket of the evening, a swingeing attack on 'dabbler' Home Secretary John Reid, the all-purpose minister. The other rocket sent up with gusto was over our current scrimmage on Lords reform. It was splendid to hear Clive Stafford-Smith spontaneously offering to fight the case for an all-elected second chamber in the European Court, should it come to that. My father Frank Longford presented the first, long ago scheme to reform the House of Lords, and he would have listened to Stafford-Smith on Lords reform with particular relish.
Whatever we make of the various challenges he flings at us, Stafford-Smith's challenging mind combined with his readiness to act, his love of argument combined with his steady adherence to the rule of law is wonderfully striking. He articulates his central principles, and as a man of action – an advocate whose arguments are his actions – he has made these principles his fixed star. How many politicians can claim the same? Politics is the art of compromise, I was taught. But for what purpose, if the basis of the compromise is not ultimately governed by principle?
Mulling over this, I was struck by a simple, personal comparison: like my father, Clive Stafford-Smith has been attacked for stubbornly going to the aid of the most outcast, those we condemn as hopelessly 'evil'. Or to put it positively (as he exhorts us). As my father did in his time, Stafford-Smith talks as he acts, with a brilliant and inspiring determination. And like my father he continues to act, not an easy act, but according to what he has decided is the right. For Clive Stafford-Smith the right is the rule of law: where it upholds the deepest principles of human decency and in particular where it protects the 'puny' individual from the abuse of power, the overwhelming' power of government.
The 2006 Longford Lecture Text
People often argue which is the true British national sport. Today, I want to settle that debate. It's not football, cricket or even darts. It is 'America Bashing', ridiculing the latest absurd policy of the Bush Administration. America Bashing is an easy sport, often entertaining, and one that the least athletic among us can enjoy.
In contrast, Tony 'Yo' Blair, as we know, is a great fan of Bush's America. I am not convinced that he has spent the time there necessary to make that judgment, but there is a curious aspect of Blair and his government when it comes to the British national sport: While the majority of British people may lambast a particular American fault, the response of most British politicians is to copy only the worst aspects of America.
I speak as someone with both a British and an American passport, and it irks me that British politicians rarely emulate the positive aspects of the great experiment that is the United States.
The bad ideas that are being imported across the Atlantic are legion. Take the introduction of tuition fees at universities. After 26 years in the U.S., I have seen that future and it does not work. Student loans turn into golden handcuffs for young Americans – law school graduates must pay off more than $100,000 in loans, which pretty much precludes them from taking a job helping those in need. When I graduated from law school in New York more than 20 years ago, a dozen of my friends sadly confessed that they had to sign up to a corporate law firm to pay off their loans rather than fulfill their dream of going forth to deliver justice and to save lives. They promised to return to their dreams as soon as they could; none ever did. What a tragic loss of their talent.
Yet now, promoted by a Labour government, the idea of tuition fees has seeped across the Atlantic. Anyone who believes that the fees will not grow and grow is simply delusional.
Another incredibly bad idea is Labour's effort to privatise aspects of the NHS, all in the name of market efficiency. Only someone who has never suffered the American medical system could want to forsake the NHS in favour of paying $5,000 a year to a private insurer for inferior health care. Being pretty decrepit in my dotage, I get rather more experience of the NHS than I would wish, and the quality of the service outstrips the U.S. by a mile. Also, it is generally delivered on the principle of concern for the patient, rather than concern for the hospital's bottom line.
While many of Mr. Blair's cabinet ministers are guilty of copying that which they should most condemn, the Home Office is the worst offender. Here, there are simply too many examples to list. There is the Scarlet Letter law in many U.S. states where a range of sex offenders are named and shamed on a public website, and required to send postcards around the neighborhood advertising the fact that they have moved in. In my old hometown, New Orleans, we have such a law. Vilifying those who seek re-integration into society is an idea that should be left where it belongs — in the Seventeenth Century. The U.S. experience teaches that which anyone with common sense would already know: The law drives sex offenders underground, and further endangers their potential victims. Nonetheless, last summer John Reid wasted our tax money sending a subordinate to the U.S. with a view to copying this nightmare.
Recently, the Queen's Speech setting out the Labour agenda for 2007 was chock-a-block with unwise ideas about criminal justice. Reid spoke about 'rebalancing' the system with the populist rhetoric of victims' rights, borrowed directly from America. He argued in favour of limiting judicial review of criminal convictions, copying the Bush Administration's assault on habeas corpus. As these terrible ideas spewed out onto the pages of the nation's newspapers, one could only wonder why Reid wanted to emulate the extraordinary levels of incarceration in America.
Two weeks ago, I was visiting some of my clients on Louisiana's Death Row. One was James Baldwin, who has been awaiting execution for twelve years. Instead of copying America's mistakes, I asked him whether he thought there was anything positive that Britain could learn from the U.S.
"This is a country that has put me on death row because they say I'm not fit to share this earth with them," James said to me. "It's easier to say what I hate than what I like, but whining all the time is pretty pointless." He then went on to describe the attributes of America that still make him proud.
British politicians should listen to James. It is a modest idea, but perhaps it might make sense for this country to copy the best aspects of the United States, rather than the worst.
So I canvassed James and other American friends for suggestions that they would make to Tony Blair and his cabinet: How Britain could be improved, rather than reduced, by copying America.
In many ways, America is a remarkable country, with political institutions that were carefully planned, much better designed than the hodgepodge of British evolution. I should emphasise two things: One, that any system is only as good as the people who run it. I don't advocate offering a place in the British cabinet to Donald Rumsfeld now that he's out of a job. Sometimes Britain reaches a more sensible, gentler result in spite of our political process, rather than because of it. But there are plenty of improvements still to be made.
Two, I should also emphasise that while I don't think our politicians have much of an idea how to run a country, I am no expert either. I, too, am an amateur. I am merely an observer who has lived on both sides of the Atlantic, and I only offer a few suggestions for us to mull over.
That said, the first improvement Britain could consider would involve copying the U.S. system for selecting a cabinet. American cabinet members are not elected politicians, they are appointed by the President subject to a Senate confirmation hearing, and in theory they should be leading experts in the relevant field.
In contrast, I find the design of the British cabinet extraordinary. For the most part, it seems to be filled with politicians who have few relevant qualifications, and very little training for their jobs. Blair bangs on about efficiency and effectiveness in government, yet he does not question placing the most complex and difficult work — running the country — in the hands of amateurs who play musical chairs every time one of them has an affair.
Let me focus on my own area, criminal justice – which again involves John Reid and the Home Office. Please, someone tell me, what makes Reid qualified to hold eight different government posts in the space of seven years, running three of the government's largest departments in just the past two years – Health, then Defence, and now the Home Office?
To be fair, I very much doubt Reid himself honestly thinks he has any expertise in these three areas. When he became Secretary of State for Health, his reported response was, famously: "Oh fuck, not health!" This hardly reflected a belief that it was a post for which he had carefully trained for decades. What he said when he was shuffled over to run Defence for a few short months seems to have gone unrecorded. Most recently, the evidence that Reid is the most qualified person in Britain for the job of Home Secretary must have passed me by. We have sixty million citizens to choose from, and presumably we could select someone with incomparable experience.
So why don't we? My football team, Ipswich Town, may be languishing at fourteenth place in the Championship, but if the Tractor Boys were to fire their coach, they would want someone who knew about football to replace him, not some random politician. Reid is, like many politicians, a dabbler. He might just be getting the hang of the job when he is next moved on.
There may have been a time when Victorian aristocrats could muddle along in cabinet jobs. But now, we not only have ministers with no relevant training running departments, but they are amateurs inspired by tabloid headlines and opinion polls, in an era when the stabilising influence of the civil service has been much diminished. It is a recipe for catastrophe.
So what about copying America in how we constitute our cabinet? Gordon Brown recently proposed adopting a portion of the American system: He suggested public hearings, where the Prime Minister might nominate a cabinet official, but the nominee would have to be confirmed by a cross-party parliamentary body with the power to ask probing questions. That's a good start. It would be a fine idea to question John Reid publicly on his qualifications for the job of Home Secretary. I'd like to hear him defend himself.
