text:
\section{Black hole information paradox}

The prediction of thermal radiation from classical black holes \cite{Hawking:1974rv} has ignited long-standing debates on the compatibility of quantum mechanics and gravity. The standard quantization of fields in the background spacetime of a classical black hole implies that a pure quantum mechanical state evolves into a mixed state of Hawking radiation, thereby destroying all the information about the initial quantum state. This violates the basic postulate of quantum mechanics according to which quantum mechanical probabilities are conserved during the evolution of a system, which means that information related to the system is necessarily conserved.

The black hole information paradox may well be an artefact of the approximation where gravity is kept classical. Indeed, there are some suggestions that the paradox is resolved within the more fundamental string theory, for example using the  AdS/CFT correspondence \cite{Aharony:1999ti} or more specific ``fuzzball'' descriptions of black hole microstates \cite{Mathur:2005zp}. Another interesting scenario was recently discussed in \cite{Dvali:2011aa}.

In addition to this, however, it is important to understand exactly how the effect emerges at the level where gravity is kept classical. It is already well known that thermal radiation appears as a quantum mechanical effect even in flat spacetimes without gravity (Unruh radiation \cite{Fulling:1972md}), suggesting that Hawking radiation is a purely kinematic effect (see also the discussion in \cite{Visser:2001kq}). The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the black hole information paradox results from not only the peculiar structure of spacetimes with event horizons, but further due to the time-asymmetric nature of the standard quantization of fields.

Within the standard quantization a relativistic field operator in a given inertial reference frame is broken up into positive and negative frequency parts, which are associated with annihilation and creation operators for positive energy states only. The restriction to only positive energy states has the merit that we always deal with positive norm states and causal propagation as given by the Feynman propagator. Nevertheless in accelerated (non-inertial) reference frames in flat Minkowski spacetime or in a black hole spacetime where no global inertial reference frames are available, this restriction to positive energy states leads inevitably to the existence of thermal states with respect to the Killing vector of time translations. If instead a time-symmetric quantization is used, where annihilation and creation operators are associated with both positive and negative states, the negative energy states lead to a cancelling out of the thermal effects. Thus in this formalism there is no black hole information paradox as Hawking radiation has been removed, revealing the time-asymmetric quantization as a fundamental condition for its existence.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 outlines the time-symmetric quantization and canvasses its key features. It is shown that with an appropriate choice of metric all states have a positive norm and also that the theory does not violate causality. In Section 3 we demonstrate that such a quantization leads to the absence of thermal radiation in spacetimes with event horizons within the technically simpler Rindler spacetime, which captures all the essential ingredients of time-symmetric quantization in black hole spacetimes, and thus the formalism can be used equally well to demonstrate the absence of Hawking radiation. In Section 4 we briefly describe a ``reinterpretation principle", whereby the negative energy states can be reinterpreted as positive energy states in order to resolve pathologies with the formalism. Finally in Section 5 we discuss our results.

\section{Time-symmetric quantization}

In this section we show how to introduce the time-symmetric quantization and consider its basic features. To begin with consider the quantization of a free massless scalar field in an inertial reference frame. We assume the standard quantization, so the field is expanded in the complete basis of positive and negative frequency plane-wave modes,
\begin{equation}
\hat \phi(t,x)=\int dk \left(f_k\hat A_k+f_k^{*}\hat A_k^{\dagger}\right)~,
\label{1}
\end{equation}
where $f_k=\frac{1}{2\pi\sqrt{2|k|}}{\rm e}^{-i(|k|t-kx)}$ and rather than the traditional $\hat A_k = \hat a_k$, in order to ensure a time-symmetric quantization we take
\begin{equation}
\hat A_k=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\hat a_k+\hat \alpha_{-k}^{\dagger}\right)~,~\left[\hat A_k^{\dagger}\equiv(\hat A_k)^{\dagger}\right]~.
\label{2}
\end{equation}
This now ensures that $\hat \phi(t,x)$ has a symmetry $t \rightarrow -t$, an explicit time-symmetry as is present in the Klein-Gordon equation, rather than an anti-unitary one. The annihilation $\hat a_k$, $\hat \alpha_k$ and creation $\hat a_k^{\dagger}$, $\hat \alpha_k^{\dagger}$ operators act on an extended Hilbert space ${\cal H}^{(+)}\bigoplus{\cal H}^{(-)}$ (known as the Hilbert-Krein space)\footnote{Extension to Hilbert-Krein space has been proposed also in \cite{Gazeau:1999mi} to maintain a de Sitter covariant quantization.} and satisfy the following commutation relations:
 \begin{eqnarray}
 [\hat a_k, \hat a^{\dagger}_{k'}]=2\pi\delta(k-k') \\
\label{3}
  [\hat \alpha_k,\hat \alpha^{\dagger}_{k'}]=-2\pi\delta(k-k')~,
   \label{4}
 \end{eqnarray}
 where the remaining commutators are trivial. Notice that $[\hat A_k, \hat A^{\dagger}_{k'}]=2\pi\delta(k-k')$. The vacuum state in the inertial reference frame, $\vert 0_M\rangle$, is defined as:
\begin{equation}
\hat a_k\vert 0_M\rangle=\hat \alpha_k\vert 0_M\rangle=0~,~~\forall k \in \mathbb{R}~.
\label{5}
\end{equation}
The inner product on the Hilbert-Krein space ${\cal H}^{(+)}\bigoplus{\cal H}^{(-)}$,
\begin{equation}
(\psi, \varphi)\equiv \langle \psi \vert \hat \eta \vert \varphi \rangle~( \geq 0)~,
\label{6}
\end{equation}
is defined with the aid of the metric-operator $\hat \eta$, which can be represented as:
\begin{equation}
\hat \eta = \left(-1\right)^{-\int \frac{dk}{2\pi} \hat \alpha_k^{\dagger}\hat \alpha_k}~.
\label{7}
\end{equation}
Then we can ensure a positive norm for an arbitrary multiparticle Fock state with $n_i$ $a$-particles of momenta $k_i$ and $m_i$ $\alpha$-particles of momenta $l_i$ - specifically:
\begin{equation}
\vert n_1 k_1...n_i k_i...m_1 l_1...m_j l_j...\rangle=\prod_{\{ \lambda \}}\prod_{\{ \kappa \}}\frac{(\hat a^{\dagger}_{k_\lambda})^{n_\lambda} (\hat \alpha^{\dagger}_{l_\kappa})^{n_\kappa}}{\sqrt{n_\lambda !} \sqrt{m_\kappa !}} \vert 0_M\rangle ~,
\label{8}
\end{equation}
where $\{ \lambda \}$ and $\{ \kappa \}$ are the occupied states for the $a$ and $\alpha$-particles respectively. Thus a consistent probabilistic quantum mechanical description can be maintained in the theory. Despite this the negative energy states are still present and such states typically pose serious problems. We will discuss a possible resolution of such problems in Section 4.

The particle number operator is usually defined through the conserved charge (the Klein-Gordon product):
\begin{equation}
\langle f, h \rangle=\int dx j^{0}= i\int dx \left(f^{*}\partial_t h-(\partial_t f^{*})h \right)~,
\label{9a}
\end{equation}
where $f$ and $h$ are solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation. Physically, the particle number operator is required to have positive eigenvalues, and therefore positive $\hat \phi^{+}$ and negative $\hat \phi^{-}$ frequency contributions to the particle number operator enter with opposite signs:
\begin{equation}
\hat N = \frac{1}{2} : \left(\langle \hat \phi^{+} , \hat \phi^{+} \rangle - \langle \hat \phi^{-} , \hat \phi^{-} \rangle \right):~,
\label{10}
\end{equation}
where $:~...~:$ is for normal ordering. For the traditional quantization $\hat \phi^{+}=\int dk f_k \hat a_k$, $\hat \phi^{-}=\int dk f_k^{*}\hat a_k^{\dagger}$ and we obtain:
\begin{equation}
\hat N_M = \frac{1}{2}:\int \frac{dk}{2\pi} \left[ \hat a^{\dagger}_k \hat a_k + \hat a_k \hat a^{\dagger}_k \right]:~= \int \frac{dk}{2\pi} \left[ \hat a^{\dagger}_k \hat a_k\right]~,
\label{11}
\end{equation}
which is the usual result. Note in particular that normal ordering was necessary in order to prevent a divergent contribution $\sim \delta (0)$ appearing in the result. Proceeding instead with the time-symmetric field $\hat \phi^{+}=\int dk f_k \hat A_k$, $\hat \phi^{-}=\int dk f_k^{*}\hat A_k^{\dagger}$, we find:
\begin{equation}
\hat N_M =~:\int \frac{dk}{4\pi} \left(\hat A^{\dagger}_k\hat A_k+\hat A_k\hat A^{\dagger}_k\right):~=~:\int \frac{dk}{4\pi}\left(\hat a^{\dagger}_k\hat a_k+\hat \alpha^{\dagger}_k\hat \alpha_k +\hat a_k\hat \alpha_{-k}+ \hat a^{\dagger}_k\hat \alpha^{\dagger}_{-k}\right):~,
\label{12}
\end{equation}
where the absence of divergent contributions in the final result is due to a cancellation brought about by the opposite sign in the $\hat \alpha$ commutator (\ref{4}). Accordingly in this theory there is no need for normal ordering. Nevertheless this number operator has some unusual properties: (i) $\hat N_M$ is not positive definite, that is, $\hat N_M$ has negative expectation values evaluated for states containing $\alpha$-particles, for example, $\langle l_1 \vert \hat N_M\hat \eta \vert l_2 \rangle=
\langle 0_M\vert \hat \alpha_{l_1} \hat N_M\hat \eta \hat \alpha^{\dagger}_{l_2}\vert 0_M\rangle= - \pi \delta \left(l_1-l_2 \right) \langle 0_M\vert 0_M\rangle=-\pi \delta \left(l_1-l_2 \right)$; and (ii) the number operator is not diagonal in the oscillator basis introduced above, for instance $\langle 0_M\vert \hat N_M \hat \eta \vert k, l\rangle=-\langle 0_M\vert \hat N_M \hat a^{\dagger}_k \hat \alpha^{\dagger}_l \vert 0_M\rangle= \pi \delta(k+l)\neq 0$. The Hamiltonian of the system is expressed through the same combination of operators,
\begin{equation}
\hat H=\int \frac{dk}{2\pi}\frac{|k|}{2} \left(\hat A^{\dagger}_k\hat A_k+\hat A_k\hat A^{\dagger}_k\right)
\label{13}
\end{equation}
and thus shares the same unusual properties as $\hat N_M$. In particular, the states (\ref{8}) are not eigenstates of the Hamiltonian (\ref{13}). Again, note there is no need for normal ordering, $\langle 0 \vert H \eta \vert 0 \rangle = 0$ automatically. In the free field case the vacuum energy is the only divergent quantity, therefore free time-symmetric field theory is a finite theory (in any dimensions).

