text:
Chinese Tourism "Exports"
Timothy Taylor, referencing a recent IMF report on China's account surplus, writes that China's trade surplus has essentially vanished, in large part due to huge increases in outbound tourism:
Clearly, one big change is that China has started running a trade deficit in services (an area where the US economy runs a trade surplus). The main reason seems to be a large increase in outbound Chinese tourism, because in trade statistics, international tourists are in effect "importing" goods produced in other countries. The IMF economists write: "China's tourism balance, mostly on account of outbound tourism, has swung from a small surplus of around 5bn USD in 2008 to a deficit of nearly 250bn USD in 2018, driven by the increasing purchasing power of the middle class and an appreciating currency. … [T]he trend is undeniable. It is also borne out by an almost fourfold increase in the number of Chinese outbound visitors – from 46mn in 2008 to 162mn in 2018."
The IMF report goes on to explain that China's modest account surplus "is expected to turn into a small deficit in the medium term as the structural factors…continue to drive up imports and moderate exports."
One artificial means of slowing the rise in imports, however, might also have domestic political benefits for Zhongnanhai. Xiaochen Su highlights recent travel restrictions to Taiwan imposed on the residents of 47 Chinese cities, and suggests that this may only be the start. It would be a true win-win for the CCP: reduce exposure to "Western liberal values" abroad while also denying countries the tourist income from Chinese visitors. As Su writes:
The Chinese government, to prevent Chinese citizens from learning unwanted Western liberal values abroad, could increasingly seek to limit the scope of Chinese outbound travel in the near future. On one hand, as is the case for Taiwan, independent travel, in which travelers have more opportunities to interact freely with locals, could be banned in favor of group travel that allows licensed and "politically correct" travel agencies to closely monitor travelers. On the other hand, the government could simply make the process of acquiring a passport more stringent, with ever higher education, income, and even professional requirements that make most of its citizens unqualified and ineligible for a passport. Using such methods, the government can better ensure that only those it wants to travel abroad can travel under circumstances that do not allow them to stray from the standard Chinese political discourse they hear at home.
So will the Chinese tourist export boom fade away? Su is right to argue that Western countries should avoid kowtowing to certain demands from Beijing in order to keep the tourists coming, given that their numbers may well be limited in the near future owing solely to domestic Chinese policy. But if travel is curtailed, will it be possible to divert the yuan that would otherwise have been spent abroad to domestic consumption? Otherwise, China's "merely extraordinary" savings glut might head upwards once again, contributing to the ongoing global slowdown.
Tagged China, economic warfare, economics, ideology, tourism, trade
Sanctions and Financial Warfare in the 21st Century
In July of this year, China's first regiment of S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems was delivered by Russia and accepted into PLA service. The following month, Russia confirmed that the last 10 Su-35s of an order for 24 would arrive by the end of 2018. The deals were originally signed, respectively, in 2015 and 2014, with S-400 negotiations having started as far back as 2011.
Now, some months later, the United States has decided that sanctions are the appropriate tool to "punish" China for violating other sanctions against Russian entities including Rosboronexport, under the 2017 "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" (CAATSA). The Chinese CMC's Equipment Development Department and its chief will be barred from conducting financial transactions in the United States.
Beijing, naturally, has no intention of putting an end to its weapons purchases from Moscow.
But leaving aside the inexplicable timing (and apparent ex post facto application) of such a decision, it would seem foolish on its face. Not only is the interstate arms trade something that the United States – given its position as the world's largest arms dealer – would seem to want to leave relatively unregulated, but to try and interfere in a commerce arrangement between two Great Powers has historically not ended well for the interloper. Imposing CAATSA-related sanctions also ignores the existing Western arms embargo against China, dating back to the Tiananmen Square massacre, and which Beijing has managed to circumvent for years through various financial mechanisms and yuan-denominated transactions. Sanctions must be a limited tool in order to have effect, and applying them in this way further weakens their utility.
The possible Chinese and/or Russian countermoves are numerous: sanctions of their own against big US (and multinational) defense contractors; pricing their own arms as "loss leaders" to displace US primacy in various markets, particularly Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe; economic punishment of US client regimes (e.g., the UAE, South Korea, Egypt), etc. In fact, the latter can already be seen with China's immediate critical reaction to the US sale of F-16 fighter equipment to Taiwan. The sale is hardly news—and consists mostly of sustainment material for existing platforms that were previously themselves protested—but the Chinese response represents the first step in an emerging economic counteroffensive; a second front in the ongoing trade wars.
Now, you might ask, might this not just be cutting off the nose to spite the face? After all, if China financially punishes Saudi Arabia or Turkey for buying American weapons, they make it so much less likely that those nations would consider turning to Chinese or Russian imports in the future. But arms sales themselves are more than purely transactional; they are potential tools of statecraft. Look at India's attempt to "balance" between the United States and Russia: a few P-8Is and F-16s here, a few batteries of S-400s there (the latter, however, requiring a CAATSA waiver, which has so far been promised by the Pentagon but has yet to appear). Rarely does capability alone factor into a major international arms deal; see the long list of US arms deals facilitated by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency for an idea of their importance to Washington. When capabilities are the overriding reason to obtain a system, it can have geopolitical implications of its own – see Turkey's ongoing acquisition of the S-400 for an example of exceeding the unwritten rules of acquisition.
Not only has a CAATSA waiver failed to materialize for India's S-400s, but so too is there nothing resembling an exception to reimposed US sanctions on Iran, following the abandonment of JCPOA. This has had the potential of threatening Indian access to and "special privileges" at the Iranian port at Chah Bahar should India seek to replace its imports of Iranian oil (Chah Bahar itself a reaction to China's development of the Pakistani Port of Gwadar). All is related; nothing in isolation.
But while it might seem, at least to the grinning faces in the Cabinet Room, that CAATSA represents a trump card (so to speak), it is in reality an unimaginative approach without any sort of backup plan. Should sanctions fail, then what? Unfortunately, the US overreliance on sanctions – as well as an insistence on mirroring rather than proportionality – has begun to generate a global financial regime wholly independent of the United States.
Nothing says that sanctions beget sanctions, or that tariffs must be exchanged tit for tat. One needn't respond with identical measures so long as the response is proportional, unless escalation is the goal. Consider the "side-principle" rule articulated in Unrestricted Warfare:
Other means…supplement, enrich, or even replace military means, so as to achieve objectives which cannot be achieved by military force alone. This has been the most important episode of the side element's modifying the principal element in relation to war on the basis of a conception of war … The side-principal rule is opposed to all forms of parallel placement, balance, symmetry, being all-encompassing, and smoothness, but, instead, advocates using the sword to cut the side. Only by avoiding frontal collisions, will it be possible for your sword to cut apart things without being damaged. This is the most basic grammar of victory for the ancient article of war [emphasis mine].
For instance, in reference to the ongoing trade war, Dean Baker has done an ample job illustrating that China could do far worse than simply retaliate with their own tariffs: US corporations stand to lose tens if not hundreds billions of dollars of intellectual property if the CCP were to opt out of enforcing copyright law. (Indeed, some version of this has already begun, albeit incidentally, as a thriving Chinese market in imitation/"homage" goods goes unchecked.)
Focusing on the trade war as a binary loses sight of the global picture, and as in so many other realms, the United States is no longer "indispensable" when it comes to international finance, either.
Indeed, on 25 September, the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Germany, France, and the UK (the latter three representing the EU) issued a joint statement committing them to continued adherence to JCPOA, and more importantly, to establishing a "special purpose vehicle," a separate payments system to allow them to process transactions without touching US financial institutions. The SPV, according to Federica Mogherini, would "allow European companies to trade with Iran in accordance with EU law and could be open to other partners in the world." Essentially, the SPV is a new means of subverting US sanctions on a multilateral basis, and should it prove successful in allowing the EU (and possibly India) to continue supporting the JCPOA and doing business with Iranian companies, could portend a future of decreasingly effective unilateral sanctions.
The rise of economic sanctions has been well-traced, and in the era of imperial presidencies, have been an easy way for Congress to reinsert itself at least somewhat into foreign policy-making. But the ensuing American way of war – airpower, special operations forces, and sanctions – has not been a productive one. Overreliance on sanctions leading to the development of a US-less financial system would be an own goal, indeed. Coupled with the rise of other shadow economies, like cryptocurrencies, dark pool trading, and alternative international settlement mechanisms (not to mention the already-challenging problem of nested shell corporations and beneficial owners), unilateral sanctions will continue to lose their effectiveness as targets increasingly find ways around them.
As Peter Harrell and Elizabeth Rosenberg argued in Foreign Policy earlier this year, "the reckless use of U.S. sanctions could speed the migration of China, Russia, and other U.S. adversaries away from U.S. markets and currency. The Trump administration needs a major new effort to understand and adapt to potential risks that threaten to reduce the power of U.S. sanctions." No such effort was undertaken. And the migration has indeed sped up.
US grand strategy in the twenty-first century has been almost entirely counterproductive. Adversaries like Russia and China were likely to pursue alternatives to the US-dominated financial system at some point, but by multilateralizing opposition to that system (and ensuring that even our allies want an alternative) we have made our position more tenuous even sooner. The seeds the foreign policy establishment has planted over the past few decades are starting to fruit, and we will find the taste not at all to our liking.
Tagged China, decentralization, economic warfare, economics, networks, Russia, sanctions, strategy, United States
Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: A Review
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is one of those magisterial overviews of five centuries of world history. Paul Kennedy does a very good job and takes a quasi-Marxian approach to this, in that economics do in large part determine the trajectory of nations (e.g., a materialist explanation). The macroeconomic state of a nation – its accounts payable, its gross national product, its collective receipts – are, to Kennedy, inextricably linked to its place on the world stage. The correlation is obvious, but is the causation there?
While Kennedy admits that earlier history is not his area of expertise, he does a decent job explaining how the "East" fell behind, given the increasing insularity of Ming China and the internecine struggles in South and East Asia that consumed resources and attention. It's not a wholly convincing explanation but other historians have done a fairly good job examining this; I am reminded mainly of Kenneth Pomeranz's alternate history essay in Unmaking the West , "Without Coal? Colonies? Calculus?: Counterfactuals and Industrialization in Europe and China." (One of Pomeranz's points is that in the United Kingdom, coal deposits were mined in relatively close proximity to waterways and also the metropole; in China, much of the coal is to be found far in the northwest hinterlands, far away from a means of transportation and major population centers.) In Kennedy's telling, it is the governance failures of China and the Mughals – and in the case of the latter, an increasingly rapacious program of taxation, offering nothing by way of return to the tax base – coupled with a lack of industrialization that can explain their relative early fall.
Kennedy has written a remarkable qualitative history based on ballpark quantitative statistics, which is an approach I can very much get behind. Relative national "incomes" in the seventeenth century, for instance, are exceedingly difficult to find data for, much less calculate (part of the reason Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century was so celebrated was its painstaking collection and analysis of detailed financial records dating back centuries – one of the first times it had been done). And yet Kennedy manages to paint a convincing picture of ebbs and flows in currencies and commodities, in relative power balances and military expenditures, tracing continuities in national approaches towards almost the present day.
It is here, on the doorstep of the present, that perhaps reviewers have, with the benefit of hindsight, come to blame Kennedy for his failure of prescience. Indeed, he comes close to an accurate prediction in terms of the overall trajectory of Russia, but in the specifics (i.e., the collapse of the Soviet Union), he just misses the mark:
On the other hand, the Soviet war machine also has its own weaknesses and problems … Since the dilemmas which face the strategy-makers of the other large Powers of the globe are also being pointed out in this chapter, it is only proper to draw attention to the great variety of difficulties confronting Russia's military-political leadership – without, however, jumpting to the opposite conclusion that the Soviet Union is therefore unlikely to 'survive' for very long. [Emphasis in original]
Kennedy was writing in 1987, just two years before the overthrow of Communism in much of eastern Europe, and four before the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself. But despite failing to predict its collapse, he nevertheless successfully identified a downwards socioeconomic and geopolitical trajectory for Russia that has since been proven accurate. Similarly, Kennedy's prognosis for the United States seems, especially now, to have been borne out, almost frighteningly so:
Although the United States is at present still in a class of its own economically and perhaps even militarily, it cannot avoid confronting the two great tests which challenge the longevity of every major power that occupies the 'number one' problem in world affairs: whether, in the military/strategical realm, it can preserve a reasonable balance between the nation's perceived defense requirements and the means it possesses to maintain those commitments; and whether, as an intimately related point, it can preserve the technological and economic bases of its power from relative erosion in the face of the ever-shifting patterns of global production. This test of American abilities will be the greater because it…is the inheritor of a vast array of strategical commitments had been made decades earlier … In consequence, the United States now runs the risk, so familiar to historians of the rise and fall of previous Great Powers, of what roughly might be called 'imperial overstretch'.
