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art, Korea, life, news, politics, religion
Where Religion and Covid Meets
Back in 2017, after years of scandals and people protesting everyday in Seoul, Park Gun-Hye, the conservative president of South Korea and daughter of the former dictator Park Chung-Hee was ousted from her position, formally impeached, and sent to prison for corruption. She was sentenced for twenty-four years. The protests, which was key in removing Park, was fueled by the president's inept response to the Sewol ferry disaster where 304 people, mostly high school students, died. This, plus her government's push for censorship and the discovery that the daughter of a cult leader was unofficially acting as her right hand man and was privy to state secrets pushed people to the streets. It was a natural groundswell which started from journalism, to the Internet, to mainstream media and some celebrities openly pushing for her ouster, and down to the streets. The impeachment of Park Gun-Hye was even seen as a model for how some countries *cough, United States, cough* should handle massive abuse and corruption by the government.
Conservatives in the country afterwards saw these events and tried to emulate it. They tried to push for the impeachment of the current president on made-up charges. Coddling to North Koreans, being inept, being a criminal, anything. The charges were extremely inept since none of them were based on provable facts, and the current president was enjoying an extremely high approval rating when his opponents started to encourage the rallies. Every weekend, they rallied their supporters, mostly made up of senior citizens, to the same place where the former protests used to take place. The protests became a mixture of confused ideologies, Internet rumors, and religion. People walked around with the Korean flag, the American flag to symbolize freedom from the supposed dictatorship of the current president, and the Israeli flag for whatever reason. In some instances, there were even signs asking Donald Trump to bomb North Korea. So much for being patriotic and Christian.
I work near where these protests occurred. They're supposed to happen only on weekends, but sometimes I would see them on Thursday and Friday afternoons as well. The place I work at is also close to a park popular among retirees. There, old people would congregate, wander about, and shop for useless wares and snake oil. I notice that the same people that walk around the park, are basically the same type of people going to these protests. Often, the people around the park would be carrying Korean and American flags as well.
See, these protests have become more like a social gathering for people. It's a thing to do in the afternoon. I passed by these protests a couple of times and many people are just chilling. There are even snack and liquor vendors. The frustration and rage that political and religious leaders are fueling, I believe, tend to be more rooted to longing for a feeling of being in control, longing for a time when they were younger and more relevant to society… which is ironically back when the country was under a dictatorship. And really, there is no concrete reason to any of their demands.
A: Impeach the president.
B: Why?
A: Because he's corrupt.
B: Really, why?
A: Because, uhm, *Insert this politician under him* was corrupt/caught in a scandal/etc.
B: Okay, but he was let go. That's not the president.
A: Well, uhm, look at the economy! (and on and on we go.)
The people attending these protests are at best bored. At worst, they are stubborn, brainwashed morons. They are being taken advantage of by political and religious leaders. A few days ago, these protests and the mega church where one of their leaders con his followers became the spark that started another spike in covid-19 cases, much worse than the previous ones we had in the country. The religious leader, Pastor Jun, was diagnosed with covid-19. And even after being diagnosed, he was caught walking around, smiling, and not properly wearing a mask. Asked about the disease, he claimed that it was spread by North Koreans who aimed to sabotage his church and the movement. In Canada, this would be seen as a false claim of terrorism. It is irresponsible and illegal.
Now people who attended the rally as well as the police they clashed with, who had no choice but to be there, are now at risk of having the disease. Thousands of police officers are being tested, but tracing all of the people who attended the rally and members of the church is more challenging. Before all of this, doctors were already on strike, demanding significant change in the country's medical infrastructure, as well as an increase in pay for working in remote areas. Just yesterday, a member of the church who was diagnosed with covid-19 escaped from his quarantine and was caught in a coffee shop. These people are insane. Things were already bad. Religious nuts, craven politicians, and brainwashed senior citizens just made it worse.
Again, South Korea is on high alert. People in Seoul are advised not to travel outside of the city. Masks are required in most workplaces and allowed to be taken off mostly only on one's desk. Gatherings after work are discouraged. Gatherings of more than fifty people are discouraged. Church services are canceled, as well as afterschool academies. My Korean class was again canceled yesterday. I'm not sure when classes will resume. Many stores were closed yesterday. Clubs, sports facilities, karaoke bars, and PC rooms are closed. Personally, this virus has already cost me money this year, and Pastor Jun and his followers just cost me even more. The economy was going back up but this recent resurgence has brought the economy back down again.
The first case of covid-19 in the country was brought by missionaries who traveled to Wuhan and kept their actions a secret for days. It has spiked several times in many churches. And now, the latest spike is caused by one of the most politically influential churches in the country. I don't know what it is they do in these churches that they often become vectors for the disease. I've gone to coffee shops, bars, schools, company buildings, and restaurants, and they don't become vectors for the disease as often as these churches.
The nighttime landscape of Seoul is dotted with so many neon red crosses. Unless the government cracks down on these churches, which are technically businesses, this virus will spike again and again. The wonderful thing about God is that he is omnipresent. People could still talk to him at home.
Tagged art, Canada, coronavirus, drawing, illustration, Joseph Reyes, Manitoba, news, pandemic, religion, Seoul, south korea, Winnipeg
art, life, love, religion, United States
The God of the Old Testament
Outside of my office, there are street preachers which I usually tune out. The other day however, one of the speakers came out with a particularly interesting rant:
"Don't treat Jesus like garbage. He's not garbage. YOU'RE GARBAGE!"
Now, I don't really know who the speaker was referring to, but as I know, Jesus (despite not being garbage) preached humility and lowered himself to wash the feet of his disciples. I also remember Jesus saying blessed be the poor and the meek. Jesus was never proud. In fact, pride is one of the seven capital vices. So while I'm not saying that it's right to say that we should treat Jesus like garbage, it's probably safe to say that Jesus would be the last to accuse anyone of being garbage.
But then again, looking at the signs surrounding the preachers I see in the country. They're very heavy on the condemnation.
"Believe or you'll go to hell!"
These are people who are heavy on the condemnation. They spend more time preaching and condemning people on the street than actually doing good works. I sometimes wonder if anyone is ever converted by the regular blaring sermons on the street. I seriously doubt it. This is like the religious equivalent of negging… undermine someone's self esteem in order to make them seek out your approval. That, couple with threats of eternal damnation.
But why do it then? Why do it if it's not working? Simple. Because it's easy.
Or rather it's easier than actually following Jesus' example. If you're religious there are two common arguments to reaching heaven: believing in God or doing good works regardless of believing in God. There's injustice in reaching heaven simply for believing in a deity. A Buddhist could be a much kinder and generous person than me, but just by virtue of me believing in God, I would go to heaven and they would rot in hell. The problem with reaching heaven simply for doing good works however, is that it makes religion irrelevant. Why study the Gospels and listen to a preacher? I don't need to do all of that in order to do good deeds. I'd just spend my time volunteering or something.
And that right there is the key. It is easier to claim rights to the kingdom of heaven simply by believing in God and making everyone else feel like sinners. It is much harder to follow Jesus' teachings and simply be good to others.
Another thing that's key in ignoring Jesus' teachings is simply devoting one's self to the Old Testament, the old God. See there are two main Gods in the Christian bible. There is the vengeful God in the Old Testament. And then there's Jesus, the God of the New Testament. The thing about following the Old Testament is that he is more exciting. There's more condemnation. There's more us against them. There are more sinners being wiped away by flood and fire. Compare that to the New Testament where all sinners are saved by Jesus' sacrifice. Outside of the crucifixion, it doesn't get extremely violent and judgmental until Revelations. The excitement brought by the jealous, judgmental, and sometimes incomprehensible God of the Old Testament brings a tribal sentiment much like sports. "We are going to heaven. You suck! You're going to hell!" It must feel very good. And it's definitely much easier than giving out soup to homeless people.
This reminds me of the newly appointed religious advisor in the Trump administration, the grifter Paula White. She was recently "praying against President Trump's enemies." Praying against… like she's sending a vengeful spirit to curse people, like voodoo magic or something. I ask why aren't people, religious scholars in particular, not speaking out against this. But then again, I realize that the God of the Old Testament seems to be more popular than Jesus these days. I mean, it's easy to invoke Jesus by name. But in everything else, condemnation, tribalism, curses… everything is Old Testament.
Tagged art, Canada, Catholicism, charity, Christianity, drawing, illustration, Manitoba, religion, Seoul, south korea, tentacles, Winnipeg
art, life, movies, politics, race, religion
Playing to an Audience
I haven't seen Green Book yet. I work, I study, and I have Red Dead Redemption 2 on my PS4. Time is at a premium. Just yesterday, I finished watching the R. Kelly documentary series, a few days after everyone was talking about it. So yeah, I'm often late or find myself catching up on things. Anyway, I was ready to watch the Green Book sometime this upcoming weekend when I learned that the Green Book's celebrated writer, Nick Vallelonga, supported Donald Trump's infamous 9/11 lie that he remembers seeing Muslims celebrate on the rooftops of New York when they saw the Twin Towers in flames. This is a lie that he floated around to rally support from his racist base as well as to justify his Muslim Ban. Nick Vallelonga on Twitter supported Trump's claims, saying that he too saw Muslims celebrating on New York rooftops.
After the Golden Globes and people discovering his questionable tweet, Nick Vallelonga has deleted his account. His PR representative, as of this moment, has said that since the account was deleted, there is not much to say about it. Why do people pretend that things on the Internet don't stay on the Internet forever?
The film is about the unlikely friendship between a black jazz pianist, Don Shirley, and an Italian-American bouncer turned driver, Frank Vallelonga, Nick Vallelonga's father. It's the story of life during segregation and it has received acclaim, especially due to the performance of Mahershala Ali who portrayed Don Shirley. With Ali being a Muslim, I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must be for him to have worked on film with someone who is obviously prejudiced against Muslims. It's already controversial with many of Shirley's living relatives contested many details of the film, saying that the friendship between the two main characters is fictional and that scenes were created to play up black stereotypes. With the writer appearing to be a bigot, it would seem that the Shirley's accusation that the makers of the film were more interested in making money than anything is growing to be more accurate.
This is not the first time I've seen someone change their politics or pander to the opposite site of the political spectrum in order to get a buck. Despite Nick Vallelonga presumably being a bigot or having some bigoted tendencies, that doesn't stop him from seeing and crafting a good story that people would like to see. That doesn't stop him from making art that people of opposite beliefs would appreciate. Knowing the background story however makes me not want to see the film, it is after all mostly a work of fiction. But it's sad that all of this baggage is affecting performers who otherwise did well on the film.
Tomi Lahren, a conservative commentator pretending to speak for young people started out as a liberal. When that didn't work for her, she became a conservative talked. With her bleach blonde looks and crazy talking points, conservatives were all too willing to give her the attention she wanted. Her African-American equivalent is Candace Owens. Same beginnings, started out as anti-Trump but is now a conservative talker. Follow the money. See what the audience likes, give it to them = profit. I think Louis CK is sorta trying to do the same thing, too. Before he was outed as a predator, his materials were raunchy and offensive, but tended to lean on the progressive side. But hearing his leaked materials, I see him courting the same men's rights dude bros that he used to make fun of. He's even making fun of students who were victims of school shootings despite having two kids of his own. It was the voice of a man aggrieved which is all too common with the alt-right types who claim that Gamergate was about games journalism. There is an audience for this, a very easy to entertain audience. Perhaps he's just following the money. Maybe if he says "cuck" more often, I would be more convinced.
I don't see how people do this though. I would never know how it feels because I never really earned a fortune through my art, but how does one make art or do work that is disingenuous to your true self? How does one spout of conservative nonsense when they are truly much smarter than that? How does Louis CK pander to a rather mean-spirited audience with his awful jokes? Or maybe that's the real Louis CK all along. If so, how does one fake being a progressive when deep inside your soul is as black as Gavin Mcginnes'? How does one make a film shining the light on racial inequality and work with Muslim artists when deep down they would rather make a wall around the country to keep out all the dark minorities? Is it just the money? That must be an awful lot of money. That amount must be so big that you could hug it and at the same time feel its warmth surround you, giving you the most comfortable sleep at night. An amount of money that replicates the joy of making love, the comfort of being in a loving womb, and the taste of having sweet chocolate in your mouth (Am I describing cocaine?). What a wonderful amount that must be.
So yeah, maybe Nick Vallelonga is a bigot who doesn't much care for the actual lives and values of the people who would most appreciate his story. I'm sure Green Book is a good movie, but other shows and movies have suddenly become more of a priority for me. I hear Bird Box is interesting.
Tagged art, bigotry, Bird Box, Canada, Candace Owens, Donald Trump, drawing, Golden Globes, Green Book, illustration, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, Louis CK, Manitoba, media, Muslim, Muslim Ban, Nick Vallelonga, race, racism, Red Dead Redemption, Seoul, south korea, Tomi Lahren, turtle, Winnipeg
On Hell
If God was real, I believe that he loves us so much that he would never send us to hell. Hell, if it exists, is a special place for monsters. We are not monsters. I think a person has to work hard to get to hell. People don't normally stumble their way into hell.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Tagged art, Canada, drawing, God, hell, illustration, Joseph Reyes, Manitoba, puppet, religion, Seoul, sin, south korea, tentacles, Winnipeg
Canada, Korea, life, politics, religion, United States
On Park Geun-Hye and BFFs
So there have been a lot of revelations regarding the current Korean president, Park Geun-Hye and her crony who people suspect has been involved in many of her actions as president of the country. To quickly summarize, it has been proven that a close confidante who has never been elected into any public position has been advising the president on several issues. This person has also been linked to allegations of influence peddling and corruption. This cause quite the concern, since it's very unclear how much of the president's actions and inaction have been due to this person, and what's even more concerning is the president's attempted proposal to change the country's constitution and abolish presidential term limits.
Several Korean news sites and blogs have more detailed explanations of the scandal, but depending on how conspiratorial one is, it can range from people dismissing the whole thing to a politician confiding to a friend to a puppet leader sharing national secrets to a charismatic cult leader-like master manipulator. I've talked to several people who lean more towards the manipulative angle because the president has isolated herself from her siblings at a young age since her father's assassination, and that her confidante's father is a bit of an odd character himself, a pastor of sorts who's been married several times. I tend to think that Koreans seem to be particularly vulnerable to falling for charismatic manipulation like religious leaders, etc. It's anecdotal, but I've seen it happen too often.
Protests are scheduled to happen this weekend, and there has been a bipartisan effort to look into the scandal. There have been calls for impeachment, but I personally think it would be hard to prove that the president abused her power to the extent that allows for impeachment. I'm hoping that the scandal would finally remove her party from power. The Saenuri Party, always promising economic gains, has done nothing but enriched Korean conglomerates and has failed to improve the lives of most of the Korean people. The middle class has not expanded, salaries have stagnated, and life in the country, especially in Seoul, is still as expensive as ever.
However, I believe people loyal to the party due to regional ties will continue to keep the party in power next elections. Right now, members of the party are cunningly turning against their leader in hopes of isolating the damage to her, justifiably or unjustifiably so. What worries me is that the forces in all of these are not new. Just like what I believe drew the current president to her friend is something common to many Koreans, vulnerability to charismatic manipulation. What got her into power is something all too common as well: regionalism and a longing for a leader like her father, the late dictator and strong man Park Chung-hee. People are quick to forgive and forget strong men for their authoritarian abuses in favor of economic and military gain. I see it happen in the Philippines with Duterte and Filipinos looking for a leader like the late president Ferdinand Marcos. I see it in the United States as well, with Americans trying to make a Putin-like leader out of Donald Trump. For states that are so modern, much to what I fear is our detriment, we are all still vulnerable to these primitive political trends.
It's moments like these that I'm glad that our Prime Minister is such a pleasant, level-headed guy in comparison. Of course he might come across as goofy, chasing after Internet traffic like a child sometimes, but in a room full of world leaders, there's no one else I'd rather be led by. I don't normally write about Canadian politics because Canadian politics tend to be boring. But boring is good. Normal government functions should be scandal-free. Thank goodness Canadian politics is oh so boring!
Tagged art, buffalo, Canada, Donald Trump, drawing, elections, illustration, insects, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, Korea, Manitoba, Marcos, Park Geun Hye, politics, Rodrigo Duterte, south korea, Winnipeg
politics, religion, women
What Passes for Conversation
The problem with most issues these days is that people get married into their camps and more often than not would defend their worst members. It makes a lot of political/social debates disingenuous and quite unbearable when sides spend a lot of their energies defending their weakest links as if they were their strongest.
An example: a week ago, I've been called a "shitty, shitty person" because of my opinion regarding a rape activist who live-blogged her rape minutes after it happened. She's an activist and thus an educator, so I don't think this sets a good example for people. I believe victims should report their attack first and not have Instagram as their priority. I'm also particularly turned off by some facts regarding the case. I know a woman's actions should never justify an attack, but the woman went to a foreign country and showered naked with a stranger in a hostel. After said attack, she posted the alleged attackers picture on the Internet. It appears she's trying to convict her alleged attacker via social media. Not only that, her previous efforts at activism haven't really garnered much media attention, and this appears to be a cry for attention. So much about it just sounds either foolish or disingenuous.
Now, many feminists and advocates would advise that people suspend all of their suspicions when it comes to rape victims despite Occam's razor. I tend to agree, but I also believe in things such as innocent until proven guilty, and not showering with strangers in hostels. So the conversation in the Internet goes:
