text:
Home > Research > Research Guides > Research Guides A-Z > Maps and Plans
Research Guides A-Z
Burgh Records
Canal Records
Catholic Parish Registers
Chancery Records
Coal Mining Records
Commissary Court Records
Company Registration Records
Court and Legal records
Court of Session Records
Crafts and Trades
Customs and Excise Records
Education Records
Emigration Records
Estate Records
Exchequer Records
Fatal Accident Inquiry Records
High Court Criminal Trials
Inheriting Land and Buildings
Inland Revenue Survey Maps and Field Books
Justices of the Peace Records
National Registration
Poor Relief Records
Privy Council Records
Privy Seal Records
Railway Records
Sasines
Scottish Government Records After 1707
Scottish Parliament Records
Sheriff Court Records
Shipbuilding Records
Slavery and the Slave Trade
Soldiers' and Airmen's Wills
State Papers
Taxation Records
Wills and Testaments
access to maps and plans
the plans collections (Register House Plans series (RHP))
other maps and plans
plans held elsewhere (Ordnance Survey and ship-building)
searching for maps and plans
copying of maps and plans
Maps and plans are no longer produced in the Historical Search Room. If you wish to view a map or plan you will need to let us know in advance. We aim to provide access to maps and plans in the first instance through a digital surrogate rather than to the original record. Only six individual plans or one bound set of plans (plan book) can be included on a plan access request submitted to the Historical Search Room.
Where a plan has not already been imaged, we will aim to make an image available in the Historical Search Room within ten working days of the request being accepted. In certain cases it may also be possible to view a plan remotely on the ScotlandsPlaces website so it would be worth looking here to see if the plan you wish to view is already available.
If we are unable to make a plan available in this way owing to its condition, or for technical, ownership or copyright reasons, it may be possible to inspect the original plan at the Plans Unit at Thomas Thomson House, on a Wednesday morning or afternoon, by appointment with the Historical Search Room.
The Plans Collections
We hold a series of records known as the Register House Plans (RHP). It is an artificial collection of around 170,000 topographical plans, marine charts, architectural and engineering drawings (for convenience, the term 'plan' will be used to refer to all categories). Owing to their size and varied formats, plans require special storage conditions. It was therefore decided in the 1960s that plans should be removed from their collections and added to the RHP series, with a cross-reference back to the parent collection. This policy was not always rigorously adhered to, however, and it is still possible to find smaller plans in their original files or bundles.
The plans collection is a very diverse one. Since we are the official archive for a host of governmental and quasi-governmental bodies in Scotland, the series includes plans from government departments and agencies, nationalised industries, and the courts, as well as churches, private organisations, landed estates and families. Most of the manuscript plans are unique, while many of the engraved and lithographed plans have only survived in limited quantities. The collection also includes a number of photo reproductions of original plans which are either in private hands or held by other institutions.
The vast majority of the plans are topographical in nature, and we have the largest collection of original maps and plans of Scotland. Most date from 1750 or later, as cartography in Scotland only began to flourish during the 18th century under the influence of agricultural improvement, when landowners employed surveyors to map their estates.
We welcome gifts of plans or other documents recording the history of Scotland, the land and its peoples. If you have records you are considering depositing please contact us or read our maps and plans policy and statement of principles on the selection and acquisition of maps, plans, architectural and technical drawings.
estate plans - farms, runrigs, improved estates, feuing plans, quarries, saltpans and commonties
transport - railways, roads, bridges, canals and harbours and tramways
architectural - churches, schools, public buildings, private houses, railway stations, farm buildings and mills
public utilities - electricity, gas and water
engineering - technical plans of mining and shipbuilding
vignettes showing agricultural scenes, people at work, buildings and ships.
Most plans are part of the RHP series, with two important exceptions:
the first is the sasine plans, which were recorded as preservation writs from 1868 onwards (our reference RD16). From 1925 duplicate plans could be also recorded along with the sasines or, from 1934, recorded with the deeds themselves.
the other is the series of Ordnance Survey maps marked up in connection with a survey by the Inland Revenue to determine the value of all land in the United Kingdom, 1909-1915. They provide the key to the Inland Revenue field books (our reference IRS). Our guide to Inland Revenue Survey Maps and Field Books provides further details.
Plans Held Elsewhere
Ordnance Survey (OS) Maps
The National Library of Scotland provides digital copies of Ordnance Survey and other maps on the Map Images page of their website.
We hold in the RHP series only OS sheets which have been court productions or marked for a special purpose, frequently to indicate the ownership and boundaries of land and types of land classification. Other marked OS sheets held by us appear in the Inland Revenue (Scotland) series (IRS).
Shipbuilding Plans
We hold some shipbuilding plans. Collections which relate to west of Scotland shipbuilders are held elsewhere. Please go to our Shipbuilding Records guide and the websites of Glasgow City Archives and the Scottish Business Archive at the University of Glasgow for further information.
The plans series may be searched on the online catalogue which has replaced the traditional paper catalogues and card indexes. Catalogue descriptions include location, surveyor, engineer or architect, as well as the subject, date and origin of the plan.
For topographical and architectural plans, the 'Place Authority' search option allows searches to be restricted to the civil parish whose boundaries will often differ from those of the city, town or settlement of the same name.
Scottish plans are located by civil parish and county, according to the boundaries in existence immediately before the reorganisation of local government in 1975. This means that cities and towns may fall within the boundaries of a number of civil parishes, all of which will require to be searched independently.
Other plans of the British Isles are similarly located but by county and country rather than by civil parish and county.
Foreign plans are initially located by country and continent.
Detailed descriptions of the first 5,000 entries have been published in the 'Descriptive List of Plans in the Scottish Record Office' (four volumes) by Ian H Adams and Loretta R Timperley.
It may not be possible to obtain copies of plans which are physically unsuitable for copying, for example those in poor condition or too large. We will advise you on whether copies may be made of particular plans and any other restrictions, such as the need to obtain the permission of the owner and copyright holder.


If your Input File Type was: RAW or JPEG but your Output File Type was a Lightroom catalog you will need to connect your image files. The process is super easy!
Step 1: Download the samples/completed Lightroom catalog. Unzip.
Step 2: Know the file location of your RAW or JPEG images that you originally uploaded for editing.
Lightroom will then start connecting to the images and slowly they will appear in the catalog.


Savory Southwestern Lentils, Thyme for Cooking spicy side dish.
I had something similar to this in a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. I don't remember the name, and I never got the recipe. This is as close as I get to a return trip. Make them as hot as you like. I use the tiny, green lentils de Puy, but you can use the larger brown ones. Do not use the red ones, they get too mushy..
Cook the lentils in water and stock according to package directions until done. Drain if needed.
When hot add chili powder and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly - this releases more flavors.
Add onion, garlic and sauté a few minutes.
Add red pepper, sauté another few minutes, then add tomatoes.
Turn heat down to very low and sauté, uncovered, until all vegetables are very tender, stirring occasionally - about 15 minutes.
Add lentils, drained chilis and stir to combine. Taste.
This is where I stop but you may add more chili powder, chilies or hot sauce to taste.
Cover and let simmer over low heat for 5 minutes to let flavors meld. Serve.


Many people know me an "the man who makes useless machines" and even now I sometimes get requests for those objects, which I invented and built around 1933. In those days, the Italian nineteenth century reigned, with all its solemn maestri, all its art journals that spoke of nothing but lapidary artistic displays, and I, with my useless machines, was a laughingstock. And what's more, these objects were made from cardboard shapes painted in flat colors, and sometimes a ball of blown glass, the whole thing held together with fragile wooden sticks and silk thread. The structure had to be very light to be able to move with the air and the silk thread was perfect for dispersing the torsion.
But how my friends laughed, even those whom I respected most for the care that they put into their work. Almost everybody had one of my useless machines in their house, which they kept in their children's rooms because it was considered a ridiculous and trifling things, while they kept the sculptures of Marino Marini and the paintings of Carrà and Sironi in the living room. Certainly, in comparison with a painting by Sironi, where you saw the lion's claws, I with my cardboard and silk thread could not be taken seriously.
These friends of mine then discovered Alexander Calder who made "mobiles", but out of metal painted black or in violent colors. Calder immediately conquered the scene and I passed for one of his imitators.
What difference was there between my useless machines and Calder's mobiles? I think I should clear up this matter: apart from the fact that the material construction was different, the means of constructing the objects was also different. The only thing they have in common is that they are suspended objects that move. But there are many suspended objects and there always have been, apart from the fact that even my friend Calder had a precursor in Man Ray, who in 1920 constructed an object on the same principle.
I just discovered, thanks to today's amazing Google Doodle dedicated to Calder, this very interesting book about Bruno Munari, one of the few translated in english. I now have to read it, since from what I see in the previews on the web it looks like very interesting with more than 400 illustrations.
This is just another good occasion to notice how three people in the same period worked on the very same idea at the same time, and also how different communication (maybe, triggered also from the material of the sculptures) triggered a very different perception of the objects: metal and vivid colors are sculptures, while cardboard and pastel colors are just a child toy.
If you are interested in Munari's Useless Machines / Macchine Inutili, on MunArt you can find a great page about the them by Munari. It's in italan, but with lots of illustrations.


text:
Aleksandr Koulkov (), né le , est un joueur et entraîneur de basket-ball soviétique. Il évolue au poste d'arrière.

