text:
bool CollisionManager::isPaddleCollision(Ball &ball, const Paddle &paddle)
{
	float paddleXMin = paddle.getPaddle().getGlobalBounds().left;
	float paddleXMax = paddleXMin + paddle.getPaddle().getGlobalBounds().width;
	float paddleYMin = paddle.getPaddle().getGlobalBounds().top;
	float paddleYMax = paddleYMin + paddle.getPaddle().getGlobalBounds().height;

	float ballX = ball.getBall().getPosition().x;
	float ballY = ball.getBall().getPosition().y + ball.getBall().getRadius();

	if ((ballX >= paddleXMin) && (ballX <= paddleXMax) && (ballY >= paddleYMin) && (ballY <= paddleYMax))
	{
		float midPaddleX = paddle.getPaddle().getPosition().x;
		if (ballX < midPaddleX)
		{
			ball.setHorizontalDirection(true);
			ball.setPercentOfDegreesDifInDecimal(static_cast<double>(((midPaddleX - ballX) / (midPaddleX - paddleXMin))));
		}
		else if (ballX > midPaddleX)
		{
			ball.setHorizontalDirection(false);
			ball.setPercentOfDegreesDifInDecimal(static_cast<double>(((ballX - midPaddleX) / (paddleXMax - midPaddleX))));
		}
		else
		{
			ball.setPercentOfDegreesDifInDecimal(0.0);
		}
		return true;
	}
	return false;
}

bool CollisionManager::isBlockCollision(Ball &ball, const sf::RectangleShape &block)
{
	float blockLeft = block.getGlobalBounds().left;
	float blockRight = blockLeft + block.getGlobalBounds().width;
	float blockTop = block.getGlobalBounds().top;
	float blockBottom = blockTop + block.getGlobalBounds().height;

	sf::Vector2f ballTopCenter(ball.getBall().getPosition().x, ball.getBall().getGlobalBounds().top);
	sf::Vector2f ballBottomCenter(ball.getBall().getPosition().x, ball.getBall().getPosition().y + (ball.getBall().getRadius()));
	sf::Vector2f ballLeftCenter(ball.getBall().getGlobalBounds().left, ball.getBall().getPosition().y);
	sf::Vector2f ballRightCenter((ball.getBall().getPosition().x + ball.getBall().getRadius()), ball.getBall().getPosition().y);

	if (ball.getVerticalDirection() == true)
	{
		if ((ballTopCenter.x >= blockLeft) && (ballTopCenter.x <= blockRight) && (ballTopCenter.y >= blockTop) &&
			(ballTopCenter.y <= blockBottom))
		{
			ball.setVerticalDirection(false);
			return true;
		}
	}
	else
	{
		if ((ballBottomCenter.x >= blockLeft) && (ballBottomCenter.x <= blockRight) && (ballBottomCenter.y >= blockTop) &&
			(ballBottomCenter.y <= blockBottom))
		{
			ball.setVerticalDirection(true);
			return true;
		}
	}

	if ((ballLeftCenter.x >= blockLeft) && (ballLeftCenter.x <= blockRight) && (ballLeftCenter.y >= blockTop) &&
		(ballLeftCenter.y <= blockBottom))
	{
		ball.setHorizontalDirection(false);
		return true;
	}

	else if ((ballRightCenter.x >= blockLeft) && (ballRightCenter.x <= blockRight) && (ballRightCenter.y >= blockTop) &&
		(ballRightCenter.y <= blockBottom))
	{
		ball.setHorizontalDirection(true);
		return true;
	}

	return false;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home / KARL LAGERFELD
Gray Black Silk Blouse Top
Blue sleeveless vest sweater
Blue full zip cardigan sweater
Green wool turtleneck sweater
Gray crew-neck pullover sweater
Blue v-neck pullover sweater
Bordeaux v-neck pullover sweater
Green v-neck pullover sweater
Gray wool cardigan sweater
Blue wool cardigan sweater
Black wool cardigan sweater
Red wool cardigan sweater
Blue wool crewneck pullover sweater
Black crewneck pullover sweater
Karl Otto Lagerfeld, who is thought to be one of the most influential designers of all times, was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1933. He stepped into the fashion industry at the age of 17, winning the Fashion Design Competition with a coat design that impressed Pierre Balmain, who not only produced it, but also hired Lagerfeld as his assistant. And this was only the beginning. He continued working as an art director for Jean Pateu, but soon became the first designer to work freelance, which was considered pioneering at the time. He also collaborated with Fendi until his death, where he undoubtedly left his mark. Constantly thinking out of the box and being ahead of his time, he included fur into casual clothing, a fabric, which up to then was considered formal. While he also worked for Chloé and was the first to collaborate with H&M for an exclusive collection, his most tremendous impact was as a fashion director for Chanel. After the death of Coco Chanel, the house was about to collapse, and if it was not for Lagerfeld it might have. Watching people's tendency to approve of more modern designers, Karl modernized the classic Chanel pieces, without ever depriving them of their identity. He also was the one to create and incorporate the now iconic double c monogram in almost every Chanel piece.
Karl Lagerfeld died in 19 February of 2019 and led the fashion world and his cat Choupette into mourning. Karl, as he declared, had fallen in love with his cat. He made sure she lived like a queen with her own bodyguard and two maids and even said she would inherit a part of his riches.
Why choose Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld also held his own label. Known for his statement style with his white ponytail, dark sunglasses, high collars, fingerless gloves, rings, black and white looks and monochromes, his brand is a way to dive into his world and share his revolutionary perspectives. His collection includes women's and men's ready to wear with a French inspiration and a rock-chic sense. Known for his "high fashion and high camp" combinations, Lagerfeld always had his way of embracing the old and twisting it into contemporary.
Lagerfeld's best 5 quotes:
"I design like I breathe. You don't ask to breathe. It just happens."
"Fashion is a train that waits for nobody. Get on it, or it's gone."
"I don't believe in lifetime achievement. For me it is all about the next collection."
"Is there something healthier than competition? If not, you fall asleep and think success, and what you did, is granted. Nothing is granted in fashion, and this is what I love about fashion."
"Everybody should go to bed like they have a date at the door."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


With millions of new voters heading to the polls this November and many states introducing new voting technologies, election officials and voting monitors say they fear the combination is likely to create long lines, stressed-out poll workers and late tallies on Election Day.
At least 11 states will use new voting equipment as the nation shifts away from touch-screen machines and to the paper ballots of optical scanners, which will be used by more than 55 percent of voters.
About half of all voters will use machines unlike the ones they used in the last presidential election, experts say, and more than half of the states will use new statewide databases to verify voter registration.
With Senator Barack Obama's candidacy expected to attract many people who have never encountered a voting machine, voting experts and election officials say they are worried that the system may buckle under the increased strain.
Some areas, including Baltimore, ran out of paper ballots either in 2006 or in this year's primaries and plan to order many more this fall.
Ohio plans to add paper backups in case its electronic machines break down again, as they did in 2004, creating long lines. New Jersey, New York and California, among other states, face shortages of poll workers or the money to pay for them.
Voting rights advocates are working with officials in Florida, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania to try to prevent the kind of ballot design problems that added to the loss of around 12,000 votes in this year's presidential primary in Los Angeles County and 18,000 votes in a 2006 Congressional race in Sarasota County, Fla.
Poll worker training and ballot design will be more important than ever this year. The election commission has predicted that at least two million poll workers will be needed in November, double the number in the 2004 presidential election. In New Jersey, election officials placed advertisements in newspapers asking people to sign up to work the polls. In California, election officials posted pleas on the Internet.
But many states face budget problems that make it hard to recruit poll workers. New York City election officials have said they lack the money to pay the estimated 8,000 additional poll workers needed in November. Several states have resorted to recruiting high school students.
Ms. Rodriguez said that the high level of turnover in the people who run state and local elections was also a concern. More than two-thirds of the election directors in the nation's 50 largest counties were new to the office in 2004, and the number may be even higher now, according to Election Data Services, a Washington consulting firm that tracks voting trends.
Many voters heading to the polls in November will receive a paper ballot for the first time. The ballots are counted by optical scanners and provide a more reliable paper trail than touch-screen machines in case of a dispute or a malfunction.
A third of voters will use touch-screen machines, down from 38 percent in 2006, while about 55 percent of voters will use paper ballots read by optical-scan machines, up from 49 percent of voters in 2006, said Kimball W. Brace, president of Election Data Services.
The main issue with the paper ballots will be their unfamiliarity to voters, not the technology itself. Ideally, in fact, paper ballots could reduce lines at polling places, because election officials would not have to set up a limited number of expensive touch-screen machines in each booth. Paper ballots require only a writing surface, and far fewer optical-scan machines are needed to count them.
But poll workers will have to explain the system to new voters and make certain to print and distribute enough paper ballots for each polling place. In the past, shortages of paper ballots or electronic machines have been a common cause of long lines and people leaving the polling places without voting, said Adam Fogel, a program director at FairVote, a voting rights advocacy group.
"For us, the issue isn't what type of machines will be used but how they are distributed," Mr. Fogel said.
He said election officials must be nimble enough to send extra ballots or machines to precincts experiencing heavy turnouts. But a report to be released in August by FairVote says that many swing states have been unable to do that.
The swing states that experienced the longest lines, including Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, lack uniform rules for distributing machines and ballots, the report says. Most states allocate machines and ballots in August, two months before most of the major registration drives are completed, according to the report.
"Allocating enough ballots and machines is a tricky science under any circumstances, but especially when turnout is proving to be so unpredictable," said Tova A. Wang, vice president for research at Common Cause, a voting rights advocacy group.
In Baltimore, election officials so underestimated turnout in the 2006 primary that polling places ran out of ballots by midday and voters ended up using random pieces of paper, including campaign literature, as ballots, she said.
In Albuquerque, on the other hand, voting officials overestimated turnout in the primaries last month and had to shred more than $1.2 million worth of unused ballots, Ms. Wang said, adding that states should probably still err on the side of ordering more, not fewer.
Although most of the 30 states with touch-screen machines still do not plan to provide backup paper ballots, others, including Ohio, will do so for the first time in a presidential election. In 2004, hundreds of voters in Knox County, Ohio, many of them Kenyon College students, had to wait more than nine hours after one of the two voting machines at their polling place just off campus broke down. There were reports of lines where the wait was several hours long in at least three other counties.
"We refuse to let that happen," said Jennifer L. Brunner, the Ohio secretary of state, who plans to instruct all counties that use touch-screen machines to order backup paper ballots equal to at least a quarter of the votes cast there in the last presidential election.
Ohio now permits no-fault absentee voting, Ms. Brunner said, which means voters no longer have to provide an excuse to cast an absentee ballot, either in person or through the mail starting 35 days before Election Day.
Thirty other states permit no-excuse absentee voting and a third of voters nationally are expected to vote early or absentee in the next election, experts say.
Larry Norden, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said he was concerned with the design of this year's ballots. Too often, Mr. Norden said, voters are confused by ballots with instructions written in unclear legal jargon, lists of candidates that span more than one column, boxes that can be checked on either side of a candidate's name, or vague borders that fail to distinguish one electoral contest from another.
Jonah H. Goldman of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said the high turnout and surge of new voters were likely to cause bottlenecks as eligible voters arrive at the polls and find their names are missing from the databases that election officials are using to check registration.
In the primaries, reports from at least 12 states said eligible voters ran into that problem.
The new computerized databases, required by a 2002 federal law, were meant to provide uniformity in how states run elections. By coordinating with other state lists, officials can more easily remove from the rolls people who have died, changed residence or been convicted of felonies, to help reduce fraud. But the purges also occur with little oversight, and errors can be significant.
Mr. Goldman said his organization was closely watching Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, because those states have purged hundreds of thousands of voters since 2006.


