After a lovely break from the routine humdrum of my usual life, I am back to blogging and reading blogs. Among the many things that surfaced from the break, one was the fruitful discussions I had with my girlfriend V. I was telling her how the tag 'single mom' is almost used like an occupation/job. One of the contestants in a popular reality show is a single mom and while every other contestant is introduced as SK, 37, Entrepreneur; RK, 26, Lawyer and so on, one contestant was introduced as WE, 29, Single mom. Now I was baffled. Why was WE introduced as a single mom and not by her profession. Is being a single mom another profession or is the media romanticing the term, single mom.
Viewing many programmes in the telly, I observe that there are many single moms who are often introduced with the term single mom. While there are single dads as well, they are never referred to as single dad. Are we as a society raising single moms to a pedestal and while we are secretly happy that we are better off, are we trying to pseudo-sympathise with the moms who are single. Why should the term even be used? Agreed that single moms are doing everything single-handedly but why choose that tag?
It is not enough that being a woman itself invites many troubles (not everywhere but atleast in India where harrassment/teasing/stereotyping/discrimination is quite rampant), the added burden of being a single mom and also romanticing it is a bit unwarranted for. But it should be noted that the single mom tag is mostly used in cases where the woman is divorced. What about women who are widowed? Even they are single moms, raising kids without a man and also bearing the brunt of bringing up children in a society which can be quite taxing on various aspects of life. And, there are men who are divorced who sometimes get the custody of children but do not carrying the tag/label of single dads. Why?
It's strange that on one hand we love to hate stereotypes but on the other, we also tend to glorify a certain gender for doing something which is not as great as it is made out to be.
I certainly wish that the term single mom is not used as a professional tag for in the world that adores equality (atleast it professes to be), the term seems quite inappropriate.
And, it would be wonderful to hear your thoughts on this.
Quite true, Jan. Any person should be appreciated and spoken of in terms of their profession and not marital status.
You know, the reverse is also true? I was watching Masterchef USA and one contestant was constantly referred to as 'stay-at-home dad' being his occupation because his wife was the one who was employed as a store clerk and he didn't have a job so he was staying home with the kids.
Now if this was a woman staying at home, would someone say her occupation was 'stay-at-home mom'? No, they'd call her housewife or to sound more politically correct, homemaker. Apparently men don't qualify as homemakers even if they're the primary nurturers of children who cook and take care of the house.
Wow, gender stereotypes sure cut both ways.
And the reality show I was mentioning was Master Chef, India! Is it that the reality shows propage this usage? Got to check.
I know what u mean Susan..I face it all the time..
You should say more on this, dear Alpana. My mom raised us up single-handedly. She was a widow.
There is a certain stigma to being a single mom...or a divorced lady...As long as one was a contributing adult or professional what does it matter if one was divorced or a single parent!
You are quite right, dear Sav. But today this tag is seen as fashionable, I reckon.
I agree with your observations.The term is being romanticized by the media nowadays.Rather than telling one was divorced(if that were the case),the term is seen to carry lesser stigma.It belongs to the 'I am a woman,hear me roar' category.
I was also wondering about another kind of single motherhood that is quite popular in the west.Under decades of feminist influence,it seems the choice of single motherhood has become the bonafide 'right' of women.Jennifer Aniston was once on the cover of People magazine,and the headline was I dont need a man to be a mom.She also starred in a movie "Switch" which potrays children who were concieved by use of a sperm doner - a development that was hailed as 'empowering' for women.The message was that children of doner fathers turn out 'just fine' .So if you are a woman,single and forty,just order some sperm and life will be grand.An assertion that is both shortsighted and immature.
We already portray an urban single mom as cool.Its only a matter of time before we take it to extremes.
More than the woman, I guess its the media which loves doing this and then it becomes dear to the woman who also plays on it and the vicious circle keeps moving over and over.
Single motherhood has also caught on here after Sushmitha Sen adopted a girl without getting married. I remember that I looked upon her with awe but the days are gone when women were genuinely intersted in being a single mom. Or, maybe I don't know what happens in a woman's mind when she wants to adopt a child without getting married. Call me conventional or old-fashioned, I just cannot imagine taking care of a baby and the various things associated with the baby.
I think the terms 'single mom', 'stay at home dad',already rooted in our daily language, have emerged mainly out of those people's very practical need to get recognition of their difficult situation, and thus certain social benefits from the authorities.
DUTA, but here it is not as common. We have no separate tags for women and men who bring up children and that's why it baffles me.
Social benefits from authorities can be obtained even without the kind of hype that is now being associated with that tag.
I admire single parents of both genders but I see your point. Being a single parent is not a profession it's a commitment. Someone cuts you check for your profession, not so in single parenting!
Even I admire and respect them for they are always battling against the odds to bring their kids up. But using that as a tag is something not quite welcome.
I really do get fed up of labels of any sort, Susan. Working mom, mompreneur (whatever that it!), single woman, stay-at-home Dad ...the list goes on. How we love to label, don't we?
Quite right, Corinne. Labels of any kind are just unwelcome.
I see your point. Everytime I have heard the term single mom, it has inspired respect in me for the person who hs stood up against all odds because the term "single mom" is also usually to denote a girl/woman who has had children out of wedlock - not necessarily divorced. And contrary to my feelings, the majority in society do not take that with appreciation, it's more derogatary. But I hear you here - derogatory or not why use that to label a person - then all the not single moms should also be called by their marital and child status!
I get why people would use the term,but your post brought up so many interesting sides to the labeling of people and what we choose to call ourselves and why.
The way the single parents bring up their children is something worth admiring. Providing for and taking care of children is not an easy task.
You make a good point here Susan. I never considered it before. I know single moms have a rough time, but I get what you're saying about the labels.
As always, you are stirring up stuff for the rest of us to ponder. And you do this so well.
Myrna, some topics which constantly stare at me in the face are dealt with in this sphere. Sometimes I don't know in which direction to think and so I write posts and want to see what my readers have to say. I'm glad that the topics make you ponder. Great ideas come after great pondering.
Dear Susan, a very interesting subject, although not much contemplated by me, as (until very recently) I have no experience in raising children.;) I believe that the term single mom is not as derogatory here in Scandinavia as maybe other places, where women are perfectly capable of having kids on their own - and they even do, many by choice through IVF. The state looks after a woman that is single with children and they get a lot of money in benefits, besides whatever the father has to pay if they are divorced.
I think being a single mom in Denmark is definitely not something to much distinguished from being a single dad.;) Of course, the effects of living alone and missing that special someone to help raising ones children is a totally different subject and I guess the suffering, mental and emotional, is the same everywhere.
Zuzana, the problem I see is with the tag of a single mom that many women are comfortable using. What I don't understand is when they can use their profession as a label, why use their marital status.
Thanks for coming by and sharing your insight, dear Zuzana. Much appreciated.
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Hmmm....intersting. I have heard that homemaker is a title. I will have to listen for the single mom tag. Our societies world wide seem to often ridicule the best way.
Hey GQ: How nice to have you stop by after a long time. Ah, GQ, look around and you will find aplenty. The media uses all these tags and is happy to label.
I have to admit I hate labels. The inevitable truth, though, is that they are everywhere. Whether the label is positive or negative, I feel it is still a label. And on the single mom topic, I feel it's not so much that we're raising single moms on a pedestal, as it is possibly an effort to allow for more compassion for what these ladies (and sometimes girls) must endure. Even in the most accepting/nonjudgmental of societies, judgment is always there, though never spoken. Along with the judgment that the term carries with it, there is perhaps some humanity that it invites, even if it is only from the minority of people. As for single dads, my hat is off to those who bear the brunt of raising a child all by themselves, regardless of their gender. One thing I keep in mind, though: Society is always quicker to pass judgment on the woman than on the man, even when that society claims respect for women's rights, etc. My two cents, at any rate.
How wonderful it is to see you after a long time. As always, you make a good point and always help me to see beyond my thoughts. The "humanity" angle is something I overlooked. Thanks Nevine for this thought.
I wish you a lovely weekend as well filled with calm and joy.
In my country, we use the term to refer to either separated or unmarried women who have children, not widows and divorced women (because there's no divorce in my country). You're right, I think the media romanticizes it, with famous celebrities acting as poster girls. Some of my female friends don't even want to get married anymore, just have kids (they treat men as sperm donors rather than partners). It's one of the ways that society is changing.


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David Arthur Whitaker (18 April 1928 – 4 February 1980) was an English television writer and novelist who worked on the early years of the science-fiction TV series Doctor Who. He served as the programme's first story editor, supervising the writing of its first 51 episodes from 1963 to 1964.