It is easy to confirm by direct calculation that the propagator for this theory is not the causal Feynman propagator $\Delta_F$, but rather a sum of half causal and half anti-causal [$\bar \Delta_F\equiv \Delta_F^{*}$] Feynman propagators:
$\Delta_{WF}(\omega, k) = \frac{1}{2} \Delta_F(\omega, k) + \frac{1}{2} \bar \Delta_F(\omega, k)~.$
Accordingly the on-shell part is absent, i.e.,
\begin{equation}
\Delta_{WF}(\omega, k)={\cal P}\frac{1}{\omega^2-k^2}~,
\label{14}
\end{equation}
where ${\cal P}$ denotes Cauchy principle value. The on-shell part is cancelled out between positive and negative energy contributions. Note that a similar propagator appears also in the action-at-a-distance formulation of classical electrodynamics by Wheeler and Feynman \cite{Wheeler:1945ps}. It would be interesting to see if there is a relation between the time-symmetric quantization formalism and a theory of non-local fields. Despite the fact that (\ref{14}) is not a causal Feynman propagator, we do not expect a violation of causality since the microcausality condition holds in our theory. Indeed, since the operators $\hat A_k$ and $\hat A^{\dagger}_k$ satisfy the standard commutation relation, one can obtain the standard result for the commutator of field operators:
\begin{equation}
[\hat \phi(t,x), \hat \phi(t',x')]=-i\int\frac{dk}{2\pi |k|}\sin\left(|k|(t-t')-k(x-x')\right)~.
\label{15}
\end{equation}
This vanishes for spacelike separated events $|t-t'|<|x-x'|$.

\section{Absence of Unruh radiation in an accelerated frame}

In this section we demonstrate the absence of thermal radiation for an observer in Rindler spacetime - the simplest spacetime with a horizon. The Rindler coordinate system describes a uniformly accelerating observer in (1+1)-dimensional flat Minkowski spacetime. The conformal Rindler coordinates $(\tau, \chi)$ can be written in terms of Cartesian coordinates $(t,x)$, which parametrize flat Minkowski spacetime, as follows:
\begin{equation}
\tau=\frac{1}{2a}\ln\left(\frac{x+t}{x-t} \right)~,~~\chi=\frac{1}{2a}\ln\left(a^2[x^2-t^2]\right)~,
\label{16}
\end{equation}
where $a>0$ is the modulus of a constant acceleration. Accordingly the Rindler coordinates cover only the $x>|t|$ quadrant of the full Minkowski spacetime. The field quantization in this frame is formally similar to the one described in Section 2. The mode expansion reads:
\begin{equation}
\hat \phi(\tau,\chi)=\int dp \left(F_p\hat B_p+F_p^{*}\hat B_p^{\dagger}\right)~,
\label{17}
\end{equation}
where $F_p=\frac{1}{2\pi\sqrt{2|p|}}{\rm e}^{-i(|p|\tau-p\chi)}$ and
\begin{equation}
\hat B_p=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\hat b_p+\hat \beta_{-p}^{\dagger}\right)~,~\left[\hat B_p^{\dagger}\equiv(\hat B_p)^{\dagger}\right]~.
\label{18}
\end{equation}
However, an important difference is that $\lbrace F_{p}\rbrace$ form complete set only in the region $\vert x\vert>t$. Again the operator $\hat b_p$ ($\hat b_p^{\dagger}$) is interpreted as the annihilation (creation) operator for positive energy particles with momentum $p$ while the operator $\hat \beta_p$ ($\hat \beta_p^{\dagger}$) is the annihilation (creation) operators for negative energy particles with the same momentum. Non-trivial commutators read:
\begin{eqnarray}
\left[\hat b_p, \hat b_{p'}^{\dagger}\right]=2\pi\delta(p-p') \\
\left[\hat \beta_p, \hat \beta_{p'}^{\dagger}\right]=-2\pi\delta(p-p')~ ,
\label{19}
\end{eqnarray}
and $[\hat B_p,\hat B^{\dagger}_{p'}]=2\pi \delta(p-p')$. The vacuum state $\vert 0_R \rangle$ in the accelerated reference frame is defined as:
\begin{equation}
\hat b_p \vert 0_R \rangle = \hat \beta_p \vert 0_R \rangle =0~, ~~\forall p \in \mathbb{R}~.
\label{20}
\end{equation}
We again see that Hilbert-Krein space must be equipped with an indefinite metric: $\hat \xi=(-1)^{-\int \frac{dp}{2\pi} \hat \beta^{\dagger}_p\hat \beta_p}$. The particle number operator has a form analogous to (\ref{12}):
\begin{equation}
\hat N_R =\int \frac{dp}{4\pi} \left(\hat B^{\dagger}_p\hat B_p+\hat B_p\hat B^{\dagger}_p\right)~.
\label{21}
\end{equation}

Let us demonstrate now the absence of thermal radiation in the accelerated reference frame within the time-symmetric quantization. Because the operators $\hat A_k$ and $\hat B_p$ satisfy the standard commutation relations, we can simply borrow the usual Bogoliubov transformations which relates operators in inertial and accelerated reference frames \cite{Fulling:1972md}. Actually, we only need a generic form of these transformations:

\begin{equation}
\hat B_p=\int dk \left(\gamma_{pk}\hat A_k+\delta_{pk}\hat A_{k}^{\dagger}\right)~.
\label{22}
\end{equation}
The expectation value of the particle number operator (\ref{21}) in the Minkowski vacuum then is:
\begin{equation}
\langle 0_M\vert \hat N_R\vert 0_M\rangle = \int \frac{dpdldk}{4\pi} \left(\gamma^{*}_{pl}\gamma_{pk}+\delta^{*}_{pl}\delta_{pk}\right)
\langle 0_M\vert \hat \alpha_{-l} \hat \alpha^{\dagger}_{-k} + \hat a_l \hat a^{\dagger}_k \vert 0_M\rangle = 0~,
\label{23}
\end{equation}

where in the second equality we have kept only terms that do not annihilate the vacuum and in the third we have made use of the commutation relations in (3) and (\ref{4}). The negative and positive frequency contributions cancel out in (\ref{23}) and thus an accelerated observer sees a non-thermal,  particle-free Minkowski vacuum, which is identical to what is seen by the inertial observer. In this sense the vacuum state is invariant under Bogoliubov transformations, as has been pointed out earlier in \cite{Garidi:2005}. This is to be contrasted with the result obtained via the standard quantization, where an accelerated Rindler observer sees the Minkowski vacuum as a thermal spectrum of particles. A similar analysis can be performed in Schwarzschild spacetime to show the absence of Hawking radiation within the framework of time-symmetric quantization.

\section{Negative energy states and the reinterpretation postulate}

The negative energy states introduced in the time-symmetric quantization lead to an apparent stability problem since the energy is not bounded from below. For example, the vacuum state is apparently unstable since it may spontaneously decay into negative and positive energy states. Here, following earlier work on quantized tachyonic fields \cite{Dhar:1969gb}, we suggest a reinterpretation principle that resolves the issue with negative energy states.

A transition amplitude of an initial state $\vert\Psi(t_{\rm in})\rangle$ into a final state  $\vert\Psi(t_{\rm f})\rangle$ is defined by the evolution operator: $\langle\Psi(t_{\rm f}) \vert \hat \eta\vert \Psi(t_{\rm in})\rangle=\langle\Psi \vert {\rm e}^{-i\hat H\Delta t}\hat \eta \vert\Psi\rangle= {\rm e}^{-iE_{\Psi}\Delta t}$, where $E_{\Psi}$ is the expectation value of the Hamiltonian operator $\hat H$ for the state $\Psi$ (in the Heisenberg picture) and $\Delta t=t_{\rm f}-t_{\rm in}$. It is well known that transition amplitudes exhibit a crossing symmetry; that is exchanging the initial and final states ($t_{\rm in}\leftrightarrow t_{\rm f}$) and taking $E_{\Psi}\to -E_{\Psi}$ leaves the transition amplitudes unchanged. We can use this crossing symmetry to reinterpret negative energy states. In particular, a negative energy particle in an initial (final) state can be interpreted as a positive energy antiparticle in a final (initial) state \cite{Dhar:1969gb}. This way we only deal with positive energy initial and final states. For example, the vacuum decay process discussed above becomes reinterpreted as the vacuum polarization process. We would like to stress, however, that crossing symmetry is a symmetry of transition amplitudes and not the quantum theory itself. Therefore it can not be used to completely remove negative energy states within the time-symmetric quantization. The situation here is different from the standard quantization scheme of systems with gauge invariance. The gauge symmetry is a fundamental symmetry of a theory and thus negative energy or norm states are redundant, unphysical states that can be completely removed by fixing the gauge.

Despite the somewhat ad hoc and non-dynamical nature of the reinterpretation postulate, it is clear that it does the job ``phenomenologically" by removing apparent pathologies associated with the negative energy states in a generic interacting theory. This follows from the fact that the Hamiltonian in the above-discussion is not restricted to be a free-Hamiltonian. In fact, what one needs for the consistency of the theory is to avoid asymptotic \emph{in} and \emph{out} negative states and that is exactly established by the reinterpretation postulate. Therefore, together with the automatic causality condition (\ref{15}), the reinterpretation postulate implies that the time-symmetric quantization formalism may be considered as a valid alternative to the standard quantization scheme.