And though he never quite describes it as a future strategic competitor (and, to be fair, it is only in the past fifteen years that the contours of Sino-American relations have really begun to solidify), it is clear to Kennedy that the eventual rise of China is perpetually lurking in the background. "The most decisive" international fissure of the Cold War, he writes, "was the split between the USSR and Communist China," which served to make even that era less of a totally bipolar system than is typically conceived of. China is one of five extant or emerging power centers he identifies, and sees a gradually strengthening power with some of the highest growth rates on Earth – this towards the tail end of Deng's rule, before it really took off.
And so, what then for the United States? In keeping with his theme of "imperial overstretch," Kennedy points out that the United States in 1987 had "roughly the same massive array of military obligations across the globe as it had a quarter-century [prior], when its shares of world GNP, manufacturing production, military spending, and armed forces personnel were so much larger." All the military services will inevitably demand more resources and cry poverty, yes, but that is because what passes for American "statecraft" in the 21st century manages to avoid any hard decisions, any downscaling of commitments, and any meaningful reassessment of available ways and means – with an eye towards determining commensurate ends.
Here again, Kennedy is prescient: "an American polity which responds to external challenges by increasing defense expenditures and reacts to the budgetary crisis by slashing the existing social expenditures, may run the risk of provoking an eventual political backlash." We've almost certainly watched that unfold in the years since 2001. In keeping with the rest of Rise and Fall, the United States is in fact headed for decline, but in a relative sense, one that is manageable if approached reasonably. This doesn't single out the country; instead it might be seen (and is by Kennedy) as a reversion to the mean:
It may be argued that the geographical extent, population, and resources of the United States suggest that it ought to possess perhaps 16 or 18 percent of the world's wealth and power, but because of historical and technical circumstances favorable to it, that share rose to 40 percent or more by 1945; and what we are witnessing at the moment is the early decades of the ebbing away from that extraordinarily high figure to a more 'natural' share.
Kennedy also offers a warning: "the task facing American statesmen over the next decades, therefore…is a need to 'manage' affairs to that the relative erosion of the United States' position takes place slowly and smoothly, and is not accelerated by policies which bring merely short-term advantage but longer-term disadvantage." This is wise counsel for the years ahead, as the unipolar moment continues to rapidly fade. But if this is the predominant challenge to the United States in the 21st century – a superpower in decline – than so far we have surely failed to meet it.
Tagged alternate history, China, competition, economics, history, Soviet Union, strategy, United States
An Empire, If You Can Keep It
If the Paul Kennedy school of history is accurate (and in case it isn't obvious, I'm currently making my way through The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers), then, essentially, economic power that could correlate to military power is one of the dominant characteristics of Great Powers through the ages. As long as it remains fungible, military potential backed by a strong economy is one of the surest markers of "Great Power" status.
But what happens when the two diverge? The United Provinces of the Netherlands come to mind as a predominantly economic power that gradually waned – for all its market innovations, there were eventual limits to its naval power (and it was, of course, perpetually vulnerable by land) – and perhaps the decline of Bourbon Spain, although its regression came both in economic and military prowess. Kennedy's point is that the key lies not in absolute measures, but in relative ones, and so while these never became "poor" countries, per se, their neighbors and other rivals managed to grow more.
Which brings us to modern Germany: a paper tiger (or, as national emblems might have it, a paper leopard). Germany's economy is, by all accounts, in pretty good shape, and certainly better than much of the rest of the West. And yet its military is decrepit, in worse shape than even the US Navy's 7th Fleet. As Stars and Stripes reports:
New German capability gaps have been brought to light in recent weeks, piling up on top of old ones that Berlin has failed to fix.
Among the failures: none of Germany's submarines is operational, only four of its 128 Eurofighter jets are combat-ready and the army is short dozens of tanks and armored vehicles needed for NATO missions.
In addition, troops are short on the basics: body armor, night vision gear and cold-weather clothing.
The situation is so dire that 19 helicopter pilots from Germany's Bundeswehr were forced to turn in their flight licenses because of a lack of training time.
The reason: not enough helicopters for the pilots to fly.
Much like Japan's "economic miracle," protected solely by minimal "self-defense forces," Germany has exchanged even the prospect of hard power for economic stability. But such a situation is likely untenable. It pains me to say it, but Ross Douthat wrote a decent piece in the Times.
The third German empire is a different animal altogether. Repudiating both militarism and racist mysticism, it has been built slowly and painstakingly across three generations, in cooperation with other powers (including its old enemies the French), using a mix of democratic and bureaucratic means. Today Germany bestrides its Continent, but German power is wielded softly, indirectly, implicitly — and when the fist is required, it takes the form of fiscal ultimatums, not military bluster or racial irredentism.
But still the system is effectively imperial in many ways, with power brokers in Berlin and Brussels wielding not-exactly-democratic authority over a polyglot, multiethnic, multireligious sprawl of semi-sovereign nation-states. And thinking about the European Union this way, as a Germanic empire as well as a liberal-cosmopolitan project, is a helpful way of understanding how it might ultimately fall.
Obviously, this oversimplifies – and exaggerates – the powers that Brussels holds. But it's true that Germany has a…unique approach to fiscal policy, one at odds with most of the rest of the EU, and which nevertheless is one that's been imposed on the other member-states. And ironically, that's despite its relative military weakness, not because of it (although perhaps this dynamic is less surprising within the framework of the Atlantic alliance).
In so many multiethnic empires and society, the institution bridging ethnic, racial, and religious divides tends to be the military. It's often when those forces collapse or disintegrate that so too do the borders of a Yugoslavia or an Austria-Hungary. Perhaps, if Germany continues to subtly insist on a continental economic mastery, it would do well to rebuild its own military institutions. And as long as it continues to lead the EU, turning the Eurocorps into something resembling, well, a corps might restart the long-stalled process of integration in more than a purely fiscal sense.
Germany can and will remain European, but if Berlin wants everyone else to identify as such, too, it will have to build more multilateral institutions than merely that of financial austerity.
Tagged economics, empire, ethnicity, Europe, Germany, history, readiness
The Means of Consumption
PC sales are down. Way, way down.
What's to blame? Zero Hedge says that in addition to lackluster sales and poor reception for Windows *, we are, after all, still in a pretty severely depressed economy and that there's just no end-user demand for new OSes or new computers in general. None of which is wrong. Windows 8, in particular, severly hamstrings Windows as an operating system, forcing it to suffer from the same limitations as a phone (which is just silly, especially when Windows 7 was a solid OS).
But the comments point out that we've really reached a point in modern computing power where most people just don't need it. The rise of mobile and tablet devices has only compounded that. If the average person uses a machine just to tweet or surf the internet or check email or even just watch a movie, what's the point of having several cubic powers worth of CPUs and RAM capacity greater than that of hard drives less than a decade ago? The smaller devices speak to that and obviate a need for real "computing" devices.
But two comments in particular caught my eye. The first:
[M]ost people don't do physics simulations, train neural nets, backtest stock trading strategies and so on.
In tight times – why upgrade something that's already better than most need? Even I still use some 2 core relative clunkers (that were the hottest thing going when bought). Because they do their job and are dead-reliable.
And the second:
[E]very manuf [sic] caught the disease it seems. They don't give a shit about their installed base, only new sales, and are just slavishly following the migration of most people to crap mobiles – crap if you need any real computing power and flexibility and multi-tasking.
I recently got a Nexus 10 – it's cute, sometimes handy and so on. But solve any real problem on it? You must be joking, it's just not there. It's great for consuming content, sucks for creating anything real – it's a toy that probably does match the mainstream mentality – the "average guy" who half of people are even dumber than. That ain't me. I'm a maker…I need real tools.
This is just the digital embodiment of a long-time trend. We don't shape our environments how we used to – we don't create; we only consume. We refine what exists without thinking bigger. And the sad part about something like the news about PC sales, which could conceivably serve as a wakeup call, is that it won't matter. If there is a lesson to be learned, it's that Windows 7 was fine and why should we bother iterating new versions. But the lesson is that there is at least some segment of humanity that's trying to create and only needs the proper tools to do it. Possessing the means of consumption allows one only to consume (the Apple model); if we can repopularize "dual-use" technologies that don't restrict content distribution but also enable its creation, well, now we might see innovation for all the right reasons.
Tagged business, computers, culture, DIY, economics, technology
The four constituent nations of the "Visergrád Four."
Apparently, this alliance exists, and as of May, now includes a military component. I like it. As a bloc in the EU and NATO of otherwise somewhat ignored countries, it allows for a little more interdependence without relying on the "big boys." The history behind the group, which dates back to 1335(!) is just awesome, and I believe was designed for the sole purpose of fascinating me.
Originally a meeting between the King of Bohemia, the King of Poland, and the King of Hungary and Croatia, the "Visegrád Three" (so-named for the Hungarian castle town in which the meeting was held) was intended to create new routes of commerce, bypassing what was then the center of European commerce, Vienna. Replace "Vienna" with "Berlin and Paris" – and possible even "Moscow" – and one gets a decent idea of what the Visegrád revival is all about. Of course, as post-Communist countries, the Visegrád Four (with the split of Slovakia and the Czech Republic) were concerned with maintaining their own sphere of influence without Russian interference.
As for the Visegrád Battlegroup, it is expected to become fully operational by 2016. It is intended to be a separate force from NATO, though elements will begin exercising with the NATO Ready Response Force. Poland is taking the lead militarily, as befits its size and spending relative to the other members.
Aside from the practical nature of the undertaking, the symbolism of this alliance is not to be underestimated. The four countries involved are all European Union members, but not in the Euro-zone (they are the westernmost non-former Yugoslav countries to not adopt the Euro). They represent a strange hybrid between EU membership and existing outside it, and with the Euro looking shakier every day, actual entrance into the common currency may be an increasingly remote possibility. This would solidify the status of the Visegrád Four as, if not second-class member-states, then at least as junior members in an IGO whose legitimacy is derived from the equal status of its constituent nations.
On its own, the Visegrad Group is not particularly powerful or a threat to European unity, but when seen as part of the larger pattern of sub-regionalization it becomes indicative of a larger trend. Even where formal ties do not exist, developments like the emerging German leadership of the EU or the newly-signed Anglo-French defense treaty point to a Europe losing coherence. And in Eastern Europe these new subregions are gaining prominence and a sort of global autonomy. The customs union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia that came into being in 2010 harkens back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, when a similar union (with the addition of Ukraine) was seen as a means to preserve much of the structure of the USSR while maintaining the multinational state. That customs union has abolished border controls as of this month, creating another subnational and even subregional entity.
There seems to be growing disenchantment not just with the universal United Nations, but even with the regional variants: the European Union, UNASUR, African Union, SCO, ASEAN, etc. In a world where nations themselves are tending towards autonomy and fragmentation, it should not come as a surprise that some countries would turn to a more specific alternative than the grand regional frameworks that attempt to address an incredible array of problems and cooperative issues.
Also, the conflation of military and economic drivers of an alliance like Visegrád should not be overlooked as a key development. While the two are often treated as completely separate realms – NAFTA certainly does not include a military component, NATO's economic requirement is that members adhere to capitalism, more or less, and the EU's EDC unified European military force has been discussed for sixty years without ever coming to fruition. Military power and the economy, however, are inextricable, and it is perhaps for this reason that these microalliances are coming into being. For a group of four, maybe it's just more manageable that way.
In general, though, keep an eye out for these subregional and some day soon even subnational alliances. The New England Six? The League of Extraordinary PIGS? Flanders? Coming soon to a world map near you.
Tagged alliance, conventional war, Czech Republic, decentralization, diplomacy, economics, Europe, history, Hungary, NATO, Poland, Slovakia
Last week I had the pleasure of attending another Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs event specifically for Young Professionals. In this case it was a conversation between all-around-urban-intellectual Greg Lindsay and architect Jeanne Gang on nothing less critical than "The Future of Cities."
Lindsay just cowrote the book Aerotropolis: How We'll Live Next with John Karsada, which at its most basic is about the coming airport-centric design and planning that will determine the future of cities and the course of twenty-first century urbanism. But even that mouthful of a description doesn't really do the book justice. Reading Geoff Manaugh's interview of Lindsay (and also, Lindsay's of Manaugh), puts the book in a new light and raises a whole variety of additional interpretations to Aerotropolis' main theories.
The talk, however, did not focus solely on Lindsay's book. After a rather stilted introduction from a local Boeing representative, Lindsay launched into a brief overview of the cities of the future. In the next twenty years more "urban fabric" will be created than in the entire rest of human history. And none of them will look like Chicago. They will be born into nowhere, separated from their surrounding regions. Continue reading →
Posted in Essays, Reviews
Tagged business, Chicago, class, culture, economics, events, futurism, identity, urban
The Ring of Truthiness
From a Freakonomics post at the New York Times:
If I were a clever, real economist, I might neatly package the conclusion along the lines of the demand for opiates being relatively inelastic, but the brand (?) sensitivity is low, and once the incidental costs of heroin (inconvenience, lower quality, abscesses, disease, visibility) became lower than the absolute cost of oxycontin, the market suddenly tilted. (That's probably mostly gibberish, but it sounds economish.)
Economish! Great coinage there. 'Supply-side economish.' 'The Austrian school of economish'.
Plus, it's a great word to use, representing the evaporation of any credibility the whole discipline may have once had. Anyone see where the Dow is these days? Exactly, who cares!
Tagged academia, economics, language