Career

Prior to joining the BBC, Whitaker worked as a writer, actor and director with the York Repertory Group.  A play he wrote for them, 'A Choice of Partners' (1957), gained the attention of the BBC's script department. They commissioned Whitaker to work on the programmes Garry Halliday (1962) and the long-running Compact (1962).

Whitaker also contributed his own scripts for a number of Doctor Who serials, including The Crusade (1965), The Power of the Daleks (1966), The Evil of the Daleks (1967), The Enemy of the World (1967–68) and The Wheel in Space (1968, from a story concept by Kit Pedler). Although he left the post of story editor in 1964 his final script for the show was The Ambassadors of Death (1970). He had not planned to stay longer than a year as Doctor Who's story editor, as he thought the serial might not be renewed.  He had therefore agreed to take up a role working on another production.

His other work included writing the Dalek comic strip for the weekly children's magazine TV Century 21, in addition to the stage play The Curse of the Daleks (1965).

In 1964, Whitaker published the first novelisation of a Doctor Who serial; more than 150 other such books would be published in the course of the next 30 years. His own, Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, was based on Terry Nation's script for the first Dalek TV serial. He completed a second novelisation the following year, this time based on his own script for The Crusade. Both books were originally published by Frederick Muller, with the first also being given a paperback release by Armada.

In 1973, Whitaker's novelisations (along with a third, written by Bill Strutton and based on The Web Planet) were re-issued by Target Books as part of its launch of a new series of novelisations; Whitaker's Dalek story was re-titled Doctor Who and the Daleks.

From 1966 to 1968 Whitaker was the chairman of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. He moved to Australia in the 70's and contributed to the series  "Homicide", "The Drifter" and "Elephant Boy" before returning to the UK.

Before his death in 1980, Whitaker had been undergoing treatment for cancer. He died leaving his novelisation of The Enemy of the World unfinished and his plans to adapt The Evil of the Daleks unrealised. The adaptation of The Enemy of the World was ultimately written by Ian Marter without using any of the material prepared by Whitaker, while The Evil of the Daleks was eventually novelised by John Peel and published in 1993.

List of Doctor Who credits

As writer (1963–69)
The Edge of Destruction
The Rescue
The Crusade
The Power of the Daleks (Patrick Troughton's first serial as the Second Doctor, with uncredited script re-writes by Dennis Spooner)
The Evil of the Daleks
The Enemy of the World (with uncredited re-writes by Barry Letts and Derrick Sherwin)
The Wheel in Space (from a story by Kit Pedler)
The Ambassadors of Death (with uncredited re-writes by Terrance Dicks, Trevor Ray and Malcolm Hulke)

Although tasked with writing the serial that would later be produced as The Invasion (1968), Whitaker was ultimately unable to contribute a script, leaving then-story editor and future Doctor Who producer Derrick Sherwin to write it himself.

As story editor (1963–64)
An Unearthly Child
The Daleks
The Edge of Destruction
Marco Polo
The Keys of Marinus
The Aztecs
The Sensorites
The Reign of Terror
Planet of Giants
The Dalek Invasion of Earth

References

Bibliography

External links

1928 births
1980 deaths
20th-century English novelists
BBC people
Deaths from cancer in England
English comics writers
English science fiction writers
English television writers
People from North Hertfordshire District
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
British male dramatists and playwrights
English male novelists
20th-century English male writers
English male non-fiction writers
British male television writers
20th-century English screenwriters

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
SCAA Affiliations
SCAA Board of Directors
SCAA Staff
Keep It Beating Newsletter
Chapters/Affiliates
Keep It Beating
First On The Scene Toolkit
AED Program
About AEDs
Setting Up AED Programs
AED Fundraising
Mr. Joshua Fischer is Vice President and Director of Operations for RWF Enterprises, Inc. where he oversees a staff of 60 employees providing ambulance services and EMS education across western MN and the Dakotas. He is a paramedic and American Heart Association instructor in the BLS, ACLS and PALS disciplines. He serves as training center faculty for the MNSCU Multi-Regional Training Center and AHA Regional Faculty in the BLS discipline. He is a current member of the MN Mission: Lifeline Task Force and EMS Advisory Committee. Josh is also active with the MN Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor's Network, an affiliate of the SCAA. Mr. Fischer is a charter member and co-leader of the Otter Tail County/Western MN Chapter of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association. With the staffing and support of several local EMS organizations, their chapter provides CPR and AED training to over 5000 people each year through their 'How To Save A Life™' program.
Mr. Fischer has past professional experience in the public and private sectors, including work in the audio/visual, IT and public safety industries. In his spare time he is a musician and songwriter, having performed individually and with various groups both nationally and internationally. He resides in Morris,MN with Tanya, his wife of 11 years and their two children, Kaedan and Kendal.
Ms. Laurieann Milligan is the Community Outreach Coordinator at Med-Care Ambulance in Western Maine. Ms. Milligan is the Western Maine Affiliate leader for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association. She has served as an affiliate leader and consultant in developing the "Pulse of Your Community" program. She coordinated efforts to bring the Maine's Heartsafe Community status to the River Valley Region. Ms. Milligan is also an affiliate member with Parent Heart Watch. She has helped successfully implement hundreds of PAD programs through her involvement with Maine's grant funded AED deployment program through Tri-County EMS and Central Maine Heart and Vascular Institute. Ms. Milligan's AED work has extended internationally to Nicaragua where she has deployed AED's, taught local physicians and healthcare workers in CPR and AED use, and provided awareness on SCA to over 600 people.
Ms. Milligan is the sole proprietor of The Next Step Education and Business Consulting Company, which specializes in education and business solution programs offering continuing education for managers, supervisors, and career minded professionals. These programs focus on ensuring healthy and safe working environments for employees as well as identifying and eliminating liabilities.
Ms. Milligan is a selectman for the Town of Peru. She is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Past President. Additionally, she is a Maine Chapter Leader for Risk Watch Safe Communities focusing on injury prevention for all.
Sharon M. Bates - Computer Programmer – For 30 years Sharon Bates was a computer programmer for midrange computers. Retiring at the end of 2014 has allowed Sharon to dedicate 100% of her time to the nonprofit work of the Anthony Bates Foundation. Sharon founded the Anthony Bates Foundation (www.AnthonyBates.org) Fifteen (15) years ago this cardiac screening education program and grass roots organization was formed by Sharon after the death of her only child, Anthony, at age 20. Since the inception of ABF, Sharon has organized 70 cardiac screening events across Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and Washington. Over half of those events were offered FREE to the public. All told, 9,700+ young people had echocardiograms (sonograms) and well over half received EKG (electrical tests) tests to detect undiagnosed cardiac diseases. More than 12% of the young people screened (1,251) had abnormal results and needed further cardiac evaluation. Of those, 206 young people were at risk of having HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy), the condition that took Anthony's young life.
The Anthony Bates Foundation has created a training program that offers training to communities nationwide that are interested in building a "Cardiac Screening Program." At the time of Anthony's death, there were only two groups offering cardiac screenings. As of 2014, there are well over 450 organized non-profits, sports and medical programs providing cardiac screenings for youth. ABF and Sharon Bates have created the only copyrighted Training Program for non-medical groups to provide cardiac screenings. Sharon has trained over 50 family community organizations and medical professions in 29 states and four countries. With the help of the ABF training program these national groups have screened over 325,000 youth and the numbers keep growing. Estimates for 2015 conclude that the active ABF trained groups could top over 400,000 youth screened.
Ms. Mary Tappe is a two time survivor of sudden cardiac arrest. She is founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Colorado AED Access for All organization (CAAFA) and founder and past chair of the Iowa AED Access for All organization (IAAA). Mary's first "save" was by an AED by co-workers and her second "save" was by her ICD while alone in a hotel room.
In addition to being on the American Heart Association's Speaker Bureau; Mary has served on the AHA 911 / Emergency Public Awareness Committee, the AHA Survivor's Public Awareness Committee and on the multi-state ECC Community Strategies Council. Mary is certified with the American Heart Association for CPR/AED.
Ms. Tappe is an IT Leader specializing in Quality Assurance & Test and Governance, with an emphasis on strategic process improvement. She has proven success in bridging the gap between technology and business with the ability to break down complex strategies and inspire internal and external parties to align themselves for success. Mary has the unique ability to do deep dives into the details while at the same time focusing on the people and helping them grow and thrive in their positions. Mary has contagious enthusiasm, with leadership qualities that are strategic, honest and pragmatic.
Mary lives with her husband Joseph in Castle Rock, CO and has two adult children, Jim and Erika. You can contact Ms. Tappe here.
Brian Foley
Terry Moehnke is an Automation Solutions Architect for Principal in Des Moines, Iowa. Terry has worked in the field of Software Quality Assurance specializing in Test Automation for over 20 years. He has been an active member of Iowa AED Access For All since the beginning, and is the current chairman of the board for the organization. He designed and built their web site and continues to maintain it.
Originally from California, Terry moved to Iowa in 2003. In 2004 he was present when Mary Tappe, his friend and supervisor, suffered a cardiac arrest in a business meeting. The company they were working for had an AED on site, and Mary was saved. He got involved in Iowa AED Access For All when Mary founded it.
Carol Moehnke was a Medical Technologist for 32 years, before retiring in 2012. Carol has been an active member of Iowa AED Access For All since it was founded in 2005, and is the current Secretary for the organization. She helps maintain the SCAA web site.
In 1997 Carol suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while working at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. She was having lunch when it happened, and her co-workers performed CPR until a Defibrillator could be brought down from the 6th floor to save her. She was diagnosed with long QT syndrome, and an ICD was implanted. Carol got involved in an ICD support group, where she met Mary Tappe, who founded Iowa AED Access For All. Iowa AED Access For All eventually took on running the support group, and Carol is active in keeping it going to this day.
Todd Boe
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tamora Pierce (født 13. december 1954) er en populær amerikansk fantasy-forfatter. Hun er kendetegnet ved som regel at have en stærk heltinde som omdrejningspunkt i sine historier, dette er tilfældet bl.a. i alle hendes Tortall-bøger.