text:
All items from October 2020
29 Oct 2020 : Dishwasher or washing up bowl. Which is really better for the environment? #
Last week I considered whether I should be buying stuff in plastic packaging in preference to glass. So since I've started this game, I thought it would be good to move on a step and look at another part of my life.
The rented flat where I live comes with a dishwasher, but I've never actually used it. The main reason is that I don't have enough crockery to fill it, but maybe I should? I've been told in discussion, and also by advertisements, that using a dishwasher is more ecological than washing up by hand. This always seemed a bit implausible to me, but maybe it's true?
Let's find out.
First of all, how much energy is needed to do a batch of washing up? This depends on what you do, but my washing up regime is pretty consistent: I fill the sink with water that's as hot as I'm comfortable splooshing around in. I never use more than one sink's-worth since, as I already mentioned, I don't have much crockery anyway.
To work out how much energy it takes for me to wash up we need two things: the amount of water, and the temperature increase of the water.
For the amount I filled the sink using my kettle. It took a total of six kettle-cycles. Each cycle I weighed the kettle before and after and recorded the weight difference. Adding up all of these differences gave me the total weight of water that went into the sink: $10.234\ {\rm kg}$.
The temperature I find comfortable in the sink is $38^{\circ} {\rm C}$, which is a raise of $18^{\circ} {\rm C}$ (or 18 Kelvin) above room temperature.
A quick skim of the Web reveals that the specific heat capacity of water at this temperature is $4179.6\ {\rm J}\ {\rm kg}^{-1}\ {\rm K}^{-1}$.
So, to calculate the energy $E_S$ required (where $S$ stands for sink), we need to multiply everything together like so.
\begin{align}
E_S &= 4179.6\ {\rm J}\ {\rm kg}^{-1}\ {\rm K}^{-1} \times 10.234\ {\rm kg} \times 18\ {\rm K} \\
&= 769932\ {\rm J} \\
&= 770\ {\rm kJ}.
\end{align}
That's the first half of our comparison. Now we need the energy $E_D$ used by the dishwasher (I'll leave you to figure out what the $D$ stands for). The diswasher is an AEG F77420W0P (energy efficiency class A++) and luckily the dishwasher manual has a handy table that lists the energy requirements of the different modes. The table only has the values in kilowatt hours, but this is just a different unit for measurement energy. In fact $1\ {\rm kWh} = 3.6 \times 10^6\ {\rm J}$, so we can calculate the kJ by multiplying the kWh values by 3600.
Energy (kWh)
Water (l)
ECO 0.7 2520 9.9
Auto 0.5 — 1.2 1800 — 4320 6.0 — 11.0
PRO 1.3 — 1.4 4680 — 5040 11.0 — 13.0
I don't know what these different modes — ECO, Auto and PRO — are for, but let's assume we'd be using the ECO setting. This means that for my dishwasher, in ECO mode, we have $E_D = 2520\ {\rm kJ}$.
And now we have what we need to do a comparison.
A washing up session takes $770\ {\rm kJ}$ whereas a dishwasher load takes $2520\ {\rm KJ}$; one dishwasher load is the equivalent of 3.27 sinks of washing up. My dishwasher is of the slim variety, but it still holds up to 14 plates, plus a bunch of other stuff. So if I wash at least 5 plates with each sink of water, then the sink will end up being more ecological in the long run. That's not unreasonable and suggests to me that in fact, the sink and dishwasher are fairly similar in terms of their energy use.
However, another factor is the water usage. The manual states that 9.9 litres of water are needed for an ECO load. That's the same amount as a single dish washing session in the sink, so the comparison here is in favour of the dishwasher.
To summarise, it does indeed seem that if you're doing a full load, you'd be better off (environmentally speaking) using the dishwasher. If you're doing less than a full load, the sink could well be better.
None of this includes the energy needed to build the dishwasher. According to this article in The Guardian, for an appiance that lasts 10 years this could add an extra 20% environmental cost, but I've not seen the calcuations and I couldn't find the actual figures for my dishwasher, so I'm not including that here.
These numbers are also all rather specific to my situation of course. A bigger dishwasher might be more efficient. For me, it's a little academic, since it would impossible for me to fill the dishwasher, so the future for me is clear: more washing up.
26 Oct 2020 : Glass or plastic. Which is really better for the environment? #
For the last 14 months I've been collecting data about how much rubbish I produce, broken down into various categories (paper, card, glass, metal, returnables, compost, plastic and general). I've had two aims: first to gather data about how much rubbish I generate and second to try to reduce my overall output for environmental reasons.
One of the encouraging things about this process is that it seems to have worked. If I look at my waste output between mid-August and mid-October 2020 and compare it to the same period last year, my output has reduced from an average of 366 g per day to 126 g per day, a two thirds decrease. Here's the breakdown of how the two years compare across the categories.
I've been using a variety of different techniques to achieve this. For example my tolerance for eating food past it's best-before date has increased considerably. There's a sticker above my letter box asking not to receive any junk mail. I also buy food with lighter packaging: cardboard packets of beans instead of tins, cartons of wine instead of bottles. Wherever possible I buy plastic pots and bottles instead of glass.
Glass is really heavy, so cutting it out has been a really easy way to reduce the weight of my waste and as you can see from the graph, this is where I made my biggest decrease. But for many this choice will seem controversial, and many times when I've picked a plastic bottle from the shelf at the grocer instead of glass, I've wondered whether I was driven more by hitting my weight targets than any real environmental benefits.
So I thought I'd better look into the relative environmental impacts of glass as compared to plastic. Plastic has had a bad rap recently for having a terrible impact on the marine environment. But this is rather emotive, and is only one facet of the environmental impact of a product. Actually figuring out the full life cycle environmental impact of something is fiendishly difficult. You have to consider the production costs, transportation costs, recycling costs and much more besides. Happily Roberta Stefanini, Giulia Borghesi, Anna Ronzano and Giuseppe Vignali from the University of Parma have done all of this hard work already. Their paper "Plastic or glass: a new environmental assessment with a marine litter indicator for the comparison of pasteurized milk bottle", recently published in the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, compares the environmental impact of glass and plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) across a range of environmental factors for the full life cycle of the packaging. This includes comparing non-recycled PET with recycled PET (R-PET) bottles, as well as non-returnable glass and returnable glass bottles.
The indicators used for comparison are "global warming (kg CO2 eq), stratospheric ozone depletion (kg CFC11 eq), terrestrial acidification (kg SO2 eq), fossil resource scarcity (kg oil eq), water consumption (m3) and human carcinogenic toxicity (kg 1.4-DCB)". In addition they also introduce a new marine litter indicator (MLI).
What they find is surprisingly clear-cut. Across all of the indicators apart from MLI the same pattern emerges: R-PET is the least environmentally damaging, followed by PET. Returnable glass bottles follow, with non-returnable glass bottles the worst by a large margin. We can see this in the six graphs below. There's a lot of detail in them, but I wanted to include them in full because it's fascinating to see both how complex the results are and also how the different processes contribute to the final environmental cost. But in spite of the detail the overall conclusion from each graph is clear: non returnable glass is worse than the others (in all of the graphs higher is worse).
It's a surprising definitive set of results. So why is it like this? The authors of the paper put this more clearly and succinctly than I could manage.
"glass bottles have the highest impact on environment, because of their production and transports. In fact, to create a glass bottle a lot of energy is used to reach high temperature. Moreover, plastics can be transported in octabins before the bottle formation in the food companies, while glass bottles are already transported in their final form, that takes up a lot of places and less bottles can be carried at each journey. Finally, glass bottle's weight is very high, and trucks consume more, emitting more pollutants. For these reasons, glass bottle appears as the most impactful material according to global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource scarcity and water consumption."
It's worth noting that in the case of returnable glass bottles the authors assume that a bottle is reused eight times before having to be recycled. This is the number of reuses after which a bottle is likely to become broken or too scuffed to be used again. They determine that a bottle would have to be reused thirty times before its global warming potential reaches similar levels to those of a PET bottle, at which point the other criteria would still be worse environmentally.
The remaining criterion, not shown in these graphs, is that of the MLI. Here things change. MLI is proposed in the paper as an approach to comparing the relative impact on the marine ecosystem of the different packaging types. MLI is defined as follows:
{\rm MLI} = \frac{F_1^{f_1} \times F_4^{f_4}}{F_2^{f_2} \times F_3^{f_3}}
where $F_1$ is the number of disbursed containers, $F_2$ is the incentive for returning a bottle (e.g. the cash given for returning it), $F_3$ is the weight of the packaging material and $F_4$ is the material degradation over time (400 years in the case of glass, 100 years for PET). The values $f_1, \ldots, f_4$ are weights used to capture the relative importance of each of the four inputs.
The results for various weightings are given in this table (taken from the paper but amended slightly for clarity). As with the graphs, a higher number is environmentally worse.
MLI weights $f_1, \ldots, f_4$
R-PET
Non-returnable glass
Returnable glass
3, 2, 1, 2 0.56 0.56 19.47 0.78
1, 1, ½, 1 0.75 0.75 4.60 0.92
2, 2, ½, 1 1.24 1.24 21.16 0.85
2, 3, 1, 2 0.93 0.93 105.80 0.85
This table shows that independent of the weights applied, non-returnable glass has the highest environmental impact. However, the comparison between R-PET and returnable glass is more nuanced. The authors conclude the following:
"According to the MLI proposed, the best solution would be using returnable glass bottles, thanks to the low number of bottles needed and therefore dispersed, their weight and return incentives. However, it is important to remember that the environmental dispersion of bottle is strictly related to human's behaviour: consequently, it is important to raise the consumers' awareness on this topic."
The paper is thorough and we've covered a lot of detail here, but the conclusion for me is much simpler: from an environmental perspective returnable PET plastic is clearly better than glass across multiple criteria. The only place where this doesn't apply is for MLI, for which it's much harder to make definitive judgements.
It seems therefore, that I should carry on choosing plastic packaging over glass whenever possible. That will benefit both my weight targets and the environment.
11 Oct 2020 : The danger of a non-transparent AI Register #
The cities of Helsinki and Amsterdam recently announced the launch of their local government AI Register (Helsinki) and Algorithm Register (Amsterdam). This is certainly forward-looking and with positive aims, but actually looking through the registers, I was surprised and a little perturbed by how vague the entries are.
If the purpose of the registers is to promote accountability then it concerns me that the current implementation only provides the veneer of transparency. If government is claiming to provide transparency when it's not, however well-intentioned, this can lead to more harm than good.
Here's the feedback I sent to the city administrations and to the company running the registers. I'm not really expecting any results, but writing out my concerns was extremely therapeutic, albeit also quite time consuming. I recommend it as a satisfying activity if you have the time to spare.
With the recent establishment of your AI/algorithm registers, it's great that you're taking the transparency of automated processes seriously. I hesitate therefore to criticise the schemes which are clearly well-intentioned and a step in the right direction, but it concerns me — based on the data currently available in the registers — that in their current form they may do more harm than good.
My three main concerns are the following.
1. Confusion between AI and algorithms. These two things are not the same, and conflating the two degrades public understanding of the issues involved. Algorithms cover a very broad set of concepts that includes every piece of software in use today. AI (or more specifically Machine Learning) is a much narrower concept. Machine learning involves applying an algorithm to a dataset, in order to produce a separate algorithm that can then be used as the basis for decision-making (or some other task). The resulting algorithms are much more opaque, their biases much harder to understand, and the datasets much more important for providing that understanding. Right now the register seems to include a mixture of both machine learning and traditional algorithms, but without any clarity over which is which. For each of the entries it should be made clear whether machine learning is involved, and if so what type.
2. Providing the algorithms. The entries in the database provide only a very high-level overview of the algorithms being used. Frankly, these are of no real use without more detail and the code for the algorithms needs to be made available. I'm very aware that commercial sensitivity is often used as an argument for why this can't be done, but as someone who works for a company developing open source software, I'm also aware that keeping algorithms and datasets private isn't the only way to run a commercial or public service. If the register is to have real benefit, Helsinki and Amsterdam cities need to apply pressure to companies to make their algorithms available, or else give preference to those companies that will. Otherwise the register will end up being no more than a list of names of companies supplying software to local government.
3. Providing the datasets. If the algorithms are machine learning algorithms, then the full datasets used for training need to be made available (or a recent snapshot in the case of dynamic learning). Consideration must be given to privacy, and this is a real challenge, but the good news is that there's a wealth of existing good practice in this area, especially coming from universities with their growing culture of open data for validating research, supported and encouraged by EU funding requirements.
To reiterate, I applaud the idea behind the registers, but I'd also encourage you to go further in order to allow them to be the real tools of accountability that the public needs, and that I think you're aiming for.
I was pleased to complete the survey on your site, where I also entered these comments. When you reply please let me know if you prefer me not to make our correspondence public (I'll assume that it's okay for me to do so unless you state otherwise).
Thanks for your efforts with the registers, which I wish you every success with, and for taking the time to read this message.
More recent October 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 Older