Biographie

Palmarès
  Champion d'Europe 1969

Notes et références

Liens externes

Naissance en juillet 1943
Joueur international soviétique de basket-ball
Joueur du CSKA Moscou (basket-ball)
Joueur de l'ASK Riga
Entraîneur russe de basket-ball
Champion d'Europe de basket-ball

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
FinanceNewsAustraliaBusiness
Company collapse numbers up and growing
Thu, 7 June 2012 11:47AM
The number of company collapses so far this financial year is up 13.6 per cent on the previous one, and many companies are expected to remain under pressure.
Accounting firm Taylor Woodings, which specialises in company restructuring, says that up to the end of April, company collapses totalled 9074.
In April 2012, 869 companies failed, up seven per cent on the number of collapses in April 2011.
However, the number of collapses was 14.3 per cent down on the 1,014 company failures in March 2012.
Taylor Woodings said its analysis of data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showed that, generally, businesses struggled during April, especially in the retail and construction industries.
"The fragile global financial markets and economic conditions in Europe, coupled with low consumer confidence, will mean many Australian industries will remain under pressure in the near future," Taylor Woodings said.
"The European economic crisis will continue to have an impact on the outlook for the Australian economy and company insolvency figures.
"As a result, we expect insolvency figures to increase slightly in the coming months."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Real-time In-situ Seismic Imaging (RISI) is a breakthrough technology for monitoring and mapping the subsurface geophysical structures and dynamics in real-time. A RISI system is a wireless seismic network that senses and processes seismic signals, and computes 3D undersurface structures in-situ in real-time. Instead of collecting data to a central place for post-processing, the distributed seismic data processing and tomographic computing are performed in the in-situ network and the evolving 3D image is computed and delivered in real-time for visualization.
The RISI system, as a surface seismic monitoring and imaging system, can detect the naturally occurring, low-energy seismic noise emitted from oil/gas exploration and production activities, such as wastewater injection, CO2 sequestration, hydraulic fracturing stimulation, and provide real-time awareness (in less than a second) of E&P operations.


text:
Macquarie Telecom tops 6,000 SD-WAN sites
Natalie Bannerman
Macquarie Telecom, part of Macquarie Telecom Group, confirms that it has deployed its SD-WAN services to 6,000 sites across Australia.
Further to today's announcement, the company says it will invest and hire additional staff in Australia across areas including engineering, customer service and marketing, with the aim to double the number of sites in half the time.
"Our competitors in this space don't actually want customers using SD-WAN because, frankly, their margins are higher with older MPLS technology," said Luke Clifton (pictured), group executive at Macquarie Telecom Group.
"We never subscribed to that, and what we saw coming has now been proven. Cloud computing has asserted its dominance over enterprise applications – why would networks be any different? We've calculated our team has poured 7,900 hours into researching, engineering and iterating our solution and the results speak for themselves."
Macquarie met it 6,000-site milestone thanks to a number of key SD-WAN deals signed with businesses including pharmaceutical financial services specialist Guild Group, not-for-profit supporting people with a disability Civic Disability Services, and business and industrial imaging company Konica Minolta.
"The increase of BYOD (bring your own device) and work-from-home or anywhere have expanded the attack surface when security is already top of mind for mid-sized Australian companies, CIOs, and IT managers," added Clifton.
"Our architecture is flexible and can match with any security provider's environment. Combined with our sovereign, secure cloud services, the fact that we're among a select number of certified providers for the highest level of government data, and our NPS-proven customer service, which remains unmatched in the market, we're in a great position to take SD-WAN to the next level."
The company sees particular opportunities to expand its footprint in the retail and aged care sectors, two industries that are rapidly digitising in light of the shift to online shopping, and the Aged Care Royal Commission spotlighting the greater role technology can play.
"Congratulations to the Macquarie Telecom team on reaching this milestone," said Brad Anderson, vice president and managing director for VMware in Australia and New Zealand.
"As customers move to the cloud and modernise their applications, they need technologies to simplify their IT. SD-WAN takes the complexity out of managing the network while enabling all employees to have fast, easy access to the tools they need, from anywhere. We look forward to working with Macquarie Telecom as the team heads towards the next 6,000."
Macquarie's SD-WAN is powered by VMware-owned VeloCloud technology.
News SD-WAN [Article tag for matching section]TechnologiesAsia PacificSDN
Deutsche Telekom divests GD Towers for €17.5bn
NTT and Palo Alto Networks offer combined security edge solution
Alan Burkitt-Gray, February 02, 2023
Microsoft banks on AI with OpenAI expanded partnership
Uzbekistan taps Toyota, Tsusho, NEC and NTT for major upgrades
Saf Malik, January 27, 2023
AWS boosts Australian presence with latest infrastructure region
€100m kicks off quantum computing venture by Nobel laureate
Alan Burkitt-Gray, January 24, 2023


The scent of ripe fresh picked figs fills your room when you light this candle. A lovely way to start your morning or to burn during some relaxation time.
Brandt kaarsen candles are handmade with love and their scents are combined from essential oils only. There are no chemicals or dye added.


text:
// Generated from /Users/yangyongli/Projects/dsl/src/main/java/com/meituan/dianping/distribute/rule/DistributeRule.g4 by ANTLR 4.7
package com.meituan.dianping.distribution.rule;
import org.antlr.v4.runtime.tree.ParseTreeVisitor;

