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Sciversum > Blog > Tree of Knowledge > Social Sciences > Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology > An Evolutionary Look at the Kardashian Epidemic: We Like Optimally-Curved Spines And We Cannot Lie!
Evolutionary BiologyEvolutionary PsychologyGender and Sexuality StudiesMicroevolutionPsychologySelection MechanismsSexual SelectionSocial SciencesTree of Knowledge
Why do female celebrities sometimes pop their booties when they are posing for pictures? Here's the evolutionary perspective on why this behavior might be attractive.
Posted by by Zeynep Senveli January 24, 2020 17 Min Read 2.7k Views Add Comment
Natural = Good? A Moral Philosophical Appraisal of Evolutionary Ethics and Metaethics
Selection and Female Choice
Mate Choice in Humans
Lumbar Curvature: A Recently Discovered Standard of Attractiveness
Bringing Sexy Back(s)
What is attractiveness? What makes someone or something attractive? Historically speaking, attractiveness has been deemed arbitrary by the social sciences – even Darwin's answers were less than satisfactory. He suggested that attractive traits held a certain "aesthetic value" yet failed to address the glaringly obvious follow-up: "Certainly they do Charles, but what makes something aesthetically pleasing and another simply not?"
In the recent decades, thinking about this question from an evolutionary framework has shed light on the nature of attractiveness and our sense of aesthetics. Empirical evidence shows that attractive traits are not necessarily arbitrary, but on the contrary, they are precisely the traits that help us survive and reproduce better. Let's dig a little deeper and see what this entails.
We have all heard it before: "survival of the fittest". What does Darwin mean by being fit – is he just your average gym rat? We think not.
Here's a summary of what it means: Individuals that are well-adapted to their environment will (fingers crossed) live long enough to reproduce and pass their genes down to the next generation at a higher rate than those who weren't as well-adapted. A good example of being adapted to your environment can be having a thick fur coat in a frigid climate instead of naked skin. Given enough time (usually millions of years – no big deal), meaning the traits that help you survive and reproduce will get passed down from generation to generation, while those that aren't as helpful will be wiped out.
Does the sight of a feather in a peacock's tail make YOU sick?
This all made sense to Darwin until the peacock. In his own words, "The sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick". An overreaction you say? Understandable, but perhaps not so much. The peacock's tail is indeed quite difficult to explain for a Victorian man that has just recently discovered how natural selection works. First of all, it is metabolically quite costly to produce and requires a lot of resources to maintain. Secondly, it is huge and shiny, which drastically increases his visibility to predators. And finally, it is a behemoth of an appendage for a bird that cannot quite run away from his problems, much less fly away. So why?! Why on earth has this gorgeous plumage evolved when all it does is hinder the poor guy's chances of survival? Was Darwin wrong about natural selection?! Um, no. Cue light bulb: sexual selection.
Peacocks' gorgeous plumage was one of many observations Darwin had that led to his Theory of Sexual Selection. He posited that members of one sex that possess certain desirable qualities should outcompete those who do not in getting selected as mates by members of the opposite sex. According to his observations, which were admittedly limited but fascinating nonetheless, males tended to possess conspicuous ornaments and acted more competitively in mating contexts, while females lacked such diversity in similar traits and behaved choosier than males in their mating pursuits. Thus, Darwin termed this selection process "Sexual Selection by Female Choice".
This theory has accumulated a wealth of empirical evidence in the animal literature – mostly avian species. However, theories explaining why the sexes behaved so differently weren't entertained until almost a century after Darwin gifted us The Origin of Species. This was mostly due to Victorian views on females' role in the society, which definitely did not include making important decisions.
Darwin's idea of Female Choice was, to say the least, amusing to Victorian men and was quickly dismissed for not being realistic. The importance of Female Choice was not revisited until years later.
In the 1970's (unsurprisingly around the first feminist movement), evolutionary literature took a leap with the Parental Investment Theory, which argues that the discrepancy in mating physiology and behavior between the sexes can be explained by how much investment each sex makes in the offspring. In most species, and especially mammals, females invest considerably more in the offspring than the male both physiologically and behaviorally. You know – the whole months-long pregnancy, costly (in the case of no modern technological intervention, often times deadly) birth, lactation (during which females cannot produce another offspring which impacts their reproductive success), rearing, and provisioning and all that. For offspring to survive, these simply have to happen.
In 95% of all mammals, males provide almost no provisional care for their offspring. In fact, most non-human primates are single mothers and the mothers usually invest heavily in the offspring until they are able to take care of themselves.
According to the Parental Investment Theory, precisely because of this minimum (and obligatory) investment females make, they have more to lose in the case of a poor mating decision and therefore, choosy females are favored by selection. Hence the name, "female choice".
But hold on a second. Does this mean male mammals don't have to do anything? Like… at all? All females really need is their sperm? Well… technically, yes. But all ego aside, I suppose we can all agree that humans are just a tad more complicated than that.
Mutual Choice: In humans, instead of female choice as the predominant form of sexual selection, both males and females engage in mate choice.
In 95% of all mammals, males provide almost no provisional care for their offspring with the exception of humans. Although females still have the higher minimum obligatory investment, humans exhibit cross-cultural patterns of significant investment on the father's part (Just a reminder that we are referring to humans not as individuals but as a species, so an individual father's decision to not invest in their offspring can be a separate article). Considering the Parental Investment Theory, said paternal investment gives the male strong bargaining power in the mating market without undermining female choice and thus leads to what is called "mutual choice". Because both sexes are fundamentally involved in the selection process, humans are unsurprisingly unique in the complexity of their mating strategies and mate choice, especially from a biological standpoint.
Adding to this complexity is the sex difference in what is desirable in a mate. In ancestral environments, selective pressures would favor women who prioritize good genes (in other words health), protection, and provision of social and material resources for their offspring as well as themselves. However, unlike most non-human animals, women have concealed ovulation, meaning you cannot tell if a female is able to conceive at a given time, which creates a novel problem to men's aspirations of reproduction: detecting reproductively capable women.
Evolutionarily speaking, a wrong decision on the man's part can be the fine line between transferring his genes to the upcoming generations (evolutionarily succeeding) and being wiped out from history completely (evolutionarily failing). Therefore, evolution favors men's ability to detect reproductively capable women, which manifests itself as being attracted to good genes, fertility (immediate probability of conception per sex act), and "reproductive value" (a strictly biological term that can otherwise be considered quite ugly; future reproductive potential) in a prospective mate.
They say men are visual creatures. What a cliché. What does it even mean? Of course, they are. All creatures with eyes, really. So, why men particularly? Empirical evidence shows that men report putting more emphasis on a woman's physical appearance in their mate choice than women do on men's. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense because a woman's physical appearance carries a wealth of information regarding her health, fertility, and reproductive value and thus is of great value to a man looking to pass his genes onto the next generation.
To support this fact, research shows that what is generally deemed attractive in a woman's appearance tend to revolve around characteristics that are related to fertility and reproductive value, such as age. Again, makes sense. Reproductive value peaks around early twenties and depletes around 50 years of age (menopause). Therefore, it is no surprise that men attend to features that have been shown to correlate with young age and high reproductive value. These can be big, bright, and clear eyes, small lower jaw, small nose, full lips, and a low waist-to-hip ratio (the infamous hourglass figure). Other cues that relay information about a woman's fertility include straight and white teeth, (although currently contested) facial symmetry, and clear skin as these traits usually indicate developmental stability and genetic quality, and thus good health and good odds on successfully conceiving healthy babies.
Although attractiveness is much more complicated than just a list of criteria, the consensus on female facial attractiveness revolves around physical cues that signal health, fertility, youth, and reproductive value. These cues can be small lower jaw, clear eyes and skin, full lips, and straight and white teeth.
As you've probably already noticed in your own life, we do not need to have the conscious knowledge of why something is attractive to us at a deep, evolutionary level to be attracted to it. But because we now understand the theory behind why something might be attractive, scientists can follow this reasoning to discover previously undiscovered "standards" of attractiveness. They do this by finding and testing some of the features that are related to health, fertility, and reproductive value to see if men indeed report finding them attractive. One of these recently discovered standards of attractiveness is lumbar curvature. This feature seems to be exclusive to bipedal (upright standing) hominin females. So… women.
Lumbar curvature has evolved in bipedal hominin females to solve the problem of the fetal load. A wedging in quadrupedal animals (those that predominantly use all four limbs for locomotion; depicted in the figure is a chimpanzee) would not only fail to solve the problem of a fetal load, but it'd also make it worse.
Lumbar region of the spine is also referred to as the lower back. As depicted in the figure below, bipedal (upright standing) females have a wedge in their third-to-last vertebra. This wedging is hypothesized to help solve a crucial and unique challenge to a bipedal female's survival: a forward-shifted center of mass during pregnancy.
Lumbar curvature caused by wedging of the third-to-last lumbar vertebra.
Toward the end of gestation, pregnant women experience approximately an 800% increase in hip torque (rotational force). Because the wedging helps move the baby's weight back over the hips, without it, pregnant women basically would not be able to walk upright. As if this isn't enough, according to the orthopedic medical literature, women with too little or too much wedging in this region might also have to deal with strain, muscular fatigue, and spinal injuries that would hinder their ability to forage, which in turn risks nutritional efficiency for herself well as her offspring and partner. It might not seem like it to us with our UberEats and supermarkets, but for our ancestors (who regularly go through periods of famine by the way), you can see how this can be a little problematic.
The naturally occurring range of lumbar curvature in females and orthopedic medical literature suggests that the ideal curvature to avoid the aforementioned health issues is 45.5.
Too little wedging, and you get hypolordosis. Too much wedging, and you get hyperlordosis. Does this mean there is an intermediate value for "ideal" or optimal wedging? Yep! Research suggests that women whose vertebral wedging is closer to the optimal curvature of 45.5 degrees are less likely to be susceptible to said health issues and more likely to sustain multiple pregnancies and thus have greater reproductive value. This is great news to men looking to pass their genes to next generations, therefore researchers suggest that men might rely on this cue in a potential mate.
Lewis and colleagues at University of Texas at Austin conducted an experiment to test if this optimal wedging is indeed attractive to men. They showed men side-view morphs (silhouette figures) of women with varying degrees of curvature and asked them to rate which one they find the most attractive. The results indicated that the morphs with the highest attractiveness ratings were the ones closest to the hypothesized optimum. However, it doesn't end there.
Vertebral wedging is not the only reason a woman's spine may appear curved to the naked eye. As we may or may not know from celebrities on the red carpet, buttock mass is another reason why the spine may appear to have external curvature and thus complicate a seemingly clear relationship between vertebral wedging and attractiveness ratings. Since humans lack X-Ray vision (for now), Lewis and colleagues designed follow-up studies to make sure these attractiveness ratings were not due to the figures' shapely bottoms. Results showed men reliably preferred the morphs with the curvature that was due to the underlying wedging and not the buttock mass.
Buttock protrusion associated with (a) high physical fitness, (b) fat reserves, and (c) lumbar wedging. Note: All women exhibit identical buttock protrusion.
Overall, lumbar curvature appears to be an important adaptation in the female anatomy. Do women use this feature to grab men's attention? There is empirical evidence of non-human animals (such as rats and cats) using the "booty-pop" technique to signal that they are in the mood for some mating. Do women do this? Do men notice? How about high heels – do they do anything for women's spines? Can that be one reason why high heels are sexualized? Also, what on earth is twerking behavior and do we dare attempt to explain it?
Stay tuned for Part II if you want answers!
How did this make you feel?
Zeynep Senveli January 24, 2020
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Recently, the ALMA telescope in Chile found methyl chloride around a young binary star known as IRAS 16293-2422, about 400 light-years away in a star-forming region of space called Rho Ophiuchi.
Venky a talented photographer sans recognition decided to exploit the finding. He uploaded some photo-shopped pictures on an astronomical-science site – showing bio-molecular evidence of life on our moon. The ramifications …..
The good news is that we are not alone in our little stretch of the universe and the bad news is that those who escaped to moon over the years feel threatened and are strengthening their defense.
We can detect them if they enter our atmosphere. "Methyl Chloride is a colorless extremely flammable gas with a mildly sweet odor." If it smells sweet and lights on fire, kill it.
Oh, hell, I'm doomed, then. Have no smell, thus no taste. … now, if it burns….
A lively interaction. Just a moot point but there is no death of biomarkers for detecting life in outer space. One just needs the time and resources and governments are there to fund such activities.
Glad you liked this little astronomical-fudge. Thank you so much.
It wouldn't surprise me if we ended up starting a war across the galaxy, we seem to be good at starting wars.
Not an impossible scenario …. if there are living beings in outer space.
When should we start really worrying? Not sure it's good that we are not alone.
At least not immediately. May be we shall learn to live and let live.
I can already see the Military contractors asking for more funds!
Ah well add one more to the conspiracy theories. Going by numbers it is highly unlikely that we are alone in the universe. Maybe they are waiting for us to become smarter. And at least now we know that moon is not made of green cheese.
True SP. The other residents are waiting for us to really grow up before we are accepted as citizens of the cosmos.
Thanks for the read sharing your thoughts.
Retaliation reverberates on our moon, or is it ours? Danger is always closer to home than you realise. Thanks for reminding us of that oft forgotten fact.
I'm starting to question what I read on the internet. To much photoshopping.
I agree. One has to check the credibility of the site.
No single substance would be an unequivocal biomarker for life, because every so-called biomarker could have arisen via one of several mechanisms. However, if you see several biomarkers from the same planet of origin that would be encouraging. It will be difficult for scientists to accept extra-terrestrial life. As they say 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'.
Succinctly summarized. Biological markers are just indicative never diagnostic – unless complemented with other evidence. Thank you so much for your interest.
A book ….. not within my capabilities. Require a lot of discipline and detail.
Pearls of wisdom and well worth reading. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks a lot for reading and commenting MJ.
Nice sci-fi story! War from outer space, not good for the human race.
Reminds me of that movie… Iron Sky….
I googled 'iron sky' and read the plot. I hope to watch it soon.
Thanks for the read and the link.
Oh dear, Venky has a lot to answer for. Thos moon dwellers were living quite peaceably and and now are scared we're out to get them. Will we be happy to let them be? I fear not.
Quite right Venky has opened a Pandora's box.
Happy that you liked this non-literary style.
Thanks to discriminating readers and the positive environment on FF, often the comments add to the contents of the post.
Thanks a lot for the read and feedback.
This was just brilliant, Yarnspinnerr.
An intriguing tale – with a clear sense of suspense. What will happen next ? We can only expect the worst….
Especially as we are pitted against our own and not some aliens. Thank you for the read and a perceptive comment.
Entertaining. Sounds like he wasn't quite on the up and up, however.
The poor chap just wanted to survive.