Me: Rape victims should report the crime first. Give social media a rest.
Commenter: Misogyny will even dictate to women how they should react after suffering rape. (Because apparently that's exactly what I was doing, hating women and "dictating" to them how they should react.)
Me: New feminists define misogyny as anything counter to their message, no matter how ill-advised that message is.
Commenter: You're a shitty, shitty person. (So much for a debate!)
This attitude is not unique to new feminists. You can also see this among atheists, religious people, and both sides of the political aisle. People will defend everything the likes of Dawkins and Harris say despite both men fueling Islamophobia. Same thing with the religious. How many times have people excused their actions "because of faith?" And while sometimes people won't defend every fundamentalist on their camp, they would sometimes vilify everything on the other side, no matter how much it benefits them. Just look at all of the conservatives who rail against Obamacare.
I once joked that I'm now too old to follow professional wrestling, so now I follow politics for my drama. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people do so but with much more fervor and they're not aware of how swept up they are in the whole thing. The drama consumes them (Going back to the wrestling analogy, they're the fans who believe it's all real). They get so entrenched on their own side of the argument that they fail to examine opposing point of views. Worse, they neglect to be critical of things happening in their camp. Just look at Fox News when they wonder why Muslim communities don't condemn acts of fundamentalist Islamic terror, even when most Muslim communities actually do. The same Fox talkers turn a blind eye to crimes committed by Christians, like the uniquely American Christian anti-gay wave in Africa ("Kill the Gays" anyone?).
So yeah, good luck in finding an honest debate/opinion/report on any issue. Many of the major news outlets have their own slant, and the minute you voice an opinion, you're bound to find some nut job just waiting to contradict anyone on the other side.
I guess what I'm advocating is not to be married to an ideology. I'm a Catholic, but I acknowledge the fact that Mother Teresa is a fraud and that the church has been covering up pedophilia. I like Dawkins, but sometimes he can either get petty or downright bigoted. I consider myself a feminist, but I'm not gonna jump into every feminist/rape bandwagon.
Tagged anime, art, atheism, Canada, Catholicism, drawing, feminism, gay, homosexuality, illustration, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, manga, Manitoba, misogyny, obamacare, rape, Richard Dawkins, sam harris, Seoul, south korea, Tommy Prince, Twitter, Winnipeg
military, politics, religion, terror
A Few Thoughts Regarding Paris
So another horrible tragedy happened in Paris over the weekend. I'm sure most of the people on the Internet are already aware of it, so I'm not gonna explain what happened. I was going to write about something else entirely, but let me react to a few things regarding the recent tragic event.
Unfortunately, I think the world is playing exactly to ISIS' plans. Politicians are now committing to close borders to Syrian refugees, increase surveillance of Muslim communities, and send more forces to the Middle East. What exactly does ISIS want? They can be quite vague with their calls for the downfall of the west, but like all terrorism in the Middle East, I believe all of their actions are fueled by their need for self-preservation, they need to justify their existence. They kill civilians, parts of the Middle East are bombed in retaliation, Muslims in the west are marginalized even further, resentment against western government increases, and ultimately more people join ISIS. The military might of western nations just plays into the victim mentality of the "oppressed" Muslim who finds himself/herself joining groups like ISIS. These terrorist groups market themselves as revolutionary forces fighting against oppressive regimes, and for the past few years the United States and its allies have acted the part to fit the terrorist narrative.
Already, I believe the reaction to the attacks will fuel more violence. A Syrian passport was found among the carnage and people have used it to claim that the terrorists were gaining entry to the west as refugees. (As of this moment, some news sources believe the passport belongs to one of the victims) Because of this, several countries are rethinking helping refugees. People forget that these refugees are running away from ISIS. Not all of them are terrorists. Not all of them hate the west. Should Canada shut down its borders if one or two immigrants commit crimes in the country? A man was beheaded by a Chinese immigrant in Winnipeg a couple of years ago. The attacker was found to be mentally unstable. But there were no talks regarding mental screening for immigrants or an examination of the Chinese population after the attack. The Chinese community was not indicted for the crime. And yet for the Paris attack and the like, it is par for the course to indict the whole Muslim community. Inflammatory rhetoric does nothing but justify more hatred towards the west and divide people. Right now, the French Interior Minister is already calling for the "dissolution" of some mosques. Now, how is that gonna play in the minds of some Muslims?
Regarding immigration, ISIS doesn't need to slip in operatives to countries. Even if they do, history shows we're often looking at the wrong direction anyway. The 9/11 hijackers were mostly from Saudi Arabia. They were not from Iraq or Afghanistan. ISIS does a lot of recruiting online. They are converting people with their "oppressed by western powers" message. If there was to be another attack, it'll probably be done by people who are already savvy enough to know the ins and outs of a particular country and community. It won't be a fresh of the boat immigrant who barely knows the language, especially with the amount of focus the Syrian refugees are currently receiving from the press. ISIS doesn't want these people leaving Syria. They want them to remain in the country to be under their control. Them leaving and living decent lives in other countries goes against the narrative that ISIS is running a competent government.
A Youtube user, Thunderf00t, mentioned that the recent attack shows the effectiveness of using guns for terrorist attacks versus bombs. It is true, gun massacres tend to produce more casualties than bomb attacks. Guns are relatively easier to acquire and control; and the results are more predictable. Bombs on the other hand are much more complicated, and suicide bombers never get to gauge the amount of damage they cause. It is thus very disheartening that over the weekend, several gun rights proponents are saying that the massacre would've been less deadly if there were more people in the vicinity with guns. These people forget that while France doesn't have as much guns as the United States, it also doesn't have as much mass shootings. Gun control is actually something that can be done to fight terrorism. Controlling the runaway arms and defense industries is something that could be done to reduce violence. But as far as reactions to terrorism are concerned, this isn't even in the picture. Guns will continue to be sold and find their way to terrorist hands, be it through sale within western countries or through "aid" the US gives out like free candy.
This brings me now to a couple of things that bother me to a lesser extent. First is hashtag activism. Now, I think it's fine to show support to the victims by changing one's Facebook profile pic to the color of France's flag, but it doesn't really put too much skin in the game. It's very low cost and doesn't really do much to affect change. Looking at the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, it didn't really put an end to the atrocities in Nigeria. Boko Haram still exists, abducting and trading young girls. Now, I'm not saying that one should not support France by doing something as low cost as changing one's Facebook profile pic, but I suspect it is often more about following trends and thus more about the person than it is about the cause.
And speaking of making it about themselves, Bono is a well-meaning idiot. He calls the attack the first direct hit on music. Now, I know what he's saying. The attack affected freedom and a way of life that celebrates music. But the way he says it makes it seem like the attack was more against him and the music industry (Boohoo, a U2 concert got cancelled!) and less against France and the west in general. He means well, but he's not doing himself any favor. He still sounds like a narcissist.
I could go on and on about the attacks, but I'm probably not the only person pretending to be an expert in Muslims and geopolitics. I imagine social media is filled with people like me, talking as if they know what's really going on. I'm writing my thoughts as an unknown person with very little influence. Unfortunately, there are people out there with far more influence but with incredibly more extreme (and violent) solutions to this growing problem.
I say be kind to your neighbors regardless who they are, and hug your loved ones. Right now, bombs are falling, guns are being readied, and more violence will probably be in the news in the future.
*Unfortunately, most of my work related to France have a militaristic theme.
Tagged art, Bono, Canada, Christian, drawing, France, gun control, ISIS, Islam, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, Korea, massacre, Muslim, Napoleon, Paris, religion, sculpture, Seoul, Syria, terror, Thunderf00t, virgin, Winnipeg
news, religion, women
News Friday
A couple of things about the news:
Why are people surprised at the pope visiting a gay-hating bigot? The Catholic church, as progressive as the current pope has been on income inequality and environmental issues, is still a regressive institution when it comes to gender and women's rights. The church still doesn't like the idea of birth control and abortion (great idea for poor, overpopulated countries!). The priesthood is still a men's club! The order of the world is still God > man > woman > children > animals.
A part of me tends to be nitpicky about the whole thing however. Growing up Catholic, I'm sensitive to the differences between Roman Catholics and Christians. Aside from Christians separating themselves from the Catholic Church hundreds of years ago, why would Kim Davis, a Oneness Pentecostal, be interested in seeing the pope and vice versa? Shouldn't the two be arguing over the nature of the Holy Trinity and calling the other a heathen?
Also, why Kim Davis? Were the Duck Dynasty guys too busy for the Pope that week? What about the God Hates Fags people? At least I find them more logically consistent than Kim Davis. Like the Catholic church, they stand up against divorce , which really is the bigger threat against traditional marriages.
I can't stand Obama when it comes to gun control. He rails against lawmakers and the NRA every time there's a school shooting, speaking as if he has no power to makes changes. He's the leader of the most powerful country in the planet! He can push his agenda if he wanted to. He certainly did with Obamacare. And he's certainly trying with the Keystone pipeline. But when it comes to gun violence, police violence, income inequality, immigration, etc. it's just one flower speech after another. Someone remind him that he's not Maya Angelou. He's the president. At least critics like Cornel West are willing to put some skin in the game and get themselves arrested in order to affect some change on important issues.
Why is the UN having talks against cyber violence? And why is cyber violence solely "against women and girls?" I understand things such as revenge porn is mostly aimed against women, but a lot of the vitriol on the Internet is aimed towards everyone. It's not gender specific. I would even guess there's more animosity against gays and lesbians on the Internet than there would be against women. In any case, the Internet, due to anonymity, makes it a breeding ground for general negativity. Women claiming that cyber violence does serious harm especially to women is a disservice to the strength of women and downplays the effect of cyber bullying on men.
Also, shouldn't the UN be focusing more on REAL violence? This seems more like a sham show to support censorship in many countries.
Listening to some sweet Willie Nelson to calm down.
Tagged Barrack Obama, Catholicism, Cornel West, country music, Duck Dynasty, feminism, guns, Kim Davis, news, Obama, Oregon, Pope Francis, race, racism, religion, shooting, violence, Willie Nelson, women
atheism, media, religion, sculpture
Why, Richard?
So this 14 year-old kid Ahmed Mohamed goes to school with a clock he made for a science project, shows it to several teachers, some of them say that it "looks cool." Then one teacher gets nervous, thinks it's a bomb and calls the cops. The school wasn't evacuated, the cops say it wasn't a bomb, and the kid was handcuffed anyway. Now, people are saying that this was a case of Islamophobia. And I would say yes, it seems patently obvious. I don't think a box with wires sticking out of it in a school is any more menacing than a couple of people brandishing their AR-15s in a Walmart. Both are legal, only the second example is designed to elicit an example. Only the second example involves things that are actually designed to kill people.
And if you compare the incident to how predominantly white gun-carry advocates walk around the country unmolested, there's a good argument that this is just as much as being a person of color in America as it is about being a Muslim.
I already talked about how Bill Maher sometimes loses me with his Islamophobia. It is one thing to be an atheist, but it is another thing to be an Islamophobe. The hysteria over the brown kid carrying a science project around school showed such an abandon of logic that I was hoping someone as intelligent as Bill Maher would not try to justify. I tend to be sympathetic to atheistic arguments, and I really don't want to claim that there is religious persecution after many fundamentalist Christians cry wolf about their "suffering," but when he said that people were reasonable to be suspicious of Ahmed Mohamed, this is exactly the type of light Islamophobia that results in children being handcuffed.
He is not alone in this either. Even Richard Dawkins tweeted that the kid was a fraud. He suggested that the kid passed himself off as an inventor and made a clock that suspiciously looks like a bomb. All of it just to get arrested, create a viral story, and later on get scholarship offers and an invitation to the White House. Bravo, Richard Dawkins. You've just become a Twitter nut job (at least in this case). There's always the possibility that we've all been victims of this brilliant kid's masterful hoax, but Occam's razor suggests that it's probably just a kid who made a suspicious-looking clock.
Steven Levitt once wrote about atheist books and the mysterious market for them. Who buys these books? There is a market for holy and religious books, after all, the religious need the books to enlighten themselves more about their faith. And the religious would never buy atheists books. At least, I imagine they won't. Why would they? But what about atheists? If you truly don't believe in the existence of God, then why buy a book to affirm your belief? You don't need reinforcement on a non-belief. As Steven put it:
"So who is making these anti-God books best-sellers? Do the people who despise the notion of God have an insatiable demand for books that remind them of why? Are there that many people out there who haven't made up their mind on the subject and are open to persuasion?
Let me put the argument another way: I understand why books attacking liberals sell. It is because many conservatives hate liberals. Books attacking conservatives sell for the same reason. But no one writes books saying that bird watching is a waste of time, because people who aren't bird watchers probably agree, but don't want to spend $20 in order to read about it. Since very few people (at least in my crowd) actively dislike God, I'm surprised that anti-God books are not received with the same yawn that anti-bird watcher books would be."
I think Steven kinda brushed on the reason why anti-God books are selling recently. Conservatives hate liberals and would buy books that bash liberals. I'm guessing that some atheists actively hate the religious, or at least see them as intellectually inferior to some extent, and perhaps get some joy out of bashing them. Instead of adopting a liberal attitude about things and truly not caring about religion unless said religion affects them somehow, some atheists get trapped into a sort of game of one-upmanship the same way political parties do. Of course, this is not something truly unique to atheists. The same could be said about some of the religious.
And this is where Bill Maher and Steve Dawkins sometimes sink to. Yes, yes, religion is bullshit. But that's coming from our "enlightened" bubble. Ethnocentrism is judging others based on their ethnic group, especially in terms of customs, language, and religion. Perhaps people find value in their religion in ways that I do not. Who knows? I'm not about to judge other people as long as it doesn't affect me. Believe in God or don't, just don't make it my business. But when giants of the atheist way of thinking start bashing huge swaths of people, it sours the whole thing for me. It is lazy and misguided. The same way some current feminists are spoiling the movement by being hyper-sensitive, censorship-advocating, misandrists, some atheists are turning into outright bigots.
I'm not saying that the religious are being persecuted. I'm not, especially in terms of Christians in North America. But casual bigotry towards other religions makes cuffing children, not allowing refugees into countries, and outright bombing cities, a tad easier to do.
Tagged Ahmed Mohamed, art, atheism, Bill Maher, Canada, Christianity, drawing, Freakonomics, guns, Islam, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, Manitoba, Muslim, religion, Richard Dawkins, sculpture, Seoul, Steven Levitt, terrorism, Twitter, Walmart, Winnipeg
Canada, drawing, news, politics, religion
That Drawing Sucks
Everybody dreams. Everybody talks in their sleep now and then.
Little late, but congratulations Alberta! Perhaps there's hope that Canada would be back to its pre-Harper form. With all the focus on oil and protected areas being opened to exploration, Canada is starting to look more and more like the United States. But out of nowhere, the most right wing and oil-rich province elected NDP to power after decades of voting Progressive Conservative (what a misnomer!). There's hope that yes, it's not too late for Canada.
There's been a lot of debate regarding drawing the prophet Muhammad and the difference between what Charlie Hebdo does and what Pamela Geller and her group has been doing. This is the difference: Charlie Hebdo is calling out all religions, Pamela Geller and her group is calling out all members of a religion and labelling them as savages. They are asking for moderate members of Islam to denounce the actions of the extremists, and without blinking an eye, calling every member of the religion a savage. How can you get someone on your side when you spit right in their eye? There is no debating with this kind of rhetoric. They're just as far gone as the extreme Islamists even though they are absolutely free to espouse any hateful sentiment and that people should not be killed for drawing anything.
What the shooters in Texas did is reprehensible. They might've done it over religion, but I believe that with their mental instability, they would've murdered for some other causes if the religion wasn't there.
To call the incident as something uniquely Islam would be extremely dishonest. All religions have their sacred cows. To say that there is something about Islam which drives commands people to kill is not examining other religions or newspapers honestly. This is what makes Bill Maher's take on the religion a little superficial. At the moment, drawing the Prophet Muhammad is the sacred cow for Islam. I doubt if most members of the faith would be driven to murder, maybe they would be insulted and annoyed, but extreme fundamentalist members of the faith see it as a hot button issue that would drive them to excessive action. But this is not unique to Islam. Extreme fundamentalist members of the Christian faith see women practicing birth control as a hot button issue that would drive them to excessive action. Moderate members might be offended by gay marriage or contraception/abortion, but extreme members see it as a drive to murder. And if you look at the two sacred cows, one could even argue that a woman practicing birth control is more normal than drawing an ancient prophet.
Take the actions of Pamela Geller and her group. They intentionally goaded mentally unstable extremists by having a drawing contest of the prophet Muhammad. It's intentionally mocking their sacred cows. And for what? Freedom? Not one person has ever had a birth control contest to goad mentally, unstable Christians simply for freedom. Commentators like to point out the urine-soaked Virgin or what not, and yes, no violence occurred. But there's violence in other issues. Extreme members of the Christian faith are bothered by what people do out of necessity (birth control) or what people do out of love (gay marriage/adoption). Doctors just simply provide women the help they need, and news actors like Bill O'Reilly send insane followers to ultimately kill people like the late Dr. George Tiller. And then later, Bill O'Reilly rants about the dangers of Islam. It's not a urine-soaked virgin, it's doctors helping women.
That's a mighty fine log you got in your eye there.
Tagged abortion, Alberta, art, Bill O'Reilly, Canada, Charlie Hebdo, Dr. George Tiller, drawing, election, gay, gay marriage, healthcare, illustration, Islam, Joseph, Joseph Reyes, Ndp, Pamela Geller, Progressive Conservative, Prophet Muhammad, recism, religion, Seoul, shooting, south korea, Texas, Winnipeg