text:
Q: Unable to compile C program with static library I am trying to run the following command:
gcc -static urlor.c libtest.a -o urlor-test

Using the following two files:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oqjmwdzj2axwo62/AACvLhYCC97lE0W1b0Yq09xva?dl=0
in my urlor.c file I do this:
#include <test/tstree.h>
#include <test/bstrlib.h>

when I check the contects of my libtest.a:
$ar -t libtest.a
tstree.o
bstrlib.o

I have tried many different commands but nothing worked.
It either doesn't recognize when I include the necessary header files or it says "undefined references to function XXXXXX"
What am I doing wrong? is the library broken? am I not linking it correctly? does this work for you?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Your internal body temperature is integral to regulating your biological body clock. When you're falling asleep, your body temperature drops slightly, which actually helps the process along, according to the Harvard Medical School. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature of 60 to 67 degrees F for the most sleep-friendly conditions. Just don't make it freezing or uncomfortable! Opening the window for 2 or 3 minutes normally helps.
Rather than counting sheep, visualize an environment that makes you feel calm and happy. The key to success is thinking of a scene that's engaging enough to distract you from your thoughts and worries for a while. In an Oxford University study published in the journal Behavior Research and Therapy, people who were instructed to imagine a relaxing scene, such as a beach or a waterfall, fell asleep 20 minutes faster than insomniacs who were told to count sheep or do nothing special at all. Reminiscing past holidays, especially those really happy ones, is the best way to go about this one.
Start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. You can also start with your head and neck and work down to your toes. Tense your muscles for at least five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat. Recommended by the National Sleep Foundation, it can make a huge difference to the way you relax before falling asleep.
thanks Ivo and glad you found this useful!


text:
Q: Non-reproducible ImportError I get an ImportError when I run a script that I can't reproduce in a Python interpreter.
$ head -6 bin/taglint
#!/usr/bin/env python
#

import re
from lsaf.lsaf import file_info, error, exit

$ taglint
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/ernest/bin/taglint", line 5, in <module>
    from lsaf.lsaf import file_info, error, exit
ImportError: No module named lsaf

However, the import works fine in an interpreter:
$ /usr/bin/env python
Python 2.7.3rc2 (default, Apr 22 2012, 22:30:17)
[GCC 4.6.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from lsaf.lsaf import file_info, error, exit
>>>

What is happening here?
Additional info:
Python 2.7.3rc2 (default, Apr 22 2012, 22:30:17)
[GCC 4.6.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import lsaf; print(lsaf)
<module 'lsaf' from '/home/ernest/lib/python/lsaf/__init__.pyc'>

The PYTHONPATH environment variable is set to PYTHONPATH=/home/ernest/lib/python.

