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Tag: interaction
Stigmergy as a universal Coordination Mechanism (II)
Heylighen, F. . Stigmergy as a universal coordination mechanism II: Varieties and Evolution . Cognitive Systems Research (Elsevier) 38 . pp. 50-59. 2016
'One application is cognition, which can be viewed as an interiorization of the individual stigmergy that helps an agent to a complex project by registering the state of the work in the trace, thus providing an external memory'[p 50]. DPB: I understand this as: according to this hypothesis, stigmergy exists prior to cognition; this means that natural but non-living processes use stigmergy on an external medium; once they are alive they are (in addition) capable of internalizing stigmergy, namely by internalizing the medium. The process of internalization of individual stigmergy is the same as (the development of?) cognition. This is another way of saying that the scope of a system changes so as to encompass the (previously external) medium on which the stigmergy takes place. The self-organization is now internalized. Cognition is now internalized. How does this view on the concept of cognition relate to the concept of individuation as a view on cognition?
'To bring some order to these phenomena, the present paper will develop a classification scheme for the different varieties of stigmergy. We will do this by defining fundamental dimensions or aspects, i.e. independent parameters along which stigmergic systems can vary. The fact that these aspects are continuous ("more or less") rather than dichotomous ("present or absent") may serve to remind us that the domain of stigmergic mechanisms is essentially connected: however different its instances may appear, it is not a collection of distinct classes, but a space of continuous variations on a single theme – the stimulation of actions by their prior results' [p 50]. DPB: this reminds me of the landscape of Jobs: at the connection of the memes and the minds, there is a trace of the meme left on the brain and a trace of the brain is added to the meme, leaving the meme and the brain damaged. This means that from the viewpoint of the brain the memeplex is the medium and from the viewpoint of the meme the brain is the medium. The latter is more obvious to see: traces can be left in individuals' brains. The former implies that changes are imposed on the memeplex; but the memeplex is represented by the expression of ideas in the real and in the mind; the real is an external medium, accessible through first order observations; the expression of the memeplex existing in the mind is an external medium, because it exists in other persons' minds and in versions of the Self, both accessible through second-order observations. Back to the landscape: it is there anyhow, the difference in states is how the Jobs are connected and as a consequence how they are bounded and how they individuate.
2. Individual vs. collective stigmergy
Ants do not require a memory, because the present stage of the work is directly discernible by the same ant, and also by a different ant. Because they have no memory, the work can be continued by the same ant, but by another just as well.
3. Sematectonic vs. marker-based stigmergy
Sematectonic means that the results of the work itself are the traces that signify the input for the next ant and the next state (Wilson Sociobiology, 1975). Marker-based means that the stigmergic stimulation occurs through traces in the shape of markers such as pheromones left by other individuals (ants, termites!) before them, and not by traces of the work itself indicating a particular stage (Parunak, H.V.D., A survey of environments and mechanisms for human-human stigmergy, In Environments for multi-agent systems II (Weyns, Parunak, Michel (Eds.), 2006). Marker signals represent symbols, while sematectonic signals the concrete thing. But this is not straightforward: the territory boundary indicated with urine markers are an indication of the fact that there is an animal claiming this territory, while the urine contains additional information specific for that animal. To spread urine evenly around the claimed area and to interpret the information contained by it is useful for both the defender and the visitor in order to manage a potential conflict. And hence to reduce the uncertainties from the environment for both. The point is that the urine represents both information about the object and about the context.
4. Transient vs. persistent traces
'We have conceptualized the medium as the passive component of the stigmergic system, which undergoes shaping by the actions, but does not participate in the activity itself' (emphasis of the author) [p 52]. But a medium is bound to dissipate and decay, unless the information is actively maintained and reconstructed; without ongoing updates it will become obsolete, especially as the situation changes. No sharp distinction can be made between transient and persistent traces, they are the extremes of a continuum. A persistent trace does not require the simultaneous presence of the agent, while a purely transient trace does require their simultaneous presence. Synchronous stigmergy means to broadcast some signal, releasing information not directed at any one in particular. 'A human example would be the self-organization of traffic, where drivers continuously react to the traffic conditions they perceive' [p 53]. DPB: the gist of this example is that the behavior of the drivers is the signal: it is synchronous, not directed at anyone in particular, and it is sematectonic, because it represents the state of the system.
5. Quantitative vs. qualitative stigmergy
Quantitative stigmergy means that stronger conditions imply more forceful action to follow, or, in practical terms: the stronger conditions imply a higher probability of action. Qualitative stigmergy refers to conditions and actions that differ in kind rather than in degree: thís trace leads to thát action. There is no clear distinction of these two categories.
6. Extending the mind
'Traditionally, cognition has been viewed as the processing of information inside the brain. More recent approaches, however, not that both the information and the processing often reside in the outside world (Clark, 1998; Dror & Harnad, 2008; Hollan, Hutchins & Kirsh 2000) – or what we have called the medium. .. Thus the human mind extends into the environment (Clark & Chalmers, 1998), "outsourcing" some of its functions to external support systems. .. In fact, our mental capabilities can be seen as an interiorization of what were initially stigmergic interactions with the environment' (emphasis of the author) [p 54]. DPB: beetje brakke quote. This reminds me of the idea that a brain would not have been required if the environment was purely random. Just because it is not, and hence patterns can be cognized, it is relevant to avail of the instrument for just that: a brain embodying a set of condition-action rules to generate an action from the state of the environment sensed by it. Stigmergic activity lacks a memory: its state represents its memory as it reflects its every experience. But now the system is dependent on the contingencies of the part of the environment that is the medium: in order to detach itself from the uncertainties of the environment it internalizes memory and information processing.
7. The evolution of cooperation
In a stigmergic situation the defector does not weaken the cooperator: the cost of a trace is sunk.
Geplaatst op 16 augustus 2018 Categorieën Cognition, Communication, Social SystemTags cognition, culture, interaction, social system, stigmergy
Stigmergy as a Universal Coordination Mechanism (I)
Heylighen, F. . Stigmergy as a universal coordination mechanism I: Definition and components . Cognitive Systems Research (Elsevier) 38 . pp. 4-13. 2016
1. Past, present and future of the "stigmergy" concept
The concept is introduced by Pierre-Paul Grassé 1959 to describe a coordination mechanism used by insects: the work of one leaves traces in the environment that stimulates subsequent work by that insect or by others: 'This mediation via the environment ensures that tasks are executed in the right order, without any need for planning, control, or direct interaction between agents' [p 4]. DPB: how can execution in the right order be assured: it is not sure in what order the other agents will encounter the traces and hence in what order they will be motivated to act? From the examples in the text it appears that the stage in which work is left by the previous worker is input for the decision rules of a later worker; this implies that the stage of the work can be recognized. This is not the same as the agents assessing the stage of the work in the sense of attributing a meaning to it, or as in distinguishing this earlier stage from that later stage, because in that case the agent would have to have an idea of the finalized work and to what extent it would have to be complete in relation to the finalized work. Another example is pheromone trails left by insects and that are followed by others. These ideas can in some cases explain self-organization in social systems aka swarm intelligence (Deneubourg 1977). Conceptually a next step is computer supported collaboration between human agents, in particular via the www; another example is the establishing of a price on a market: a price emerges from the myriad of interactions between people that then serves as a reference for their decisions thereafter. DPB: anchoring means that once one has become used to some mark, it serves as a frame of reference thereafter, priming means that once a reference price was given, this serves as a frame of reference thereafter; are these stigmergic effects of a Luhmannian communication on the human mind; is spoken human language an example also, because it damages the direct environment and it only lasts as a damage in the minds of the people involved in the conversation; is written language an example in a kind of slow and long lasting way: once written its damaging effects remain forever; in that way, language (spoken or written can be deframed and reframed and be assigned a new meaning). Understood in this sense stigmergy is ubiquitous and it can clarify many things: 'Stigmergy in the most general sense does not require either markers or quantities. Another, even more common misunderstanding is that stigmergy only concerns groups or swarms consisting of many agents. As we will show, stigmergy is just as important for understanding the behavior of a single individual' [p 5]. The notion that an unintentional trace in a passive medium is far removed from the notion of a direct influence of the behavior of one agent on the behavior of another agent.
2 From etymology to definition