The CATCH Project aims to develop a knowledge platform which will become a public information system for mobility related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction advice. The holistic Platform will provide travellers, businesses, planners and other mobility stakeholders with the tools to play their part in creating a new mobility culture promoting timely and informed climate-friendly travel choice and policies. The Platform will enable travellers to understand the climate change impacts of their choices, and take effective actions to reduce them, and enable policy decision makers to include carbon constraints into their actions. The Platform will include a range of CATCH tools, including a virtual environmental travel assistant, and be driven by the CATCH mobility knowledge engine. The main project activities to achieve this aim are: - Strong user understanding and user-based design; - review of the results in previous research, and engagement with existing EU funded projects WISETRIP and i-Travel projects, and the CIVITAS initiative; - realization of a database of GHG and transportation performance, which interfaces with appropriate emissions-related systems; - identification and assessment of climate-friendly travel scenarios; - development, testing and validation of the mobility knowledge engine; - defined exploitation path and wide dissemination of results through a dedicated internet web site, publications, conferences and workshops. CATCH will involve 40 cities and global carbon constraint professionals from mobility and related fields. Each city and professional has different experiences and brings new understanding. CATCHs expected results meet the following work programme objectives: - to guarantee at least neutral impacts on climate change; - to cover the critical gaps in existing emission information systems - to apply large scale demonstrations of integrated solutions for cities in Europe, regional and interregional mobility.