It's been 80 years since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins.
Tracy Thomas, Seiberling chair of Constitutional Law at The University of Akron School of Law, said the case stripped federal courts of the ability to establish common law or unwritten law precedents when hearing cases involving parties from different states, limiting federal lawmaking ability.
"What began as a negligence case against the railroad overturned a century of previous decisions and permanently changed the way the U.S. handles 'diversity jurisdiction' cases," said Thomas, director of the Center for Constitutional Law.
Now the April 25, 1938 decision is the subject of the sixth annual Constitutional Law Conference at Akron Law.
Sponsored by Akron Law's Center for Constitutional Law, the Akron Law Review and the Northern District of Ohio Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, "Erie At Eighty: Choice of Law Across the Disciplines," takes place at Akron Law on Sept. 14.
The conference will feature speakers from 13 universities, who will discuss the origins of the case and the way it continues to impact civil procedure, evidence and intellectual property matters.
"I think the case is of particular importance today as many question the federal court's reach into state law," said Thomas.
The keynote speaker is Ernest Young, Alston & Bird Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law.
"Professor Young is a former law clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court and a leading expert on the division between national and state authority," Thomas said.
Thomas and Akron Law Dean Christopher J. Peters will serve as moderators, along with Akron Law Professor Bernadette Bollas Genetin and Assistant Professor of Law Camilla Hrdy.
The daylong conference gets underway at 8 a.m. in the Brennan Courtroom at Akron Law.
"I'm thrilled that so many distinguished scholars from around the country will be here in person to enjoy our state-of-the-art facilities in the recently renovated C. Blake McDowell Law Center," said Peters.
The conference is free unless a participant is seeking CLE credit.
Seven hours of CLE credit are available at a cost of $50. Pre-registration is preferred (https://www.uakron.edu/law/ccl/registration/), but not required.