text:
from __future__ import unicode_literals

import unittest

from . import CardValidator
from .exceptions import InvalidCardError, InvalidFormatCardError

class CardValidationTestCase(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_invalid_arguments(self):
        self.assertRaises(TypeError, CardValidator.validate)
        self.assertRaises(InvalidFormatCardError, CardValidator.validate, None)
        self.assertRaises(InvalidFormatCardError, CardValidator.validate, '')
        self.assertRaises(InvalidFormatCardError, CardValidator.validate, 'ZC0e0655')
        self.assertRaises(InvalidCardError, CardValidator.validate, '1234')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I'm finishing my garden lights project and I added some RGBW strips to enhance accent lighting.
I'm evaluating a couple of options in order to automate the colors, and I found that most of them use the same 12/24v converter to power the unit, so the converter will be always ON and consuming electricity during the day.
Is there any option (WiFi or Zwave is OK, Zwave is better) to avoid that?
A z-wave switch or outlet?
Yeah, I thought about that option. If I'd go for the zwave route I'd have troubles, but using a wifi rgbw controller it'd be OK behind a normal zwave switch.
Are you sure it is worth the effort?
But even if it was about 10W, then you have 1kWh after 100hours of permanent operation. Cpunting the price of wallplug switch as 35USD, the cost of the switch wil return in about 2 years (based on electricity prices in my country), under condition that you will have your RGBW installation disabled during all that time.
Taking into consideration that real power consumption on standby will be most probably under 0.1W, the investment in wallplug will return in 200 years.
And I don't count the power consumption of the wallplug switch itself into the calculation, which has to be added no matter if your RGBW installation is on or off.
Are you sure that it really makes sense?
I'm not sure the savings would be worth the effort either, however you could use a simple Timer. Either outlet or plugin.
My only fear is that by having the power adapter always on, I could shorten its life.
I had to use a 120W power adapter (for 15 meters of led strips) and these things are getting hot very easily.
I'll talk with my electrician and let you know what he thinks about both setups, since it will be done this week. I was just evaluating different routes in order to be prepared to talk to him.
The timer has the problem that the Vera will probably report the RGBW device as not responding, if I cut power off at the power adapter level.
I'll probably order a Fibaro RGBW anyway and start comparing the results. Thanks for you help!
I have the same situation : I have a 24v RGBW LED Strip that needs a 240V -> 24V transformer. The strip is controlled via a Fibaro RGBW module, however, I also wanted to use a wall switch to turn on/off the LED Strip. Both transformer and RGBW module are located in a ceiling void.
As the RGBW controller needs 0-10V switches to control it directly and cannot use 240v switches, I decided to simply use a 240v wall switch (using a spare output from Fibaro Double Switch 2) to power on/off the transformer instead.
However, if you don't keep the RGBW controller powered permanently, then it looses the settings (like last brightness, last colour etc).
My hack work-around is to use PLEG and monitor the Double Switch 2 output, ensuring this always in an on-state, and programmatically turn on/off the LED strip.
The downside to this means that the transformer does use power 24/7 though. In an idle state, on but RGBW strip off, Vera reports 0.8W. Whilst this is not ideal, it gets the WAF from having the LED strip turn on/off via a wall switch!
I double checked with my electrician. The issue is related to the life of the power adapter. The consumption is, as noted, negligible.