Stigmergy is derived from the Greek stigma which means mark or puncture and ergon which means work, the product of work or action: as a joint concept it was originally as a goad or prod or spur (prikkel): 'Thus (Grassé, 1959) defined stigmergy as 'the stimulation of workers by the very performances they have achieved (from the original English abstract)' [p 6]. More recently it was understood as follows: 'if we understand stigma as "mark" or "sign"and ergon as "action", then stigmergy is "the notion that an agent's actions leave signs in the environment, signs that it and other agents sense and that determine their subsequent actions"' [p 6]. DPB: the understanding of Grassé is that stigmergy means motivation by the work (of others) and the understanding of Parunak is motivation by marks left by the work. Suppose an uttered word already leaves a mark on the mind of some people in a network that is the environment of someone, then the difference between the two is that in the notion of Grassé one has to be present and in the notion of Parunak one does not. DPB: the expression of a meme leads to other expressions of it. ; 'Stigmergy is an indirect, mediated mechanism of coordination between actions, in which the trace of an action left on a medium stimulates the performance of a subsequent action' [p 6]. Also the picture is interesting:
In the medium: a mark: which stimulates >>
In the agent: an action: which produces >> [p 6].
DPB: this is my Logistical Model exactly! Using memes it is: an expression of a meme produces a mark in a medium and a perception of that mark stimulates an action in an agent. But what I find missing here is the effect of a meme in the internal, the mark that is left within the agent. That is a difference; let's see how the stigmergy is defined later on, and whether it includes the mind of the agent when it is included in a social system.
3. Basic components of stigmergy
Action is defined as a causal process that produces a change in the world (real). Agent is defined as a goal-directed autonomous system: this concept is not necessary because actions of a single unspecified agent can be coordinated by stigmergy (but it is useful if more than one agent is involved with different kinds of actions: stigmergy is the coordinator of actions that are merely events or (agentless) processes. This can be represented by a condition-action rule: the condition specifies the state of the world inducing the action, and the action specifies the subsequent transformation of that state. This can also be written as: a+b+c+.. >> x+y+.., where the + indicaes the conjunction of the conditions and of the actions. Chemical Organization Theory (Dittrich & Winter, 2008) show how collections of these simple reactions tend to become coordinated by acting on a shared medium (reaction vessel), where they produce an evolving trace expressed by the concentrations of the different 'molecules' (a,b,..). This coordinated pattern of activity defines an organization: a self-sustaining, dynamic network of interacting 'molecules'. The relation is causal but not deterministic: the probability that an action takes place increases if the conditions are met (P (action I condition) > P (action). DPB: the medium is the whole of the environment that can contain (be damaged to show) data in the sense of a signal whether fast or slow to disappear and widely or narrowly distributed, e.g. a tombstone (in the real) or a change in the state of the mind of one's interlocutor caused by the irritation of one's words (in the virtual of Simondon). In the latter case the minds of the interlocutors are a part of the environment of the person: 'The medium is that part of the world that undergoes changes through the actions and whose states are sensed as conditions for further actions' [p 7]. The medium is an aspect of the environment: 'First, .. , the environment is not in general perceivable an controllable. Second, the environment normally denotes everything outside the system or agent under consideration. However, stigmergy can also make use of an internal medium' (emphasis by the author) [p 7]. DPB: waarvan acte! As a consequence aspects of the agent system are controllable by elements in the environment and hence they belong to the medium. The environment is that part of the world with which an agent interacts; phenomena perceivable and controllable are different for each agent and hence every agent has a different environment; 'When we consider stigmergic coordination between different agents, we need to define the medium as that part of the world that is controllable and perceivable by all of them' [p 7]. DPB: this reminds of the discourse / population idea, where a multitude of people included by a communication (the discourse) is defined as a population. This is different because in the discourse people are included that find themselves to be attracted as a result of their life experience and because of the selections of the communication. The medium is a broader and wider concept because it is determined by what people can perceive and control, but that does not necessarily attract them because of their life experience so far. The role of the medium is to allow interaction between different actions to take place, and thus, indirectly, between different agents; this mediating function is the true power of stigmergy. A final component of a stigmergic system is a trace or a mark; it is the result of an action and as such it contains information about the action that produced it: 'We might see the trace as a message, deposited in a medium, through which the pattern of activity communicates with itself, while maintaining a continuously updated "memory" of its achievements. From the point of view of an individual agent, on the other hand, the trace is a challenge: a situation that incites action, in order to remedy a perceived problem or shortcoming, or to exploit an opportunity for advancement (Heylighen, 2012)' (emphasis by the author) [p 8]. DPB: I think in the Logistical Model the medium is the mind of the person as well as the communication: both are simultaneously and differently damaged through their mutual irritations.
4. Coordination
'According to the Oxford Dictionary, coordination can be defined as the organization of the different elements of a complex body or activity so as to enable them to work together effectively' (emphasis by the author) [p 8]. In the case of stigmergy the 'elements' are actions or agents; 'effectively' means that a goal is pursued; 'working together' means that the agents or actions are harmonious or synergetic 'the one rather helping than hindering the other' [p 8]. 'Organization' means a structure with a function, where 'function' is the achievement of the intended effect and 'structure' is the way agents or actions are connected such that they form a coherent whole. 'This brings the focus on the connections that integrate the actions into a synergetic, goal-oriented whole' (emphasis of the author) [p 8]. DPB: this reminds me of autopoietic systems: the properties of the elements of a systems determine the relations between them. The goal-orientation and the synergy (or harmony) of the elements (or rather of the body they form) is per definition dedicated to their autopoiesis.
5. The benefits of stigmergy
Stigmergic organization limits the gap between planning, instructions and reality; it is robust to contingency and shock; it is less prone to error of communication and errors of control than traditional forms of organization; it is less dependent on the number of agents or actions involved or the dependencies between them. The only requirement is that the agents have access to the medium and that they can recognize the conditions to start their actions. There is no need for: planning, memory, direct communication, mutual awareness, simultaneous presence, imposed sequence, imposed dividion of labor, commitment, centralized control.
6. Self-organization through negative feedback
Error-controlled regulation means that a deviation from the goal of an agent implies a change of behavior of the agent such that a compensatory action suppresses the effect of the deviation, the error. The agent must be capable to sense the error and to execute a compensatory action. In regards to the establishment of effective collective action, the only additional assumption is that the goals of the agents are not contradictory, but the goals are not necessary the same for it. 'We may assume that agents have acquired their condition-action rules (and thus their implicit goals) through natural selection of instinctual behavior or differential reinforcement of learned behavior. This means that their condition-action rules are generally appropriate to the local environment, including the other agents with which they regularly interact' [p 11]. DPB: the entire system maintains its autopoiesis and its parts maintain theirs; the entire systems develops (evolutionarily) in its environment of other systems and its parts develop in their environments of other parts; the parts develop autopoietically within the conditions of the autopoiesis of the entire system. Their 'goals' are their autopoiesis as it is trained to the requirements of their (local) context.
7. Self-organization through positive feedback
This is the amplification of movements towards an existing goal; they can be called diversions because they divert action from its ongoing course.
'Virtually all evolved processes that require coordination between actions seem to rely at some level on stigmergy, in the sense that subsequent actions are stimulated by the trace left by previous actions in some observable and manipulable medium. The trace functions like a registry and map, indicating which actions have been performed and which still need to be performed. It is shared by all agents that have access to the medium, thus allowing them to coordinate their actions without need for agent-to agent communication. It even allows the coordination of "agentless" actions, as investigated e.g. by Chemical Organization Theory (Dittrich & Fenizio, 2007)' [p 12]. DPB: I disagree with the 'that require coordination' phrase: what about a wandering discussion, where the medium involves the brains of the the other participants. This does not require coordination as such but it is coordinated.
Geplaatst op 16 augustus 2018 Categorieën Communication, Social SystemTags cognition, informatie, interaction, stigmergy, transmissie
Time and the Other
Fabian, J. . Time and the Other – How Anthroplogy Makes its Object . Columbia University Press . New York . 1983 . ISBN 0-231-05590-0
Anthropology is the study of humans and their societies in the past and present. Its main subdivisions are social anthropology and cultural anthropology, which describes the workings of societies around the world, linguistic anthropology, which investigates the influence of language in social life, and biological or physical anthropology, which concerns long-term development of the human organism.