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text:
Arsenal: 2018-19 Season Preview
By Mike Goodman
It's the first new chapter for Arsenal in a very long time. Arsene Wenger is gone, and Unai Emery is in. Can the new manager lead a team that was once a perennial top four side back into the Champions League? Arsenal have lots of unanswered questions as they head into the new season, but they also have a talented squad, and new additions at key areas of need. It would be a mistake to write them off.
A Potent Attack
The tumult of Wenger's last season obscured the fact that Arsenal were actually a very strong attacking side. On a basic level, their top line number of 74 goals was tied with Tottenham behind only Manchester City and Liverpool. That was mildly better than what expected goals would predict. Strip out the four penalties from five attempts and that leaves 70 goals and an xG of just under 64. Their xG was the fourth best in the league, with Spurs performing a little better as well as the high scoring Liverpool and City duo.
The attacking performance is made all the more impressive by the fact that they achieved those numbers while managing to move on from their star, Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez, before he left, was the hub of Arsenal's attack. Depending on the lens he was either an incredibly creative forward or a prolific shooting winger. Either way, he ran the team.
Losing a star is hard, but Arsenal went out and replaced Sanchez with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. By the time their new striker arrived, it was relatively clear that Arsenal were not going to finish in the top four, so Aubameyang's star turn largely went unnoticed. Arsenal's new striker wasn't the creative force Sanchez was, but he was absolutely unparalleled in the Premier League at getting great shots for himself.
Nobody in the Premier League was better than Aubameyang at taking great shots. Of players that played more than 600 minutes and averaged over a shot per 90 (basically players who played a bunch and also had at least some responsibility for trying to score the ball), nobody averaged higher than Aubameyang's 0.24 xG per shot.
It helps that Aubameyang gets to play in front of a great playmaker like Mesut Ozil on a weekly basis. Say what you will about Ozil, and lord knows everybody has, but he is consistently an incredible passer of the ball. Of players that played more than 1200 minutes last season only Kevin De Bruyne of the unstoppable Manchester City attack had more expected goals assisted per 90 minutes than Ozil's 0.33 and only Fernandinho, of that same attack had more deep ball progressions per 90 (that's passes, dribbles and carries into the opponents final third) than Ozil's 11.65. Ozil's ability to combine progressing the ball up the field from deeper areas and finding the killer pass to create great chances in the final third is absolutely unique.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who Arsenal acquired from Manchester United as part of the deal for Sanchez leaving, is a wonderful passer as well. While he might not provide quite enough of an impact as the lead creative force in an attack, as a secondary passer, supporting Ozil, he's been phenomenal. He doesn't make the 1200 minute cutoff with Arsenal, he only played a little under 850 minutes, but his 0.28 expected goals assisted per 90 would have ranked him 11th on the list. It's a number made even more impressive since he largely isn't on set piece duty thanks to Ozil. As Mkhitaryan supports Ozil in the final third, Granit Xhaka supports him in deeper areas. There are certainly many holes in Xhaka's game, mostly stemming from his lack of mobility and defensive range, but his passing from deep is exceptional. He was third in the league in deep progressions with 11.35 per 90 minutes.
Put it all together and it paints the picture of a cohesive attacking squad. Ozil is a creative hub all over the pitch and he gets support from Mkhitaryan and Xhaka. Meanwhile, Aubameyang is free to destroy defenders in the penalty box. And that's before getting to the scoring and link-up support of last summer's big signing Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenal's attack is simply very good.
Defense? What Defense
It's a good thing Arsenal's attack is great, because their defense is a mess. They gave up 1.33 expected goals per game last season, the ninth most in the league. Being an average defensive team is just not compatible with challenging for a Champions League spot. Arsenal's numbers present them as a team that cautiously tried to press last season but simply weren't good enough at it. They gave up 11.55 shots per 90 which is, ok, but not great, the sixth most in the league, but they combined that with an exceedingly average 0.11 xg per shot conceded. Only Liverpool, Huddersfield and Watford were worse (a combination of a great pressing team, a poor pressing team and just a poor team period). It's clear from their defensive activity map, that Arsenal were trying to press. They were over league average in defensive activities in most of their opponent's half, and below average in their own.
The problem is they executed that press poorly. The average distance of a defensive action from their own goal was 42.92 yards, fifth most aggressive in the league, and their pass allowed per defensive action was 9.28, the third fewest. Both good. They also held opponents to only a 75% passing completion percentage, only noted pressers Manchester City, Tottenham, and Liverpool were better. But, there was a disconnect between that disruption, and actually suppressing of shots. It's not enough for a team to be good at disrupting possession if it's also conceding lots of good shots the times it doesn't win the ball back.
And sure enough, Arsenal were simply terrible at conceding counterattacking shots. That's terrible as in terrible for any Premier League side, not simply terrible for a side that's supposed to be good.
The problem stems directly from their pressing issues. Those counterattack woes can be linked specifically to the team trying to defend in the attacking half and failing at it. They're one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to conceding opportunities within 20 seconds of a defensive action in their opponents half.
New Defensive Recruits
Those numbers call out for some better players, or a new approach, or both. And Arsenal seem to have opted for option both. New manager Emery has a history of being a strong defensive manager (a history which was itself an awkward fit at Paris Saint-Germain, his last stop before Arsenal), and he turned Sevilla into a Europa League powerhouse by building a strong base and grafting exciting attackers on top of that. Arsenal have the exciting attacking talent, now it remains to be seen if Emery can reverse engineer the base.
Critical to that endeavor will be Lucas Torreira, the 22 year old defensive midfield prospect acquired from Sampdoria. Torreira profiles like a good young midfielder. His creative passing may leave something to be desired, but his defensive range and ability are enough to at least hint at a big future nailing down the middle of the pitch for Arsenal. His transition will also be eased by the fact that Emery will almost certainly not leave him nearly as isolated as Wenger would have.
Further back, however, the business looks sketchier. Sokratis arrives from Borussia Dortmund, but he's 30 and has some big Laurent Koscielny sized shoes to fill. Koscielny is still months away from recovering from an achilles injury, meaning that Sokratis arrives as more of a direct replacement than an upgrade to the team's depth. And at keeper, as Petr Cech's career winds down, Arsenal have looked to Bernd Leno to be his long-term replacement. But there are significant questions about whether Leno is actually a good shot stopper at all. He his hard to analyze, having played a significant portion of his career behind a Bayer Leverkusen press that redefined the limits of the possible (if not always the limits of the wise) when it comes to pressing. But, even in the more normal tactical seasons of his career, he hasn't exactly impressed.
All in all, Arsenal seem to have addressed the positions that need addressing, but outside of Torreira there's reason to believe that they didn't address them well enough.
A Ray of Optimism
The good news for Arsenal is that while they have been taking steps to improve what ails them, imperfect as those steps may be, other teams have not. The nightmare scenario for Arsenal was always that after falling out of the top four, their main competitors would slam the door behind them. That hasn't happened. United haven't addressed any of the problems that caused them to need David De Gea to be their savior. Spurs, haven't done anything at all and Chelsea's managerial change has certainly ensured that they'll be different, but that's not the same thing as being better. Only Liverpool have unequivocally continued to lengthen the distance between themselves and Arsenal.
There are real and ongoing problems with this Arsenal squad. Despite the Torreira addition, Arsenal are trending dangerously old. Most of their young prospects have yet to develop into reliable players who can contribute week in and week out at the top of the Premier League. Those kinds of problems loom large for the future of the club, but they aren't immediately pressing concerns for this season. Arsenal's present looks brighter than its future at the moment. They have a lethal attack, and if Emery and his new signings can bring even a modicum of defensive stability to the side, they'll be able to compete for a top four spot right now.
Thank you for reading. More information about StatsBomb, and the rest of our season previews can be found here.
Article by Mike Goodman


