Workplace conflict is sometimes inevitable and unavoidable. When conflict is destructive it may be costly to recruting, productivity, creativity, retention, corporate image and ROI. Sometimes companies and organizations may accidentally even hire a person whose motives to get hired are clearly criminal.
If you are a manager or a highly skilled HR or security expert, you may end up spending a lot of 1me addressing conflicts or investigating maleficent, harmful or even criminal incidents. Your skills are most likely based on what you have gained from your past life and work experience, but not necessarily in the prevention of malicious incidents. Peace of Mind's latest training session will open a new world of possibilities for preventing conflicts and also to respond professionally to extremely demanding situations which will ultimately increase profits or organizational effectiveness and even decrease possible liability issues.
This highly interactive training session will teach you to use structured psychological personality assessment techniques and to manage interpersonal conflicts in thoughtful, and effective process through lectures and group discussions. You will gain the confidence to prevent and confront any serious workplace conflict constructively and positively.
Register now for this exclusive event!
10% discount for ASIS / ACFE members.
Lunch is included in the seminar price.
Netherlands National Police force. He had the position of senior advisor, specializing in offender profiling, threat assessment and interview strategy. During his time with the Netherlands Police he provided behavioral consultation in numerous national and international investigations. Bram has played a major role in developing and setting up the Royal Family threat management center at the National Center for Counterterrorism. Bram has conducted threat assessments for the Netherlands Royal Family, the Dutch Prime Minister, national politicians and (foreign) VIP's. For the corporate world Bram provides training and consultation in large-‐scale fraud, malpractice and embezzlement investigations, threats against companies, false victimization cases, executive protection and workplace violence. He provides psychological risk assessment screenings of staff on high-‐risk positions or locations. He teaches threat assessment at the Netherlands Police Academy, and interview strategies at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Since 2009 Bram serves as President of the Association of European Threat Assessment Professionals.
has 24 years of active law enforcement work including work as the supervisor of a police threat management service. In his previous work with the police he specialized in domestic violence prevention, stalking and threats against judicial officials and in his current role in the private sector ToC has worked with presidential candidates, media companies, celebrities, educational facilities as well as multi-‐national corpora(ons specializing in threat assessment and case management. He provides behavioral and security consultation in numerous global corpora(ons on a weekly basis. ToC's vast experience with threat management is clearly demonstrated in cases where analysis is put into practice, how multi-disciplinary teams of professionals are coached and how to manage low to median and high-risk cases. ToC currently also works as a subject maYer expert for the European Council as well as OSCE in projects related to the development of law enforcement procedures in the prevention of targeted violence. Totti is currently the CEO of two threat management companies, one based in Europe and the other based in Asia (Hong Kong) and is also one of the executive board members of the Associa(on of European Threat Assessment Professionals.
Register now for this exclusive event! Only 15 seats available.
10% discount for ASIS / ACFE members. Lunch is included in the seminar price.
Much legitimate concern has focused on the risk that employees or others with authorized access can pose to a company. An array of incidents such as major fraud, embezzlement, serious misconduct and violent incidents on the workplace have underscored that screening of current or new people is of increasing importance. In order to prevent such incidents from occurring, employee background and integrity checks are widely used. In- and pre- employment screenings have to filter potentially dangerous or high-risk applicants, so that only individuals with 'clean' backgrounds are hired.
Current screenings mainly focus on historical information. The screening details the employee's professional and personal history up until the time the check is completed. But it provides no ongoing information, nothing about the employee's current situation. The problem that companies are faced with is that no matter how clean an employee appears during the first assessment, good employees can 'go bad' for a variety of reasons - often related to professional stress or personal problems that may feel overwhelming to the employee.
Structured psychological personality assessment and personality based integrity tests bypasses problems described above. Furthermore, this scientific approach provides information that can then be used to make reliable future predictions about the employee's behavior, and what can be expected of him when he faces specific work related problems or personal stress.
Participants of this workshop will learn how psychological profiling techniques and personality assessment instruments can provide useful information about the employee, which will provide a clear picture of the risks he may pose for the company. It will be discussed how in- depth psychological interviews can add to the identification of 'red flags' for future misconduct, and make the personality assessment complete. Measurable psychological differences between white-collar offenders and non-offenders will be presented. With case examples it will be illustrated how threat management strategies can be put in place to make early identification of high-risk situations or –employees possible.
Sometimes problems arise also with employees that have been employed with the company or organization for a longer period. Dealing with direct or passive-aggressive behavior in the workplace is a demanding task even for most experienced professionals. We will also explain the difference of affective and predatory behavior models and how to deal with both situations. The ultimate goal of any work related conflict should be the "win-win" solutions, but this often requires much work and knowledge of the best practices.
Executive board, directors and managers, HR, employee relations, training and development, security, corporate communications and other sections of the organization need to understand the basic concepts predicting problematic behavior and have tools to peacefully confront the employee in question.
In this training session the participants will also learn the principles of conflict negotiation, basic steps of conflict resolution and how to control your own natural responses.We will also go through common errors and oversight as well as various methods to respond to a threatening or troublesome behavior. What are the individual (static risk factors) as well as situational factors. How to formulate a threat response teams, how to initiate the threat response programs and what types of response strategies can be used. How to monitor and follow-up the case later on.
10% discount for ASIS and ACFE members. Lunch is included in the seminar price.


Ten days post transfer, and a big fat negative. Guess it was the Endometrium after all.
Light brown stuff still there. DH suggested I call the doctor (as if he could do anything about it!). The nurse said not to get my hopes up, because it was probably the Endometrium. Apparently, a lot of patients have been complaining about this. I've been using Endometrium for a number of cycles now, and I don't remember this (wouldn't I have remembered this?). The other nurse, who was within earshot, said "hey, why CAN'T she get her hopes up?" Well, I do have the answer to that, but it was a nice thought.
Then she said what they always say, "try to take it easy." I read an article by an OB/GYN once where the doctor shared that they always say that regardless of the magnitude of the problem, but they don't know that it helps one way or the other. It's something to say, and it gives the patient something to do (obviously, there are times when it is not just B.S. advice and medically necessary, but not for most cases). And, I remember talking to my own OB when I was pregnant with DD, and agonizing over every little thing that I was or wasn't doing (coffee! exercise! microwaves! chocolate!). He put his arm around my shoulder and gently said to just stop -- that there wasn't much to be done to save a pregnancy that wasn't meant to be, and there wasn't much that I could do to hurt a pregnancy that was meant to be.
I do try to remind myself that if I were a normal person doing things the normal way, I wouldn't be giving any of this much thought. And God in His heaven seems to manage to bring all kinds of babies into the world whose mommies go right on with their lives until they look at the calendar and then go to the store to buy a pregnancy test (rather than stocking up on them like they are going to be discontinued). So, for the next few days, I'm going to pretend that I'm normal.
Just passing time now. No other symptoms.
Light brown discharge starting yesterday (five days post transfer) and no idea what this means. It happened to me when I had a blighted ovum fairly constantly until the D & C, and it happened very early in my pregnancy with DD -- following the ultrasound, the doctor told us that the discharge was the loss of the second baby (that I've never told her about).
I'm going to stop Googling now and get back to the child that I can hug and sniff and kiss and love.
My daughter has been acting terribly lately. Tantrums, oy, the tantrums. Two nights ago, she went at it for a good 20 minutes in front of our friend/handyman who'd come over just to see her. We told her that we would be ignoring her until she decided to act in a better way, but she just threw herself against the door.
She's made lots of bad choices lately as well. Case in point -- Christmas Eve at my brother's house this evening. I caught her standing on the arm of their couch, jumping on their couch, and jumping on their bed. Holy cow. She knows better. She has also been mouthy, and when she loses a privilege, I hear a snarky "whatever," "I'm fine with that," or "I don't care." At one point recently, I suggested that perhaps we should take one of her unused toys (she has several that she hasn't even opened up from her birthday party in August) and donate it to a child who would appreciate it, since she was acting like such an ungrateful, awful child. Now, that got her attention, and she decided that retreat and an apology was the better option.
My brother made me smile this evening. He suggested that before Santa will cut a child off from her Christmas wish, he will bring a Christmas rock as a warning. Of course, DD believed him. And, before we left, my brother gave me the rock that he'd given to his own misbehaving child when he was just a tyke (no idea why he saved it, and he wants it back, which is even more strange, I think).
I think we'll start with the rock. It's already wrapped and under the tree.
Right behind the soccer ball.
And then I had to put my cat of 14 years to sleep, and it was unexpected (unexpected that it would be today). I suspected chronic renal failure, because I'd had three cats die of it previously (two in the last six years). None of them went so far down so fast. I expected that she would be around for another six months to a year, but we were not so lucky. Her values just wouldn't come back down since we started her on fluids on Saturday evening. Faced with only a miserable few more days of life, I made a very sad choice. Fortunately, I've been talking with DD about this, so she knew what "putting an animal to sleep" means, and how it is the kinder thing to do sometimes.
For them, not for us. Never for us.
I must have had the radio on too loud on the way home from the acupuncturist this morning. Which is probably a good thing, because it probably wouldn't have been a good thing to see my doctor's name come up on my phone at this time on a transfer day while driving. So, I didn't get the message until I pulled into the garage. Seeing that there was a message from them, and thinking the worst, made it easier to hear the message . . . "one to transfer." Not the best news, but not the worst. Transfer at 12:30.