'Time much like language or money, is a carrier of significance, a form through which we define the content of relations between the Self and the Other.. Time may give form to relations of power and inequality under the conditions of capitalist industrial production' [Preface and Acknowledgements p. IX]. This means that time is an aspect that determines the interface between Self and the Other and so Time influences our view on the Other.
How does our use of the concept of time influence the construction of the object of study of antropology? The difficulty is in our understanding of we as the subject of anthropology, because in that role we as the subject of history can not be presupposed or left implicit nor should it be allowed to define the Other in an easy way. The contradiction is that the study of anthropoloy is conducted by involving with the object of research intensively, but based on the knowledge gained in that field research, to pronounce a discours construing the Other in terms of spatial and temporal distance.
Ch 1 Time and the Emerging Other
Knowledge is power and the claim to power of anthropology stems from its roots: the constituting of its own object of study, the Other (originally the object was the savage). All knowledge of the Other also has a historical, therefore a temporal element. In this sense accumulating knowledge involves a political act, namely from the systematic oppression to anarchic mutual recognition.
Universal time was established in the renaissance and its spread during the Enlightenment. The confusion exists because of the multitude of historical fact. Universal history is a device to distinguish different times by comparing the histories of individual countries with it: in this way it is what a general map is to particular maps [Bossuet 1845: 1, 2]. Universal can have the connotation of total (the entire worlds at all times) and general (applicable to many instances). Bossuet doesn't address the first, but the second: how can history be presented in terms of generally valid principles? This can be done if in the 'sequence of things, la suite des choses' one can discern the 'order of times'. This can be done if the order can be abbreviated to allow an instant view. the 'epoch' is proposed as a device, a resting place in time to consider everything that happened before that point and everything after it.
Travel gave a new impetus to anthropology and to time. Travel is now a vehicle for self-realization and the documents produced as a result form a new discours. The new traveler citiqued the existing philosophes: things seen and experienced while traveling are not as per the reality distorted by preconceived ideas.
The objective of the modern navigators is 'to complete the history of man' [La Pérouse in Moravia 1967:964 f in Fabian p. 8]. The meaning of complete can be to self-realisation and it can also be understood as to fill out (like a form).
The conceived authenticity of a past, found in 'savage cultures' is used to denounce an overly acculturated and urbanized present by presenting counterimages to the pristine wholeness of the authentic life. Time is at this point in the nineteenth century secularized.
From history to evolution (from secularization of time to evolutionary temporalizing): 1) time is immanent to the world, nature, the universe, 2) relations between parts of the world can be understood as as temporal relations. The theory of Darwinian evolution can only be accepted on the condition that the concept of time that is crucial to it, is adapted to the one in vigor. Only then can tis theory be applied to projects with the objective to show evolutionary laws in society. Darwin had based his concept of time on [Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology 1830] and he cites in a section in the origin of Species named 'On the lapse of Time': 'He who can read Sit Charles Lyell's grand work on the Principles of Geology, which the future historian will recognize as having produced a revolution in the natural sciences, yet does not admit how incomprehensibly vast have been the past periods of time, may at once close this#volume' [1861 third ediction:111]. Lyell suggests the theory of Uniformitarianism: 'All former changes of the organic and physical creation are referable to one uniterrupted succession of physical events, governed by laws now in operation' [quoted in Peel 1971:293n9 in Fabian p.13]. Geological time endowed them with plausibility and scope they did not have before; the biblical time wasn't the right kind of time, because it relays significant events from a Christian perspective, but not a neutral time independent of the events it marks. And so it cannot be part of a Cartesian time-space system.
Darwin states that time has no inner necessity or meaning: 'The mere lapse of time itself doesn't do anything either for or against natural selection. I state this because it has been erroneously asserted that the element of time is assumed by me to play an all-important part in natural selection, as if all species were necessarily undergoing slow modification from some innate law' [Darwin 1861:110 f]. Also Darwin hinted at the epistemological status o scientific discovery as a sort of developing language or code. The new naturalized time is a way to order the discontinuous and fragmentary record of natural history of the world. Evolutionists now 'spatialized' time: instead of viewing it as a sequence of events, it now becomes a tree of related events.
By claiming to make sense of society in terms of evolutionary stages, Christian Time was now replaced with scientific Time. 'In fact little more had been done than to replace faith in salvation by faith in progress and industry..' [Fabian 1981 p17]. In this way the epistemology of anthropology became intellectually linked to colonization and imperialism. All societies past, present and future were placed on a stream of Time. This train of thought implies that the Other is studied in terms of the primitive, Primitive principally being a temporal concept, a category, not an object of western thought.
The Use of Time
The use of Time in anthropologic field research is different from the theoretical discourse. The latter is used for different purposes:
Physical time used as a parameter to describe sociocultural process.
Mundane time used for grand-scale periodizing.
Typological time, used to measure the intervals between sociocultural events.
Intersubjective time: an emphasis on the action-interaction in human communication.
'As soon as culture is no longer primarily conceived as a set of rules to be enacted by individual members of distinct groups, but as the specific way in which actors create, and produce beliefs, values, and other means of social life, it has to be recognized that Time is a constitutive dimension of social reality' [Fabian 1981 P 24].
The naturalization of time defines temporal relations as exclusive and expansive: the pagan is marked for salvation, the savage is not yet ready for civilization. What makes the savage significant for evolutionary time is that he lives in another time. All knowledge acquired by the anthropologist is affected by the historically established relations (of power and domination) between his society and the society of the one he studies; and therefore it is political in nature. The risk however is distancing. Moreover: distancing is often seen as objective by practitioners. Intersubjective time would seem to preclude distancing as the practitioner and the object are coeval (of the same same age, duration or epoch, similar to synchronous, simultaneous, contemporary), namely share the same time. But for human communication to occur, coevalness has to be created: communication is about creating the same shared time. And so in human communication recognizing intersubjectivity, establishing objectivity is connected with the creating of distance between the participants or object and subject in research. This distancing is implied in the distinction between the sender, the message and the receiver. Even if the coding and decoding of the message is taken out then the TRANSFER of it implies a temporal distance between the sender and the receiver. Distancing devices produce a denial of coevalness: 'By that I mean a persistent and systematic tendency to place the referent(s) of anthropology in a Time other than the present of the producer of the anthropological discourse' [Fabian 1981 p. 31].
Coevalness can be denied by Typological time and by Physical time, intersubjective time may pose the problem described above: if coevalness is a condition for communication and anthropology is based on ethnography and ethnography is a form of communication then the anthropologist is not free to choose coevalness for his interlocutors or not. Either he submits to the condition of coevalness and produces ethnographic knowledge or he doesn't. If anachronism is a fact or statement that is outdated in a certain timeframe: it is a mistake or an accident. As a device, and not a mistake, this is named allochronism.
Coevalness is present in the field research and not in the theory development and writing. This latter activity is political in the sense that is rooted in the early existence of the science and so it is connected with colonialism. At this point hardly more than technological advance and economical exploitation seem the most available arguments to explain western superiority (p. 35).
Ch 3: Time and Writing about the Other
'Even if (an observer) is in communication with other observers, he can only hear what they have seen in their absolute pasts, at times which are also his absolute past. So whether knowledge originates in the experience of a group of people or of a society, it must always be based on what is past and gone, at the moment when it is under consideration' [David Bohm in Fabian 1981 p. 71].
In previous chapters it was argued that the temporal conditions experienced in the field differ from those as expressed when writing or teaching. Empirical research can only be productive if the researcher and the researched share time. Usually the intepretation of the research occurs at a (temporal) distance, denying coevalness to the object of inquiry. This is a problem if both activities are part of the same discipline: this was not always so (travelogues versus armchair anthropology). This is also a problem if the practice of coevalness assumed a given in field research indeed contributes to the quality of the research and that it should not in fact be distanced also in an ideal world.
'Now historical discourse introduces two new presuppositions in that it, first, replaces the concept of achronicity with that of temporality. At the same time it assumes that the signifier of the text which is in the present has a signified in the past. Then it reifies its signified semantically and takes it for a referent external to the discourse' [Greimas 1976:29 in Fabian pp. 77-8]. The referent being a society or a culture of reference, to reify means 'render something concrete'.