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text:
News Release 25-Apr-2019
'13 Reasons Why' and young adults' risk of suicide
Beneficial and harmful effects seen from viewing season 2 of the Netflix series
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
IMAGE: Suicide risk index among students and non-students in the study who viewed all, some, or none of Season 2 of "13 Reasons Why. " view more
Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center. Published in Social Science & Medicine.
One of the most heavily watched and debated fictional portrayals of suicide in recent years was the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why," which raised outcries about potential contagion stemming from its portrayal of a female high-school student's suicide.
Google searches about suicide spiked after the release of Season 1, physicians said that several children created lists of "13 reasons why" they wanted to kill themselves, and one hospital saw an increase in admissions of children who exhibited suicidal behavior. But two studies conducted after the series was released found some beneficial effects.
Given the series' popularity and its potentially harmful effects, researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania and three other institutions conducted a study to more fully understand the effects of the show through a survey of U.S. young adults, ages 18 to 29, before and after the May 2018 release of its second season.
In the study, published today in the journal Social Science & Medicine, researchers found that:
Viewers who stopped watching the second season partway through reported greater risk for future suicide and less optimism about the future than those who watched the entire season or didn't watch it at all;
Students - who were nearly 60 percent of the sample - were at an overall higher risk for suicide. Of the viewers who dropped out of watching the series midway, students were at a significantly higher suicide risk than non-students;
The show appeared to have a beneficial effect on students who saw the full second season: They were less likely to report recent self-harm and thoughts of ending their lives than comparable students who didn't watch the series at all. And viewers in general were more likely to express interest in helping a suicidal person, especially compared with those who stopped watching;
Netflix's warning about the show's potentially disturbing content that preceded Season 2 mainly appeared to increase viewing but did not appear to prevent vulnerable viewers from watching the season.
"Although there's some good news about the effects of '13 Reasons Why,' our findings confirm concerns about the show's potential for adverse effects on vulnerable viewers," said Dan Romer, APPC's research director and the study's senior author. "It would have been helpful had the producers done more to enable vulnerable viewers to watch the entire second season, which is when the show had its more beneficial effects."
Background on the study
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds. Media portrayals of suicide have been shown to have helpful and harmful effects. Stories of suicide in news and fictional media can elicit suicide - especially when they explicitly show suicide methods - in a phenomenon called the Werther effect, after Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther." By contrast, news stories about people who have overcome a suicidal crisis have had a positive impact, a more recently documented phenomenon that is known as the Papageno effect, after the character in Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute."
For this study the researchers surveyed 18- to 29-year-olds, who reported having access to Netflix, both shortly before the second season was launched and a month later. A total of 729 respondents completed both the initial internet survey and the follow-up, which used validated scales to measure future suicide risk, hopelessness, recent self-harm, and related outcomes. Women were overrepresented in this sample (82 percent), perhaps because "13 Reasons Why" involved a female protagonist.
An indicator of distress
"13 Reasons Why" seemed to be particularly upsetting for young people who were already at a higher risk of suicide and who empathized with the main character, 17-year-old Hannah, who is bullied and sexually assaulted before deciding to end her life. As the researchers wrote, "We hypothesized that watching only some of the series could be an indicator of distress that led those viewers to discontinue exposure to the upsetting content." The results appeared to support that idea, in that those who watched only some of the second season showed elevated risk of future suicide, an outcome that was stronger for current students.
At the same time, students who watched the entire second season reported less self-harm after watching than those who did not watch at all. Thus the findings suggest that over the course of a month following the second season, the show exerted a beneficial effect on some students.
The researchers added: "One explanation for the beneficial finding is that those at higher risk who persisted to the end were able to empathize with the challenges faced by the main characters and to take away a life-affirming lesson applied to their own lives." The second season may have conveyed this message with more effectiveness than the first season, which mainly focused on the harm that the suicide inflicted on the victim's friends and family.
"Given that we know that the Werther effect is a real phenomenon with detrimental consequences, the public outcry about potential contagious effects as a response to the first season is justified," said the study's lead author, Florian Arendt of the University of Vienna, Austria. "However, the second season appeared to have more content that could engender a beneficial effect than the first season, and this may have helped those who watched it in its entirety to walk away with more beneficial outcomes."
Viewers who watched the full second season were also more likely to be sympathetic to a hypothetical friend who appeared to be suicidal. Here again the findings suggest that the show may have succeeded in creating empathy for those in a suicidal crisis.
Evidence the show "can harm some... and may actually help others"
In an accompanying commentary on the study in Social Science & Medicine, Anna S. Mueller of the University of Chicago's Department of Sociology and Comparative Human Development said the findings "offer the strongest evidence to date that 13RW can harm some youth and the results demonstrate that it may actually help others, which is rarely considered in the media and suicide literature."
Mueller, who was not connected with the study, said, "It also has important implications for what scholars should do next." That includes "unpacking how exposure to suicide - whether through media or a personal relationship - transforms an individual's vulnerability to suicide."
What should Netflix do?
Romer said, "Producers of shows such as '13 Reasons Why' need to be aware of the potential effects of their shows, particularly on vulnerable audiences. One way to do this would be to make the series less aversive to people who are sensitive to a story about suicide, because they may not get to the parts of the story that have more uplifting effects."
The researchers noted that the study had limitations, including the one-month time frame for the observed effects. Also, it did not assess respondents' experiences surrounding sexual assault, an important element in the series in both seasons, which could have influenced reactions.
Romer and Arendt's co-authors are Patrick E. Jamieson, also of the Annenberg Public Policy Center; Sebastian Scherr, of the School for Mass Communication Research, University of Leuven, Belgium; and Josh Pasek, of the Department of Communication Studies and Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
The study "Investigating harmful and helpful effects of watching season 2 of 13 Reasons Why: Results of a two-wave U.S. panel survey," is published in Social Science & Medicine.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about the media's role in advancing public understanding of political, health, and science issues at the local, state and federal levels.
Michael Rozansky
michael.rozansky@appc.upenn.edu
@APPCPenn
http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/
Social Science & Medicine
DEATH/DYING
DEPRESSION/ANGER
SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Suicide Risk Following Release of Season 2 of '13 Reasons Why' (IMAGE)
https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/13-reasons-why-young-adults-risk-suicide/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.04.007
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Approximate Computing: Promise or Hype?
Approximate computing has emerged recently as a trend at the intersection of programming languages, verification and hardware research. It rests on the observation that many applications are computing their results more accurately than needed, wasting resources in the process. As an example, the default choice for numerical computations is double floating-point precision, but often the inputs to those applications come with errors that are much larger than the roundoff errors produced by the arithmetic - a smaller precision is thus often perfectly sufficient. On the hardware side, we have strived for perfect hardware which always produces correct results. Certain applications, however, are arguably robust to rare, random errors or noise. These could benefit from unreliable hardware and the acompanying energy reductions.
The idea of approximate computing is simple: deliberately reduce accuracy to save energy, memory and/or time, i.e. view reducing accuracy as an opportunity instead of a necessary evil. Different approximation techniques have emerged over the past years, exploring the space of possibilities: unreliable hardware, dynamic precision knobs, numerical approximations, loop perforation and neural network accelerators among others. One of the key challenges is how to make all these available in a principled way to the every-day-programmer while ensuring a certain level of necessary correctness.
This seminar aims to provide an overview of this fairly new field. It also presents a good opportunity to explore a variety of techniques from the programming languages, verification and hardware domains applied to this specific problem.
The current plan is to split the seminar into two parts. In the first part, we will read original research papers; depending on the background of the participants, we will include background sessions where needed. The aim of the second part is to try and explore some of the techniques seen in a hands-on approach and to critically evaluate their effectiveness and promise on real-world applications.
Registration is over, but if you wish to participate without credit, just send an email to the instructor.


Groups run by volunteers that hold money on behalf of all their members are increasingly vulnerable to insider scams, such as homeowners' association fraud.
Unscrupulous employees or board members exploit the fact that most volunteers likely know little or nothing about financial management to "cook the books" or channel money to contractors who pay them a kickback.
They know too that volunteers are often pressured for time and may not scrutinize activities in the way that paid officials would do.
In one recent example in Nevada, Federal investigators claim to have uncovered a single scam involving several homeowners' associations whose alleged crooked board members placed lucrative lawsuits and other work with attorneys and contractors involved in the scheme.
Even worse, the Feds contend the perpetrators used dishonest and threatening tactics to get their stooges elected to the boards, sometimes buying condos they never even lived in but which entitled them to stand for election.
This may be an extreme example, but the fact is that any volunteer-led organization — charitable organizations, trade associations and even religious groups — runs the risk of an insider scam, although community association or homeowners' association fraud is the most widespread.
And it's not unusual for losses and liabilities to run into millions of dollars.
Donna Berger, executive director of the Community Advocacy Network, which represents homeowner associations said in a recent article in Florida's Sun-Sentinel newspaper: "Fraud is an ongoing threat to associations. And the likelihood of being a victim escalates during bad times.
Usually, the scam is not part of an organized plot but simply the action of an opportunist who is either greedy or in debt and often feels entitled in some way to help themselves (for instance, if they have a grievance, such as feeling they've been treated unfairly).
The crime comes in numerous forms, from dipping a hand into the petty cash or using an association credit card for personal purchases, to altered bank statements and checks or bogus invoices for work that has never been done.
The loss of money by this means it is not only a hit for the organization affected; it is also a potential threat to board members — in the shape of lawsuits filed by aggrieved association members alleging breach of fiduciary duty.
Whether you are on the board or just a concerned member of such an organization, it's in your interests to ensure that all possible safeguards are in place.
Here are 10 things you can do, or encourage the board to do, to reduce the risk of fraud and/or protect the organization.
Ensure all board members and employees are thoroughly vetted and that the election or hiring process is "transparent" — that is, not secretive.
Keep a wary eye out for a board member or employee who seems to be living beyond their means or who never takes vacations (because their crime might then be uncovered).
Question any delays in circulating financial statements and other organizational documents.
Segregate responsibilities — that is, have different people responsible for signing and banking checks and a third person for reconciling the two. Require two signatures on all checks.
Require at least two original copies of bank statements (that is, direct from the bank, not photocopies provided by someone inside the organization).Scrutinize statements, looking for individuals or companies with similar names (one may be a legitimate recipient, the other not).
Set up a "positive pay" arrangement with the homeowners' association bank. Under this system, you send your bank a list of checks that have been authorized and they then compare it with the actual checks they have.
Set a limit on invoice amounts that can be paid without full board authorization. Perform regular spot checks on invoices (from just one company but choosing a different company each time).
Download Preventing Fraud: How to Safeguard Your Organization, a free useful PDF guide aimed specifically at nonprofit organizations produced by the former National Center for Nonprofit Boards (now known as BoardSource).
Have your accounts independently and professionally audited, preferably every month but at least once a year.
Finally, just in case the worst happens, ensure you have full compensation protection through employee fidelity bonds, and directors and officers insurance (known as "D&O").
None of these measures individually will likely be strong enough to spot or stop homeowners' association or other nonprofit fraud, but when combined you'll find they create a formidable defense.