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Our production family
Life at Fremantle
FMNA expands its scripted division
FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) today announced the company is continuing to grow its prominent scripted division with the addition of three new industry veterans to their current team. Reid Shane has joined the company as Executive Vice President of Production, while Jennifer Sherwood will be welcomed as the new Senior Vice President of Scripted Development, and Oliver Jones will join on as Director of Scripted Development.
"I couldn't be more pleased to be expanding our team with these three industry veterans," said Dante Di Loreto, President of Scripted Entertainment, FremantleMedia North America. "At FMNA we have a clear and defined vision. Building on the success of American Gods and our global series The Young Pope, Hard Sun, as well as the upcoming Picnic at Hanging Rock and My Brilliant Friend, we strive to align ourselves with the very best creative talent. Reid, Jennifer and Oliver are trusted collaborators and the perfect additions to this award-winning team."
FremantleMedia is a leading producer of supremely engaging dramas with productions in 12 territories around the world. This past year, FMNA's critically acclaimed American Gods was STARZ's No. 1 launch of its season and returns to the network in 2019 for a second season. In addition, the company will be launching the six-episode scripted drama series, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton, on HISTORY alongside Emmy Award® winner R.J. Cutler who will serve as the executive producer and director.
As the newly named Executive Vice President of Scripted Production, Shane will report to FMNA's Executive Vice President of Scripted Business Operations and Production, Susan Gross, and will oversee all aspects of scripted production for FMNA, including sourcing, hiring and managing all key production personnel. Shane joins FMNA from Media Rights Capital (MRC) where he served as the Senior Vice President of Television Production, overseeing series such as Ozark and Counterpart. Prior to MRC, Shane led as the Executive Vice President of Production at Paramount Network TV where he shepherded series such as Frasier, JAG, NCIS, Numbers and Star Trek. Additionally, Shane also served as the co-executive producer on Bad Robot shows Fringe and Almost Human.
Along with the addition of Shane on the production side of the business, FMNA has brought in Jennifer Sherwood and Oliver Jones to further support the company's development efforts. Sherwood will serve as the new Senior Vice President of Scripted Development and will be responsible for sourcing, developing and pitching original scripted television programming. With FremantleMedia being a global leader in scripted TV, she will also source international programming to be successfully acquired and translated into the North American marketplace.
Sherwood is an esteemed industry veteran, and throughout her career has delivered three Emmy Award winning films and seven nominated pictures in the Outstanding Miniseries or Movie category. She developed and supervised HBO hits such as Game Change, Taking Chance and Temple Grandin. Most recently, Sherwood was with Silk Road Productions where she was a Partner/Producer. During her time there, she worked as a consultant on key projects for Northwood Entertainment and producer Miranda de Pencier, including serving as a consulting producer on the Netflix series, Anne With An E.
Also joining the FMNA team will be Oliver Jones as Director of Scripted Development. Jones joins the team from The Weinstein Company where he served as Manager of Development. During his tenure there, he worked on series such as Guantanamo, The Romanoffs, Waco, Six, Yellowstone and focused on their UK slate including Les Miserables, The City & the City and Fearless. Prior to The Weinstein Company, Jones worked at Imagine Television, where he focused on programs such as Empire, 24: Legacy, Shots Fired and Genius. In addition, he also worked in the UK for World Productions.
All three of these new team members will join Di Loreto and his current team as they continue to amplify and build upon FMNA's scripted portfolio.
FMNA expands its scripted division2018-01-262018-11-07/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/fremantle-logo-dark.svgFremantlehttps://www.fremantle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/fmna-logo.png200px200px
Statement on slavery and human trafficking
Group pension plan
Jon Richardson brings Ultimate Worrier to DaveNews
Michael Haneke to create TV series with UFA FictionNews

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hi guys. i'm here to ask you some advice.
Friends, I am a Novice Linux/Ubuntu user and currently i decided to strengthen my knowledge in Ubuntu.
Looking for a Managed VPS Hosting, Need Advice !
What is the best option for someone who wants to get into VPS selling?


text:
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2018-08-10/austin-justice-coalition-gets-grant/
Austin Justice Coalition Gets Grant
$20,000 in funding will allow AJC to "advance justice"
By Nina Hernandez, August 10, 2018, News
Some good news for the Austin Justice Coalition: Last week, the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, a national advocacy group investing across the nation, announced its Catalyst Fund Grantees, and the local civil rights organization made the cut. AJC is one of 15 organizations being gifted $20,000 to join the alliance's work "to advance justice and build opportunity for boys and men of color, their families, and communities." AJC founder Chas Moore said, "This investment in the Austin community will not only impact the lives of boys and men of color today but will also help continue to make the impact matter well into the future." AJC plans to use the funds to advance criminal justice reform at the city, county, and state levels, and to bolster its Higher Learning program.


What's counted in life is all full of experiences. Ever felt a difference of experiencing one film in a normal 2D and the same film in 4DX? The experience is what one gains while using any of the services. The same can be said about the web development and creating path breaking UX experience. With the services dedicated to HTML5 mobile app development, one requires programmers and designers to carve a niche when it comes to the cross platform app development.
The ultimate aim in the process of HTML5 mobile application development is to maintain the security of database while assuring sustainability and scalability. The success of comprehensive HTML5 web development services is possible with.
Design innovation and execution of any of the HTML5 web development as well as mobile app development projects with a constant innovation in design ultimately helps in enhancing the UX. A dedicated design team strives for constant innovation in each and every projects.
There are times when one essentially needs the all-inclusive environment in the implementation of the design concept. With the surety of exhaustive mobile application development team, designing, building, and delivering cross-platform user interaction assures end-user satisfaction.
We like our clothes when its fitting is perfect. Same can be said about the application development. Wide range of HTML5 development services allows dynamic and interactive web solutions which is the pinnacle of the customized web development services. Tailor made applications assures you the best fit for all your business solutions.
The pool of web and mobile application developers equipped with their experience and expertise certainly make a great impact to the project in effectively executing the projects on timely basis.
Expertise in HTML5 development at a competitive cost without sacrificing an inch of a requirement.
Transparent and ease-on communication during the entire process of project building and delivering.
The need-satisfaction and assurance of healthy relation even after we roll out the applications.
Reaching the gamut of consumers is always the success of any start-up. Why not start-up with effective and engaging mobile application or perhaps, cross device engagement medium to grab your audience on the first go.
Giving the tailor-made solutions to varied business requires a lot of research on the high-performance application, which includes lots implementation testing and innovation techniques at each stage.
At Peerbits, commendable knowledge resource is stocked up in building and debugging HTML5 apps sparing the specialized codes. Getting the things right and at a right time means alot to any businesses. We certainly strive our best to stand by that.


text:
Проба Селиванова — качественное обнаружение фруктозы. При нагревании пробы с фруктозой в присутствии резорцина и соляной кислоты появляется вишнево-красное окрашивание. Проба также применима для обнаружения других кетоз. Альдозы в этих же условиях взаимодействуют медленнее и дают бледно-розовую окраску или вообще не взаимодействуют. Открыта Ф. Ф. Селивановым в 1887 году.
Применяется при анализе мочи. Проба положительная при фруктозурии обменного или транспортного генеза. В 13 % случаев проба положительная при пищевой нагрузке фруктами и мёдом.

Литература
 Рево А. Я. Практикум по органической химии (Качественные микрохимические реакции). М., Высшая школа 1971
 Theodor Seliwanoff, Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 1887, 20(1), 181—182
 Ohta, Mutsuko; Iwasaki, Masatake; Kouno, Keiki; Ueda, Yo. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin  1985, 33(6), 2421-4.ссылка

Качественные реакции

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Following your consultation with a member of our dental team, you may decide that you need a tooth extraction for any number of reasons. Some teeth are extracted because they are severely decayed; others may have advanced periodontal disease, or have broken in a way that cannot be repaired. Other teeth may need removal because they are poorly positioned in the mouth (such as impacted teeth), or in preparation for orthodontic treatment.
To avoid these complications, in many cases, one of our dentists will discuss alternatives to extractions as well replacement of the extracted tooth.
At the time of extraction, the dentists will numb your tooth, jawbone and gums that surround the area with a local anesthetic.
You feel the pressure without pain as the anaesthetic has numbed the nerves stopping the transference of pain, yet the nerves that transmit pressure are not profoundly affected.
If you do feel any pain at any time during the extraction please let us know right away.
If you experience pain you might use your usual non-prescription pain relief medications such as paracetemol or ibuprofen.
Beginning 24 hours after the extraction you can gently rinse with salt water (1/2 teaspoon in a cup of warm, but not hot water) after meals and before bed.
Your dentist will apply a medicated dressing to the dry socket to sooth the pain.


Occupational Accident - Franklin & Prokopik, P.C.
Occupational Accident insurance is an alternative way to fund the employer's obligation to the employee. Some other states allow employers to assume part of the workers' compensation risk themselves, subject to state approval.
The firm's attorneys are well versed in all aspects of occupational accident ("occ acc") insurance. Franklin & Prokopik attorneys also frequently assist clients with claims evaluation and defense. We have even conducted training seminars for adjusters handling such claims. Moreover, we help clients respond to complaints filed with regulatory authorities regarding their policies and/or claims handling, and inquiries from regulators issued in response to such complaints.


The history and science behind our hardest working muscle.
The human heart has strong connotations to our emotions and is often thought to represent the core of our being. For centuries its workings seemed beyond our comprehension. Only recently have we overcome old taboos and developed scientific advancements that can change lives. In Heart: A History, cardiologist and author Sandeep Jauhar alternates between important historical episodes and his own practice, telling the colorful and little-known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
Sandeep Jauhar, MD, PhD, director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, will be in conversation with Danielle Ofri, a physician at Bellevue Hospital and NYU School of Medicine and author What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear.
Praised across Scandinavia as a "literary masterpiece," "spellbinding," and "magnificent," Unquiet reflects on six taped conversations the author had with her father at the very end of his life.
He is a renowned Swedish filmmaker and has a plan for everything. She is his daughter, the youngest of nine children. Every summer, since she was a little girl, she visits him at his beloved stony house surrounded by woods, poppies, and the Baltic sea. Now that she's grown up and he's in his late eighties, he envisions a book about old age. He worries that he's losing his language, his memory, his mind. Growing old is hard work, he says. They will write it together. She will ask the questions. He will answer them. When she finally comes to the island, bringing her tape recorder with her, old age has caught up with him in ways neither could have foreseen.Unquiet follows the narrator as she unearths these taped conversations seven years later. Swept into memory, she reimagines the story of a father, a mother, and a girl—a child who can't wait to grow up and parents who would rather be children. A heartbreaking and darkly funny depiction of the intricacies of family, Unquietis an elegy of memory and loss, identity and art, growing up and growing old. Linn Ullmann nimbly blends memoir and fiction in her most inventive novel yet, weaving a luminous meditation on language, mourning, and the many narratives that make up a life.
Linn Ullmann is the author of six award-winning, critically acclaimed novels, and her work has been published in more than thirty languages. Her previous novel, The Cold Song, was a New York Times Notable Book. Unquiet has received multiple awards and spent more than a year on top of the of Scandinavian bestseller lists. In 2017, Ullmann was awarded the Dobloug Prize from the Swedish Academy for her body of work. She lives in Oslo with her husband and daughter.
When Bertha dies in a freak accident, her past resurfaces in the form of a heretofore-unheard-of son, who arrives in Salford claiming he is heir apparent to Truitt Alleys.
Elizabeth McCracken is the author of Niagara Falls All Over Again, winner of the PEN/Winship Award, as well as Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry?, a collection of stories. She has received grants and awards from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Academy in Berlin.
Rumaan Alam's short fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly, Crazyhorse, Meridian, and at Wigleaf. Other writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Magazine, the New Republic, Buzzfeed, and elsewhere. He studied writing at Oberlin College. He now lives in New York with his husband and two kids.