\section{Discussion and conclusion }

It is widely believed that Hawking radiation provides a consistent thermodynamic interpretation of Bekenstein's black hole entropy \cite{Bekenstein:1972tm}. From this point of view the absence of such thermal radiation in the time-symmetric quantization may seem like a major deficiency. We would like to point out that, while the relation between the Hawking radiation and black hole entropy is suggestive, there is no rigorous physical proof of such a relation. Moreover, the physical origin of the two phenomena are completely different: Bekenstein entropy is based on entirely classical solutions to the Einstein equations, while the thermal radiation can be seen as a purely kinematic quantum mechanical effect, as discussed in Section 1. In truth, the thermodynamic interpretation of gravity may ultimately require understanding at a deeper level; the result of our paper is simply intended to elucidate the origins of the associated black hole information paradox.

In conclusion, we have argued that thermal radiation does not appear when the fields are quantized in spacetimes with horizons within the time-symmetric quantization formalism. The thermal effects are simply cancelled out between the positive and negative energy contributions. We have also shown that the time-symmetric quantization is causal and deals only with positive norm states. Finally we have argued for the reinterpretation postulate in order to have a sensible quantum theory with negative energy states. Accordingly the time-symmetric formalism in the free field limit is a consistent theory in which the black hole information paradox does not arise, implying that a time-asymmetric quantization is indeed a necessary condition for its existence.

\paragraph{Acknowledgements.} We are grateful to Ray Volkas for reading the manuscript and making comments. The work was partially supported by the ARC.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


With joints in the spine as with joints everywhere else in the body, there is a truism – "use it or lose it". Staying active is one of the most important things to do to manage the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis. The key is to find exercises that that are doable and enjoyable, and will also not exacerbate or bring on the symptoms of stenosis.
This section of the article provides examples of some stenosis exercises that may help alleviate symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis.
Exercise will increase the blood flow to the back, bringing needed oxygen and nutrients and washing away toxic metabolites.
Exercise will strengthen the muscles around the spine, helping to take the pressure off of the bones and other static structures in the back.
Exercise will help maintain flexibility, which will help prevent tight muscles that pull and torque the spine, which can worsen symptoms of spinal stenosis.
Exercise will help maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight can lead to worsening back pain and leg pain.
Staying active helps with emotional and mental health as well. Getting up and moving gets the blood and endorphins flowing and improves one's overall outlook, which in turn helps reduce pain and improve physical symptoms.
An effective exercise program for people with lumbar spinal stenosis usually includes a combination of range of motion, strengthening, endurance, and stability related activities. Patients often find that activities/exercises for lumbar stenosis that are done in a bending - forward position are more comfortable.
Some people find bicycle riding an enjoyable and rewarding activity. Stationary biking may be preferable.
Others find swimming to be a positive activity, or water therapy (which is exercise in a pool).
Joining a gym and working with a therapist or trainer is often an effective way to learn some good stretching and core strengthening exercises.
Taking a Tai Chi class that involves slow, deliberate and flowing movements of the body is another way to exercise and treat spinal stenosis.
The above activities are on the smooth and repetitive end of the exercise spectrum. Patients may have less pain by avoiding the higher impact exercise such as jogging, avoiding contact sports, and avoiding long periods of standing or walking.
Remember that the best exercise is one that will become part of one's daily routine. Planning to bicycle everyday for one hour won't do any good if it isn't fun and doesn't become part of the routine. Pick something that is personally rewarding, fun and enjoyable. Ideally, find an activity that can be done regardless of weather conditions so that exercise can be made part of everyday life.
Remember to always check with the doctor before starting any new exercise regimen. The doctor may also recommend a physical therapist to learn exercises that can then be incorporated into a daily exercise routine.
Don't exercise through pain and other symptoms. If the spinal stenosis symptoms are brought on by the activity, or worsen during or after the activity, stop and discuss it with the doctor.
For more information on Exercise and Spinal Stenosis, please see Exercise for Sciatica from Spinal Stenosis.


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Ahlstrom Corporation STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 09.11.2009
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SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I'm Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Every year, the National Geographic Society honors scientists, wildlife experts and others for their work. Each honoree receives a ten thousand dollar award to help them with their research and future projects. This week we learn about the latest National Geographic Emerging Explorers.
KEVIN HAND: "The big picture for me and many of my colleagues is the search for life beyond Earth. So if we've learned anything about life here on Earth, it's that in general where you find the liquid water, you find life."
Jupiter's moon Europa has a surface made up of blocks, which are thought to have broken apart into new positions, as shown in the image on the left.
KEVIN HAND: "And when it comes to actually searching for this life, that's a great challenge. We send these robots off as our little planetary emissaries to go and do the science. These robots basically have to take the scientific laboratory with them so they can do the experiments and chemical analysis on the planets."
JENNIFER BURNEY: "This system enables farmers to cultivate vegetables year around and to cultivate new types of crops and to generally increase the area that they cultivate so they have much more food for their home consumption but are also able to sell a large majority of it and earn income that way.
JENNIFER BURNEY: "We know that it is a component of particulate matter which makes people sick, but it's also a very potent climate warming agent."
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Two Emerging Explorers are working to turn waste into a valuable resource. Ecologist Sasha Kramer is helping to fight poverty in Haiti. She also is working to solve one of the country's environmental problems. Living in Haiti, Sasha Kramer learned that only sixteen percent of Haitians had access to toilets. Many people throw out bodily waste in the ocean, rivers, and empty areas. She helped create a non-profit organization that helps turn waste into fertilizer. This fertilizer helps improve the quality of Haiti's soil. And it helps poor farmers increase their harvests.
Ecologist Paula Kahumbu heads an organization called WildlifeDirect, which has offices in Kenya and the United States. The organization's website describes over one hundred conservation projects. The goal of WildlifeDirect is to connect scientists working to protect the environment with people who want to help. The group also helps spread information quickly to raise support during environmental crises.
STEVE EMBER: Four Emerging Explorers study creatures. ?a?an ?ekercio?lu is a biology professor at the University of Utah. The Turkish native has studied the effects of environmental pressures on decreasing bird populations. He helps to show people how important birds are for health, farming, and the environment.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Kakani Katija is a bioengineer who studies the power sources responsible for the ocean's movements. Winds and tides drive the oceans, but so do the movements of swimming animals. Her research shows that the movement of sea creatures has a big effect on climate systems by continuously mixing the seawater. Mixing the water moves oxygen and nutrients from one layer of water to another.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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Q: ExpressJS Session Authentication with Passport and Mongoose Throwing EPERM renaming error I'm just getting into MEAN-stack/general Nodejs stuff recently after years of PHP/MySQL web development and I'm looking at authentication. I used this guide to create a simple authentication server with Passport and json-server. It works exactly as described in that guide.
However, I want to be using mongoose/MongoDB for the project I'm learning with so I decided to try and alter the code in that guide to work for mongoose.
All seemed to be going fine (the '/authrequired' endpoint can't be hit without having a cookie that matches a session on the ExpressJS server and login functionality works) but I tried adding registering functionality and I'm getting a renaming error I've never seen before and can't find much information on in this context.
The registering code works fine from mongoose's point-of-view but when I try and call req.login() which should set the session using passport and redirect to '/authrequired' (which is a guarded area requiring a session), I get kicked back to '/' (which is what happens when '/authrequired' can't authenticate the user).
The error I get is:

Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\Users\admin\express-auth\server\sessions\39cad5de-5e1b-4319-b967-c77dd3ef729d.json.4139658133' -> 'C:\Users\admin\express-auth\server\sessions\39cad5de-5e1b-4319-b967-c77dd3ef729d.json'

I don't understand why express is trying to rename the session file in the first place. If I look in the sessions folder there are 2 files:

*

*39cad5de-5e1b-4319-b967-c77dd3ef729d.json

*39cad5de-5e1b-4319-b967-c77dd3ef729d.json.4139658133

The first has the json session data, the second one is blank.
Does anyone know what is going on? What have I done wrong and what can I do to resolve this?
I was not getting this renaming error using the json-server/axios version described in the linked guide.
Thanks
Passport Configuration
passport.use(new LocalStrategy(
  { usernameField: 'email' },
  (email, password, done) => {
    User.findOne({email: email}, (err, user) => {
      if(!user) {
        return done(null, false, { message: 'Invalid credentials.\n' });
      }
      if(!bcrypt.compareSync(password, user.password)) {
        return done(null, false, { message: 'Invalid credentials.\n' });
      }
      return done(null, user);
    });
  }
});

passport.serializeUser((user, done) => {
  done(null, user.id);
});

passport.deserializeUser((id, done) => {
  User.findById(id, (err, user) => {
    if(user) {
      done(null, user);
    }
    else if(err) {
      done(error, false);
    }
  });
});

app setup
// create the server
const app = express();

// add & configure middleware
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }))
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(session({
  genid: (req) => {
    return uuid() // use UUIDs for session IDs
  },
  store: new FileStore(),
  secret: 'keyboard cat',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: true
}))
app.use(passport.initialize());
app.use(passport.session());

Register endpoint
app.post('/register', (req, res, next) => {
  User.findOne({email: req.body.email}, (err, user) => {
    if(user) {
      res.send('Account with email already exists.');
    } else {
      console.log(req.body.password);
      bcrypt.hash(req.body.password, null, null, (err, hash) => {
        if(err) { return next(err); }
        var newUser = new User({
          username: req.body.username,
          email: req.body.email,
          password: hash,
          passwordConf: hash
        });
        newUser.save((err, savedUser) => {
          console.log(savedUser);
          if(err) {
            return res.send('error saving user.');
          }
          else {
            req.login(savedUser, (err) => {
              if(err) { return next(err); }
              return res.redirect('/authrequired');
            });
          }
        });
      });
    }
  });
});

Login endpoint
    app.post('/login', (req, res, next) => {
  passport.authenticate('local', (err, user, info) => {
    if(info) {return res.send(info.message)}
    if (err) { return next(err); }
    if (!user) { return res.redirect('/login'); }
    req.login(user, (err) => {
      if (err) { return next(err); }
      return res.redirect('/authrequired');
    });
  })(req, res, next);
});

Authrequired endpoint
app.get('/authrequired', (req, res) => {
  if(req.isAuthenticated()) {
    res.send('you hit the authentication endpoint\n')
  } else {
    res.redirect('/')
  }
});