A: It might be an issue with sys.path
check your lsaf
May beYou didn't name your script by lsaf.py
rename it and it will work, your script tries to import itself, but there is no package in lsaf in your own script. importception


Oak and beech farmhouse table made for a Norfolk farmer. Pegged Mortice and tenon construction, and made in the tradition of 19th century French farmhouse tables, made for the farmhouse to last a lifetime.
The table is made from trees felled and seasoned on his own farm. The table was left very lightly finished to allow it to develop use related patina over time.


text:
Cohn: Politicians fear tolls will make them road kill
By Martin Regg CohnOntario Politics Columnist
Mon., Nov. 7, 2011timer3 min. read
Voters love to grumble about gridlock on the roads. And politicians pledge to untangle it, even while paving the way for more gridlock in the halls of power.
So here's a truth that no politician will own up to, and that we won't even admit to ourselves: Until we remove the frightful taboo on road tolls — and congestion charges that ration the use of scarce road space — all the pious talk about easing gridlock will remain a dead end.
We prefer to bury our collective heads in the asphalt, while politicians like Mayor Rob Ford try to whip up popular rage against a phony "war on cars." Urban planners know full well that Ford's call to arms is a roadmap for perpetual congestion and political indigestion.
We're running out of time, as the Star's Tess Kalinowski reported in a three-part series that ended Monday: the provincial transportation agency Metrolinx must square the gridlock circle by 2013, finding billions of dollars to bankroll needed public transit and highway improvements to unclog the GTA's arteries in coming decades.
An Angus Reid poll conducted for the Star showed that while Torontonians strongly oppose tolls, a majority were open to a congestion charge. That's an opening worth exploring, but don't count on any politicians to stick their necks out.
The recent provincial election campaign showed how quickly they can be thrown under a bus. All three parties paid lip service to the free flow of traffic — with an emphasis on free of charge — but remained tight-lipped about solutions.
Tory Leader Tim Hudak sprinkled his speeches with sob stories about being stuck in traffic when hurrying home after a long day on the campaign trail: "For me, traffic jams are personal — they are time stolen from my wife, Debbie, and our daughter, Miller," he told audiences earnestly, promising to "speed people faster on their way home."
But ask him about charges or "price signals" to more efficiently allocate our road network, and the Progressive Conservative leader recoils in terror of tolls.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's love affair with the car is also boundless — she made lower gas prices a major campaign plank, promising to shave a few pennies off the HST at the pump. And her antipathy to tolls prompted a stunning public rebuke of star NDP candidate Paul Ferreira, who was trying to win back the seat in York South—Weston.
Ferreira's crime was to call for an adult discussion on gridlock: "I think we owe it to voters, to residents, to citizens to have mature conversations on topics like that. Should there be road tolls?" he asked in a CBC radio debate on GTA issues. "I am proud to say that in 2006, when I ran for city council in this city, I proposed levying a toll on the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway."
Horwath did not find his musings amusing.
"Definitely no tolls!" she told reporters the next day. "I've been pretty clear about that so I was quite surprised to find that this is something Paul said during a debate. He knows very well that that's not in my plans. If he's trying to do that then it will stop at my desk."
The Liberals also jumped on Ferreira (though not quite as furiously as his own leader), hurling "gotcha" attack lines about the NDP's hidden agenda. Yet the Liberals are also conflicted on the issue.
"We have no plans to institute tolls on existing roads," said Kathleen Wynne, who was transportation minister until last month. "Having said that, there is going to be a discussion about road pricing, about tools that we can use to fund ongoing transit building."
Wynne and everyone else who has studied the issue knows perfectly well that tolls — or tools (to borrow her euphemism) — are unavoidable if we are to avoid gridlock. Yet politicians are terrified of being run off the road: ambushed by their opponents, denounced by their own leaders, or abandoned by voters.
And no one wants to become road kill for motorists who are determined to tune out any talk of tolls while they're sitting in stop-and-go traffic.
Martin Regg Cohn's provincial affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. mcohn@thestar.ca, twitter.com/reggcohn.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
OMNeT++Workshop2010
3nd International Workshop to be held in conjunction with Simutools 2010
Modeling and simulation have become key methodologies for developing, testing, and analyzing protocols and systems in various research domains including communications, networks and systems. This community is addressed by the SIMUTools conference with emphasis on topics of methodology, tools, applications, and practices. We propose a satellite workshop focusing on a specific simulation tool, OMNeT++, which gains increasing significance especially in the communications community. OMNeT++ is a public-source, component-based, modular and open-architecture simulation environment with strong GUI support and an embeddable simulation kernel. Its primary application area is the simulation of communication networks. Because of its generic and flexible architecture it has been successfully used in other areas like the simulation of IT systems, queuing networks, hardware architectures, and business processes. OMNeT++ is rapidly becoming a popular simulation platform in the scientific community as well as in industrial settings. Several open source simulation models have been published, in the field of Internet simulations (IP, IPv6, MPLS, etc), mobility and ad-hoc simulations and other areas. However, such a growing developer�s community faces also growing challenges and problems: integration of different simulation tools, porting of simulation models between different platforms, testing and comparison of applications. Different initiatives were started in the last years for unifying and integrating the already existing simulation models, which involves however also organization and coordination among the different developers groups. An important task is making the existing tools and applications easily available.
Camera Ready Instructions
Author's Kit
SimuTools 2010
Last Year's Workshop
Next Year's Workshop
March, 19nd.
Slides Availables see Technical Program for download.
February, 2nd.
Register through the SIMUTools 2010 web site (early registration deadline: Feb 15)
January, 26th.
List of accepted papers published More details click here
Camera Ready Instruction available for Authors More details click here
January, 9th.
Rebuttal process opened More details click here
November, 13th.
CFP deadline extended to December 1 More details click here
October, 1st.
Important Dates More details click here
September, 27th.
Call for Papers Released. More details click here
Sponsors?
In Cooperation with?
(approval pending)


text:
SABCA & Sabena Aerospace Offer Maintenance Services to African Military Planes in Morocco
Business, Europe, Headlines, International, Morocco
Belgian SABCA has teamed up with Sabena Aerospace to set up in Morocco a major and independent regional player in Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) for African military aircraft.
SABCA, through its subsidiary SABCA Maroc, partners with Sabena Aerospace to propose, from the North African Kingdom, services for military aircraft maintenance.
The first identified platform is the C-130, a military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. The aircraft is well-known by Sabena Aerospace, one of the first companies in the world to be certified in 1976 by Lockheed to provide maintenance services on the C-130.
In a second phase, the partners will extend their offer to other platforms mastered by SABCA such as F-16, Alphajet, Mirage F1 or Agusta A-109.
This new capability will enable Morocco to become a major regional player in the military aircraft maintenance.
"Morocco has quickly become a natural choice to install this new base", said Mr. Thibauld Jongen, CEO of the SABCA Group. "The experience gained through the development of our subsidiary SABCA Maroc is very positive: the workforce is highly skilled, the government encourages the industrial development and both our countries want to strengthen their cooperation", he added.
"We produce in Casablanca assemblies for Airbus and Dassault Aviation aircraft since 2012 et we are planning to further develop this activity", recalled Mr. Thibauld, noting that his company looks forward to writing a new chapter to its cooperation with Morocco and Sabena Aerospace".
"We are pleased to start this first collaborative venture with the SABCA group. For several years now, Sabena Aerospace aims to develop industrial partnership with major aerospace players in Belgium to offer unique solution to the market thanks to the combination of their respective expertise" said Mr. Stéphane Burton, CEO of Sabena Aerospace.
"Beside the historical links between Belgium and Morocco, Sabena Aerospace has strong ties, for several decades, with the Moroccan aviation professionals", he added.
The signing of the agreement councides with the holding in Casablanca of the Belgian-Moroccan Economic Forum, which marks the launch of an economic mission named "Doing business in Morroco" (November 26 to 30).
The Belgian delegation, led by Princess Astrid, representative of King Philippe of Belgium, includes several federal and regional ministers and some 400 economic operators representing 251 companies.
This large number of companies mirrors their interest in doing business with Morocco, mainly in the leading sectors of automotive, aeronautics, renewable energies and agri-food industry.
At the end of the first six months of 2018, Belgian exports to Morocco amounted to €439.3 million, scoring a 2.2% increase compared to the same period of 2017. Meanwhile imports from Morocco dropped by 6.6 per cent to stand at €172 million during the same period.
Newer PostUS official Commends Moroccan King's Call for Dialogue with Algeria
Older PostMorocco Urges Algeria to Respond Officially to King's Call for Dialogue


If you've been searching for an experienced professional in Houston, TX, who can help you improve your quality of life, look no further than Dr. D Ivan Young. Our counselor has over ten years of experienced and is a noted professional in conflict management. He's the #1 relationship authority on YouTube, and he has made appearances on several national platforms, including FOX, CBS, and BlogTalk Radio.
Contact Dr. D Ivan Young to set up your appointment with our counselor. We're based in Houston, and we're available to help individuals from the greater area Monday - Friday. We accept cash, PayPal, Discover, American Express, and MasterCard as payment methods. We look forward to meeting you.