The Venezia Corte apartment lies on the second floor of an historical Palazzo and looks onto a quiet square. It is reached by a newly added elevator. The location is exceptional: at the mouth of Venice's Grand Canal in the legendary Venetian Lagoon, opposite the Santa Maria della Salute basilica and the Punta della Dogana museum – where the Pinault contemporary art collection can be seen – and within a stone's throw of the glorious Piazza San Marco.
A small but well equipped kitchen, adjoining the living room, allows the preparation of breakfast and light meals. Fresh croissants will be delivered to your door every morning.
We had a wonderful week at Venezia Corte. The flat is delightful. It's so tastefully done which is important to me. It's also very quiet which is equally important. Everyone was helpful and reliable. A great choice.


text:
UK appears to capitulate on sequencing on first day of Brexit talks - as it happened
UK appears to capitulate on sequencing on first day of Brexit talks - as it happened by Eoin Treacy
This article from the Guardian may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Britain has abandoned attempts to force the EU to start talks on a future trade deal immediately, and instead the UK's "exit bill", and other issues, will come first. David and Barnier have agreed a two-page schedule for talks (pdf), including the dates for five rounds of negotiations stretching into October. As the EU demanded, this involves the "exit bill", the rights of EU nationals and Ireland being discussed before talks on a future trade deal start later in the process. Davis rejected claims that this amounted to a climbdown, arguing that later trade talks will take place in parallel with talks on the exit arrangements , but there is no doubt that the UK has had to back down from its original
demands. (See 6.07pm and 6.33pm.)
Barnier has said that a "fair deal" for the UK is possible. And he has promised never to work against the UK. He said:
For both the European Union and the United Kingdom, a fair deal is possible and far better than no deal. That is what I said to David today. That's why we will work all the time with the UK and never against the UK. There will be no hostility on my side. I will display a constructive attitude firmly based on the interests and support of the 27.
Davis also sounded positive. He said that the talks had been "very productive" and that a deal was "eminently achievable".
But Barnier has also said he is not planning to make "concessions" to the UK. Asked if there would be any concession from the EU, he said:
?I am not in a frame of mind to make concessions, or ask for concessions. It's not about punishment, it is not about revenge.
Basically, we are implementing the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and unravel 43 years of patiently-built relations.
I will do all I can to put emotion to one side and stick to the facts, the figures, and the legal basis, and work with the United Kingdom to find an agreement in that frame of mind ...
The United Kingdom has decided to leave the European Union, it is not the other way around. The United Kingdom is going to leave the European Union, single market and the customs union, not the other way around. So, we each have to assume our responsibility and the consequences of our decisions. And the consequences are substantial.
While much has been made of the EU's advantages in the Brexit negotiations, as I see it the UK has three primary bargaining chips. First is the size of the exit bill which already forms part of the EU's budget. The EU is very keen to get this matter settled quickly because it represents a significant hole in what the group has to spend. It looks like the EU has won the right to negotiate this first because the prospect of the UK withholding the money over the course of a two-year negotiation process is something they cannot handle.
The second is that the UK has some very clear options available to improve its competitiveness relative to the EU should it wish to adopt them. In the event that no access is granted via the EEA, or other such arrangement, then the UK could adopt low corporate taxes, private banking laws, streamlined regulations, trade deals as well as other economic incentives to attract inward investment. An independent UK with its competitive economic vitality restored would perhaps be the greatest riposte to the EU's sclerotic bureaucracy.
The third, often unspoken avenue is the strength and experience of the UK's military. France might be the EU's nuclear power but the UK is also a nuclear power in its own right and that silent point suggests the EU cannot be too onerous in its retribution.
The interaction of the respective currencies is likely to represent the flow of sentiment between the two camps as negotiations proceed. The Pound broke its progression of higher reaction lows following the election result but has improved on that performance over the last week. It will need to hold the €1.125 area if the ranging environment which prevailed for much of the last year is to hold.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Scandinavian instrumental workshops, featuring top level musicians from Sweden, Norway and Finland, will take place on June 9, 2006 in Nisswa, Mn. These workshops are offered in conjunction with Nisswa-stamman Scandinavian Folkmusic festival, June 9, 10, 2006. The sessions will start at 10 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m., with a lunch break in the middle. Students should be at intermediate levels and able or willing to learn tunes by ear. Cost for the sessions will be ~ $20 per each 2 hour session, or $35 for two sessions. (from the same teacher). The 'musicians lunch' will consist of cold cuts, fruit, etc and cost an extra $5. Please contact Paul Wilson for more details on these workshops and to sign up - pwilson@brainerd.net or 218-764-2994.
This year, there are 6 workshops! Please sign up early! - and indicate if you would be willing to shift to an alternative workshop if the one you are signing up for doesn't attract enough musicians to make a financially viable workshop.
Take a look at the 2005 workshop page.
1.From the intersection of Hwys 210 and 371 in Baxter, drive 12 miles north on Hwy# 371.
2. Turn left at the the stoplights (west) on Co.RD 77. For those of you who have been to Nisswa-stamman before, this is the same intersection where you usually turn right (east) to go to the Friday night concert at the Lutheran Church of the Cross. A good marker to look for near this intersection is Schaefers Market on the east side of #371.
3. Ingrid says that the timber house is EXACTLY 5 miles from the stoplight on Co Rd 77. It will be on your left. The fire number is 8844. Approach slowly, it's easy to drive by.
**Important note! Do not turn left the first time you see Co Rd 77! That is the 'southern end' of the road. County Rd 77 is a loop rd, running around the west side of Gull Lake. It connects up with #371 two times, first on the south end and then on the north end. You want the north end!