Pierce skriver fantasy-bøger i to universer, der på mange måder minder om hinanden, men som stadig er forskellige. Bøger der foregår i det samme univers kan have fælles personer og historie. F.eks. optræder hovedpersonen i Alanna også i Page på prøve, begivenheder der finder sted i Gudernes rige bliver omtalt i Balors nål osv.

Fantasy-bøger af Tamora Pierce

Tortall-universet
Tortall er navnet på et land i det fiktive univers, hvor serierne om Alanna, Daine, Keladry, Alianne og Beka finder sted. Hovedstaden i landet er Corus, som ligger i den vestlige del nær ved Smaragdhavet. Mod nord befinder landet Scanra sig – et vildt og barbarisk land, som Tortall har været i krig med gentagne gange. Øst for Tortall ligger Galla, Tusaine og Tyra og længere væk, Maren, Sarain og bjergkæden Verdens Tag.
Ørkenlandet Carthak ligger syd for Tortall på den anden side af Indlandshavet og ude i Smaragdhavet ligger Kobberøerne og Yamaniøerne.

Historierne i Løvindens datter tager sit udgangspunkt i stridigheder på Kobberøerne, mens Gravheksens gave foregår i Carthak.

The Provost's Dog
Trilogien foregår ca. 200 år før handlingen i Løvindens sang
 Terrier – (udgivet i 2006)
 Duernes hvisken (1. del af Terrier) – (på dansk i 2007)
 Duernes råb (2. del af Terrier) – (på dansk i 2007)
 Bloodhound – (udgivet i 2009)
 De falske mønter (1. del af Bloodhound) – (på dansk i 2010)
 Tyvedronningen (2. del af Bloodhound) – (på dansk i 2010)
 Mastiff – (udgivet i 2011)
 Sammensværgelsen (1. del af Mastiff) – (på dansk i 2013)
 Forræderen (2. del af Mastiff) – (på dansk i 2013)

Løvindens sang (The Song of the Lioness)
 Alanna (Alanna – The First Adventure) – (udgivet: 1983) (på dansk: 1991)
 I Gudindens hånd (In the Hand of the Goddess) – (udgivet: 1984) (på dansk: 1992)
 Kvinden der rider som en mand (The Woman Who Rides Like a Man) – (udgivet: 1986) (på dansk: 1992)
 Den springende løvinde (Lioness Rampant) – (udgivet: 1988) (på dansk: 1992)

De udødelige (The Immortals)
 Vild magi (Wild Magic) – (udgivet: 1992) (på dansk: 1998)
 Ulvepigen (Wolf-speaker) – (udgivet: 1994) (på dansk: 1998)
 Gravheksens gave (The Emperor Mage) – (udgivet: 1995) (på dansk: 1999)
 Gudernes rige (The Realms of the Gods) – (udgivet: 1996) (på dansk: 1999)

De svages beskytter (The Protector of the Small)
 Page på prøve (First Test) – (udgivet: 1999) (på dansk: 2001)
 Balors nål (Page) – (udgivet: 2000) (på dansk: 2001)
 Prøvelsen (Squire) – (udgivet: 2001) (på dansk: 2002)
 Ridder Keladry (Lady Knight) – (udgivet: 2002) (på dansk: 2003)

Løvindens datter (Daughter of the Lioness)
 Slyngelgudens valg (Trickster's Choice) kap 1-9 – (udgivet: 2003) (på dansk 2005)
 Slyngelgudens plan (Trickster's Choice) kap 10-16 – (udgivet: 2003) (på dansk 2005)
 Kobberøernes oprør (Trickster's Queen) (udgivet: 2004) (på dansk 2006)
 Kobberøernes kamp (Trickster's Queen) (udgivet: 2004) (på dansk 2006)

Planlagte Tortall univers bøger
Bøgerne er ifg. forfatteren under udvikling, titler og udgivelsesår er derfor ikke endelige
 Numair: The Early Years – (planlagt til udgivelse efter 2012)
Numairs fortælling # 1 venner og fjender (udgivet 2018)
Numairs fortælling # 2 uvejr og blodbad (udgivet 2018)
 unavngivet bog om Maura af Dunlath – (planlagt til udgivelse efter 2012)

Magiens cirkel-universet

Magiens cirkel (The Circle of Magic)
 Spiralcirklens tempel (Sandry's Book) – (udgivet: 1997) (på dansk: 2000)
 Vejrheksen (Tris's Book) – (udgivet: 1998) (på dansk: 2000)
 Ildsmeden (Daja's Book) – (udgivet: 1998) (på dansk: 2000)
 Plantetroldmanden (Briar's Book) – (udgivet: 1999) (på dansk: 2001)

Cirklen åbnes (The Circle Opens)
 Magiske trin (Magic Steps) – (udgivet: 2000) (på dansk: 2002)
 Stenmagi (Street Magic) -	(udgivet: 2001) (på dansk: 2002)
 Mordbrænderen (Cold fire) – (udgivet: 2002) (på dansk: 2003)
 Glasdragen (Shatterglass) – (udgivet: 2003) (på dansk: 2005)

 Cirklen gendannes (The Circle Reforged)
 The Will of the Empress – (udgivet: 2005)
 Kejserindens vilje (1. del af The Will of the Empress – (udgivet: 2005) (på dansk: 2008)
 Kejserindens vrede (2. del af The Will of the Empress – (udgivet: 2005) (på dansk: 2008)
 Stensmelterne (Melting Stones) (2. bog i cirklen gendannes - (udgivet: 2008) (På dansk: 2009)
 Battle Magic (3. bog i cirklen gendannes - (udgivet: 2013)
 Noveller
 Plain Magic – (udgivet: 1999) (udgivet i Flights of Fantasy) (ikke oversat til dansk)
 Testing – (udgivet: 2000) (udgivet i Lost and Found) (ikke oversat til dansk)
 Elder Brother – (foregår i Tortall-universet) (udgivet: 2001) (udgivet i Half Human) (ikke oversat til dansk)

Eksterne henvisninger
 Tamora Pierces websted
 Tamora Pierce's officiele danske fanside  – her kan man også tilmelde sig et nyhedsbrev om nyudgivelser

Fantasyforfattere fra USA


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Q: jQuery UI Datepicker showing incorrect week number When using the jQuery UI Datepicker and starting the week on a Sunday, the week numbers are incorrect. For example, 3rd Jan 2016 should be week 1 as all of the dates (3rd to 9th) are in the same year. But as you can see in the screenshot below, the UI shows it as week 53.

Here is the code to render the datepicker:
$("#datepicker" ).datepicker({
    showWeek: true,
    firstDay: 0
});

So nothing special, other than showing the week numbers and starting the week on Sunday instead of Monday (as per default).
Here is a fiddle of the issue: https://jsfiddle.net/vLqabmmz/

A: Due to the fact that this seems like a bug in jQuery UI. I'm posting the possible answer being the reporting of this as a bug to the jQuery UI team here: https://bugs.jqueryui.com/ticket/14907#ticket

A: i checked further and iso8601Week() method of jqueryUI is working fine, the problem is in its representation (the layout).
If you extract the value of the week you can see that the standard is followed and is fine. 3-rd is week 53 and after that 4 ... 7 (which is the first Thursday of the year and this is the week number 1). You can check with the code below.
  $(function() {
    $( "#datepicker" ).datepicker({
      showWeek: true,
      onSelect: function(dateText, inst) {
            $(this).val("'Week Number '" + $.datepicker.iso8601Week(new Date(dateText)));
      }
    });
  });

A: As seen from documentation for calculateWeek here:

This function uses the ISO 8601 definition of a week: weeks start on a Monday and the first week of the year contains January 4.