The Ethnographic Present as a literary convention means to give account of other societies and cultures in the present tense. Historical accuracy, if the past tense in the accounts is used, is a matter of the 'critique of the sources'. Also the comparison with the referents is not strict anymore, because that needs to be based on past data of the referent also. Another problem is that the present tense may freeze the picture of the state of affairs as it is found in a culture, which is a dynamical thing in nature and freezing it doesn't take this into account. Another issue is with the autobiographical style of reporting of field research: this has a partly etymological and partly practical backdrop.
This is an important foundation for intersubjective knowledge 'Somehow we must be able to share each other's past in order to be knowingly in each other's present' [Fabian 1981 p. 92]. In other words: reflexive (reflexion, revealing the researcher) experience is more important than reflective (reflection, neutralised for the researcher's presence thus eliminating subjectivity) experience, because if the first were unavailable then the information about the object (the individual and his society) would be unidirectional in time and therefore tangential (irrelevant and beside the point) and therefore another symptom of the denial of coevalness. Additionally reflexion requires the researcher to 'travel back and forth in time' and so the researched can know the researcher as well as the converse. The same goes for the storing of data.
The method of observation can be a source of denial of coevalness also: the structure of the observations, the planning, the visual aspects deemed relevant, the representation of the visual data, the indications of speed included in the observations all presuppose a format stemming from one time and projecting itself and / or conditioning the observation. These are criteria brought to the observation process by the researcher and forms the basis for the production of knowledge. In additon to changing and emphasizing some criteria deemed relevant by the researcher and other criteria are left out at his choice.
'Anthropology emerged and established itself as an allochronic discourse; it is a science of other men in another Time. It is a discourse whose referent has been removed from the present of the speaking/writing subject. This 'petrified relation' is a scandal. Anthropology's Other is, ultimately, other people who are our contemporaries' [Fabian 1985 p. 143].
The western countries needed Time to accommodate the schemes of a one-way history: progress, development, modernity and their negative mirror images: stagnation, underdevelopment and tradition. The fiction is that interpersonal, intergroup, international the time is 'public time', there for the taking of anyone interested and as a consequence allotted by the powers that be. The notion of 'public time' provided a notion of simultaneity that is natural and independent of ideology and individual consciousness. And as a result coevalness is no longer required.
'As soon as it was realized that fieldwork is a form of communicative interaction with an Other, one that must be carried out coevally, on the basis of shared intersubjective Time and intersocietal contemporaneity, a contradiction had to appear between research and writing, because anthropological writing had become suffused with the strategies and devices of an allochronic discourse' [Fabian 1985 p. 148].
'they (the sign-theories of culture DPB) have a tendency to reinforce the basic premises of an allochronic discourse in that they consistently align the Here and Now of the signifier (the form, the structure, the meaning) with the Knower, and the There and Then of the signified (the content, the function or event, the symbol or icon) with the Known' [Fabian 1985 p. 151].
'It is expressive of a political cosmology, that is, a kind of myth. Like other myths, allochronism has the tendency to establish a total grip on our (the anthropologists DPB) discourse. It must therefore be met by a 'total' response, which is not to say that the critical work be accomplished in one feel swoop' [Fabian 1985 p 152].
'The ideal of coevalness must of course also guide the critique of the many forms in which coevalness is denied in anthropological discourse' [Fabian 1985 p. 152].
'Evolutionism established anthropological discourse as allochronic, but was also an attempt to overcome a paralyzing disjunction between the science of nature and the science of man' [Fabian 1985 p 153].
'That which is past enters the dialectics of the present, if it is granted coevalness' [Fabian 1985 p. 153].
'The absence of the Other from our Time has been his mode of presence in our discourse – as an object and victim' [Fabian 1985 p. 154].
'Is not the theory of coevalness which is implied (but by no means fully developed) in these arguments a program for ultimate temporal absorption of the Other, just the kind of theory needed to make sense of present history as a 'world system', totally dominated by monopoly- and state-capitalism?' [Fabian 1985 p. 154].
'Are there, finally, criteria by which to distinguish denial of coevalness as a condition of domination from refusal of coevalness as an act of liberation?' [Fabian 1985 p. 154].
'What are opposed, in conflict in fact, locked in antagonistic struggle, are not the same societies at different stages of development, but different societies facing each other at the same Time' [Fabian 1985 p 155].
Point of departure for a theory of coevalness: 1) recuperation of the idea of totality ('.. we can make sense of another society only to the extent that we grasp it as a whole, an organism, a configuration, a system' [Fabian 1985 p 156]. This is flawed because a) system rules are imposed from outside and above and because culture is now a system, a theory of praxis (the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realized) not provided b) if a theory of praxis is not conceived then anthropology cannot be perceived as an activity that is part of what is studied.
'.. the primitive assumption, the root metaphor of knowledge remains that of a difference, and a distance, between thing and image, reality and representation. Inevitably, this establishes and reinforces models of cognition stressing difference and distance between a beholder and an object' [Fabian 1985 p 160].
'A first and fundamental assumption of a materialist theory of knowledge, .. , is to make consciousness, individual and collective, the starting point. Not disembodied consciousness, however, but 'consciousness with a body', inextricably bound up with language. A fundamental role for language must be postulated.. Rather, the only way to think of consciousness without separating it from the organism or banning it to some 'forum internum' is to insist on its sensuous nature; .. to tie consciousness as an activity to the production of meaningful sound. Inasmuch as the production of meaningful sound involves the transforming, shaping of matter, it may still be possible to distinguish form and content, but the relationship between the two will then constitutive of consciousness. Only in a secondary, derived sense (one in which the conscious organism is presupposed rather than accounted for) can that relationship be called representational (significative, symbolic), or informative in the sense of being a tool or carrier of information' [Fabian 1985 p 161].
'it is wrong to think of the human use of language as characteristically informative, in fact or in intention. Human language can be used to inform or to mislead, to clarify one's own thoughts or ot display one's cleverness, or simply for play. If I speak with no concern for modifying your behavior or thoughts, I am not using language any less than if I say exactly the same things with such intention. If we hope to understand human language and the psychological capacities on which it rests, we must first ask what it is, not how or for what purpose it is used' [Chomsky 1972 p 70 in Fabian p 162]. Chomsky, N. . Language and Mind – Enlarged Edition . New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovic . 1972
'Man does not 'need' language; man, in the dialectical, transitive understanding of 'to be', is language (much like he does not need food, shelter, and so on, but is his food and house). Consciousness, realized by the (producing) meaningful sound, is self-conscious. The Self, however, is constituted fully as a speaking and hearing Self. Awareness, if we may thus designate the first stirrings of knowledge beyond the registering of tactile impressions, is fundamentally based on hearing meaningful sounds produced by Self and Others. .. Not solitary perception but social communication is the starting point for a materialist anthropology, provided that we keep in mind that man does not 'need' language as a means of communication, or by extension, society as a means of survival, Man is communication and survival. What saves these assumptions from evaporating in the clouds of speculative metaphysics is, I repeat, a dialectical understanding of the verb 'to be' in these propositions. Language is not predicated on man (nor is the 'human mind' or 'culture'). Language produces man as man produces language. Production is the pivotal concept of materialist anthropology' [Fabian 1985 p162].
'The element of thought itself – the element of thought's living expression-language-is of a sensuous nature. The social reality of nature, and human natural science, or the natural science about man, are identical terms' [Marx 1953:245 f, translation from The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 1964:143 in Fabian 1985 p 163]. [Marx, K. . Die Frühschriften . Siegfried Landshut, ed Stuttgart: A. Kröner – 1964. The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 . Dirk Struik . ed. New York : International] en [Marx, K. and Engels, F. . Marx and Engels: Basic Writings on Politics and Philosophy . Feuer, L. S. . ed. Garden City. New York: Doubleday]
'Concepts are products of sensuous interaction; they themselves are of a sensuous nature inasmuch as their formation and use is inextricably bound up with language… it is the sensuous nature .. that makes language an eminently temporary phenomenon. Its materiality is based on articulation, on frequencies, pitch, tempo, all of which are realized in the dimension of time… The temporality of speaking .. implies cotemporality of producer and product, speaker and listener, Self and Other' [Fabian 1985 p. 163-4].
Geplaatst op 26 augustus 2016 Categorieën Building BlocksTags agent, co-evolutie, informatie, interactie, interaction, tijd, time