Sophie thinks her husband Ben is clinical and pragmatic because he was abandoned as a baby. The birth of his own child, Grace, causes him to question his identity, and so begins his search for his biological parents. What should be a deeply personal journey is flipped upside down as Ben invites a documentary film crew to follow him on his mission to find his family, recording every high, low and farcical twist. A parodic take on the success stories of filmed and televised adoption quests, For Grace deconstructs and defies all audience expectations of this frequently-traversed genre. Accomplished actor Sebastian Armesto skilfully echoes the tropes of documentary-making in his debut directorial feature to put a comic spin on this often harrowing subject. The comedy of the film is created in a flawless collaboration between writer Andrew Keatley and a cast whose largely improvised comedic wit and sharp dialogue will simultaneously embarrass and amuse you. With moments that are so convincingly awkward that you'll be second-guessing whether this is a documentary or mockumentary, this group of quirky characters will leave you thankful that you're not part of their family.


The first Coins used in the Ismaic realm by the Rashedin Caliph Osman was a Sassanid Silver coin with the Arabic phrase Bismillah (meaning in the name of Allah) by the image of the last ruler of the Sassanid Empire Yazdgerd 3rd.
Silver Coin of Third Abbasi Caliph Al Mahdi son of Al-Mansour.His peaceful reign continued the policies of his predecessors. Rapprochement with the Shia Muslims in the Caliphate occurred under al-Mahdi's reign.
Silver Coin of Abbasi Caliph Al Mostain who ruled in Baghdad from 862 to 866. After the death of previous Caliph, al-Muntasir, Turkish generals staged a coup putting him in power. Following a revolt by his cousin al-Mutazz, he was beheaded for 500 gold.
Silver Coin of Omavi Caliph Al Walid mint Darabgerd 96 LH. He was the 6th Omavi Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty who reigned from 705 to 715 AD. He was a powerful and expansionist ruler.He died at the age of 48 in Damascus.
Silver Coin of Umayyad Caliph Al Hesham mint Wasit . Caliph Hesham Bin Abdolmalek (691-743) was the 10th Omavi Caliph who reigned between 105-125 LH for nearly 20 years. He succeeded his brother Yazid Bin Abdolmalek.


The Michael Trimm Show is the future of the way people receive insight into modern times. Honesty. Integrity. Purpose.
Michael thank you for your amazing work. You are thorough in your presentation and attention to detail is exemplary. You are articulate, well spoken and easy on the eyes, making watching your program a thoroughly enjoyable and educational experience. You R O C K ! ! !


Weber Q is the 'cool kid on the block'. With its award-winning compact exterior and surprisingly large cooking area, it is the perfect entry level gas grill for small to medium outdoor spaces and can cook easily for groups of 10+ people.
The Weber Q3200 is the king of the redesigned Weber Q range. With two gas burners and a sizeable grilling area, this is a perfect model for a larger crowd. You can direct or indirect grill, and this model comes with a permanent cart as standard.
Comes with electronic ignition, a built-in thermometer, high dome top and foldable side tables, this is a fantastic gas BBQ for your balcony, rooftop, boat or outdoor space.


text:
Another university professor charged in China ties, grant fraud
I'm not sure how many more of these we need to see before we realize that we've got a very serious China problem on our hands and it has nothing to do with their military (or at least not much) or their control of the global supply chain, though that's a disaster of its own. China has been stocking up our country with spies and shoveling technological secrets out by the bucketload. Some of their biggest bases of operation are found in our universities, where their money allows them to get their hooks into American liberals who are very hungry for that sweet, sweet, Chinese cash cow. In other places, they export their own people to settle in the United States while still maintaining their covert ties to the homeland.
Today's story combines elements of both and it takes place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Gang Chen has been working at the school for decades as a research scientist and educator in the field of nanotechnology. But this week the FBI came to get him, alleging that he has taken millions of dollars in grant money from the U.S. government while also receiving even larger amounts of funding from China in addition to handsome payments directly to his personal coffers. He never disclosed his ties to China and has apparently been sending reams of technical data and research material back to Beijing. (CBS Boston)
An MIT professor was charged Thursday with millions of dollars in grant fraud for allegedly hiding his relationship with China. Gang Chen, 56, was arrested at his home in Cambridge and search warrants were executed at his house and office.
The FBI in Boston said Chen failed to disclose his work with China to the U.S. Department of Energy when he applied for millions of dollars in grants.
"Our investigation found Chen was working with the Chinese communist government in various capacities dating back to 2012 at our country's expense," Joseph Bonavolonta, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Boston, said at a news conference in Boston, announcing the charges.
Bonavolonta said Chen knowingly defrauded taxpayers out of at least $19 million in grants to enhance China's research in nanotechnology.
Gang Chen was born in China but later emigrated to the United States (legally) and eventually became a naturalized citizen. He's done quite well for himself in his new home, but it seems that he never actually cut ties with his former bosses in the Chinese Communist Party, despite having sworn to play on our team when he became a citizen.
How well has he done? He was certainly able to advance his research work with the nearly $20 million in grants he defrauded (the FBI's wording, not mine) from American taxpayers under false pretenses. The funding he received from China was closer to $30 million. On top of that, he received at least $355,000 for his "services and expertise" from China without disclosing any of that money to either MIT or the U.S. Government. Pretty good work if you can get it, eh?
None of this happens entirely in a vacuum. It simply can't. You know that the FBI is going to find more threads to pull and there will be additional professors inside of the system at MIT who have been playing footsie with the Chinese Communist Party. The money is too tempting and the communist system in China is probably pretty appealing to at least some of the liberals at these universities who have been steeping in the socialist tea for too long.
Yes, we're talking about espionage, fraud, and the theft of intellectual property. But we're also talking about something that tiptoes up to the line of actual treason. The Chinese are running an invasive intelligence operation right inside of our own country and they are being abetted by faculty members at some of our most prestigious (supposedly) schools. No wonder the Chinese keep cranking out so many groundbreaking leaps forward in technology. They're stealing right from under our noses. There needs to be a very thorough housecleaning in all of these universities. I only hope the FBI is up to the task.
Tags: CHINA MASSACHUSETTS TECHNOLOGY FRAUD UNIVERSITIES GOVERNMENT GRANTS