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BACK TO SHOP / Characteristics / Light-bodied / Audarya Nuragus di Cagliari
Audarya Nuragus di Cagliari
Region: Sardinia, Italy
Grape varieties: 100% Nuragus
Audarya Nuragus di Cagliari is made from an indigenous grape grown in Sardinia. Bright notes of sea spray, citrus, and fresh herbs with zippy acidity.
Song: My Friend by Dr. Dog
Audarya Nuragus di Cagliari quantity
About Audarya Nuragus di Cagliari
About Audarya
Audarya means "nobility of the soul", in an ancient oriental language. It's the name of their company because at the center of what the winery does is about respect.
They make wines tied to the territory, with native grape varieties, but modern, for a spirited and curious public. Audarya looks to the tradition, with a new look. Leading the business are Salvatore and Nicoletta, the new generation, with the vital contribution of their father Enrico's experience. In a few years, they have made Audarya a well-known brand, appreciated in Italy and abroad, and ambassador of a way of making wine in Sardinia, modern and traditional at the same time.
The area where today Serdiana is located has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. Over the centuries it has witnessed the passage of the Nuragic civilization to first the Punic and then the Roman. After the Vandal and Byzantine domination, Sardinia was part of the judge of Cagliari, in the Middle Age. The construction of the church of Santa Maria di Sibiola dates back to 1125. In 1257 Serdiana passed to the Giudicato of Arborea and then to the Republic of Pisa in 1297; then it became Aragonese in 1323 and Spanish until 1720.
The urban layout of the village still reflects the original housing cluster of the center. The historical center of Serdiana still maintains, in fact, a layout clearly of Arabic-Spanish origins. Sardinia is located a few kilometers from Su Stani Saliu, home to a rich fauna, including the famous pink flamingos, now settled in Cagliari, and a large population of the black-winged stilt. Sardinia has always been a thriving agricultural center. Currently, it is famous for its grape production.
About Nuragus
Nuragus is an ancient white grape variety used in Sardinia to produce Nuragus di Cagliari, one of several varietal DOC wines produced around the island's capital, Cagliari. As is the case for much Sardinian wine, most of this is consumed locally, so it is rarely seen in export markets.
The name Nuragus itself is that of a small town in the hills between Cagliari and the fishing town of Oristano (where the specialty is Vernaccia di Oristano). "Nuraghe" (plural: "nuraghi") is also the name of a prehistoric edifice that can be found in various locations around the island, the visible remnants of the ancient Sardinian Nuragic civilization.
As such, the variety is intertwined with Sardinian identity and was once one of the most planted grapevines on the island. Some sources believe the grapes may have been cultivated on the sides of the nuraghi in ancient times.
Greek Foods / Spanish and Tapas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Ep. 1361 Hoaxed: How the Media Demonizes Dissidents and Distorts the News
Mike Cernovich has just released Hoaxed, a superb documentary about the media and how it distorts the news, influences public opinion, and demonizes dissidents. The result: a must-listen episode of the Tom Woods Show.
Direct download: woods_2019_03_14_fixed.mp3
Ep. 1360 Wealth Redistribution: Its Bad Consequences Within and Between Countries
I discuss the difficulties and bad consequences of wealth redistribution, both within a country (welfare programs) and between countries (foreign aid).
Ep. 1359 Can Economic Nationalism Help Americans?
Gene Epstein returns to discuss the economic side of the brand of nationalist conservatism that's been developing under Trump. Will it help the people it claims to be looking out for? Show notes for Ep. 1359 - https://tomwoods.com/1359
Fri, 8 March 2019
Ep. 1358 Foreign Policy Disasters: Why Isn't Anyone Held Responsible?
Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, joins me to discuss the poor record of post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy. How has the foreign policy elite managed to isolate itself from real-world consequences for these failures? How can we insert sensible ideas into a conversation that always takes for granted the necessary for intervention and hegemony?
Ep. 1357 Surprise: Official Libertarianism Ignores These Two Heroes
People say libertarians aren't interested in good news, and that bad news sells. I'm not sure I buy that, or that that's a specifically libertarian trait. Regardless, I have good news today. Today's episode is a tribute to two partially unsung heroes of liberty. Official Libertarianism pretends they do not exist, which is further evidence of their goodness and importance.
Sponsor: Skillshare
Wed, 6 March 2019
Ep. 1356 A Stake Through the Heart of Socialism
In episode 1355 we looked at Einstein's famous essay on socialism. In this episode we drive the final stake through the heart of Einstein's version of socialism: the socialist calculation problem.
Tue, 5 March 2019
Ep. 1355 Was Einstein an Idiot (on Economics)?
Albert Einstein wrote a famous essay for the socialist publication Monthly Review in 1949 called "Why Socialism?" In this episode I note some of the problems, as well as the surprising admissions, in the essay.
Sponsor: Away
Ep. 1354 The Ultimate Libertarian Reading List
Last night I asked the folks in the Tom Woods Show Elite, which you can join at SupportingListeners.com, for suggestions for a solo episode I might do. Someone recommended this idea, and I loved it. Enjoy!
Ep. 1353 The Disastrous New Deal
Every schoolboy learns that Franklin Roosevelt cured the Great Depression with his New Deal programs. This is false, as libertarians well know. But it's still taught, year after year. In this episode I take this narrative apart.
Thu, 28 February 2019
Ep. 1352 This Left-Wing Attack Piece is the Bologna; Peter Klein and I Are the Slicer
I finish my reply to the AlterNet article containing 11 questions that are supposed to demonstrate whether your libertarian friend is a hypocrite or not. Joining me this time is Professor Peter Klein. If the left is going to refute us, it will first need to figure out what we actually believe.
Wed, 27 February 2019
Ep. 1351 Medicare for All, and Other Disasters
Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, discusses what's really wrong with health care (hint: it isn't a lack of government involvement) and how to fix it.
Ep. 1350 Remember When Conservatives Didn't Make You Pull Your Hair Out?
Remember when conservatives used to be antiwar, opposed centralized power, and actually wanted to eliminate government agencies rather than just take them over? Yes, such people once existed. Robert Nisbet, whom you'll never hear mentioned on right-wing radio, but who was one of the great thinkers of that tradition, was one of them. I resurrect him -- not literally, so don't get your hopes up -- in this episode.
Ep. 1349 What's So Extreme About Socialism?
Bob Murphy and I discuss the view, apparently now mainstream on the left, that socialism has been unjustly demonized, and that it would be quite all right to have the federal government in direct control of fully one-third of the economy. We're not so sure this is such a super idea.
Fri, 22 February 2019
Ep. 1348 Another Leftist Tries to Refute Us. WOMP WOMP
An article at AlterNet called "11 Questions You Should Ask Libertarians to See If They're Hypocrites" is just crying out to be discussed and demolished on the Tom Woods Show. Today is your lucky day.
Ep. 1347 Hooray for Billionaires
"The rich" are one of the few groups we're supposed to hate. Unfortunately, among the so-called rich we have vanishingly few people capable of launching a full-throated defense of themselves against ignorant criticisms. Most are pathetically apologetic, desperately hoping to be loved. Boo. Stand up for yourselves!
Sponsor: Blinkist
Ep. 1346 Libertarianism vs. Postmodernism and "Social Justice" Ideology
Professor Michael Rectenwald, the former Marxist who will deliver the Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture at the Mises Institute's Austrian Economics Research Conference this year, returns for a sneak preview of what he plans to say there about postmodernism, authoritarianism, and "social justice." We also discuss media gullibility, why corporations seem to be jumping on board the SJW bandwagon, and a lot more.
Ep. 1345 The Making of Michael Malice, #1 Tom Woods Show Guest
Both times I've surveyed my listeners, Michael Malice has been chosen as their favorite guest on the Tom Woods Show. Here I try to uncover what makes him tick. That takes us back to his birth in the Soviet Union, his move to the United States, his experiences in school, his exposure to Ayn Rand, the development of his ideas, and a lot more. Plus, I ask him the question he most likes to ask others.
Sponsor: Curiosity Stream
Direct download: woods_2019_2_19_FIXED.mp3
Ep. 1344 More Unknown History: People Weren't Always Clueless About the Boom-Bust Cycle
When you read old -- and I mean old, like nineteenth century old -- American writers on money and banking, something jumps out at you: they understood things with a surprising clarity, and had a proto-Austrian conception of why the economy experienced boom-bust cycles. Suddenly it feels less lonely to believe that artificial credit creation leads to a boom that has to end in a bust. In this episode, therefore, I share some unknown American intellectual history.
Direct download: woods_2019_2_18.mp3
Ep. 1343 From Blackstone to Marxism: The Strange Journey of American Legal Thought
Stephen Presser and I go from William Blackstone, whose Commentaries on the Laws of England played such a central role in influencing early American ideas about the law, all the way to the Marxist-inspired Critical Legal Studies movement, the feminist legal critique, and back again to the originalism movement.
Sponsor: Policy Genius
Ep. 1342 Money, Morality, and the Crisis of 2008
How many times has this crisis been chalked up to "greed"? As if people hadn't been greedy three weeks earlier. It's time our amateur moralizers learned a little something, and that's the purpose of this episode. My thanks to the Acton Institute, where I delivered these remarks.
Ep. 1341 Young Americans for Liberty: A Dissenting Voice Amidst the Groupthink
Cliff Maloney, president of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) -- an organization I have enthusiastically supported for over ten years -- joins me to discuss their strategy for the campuses and society at large. YAL developed out of Students for Ron Paul, and are on the front lines of getting our message to young people who might otherwise never hear a dissenting voice.
Ep. 1340 Conservatives and Libertarians: Natural Allies?
Ben Lewis and I go back into conservative/libertarian history to discuss the work of Frank Meyer, who thought the conservative and libertarian positions were not so difficult to reconcile. Conservative stalwart Russell Kirk wasn't buying it, and the two feuded vigorously. Murray Rothbard, too, weighed in on the controversy.
Ep. 1339 The Wrong Way to Argue for the Free Market
Friends and foes of the market alike refer to capitalism as a system of "competition." Is that really its characteristic feature, and is that what distinguishes it from other systems? This is actually a misunderstanding, and one that probably turns plenty of people off to the market. What's the right way to think about and explain it? That's what Antony Sammeroff and I discuss in this episode.
Fri, 8 February 2019
Ep. 1338 Society Needs the State Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle
In this episode I explore the history of the idea that society can more or less run itself, that there are certain observable regularities in our relationships with one another, particularly in commerce, that cannot be interfered with without negative consequences, and do not actually need to be interfered with in the first place.
Direct download: woods_2019_2_8.mp3
Ep. 1337 Tough Libertarian Questions: Blackmail, Bridges, and Outer Space
Walter Block, who holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Chair at Loyola University in New Orleans, joins me to discuss some particularly tricky questions for libertarians.
Wed, 6 February 2019
Ep. 1336 Obamacare Unconstitutional? District Court Judge Says So
Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, discusses the grounds on which U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor found Obamacare unconstitutional. We discuss John Roberts' decision for the Supreme Court as well.
Tue, 5 February 2019
Ep. 1335 The Myth of Religious Violence
That's a provocative title, to be sure. Author William Cavanaugh, a professor at DePaul University, is not saying that what we recognize to be religious beliefs can never inspire violence. What he is saying -- and I won't spoil the episode by spelling out his thesis here -- forces us to rethink what we thought we knew about religion, secularism, and war.
Mon, 4 February 2019
Ep. 1334 The Government's War on Affordable Housing
We hear lots of calls for "affordable housing," and much less discussion about what might be making housing not so affordable. Ryan McMaken of the Mises Institute shows that -- surprise -- the government's fingerprints are all over this problem.
Ep. 1333 The Tom Woods Guide to Seceding From Everything
Looking over many Tom Woods Show episodes, I discovered a common theme: finding freedom in an unfree world. It's not true that we libertarians only complain. We build. So I talk secession from: the screwed-up American health care system, the monetary system, the education system, the traditional 9-to-5 job, and a lot more.
Thu, 31 January 2019
Ep. 1332 Should Libertarians Support Secession?
Historian Brion McClanahan joins me to discuss an article on secession, particularly on the nineteenth-century southern secession, that makes the rounds every once in a while in fashionable libertarian circles. Libertarians can't support secession across the board, the author says, because some seceding states intend great evil once seceded. He further says there's no right of secession of an American state anyway. Are these statements sound? That's what we discuss today.
Tue, 29 January 2019
Ep. 1331 Do We Need the State for the Sake of the Vulnerable?
In one of my Twitter exchanges, I came across a fellow who thought the vulnerable would be worse off under libertarianism, since they'd be less likely to have access to education, etc. Since a lot of people think this way, I thought I'd address issues like this in this episode.
Ep. 1330 The State Retards Progress and Peace
Richard Cobden, the nineteenth-century pro-trade, noninterventionist member of Parliament, once said, "The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace and the spread of commerce and the diffusion of education than upon the labor of Cabinets or Foreign Offices." I take this one sentence and riff on it, covering themes in modern European history, development economics, noninterventionist foreign policy, and more.
Ep. 1329 Lawyers Against the State
Today I talk to Ethan Blevins with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which does pro bono work for people wronged by the state. Crazy laws and regulations in left-wing Seattle keep these folks pretty busy, but they take on cases all over that part of the country. Nice to have an encouraging episode once in a while!
Ep. 1328 Are the Media the Enemies of the People?
Some libertarians shrink from this kind of language, but I don't see how it can be doubted, especially now. In this episode I discuss not just the Covington high school students, but also the media's general pro-regime bias.
Ep. 1327 The Green New Deal Is Insane
Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress joins me to discuss the Green New Deal proposal, which seeks a radical transformation of the American economy in the service of "green" energy targets.
Ep. 1326 How to Secede From Our Monetary Regime
Frequent guest Bob Murphy returns, this time talking about his new (co-authored) book, The Case for IBC. This is an acronym for "Infinite Banking Concept," a strategy that uses properly designed whole life insurance policies as a way to "become your own banker." The concept was developed by Nelson Nash, who besides working in insurance was personally tutored in Austrian theory by Leonard Read himself. Bob explains how the average person can benefit from IBC, and he answers common objections like "Isn't it better to buy term and invest the difference?" and "Why would I put my money in life insurance when the dollar is going to crash?"
Ep. 1325 Articles of Impeachment Against Abraham Lincoln
A law professor recently included a thought experiment on a constitutional law exam: suppose Lincoln had survived the assassin's bullet, and later wound up facing articles of impeachment for some of his actions during the war. This is obviously a useful exercise, since many people feel an emotional connection to Lincoln and his cause, but this is precisely what law school is supposed to be about: can you suspend such thoughts and think entirely about the law? Well, guess how one critic characterized the exam. You already know the language used to condemn it. Brion McClanahan and I review the accusations against this professor, and the extremely valuable and thought-provoking questions on his exam.
Ep. 1324 How to Nudge Non-Libertarians in the Right Direction
Musician Tatiana Moroz has an audience a portion of which is new to libertarian ideas, so she asked me newbie-friendly questions: how I get non-libertarians to start thinking differently, who will build the roads, what about the police, the truth about the Federal Reserve -- fun questions like that.
Ep. 1323 Agorism: Anti-Politics, Anti-State, Pro-Freedom Now
Author and publisher Victor Koman joins me to discuss agorism, the anti-political, anti-state philosophy and strategy developed by Samuel E. Konkin III. Those chapters that exist of Konkin's would-be treatise, Counter-Economics, have just been released for people to read for the very first time. We discuss those chapters and the ideas found in them, and how what Konkin calls the "counter-economy" can challenge the state.
Ep. 1322 Smashing Fallacies in American Economic History
Professor Jeff Herbener just completed the first of two courses for my LibertyClassroom.com website on American economic history, an area where there are plenty of misconceptions and fallacies to refute. In this episode we talk about 19th-century monetary policy and bank panics, fiscal policy in an age of limited government, colonial inflation, and lots more.
Ep. 1321 The Progressives' Dream -- Rule by So-Called Experts -- and How to Dismantle It
A hundred years ago progressives thought it best that we be ruled by experts. Their vision culminated in the administrative state we have today, in which federal agencies make law, at times even clearly at odds with the actual wording and intent of Congress. Peter Wallison joins me to discuss the problem and the solution.
Ep. 1320 "Pro-Family" Economics Makes Me Crazy
Tucker Carlson, who's been great on some issues, has been speaking out against what he considers the free-market fundamentalism (I wish!) of mainstream conservatism. He says we need to understand that there's more to life than GDP, etc. Since this line of argument makes me crazy, I devoted this episode to answering it.
BONUS Ep. 1319 Your New Business for 2019: What to Do and What to Avoid
Steve Clayton was a vice president at LabCorp, where many of us have gone to have blood work done, and took a chance: he left it all behind to go out on his own as an entrepreneur. The gamble paid off magnificently. Today we compare notes on what works and what doesn't, and the features your online business should have to maximize your likelihood of success.
Sign up for Steve's important presentation!
Ep. 1318 Cryptocurrency: Regulatory Hurdles, and Advances in Privacy
Today, Sasha Hodder, an authority on the legal and regulatory aspects of cryptocurrency, discusses the regulatory hurdles faced by crypto, but also advances in privacy for users.
Ep. 1317 What Can Libertarians Contribute to the Study of Literature?
Allen Mendenhall, who holds a Ph.D. in English from Auburn University, joins me to discuss what libertarian literary criticism looks like.
Wed, 9 January 2019
Ep. 1316 How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything
Pat Flynn -- fitness expert, libertarian, and entrepreneur -- joins me to discuss one of the vanishingly small number of books in personal development that gives you specific action items to improve yourself, as opposed to a ceaseless stream of fortune-cookie maxims. Chances are, your efforts at self-improvement are misdirected; Pat is truly where it's at.
Tue, 8 January 2019
Ep. 1315 Everything Should Be Abolished
In this episode, I review some themes from my 2011 book Rollback, which makes the case against, well, pretty much everything -- the Fed, the military-industrial complex, the whole kit and kaboodle. I also discuss an interesting development in the James Damore case at Google.
Mon, 7 January 2019
Ep. 1314 Ocasio-Cortez Wants 70% Top Marginal Tax Rate
She says it's about time people "pay their fair share," and that she needs the dough to fund her Green New Deal. Others are saying that since we had high top marginal rates in the past, it's no problem to have them now -- and maybe the economy would be even better! Well, no, no, and no.
Fri, 4 January 2019
Ep. 1313 Capitalism Makes Poor Better Off; Left Goes Berserk
The latest claim -- if you can believe it -- is that so-called dollar stores make the poor poorer. This isn't the first time the private sector has been condemned for expanding the choices available to the poor; I discuss three such cases in this maddening episode.
Thu, 3 January 2019
Ep. 1312 Trump's Mistakes
If you say Trump makes political mistakes, you get scolded: why, what do you know, Mr. Know-It-All? He managed to get elected against all the odds! He knows what he's doing! Now while that cautionary note is valid as far as it goes, the man is mortal, after all. And his mistakes are stupefying: truly unforced errors.
Ep. 1311 Good News in 2019? War on Terror Takes a Hit, and Peterson/Rubin Challenge Patreon
As the new year begins I devote this episode to (1) a review of the decisions by Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin to leave Patreon and build an alternative, and (2) taking stock of the War on Terror, and why we can be cautiously optimistic.