But it only goes part of the distance. The American cabinet is recognized to be an executive group – they run the country; they conduct the business of government within set rules, and they may propose changes, but they do not make the laws.
The British cabinet conflates the role of the executive with the role of the legislature: John Reid is meant to be running the Home Office, but he is really out there trying to get re-elected. He rushes around condemning his predecessors as incompetent, and his staff as dysfunctional, without any obvious sign that he knows what he is doing himself. How dispiriting it must be for the morale of the Home Office to have a leader whose loyalty is to the next election rather than to genuine improvement. Is not the most basic rule of leadership to inspire those working with you?
Members of the British cabinet are now almost invariably drawn from the tiny and generally under-qualified pool of Members of Parliament. In the U.S., a true expert, selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate, may serve in the cabinet. The cabinet officer remains accountable, serving at the will of the elected President.
The U.S. system, so excellent in principle, sometimes falls down in practice. But choosing experts to run the shop is better than what we do in Britain, and we should not be ashamed to copy it.
For example, were I the Labour PM, I'd nominate David Ramsbotham to run the prisons, someone who has intimate knowledge of the system from all sides, with commonsense, who is willing to stand up against populist government.
Once we have cabinet ministers who know what they are talking about, perhaps they will see their way clear to proposing other positive American ideas that Britain should copy.
There are many of them. Several relate to the U.S. Constitution, an incredible Eighteenth Century document that created a framework for individual rights that is more advanced than anything Europe has come up with in the 217 years since. The central thesis behind the U.S. Constitution is beautifully simple: the checks and balances between the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of government prevent the passions of the moment from stomping on the weak. They prevent the tyranny of the majority. Recent history has demonstrated this, where the all-powerful President Bush trampled on a few hundred prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, only to have the Supreme Court slap him down, not once, but twice.
I am perplexed at resistance in Britain to a bill of rights, or the European Convention on Human Rights, documents designed to protect the puny individual against the might of the government. Britain should embrace the idea of empowering the powerless.
The first constitutional principle I'd like to discuss was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Baker v. Carr – the notion that any legislative body must be elected with a political process where each citizen gets an equal vote.
The House of Lords is such a legislative body. I find myself bemused by the back and forth over the proposals for restructuring it. Obviously, the fact that there are hereditary peers is a relic of feudalism, but to include in a legislative body a bunch of appointed Tony's cronies is not much better. I can't even subscribe to Tony Benn's recent suggestion that only twenty percent of the Lords should be hand-picked by the politicians.
None of these ideas would pass the laugh test in the United States — and they shouldn't. The principle of one-person one-vote is crucial to the legitimacy of any legislative process. Any legislative (as opposed to executive) body must be elected. That is the nature of a representative democracy.
Of course American democracy is far from perfect. I was glad to see that Fidel Castro has maintained his sense of humour: In 2000, while Bush was taking over the White House with half a million fewer votes than Al Gore, Castro suggested that he send election observers to Florida.
2000 was actually the third time a presidential candidate had won with fewer than half the votes. But nothing the Americans do is as incomprehensible as the British system: Labour won 66 percent of the seats in 1997 with just 42 percent of the votes; in 1951 the Tories won the more seats than Labour, with 1.3 million fewer votes. And now the 'proposal for change' in the House of Lords includes appointing legislators.
No matter what system the Labour Party may gerrymander, I would very much like to be a part of the team that challenges it through to the European Court, to see whether we cannot establish a true democracy for Britain. The mother of Western Democracy cannot be allowed to lag behind in Democracy's development.
Another constitutional principle that Britain would do well to copy is Freedom of Speech, enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights, in the First Amendment.
Efforts to suppress free speech in Britain are troublingly routine, and almost always end in tears. There are no winners when it comes to censorship.
The notion that the Guardian and BBC's World in Action might have faced enormous legal costs in a defamation suit by Jonathan Aitken is hard to fathom in an open society. Who can forget Aitken's words in 1995, when he pretended he had been telling the truth:
"If it falls to me to start a fight to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play, so be it. I am ready for the fight, the fight against falsehood and those who peddle it. My fight begins today."
The Guardian was courageous that time and fought back, eventually winning. But every time I deal with British lawyers on media issues, I am horrified by their conservative attitude, dictated by Britain's libel laws; the media should be the guardians of free speech, not its censors.
Then there are the racists who are prosecuted for their hateful messages. Nick Griffin, leader of that band of BNP bigots, described Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith" and said Muslims were turning Britain into a "multi-racial hell hole". He faced two trials in Leeds Crown Court, and was recently acquitted. Predictably, he received enormous publicity for his obnoxious views. Predictably, he boasted that BNP membership and donations soared as a result of the case.
So what was Gordon Brown's response? That we should consider changing the laws, to ensure Griffin's conviction next time. I despise Griffin's revolting views, but to prosecute him for speaking merely makes him a martyr. It's not just wrong, it's stupid.
There are struggles that are taking place in Britain today, with far too little debate: a vaguely defined sense of privacy versus freedom of the press; and, criminalizing 'hate speech' versus protecting free speech. Far more censorship takes place in Britain than could happen in America.
The American slogan is an excellent one: "The only answer to bad ideas is better ideas." Not censorship, and not imprisonment.
Another element of America's First Amendment is Freedom of Religion. There are plenty of religious extremists in the U.S. and there is plenty of Islamophobia — often, of course, levelled at Sikhs because they wear those confusing turbans. But if a U.S. politician suggested to a Muslim woman that she should not wear a veil in his presence, he would find himself on the wrong end of a lawsuit. Although I respect Jack Straw personally and think he has generally been one of the more sensible members of the cabinet, his recent comments seemed to me to be profoundly unwise.
Of course, Straw is probably correct to suggest that some British people are uncomfortable in the company of a Muslim woman in a niqb because they can only see the woman's eyes. But that says more about the British experience than it does about the Muslim practice. I certainly don't find dealing with a woman wearing a veil as alienating than dealing with an armed American traffic cop in reflecting sunglasses. And there is an immense danger when those in power turn upon an unpopular religious minority.
True freedom of religion involves allowing people to make their own choices, whether they want to wear a Christian cross at a British Airways desk, or a Muslim veil at a politician's surgery.
The basic recognition in the U.S. Constitution is that government holds overwhelming power, and the individual needs protection from the potential abuse of that power. This is a very important principle and one I was able to put into practice every day in my work defending prisoners on death row in the Deep South. When my black client Sam Johnson was accused of killing a white police officer in Mississippi, we could haul the local sheriff into court and prove that he was racially motivated (his name was 'Goon Jones' and, while he swore under oath he no longer called black people 'niggers,' I got him to admit that he now called them 'coloured boys').
When the Mississippi Supreme Court told prisoners on Death Row that they had no right to a legal aid lawyer for their appeals, we could sue the elected justices and threaten to make them explain under oath how a mentally disabled prisoner like Willie Russell was meant to represent himself, without even being given a pencil.
When Georgia locked my client Jim Moseley up for five years for the heinous crime of having consensual oral sex with his wife, we could accuse the prosecuting lawyers of cunning linguistics in their legal arguments, and demand public assurances from them that they were not guilty of the same offence. (But that is a long story for another time.)
In short, in the U.S. the law brings power to the powerless, no matter what a politician thinks the electorate wants to hear. The case of United States v. Nixon established that a lowly lawyer with a subpoena could compel even the president to appear as a witness in court to explain his actions.
Certainly prior to the European Convention on Human Rights, British politicians resisted establishing rights that could override the whims of politicians. Margaret Thatcher abolished the right to remain silent, first for unpopular Irish terrorists, then for everyone. She could not have done this in America – it is protected by the Fifth Amendment. Even today, there are calls to renounce the ECHR. Meanwhile, Tony Blair wants to authorize 90 days' of detention without charges. He just could not do this in America (at least not on U.S. soil) as the Fourth Amendment prohibits holding any criminal suspect for more than twenty-four hours without charges, a rule with which no politician may meddle.