I don't know if that makes sense, but any suggestions are welcome.
data in the same place in the same file type) your life will be much easier.
added. You said it was river forecasts, but I don't see mention of "River"
the first CreatedDate will be stored in your data.


text:
namespace integrated_viewer
{

  class TrafficLightPlugin: public rviz::Panel {
  Q_OBJECT
  public:
    explicit TrafficLightPlugin(QWidget* parent = 0);

  protected:
    // The Color state number definition
    enum StateNumber {
      RED       = 0,
      GREEN     = 1,
      UNDEFINED = 2,
    };

    // The structure to represent viewer information
    struct StateInfo {
      QString label;
      QColor label_color;
      cv::Scalar view_color;
    };

    // The Callback function for signal state
    void SignalStateCallback(const autoware_msgs::traffic_light::ConstPtr& msg);

    // The function to convert recognition result to color and string information
    void GetStateInfo(const StateNumber num, StateInfo& info);

    // The function to reflect information structure to the UI
    void SetStateInfo(const StateInfo info);

    // The ROS node handle.
    ros::NodeHandle node_handle_;

    // The ROS subscriber for traffic light recognition result
    ros::Subscriber signal_state_sub_;

  private:
    // The UI components
    Ui::Form ui_;

    // The image displayed on viewer
    QPixmap viewed_image_;

    // The initial size of displayed image
    static const int DEFAULT_WINDOW_SIZE = 500;
    static const int DEFAULT_RADIUS = 200;

  };

} // end namespace integrated_viewer

#endif // TRAFFIC_LIGHT_PLUGIN_H

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
[Editorial] Getting poorer
By Korea Herald
Misguided policy results in cutting income of less-privileged households
Published : May 29, 2019 - 17:18
Updated : May 29, 2019 - 17:18
Recent government data showed income earned by the country's poorest households has decreased over the past two years, in yet another indication that President Moon Jae-in's misguided economic policy has failed to bring its intended outcome.
Since assuming office in May 2017, the Moon administration has pushed for a set of measures aimed at increasing the earnings of low-income households, which it hopes would result in spurring growth by boosting consumption.
But the average monthly income of households in the bottom 10 percent bracket fell 16.2 percent in nominal terms from 959,000 won ($804) in the first quarter of 2017 to 803,000 won in the same period this year, according to figures from Statistics Korea. In particular, disposable household income -- amount of money available to households for spending and saving after deduction of taxes and other mandatory charges -- plummeted 31.8 percent from 767,262 won to 582,226 won over the cited period.
This steep downturn betrays the government's efforts to strengthen support for less-privileged households by taking labor-friendly steps and expanding welfare programs.
Affected by Moon's campaign pledge to raise the wage floor to 10,000 won per hour by 2020, the country's hourly minimum wage jumped 29.1 percent over the past two years to 8,350 won. The growth rate represents more than double the average of 14.2 percent for 28 member states surveyed of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a recent study by the Korea Employers Federation.
The government is exerting pressure on companies to turn temporary jobs into permanent ones, while the maximum workweek has been dropped to 52 hours from 68.
The Moon administration has also expanded welfare benefits, boosting the average monthly transfer income of households in the bottom 10 percent bracket by 13.6 percent over the past two years to 577,463 won in the first quarter of 2019.
However, the increase in transfer income, which includes basic pension for elderly people and child allowances, was more than offset by a drop in earned income. The poorest 10 percent of households saw their monthly earned income shrink 40.5 percent to 146,928 won over the cited period.
The sharp reduction in earned income is attributable largely to steep minimum wage hikes and other ill-conceived pro-labor measures taken by the Moon administration, which have driven mostly low-wage workers out of their jobs. Actually, the average number of employed persons in individual households in the bottom 10 percent income range was down 0.03 from a year earlier to 0.64 in the first three months of the year.
This shows the government's efforts to increase fiscal spending to add mostly temporary jobs have done little to support vulnerable households.
Moon and his aides have no one else but themselves to blame for the worsening livelihoods of low-income people. Many economists and corporate officials have cautioned that the administration's policy which is detached from reality would be doomed for failure.
The administration has recently shown signs of adjusting the pace of minimum wage hikes, suggesting it would no longer stick to Moon's campaign pledge. In a report released earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund advised Korea to keep its minimum wage increase below its production growth, which reached 3.6 percent in 2018.
Entering the third year of his five-year term, Moon has stressed that his administration should now begin reaping tangible economic results. But the latest data on household income indicate the government's economic performance will only worsen unless it goes beyond adjusting the pace of minimum wage increase to rethink the relevance of its income-led growth policy.
It is just unreasonable to insist on implementing ineffective employment and welfare programs at the cost of fiscal expansion only to be offset by a cut in earned income. The Moon administration should pay heed to calls for a policy shift to forging a more business-friendly environment to encourage companies to increase investments and hire more workers.
Many local firms are struggling to cope with deteriorating external conditions as well as increased burdens imposed by anti-corporate measures at home. According to recent data from the Korea Exchange, the country's listed firms saw their profits decline sharply and financial health worsen significantly in the first quarter of the year.
The Moon administration would be guiding the economy over the cliff with a further delay in redressing its ill-conceived policy.


text:
Q: Compact subset of $C([0,1])$ I need to prove the compactness or not compactness of:
$A=\{f\in C([0,1]):max_{x\in[0,1]}(f(x))<=1\}$
I tried using Arzela-Ascoli theorem, but had no success in it, since I don't find enough information to conclude anything about the equicontinuity of A. Any advice?
Thank you in advance!

A: By Riesz Theorem, $\{f\in C[0,1]: \|f\|_{L^{\infty}[0,1]}\leq 1\}$ is compact if and only if $C[0,1]$ is finite dimensional.
But we know that $C[0,1]$ is not finite dimensional by looking at the linearly independent set $\{1,x,x^{2},...\}$.

A: Let $f_n(x)=x^n$. Then we can easily check that for $x\in[0,1]$, $f_n\in A$.
Further, we prove that this family of functions is not equicontinuous as in https://math.stackexchange.com/q/167522.
Thus, by Arzela-Ascoli, set is not relatively compact and thus not compact.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In this post we will try to develop a practical intuition about convolutions and visualize different steps used in convolutional neural network architectures. The code used for this tutorial can be found here.
This tutorial does not cover back propagation, sparse connectivity, shared weights and other theoritical aspects that are already covered in other courses and tutorials. Instead it focuses on giving a practical intuition on how to use tensorflow to build a convolutional model.
In convolutional architectures it's also common to use pooling layer after each convolution, these pooling layers generally simplify the information of the convolution layer before, by choosing the most prominent value (max pooling) or averaging the values calculated in by the convolution (average pooling).
10         img = numpy.asarray(img, dtype='float32') / 256.
The convolve function that we just built, will allow us to try any filter from this list of filters in the gimp's documentation. We will try some of them here, but you can modify the kernels or other kernels from the list to see how image changes.
After trying the filters in the example to see how they change the original image, we not only started to develop an intuition about how these operations work, but also we prepared the practical tools to build a convolutional neural network.
CNNs are a family of neural network architecture built essentially based on multiple layers of convolutions with nonlinear activation functions, e.g sigmoid, relu or tanh applied to the results, followed with either other convolutions layers or pooling layers and finally fully connected layers. In this section we will be using the high-level machine learning API tf.contrib.learn, tf.contrib.layers and tf.contrib.layers to create, train and configure our models.
LeNet model contains the essence of CNNs that are still used in larger and newer models. LeNet consists of 2 convolutional layers followed by a dense layer.


Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 500/4 L USM + Canon TC 1,4x, tripod : no, flash : no, Tv 1/1250, Av 6,3, Exp.comp. +2/3, ISO 400, 6.10.2018, Orkneys, Scotland.
Yesnaby cliffs, Orkneys islands, Scotland.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40/4 L USM, tripod : no, flash : no, Tv : 1/45 s, Av : 8,0, Exp. comp. : 0, ISO : 100, 5.10.2018, Orkneys, Scotland.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 70-200/2,8 L USM, tripod : no, flash : no, Tv : 1/100 s, Av : 7,1, Exp. comp. : 0, ISO : 320, 9.2.2018,.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 500/4 L USM + Canon TC 1,4x, tripod : no, flash : no, Tv 1/1000, Av 9,0, Comp. exp. 0, ISO 100, 18.7.2017, Czech rep.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, tripod : no, flash : no, Tv 1/1500, Av 4,0, ISO 800, 19.6.2013, Czech rep.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 500/4 L USM + TC 1,4x, tripod : no, flash : yes,,Tv 1/1000, Av 6,7, Exp.comp. +1/2, ISO 400, 4.5.2014, Czech rep.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 500/4 L USM + TC 1,4x,, tripod : no, flash : no, 1/400, Av 5,6, Exp.comp. +1, ISO 800, 21.5.2013, Czech rep.


text:
Q: Java: Actionlistener identifier expected error I am trying to create a method to get input from a user in a textfield by using an ActionListener. However, when i compile i keep getting this error:
Quiz.java:36: error: <identifier> expected
  tfInput.addActionListener(new  a ActionListener() {

Code:
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class Quiz implements ActionListener {

private static Label lblInput;
private static TextField tfInput;
private static String cityIn;
private static TextField tfOutput;

public void europe() {
   JFrame frame = new JFrame();
   frame.setLayout(null);

   lblInput = new Label("Skriv in huvudstaden i : "); // Construct Label
   lblInput.setBounds(40,30,300,40);
   frame.add(lblInput);

   tfInput = new TextField(10);
   tfInput.setBounds(40,70,300,40);
   frame.add(tfInput);

   tfOutput = new TextField(10); // allocate TextField
   tfOutput.setEditable(false);  // read-only
   tfOutput.setBounds(100,30,300,40);
   frame.add(tfOutput);

   frame.setTitle("Europa");
   frame.setSize(375, 150);
   frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
   frame.setVisible(true);

}

   tfInput.addActionListener(new  ActionListener() {

      @Override
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
         String inLand = tfInput.getText();

      }
   });
 }

I cannot understand what could be causing this.