/**
 * This interface defines a complete generic visitor for a parse tree produced
 * by {@link DistributeRuleParser}.
 *
 * @param <T> The return type of the visit operation. Use {@link Void} for
 * operations with no return type.
 */
public interface DistributeRuleVisitor<T> extends ParseTreeVisitor<T> {
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by {@link DistributeRuleParser#root}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitRoot(DistributeRuleParser.RootContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by {@link DistributeRuleParser#statement}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitStatement(DistributeRuleParser.StatementContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code singlePlusOrMinus}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#expression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitSinglePlusOrMinus(DistributeRuleParser.SinglePlusOrMinusContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code plusOrMinus}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#expression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitPlusOrMinus(DistributeRuleParser.PlusOrMinusContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code singleTimesOrDiv}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#multiplyingExpression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitSingleTimesOrDiv(DistributeRuleParser.SingleTimesOrDivContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code timesOrDiv}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#multiplyingExpression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitTimesOrDiv(DistributeRuleParser.TimesOrDivContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code atomNumber}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#atomExpression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitAtomNumber(DistributeRuleParser.AtomNumberContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code atomToken}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#atomExpression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitAtomToken(DistributeRuleParser.AtomTokenContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by the {@code parenToken}
	 * labeled alternative in {@link DistributeRuleParser#atomExpression}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitParenToken(DistributeRuleParser.ParenTokenContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by {@link DistributeRuleParser#number}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitNumber(DistributeRuleParser.NumberContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by {@link DistributeRuleParser#token}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitToken(DistributeRuleParser.TokenContext ctx);
	/**
	 * Visit a parse tree produced by {@link DistributeRuleParser#label}.
	 * @param ctx the parse tree
	 * @return the visitor result
	 */
	T visitLabel(DistributeRuleParser.LabelContext ctx);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Ready for their shot — Stamford band The Wind Up readies their first release
UConn Nation
SA Insider
Verónica Del Valle Dec. 6, 2020 Updated: Dec. 6, 2020 3:05 p.m.
Stamford trio The Wind Up drops its first single on Dec. 10.
Photo: Contributed photo
Stamford — After years of making music, guitarist and singer Nick Amico started to up his songwriting game.
It was just before the pandemic, and with the help of bassist Patrick Foti and drummer Gio Gomez, he worked the songs into full-blown rock pieces. The trio fleshed out melodies and full arrangements as the weeks passed. They performed together at a local venue.
Then, the coronavirus hit.
But the Stamford-based trio — The Wind Up, as they call themselves — didn't let a lockdown and the subsequent halt to live music slow them down. Instead, they wrote more songs, and developed an audience online.
Now they plan to drop their first single, which hits the airwaves and streaming services on Dec. 10.
The sense of perseverance befits their name. The Wind Up comes from the idea of "building action through tension."
By Verónica Del Valle
Stamford center focuses on making fathers ... better fathers
Stamford Board of Education names new president
'A hub for research': Sema4 lab opens in Stamford
New Stamford store is a doorway to the past
'The Village' takes shape in Stamford's South End
The three have concentrated on staying in the moment while making music and preparing to release their first record. Besides honing their sound — influenced by bands like grunge legends Pearl Jam and blues-forward Grammy winners The Black Keys — this has involved a lot of Instagram Live concerts and Zoom open mic gigs.
"It's not as intimate. It's not — you know — the lights low, the music loud, perhaps too loud. You're not with your friends," said Amico, 30.
Loss of intimacy aside, the virtual experiences have been integral to building steam for The Wind Up.
"Without the drums, the bass, the pounding feeling in your chest — it's different," Amico said. "But you still develop a connection with a person through digital."
Recording music has been different, too. Without producers physically in the room to provide input the space feels a little empty, Amico said. But the void has given the band room to explore different arrangements and play around with their sound. That exploration shows in the trio of singles The Wind Up has planned out for the next several months.
"There's sort of natural tendencies that, you know, we all have as artists individually," said Amico.
"There's so much that each of us is bringing individually, that as the sound takes shape and as we look to the future for more songwriting, there's gonna be a lot of diversity in the singles that come out."
The first of their three upcoming songs is called "Who Cried Run," and tells the story of someone who feels invincible in love with a partner who may not be the best influence.
"Your friends will tell you 'Hey, you shouldn't be with this person, because they're toxic,'" said Amico. "Ultimately, your own bravado, your own ego sort of overwhelms those voices, and … you get heartbroken."
Amico's voice contains hints of Eddie Vedder. The track is punctuated with punchy drums and elaborate guitar riffs — creative flourishes, along with additional harmonies, the consequence of all the time the band spent in the studio.
"You definitely do a lot more work in the studio," said Gomez, 29, who has drummed in punk and rock bands for most of his adult life. "You get to take all these ideas that you can't really do live. In the studio, you really work out how you will ultimately want the sound to be. There's just a lot of ideas floating around."
As the months keep passing with no promise of live music anytime soon, the band is focused on bringing the live music experience straight to people's ears.
"With our first debut single … the idea is remembering what it felt like to just enjoy a rock show," said Amico.
Verónica Del Valle
Follow Verónica on:
vero_dlv
Verónica Del Valle is a reporter covering growth and development for the Stamford Advocate and economic mobility for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Verónica graduated in 2020 from American University, where she earned both her bachelors and masters degrees. Her work has appeared in NPR and The Washington Post.
Health officials yet to announce if cluster of Westhill COVID cases are related
Lost for 42 days, dog reunited with owner
Seminarians on the move in the Diocese of Bridgeport
Stamford school board prepares to dive into budget plan
He's a UConn prof. And he just won $2.5M in fantasy football.
Police Commission releases internal affairs investigation on...


That just made The'ara laugh all the harder.
When she calmed down, she said, "Well, every new situation is like a new pair of shoes. Uncomfortable at first, but once you get used to them, they sort of mold to your feet. As for being lonely? Well, there's nothing stopping me from finding a new home. But I love to travel--almost as much as I love music. So many wonderful places to see, people to meet. Different cultures, unique foods. They call to me like a siren's song and I'm afraid I cannot resist."
She grinned. "I'm a bit of an experience junkie. What about you? You have me babbling my head off. What do you do for fun? Siblings? Parents? Hopes, dreams, aspirations? What are your plans for the next millennia?"