It is important to remember that looking to the American experience means more than analyzing how the Americans protect the individual from the state. There is more to life than being free from oppression. Indeed, my most sincere criticism of British politicians is that they are so negative, and so wedded to fear mongering.
In 2001, the Conservative party claimed on its website that Britain was Number One in the Premier League of crime. How can anyone say that with a straight face? In the US I have been held up five times at gunpoint, which must make me centre forward for the British team. When I lived there, the small city of New Orleans had a murder rate fifty times higher than Britain. The U.S. has crime that clearly puts it in a totally different division to Britain.
Why on earth do politicians make such miserable and false allegations about the country they are meant to govern? How about doing something to inspire British people – perhaps make them want to live, instead of being afraid of going out of doors?
Take the inspiration of charity. Americans bubble with ambition when it comes to solving social problems. I am not a fan of governments that try to pass off their social obligations to the private sector, and the idea that the U.S. can justify resisting a welfare state by pointing to the thousand points of light of the philanthropic community is reprehensible. But, that said, America is worlds ahead of Britain when it comes to charity. There are 865,000 charitable organizations in the U.S. and charities raised roughly $212 billion in 2005 from all sources. That is about £115 billion. To set this in perspective, this would be roughly the combined GDP of Israel and Egypt.
Compare this to Britain, where the total raised by charity last year was just £8.2 billion. Adjusted for population, this still means that Americans give more than three times as much to charity as the British.
The figures reveal some surprising misers: The most generous group in Britain are the Scots, of whom more than 60 percent gave to charity last year; the meanest are from London.
The Americans are also better as what I call 'difficult philanthropy'. Overwhelmingly, British charity goes to popular causes. The top ten areas of giving are: medical research, children, animals, religious organizations, overseas relief, the blind, the disabled, the elderly, education and rescue services (like the RNLI). Even the homeless can't break into the top ten. In America, people like George Soros have dedicated their philanthropy almost exclusively to unpopular causes – like representing those we tag as criminals.
The U.S. also leads the way in innovative philanthropy and government support for voluntary service. Take Americorps and the Peace Corps, organizations intended to provide an opportunity for Americans to work on behalf of those less fortunate than themselves.
Americorps operates inside the U.S., serving the most needy Americans, and was launched by President Clinton in 1993. The government underwrites part of a modest living allowance, and volunteers are eligible for an education award at the end of their service.
The Peace Corps is equally ambitious, aimed at inspiring Americans to reach out overseas. Americans of all ages can serve – the average is 28 years old, but current volunteers range up to 79. Volunteers have been sent to 138 countries.
In 2007, the two programmes are jointly slated to receive a total of $1.2 billion in government funds, paying for as many as 50,000 Americans who volunteer on behalf of the needy.
I don't need to tell most people that President George Bush has lost the plot: Most of his policies encourage people to be in service to themselves rather than to others, But to give credit where credit is due, he has been strongly supportive of Americorps and the Peace Corps, and has proposed doubling the size of the Peace Corps within five years. He also wants to launch new Peace Corps programs in Islamic countries. He's got a little work to do there.
Of course, Britain has the VSO, which is itself a wonderful organization. I notice they list Jon Snow as an alumnus. But I called VSO last week to compare the level of government support for their programme. They got a DFID (Department for International Development) grant of £28 million last year. The U.S. government invests roughly thirty times as much in Americorps and Peacecorps, and will help to fund more volunteers next year than the VSO has in the past 48 years put together. And while the VSO was launched in 1958 as a private charity, the U.S. government was responsible for starting both Americorps and the Peace Corps.
To me it is obvious that government has an enormous role to play in encouraging human decency, and I see no reason why the government shouldn't fund large swathes of charity and good works. Nationalise some of charity, if you will. It is paradoxical that we should learn this lesson from an American government that is so dedicated to acquisitive individualism.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence encourages its citizens in the 'pursuit of happiness'. When British politicians brush their teeth at night, how often do they look in the mirror with a twinge of pride, knowing that they have advanced that pursuit, that they have made people happier? Rather than trying to frighten folk with horror stories about hoodies, how often do they encourage young people to devote their lives to the less fortunate? Rather than pretending that greater personal wealth will lead to greater personal happiness, is it not vastly cheaper, easier and more sensible to inspire young people to covet less and contribute more?
America invests in inspiration. Take space exploration. There are various moments in life that everyone remembers. Some, we might like to forget – the assassination of President Kennedy, or the attack on September 11th. But some memorable moments are inspirational – as with the first time a human being walked on the moon on July 20th, 1969.
Take a look on the internet at the pictures that America's Hubble telescope is sending back: you will see the wonders of strange things like 'light echoes' and amazing pictures of galaxy clusters with slightly unimaginative names like MS0735.6+7421 – which, in case you didn't know, is located a mere 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardalis.
The Hubble is being overhauled, so it will continue beaming back pictures that open the up the universe to us all. Talk about expanding our horizons: Space exploration makes up look optimistically at the stars, instead of gloomily at our feet.
We should ensure a real debate whether we want British taxes spent on rockets that explore the universe, or on a new generation of deterrent Trident missiles that will have to go in search of someone to deter.
In trying to suggest positive aspects of America that Britain might want to copy, I know I have only just touched the surface. I probably should have included such incomparable American exports as David Byrne, the New York Review of Books, Pizza (particularly V&T's, at 113th and Amsterdam), Zabars Deli on Broadway, the Blues and perhaps even Amtrak — the American passenger railway that remains nationalised to this day.
At the same time, America obviously has its faults, and there are many more positive ideas that both Britain and America should adopt from elsewhere. The ultimate discussion I hope we hold tonight is a broader one: whether we are not all guilty of focussing on the negative, rather than the positive? Politicians do it all the time, but so does the media, and so do civil rights advocates.
Yesterday, I was at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, visiting my father, who is desperately unwell. Yesterday, when I asked him how he was feeling, he said wryly: "Not too bad for someone who is almost dead." But when I was young, he used the word 'enthusiasm' every second sentence.
For a couple of hours, I read him his favorite poems. We got to the poem 'Abou Ben Adhem', about a man who was told by an Angel that he was not on the list of those who loved the Lord. Abou spoke cheerily still, and said: "I pray thee, then, write me as one who loves his fellow men." My father smiled at that and nodded.
If there is one thing he has taught me, it is that life should not be one long complaint; it is about enthusiasm, about inspiring happiness. Let's have that debate, instead of the miserable discussion that so many politicians seem to want.
Lectures Archive Michael Gove: 'What is Really Criminal about our Justice System?' "Why People Stop Doing Crime" - The 2018 Longford Lecture Ken Loach: 'Charity or Justice' Nils Öberg: 'Cracking the Code: how Sweden is closing prisons and reducing the prison population.' Bianca Jagger: 'Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, and the Culture of Impunity: achieving the missing Millennium Development Goal target' Michael Palin: 'Collateral damage: The effects of prison sentences on offenders' families' Will Self: Mind-Bending Behind Bars: Drug Use in British Prison Jon Snow: 'Crime, Punishment and the Media' Martha Lane Fox: 'Views from a dot com dinosaur: why the digital disruption hasn't even started yet' Sir Hugh Orde: 'War is easy. Peace is the difficult prize' 'We Cannot Build Our Way Out of the Prisons' Crisis' President Mary McAleese: 'Changing History' Clive Stafford Smith: 'They Just Don't Get It: British Politicians and the Lessons They Learn from America' Brenda Hale: 'The Sinners and the Sinned Against, Women in the Criminal Justice System' Archbishop Desmond Tutu: 'The Truth and Reconciliation Process - Restorative Justice' Bishop John Sentamu: 'Towards a Global Paradigm of Justice: Truth, Restoration and Reconciliation' Cherie Booth QC: 'The Law, the Victims and the Vulnerable' 'Where next for Policing and Criminal Justice?' - Ian, Lord Blair of Boughton
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UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot : 75 High density lipoprotein deficiency 2: Inherited as autosomal dominant trait. It is characterized by moderately low HDL cholesterol, predilection toward premature coronary artery disease (CAD) and a reduction in cellular cholesterol efflux.
Search GEO for disease gene expression data for Hypoalphalipoproteinemia, Primary.