text:
Home When Are Legal Fees Disallowable
When Are Legal Fees Disallowable
Several requirements must be met in order for a taxpayer to deduct statutory or other expenses as a business, business, revenue-generating expense. Each of these requirements is explained in detail in Section I of this portfolio. The determination of the deductible of these types of expenses is based on an analysis of all relevant facts and circumstances. In the context of litigation costs, the "origin of claim" test is used to determine whether a particular expense is deductible. This test is discussed in detail in I, D, 3. Expenses are not tax deductible unless a specific provision of the Code allows them to be deducted. When an expense is linked to taxable income, taxpayers are highly motivated to find ways to deduct expenses. This is especially true for attorneys` fees, as the income to which they relate may never have materialized without a lawyer and attorney`s fees may be substantial. Example 14: C, a lawyer, works for the U.S. government.
The government sued her for allegedly engaging in private legal activities during her working hours. C hired a lawyer to represent her in the investigation. The origin of the claim in this case is C`s employment, not his private law practice. Never mind that the consequences of the investigation include the loss of her business reputation or that the government no longer allows her to practise as a lawyer while in her current position. Instead, the focus must be on origin, and the lawyer`s fees were only incurred because of investigations in his workplace. Under para. 62(a)(1), attorneys` fees are various individual deductions.20 With recent changes to tax laws and adjustments to what is or is not deductible, you may be wondering if you are able to deduct your attorney`s fees. Follow our guide to determine which legal fees can and cannot be deducted from your taxes. Whether or not legal fees are allowed can sometimes confuse small business directors. Example 13: The facts are the same as in Example 12, except that X considers that the settlement payment made to him by T and his former employee causes the payment to have received a repayment agreement under section 62(a)(2)(A). X`s argument is rejected because there is no repayment plan (as under paragraphs 62(a) and (c) and related provisions) and X`s legal fees for his services as an employee were not paid (they were paid for him to recover damages).
Since there is no accounting regime for lawyers` fees, they are not a deduction for AGIs, but as employment-related expenses, they are another individual deduction.18 Expenses reimbursed must be incurred during the period of employment and on behalf of the employer (among other requirements) in order to be paid under an accounting regime.19 Section 67 provides that various detailed items are deductible only: if the total amount exceeds 2 % of the AGI. Section 67 lists various deductions that are not treated like other individual deductions. Lawyers` fees are not included in the list; Therefore, if they are deductible from the AGI, they are subject to the 2% limit. Section 62(e) lists 18 types of "unlawful measures of discrimination." These include certain violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and several others. Section 62(a)(20) applies to attorneys` fees paid after October 22, 2004 for judgments or settlements rendered after that date. This portfolio includes legal and accounting fees and deals with fines, penalties, bribes and bribes. Costs associated with exiting a normal commercial contract are eligible, including payments to compel a director to withdraw a lawsuit against a corporation (G. Scammell & Nephew Ltd v Rowles (1939)).
If a company incurs expenses to defend a breach of contract charge, the costs are deductible if the company defends business assets, but of course not an allowable deduction when it comes to defending a personal reputation. Similarly, the costs of settling a commercial dispute are recoverable, while the costs of a private dispute, even if they are between two economic operators, are not allowed. Section II of this portfolio contains an analysis of the allocation of legal and other costs where only a portion of these costs is deductible. Section III of this portfolio deals with the deductibility of certain types of legal and other professional fees, including accounting fees, investment and administrative expenses, and corporate and other entity expenses. It can be difficult to keep track of the deductions you are eligible for, especially when there are rules like those that apply to legal fees. TurboTax finds all the deductions and credits you qualify for by asking simple questions to help you get the biggest tax refund. Possible favorable treatments for the attorney`s fee deduction include either offline deductions or adjustments to the base or sale price in a real estate transaction. However, attorneys` fees incurred by individuals may also fall into less favorable categories: personal expenses, non-deductible expenses, or various individual deductions limited by the 2% adjusted gross income limit (AGI) for regular and unauthorized taxes for other minimum tax (LMO) purposes. In contrast, in the banks, 23 of the taxpayers won their case (until the government won at the Supreme Court level). The government had argued that under the doctrine of "predictive income transfer",24 taxpayers could not attribute their income to someone else.
However, the Court of Appeals relied on the 25-year-old decision in Cotnam, in which the court found that state law granted the attorney appropriate privilege or interest in both the claim and an arbitral award. Thus, the taxpayer could not obtain the part of the award that constituted the award of the lawyer`s contingency fees. In Cotnam, the Court of First Instance held that the doctrine of early transfer of income was not applicable because of the legal nature of the agreement. Thus, the Court of Appeal agreed with the taxpayer that the portion of the arbitration award representing the lawyer`s contingency fees was not included in the income. A similar conclusion was reached in Banaitis.26 In Woodward, the Court held that a norm such as the origin of the claim may lead to borderline cases where it is not easy to determine the nature of the origin. As mentioned earlier, the tax treatment of legal fees is a well-argued area, and there are many court cases to consider when resolving borderline situations. This section provides guidance on how to identify the origin of attorneys` fees as capitalizable, commercial, employment-related, investor, or personal. Fines, penalties, damages and related court costs will not be allowed as deductions if the penalties apply for violations of the law. It is assumed that, in this case, it is not an "economic loss". The IRS auditors concluded that legal fees were unreimbursed business expenses of employees that should be classified as various individual deductions. This category of deductions can only be claimed if they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).
However, you can combine employees` unreimbursed business expenses with other miscellaneous individual deductions – such as job search expenses, tax advice and tax preparation fees, and taxable investment expenses – if you are trying to meet the 2% IGA threshold. In the end, all claims against the employee were dismissed and she was allowed to retain the bonus. But she incurred nearly $81,000 in legal fees — and wanted to deduct them on her personal tax return as part of expenses for a business she and her husband operated. Make sure your lawyer`s invoices clearly state the type of services provided. If the invoice your lawyer provides does not indicate the type of legal advice or legal advice, ask the lawyer to amend it to include all the required information. This allows you to accurately document the legal fees you deduct from your taxes. You can also make the process much easier if you request invoices that list fees for deductible and non-deductible services to be separated.
What Was the Sharecropper Contract
When Does Smcr Come into Effect for Conduct Rules Staff