A: I was facing a similar issue. I realized that both of us had session declared twice.
app.use(session({
  genid: (req) => {
    return uuid() // use UUIDs for session IDs
  },
  store: new FileStore(),
  secret: 'keyboard cat',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: true
}))
app.use(passport.initialize());
app.use(passport.session());

The error disappeared when I removed the first session declaration.
app.use(session({
  genid: (req) => {
    return uuid() // use UUIDs for session IDs
  },
  store: new FileStore(),
  secret: 'keyboard cat',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: true
}))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Ireland to push for inclusion of SWIFT in new Russian sanctions
Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov are among those who will have their assets frozen
Jack Quann
21.07 25 Feb 2022
The European Union has adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions, announced on Thursday, target the financial, energy and transport sectors.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have been added to the list of individuals who will have their assets frozen in the EU.
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney says the package will have a "long lasting effect on the Russian economy", including on oligarchs and individuals who supported the invasion of Ukraine.
He also says he "made the case" for the inclusion of SWIFT in a further package of sanctions, which are expected to be agreed in the coming days.
Removing Russia from the SWIFT global payments system would damage its economy both immediately and in the long-term.
The system is used by more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories to send money and information to each other.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner says his country is open to removing Russia from the system, but has to calculate the consequences for its own economy first.
While British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged international leaders to take immediate action on SWIFT to "inflict maximum pain on President Putin and his regime".
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference in Moscow in February 2022. Picture by: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo
In Brussels on Friday, EU ministers also discussed the humanitarian consequences of Russia's attack - and encouraged support for a humanitarian response from the bloc.
Ireland has already allocated €10m in humanitarian action.
While visa requirements for all Ukrainian citizens to Ireland have been dropped.
Those who travel to Ireland without a visa will then have 90 days after arrival to regularise their position.
However Mr Coveney says the EU decided, as a bloc, not to expel Russian diplomats.
He explains: "As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I have a responsibility to consider the potential impact of decisions I take on our ability to assist Irish citizens in Russia and Ukraine and we are are maintaining a clear line of communication for now."
But he adds: "This and other possible diplomatic measures remain on the table".
Ireland's diplomatic team has left Ukraine and will operate on a remote basis from Dublin.
While the Secretary-General at the Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Ambassador Yuriy Filatov on Friday "to make clear the Government's strong condemnation of the invasion and Russia's gross violation of international law and the UN charter."
Additional reporting: IRN
Main image: Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney is seen in Brussels, Belgium at an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in February 2022. Image: European Union
Assets Frozen Boris Johnson Christian Lindner EU Sanctions European Union Russia Russian Sanctions SWIFT SWIFT Global Payments Sergei Lavrov Simon Coveney Ukraine Vladimir Putin
Eoghan Corry: Why it could be another summer of lost luggage
Centra to create over 460 new jobs across Ireland
VHI hike could see family plan increase 'between €60 to €270 a year'
Revolut 'absolutely' the viable alternative to the big banks