text:
Reinsurance(Click to open Universal Navigation) Close Universal Navigation
A leading, diversified reinsurer providing expertise and services to clients throughout the world.
The reinsurance strategy
The reinsurance business
Client tools and services
Global expertise paired with local market knowledge
Swiss Re Property & Casualty's professionals provide clients with a broad range of premium products, ...
Parametric solutions
Property & Specialty
SME Solution
P&C Analytics
SwiftRe®
Structured solutions
Let us help you grow your life & health business in a world that's spinning faster than ever.
Life Guide
Magnum Pure: Underwriting automation
Magnum Go: Underwriting automation
Inforce Customer Experience
L&H Trend Spotlights
US Medical Reinsurance
When is it time to ease controls? Epidemiological scenarios to consider
Is it necessary to sacrifice public health for the economy – or the economy for public health? It's a difficult tightrope COVID-19 is forcing the world to walk and finding the right footing isn't easy.
Article information and share options
This article was written By Adam Strange, Life & Health R&D Analyst & Daniel Meier, Life & Health R&D Manager, Swiss Re Institute
Published on: 24 Apr 2020 Estimated time to read this article: 10 min read
Article When is it time to ease controls? Epidemiological scenarios to consider
Choose a chapter
Chapter 1 The epidemiology behind social distancing measures
Chapter 2 Italy
Chapter 3 Austria
Chapter 4 Interventions are still a must and should be relaxed very carefully
Chapter Navigation
While governments and health officials wrestle with how long to maintain social distancing and consider what types of economic stimuli are needed, we modelled four scenarios across two sample countries, which show how lifting control measures too early could trigger a risky recurrence.
What impact will changing these restrictions have on deaths? What is clear from our projections is that these outcomes are asymmetrical – tightening the interventions saves some lives, while easing them too quickly could cost many more. The sensitivities are explored for Italy and Austria, which are at different stages of the crisis, and show how only a 10% relaxation of social distancing measures taken at the same time, may lead to significantly different outcomes.
Our conclusion across the two countries is the same. It's vitally important for governments to carefully consider timing of relaxation and hold lockdowns in place until new infections are below a critically low level. If not, the consequences could reverse all progress made during interventions and ultimately lead to many more deaths.
Share Click here to share this quote and article.
We will also address that reoccurring spreads of COVID-19 can be expected and that governments need to manage further spreads tightly to prevent countries from further lockdowns.
The epidemiology behind social distancing measures
There's been a great deal of discussion about the types of measures used to prevent further spread of COVID-19, their effectiveness and the extent to which they are used. It helps to begin by understanding the objectives of these interventions from an epidemiological perspective1.
We know viral infections can grow exponentially. The average number of infections that result from each new infection in a fully 'susceptible' population is referred to as the basic reproduction number R0. Interventions (control measures) aim to force the effective reproduction number Rt below 1 over time to decrease the overall infection rate.
To show how interventions might affect the number of cases, we designed a simple epidemiological study with base assumptions on R0, the case fatality rate (CFR) by age and other key parameters pulled from various public reports2,3. The severity of the interventions can be assigned a factor, with 0 representing no interventions and 1 representing the most extreme interventions, resulting in an Rt of zero. The study is meant to spark questions and inform debate. It is not in any way a business model or insurance industry projection.
We simulate four different scenarios from April 24 to June 30:
Baseline scenario: government orders do not change over the projection period
Strengthen scenario: interventions strengthen by 10% after April 24
Weaken scenario: interventions relax by 10% after April 24
Variable scenario: interventions gradually relax, and strengthen over time, depending on the number of new infections
The modelling applied here is not intended to predict ultimate absolute mortality outcomes but to test sensitivities of the potential relative impacts from a relaxation if applied too early.
We have selected Italy, as the first affected European country, and Austria, the first European country to announce a relaxation of restrictions. All conclusions are the modelled impact of the interventions with an assumed level of severity based on the work by Neil Fergusson's group at Imperial College London and updated epidemiological reports from China and Europe4,5.
Our assumptions are based on reported mortality values, but these are fluid, with definitions and specifics frequently changing. In recent weeks, discussions have centred around the reporting of deaths in care and nursing homes, as well as revised figures from Wuhan, Spain, France and Italy6. There is also a debate on the rates of death that asymptotic carriers of COVID-19 may have.
Baseline scenario: Hospitalisation rates indicate higher mortality
Italy was the first European country to experience clusters of outbreaks of COVID-19. Lockdowns were ordered in the northern region of Lombardy beginning 21 February and slowly expanded into other areas, followed by a national lockdown order issued on 9 March. With promising daily numbers emerging in the second week of April, Italy is believed to be past the peak infection rate.
Figure 1 shows the baseline scenario and predicted spread in Italy through the end of May. This shows that the number of daily deaths has passed its peak, and that many deaths will still occur until the end of June.
Figure 1: Baseline estimate for COVID-19 in Italy until the end of June 2020
Strengthen scenario: Increased actions bring daily deaths to zero
In Figure 2, we project what would happen if the interventions were 10% more effective or stronger from April 24 onward. The effect is limited over the first few days due to the incubation period. After that, we see a decline in new cases and new deaths. By the end of June under this scenario, there would be days where the death rate becomes very low – ie a rapid drop in fatalities with no change in COVID-19's CFR, herd immunity or available vaccinations. Overall, we would expect around a 9% decrease in deaths from the baseline.
Figure 2: Change in new cases and deaths with a 10% improvement in intervention strength for Italy
Weaken scenario: Increased hospitalisation and mortality
As lockdowns and social distancing timeframes expand from weeks to months, the number of daily positives and deaths begin to diminish but the economic damage mounts. Governments will be increasingly compelled to relax restrictions, but those changes must be carefully enacted, as our model shows how quickly the negative effects can accumulate. Figure 3 illustrates what happens when the effectiveness of interventions are reduced by 10% after April 24. Similar to when actions strengthen, the effects aren't immediately noticed. However, what can be noticed is the number and rate of deaths that significantly increase week on week, reversing all progress to date, and increasing the overall mortality. In only seven weeks, our projections show an increase of over 45% of deaths from the baseline scenario.
Figure 3: Change in new cases and deaths with a 10% decline in intervention strength for Italy
Variable scenario: Shows the benefits of slow and careful relaxation
A widely discussed solution is the "variable" solution or a gradual relaxation of restrictions, with flexibility to ramp up should cases spike again. In Figure 4 we show what could happen through the end of December 2020 for Italy if restrictions are relaxed mid-June, allowing a return to normalcy in the summer followed by a recurrence in autumn. We intend to show how the shape of the curve changes along with the degree of restrictions. A peak in the autumn leads to a resumption of restrictions at the start of October, leading to another decrease in deaths by the end of the year.
Figure 4: Increase and decrease in restrictions from April 2020 until the end of December 2020 for Italy
On 25 February, Austria began detecting cases that originated in Italy, setting off a cluster of infections around the country. Restrictions were placed on schools, universities and mass gatherings within days, and by 16 March the country was in full lockdown. Figure 5 shows the impact of these orders on our baseline estimate. By the end of May we expect a large drop in the number of deaths with the current scenario, and by June we would expect to see no more reported deaths.
Figure 5: Baseline estimate for COVID-19 in Austria until the end of June 2020
Strengthen scenario: Limited impact for a country already near the end
Even though current restrictions appear to be achieving favourable results, we project what would happen if interventions were 10% more effective from April 24 onwards (see Figure 6). Again, the impact is limited for the first two weeks and specifically the first few days, due to the incubation period of the disease. We then see a decline in new cases, and deaths drop to zero already within May. This is without a change to the CFR, vaccination program or herd immunity. Overall, we would expect to see a decrease of 5% of deaths from the baseline. It's possible that this further level of implementation would not be warranted considering the potential minimal benefit.
Figure 6: Change in new cases and deaths with a 10% improvement in intervention strength for Austria
Weaken scenario: Too fast and it negates Austria's improvements
With a relative low number of deaths, there will be political and economic pressure to significantly reduce the strength of interventions. Figure 7 shows no further improvements in death rates when the effectiveness of interventions is reduced by 10% from April 24. Instead, we predict a movement towards a rather stable scenario. The number of new cases and deaths would remain constant until the beginning of June. This would curb the progress that Austria had made and ultimately lead to more overall deaths. It is important, however, to remember that the number of modelled deaths in Austria are far lower than other countries. We project that this would cause an increase in deaths of just below 25% above the baseline scenario.
Figure 7: Change in new cases and deaths with a 10% decline in intervention strength for Austria
A 10% increase in strength of interventions has an exponentially larger benefit to new cases and mortality. Thus, the impact of limiting interventions becomes more severe than a higher case fatality rate (CFR).
Impact of interventions is not linear like the impact of the case fatality rate
While the CFR is a key factor driving deaths, conclusive data on the CFR of COVID-19 has not yet been established and ranges from 0.7% in Germany to 10.8% in Italy. Globally a value of 4.7% has been reported7. This value depends on testing. For purposes of this article, we have selected separate CFRs according to age bands and countries, following the data provided by the Imperial College models4.
CFR is a key factor to consider and the projection of the ultimate mortality depends heavily on it, deaths naturally increase along with a linear increase in CFR. The impact of interventions, however, is not linear. A 10% increase in strength of interventions has an exponentially larger benefit to hospitalisations and mortality. Thus, the impact of limiting interventions becomes more significant than a higher CFR.
Game changers: other factors to consider
What could change our projections? We have only explored the importance of interventions here – they are already in place across the globe, and can be quickly changed by governments. There are five big factors that could change our projections:
Vaccination: Finding a vaccine for a new infection is a long process. Some reports are optimistic that millions of doses could be ready by the end of the year. As clinical trials have started there will be challenges and opportunities that this could bring.
Medication: There are two options, either finding a new drug to treat COVID-19, or finding another use for a previously marketed drug. Over 500 clinical trials are currently ongoing with various degrees of how and when such drugs could change the hospitalisation duration rate and save many lives.
Population-wide immune testing: Population-wide immune response testing will be an essential component for long-term success to understand the level of population infection and immunity
Herd immunity: As the percentage of infections and recoveries grow, the susceptible population decreases in a country. At the moment the model assumes that the infection rates are low enough that there is not a material impact from herd immunity. If the infection rates were found to be much higher, with more asymptomatic patients, then this could change our outcome
Reoccurrence management: Newly emerging outbreaks will need to be managed tightly. Strategies will be required allowing for proactive contact tracing and early isolation, as well as, quarantine of people potentially infected. A socially accepted and effective contact tracing app could be of great help. Also a focus should be given on reducing and preventing household transmission with an emphasis on the importance of having the infected person quarantined and wearing a mask.
Interventions are still a must and should be relaxed very carefully
Our scenarios lead to some important conclusions:
Every country is at a different stage in this crisis, and needs to view it as a marathon, not a sprint.
Decisions on altering interventions must be deliberate and carefully considered based on data.
If restrictions are lifted too early, there will be exponentially more cases, more hospitalisation and more deaths.
A second wave of infections is entirely possible and needs to be tightly managed.
Interventions are not a simple on and off switch. They are impactful changes to the way that we all live our lives. Our interventions extend far beyond social distancing and isolation, they can be more subtle as we look to expand towards contact tracing or the use of apps. Apps and other digital tracking methods can bring privacy concerns. As lockdowns and quarantines continue, people may be willing to trade some privacy for a welcome return to physical freedoms like socialising, travelling and working together.
What is becoming clear, and what we saw through these scenarios, is that repeated strengthening and weakening may be needed to stem the tide of COVID-19. This is not without cost, as fatigue and lower adherence from repeated social isolation is likely to set in. As Europe looks to re-open in the coming weeks, all eyes will be on Austria and Germany who have taken some of the first steps toward a return to normal. A significant second wave of infections could mean longer lockdowns. Before making timing decisions, governors of the worst affected states in the US will surely be looking at how Europe copes with re-opening.
We have shown the effects of interventions, and their projected impact on mortality, and we have given a brief overview of the important game changers that might come in to play. These will be addressed in more detail in a series of papers soon. Our next article will focus on the importance of antibody testing, and its potential for long-term control of the spread of COVID-19. Stay tuned.
This is a highly simplified model designed to present a range of possible outcomes under different intervention scenarios. The study is meant to spark questions and inform debate for informational purposes but is not in any way a business model or insurance industry projection that can be relied on . The results presented here should not be regarded as representative of Swiss Re's own internal projections or forecasts, and Swiss Re is under no obligation to update the results presented here.
Susan Imler, Global L&H Communications
European center for disease prevention and control. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: increased transmission in the EU/EEA and the UK – seventh update. 2019, (2020).
Flaxman, S. et al. Estimating the number of infections and the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in 11 European countries. Imp. Coll. London 1–35 (2020) doi:10.25561/77731.
Zhang, S. et al. Estimation of the reproductive number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the probable outbreak size on the Diamond Princess cruise ship: A data-driven analysis. Int. J. Infect. Dis. 93, 201–204 (2020).
Ferguson, N. M. et al. The Global Impact of COVID-19 and Strategies for Mitigation and Suppression. Imp. Coll. COVID-19 Response Team 1–19 (2020).
Guan, W. et al. Comorbidity and its impact on 1,590 patients with COVID-19 in China: A Nationwide Analysis. European Respiratory Journal (2020).
The Economist. Tracking covid-19 excess deaths across countries. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/16/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries?fsrc=newsletter&utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2020-04-16&utm_content=article-link-4 (2020).
Omer, S. B., Malani, P. & Del Rio, C. The COVID-19 Pandemic in the US: A Clinical Update. Jama (2020) doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5788.
pandemics corona covid19
Adam Strange
Life & Health R&D Analyst
View profile of Adam Strange Contact Adam Strange
Daniel Meier
Life & Health R&D Manager
View profile of Daniel Meier Contact Daniel Meier
Article Charting COVID-19 by country: Early actions brought big rewards
Publication COVID-19: What we know, what we're still learning… and what it all means for insurers
Article Is a mental health pandemic the next threat?
Overlay with sharing options
Share this via e-mail