text:
European Clubs Upset With UEFA and FIFA
by David on February 8, 2011
The European Club Association, representing 197 clubs across Europe, is meeting today and tomorrow and ECA is being very vocal in its opposition to some of the thigs that UEFA and FIFA are doing.
Top of the list is the scheduling of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with the ECA opposed to playing the tournament during the winter. A winter World Cup would mean a complete restructuring of the European calendar, and ECA general secretary Michele Centenaro said all clubs were opposed to "the disruption of the traditional domestic football season".
"It has not been dealt with correctly," said Manchester United chief executive David Gill. "There has been concern obviously in the way it has manifested itself. That is not just our view, it's the view of more than 100 clubs individually and collectively. This is a major thing that will have ramifications for club football for three years. For it to happen in that way was somewhat surprising. This is an issue that has not been dealt with correctly."
Another sore point is the fact that Euro 2012 and the London Olympics are separated by less than a month and Gill is opposed to releasing players for two major competitions back to back.
"A player who is in the Euro squad shouldn't be in the Olympics squad," said Gill. "Obviously we want to make a success of the Olympics and we are happy to release players but I think common sense will prevail."
At the heart of the ECA's issues with FIAF & UEFA is that old battle between club and country. Sandro Rosell, the president of Spanish champions Barcelona and an ECA vice-president has called for the ECA to play a greater role in the decision-making process of the international match calendar.
"I wouldn't say we are at war, the clubs are very patient, but we have our limits," Rosell told a press conference today. "We hope UEFA and FIFA will hear what we have to say to them. We have no doubt they will listen to us and consider what we are asking for and that it is logical and fair."
The clubs are angry that FIFA have added eight additional international fixtures to the match calendar from 2011-14, including this week's round of friendlies across Europe. AC Milan operations director Umberto Gandini, the ECA vice-chairman, said the current schedule suited no-one.
"Tell me which national team manager or club manager is happy there is an international friendly tomorrow? "All of a sudden we discover they (FIFA) can modify the calendar any time they like. If you are not heard you have to scream."
photo credit: CLF