201-297-1540 / 2012971540 - Who call from Jersey City, NJ, United States?
Claims to be Metro Trader. Never heard of them.
Post by Terrible 3 years ago !
Had Got a call or message from 201-297-1540?
Report us as much as you can without sharing any personal information. How many calls or texts did you get from 2012971540 and what did they say? Please don't use any insulting vocabulary. Otherwise we will remove your report.
Prank call claiming to be "Justin Beiber"
Called multiple times, never says anything.
Calling constantly. If answers no response. If don't answers rings 20 times before calling back.
Called at 7:59 a.m. and did not leave a voicemail.
This number sent me a text, I asked who it was, they responded that I was acting stupid by pretending not to know who was texting.


text:
A Priest, a Pastor, and a Witchdoctor Walk into a…
LAC Missionaries Jeremiah and Marj Campbell, along with their son, Judah, are training leaders to evangelize, disciple and reach the university campuses of Bolivia with the Gospel. Jeremiah also teaches in local Bible institutes, while Marj is pioneering a ministry to support young women who have a heart to see people know Jesus, in addition to leading an Engage study abroad site.
Understanding the Lostness of the Latin America Caribbean Region:
I remember the first baby dedication I ever officiated as a missionary in Bolivia. I felt so privileged to be a part of a young indigenous family's journey with Christ – that is, until I was told about them afterward. My heart sank as I learned that earlier that morning, the young couple had gone to a Catholic service to have their baby baptized, and the day before to an Incan witch doctor to have a spell cast on it for protection. As I inquired to why they did this, I was told that it is common practice for many families in Bolivia, and across the Latin American region. I was told that the parents are doing their best to protect their child from evil spirits, so they go to a curandero (witchdoctor), a Catholic priest, and a Christian pastor in hopes of keeping their baby safe.
Stories like this are common among Latin American and Caribbean countries. Many people profess to be Christians, but most are lost as they do not truly have a relationship with Jesus. This article expresses a brief overview of the false Jesus in whom many souls put their faith, and the dire need that still remains in this vast region of the world.
Between a rock and a hard place… Or is it a sword and a wall?
The year 1492 was not only a famous year for Columbus, but also for the birth of the unified Spanish kingdom. That year the Catholic Spaniards were able to unify under one kingdom and conquer the last of the Muslim Moorish kingdoms in southern Spain. To help replenish their depleted resources, Ferdinand II and Isabel I, the Catholic monarchy (as they were called) employed Columbus to sail west. Much to their surprise they found the Americas instead of India. This New World sparked the interest of greedy conquistadores, who were accompanied with Catholic missionary monks.
As Europeans sailed across the Atlantic, especially Spaniards, they encountered many new peoples, and forced their culture and their religion on them. This same century, the Roman Catholic Church initiated the inquisition forcing conversion. Many Spaniards would line up indigenous people against a wall and force them to convert to Christianity with a sword to their throat, hence the Spanish refrain, "entre la espada y la pared" (between the sword and the wall). This phrase, equivalent to "a rock and a hard place" demonstrates the history of Christianity in Latin America. A religion that was forced, and never truly accepted in the heart.
Many developed cultures with a rich and complex religious system were also forced to convert – the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and Africans who populated much of the Caribbean islands during the salve trade are some of the most well-known. However, for many of them, their conversion was merely a means to an end. They paid lip service to spare their lives. Therefore, these new "Christian converts" really never changed their beliefs. Since Roman Catholicism permits prayer and worship of Mary and the Saints, many changed the names of their gods to mask their continued pagan worship. Much of which is still seen today in syncretistic forms of worship.* In his article, Latin American Images of Christ, Diego Irarrazaval notes that across the region of Latin America, individuals may say they believe in Jesus, but they pray to other spirits, and have a variety of understandings of Christ that deviate from orthodox Christianity.**
In Guatemala, special flowers are purchased outside of Catholic churches, but hold Mayan worship practices. In Peru and Bolivia, the Virgin Mary and Pachamama (the Incan Mother Earth) are worshiped as one and the same. Across the Caribbean, African Voodoo, imported from the slave trade is still mixed with Roman Catholicism and even Evangelical Christianity in worship practice.
Revival of Indigenous Religions in the 20th Century:
You might think that the issues of pagan worship and syncretism are a thing of the past, or an issue that only affects Catholicism. Well, you'd be wrong. With archeological discoveries of the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, revival has birthed among the many modern counties where these large empires once spread. Most individuals in the Latin American regions possess a large percentage of indigenous ethnicity – the same is true for African ethnicity among the Caribbean.
I remember my first trip to Peru to visit Machu Picchu. I was surprised as our Peruvian tour guide was so excited to share the Incan religion with our group. She stated that it went together in harmony with Christianity, and at the end of our tour, she happily stated, "I invite you to worship the Incan religion with us."
As modern society has become more aware of the worship practices of their ancestral cultures, the greater those once nearly dead religions returned to life. Today it is common to see and hear of animal sacrifices, idol worship, burning of incense to pagan gods, or Saints in the name of those pagan gods. Dances, and parades are even performed in their honor as a form of worship. I was just asked last week by my neighbor, who knows I am a pastor, if I would be interested in going to the "La Diablada" (the deviled) parade hosted by the local Catholic parish.
What makes it even more difficult for Evangelicals or Catholics to battle this revival of pagan beliefs and syncretism are the local governments. The Bolivian and Peruvian governments restrict a Roman Catholic priest from preaching against syncretism in their church. If a local parish believes that Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Virgin Mary are one and the same, an incoming priest cannot speak against it. If an Evangelical missionary wants to evangelize an unreached village in Bolivia it is now illegal for them to come and proselytize without written consent or invitation from the village or tribe's leadership.
The Rubber Band Effect of Marxism and Postmodernism:
Not all of Latin America struggles with syncretism or revival of pagan beliefs. The newest wave of the twenty-first century revolves around secular humanism and postmodernism. Thanks to the beauties of globalization and the internet, many countries are easily influenced by one another. Higher education is growing at an exponential rate among Latin American nations, and with such growth, the influences of secular humanism and postmodernism continues to grow.
According to their own census, Uruguay is a prime example of this phenomenon with over 40% of its population claiming to be atheist.*** Many individuals look to science and objectivity as an extreme response to their lack of answers in the Spiritism of their ancestral beliefs.
There may be an organized church in many of the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region, but the need is still very great. Missionaries work tirelessly alongside nationals to plant churches, train new ministers, mobilize national missionaries, minister to unreached people groups, reach the university campuses, children's ministries, and touch the countless needs through compassion ministries. There are over 640 million people in this region of the world and more than 550 million of them have never received an adequate message of the Gospel or who Jesus really is. The Church is growing in Latin America, but the harvest has never been riper. Let us not give up at this most critical time to fulfill the unfinished task!
* Norman Geisler, and Raplh MacKenzie, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books), 299.
** Diego Irarrazaval, "Latin American Images of Christ," Journal of Reformed Theology no. 1 (2007), 64.
*** National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay, Encuesta Nacinal de Hogares Ampliada – 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927091848/http://www.ine.gub.uy/enha2006/flash/Flash%206_Religion.pdf
Learn more about Jeremiah and Marj Campbell.
Nicco Musacchio May 10, 2017
Planting Churches or Mobilizing Missionaries?
God Enjoys You
Nicco Musacchio April 5, 2017