text:
info@societyeducation.online +356 77555560
Face to Face Events
Online Live Sessions
Events Resources
Home / Online Live Session / Submission and Filing of Documents to MBR
Submission and Filing of Documents to MBR
Tuesday, 28 February, 2023 | 9:30 am
Online LIve Session
MIA Accreditation | 3 hours Core in terms of the Accountancy Board CPE scheme.
- Submission and Filing of Documents to MBR quantity +
Category: Online Live Session
During this presentation we shall delve into all the forms that need to be submitted with the Registry of Companies once any form of legal entity is registered. All forms shall be explained thoroughly together with the purpose they serve, when to submit them to the Registry, if any form of payment has to be sent together with form, as well as penalties that could possibly be incurred if they are not submitted on time. In certain instances, additional documents such as lease agreements and identification documents just to mention a few have to be attached to the forms. Apart from the statutory forms, Beneficial Ownership forms shall also be delved into.
Download Event Brochure
Dr Deandra Schembri is Senior Manager at the Registry of Companies Agency's Legal and Enforcement Department. After graduating as a lawyer from the University of Malta she started her career with two different law firms where she used to offer legal advice to clients and also represent them before Tribunals and local Courts. She has been working at the Registry of Companies for the past eight years. She used to head the Refugees Appeals Board and was a member of the Immigration Appeals board and also a member of the Malta Independent Police Board.
Mark Schembri has been a Desk Officer at the Registry of Companies for the last six years and a half. After obtaining the Honours Degree in Management from the University of Malta, he read for an MBA at the European University Malta Campus and he completed the Certificate for Financial Adviser (CEFA) at the IFS University College. His first working experience was in a local Bank where he spent eight years and a half carrying out various tasks in several branches, in the Wealth Management Unit and in the IT Unit. Currently, he is also testing the new Registry website which will be introduced in the nearby future.
Events resources will be sent by email after the delivery of the event.
Company Service Providers – Navigating Compliance Obligations
The Newly Published Part 2 Implementing Procedures Addressed to Accountants and Auditors
Society Educational Services Ltd
50, Kercem Street, Victoria VCT 9051, Gozo - Malta
info@societyeducation.eu
VAT Reg No: MT16273127
© 2023 Society Education.
Developed by Society Digital