So comments are right qualifying this as a bug. While this is not resolved yet, you can overcome this easily by setting firstDay to 1 like this:
$("#datepicker" ).datepicker({
    showWeek: true,
    firstDay: 1
});

Week number would be correct, it is easier than rewrite calculateWeek, only difference is that week will start on Monday instead on Sunday. Note that default behavior sets firstDay to 0.

A: Here is a display of the jQuery calendar for the first week of 2017 - fully contained in a new year.
Yet, the week number is shown as 52 of year 2016 (wtf).

To me it looks like a bug to be corrected, otherwise there is no reason to display the week number.

A: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_week_date:
The first week of a year is the week that contains the first Thursday of the year (and, hence, always contains 4 January).

A: You should update locale:
moment.updateLocale('en', {
    week: {
        dow: 1,
        doy: 1
    }
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
About MIPAD
Meet the Speakers : Sheila S Walker, PhD
September 27, 2018, By Segun MIPAD | Leave a reply
Sheila S Walker, PhD, a cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, has done fieldwork, lectured, and participated in cultural events in most of Africa and the Global African Diaspora and has numerous scholarly and popular publications. Executive Director of the non-profit Afrodiaspora, Inc., her goal is to share her experiences and knowledge of the Global African Diaspora. Her book, African Roots/American Cultures: Africa in the Creation of the Americas, and companion documentary, Scattered Africa: Faces and Voices of the African Diaspora, are based on her international conference on "The African Diaspora and the Modern World." Her book, Conocimiento desde adentro: Los afro–sudamericanos hablan de sus pueblos y sus historias/Knowledge from the Inside: Afro-South Americans Speak of their People and their Histories (in Spanish), features chapters by Afrodescendants from all the Spanish-speaking countries in South America. Her most recent documentary is Familiar Faces/Unexpected Places: A Global African Diaspora. Dr. Walker was Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and Professor of Anthropology and Director of the African Diaspora and the World program at Spelman College.
Tags: Africa, African Descent, Class of 2018, MIPAD, New York, UN, UNGA
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MIPAD Hosts Recognition & Awards Ceremony, Unveils 2020 Global List
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MY ROOTS IN AFRICA
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This building comprises a ramped access to a six-story, 777-bay car park above the bus station/interchange concourse. The car park is designed for 2,000 vehicular movements every day.
It is effectively an island contained by the concrete busway, which in turn is encircled by a low concrete wall that continues around the perimeter of the main site. This wall is variously clad in brick (on edge, stacked, soldier course) and ceramic tiles (mosaic, coloured, staggered).


I am a Maccas girl from way back. During my formative years, I spent more than a decade working under the Golden Arches. McDonald's or Maccas as we Aussies refer to it, was a fun place to work. It provided an education that supplmented my book learning through school. It taught me about processes, structure and team work, suggestive selling and the six steps to great customer service.
You might be asking what this has to do with social media. Glad you asked.
A couple of days ago, McDonald's launched its Big Mac Chant promotion. The idea of the promotion is to have Big Mac lovers make a video of the Big Mac Chant and upload it to the website. Visitors to the website then vote on the videos. The mysterious McDonald's panel then determines the best video to award the grand prize of an overseas trip for 7 people and of course, a Big Mac.
This week in our course material we studied the habits of audiences in the online world. And Big Mac Chant campaign embodies much of what we talked about.
Audiences are not the passive recipients they used to be. Shock horror, we now want to participate, engage and be part of the discussion. Brands and news organisations have recognised and leveraged off this desire to various degrees. Some welcome audience participation, others do not. In what to me is a clever move, McDonald's is playing the social media audience at its own game in what should be a win/win situation for both. The reward for a great Big Mac Chant is no longer just a soft drink and let's face it, that just would not cut it in today's world. The prize is now free publicity, validation and fifteen minutes of fame. The potential for likes and comments and possible retweets and linkages is huge. So, not only is McDonald's harnessing the creative power of its Big Mac fans at little or no cost, it also feeds into their desire to show off and delivers to them a ready-made audience of fellow Big Mac lovers. Not to mention the odd video producer or advertising agency or two.
The cost of all of this involvement will be the need to moderate its community. The issue for McDonald's will be that videos and comments left on its website by others will become in effect owned by it. This leads to issues both from a reputation or brand standpoint and a legal standpoint.
I want to focus on the later for the balance of this post.
Over the last few years, the Australian legal system has provided some guidance on responsibility for the activities of others in the online space.
brands need to monitor and moderate their online spaces regularly and remove any offensive material within a reasonable time.
The lesson for brands and businesses is that they must manage the user generated content (UGC) that appears on their pages as actively as they manage their own. Traditionally, big corporates have compliance teams vetting their content before publication. The rise of UGC adds a whole different dimension as the brands don't know about it until after publication. Vigilance and pro activity is the key to staying on the right side of the legal and reputational line. Online moderation is now a profession and is not for the faint hearted or those short of time.
Now, all this talk of legal liability has made me hungry. Surely, it's time for a Big Mac.
This blog post is for discussion purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please see a legal professional to obtain specific advice in relation to your individual circumstances.