Keylong is located in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh state in India. This is the district head quarters of Lahaul and Spiti and situated on hills. The location itself is at a higher altitude and the town is built on valleys. Keylong is sometimes compared to Manali due to Himalayan hill stations. But when compared to the natural scenic beauty, Keylong is way ahead of Manali. The advantage of Manali is that it is approachable by road from many was easily where as Keylong is situated interiorly reaching which will be difficult during winter and rainy seasons.
Keylong will get isolated from the rest of the world due to snow falling from October to April. Local people will accumulate all the required material before October to take care of their daily needs for the next 6 months. People who do business at Keylong will go out of Keylong and return again once Keylong is opened through road transport. From October to April, to take care of emergency situations, Helicopters will be used for transportation. The DC of Lahoul and Spiti district will contact the DC of Kullu district for help to provide Helicopters (private or Government). Helipads are available in most of the villages surrounding Keylong. Nominal charges are set for transportation.
Keylong is famous for valleys, snow covered peaks. Moving around Keylong between valleys is a wonderful feeling. While the mountains are pure white during October to April, become colorful during the rest of the months. There are many small monasteries and temples almost in each village available around Keylong.
The distances shown are all from Keylong. Three to four days are sufficient to reach Keylong from Manali, visiting all the places and return back to Manali.
There are two bus stands in Keylong, Old and New. One will get the bus to Manali at New bus stand which is situated near Mall road (at Keylong). Bus timings are from morning 4.00am to 12.00noon (from Manali as well as from Keylong).
Hotel charges at Keylong vary from INR 250 to INR 500. Peak season is from July to September. Charges will not vary much during peak season. Good food is available. 24Hrs hot water facility required to stay in hotel. Some of the hotel names at Keylong are; Dubchen, Gespa, Lamayuru, Valley view, Snow lent, Dekit, Khandroling, Nordaling, Tasshidilek. Guest houses are also available which are run by private agencies. Few are, Nalba, Orchid.
Some people may experience breathing problem at Keylong as the Oxygen level is less. May be this is due to very less trees at Keylong. Trees are further less towards Baralacha la. Especially during stay at hotels when all the doors and windows are closed, the problem may get aggravate. Come out of the room with warm clothes in such situations. This is the best solution to take care of breathing problem.
There are different ways to reach Keylong but none of the transportation is easier. The easiest way to reach Keylong is to come to Manali. Nearest airport is at Bhunter at a distance of 60Kms from Manali (9Kms from Kullu). Visitors have to reach Manali from Delhi or from other places. Visit here to know how one can reach Manali from Delhi via various places. The distance between Manali and Keylong is 120Kms. Travelers have to cross Rohtang pass in this route.
There are two more routes through which one can visit Keylong. One is via Srinagar and crossing through Leh Ladakh. Other one is from kaza and Tabo area via Chapru and Gramphu.


So I am flying from Charleston to DCA next week for work. I got my flight info today and I found out I am flying on Mesa as a US Air express. I always thought Mesa was out west. Have they been here all along?
Mesa is one of the largest USAirways Express carriers. Originally all the East Coast flying was handled by Florida Gulf and Air Midwest division. Florida Gulf is now part of just plain 'ole Mesa. Air Midwest is still a separate certificate but they are on the same seniority list and part of Mesa Air Group.
I believe Mesa is the only CRJ carrier handling USAirways (until PSA gears up their program.) If it's an ERJ it may be Chautauqua or Mesa. I don't think Trans states is still doing USAirways.
Cool. Thanks John for the info. Every other flight I have taken with US Air has aloways been on Dorneir??? Something. Twin prop, high wing??? Those were always through Charlotte and then to BWI.
The Dorks are run by PSA, but they are adding a CRJ program very soon.
I don't think Trans states is still doing USAirways.
They are, but I believe only out of PIT, using the J41 and ER4. Though, I would venture to guess that if US does drop out of PIT over the next year or so, that agreement will die with it. Plus, since AA reduced STL to a largely RJ hub, it seems a lot more of those flights are being run by Chautauqua now instead of Trans States. But they are flying some United Express routes now with the ER4.
Does this mean that PSA is affiliated with Mesa??
Actually Trans States added a few airplanes during the restructuring of the AA hub in STL. CHQ remained about the same as far as flight usage, its just to different cities now. As stated before Trans States is still a USAirways Express carrier using j41s adn ERJs with service throught the Northeast.
Kingairer thanks for the info. Glad to see the Waterskiiers are still with US.
PSA and Mesa are not related. Mesa is independent. PSA is wholly owned by USAirways.
I thought TSA was doing US Airways out of RIC?
RIC is a Chautauqua crew base, that much I know.
Anyone know if PSA is eventually gon phase out there "Dorks" and go all jet in the very or near future?
Yes, Matthew, that's the plan. They have 30 Dorniers that will go bye-bye as they add the 60 CRJs they're getting. The first couple CRJs go in to service this month, I believe.
I have a friend that flies for PSA, he showed me one of the brand new CRJs...nice leather interior, new airplane smell. Awesome!


So I surprised Jean with the tickets. Well, not really surprised, since part of the scheduling included getting a baby sitter and coordinating not going to other events that weekend, so I kinda had to spoil the surprise a little earlier than yesterday.
Ravenchase has a variety of kinds of adventures, and this is going to be an outside walking one. The weather today is incredible, and I wish it would be 50 degrees tomorrow. More likely, it's going to be mid 30s. So we'll just make sure to bundle up.
We got our first clue last night! The way they start their adventures is that they send you the first clue to decipher, and it contains the location where you are supposed to meet.
The clue was setup to use 3 different ciphers: Vigenère, Caesar, and a Polybius.
I'm happy to report that we successfully decoded the clues (in about 25 minutes) and know where we are supposed to start.
The Polybius one was actually the hardest because we didn't follow the clue exactly, and wound up filling the grid incorrectly. Once we reread it a few times, we were on our way.
It's a shame that the opening puzzle had an error in it, but I'm confident that the rest of the puzzles will work as expected. I just want to make sure I'm not second guessing our answers on Saturday thinking there is an error with the puzzle.
If you want to learn more about cryptography, there is a very good set of articles on Topics in Cryptography on Wikipedia.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the game tomorrow. Our team, Team Celtic Lovers, has done our mental calisthenics and we're ready to rock and roll!
Now Playing: ARGNet – ARG Netcasts – ARG Netcast, Episode 48: Solved!
This entry was posted in ARGs and Puzzles, Gaming, Hobbies and tagged cipher, puzzle, ravenchase adventures, surprise, valentine's day by Weezel. Bookmark the permalink.


Interests Devices that move: bicycles; motorcycles; cars; et al. I like to work on them and I like to use them. I have mostly "vintage" stuff, though my wife's Miata somehow turned out to be one of the few with factory tuned suspension, LSD, and the other homologated goodies.
I owned a automotive repair shop for a couple of decades until I sold it, so I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. In my twenties and thirties, I worked at a dealership where I earned BMW Certified Master Technician status -- first on motorcycles, then automobiles.
Currently, I have a slew of old bicycles, a few motorcycles (R100RS/MS, V7Sport and V50 Monza Guzzis), and about a dozen old cars (Alfa Giuliettas, a Toyota TE38, a '61 Rambler convertible, a '30 Model A, a '15 Model T Speedster and some trucks, as well as a 2000TI and a retched 2000CS).
I am somewhat cursed with property maintenance responsibilities, so I also try to enjoy carpentry and plumbing, in addition to being a pretend electrician.


text:
angular.module('InfoTimeline')
    .controller('ActivityOrientationController', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
            configService.loadActivity($scope.routeParams.activityFolder).then(function(response) {
                $scope.activity = response;
            });
            dbService.createId().then(function(response) {
                $scope.id = response;
            });
        }

        init();
    }])
    .controller('ActivityCompleteController', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
        }

        init();
    }])
    .controller('ActivityStep1Controller', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', 'activityService', '$mdDialog', '$location', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService, activityService, $mdDialog, $location) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
            configService.loadActivity($scope.routeParams.activityFolder).then(function(response) {
                $scope.activity = response;
                $scope.sources = response.sources;
                activityService.shuffleArray($scope.sources);
            });
            dbService.saveState($scope.routeParams.id, 1, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder);
            $scope.helpToggle();
        }

        /**
        * Open Instructions Dialog
        *
        * @method helpToggle
        **/
        $scope.helpToggle = function(ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{config: $scope.config},
                controller: InstructionsDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step1/instructions.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: false // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Instructions Dialog controller
        function InstructionsDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, config) {
            $scope.config = config;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
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        }

        init();

        $scope.actionsState = true;
        $scope.activitySortableOptions = {
            handle: '> div > .source-drag-handle',
            axis: 'y'
        }

        /**
        * Save data to database and advance state
        *
        * @method saveData
        **/
        $scope.saveData = function() {
            dbService.saveData($scope.routeParams.id, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder, $scope.sources).then(function(response) {
                var url = "/activity/"+$scope.routeParams.activityFolder+"/2/"+$scope.routeParams.id;
                $location.path(url);
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        /**
        * Display Hint Dialog
        *
        * @method showHint
        **/
        $scope.showHint = function(sourceIndex, ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{source: $scope.sources[sourceIndex]},
                controller: HintDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step1/hint.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: true // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Hint Dialog controller
        function HintDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, source) {
            $scope.source = source;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
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    }])
    .controller('ActivityStep2Controller', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', 'activityService', '$mdDialog', '$location', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService, activityService, $mdDialog, $location) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
            configService.loadActivity($scope.routeParams.activityFolder).then(function(response) {
                $scope.activity = response;
            });
            dbService.saveState($scope.routeParams.id, 2, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder);
            dbService.loadData($scope.routeParams.id, 1).then(function(response) {
                $scope.sources = response;
            });
            $scope.helpToggle();
        }

        /**
        * Open Instructions Dialog
        *
        * @method helpToggle
        **/
        $scope.helpToggle = function(ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{config: $scope.config},
                controller: InstructionsDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step2/instructions.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: false // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Instructions Dialog controller
        function InstructionsDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, config) {
            $scope.config = config;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }

        init();

        $scope.actionsState = true;

        /**
        * Save data to database and advance state
        *
        * @method saveData
        **/
        $scope.saveData = function() {
            var url = "/activity/"+$scope.routeParams.activityFolder+"/3/"+$scope.routeParams.id;
            $location.path(url);
        };