text:
Chronology of misrepresentations and smears in the atheist movement by PZ Myers and others
by Michael Nugent on November 4, 2014
In September 2014, I wrote a review challenging a pattern of misrepresentations and smears in the atheist movement that had started to leak into mainstream media. One of the main culprits, PZ Myers, responded by alleging that I defend, provide a haven for, and support rapists, and he has repeatedly refused to apologise for this defamatory smear.
I will continue to address both of these issues – the wider misrepresentations and smears, and the specific smear against me. As I do that, I will regularly update this page as a resource, with context and links to a chronology of some of the actual work done within the atheist movement and the harm and injustice caused by PZ and some of his associates.
I am confident that we will move beyond these smears. The first step is to stand up to them and correct them. I hope that some of PZ's associates (and maybe even PZ) will read what I have actually written here, and will not rely on the misrepresented versions reported elsewhere.
Note: for an overview, all you need to read is Sections 1 and 2, Key Posts and Recent Posts.
1. Key posts
2. Recent posts
3. The World Atheist Convention in Dublin
4. Promoting atheism, reason and science
5. Promoting inclusivity and ethical atheism
6. Promoting social justice through secularism
7. Misrepresentations of the atheist movement
8. Recent misrepresentations in mainstream media
9. Ophelia Benson misrepresents my review
10. Adam Lee's misleading Guardian article
11. The smears start to be directed against me
12. PZ Myers concocts the smear that I defend rapists
13. Some associates of PZ join in with his smears
14. Demythologising the rifts
15. General observations
16. My emails to FreeThought Blogs about PZ Myers
17. Atheist Ireland dissociates itself from PZ Myers
18. Defenders of PZ respond to Atheist Ireland dissociation
19. PZ Myers starts to criticise his own commenters
November 2013 – Richard Dawkins' nuanced memoir and the unjust personal smears against him. I reviewed Richard's memoir and analysed smears against him by Daniel Trilling, The Times, Huffington Post, Salon, PZ Myers and Rebecca Watson.
August 2014 – The demonising of Richard Dawkins, and the normalising of casual defamatory smears. My response to various issues including a Guardian article smearing Richard by Eleanor Robinson, who the day before tweeted that she won't rest until Richard is known as a widely reviled sockfucker.
17 September 2014 – Recent media misrepresentations of the atheist movement, and the role of PZ Myers in the culture of demonising people. I analyse several sensationalised articles about the atheist movement, and express concerns that misrepresentations and smears are leaking into mainstream media.
21 September 2014 – Adam Lee's misleading Guardian article about Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the atheist movement. My review of Adam Lee's Guardian article about Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the atheist movement.
2 October 2014 – Another week, another set of misrepresentations and personal smears. Having defended people against misrepresentations and smears, and on returning from lobbying for atheist and secular rights at the OSCE human rights meeting, I returned to find myself the target of similar misrepresentations and smears.
7 October 2014 – The smears get increasingly serious as PZ Myers crosses a new line. My response to PZ Myers publicly alleging that I am defending rapists (that's rapists, plural) because certain people comment on my blog.
13 October 2014 – PZ Myers has failed five times to justify his smear that I am defending and providing a haven for rapists on my blog. Extracts from Twitter conversations in which PZ fails to substantiate or withdraw his defamatory smear.
29 October 2014 – Anatomy of a smear – how PZ Myers concocted a new smear when challenged about his previous smears. A review of PZ's ten different responses to my criticisms before he finally crossed the line into making a seriously defamatory smear.
1 November 2014 – Yet more misrepresentations in PZ Myers' post refusing to withdraw or apologise for his smear. My response to PZ's public refusal to retract or apologise for his smears, even after quoting many of the opportunities that I have given him to do so.
16 December 2014 – The hurtful and harmful smears of PZ Myers, "The Happy Atheist" A summary of PZ's years-long pattern of smears that led to my original criticism
27 December 2014 – PZ Myers publicly hates and despises people, not merely their ideas or behaviour From Alain de Botton and Karen Armstrong to Christians generally, some of the people who PZ publicly hates.
3 January 2015 – PZ Myers' new defamatory smear that I support rapists. PZ goes beyond accusing me of defending rapists, by saying it is accurate and forthright to accuse me of defending and supporting rapists.
25 January 2015 – My third email to FreeThought Blogs about their complaints procedure regarding PZ Myers. My attempts to ask FreeThoughtBlogs how to make a complaint to them about PZ's behaviour.
9 April 2015 – Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers. Statement published by Atheist Ireland.
10 April 2015 – Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta says it is no wonder Atheist Ireland wants nothing to do with PZ Myers. Supportive statement by Hemant Mehta.
11 April 2015 – PZ Myers defenders are now smearing the integrity of Atheist Ireland committee members
28 July 2015 – PZ Myers and the Little Shop of Hatred. PZ Myers criticises his own commenters for attacking Ophelia Benson in the way that he has for years encouraged them to attack outsiders.
28 July 2015 – PZ Myers and the Little Shop of Hatred
20 April 2015 – My response to Ashley Miller's open letter to me
17 April 2015 – Richard Carrier's latest smears are poorly researched, insulting to women activists, and defamatory
15 April 2015 – My comments policy and Atheist Ireland – my response to part of MA Melby's criticism
You have now read enough to have an overview of the issues. If you want further background context and details, feel free to read the remainder of the post.
The World Atheist Convention in Dublin in June 2011, hosted by Atheist Ireland, adopted the Dublin Declaration on Secularism and the Place of Religion in Public Life.
The World Atheist Convention also formalised the restructuring and relaunch of Atheist Alliance International, as a truly international advocacy group for atheism and secularism.
Atheist Alliance was founded in America in 1991. It gradually added new affiliates, including groups from other countries, and in 2001 changed its name to Atheist Alliance International. In 2011 it agreed to split into two separate organisations.
One would be named Atheist Alliance of America, and would consist of the America-based affiliate groups of the previous AAI.
The other would retain the name Atheist Alliance International, and would consist of all of the groups from every country, including America, all involved as equals.
Atheist Alliance International now has UN consultative status, and does a great deal of patient, hard, sometimes dangerous work to protect atheists and promote secularism in the developing world, with its often overt theocracies, and to protect and advance secularism in the developed world, which is typically more democratic.
While many of the examples of work here refer to work done by Atheist Ireland, please see that as reflective of similar work done by many local, national and international atheist groups and advocates around the world, some in considerably harder circumstances than we face in Ireland.
February 2013 – If you believe in both science and religion, you are not doing either properly – Debate at UCC.
September 2013 – Teaching about atheism in Irish primary schools. Interview on CKNW Vancouver.
October 2013 – Does God Exist? Debate with David Glass in Newtownabbey.
November 2013 – Religion Harms Society. Speech at The Oxford Union.
March 2014 – Do we need God for morality? Debate on BBC Radio Ulster Sunday Sequence.
August 2014 – Why I am openly atheist and secular. Contribution to Freedom From Religion Foundation Out Channel.
October 2014 – Is Islam a religion of peace? Debate at NUI Galway.
October 2014 – Is there a god? Talk with Hindu Swami Purnananda at UCD Philosophy Society.
Again, while many of the examples of work here refer to work done by Atheist Ireland, please see that as reflective of similar work done by many local, national and international atheist groups and advocates around the world, some in considerably harder circumstances than we face in Ireland.
July 2012 – Why atheist and skeptic groups should be inclusive, caring and supportive. In which I argued that people on both sides of recent disagreements had been victims of unfair personal attacks, and suggested ways to address the problems.
August 2012 – Speaking out against hate directed at women. As part of Amy Roth's series on Skepchick, I analysed online sexual harassment of women in various communities and the need to tackle this problem.
August 2012 – A draft Manifesto to promote Ethical Atheism. In which I proposed ways to promote reason, critical thinking, science and atheism; natural compassion and ethics; inclusive, caring atheist groups; and fair secular societies.
August 2012 – 1,500 Women Speakers Worth Listening To. Over 1,500 women, from around the world with different areas of expertise, who would make excellent speakers at atheist, skeptic, scientific or human rights events.
January 2013 – Thunderf00t's inflammatory video of misleading personal attacks on atheist feminists is not helpful. In which I defended the atheist community generally, and Amy Roth, Rebecca Watson, PZ Myers and Melody Hensley in particular, against various allegations.
April-May 2013 – Atheist Skeptic Dialogue. This was an unsuccessful attempt to address various disagreements through online dialogue. It was moderated by me, Monette Richards and Skep Tickle.
April 2013 – Should priests report child rape? Debate on RTE with a priest who insists that he would not report the rape of a child to the Gardai if he heard about it at confession.
June 2013 – Dublin Declaration on Secularism Empowering Women 2013. Adopted by Atheist Ireland's international conference in Dublin on Empowering Women Through Secularism.
October 2013 – Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Without Discrimination. As part of the ESC Rights Initiative and Equality and Rights Alliance, Atheist Ireland argues for protecting the rights of the vulnerable in an ethical secular state.
July 2014 – UN Human Rights Committee tells Ireland to stop breaching the human rights of atheists and minority faiths, and vindicates all of the complaints raised by Atheist Ireland when we briefed the Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
August 2014 – The Catholic belief system in Ireland and human rights abuses from child abuse to symphysiotomy. Powerful extract from the closing address of Nigel Rodley, Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Committee questioning Ireland.
September 2014 – Atheist Ireland Submission to UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The same process (under a different treaty) as the one where we briefed the UN Human Rights Committee on Civil and Political Rights in Geneva.
October 2014 – Atheist Ireland's human rights recommendations now online on the OSCE website. Includes our formal statements plus the Dublin Declarations on Secularism and Religion in Public Life 2011 and on Secularism Empowering Women 2103.
November 2014 – Atheist Ireland's achievements in 2014. Atheist Ireland's 2014 breakthroughs in international lobbying at the UN and OSCE, and ongoing national lobbying on secular education and healthcare.
August 2013 – Richard Dawkins and Islam: Debate on BBC Radio with Daniel Trilling. I debated Daniel Trilling of New Statesman (soon to be editor of New Humanist) about Trilling's criticism of recent comments by Richard Dawkins about Islam.
November 2013 – Richard Dawkins' nuanced memoir and the unjust personal smears against him. I reviewed Richard's memoir and analysed smears against him by Daniel Trilling, The Times, Huffingtom Post, Salon, PZ Myers and Rebecca Watson.
June 2014 – Are New Atheists Shallow and Dangerous? I debated Dr Robert Grant of TCD Philosophy Department on Newstalk Radio's The Right Hook, presented by George Hook.
July 2014 – Are New Atheists Shallow and Dangerous? I debated Dr Robert Grant of TCD Philosophy Department for a second time, this time on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence.