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text:
2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards
Export Council of Australia > 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards
Winners Event
Watch the 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards below!
Applications now closed. Thank you to all of the exporters who took the time and effort to submit an application. View the list of 2021 NSW Finalists.
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards!
The Premier's NSW Export Awards program aims to recognise the success and resilience of NSW exporters and their achievements in the international market.
There are 13 national categories and 4 NSW State categories that exporters can consider applying to. Exporters may apply to more than one category.
To apply for this awards program, your company must be based in NSW. If you are based in a different Australian state, please refer to the list of State & Territory partners to find the appropriate awards program.
Winners of the 13 national categories in this program will be put forward to the National Export Awards. The pathway to enter the National Export Awards is through your respective State or Territory awards program only.
Finalist Event
Watch the 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards Finalist Event
Watch it here
Key Dates 2021
1 July – Applications open
21 July – 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards Livestream Webinar
6 August – Applications close
August (ongoing) – Judging period
24 September – 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards Finalist Event
21 October – 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards
Applicants benefit by
Looking critically at your business, guided by the awards criteria that highlight what's important for successful international businesses
Benchmarking your business against others in your industry
Finalists benefit by
Inclusion in Export Awards media/publicity campaigns
Profile as an Export Awards finalist on the Export Council of Australia's website
Opportunity to get involved, profile your business, and share your export story at the Export Council of Australia's export events
Profiling opportunities in Export Council of Australia's marketing (i.e. case studies on successful New South Wales exporters, website exposure etc.)
Premier's NSW Export Awards finalist logo for use on your company's collateral – put the Export Awards finalist symbol on your business cards, letterhead and brochures to communicate your success to your international clients
Winners benefit by
Exclusive use of the Premier's NSW Export Awards winner's logo
Premier's NSW Export Awards winner's trophy and framed winner's certificate
Invitations to Export Council of Australia's NSW Export Awards winners roundtable and other events
Winning a New South Wales award in one of the 13 national categories also means your company progresses as a finalist in the Australian Export Awards. This means:
An opportunity to vie for the Australian Exporter of the Year Award
Promotion by Austrade of the Australian Export Awards finalists and on the Australian Export Awards website;
An Australian Export Awards National Finalist certificate;
Complimentary registration for your team to attend a masterclass hosted by leading experts to gain insights into the latest innovative trends in global business
Complimentary attendance to the Australian Export Awards National Awards Ceremony
Entitlement to use the national Australian Export Awards logo for your corporate marketing materials
Feedback from national judges on your application
Applications for the 2021 Premier's NSW Export Awards are invited from firms and organisations that meet the following criteria.
Earn foreign exchange.
Hold an active Australian Business Number (ABN).
Operate as a separate business if part of a larger organisation.
Maintain appropriate business ethics and demonstrate a commitment to legal obligations including anti-bribery laws, both in Australia and overseas markets.
Applications containing inadequate financial details will not be accepted.
Businesses that receive funding from the Government are eligible to apply.
Entry is through the State and Territory Export Awards programs, applications are not accepted directly to the national Australian Export Awards. Eligible Winners from a State or Territory Export Awards program automatically progress to become a National Finalist in the Australian Export Awards.
Only submit an application in one State or Territory Export Awards program. The application can only be submitted in the state or territory program where the organisation's head office is located or where the majority of operations are established.
Entries are only accepted online via the Export Awards application website exportawards.gov.au.
The product or service exported or delivered overseas must include significant (at least 50 per cent) Australian content or value-add, this may include:
goods made in Australia from Australian primary products;
goods made overseas, mainly using Australian primary products;
goods made in Australia from Australian and imported components;
goods elaborately transformed in Australia;
goods made overseas using substantial Australian value-add, intellectual property (IP) or know-how, including design;
services delivered in Australia to foreign individuals or entities; and
services delivered overseas using substantial Australian value-add, IP or know-how.
Net benefit
Deliver net foreign economic returns to the Australian economy.
The applicant must demonstrate 'net return' to Australia in terms of profit repatriation and creation of employment in Australia.
Organisations can enter in one or more category, but will only be eligible to win an award in one national OR NSW State category.
Organisations with a non-metropolitan Head Office may also enter the Regional Exporter Award.
Organisations with three years or less of export sales are eligible to enter the Emerging Exporter Award
Previous Winners and Hall of Fame
Winners from previous years are eligible to apply, except for inductees in the Australian Export Awards national Hall of Fame.
Government agencies and government owned agencies
Government agencies and government owned agencies are not eligible to apply. However, businesses that receive funding from the Government are eligible to apply.
Sponsors of a State, Territory Export Awards or the Australian Export Awards program are not eligible to apply.
The degree of innovation in the marketing strategy
Export growth achieved and the ability to sustain that growth
Evidence of sustainable competitive advantage
Value and contribution of exporting to business expansion
The overall company commitment to international business
The judging criteria are as follows:
SECTION 1 – This section is not judged [0% weighting]
SECTION 2 – ABOUT THE BUSINESS AND ITS PRODUCT/SERVICES [25% weighting]
2.1 – 2.2 Criteria
Assess the viability of the business, its product/service and how successful the business' exports/international successes have been this year.
2.3 Criteria
Criteria for e-Commerce category: What are the innovative online practices/strategies the applicant has implemented to maximise their reach overseas (look for innovation in platforms, tools used and customer engagement).
Criteria for all other industry specific award categories: Assess the company's activities against the selected category they have applied. Do these activities clearly reflect and effectively demonstrate leadership and innovation in the selected industry sector?
SECTION 3 – INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY [40% weighting]
Quality of marketing strategy taking into consideration scope of applicant's international competitive advantage.
What diversity and inclusion strategies has the applicant implemented in their business.
3.3 & 3.4 Criteria
Assess the level and sustainability of international revenue considering:
As a proportion of total sales revenue.
In terms of value, and year-to-year percentage change in value, over the last three years or since the applicant commenced exporting.
Total export earnings from major overseas markets.
SECTION 4 – BUSINESS MANAGEMENT [25% weighting]
Assess how/if employment figures support export expansion relevant to industry/category.
Assess structure of company's export/international operations and systems to effectively respond to international sales and whether the company is appropriately resourced for export expansion.
Soundness of financial strategy for international business. Look for examples of a sound capital base (substantial net profit) and sufficient capital (cash & resources) to support export activity. What are applicant's international plans for the coming year (e.g. new markets, additional staff, different marketing strategies).
SECTION 5 – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PLANNING AND DIRECTION [10% weighting]
Assess evidence of business commitment to international business.
National categories
Winners of the below categories progress to the National Awards.
For outstanding international success in the field of information technology (IT), digital technologies, software, hardware or digital services including solutions utilising cloud-based platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, augmented /virtual reality and/or blockchain.
Agribusiness, Food and Beverages
For outstanding international success in the field of agricultural products, services or technology including farm production, manufactured foods and beverages, forestry, fisheries.
For outstanding international success across all creative industries including music and performing arts, film, television and radio, software & interactive content such as VR and AR, writing, publishing & print media, architecture and design & visual arts, including fashion design.
For outstanding success by an Australian business in selling goods or services to customers overseas via an electronic network. Includes cross-border ecommerce and online sales.
Emerging Exporter
For outstanding export achievement by an enterprise in any industry sector which has been exporting goods or services for three years or less.
International Education and Training
For outstanding international success or learner/student experience in the field of education and training services, expertise and curriculum including vocational training.
International Health
For outstanding international success in medical, healthcare, biotechnology fields for products, technology, equipment or services. This includes E-Health, Digital Health, Medtech, Aged Care services.
Manufacturing and Advanced Materials
For outstanding international success in manufacturing, engineering and/or advanced materials development. This includes production of consumer products.
Minerals, Energy and Related Services
For outstanding international success in the production, processing, value adding of extractive resources or provision of equipment, services or solutions related to the mining, oil and gas and renewables industries.
For outstanding international success in the professional business services including legal, accounting, administration and support services, business management, marketing services, franchising and licensing, engineering, financial and insurance, market research and translation services.
Regional Exporter
For outstanding international success by a business whose head office is based in a non-metropolitan location.
For outstanding international success by any business with total annual sales not exceeding $10 million.
For outstanding international success in environmental solutions, clean energy innovation, materials and energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste and water management, green buildings, smart cities and R&D collaboration.
NSW State categories
These are NSW State categories. Winners of these categories win at the NSW State-level only and do not progress to the National Awards.
NSW Development Impact Award
For companies creating an outstanding positive impact on communities in developing countries through the export of goods and/or services or through their operations. Improved development outcomes include (but are not limited to); increased economic growth and prosperity, improved health outcomes, improved conditions for the most vulnerable, improved education, or improved gender equality.
NSW Women in International Business Award
For outstanding achievement in international business by a woman, or group of women, either through developing or leading an international enterprise, or contribution as a senior leader in an enterprise.
Western Sydney Exporter Award
For outstanding export achievement in any Industry sector, by an enterprise located in the Greater Western Sydney area.
NSW Defence Industry Award
For outstanding export achievement in designing, manufacturing and adapting world class products/services to meet military requirements globally. This category is open for all NSW companies exporting in all industry sectors that can demonstrate that they are supplying into defence markets overseas.