        /**
        * Display Hint Dialog
        *
        * @method showRationale
        **/
        $scope.showRationale = function(sourceIndex, ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{source: $scope.sources[sourceIndex]},
                controller: RationaleDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step2/rationale.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: true // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Hint Dialog controller
        function RationaleDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, source) {
            $scope.source = source;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }
    }])
    .controller('ActivityStep3Controller', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', 'activityService', '$mdDialog', '$location', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService, activityService, $mdDialog, $location) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
            configService.loadActivity($scope.routeParams.activityFolder).then(function(response) {
                $scope.activity = response;
            });
            dbService.saveState($scope.routeParams.id, 3, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder);
            dbService.loadData($scope.routeParams.id, 1).then(function(response) {
                $scope.sources = response;
            });
            $scope.helpToggle();
        }

        /**
        * Open Instructions Dialog
        *
        * @method helpToggle
        **/
        $scope.helpToggle = function(ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{config: $scope.config},
                controller: InstructionsDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step3/instructions.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: false // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Instructions Dialog controller
        function InstructionsDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, config) {
            $scope.config = config;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }

        init();

        $scope.actionsState = true;
        $scope.activitySortableOptions = {
            handle: '> div > .source-drag-handle',
            axis: 'y'
        }

        /**
        * Save data to database and advance state
        *
        * @method saveData
        **/
        $scope.saveData = function() {
            dbService.saveData($scope.routeParams.id, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder, $scope.sources).then(function(response) {
                var url = "/activity/"+$scope.routeParams.activityFolder+"/4/"+$scope.routeParams.id;
                $location.path(url);
            });
        };

        /**
        * Display Hint Dialog
        *
        * @method showHint
        **/
        $scope.showHint = function(sourceIndex, ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{source: $scope.sources[sourceIndex]},
                controller: HintDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step3/hint.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: true // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Hint Dialog controller
        function HintDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, source) {
            $scope.source = source;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }
    }])
    .controller('ActivityStep4Controller', ['$scope', '$routeParams', 'configService', 'dbService', 'activityService', '$mdDialog', '$location', '$window', function($scope, $routeParams, configService, dbService, activityService, $mdDialog, $location, $window) {
        function init() {
            $scope.routeParams = $routeParams;
            $scope.sourceNum = 0;
            configService.loadActivity($scope.routeParams.activityFolder).then(function(response) {
                $scope.activity = response;
            });
            dbService.saveState($scope.routeParams.id, 4, $scope.routeParams.activityFolder);
            dbService.loadData($scope.routeParams.id, 1, 1, 1).then(function(response) {
                $scope.sources = response;
                $scope.loadSource($scope.sourceNum);
            });
            $scope.helpToggle();
        }

        /**
        * Open Instructions Dialog
        *
        * @method helpToggle
        **/
        $scope.helpToggle = function(ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{config: $scope.config},
                controller: InstructionsDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step4/instructions.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: false // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Instructions Dialog controller
        function InstructionsDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, config) {
            $scope.config = config;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }

        /**
        * Load Source Data
        *
        * @method loadSource
        **/
        $scope.loadSource = function(sourceIndex) {
            $scope.source = $scope.sources[sourceIndex];
            $scope.sourceNum = sourceIndex;
        };

        init();

        $scope.actionsState = true;

        /**
        * Save data to database and advance state
        *
        * @method saveData
        **/
        $scope.saveData = function() {
            $window.open('/app/backend/downloadFile.php?id='+$scope.routeParams.id, '_blank');
            var url = "/activity/"+$scope.routeParams.activityFolder+"/complete";
            $location.path(url);
        };

        /**
        * Display Hint Dialog
        *
        * @method showRationale
        **/
        $scope.showRationale = function(sourceIndex, ev) {
            $mdDialog.show({
                locals:{source: $scope.sources[sourceIndex]},
                controller: RationaleDialogController,
                templateUrl: '/views/step4/rationale.tmpl.html',
                parent: angular.element(document.body),
                targetEvent: ev,
                clickOutsideToClose: true,
                fullscreen: true // Only for -xs, -sm breakpoints.
            });
        };

        //Hint Dialog controller
        function RationaleDialogController($scope, $mdDialog, source) {
            $scope.source = source;
            $scope.hide = function() {
                $mdDialog.hide();
            };
        }
    }]);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I don't know if I've ever been so excited over any "It's the Year of…" dictum from the Vatican as I am about this one, "The Year of the Priest." Perhaps, it's because I know that even though I am not yet an "old priest," I'm at least an "older priest" with 36 plus years of mileage behind me.
Surely, I can't get back my youth, or even the lost locks of hair that once graced my misshapen head, but I can get renewed in my priesthood, and that's what I both want and intend to do. And I'm off to a good start.
Today, I smiled at the secretary and held open the door for the cleaning woman and didn't disconnect the phone to put on the answering machine before 9 – at night that is!
I'm on my way to renewal and reform, to change and maybe even holiness. And this is only the first week!
I want to go back to a more faithful, prayerful attention to the celebration of the Holy Office; anything in that realm would be an improvement for me. And maybe even confess more often; God knows that there hasn't been a day in my life where I didn't commit some kind of sin. But I feel good about this spirit of priestly renewal that has lodged itself inside of me. Maybe it's because I haven't been the priest that I have always wanted to be – now God, the Church, and time have given me another opportunity.
Certainly, I hope that I have done some good and will continue to do so, but I know that it's only by the grace of God that I am still a priest. Perhaps it is pride, but there is something in me that wants to boast that I have lasted longer in the priesthood than the restaurant where I had my "Ordination Breakfast" – it closed some 20 years ago. Or maybe I realize that while I'm here some of my brother priests are not – they have died, left or incurred some other problem.
Right now there is a joy to my priesthood which I have not always experienced while celebrating Mass or serving God's people. Yet I am well convinced that it has not always been this way. Along with many other brother priests I feel I can safely say that the gift of the ordained priesthood has not always been a highway of gold, free of temptations, mistakes, heartbreaks or sufferings.
But I thank God that I am still a priest and that God has brought me to the light of this day, this "Year of the Priest." I'm off to a good start; I can only hope that I'll be there at the end. Pray for me and my brother priests.
Father Stephen Perzan is parochial vicar at St. Helena Parish in Philadelphia.


In the world where Facebook's and Instagram's product roadmap is based on the roll-out of Snapchat most popular features, for a change, Snapchat has launched something that Instagram added to its platform first: Snapchat GIFs!
Powered by Giphy, Snapchat GIF stickers bring "the greatest thing ever invented on social media" (Techcrunch) to Snapchat Stories. To add a GIF to s Snap, one needs to tap the Sticker icon in the top right corner of the creator screen in Snapchat, and the Sticker Picker will load, featuring most popular GIFs alongside other animated and still stickers.
This is not the only new update that the company is bringing to the app. Users can expect to see tabs on the Friends and the Discover screens to help them navigate easily. This move demonstrates that the company is listening to user feedback and is responding to the recent criticism of the app redesign.
If you as a marketer have not started taking advantage of the GIF marketing yet, check out this Adweek article that crunches GIF data helping brands understand the GIF phenomenon and successfully apply it in their marketing campaigns.
SO. MANY. FUN. TOOLS. TO. CHOOSE. FROM. ON. SNAPCHAT!!!


text:
(51.51069 -0.0972, 51.51 -0.097)
A street within the EC4V postcode
Credit: https://pixabay.com/users/gregplom-3802982/
Robert smitherman
Saunders Street, SE11
I was born in a prefab on Saunders street SE11 in the 60's, when I lived there, the road consisted of a few prefab houses, the road originally ran from Lollard street all the way thru to Fitzalan street. I went back there to have a look back in the early 90's but all that is left of the road is about 20m of road and the road sign.
Bankside Lofts, SE1 Bankside Lofts is a block in Southwark.
Bankside Lofts, SE1
Blackfriars Bridge, EC4V Blackfriars Bridge is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Blackfriars Bridge, EC4V
Blackfriars Underpass, EC4V Blackfriars Underpass is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Blackfriars Underpass, EC4V
Bridge Walk, EC4V Bridge Walk is a road in the SE8 postcode area
Bridge Walk, EC4V
Cardinal Cap Alley, SE1 Cardinal Cap Alley is an alley in Bankside.
Cardinal Cap Alley, SE1
Falcon Point Piazza, SE1 Falcon Point Piazza is a road in the SE1 postcode area
Falcon Point Piazza, SE1
Holland Street, SE1 Today's Holland Street was originally part of a street called Gravel Lane.
Holland Street, SE1
Hopton Street, SE1 Hopton Street was known as Green Walk until the late nineteenth century.
Hopton Street, SE1
Invicta Plaza, SE1 Invicta Plaza is a road in the SE1 postcode area
Invicta Plaza, SE1
Millennium Bridge, EC4V Millennium Bridge is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Millennium Bridge, EC4V
Paul's Walk, EC4V Paul's Walk is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Paul's Walk, EC4V
Puddle Dock, EC4V Puddle Dock is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Puddle Dock, EC4V
Robinson Road, SE1 A street within the SE1 postcode
Robinson Road, SE1
Southwark Bridge, EC4V Southwark Bridge is one of the streets of London in the SE1 postal area.
Southwark Bridge, EC4V
Three Barrels Walk, EC4V Three Barrels Walk is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
Three Barrels Walk, EC4V
White Lion Hill, EC4V White Lion Hill is one of the streets of London in the EC4V postal area.
White Lion Hill, EC4V
Doggetts coat & badge
Founders arms
Mermaid Theatre
The mad hatter hotel
The Castle on Cowcross Street, EC1 is the only pub in England that, alongside its pub sign, is permitted to display the three balls of a pawnbroker.
Credit: Wiki Commons/oxyman
The Ring, Blackfriars Road, SE1 (1925) Although established as a boxing venue in 1910, the building dated from 1783 as the Surrey Congregational Chapel by the Reverend Rowland Hill - who reportedly opted for the unusual, circular design so that there would be no corners in which the devil could hide. The person responsible for overseeing the chapel's conversion was Dick Burge, a former English middleweight champion from Cheltenham. The former place of worship was then a warehouse. Dick and his wife Bella Burge enlisted the help of local homeless people to clean out the building and transform it into a state fit for presenting boxing to the public. The Ring opened on 14 May 1910, with the Blackfriars arena soon staging events four to five times a week, and the name from the circular shape of the building. The term "boxing ring" is not derived from the name of the building, contrary to local legend, but - still from the capital - instead from the London Prize Ring Rules in 1743, which specified a small circle in the centre of the fight area where the boxers met at the start of each round. The term 'ringside seat' dates from the 1860s.