text:
Fatima 99 Years later Part II
Report: Cardinal Ratzinger Admitted Third Secret Not Fully Revealed – plus Sister Lucia's warning
Secret Warns of "Bad Council and Bad Mass"
by John Vennari
Father Ingo Dollinger is an elderly German priest, professor of theology in Brazil, and a personal friend of former Pope Benedict XVI.
Father Dollinger stated on more than one occasion that Cardinal Ratzinger admitted to him the full Third Secret is not yet revealed, and the Secret warns against a "bad Council and a bad Mass."
The Fatima Crusader reported this on a number of occasions, most pointedly in 2009. This news regarding the Third Secret was recently re-confirmed by Dr. Maike Hickson on May 15.
Dr. Hickson, who knows Father Dollinger, telephoned the priest on Pentecost Sunday, and he gave her permission to publicly report the following facts:
"Not long after the June 2000 publication of the Third Secret of Fatima by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told Father Dollinger during an in-person conversation that there is still part of the Third Secret that they have not published! 'There is more than what we published,' Ratzinger said. He also told Dollinger that the published part of the Secret is authentic and that the unpublished part of the Secret speaks about 'a bad council and a bad Mass' that was to come in the near future."
This statement by Father Dollinger was formerly related in the May 2009 issue of The Fatima Crusader by Father Paul Kramer.
According to Father Kramer's account, Cardinal Ratzinger revealed to Father Dollinger as far back as the early 1990s that the Secret warned against a bad Council and against changes in the Mass.
Yet the text published by the Vatican on June 26, 2000 makes no mention of these specific warnings.
Father Kramer explained: "The elderly German priest, Ratingzer's long-time personal friend, took note of the fact that when the vision of the Third Secret was published it did not contain those things, those elements of the Third Secret that Cardinal Razinger had revealed to him nearly ten years earlier. The German priest – Father Dollinger – told me that this question was burning in his mind."
Father Kramer continues, "Father Dollinger said to me, 'I confronted Cardinal Ratzinger to his face: 'How can this be the entire Third Secret? Remember what you told me before?""
Cardinal Ratzinger replied, "Really, there is something more there," meaning there is more in the Third Secret than what the Vatican revealed.
Father Nicholas Gruner referred to this episode from Father Dollinger on more than one occasion, including a speech published in The Fatima Crusader in Autumn, 2009.
For years prior to the Year 2000 release of the vision of the Secret, Father Gruner's Fatima Center repeatedly published testimony from Fatima experts and witnesses who relate that the Third Secret predicts a great crisis of Faith in the Church. Here are but a few examples:
Father Alonso
Father Joaquim Alonso, who was the official archivist of Fatima and had many conversations with Sister Lucia, said the following prior to his death in 1981:
"It is therefore completely probably that the text makes concrete references to the crisis of faith within the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves [and the] internal struggles in the very bosom of the Church and of grave pastoral negligence of the upper hierarchy."[1]
And further,
"Does the unpublished text speak of concrete circumstances? It is very possible that it speaks not only of a real crisis of faith in the Church during this in-between period [that is, prior to the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary], but like the secret of La Salette, for example, there are more concrete references to the internal struggles of the Catholics or to the fall of priests and religious. Perhaps it even refers to the failures of the upper hierarchy of the Church. For that matter, none of this is foreign to communications Sister Lucia has had on this subject."[2]
Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave an interview in Jesus magazine on November 11, 1984. In this famous exchange, titled "Here is Why the Faith was in Crisis," Cardinal Ratzinger spoke of the crisis of faith and of the Third Secret. Here he revealed that the Secret refers to "dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian and therefore [the life] of the world."
The Cardinal further noted that "the things contained in this 'Third Secret' correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and what has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions…"
Bishop Amaral
Bishop Amaral – the third Bishop of Fatima – likewise relates that the Secret warns of dangers to the Faith. In a speech in Vienna, Austria, on September 10, 1984, the bishop said,
"Its contents concern only our faith. To identity the [Third] Secret with catastrophic announcements or with a nuclear holocaust is to deform the meaning of the message. The loss of faith of a continent is worse than the annihilation of nations; and it is true that the faith is continually diminishing in Europe."[3] [emphasis added]
Cardinal Oddi
Silvio Cardinal Oddi gave the following testimony to Italian journalist Lucio Brunelli on March 17, 1990, for the journal Il Sabato:
"It [the Third Secret] has nothing to do with Gorbachev. The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against the apostasy in the Church."
Cardinal Ciappi
Then there is the oft-quoted testimony of Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, who was personal papal theologians to five popes – Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. The Cardinal wrote the following in a personal communication to Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg:
"In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top."[4]
Warnings from Sister Lucia
We close with some quick observations from Sister Lucia, where she warns of the diabolic disorientation of members of the upper hierarchy, and she calls upon Catholics to "stand up against it."
The full Secret, Sister Lucia had told us, was supposed to be revealed at the time of her death or in 1960, whichever came first.
In 1960, however, the Secret was not released, and Sister Lucy was silenced. She was not allowed to speak about anything not yet published on the Message of Fatima without prior authorization of the Vatican.
Yet, in 1957, and in the late 60s and early 70s, the years "bracketing" 1960 wherein the Secret should have been released, Sister Lucy seemed to indicate what the Secret contained. In these statements, Sister Lucy speaks of the devil gaining power over priests and consecrated souls. She speaks of the diabolic disorientation infecting the upper hierarchy.
In her 1957 conversation with Father Fuentes, her last public interview that was not pre-approved by the Vatican, Sister Lucy said: "The devil is about to wage a decisive battle with the Blessed Virgin, as he knows what it is that offends God the most, and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way he will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them."
More than a decade later, Sister Lucy denounced the progressivist forces in the Church seeking to downplay and suppress the Rosary. "This campaign is diabolical," she wrote in 1969 to one of her priest-nephews, "do not let yourself be deceived." This is from the 1973 book, A Little Treatise on the Nature and Recitation of the Rosary, containing excerpts from letters of Sister Lucy written between 1969-1971.
In these letters, she also voiced strong words about the leadership in the Church following Vatican II. She wrote in 1970 to Mother Martins, a former companion in the Dorothean Sisters: "It is painful to see such a great disorientation in so many who occupy places of responsibility … the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under cover of good, and the blind are beginning to guide others, as the Lord tells us in His Gospel, and souls are letting themselves be deceived."
It is noteworthy that in 1957, Sister Lucy said the devil was about to wage a decisive battle. By 1971, she says the devil has begun to succeed.
"Gladly," Sister Lucy continued, "I sacrifice myself and offer my life to God for peace in His Church, for priests and for all consecrated souls, especially for those who are so deceived and misled … he (the devil) has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place which they occupy … They are blind men guiding other blind men."
"Stand up to it"
It is no mystery why Sister Lucy was silenced. A voice as powerful as hers making such statements, a voice loved and respected as Our Lady's chosen vessel, would threaten the entire post-Conciliar aggiornamento.
The contemplative Carmelite accepted her imposition of silence. She understood it as Heaven's chosen path for her. "I must remain in silence, in prayer and in penance," Sister Lucy said in a 1970 letter to her friend Dona Maria Theresa da Cunha. "In this way, I can and must help you the most … such is the part the Lord has chosen for me: to pray and sacrifice myself for those who struggle to work in the Lord's vineyard and for the extension of His Kingdom."
Those of us outside the Carmel, however, she exhorted to battle: "This is a diabolic disorientation invading the world and misleading souls! It is necessary to stand up to it …"
Sister Lucia's marching orders reconfirm our duty as Catholics. We keep the true Faith, the true Mass, the daily Rosary, and publicly resist the destructive Conciliar aggiornamento in any legitimate manner we can.
Source : cfnews.org
My Comment : This was an information from Father Kramer (as below) and known to us for years, I talk about it in my last blog as well :
http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr92/cr92pg7.pdf
In short Nothing really new just a public confirmation with some delay, Father Döllinger is quite sick and this explains probably this recent revelation, as we approach the Centenary, I'll not be surprised to learn even more especially about the Papacy as confirmed in my own works, but for sure the last Council was of course indicated in the 3rd Secret, not as evil at least I hope so but weak more likely and being myself a fruit of Vatican II, I am telling it in all objectivity, stay tuned.
24 thoughts on "Fatima 99 Years later Part II"
Emmet Sweeney
According to the media, Sister Lucia said that the Third Secret published in 2000 was the whole thing. Was the media lying?
All very interesting, and believable, but I do have a question: After the publication of the Third Secret in 2000 various Catholic newspapers and magazines claimed that Sister Lucia had been questioned over the matter and she had affirmed that what was published was the entire Third Secret. I cannot believe that Sister Lucia would tell a lie, even under direct instructions from the Vatican, which leaves only two other possibilities: (a) That the Third Secret revealed in 2000 was indeed the entire Third Secret, or (b) That those newspapers and magazines were themselves lying. Can anyone enlighten me on this issue?
Aviso. Are you going to set the prayer section?
For more information on Cardinal Sarah please see http://www.catholicherald.co.uk
May I commend Cardinal Robert Sarah to your prayers in his fight against the liberal arm of the Church which is seeking a more pastoral modernist approach toward acceptance of irregular relationships, sexual orientation and missreprentation of Mercy concerning mortal sin. Cardinal Sarah was an instrumental influence in the recent Synods on the Family, his voicing forthright views on the current trend toward a reorientation of the family prevented the liberal factions from pushing through an agenda that deviated from Catholoc Orthodoxy. Unfortunately it may only be a delay if he does not start to receive better vocalised support from the College of Cardinals, his Brother Bishops and Priests.
It is up to Our Catholic Church to decide, not listen to other visionaries's comments about other apparition sites. It is very hard to know if Sister lucia actually said that or not. Yes. I strongly believe that Our Lady of Fatima had continued to visit Sister Lucia until her very joyful death. She is a great saint!
Lie Joe, Nothing serious especially from the French Sister Maillar of the Children of Medjugorje Company which she create to promote the Gospa in France years ago (business and co), Sister Lucia never talk about Medjugorje, Poor Padraig, I will Pray for him.
The only continuation of Fatima is Garabandal, we know it from Bishop Venancio himself, the former Bishop of Fatima and close to Sister Lucia, called also the Bishop of the Fatima 3rd Secret, he visit Conchita twice in the USA, why a Bishop of Fatima will travel on the other side of the World to visit a seer of a unapproved Marian Apparitions yet, non sense, Bishop Venancio has not any link with Garabandal and never was in the Village, he visit Conchita because Sister Lucia told it to him, there is an article on my blog about this visit, we are not Medjugorjist, we don't need any lie to prove anything, as to me Garabandal is even more important than Fatima.
Few words also about the Gospa and hopefully once and for all, no link is possible between Garabandal and Medjugorje, in the village between us we can recognize a pure Garabandalist by this simple question : Do you believe in Medjugorje ? then we move away, it's not possible to beleive in both, simple as that.
Hi Joe, my sources in Rome told me that the Gospa is condemned and I am used to believe my sources, probably during the year of Mercy, there might be a deal between the Congregation and the Pope and this will explain the choice of Cardinal Schonborn (a pure Medjugorjist) to represent the last apostolic exhortation in Public on behalf of the Pope as a compasation, the Pope, your favorite Pope is a very good negociator as we saw it also with Bishop Fellay, this is what I know only, to be clear :
For Cardinal Muller and the Congregation, Medjugorje
as a compasation and to keep everbody at home
For Cardinal Schonborn, the Apostolic Exhortation.
The choice of Schonborn will allow the Pope via the Cardinal to calm the Medjugorjist after the condamnation, the same for Cardinal Muller, which was to calm the opposants of the Apostolic Exhortation, I'll will scratch your back, you will scratch mine but time will tell only.
Question: "Mirjana told me that there will still be some unbelievers even when the permanent sign comes.
Marija: "The Blessed Mother has said there will always be Judases.
Yes, I believe 2017 to be the decisive year. When things unfold, then shall develop quickly. One thing upon another in quick fashion.
And the fact that the 500 anniversary of the Protestant Revolt is in 2017 is something to pray about. Many will surely use it to further bad agendas.
Thanks Aviso, I too thought that no Pope wants to suffer the realisation that his reign is of the Third Secret.
When Conchita refers to a time when communism comes again and it will be difficult to go to Mass, four reasons come to mind:
1. Difficult to find a Proper Celebration of Holy Mass that is compliant with the Doctrinal Truths and traditional teachings of the Church because the spread of liturgical errors and false ecclesial permissions to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus whilst in a state of mortal sin will be endemic.
2. A form of ecclesial communism resulting from a general belief in a liberal and popularist theology that teaches errors in relation to the Eucharist, marriage, the family, mercy, the consequence of sin etc.
3. A Europe wide public assent to communist ideologies through the election of Governments pursuing agendas built upon an interpretation of Modern Socialism linked to a misrepresentation of 'equality.' Already here in the UK, you cannot publically express a Christian view point that contradicts liberal views and irregular lifestyle choices, whether that view point is within our Catholic schools, written in the press or discussed in the workplace, without fear of prosecution or persecution. To even wear a crucifix however small at some places of work can get a person sacked as can a refusal under conscience to conduct a civil marriage of same sex partners.
4. Russia makes a decisive move to occupy parts of Europe and in so doing seeks to subjugate and destroy the will of its people by destroying it's democratic institutions, it's faith communities, it's historical heritage and its education systems. I undertand some commentators refer to Conchita as the source of this interpretation I.e. that Russia will act decisively following the Pope's visit to Russia.
Great Comment Pete, Nothing to add, perfect, good job.
Fatima is a muslim name. What is relevant about " Fatima."?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/18/west-russia-on-course-for-war-nato-ex-deputy-commander
Aviso. I wonder if you have met Father Charles Jean Marie Roux from Paris? He had passed away in August a few years ago.
No Marie, I never met Father Roux.
I am afraid to make a comment, for I am an almost 77 years old pensioner.
Saint Pio: 'Pray, Hope and don't worry.
Charles Lawlor. I will pray for you. I am sure that Aviso would welcome your comments.
There is no age to comment and I have a Great Respect for old People, they are our history, so don't hesitate Charles.
Thank you for this reflection.
I am struggling to understand why those who know the Third Secret do not therefore recognise that the signs of the times to which it refers are here and now. That they do not appear to consider whether the pursuit of their agenda is fulfilling the very topic of the warnings leading to a catastrophe of Faith. Why do you and so many commentators see it and they do not? Am I nieve to believe that the Cardinals , Bishops and his Holiness the Pope who have spent their lives for Christ, have no other agenda than to draw all to the fountain of Divine Mercy. if I am nieve, is the alternative that these shepherds of ours are unwittingly promoting a diabolical agenda under the guise of a false representation of Merciful Love? If so, they can only be oblivious to the reality and in very much need of our love, our loyalty (provided it does not to sin), our prayers and our sacrifices. God bless you.
Why do you and so many commentators see it and they do not ? good Question Pete ? I works about the 3rd Secret myself during 8 Years (2007 – 2015), not alone but with some as we call them, Fatimist especially 2 French Fatimist, in short our Lady described what is happening today in the world as inside the Church and this 100 years ago, Apostasy, lost of faith, a weak Council and let me use your message to confirm it publicly for the first time and with a great certitude now, she talk also according to my research and I was myself in Fatima few months ago to get more détails, about the Papacy, so each Pope since 1960 reading the Secret though that the Pope in question, some Fatimist call it the Pope of the Secret might be himself, this is to me the main reason why no Pope to date did not dare to reveal the Secret to the World because of this and the detail about the council, I was myself very surprise about the tone of our Lady regarding some futur vicars of her Son, as a Mother Protecting her Children, it looks that our Lady did not hesitate to compare some of them even to animals, incredible détails given to me which tooks me time to digest, in other words our Lady is very angry and sad but she end her Secret with a great hope, in the end my immaculate heart will Triumph, I can also confirm approx. the timing of the 3rd Secret Vision, during a pontificate with 2 Popes and this is unfortunately for the World, in our time, this should be confirmed probably next year so as you said let's Pray.