text:
Jan 31, 2017	Church, Politics, World 4 Comments
Reeling Forward
During a bout of insomnia last night, I felt compelled to reread Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's 1978 Harvard Commencement Address, "A World Split Apart." Several passages jumped out at me, particularly the following.
Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, such as motion pictures full of pornography, crime, and horror. It is considered to be part of freedom and theoretically counterbalanced by the young people's right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil.
And what shall we say criminality as such? Legal frames, especially in the United States, are broad enough to encourage not only individual freedom but also certain individual crimes. The culprit can go unpunished or obtain undeserved leniency with the support of thousands of public defenders. When a government starts an earnest fight against terrorism, public opinion immediately accuses it of violating the terrorist's civil rights. There are many such cases.
Before you assume that I intend to directly connect Solzhenitsyn's penetrating observations with the ongoing uproar over President Donald Trump's recent executive order temporarily banning the citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, grant me a moment to explain myself. The Trump ban, which many have argued is not only imprudent but ultimately ineffective for thwarting terrorist attacks on American soil, may or may not survive a legal challenge; what has certainly not survived, even in Solzhenitsyn's time, is our collective capacity to confront evil. Obviously a vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists per se, that is, they do not wear suicide vests, gun or knife people at random, or set off homemade explosive devices in public places. That does not change the fact, however, that all Muslims profess religious error and that these errors, like all errors, pose a danger to all societies at all times and in all places. While the political situation today demands tolerance, it is always tolerance of some evil, not a tolerance of some good. However, even tolerance has its limits, particularly when confronting a false religion that has spread violence, misery, and immorality over the globe for more than 1,000 years.
This reality is ignored by the good liberals and deluded Christians of our day. The only thing that seems to matter is the "rights" of Muslims in positive, legal sense, not the fact that Islam itself is inherently dangerous. In an effort to (weakly) combat such claims, liberals will point to the history of Christianity, claiming that A, B, C, etc. atrocity was carried out by Christians and therefore Christianity is no less (and may even be more) dangerous than Islam. What's missing from this analysis is a fair reading of what the Church actually teaches and, from there, an evaluation of whether or not this-or-that action, carried out at some point in history, comported with Church teaching. Tomorrow, I could go out my front door naked, covered in peanut butter, flinging sacks of dog feces at people in the name of Buddhism, Hinduism, Rastafarianism, and so forth, but that doesn't necessarily mean my barking-mad behavior has any connection whatsoever to those or any other extant religions on the planet.
Islam, on the other hand, has a long and storied history of aggression toward non-believers with periods of relative calm coming at the expense of non-Islamic persons. The Christians of the former Byzantine Empire were not all forced to convert by the sword, but their continued existence depending upon living as second-class human beings under the Ottomans and watching as their church degenerated into an ethnic enclave, cut off from the wider Christian world. In more recent times, we have witnessed the Islamic State (ISIS)—a highly organized politico-religious movement that has managed to hold significant ground in Syria and Iraq precisely because its iteration of Islam is attractive to other Muslims—carry out one of the bloodiest persecutions of Christians since the days of the Soviet Union. People protest and call it an aberration without bothering to look back over centuries upon centuries of similar actions carried out in the name of the false Prophet Muhammad and his dirt deity Allah.
Even if it were possible, by the waive of a magic wand, to distinguish the "good Muslim" from the "bad Muslim," that is, the terrorist, the liberals of today would opine that that such wand-waiving violates the terrorists' rights. Where is the due process? What laws are being cited and what is their proper interpretation? Is there not a way for the text of the Constitution—or any other foundational document—to be read upside down, sideways, and inside out to protect these poor terrorists from being singled-out a priori and prevented from carrying out their terrible acts? If you think such questions would not be asked, then please let me encourage you to peruse social media; the idiocy that is now running wild is astounding.
Of course, terrorism and the scourge that is Islam is not our only challenge today. And, truth be told, it may not be our biggest problem. Returning to Solzhenitsyn, it must be acknowledged that our "[s]ociety appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence," especially now, in the digital age, where "pornography, crime, and horror" come packaged together in a single streaming video from any number of online "adult" websites. Consumerism, and the destructive capitalism which feeds off of it, is no longer condemned by Christians, even Catholics, but rather propped-up by churchmen and "think tanks" who believe, without reason, that "human flourishing" is not only an end in itself, but can be secured materially rather than spiritually. As perverse as their theology is in parts, can any of us blame the ISIS fighter for looking upon our works, our empire of smut and entertainment (or smut-as-entertainment), and feeling nothing but revulsion—the sort that easily elicits violence?
The promise of liberalism, which many believe was renewed in 1989 with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, rings hollow today, and yet those intoxicated with liberal ideology still control the machinery of society. In fact, liberals now control the machinery of the Catholic Church, meaning that the truth of things, the very truth of life and what it is for, must now take second place to securing an unimaginative, prepackaged "living space" in this fallen world. We clamor on about rights without reference to obligations, rarely contemplating the doom we have secured for ourselves in exchange for transient pleasures, many of which are not even available to those consigned to destitution and depravity by an intrinsically immoral socio-economic system.
Ours is not merely "a world split apart," as Solzhenitsyn said, but a world gone mad. The United States in particular is not "a shining city upon a hill" but rather—to paraphrase Carl Schmitt summarizing the counterrevolutionary thinker Juan Donoso Cortes— "a ship that reels forward, piloted by a crew of drunken sailors, who dance and howl until God decides to sink the ship so that silence can rule the sea once again." When that day comes, no doubt there will be some of us, perhaps many of us, standing before the Throne of Christ weeping about our rights.
Jan 30, 2017	Catholic Social Thought, Church 1 Comment
Van Engen on a Calvinist "Advance" of God's Kingdom
Abram Van Engen, an associate professor of English at Washington University who recently published a book on the intersection of Calvinist theology and politics in New England, is pleading with people not to conflate Calvinism (or, more accurately, the Calvinism of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC)) with the political positions of one Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Education. Van Engen is concerned that that the mainstream media is making too much out of DeVos's ties to the CRC and Calvin College, a private academic institution in Grand Rapids, MI which boasts both DeVos and Van Engen among its alumni. Welcome to America, where it has been a time-honored tradition since before the founding of this liberal polity to tar-and-feather Christians for their religious affiliation, only most of that was directed at Catholics and came not from the secular media, but Van Engen's forebears. This is not to say that secularists haven't had a field day going after Catholic politicians, judges, academics, journalists, etc. for their religious beliefs in more recent times; it's only that it's a tad bit ironic to find a Calvinist crying "foul!" over a tactic his coreligionists once employed wantonly.
As for the substance of Van Engen's apologia, which has as its central thesis that Calvinists can indeed be good secularists, too, and that DeVos's views are not necessarily a perfect reflection of the amorphous orthodoxy of the CRC, he's probably right. Growing up in DeVos's West Michigan, I can certainly attest that many CRC-goers are as secularized, liberal, intramundane, and materialist as the finest products of the American public-education system. The CRC, no less than other "magisterial" Protestant sects, has had no problem dialing-down its beliefs to fit with the times while turning the Great Commission into a call for social-justice action.
Consider, for instance, Van Engen's discussion of the Reformed trope "advancing God's kingdom." That phrase is not a call for theocracy, Van Engen assures, but rather "a service-oriented vision of vocation." At Calvin College "[s]tudents are called to serve, and they can serve in many ways" such as "regularly . . . work[ing] in the world for racial reconciliation. Why? Because racial reconciliation advances God's kingdom." Does it? Setting aside the fact that "racial reconciliation" is, at best, an ambiguous concept, there is no Scriptural basis for holding that the Kingdom of God amounts to a liberal-democratic dreamland to be established on this side of the eschaton, nor are "racial issues" (in the contemporary, secular sense) in themselves a concern of the Gospel. Yes, all men are made in the image and likeness of God, and racialism has no place in the Christian consciousness (especially since it is a modern ideological construct), but marching during a "Black Lives Matter" protest is a far cry from leading souls to Heaven.
Let me express in no uncertain terms with Van Engen's observation that "those who pray together 'thy kingdom come' in the Lord's Prayer, across many different Christian faith traditions every day, can still disagree quite powerfully about what exactly that kingdom looks like and how it comes about." For Apostolic Christians whose horizon has not be clouded—such as faithful Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox—Christ's Kingdom remains "not of this world"; "for we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14). Or, to quote from the Epistle to Diogentus, they "live in their own countries as though they were only passing through." Whatever concerns Christians once, and always should, have with earthly cares means nothing unless it is oriented toward man's final end, God.
In closing, I want to acknowledge that American Catholicism, no less than Van Engen's cherished CRC, is riddled with compromises, contradictions, and outright capitulations to the liberal status quo. Many American Catholics would likely agree with Van Engen's tactic of trying to show why being a "good Calvinist" (of the CRC variety) can mean being a "good American," which, in the end, means being a good secularist. For shame. However, faithful Catholics can at least take comfort in the fact that the Church's authentic doctrine is unblemished, that her true teachings on the proper relation of Church and state remain—as they say—"on the books," and that regardless of the world's temptations, the only true peace, joy, and happiness, like "every perfect gift," "is from above, coming down to use from the Father of lights" (James 1:17) rather than spewing forth from the liberal ideology that dominates here below.
Jan 30, 2017	Spirituality 8 Comments
Poll: Catholic Spirituality
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Jan 30, 2017	Roman Catholic Church 5 Comments
Monday Mumbling
A Catholic writer who runs a fairly well-trafficked Latin traditionalist website recently tried to rebuke me on social media for inordinately focusing on "things Eastern" vis-à-vis the ongoing crisis in the Catholic Church when, so the argument goes, Pope Francis is systematically destroying the Latin Church (which, as we all know, is the dominant form of Catholicism today). This came in response to my rhetorical question over whether or not the same traditional Catholics who are upset over Francis's recent intervention into the affairs of the Knights of Malta would holler as loudly if the Pope moved to impose clerical celibacy on the Eastern Catholic churches. Clerical celibacy, mind you, was just an example; I could just as easily used azymes. My point was not to discuss the issue of clerical celibacy but to highlight a certain myopia which exists within the Catholic Church (particularly among traditionalists) when it comes to the Christian East, particularly Eastern Catholics who, for centuries, have had to endure incessant incursions into their proper autonomy from Rome for largely indefensible reasons. Why are these incursions—which still transpire today—acceptable but the one against Malta not?
As a Greek Catholic, I have no love for what Pope Francis is doing to the Latin Church; but I believe in consistency. If it is beyond the pale for the Ordinary of Rome to meddle with longstanding constructs of sovereignty, to say nothing of traditional disciplines and norms of the Latin Church, then why should the East ever be fair game for any interference from the West? Granted, most traditional Latin Catholics don't think on such things, just as they don't pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary either.
Now, before people start jumping down my throat claiming that I am unfairly picking on Latin Catholics, let me remind everyone reading that I am equally critical of Eastern myopia, particularly when that myopia leads to emptyheaded triumphalism. This is not an exclusively Eastern Orthodox phenomenon, mind you. Plenty of Eastern Catholics—cradle or otherwise—love reveling in the apparent differences (read: deficiencies) found within Latin Catholicism compared to the allegedly "pure East." For some of those coming from the Byzantine tradition in particular, anything which is not "Byzantine" immediately becomes suspect, if not presumptively aberrant or heretical. Such folks also rejoice at finding instances where the Latin West broke with some (allegedly) "unbroken" tradition from the first millennium, but howl in agony when a Latin notes the many instances where the Byzantines did the same. Undoubtedly the most contentious example of this breaking involves the Eastern Orthodox condoning the practice of second (and even third) marriages when the first spouse is still living—a rather late development that emerged from the conflation of Byzantine (Roman) civil and ecclesiastical law. Make mention of this inconvenient historical truth as a Greek Catholic and be prepared to be called a "Latinizer."
At some point one has to realize this is all very silly (if not terribly sad). There is no form of triumphalism on this earth that is in any way, shape, or form defensible. Moreover, in a day and age where mankind's historical horizon stretches to unprecedented lengths, the ignorance which certain bands of Apostolic Christians cling to for dear life are as lamentable as they are perverse. The Church neither began in 1563 nor ended in 1054. Our Lord Jesus Christ had 12 Apostles, not one. No one thought until recent centuries that pious devotions ranging from Novenas to Akathists should displace the Divine Office. Oh, and by the way, "thought" is not a late-medieval Scholastic innovation, either.
Jan 29, 2017	Uncategorized 3 Comments
Ephemera XVIII: I Will Not Divide You