His real name was Yitskhok Farberovitsh (Itzchak Baruch Farbarowicz). "Urke Nachalnik," his name in the underworld, later became his pen name in Polish and Yiddish literature. He was born in a small town in the Lomzhe (Łomża) region in Poland. His father was an affluent flour merchant; his mother came from a well-to-do Hassidic home. He studied in religious school, and at age twelve his parents sent him to study in the Lomzhe Yeshiva. After his time in yeshiva, he gave lectures in Yiddish and Hebrew. At age fourteen, his mother passed away. A year later he robbed his own father and ran away to Vilna, and there he became an assistant to the beadle in a study hall, later a teacher of Bible, Yiddish, and Hebrew in a village near Vilna. Around 1913 he robbed his own boss and for the first time was thrown in jail. His father got him out on bail. In 1914 a family consultation assigned him to be sent away to an uncle to work in his bakery. As the work was hard and his treatment there harsh, he returned to his father and became a coachman for a wagon-driver and thus found himself in a circle of "professional" thieves and "fences," and he sank still further into the world of crime. For a full seventeen years, he served time in various prisons. In 1927, however, in the prison in Ravitsh (Rawicz) where he was sentenced to eight years, he was overcome with a desire to write. He filled ten notebooks full of poetry, though they have been lost. "Morality controls the world"—his romantic utopia allegedly commanded. He also wrote songs. By chance Stanisław Kowalski, the Polish scholar, psychologist, and writer, became acquainted with Urke's writings. Before making any effort to have the work published, he wrote a preface and appealed to people to turn to the president of the state and request clemency in the case of this extremely talented criminal. In 1933 his book was published in Polish: Życiorys własny przestępcy (Biography of a criminal) with an introduction by a professor from Poznań University, Stefan Blachowski (Poznań, 1933), 382 pp. The book was a sensation in the literary world, giving expression to the world of criminal activity. The author was at the time still in prison, but publishers and newspapers encouraged him to write. The Polish publishing house of Rój soon published his second book. His first was translated into Russian by L. Gdansky (Riga, 1933), 144 pp. In addition, the Yiddish press in Warsaw, Riga, New York, and Buenos Aires went ahead and published his work. Initially, they were translated from the Polish by Arn Mark and Yoysef-Shimen Goldshteyn ("the happy pessimist"), and thereafter he began to write in Yiddish. His publications include: Mayn lebnsveg (fun der yeshive un tfise—biz tsu der literatur) (My life's course, from the yeshiva and prison to literature) (Warsaw, 1938), 256 pp. (this is the same work that was first published in Polish in 1933); Alts tsulib froyen (All on account of women), his personal life description, published serially in Haynt (Today) (Warsaw, 1933); Din toyre, shpanendiker roman fun a ganef (Judgment, the thrilling story of a thief), which was dramatized for the stage by R. Shoshana and played with great success at the Scala Theater in Warsaw and in theaters in Vilna, Lodz, and elsewhere; Der korbm (The victim), a tale; Mokotov (Mokotów [prison]), stories; and Yosele goy (Yosele the gentile), stories. These were all depictions of types from the underworld and their lives in freedom and in Polish prisons, published serially in the Polish press and in Yiddish newspapers in Poland and overseas. They also published a second volume of Mayn lebnsveg bearing the title Lebedike kvorim (Living graves); the third volume as Der letster klap (The final blow), written in 1933; and the fourth volume, Videroyflebung, oder der oysgeleyzter (Resurrection, or the redeemed one), written about 1932 or 1933.
Once he was freed from prison, he married a woman from a wealthy family and settled in a home at the edge of the forest near Vilna. There his wife gave birth to a child, and he lived comfortably from his writing. Colleagues, Yiddish writers, sought him out in an effort to befriend him. When he would come to Warsaw on literary matters, he would be a guest of the Warsaw Literary Union at no. 13 Tłomackie. Visiting YIVO in Vilna, he became extremely interested in the lexicographic collection of sayings from the Jewish underworld, and he made some notations and corrections. Around 1936, he crossed from Vilna to Otvotsk, and when Warsaw was captured by Hitler's armies and the terror began, he traveled to Warsaw and worked out a plan for an armed uprising against the Nazis and their Polish collaborators. He renewed his past associations with the underworld with the goal of organizing a resistance group. On his own, he collected money to buy weapons. He introduced his plan to the Warsaw Jewish community leaders (representatives of various Jewish organizations), but they were not prepared to embrace it. In March 1940, at the head of his group he staged an uprising against Polish pogromist collaborators at the Hale Mirowskie (Mirów hall). He returned bloodied into the apartment of Leyb Fayngold (Leib Feingold), a Warsaw communal leader. It just so happened that a conference concerning Jewish affairs was taking place there at the time. He demanded action from them, but they rejected his proposal. He thus returned to Otvotsk, set to carry out an act of sabotage on the train line that was carrying Jews to Treblinka. Amid the turmoil, many Jews escaped, and he helped many of them to hide out in the Otvotsk woods. During one of his acts of sabotage, he fell into the hands of the Germans. They found weapons with him. They were "certain" that such a person as "Urke Nachalnik" would not have been doing such things for the sake of ideals, and he probably had been hired by Jewish organizations. They tortured him to have him divulge who these people were. He betrayed no one. They put him in chains and led him, as the story goes, into the streets of Otvotsk to execute him, but he found the leeway necessary to throw himself on an S. S. man and seriously wound him. Right there on the spot, on Kościuszko-Allee in Otvotsk, the Nazis murdered him.
Sources: Urke Nachalnik, Mayn lebnsveg (Warsaw, 1938); Nachman Mayzel, Geven amol a lebn (Once was a life) (Buenos Aires, 1951); N. Mayzil, in Yidishe kultur 2 (1946); Ber Mark, Umgekumene shrayber fun di getos in lagern (Murdered writers from the ghettos and camps) (Warsaw, 1954); Berl Kuczer, Geven amol varshe (As Warsaw once was) (Paris, 1955); Daniel Charney, A litvak in poyln (A Lithuanian Jew in Poland) (New York, 1955); Leyb Fayngold, "Ikh bin geblibn lebn" (I survived), Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (June 2 and 6, 1946).


CRP's metal workshop produces various helpful devices for the support of inpatients or outpatients throughlatest technologies and innovations. A total of 28 types of mobilitydevices are produced in the metal work shop including wheelchair, Striker bed, Tricycle, Standing frame, Walking Frame, Taylor Brace, Traction Set, Back Slab, Elbow crutch, Lumber corset, Stretcher, Parallel Bar, Pulley set and so on. In this reporting year, the powered wheelchair and one wheel wheelchair were launched.
Currently 27 staff members including 4 wheelchair users are working in this unit. During this reporting year, IGA delivered different devices to BRAC, ICRC, Society for Health Extension & Development (SHED), Resource Integration Centre (RIC) and Disabled Rehabilitation & Research Association (DRRA).


Fulgoridae was named by Latreille (1807). It is extant. Its type is Fulgora.
It was assigned to Auchenorhyncha by Handlirsch (1906); to Homoptera by Cockerell (1921) and Martynov (1937); to Homoptera by Scudder (1878), Bode (1953) and Zhang (1989); to Fulgoromorpha by Wappler (2003); and to Fulgoroidea by Szwedo et al. (2004), Lin et al. (2010), Cryan and Urban (2012) and Szwedo (2018).


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Clathurella grayi é uma espécie de gastrópode do gênero Clathurella, pertencente a família Clathurellidae.

Clathurellidae
Espécies descritas em 1845


Exclusive! Copenhagen Denmark Christmas Ornaments with blue sky and the famous houses lining the quays of Nyhavn. No. 9 Nyhavn is the oldest house in the area dating back to 1681. The design of the house has not been altered since that time. Many of the houses lining the quays of Nyhavn have been the homes of prominent artists. Crisp and clean photo makes a great gift. Double sided with glossy finish.
Relive the joy and excitement of visiting Denmark while displaying this porcelain Chrsitmas ornament for all to enjoy.