A: Try it this way maybe:
  frame.setVisible(true);
  tfInput.addActionListener(new  ActionListener() {

       @Override
       public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
         String inLand = tfInput.getText();
       }
    });
  }
 }


After meeting with the team and talking in person we found out exactly what their mission statement was and what type of company they wanted to be. This information was vital for us to understand the vision for the rebrand and allowed us to know exactly where our creative skills would come into play whilst considering the goals of the new launch.
We first set out by brainstorming names and VTSL was decided upon. There were many factors to consider including copyright/trademarks and intellectual property, availability for domain registration and whether the new name would fit within the industry sector.
With the name decided our team brainstormed logos and produced various options for the client to consider. We then presented the numerous designs (See photos) and went through a process of elimination to narrow it.
With the logo design finalised we began to produce mocks ups of the design for the new site – this was a similar process to the logo selection and because we already had an idea of the colour scheme was an easy process to go through.
Fonts and font sizes, use of images, page layout, buttons, Lines, header and footer, side bars, menus, contact information, social share buttons and much more.
We then put together another key feature, which was requested which shows the 1000 days as a customer with VTSL and we were very proud of what we created.
First we put together a Story Board (See image) that we presented to the team. Once it had been tweaked and agreed we set about producing a video that showcases exactly what VTSL offers its clients.
This was used at the offices to really showcase the new company branding and identity.
We are currently in the process of upgrading the VTSL site into a responsive web platform so that the site is easily viewed across all devices.
If you are interested in taking you company to the next level then get in touch today.


Many environmentalists are having a meltdown over President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head up the EPA, and it "has nothing to do with climate change," radio host Erick Erickson said on Dec. 8.
The left insists that Trump's pick, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is a climate change denier and has no business managing the EPA that he has often sued.
"With the blessing of the Department of Justice, the EPA has been going after major corporations and telling those corporations that they can pay a massive fine to the federal government or pay a lesser amount to various environmentalist groups.
"More often than not, to get the EPA off their backs, the companies fork over money to leftwing run environmentalist groups. Those groups then begin a vicious cycle. They start hounding the corporations that give them money, file complaints with the EPA, then get the EPA to shake down the companies for more money," Erickson said.
"Enforcement actions brought by governmental authorities for violations of environmental or other natural resource laws are often settled on terms that require defendants to make community service or restitution payments. In turn, these types of payments are generally required to be applied in a manner that provides some redress for the underlying violations.


text:
Q: Inflict damage when player is hit by minecart Is it possible to test when a player gets hit by a minecart, then inflict damage on the person hit by the minecart based on the speed of the minecart? If testing for the speed of the minecart isn't possible, that's okay. This is as far as I got with this:
/testfor @e[type=MinecartRideable]

Obviously, this command block would be running on a constant redstone loop, and would feed into the command block testing for the player, then into the command block that does damage to the player, unfortunately, I just can't figure out how to test for the player in the same location as the minecart. Does anyone know how to do this? Is it possible? As always, any help is appreciated, thanks!

A: First, the name of a normal minecart entity is actually "MinecartRideable".
Rather than just testing for a minecart being existent, we should make the minecart do something. The /execute command allows another command to be run as a specific entity. What we want the minecart to do is /execute an /effect command that damages nearby players:
/execute @e[type=MinecartRideable] ~ ~ ~ /effect @p[r=0] 7 10 0 true

Hook that up to a clock and all minecarts will constantly be giving damage to players that they touch. It doesn't need to check if it is actually touching anyone first, because if it isn't then nobody (@p[r=0]) will be hurt so it doesn't matter.
There's no real way to test for how fast a minecart is going, so be warned that it will always give the same amount of damage, even if you are the one pushing it away from you.
(We can technically test the speed of a minecart, but only in single values rather than a range, and its momentum tag can be decimal values.)


text:
With: Steve 'Lips' Kudlow, Robb Reiner, Tiziana Arrigoni, Kevin Goocher, Glenn Gyorffy, William Howell, Lemmy, Slash, Chris Tsangarides, Lars Ulrich
Written by: n/a
Directed by: Sacha Gervasi
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2009)
3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)
Metal on Metal
This documentary about a marginalized heavy metal band has so many parallels to This Is Spinal Tap -- including a trip to the real Stonehenge -- that it's eerie. Then, before long, it moves into more psychological, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster territory. But just before it flies off into parody, it becomes something quite unexpectedly moving. In the early 1980s, the Canadian band Anvil played alongside some of the genre's top selling acts, but while the Scorpions, Whitesnake and others went on to sell millions of records, Anvil wallowed in obscurity. Later, bands like Metallica and Megadeth acknowledged the influence of Anvil in their own speed-metal sound. Unbeknownst to almost anyone, Anvil continued to pump out albums, rarely stretching beyond their small group of hardcore fans (mostly Japanese). This documentary captures them on a rather pathetic whirlwind European tour, and in the process of recording their thirteenth album, This Is Thirteen. We meet lead singer and guitarist Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner, who have been friends since their early teens and are now on the wrong side of fifty. Lips has a kind of appealing goofy quality, with a look of bright optimism on his face, even when he goes to his day job as delivery man. Over the course of the film, these two fight and make up more than once, and their deep bonds are palpable. Their tragedies are many and their triumphs are small and few, but you'll feel every one of them. Ironically, this documentary, directed by a longtime fan Sacha Gervasi, will probably win the band more new fans than all the touring and records of the past two decades. (See Anvil's official page and the official movie page for more info.)