He Will Not Divide Us (HWNDU), the unity-art project spearheaded in part by the habitually underwhelming actor Shia LaBeuof, is paying some of the best comedic dividends of 2017. Launched on January 20, HWNDU is a live stream camera positioned outside of the Museum of Moving Image in New York; visitors are encouraged to chant, "He will not divide us!" repeatedly for the next four years in response to Donald Trump's Presidency. Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for Internet trolls over at 4chan and other online forums to begin popping up on the feed, spouting everything from white-supremacist rhetoric to calls to retake Constantinople from the Turks. LaBeuof even managed to get himself arrested for assaulting a man live on camera that he believed was a Trump supporter. For an insomniac such as myself, the feed has been a beloved source of entertainment over the past few days, particularly after 1am EST when the trolls really start to come out. Granted, I would not call their behavior edifying, but the entire project — which is childish, vain, and, ironically enough, divisive to the core — was just asking for something like this to happen. And though HWNDU supporters are calling the trolls "neo-Nazis" despite the fact many of them appear to be either Asian or Hispanic, it stands to reason that most just see this as a splendid opportunity for 15 minutes of Internet fame. In this day and age, what more can anyone ask for?
For those who care, I have not given up on my "A Year of 100 Books" project; I just haven't had time to post updates lately. After my bout with Eire's Reformations, I am giving myself the grace to take my foot off the pedal for a bit. The problem now confronting me is what to read. Several times now I have found myself staring at my bookshelves (and mountains of books stacked up around my shelves) wondering what I ought to tackle next. Part of me wants to avoid thematic reading, but that's hard to avoid. There isn't a single book to be read which doesn't call to mind a half-dozen more that I should get around to. I had thought of scribbling down 25-30 titles, placing them into a hat, and pulling from there. Knowing my luck, however, every tome I selected would be lengthy and, really, it would take me weeks to settle on a list of candidates. Better to just look-and-grab for now.
"Are you ever going to do anything in aviation law again?" An acquaintance asked me this question the other week. I quickly replied, "No . . . well . . . maybe?" It has been over two years since Cambridge University Press published my book, The Principles and Practice of International Aviation Law, and I have had little desire to pen another word about it outside of a few random blog posts and a contribution to The National Interest. Whenever I take a glance at aviation legal scholarship, I find myself feeling much like I did when I started writing my book: underwhelmed. Though certain aviation-law aficionados took umbrage with my claim that the aviation law field is woefully under-theorized and most aviation scholarship remains unimpressive, no one has actively tried to overturn either thesis. They would prefer to leave the nasty truth alone rathe than confront it head on. After all, there are careers at stake, and if those outside of the narrow circle of aviation-law scholars knew the truth about the banality of the field, they may opt to either overtake it or perhaps even bury it. So it goes. Despite my initial protestations to the contrary, there is a part of me that feels I will go to the grave believing that aviation law, as a particular subject of study, is as absurd as the "law of the horse" that Judge Frank Easterbrook mocked so many years ago.
Part of me feels like I should say something about the ongoing Knights of Malta/Pope Francis debacle. I will limit myself to this observation. The alleged usurpation of the largely symbolic Military Order of Malta's sovereignty by the Pope pales in comparison to the usurpation of authority the sui iuris Eastern Catholic churches have endured at the hands of the Pope and other Roman authorities for centuries. Thankfully, after more than a century of calls for the Eastern churches to effectively be themselves by governing themselves from top to bottom, things have started to change, though there is still a great deal of work to do. Latin Catholics who are concerned about the Pope meddling in the affairs of his own particular church should be doubly, even triply, critical when the Pope wandering into the jurisdictional space of other churches. It rarely causes anything but trouble. Maybe when some Eastern patriarch or another starts issuing highly ambiguous exhortations that appear to give his clerics license to commune those living in objective mortal sin, it will be necessary — following an appeal — for the successor to St. Peter to step in lest scandal and schism break loose throughout the Mystical Body of Christ. Let us pray such a day never comes.
Jan 25, 2017	Church, Eastern Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church 11 Comments
Midweek Scribbling
As I scanned the Catholic news waves this morning, I found a great deal of chatter about the Sovereign Order of Malta and Pope Francis; some consternation over a liturgical directive in Rockford, Illinois; and a few words about an Anglican Use parish in Texas. What surprised me about all of this is not the fact the Roman Catholic Church continues to be in disarray, but how unmoved I am by it now. Two or three years ago, I would have been up in arms; now I can barely muster the energy to read these tales of woe from start to finish. Have I given up? Am I losing my faith? Do I actually believe that what is transpiring in the Church is "right" or, at the very least, "ok"? The answer to all of those questions is an unqualified, "No." I do believe, however, that I have hit the burn-out point when it comes to "crisis porn"; one can only gawk at the carnage for so long before they start to feel like a pervert.
This is not to say that responsible pressmen shouldn't report on what's happening around the Corpus Mysticum, nor that all analytical commentary be ignored. There are, thankfully, two or three sober-minded voices out there, the sort who are willing to put the Church's present problems into perspective without falling prey to pearl-clutching hysteria. Hysteria generates hits, and for more than one traditional Catholic website out there, that's what seems to matter above all else. What, I wonder, would these folks do if their wildest dreams of Pope Pius XIII ascending the throne and cleaning up the house came true? What would they write about? Maybe at that moment all of the ire directed toward the Novus Ordo Missae will be rerouted toward, say, the Pian reforms of the Breviarium Romanum; there's always something to be upset about, I suppose.
Speaking of hysteria and hits, I took time out to track my web-log traffic over the past year and compare it to the previous two. Not surprisingly, the less angry, bitter, perturbed, and resentful my posts became, the less interest began to be shown in Opus Publicum, particularly from the traditional Catholic community. Granted, that may be a coincidence, especially since an increasing number of posts started to focus on "things Eastern" which, as best as I can tell, is of little-to-no interest to a vast majority of Catholics out there, specifically those who enjoy magic prayers, ahistorical theology, and early-modern devotions that wantonly displace the liturgical patrimony of the Latin Church. And, naturally, a web-log penned by a dirty "Uniate" is unlikely to attract all that many Orthodox readers, though ironically I seem to have far more of those than I do of the "Orthodox in Communion with Rome" types, that is, those who persist in promoting a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style ecclesiology.
The other day a veteran, long-single theologian who used to have some renown in the Catholic blogosphere sent out a social-media message that began, "I have been asked several times lately how I've managed to avoid fornication for all of these years." Setting aside that this statement is one of the finest humble brags I have ever come across, I personally can't imagine ever asking someone that question, particularly since it rests on the assumption that the individual being queried has, in fact, avoided the sin in question. Moreover, were I asked how I've avoided, say, defrauding large financial institutions millions of dollars or purchasing Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, I wouldn't go public with it. It just seems so, well, untoward to parade certain virtues or, more accurately, "things we're supposed to be doing in the first place."
Or maybe I missed something along the way. It's happened before.
Jan 23, 2017	Year of 100 Books 5 Comments
Y100B: Reformations
Carlos M.N. Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 (Yale University Press 2016, 920pgs.)
What can I say about Reformations that Eamon Duffy didn't cover in his outstanding review, "The End of Christendom"? Despite its considerable heft, one thought ran through my head after I finished each chapter: I have to read this again. Eire's prose is neither dense nor intentionally complicated; but the sheer array of material he draws effortlessly together cannot be digested in a single run through a book which, I pray, every thoughtful Catholic sits down with in this, the 500th sorrowful anniversary of Martin Luther's revolt against the Church. Why these reform movements broke out across Europe and what they left in their wake are at the heart of Eire's analysis, as his sobering account of the decrepit state of the Church in the 16th Century. Catholics, particularly traditional Catholics, are unlikely to be comfortable with much of what Eire has to say about that. Good. Romanticizing the past cannot help anyone prepare for the future or, for that matter, deal with the present.
Jan 23, 2017	Economics, Politics Post a Comment
The Concept of Progress
The concept of progress, i.e., an improvement or completion (in modern jargon, a rationalization) became dominant in the eighteenth century, in an age of humanitarian-moral belief. Accordingly, progress meant above all progress in culture, self-determination, and education: moral perfection. In an age of economic or technical thinking, it is self-evident that progress is economic or technical progress. To the extent that anyone is still interested in humanitarian-moral progress, it appears as a byproduct of economic progress. If a domain of thought becomes central, then the problems of other domains are solved in terms of the central domain – they are considered secondary problems, whose solution follows as a matter of course only if the problems of the central domain are solved.
– Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political
In an unintentional manner, Schmitt summarizes well not just the concept of progress generally, but — unintentionally — the ethos of think-tanks such as The Mises Institute, The Cato Institute, and even the Catholic-backed Acton Institute. It is the ethos of the so-called "Washington Consensus" that emerged after 1989, the consensus which gave us the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, and a global investment regime that erodes national sovereignty in the name of economic improvement. "Spread the wealth" via "free trade" and everything will fall into place: peace, security, stability, "human rights," etc. How quickly has that dream, that myth, unraveled in the wake of the terrible realization that human souls cannot be placated with "stuff" and a life infused with meaning, even demonic meaning, has more power to move mountains than the wealth of every global elite combined.
Jan 17, 2017	Movies 2 Comments
Some Thoughts on Silence
Note: This brief overview of Martin Scorsese's Silence was originally written for another outlet, but was passed over for various reasons.
Watching Silence with Protestants
Just to be clear, this is not a formal review of Martin Scorsese's Silence, which is being released nationwide today. Quite by accident, I had the opportunity last night to attend a preview screening of the film hosted by John Loeks, Jr., the owner and operator of the highly successful Celebration Cinema theater chain in West Michigan. The screening, which was attended primarily by Protestants of various stripes and featured an after-viewing discussion facilitated by Calvin College's Carl Plantinga, provided not only an opportunity for me to witness how a master filmmaker handled one of the most unsettling and contentious novels I have ever read, but a chance to see first-hand how emaciated American Protestantism has become. Keep in mind that West Michigan is no secular outlier; it is home to both the Christian Reformed Church and the Reformed Church of America, along with countless evangelical sects and mega-churches. As recently as a decade or so ago, West Michigan was identified as the second most conservative area in the United States—just behind Salt Lake City, Utah. Whatever our faults (and there are plenty of them), a lack of Jesus isn't one of them.
In both my casual conservations with the screening's attendees and the audience-wide discussion itself, I found myself unsettled by how easily the heroic ideal of mission is reduced to a vague notion of "service." One audience member, who not surprisingly is involved in interfaith dialogue, declaredly proudly that the message of Silence is about setting aside pride, particularly the pride of believing one knows "the truth." In absolute defiance of the film's brutal depiction of heroic martyrdom, this gentleman lauded the "enlightenment" of contemporary missionaries who go abroad not to "convince others" but to engage in public works. While missionary activity has long been connected with education, charitable giving, and even bottom-up social renewal, at the heart of all true missionary activity—particularly the Tridentine missionary activity of the Society of Jesus in the 16th and 17th centuries—is the salvation of souls. I dare say that some thought I was an alien from another world when I suggested that Jesuits once went forth to win souls for Christ, not spread multiculturalism.
If the aforementioned gentleman's comments were an aberration, I'd think nothing of it. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Almost without exception, every audience remark was pregnant with religious liberalism and the belief that Scorsese's movie—just like the novel it is based on—gloriously preaches indifferentism. How that shoddy interpretation squares with the martyric witness of simple peasants is quite beyond me. Beyond me as well is the sense that many in the audience got that Endo's story is about the spreading of neutered Christianity unmoored from a concrete Church rather than Catholicism. And at least on this point, one audience member (a professor at Calvin College) suggested that the movie's meaning is likely to be more apparent to Catholics than Protestants. In replying to her, I was tempted to say something about iconoclasts, but I resisted.
There's no need for me to repeat every scandalous opinion put forth. However, after leaving the theater, I spent a good 15-30 minutes going over the film in my head, wondering if I hadn't been too quick to read the Catholic Faith into a film that many apparently understood as a lesson in why it's important to hold hands and sing "Kumbaya" around a campfire rather than ask the only question ever worth asking, "What think ye of Christ?"
Although subsequent viewings may dislodge this belief, I remain convinced that whether by accident, design, or a bit of both, Scorsese's Silence is neither an apologia for apostasy nor panegyric to cultural relativism. That doesn't mean it's an easy film. Some concerned Catholics have suggested the film, like the book, is theologically dangerous—and to some extent they're right. Any artistic achievement that attempts to wrestle with the most difficult tenets of the Faith risks obscuring more than it clarifies. By raising difficult questions without ready-made, manulist answers, Silence inadvertently invites idiotic replies. But more than that, it offers an opportunity to reflect on the fragility of faith and the hard truth that God's apparent silence is more often than not our obstinate refusal to listen.