Farmers aren't the main villains behind Delhi's nasty haze. Here's the data to end all debate.
Vehicular pollution, not stubble burning, is the main culprit behind the smog in the north. And merely framing laws for Delhi's vehicles is totally missing the point.


A Novel Source: "A truly powerful book."
I have to admit Broken Glass Park was not an easy read. It was gritty, raw and real. There were moments when I just had to set the book aside and go do something else ~ why? Sascha is the storyteller and the one I wanted to just take in my arms and rock her like a little baby although she was a 17 year old girl. She had been left to deal with the aftermath of her mother's murder by her step-father in front of her younger brother and sister and herself in an apartment very similar to what she compared to Eminem's 8 mile trailer.
the quotes! I love quotes anyways and Sascha had some that blew me away with her wisdom!
The realism. Rarely do I read a book about child abuse or spousal abuse that is written with honesty, grit, and blunt reality like this one. As I've said before, I worked for 15 years with child abuse victims, reading all kinds of books about the subject, and this is one I will recommend.
i'm not sure if it was a translation problem or if this was just how the book was but there's transition issues; sometimes i was not sure who was speaking, who the new person in the picture was. For example she meets a college guy named Volker who has the same name as the newspaper editor who she sees as her savior. With the college Volker he just suddenly appears and I didn't know who he was. Perhaps it was to show how messed up Sascha was in her mental state at the moment but as a reader I had trouble catching up.
Some things were left hanging ~ will there be a sequel? will I find out what happened to everybody? both Volkers? Felix? Sascha? Ack! I want to know!
I did look up this one drink that is mentioned in the book. Let me also say Alina Bronsky was born in Russia and grew up in Germany from the time she was 13 until she was an adult. Broken Glass Park was first published in Germany. With that said, there is a drink mentioned in the book that is forced down the college Volker's throat in a tough scene IN broken glass park. The drink is called "sailor's tea." I've included a bit below from what I found on a website that was not written in Russian or German! Everything I read warned strongly how this drink can KILL. Very scary! I knew those Russians had strong stomachs and the ability to drink anyone under the table but tea that kills?!? by the way, this tea is often mixed with VODKA! Geez can it get any stronger!?!
I liked this book overall. I think it reflects how children and youth have to cope when there is not a support system around and their lives fall apart, literally. This book is definitely not for younger teens as it contains strong sexual content and physical violence. I WILL and DO recommend this book to my child abuse victims assistance workers and the older teenagers. I also recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what it's like to live in the Russian Ghetto of Germany. A truly powerful book. 4.25 Quills!