The prices and escalating overall cost of prescription drugs have once again risen to the top of the health care policy agenda.
Alzheimer's Disease poses a huge burden to afflicted individuals and the health care system. However, it is not necessary to prevent the disease altogether to in order to reduce its burden.


text:
Варниця (; ) — село, нині в Аненій-Нойському районі Молдови. Село розташоване на північ від міста Бендери.

За законом невизнаної ПМР «Про адміністративно-територіальний устрій» — входить до складу міської ради м. Бендери Придністровської Молдавської Республіки.

Зв'язок з Північною війною
У 1925 на прохання Швеції румунською владою встановлено пам'ятний знак Карлу XII, на місці, де розташовувався третій табір шведського короля, що переховувався в Бендерах від переслідувань Петра I. Також тут помер український державний діяч Іван Мазепа. На приблизному місці його смерті (в декількох метрах від знака Карлу) 1999-го року, до 290-х роковин з дня смерті, за ініціативою Спілки українців Придністров'я та Тираспольського українського товариства «Червона Калина» на чолі з Алісою Кохановою, за сприяння Посольства України у Республіці Молдова, встановлена пам'ятна стела з текстом українською мовою (архітектор О. Нарольський). Територія шведсько-українського табору (на вулиці Карла XII) з цими двома премеморіяльними стелами є територією майбутнього музею (філія одного з кишинівських державних музеїв), про що свідчить встановлений румунською та англійською мовами аншлаг.

Посилання
 Сайт села

Примітки

Бендери
Села Молдови
Комуни Молдови
Населені пункти Придністров'я
Іван Мазепа

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Quigley House: Quigley House is a comprehensive Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center serving the Clay County Area in Northeast Florida. They provide crisis intervention, temporary shelter, protection and counseling. They have victim advocates at their shelter on Blanding Boulevard, Orange Park and at the Clay County Courthouse. You can call their 24 hour hotline at 904-284 0061 or 1-800-339-5017.
"Domestic Violence" means any aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking or any criminal offense resulting in a physical injury or death of one of the family or household member by another who is or was residing in the same single dwelling unit.
"Family or household member" means spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together, as a family, or who have resided together in the past, as a family, and persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have resided together at any time.
"Repeat Violence" means two incidents of violence or stalking committed by the respondent, one of which must have been within 6 months of the filing of the petition, which are directed against the petitioner or the petitioner's immediate family member.
"Violence" means any assault, battery or sexual battery or stalking by a person against any other person.
An injunction for protection, also referred to as a restraining order, is a court order which places restrictions on a person who has committed acts of violence against another person as defined in the previous two sections. The Injunction for Protection may include, but is not limited to, provisions which restrain the abuser from further acts of violence; order the abuser to leave your household; prevent the abuser from coming to your home, school, business, or place of employment; award custody of minor children and order the abuser to pay support.
If you, your child or someone you care about is a victim of abuse, you may apply for a Temporary Injunction for Protection from the Court.