text:
Using font to highlight a god's speech in dialogue
At one point in my story, the characters are addressed by a god. In the ensuing dialogue, this god has a more archaic way of speaking, but even so, I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to visually distinguish the god's speech from the other characters' speech. I think part of the reason is that since this is essentially a disembodied voice talking, I can't use the usual visual cues (gestures, facial expressions, etc) to highlight who is speaking.
I don't want to capitalize everything as I find long stretches of capitalized text hard to read, and I'm already using italics for thoughts and emphasis. Since the story is going to be published online, I can't rely on displaying the text in an actually different font, either.
However, I've played around with increasing the size a bit and I think it looks okay. But are there any reasons not to do this?
EDIT: Since it was raised in a comment and I didn't think about it before:
While the god's speech is usually on a separate line, occasionally it's interspersed with speech tags and descriptions. Would it be problematic to have different sizes in the same paragraph? (FWIW, in my current draft I'm using a difference of 2 size points.)
dialogue formatting
LlewellynLlewellyn
Do bigger fonts render correctly on e-readers? On mine, I set the font size. Not sure how that would interact with your "bigger font" setting. – Galastel supports GoFundMonica Aug 31 '19 at 9:03
This is absolutely normal and common in graphic novels where speech is set off in bubbles. But it sounds like you're talking about straight out prose, yes? I'll point out that even in a Torah scroll (the first 5 books of the Bible, hand written in an exact and particular way), God's speech is stated as such but there is zero difference in formatting, font, etc. – Cyn says make Monica whole♦ Aug 31 '19 at 15:22
Note how the examples in the answers have requisites. E.g., center justified, or block quotes, etc. (or all-caps or bold; which is not a different font). - Do not use two separate fonts in-line. - At SE, you get one font with the option of five sizes, bold, italics, and no colors, because the goal is to be able to read it. - Playing with font size is one thing; with different fonts: 1995 will call and want their formatting back. – Mazura Aug 31 '19 at 18:36
@Mazura: Bold or italics are a different fonts; it's usually a font from the same typeface as the surrounding medium/upright text. – hmakholm left over Monica Sep 1 '19 at 12:25
@Llewellyn Just saying that there isn't a tradition of using a separate font when a God speaks, even in a document put forward as the actual speech (as opposed to fiction). – Cyn says make Monica whole♦ Sep 1 '19 at 16:12
I have seen capitalised or text used for this purpose, but again, almost exclusively in light-hearted works. It comes across as fourth wall breaking, saying "Even the font thinks this character is powerful". If that's your purpose, then bold text is probably fine.
On the other hand, you certainly shouldn't feel like you have to do it. I've seen lots of books which include extended dialogue with disembodied voices. The most common approach I've seen is to make the disembodied voice into a minor character, with its own characterisation. The first time the voice speaks, give a couple of sentences describing how the characters hear the voice (e.g. it echoes throughout the cavern, or they hear a voice with no discernible source, or they become aware of the words without really hearing them, or the words are burned into their souls). You could also describe how the voice sounds (gentle, booming, deep, crystal clear, etc.). Then when context doesn't make clear who's speaking, you can say "The booming voice interrupted" or "the disembodied voice paused a moment before speaking" or "the with a laughing tone, the gentle voice said". You can add a lot of character to the speaker with these kinds of descriptors. A separate font is fine, but not necessary.
Welcome to Writing.SE, glad you found us. Please check out our tour and help center and consider choosing a unique name for yourself. – Cyn says make Monica whole♦ Sep 2 '19 at 14:48
Accepted. "Even the font thinks this character is powerful" convinced me. Given the genre and story content, I could easily have gotte away with using a different font. But I didn't want the effect you're describing. Also thanks for the suggestions on giving the voice personality. – Llewellyn Sep 10 '19 at 7:48
Visually distinguishing a character's dialogue is not a bad idea. Sir Terry Pratchett used this tool quite a lot. Most notably, his Death spoke in ALL CAPS, including small caps when needed. (Small caps make reading significantly easier than just all caps.) There was also a special font used for the Golems' speech in Feet of Clay, a character in The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents spoke in bold, and that's just off the top of my head.
In all those cases, Pratchett used the special fonts to illustrate the fact that the voice speaking is very much an inhuman voice. Which is also what you're trying to convey.
What I would check is whether different-sized fonts render correctly on e-readers, as well as on different browsers. Any environment that lets the user change font size - you'd have to make sure it interacts well with your "bigger font". I'm not tech-savvy enough to answer that issue.
To sum up, using some font effect to illustrate the inhumanity of a character's voice in text is perfectly fine. Using font size, specifically - make sure there are no technical issues.
Galastel supports GoFundMonicaGalastel supports GoFundMonica
Note, however, that Pratchett's works are comedies. If the OP is aiming for the comedic too, then fine. But the device might feel more out of place in a story that otherwise keeps a more serious tone. – hmakholm left over Monica Sep 1 '19 at 12:25
Also, there are scenes where you can only tell Death is there because of his capital letter speech. There are two more notable examples: Azrael only says one word (YES), but it takes a whole page. Also, The Great God Om (when becomes great again) speaks in chapters and verses. – Nyos Sep 2 '19 at 1:42
In my UK corgi editions of Discworld books, Death's speech is rendered in Sᴍᴀʟʟ ᴄᴀᴘs rather than all caps, which @llewellyn may find more readable than straight-up capital letters. – Ty Hayes Sep 2 '19 at 14:11
...which is already mentioned in this answer anyway. I should have read more closely. At least I suppose my comment adds some value by demonstrating the small caps. – Ty Hayes Sep 2 '19 at 14:33
@HenningMakholm Actually, I'd argue that a lot of Pratchett's books, while certainly containing humoristic elements, are at core not comedies. That said, I had a look at Reaper Man, and even that doesn't mix different font styles in the same line. – Llewellyn Sep 2 '19 at 16:59
Besides Death in the books of Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (10 Doctors and a Professor omitted), there are lots of precedents for special font or alignment for various usages.
In contrast to some modern prints (see below), the 42-line Gutenberg Bible in Latin of 1454 (part 1) (part 2) uses the same font for everything and no special printed lettering. The first letter of chapters also is either red or blue and often with some artistic scrollwork, all added later. The red annotations, chapter headers and other were added by hand later, using a separate document for the scribe. Note that besides those small annotations, the commentary is fully absent in this print, a break from many earlier, handwritten bibles (see below).
According to Christopher De Hamel: Eine Geschichte der Bibel, Berlin 2002, handwritten, commented bibles usually used red ink or red underlines for the actual bible-text and only black ink for the commentary, which was often an explanation of the archaic Latin. Another accepted version to denote the bible text was to put a special zig-zag like mark at the side of the quotes from the word of god or to put the bible quote in font of double the height while the commentary surrounded this. Some excerpts can be seen on the author's german page. So technically one could say "the word of god" (as in the bible text itself) had a special font in those 13th-century bibles.
Red Letter Editions only came up in 1899, and is especially popular with the King James Version in the US.
Douglas Noel Adams, also a writer of comedy, had one single notion of a god to the world in So long thanks for all the fish. Chapter 40 showed us this ingenious way to get a message from God to the people: He has the almost blind Marvin see the burning, house-sized capital letters through a telescope... and then spells it letter for letter to the reader. He never spells it out.
The first letter was a "w", the second an "e". Then there was a gap. An "a" followed, then a "p", an "o" and an "l". Marvin paused for a rest. After a few moments they resumed and let him see the "o", the "g", the "i", the "s" and the "e". The next two words were "for" and "the". The last one was a long one, and Marvin needed another rest before he could tackle it. It started with an "i", then "n" then a "c". Next came an "o" and an "n", followed by a "v", an "e", another "n" and an "i". After a final pause, Marvin gathered his strength for the last stretch. He read the "e", the "n", the "c" and at last the final "e", and staggered back into their arms.
Stephen King sometimes uses special alignment to make something noteworthy. For example, a center alignment has been used to demark what was written on pieces of paper in IT (especially in chapter "Part Four, July of 1958: Chapter 16, Eddie's Big Break"), italic was used heavily for thoughts of the current protagonist.
Also by Stephen King, The Stand. We can find the following in Chapter 53 (at least in my print): Once more, center alignment is used for a couple of papers, right alignment and italics for signatures, and as a special use he uses CAPITALS to declare what a note of paper (written in wonky capital letters) to Nadine said while the normal text - interspaced to the note - is used for the actions and what was to be seen at the same time. Again left-aligned italics are used throughout the book for thoughts.
Bram Stoker, Dracula. As an example of a book written in letters and diary entries, typography is used a lot. After a center-aligned, capital font header denoting the "source material", there are easily 2 types of setups used:
In letters, alignment is used to denote date and address (right-aligned italics), the addressee (left-aligned italics), body (column alignment) and sender (right-aligned italics) of the letters.
At times some parts in the body are put into italics, denoting a special style of writing
Diary entries are started with the italic date and sometimes time.
At times indented italics on a separate line are used: Johnathan Harker's entry for the 16th May has a Hamlet quote in this way. His 4th May entry has a quote from Burger's 'Leonore'
A couple of pieces of news and reports have another, slightly different typography.
TrishTrish
It was common practice to print block quotes in italics, and to write the headers of letters that way. – Davislor Sep 1 '19 at 9:13
Many editions of the Bible print Jesus' words in red ink (although generally not God's). This is what people who call themselves "red-letter Christians" are referring to. Even those that don't customarily translate the ineffable name of God as "LORD" in small-caps, and in a few cases, GOD in small caps (generally in phrases such as "the lord GOD"). Those would be the closest parallels in standard, formal English.
It's common, though, for science-fiction to use a different font for some alien, robot or computer, to signify that the character has an extremely alien voice.
DavislorDavislor
"many editions" is a purely modern thing - a Red Letter Edition. Historical bibles, especially Latin ones, used red to demark chapter/verse break, headers, and other stuff. They were also usually written without capitalization of deus – Trish Sep 1 '19 at 18:49
@Trish Red-lettering the speech of Jesus is a modern custom, yes. It's the most common form of special type for divine speech in English, and no less relevant for that. – Davislor Sep 1 '19 at 19:01
@Trish Ancient manuscripts of the Bible wrote the divine name (the Tetragrammaton) in archaic paleo-Hebrew letters, even after the Hebrew alphabet had changed to the form still used today. Early manuscripts of the Septuagint wrote it in Hebrew letters even though the rest of the text was Greek, or sometimes wrote it with the Greek letters πιπι—which happen to resemble the shapes of the Hebrew letters but are pronounced nothing the same, presumably because the copyist did not know the Hebrew alphabet. Soferim sill have special rituals for writing it, but no longer use special letters in Hebrew. – Davislor Sep 1 '19 at 19:09
@Trish The English custom of translating the Divine Name as "the LORD" in small caps originated in the King James version of the Bible; earlier translations did not do this. Martin Luther had previously translated it into German as "der HERR." Latin translations varied: the Codex Amiatinus did not capitalize any names, while the Gutenberg Bible both capitalized and added a red stroke to the first letter of every sentence, but did not otherwise capitalize names. Modern Latin texts capitalize both Deus and Dominus. – Davislor Sep 1 '19 at 19:40
@Trish On the other hand, nearly all Catholic Bibles until the middle of the twentieth century were translated from Latin, rather than the original languages, and did not follow this convention. The approved translations on the Vatican's website do translate it as "the LORD.". – Davislor Sep 1 '19 at 19:58
I think that, when formatted differently, a god's speech tends to be formatted with a font more convoluted than normal text. Perhaps to reflect that such a god is something on a higher level of complexity, is beyond normal. Also refinement and beauty. Fonts such as flourished script, or perhaps gothic.
Depending on your online publishing tool(s), you probably can set a font for your text. They probably work well with modern browsers, but as you say, you cannot rely on that working for everyone.
However, for web pages, in CSS, you can also set a generic font in the font-family property, such as serif, cursive, or fantasy. The safest bet would be to use sans-serif for normal text and serif for the god's text, although the impact is less than with more sophisticated fonts.
Pablo HPablo H
I would strongly urge you to AVOID FORMATTING to convey meaning around the text or dialog in a novel. I would encourage using words to describe the text or dialog, and to convey your intended meaning or emphasis.
Special formatting may be difficult for persons with disabilities, or people using text-to-speech tools, or automated voice synthesis. The formatting may be dropped or not translated as intended. If this were an audio book, then possibly the narrator could break into a separate voice for this specially formatted text, but in many cases, there isn't the luxury to have a narrator available, and other programmatic processes may skip or misunderstand the formatting for your intended purpose.
Mark MaruskaMark Maruska
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