The atmosphere is completely different. It is a collaboration or working together toward solutions, as opposed to an adversarial approach where one party often feels "the winner" or the "the loser".
Your feelings and values are honoured and respected.
There is usually less animosity in this process and therefore can be much easier on the children.
The process is relatively fast and efficient and therefore far less costly.
It can be far less stressful and anxiety producing.
You don't go to court.
The process addresses and emphasizes the needs and well-being of the children and the parents.
The husband and wife have almost no direct contract with each other throughout the lawsuit process and what little interaction they have is usually bitter and unproductive.
Tension, fear, anger and recrimination prevail.
It is almost impossible for the parties to have anything remotely resembling a healthy relationship after the divorce, even when there are children involved. This is because the traditional process is about pointing fingers in an attempt to prove who is right.


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Get Fit by Playing a Team Sport: It's Never too Late to Get Started!
Categories: Fitness/
Think you're too old to join in team sports anymore? Well, according to Grimsby's over 60s football squad, it's time to think again! The group of football mad men have an average age of 65, many of them have suffered heart attacks and strokes in the past, yet they're all determined to keep playing the beautiful game, and boosting their general health at the same time.
Inspirational Team Sports
The squad now features up to 15 players, all of whom say their football practices are the highlight of their week. Their chairman, Tony Parrott, is 70 years old, and has returned to football, even though it's been 35 years since he's played.
He says: 'I have spoken to doctors and they all approve because it is walking exercise at a pace. You work up a sweat. It is good to come back on to the field after so long. I really look forward to Thursdays.' In addition to playing each week, they're looking to set up an official league, purely for players over the age of 60 across the country.
Other Sports for the Over 60s
Of course, football isn't the only sport currently enjoyed by those over the age of 60. There's also an official hockey league for over 50s and over 60s, plus plenty of rugby teams designed solely for older people. Indeed, in the US and Canada, older sports fans are leading the way, with 120 teams currently registered in the Oldtimers Soccer League in British Columbia, and dozens over 60s football teams in Boston.
It's possible that there may already be a sports team in your local area. However, if there isn't, remember that there's nothing to stop you establishing one!
The Many Health Benefits
There are many advantages of playing football and other team sports when you're over the age of 60. According to Peter Reddy, from Aston University, men who stay physically active are 20 to 30% less likely to die prematurely and 50% less likely to develop a chronic disease.
Team sports provide a welcome alternative to a session at the gym or a run in the local park. They're often a social event, and a chance to have fun with friends and local like-minded people, in addition to keeping fit.
Interestingly, it seems that playing team sports helps to improve mental wellbeing too. Reddy mentions a study conducted in Dublin, observing the effects of playing football on a team of older players. They 'have high levels of what we term 'flow', which really means psychological reward and satisfaction. They see it as fun and rewarding. Interestingly, they report that the level of stress and exertion is comparatively low, even though measurements show that they are working hard.'
If you'd like to get started playing a team sport in your local area, the first thing to do is to check whether or not one already exists. If it does, simply get in touch and find out if they have any available spaces for an additional member. If you can't find one, explore options in terms of hiring space at a local sports field, or simply arrange an informal game in the nearest park with a group of friends!
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