Playing with beads and wire !!
I have been having a lot of fun making projects with my customer on her big order. We have tried all kinds of new things and one of them was wire wrapping. She asked if I could wire wrap two pieces together and I gave it a try and we both loved how it came out. Between projects last night, I decided to play with that techinque a bit more and I made a few pieces I want to share !! I plan to list them on Etsy and see how they do !! I had a blast and want to make more !!
this is the one I made for her !!
and two with charms as well !!
this is how they were used !! window tassels for curtain rods, not quite finished here, but close with the set for the other side as well !! I did redo the smaller dark bead to put the charm higher, it is in the picture below.
Here are the ones I made last night !
Very large rose quartz with a small faceted rose quartz , vintage rhinestone spacer and antique brass rhinestone crown.
I am having some serious issues with my cameras macro setting, so I am having to use my pink point and shoot and so if there is any pink showing on rhinestones or charms, that is what it is from, the pink camera reflecting !! the big stone is a huge round rose quartz stone, probably about 25 mm . The smaller one is a faceted stone and then the rhinestone spacer is very old, bought 20 years ago and was a vintage necklace then that I took apart !!
you can see the pink camera reflecting in these lovely clear rhinestones. This charm is very pretty !!
I love this metal fish bead I picked out at the bead market, it is so cute and with the blue glass spacers and the deep blue stone, it is a very nice combination ! I used a bali style spacer at the top for a cap, really pretty metal bead !!
The pretty blue stones are from a necklace I bought and took apart !!
A very large , pretty resin and stone bead, with my favorite elephant charm and a pretty glass bead plase ignore the pink reflection from my camera !!
This big orange and white ceramic bead was taken from an old piece of jewely I took apart and the interesting stone bead on the bottom in all different sizes was on the same necklace. I thought it fitting I put them together for this piece !! I love owls and anything autumn so I figured maybe they could all go together for a fun fall pendant !!
it is a very porus bead but actually much more orange than red, not sure why it came out so red , the next picture is a bit better but it does have a lot more orange in it then red.
another autumn inspired stone pendant. I love the accorn charms and the stones have such pretty colors through them !!
I have a few more, but my computer is acting up so I am tired of fighting with it, so this will have to do !!
I am having so much fun playing with the beads and the charms with the wire. I am going to be doing a lot more of this type of work going forward, I really enjoy it !!


I was lucky enough to be a part of the biggest Class at wanderlust this year where the coaches accommodated over 100 people and made it work! Huge box that brings in so many incredible athletes. Great vibes. Loved my 3 day membership!
Huge facility with lots of space to workout. Awesome coaches and great vibe :) ended up buying the weekly pass to go everyday cz I loved it so much!
The best crossfit gym in the observable universe!
Get quick answers from CrossFit Wanderlust staff and past visitors.
Hey Wayne! Thanks so much for texting us! Sure thing - you can choose the open gym area whenever you want. It´s open all day :) See you soon!
hello, I would like to know about Crossfit classes. My friend and I plan to spent about 7 days in Bali and we want to join the Crossfit class. Is it OK and what the price is? Thank you very much.


1969 House Bill 3380. An Act Increasing The Amount Of Joint Income Allowed For Certain Elderly People Entitled To An Exemption Of A Portion Of Their Real Estate Taxes.
Title 1969 House Bill 3380. An Act Increasing The Amount Of Joint Income Allowed For Certain Elderly People Entitled To An Exemption Of A Portion Of Their Real Estate Taxes.


So you guys remember just a couple of months ago when I was singing California's praises on its perfectly warm and breezy weather? Yeah....so about that. It has gotten hot. Like tank top and daisy dukes hot. On any given afternoon day, it's a solid 77 degrees. Yes, I realize that sounds like heaven to many of you. But I swear...the California sun is 100 times more intense than Florida's. Don't shake your head at me. It's true. I took a Meteorology class in college so I know this stuff.
I promise I'm not complaining. I still adore my new home for 1,000 reasons and more. And as far as the weather is concerned, well...at least it cools down to a refreshing 65 degrees at night. That's just one of the simple pleasures that keeps me smiling, feeling ever so grateful...each and every day.
When the weather is hot, I feel like a bowl of fruit is a must. I vividly remember my mom devouring peaches and blueberries throughout the sweet summertime. She'd top off her cereal with the mixture or just happily eat it as is. But since I didn't love blueberries as a young gal, and since I'm allergic to peaches (one of the milder allergens of all 50+ fruits and nuts I can't consume), she'd always slice up strawberries me.
I must mention, she's been the only person in my life who could remember every single fruit and nut that I'm allergic to. Gosh I miss even those little amazing things about her.
Last week, remembering how pretty blueberries and peaches look as a pair, I decided to come up with my own concoction. But I knew I'd have to grill the peaches since cooking certain fruits chemically changes them in a way that makes 'em suitable for yours truly. Crazy, I know.
Feta went in the mix because I wanted to be daring. Also, cheese makes everything better. Mint showed up to the party too with its refreshing bite. And the whole mixture was all topped off with a sweet and tangy balsamic glaze. This little summertime snack was all that I had hoped for and more. It's easy, it's healthy, and it's the perfect hot weather treat.
1) Cut the peaches in halves. Remove the seeds.
2) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a grill pan (or grill directly on outdoor grill with some cooking spray). When heated, place the fruit, flesh side down and grill for 3-4 minutes, until just slightly caramelized. Then, grill skin side down for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Let cool for a few minutes and then cut in wedges.
3) In a medium sized bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, feta cheese, and mint. Toss in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt.
5) Plate fruit salad and drizzle reduced balsamic on top.