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VEDIC NEW YEAR PREDICTIONS–MARCH 17: WHAT LIES AHEAD?
The New Year in Vedic Astrology Starts March 17th, 2018
Whereas western culture delights in January New Year predictions, the Vedic New Year calendar is often run for the new Moon in March after the spring solstice for the capital city of a country. Because the New Year begins after sunrise, Vedic astrologers will assign the ruler of the day to be ruler of the year and because the new moon is after sunrise, the Sun is the ruler of the Year. The chart is cast the capital city of your country for the new mono and predictions for the New Year are made accordingly.
In the Vedic calendar there is a deity or god that governs each year and they rotate each year for 60 years and they are connected to the Jupiter and Saturn returns, and that suggests that just like last time, Jupiter was in Libra and Saturn in Sagittarius. Hence, we are going to have influence like we had in 1958 – 1959.
This is year, March 17, 2018 at 9:12 a.m. EDT, the chart for Washington, DC is the Year of Vilamba. You can run your capital at the new moon after the spring equinox.
Here is what the Vedic texts say if you were born this year, which last was seen between March 1958 – 1959 and applies to people born between March 20, 1958 to April 7, 1959: "The native whose birth occurs in the 'Samvatsara' of 'Vilamba' is deceitful, extremely avaricious or greedy, lazy, phlegmatic (that is, his predominant humour is Phlegm), weak, fatalist and has the habit of speaking without purpose, serviceable, defeated by his wife, contented, keeps his thoughts secret, and is of restless nature." (Note: These Vedic texts never seem kind in these descriptions. – Ed.)
In any case it would continue the theme of political greed, smoke and mirrors and the inability to plow through difficult global political problems, which is not what we need in our troubled world. Kick the budget and the tax problems down the road until our future generations are so chained with debt they will be forced to work themselves 24 hours a day . We can look back in time and see what past Vilamba years were like.
In world history, the Spanish-America war began in April 1898 and continued into the end of the year. This was also during the 3rd year of the US Rahu period. Russia prevented Finland from becoming autonomous in February 1899 and one has think of Ukraine. The satellite Sputnik 2 (launched November 3, 1957) disintegrates during reentry from orbit in April 1958. Castro's invasion of Havana began that year. In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines landed in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there. In 1959, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile was accomplished. The Tibetan uprising erupted in Lhasa when Chinese officials attempted to arrest the Dalai Lama. Alaska and Hawaii were granted statehood during the Year of Vilamba.
If any theme emerges, it seems to be that of war and blocking of freedom for countries wanting to become independent occurred. Obviously, Korea has to be on our mind this year with Saturn in Sagittarius promoting fear from opponents and I think that the
Venezuela seems the most likely country on the map to have a situation that could escalate this year, but I will have to look at their chart in more detail.
Chart of the Year of Vilamba for the United States
The chart for the US that day is as above for March 17, 2018: Note the ruler of the day is the Sun because the new moon occurs after Sunrise and thus Sun in the 12th house becomes the major influence for the year. The lord of the chart is Mars conjunct Saturn within 9 degrees in the war-like sign of Sagittarius and the 9th house dealing with foreign countries. All of this suggests strong desire for war.
Jupiter is retrograde and sandhi at the end of the sign in Libra and not of much help as the depositor for Sagittarius. Four planets are in the 12th house of Pisces including an exalted Venus with Rahu in the 4th house creating an unsettled feeling of peace and contentment on the year. The ruler of the Year, the Sun, is placed in the 12th house, which is the most difficult placement for the Sun suggesting that the world will not see the US in a positive light or it will become less important or it will quest after power to be seen and express itself and fail.
We should note that in the US chart, the Mars/Saturn conjunction in early April is in the US 1st house aspecting the US house of enemies and this would greatly increase fear and war tensions for that time window. Given the parallels with the Spanish – American War of 1898 in that Year of Vilamba, one has to think a war by spring seems rather ominous but is something that we do not want to put too much attention on. We wonder if Iran will be more of a target than North Korea with olive branches happening with North and South Korea around the Olympics at publication.
Will the Mars/Saturn conjunction and all the planets in the 12th house create a lot of frustration regarding foreign affairs? Seems that way but maybe the exalted Venus in the 12th can rescue the situation and prevent major problems. Will Venus have enough of a strong benefic influence to prevent war?
The Mars/Saturn conjunction is a signature for frustration. Aries wants to fight but Saturn will block. Will the rest of the world be able to block war and leave the US in a smoldering situation At the moment this seems more a possible situation with US Trade wars but saber-rattling between the UK and and Russia is annoying and the Military Industrial Complex seems hell-bent on starting something to enrich the pockets of the few. Unfortunately this tradition goes back to the Rothchild Family selling armaments to both sides in the French-English War of 1812.
Other country charts will have different rising signs and put the planets in different houses. For North Korea and Japan, Jupiter goes into the 1st house and creates a much better annual chart for them. Rahu plagues the European countries in the 1st and Ketu in the 7th suggesting continuing wrangling over the EU problems and this is true for the UK.
Saudi Arabia and Israel and Turkey come out Leo rising with the Sun in the 8th house, which means the country needs to set up major transformational energy but seems rather vulnerable. The Israeli Prime Minster is wrapped in corruption scandals and may not survive. Turkey is definitely a country that could errupt on the world horizon with war tensions and a rising dictator there and wanting to break from Nato into Russia's arms. Will their President survive?
Turkey and Israel seem particularly vulnerable and India and Pakistan come out to be Virgo rising with Sun, Venus, debilitated Mercury and the Moon in the 7th house suggesting conflicts and uneasy but at least protected by the exalted Venus.
See our Vedic Astrological Almanac for predictions on 20 major countries and there are over 40 pages on World Economic and Political which has 45 pages on world economic and political forecasts.
VEDIC ASTROLOGY TRANSIT GUIDE FOR 2018 – 2019
which fellow astrologers are acclaiming:
"This almanac is truly a masterpiece and labor of love. Barry is a gifted astrologer and writer. I have written yearly forecasts for over 30 years and understand the work, knowledge and dedication involved. It is so complete with everything a beginner or advanced student of astrology would need. The references to the planet's transit through the signs, nakshatras, aspects, dates and times, plus their interpretations is fantastic. He even covers the effects these will have on individual countries. I am sure I will be referring to this manual frequently throughout the year."
Joni Patry, author and Vedic Astrologer
Available on our home page at www.appliedvedicastrology.com
in color for 24.95 or in black in white hard copy on Amazon for 29.95.
If you need help understanding your chart, view our services at https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/category/services/ or take our new class on Nakshatras starting on Sunday, March 25 th for 10 sessions over Go to Webinar.


text:
// HTMLParser Library - A java-based parser for HTML
// http://htmlparser.org
// Copyright (C) 2006 Somik Raha
//
// Revision Control Information
//
// $URL: https://svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/htmlparser/trunk/parser/src/main/java/org/htmlparser/tags/MetaTag.java $
// $Author: derrickoswald $
// $Date: 2006-09-16 10:44:17 -0400 (Sat, 16 Sep 2006) $
// $Revision: 4 $
//
// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
// modify it under the terms of the Common Public License; either
// version 1.0 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
//
// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
// Common Public License for more details.
//
// You should have received a copy of the Common Public License
// along with this library; if not, the license is available from
// the Open Source Initiative (OSI) website:
//   http://opensource.org/licenses/cpl1.0.php

package org.htmlparser.tags;

import org.htmlparser.Attribute;
import org.htmlparser.lexer.Page;
import org.htmlparser.nodes.TagNode;
import org.htmlparser.util.ParserException;

/**
 * A Meta Tag
 */
public class MetaTag
    extends
        TagNode
{
    /**
     * The set of names handled by this tag.
     */
    private static final String[] mIds = new String[] {"META"};

    /**
     * Create a new meta tag.
     */
    public MetaTag ()
    {
    }

    /**
     * Return the set of names handled by this tag.
     * @return The names to be matched that create tags of this type.
     */
    public String[] getIds ()
    {
        return (mIds);
    }

    /**
     * Get the HTTP-EQUIV attribute, if any.
     * @return The value of the HTTP-EQUIV attribute,
     * or null if the attribute doesn't exist.
     */
    public String getHttpEquiv ()
    {
        return (getAttribute ("HTTP-EQUIV"));
    }

    /**
     * Get the CONTENT attribute, if any.
     * @return The value of the CONTENT attribute,
     * or null if the attribute doesn't exist.
     */
    public String getMetaContent ()
    {
        return (getAttribute ("CONTENT"));
    }

    /**
     * Get the NAME attribute, if any.
     * @return The value of the NAME attribute,
     * or null if the attribute doesn't exist.
     */
    public String getMetaTagName ()
    {
        return (getAttribute ("NAME"));
    }

    /**
     * Set the HTTP-EQUIV attribute.
     * @param httpEquiv The new value of the HTTP-EQUIV attribute.
     */
    public void setHttpEquiv (String httpEquiv)
    {
        Attribute equiv;
        equiv = getAttributeEx ("HTTP-EQUIV");
        if (null != equiv)
            equiv.setValue (httpEquiv);
        else
            getAttributesEx ().add (new Attribute ("HTTP-EQUIV", httpEquiv));
    }

    /**
     * Set the CONTENT attribute.
     * @param metaTagContents The new value of the CONTENT attribute.
     */
    public void setMetaTagContents (String metaTagContents)
    {
        Attribute content;
        content = getAttributeEx ("CONTENT");
        if (null != content)
            content.setValue (metaTagContents);
        else
            getAttributesEx ().add (new Attribute ("CONTENT", metaTagContents));
    }

    /**
     * Set the NAME attribute.
     * @param metaTagName The new value of the NAME attribute.
     */
    public void setMetaTagName (String metaTagName)
    {
        Attribute name;
        name = getAttributeEx ("NAME");
        if (null != name)
            name.setValue (metaTagName);
        else
            getAttributesEx ().add (new Attribute ("NAME", metaTagName));
    }