July 2014 – The most recent example of some people uncharitably misinterpreting Richard Dawkins. I analysed some smears against Richard Dawkins based on some tweets that he published.
18 September 2014 – If you respond to what I have actually written, I will be happy to discuss it. My response to misrepresentations of my previous post by Ophelia Benson.
19 September 2014 – The atheist movement is global. It is not defined by the mostly American 'deep rifts' disagreements. My response to a further response to my article by Ophelia.
19 September 2014 – The LBJ legend and my email to PZ Myers. My response to some tweets by Ophelia.
25 September 2014 – PZ Myers' unfair and hurtful misrepresentations of Richard Dawkins' comments about being abused as a child. My second response to Ophelia's analysis of my review.
22 September 2014 – The nine issues that Adam Lee's response to my criticism fails to address. My response to Adam's response to my review.
23 September 2014 – Adam Lee's legitimate anger about harassment is unfairly misdirected at Richard Dawkins and the atheist movement. My response to Adam's second response to me.
24 September 2014 – Adam Lee rejects my analysis that his comment seems to accept his Guardian article included some misrepresentations. My response to Adam's third response to me.
11. Personal smears start to be directed against me
12. PZ Myers concocts and intensifies the smear that I defend rapists
17 October 2014 – Thank you to Latsot for apologising for alleging that I defend rapists. PZ Myers, can you please also apologise? My response to Latsot, an occasional guest blogger on FreeThought Blogs, who repeated PZ's smear, apologised, then withdrew his apology.
27 October 2014 – My Twitter conversation today with Latsot, who like PZ Myers has falsely accused me of defending rapists. A twitter conversation that illustrates the difficulty of communicating reasonably with the people making these false allegations.
31 October 2014 – Why Stephanie Zvan's defence of PZ Myers' 'haven for rapists' smear is not reasonable based on the evidence. My response to Stephanie's interpretation that encompasses even the police and prosecution provide a haven for rapists.
3 November 2014 – Once upon a time, there was an apology, a non-apology and a retracted apology. SpokesGay, a frequent commenter on FreeThought Blogs, apologises to me, then withdraws his apology after Ophelia tells him he is wrong.
6 November 2014 – On satire, sea lions, civility and smears – please support the primacy of reasonable dialogue. A new parody Twitter account Mick the Sea Lion parodies me for being polite, which is apparently now a bad thing.
9 November 2014 – You can block your tweets, but you can't block your conscience – Latsot adds to the PZ smears. In which Latsot calls me a monster and actually crazy, and calls Ashling O'Brien a lying wanker.
1 December 2014 – Is PZ Myers sexist? Am I fascist with a seedy past? It depends on whether you ask Charitable Theo or Uncharitable Theo. How Theophontes judges PZ charitably and judges me uncharitably.
9 December 2014 – The pattern continues – like PZ Myers' smear about rapists, Theo fails to apologise for his smear about fascism. A response to Theo's three comments on my previous post.
20 October 2014 – Demythologising the rifts part 1 – the women in atheism panel at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin. The first in a series of posts about how the recent rifts between some mostly American atheist bloggers and activists actually happened.
Note: I am not sure when, or whether, I will have time to complete this series of posts.
17 November 2014 – "Do your belly dance." "Get off my stage. I've got work to do." What if PZ Myers judged others' sexism as he judges himself? An analysis of some behaviour by PZ over the years that he and his colleagues might consider sexist if done by somebody else.
21 November 2014 – Be a cyber buddy not a cyber bully – advice from young Dublin people that some adults might also consider. Review of a booklet produced by young people for young people who are affected by, or who witness, online bullying.
24 November 2014 – PZ Myers updates his story about the threatened false rape allegation made against him. The implications of PZ's response to part of my recent post about what would happen if he judged others' sexism as he judges himself.
16 December 2014 – The hurtful and harmful smears of PZ Myers, "The Happy Atheist" A summary of PZ's years-long pattern of smears that led to my original criticism.
17 January 2015 – The violent rhetoric of Pope Francis and PZ Myers. A response to PZ Myers criticising Pope Francis for using violent rhetoric.
3 January 2015 – My first email to FreeThought Blogs about their complaints procedure regarding PZ Myers
12 January 2015 – My second email to FreeThought Blogs about their complaints procedure regarding PZ Myers
25 January 2015 – My third email to FreeThought Blogs about their complaints procedure regarding PZ Myers
27 January 2015 – FreeThought Blogs manager Ed Brayton made similar complaints about PZ Myers' pattern of behaviour
30 January 2015 – For PZ Myers, the idea of responding justly to complaints is literally a joke
8 April 2015 – Ayaan Hirsi Ali's important speech about religious bigotry and persecution, and PZ Myers' defamatory smear against her
9 April 2015 – Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers
9 April 2015 – Atheist Northern Ireland supports Atheist Ireland's dissociation from the rhetoric of PZ Myers
10 April 2015 – Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta says it is no wonder Atheist Ireland wants nothing to do with PZ Myers
11 April 2015 – Secular Policy Institute asks why are "shock jock" bloggers invited to lecture at major secular conferences?
1 Linda November 4, 2014 at 11:23 pm
This a great resource.
The people trying to smear you were hoping you would be like others they smeared. That you would just let it be because it would take time and resources to fight against a large group of bloggers.
2 piero November 4, 2014 at 11:57 pm
Phew! That's quite an effort on your part, and I thank you for it.
Since Ophelia Benson will very probably read your post, I can save her the trouble of actually understanding it by summarising the part she will be most interested in: it's 2,039 words long.
3 Pogsurf November 5, 2014 at 12:02 am
I've been smeared by Myers as 'dangerously obsessive' and by Benson as 'sick' and a 'stalker'. Yet when I met you face-to-face in Dublin you trusted me.
Thank you Michael, for this, and for all your hard work which stands out like a beacon.
4 Crackity Jones November 5, 2014 at 12:04 am
Michael. PZ Myers, Ophelia Benson, Stephanie Zvan, and Adam Lee are really going to hate you for providing all these facts and citations to back your argument!
In fact, I can already hear Adam Lee crying and sobbing, while the others are sharpening their knives.
5 milesnagopaleen November 5, 2014 at 12:22 am
6 Jan Steen November 5, 2014 at 12:35 am
I look forward to part 2 of Demythologising the rifts.
7 Zenspace November 5, 2014 at 12:56 am
A truly impressive effort and one that was badly needed.
Really well done. My hat is off to you, sir!
8 Shatterface November 5, 2014 at 1:49 am
Shows how fast things are moving: I'd almost forgotten about Adam Lee.
I'm sure I can do that again.
It would be nice to think some of the other prime movers in this cult might soon be forgotten – but the Satanic abuse hoax didn't stop Beatrix Campbell's political career.
Joining the Green Party did that.
One of the interesting recent developments is that FTB bloggers have recently ditched a cornerstone of feminism: that rape is rape and any attempt to grade it is utterly unacceptable.
Yet in defence of one of their regulars they've started to accept mitigating factors and promises not to do it again, while brushing aside trifling details about the victim's suffering, which is something entirely separate from the feelings of the perpetrator.
It would be nice to think they're burning bridges with the genuine feminist movement as well as atheism and skepticism.
10 GerardO November 5, 2014 at 7:05 am
A commenter called "theophantes" at Pharyngula's Thunderdome is claiming that their comments are being blocked at this site. Redact names if you have to but don't fall into the habit of using the same tactics that FtBloggers do.
11 James November 5, 2014 at 8:16 am
Excellent Resource. Thanks for taking this on Michael.
12 Shatterface November 5, 2014 at 8:31 am
Theophantes needs to remember that Irish libel laws are more stringent than in the USA.
This is a typical FTB tactic: accusing those complying with local laws of providing a haven for rapists and rape apologists.
America isn't the world.
13 Sandra Duffy November 5, 2014 at 10:05 am
You need to go back years further to really do justice to Myers ranting attacks on other atheists. The list of his victims is so long I lost track well before so called elevatorgate. I've always felt that in bending over backwards to be 'tolerant' to all points of view we allowed poison to spread in our midst. He should have been banned from the convention circuit many years ago.
14 Shatterface November 5, 2014 at 11:19 am
I think the bar was set too low when we were welcoming anyone who could slap down creationists.
It was like calling someone a 'skeptic' just because they didn't believe the Loch Ness Monster came from outer space.
A rejection of creationism is a minimum requirement for atheism, not a shortcut to leadership.
And the stuff with the crackers was pathetic attention seeking. If that had happened in the UK nobody would have given a shit.
15 Jack Rawlinson November 5, 2014 at 12:12 pm
I'll admit I used to be a bit of a fan of Myers. He did actually write some very good pieces ( many of which, of course, were recycled and used to make up "The Happy Atheist"). I didn't even mind Crackergate that much because I agreed with the point: to show that nothing ought to be sacred (I think people forget that he trashed pages from the Koran and The God Delusion as well as the cracker.) It was around the time of his slam of "dictionary atheists" that he started to lose me. I have a big problem with people who try to bend clearly defined words and language to their own ends, no matter which side of the political spectrum they are.
After that he just got worse and worse, and there seemed to come a point where he decided that the low-level infamy he could glean by slamming and slurring fellow atheists was his best shot at getting attention, since it was becoming really clear that he wasn't going to make it as any sort of "fifth horseman". His poor old nag fell at the first fence.
16 Blueshift Rhino November 5, 2014 at 1:03 pm
@GerardO and Shatterface –
Did theophantes provide anything like evidence for the claim that FTBer's comments are being blocked here, such as a screen-cap of the comment awaiting moderation (as is often done at The 'Pit)?
17 Shatterface November 5, 2014 at 1:13 pm
I'm guessing witnesses will come forward in the fullness of time.
18 Jan Steen November 5, 2014 at 1:23 pm
@GerardO,
Don't ask Michael to redact libelous comments, ask libelers not to libel.
19 Patrick November 5, 2014 at 1:25 pm
Blueshift Rhino @16,
Did theophantes provide anything like evidence for the claim that FTBer's comments are being blocked here
One comment that he claims was blocked here is #424 on this thread:
http://web.archive.org/web/20141103203954/http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/10/06/thunderdome-55/comment-page-1/
I suspect that our host blocked it because of the unsubstantiated, libelous slurs against named individuals.
20 lvlln November 5, 2014 at 3:49 pm
Mr. Nugent, let me join the chorus of voices in lauding you for this substantial effort you have taken to document the unethical actions some in the US atheist community have taken on others in the name of what they perceive to be social justice. The right way to respond to bullies is to stand up to them, and that's exactly what you are doing. Too many in the A/S communities have decided to acquiesce or to ignore and hope it goes away, and it would have been so easy for you to do the same. I hope that other big names in the A/S communities see what you are doing and lend helping hands.
21 Crackity Jones November 5, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Does anybody know whether Stephanie Zvan of anybody from FreeThoughtBlogs answers my question?
In light of Zvan's article distinguishing one rape (Ogvorbis' self-confessed rape of children) to another alleged rape, is she saying there are GRADATIONS of rape
Again, it my contention that her article makes it clear that she thinks there is, but I have not seen any criticism or pushback in the same way Dawkins was blasted for saying that legally, there are gradations.