text:
Chris Arderne
Summer of climbing in Europe 10 Sep 2015
Roping up.
This year I was lucky enough to join two UIAA youth meets. Youth rock climbing in Catalonia, organised by the FEEC, and the Kazbek mountaineering expedition, organised by the Mountaineering & Climbing Association of Georgia. They were both incredible experiences, with all the fun and excitement of long multi-pitch trad climbing, and then the fantastic highs and lows and dreary boredom one expects from a seven-day mountaineering expedition.
I was already headed to Spain this June to do some hiking in the Pyrenees with a good Spanish friend. As soon as I heard about the UIAA Global Youth Summit trip to Catalunya to do rock climbing on Montserrat and Pedraforca, it was clear my stars had aligned. I do a lot of rock climbing, but hadn't yet had the gear or connections to do any multi-pitch trad climbing. The steep conglomerate of Montserrat and the cracked limestone of Pedraforca promised a great trip.
The tour was organised by the Federació d'Entitats Excursionistes de Catalunya (FEEC)and the group consisted of two great Catalunyan guides, five young guys from the Montserrat area, a Serbian climber, and me. We stayed in beautiful refugios at both climbing spots, and were treated to massive dinners of simple but delicious Spanish food.
We started in Montserrat, where the maze of needles and spires makes finding one's way extremely difficult. We spent a day doing shorter slabby sport routes to get an idea of everyone's abilities, and re-convened back at the refugio to pore over the guidebook and make plans for the next day. I joined for the more difficult route, six classic pitches up CADE (200m, 6a/Ae), a perfect crack between two spires. I seconded the whole way, and got to enjoy the fun route without much stress, especially enjoying the more difficult overhanging section near the top. Climbing with 150 metres of fresh air underneath my bum was a new experience for me.
Hand jamming.
After another day of climbing, we tumbled back into the kombi and drove to Pedraforca, now in the Pyrenean foothills. It's a stunning mountain, which gets its name from its resemblance to a giant fork. We would be climbing only the north face, to keep out of the harsh Spanish summer sun. A group of us decided to climb the massive Gran Diedre route. Unfortunately, we were limited with time and people, so I had to climb second the whole way again. Nonetheless it was an incredible climb, rising for about ten pitches above the surrounding landscape. Most of the route follows a huge dihedral, and the climbing was easy and fun, up to grade V for a few pitches.
It was a great experience and I can't wait to get my hands on some more long trad routes. Unfortunately, I didn't get to lead any of the long routes, so I still feel some big gaps in my experience. I was also hoping for a more varied and international group of climbers - I'm lucky enough to speak Spanish, but still would have enjoyed the chance to meet more like-minded climbers from further afield. Well done to FEEC, our awesome guides Pau and Faust, and the UIAA Youth Commission for making the trip happen.
Kazbek
Rock climbing aside, Europe for the summer meant one thing was uppermost in my thoughts: alpinism. The UIAA had a number of youth expeditions planned, and I looked into all of them. Matterhorn - too daunting. Damavand - a bit pedestrian. Kazbek? Just right. I spoke to some more experienced friends and fellow MCSA members, and Kazbek seemed like just the place to have my next alpine experience. Steep and high and icy enough to be a challenge and a serious mountain, but straight-forward and well-trodden enough to offer some comfort to a relatively new mountaineer. My only experience before this was a guided ascent of the 6 088 metre Huayna Potosí in Bolivia, which had sealed my devotion to mountaineering.
I flew to Georgia's capital and, after some much-needed sleep under a staircase, met up with the team outside a shopping centre. Most were like me - keen to climb a mountain, but either lacking experience or willing partners. Then seven Koreans in matching shirts and hats came out of the supermarket with bundles of food and confused smiles. The trip organiser, Zura Kutchava, bundled us all into a rented minibus and soon we were pitching our tents near a beautiful old monastery, with the majestic Kazbek dominating the skyline.
Kazbek! We wound around the back of the mountain, crossing a few glaciers and meeting up with the Russian route.
The haphazard start - the Koreans had way too much gear, and didn't seem in a rush to make a plan - foreshadowed the dominant theme for the rest of the trip. We trickled out of camp as and when we were ready, and made our way to the camp at 3 000 metres, just across a torrential river of glacial melt-water. After this, things sped up a bit, but we still spent a few hours every day waiting for everyone to be ready. I never figured out what the delays were. This was my first climb that could be described as an expedition, with horses carrying a load to the first camp, and we later descended from 3 800 metres to pick up more supplies from that camp. It was interesting (and exhausting) to see how this was done. We camped at 2 000, 3 000, 3 800 (twice) and then at 4 200 metres before the summit push to 5 047 metres. This was a lot more than most groups on the mountain, but we wanted to maximise the chances for everyone to have a successful summit. It also meant spending two nights on the frigid glacier at 4 200 metres, where I was unable to sleep in my otherwise trusty K-Way summer bag, and not helped by the fact that my tent-mates were snoring happily in their puffy expedition bags.
Meltwater bringing the mountain slowly to the sea.
This unsympathetic pair were Javier and Izidor, from Spain and Slovenia. They were both a lot more experienced than me, with experience above 7 000 metres, and summits on many of the major ranges around the world. My tent-mates were extremely helpful and I learnt so much from spending time with them (hours and hours in the tent, avoiding the sun and then the cold) and being roped in with them while crossing the frightening glacier, and for the summit. Eager and excited, but with a well-honed respect for safety, they were good teachers and I hope to do more mountaineering trips with them soon. The Koreans spoke limited English so our interactions with them didn't get far. The group of Georgians of various experience levels provided great company every day and night, confirming time and again the Georgian reputation for kindness and hospitality.
The trip was physically demanding, with heavy packs and many metres to climb, but we had an easy pace and it wasn't a struggle. After crossing the low glacier (simple enough that there were horses crossing it) and checking in with border control at the 'meteo station', one can camp on the rugged moraine covering the glacier. From there it was a treacherous hike across the moraine, with crumbling rocks and deep crevasses, and one eye on the rock fall to the right, as helmet-sized boulders came speeding down and stopped just short of an unwelcome surprise. Then came the glacier proper – Gergeti, with cavernous crevasses and treacherous snow bridges.
Cresting the summit as the clouds closed in.
After that the snow covering got thicker where we made our high camp. We planned to leave at six the next morning, but six o'clock came and went, and most in the group were still inside their tents. This frustrated my one tent-mate past his breaking point, and after walking around agitating everyone to get going, he eventually gave up and set off by himself. This catalysed a bit of group movement and we set off not too far behind him. It was a sad moment, and reflected a brewing problem in the group dynamic. It's a straightforward hike to the summit, with a relatively steep section at the end. We had a stunning view of the Caucasus from the shoulder, with Elbrus visible in the distance, but unfortunately the clouds came in as we did the last hundred metres, and we had a very white scene at the top. Still an awesome feeling to stand atop a mountain as imposing as Kazbek.
Happily on top with Javier
We hiked in teams of five and, apart from some tired-out Koreans stumbling on the descent, everything went smoothly. For me, the most tiring part of the entire trip was probably digging in and building walls for our tents on the glacier. My tent-mates decided they'd had enough and left the beginner to do the job. Luckily I was having fun and continued working on our fortification, because about an hour later a huge Georgian search-and-rescue helicopter landed a stone's throw away and tried its best to send our camp tumbling along the glacier.
The helicopter was terrifying, but it was the harbinger of more than just wind and flying ice.
This helicopter revealed a very sad and real side to mountaineering. Two girls we'd befriended a few nights before at the lower camp, and who we'd seen coming down from the summit, had tried to descend the glacier without a rope. Although they were following the footsteps of a big roped team, a day of beating sun had made conditions precarious. One of the two made an unlucky step, and fell into a crevasse. She died quite soon after. This tragic event served as a sober reminder of the very real dangers in mountaineering. Their risky behaviour and the preventable nature of the accident only reinforced this lesson for me.
It was an amazing trip, and I learnt so much as a mountaineer and individual. My thanks go to Zura, the capable, lively and infinitely patient team leader, and the Mountaineering & Climbing Association of Georgia. Also to the UIAA for making the event possible, and the MCSA for making my participation possible.
Despite my grin, possibly the scariest part of the whole climb!
All Kazbek photos by FJ Pascual.
Partially posted here: https://lossupertramps.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/kazbek-with-the-uiaa/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Mark has extensive back ground in high end residential and Commercial Real Estate, as well as Property Management. Mark is very personable, professional and ethical. Whether you are looking to buy or sell your property, Mark is an excellent choice to be your Realtor and will follow through to achieve your goals in the smoothest possible manner.


text:
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Appears to Quote Biggie on Senate Floor
"And if you don't know, now you know," he said after responding to a member of Trump's legal team.
Bangladesh Ferry Sinks, Killing Dozens
Updated Apr. 24, 2017 3:58PM ET / Published Apr. 21, 2011 10:13AM ET
Pavel Rahman / AP Photo
At least 28 people died and more are missing after a ferry sank on a river in eastern Bangladesh Thursday. With about 100 people on board, the ship was overcrowded, a common occurrence. Many passengers were reportedly asleep when the ship quickly sank. Some passengers were able to swim to shore, but the number of people missing is still not known.
Read it at Associated Press


If you enjoy summers and playing casino games, then the newest addition is the game for you. The brand new Summer Ease slots game is an exciting summer themed game launched in late July 2011 and is getting more popular by the day. This video slot game contains some of the most popular summer activities like boating, picnicking and camping.
Rival gaming introduces this new addition in keeping with summer entertainment. With a holiday themed adventure, this video slot game features 5 spinning reels with 20 pay lines to ensure amazing jackpot fun to all the players. With typical summer features like barbeques, sand castles, flowers and wild symbols, Summer Ease provides for as an action packed game.
The maximum wager on Summer Ease is $75 and the jackpot per line is at a maximum of $22,220. Players that score more than 3 boats on a spin are entitled to a special bonus feature. You could also win up to $3,750 during special bonus rounds at Rival Gaming. Summer Ease is available to players in a flash format as well as full download versions.
Summer ease promises players entertaining summer fun as well as beautiful visual imagery to give a cheerful look that feels like summer. Log on to Rival Online Gaming and get yourself a copy of Summer Ease to enjoy the ultimate action packed and fun filled game of this season.