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Maths-Olov Sundqvist (October 23, 1950 - September 23, 2012) was a Swedish entrepreneur and business magnate. Sundqvist was one of Sweden's wealthiest individuals, but in the wake of the financial crises of 2008, he was forced to sell most of his possessions at huge losses.

Life and career
Sundqvist was born in 1950 in Offerdal in Krokom municipality in Sweden. He began his business career by developing his father's bus company and finally selling it in 1979 to the municipality of Östersund for 8.7 million Swedish kronor. He used the proceeds to found his personal investment company Skrindan, which grew aggressively to become a big player in real estate. In 1992, he rescued the local newspaper Länstidningen in Östersund as it fell into financial difficulties. In 2002 he controlled a majority stake at the Länstidningen, as well as several other local companies.

Sundqvist was ranked in 2007 by the Swedish business magazine the Affärsvärlden as one of Sweden's wealthiest individuals after his acquisition of large blocks of shares in a number of Swedish corporations such as Hexagon, Fabege, Industrivärden and SCA. In 2008, his total portfolio was worth 10.4 billion Swedish kronor, and his portfolio of real estate was worth 7-8 billion Swedish kronor.

Due to declining stock prices during the 2008 financial crisis, Sundqvist was forced to sell large blocks of shares to refinance loans. Sundqvist had more than a billion in debts at the Carnegie Investment Bank, and was a contributing factor that the bank lost its banking license and was taken over by the Swedish National Debt Office. As Sundqvist was forced to sell most of his shares, he suffered huge losses.

Death
Sundqvist died in 2012. He was found dead next to his all-terrain vehicle near his residence in Häggenås, north of Östersund. He was 61.

References

1950 births
2012 deaths
People from Jämtland
Swedish businesspeople


text:
Georg Freiherr von Wöllwarth-Lauterburg (né le  à Essingen et mort le  à Essingen) est un propriétaire du manoir et député du Reichstag.

Biographie
Georg von Wöllwarth-Lauterburg est le fils de Karl Ludwig Christian Wilhelm von  (1800-1867) et de sa première femme, Sophie comtesse von Scheler (1802-1864), fille de . Il fait ses études secondaires à Stuttgart, à l'Université de Berlin et à l'Académie de Hohenheim. De 1859 à 1861, il est lieutenant dans le  régiment de cavalerie du Wurtemberg, puis il est agriculteur en exercice sur ses domaines à Amalienhof, Lauterburg et Hohenroden. Il est membre du conseil d'administration de l'association du district agricole II, membre du comité permanent des autorités de transport et du conseil consultatif de l'Office central de l'agriculture.

Il est également député dans les chambres de Wurtemberg de 1870 à 1918, jusqu'en 1906 en tant que représentant de la chevalerie dans la chambre des députés, puis après l'amendement constitutionnel du Wurtemberg dans la chambre des seigneurs. De 1881 à 1887, il est également député du Reichstag pour la  circonscription de Wurtemberg (Gmünd, Göppingen, Welzheim, Schorndorf) pour le parti impérial allemand.

Il est marié à Emma von Breidenbach, avec qui il a six enfants.

Références

Bibliographie
 Frank Raberg: Biographisches Handbuch der württembergischen Landtagsabgeordneten 1815–1933. Im Auftrag der Kommission für geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, , S. 1028 f.

Liens externes

Député du Reichstag (Empire allemand)
Membre de la Chambre des députés de Wurtemberg
Membre de la Chambre des seigneurs de Wurtemberg
Baron
Personnalité du Parti conservateur libre
Naissance en juin 1836
Naissance dans le royaume de Wurtemberg
Décès en mars 1919
Décès en Bade-Wurtemberg
Décès à 82 ans


Today our students gave final presentations about their Independent Study Projects (ISP). Each presentation lasted roughly 30 minutes, and were all interesting, engaging, and fun to hear.
John presented on his paper, Insight Into Blacksmithing in Nepal, and brandished the khukuri (traditional Nepal knife) he made. He gave a detailed discussion of related caste issues in Nepal.
Makenzie, Julia, and Sam presented about their experience making pottery in Nepal, and showed off their handmade wares.
Makenzie also shared sample traditional Nepali dishes she learned to cook during her Cooking ISP this week.
Sam presented about two ISPs, yoga philosophy and regional Asian International Relations, drew a fascinating map, and handed out candy to his peers who gave correct answers.
Casey amazed us with a special ISP he wants to keep as a surprise for his family when he arrives home!
Jamie presented on his two ISPs, woodworking and Buddhist Philosophy. He described the traditional process of carving ornate wooden furniture. He also explained some of the key points from the seminar by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche he attended in Boudha over the past week.
Charlotte described the fun and hardwork she had during her katak traditional dance ISP, and showed some video of her teacher.
Charlie presented on her for-credit ISP paper about how women and agriculture relate with various traditional customs in Nepal, and shared some fascinating insights she discovered.
Zoe presented on her for-credit ISP paper about Street Photography and Photo Journalism, describing her main takeaways as "mindfulness and moral practice".
We were impressed by the students' diligence in pursuing their individual topics, and grateful to each of our ISP mentors for making themselves and their skills available for our students.


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About Boulder: Reaching Peaks
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Home » Press Releases » About Our Website » About Boulder: Reaching Peaks
Erwin Yu February 6th, 2018 About Our Website Share:
At About Boulder™, our team enjoys reaching new heights as much as Coloradoans love reaching the tops of "14-ers," which is why we're so excited about our recent accomplishments. Since our site launch in October 2013, the number of website viewers has more than tripled. More recently, between the months of April and May, our number of unique visitors also tripled, proving that the word is getting out!
Because of our amazing staff, new content is posted daily as they go forth and seek what's new and exciting in Boulder. Our Facebook page has gone from reaching eight hundred people per week to reaching six thousand per week, and is set to double monthly. Our website, needless to say, is fast becoming Boulder's choice for instant information. Our mobile app keeps our website at your fingertips, and is setup with accessibility features. If you're a Community Partner or an Optima advertiser, you too are featured on the front page, and are welcome to post your current news.
Where did this traffic come from, you may ask? Well, in addition to our site's growing number of visitors, About Boulder™ has targeted specific markets. For starters, we've taken on several local professionals and interns from CU to write weekly blogs. Each writer has a unique POV and seeks to inform and excite the public about this amazing place called Boulder. Our featured blogs include such topics as outdoor adventures, CU info, local eateries, Boulder philanthropists, and entrepreneurial and business news. Of course new blogs are always in the works.
About Boulder™ hosts a dynamic and ever-changing home page featuring weather, local news, happy hours, and even current gas prices. Here our Community Partners and new advertisers are featured, with links to help users find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
Boulder is a community that gives back; from cleaning up a local trail, to raising money for a needful cause; About Boulder™ is no exception. For those of you who don't know, the entire Front Range of Colorado was hit by devastating floods. From September 8, 2013 when Boulder tied for the highest annual rainfall through September 15 when the final barrage of rain ripped through the county, this once-in-a 1000-year flood created a declared national disaster.
As the daily news of tragic devastation emerged, the enormity of the destruction hit home. All of Boulder reached out to help their neighbors. Although the streets of Boulder were piled high with ruined furnishings, and the noise of industrial fans could be heard throughout the towns, nothing could prepare anyone to contend with the damage to Lyons, a town just up the road. For them the slogan: Lyons, CO. We got grit!" says it all. For them, rebuilding will be years in the making.
To help Lyons business owners keep their doors open, and to keep the plight of Lyons residents firmly in the news, About Boulder™ decided to give businesses in Lyons free advertising for a year. So help keep their doors open, take a drive up Highway 36, you'll be glad you did. To give them a hand up, please go to: http://www.lyonscf.org
As a company dedicated to giving back, we launched the column Boulderthropic, where we explore how Boulder residents, companies and organizations are giving back to the community. Also featured will be local philanthropic organizations that use your funds to benefit Boulder and its residents. About Boulder™ encourages further giving from our advertisers by pledging 10% of all ad revenue given back to an organization of the advertisers choice.
READERS, don't forget to check out our "Pay-it-Forward-Friday," where we give away freebies to the community sponsored by a different local business each week. During the inaugural launch of this great endeavor we teamed up with our sponsor B-Cycle to give away a free annual B-Cycle pass to one lucky individual (a $75 value.) The winner doesn't have to pedal within the Boulder City limits, because B-Cycle passes are good in all other B-Cycle locations throughout the USA and beyond, including their newest location in Santiago, Chile!
Pay-it-Forward-Friday continues and we've teamed up with such local greats as Pizzeria Da Lupo and D.P Dough to gift lucky readers a free lunch! So visit our website often to see what are local business' can do for you.
Like what you see? Contact About Boulder at http://aboutboulder.com/about/page/advertise/ and advertise with us, today!
Erwin is raised and grown locally in Boulder. Born to be an adventurer, Erwin joined the Boy Scouts of America at the age of 12, conquered the frozen icebergs of Alaska and the narrow canyons of Utah, finally achieving the rank of Eagle Scout three days before his eighteenth birthday. Now a fourth year student double majoring in Economics and Philosophy at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Erwin is still excited to experience the wonders of life both physically and spiritually. Erwin is interested to pursue a career in digital marketing and HR after his graduation in December, hoping one day to change the world for the better with the knowledge he obtained through his experiences. With a passion to learn, Erwin obtained "Inbound Marketing" certificate from HubSpot Academy, as well as learned computer languages like R, HTML, Javascript on his own. During his off time, you can bet Erwin will be reading his favorite philosophy books like "The Works of Aristotle" at Alley Cat cafe or grabbing an ice cold beer with friends at the Mayor of Old Town in Fort Collins.
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Q: Add custom language to Spacy 3.0 and train pipelines in it I've been using Spacy 2.3.1 until now. I had created my own custom class inherited from Language class and trained a NER pipeline using Python script in it.
But in Spacy 3.0 a bunch of handy CLI commands and configs are introduced in order to train custom pipelines which are highly recommended to use instead of Python scripts. Here is an example of config  for nlp object:
...

[nlp]
lang = "fa"
pipeline = ["transformer","ner"]
batch_size = 32
disabled = []
before_creation = null
after_creation = null
after_pipeline_creation = null
tokenizer = {"@tokenizers":"spacy.Tokenizer.v1"}

...

As you can see the lang attribute should be one of the predefined languages in the Spacy library.
Is there any way that I can indicate in the config that I need to create an object of my own custom language as nlp object?

A: There's actually a section on this in the docs. The basic idea is you have to add your language to the registry. Example from the docs:
import spacy
from spacy.lang.en import English

class CustomEnglishDefaults(English.Defaults):
    stop_words = set(["custom", "stop"])

@spacy.registry.languages("custom_en")
class CustomEnglish(English):
    lang = "custom_en"
    Defaults = CustomEnglishDefaults

# This now works!
nlp = spacy.blank("custom_en")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Maughan Prosthetic & Orthotic is a fast-growing small business in northwest Washington state. With two offices - one in Olympia and one in Silverdale - things are moving at a quick pace and MPO's owner, Justin Maughan wanted to ensure the professionalism of their marketing didn't fall through the cracks. When we first chatted about a potential rebrand, it was clear that the end goal was to create a uniform brand across both locations, their website, all communications... Justin wanted to ensure the MPO experience would be consistent as they grow.
Justin described MPO as young, eager and growing. Their business is a bit "old school," as Justin put it. All custom work and fabrication is done on site (while other companies in the field now outsource that work). Patients most often come to them via local physician referrals and usually fall in the ages 65+ demographic, including many veterans. Although it was important to keep this in mind as we moved forward with a brand and website, it was also key to think about MPO's business goals and where they're headed. Their intention is to reach beyond those referral sources and hopefully attract a younger demographic that perhaps lives a bit outside of their community. Justin stressed that this new audience is incredibly loyal, especially when they find quality care that can help them with their specialty needs.
This is where improving their marketing efforts comes in. Taking all this into consideration, it was important that we find a balance of classic and modern with their new look. Justin wanted a clean design that easily communicates hopefulness, confidence and their mission of "building better lives."
We started by collecting some visual inspiration and assembling a color palette that fit with this vision. The mood board to the right gives a glimpse into MPO's work in a literal way through the chosen photos, but also has a unifying feeling of hope, strength and warm energy. The colors definitely contribute to that - they have a great spirit yet are calming at the same time. I think the palette will work beautifully for them, as they implement their brand into their office decor and create a welcoming atmosphere for their patients.
This inspiration gathering process was key to our success as we moved forward into the design phase. The final logo design and brand styling suits MPO perfectly - a perfect blend of classic and modern. The college design student in me was secretly - or not so secretly - really excited about using the Didot typeface in the logo. You can't get much more classic than Didot (it was designed in the late 1700s-early 1800s!). It shows confidence, poise and detail, and it has an elegance to it that I've always loved. The font also contrasts really nicely with the sans serif fonts underneath - a perfect blend of classic and modern.
We were also able to add a bit of a modern flair and personal touch by integrating a handwritten font with the tagline into the logo variations. It was originally used on a different logo concept and Justin loved it, so we brought it over into the final design. The watermark and submarks add further depth with their circular shape and the incorporation of the tagline. They make great social media profile images, extra design elements on print materials, or maybe even buttons!
The colors are one of my favorite aspects of MPO's new brand - they really make everything come to life, offering the hopefulness and warmth we were going for, yet keeping things professional and grounded. They portray trust and they allow the patterns to bring a "fun" element to the brand styling without it going overboard (a fine line sometimes).
Another highlight is the design element/mark to the right, which abstractly represents a prosthetic running leg (do you see it!?). Similarly to the handwritten font, this element was originally part of a different logo concept, but I brought it into the final brand styling because of its uniqueness and connection with MPO's field of work.
As always, I'm looking forward to seeing this beautiful new visual brand thrive and help MPO present themselves as the polished, knowledgable small business they are. Can't wait to show off their new website that we're currently working on... it's absolutely gorgeous! Stay tuned - I'll update this post when it's live.
UPDATE: The MPO website is now live! Check it out!


The Christian life is obsessed with Jesus. There is no other name. There is no other gospel. There is no other authority. There is no other way. It is Jesus, all the time Jesus. Beware of people, churches, ministries, websites, artists that take any of the precious and holy glory that belongs to Jesus. The effectiveness of any ministry can be graded and assessed on how much or how little attention and credit is given to the name of Jesus above all other names. Are churches concerned about losing members to other churches? Yes. Why? If the person is better fit at another church in a different environment rejoice that they are being called to know Jesus more at all. Are non-profits and private ministries competing with other non-profits and private ministries? Why? The purpose of reaching out to people in the first place is to provide a bridge between them and Jesus. Rejoice that they have found the truth in Jesus anywhere even if that means that they found it somewhere else. Are conferences and denominations competing with the popularity and growth of other conferences and denominations? Yes. Why? Jesus isn't about one conference or denomination. The gospel he brought into this world is about him. Anything created in this world is temporary except the relationship between Jesus and the believer. It is of no importance how that person came to believe in Jesus with whom or where. All of those points are secondary and irrelevant. Do they know Jesus? Are they getting to know Jesus? Pray that people know Jesus. God will provide for you. He is not taking anything from you. God will provide for your ministry. God will provide for your church. There might be seasons where there is less. Expect that. Welcome that. However, God will always provide exactly what you need. Too much praise for a particular ministry is too little praise for Jesus Christ. We are to hold ministries loosely with our grip on Jesus growing ever tighter with every passing day. Beware of people that tell you that you have to come to them to know Jesus. Beware of people that claim to have THE way. Beware of people that claim that they have an anointing that others lack. Get know Jesus. Experience his grace in your life. Trust in Jesus. Be anointed by the blessed anointing of becoming a beloved child of the living God in the name of Jesus. This is all you need and all you will ever need. Forsake worldly loyalties for an everlasting devotion to your savior, Jesus Christ.
Patience. We must be patient. We must be willing to be made patient. The Lord's will and plan require us to wait. Not in agony but in faith and confidence that time in between steps is never wasted. Our Lord is always at work in us as long as we are always in pursuit of him. However, knowing him and obeying him requires patience. Waiting on the Lord's return cannot become an idol. Now should we remain idle. We have work to do now. We have a purpose where we are right now. We are not then. We are now. To ignore the leading of the Lord today is to forsake his command to follow him patiently one day at a time. We all want to know. We all have questions we want answered? What will the end look like? When will it happen? Who will do what? But are these to be our daily concerns? No. Patience. We must wait patiently for the Lord to reveal his plan according to his timing. We are allowed to wonder and be curious about the end. However, in taking this good news of Jesus to the world we are not to guess about the end. We are not to hypothesize. We are not to imagine and create. The end will come and when it does all people in all nations will know precisely what is happening. Until then, tell them about Jesus. Tell them about how God has accomplished things in your life outside of your planning and timing. Your new life in Jesus did not take a conventional route nor did it come when you thought it would. Knowing this to be true, how we can we then approach the end in such a linear and predictable manner? The prophets wrote about the Messiah Jesus hundreds of years before their words were approved and verified by the life of Jesus. They were mocked and cast out. But they were right. God's word never fails. It will outlast the entire creation we see today. God has never been proven to be wrong and nothing foretold about Jesus and by Jesus has ever failed or ever will. The promise of the end is God's word and therefore it will happen. But we know little more than that. Why claim to? Be patient and wait with the rest of us. There is peace to be found in allowing God to be in control of such things. It is his grace that we have not been given the burden of knowing too much. Rejoice that he has protected us from seeing too much. Preach the good news and never hide the fact that time is short. How much? We do not know. But we know that every day matters, every person matters and God will accomplish what he said. Until then, wait, preach, pray and wait.
It is ok to be young in your faith. It is ok to not have all the answers. It is ok to take small baby steps before you run. In fact, this is wonderfully healthy and good. Pray, on the other hand, that the Lord keep you from running before you are able and before it is safe to do so. This Christian faith has no concern with how quickly you learn and how far you've gone. The primary concern of Christianity is, do you know Jesus and are you continuing to know him more? A good conversation with a lifetime friend is not assessed on how many topics were covered and how quickly the conversation was brought to a close. No. Never confuse quantity for quality. In Christ you are born again. You are starting over. This can be an attack on our pride but what is more important, your pride or your life? Would you rather know that your pride is in tact or would you rather know that your life has been saved? Don't fear correction and don't fear failure. You will fail. You won't get everything right the first time. Or the second time. And so on. But that's not the point, is it? The point is that daily you are laying your life down for the sake of Jesus. The point is that daily you are admitting that you are helplessly incapable while God is eternally able. You are a child of God. You are a disciple of Jesus. You are a born again Christian. Where do we find the idea that we have it altogether, we know all the steps and it's time for us to instruct those around us? Child, Disciple, Newborn. All of these denote beginnings, submission, humility, helplessness, neediness and trust. We trust in Jesus because without him we have no one to provide for us. We are lost and have not direction without him. We are dead and have no hope of living without the death he died. Pray for a heart that desires to know basics and never stop praying. Over time you will grow and the walk will become more. Likewise your knowledge and understanding of who God is will develop and change. You will need more. You will know more. You will find that God continues to give you more. But the message of the Cross is simple and not to be left and abandoned for the sake of advancement. The message of the Cross is not there to be appreciated but then undervalued and unappreciated in the presence of more interesting and more complex subjects. The message of the Cross is basic and it will remain so for eternity. Our sin, however, is complex and complicated and only by the power of the Cross will we understand why we so often resist the simplicity of the Cross.


text:
Christian Singer Says That Terror and Persecution in the Middle East Have Forced Him to Ask This Tough Question
Christian singer Matthew West (TheBlaze)
ishtartv.com- theblaze.com
Aug. 29, 2015 Billy Hallowell
Christian singer Matthew West believes that the world is going through a "very unique" and troubling time in which Christian persecution is on full display in the Middle East, with problems and violence also running rampant here in the U.S.
Now, more than ever, West said that America — and the world — are desperately in need of unity. And the singer said that the plight of minority groups in the Middle East has forced him to consider what he would do if his own faith were to be challenged so fervently.
"Would I stand up in the face of such great persecution or would my faith crumble?" West said.
He also recalled how he was sitting in Glenn Beck's Texas studio earlier this summer preparing for an interview when he overheard Beck describing the Restoring Unity event — and West said that something instantaneously clicked as he listened.
"All of the language that he was using was really reminding me of a song of mine called 'Do Something,'" West said, explaining that the song is about each individual having the power to make a difference in the world.
West ended up playing a little bit of the song for Beck, who ironically told the singer that he was somewhat familiar with the lyrics, as a friend had recently suggested that "Do Something" be the theme song for "Restoring Unity." Beck didn't personally know West, though, so when the singer appeared on the show for an entirely different reason, the timing was just perfect.
The connection was made and the two began discussing Restoring Unity, with West agreeing to perform "Do Something" following a march that culminates in a rally in Birmingham, Alabama.
West said that he believes Restoring Unity is an important event considering the "need for restoring unity within our cities" as well as in observance of the "Christians being persecuted in the Middle East."
"We're in a very unique time in our country," he said. "We see things happening like what took place in Charleston, and we're seeing Christians being persecuted [abroad]."
West said that one challenge he has personally faced is being sure that he is as in-tune and aware of what's happening in the Middle East as he is about what's going on here in the U.S.
"As Americans, we're affected by what we know and what hits closer to home for us — and that tends to move the compassion of Americans more," he said. "My challenge has become [that] I want to have my eyes open to what's going on in the Middle East and not just some headline that is distant."
West said that he's been praying, "God, give me a greater sense of compassion for these people I've never met who are being persecuted all because they [are Christians]."
He said that he's guilty of sometimes thinking that he's only one person and of wondering how he would help being so far from the Middle East, saying that he believes that Restoring Unity is a great opportunity to figure out how to each and every individual can come together to help.
"That's one of the reasons I'm excited about this event. Glenn's going to give us a challenge, [telling] us how we can get involved and how we can have a voice in stopping it," West said. "People are ready to rally around something."