Re: Theophantes
I have tried to post comments at various FTB blogs and they don't make it through "moderation". NEVER.
Michael's forum is far more honest and open that the cesspit that is FreeThoughtBlogs.
23 Jack Rawlinson November 5, 2014 at 4:26 pm
Anyone who really can't see that there are gradations of rape, just as there are gradations of any other form of assault, is being really, really obtuse. They also seem to be so obdurately dim that they see pointing this plain fact out as somehow saying that some forms of rape are okay, which is not the case at all. Myers made the same fat-headed error when Dawkins described the relative "mildness" of the abuse he experienced at school.
It's the absolutist mindset in action. Like fundamentalists, these people find shades of gray too difficult to deal with so they repaint reality in black and white. Which makes them both stupid and dangerous.
24 piero November 5, 2014 at 4:53 pm
@Patrick:
I get the same impression. As well as being terminally obtuse, as expected from teophontes, the comment did contain as yet unproven accusations against at least two named persons, plus a reiteration of the familiar slurs against Michael's blog. In any case, it can be found at the link you provided (trigger warning: festering idiocy).
In case you are missing it, Michael, someone is running a parody Twitter account under the name MickTheSealion.
For those who don't recognise the term, Sealion is a term of abuse for any man who insists on pursuing an argument politely. No, really, that's a thing now: attacking someone for being calm and rational. Politeness is the New Rape.
I don't know whether the account holder is aware of the racist connotations of contracting the name Michael to 'Mick' when addressing an Irish man they don't know though.
Anyone who really can't see that there are gradations of rape, just as there are gradations of any other form of assault, is being really, really obtuse.
It's an article of faith on FTB that all rapes are equally bad and anyone who suggests otherwise is a rape apologist. Zvan is now arguing otherwise.
Whether you accept her argument or not, this is precisely the line of argument they'd burn Dawkins at the stake for.
27 Michael C November 5, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Thanks for this. I am sure you'd far rather spend your time fighting the good fight and leaving this nonsense behind, but in the end I think your efforts here will pay off. Like many here I once liked Pharyngula and a number of other FTB bloggers and read Dr. Myers' blog daily. Dr. Myers is an excellent writer and can be hilarious and insightful when he wishes. Like you, I've met him in person and he was (and I suspect really is) kind, pleasant, open and just a nice fellow. But something happened along the way. A few years ago I got fed up with the biliousness of Pharyngula and the way it strayed from where Dr. Myers is strongest – in his critiques of religion and his excellent essays on biology. I think he and others in the Horde (as I think they call themselves) got full of themselves and came to see their way of thinking as the only acceptable way. That is always a bad thing but it is especially bad when the self-righteousness turns to the ugliness of demonization of those who disagree. That relentless, pervasive ugliness drove me off reading blogs, discussion boards, attending conferences (when I could), etc.
So I've dropped out of atheist/skeptic scene and focused on other things I'm interested in. I popped in recently only to see the same old ugly…but noticed some push back from Dawkins, Harris and others. That got me to pay closer attention. It was through looking closer that I found your blog and have read up on the campaign against you. It is gratifying to see so many standing up to them, at last.
Your efforts though tedious and which come, I am sure, with personal pain are not going unnoticed and I think will help tremendously.
@Patrick –
Copying and pasting what you claim to have posted elsewhere is *consistent* with the post being under moderation, but doesn't come close to the same level of evidence as a screen-cap. Granted, a screen-cap can be faked, but the skill and effort involved does wonders for weeding out untrue claims by the lazy.
With that said, if the post in question were actually attempted here, I would not be surprised if it never made it out of moderation, as it includes repetitions of the all-too-familiar smears with zero added content.
29 Aneris ✻ November 5, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Shatterface wrote: I don't know whether the account holder is aware of the racist connotations of contracting the name Michael to 'Mick' when addressing an Irish man they don't know though.
I briefly thought this was either a slur, or a diminutive, but Michael Nugent uses that himself as his Twitter handle, and he's addressed as "Mick" in the the interview he linked to recently. Maybe he can settle that somewhere, but I'm going with the assumption its not only a non-issue but a nickname he uses himself.
Dr. Myers is an excellent writer and can be hilarious and insightful when he wishes.
I think it's easy to give the impression you are hilarious and insightful when you are going after the 'right' people and your audience shares exactly the same prejudices.
Genuine humour springs from humility and a sense of ones own absurdity, not spotting the outsider and setting the dogs on him.
@Shatterface 28: Pretty sure Michael C is not referring to Myers' attack posts but rather the more restrained and thoughtful pieces he occasionally used to write. They do exist, and I was fairly impressed with them too.
32 Gerhard November 5, 2014 at 9:31 pm
I'm going to assume that the FTB "leaders" are not just being dishonest and propose an explanation. I get the impression that they have no trust in the decency of people who do not share their exact beliefs, and further, that much of that distrust is based on projection of their personal failings. It seems that they have so little trust they fear that allowing Joe/Josephine Public the luxury of nuance legitimises rape in his/her mind, or sets things off down the slippery slope. This can be seen in the concept of splash damage where it is assumed that, irrespective of the intent of the speaker, gendered slurs are somehow going to give support to misogynists within earshot. This is a ridiculously jaundiced view of humanity most of whom, at least in my experience, understand that genitalia-based insults are simply using the fact that genitalia are not something you'd eat your dinner off. But the SJWs can abstract sexism out of anything.
Regarding my previous post. The problem the SJWs have with "rape grading" is also based on the principle that the seriousness of the crime is dependent on the subjective experience of the victim. That view may be slightly more understandable, but follow it to it's conclusion and you end up in crazyland for all sorts of reasons.
34 Phil Giordana FCD November 5, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Gerhard: Projection is one of the first things that come to mind when I read SJW diatribes. They tend to put into their enemies thoughts that would probably never ever be entertained by said enemies.
It is quite disturbing.
Shatterface:
It's just JAQing off in marine mammal form. If they don't feel confident the audience will buy the "but I've been threatened and harassed" dodge the SJW falls back on claiming that the questioner is a misogynist with ulterior motives. If you think that is an uncharitable take, visit the comments section of any article by Amanda Marcotte or any "feminist" with similar leanings.
36 Shatterface November 5, 2014 at 11:29 pm
If you think that is an uncharitable take, visit the comments section of any article by Amanda Marcotte or any "feminist" with similar leanings.
Trying to reason with any of them is like trying to talk down Begbie from Trainspotting when you've just spilled his pint.
37 Michael Nugent November 6, 2014 at 12:35 am
For clarity, I have put two of Theophontes' comments in moderation.
The first comment not only named names, but put the names in bold and added in brackets "(to name names)", so I assume he or she knew it would not be published, and the follow-up comment doesn't make sense without the first comment.
I will have a look at them when I get time, and see how best to enable the substantive points to be published here consistently with my commenting policy.
I've no problem being called Michael or Mick.
I'm sometimes called Mick in the media by people who knew me as Mick from my college days, or (as in the recent BBC radio interview) when there is more than one Michael on the panel.
I can't remember whether I used the twitter name @micknugent because @michaelnugent was already used or because I wanted a shorter twitter name, but either way it's not an issue with me.
@Michael:
The first comment not only named names, but put the names in bold and added in brackets "(to name names)", so I assume he or she knew it would not be published
The lengths some people will go to in order to score points never ceases to baffle me. I can almos hear theophontes thinking: "I'll make a comment naming names, so that it doesn't get through moderation and I can accuse Michael of censoring dissenters." What a petty, small-minded attitude.
40 JT Eberhard December 2, 2014 at 3:19 pm
41 Michael Nager December 6, 2014 at 9:40 am
I am an atheist. I do not believe in a god or gods. That's it, everything else I may do or think is outside of atheism.
It is bad enough being mischaracterized as an atheist by religious groups, without the likes of PZ Meyers and consortium going around and ascribing to me, as an atheist, all kinds of vile motivations.
When listening to PZ Meyers and the rest of the SJWs it reminds me of the story of Moses. There they are walking about for 4o years in the desert, they get to the bottom of a mountain, and Moses goes up and brings back ten commandments.
Seven of them are thought crimes, but is anyone going to try to tell me that they walked around for 40 odd years thinking that to lie, steal and murder was OK? They had to have a tablet with that written on it before they realized that was wrong? How was anyone left to reach the mountain if they thought all that time that there was nothing at all reprehensible about lying, stealing and murdering?
My own ethics are centred around what is known as "The Golden Rule" which had been articulated long before there were any Judeo-Christian texts. I don't need any Meyers to tell me right from wrong, I had a family that taught me about that when I was growing up.
I am not saying that there are things which I have said or done which I have not regretted. Those things were however the exception and not the rule.
There is evidence to suggest that there are lot lower percentage of atheists in jail than believers. I could think of two reasons; atheists are on the whole smarter and don't get caught as much, or that atheists have a sense of ethics which are internal and thus are more likely to abide by them.
If I go to an atheist conference I want to hear discussions about atheist issues. I don't want to hear about feminist, LGBT, vegan or animal rights issues. Why should I care? I have enough issues as an atheist living in an otherwise overwhelmingly religious environment. If you want to talk about any other issues then create your own conference and I will decide whether or not I would like to attend.
Why should someone like PZ be allowed to speak at an atheist convention when all he is going to do is piss on my back and tell me it's raining?
As far as I can see PZ is trying to drag atheism and me down into a quagmire of doctrinal religiosity.
If PZ and the SJW crowd are wanting to make it a case of being for them or against them then I am against them. They are well poisoners.
42 Simon September 26, 2016 at 1:19 pm
That's a lot of complaints. Usually that many complaints would get you a court appearance. Are you sure you're not just whining? Perspective makes most things small and irrelevant
43 Zappos promo May 8, 2017 at 5:35 am
Thanks-a-mundo for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
8 χρόνια αθεϊστικής σκανδαλολογίας | On the way to Ithaca
Skeptic group publicly shuns PZ Myers for 'harmful and hateful rhetoric' at Our Daily Train | By Jeremy Styron
PZ Myers Is Still A Liar | Godless Spellchecker's Blog
Previous post: The Catholic Church is making money by encouraging vulnerable people to travel to Lourdes
Next post: On satire, sea lions, civility and smears – please support the primacy of reasonable dialogue