    /**
     * Perform the META tag semantic action.
     * Check for a charset directive, and if found, set the charset for the page.
     * @exception ParserException If setting the encoding fails.
     */
    public void doSemanticAction ()
        throws
            ParserException
    {
        String httpEquiv;
        String charset;

        httpEquiv = getHttpEquiv ();
        if ("Content-Type".equalsIgnoreCase (httpEquiv))
        {
            charset = getPage ().getCharset (getAttribute ("CONTENT"));
            getPage ().setEncoding (charset);
        }
    }
}


text:
Women Wage Peace Educates Milwaukeeans On Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Published July 11, 2019 at 12:39 PM CDT
Elana Kahn
Israeli-Jewish activist Roni Yavin and Druze-Israeli activist Nadia Hamdan visit the Milwaukee Jewish Federation in June 2019.
Two women from an Israeli peace group spoke in Milwaukee in June. Nadia Hamdan, a Druze-Israeli, and Roni Yavin, a Jewish-Israeli, are part of Women Wage Peace. It's an organization seeking a "non-violent and mutually acceptable" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Both women have lost family members in the conflict. The organization started in Israel the summer of 2014, right after the last Gaza operation.
"Every couple of years, we have another operation in Gaza, and nothing changes," says Yavin. "But the lives of the people who got killed or wounded, their lives are destroyed."
She says Women Wage Peace was a spontaneous initiative made up of different women from around Israel.
"We decided to start a women-run organization for peace. And our main goal is to get an agreement that's acceptable and appreciated by both sides, not just [one that] one side will decide for the other," Yavin says.
"We should look for life before war and do everything we can to look for a solution," says Roni Yavin.
In 2017, the organization held a peace march with events attended by tens of thousands of women. Recently, they've sent up a 'Mothers' Tent' in Israel's Rabin Square to celebrate International Womens' Day and the 40th anniversary of peace between Egypt and Israel. The group held Iftar feasts in various places around the country for Ramadan.
Yavin says the group is also trying to learn from other places in the world about how they've solved conflicts. "We learn about what happened in Ireland, what happened in Liberia," she says. "Now we have another group of women that will go to South Africa."
The women also confirm the group's bottom line: "We should look for life before war and do everything we can to look for a solution," says Yavin. "And war should be, and killing people should be the last, last, last option after we checked everything before."
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Maayan Silver
Maayan Silver has been a reporter with WUWM's News Team since 2018.
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Fu inoltre uomo di teatro, pianista, maestro di bel canto, direttore d'orchestra ed editore del primo Ottocento.

Studiò al Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini di Napoli. La sua carriera teatrale non fu attiva solo in Italia, ma anche all'estero: Lisbona, Parigi, Amsterdam e Londra in cui fu direttore d'orchestra al King's Theatre in Haymarket dal 1809 al 1814.

Importante fu anche l'incontro con il soprano Angelica Catalani, il cui rapporto artistico sarà significativo per il musicista.

Biografia

La famiglia e la giovinezza
Vincenzo Pucitta nacque a Civitavecchia il 17 febbraio nel 1778. Figlio del patrizio Filippo Antonio Pucitta e Amalia Albert, Vincenzo proviene da un'antica famiglia nobile viterbese. La famiglia, infatti, si trovò a Civitavecchia nella metà del Seicento, in cui Francesco Pucitta, bisnonno di Vincenzo, visconte e magistrato comunale, diede un importante contributo al finanziamento del completamento e del restauro della chiesa più antica della città: Santa Maria dell'Orazione (conosciuta come Chiesa della Morte).

Vincenzo Pucitta trascorse la sua infanzia a Civitavecchia e qui iniziò a coltivare la passione per la musica. I primi approcci musicali li ebbe nella Società Filarmonica che dava la possibilità, alle famiglie borghesi, di poter impartire lezioni private di musica e di bel canto e organizzare spettacoli.

Studiò al Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini nella sua adolescenza, in cui tra i vari insegnamenti quelli fondamentali, per la sua musica e arte, furono di Fedele Fenaroli, per quanto riguarda l'accompagnamento, e di Nicola Sala, sul contrappunto.

La carriera
Iniziò la sua carriera artistica a Senigallia nel 1799 e nel 1800 Pucitta ebbe il suo esordio al Teatro Ducale di Parma, con la sua farsa Le nozze senza sposa.  Tutto cambiò, il 16 giugno 1801, con l'opera Il fuoriuscito rappresentata nel Teatro alla Scala di Milano. Quest'opera è un dramma costituito di due atti. Raggiunse la popolarità e si fece strada nei vari teatri italiani e esteri. Nel 1802 a Venezia eseguì Werther e Carlotta. Tra il 1805 e 1808 lavorò nel teatro italiano di Amsterdam, insieme alla cantante Agnese Pucitta, sua moglie, la quale probabilmente spinse il musicista ad andare a Londra.

Proprio qui Vincenzo rafforza il suo legame artistico con la cantante Angelica Catalani, considerata una tra le voci più vigorose e potenti dell'Ottocento, e scrisse per lei delle opere di grande successo: La Vestale, Le tre sultane, Ginevra di Scozia, Boadicea. La Catalani amava eseguire il repertorio di Pucitta e rimase accanto al musicista fino a Parigi, dove il soprano prenderà posto nella direzione del Théâtre-Italien insieme al marito.

Le opere teatrali, precedentemente citate, furono rappresentate al King's Theatre in Haymarket di Londra e Pucitta ne divenne il compositore e il direttore d'orchestra gradualmente. Inizialmente, infatti, aveva altri colleghi che tentarono di prendere il posto. Pietro Carlo Guglielmi fu uno dei suoi rivali più acerrimi. Infatti, entrambi i musicisti misero in scena delle opere tratte dai lavori di Shakespeare: Pucitta con I villeggiatori bizzarri (tratto dalla La bisbetica domata)  e Guglielmi con Romeo e Giulietta. I villeggiatori fu un'opera di successo, nonostante l'assenza della cantante Catalani, a causa "delle sue pretese economiche", così come La caccia di Enrico IV. La cantante fece ritorno nel cast del King's Theatre nel 1810, e il suo primo ruolo nel repertorio di Pucitta fu quello di Giulia in La vestale. Pucitta, a Londra, venne apprezzato per i suoi capolavori e per il suo talento:

"The music of the opera by Pucitta was beautiful, and might have almost told its story without the aid of language".

Nel 9 giugno 1814 fu la volta dell'Aristodemo, un'opera seria tragica che fu ricordata principalmente per il momento storico in cui era stata rappresentata. Infatti ci ritroviamo verso la fine dell'Impero napoleonico, e ad assistere allo spettacolo vi furono importanti figure politiche: re Federico Guglielmo I di Prussia, lo zar Alessandro I I e dei reali inglesi tra cui i figli di Giorgio III.

In quest'opera si mantenne lo stile serio dall'aspetto tragico grazie a vocalità di Angelica Catalani e Pucitta fece leva sulla scura vocalità di Diomiro Tramezzani.

L'opera chiuse la carriera di Pucitta a Londra e seguì Angelica Catalani a Parigi dal 1815 al 1817, nel Théâtre-Italien, in cui nel 1817 rappresentò l'opera buffa La principessa di campagna. In seguito, il rapporto artistico con la cantante, che aveva portato Pucitta al successo in Europa, subì una rottura.

Nel 1818 a Parigi fu ripresa la Caccia di Enrico IV, in cui la protagonista era interpretata dalla cantante Elizabeth Ferron, che probabilmente era stata allieva di Pucitta, e insieme fecero una tournée in Austria e in Germania.

Nel 1820 a Milano rappresentò La principessa del villaggio e nel 1822 a Roma fu la prima esecuzione de La festa del villaggio. In entrambe le opere cantò la Ferron. Eseguì poi l'opera La fausse Agnès  a Parigi nel 1822: un misto di musiche di Domenico Cimarosa, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer e Pucitta. Infine venne rappresentata nel 1833 a Milano, nel Teatro Carcano, l'opera l'Adolfo e Chiara (La burla fortunata o i due prigionieri). Dopo si dedicò a un repertorio tutto diverso: passò dalle opere teatrali alla musica sacra a componendo le Mille Melodie consagrate a Maria Immacolata e nel 1850 i cantici popolari nella raccolta Mese di Maria. Queste furono stampate presso l'editoria Casa Ricordi.

Pucitta editore
Vincenzo Pucitta, grazie alla capacità di essere imprenditore, fu gestore della sua editoria con cui poté pubblicare le sue opere frammentate in piccoli pezzi, nelle collane del Periodical e New periodical work. Questo dava la possibilità alle persone di poter cantare ed eseguire i pezzi a livello dilettantistico. Ci fu, inoltre, una collaborazione con l'editore Chappell.

Quando poi tornò in Italia nel 1825, pubblicò l'edizione musicale Opera pia per promuovere il canto spirituale nelle pie famiglie e case di educazione in Italia, che contiene pezzi sacri.

La morte
Morì a Milano il 20 dicembre del 1861.

Opere
Bianca de' Rossi (1800, Firenze)
L'amor platonico (1800, Lucca)
Il fuoruscito (1801, Milano)
Teresa e Wilk (1802, Venezia)
Werter e Carlotta (1802, Venezia)
Il puntiglio (Furberia e puntiglio) (1802, Milano)
La perfidia scoperta (1803, Venezia)
Zelinda e Lindoro (1803, Venezia)
Lauretta (opera) (1803, Padova)
La burla fortunata ossia I due prigionieri (1804, Venezia); Adolfo e Chiara (1812, Torino); Li due prigionieri ossia Adolfo e Clara (1814, Londra)
Lo sposo di Lucca (1805, Venezia)
Andromaca (1806)
Il marchese d'un giorno ovvero Gli sposi felici (1808, Livorno)
La caccia di Enrico IV (1809, Londra)
La vestale (1810, Londra)
Il trionfo di Rosselane ossia Le tre sultane (1811, Londra)
Ginevra di Scozia (1812)
Baodicea (1813)
Il feudatario (1813, Trieste)
Aristodemo (1814, Londra)
L'orgoglio avvilito (1815, Parigi)
La principessa in campagna o Il marchese nell'imbarazzo (La principessa bizzarra) (1817, Parigi)
Il maestro di cappella (1818, Trieste)
La festa del villaggio (1822, Roma)
La Fausse Agnès (1824, Parigi)
Le Mille Melodie consagrate a Maria Immacolata (maggio 1843-marzo 1847)
Raccolta Mese di Maria (1850)

Note

Bibliografia

 Vincenzo Pucitta. Il tumulto del gran mondo a cura di Annamaria Bonsante, 2014, Cafagna Editore , collana "Le vie dei suoni" diretta da Dinko Fabris.