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Katrina Group's ST Residences unveils new accommodation options at Balestier
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 4 August 2022 - ST Residences, a hospitality brand of Katrina Group Ltd., today unveiled its latest fully serviced condominium rental units in Singapore to meet the growing need for long- and short-term accommodations as borders open up and international travel resumes.
ST Residences Balestier is located at 12 Kim Keat Rd. The property consists of 20 units ranging from executive and studio serviced units to 1-bedders. With this addition, guests seeking short-term or long-term stay, digital nomads and individuals travelling for leisure, business or school, will have more options.
Conveniently nestled between Novena and Whampoa, ST Residences Balestier is only a 15-20 minute drive to the Central Business District and town. The accessibility to major expressways makes getting around Singapore a breeze. ST Residences Balestier is also situated near Health City Novena, which includes Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Novena, Thomson Medical Centre, and Novena Specialist Center, making the property an ideal location for health professionals and medical tourists. Foodies and history lovers will also be inspired by the variety of delectable food establishments and heritage sites and trails in the vicinity.
Similar to its other offerings, all of ST Residences' 3-room types at Balestier will be fully furnished and equipped to offer guests a comfortable and convenient stay. Each unit comes with a cosy living area, open-concept kitchenette, comfortable queen-size bed, wardrobe, and an ensuite bathroom. Other essentials include a refrigerator, washing machine, induction stove, microwave, electric kettle, smart TV, kitchen & tableware, Wi-Fi and weekly housekeeping. A minimum stay of 3 months applies. Guests will also have complimentary access to ST Residences Novena's swimming pool and indoor gym, located only approximately 12 minutes away.
Fully serviced condo rental units and serviced apartments are the perfect alternative accommodation to hotels. At ST Residences, guests can enjoy a stress-free, smooth, affordable and comfortable stay given the variety of amenities and services available. ST Residences' properties are mostly located in convenient locations surrounded by a plethora of lifestyle commodities and services, from food to groceries, shopping and transportation. This quintessentially value-adds to the overall experience, boosting the perfect blend of privacy and local living. Besides Balestier, ST Residences also has properties in various parts of Singapore, such as Orchard Road, Tanjong Pagar, Beach Road, Woodleigh, Clementi, Jurong and more.
For more information, please visit https://balestier.stresidences.com/ and/or https://stresidences.com/.
Direct online booking is available at https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/reservation/4vSmcF
For booking enquiries, please email [email protected] or [email protected] or contact +65 9698 5918.
For high-res images, please download from this link:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!At7NbRq4lSFZoNVs5TCm5mEtpWiPGQ?e=ONtsTO
This press release has been reviewed by the Company's Sponsor, Hong Leong Finance Limited. It has not been examined or approved by the Exchange and the Exchange assumes no responsibility for the contents of this press release, including the correctness of any of the statements or opinions made or reports contained in this press release.
The contact person for the Sponsor is Ms Vera Leong, Vice President, Hong Leong Finance Limited, at 16 Raffles Quay, #01-05 Hong Leong Building, Singapore 048581, telephone (+65) 6415 9881.
Hashtag: #STResidences
About ST Residences
Established in January 2018, ST Residences is a hospitality brand that styles chic fully furnished apartments without the serviced apartment mark-up, providing a one-stop solution to furnished apartments islandwide. ST Residences is committed to providing affordable, accessible and comfortable options for those seeking serviced apartments and fully serviced condo rental units in Singapore, whether for short-term stays or long-term residence. Our apartments cater to different needs, ranging from individuals, digital nomads, business travellers to expatriates and corporations. We provide quality accommodation with contract flexibility and competitive rates so the stay can be as fuss-free as possible.
About ST Hospitality
Established in December 2017, ST Hospitality Pte. Ltd. ("STH"), previously known as Straits Organization Pte. Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Catalist-listed Katrina Group Ltd.. Together with its subsidiary, STH Group runs ST Residences and ST Signature and has served more than 60,000 guests to date. Guests can choose from a variety of serviced apartments, fully serviced condominium rental units and/or 4 ST Signature co-living hotels in Singapore for an enjoyable short-term or long-term stay.
About Katrina Group
Katrina Group Ltd. (the "Company") owns and operates seven food and beverage brands in Singapore and Indonesia. These comprise casual dining brands – Bali Thai, Streats, Honguo and So Pho – as well as midrange dining brands – Hutong, Tomo Izakaya and RENNthai. The Company also runs a hospitality business in Singapore, offering fully furnished serviced apartments and fully serviced condo rental units under the ST Residences brand, as well as affordable luxury co-living hotels under the ST Signature brand. The Company has been listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange since 2016. For more information, visit katrinagroup.com.
ST Residences