text:
Tag Archives: activism
Death Threats and Red Flags
Above: this photo earned the author a death threat just ten minutes
after being posted on a sub gun internet fan page.
"Extreme Risk Protection Orders" or "Red Flag Laws" present an interesting form of gun control, currently adopted by seventeen US states. These exist in various forms and allow temporary firearm confiscation, even if no laws were actually broken by the individual in question. They are typically granted by judicial decision at the request of family members, concerned friends or police officers and present one of the few gun control positions enjoying relatively broad support across the political spectrum.
In the two years since Oregon adopted a Red Flag Law, it's most commonly involved domestic violence situations or suicide risk. For me, these social issues hit close. I've lost friends to suicide and also spent five years working in a women's shelter. Any means for potentially making violent partners less deadly carries undeniable appeal. Still, I worry about the potential for abuse because laws are only as fair as those enforcing them.
There's plenty of reasons I feel trepidation. For example, one year ago a resident who was nearly nine months pregnant with an abusive ex-partner's child, turned up covered in bruises after being beaten by him again. While she cried in the managers office, her ex raged on the sidewalk outside, screaming threats against her and my co-workers. Incredibly, he was still there when a cop showed up twenty-five minutes later. The responding officer then yelled at the woman for being too emotional and on his way out, actually gave her abuser a fist bump. The very next evening, her ex came back with a shotgun and was arrested attempting to break in.
Given the notorious connection between police officers and domestic violence, this camaraderie shouldn't be shocking. It's also worth observing the cop in question and the abuser were both White. The pregnant woman was Black. Of course, it goes deeper than personal anecdotes. There are countless other examples for why law enforcement has accountability problems, from Ferguson, Baltimore, Portland and everywhere in between.
During times where people distrust police, and Right wing terrorist sympathies originate from the president, it's unsurprising marginalized communities are banding together around defense and mutual aid. Sometimes this involves training with arms.
Now, most sensational outrages by Fascist militants occur against relatively wide targets of opportunity, like the El Paso shooter who drove hundreds of miles to find a favorable location for slaughtering Mexican-Americans or the one who selected a particular Charleston church because of it's Black congregation. As terrible as those events were, more dangerous are the less organized acts, a national pogrom occuring in plain sight yet receiving fewer headlines… the rising wave of violence against people of color, immigrants, Jewish and LGBTQ communities.
Against this background, the issue of Sgt. Shane Michael Kohfield presents many complications and deserves scrutiny. To sum up, Kohfield is a military veteran experiencing mental illness, substance abuse and PTSD who attended a 2018 Right wing rally in Portland. There, he claims anti-Fascist protesters assaulted him, yet without details of physical injury. Kohfield subsequently wrote a Texas politician demanding "Antifa" be condemned as a terrorist organization and declared if the government didn't take action, he would orchestrate "genocide" against them. The FBI opened a file regarding this. Next he showed up outside the Mayor of Portland's house while repeating his threats through a loudspeaker. This ostentatious display caused agents to temporarily confiscate his firearms using Oregon's "extreme risk protection order."
Kohfield's case presents a unique political twist. Indeed, Kohfield's own father testified he posed significant risk of committing murder.* Like many anti-Fascists, I've received my own share of death threats, so I'd be lying if the news such a person had been disarmed— no matter by who or how temporary, didn't provide some satisfaction.
Then this September, Kohfield appeared on the Lars Larson show, a Northwest conservative talk radio program. Their recorded exchange is well worth hearing. Kohfield sounded confused and nearly incoherent at first. Despite everything, I immediately felt badly for him. It should have been obvious this was someone who needed help, not a person in any condition to make public commentary. Instead, Larson vacillated between chiding him for muddled statements and then goading more extreme directions. Kohfield seemed reluctant to restate his earlier violent outbursts, perhaps feeling understandably ashamed, yet Larson prodded him into specifics.
Kohfield: First veterans join Antifa social media pages and groups, and get names of most active members and social media, along with getting the arrest records from rallies and write down all the names they see. The veterans will use background check programs to get all the home addresses of Antifa. Using the intelligence they have gathered, the veterans will take maps of the cities where Antifa are known to live there, grid overlays will be placed over the maps of the cities, the veterans will be broken down into squads, each squad will be assigned a grid and given names and addresses in their assigned grid square. There's an ap called Route4me that can be downloaded on a phone with the GPS, it is an ap that allows delivery truck drivers to enter more than one address, unlimited addresses and ap plot turn by turn the best route to deliver the packages. The veterans would use Route4me to find the most expedient route to hunt down the most violent members of Antifa in their beds at night until every one was gone in every city in America, if need be, in a single well coordinated night. The losses for Antifa would be catastrophic
Larson: So you are planning to hunt down and kill members of Antifa?
Kohfield: No. No.
Larson: But that's what you just described!
Kohfield then attempted to backpedal and equivocate his statement, both denying this plan endorsed violence but also declaring anti-Fascists deserved death if they became a lethal threat, something he clearly believed was reality, having earlier claimed "Antifa" chased "conservative" citizens around with knives while being protected by the police. Larson made no attempt to correct his fanciful imagination, but only pressed for more details.
Larson: What do you plan to do to them when you get to their home and they're asleep in their beds?
Kohfield: According to the plan, it would be kill.
Larson let him ramble on for another 15 seconds and suddenly ended the interview, not before thanking Kohfield for his service.
There's a lot to be angry about here, and it's more complicated than the fact an unstable man with military training openly contemplates slaughtering Americans in their beds. While Kohfield seems an obvious villain, Lars Larson more richly deserves that billing. It's completely irresponsible allowing someone clearly in the midst of a mental health crisis to make murderous public statements that will follow them the rest of their lives. Larson blatantly exploited Kohfield's disturbed state for radio sensation, without making any attempt to assist the man. Larson is someone with a widespread following who many on the Right take seriously. By not challenging Kohfield's toxic social delusions, he reinforced the fantasy that "Antifa" represents some sinister organization bent on killing others.
But it's only a relatively minor news story. One could imagine the national outrage if some progressive radio show let a Leftist militant describe plans for death squads around the country to assassinate sleeping bankers in their homes. Of course, in our consequence-free climate where the current president wantonly pardons war criminals, and the previous one authorized assassinating citizens without trial, perhaps Americans would accept that extrajudicial killings of anti-Fascists might be an extreme, but ultimately legitimate political stance.
This case also sets worrying precedent in firearms policy. Kohfield brought his threats to an escalated level by broadcasting them at the Portland mayor's house, yet was convicted of no crime. The question for armed anti-Fascists becomes, at what point does this affect us? For some time there have been movements by powerful people in government toward declaring "Antifa" a terrorist group. After taking action against a figure on the Right, state agencies may feel political pressure to next target anti-Fascists with "extreme risk protection orders."
Therefore, we must be very clear about what community defense means and make sure no excuse can be given for authorities disarming vulnerable populations during these fraught times. Everyone should agree:
It's doesn't mean assassinating people in bed at night.
It's doesn't mean preemptively shooting anyone, no matter their political affiliation.
It absolutely means firearms are for defending against immediate life dangers, not property.
It absolutely means keeping our friends and families safe through mutual aid, training for emergencies and with force as a clearly defined last resort. Guns have their place in the social justice toolbox, but only when all other means have been exhausted.
* Kohfield has disputed this aspect of the story and claims his father was misquoted in media accounts.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, antifa, antifascism, communitydefense, fascism, Gun Control, Gun Politics, patriotprayer, police, policestate, portland, redflag on January 8, 2020 by Ross Eliot.
Masculinity, State Torture and Gun Culture
Customization is an important part of being a gun owner. Discovering individual preferences that come into play through selecting different trigger weights, sights, hand grip and stock styles are major ways to become a more effective shooter. Making those adjustments yourself as much as possible creates familiarity that only helps the process. But it's not just technical upgrades that are available. Some people prefer shiny stainless steel finishes and others classic gunmetal blue. Aftermarket options exist that can make the final product completely unrecognizable from its original state.
Still, it's important to be sensible about your choices. I remember years ago reading an article by gun expert Massad Ayoob where he discussed ways juries become biased about armed defensive situations. He maintained the more aggressively a firearm was named or appeared played significant part in influencing verdicts. In other words, someone who defended themselves with a Masterpiece Arms Grim Reaper would come across as more sinister than the same person bearing an STI Lawman, even if all other circumstances were the same.
Ayoob advised that anyone selecting a concealed carry weapon should always imagine how, worse case scenario, it might come across in court. For example, I once met a man who carried a Glock pistol he had engraved with an image of the mid '90s subculture comics character Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. The fellow laughed off my concern, but I remember declaring that should he ever actually used the pistol, it wouldn't matter if a whole kindergarten was saved, he would still end up before a horrified jury trying to justify that name.
Because gun culture is so embarrassingly hyper-masculine, it's unsurprising many companies now offer customized versions of firearms catering to such unwise aesthetics. Massad Ayoob has written about his dim view of the comics vigilante Punisher skull that can be found emblazoned on many guns and several manufacturers make AR-15 lower receivers with not only death's head graphics but even cast into actual skull shapes. As a design, the results are unavoidably tacky, but also point towards literal overkill. Firearms already look intimidating enough without excessive machismo making gun culture less accessible.
Besides intimidating imagery, even worse are the political themes. One particular company, Spike's Tactical, has become especially notorious on that front. Probably their best known offering is the AR-15 "Snowflake" lower receiver with fire control options ranging from:
"SAFE SPACE" (safe)
"TRIGGERED" (semi-auto)
"FULL LIBTURD" (fully automatic)
Yet Spike's most toxic product is the AR-15 "Waterboarding Instructor" receiver. This one lets operators select between:
"DROWN 'EM"
In short, scoffing at serious war crimes. It's simply shocking that a company who markets itself to law enforcement and the military would openly advocate state sanctioned torture, even disguised as a lame joke. Our grandparents generation executed Japanese officials after WWII for committing such atrocities. The permissive culture among modern day Right wingers merely sees an excuse to chuckle and make a few bucks.
However, Spike's Tactical doesn't limit their politics to just mocking sensitive liberals or applauding government sponsored terrorism. Just four months after the 2017 Unite the Right Rally, organized by White Nationalists in Charlottesville, where one of them murderously rammed a vehicle into massed counter-demonstrators, Spike's issued a new ad campaign showing several men in tactical gear with AR-15 rifles facing down black masked figures. The copy read: "NOT TODAY ANTIFA," with a list of multiple cities where anti-Fascist actions had occurred, including Charlottesville. In a press release, Spike's described their graphic as simply reacting against Antifa, a so-called "violent group," dodging the fact it clearly demonstrated solidarity with groups committing actual violence across America whose rising death tolls have required stringent anti-Fascist responses.
Unfortunately these regressive trends are only growing among firearms manufacturers. Most recently Palmetto State Armory got into the game with their "Build the Wall" AR-15 receiver, marked:
"DETAIN,"
"10 FEET HIGHER"
This is particularly sickening given that President Trump's wall building rhetoric has accompanied horrific abuses along the border region. In fact, at one recent rally, Trump simply laughed when one of his supporters advocated shooting immigrants on the Mexican frontier. We truly live in a culture beyond parody. How much longer until some marketer comes up with a special "Muslim Ban" or "Proud Pussy Grabber" themed firearm?
For the moment, it's definitely an uphill battle, but Leftists need to tear gun culture back from the Right wing forces who have dominated it far too long. The human rights of self and community defense belongs to everyone, not only those burdened with fragile male egos and stunted political views. Let's hope for a day when someone makes a Harriet Tubman rifle receiver. They can label its fire controls:
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, antifa, antifascism, communitydefense, fascism, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, guns, masculinity, portland, Shooting on May 16, 2019 by Ross Eliot.
NORTH & HAMMER: More Reasons to Burn the NRA
Together their surnames sound like a Black Metal band on trial for church arson, but Oliver North and Marion Hammer recently managed in just one day to throw additional fuel on everything that makes the National Rifle Association such a trash fire.
On May 7th, the NRA announced their next president, an iconic position historically often given to retired military officers or more recently, Right Wing public personas. Lt. Col. North fills both requirements. While he came across sympathetically to many during the 1980s as a stoic scapegoat from the Iran-Contra scandal, his career more recently involved playing a Fox News contributor in the most typical scribble-by-numbers sense. Wide eyed disbelief at how Democrats allegedly hate police officers, sorrowful head shaking when activists shout anti-war slogans and incongruous outrage at NFL players peacefully kneeling during the national anthem as protest against State Terror by police forces.
Instead of winning more people over in support of gun rights, choosing North signals that the NRA seeks no deviation from it's tragic policy of marrying the 2nd Amendment to regressive political and unrelated social issues. While the human right of self defense should hold universal appeal, it has instead promoted characters like Executive Vice-president Wayne LaPierre, who wrote sarcastically against feminism, singled out Ben and Jerry's ice cream for attack* and repeatedly blamed shootings on video games. Of course, anecdotal evidence strongly suggests video games make teenagers extremely boring, yet no scientific link has ever been found to demonstrate that digital violence ever leaves the domain of ones and zeroes.