text:
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Home / Faculty of Arts and Humanities / School of Humanities / Religion, Philosophy and Ethics / Our staff / Staff Profile
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Dr Brian Capper
Reader in Christian Origins
School: School of Humanities & Educational Studies
Campus: Canterbury Main Campus
My research and teaching focus on the New Testament in its ancient Jewish and Graeco-Roman contexts. I am particularly interested in social justice in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, in particular where expressed through property-sharing, intentional religious communities which establish a community-external focus on practical care for the poor and vulnerable.
I am presently preparing research monographs entitled Jesus and the Poor and The Social Interpretation of Essenism on the origins of mutually supportive Christian community forms in Judaea at the time of Jesus' death and resurrection, and a collection of my revised essays on the Essenes and on the origins of Johannine Christianity within the Essene communitarian stream of ancient Judaism.
I hold my doctorate from Cambridge University, taught as a full-time lecturer at the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, and St. Andrews, and was Gastprofessor at Tübingen University for two years before taking up my present responsibilities as Reader in Christian Origins in Canterbury.
My recent PhD research students have included Laura Mills, Jesus, social reform and virtuoso religion: a study of Jesus' practice and teaching concerning wealth and poverty (2014); Stephane Saulnier, Calendrical Variations in Second Temple Judaism: New Perspectives on the Date of the Last Supper Debate (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Brill Academic Publishers, 2012); and Timothy J.M. Ling, The Judaean Poor and the Fourth Gospel (Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 136, Cambridge University Press, 2006), whose monograph won a $20,000 Templeton Award for Theological Promise. Tim's achievement was reported in the Times Higher Educational Supplement:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/with-god-on-his-side/207833.article
I teach first years the Certificate in New Testament Greek and Introduction to Biblical Studies; the second year modules Jesus in Christian Doctrine History and Gospel and Letters of John; and my research-based honours module Church and Society in the New Testament.
Research and knowledge exchange
My research on the social form of the early Christian churches and their charitable activities has led to many speaking engagements and publications in the areas: wealth and poverty in the Bible; virtuoso religion and care for the poor in ancient Judaism, the ministry of Jesus and the early Jesus movement; the relationships between Essenism, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the social form of earliest Judaean Christianity; the community of goods of the early Jerusalem Church; Essenism and the origins of the Johannine tradition; covenant, fictive kinship and social caring in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament and second century Christianity; the roles of women in the early church; and the pattern of order and ministry in early Christianity.
Dr. Capper speaks about the heart content of his university researches in under two minutes in this Youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFhtM9dRGBw
Dr. Capper is married to Irena, who teaches and plays the French horn locally and in the University
http://www.festivalchamberorchestra.co.uk/events/about-the-festival-chamber-orchestra/the-players/irena-marie-rieband-french-horn/
Teaching and subject expertise
New Testament Studies; Ancient Judaism; Dead Sea Scrolls; social-scientific approaches to the Bible.
External activities
Dr. Capper has presented papers at the Christian Origins Seminar, Cambridge University; Oxford University's New Testament Seminar; the Ehrhardt Seminar, Manchester University; the Biblical Studies Seminar, King's College, London University; the Society for Biblical Literature; and the British New Testament Studies Conferences. He contributes to ministerial training in the Anglican dioceses of Southwark, Rochester and Canterbury.
Dr. Capper has presented study days for churches in Kent. He recently gave a lecture on 'What Do We Know About Jesus' at St. William's Church, Walderslade, which may be viewed on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAtWtdBSiY
Publications and research outputs
Dr. Capper's recent publications include:
'The Judaean Cultural Context of Community of Goods in the Early Jesus Movement.' Parts I–V, Qumran Chronicle 24 (2016), 29–49; Qumran Chronicle 24 (2017), 500–545; Qumran Chronicle 26 (2018), 39–75; Qumran Chronicle 26 (2018), 53–82; Qumran Chronicle 27 (2019), 129–152. ISSN 0867-8715.
'Essene adoptions and the Essene Houses of the Community (CD XIV.12–17 and 4Q266 I 5–13) as the charitable educational institutions of the villages and towns of ancient Judaea', Qumran Chronicle, 23. 1–2 (2015), 345–371. ISSN 0867–8715.
'The Essene Religious Order of Ancient Judaea and the Origins of Johannine Christianity', Qumran Chronicle 22 (2014), 39–71. ISSN 0867–8715.
'Islam, The Rape of Europa and the Woman astride the Beast: Current Scaremongering Readings of Revelation 17,' Polish Journal of Biblical Research 13.1–2 [25–26] (February 2014), 71–101. ISSN 1641–7224
'Apostles, Householders and Honoured Household Servants: The Transition of Christian Worship from Domestic to Public Space and the Origins of the Threefold Ministry in the New Testament Church', Polish Journal of Biblical Research 12 (2013), 5–44.
'Community of Goods in the Rule of the Community (1QS) and Comparative Analysis of the Advanced Probationer's Renunciation of Administration of his Property in other Fully Property-Sharing Communities', Qumran Chronicle 20 (2012), 89–150.
'How did Jesus Help the Poor?: Virtuoso Religion as Stimulus to Economic Sharing in the Jesus Movement', Qumran Chronicle 19 (2011), 97–139.
'Jesus, Biblical Covenant, and The Essene New Covenant of Ancient Judaea: On the Origins of the Early Christian Familial Economic Covenant,' Qumran Chronicle 19 (2011), 1–30.
'Jesus, Virtuoso Religion and Community of Goods.' In Bruce Longenecker and Kelly Liebengood, eds., Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Interpretation ( Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 60–80.
'Essene Community Houses and Jesus' Early Community,' in James H. Charlesworth, ed., Jesus and Archaeology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 472–502.
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Last edited: 05/12/2017 00:48:00


There are three (3) forms of assessment or evidence gathering methods for this unit of competency. You are required to complete and submit all the assessments.
This assessment consists of four (4)short answer questions to assess your knowledge of this unit. You must answer all questions. Most questions require short answers although some questions require a more detailed response. You should provide typed responses. You may use various sources of information including: text books, learning workbooks, other documents and the internet and must list your sources.
This Assessment gives students a chance to apply the principles learnt in the course to develop a project for a job requiring high level of emotional intelligence. Students have to answer fifteen (15) questions concerning this scenario by applying knowledge governing all the performance criteria, performance evidence and knowledge evidence of this unit. As such, this is a holistic assessment satisfying majority of the assessment requirements of this unit.
Students must record their answers in a separate A4 document and submit by attaching to their cover page.
This assessment is designed to test the various criteria, set out under performance element, performance evidence and knowledge evidence of this unit. Based on the given information and scenarios, students are required to answer some ten (10) questions.
What are your emotional strengths and weaknesses?
What are personal causes of stress in your work life and how do you deal with them?
What are your emotional triggers and how have you learnt to manage them?
What would you do to act as a role model to workers in your department in the management of emotions?
Are you open to feedback from others in relation to your El? How would you go about getting and using it? .
How does self-reflection factor into the continual development of your El?
8. How much knowledge do you have about the cultural expressions of emotions? How would you use that knowledge?
9. How would you adapt your leadership strategies and style to workers experiencing different emotions?
10. How would you factor the emotions of workers into decisions that you make?
11. How would you provide opportunities for workers to express their feelings and emotions?
12. How would you make workers aware of how their emotions and behaviours affect others and how would you encourage them to manage their emotions?
13. What would you do to encourage others to develop their EI?
14. What would you do to create a positive emotional climate in your department?
15. How would you use the strengths of workers to achieve workplace outcomes?
You are required to provide a detailed response (at least half a typed, single space page) for each point listed and to use examples to support your responses wherever possible.
You are expected to use the information provided in this unit, however, you will also need to demonstrate that you have carried out your own research. Remember to properly cite any sources that you use.
Prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on you above project and submit your power point slides to your trainer prior to your presentation day.
Think about the best leader you have met at work or in your personal life. What EI strengths gave them the ability to lead others successfully? Provide at least five examples.
Make a list of at least five stressors in your personal life and five stressors in your work life.
Go back through your list of stressors and mark an E for each item you can eliminate, an R for each stressor you can reduce the strength of, and a C for each item you can learn to cope with.
For the stressor marked with an E or an R, record any ideas you have on how to eliminate or reduce them in a short sentence.
Make a list of at least three of your emotional triggers.