Strangely enough, no matter how many times I have been to Midvalley and Gardens, I never once thought to step into BluMed Ristorante e Bar for a meal or drinks. It might be because I was intimidated by the elegant and posh exterior and interior of the two-leveled restaurant that sits between Midvalley and Gardens.
Recently, I was invited by Ivy of Food Malaysia to try out several dishes from their new revamped menu (available 17 March onwards0. Upon entering the outlet, it turned out it wasn't at all that intimidating as the entire restaurant was warm and inviting with an open kitchen concept, a bar and a dessert display.
A floor-to-ceiling wall of candles and wine bottles and a stunning chandelier of glass bottles made a nice background for our food review session and after a quick introduction by Angeline & Sue Fin from Sushi King Sdn Bhd, the first dish was served.
The Chef's Salad (RM24.90) was the starter of the dinner and with a generous portion of garden greens and eggs, slow-cooked chicken breast meat, crispy yam chips, parmesan cheese and a lot of curry-spiced mayonnaise. The freshness was evident in this dish and the yam chips offered a change of texture. Plus, I did enjoy the curry powder in the mayonnaise that made an interesting twist to a classical dish. And this coming from a self-proclaimed meat-lover, it says a lot.
Tapas was up next in the form of 6 cube watermelon with feta cheese (RM5). Now this was an odd combination as there was black olives added to the mix as well but it worked. Somehow, this weird mix worked. It would have tasted a whole lot better though if the watermelons have been served chilled.
Ready to move on to something savory and cheesy, we waited in anticipation for the Eggplant Gratin (RM10) to be placed in front of it. Under the warm light and oozing melted mozzarella cheese, it looked like baked crabs but the base was actually eggplant topped with homemade tomato sauce which was actually a concoction of peeled tomatoes, anchovies, capers, salt and olive oil. Despite the cheese on top, this dish was not at all cheesy nor oily and did not leave us stuffed before the arrival of the next dish.
The Teriyaki Chicken and Salad Pizza (RM36.90) was a massive win on the chef's part with a thin crust base topped with ample teriyaki chicken, cheese and a buck load of fresh lettuce showered with mayonnaise on top. Ideal to be shared amongst family and friends.
The Linguine Tomato Cream 'Bisque' sauce (RM34.90) was served next. This dish, to me at least, was the star of the night despite the deep fried crabs that spoiled it with its oiliness and lack of flesh. But other than that, the tomato cream bisque sauce was tasty and smooth, going along well with the linguine cooked al dente. To make the stock for the sauce, prawn heads and shells were sauteed for an hour and then slow-stewed for another two hours.
Perfect for sharing, the Executive Combo Set (rm59.90) was a platter of deep-fried fish pieces, deep-fried chicken breast slices and BluMed's chicken satay with Japanese-inspired mash potatoes. After a rich dinner, this platter felt overwhelming and too oily. The mash potatoes could have been the saving point had there been less mayonnaise in it. Perhaps this dish could work as a starter for a big group but as a finisher, it was too much.
To finish, we were served with Chocolate Banana Honey Toast with ice-cream (RM18.90). After napping photos of it, we sliced it up and dug in. Nothing can go wrong with a dessert that was a combination of chocolate and banana and then drenched with honey. The thick toast could have been warmer but it might have cooled while we were taking photos.
For drinks, BluMed's house specialties are the Strawberry Caipriroska (RM26), a sweet concoction of Absolute Kurant, lime chunks, golden brown sugar, soda water, strawberry puree and lime juice and the Caipiranha (RM26) of Cachaca Rum, lime chunks, golden brown sugar, ginger ale and lime juice. I found the later very strong, my immediate reaction being "Woah..." I did like the Strawberry Caipriroska though given that it is sweet while the Caipiranha leaned more towards the sourish side.
To end the affair, we got meet the chefs behind these dishes and while BluMed was a Mediterranean restaurant, their Japanese chefs, Tatsuya Ikeuchi - Executive Chef & Kazutoshi Nakasone - Chef de Cuisine were the mastermind behinds these unusual cuisines.
Given its lovely settings and unique dishes, BluMed is also a good venue to hold functions and events. As exempted from the press release, "The casual dining area seats approximately 160 patrons, inside and outside, whilst the upper floor only seats 60 intimately, with exclusive use of 2 private dining rooms."
Save for a few misses, BluMed offers a unique experience with the classical dishes but with a subtle but interesting twists.
Are you keen to share in this experience as well?
Thanks to BluMed, you will get a chance to try their special Squid Ink Spaghetti at 50% off! All you need to do is print out this image, bring it with you to BluMed and produce it upon ordering to get this special offer!
*Review was an invited event but the opinions and comments are the writer's own.


This thought hits home as my unseen flight ends with a trip over the ledge that marks the boundary of a small incline. Ahead of me, the tourists turn and politely ignore the unhurt figure in the dust, though others are laughing.
What was it that Jerome had said? 'Shamanic methods are ultimately kind…' The exactness of that hits home, and with it comes a realisation that the Shamanic world – really the objective world seen by the Shaman – is brutally centred in the now, but has an implicit trust in the motives, or rather, direction, of that living wave of Creation.
Conventional 'goodness' has nothing to do with it, though individual kindness does. Perhaps this is one of the secrets: that the true Shaman can swim skillfully enough in that flow to create a little eddy, a safe-moment, in which to slow the drowning of another?
Mistakes are fine – even wonderful, if you see them as signposts and don't sulk in the face of this tidal flow.
Manuel pauses while I pull myself to dusty knees and pretend I'm okay.
"It was a game with a purpose," says our gentle guide, waving his arms to indicate the vast open space in which our group are a tiny cluster of humanity along the south wing. He picks a quiet moment, then makes an animal-like clicking noise with his hands. A fraction of a second later, the noise bounces back from the Jaguar temple at the north end of the quadrangle to our open mouths, which collect the echo.
"The ball game could last for months, while the single winner was sifted from the best of the priests," he says, not even letting us reflect on this miracle of arcane acoustic engineering.
On my feet once more, I think about this. Months to score a single goal! What would it feel like to rise each day at dawn (for the priests didn't live within the complex), walk several miles to enter the city of the water magicians, to begin again the task of directing a heavy leather ball, cleanly, through a perfect circle of stone, placed eight metres off the ground on your side of an acoustically-perfect court much larger than a football pitch?
Difficult? Yes. But add to that the complexity of only being able to use your elbows, hips and thighs – no hands, head or feet, and difficult is dimensionally wrong.
Why? Just to create a winner, as Manuel is suggesting, with a smile that is too subtle?
With an authority whose origin may be the onset of heatstroke, I whisper the word "Trance." Only it doesn't come out a whisper; it slithers through parched lips and becomes an overly-loud hiss.
Tourists who have witnessed the dusty Englishman's fall from grace politely ignore this theatrical outburst, but the claws on my shoulders are rolling back time, and I've ceased to care what anyone thinks.
The shadow of a large, single feather casts itself over my head, reminiscent of the ancient carvings all around, and plays on the ground before me. I feel childishly proud of the thought I've just had, as though separation from others' expectations is somewhat central to this game of balls.
The spiritual blood of Chichen Itza surges within, and I know there's no going back. The shadows of other feathers – six in all – etch into the dust along the line of my sight.
I turn around in the flashing heat – for not to do so is more uncomfortable than to stand motionless. The force behind the claws acknowledges the rightness of this movement, and the centuries unwind with my spinning.
In a world that is eternally the same, though to me seems youthful, the newfound has become a player, out there in that vast arena, a player who is now the 'captain' and allowed to run along the raised edge that takes him an all-important measure nearer to the stone hole through which the ball must pass.
Pass… the ball is skilfully extracted from the melee by one of the veterans of my team of priests. Taking advantage of a deflection from the thigh of another, he whips his torso clockwise, using the elbow to cast the leather projectile a short distance ahead of my sprinting form.
There is silence…. though all are watching the appearance of the shadow of the seventh feather.
I'm glad it's working! Thank you.
Reblogged this on Sun in Gemini.
It will probably be Sunday before I can post the last part.
That's quite a comment, Allan – thank you!


With just 5 games remaining in the regular season, Real Murcia sit 4th in the table, and well placed to qualify for the promotion play-offs to La Liga. What is behind this dramatic turnaround?
The work of manager Julio Velazquez, Director of Football Chuti Molina and physio Luis Arnau is to be admired, whatever the rest of the season holds. Remember that this is a team that scraped to survival in 11/12, were relegated but saved by another team's irregularities in 12/13, and didn't even know which division that would compete in until 2 weeks before the season. Their success is also backgrounded by the clubs financial woes; they had to plan with the division's second lowest budget.
The lessons and errors of recent years seem to have been taken. The club appear to have given Chuti Molina a free reign to sign players, rather than having intervention from non-professionals. The signings, although not the known names that we fans so demand, evidently have a common factor; they are committed workers and team players. Gone are the internal conflicts of previous seasons – winning helps, but you can see that the squad all pull as one. Whenever a change needs to be made, the replacement fills the role perfectly. They all fit. They all support each other, even if they compete for the same place in the side (see the way the admirable Iván Moreno is the first man Wellington Silva seeks when he scores. I'm sure Iván would look for Wellington too. Or see the way the subs went potty when we scored our third on Saturday).
Not to be ignored is the outstanding way we finish games stronger than our rivals, and dramatically reduced injuries this season. This cannot be down to chance. Physically we are at another level, and the work of physio Luis Arnau and his team should be admired and given due credit.
Manager Julio Velázquez, after a difficult spell mid-season, has the team adding attacking spark and growing confidence to defensive solidity at exactly the right time of the season. The fact is we are very tough to beat, and always look likely to score. If we do qualify for the play-off, I can imagine any rival will want to avoid us. Over 2 games I can see us beating anyone once, but can they beat us?
Whatever the outcome, if we fade and finish 10th, if we catch Eibar in second, if we make the play-off and get beaten, if we get to the play-off and go up, the season must be considered a success, and must lead to continuity.
Continuity of management and backroom staff. Continuity of players. Continuity of work ethic. The same continuity if we stay in Segunda, or if we go up to Primera. If we do get that prize, then again learn from our past. Continuity. No sacking the manager half way through. If we struggle, continuity. He will get us promoted again the following season (like Lucas Alcaraz would have done). No wild spending. Let's get the club back on an even keel.
We as fans need to continue to back the team, even though we are few and the population of Murcia are more occupied with somebody elses' upcoming Champions league final. That is a lost battle. This team deserve our full backing, and are starting to get it.
Real Murcia – Mirandés. Sunday 11th May, 5 pm, Nueva Condomina. No excuses. Squeaky Bum Time.


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G is for Gravity
Posted by Samon July 27, 2017 July 27, 2017 in A-Z, Space, WritesLeave a comment
"Gravity pulls everything down"
Now we know what gravity doesn't do- let's take a look at what it does.
If it helps, you can think of the force of gravity as 'falling' into this thing – a gravity potential. If you're ever floating in the void of space and you've lost your keys again, simply having mass would be a good way to get them back | Image: AllenMcC
Before I get too stuck in I'm going to clarify- we've all heard of gravity right? Just in case you missed that class here is a quick reminder. Gravity is one of the many invisible forces acting upon us and our environment every minute of every day. We learn about it in the early days of school, but gravity is still hugely important to physicists. The famous Sir Isaac Newton had a 'eureka!' moment concerning the force – more on that later though.
Every object with mass has some gravitational pull (that includes you!) That means your own body is exerting its own force, however tiny, both on the clothes you are wearing, and on distant stars. But for gravity, a bigger mass means a bigger force. So you never need to worry about walking around with lots of small objects stuck to you simply because the gravitational pull created by the Earth is much, much stronger.
For humans, animals and absolutely everything we share our planet with, gravity pulls us towards the centre of Earth. It might seem pedantic but there is an important difference between pulling towards the centre of the Earth and pulling 'down'. An important law in physics, called Newton's Third Law, states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction".
Not to be pedantic, but the gravitational pull of Earth isn't the same everywhere: this image from NASA's GRACE mission shows the subtle differences across the Earth's surface | Image: NASA
Applying the law to gravity; the force you exert on the Earth (pulling the Earth towards your body), and the force the Earth exerts on you (pulling your body to the Earth's centre), are equal and opposite, keeping you firmly in place on the planet's surface. Understanding this principle helps us understand how gravity works when we scale things up.
So how does this come into play for the rest of the Solar System? Well, the Earth has a bigger mass than our moon – just as all the other planets have bigger masses than their moons. But the circular orbits the bodies make around each other mean that gravity doesn't simply cause the bodies to crash into each other. Instead, the force of gravity maintains the circular paths.
Another one of Newton's laws – the second this time – states that the acceleration of an object is equal to the force acting on it, divided by its mass. For planets and the moons, the force acting on both of them will be the same, but the mass of the planet will always be much larger. This means that the acceleration of the moon is much larger, making the path its' circular orbit much longer than that of the planet around it.
Fortunately there is one very important celestial body holding this all together (for our Solar System at least) and that is the Sun. The Sun has a by far the biggest gravitational pull which allows it to hold Earth and the other 7 planets (sorry, Pluto) in position. Due to their respective size and distance each of the planets will experience the gravitational pull from the Sun differently.
With so many laws with his name on them, it's no wonder Isaac Newton was a little uptight. It must have been the apple which probably didn't actually fall on his head | Image: Eden, Janine and Jim
Newton summed this all up nicely with yet another law: the law of gravitation. The equation calculates the gravitational force between two bodies using their two masses, the distance between them, and a gravitational constant Newton discovered himself. The law is still hugely important to astronomers today.
Hopefully this makes it clear why we shouldn't say that gravity pulls everything 'down'! I don't know exactly what is 'down' from our position in the cosmos but I'm not so sure I want to find out. In a way, it would be more correct to say that gravity pulls everything 'in'.
I've mentioned our old friend Sir Isaac Newton a lot now, and we heard about his famous apple at the very start. Legend has it that an apple fell on Newton's head and just like that, he understood gravity- but did it really happen? Well it certainly seems to be true that a falling apple did inspire Newton's work on gravity but there was no instant moment of understanding as the story seems to suggest.
The truth is that, whilst sheltering from the wrath of the bubonic plague at his family home in the countryside, a young Newton witnessed an apple fall from a tree. This sight led him to wonder, "Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground?" However it was not until around 20 years later that Newton first published this principle.
So that's one myth busted, and another classic example of science, or scientists, being inspired by nature.
See you next time for a futuristic post all about holograms!
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F is for Flying
Posted by Samon July 11, 2017 July 12, 2017 in A-Z, Technology, WritesLeave a comment
Don't listen to Jon Snow, summer is coming!
Whether you will spend your (hopefully) sunny days looking up at blue skies or jetting off on an adventure, one thing may cross your mind- how do those aeroplanes stay up there!? In this post we will learn a bit more about how aeroplanes get up, stay up and get back down again.
Plane wings: black magic sorcery, or a clever bit of engineering? (This isn't actually discussed in the article, it's obviously the second one)
This is one post I've been really looking forward to writing- I've been well and truly bitten by the travel bug and I can't think of a better feeling than the rush of the engines as your plane prepares to take off. It's certainly obvious from the noise of the engines and the speed of the objects flashing past outside that it takes a lot of force to get in the air but what changes between just going forwards really fast and flying?
In order to understand this (and everything else about flying) it's important to consider another very important F in the physics world- Forces. There are four key forces acting upon an aeroplane. Horizontally, there is thrust and air resistance. Thrust, generated by those powerful jet engines, propels the plane forwards. Air resistance, or drag, slows the plane down- like when you stick your head out of a car window and the air hits you hard in the face, that force increases the faster you go, and planes go very fast!
Vertically the plane is subject to gravity (more on that next time) and overcoming the weight of the plane which is a downwards force. The final force is lift. This is slightly less obvious but extremely important and keeps the plane in the air.
In order for the plane to change take off it needs to move forwards and upwards (we're talking passenger planes here- some military aircraft, like the Harrier, are capable of extremely short take offs.
We've got moving forwards covered thanks to the powerful jet engines providing enough thrust to overcome the force of drag. Moving upwards requires the cleverly designed wings to come into play. As air rushes over the wings it is thrown down towards the ground creating lift. In order to get off the ground, there must be enough lift created to overcome the weight of the plane due to gravity.
So when thrust is bigger than drag we go forwards and when lift overcomes the weight we go upwards. Very useful for take-off but we don't want to keep going up forever.
Enough is enough! I've had it with these stably-balanced forces on this stably-balanced plane! | Image: Amada44
The wings are shaped and angled to ensure that we stay up, without constantly rising, throughout the flight. The curved and thicker front of the wing is designed to ensure air is at a lower pressure above the wing and a higher pressure underneath. The angle of the wing effectively allows the plane to push down on the air which also helps it stay up- think about pushing down on the water in a swimming pool.
Once the pilot has reached the right altitude they can level out the aircraft and just keep moving forwards. As long as the vertical forces of lift and weight, and horizontal forces of thrust and drag are all balanced, the plane will cruise at a steady altitude at a constant speed.
Getting down again simply (easy for me to say!) requires the forces to be reversed. We now want to go slower so the thrust force can be reduced and drag is allowed to help with the braking. As we also want to get closer to earth we allow the weight of the plane to help. By changing the shape of the wing using flaps, you may have seen these during take-off and landing, the pilot can reduce the strength of the lift force and transfer the weight of the plane onto the wheels which are lowered in time for landing.
Of course, numerous other environmental factors make the business of flying a plane very difficult indeed, but with a little more knowledge of the physics pilots use to help them out you can now sit back, relax and enjoy the journey.
0 comments on "K is for Kepler"
K is for Kepler
Posted by ThoughtfulPharaohon April 3, 2015 August 2, 2015 in A-Z, Feature, Life, Society, Space, Technology, WritesLeave a comment
"Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife." Johannes Kepler
These words, written by Johannes Kepler in 1611, are profound. At the time, Galileo had just discovered the Galilean moons (including Europa) in Florence but was being persecuted for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun. Kepler, a staunch supporter of heliocentrism, was working as the Imperial Mathematician in Prague. When word that Galileo had used a telescope to find the moons reached Kepler, he was so fascinated and impressed that he wrote an enthusiastic letter of support and scrawled that pithy aphorism.
While Kepler enjoyed some social status as Imperial Mathematician and was much more free to contradict Aristotle than his Italian counterparts, his life was by no means a charmed one. The son of "an immoral, rough and quarrelsome soldier" (his own words), Kepler managed to carve himself a place in history based on his skill as a mathematician and astronomer. He kept on working through many family disasters, including the deaths of his wife and his seven year old son and a witch trial about his mother.
Kepler was a devout Christian and grew up Lutheran but was excommunicated due to his rejection of the Augsburg Confession. This left him neither a Lutheran nor a Catholic and between sides when the Thirty Years War broke out in 1618.
You've got to love that frilly collar. Just like Shakespeare! Actually, come to think of it, Kepler lived at the same time as Shakespeare. I wonder if they ever met and what they might say to each other at a dinner party. Image is public domain.
Despite all of this, Kepler revolutionized astronomy by formulating mathematical laws that accurately describe the motions of the planets. These are still taught in astronomy today and are called Kepler's Laws.
The first law is that planets orbit in ellipses with the sun at one focus. Before Kepler, most Western astronomers modelled the orbits of planets as circles and had to invoke a strange concepts like epicycles and equant points.
1. Planets orbit in ellipses, not circles. Image my own
The second law is that a line between a planet and a star will sweep out equal area in equal time. In other words, planets move faster when they are closer to their star and slower when they are further away. This law is better understood with a diagram:
2. Planets don't have constant speed Image by RJHall
The third law, formulated after the first two, is that the time it takes a planet to make an orbit (orbital period) is directly proportional to its distance from the star. This law allows astronomers to calculate how far a planet is from its star based only on information about the length of its year and the mass of the star. Remember this one, because it will become important later.
As you can see, Kepler's Laws are fundamental to our understanding of how planets move, or orbital dynamics. It will come as no surprise then that every young astronomer is all too familiar with Kepler's laws. This isn't the only reason he's familiar though. He is also shares a name with the most successful exoplanet hunter the world has ever produced. The Kepler Space Telescope.
Kepler: Planet Hunter is kind of like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Except more real. And frankly, a little more impressive. Image by Wendy Stenzel at NASA
Launched in 2009, the Kepler Space Telescope used 42 image sensors to continuously observe over 145,000 stars. Unlike a lot of other telescopes that try to take magnified images, Kepler wasn't interested in images. It wanted accurate data on brightness. It basically had a staring contest with these 145,000+ stars, waiting for them to blink. I say blink because Kepler was waiting for the brightness to go down and back up. The brightness of stars can vary for all sorts of reasons, but planets passing in front of their stars make the brightness dip in a particular way. This dip is called a transit and finding transits was Kepler's mission.
When a transit occurs, the size of the brightness dip corresponds to the size of the planet and the length of the dip corresponds to the time it takes a planet to orbit (as well as the size of the star). Remembering Kepler's third law, if we know the time it takes to orbit, we can figure out the distance to the star. And if we know the brightness of a star and the distance, we can figure out how much energy the planet receives. Plug all that in to a simple(ish) equation, and out pops temperature.
Stars, just like planets and people, come in all different shapes and sizes. That means light curves also vary widely. Image from Planethunters.org, a great citizen science project that combines people's natural pattern-finding ability with Kepler data to find planets.
So thanks to the Keplers (both Johannes and the Space Telescope) we can start to look for alien worlds that have temperatures similar to the ones we find here. The hope is that one day we will find evidence of life on another planet. And then we can begin our transition into any one of several sci-fi galactic civilizations (my personal favourite is Foundation, but some people prefer Star Wars, Star Trek, or Eve Online).
Unfortunately, in May 2013 one of the components that kept Kepler (the telescope) stable failed, meaning the mission was apparently over. The mission had been hugely successful, discovering over 1000 confirmed planets, with 4000 other planet candidates waiting to be confirmed. It turns out that most stars probably have planets and that a lot of planets in the galaxy might be the right temperature to be habitable.
Astronomers are nothing if not persistent though, so an ingenious method was devised to make sure Kepler can continue observing even without its stabilizer. This new mission, dubbed K2, uses the radiation pressure from the sun itself to balance the telescope. Instead of continuously observing the same 145 000 stars, K2s targets will change periodically as it orbits the sun. There will be far less data coming down, but as of this writing four new planets have already been found since K2 began in earnest in June 2014.
There's a lot of information there, but I think the most impressive bit is that K2 is metaphorically balancing a pencil on a fingertip, remotely, from 150 million km away. Image by NASA
Currently, while there are all sorts of really interesting exoplanets out there (from hot jupiters like 51 peg b to mirror earths like Kepler-438b), we have yet to find signs of life. But I think that before too long, we will. Just as the truth of heliocentrism eventually came out thanks to Kepler, a telescope with his name will be instrumental in uncovering the truth of life elsewhere in the universe. Just like he said,
"Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife" Johannes Kepler
0 comments on "J is for Jupiter's Great Red Spot"
J is for Jupiter's Great Red Spot
Posted by ThoughtfulPharaohon March 31, 2015 May 4, 2015 in A-Z, Feature, Space, WritesLeave a comment
If you look up in the night's sky and point even a simple pair of binoculars at Jupiter, like Galileo did with a rudimentary telescope 405 years ago, you will see what he did: a reddish-pink planet with swirling masses of clouds. These clouds are beautiful in their own right, but there is one particular feature that has drawn the eyes and the fascination of people for over four centuries. The Great Red Spot.
This swirling, gurgling red super-storm could fit three earths inside of it and has been raging on the gas giant ever since we've been keeping records. How it has lasted for so long and why it has such a different colour has long been a mystery.
In 2000, on the way to Saturn, an ESA mission called Cassini aimed to give us some clues when it flew within 9.7 million kilometres of Jupiter and looked more closely at the spot than we had ever done before or since. 9.7 million kilometres sounds like a lot, but consider that is only about 1% of the distance between Jupiter and Saturn. (As a side note, did you know that Jupiter and Saturn are further away from each other than Jupiter and Earth? I didn't!).
It might have looked kind of like this, but with Jupiter instead of Saturn in the background. Cassini's main mission was to study Saturn and its moons. Image by NASA
With its flyby, Cassini found out that the clouds that form the spot are up to eight kilometres higher than the surrounding clouds and started to understand the chemical composition of the clouds.
14 years later, in November 2014, NASA scientists released results that combine data from the Cassini flyby with lab experiments on Earth. They showed that the colour must come from the interaction of ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun and the ammonia and acetylene in the top layers of the storm. Once the red particles are produced, they are trapped by the circular winds of the storm. This overturns the previous theory that it was the bottom clouds which provided the colour. The NASA scientists compare the colour of the storm to a sunburn rather than a blush.
So, thanks to NASA and the Cassini mission, we have a better idea about how the spot gets its colour, but last spring the astronomy world was in a tizzy because news came that the spot has been shrinking.
That's some pretty serious shrinkage! Image by NASA
Since it is so noticeable, the storm has been recorded as far back as the 1800s, when it was believed to be about 41000 km across (roughly equal to the circumference of Earth). The most recent image, from 2014, puts the size at only 16500 km (less than the length of the great wall of China). Not only is it much smaller than it used to be, but the rate of shrinkage is increasing.
Totally 100% peer-reviewed recollection of secondary school math to figure out when the spot will disappear. Image my own
If my calculations are correct, and if the storm keeps shrinking the way it has been, it will disappear entirely in about 35 years, in 2059. That means we may be among the last people to ever see the spot that Galileo spied on that fateful night in 1610.
Instead of relying on me and my calculations, however, NASA sent a spacecraft to go investigate. Juno left in 2011 and by now is more than halfway to its destination. When it arrives in July 2016, Juno will study the gas giant in a variety of ways and hopefully get the bottom of this whole shrinking storm mystery.
Image by NASA


(CLOSED - WINNER ANNOUNCED SOON) Streak Gaming Holiday Gift Basket Raffle Drawing!
we are giving away a beautiful Holiday Gift Basket to one of our members!
Use it to treat yourself or gift it to someone special for the Holiday Season.
Just post in this thread that you would like to enter.
There is only one entry per member.
so hurry and get registered.
Winner will have 48 hrs to claim this prize!
as a member so you too will be eligible for these Raffles!
or to change the number and amount of prizes.
Prizes for this contest are paid out by Streak Gaming.
What a beautiful gift basket! Good luck everyone!
Sign me up please ! Thanks ..
Good morning everyone! will you please enter me in the contest, Thank you very much Have a Blessed Holiday, Be safe, and eat lot's of food Yummy.


The Sunday Times in Colombo has a recent article devoted to Dry Eye Syndrome titled Looking through a dry lens, an interview with Consultant Ophthalmologist Dr. Charith Fonseka from the Eye Hospital in Colombo.
"Dry eye syndrome is usually due to a problem with the quantity and/or quality of the tear film that lubricates the eyes," he says.
Bacteria due to an infection, blepharitis, along the eyelids or eyelashes could also breakdown the oil which in turn may result in an inadequate quantity of oil being present.
Aqueous tear deficiency could be caused by either poor production — due to age, hormonal changes or various autoimmune diseases such as primary Sjogren Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis or lupus — or excessive evaporation – due to an insufficient overlying lipid layer.
Everyone's needs are a little different, says Dr. Fonseka, with many finding relief simply by using artificial tears regularly. Preservative-free tears are recommended as they are the most soothing and have fewer additives that could be potential irritants.
Artificial tears and lubricating eye-drops and gels, available over-the-counter provide more moisture and lubrication for the surface of the eye. What a person needs to use will depend on what provides the best relief to that person.
Lubricating eye ointments could also be used. As they are thicker than drops and gels, they may provide relief longer but could also blur the vision if used during the day. "That's why they are recommended for use overnight while you sleep," he says.
Urging that it is important to treat dry eyes not only for comfort but also to maintain a healthy cornea, he says, hot compresses and eyelid scrubs/massages with baby shampoo help provide a thicker, more stable lipid layer. Used against meibomian gland dysfunction, rosacea or blepharitis, the heat from the compresses would warm up the oil in the glands, making it flow easily. "Massaging helps get the oil out of the glands and the cleaning process decreases the number of bacteria that breakdown the oil."
Pointing out that simple lifestyle changes can significantly improve dry-eye irritation, Dr. Fonseka says drink eight to 10 glasses of water everyday to keep the body hydrated and flush out the impurities. Blink frequently, especially when reading or watching TV and avoid rubbing the eyes which would worsen the irritation.
If your eyes are dry mainly while watching TV or reading, take frequent breaks, suggests Dr. Fonseka, to allow your eyes to rest and become moist. And his advice: Close your eyes for 10 seconds every 5-10 minutes and also blink to improve eye comfort.


NEARLY ALL OF THE STOCKS identified this week by Barron's as "cheap losers" posted solid gains in midday trading, led by Brooks Automation (BRKS), which rose 8%.
In the s feature entitled, "When the Market Turns, the Last Shall Be the First," Barron's Senior Editor Bill Alpert wrote that value stocks have underperformed the market by the greatest degree in 35 years.
"But that may mean a bunch of cheap losers are approaching the limits of lousy performance," he adds. "If the market turns, such a portfolio could act like an uncoiling spring."
Alpert went hunting for the cheapest, high quality stocks based on price-to-book value ratio and stock performance.
Barron's replicated a backtest model developed by Joe Mezrich, a quantitative analyst from Nomura Securities International. Mezrich's model had found "cheap losers" from four previous bear markets that ended up outperforming the broader market during subsequent recoveries by wide margins.
In this case, Alpert omitted financials because of suspect book values and cut out companies that have inventories that might have to be sold at a discount during a recession.
The 11 standouts were companies in areas from medical technology to industrial goods and chip making.
Brooks Automation, supplier of tech products to chip makers, rallied, while Affymetrix (AFFX), which designed "gene chips" to measure activity levels in different diseases, rose nearly 6%.
Affymetrix shares had fallen after missing sales forecast, but could gain momentum as its products are used by doctors developing more targeted therapies for cancer patients.
Griffon (GFF), a diverse manufacturer that received a cash infusion from Goldman Sachs, rose 5%.
A slew of other tech companies were identified and rallied as well.
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), chipdesign software leader, added 5%. Beaten up by the departure of its chief executive officer and four lieutenants, a management turnaround as this leading firm could add fire to the stock.
Exar (EXAR), a networking chipmaker, gained 5%. RF Micro Devices (RFMD), a leading supplier of amplifiers to wireless phones, and networking chipmaker Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) each rose 4%.
NEARLY ALL OF THE STOCKS identified this week by Barron's as "cheap losers" posted solid gains in midday trading, led by Brooks Automation (BRKS), which rose 8%.


Dominic Goyer studied cinema at Concordia University where he graduate with distinction. He then attend formation as a director at l'INIS. He wrote and directed Une robe blanche, a short film selected by more than a dozen festival around the world. He is actually writing L'Imprudence, the last chapter of Visites(a trilogy), and his first full-length film, Lièvres.


*This section explains how the learning plans can be loaded from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services into the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. This section also guides how the learning plans are used to get familiar with the topics loaded from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
A new form has been introduced for the users to load the learning plans from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services in business process modular structure. The Training plan manager or system administrator can load the tasks guides from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services and maintain it, provided he\she has the access to Business Process Modeler's from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services. For the other roles access of this form will be in read only mode.
Go to Help and Support > Learning plans.
Tree section: shows the business process modular's from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services in the tree structure, once users loads the data from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Learning plan section: shows the information for the selected business process modeler details. User can add the information in this section and save the details.
Load from LCS Provides the ability for user to load the Business Process Modeler's from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Save Button Saves the changes user has made on the form.
Play task guide This button helps in playing the task guides attached with the selected Business Process Modeler. If no task guide is attached to the Business Process Modeler, this button will be disabled.
Name Shows the name defined for the selected node in the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Description Shows the description defined for the selected node in the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Menu item name Shows the menu item associated with the Business Process Modeler for the selected node.
Open menu item Shows the link of the menu item associated with the Business Process Modeler for the selected node. On selecting, this will open the form or workspace as defined by the user. If the description contains table of form information, that will be shown in this field.
Online help Shows the online help link for the selected node. If the description contains a web address, that will be shown in this field.
This section outlines the process required to be completed in-order to setup and use the learning plans.
Training plan manager or system administrator logs into the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and load the Business Process Modeler's from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services. Note: Make sure the logged in user has the required access in the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Once the Business Process Modelers are loaded correctly, users are able to view the details in the learning plan form.
Select a node where a task guide is attached and hit Play task guide button.
User is taken to a new window with the steps from selected task guides displayed.
User then can start the task guide or back out, based on his selection.
If the user selects to start the task guide, task guide is loaded in the run mode and guides user to each step.
Perform the steps as mentioned the guide and exit once all the steps are completed.
User who is loading the business process modular's from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services has adequate access on the LCS to perform this action.
Any edits required to be made to the task guides must be done from the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
Structure for the loaded Business Process Modeler's will be as per the structure defined in the Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
The learning plan parameter and learning plans are company specific. If the user wants to set up learning plans in multiple companies then he needs to configure in each company.


text:
The Enemy of My Friend Is Easy to Remember: Balance as a Compression Heuristic
Matthew E. Brashears
Laura Aufderheide Brashears
Advances in Group Processes
Publication date: 13 July 2016
Research limitations/implications
We show that the tension/strain postulated to generate mental and behavioral responses to increase balance likely stems from cognitive limitations. More broadly, this connects balance theory to models of human cognition and evolution and suggests that human general processing ability may have evolved in response to social, rather than physical, challenges.
Balance theory
The authors wish to thank Emily Hoagland, Neil Lewis Jr., Joy Jiang, Soojin Park, Tom Seo, Khadija Ahmed, Matthew Sloan, Alex Eidson, Ashleigh Williams, and Sujay Alvencar for their assistance. The research was partially supported by a grant from the USA National Science Foundation (Award# 1059282). A preliminary version of this research was presented in the Laboratory for the Study of Social Interaction Seminar Series at the University of Georgia on October 2, 2015.
Brashears, M.E. and Brashears, L.A. (2016), "The Enemy of My Friend Is Easy to Remember: Balance as a Compression Heuristic", Advances in Group Processes (Advances in Group Processes, Vol. 33), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0882-614520160000033001
Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited


text:
\section{Introduction}
The problem of observables in classical and quantum gravity has generated a lot of discussions in the more recent past. It is, for example explicitly addressed in \cite{Rov1} and the companion paper \cite{Rov2}. Historically the problem is closely related to the so-called \tit{Einstein hole problem}, i.e. to some of the consequences of general covariance in general relativity (GR). To mention a few representative references, see e.g. \cite{Sta1},\cite{Sta2},\cite{No1},\cite{No2},\cite{Mac},\cite{Gaul} and also \cite{Rov1}.

The central question is the physical meaning of the points of the event manifold underlying GR. In contrast to pure mathematics this is a non-trivial point in physics. While in pure diffeential geometry one simply decrees the existence of, for example, a (pseudo-) Riemannian manifold with a differentiable structure (i.e., an appropriate cover with coordinate patches) plus a (pseudo-) Riemannian metric, $g$, the relation to physics is not simply one-one. In textbooks about GR it is frequently stated that all diffeomorphic (space-time) manifolds, $\mcal{M}$ are physically indistinguishable (see e.g. \cite{Ellis}). Put differently:
\beq S-T=Riem/Diff    \eeq
(cf. e.g. the discussion in \cite{Requ1}, which will become relevant in the following).

This becomes particularly virulent in the \tit{Einstein hole problem}. I.e., assuming that we have a region of S-T, free of matter, we can apply a local diffeomorphism which only acts within this \tit{hole}, letting the exterior invariant. We get thus in general two different metric tensors
\beq g(x)\quad , \quad g'(x):=\Phi_{\ast}\circ g(x)   \eeq
in the hole while certain inital conditions lying outside of the hole are unchanged, thus yielding two different solutions of the Einstein field equations (cf. e.g. the discussion in \cite{Rov1}).

Many physicists consider this to be a violation of determinism (which it is not!, se below) and hence argue that the class of observable quantities have to be drastically reduced  in (quantum) gravity theory. They follow the line of reasoning developed by Dirac in the context of \tit{gauge theory}, thus implying that GR is essentially also a gauge theory (see the discussion in \cite{Rov1} and \cite{Requ1}). This then winds up to the conclusion:
\begin{conclusion}(Dirac) observables in (quantum) gravity are quantities which are diffeomorphism invariant with the diffeomorphism group, $Diff$ acting from
$\mcal{M}$ to $\mcal{M}$, i.e.
\beq \Phi:\mcal{M}\rightarrow  \mcal{M}   \eeq
\end{conclusion}
\begin{ob}One should note that with respect to physical observations there is no violation of determinism. As we already emphasized in \cite{Requ1}, an observer can never really observe two different metric fields on one and the same space-time manifold. This can only happen on the mathematical paper. He will use a fixed measurement protocol, using rods and clocks in e.g. a local inertial frame where special relativity locally applies and then extend the results to general coordinate frames. In the following (see also \cite{Requ1}) we discuss this aspect in the context of spontaneous symmetry breaking.
\end{ob}

We get a certain orbit under $Diff$ if we start from a particular manifold $\mcal{M}$ with a metric tensor $g$ and take the orbit
\beq \{\mcal{M},\Phi_{\ast}\circ g\}   \eeq
In general we have additional fields and matter distributions on $\mcal{M}$ which are transformd accordingly.
\begin{ob}Note that not even scalars are invariant in general in the above sense, i.e., not even the Ricci scalar is observable in the Dirac sense:
\beq R(x)\neq \Phi_{\ast}\circ R(x)  \eeq
in the generic case. Thus, this would imply that the class of admissible observables can be pretty  small (even empty!). Furthermore, it follows that points of $\mcal{M}$ are not a priori distinguishable.
\end{ob}
On the other hand, many authors consider the Ricci scalar at a point to be an observable quantity.

This discussion winds up to the question whether GR is a true gauge theory or perhaps only apparently so at a first glance, while on a more fundamental level it is something different. Note the discussion of Kuchar and DeWitt at the Osgood Hill Conference 1988, mentioned by Rovelli in \cite{Rov1}, see also \cite{Sta1}, loc.cit. the discussion after the talk by Rovelli:
\begin{quote}(Kuchar): Quantities non-invariant under the full diffeomorphism group are observable in gravity.
\end{quote}
The reason for these apparently diverging opinions stems from the role reference systems are assumed to play in GR with some authors arguing that the gauge property of general coordinate invariance  is only of a formal nature.

In the hole argument it is for example argued that it is important to add some particle trajectories which cross each other, thus generating concrete events on $\mcal{M}$. As these point events transform accordingly under a diffeomorphism, the distance between the corresponding coordinates $x,y$ equals the distance between the transformed points $\Phi(x),\Phi(y)$, thus being a Dirac observable. On the other hand, the coordinates $x$ or $y$ are not observable.
\begin{bem}One should note that this observation is somewhat tautological in the realm of Riemannian geometry as the metric is an absolute quantity, put differently (and somewhat sloppily), $ds^2$ is invariant under passive and by the same token active coordinate transformation (diffeomorphisms) because ,while conceptually different, the transformation properties under the latter operations are defined as in the passive case.
\end{bem}
In the case of GR this absolute quantity enters via the \tit{equivalence principle}. I.e., distances are measured for example in a local inertial frame (LIF) where special relativity holds and are then generalized to arbitrary coordinate systems.

We think, the observations we made in \cite{Requ1} make it possible to give this question a new twist in favor of the point of view that gauge invariance is not! a relevant criterion.
\section{The Space-Time Manifold as a reconstructed derived Object}
We start our analysis with a brief discussion how a space-time manifold is actually (re)constructed as an idealized abstract object in GR. We think it is useful to emphasize the following point because in present day differential geometry just the opposite point of view is usually emphasized.
\begin{ob}In (mathematical) differential geometry the coordinate-free method is strongly favored and has also influenced the modern representation in the physics textbooks. I.e., coordinates and coordinate methods are frequently considered to be of a somewhat inferior value.
\end{ob}

We think in physics another, dual, point of view should also be discussed, i.e., manifolds as abstracted from so-called \tit{identifcation spaces}. Let us start from a cover of coordinate patches, $\{U_i\}$, which result from the introduction of a class of overlapping reference systems and observers. We can then define \tit{identification maps}, $ \phi_j^i$, from a subset $U_j^i\subset U_j$ to a subset $U_i^j\subset U_i$, i.e. in our case, the overlap region  with $ \phi_j^i$ being homeomorphisms. We then take the \tit{disjoint sum} $\bigsqcup U_i$ and define an equivalence relation on  $\bigsqcup U_i$:
\beq U_i\ni x\sim y\in U_j   \eeq
if there exists a  $ \phi_j^i$ of the above kind with $\phi_j^i(y)=x$.

This new space of equivalence classes we call $\mcal{M}$ and endow it with the canonocal quotient topology induced by the canonical map:
\beq \bigsqcup U_i\rightarrow\mcal{M}   \eeq
I.e., a set, $\mcal{O}\subset\mcal{M}$ is open if $\phi^{-1}(\mcal{O})$ is open in $\bigsqcup U_i$. This means that each $\phi^{-1}(\mcal{O})\cap U_i$ is open in $U_i$.
\begin{ob}We see from this construction, which is nearer to concrete laboratory physics, that $\mcal{M}$ is not the initial object in physics to start from but rather a reconstructed and derived abstract structure of a somewhat indirect ontological existence.
\end{ob}
\section{The spontaneously broken Diffeomorphism Group  in (Quantum) Gravity and the Role of the Metric Field}
If GR is really a full-fledged gauge theory in the strict sense of the word, then the arguments in favor of Dirac observables are inescapable. However, in \cite{Requ1} we developed a different point of view. We compared the situation of diffeomorphism invariance in GR with the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in other fields (as e.g. many-body theory) and showed that they are completely equivalent.

Briefly resuming the results derived in \cite{Requ1} we arrived at the following conclusion:
\begin{ob}The order parameter (field) in GR is the metric field, $g$. I.e., $Diff$ is spontaneously broken if a non-vanishing $g$ exists. That means, the symmetric phase is a space (or manifold) without a physically acting metric field. The different non-vanishing metric fields resulting from the application of $Diff$ on some $g$, describing our ordinary S-T, lable the different broken phases (in this particular language). The Goldstone excitations are the gravitons.
\end{ob}

In contrast to the picture of GR as a gauge theory and \tit{admissible observables} of the Dirac type, we now have the following:
\begin{ob} The fully symmetric phase (vanishing $g$) corresponds to the situation in which GR behaves as a gauge theory.
\end{ob}
In order to apply the methods of SSB appropriately to this field we have to regard classical GR as a coarse-grained \tit{effectice theory} of an underlying more fundamental quantum theory of S-T (called quantum gravity). While this latter theory does not yet exist in a fully developed form, we will need in the follwing only very few concepts which should occur in any future theory.
\begin{assumption}We assume that the presumed underlying quantum theory of S-T is a theory of many microscopic degrees of freedom (DoF). There exists a quantum observable, $\hat{g}(x)$, the expectectation value of which is the classical metric field, $g(x)$
\beq <\hat{g}(x)>:=g(x)   \eeq
\end{assumption}
\begin{bem} $\hat{g}(x)$ itself can possibly be an average over a certain cluster of more microscopic DoF.
\end{bem}

While in the symmetric, unbroken phase we have
\beq <\hat{g}(x)>=0   \eeq
in the broken phases (which represent our classical S-T of ordinary GR) it holds on the other hand:
\beq  <\hat{g}(x)>\neq 0  \eeq
with the rhs depending on the particular phase.

In \cite{Requ1} we discussed SSB in GR  in the local version, which is, furthermore, a little bit nearer to the situation in ordinary SSB in e.g. many-body physics. In the local version the gauge group, $Diff$, is replaced by $GL(n,\R)$, which represents the action of the functional matrix, $\partial y/\partial x$ of the diffeomorphism $\Phi$ on the various tensor quantities of the theory.  It acts in particular on the local frames of the corresponding frame bundle (cf. \cite{Requ1} for more details). We select local inertial frames (LIF) in which gravity locally vanishes and which transform into each other via the Lorentz group, $L_+^{\uparrow}(n,\R)$.
\begin{ob}The coset space
\beq GL(n,\R)/L_+^{\uparrow}(n,\R)   \eeq
labels the manifold of broken phases and is in a one-one correspondence with the metric field $g(x)$.
\end{ob}

One should note that the phenomenon of SSB in GR is more involved as e.g. in (quantum) many-body physics. There exist two options. We can employ the group $Diff$ and as the subgroup of unbroken or conserved symmetries with respect to a given order parameter field $g$ we take the isomorphisms relative to $g$, i.e., the transformations $\Psi$ with
\beq \Psi_{\ast}\circ g(x)=g(x)   \eeq
\begin{bem}Note that this subgroup can in general be very small, depending on the properties of the used metric.
\end{bem}
For the transformed metric fields, lying in the orbit of $g$, the invariance group is then made up of
\beq  \Phi\circ\Psi\circ\Phi^{-1}   \eeq
This is exactly as in ordinary SSB. I.e., the conserved symmetries leave the order parameter invariant and the different order parameters have corresponding invariance groups as in the above case.

On the other hand, we can employ the local point of view in which we consider instead the local action of the symmetries in the bundle formalism.
In this approach slightly different and perhaps more fundamental properties are elucidated. One should note that the second point of view is not simply the restriction of the first approach to the local situation. The two viepoints are related but not completely identical. This holds in particular with respect to the technical details.
\begin{ob}The crucial property in GR is the existence of LIF in the presence of a pseudo-Riemannian metric. In these LIF a local observer does not experience a gravitational field. This gravitational field is however present in the generic case in non-inertial reference frames.
\end{ob}
The following remark, while being seemingly obvious, is made to characterize again the difference between the unbroken, symmetric phase and the situation where we have a manifold of broken phases.
\begin{conclusion}We infer that the symmetric phase (vanishing $g$-field) is the phase where a gravitational field is generally absent while with a non-vanishing $g$-field it is only absent in the LIF with their restricted symmetry group of Lorentz transforms.
\end{conclusion}

From our experience with SSB in the many-body regime we know that the emergence of a non-vanishing order parameter implies the corresponding emergence of long-lived collective Goldstone modes. In our case we identify the \tit{gravitons} as these \tit{collective excitations}. In these collective excitations many individual microscopic DoF act coherently together, that is:
\begin{conclusion}The existence of a classical non-vanishing metric field, $g(x)$, implies that the whole underlying \tit{quantum vacuum}, QX, changes its microscopic fine structure compared to the case with $<\hat{g}(x)>=0$, that is, the symmetric case.
\end{conclusion}

For our general discussion of admissible observables in (quantum) gravity theory we can now conclude the following. If diffeomorphism invariance in GR is in fact a case of SSB and not a pure gauge phenomenon, all observables, occurring in the symmetric phase, remain admissible observables in the broken phases while their expectation values become in general phase dependent. Furthermore, it is possible that in the broken phases more (classical) Dirac observables will exist as a consequence of the non-vanishing of the order parameter field $g$. Take for example the distance between events, discussed above. Without a metric, this concept does not make sense.
\begin{conclusion}In the broken phases, i.e., $<\hat{g}(x)>=g(x)\neq 0$, we have two classes of observables, a smaller class of Dirac observables which is still invariant under the full symmetry group $Diff$, and the class of admissible observables which are not invariant under the full diffeomorphsm group but for example under the smaller subgroup of isomorphisms of the particular metric tensor $g$ (the conserved symmetries in the language of SSB). All scalar functions of $g$ belong to this latter class. In the local picture the description is a little bit different, a particular role being played by the Lorentz group.
\end{conclusion}

These latter observables are fully admissible, in contrast to the opinion of quite a few experts in the field as can be seen by the following example taken from ordinary SSB. Take e.g. a spin system with the broken phases given by the orientation of the \tit{spontaneous magnetization}
\beq  \vec{m}(x):=<\vec{S}(x)> \quad\text{with}\quad  \vec{m}(x)=  const  \eeq
 With $\vec{e}(x)$ the unit vector in the $\vec{m}(x)$-direction the rotations about  $\vec{e}(x)=\vec{e}$  are unbroken and leave the expectation of all observables invariant, i.e.:
\beq   <R_{\vec{e}}(A)>=<A>    \eeq
while a general rotation rotates also the direction of $\vec{m}$:
\beq   <R(\vec{S})>\neq<\vec{S}>    \eeq
\begin{bem}Warning: the technical details are actually not that simple. In the broken symmetry case the broken symmetries or their generators are not well-defined operators in the Hilbert spaces under discussion (for more details see \cite{Requ2} and the references given there). Their existence is only a formal one.
\end{bem}
\section{Conclusion}
We argued that \tit{diffeomorphism invariance} should rather be considered as a case of SSB with the gravitons as Goldstone modes (cf. \cite{Requ1}). This is consistent with the lesson (taught e.g. by Einstein) that GR should be a generally covariant theory and that all
\beq (\mcal{M},g)\; ,\; (\Phi(\mcal{M}),\Phi_{\ast}(g))     \eeq
are physically indistinguishable. We explained this in detail in \cite{Requ1}. That is, for internal observers in the case of SSB (i.e., for observers living within  the various broken phases) everything looks identical provided they use adapted coordinate systems. That means, if the various observers use coordinate systems which are transformed accordingly. An external observer, using a fixed coordinate system, observes the different (expectation) values of spontaneously broken observables. In case of diffeomorphism invariance these are the various transformed metric tensors, taken at the same point in $\mcal{M}$. The former case applies if the points in $\mcal{M}$ are transformed as well. That is, there are observables in classical and quantum gravity which are not! diffeomorphism invariant.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Not long after I posted this, NRO's Tim Cavanaugh posted this excellent analysis. In fact, the post-disaster analysis that's been accumulating is even better than the initial disaster, its richness and flavor improving as it marinates, some of it is even injection-basted. I'm starting a list of links. Watch this space for updates.
Zerlina Maxwell Will Believe Anything.