Still, LaPierre's bungles pale in comparison to NRA board member Ted Nugent who most infamously created a new definition for White privilege when he evaded legal jeopardy after threatening to machine-gun President Obama, besides calling him a "subhuman mongrel" and then issuing a half-apology no parent would accept from their six-year old. Nugent's other antics include referring to Hillary Clinton as a "bitch," whore" and "toxic cunt" besides a whole host of slurs against Black and queer folks among many others. His dimwitted social observations are hardly original among the most ignorant, but by elevating such a man so highly, the NRA irresponsibly gives clear endorsement to such views. One could hardly imagine a better way to alienate decent minded people from the gun rights movement than a 60 second google search of Nugent's quotes.
Then, if this wasn't all bad enough, just hours after Oliver North's new job announcement hit the airwaves, former NRA president Marion Hammer appeared on the NPR program All Things Considered. Immediately she fired off a classic culture wars bazooka. In her social analysis, the root cause of gun violence is "the breakdown of families. Parents don't raise children the way they used to. There are too many children who grow up on their own without guidance."
Hammer didn't specify further, but it's clear where she was riding the family values train and is an easy argument to dismiss. For example, divorce rates in the European Union as a whole are roughly identical to the United States, just under 50%. However, the EU is much more friendly territory for gay marriage and adoption, gender equality, including trans rights, not to mention atheism, abortions, birth control access…etc…etc…in other words, the vast host of issues that conservatives blame on destroying traditional virtues. Yet despite these trends not increasing divorce rates, they also don't lead to Europeans murdering one another with the same enthusiasm as Americans. It's obviously something else.
Unfortunately, North, LaPierre, Nugent and Hammer are ideological prisoners, clawing at any excuse to blame shootings on something besides guns, yet ignoring what actually makes the United States so dangerous. Institutional racism is a huge factor, yet kneeling at football games never hurt anybody. Video games don't kill, but toxic forms of masculinity remain dominant themes among mass murderers. Healthy families are obviously important, but children raised by queer parents are no worse than others. Systemic poverty destroys whole communities, leading to tragic violence levels, yet the NRA would rather play off skewed Right Wing social biases than face the truth. It weakens their organization long term and sadly, hampers the work of everyone who cares about the right to be armed.
*Both from Wayne LaPierre and James Jay Baker. Shooting Straight: Telling the Truth About Guns in America. Regnery Publishing, Washington DC, 2002. 3 & 129.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, Liberal, marionhammer, nra, olivernorth, red nugent, Shooting, waynelapierre on May 20, 2018 by Ross Eliot.
Trump, the NRA and Inauguration Day
There's a narrative the NRA is pushing that I want to break down. Unsurprisingly, they are reveling in Donald Trump's victory, calling it "a stunning political upset–led by America's gun owners."(1) Their bold assumption is essentially that the election constituted a national referendum on gun rights, as embodied by themselves.
Indeed, during times when many Republican leaders shrunk from association with Trump, the NRA provided complete, uncritical support. While establishment icons from the Bush family to Colin Powell, Mitt Romney and even the Koch brothers turned against a candidate who bragged about sexual assault, smeared a Gold Star family and changed policy stances at the slightest breeze, the NRA never wavered. As I wrote in October, they stood almost alone by refusing to even acknowledge issues that made so many high profile conservatives spurn Trump. Of course, this seemed particularly odd, given his mixed record supporting their main focus, the 2nd Amendment.
If there is any reason for them to take credit, it is Hillary Clinton. While Democrats, in general, spent the last twenty years viewing gun control as a losing issue, Clinton mistakenly sensed a change in the air and attempted taking advantage of the one place she could be perceived as politically Left of Bernie Sanders. Clinton and the NRA leadership may have little in common, but one thing shared is their overestimation of the firearm factor.
Instead of guns, the single greatest element in the 2017 presidential election was sheer dissatisfaction with the status quo. Angry voters from every direction sought a standard bearer. Clinton tried haphazardly to bear that mantle, which fell much more naturally around Sanders shoulders, enough that it took a rigged primary system to make her the Democratic nominee. Trump, on the other hand, harnessed this groundswell and rode it to victory, even trampling roughshod over his own party elites. The point is, Democrats apparently didn't hold Sander's weaker record on gun control against him and at the same time, Republicans rejected candidates with much stronger pro-2nd Amendment claims.
The NRA oversells their value in Trump's win and by the same token, paints all opposition to him as anti-gun. They do this using conflation. On the cover of America's 1st Freedom for January, images of gun control promoting billionaires George Soros and Michael Bloomberg hover above a crowd of placard waving anti-Trump activists. An article inside then declares: '"Not My President" protesters symbolize a looming threat to gun rights–one that didn't accept defeat on election day."(2) However, for all their alleged symbolism, if you look at the anti-Trump signs being carried, they say nothing about firearms at all. Instead, the messages read: "LOVE TRUMPS HATE" and "REFUSE TO ACCEPT A FASCIST AMERICA" and "UNITED AGAINST HATRED."(3)
There are many issues uniting Americans who despise Donald Trump. Gun control simply isn't one of them. If anything, the wave of racist attacks and actions unleashed by his victory has made the Left more conscious of their vulnerabilities, as seen by increased gun sales to women and minorities, greater interest in groups such as The Liberal Gun Club and even just my own personal experience of more Lefty Portlanders seeking information about firearms and Concealed Cary Permits.
This Friday, January 20th, Donald Trump is scheduled for inauguration as President of the United States, while again, protests oppose him nationwide. With Republicans primed to control every branch of government, the NRA needs enemies justifying scare tactics in their fundraising. Now that Obama and Clinton are removed, they will continue using anti-Trump activists instead. Don't believe it.
As Trump is sworn in, I will be out on the streets of Portland with thousands of others who refuse to accept naked authoritarianism at the helm of State power. He cannot take office without a great cry against his lies, contempt for women and minorities and complete disregard of the Constitution. The tone must be established that armed Americans have a duty and presence in opposition, despite how the NRA portrays reality. I will be proud marching among comrades from every background in this and implore everyone who cares about creating a just, equitable future to join with us.
(1) America's 1st Freedom, January 2017, p. 33.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid. p.32.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, antiwar, bouazizi, fascism, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, guns, inauguration, Leftist, Liberal, liberalgunclub, nevertrump, nra, potus, RKBA, Shooting, trump on January 20, 2017 by Ross Eliot.
Bloomberg's Class Warfare
I recently received an e.mail from the billionaire Wall Street financier, and former New York city mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Well, it was actually his pet project, Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun control organization. As a socialist, I'm highly skeptical of most any agenda pushed by front groups for the ultra-wealthy, (Bloomberg being only one of many billionaires on their advisory board) and this was no exception. At any rate, their communication was promoting a new video by the comedian Rachel Dratch. Here is her written introduction:
I can think of a lot of things that don't go well with drinking alcohol: Calling your ex. Performing heart surgery. Knitting. A loaded firearm. We can all agree that mixing that stuff with alcohol makes for a pretty dangerous cocktail. That's why I was shocked to learn that you can legally carry a loaded gun in places that serve alcohol in 49 out of 50 states. Who thought this was a good idea?! And it's just one of the crazy gun laws the NRA has fought for in statehouses across the country. The good news is, there's something people like you and me can do about it: Check out the video I made about "What Could Go Wrong?" when guns and alcohol mix. Then, sign up to get involved to stop the gun lobby from pushing their extreme laws in your community. I spent my comedy career on Saturday Night Live doing some pretty ridiculous stuff. But "let's allow guns in bars" is the kind of idea that's too ridiculous to make up. And it's being pushed by the same extremists who want guns in mental institutions, day care centers, and in the hands of felons and domestic abusers. It's going to take people like you and me — sane, reasonable people — standing up to these reckless laws in our neighborhoods, cities, and states, if we want to keep our families safe.
Besides irresponsibly asserting that anyone actually desires arming mental patients or violent abusers, Dratch handily distorts consuming alcohol with a far from universal end result: murderous-drunkenness. It's a bizarre oversimplification to imagine having casual drinks turns average people into staggering menaces who can't be trusted with knitting needles or would shoot up a bar Wild West style given the opportunity. Nobody would survive a happy hour if that were true. Also, the worst likely scenario involving knitting and drinking is a tacky scarf. People don't down several beers and then immediately jab craft tools into their eyeballs. Given that people are far more likely to drink themselves to death than be fatally shot, it might seem alcohol is the more relevant social problem.
The set up Dratch implies, is that guns will turn bars into homicide scenes over minor disagreements. Subtract the guns, no more problem. However, as she admits, most states allow properly licensed persons to legally carry concealed firearm in such establishments already. Therefore, her fear isn't some hypothetical worry. It's something we can examine the facts on.
Bureau of Justice statistics conveniently arrange criminal acts, so that a breakdown can be viewed covering violent incidents within restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Interestingly, the yearly average for 2004-08 was 4.4% of total. About the same as visiting a neighbors residence or the sidewalk in front of your own. However, far less than inside your home (17.6%) and in school or on school property (13%). These numbers include all violence, not just involving guns. In other words, despite bars potentially containing alcohol and firearms, they are still much safer than individual residences or schools. The school point is significant, because while homes often pair both alcohol and guns, schools should be relatively spared from drinking and are often considered gun-free zones. In other words, social violence remains foremost a social issue– not a gun, knife or tools-of-violence issue. This needs to be stressed, because gun control arguments easily play into simplified causation scenarios, obscuring complex societal problems.
The video heavily reinforces gun-owner stereotypes. Dratch cheerfully hams it up, portraying a harried suburban mother who takes her family out to a restaurant. There, her children are horrified, seeing rifles propped against the bar and casually resting near white men wearing baseball-caps and clean flanels. Climax arrives when a shotgun is accidentally knocked over, though it fails to discharge. Curiously, the video doesn't even address Dratch's stated concern: that concealed weapons make bars violent, instead humorously suggesting unconcealed long guns will cause accidents. There are no statistics available regarding accidental firearm deaths in bars, but I suspect it is greatly infrequent.
It's understandable some people fear guns in places that serve alcohol. Of course, people do get drunk and make poor life choices. Indeed, the father of a dear friend of mine was shot and paralyzed years ago, following a bar altercation. As for myself, I've carried a gun hundreds of times in divebars, nightclubs or upscale lounges. In those circumstances, I elect against drinking excessively. Everyone that I know who carries, exercises similar judgment. The low rate of bar violence, compared to other locations, implies this is common restraint.
But why carry in a bar if they're so safe? Well, fatality statistics don't tell the whole story. I remember one of the Portland Pink Pistols telling me years ago, about encountering several men savagely beating another outside a gay club. Simply the sight of his gun was enough to halt the assault. Another good friend of mine was nearly stabbed to death by racial skinheads while walking home from a Portland bar. Also, people employed in the service industry tend to work odd hours and carry cash. Circumstances like that attract predators who might be further encouraged if people leaving bars were known as vulnerable targets.
Everytown for Gun Safety is an organization representing interests of the notorious wealthiest 1%. People who don't work long hours earning tips or catch the last bus home at dark transit stops. Social elites dwelling in gated communities with private security, who know 911 would always respond in emergencies. Most Americans don't possess that assurance and for some, a concealed pistol might be the worst case ticket home to their families. A percentage are even baseball-cap-wearing white men, but that is hardly universal. Indeed, people from every background rely on guns for protection. I know, because many share it with me, often laughing that because of stereotypes, they would never tell friends, family or co-workers. American's don't need rich men like Bloomberg proclaiming simplified solutions for very real problems. Reducing the number of places marginalized populations can exercise self defense is simply regressive class warfare.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, AGCR, American Gun Culture Report, antiwar, bloomberg, dratch, everytown, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, Leftist, Liberal, Occupy, Pink Pistols, Ross Eliot, Shooting on February 26, 2016 by Ross Eliot.
A Name for an AK
Several years ago, my friend Ann encouraged me to order an AK-47 parts kit. She had been building them in her garage for some time, in fact, I'd written an article about the process for my old gun politics 'zine AGCR. Soon enough it showed up. A decommissioned Romanian rifle with the stamped receiver cut in sections. It reeked of cosmoline. A capital letter G stood out boldly, engraved on the rear sight block.
For me, that was a bonus. It stood for Garda, a special section of the Romanian military created as a citizens militia. Nicolae Ceauşescu, the longtime dictator, originally founded it in response to Soviet Russian crackdowns on freedom movements throughout Eastern Bloc countries during the late '60s. This put Romania in an uncomfortable position, wholeheartedly accepted by neither side during the late Cold War. The Garda persisted, conscripted mostly among young people and issued AK-47 rifles, ostensibly providing a loyal armed force to maintain civil order in times of crisis.
Over time, Romania became an increasingly bitter country, wracked with economic troubles and autocratic rule. Then in 1989, as other Communist states folded through relatively peaceful transfers of power, Ceausescu's regime hung on. The Garda proved reluctant to fire against their own neighbors and significant numbers turned on the government. Weapons intended for entrenching a totalitarian ruling class instead took part in tearing it down. Little wonder I thrilled at holding such a piece of history.