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'The Henchman: A Shakespeare Story' tells the story of characters years after 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
BY WILL COVIELLO
Will Coviello
Gambit arts & entertainment editor
In 2011, The NOLA Project presented an inspired production of Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, and the audience followed the action from the pine grove at the garden's front gates to the field near the Timken Center, which became the forest inhabited by Oberon, Titania and the fairies.
The company revisits that world, and audiences again trek through the garden for "The Henchman: A Shakespeare Story," written by Michael Aaron Santos, who recently was named the Big Easy Entertainment Awards' Theater Person of the Year.
In "Midsummer," Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, battle over a "changeling" boy, a mysterious figure whom Titania has raised and Oberon wants as an attendant. The play describes the boy as a prince from India, but he never speaks.
"The Henchman" is the story of the changeling, now named Jacob, 15 years after the events of "Midsummer."
In the comedic adventure story, it's revealed that Jacob's father sent the boy abroad to protect him from his older brother, Esau, who wishes to be king of India. When the father decrees that Jacob is the heir to the throne, the brother begins a search for Jacob, who lives among the fairies while Oberon prepares him to one day return home.
Jacob is torn between the worlds of his birth and that of his friends. There are recurring characters from "Midsummer," but the story of "The Henchman" stands by itself.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and Sunday, May 8-26, in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, 1 Collins C. Diboll Circle; www.nolaproject.com. Tickets $12-$28.
Gospel queen Mahalia Jackson's life comes to the stage in new show 'Flowers for Halie'
Troi Bechet stars in her musical drama about Mahalia Jackson
Mad Men's Bryan Batt muses on going home to New Orleans in new show 'Dear Mr. Williams'
"After seeing 'The Glass Menagerie' for the first time when I was in eighth grade, that was life-changing," Batt says.
Lucy Dacus, master of indie-rock hooks, to bring slow-burning anthems to New Orleans
Opening for Dacus at One Eyed Jacks is Mothers, an Americana-turned-post-punk band from Philadelphia by way of Athens, Georgia.
Preview: 'Kinky Boots,' with music by Cyndi Lauper, comes to the Saenger Theatre
The 2013 Broadway production won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for Cyndi Lauper's music and lyrics.
Nola Project
The Henchman: A Shakespeare Story
Sydney And Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden
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Sailing Magazine
Clubs, Classes, Results
Sailor of the month
Talking Sailing
Lessons Learned From Sailing Small Yachts in Extreme Conditions
The Indian yacht THURIYA, dismasted in the South Indian Ocean 1,900 miles south west of Perth, Western Australia. Solo skipper Abhilash Tomy suffered a serious back injury when the yacht was rolled through 360 degrees on Friday 21st Sept, which had led to a multinational rescue operation.
PIC BY Indian Navy/PPL/GGR
by Richard Crockett
When people like Sir Robin Knox-Johnston publish a report on the lessons learned from sailing small yachts in extreme conditions, including the 5 dismastings suffered during the 2018 GGR, we should ALL sit up and take note.
Sadly too few people could be bothered to read, let alone study a report of this nature as too often the attitude is "I know it all anyway"; "It will NEVER happen to me" – and so much more.
People like Sir Robin make no bones about the fact that he learns new things about our sport every single time he goes sailing, and always keeps an open mind.
I suggest that all yacht owners and their crew at least read this report, although my preference would be for them to study it.
Click Here to Download the Report: GGR dismastings Report
Sailing website
Youth Worlds. It's A Highly Competitive World Out There
Book Review. Sport: Greed & Betrayal
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Country Resource - Myanmar
Population...........................................................................................55,622,506 (July 2018 est.)
Population growth rate...................................................................................0.89% (2018 est.)
Birth rate.................................................................17.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Death rate................................................................7.3 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)
Net migration rate.........................................-1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Ethnic groups................................................Burman (Bamar) 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
Refugees and Asylees in the United States
The United States has historically been the top country for refugee resettlement, but was surpassed in 2018 by Canada amid record cuts to admissions by the Trump administration. Approximately 22,500 refugees were resettled in the United States during fiscal year 2018, as well as 26,500 asylees. This article examines where these newcomers came from and many other characteristics, including religious affiliation, age, and gender.
Surge in Violence Against Myanmar's Rohingya Spurs World's Fastest-Growing Refugee Crisis
More than 630,000 Rohingya refugees had crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar during the last quarter of 2017, fleeing targeted violence by the Burmese military. This displacement, resulting from what the United Nations called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing," marked the world's fastest-growing refugee crisis. Its speed and scale have challenged governments and aid organizations to effectively respond.
Labor Migration from Myanmar: Remittances, Reforms, and Challenges
Having emerged from a long era of military rule, Myanmar's leaders and many citizens are looking outward. In particular, with Burmese labor migration abroad on the rise, policymakers are examining ways in which to harness remittances as a vehicle for economic development, particularly in impoverished rural areas. This article explores Burmese labor migration flows, financial reforms, and challenges on migration and development.
Governments Increasingly Restrict Citizenship
Citizenship came under fire in new ways around the world in 2015, with attempts to both restrict who is eligible to become a citizen and who can be deprived of citizenship. Driven by fears of international terrorism, a number of countries proposed or passed legislation making it easier to narrow citizenship and broadening the range of offenses for which individuals can be stripped of their citizenship.
Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Asia
Mass cases of exploitation and abuse of migrant workers have drawn international scrutiny and criticism of the kafala system in Gulf Cooperation Council countries and private recruitment practices in Southeast Asia. With Qatar under scrutiny amid a frenzied construction boom in advance of the 2022 World Cup, international organizations and human-rights groups in 2014 stepped up their campaign for worker protection reforms.
The Opening of Burmese Borders: Impacts on Migration
Burma, a resources-rich yet impoverished nation also known as Myanmar, rejoined the international community in 2011 after a military junta loosened its grip. Before the Southeast Asian nation opened its borders, Burmese migrated primarily for low-paid, clandestine work in Thailand but also as a result of violence and natural disasters. This article explores how the country's recent transition has impacted Burmese migration flows.
Irregular Maritime Migration in the Bay of Bengal: The Challenges of Protection, Management, and Cooperation
Irregular maritime migration across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia entered a period of crisis in spring 2015 as a wave of migrants and refugees crossed, most departing from ports in Myanmar and Bangladesh, with many facing critical danger along the way. This MPI-IOM Issue in Brief puts the crisis into context and offers a consideration of what recent history has to teach about responses to maritime migration crises.