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Compositori classici
Compositori d'opera

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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X Trailer: An Adult Film Shoot Turns Deadly in Ti West's Latest Horror Film
Jordan Raup○ January 12, 2022
The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers director Ti West is back with his first feature in seven years this spring. X, which stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi, follows an adult film shoot in rural Texas that turns deadly. Ahead of a March release from A24, the first trailer has now arrived.
Set in 1979, Ti West looks to be bringing some levity to the slasher, replicating the look of the era for the film within the film. After earning acclaim with his early horror features, West has spent much of the last half-a-decade working in television, so his return to features is a welcome one, and with the backing of A24, this could see him reaching quite a bigger audience.
Watch the trailer below.
X opens on March 18, 2022.
Ti WestX
Leonard Pearce○ January 20, 2022
U.S. Trailer for Dominik Graf's Fabian: Going to the Dogs Introduces a Berlinale Favorite
Bigbug Trailer: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Stages a Robot Revolt in Sci-Fi Comedy
We're All Going to the World's Fair Trailer Unveils the Year's Great Horror Movie


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Home » Motivating Behavior Change
Motivating behavior change (Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 2011)
Motivational interviewing helps patients identify reasons to change.
If change were easy, people wouldn't have to make resolutions every New Year. Anyone who wanted to give up smoking, become sober, or lose weight would do so.
The reality is that changing behavior — especially overcoming an addiction — is difficult. Motivational interviewing is a therapeutic technique many clinicians use to help a patient identify personal reasons for undertaking the hard work of behavior change. Although originally developed for the treatment of alcohol dependence, motivational interviewing is now used to help patients overcome other types of substance abuse, stop smoking, lose weight, increase physical activity, and improve adherence to medical treatment.
Motivational interviewing shares much in common with the transtheoretical or "stages of change" model of behavior change. Although not universally endorsed, the transtheoretical model holds that at any given time, a person is at a particular stage in relation to behavior change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, or maintenance.
At the precontemplation stage, people do not acknowledge how serious the problem is, or even refuse to admit that they have a problem. At the contemplation stage, they are aware of the problem but have not yet decided to act. Especially for people addicted to alcohol or drugs, the first steps are often the most difficult, and many of them languish too long in the precontemplation and contemplation stages. Motivational interviewing is often best suited for these early stages of change.
A collaborative approach:
The word "interviewing" suggests inquiry rather than advice or instruction. Interviewers ask questions because they don't know all the answers. In motivational interviewing, clinicians function as partners in dialogue rather than experts. They avoid warnings, confrontations, and direct attempts to argue, persuade, or educate. They do not use diagnostic labels.
A variety of health care clinicians can use motivational interviewing in their practice, including primary care physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and dietitians. Details of how to conduct this therapy are published in manuals and described in a number of papers. Typical sessions involve several components.
Expressing empathy. Clinicians who practice motivational interviewing often employ reflective listening during a session. This is a technique in which clinicians repeat back or paraphrase a patient's answer, to make sure they understand what the patient is saying.
Developing discrepancies. The clinician draws attention to the discrepancy between the patient's present behavior and broader interests and values. The clinician may ask a patient to identify personal goals or values. The two will then discuss how the patient could change present behavior in order to reach those goals or live according to those values.
Rolling with resistance. The therapist avoids directly confronting a patient's resistance to change. One way to roll with resistance is to state arguments for and against change in the same response. Another approach is to be a devil's advocate, stating reasons not to change so that the patient will be inclined to review points in favor of change. Hearing oneself state those reasons explicitly may foster a commitment to change, along with a fear of disappointing oneself, the therapist, and others who have a stake in one's life.
Promoting self-efficacy. People are ready to change when they have confidence that they can make the change. Believing that they are in control helps them set high goals, sustain commitments, overcome obstacles, and recover from setbacks. To encourage self-efficacy, clinicians may ask patients to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, how strongly they are motivated for change, how important change is to them, and how confident they are that they can make the change. If patients rate themselves low on the scale, clinicians ask what it would take to increase motivation or confidence.
Multiple Uses:
Most of the research on motivational interviewing has evaluated its use in treating alcohol and other substance use disorders, but a smaller body of evidence suggests that this technique may also help promote other types of healthy behavior change.
Researchers in Denmark who conducted a meta-analysis of 72 randomized controlled studies found that motivational interviewing proved significantly more effective than traditional clinical advicegiving in about 75% of trials, involving a variety of medical problems. Motivational interviewing produced a large enough change to be clinically (as well as statistically) meaningful in helping people reduce alcohol consumption, lose weight, and lower their blood pressure. What follows are a few examples of the findings of studies focused on particular behaviors.
Substance use. One of the first large clinical trials that evaluated motivational interviewing, Project MATCH, compared four sessions of motivational enhancement therapy (a modified form of motivational interviewing) with two different 12-session treatments for alcohol dependence — cognitive behavioral therapy and a 12-step facilitation (preparation for Alcoholics Anonymous). All three treatments were equally effective, but motivational enhancement therapy took less time than the others, so that patients more quickly reduced their alcohol consumption.
Six other federally funded, multisite studies concluded that motivational interviewing was significantly better than standard community treatment for drug problems and dependence on several measures, including reduction of drug use and increased patient adherence to treatment.
Smoking cessation. The Cochrane Collaboration, an international group of experts, reviewed 14 randomized controlled studies in which motivational interviewing was compared with standard interventions to help people stop smoking. They found that motivational interviewing was significantly more effective than standard care, although quit rates remained low. Motivational interviewing was most likely to help people quit smoking when sessions with a clinician lasted at least 20 minutes, and when the patient saw a clinician multiple times rather than for only a single office visit.
Weight loss. Studies of motivational interviewing to promote weight loss have produced mixed results. A work group convened by the American Dietetic Association reviewed the literature and concluded that motivational interviewing alone was no more effective than traditional diet advice. However, when clinicians combined motivational interviewing with cognitive behavioral therapy, patients were more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables, consume less fatty food, and lose weight than those who received only traditional advice.
Although motivational interviewing does not work for every patient, it is a flexible approach to therapy that enlists the most powerful instigator of change: the patient's own desire to make it happen.
Lai DT, et al. "Motivational Interviewing for Smoking Cessation," Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Jan. 20, 2010): Doc. No. CD006936.
Miller WR, et al. "Toward a Theory of Motivational Interviewing," American Psychologist (Sept. 2009): Vol. 64, No. 6, pp. 527–37.
Pollak KI, et al. "Physician Communication Techniques and Weight Loss in Adults: Project CHAT," American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Oct. 2010): Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 321–28.
Rollnick S, et al. "Motivational Interviewing," BMJ (April 27, 2010): Electronic publication.
For more references, please see www.health.harvard.edu/mentalextra.
Empower Community Health


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SBB commissions Siemens Mobility to partially renovate Limmattal marshalling yard
SBB has commissioned Siemens Mobility to modernize the largest marshalling yard in Switzerland. The order includes partial renovation of the marshalling technology and marshalling yard interlocking, as well as replacement of the hydraulic clasp retarders.
The Limmattal marshalling yard (RBL) is the central hub of Switzerland's single-car loading traffic. Three times a day, it serves as the transfer point for Swiss domestic freight rail. A fully automated, highly available, high-performance marshalling system is an absolute necessity.
RBL's aging flow and hump control system will be partially renovated to bring the marshalling equipment up to the latest technological standard. By no later than 2042, the system will be ready to meet the requirements of modern freight traffic. Meanwhile, availability of the Limmattal marshalling yard will continue to be guaranteed.
The following elements of marshalling technology enable RBL's automatic humping operation:
Marshalling yard interlocking (controller), including the associated actuators
Integrated remote locomotive control via radio
Staggered braking systems
Propulsion systems on all 64 classification tracks
The marshalling yard interlocking itself is connected to the centralized car management system via a local communication computer.
Challenges during the conversion
Shunting and humping operations must be maintained throughout the entire commissioning process. Another challenge is the extremely short conversion time for the two key sections. Only 96 hours during the Easter holidays in 2025 and 2026 are set aside for working on the upper main retarders. Among other things, this will require well thought-out building site logistics.
The partial renovation is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Solution offered by Siemens Mobility AG
The solution for automatic humping operation being offered by Siemens Mobility AG is based on the MSR32 family, which SBB has already deployed successfully multiple times.
Over the past decade, SBB and Siemens Mobility AG have successfully commissioned systems in the Basel 1 marshalling yard (2012 and 2013) and the Basel 2 marshalling yard (2020).
Additional Swiss marshalling systems such as Lausanne, Buchs/SG, and Chiasso were also implemented with marshalling technology from Siemens Mobility.
Siemens Mobility AG is very pleased to be participating in the modernization of Switzerland's largest marshalling yard.
Retarders at Basel 2 marshalling yard
Propulsion system at Basel 2 marshalling yard
Stay up to date at all times: everything you need to know about electrification, automation, and digitalization.
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