Ann and I pressed out its barrel, then removed the stock and other components, before fabricating a replacement receiver from sheet metal. We installed a new trigger group, pistol style grip and muzzle compensator. After much grinding and welding, it functioned reliably at last. The old Romanian AK had turned into a US legal semi-auto firearm. Around then, Ann informed me that every home built rifle needs a name.
I pondered this. It was early autumn of 2011, and while commercial fishing in the Gulf of Alaska over the summer, repercussions after the Arab Spring democratic uprisings played out over our deck speakers via satellite radio. One by one, repressive governments collapsed, from Libya to Egypt, shaken by a mix of mass demonstrations and in other cases, armed resistance. Just as enormous halibut succumbed under our sharp knives, dictators like Gaddafi and Mubarak fell from power.
Of particular interest was Tunisia, where the unrest began. My shipmate Anissa, came from a Tunisian family, and together we learned how it started, after a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire to protest unjust treatment by government agents. Just two weeks following his sacrifice, Ben Ali, the national leader for over two decades, was forced into exile.
Inspired by these events, movements against authority spread, eventually to the US just as fishing season ended. Like others in my fleet, I proudly joined the domestic occupation movement, personally waving a Tunisian flag in solidarity with their cause. The choice seemed obvious. I named my immigrant AK-47 Bouazizi.
Recently, I took the final steps toward dedicating it. After years with the name simply painted on a standard wooden stock, I carved a custom one from oak. The traditional ones are quite short, designed for soldiers wearing cold weather gear, so I cut this one almost two inches longer, making it more comfortable to shoulder. On one side, I engraved the name in Arabic letters, and on the other, using Old German script. Then across the top, I added Tunisia's crescent and star. With metal shavings and glue, I inlaid the patterns, then sanded everything flush once it dried, creating a nice faded effect. A couple layers of stain and lacquer later, I screwed it solidly in place. Complete at last.
My rifle memorializes historic stands against tyranny and injustice across continents, cultures– and the power of common people to throw off oppressors. It will be many years before the true course of Romanian and Tunisian destinies play out, but brave people who took incredible chances to forge it for themselves should never be forgotten. I am honored to commemorate one of them. Mohamed Bouazizi didn't die in vain.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, AGCR, ak47, ak47build, akbuild, American Gun Culture Report, antiwar, bouazizi, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, Leftist, Liberal, liberalgunclub, Occupy, Pink Pistols, RKBA, Ross Eliot, Shooting, tunisia on February 15, 2016 by Ross Eliot.
Cascadia and the NRA
One of the side benefits to joining the NRA (see my embarrassed confession in a previous weblog post) was the offer of a free duffle bag. Who doesn't need a way to carry more stuff around? At any rate, it showed up the other day, a cute mini-duffel that looks like it might make a decent range bag or handle enough gear for an overnight. The only glaring problem was its logo. This leftist certainly wasn't going to be caught with N-R-A in giant white letters on his luggage! The only question was, which patch to sew over it?
I'd recently gotten some Cascadia liberation patches from cascadianow.org and selected one for cover up duty. It wasn't hard to choose. I used the rainbow gay pride version of the classic tri-color, superimposed with a Douglas fir tree. One could hardly imagine a better counter against socially regressive messages from the NRA. However, it's not as oppositional as some suppose.
A major intellectual thinker behind the modern Cascadian successionist movement was the writer Ernest Callenbach (1929-2012). In 1975, this Berkely professor published a book called Ecotopia, concerning his vision for the Pacific Northwest breaking away from the US and forming an independent nation. As the title suggests, this new country focused on bringing ecological balance back to the bio-region, with a great deal of economic equality and various other progressive values as well.
However, Callenbach didn't buy into, what at the time, was a relatively new crusade among liberals, that of gun control. In his imagined society, the military was largely replaced by militia units and citizens were expected to form the bulk of self defense forces. Firearms abounded, but as with the examples of Switzerland, Israel and Canada, greater social equality translated into low interpersonal violence, despite their availability.
Several years ago, I corresponded with Callenbach in the course of a book review for my old 'zine AGCR, and questioned him on that front. He explained that he came from rural Pennsylvania and grew up in countryside where everyone had firearms and there was little crime, so for him, it never made sense to blame guns, and carried that idea into his writing.
In the end, I thank the NRA for their bag, but am proud it now represents a much more noble ideal. That the citizens of Cascadia should be free to choose their own destiny, whether it remains part of the greater US or not, with equality and respect for all. Armed or unarmed. Gay or straight. Douglas fir or Pacific red cedar.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, AGCR, American Gun Culture Report, antiwar, callenbach, cascadia, ecotopia, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, guns, Leftist, Liberal, liberalgunclub, nra, Occupy, Pink Pistols, RKBA, Ross Eliot, Shooting on February 11, 2016 by Ross Eliot.
Country,Hip-Hop and the NRA Lifestyle
One feature of the NRA's regular magazine, America's First Freedom, is a column called "NRA Country." It highlights contemporary country music artists who adhere to the so-called, "NRA lifestyle." No, I didn't know what that means either. Fortunately, they provide a definition on their internet page. It more or less boils down to being patriotic, respecting the military and, naturally, supporting the 2nd Amendment, while showing background photos of exclusively White people waving flags or engaging in sporting activities. In other words, it portrayed a carefully cherrypicked version of America.
This is no accident. A curious aspects of the NRA is how doggedly it reinforces its own stereotypes. That causes problem for everyone who takes the right to be armed seriously. A hazard often encountered defending gun rights is how enmeshed the 2nd Amendment has become with regressive social politics. Of course, the NRA bears major guilt for this because of their strict party line Republican support and non-firearm related conservative causes.
You might think, when linking themselves to a subject like modern musical acts, the NRA might relax a little bit, but no. Only country music. Well, why not tweak perceptions and include other styles? There are Americans musicians from rockabilly to electronic noise who enjoy shooting. Why not, say, hip-hop?
An obvious reason is that firearms are lyrical staples among gangsta rappers, which in some people's minds IS hip-hop, and the NRA would dislike association with a sub-group known for celebrating gun use while drug dealing or amidst gang warfare. However, is country music really much better? The artists they feature may be clean cut, but as a genre, country isn't all ballads about hound dogs and pickup trucks.
(above) Move along, just karaoke murder music, folks
Take two prominent examples. Even a mainstream singer like Dwight Yoakum wrote a song called "Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room" which approvingly describes stalking an unfaithful lover and shooting her in the head. Then there's Garth Brooks, whose upbeat song "Papa Loved Mama" tells the story of a truck driver who murders his wife for cheating on him. In NRA country, is it morally worse to kill a person you love or just someone who owes you drug money?
As far as I can tell, the NRA doesn't necessarily pick artists who write songs about guns, only those whose image appears consistent with the "NRA lifestyle." That shouldn't disqualify rappers. (1) Take, for instance, the Mississippi artist David Banner, who previously put on shows for US troops, (Respecting the Military, CHECK), testified before Congress about controversial subjects in hip-hop music, (Patriotism, CHECK) and is also a gun owner. (2A CHECK!!!)
Banner has been quoted, saying "…I love guns . . . because I don't plan on doing anything but protecting myself with my gun. My thing is that I don't want anybody to be able to tell me that I can't protect myself." (2) Now, Banner isn't seeking out endorsements from the US firearms establishment, but there have been other rappers who did.
Back in 1995, a crew called Smif-N-Wessun released their first fill length record to warm reviews and, soon enough, a cease-and-desist letter from the lawyers of firearms manufacturer, Smith and Wesson. Interviewed ten years later, Tekomin Williams, from the group, still sounded bitter.
"That just let you know, even in this day and time, or that day and time, hip-hop's still not appreciated in some places. . . If anything, they should have supported us, as many guns as they got floatin' in the hood or they sellin' to us. If anything, they should have been our number one sponsor. You know what that could have done for their sales?"
Perhaps a spotlight from the NRA's magazine might have been just the thing to smooth over their legal dispute. However, we'll never know, as long as the NRA continues to portray itself as an institution supporting only right wing politics and White music.
Colt Ford, a country singer/rapper who the NRA has, in fact, featured, doesn't count.
Rodrigo Boscunan and Christian Pearce. Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent. Random House Canada, 2007. p. 141.
Ibid. 33.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, American Gun Culture Report, antiwar, countrymusic, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, hiphop, Leftist, Liberal, liberalgunclub, nra, Occupy, Pink Pistols, RKBA, Ross Eliot, Shooting on February 5, 2016 by Ross Eliot.
Cats and Gun Safety: An Interview
As someone who began writing about gun politics in the 'zine community over ten years ago, I was always curious if anyone else might eventually take a similar path. Despite the great quantity of political topics covered by 'zinesters, it was rare to find more than a passing mention of firearms in any context, pro or con. Then almost three years ago, I came across a thin, glossy pamphlet titled How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety. The cover was reminiscent of AGCR #4 (The Cute Issue) from 2009, and I bought it immediately.
An outtake from the cover shoot session, with Other Cat (RIP 1/5/16)
and a Springfield X D subcompact 9mm
This proved to be a delightful satiric work, published by the "American Association of Patriots" and packed with pun-laced advice for armed cat owners. Beside helpful tips on safety, it also provided insight into the types of enemies felines might confront, from houseold intruders, to United Nations personnel and troublesome ghosts.
This outtake featuring Mortgage Cat and X D
I soon passed it on to another person who appreciated both firearms and felines, but recently a friend gave me a new copy. My attention regained, I decided to discover more about the enigmatic AAP. After much work convincing them my weblog has no connection with the Communist Party or ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), a representative finally agreed to answer some questions:
What's your publishing background? Was Cat Safety a first? Do you have other plans ?
The How to Talk to Your Cat… guides are currently a collaboration between myself and my grandfather Josiah, the founder of the American Association of Patriots. How to Talk to your Cat About Gun Safety was the first one I worked on with him, but he has been writing and publishing since his first brochure in 1974, Protecting Your Cats From the Viet-Cong Menace.
There are three publications currently in print: How to Talk to Your Cat about Gun Safety, Evolution, and Abstinence. We are also excited to announce that this fall, the patriots at Random House, the same company that publishes Bill O'Reilly's books, will be publishing a full-length compilation of How to Talk to Your Cat… guides, including never before seen topics like Satanism and Post-Apocalyptic Survival.
Do the cats pictured belong to AAP members?
The two cats pictured in How to Talk to Your Cat Evolution are our own, and the one on the cover of Abstinence belongs to a close friend, who happily to let us borrow their feline for promoting such a noble cause. The other cats are all from the internet.
What is the AAP political stance regarding firearms?
The debate over the right to bear arms is not just a philosophical argument – in this era of constant government overreach by Barack Hussein Nobama, a well-armed citizenry is essential to keeping our government from sliding further into tyranny. Today it might be the freedom to own guns, but tomorrow it could be something far worse, like the freedom to own cats! George Washington understood this, Abraham Lincoln understood it, and Ronald Reagan understood it. America is the greatest country in the world, and it is essential that citizens be allowed to own guns without regulation in order to protect themselves from the government.
Thanks for your time. Good luck with those other projects!
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, activism, AGCR, American Gun Culture Report, antiwar, Firearms, Gun Control, Gun Politics, gunsafety, Leftist, Liberal, Occupy, pinkpistols, RKBA, Ross Eliot, Shooting, springfieldarmory, xd on January 16, 2016 by Ross Eliot.
O2A & the NRA
Let me get right to the point. I never thought this day would come, but last month I joined the NRA. It's something I've proudly refused to do for years, so my reversal deserves an explanation. Let's take a deep breath together, this is hard for me too.
You see, opposing the NRA has been my most effective tool in a over decade of pro-2nd Amendment activism, from publishing my old 'zine American Gun Culture Report, to conducting firearm training among communities not comfortable with mainstream US gun politics. I remember one incident in particular, while tabling for AGCR at an anti-war rally. A middle-aged woman approached, and after scanning my materials, scowled, asking:
"Is this something to do with the NRA?"
I replied: "Absolutely not!"
At this, the woman grinned and proved very receptive, engaging in friendly conversation, despite our differences.
I can't even count the number of times disowning association with the NRA created an immediate icebreaker, paving ways for calm discussion among groups traditionally considered hostile to pro-gun politics. Why would I want to join a group that, by it's association with regressive right-wing politics, has sorely tainted the basic human right of self defense?
It really wasn't their free duffle bag with membership.
The thing is, I'd like to provide a more comprehensive critique of the NRA, especially as dialogue over American gun politics heats up during this election cycle. It's a lot easier to do if they're sending a regular magazine to my house. However, I wanted to make sure the NRA understood I wasn't a typical subscriber, so I wrote OBAMA VOTER on my check in block letters.
If it makes anyone feel better, the same day I renewed both my ACLU and Amnesty International memberships, besides signing up for e-mail updates from the Violence Policy Center and Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. As things get interesting, I want to have all perspectives available.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 2nd Amendment, aclu, activism, AGCR, American Gun Culture Report, amnestyinternational, antiwar, Firearms, glock, Gun Control, Gun Politics, Leftist, Liberal, liberalgunclub, nra, Occupy, Pink Pistols, Ross Eliot, Shooting, sigsauer on January 12, 2016 by Ross Eliot.


