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Off the Shelf:
The Top Shelf
By Rowan "Sumaleth" Crawford
Jump to an Archived Column! Issue 2.9 (Freespace 2) Issue 2.7 (Nocturne) Issue 2.5 (Septerra Core) Issue 2.4 (System Shock 2) Issue 2.3 (OpFor) Issue 2.1 (Outcast) Issue 1.34 (Myth II) Issue 1.32 (Turok 2) Issue 1.31 (South Park) Issue 1.30 (Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus) Issue 1.28 (Blood 2) Issue 1.27 (Falcon 4.0) Issue 1.26 (Fallout/2) Issue 1.24 (Starsiege: Tribes) Issue 1.22 (Railroad Tycoon II) Issue 1.20 (Sin) Issue 1.17 (Heretic II) Issue 1.16 (Half-Life) Issue 1.14 (Grim Fandango) Issue 1.10 (Shogo) Issue 1.8 (Klingon Honor Guard) Issue 1.6 (Half-Life: Day One) Issue 1.4 (Final Fantasy VII) Issue 1.2 (Forsaken)
Title: Half-Life
Publisher: Sierra-On-Line
Developer: Valve Software
Average Price: $45
may as well cut straight to the conclusion: Half-Life is a damn good game. Everyone knows that already so lets get it out of the way at the outset. Now we can look at the details of the game in comfort without that "conclusion" issue hanging over us the whole time. So...
Why is it a good game?
I suspect just about every game company with an interest in the first person shooter (FPS) genre will now be attempting to answer that question. It's actually a very important question because
Valve, with their first game, have taken the genre a number of large steps forward, a trick that even companies with a track record in the genre have been struggling with of late. How did they do it? Was it luck? A fluke? Or painstakingly planned? More importantly, can the reasons be written down on a piece of paper and later incorporated into other games?
The answers to those questions are, of course, not simple ones. You can't point at some feature of Half-Life and say "that is why it's a great game", nor can you point at any number of different elements; it's the whole game that makes it good - the interaction between all the elements rather than the elements themselves.
In terms of the game's design, Valve seems to have tossed the "classic" FPS game design out the window and approached things with a fresh view. A prime example is that the game isn't map based as other games are. Instead you could really consider it one long multi-load map (with the exception of the last episode, but more on that in a second).
The impact this new approach to level design has on the gameplay is extremely significant. For starters, the segments of map are actually very small compared to your typical FPS map which means that they load a lot quicker. I can't remember too many loads in the first 3 episodes taking longer than 5 seconds and many of them took much less than that. I was surprised how much this increased my enjoyment of the game, afterwards when I went and played some other FPS games I found the map loading to be incredibly annoying. This approach does have one major drawback however (if you can call it that); there are very few natural save points in the game! Whereas in other FPS games you'd finish a map, save the game then go do something else, Half-Life is almost completely devoid of these "go and see what real life is doing" points in the game and so it's very, very difficult to stop playing.
I've heard stories of people completing it in a single 13 hour session, and even my 4 day turn-around (on the hardest difficulty setting) seemed to go by frighteningly quickly. Make no mistake, Half-Life is an addictive game. The game itself is roughly divided into 4 episodes, although, again, these aren't episodes in the usual sense; the gameplay actually varies considerably between episodes; we're not just talking about a change of artwork and a few new baddies to contend with here, the play style really does change.
The opening episode plays out more like an interactive movie than your typical FPS, with exploration and interaction being the main drive. There are few things to shoot (or that shoot at you), and those that are around are none too difficult to take out. For the most part you are simply following the path which presents itself in front of you (although it's designed so that the path isn't obvious), with heavy use of non-player-character (NPC) interaction to build up a story (more on the cinematics later).
Depending on your bias for gameplay, this episode can vary between boredom for those that like a challenge and pure enjoyment for those who can get into the cinematic elements of the game. In preparing for this review I've heard examples of both responses, although the average response was more positive than negative.
The second episode introduces something never seen before; baddies that put up a fight! The first time you see a grenade lobbed up into your sniper position is the first really obvious taste you get of the much-touted AI in Half-Life, and for once the AI really does live up to it's hype.
These soldiers signify a very different shift in gameplay, with action and challenge being the main course on the menu. It actually takes some getting used to since all of the old tried and tested 'tricks' for killing baddies in a FPS game no longer work. Crouching behind a crate and popping your head up from time to time to take a shot isn't going to work because of the grenades. Retreating back into the preceding map to find health is dangerous too since they love to follow you. You also have to constantly watch your back since one of their favorite tactics is to circle around and outflank you while another of their buddies keeps your attention focused up front.
I think it would be accurate to call them bots; they don't play like deathmatch bots, nor do they act like humans in deathmatch. The AI is quite different to that deathmatch 'style', but in a good way; the deathmatch style AI of Unreal didn't work well in the game whereas the Half-Life approach has made them challenging while still making them feel like part of the game. It's a remarkable balance, and it's very hard to tell whether this was a planned result or something that was lucky enough to fall into place.
The first half of episode 3 is much like a more difficult subset of episode 2, but towards the end the gameplay makes another change towards more puzzle based challenges. Some of these challenges appear to be somewhat out of place, particularly the teleporter orientated ones, but the action elements were present throughout so it still manages to be an enjoyable combination.
The final episode sees a huge shift in gameplay, in fact it was almost a different game. The emphasis is heavily puzzle based - far more than the end of episode 3 - and this change in gameplay also sees the map approach revert back to a 'one map per puzzle' system (which is actually perfectly logical when you see the maps).
For some reason I found episode 4 to remind me heavily of Tomb Raider 2, with its puzzle orientated levels designs and the atmosphere it radiated. Even the final boss in Half-Life echoed many of the design qualities of the Tomb Raider 2 boss in terms of the way everything fits together. There were many differences, of course, but there was definitely a resemblance present (which is no bad thing in my opinion).
Half-Life even features a vehicle of sorts in the shape of trains, although the term 'train' is perhaps a little deceptive since these are more like a platform with a control box at one end . However, they are confined to "train tracks" which limits your interaction to a choice of speed (and the ability to change tracks in a couple of spots) rather than the all out freedom you might hope for when you hear the word "vehicle" mentioned. They're actually good fun, although seemed to play very little importance in the section of maps they were present in. I found myself completing most of the train areas on foot, and only went back to get the train at the end once I realized I needed it to finish the section. Ultimately, their inclusion was probably to add (yet more) variety to the gameplay and they broke up the action nicely indeed.
(Continued on Next Page)
Credits: Bargain Bin logo illustrated and is © 1998 Dan Zalkus. This edition of Top Shelf is © 1998 Rowan Crawford. All other content is © 1998 loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is a majorly hostile gesture.


After all is said and done, there are a number of things anyone can do to keep their brains healthy and fit. Like with anything else, eating right and doing "healthy" things will improve your general functioning. However, when it comes to your brain, staying physically healthy is important but not the only factor that will keep your thinking sharp and intact. Of course, you need to do all the common sense things to keep your brain healthy—but when it comes to you brain, exercise, both physical and mental, is what will make a difference in the long run.
One of the more important things to keep in mind is that there are many myths concerning the brain, especially how the brain functions as people age. While we may feel that our memories are going downhill as we get older, we actually can do a lot to make sure we keep our thinking sharp and tight, just like a well-toned muscle.


Will concerns over complexity see a return to basics for CISOs in 2019?
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With Bingham being just down the road Bingham Web Design is one of our most popular services. We offer the businesses and people based in Bingham, Nottinghamshire Web Design services for the lowest prices and highest standard of design.
We build anything from brochure websites and CMS websites through to full e-commerce websites for customers wanting to expand their high street shop or even current business into a powerful online sales machine. Our 100+ customers would happily review and rate us as the best agency they have ever used and we pride ourselves on this.
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Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola had few complaints about Kieran Lavery's straight red card against Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday night.
The Dorking Wanderers loanee was sent off in the second half in the Sussex Senior Cup clash in which the National League outfit went on to net an injury-time winner.
That came from Lloyd Dawes deep into added time to see the visitors pinch a 1-0 victory at Culver Road.
Lavery, making just his second appearance for Horsham, was shown a straight red for catching former Crawley Town man Sergio Torres on the shins after losing the ball.
On the decision, Di Paola said: "I did not actually see it, but I have had mixed things from the players. Some said it was an orange and some said that it was the noise of the coming together.
"By all accounts it was a bit high. The only criticism I would have was I would have liked the referee to have taken a breath for a second. He had the card out as the tackle happened, but it's one you cannot argue about really in this day and age.
The Horsham boss was nonetheless impressed with his side's efforts and singled out Lewis Hyde - a late inclusion - for his performance.
Di Paola added: "Eastbourne only made three changes to their team on Saturday and two came on, so by the end it was ten of the 11 playing.
"You have to give credit to our boys, we played them at pretty much full strength. And we had a lot of problems as well due to the traffic problems - I changed the team three times!


The Aerospace and Defense Materials Market research report provided by Crystal Market Research (CMR) is the most detailed study about Aerospace and Defense Materials Market that is estimated to grow at a tremendous rate over the forecast period 2018-2025. This report contains precise and updated insights in respect with the leading market players and prevailing regions of the business.
The materials used in aerospace industry are the materials, mainly alloys of metal, which have either been created for aerospace, or have come to conspicuousness through, the utilization for the purposes of aerospace. These utilizations frequently require remarkable heat resistance, quality or performance, even at the expense of significant cost in their generation or machining. While others are decided for their reliability over long term in the field of safety-conscious, especially for their fatigue resistance. The materials engineering field is the vital one inside the field of aerospace engineering. Engineers in this field may frequently have contemplated for degrees or post-graduate capabilities in this field as the specialization. Therefore, the Aerospace and Defense Materials Market is anticipated to expand and has tremendous scope during the forecast period. The global Aerospace and Defense Materials Market anticipated to flourish in the future by growing at a significantly higher CAGR.
The increasing investment in research and development by the players is triggering competition in the global Aerospace and Defense Materials market. strategic mergers and acquisitions among the players of the global Aerospace and Defense Materials market are leading to the expansion of this market.
The North American region is leading the owing to many manufacturers of aircrafts present in this region, also many manufacturers of aircraft components present here, etc.
Based on Product the market is segmented into Plastics, Aluminum, Superalloys, Titanium, Steel, Composites and Other Types. The Aluminum section is leading the market owing to best properties showcased like heat resistance, high resistance to corrosion, lightweight & high durability, etc.
Based on Application the market is segmented into Construction & Insulation Components, Aero Structure, Satellites, Components, Equipment, System, & Support, Cabin Interiors and Propulsion System. The Aero Structure section is leading the market owing to increasing utilization of aluminum & some composites for building these structures that ultimately results to low cost & excellent properties, etc.
Based on End User the market is segmented into Military, Business & General Aviation, Commercial and Other End Users. The Commercial section is leading the market due to increasing number of people travelling per year, increasing efforts for reducing the emission of carbon by the manufacturers, etc.
Aerospace and Defense Materials Market By Type (Plastics, Aluminum, Superalloys, Titanium, Steel, Composites and Other Types), Application (Construction & Insulation Components, Aero Structure, Satellites, Components, Equipment, System, & Support, Cabin Interiors and Propulsion System) and End User (Military, Business & General Aviation, Commercial and Other End Users) - Global Industry Analysis And Forecast To 2025,The materials used in aerospace industry are the materials, mainly alloys of metal, which have either been created for aerospace, or have come to conspicuousness through, the utilization for the purposes of aerospace.


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OpinionSummariesCase details
Bamm, Inc. v. GAF Corp.
Dussouy v. Gulf Coast Inv. Corp.
A court may weigh in the movant's favor any prejudice that will arise from denial of leave to amend. E. g.,…
Select Creations, v. Paliafito America
If there are substantial reasons to deny amendment, a court may weigh in the movant's favor any prejudice…
29 Citing Cases
Full title:BAMM, INC., PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. GAF CORPORATION, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE
Court:United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Unit B
Date published: Jul 23, 1981
651 F.2d 389 (5th Cir. 1981)
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Unit B
reversing denial of motion to amend; court was "unable to perceive undue prejudice" where "[d]iscovery had not been completed at the time of the filing of leave to amend," and there was "sufficient" time "to preclude any hardship to GAF as a result of the amendment."
Summary of this case from Britt v. Miss. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co.
See 5 Summaries
Lee Clark, Fred S. Clark, Savannah, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.
Sutherland, Asbill Brennan, John A. Chandler, Jacqueline S. Miller, Atlanta, Ga., Pierce, Ranitz, Mahoney, Forbes Coolidge, Thomas J. Mahoney, Jr., Savannah, Ga., for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Before HILL and VANCE, Circuit Judges, and LYNNE, District Judge.
Judge of the Northern District of Alabama sitting by designation.
PER CURIAM:
Bamm, Inc. appeals the district court's denial of its motion for leave to amend and to voluntarily dismiss under Rule 41(a)(2). Because we find that the district court abused its discretion in denying Bamm's motion for leave to amend, we reverse.
Bamm is a small family corporation engaged in the roofing business in Georgia. On December 13, 1977 Bamm signed a contract with Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation to put a corrugated asbestos roof on Kaiser's fertilizer warehouse in Bainbridge, Georgia. Before bidding on the job, Bamm obtained a list of GAF Corporation's prices for corrugated asbestos. Subsequent to its signing the contract with Kaiser, Bamm ordered corrugated asbestos from GAF's salesman, Ed Gravenstein. On January 24, 1978 GAF sent the initial truckload of materials to Bainbridge, Georgia. Gravenstein personally delivered the invoice to appellant and received full payment for the goods. In March and April of 1978 GAF sent ten shipments of corrugated asbestos to Bamm. Various disputes occurred concerning the quality of the materials received by appellant. GAF was notified that some of the asbestos sheets were unsuitable for roofing purposes. Bamm and GAF unsuccessfully attempted to resolve their dispute.
On June 19, 1979 Bamm filed suit against GAF alleging breach of implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose and breach of implied warranty of merchantability. Subject matter jurisdiction was predicated on diversity. Bamm sought a total of $187,316.66 in damages, including the purchase price of the roofing plus consequential damages. GAF answered on July 12, 1979 and counterclaimed for $18,494.98 due on account.
On November 5, 1979 GAF filed a motion for partial summary judgment limiting damages solely to the purchase price of the roofing materials. GAF's motion was based on disclaimer language in a provision of the GAF invoices. Bamm filed a timely response. On January 4, 1980 both parties filed a joint status report and both appeared at a joint status conference on January 29, 1980. On February 1, the district court granted GAF's motion for partial summary judgment with respect to the warranty action limiting recoverable damages to the purchase price of the roofing materials, $34,803.24 less a credit and excluded recovery of consequential damages.
The eleven invoices for the shipments to Bamm from GAF contained the following language in boldface type:
8. SELLER WARRANTS THAT THE MERCHANDISE DELIVERED HEREUNDER SHALL BE OF MERCHANTABLE QUALITY. SELLER DOES NOT MAKE AND SHALL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE OR FOR ANY OTHER WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN THE PRECEDING SENTENCE. BUYER ASSUMES ALL RISK AND LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO RESULTS OBTAINED BY THE USE OF SUCH MERCHANDISE WHETHER USED ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS. NO CLAIMS OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF WARRANTY, THE ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE OF SELLER, OR OTHERWISE, WITH RESPECT TO MERCHANDISE DELIVERED OR FOR FAILURE TO DELIVER ANY MERCHANDISE SHALL BE GREATER IN AMOUNT THAN THE PURCHASE PRICE HEREUNDER OF THE MERCHANDISE IN RESPECT OF WHICH DAMAGES ARE CLAIMED . . . .
The district court concluded that Bamm's warrant claims were limited by the language in the invoices to the purchase price. The court found that this was authorized by Georgia law. See Ga. Code Ann. § 109A-2-719(1)(a).
In response to the court's grant of partial summary judgment Bamm filed an amendment to the complaint on February 11, 1980 alleging negligence, fraud and strict liability. The amendment was allowed subject to objection. GAF answered on February 19 and filed its opposition to the amendment and in the alternative asked for summary judgment. A pretrial conference was held on February 21. At the conference appellant presented an amended version of the previously filed amendment as well as a brief in support of the motion. The district judge did not rule on the amendment at that time. On March 3 GAF submitted a brief opposing the amendment, citing undue prejudice, delay and the futility of the amendment.
On July 8, 1980, five months after Bamm initially sought to amend its complaint, the district court entered an order denying Bamm's motion for leave to amend. The court reasoned that Bamm had "demonstrated no valid reason for its delay" in seeking to add new theories for the recovery of damages.
On appeal Bamm contends that error was committed by the transfer of the consideration of the motion for leave to amend to a different district judge than the one who originally heard the motion and who was later scheduled to be the trial judge. We find no merit in this argument. See United States v. Stone, 411 F.2d 597, 599 (5th Cir. 1969) ("District Judges have the inherent power to transfer cases from one to another for the expeditious administration of justice.")
Bamm requested the district court to dismiss the action without prejudice in order to bring suit in state court. The motion was denied. Subsequently, GAF moved the court to enter judgment against it in the amount of the purchase price of the product and waived its right to proceed on the counterclaim. On August 15, 1980, six months after Bamm filed its amendment, the district court entered judgment against GAF for the purchase price of the product.
Bamm also claims that the district court committed reversible error in failing to grant its motion to voluntarily dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2). Because we reverse on the issue of denial of leave to amend, we need not reach this issue.
Our review of a district court's denial of leave to amend is limited to a determination of whether the court abused its discretion. Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, 401 U.S. 321, 330, 91 S.Ct. 795, 802, 28 L.Ed.2d 77 (1971); Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962); Henderson v. United States Fidelity Guaranty Co., 620 F.2d 530, 534 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1034, 101 S.Ct. 608, 66 L.Ed.2d 495 (1980). In deciding whether to grant leave to amend the district court must take into account several factors "such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of the amendment." Foman v. Davis. Accord, Pan-Islamic Trade Corp. v. Exxon Corp., 632 F.2d 539, 546 (5th Cir. 1980). See generally 6 C. Wright and A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure §§ 1487, 1488 (1971). The district court may also consider whether undue prejudice to the movant will result from denying leave to amend. Henderson v. United States Fidelity Guaranty Co.; Lone Star Motor Import, Inc. v. Citroen Cars Corp., 288 F.2d 69, 75 (5th Cir. 1961).
Application of the foregoing principles to the facts of this case leads us to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow Bamm to amend its complaint. The record is devoid of facts that would indicate that counsel for Bamm acted in bad faith with any dilatory motive. There was no undue delay in Bamm's filing a motion for leave to amend after partial summary judgment had been granted. Bamm's motion for leave to amend was filed on February 11, 1980 and was considered at the pretrial conference on February 21. See Nevels v. Ford Motor Co., 439 F.2d 251, 257 (5th Cir. 1971) (amendments should be tendered before pretrial). The district court relied on Freeman v. Continental Gin Co., 381 F.2d 459, 469 (5th Cir. 1967) in which this court found that there was no abuse of discretion in refusing to grant leave to amend after summary judgment had been granted when there was no valid reason for the delay. Freeman is distinguishable from the present appeal, however, because only partial summary judgment was granted to GAF. The case remained on the district court's docket. The district court retained the motion under advisement for nearly five months before denying the motion. Much of the delay is attributable to the time spent in considering the motion. Bamm had not filed previous amendments. We are unable to perceive undue prejudice to GAF in allowing the addition of fraud and negligence claims to a warranty action involving the same transaction. Discovery had not been completed at the time of the filing of leave to amend. Although a trial date had been scheduled, it was not adhered to because of the five month consideration of the motion. That period was surely sufficient to preclude any hardship to GAF as a result of the amendment.
In response to the court's inquiry at oral argument GAF's counsel stated that it probably would be necessary to retake plaintiff's deposition. It is clearly within the district court's discretion to tax all costs of such additional deposition against Bamm.
There would be irreparable prejudice to Bamm if leave to amend is not granted because of the court's order limiting damages to the purchase price. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a) emphatically states that "leave shall be freely given when justice so requires." In the face of such a rule and the lack of prejudice to GAF. the district court should have granted leave to amend.
reversing the district court's denial of leave to amend to add fraud and negligence claims to a warranty claim
Summary of this case from Milbank v. Philips Lighting Elecs. N. Am., of Philips Elecs. N. Am. Corp. (In re Elcoteq, Inc.)
reversing denial of leave to amend when the plaintiff had not filed previous amendments and discovery had not been completed
Summary of this case from Bradman v. Mental Health Network, Inc.
In Bamm, Inc. v. GAF Corp., 651 F.2d 389 (5th Cir. 1981), this Court found an abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial, but plaintiff's motion was made prior to the pretrial conference and before discovery was complete.
Summary of this case from Daves v. Payless Cashways, Inc.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Finding a Personal Tax Accountants in Tyne and Wear can be daunting as there are so many options and you need to find the best service. The best that we have found so far in Tyne and Wear is www.TaxAccountant.co.uk as they offer the best service and even specialist services if they are needed.
On the other hand, if you wish to conduct private research, visit the government tax office page of the UK online and try to comprehend the technicalities, although that does become quite difficult to manage. The potential problems you can face in putting up such a heavy amount, and how you can address it.
There are a number of advanced features in the UK tax calculator which can help you break down your tax status and get to the core of every payment you make to the government.
Similarly, if you have been living the UK for 91 days straight, and working in that time frame, then you might become a part of the taxable earning population as well. Depending on your date of birth and sec, your personal tax allowance is calculated.
Federal tax rates for corporations are not calculated using brackets; they are calculated as a percentage of the overall earning of a business in a period. The amount levied on the tax is essentially calculated based on the time it has been in your custody.
You have to file a self-assessment form that declares the financial position of your company. If at any point the outsourcing policy of the accountant in question does not seem to cater to your liking, do not hesitate to refuse and walk out.
However, there are some things that make this tax very different from regular income tax, so it is a good idea to take note of the following pointers. The productivity of the interview you conduct plays a key role here, and it helps you analyze the situation much better if you ask sound questions.
The following are some questions, along with the rationale behind them that can help you gauge the situation a lot better. While the case may be self-explanatory in most cases, you need to decide on one particular status if you are somebody who owns a business as well as working on a day-time job, for example.
When you get to that stage of payment, however, you will realize that there are a number of departments and circumstances that you will have to deal with. It, therefore, becomes imperative that you are as well versed with the lingo of income tax and most of its related components as possible. The productivity of the interview you conduct plays a key role here, and it helps you analyze the situation much better if you ask sound questions. For selling properties, tax levied on the basic rate band is 18% while that on the higher income band is 28%. Just like there are exemptions on payment of tax on dividend earning the allowed rate per annum, there are exemptions on capital gains as well.


I had a slight panic attack this morning when a spider decided it wanted to hang out with me in my car as I was driving down the highway to get to work. I'm OK when the car isn't moving but when I'm going 70+ MPH I somehow forget normal brain functions and instead my only thoughts are holy crap don't crash a spider is in here how do I get it out what do I do I don't want to die! It may have just wanted to drive since it was headed towards my steering wheel but for obvious reasons that wasn't happening. But mostly because I wanted to kill it.
So, rather than killing the spider with one of the many napkins or receipts in the center console, I decided in my moment of panic that the best thing to do would be to fling it away from me to the passenger side of the car. This creates another issue. Now I know there is a spider somewhere in my car that is alive and probably wants to seek revenge. I mean, I probably killed it's dream of driving a car or something, but I have my reasons. But since spiders don't understand rational thought I had better check to make sure my break lines aren't cut or anything before I leave work today.
And then when I actually stopped the car to look for it, I found myself whispering as I looked over at the passenger side of the car "come out so I can kill you". I realized after I said it how creepy that actually was and the whispering made it worse, I think. But I truly meant it. Please show yourself, spider, before I start driving again. I won't feel at ease until I either find and kill it or the weather drops below freezing and I can assume it froze to death. Either is acceptable but I would prefer sooner rather than later.
Or maybe I'll just buy a new car and never drive that one again. Or since it's winter I'll invest in sled dogs. Or a snowmobile? Those options will be cold but at least there won't be spiders.
P.S. Want to know why I hate spiders so much? This is part of it. Also, because it's normal and people who aren't grossed out by spiders worry me.
Happy Thanksgiving, I'm Scared To Go Out!
Out Of The House... For Shopping!


Do you have a website but don't really have any movement on it? Don't worry, you are not alone! There is a surprising amount of local business owners that are unsure of how to utilize the benefits of a website and designing it to be truly effective. Want to know what the top 3 reasons of why web design is essential? Keep reading!
If you have a website, you more than likely have a brand logo. If not, it's time to create one! Establishing your brand has numerous benefits, such as making you memorable, establishing credibility and it creates a visual representation of your business.
In this day and age, word of mouth is simply not enough. Make it as easy as possible for customers to find your business online. A great online presence will not only build your brand up, it increases your accessibility with clients, enables you to reach out to a broader audience and it's cheaper to promote online versus traditional in-hand marketing materials!
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Did You Know Aquaman is Related to Buffalo Keaulana?
You likely know Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa as the bearded, burly-looking dude who plays both Aquaman and the Dothraki's formidable warlord (#GOT). But Momoa is also, believe it or not, basically Hawaiian royalty. Momoa was born not far from Makaha on the west side of Oahu, and his great uncle is none other than the legendary Buffalo Keaulana. Anyways, the video above features Aquaman catching a few waves on the Gold Coast and in Hawaii on environmentally sustainable wave-craft. Press play and enjoy.


Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Arulmigu Kalasalingam College of Pharmacy, Anand nagar, Krishnankoil-626 126. Tamilnadu. India.
A simple, accurate and specific UV spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the estimation of Darifenacin hydrobromide in bulk and tablet dosage form. Analyte showed the absorption maxima in 0.1M Hydrochloric acid at 284nm. The percentage recovery of Darifenacin Hydrobromide was 99.69±0.14%. The developed method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and specificity. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 20.00µg/mL to 46.50µg/mL, having line equation y=0.059x+0.0177 with correlation coefficient of 0.999. Results of the analysis were validated statistically as per ICH guidelines.
UV spectrophotometry, Darifenacin, hydrobromide, estimation, tablets.
D. Sridharan, Umarani A. Thenmozhi, L. Pavan Kumar, Aswani Dutt Chintalapati, M. Venkata Ramanaiah, Yelika Phanikishore. Development and Validation of UV Spectrophotometric Method of Darifenacin Hydrobromide in Bulk and Tablet Dosage Form. Asian J. Pharm. Ana. 1(3): July-Sept. 2011; Page 43-45.


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Academic & Professional Books Natural History Regional Natural History Natural History of the Americas
Ecosystem Diversity in the Piedras Blancas National Park and Adjacent Areas (Costa Rica), with the first vegetation map of the area
By: A Weissenhofer
36 pages, Map
Publisher: Tropical Field Station La Gamba
Paperback Dec 2008 Usually dispatched within 2-3 weeks
Language: English with Spanish summary
The Golfo Dulce region is botanically one of the most diverse areas in Central America. During the last 15 years, research plots have been established in the Piedras Blancas National Park and its surroundings, for the investigation of species composition, vegetation structure, growth patterns, reproductive ecology and forest dynamics. This paper presents an overview of the vegetation units that have so far been recognised in the region. Altogether, 28 ecosystems, ranging from untouched primary to secondary and anthropogenic vegetation, can be distinguished. Of these, 15 can be classified as natural, 5 as semi-natural and 8 as anthropogenic. For each ecosystem, a brief description of species diversity, vegetation structure and significance/abundance in the region is given.
Bestsellers in Natural History of the Americas
Britain's Treasure Islands
Bradt Wildlife Guide: Pantanal Wildlife
Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands
The New Neotropical Companion
Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica
Galapagos Islands Explorer
A Wildlife Guide to Chile
Birds & Mammals of the Falkland Islands
Costa Rica Wildlife Guide: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Butterflies [English / Spanish]
Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galápagos Islands
South Georgia Explorer
Collins Traveller's Guide - Wildlife of the Galápagos
Browse titles in Natural History of the Americas
Other titles from La Gamba TFS
Dragonflies of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica
Corbiculate Bees of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica
Butterflies of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica
Lichens of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica
The Birds of the Golfo Dulce Region, Costa Rica
Browse titles from La Gamba TFS


The shell pictured here is a victim of acidification. The normally-protective shell had become so thin and fragile, it is transparent.
The significance of our ocean's impact on greenhouse gas begins with the earliest ocean four billion years ago, when all the atmospheric carbon was absorbed and allowed the earth to cool enough for life to begin. In our modern era, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels go up, the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide to stay in balance. Currently the ocean is holding 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and is slowing the rate of climate change by absorbing about 30 percent of carbon dioxide from cement production and other activities.
But there's an important side effect. When carbon dioxide reacts with seawater, carbonic acid is formed—the same weak acid found in soda. Carbonic acid releases positively charged hydrogen ions, which lowers the pH level of seawater. Although ocean water is still alkaline, the term "acidification" refers to a gradual shift toward the acidic end of the scale. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14; 7 is neutral, lower numbers are acidic and higher numbers are alkaline. Over the past 300 million years, ocean pH has averaged about 8.2, but since preindustrial times it has dropped 0.1 to a current average of 8.1. This may not sound like much, but the pH scale is logarithmic, so that a pH of 7 is about ten times more acidic than a pH of 8. Thus, this drop represents a 25-percent increase in acidity over the past two centuries.
There are several reactions that occur between carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), carbonic acid (H2CO3), bicarbonate ion (HCO3-), and carbonate ion (CO32-). But over the long term ocean acidification leads to a decrease in the concentration of carbonate ions in seawater. Together with calcium ions they form the basic building blocks of carbonate skeletons and shells. The decline of carbonate ions impacts the ability of many marine organisms such as corals, marine plankton, and shellfish to build or even maintain their shells.
There are two main forms of calcium carbonate used by marine creatures: calcite and aragonite. Calcite is used by phytoplankton, foraminifera, and coccolithophore algae. Aragonite is used by corals, shellfish, pteropods, and heteropods. When additional calcite and aragonite cannot be dissolved in water, that water is said to be supersaturated; when they can be dissolved, the water is said to be undersaturated for those minerals. Animals that need calcium carbonate are better in supersaturated water as obtaining that mineral from the surrounding water is easier. The saturation of these minerals in seawater decreases with depth, and the transition point between supersaturated and undersaturated conditions is referred to as the saturation horizon. Because aragonite dissolves more easily than calcite, aragonite is the first to be impacted by ocean acidification. For example, one might find the saturation horizon for calcite at 150 meters or even deeper, but for aragonite it would be at 100 meters.
Currently, nearly all of the surface ocean waters are substantially supersaturated with regard to aragonite and calcite. However, more carbon dioxide dissolving in the ocean has caused the saturation horizon for these minerals to shift closer to the surface by 50-200 meters as compared to the 1800s. As the ocean becomes more acidic, the upper shell-friendly layer becomes thinner.
Distribution of the depths of the undersaturated water (aragonite saturation < 1.0; pH < 7.75) on the continental shelf of western North America from Queen Charlotte Sound, Canada, to San Gregorio Baja California Sur, Mexico. On transect line 5, the corrosive water reaches all the way to the surface in the inshore waters near the coast. The black dots represent station locations.
The saturation horizon is much closer to the surface in regions where upwelling occurs, such as along the West Coast from British Columbia to Mexico. That's because deep water in the North Pacific is naturally rich in CO2, since the deep water has been out of contact with the surface for 1200 to 1500 years. As water travels along the oceanic conveyer belt, it accumulates CO2 through natural respiration processes that break down sinking organic matter, generating CO2 just as humans do when they breathe. Under normal conditions (and even more so under La Niña conditions), winds blow from north to south during spring and summer months along the West Coast creating an effect known as the Ekman Transport, which in turn moves surface water away from the coastline. This warm surface water is then replaced by colder water upwelled from depths between 100 and 300 meters. This deep nutrient-rich water traditionally makes for robust fishery production. However, the naturally highly acidic water is now augmented with man-made carbon dioxide, making this carbon-rich water even more acidic.
In the Northeastern Pacific, corrosive waters are already shoaling into the euphotic zone during upwelling. In 2007 Richard Feely and a team of scientists found undersaturated seawater with respect to aragonite reaching depths of about 40 to 120 meters. In one transect less than 20 miles from shore near the California-Oregon border, the saturation horizon had shoaled all the way to the surface. Without the contribution of anthropogenic CO2, the aragonite saturation horizon would be about 50 meters deeper.
Because of this, the Pacific Northwest oyster-growing industry nearly collapsed before Feely and other scientists were able to help devise strategies and monitoring protocols. In 2007, the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Oregon lost millions of oyster larvae and later discovered that the larvae were being bathed in acidic waters drawn in by intake pipes. Oyster larvae are particularly sensitive in their first few days of life such that carbon dioxide alters shell formation rates, energy usage and, ultimately, their growth and survival. Now, the Whiskey Creek hatchery tries to balance the acidity of its waters by adding soda ash. Costs have increased and production has never fully recovered.
Island Scallops, a shellfish producer in the Georgia Straight near Vancouver, lost all its scallops over a 3-year period from 2010 to 2012, during which time pH levels had dipped to 7.3. CEO Rob Saunders said that this level of pH in the water was something he hadn't seen in his 35 years of shellfish farming. The loss amounted to 10 million dollars and a third of their workforce (20 people).
No less troubling is the impact of acidification on the food chain. This year, a NOAA-led research team found evidence that acidity off the West Coast has been dissolving the shells of pteropods at double the rate since the pre-industrial era. These tiny free-swimming marine snails make up 45 percent of the diet of pink salmon and are also a food source for herring and mackerel. The highest percentage of sampled pteropods with dissolving shells were found from northern Washington to central California, where 53 percent had severely dissolved shells.
Compared to Southern California, the water north of Point Conception comes from deeper depths up to the surface where the upwelling is stronger and lasts longer—from spring to fall. Because the direction of the coastline changes (from north-south to east-west) south of Point Conception, a weaker upwelling occurs in Southern California from February to May. The same NOAA-led research team found evidence of corrosive waters shoaling to depths of about 20-50 meters in the coastal waters off Washington, Oregon, and northern California; and to depths of about 60-120 meters off southern California.
Anita Leinweber on board the R/V Seaworld.
This has been the pattern for at least the past ten years, according to Dr. Anita Leinweber, a researcher at UCLA who has been measuring acidification levels in Santa Monica Bay for more than a decade. In a 2013 study, Leinweber and co-author Nicolas Gruber published six-year trends for pH and the aragonite saturation state in the Santa Monica Bay from 2003 to 2008. They found that the saturation horizon there reaches 130 meters on average. As the aragonite saturation state changes, this shoaling is exacerbated and the horizon could climb 20 meters by 2050 to reach an average depth of 110 meters.
Median trends for pH are also decreasing by an average of about -0.004 per year between 100 and 250 meters. These trends in Santa Monica Bay are larger in magnitude than most of those reported so far — for example, about -0.003 pH units per year in Monterey Bay. They are also slightly larger than those expected on the basis of the recent trends in atmospheric CO2. The study also noted that the saturation horizon reached its highest point—the top 30 meters—during the height of the upwelling season in April and May. Lower pH and aragonite saturation states were observed during winters when La Niña conditions prevailed, which makes sense given that La Niña conditions intensify upwelling conditions.
Originally published in Catalina Marine Society's OceanBights, p. 3.
Anita Leinweber, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, interview May 17, 2014.


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Q: How do i use regular expressions in python lxml, XPath I'm trying to do:
for element in root.xpath('//a[@id="hypProduct_[0-9]+"]'):

How do i use [0-9]+ within an xpath element selector (lxml)?
The docs state:
By default, XPath supports regular expressions in the EXSLT namespace:

>>> regexpNS = "http://exslt.org/regular-expressions"
>>> find = etree.XPath("//*[re:test(., '^abc$', 'i')]",
...                    namespaces={'re':regexpNS})

>>> root = etree.XML("<root>aBaBc</root>")
>>> print(find(root)[0].text)
aBc

You can disable this with the boolean keyword argument regexp which defaults to True.

I didn't follow the :test stuff. Could someone explain this in context of the docs.

A: In your case, the expression would be:
//a[re:test(@id, "^hypProduct_[0-9]+$")]

Demo:
>>> from lxml.html import fromstring
>>>
>>> data = 'link1'
>>> tree = fromstring(data)
>>> tree.xpath('//a[re:test(@id, "^hypProduct_[0-9]+$")]', namespaces={'re': "http://exslt.org/regular-expressions"})[0].attrib["id"]
'hypProduct_10'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The love standing behind you will provide the support needed for the events of today. You'll find the strength to fight the little battles with ease. You'll gain the help to nurture your actions that will bloom successfully and with ease. Remember to keep your cups upright and open to receive both the support and abundance that's coming your way. By the end of the day you may find them filled with more than you thought there would be. Serve your mindfulness and pay attention to what you think, say and do. Make it a positive day and receive that positive in return.
The Knave can be a Servant to a noble, a young naive person, an apprentice learning and growing with wisdom. Today this is you. The one who serves your own spiritual and moral practices. Do you walk your talk? Or do you simply give it lip service?
Sometimes it's easier for us to serve our ultimate actions and reactions when we're alone. No one there to push buttons or fray nerves. The solitude can be great for times of introspection and reflection. Keeping our outlook positive and full of energy. But the true test of your talk, is left for when you walk that same path surrounded by others. This will be your test today.
Are you being open with positive energy and welcoming the positive change that's coming your way? Or are you set in fear, scared to look around the corner at what's coming next. You're being supported by the Divine in your life, but also by those closest to you. The ones who are working hard for you, trying to be encouraging and be on your side simply because they love you. And because they want the same things you do. It's not a time to let fear into your day and affect your mood, or turn your attitude against those trying to help.


text:
Material May Set Up High Temp Superconductivity
June 22, 2017 | Leave a Comment
Argonne National Laboratory researchers have identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The project combined crystal growth, X-ray spectroscopy and computational theory.
The team successfully synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound, a feat the researchers believe to be a first.
Materials scientists at Argonne National Laboratory synthesized these single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound via a high-pressure crystal growth process. Image Credit: Argonne National Laboratory. Click image for the largest view.
John Mitchell, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and associate director of the laboratory's Materials Science Division, who led the project, which combined crystal growth, X-ray spectroscopy, and computational theory said, "It's poised for superconductivity in a way not found in other nickel oxides. We're very hopeful that all we have to do now is find the right electron concentration."
This nickel oxide compound does not superconduct, but, he added, "It's poised for superconductivity in a way not found in other nickel oxides. We're very hopeful that all we have to do now is find the right electron concentration."
Mitchell and seven co-authors announced their results in Nature Physics.
Superconducting materials are technologically important because electricity flows through them without resistance. High-temperature superconductors could lead to faster, more efficient electronic devices, grids that can transmit power without energy loss and ultra-fast levitating trains that ride frictionless magnets instead of rails among the leading ideas.
Only low-temperature superconductivity seemed possible before 1986, but materials that superconduct at low temperatures are impractical because they must first be cooled to hundreds of degrees below zero. In 1986, however, discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxide compounds called cuprates engendered new technological potential for the phenomenon.
But after three decades of ensuing research, exactly how cuprate superconductivity works remains a defining problem in the field. One approach to solving this problem has been to study compounds that have similar crystal, magnetic and electronic structures to the cuprates.
Nickel-based oxides – nickelates – have long been considered as potential cuprate analogs because the element sits immediately adjacent to copper in the periodic table. Thus far, Mitchell noted, "That's been an unsuccessful quest." As he and his co-authors noted in their Nature Physics paper, "None of these analogs have been superconducting, and few are even metallic."
The nickelate that the Argonne team has created is a quasi-two-dimensional trilayer compound, meaning that it consists of three layers of nickel oxide that are separated by spacer layers of praseodymium oxide.
"Thus it looks more two-dimensional than three-dimensional, structurally and electronically," Mitchell said.
This nickelate and a compound containing lanthanum rather than praseodymium both share the quasi-two-dimensional trilayer structure. But the lanthanum analog is non-metallic and adopts a so-called "charge-stripe" phase, an electronic property that makes the material an insulator, the opposite of a superconductor.
"For some yet-unknown reason, the praseodymium system does not form these stripes," Mitchell said. "It remains metallic and so is certainly the more likely candidate for superconductivity."
Argonne is one of a few laboratories in the world where the compound could be created. The Materials Science Division's high-pressure optical-image floating zone furnace has special capabilities. It can attain pressures of 150 atmospheres (equivalent to the crushing pressures found at oceanic depths of nearly 5,000 feet) and temperatures of approximately 2,000 degrees Celsius (more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit), conditions needed to grow the crystals.
"We didn't know for sure we could make these materials," said Argonne postdoctoral researcher Junjie Zhang, the first author on the study. But indeed, they managed to grow the crystals measuring a few millimeters in diameter.
The research team verified that the electronic structure of the nickelate resembles that of cuprate materials by taking X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements at the Advanced Photon Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility, and by performing density functional theory calculations. Materials scientists use density functional theory to investigate the electronic properties of condensed matter systems.
"I've spent my entire career not making high-temperature superconductors," Mitchell joked. But that could change in the next phase of his team's research: attempting to induce superconductivity in their nickelate material using a chemical process called electron doping, in which impurities are deliberately added to a material to influence its properties.
The researchers are zeroing in. Hopefully they find a bonanza of opportunities for superconductivity material choices. Its going to take more time, but the payoff will be huge and last forever.


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Jungian Themes, Collective Unconscious
A critical analysis of Jung's contribution to depth psychology of the Collective Unconscious and its value for psychotherapy.
By Stephen Farah Collective Unconscious, Jungian Themes archetypes, collective unconscious, Jung 1 Comment
This is a copy of public lecture delivered to Psyche at the University of Pretoria 9 September 2015
Carl Gustav Jung, (1875 – 1961), the Swiss psychiatrist and academic, was an early and key collaborator of Freud's; and at one time the heir apparent to the psychoanalytic legacy. He made a big impact in medical and forensic psychology, early in his career, whilst at Burgholzli Psychiatric Clinic, with his word association experiment. The word association experiment had a particular significance for psychoanalysis and was a catalyst to his association and collaboration with Freud. After Jung and Freud split around 1913, under somewhat acrimonious circumstances, as a consequence of both personal and theoretical differences, Jung went on to develop his own school of psychoanalytic thought, initially called complex psychology and later analytical psychology (most often referred to simply as Jungian psychology).
Jung's writing is contained in the 20 volumes of his Collected Works which offer a detailed exposition of his thought, and application of his technique both clinically and culturally. Jungian psychology, whilst for most of the 20th century in the shadow of Freud and psychoanalysis, went on to thrive and become perhaps the most well-known and popular alternative in depth psychology to Freudian psychoanalysis. The schism that developed between Jung and Freud lasted their entire careers and has remained as a gulf between their two respective, competing, schools of psychodynamics.
In my talk today I will focus on one of key theoretical differences between the two schools, and a defining concept for Jungian psychology, Jung's hypothesis of the "collective unconscious." The theoretical point of departure is summed up quite succinctly in this statement from the forward to Symbols of Transformation, originally published in 1912, and later substantially revised in 1952
"To free medical psychology from the subjective and personalistic bias that characterized its outlook at that time, and to make it possible to understand the unconscious as an objective and collective psyche"[1]
Above the door to his home and later engraved on his tombstone Jung had the following phrase, in Latin,
Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit.
(Bidden or unbidden, God will be present.)
That phrase expresses the essence of the collective unconscious. This statement, at least as it applies to Jungian theory, should not be read as a metaphysical assertion, posting an absolute and divine being. It is rather a recognition of the phenomenological and consequently psychological reality, and ubiquitous presence, of a transpersonal, objective, dimension of the psyche, that structures and conditions our psychology.
Neither is this intended as a denial of the subjective, personal and developmental factors and their determining influence on the subject's psychology. In this regard Jung follows very much in the Freudian psychoanalytic tradition. He understands and accepts the subjective experience as the central domain of inquiry for psychology. He appreciates the coordinates of the subject's personal existence and her developmental history as not only having a significant impact on the subject's psychology but also being the first and primary field of inquiry for the psychologist.
Furthermore, Jung is largely sympathetic to the defining role of infantile sexuality and even the Oedipal Complex. Whilst he does not give it the same exclusive accord that Freud does, he is entirely satisfied that its effects can hardly be denied.
However, Jung holds that any analysis that stops at the personal subjective and developmental factors is incomplete and fails to recognise the objective, transpersonal, collective dimension which plays, perhaps, an even more foundational role in determining the coordinates of the subject's psychology and subjective responses to any given situation.
What exactly is the collective unconscious and how is it supposed to operate?
The collective unconscious is an aspect of the subject's psychology that is not predicated on their personal, developmental, history. It is an inherited, a priori, condition of subjective experience, related to "the phylogenetic[2] and instinctual foundation of the human race."[3] The mind, even at birth, is not a tabula rasa (a blank slate). The mind like the body is governed and structured by a priori forms, dynamics, imaginal capacities and cognitive pathways. This collective unconscious, as Jung understood it, is populated by and structured around what he referred to as 'archetypes'. These are nodal points, described by the Jungian analyst, Robin Robertson, as cognitive invariants,[4] from which the network of the collective unconscious emerges.
Jung explains the collective unconscious, as follows.
"My thesis then is as follows: in addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. The collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and give definite form to certain psychic contents."[5]
The technique of engaging the collective unconscious in psychotherapy
Jung's meta-psychological model is one which focusses on psychic structures, called complexes in the personal unconscious which broadly correspond to archetypes in the collective unconscious. Each complex is a personal expression of a universal form, and has at its core either one or more archetypes around which it is constituted.
To use a popular example from psychoanalysis, the subject has a particular relation to his mother that we can refer to as his mother-complex. This complex contains all the memories, feelings, associations and images, constituted by his personal relationship with his mother. Where such a patient is presenting adaptive challenges in relation to the feminine gender, for which he is seeking psychotherapy and that possibly has its roots in his relation to his mother, the Jungian analyst would proceed from the premise that a thorough analysis of the subject's relation to his biological mother would be the most intuitive starting point. His mother complex would be the primary target or at least starting point of such any such analysis.
The analysis of the subject's personal relationship with his mother as the acknowledged starting point, an appreciation of the collective or objective dimension of the subject's psychology, in such a case, affords the analyst the possibility of amplification.
The Jungian analyst, whilst in no way depreciating the value of the personal analysis, recognises that the subject's inner image of "mother" and his relationality to "mother" is not wholly and exclusively determined by his relationship to his own, biological, or even surrogate, mother. That the designation 'mother', and in this case more specifically, the relation of a son to his mother, has, in part, an archetypal, collective or objective, character.
That the very idea of an anomalous or neurotic relationship between the subject and his mother, is predicated on a comparison to a normative, functional and optimal ideal. And that both the dysfunctional and functional models of relationality between a son and his mother can be mapped onto the coordinates of a universal model (or in Jungian terms "archetype") of the relationship of a son to his mother.
In pursuing such an approach, the Jungian analyst, is liberated, to a degree, from the vagaries of memory and subjective distortion that is inherent in any psychoanalytic narrative. Her analysis has at its disposal a tool to inquire into the subject's relation to the mother archetype, which whilst no doubt influenced by his relation to his own mother, is not, as classical psychoanalysis suggests, an analogue for it. In other words, he may present certain very constructive, deeply connected, feelings, thoughts and imaginations of the mother archetype whilst the narrative of his personal history with his mother is absent of such properties. The analyst frequently recognises a dissonance, such as exaggerated affect, between the personal-historical relationship to the mother and the relationship to the mother archetype.
Where does the material for such an archetypal analysis emerge from you might wonder.
From an analysis of:
The subject's relation to his own mother.
The subject's relationship to the cultural artefact, or meme, of mother.
The subject's inter-personal relationship's to the female, and in some cases even the masculine, gender, in its displaying, or the subject situating it as, motherly.
From the transference relation with the analyst.
And the analyst here is sensitive to dissonance between the subject's inner, imaginary, relationships and the objective coordinates of these relationships, as well as dissonance between the relation to biological mother and the universal or abstracted mother i.e. the mother archetype. Using this information to distinguish between what has arisen out of developmental circumstances and intrinsic or innate factors in the relationship to the mother archetype.
This distinction between the personal developmental history and relationship and the innate relation to the mother archetype offers the analyst a significant and partly independent coordinate, which along with the developmental history and relationship, can be used to map the subjects psychology and facilitate the psychotherapeutic process.
So as opposed to couple of son and mother with the classical analyst has to work with, in this model we get a triangulation of (son – mother archetype – biological mother).
The Jungian analyst, Mary Williams[6] suggests that repression only occurs because the ego is threatened by the archetypal power of the content[7]. In a brief vignette she mentions the case of a doctor who had learnt to deal in a professional and detached fashion with his biological mother's attacks of mania. He was however terrified of his wife's temper tantrums, and had some difficulty overcoming his fear in the transference relationship to his female analyst. In working through his initial fear of the analyst in the transference he was able to access his fear of
"the terrible archetypal mother, which was attached to the repressed fear of his mad mother from his childhood; attached also to his fear of the maniacal aggressor in himself based on his identification with her."[8]
The Jungian idea here being that what the subject was relating to in all three cases, his mother, his wife and his female analyst, whilst having its roots in his early relationship to his mother, is informed, at the level of the imaginary, by the relationship to a primal archetypal being, the consuming mother. The dark clothonic feminine, portrayed in fable by the witch, the baba yaga character. In the subject's imagination, coloured by the archetype, his mother and later the feminine gender, were displaced by an inhuman, one sided, monstrous character.[9]
"Experience suggests that the integration of this image by the ego leads to its humanization; it becomes a suffering human being, a mixture of loving and hating propensities, instead of a one-sided monster that has to be repelled and repressed. As a result, the patient is humanized too and ceases to project this one-sided image. If, however, the personal and collective aspects are divided, the collective aspect alone cannot be integrated and may remain a threat to all relationships."[10]
In recognising the presence of this archetype in his inner world, his imagination, and its projection onto the feminine, in this case the subject was able to form a more human image of his mother and his wife, and develop a more balanced and warmer relationship with them.[11]
Value and utility
There is much that can be said for this method of analysis, too much to try and summarise in this short talk. I will focus on a very few points, which by no means should be understood as a complete exposition of this method and its value.
Amplification: An understanding of the collective or group consciousness in which an individual is contextualized provides valuable insight into the nature of their personal psychology, both in terms of issues being faced and possible solutions. There are almost invariably historical accounts, journal entries, cultural narratives or myths where an encounter of a similar structure and dynamic is addressed. Familiarity and insight into such material provides a roadmap of the current dilemma.
Connection: All too frequently in addition to the direct effect of the subjects pathology there is the added undesirable effect of experiencing alienation. However as we know and as is made explicit with the hypothesis of the collective unconscious, very few, if any, psychological challenges are personal or unique. Recognising this is itself healing. The fact that the subject is not alone in the experience of her condition, in her suffering as it were, is itself a psychological and spiritual balm.
Whilst it would seem folly to deny the possibility of a 'first encounter', i.e. the first time a single individual encounters and has to grapple with a psychic challenge, this situation would constitute a truly tiny percentage of the total of such encounters across human history. Someone somewhere has had to grapple with the same or a very similar situation. In encountering this situation you are grappling with a transpersonal condition of being a human being that transcends your personal context. The manner in which a psychological challenge presents itself to you, the feelings that such a challenge arouses in you and the thoughts, images and ideas, that you bring to bear on the situation, follow pre-established pathways.
Whilst Einstein may have revolutionized the foundations of Newtonian physics, his desire to solve the riddles of nature, his perseverance beyond initial setbacks, his cognitive processing and analytical comprehension of the problems involved, his reliance on creative imagination and ultimately the satisfaction in discovering working solutions to such challenges would have been more similar than dissimilar to Newton's.
Self-knowledge, (mapping the psyche), this recognition of the collective or objective dimension of the psyche allows a greater and deeper mapping to take place for the subject. The recognition that their identity is not only predicated on their personal history but has its roots in their membership of the human race, of their particular ancestry, the culture into which they are born and from which they emerge, gender identity, the historical period in which they live and so on. Now not all of these are archetypal dimensions in the traditional application of the concept, some are rather social or memetic in nature. However this way of considering the objective cultural dimeson of the psyche which frames and contextualises the subjective experience, affords the subject a far deeper level of understanding and hopefully acceptance of their identity as an amalgamation of personal and collective factors .
Archetypal insights (the application of the mythological lens), this recognition that there the personality develops along typical or more properly archetypal pathways can be usefully applied in psychotherapeutic context. Assuming that either or both the analyst and analysand and are sufficiently literate metaphors for what the subject is grappling with can be found. The most popular place for Jungians to source this material is from myth or fable. However one can reliably say all stories that stand the test of time are fertile hunting ground for such metaphors.
Jung considered mythology, fable, fairy-tales to be expressions of collective or archetypal dreams. Myth is a form of collective dream ad dreams are a form of personal myth.
All of which has a very practical application in clinical work. Through identifying the appropriate story or stories, two significant effects are achieved. One, the subject's (or analysand's – in psychoanalytic jargon) material, previously the source of shame or anguish, is symbolised in a fashion that elevates it above the prosaic into something meaningful, something mythological. Secondly the narrative, mood, challenges, characters, thresholds and so on of the story can be investigated for possible clues that may help the subject in her personal quest to work through this archetypal dynamic.
Dream interpretation (objective – subjective juxtaposition)
The recognition of this objective dimension of the psyche has a significant implication for dream analysis. Allowing the analyst to investigate the archetypal dimensions of the dream content to amplify their meaning for the subject. And also the recognition that the dream does not only relate subjective content but also objective context; and these two elements the subjective feelings, behaviour, fantasies of the dream ego can be evaluated in light the objective context in which the dream takes place.
The dangers of conscious or unconscious identification with an archetype.
"The chief danger is that of succumbing to the fascinating influence of the archetypes."[12]
Identification with an archetype, consciously or unconsciously, leads to displacing of the ego's authority by a transpersonal form. The archetype is inhuman, one sided and transcends the bounds of rational consciousness. Identification with it leads the subject into a state of possession, of singular one-sidedness, transgressing the boundaries of reason and conscious evaluation; rushing in where angels fear to tread. This is so very well portrayed by the myth of the sirens who enchant sailors leading them to leap into the ocean and a consequent watery death.
The archetypes by their very nature have the capacity to fascinate, to mesmerise, they have, to use a popular Jungian phrase, a numinous quality – invoking awe or terror in the subject. When circumstances are favourable and when engaged by a robust ego consciousness, these are the catalysts to creativity, inspiration, great achievement, art, scientific discovery and so on. These archetypal attractors provide the energy and the motivation, they stimulate and channel the libido necessary to move beyond defunct boundaries. However where circumstances are less than favourable for whatever reason, where the ego is vulnerable, this is the path to pathology and even psychosis.
Commenting on the archetypes of the anima and animus, but relevant to identification with any archetype, Jung says the following,
"[W]hen the unconscious contents – these same fantasies- are not "realised," they give rise to a negative activity and personification i.e. to the autonomy of the animus and anima. Psychic abnormalities then develop, states of possession ranging in degree from ordinary moods and "ideas" to psychoses. All these states are characterised by one and the same fact that an unknown "something" has taken possession of a smaller or greater portion of the psyche and asserts its hateful and harmful existence undeterred by all our insight, reason, and energy, thereby proclaiming the power of the unconscious over the conscious mind, the sovereign power of possession."[13]
Jung is here referring specifically to the archetypes of the animus and anima, two that he gave a particular focus in his work. However this is more broadly the power of the irrational to possess, enchant and enrol the conscious ego and frequently to lead it astray. As is so amply demonstrated in the world today, rationality meets is match and is so frequently overcome by its shadow the irrational, which is always archetypally constituted. So much so that where reason, or what we prosaically would call good sense prevail, be it in inter personal, social or political affairs there is always cause for celebration. Far too often these relationships are dominated by the irrational, with consequent destruction. Jung puts it like this.
"No matter how beautiful and perfect man may believe his reason to be, he can always be certain that it is only one of the possible mental functions, and covers only that one side of the phenomenal world which corresponds to it. But the irrational, that which is not agreeable to reason, rings it about on all sides. And the irrational is likewise a psychological function – in a word, it is the collective unconscious; whereas the rational is always tied to the conscious mind."[14]
Bidden or unbidden, God is present. And all too often these natural, primal, instinctive or even divine if you will impulses overwhelm man's fragile and relatively youthful consciousness. A good example of this is encountered in the transference dynamic, where the patient projects unconscious aspects of her psyche onto the analyst. Investing the analyst with characteristics and affects which properly speaking belong to the patient. In such a case the nature of the transference is most typically characterised by, and understood as, an unconscious recreation of the parental relationship.
However as Jung points out, and as many psychotherapists bear testimony to, at times even this is insufficient to explain the degree to which the psychotherapist becomes a magical being in the imagination of the patient. The therapist takes on divine or demonic qualities. And the hypothesis of the collective unconscious explains this by recognising that not only does the patient carry an unconscious image of her parents, but also of a pantheon of magical beings, which irrespective of the patients conscious beliefs, are present in the unconscious.
A good cultural example of this is the phenomenon is the idolisation of sports stars; and their all too frequent consequent fall from grace. These are people who, naturally, being human are subject to the same fallibilities and shortcomings as the rest of us, but as related to as super-human, as possessing transcendent, godlike, qualities. No doubt this phenomena has been around as long as sport has. One thinks of the tremendous honour bestowed on the victors in the ancient Olympics, and the shame of the losers. Recent history has given us an abundance of examples. Going back a few years one thinks of Iron Mike Tyson and his fall from grace with his rape conviction, or more recently and more spectacularly the fall of that great sporting icon Lance Armstrong. And of course we have no shortage of local examples of this phenomenon (Hansie Cronje, Oscar Pistorius, Joost van der Westhuizen).
These so called "stars" are invested by the public with superhuman characteristics, and tragically, many of them take on this mass illusion, which then creates hubris and only precipitates their consequent fall from grace. Jung speaks of this the enantiodromia (from the ancient Greek philosopher – Heraclitus) this inverse course that follows any one sided condition, typical of identification with an archetype. The point is this type of phenomenon is only disposed to happen because we have the latent image in our unconscious of super human or godlike characters. There are archetypal forms that pre-exist our interaction with the world and inform what we see and the way we see it. So in a secular age, in the absences of roil-hoil divine beings, gods and angles etc., we turn our sports stars and celebrities into gods.
Some concerns for the hypothesis
Philosophically, nominalism vs. essentialism and the "archetypal" response of James Hillman. It is hard to get away from the fact that archetypal theory in order to be meaningful, as a metaphysical hypothesis, is essentialist. Essentialism as a metaphysical position is not to everyone's taste. It is seen by many contemporary philosophers as an antiquated and redundant metaphysical model. It is also associated with some very unhelpful political positions such as fascism.One possible response to this was developed by the American Jungian James Hillman who speaks of archetypal phenomena, but does not posit the ghostly archetype as source, rather seeing the archetypal as an emergent property along similar lines to the theory of memes.[15]
The displacing of focus on the personal dynamics of the patient with the focus onto the archetypal element. Michael Fordham makes this point, that there is a concern that focusing on the archetypal dimension, dilutes the analyst's focus on the analysand personal circumstances.
The need for the analyst to be widely read, especially in the classics. If the archetypal dimension is to be usefully applied in analysis it creates a high and quite broad educational demand on the analyst. Naturally this is going be out of the reach of many psychotherapists, who simply do have the necessary time to devote to such a study.
A final note: There is an interesting comparison to be made between paradigms emerging from the archetypes, archetypal forms and patterns and Lacan's symbolic order. In both cases all relationships and subjective experience are conditioned and to a degree constituted for the subject by the pervasive influence of these fields which are external to their subjectivity. The location of the subject in an objective and objectifying field.
In conclusion I propose that depth psychology is enriched by Jung's contribution of the Collective Unconscious, it is an immensely valuable tool in the hands of the appropriately trained analyst, problems notwithstanding, and the veracity of Jung's theory in this respect very difficult to challenge. It seems reasobly intuitive, not to say obvious, that the psyche has both subjective and objective dimensions and both must be considered if a holistic psychotherapeutic approach is to be attempted. A tremendous debt is owed to Jung by depth psychology for this contribution and its articulation throughout his work.
[1] Jung, symbols of transformation, CW. 5, p.xxiii
[2] Phylogenetics (greek: φυλή, φῦλον – phylé, phylon = tribe, clan, race + γενετικός – genetikós = origin, source, birth) – in biology – is the study of phylogenesis, or the evolutionary history, development and relationships among groups of organisms (e.g. species, or populations). These are discovered mainly through molecular data matrices, based on nucleic acids sequences and protein structures. Thus, the result of phylogenetic studies are hypotheses about the evolutionary history of taxonomic groups or their phylogeny (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogenetics)
[3] A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis; pp. 155-156.
[4] Robertson, A beginner's guide to Jungian psychology.
[5] C. G. Jung, The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, vol. 9, part 1, p. 43
[6] Williams, M. (1963), 'The indivisibility of the personal and collective unconscious.' JAP, vol. 8
[7] Ibid, p. 2
[12] Jung, C.W., 9, i, p. 39
[13] C. G. Jung, The relations between the ego and the unconscious, Collected Works, vol. 7, par. 370
[14] C. G. Jung, The personal and collective unconscious, Collected Works, vol. 7, par. 110
[15] "cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures" (Wikipedia)
Larry shaw Reply
Great material.
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text:
Money in AgriInvest accounts 'disappointing': Bibeau
Editorial: Crises will push you out of your comfort zone quickly
From the dairy capital of Canada to digital
Decoupling Canadian pork price from American price study still ongoing
Hog producers lose money, request changes to risk management
Minister continues to advocate that the 'first line' money needs to be spent
By D.C. Fraser
Producer groups say the billion-dollar figure amounts are misleading and that individual account amounts are insignificant. Photo: iStock
Glacier FarmMedia – Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau maintains farmers who need cash should first look to any available money sitting in AgriInvest accounts
"The last numbers I've seen did not show that farmers had used their accounts very much. Some sectors a little bit more, but not in a significant way the last time I looked at it, but that was a few weeks ago already," Bibeau said during an Aug. 13 interview. "I would say it was a bit disappointing to see that."
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Producers have between $2.27 billion and $2.37 billion sitting in their AgriInvest accounts.
Asked how she responds to criticism from political opponents and producer groups that say the amounts in accounts are insignificant — most have $10,000 or less available — Bibeau continued to push for the money to be spent.
"This (program) is meant to provide support in the very short term, as the first line of safety net. It's easy to access, because you already have it in your account. You're supposed to put this money aside every year so if you face an extraordinary challenge you have this money quickly available, and then you can wait a bit longer or have access to other programs, like AgriStability, AgriRecovery or AgriInsurance if the needs are greater," she said.
"This is the path within the BRM (business risk management) programs, so even if it is not a big amount for some producers, and I would put big in brackets because it's a relative number, but it's supposed to be the first line of support available and not using it sends the message you don't really need it."
Bibeau stated there is also confusion over how the program is used, saying a discussion is necessary between her, her provincial counterparts, and industry stakeholders.
Her comments won't be appreciated by producer groups who argue the billion-dollar figures are misleading and more support is needed due to the insignificant amounts available in individual accounts.
Bibeau remains committed to changing business risk management programs and is attempting to lay the groundwork for a potential major overhaul of what is currently offered.
"COVID is giving us, I'm not sure if it's an opportunity, but the occasion, to evaluate how they are helping in cases of crisis," she said, noting each program continues to be evaluated on whether or not they are reaching their objectives.
Bibeau said, "everything is on the table" for a deeper reform of the programs, but it won't happen anytime soon. The current federal-provincial-territorial deal governing BRMs doesn't expire for a few more years.
D.C. Fraser
D.C. Fraser is Glacier FarmMedia's Ottawa-based reporter. Growing up mostly in Alberta, Fraser also lived in Saskatchewan for ten years where he covered politics, including a stint teaching at the University of Regina's School of Journalism. He is an avid fan of the outdoors and a pretty good beer league hockey player. His passion for agriculture and agri-food policy comes naturally: Six consecutive generations of his family have worked in the industry.
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