text:
climb the walls
to feel agitated.
cling-on
People who won't go away. Stragglers. Friends, who at the last minute have invited themselves to do what you're doing.
I can't meet you right now. There are some cling-ons who have been here since noon.
We're gonna need two cars to go dancing now, because a couple of cling-ons just came on board.
Last edited on May 13 2011. Submitted by Dean from San Francisco, CA, USA on May 03 2004.
feces and/or toilet paper clinging to the rectal area; DINGLEBERRY.
prone to clinging (usually metaphorically) to one's partner in a relationship.
Serena will not leave me alone. I wish I had never dated that clingy girl.
Last edited on May 13 2011. Submitted by Bob from Menasha, WI, USA on Sep 19 2006.
clinkers
noun - plural
dried feces attached to the hairs of the buttocks; "dingleberry". Origin: British armed forces.
After a week in the field he had to cut the clinkers from his hairy arse with scissors.
See more words with the same meaning: British, UK slang (list of).
Last edited on Apr 09 2013. Submitted by Daniel S. from Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK on Jan 28 2003.
clink sink drink
While imbibing an alcoholic shot, the act of clinking your glass with a partner, sinking the glass to the table, then raising and drinking the shot.
S. Konefes invented the term "clink sink drink" while taking a particularly tasty shot of vodka.
Last edited on Jul 28 2014. Submitted by Anonymous on Jul 28 2014.
clink, the
noun - uncountable
prison.
He's in the clink.
See more words with the same meaning: jail (related to).
Last edited on Dec 10 2010. Submitted by Walter Rader (Editor) from Sacramento, CA, USA on Oct 19 2010.
" These bitches cliiiiip "
when you eat something delicious and you cant explain the flavor.
Last edited on May 02 2017. Submitted by Anonymous on May 02 2017.
speed.
We were going at a good clip.
Last edited on Jul 21 2012. Submitted by Walter Rader (Editor) from Sacramento, CA, USA on Sep 02 2009.
To have a very minor auto collision. "I just clipped his bumper; no damage."
Last edited on Feb 25 2012. Submitted by Curious Mike from Necedah, WI 54646, USA on Feb 25 2012.
verb - transitive
to steal.
My wallet got clipped at that bar.
Last edited on Jul 21 2012. Submitted by Aquamarine from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China on Feb 24 2012.
a group of friends.
"Clique" also has non-slang meaning(s).
clitoris.
Lick my clit.
Her clit was erect.
See more words with the same meaning: abbreviations (list of).
See more words with the same meaning: clitoris.
general insult for females; "bitch".
Man, the way she talks to you -- she is such a clit!
Last edited on Mar 29 2010. Submitted by Christopher R. from Miami, FL, USA on Mar 05 2002.
the (usually red) dot-like joystick on the keyboard of some laptops; "pointing stick". (Image.)
Last edited on Mar 29 2010. Submitted by Walter Rader (Editor) from Sacramento, CA, USA on Mar 29 2010.
clit licker
Derogatory remark directed towards a male usually; Asshole; Jerk.
He's such a goddamn clit licker.
Last edited on May 13 2011. Submitted by Kevin L. from Boston, MA, USA on Jan 21 2000.


Digitalization transforms our cities, with far-reaching efforts towards technology-powered increased efficiency, sustainability and at times participation.
This raises new questions on privacy, data governance and (digital) design, historically unaddressed by city planning, architecture, civil society and governance.With cities worldwide striving to earn a "Smart City" reputation, it is however disputed who exactly benefits from these concepts.
Centering the empowerment of the city user, the Smart Citizen, it is urgent to approach and steer technological developments to meet citizens' needs and desires, supporting our visions of how we want to live in our cities!
City Lab is a co-operation between Hybrid Space Lab and Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) – and aims to facilitate a transdisciplinary dialogue, bridging the gap between data and privacy experts and urbanists, architects, city makers, civil society and governance.
City Lab's kick-off event takes place on February 21 2019 with a Keynote by Marleen Stikker, Waag Society in Amsterdam and focusses on "City Making in the Digital Age".
City Making in the Digital Age is introduced by the curators, Christian Grauvogel (HIIG) and Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi and Prof. Frans Vogelaar (Hybrid Space Lab) and moderator Benjamin Knödler discusses with, amongst other panellists, Marleen Stikker, co-founder of WAAG Society, an Amsterdam based interdisciplinary non-profit media lab and research institute.
City Making in the Digital Age was publicly announced this morning 11th of February 2019 and has already around 100 registered participants. The maximum number of participants is set at 120.
City Lab investigates ongoing developments at the intersection of cities and digital technology, engaging with urban mobility and public space, new patterns of space utilization for living and working, circular city, climate adaptation and healthy cities.


A few years ago—2005, to be exact—a neighbor in New Hampshire asked me to make a couple of Halloween-themed treats for her daughter's birthday party. I came up with these two recipes.
The Litter Box Cake looks gross, which is probably why the kids loved it! And don't let the looks fool you. It tastes wonderful!
The Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting have a more appetizing appearance, and the kids devoured them, too.
Two treats to tame the most ghoulish of appetites.
The carving of jack-o-lanterns comes from a centuries-old Irish myth about a man named Stingy Jack. He was such an unsavory character that, when he died, God wouldn't let him into Heaven and the Devil, whom he had tricked one too many times, wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Stingy Jack was doomed to wander the Earth with only a burning coal in a carved-out turnip lantern to light his way. Jack of the Lantern soon became known as just Jack O'Lantern and people began to carve scary faces in turnips or potatoes to frighten away both Stingy Jack and other evil spirits. Immigrants to the United States made their scary lanterns from our native pumpkins, a tradition that continues today.
To make it look real, use a new plastic cat litter box and pooper scooper for serving. Also, you can make both cakes for the recipe from scratch, but I used boxed cake mixes to save time.
Grind up vanilla wafers in small batches in a food processor. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 14 cup, add a few drops of green food coloring and mix until completely colored.
When the cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the vanilla wafer crumbs and the chilled pudding. Important: Mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don't want it soggy. Combine gently.
Put the cake/pudding/cookie mixture into the litter box.
Put three unwrapped Tootsie Rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Sahpe ends so they are no longer blunt, curing slightly. Repet with thee more Tootsie Rolls. Burry them into the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of the wafer crumbs over the top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly on top of everything.
Microwave the remaining Tootsie Rolls, shape, and place on tope of the cake, rolling them slightly in the cookie crumbs.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with cupcake cups.
In a medium bowl or on waxed paper, sift together the flour baking powder and spices. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oil and sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla.
Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add the pumpkin and stir until just combined.
Divide the batter between the cupcake cups. (They will be fairly full.) Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes, and then remove them onto a rack to finish cooling.
To make the frosting, place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Use 10 drops of yellow food coloring and 2 drop of red to make the frosting orange. Frost cooled cupcakes.
This post makes me wish my kids were still little---I would have made both of these!