Contemporary, sleek and very cool. Modern crystal design of various sizes of prong set crystals scattered on a curved bar. Curve design is 4", crystals range in size from 2-10mm. Design rests on a 5 tooth comb, 3/4" wide. Wear above, below or to the side of an updo, as a back piece, or as a modern tiara with a high bun. Available in silver or gold. CUSTOM ORDER. Designed by Elizabeth Bower. Stocked in Gold, please allow 4 weeks for Silver.


text:
Q: Display PDF/DOCX files in  from DataURL I have a MERN site where the user can upload files like docx, pdf, and then they are uploaded to mongoDB using gridfs. I want the user to be able to select a file they have previously uploaded and view it in the browser (embedded). I have it to the point where I have the dataURL for the file, but I cannot get it to display.
Here is an example dataURL I've generated for a file the user selected:
data:text/xml;base64,UEsDBBQACAgIAC+LZ1IAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASAAAAd29yZC9udW1iZXJpbmcu
eG1srVbbjpswEP2C/gNC6mPCJYRQtGQfutqq1apabbcf4Bg....

And this code goes on for a long time.
Here is what I'm using to display it ( {data} is just the variable I am using for the dataURL as seen above):
<object
    data={data}
    type='text/xml'
    title='essay-view'
    id='essay-view'
 ></object>

This is what is showing up on the page where the <object> should be:

It is a encoding or decoding issue? I've tried overriding the mimetype in the dataURL, but no luck. I'd like this to display the file, no matter if it's a pdf or docx, but formatting isn't super important.


We've brought in a new line of luxury massage candles. Made in Scotland, and containing fabulous natural ingredients, we think these are the best candles out there at the moment, and are delighted to have them in-store, and for the use in our therapy rooms.
Choose to have a massage candle added to your treatment, or simply buy one to take it home with you.
It's a cute, clever little candle with a bit of a twist. It's a massage oil, body lotion, candle and body balm….. all in one little package.
When they're lit, the candles melt into warm and sumptious massage oils. The warm oil is made of natural butters, which can then be drizzled over the skin for a fabulous massage treatment, to melt away stress and tension, and nourish skin at the same time.
Quite simply, almost anywhere. Use it as a wam massage oil, and also on cuticles, elbows, feet, or any dry skin on the body. They make great body moisturisers, massage oils, or as a soothing Vitamin E rich lotion for manicures and pedicures. You can even use it unmelted as a body balm. How cool is that?
Just light the candle, then let a melt pool form to the edges of the tin. At this point, extinguish the flame and wait a few seconds before dipping fingers right into the melted oils for massage, body lotion and more.
Massage body candles are handmade in Scotland using superior skin nourishing ingredients such as rich shea and cocoa butters, jojoba and sweet almond oil with vitamin E, avocado butter, passionflower seed oil, hawaiian kukui nut oil and Moroccan Argan Oil. All are scented with high quality fragrance or essential oils for fabulous aromas. The ingredients are not only natural, but they are extremely rich and moisturizing, have a number of benefits for your skin and, with a low melt point the oils will not burn you.
Massage candles spread like warm silk on the skin. A little goes a long way, so use sparingly.
Find out which scents are in-store, by following the link here.


As Medical Director for Shields Health Care Group, Stephen Sweriduk, M.D., is responsible for the clinical oversight of the entire network, including quality assurance, protocol development and direct management of Shields Radiology group. He also works hand-in-hand with radiology groups within Shields joint-venture partners to ensure consistency in care. Dr. Sweriduk is committed to ensuring the quality care of more than 100,000 patients seen at Shields each year.
A veteran to Shields Health Care Group, Dr. Sweriduk started his career at Shields first center in Brockton, MA, shortly after the company opened its doors. Prior to joining Shields, he practiced radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Sweriduk is currently Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is credentialed to read PET/CT imaging and also in pharma research. He is also Shields Compliance officer and on the Peer Review committee. In 2009, he was awarded the Shields Founders Award in recognition for his commitment to patient care, vision and leadership.
Dr. Sweriduk graduated from Princeton University and received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.


Grant Bowler (b. 1968) played Liko in the Farscape episode "That Old Black Magic".
After graduating from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Arts in 1991, he toured around Australia with Bell Shakespeare Company, the plays he was in include Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice.
In 1994 he got his TV debut in the show Blue Heelers as Constable Wayne Patterson. Since then he has appeared in many TV series including Captain Gault in Lost, Doctor Arch in Medivac, Sean Peck in Stingers, Nigel 'Mac' MacPherson in All Saints and Wolfgang Wes in Outrageous Fortune.


text:
Q: Where is App.config? I'm trying to set up logging with Microsoft's Enterprise Library (log4net seems to be a dead project). I'm using VB .NET 2008 and VS 2008. I've searched all over the MSDN documentation, CodePlex docs (including the Hands-On labs that installed and then vanished), and online tutorials to no avail.
They all refer to a mysterious "configuration file" or "App.config" that I can't find and can't seem to add. I even tried adding a new text file and renaming it "App.config" but that only made VS 2008 spit out a red wavy line on a blank file.
Any suggestions for finding the elusive app.config would be greatly appreciated.
(and, if that makes the EntLib configuration tool show up, I'll be absolutely delighted)
Edit:
I've been tricked!
The tree in VS 2008 isn't a true superset-subset relationship, which is why I got so frustrated.
To wit, the top of the tree:
alt text http://static.zooomr.com/images/7954203_910064e809.jpg
And a 'sub-section' of the tree.
alt text http://static.zooomr.com/images/7954204_69e03c8502.jpg

A: Should be in the same directory as binaries, but you have to add it to your solution first, using Visual Studio window for adding new files to soultion.
Add -> New Item -> Application configuration file

A: You can add an app config file to any vb project by

right clicking on the project -> Add-> New Item -> ...

and selecting either

Application Configuration File

or selecting

Web Configuration File

(for app.config or web.config respectively)

A: Wanted to add my $0.02 as I stumbled on this question with frustrated googling, and my situation wasn't as others have described here.  I created a new winforms project, didn't see app.config, and went to add it as others have described.  Wasn't in the list.  I turned on "Show all files" in Solution Explorer, and it was already there, but not a part of the project.  Right clicked on it and selected "Include in project," and now I'm good to go.  No idea why it created the file, but didn't include it in the project.  (This is VS2010, btw.)

A: Im pretty sure you can use web.config if youre in a web app or web solution.
Otherwise, see here
[EDIT] In my VS the app file can be added like:
Add new item -> General -> Application Configuration file


Here are a few examples of work completed by Applied Conservation in our workshop.
Celadon glaze figurine. Previous restoration removed, rebonded and then colour-filled.
Fragmentary on acceptance finial missing. Bonded and retouched to lose joins. Flower finial modelled and glazed.
Brierley Art Glass, wave form. On acceptance and after restoration.


text:
Mons. Jan De Bie (* 19. dubna 1937, Olen) je belgický římskokatolický kněz a emeritní pomocný biskup arcidiecéze Mechelen-Brusel.

Život
Narodil se 19. dubna 1937 v Olenu. Studoval teologii na Katolické univerzitě v Lovani, kde získal doktorát. Na kněze byl vysvěcen 8. července 1961. V letech 1965-1969 byl ředitelem Collegium Pro America Latina v Lovani. Roku 1970 se stal knězem "Fidei Donum" v Brazílii. Zde působil jako profesor teologie na Katolické univerzitě v Salvador-Bahia a jako rektor kněžského semináře. V září roku 1981 byl zvolen vice-předsedou Collegium Pro America Latina.

Dne 13. března 1987 jej papež Jan Pavel II. jmenoval titulárním biskupem z Uppenny a pomocným biskupem arcidiecéze Mechelen-Brusel. Biskupské svěcení přijal 19. dubna 1987 z rukou kardinála Godfrieda Danneelse a spolusvětitelé byli arcibiskup José Floriberto Cornelis, biskup Paul Van den Berghe, biskup Albert Houssiau a biskup Paul Lanneau.

Dne 3. ledna 2009 přijal papež Benedikt XVI. jeho rezignaci na post pomocného biskupa z důvodu dosažení kanonického věku 75 let.

Externí odkazy
  Arcidiecéze Mechelen-Brusel
  GCatholic
  Catholic Hierarchy

Muži
Belgičtí biskupové
Narození 19. dubna
Narození v roce 1937
Žijící lidé

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia