text:
A Brand Plucked from the Fire
Host: Alden Thompson
Guests: Paul Dybdahl and Dave Thomas
Leading Question: "In the judgment, who is our accuser: God or Satan?"
Theme: Joshua's new robes, Zechariah 3:1-10
According to Ellen White's own account, the events described in Zechariah 3:1-10 played a key role in her experience. Potentially, the same passage could be significant in the life of modern Adventism. In a narrative found in Life Sketches (1915), Ellen White describes what happened in Salamanca, New York on the evening of November 3. In that description, she mentions her request to God in a vision of 1880: "Where is the security for the people of God in these days of peril?" she asked.
The answer was an echo of Zechariah 3: "Jesus maketh intercession for His people, though Satan standeth at His right hand to resist Him." 'And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?'" – Life Sketches, 324
The Index to the Writings of Ellen White suggests that this 1880 comment was the first reference to Zechariah 3 in her published writings. In Testimonies 5:467-76 (1885) she develops her comments into a more complete narrative. That is the passage that Clifford Goldstein quotes extensively (pp. 133-138) in Graffiti in the Holy of Holies (PPPA 2003), his response to ex-SDA Dale Ratzlaff. Goldstein is using the passage in defense of a strong doctrine of righteousness by faith and a defense of the doctrine of the investigative judgment.
Ever since 1888, Adventists have struggled to balance two opposing impulses in human experience: the emphasis on human freedom and responsibility, which, in the lives of some, can move into dangerous forms of perfectionism; and the emphasis on grace and divine sovereignty which, in the lives of some, can move into a dangerous carelessness. One can trace this tension from Old Testament times into our own day:
Old Testament Jeremiah — Ezekiel
New Testament James — Paul
5th Century Pelagius — Augustine
16th Century Jacob Arminius — John Calvin
18th Century John Wesley — George Whitefield
SDA Kenneth Wood, Herbert Douglass — H. M. S. Richards, Sr, Desmond Ford
Most believers find a way integrating both elements into their experience. But for some it has seemed impossible. Augustine, for example, a supporter of grace even to the point of predestination, saw no way of integrating free will and grace: "In trying to solve this question," he said, "I made strenuous efforts on behalf of the preservation of the free choice of the human will, but the grace of God defeated me." – from Henry Chadwick, Augustine (Oxford, 1986), 117, citing Retractationes ii.1 (addressed to Simplicianus of Milan)
Supporters of each position can appeal to a striking Ellen White quotation. On the side grace, this striking quote from Steps to Christ seems definitive:
The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their [64/65] power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you. {SC 64.2}
No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. {SC 65.1}
The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to the word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image. {SC 65.2}
On the other side of the equation a quotation from Christ's Object Lessons has often been the focal point of Adventist perfectionism and has provided the basis for what has been called, "last generation" or "final generation" theology, a system developed by M. L. Andreasen and strongly supported by Herbert Douglass:
When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. {COL 69.1} It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain. {COL 69.2}
Desmond Ford's famous attack on the investigative judgment in 1979, is widely credited by many in Adventism as providing a corrective on the side of grace, a response to the strong perfectionism supported by Kenneth Wood when he was editor of the Adventist Review (1966-1982). When William Johnsson, editor of the Adventist Review from 1982-2006, shifted the emphasis back toward grace, the independent Adventist organization, Our Firm Foundation, became the headquarters for "last generation" theology. But its attitude toward the mainstream church became so strident, that the North American Division of SDA finally published a response and refutation, not only of OFF, but also of Hartland Institute, and of John Osborne's Prophecy Countdown (Issues: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Certain Private Ministries, North American Division of SDA, nd. [1992]).
Remarkably, when Herbert Douglass published his monumental biography of Ellen White, Messenger of the Lord (PPPA 1998), it was edited by Kenneth Wood and dedicated to Wood. But all traces of "last generation" theology had been stripped from its pages, even though both Wood and Douglass were strong advocates of it. With last generation theology now making a comeback, Herbert Douglass has again become a significant spokesman for it.
Returning to Zechariah 3:1-10, what Goldstein apparently did not realize when he cited Ellen White's commentary from 5T 467-76 (1885), was that her Prophets and Kings version of that account (pp. 582-92) incorporated significant changes. One notable omission and one addition are probably most important.
The notable omission is a statement that is quite true, but liable to be misunderstood. In 5T 472 the statement appears: "No sin can be tolerated with those who shall walk with Christ in White." One certainly not want to say the opposite, that sin can be tolerated with those who walk with Christ. Still, that strong statement could imply a dangerous form of perfectionism that would discourage sensitive and struggling souls. That could explain why it is omitted in PK.
The notable addition is even more striking, especially in light of the "last generation" theology that argues for character perfection as the requirement for salvation and for the return of Christ. On p. 474 of the account in 5T, the relevant paragraph concludes with these words: "He who has been most abused by their ingratitude, who knows their sin, and also their repentance, declares: "'The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.' I gave my life for these souls. They are graven upon the palms of my hands."
At the end of the same paragraph in Prophets and Kings, appears this striking addition: "They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them" (PK, 589). Yes, God will save those whose characters fall short of perfection because they have accepted Jesus' sacrifice on their behalf. The implications of that quotation for "last generation" theology are enormous.
Study and Discussion Questions. Most of the "problem" quotations in Scripture and in the writings of Ellen White contain truths which are likely to be distorted by serious-minded and committed Seventh-day Adventists. For each of the following Ellen White quotations, explore the possible biblical roots and the potential application of Zechariah 3:1-10.
"We must stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator" (GC, 425).
"When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own" (COL 69.1)
3. "The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes" (SC 64). The following article addresses the question of the investigative judgment. It was triggered by Desmond Ford's attack on that doctrine. It is part of a larger series on the growth and development of Ellen White's theology. The five-part series was published in The Adventist Review in December, 1981. Part 6 which follows below was published in the Walla Walla College (now university) alumni journal, Westwind. In short, Zechariah 3:10 allows us to see the investigative judgment as a theodicy issue where the believer stands in court, not as the accused, but as a witness to the goodness of God.
"Even the Investigative Judgment Can Be Good News"
By Alden Thompson, Westwind, pp. 4-7, 11, Winter 1982
"From Sinai to Golgotha," Part 6
(cf. Adventist Review, December 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 1981; July 1, 1982)
Unless otherwise noted, biblical quotations are from the Revised Standard Version
In a world of sin, the specter of judgment raises both our hopes and our fears. Scripture portrays the human family as playing several roles within the framework of the judgment concept: the role of the plaintiff, who cries out against oppression, injustice, and the suffering of innocent people; the role of the accused, who stands before the divine tribunal as one guilty of contributing to the agony and pain in the world; and the role of the witness, who has experienced salvation and speaks on behalf of the goodness of God and His law. An adequate doctrine of judgment should account for all three elements.
In the Adventist community, recent discussion has centered on the concept of the investigative judgment – its biblical foundation and its impact on Christian experience. A complicating factor is the variety of ways in which the imagery of the heavenly courtroom can be interpreted. Some interpret the symbols very literally, while others tend to think in more abstract terms. The result is a certain tension that the Adventist community simply must learn to live with.
As is the case with many Christian doctrines, the biblical foundation of the Adventist doctrine of judgment is not found complete in a single context, but requires a synthesis of biblical data in the light of the Adventist experience. Furthermore, the community's understanding of the doctrine has been a growing one, revealing shifts in emphasis and the integration of new elements. Leviticus 16, Daniel 7 to 9, Zechariah 3, and Revelation 14 are key passages. The book of Job also contributes to the larger picture, providing the cosmic setting highlighting the motives of the adversary.
But of paramount importance in Adventism is the way in which the believer has experienced judgment. If God is seen as both distant and reluctant, we may feel overwhelmed by the sense of our own unworthiness. The gulf between God and the sinner may seem too deep to bridge and God may be viewed as throwing down impossible demands.
If we find ourselves trembling and shaking before a reluctant God, we are hardly in a position to witness joyfully and confidently to His goodness. Yet, that is the ultimate goal of the judgment. In the words of Ellen White, "Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God" (Isaiah 43:12) – "witnesses that He is good and that goodness is supreme" (Education, 154).
The only time that I could conceive of going to court gladly would be to witness for a good friend, one that I know and trust. In the context of the investigative judgment, that friend is God. To see the investigative judgment culminating in such a witness does not detract from the seriousness of the judgment for human beings, but rather enables us to look through the process of judgment to its goal and to sing the praises of the God who has redeemed us.
But, is it really possible to envision a joyful conclusion within the framework of the investigative judgment? If we take seriously Ellen White's growing experience, we can indeed. In the course of her experience, she traveled the road from fear to love, from command to invitation, from Sinai to Golgotha. Such a shift in emphasis in no way lessens the ethical demands of God's law. A response out of love actually intensifies our sense of responsibility because it flows from within.
This article describes the shift in emphasis in the concept of the investigative judgment that is reflected in the writings of Ellen White, a shift which enables the believer to live in the assurance that God is both willing and able to save those who come to him.
Perhaps a quick synopsis of the two different emphases would provide a simple comparison between the Sinai and Golgotha views of the investigative judgment.
From a Sinai perspective, the judgment accentuates the gulf between a holy God and a sinful people. The thought of standing in the presence of a holy God without a mediator brings terror just as it did for ancient Israel (cf. Exodus 20:18-19).
By contrast, a Golgotha perspective emphasizes the union between God and the believer. The believer has fully recognized his own status as a sinner, but has also fully accepted the sacrifice of Christ on his behalf. As a result, the believer no longer sees God simply as Judge, but as Father; he no longer trembles in God's presence as the accused, for he stands acquitted in Christ Jesus. The fear of judgment is gone. God has claimed him as His own.
No longer preoccupied with his own survival, the believer now recognizes that judgment has a much greater purpose, namely the vindication of God and His law against the attacks of Satan. Confidently, the believer now stands in court as a witness to the goodness of God and His law.
In Ellen White's experience, the roots of that more positive view of judgment go back to a vision of 1880. Its fruit appeared in mature form in Prophets and Kings (1915). We shall look at the details shortly, but the 35 years between point to a significant question, namely, why was the "better" explanation so long in coming? My own conviction is that the early Adventists would never have believed it. I would use a similar argument in explaining the long "delay" before God sent His Son. Among the ex-slaves at Sinai, the gentle man from Nazareth would have been trampled in the dust. Sinai had to come before Golgotha; the impact of sin made it necessary.
But a shift in emphasis in the understanding of the investigative judgment also requires a willingness to see God in a particular way, as a God who is not afraid to allow the universe to put His law and His government to the test. Now for some reason, I have had no great difficulty accepting the idea of God putting His law and government on trial before the universe. Yet, I have occasionally wondered why some Adventists, and very loyal ones at that, simply did not get very excited about the idea. I caught a clearer glimpse into that kind of thinking in connection with the Sabbath School lessons on Job a few quarters ago. Some of the believers were very uncomfortable with the way Satan talked with God (cf. Job 1:9-12; 2:3-6). Such talk was inappropriate and ought not to have been allowed! They firmly believed in the Bible but they did not know what to do with the book of Job.
Behind that kind of thinking lie two significant convictions that play a powerful role, especially in the lives of religious people: First, that sinners cannot exist in the presence of a holy God, and second, that created beings dare not question God. Both statements are terribly true, terribly dangerous, and very easily misunderstood.
The first statement has biblical support (e.g., Exodus 33:21-23; Deuteronomy 4:24; I Timothy 6:16; cf. Revelation 6:17) and expresses the fundamental truth that sin and holiness are ultimately incompatible. The second statement likewise has biblical support (esp. Romans 9:9-23; cf. Isaiah 45:9-11) and expresses the fundamental truth that God is the ultimate authority.
Why then are such statements so dangerous? Because a guilty conscience can distort them, imagining horrible things about God, things which the mind can come to believe as truth. Thus, the incompatibility of holiness and sin can be exaggerated to the point where God is seen as angry and disgusted with this race of rebels, annoyed that He has to have any contact with sinners at all, and demanding that every sin be fully punished.
As for God's ultimate authority, an over-emphasis can lead to the total exclusion of human freedom. Thus God becomes, at best, a benevolent dictator, at worse, a cruel despot.
The natural results of sin tend to encourage both exaggerations. That is precisely why sin is so sinister and devastating. We see the first clear example in the experience of Adam and Eve where their own sense of guilt drove them to hide from God and even to blame Him for their failure, though there had been no display of "divine wrath" (cf. Genesis 3:8-13). Even fully repentant sinners have difficulty believing that God wishes full restoration as the cry of the prodigal son poignantly reveals: "I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants" (Luke 15:19). Most assuredly, sonship does not depend on worthiness, yet the adversary plays on the guilt feelings which naturally follow sin, tempting us to believe that God has turned His back on us in anger.
Thus, there is a fierce struggle within as we long to be with God and yet fear His presence. We are torn between the cry of Jacob: "I will not let you go, unless you bless me" (Genesis 32:26), and the cry of Peter: "Depart from me for I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8). Only a new world and a new heart will still that battle forever. In the meantime, God seeks to convince us that sin is indeed a dangerous enemy, but that He loves us even when we sin.
In Scripture, we find interesting traces of that tension between the human longing to be reunited with God and the human horror of coming into His presence at all. Some passages suggest that seeing God is not possible (cf. Genesis 3:8-13), while others clearly demonstrate that not only is it possible, but that it has already happened, though the human participants were amazed that they had survived. Jacob exclaimed: "I have seen God face to face and yet my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30). A similar reflection appears in that fascinating passage describing the meeting between God and the elders of Israel: "They saw the God of Israel… and He did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank" (Exodus 24:10-11). The biblical passage hints that by all rights He should have laid hands on them. But no, "they beheld God, and ate and drank."
One way of resolving the tension between these two feelings is to emphasize the role of the mediator as our protection against the wrath of God. In Jesus Christ we find peace with God, for He paid the price of our sin. The wrath of God which we deserve has been poured out on our substitute. Thus, we keep our distance from God the Father, but find in Jesus Christ the friendly face of God. Such a view emphasizes the sovereignty and authority of God and is often attractive to those who keenly sense the gulf between God and man.
The emphasis on the sovereignty of God finds its most thorough development in John Calvin's doctrine of predestination, a teaching which Adventists clearly reject. We believe it is our privilege to serve God out of love and by our own free choice.
A typical Calvinist would not be very enthusiastic about the "Great Controversy" story, at least not in the way Ellen White told it in her later years, for God is much too approachable and much too willing to put Himself and his law on trial before the universe. Interestingly enough, early Adventists would have sided very easily with the Calvinists when it came to their view of God. God, as they saw Him, would never open Himself to scrutiny; He is to be obeyed, not questioned.
But I am convinced that God was preparing Adventists to reach quite another audience than the Calvinists, namely modern skeptics who cannot believe that a good God has willed all the strife and trouble in this world. Adventists have been called to stand in that noble tradition of believing skeptics who are concerned about God's reputation and are not afraid to say so, even to God Himself. Like Abraham, for example: "You can't do that. You are the judge of all the earth!" (Genesis 18:25). Or like Moses: "If you do that what will the Egyptians say?" (Exodus 32:12). To be able to talk with God like that, however, one has to be on very good terms with Him. God must be known to be friendly, fair and open. But that is exactly what our forefathers had difficulty believing. It would take time before they could see the friendly face of God and even then, the possibility for confusion would not entirely disappear.
And that brings us to our modern problem as we attempt to resolve the tension between a reluctant God and a friendly one. In my own experience, the tension focused on the first chapter in Steps to Christ and the one on the investigative judgment in Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (pp. 479-90). In Steps to Christ I learned that the view of God as a "severe judge" was a deception of satanic origin. It was Satan who "pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men" (SC 10-11).
But when I turned to Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing and read about the investigative judgment, I was in trouble again, for I was tempted to believe that God was, after all, looking for a way to keep me out of His kingdom, rather than trying to get me in: every word and deed is recorded with "terrible exactness" (GC, 481); every case is closely investigated and when any are found with a sin unrepented of, "their names are blotted out of the book of life" (GC, 483); even things that we have forgotten "will bear their testimony to justify or condemn" (GC, 487). The impression one can get from these passages is that even diligent effort in seeking forgiveness can all be for nought if we happen to "forget" a sin that we have committed at some point in our life. Now I know that the passages cited do not actually say that, but they do give that impression. I now recognize that these passages refer to cherished sins, an emphasis that puts quite a different complexion on the whole matter. But even then, whenever we think of the investigative judgment as the last hurdle before we can be saved, uncertainty can still haunt us.
An important first step for resolving the difficulty in my own experience came while I was a seminary student at Andrews University. I decided I must settle in my own mind the matter of the mediator: Why did I need one if God loved me? The answer came from John 14-17 where I discovered that the purpose of the mediator was to introduce us to a friendly God, not to protect us from a reluctant one. As Jesus put it: "If you have seen me you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). But perhaps even more significant in the Adventist context is John 16:26-27, where I found a fresh possibility for interpreting Ellen White's statement that "we must stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator" (GC, 425): "In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you." In the context of Ellen White's original statement I still detect a trace of fear, but on the basis of John's Gospel I would say that fear is unnecessary. As long as we are afraid, the mediator is there, for God knows the powerful impact of sin and guilt. But the goal of Christian experience is to live once again in God's presence without fear. That is a promise, not a threat.
The next step in my search for a solution to the experiential difficulties connected with the investigative judgment came in the spring of 1980. After preparing a study document on the development of Ellen White's theology, I commented to a colleague: "The only missing piece in the Golgotha picture is eschatology. That is one place where fear still lurks. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could see how Ellen White would re-write Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing again if she had the chance?"
Of the five books in the Conflict series, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing was the only one that was not written or totally re-written after 1888. The standard edition today (1911) differs only slightly from the 1888 edition, i.e., some historical quotations were changed and references were added. (See Arthur White, Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, Washington, D.C.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1954, p. 58.) I suspected how Ellen White would have told the story, but was concerned how far we could go without prophetic authority.
And then I found it – with the aid of a student who wrongly quoted a passage fromProphets and Kings. In checking his quotation I suddenly realized that here was an entire chapter dealing with the investigative judgment: "Joshua and the Angel" (pp. 582-592). With great eagerness I read it through, looking for traces of the reluctant God. I found none. The whole chapter is the story of the investigative judgment written from the perspective of a loving God who wants to save sinners. Further research revealed some fascinating background.
The seed that was to bear such rich fruit was apparently sown in 1880. As told in Life Sketches, Ellen White inquired in vision, "Where is the security for the people of God in these days of peril?" In response, God referred her to Zechariah 3:1-2 and declared that Jesus was our security against Satan. "Jesus will lead all who are willing to be led" (Life Sketches, 324) Prior to this vision Ellen White apparently had not realized the significance of Zechariah 3:1-2 for Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing story. [The printed Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White lists no occurrences of the text before 1880.] But now God had sown the seed; it would be only a matter of time until it would germinate and bear fruit.
The Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing of E. G. White lists four passages where Ellen White comments significantly on Zechariah 3:1,2; Testimonies, vol. 5, 467-476 (1885), Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 116, 117 (1896), Christ's Object Lessons, 166-170 (1900), and Prophets and Kings, 582-592 (1917). All four of the contexts discuss the text in the setting of the "Great Controversy." Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (p. 117) states that Satan accuses us, not in some obscure courtroom, but "before the universe." Christ's Object Lessons (p.168) indicates that, not only is Satan accusing the believers, but God himself. Furthermore, when Christ speaks for his people, he confesses them, not before a reluctant Father, but "before the universe" (Christ's Object Lessons, 170). Clearly the Father and the Son are united in their love for man and in their desire to rebuke the adversary.
But what I find most fascinating about Ellen White's use of Zechariah 3:1-2 is the way she takes the article in the Testimonies and further refines it 30 years later for use inProphets and Kings. In effect, she softens those aspects that could discourage and expands on those that encourage. The result is a masterful integration of the investigative judgment into the picture of a loving God. And it happens in her very last book.
When compared with the Testimonies article, the account in Prophets and Kingsreveals one addition and one deletion that are particularly significant. The addition is found in Prophets and Kings (p. 589) as part of the Lord's rebuke of the adversary. After claiming His people as His own, the Lord declares: "They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them." What an encouragement! We may slip and fall, but if we have given our hearts to God, He will rebuke the adversary. No reluctance here to save those who are still suffering growing pains; their hearts are with God and He claims them as His.
The significant deletion is a more delicate matter, for it is terribly true – but if seen from the viewpoint of Mt. Sinai it could so easily be misunderstood. Prophets and Kingsomits two paragraphs from pages 471-72 of Testimonies, vol. 5. Both paragraphs admonish the Christian to strive to overcome every defect. That, of course, should be the goal of every Christian. But the one sentence that could cause problems runs as follows: "No sin can be tolerated in those who shall walk with Christ in white" (p. 472). If that statement is seen as describing the Christian's deep desire to obey Christ, then all is well. But if it is linked with a view of God which sees Him looking for excuses to catch sinners, then the Christian who slips and falls will flee in terror. So even though the statement is certainly true, no doubt Ellen White's heightened concern for struggling sinners led her to delete it when she was preparing the material forProphets and Kings.
Once we recognize that God has justified us in Christ, then we can joyfully go into judgment prepared to witness for God and His law. That joy, I have found, is the strongest motivation possible for obedience, for now I want to obey because He has saved me. It is no longer a matter of earning salvation or of simply avoiding punishment. Obedience is the fruit of salvation.
Now whenever I find someone struggling with the investigative judgment, I recommend without hesitation the chapter on "Joshua and the Angel" in Prophets and Kings. The "Great Controversy" story has come a long way since it was first published in 1858, but what a testimony it is to God's care for His people. He was preparing the way for His people, not only to find acceptance in Him, but also to demonstrate the goodness of God and His law to a skeptical world. God would have liked to have given the full message right at the beginning, but the beams of truth had to come gradually or His people would have turned away from light.
Because of man's fallen condition God has been willing to use both commands and invitations, fear and love; but there is no question as to which He prefers. He has shown us His love "that we may have confidence in the day of judgment" (I John 4:17). "Perfect love casts out fear" (verse 18). In the sunshine of that love, even the investigative judgment is good news, for we stand no longer accused, but acquitted in Christ Jesus. Before the universe we are witnesses to the goodness of God.
#Dave Thomas
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Alden Thompson
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Walla Walla University
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The official Avicii biography is out now
It's an "intimate biography of the iconic DJ who was lost too soon"
Avicii's biography has been published.
Initially set for release last year, Tim - The Official Biography of Avicii was written by Swedish journalist Måns Mosesson, who was given unique access to Tim's own notes, as well as interviews with the producer's family, friends and colleagues.
Published today (Tuesday, 30th November 2021) the 400-page, hardcover book aims to offer "an honest picture of Tim and his search in life, not shying from the difficulties that he struggled with." The DJ and producer, real name Tim Bergling, died by suicide in 2018 aged 28-years-old.
"The intimate biography of the iconic DJ who was lost too soon," reads the synopsis of the book. "Like a firework against the night sky, the DJ and producer Tim Bergling exploded onto the music scene. A musical visionary who, through his sense for melodies, came to define the era when Swedish and European house music took over the world."
"But Tim Bergling was also an introverted and fragile young man who was forced to grow up at an inhumanly fast pace. After a series of emergencies resulting in hospital stays, he stopped touring in the summer of 2016. Barely two years later, he took his own life."
Proceeds from the book will go to the Tim Bergling Foundation, a mental health charity set up by Bergling's parents and peers to commemorate him and help others in need. You can buy 'Tim - The Official Biography of Avicii' here.
Last year, Tomorrowland named Avicii's 'Levels' as the biggest track in the festival's history. The Swedish EDM star's legacy and influence on the world of electronic music endures, with hit 'Wake Me Up' being named as the highest charting dance track of the decade.
Avicii biography book Tim Bergling Tim - The Official Biography of Avicii Måns Mosesson
DJ Paulette announces debut book, Welcome To The Club: The Life and Lessons of a Black Woman DJ
The Avicii video game is getting a VR edition
'90s London club photographer Ewan Spencer compiles work in new book
Avicii's father calls for better mental health support for young artists
Watch the Avicii tribute concert filmed live in Stockholm
The Avicii Experience exhibition will open in Stockholm in spring 2022

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: shell scripting for token replacement in all files in a folder HI
I am not very good with linux shell scripting.I am trying following shell script to replace
revision number token $rev -<rev number> in all html files under specified directory
cd /home/myapp/test
set repUpRev = "`svnversion`"
echo $repUpRev
grep -lr -e '\$rev -'.$repUpRev.'\$' *.html | xargs sed -i 's/'\$rev -'.$repUpRev.'\$'/'\$rev -.*$'/g'

This seems not working, what is wrong with the above code ?

A: rev=$(svnversion)
sed -i.bak "s/$rev/some other string/g" *.html

A: What is $rev in the regexp string? Is it another variable? Or you're looking for a string '$rev'. If latter - I would suggest adding '\' before $ otherwise it's treated as a special regexp character...

A: This is how you show the last line:
grep -lr -e '\$rev -'.$repUpRev.'\$' *.html | xargs sed -i 's/'\$rev -'.$repUpRev.'\$'/'\$rev -.*$'/g'

It would help if you showed some input data.
The -r option makes the grep recursive. That means it will operate on files in the directory and its subdirectories. Is that what you intend?
The dots in your grep and sed stand for any character. If you want literal dots, you'll need to escape them.
The final escaped dollar sign in the grep and sed commands will be seen as a literal dollar sign. If you want to anchor to the end of the line you should remove the escape.
The .* works only as a literal string on the right hand side of a sed s command. If you want to include what was matched on the left side, you need to use capture groups. The g modifier on the s command is only needed if the pattern appears more than once in a line.
Using quote, unquote, quote, unquote is hard to read. Use double quotes to permit variable expansion.
Try your grep command by itself without the xargs and sed to see if it's producing a list of files.
This may be closer to what you want:
grep -lr -e "\$rev -.$repUpRev.$" *.html | xargs sed -i "s/\$rev -.$repUpRev.$/\$rev -REPLACEMENT_TEXT/g"

but you'll still need to determine if the g modifier, the dots, the final dollar signs, etc.,  are what you intend.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Diversions Faith Front Page Money U.S. World
Celine Dion turns to 'dark side' with gender-neutral kids' clothing
'Who would pay $77 for a baby blanket with skulls?'
Published November 23, 2018 at 4:45pm
The National Catholic Register says singer Celine Dion has gone to the "dark side" with a newly announced line of clothing for children that is "gender-neutral" black and white and features images of skulls.
A news service described a new ad in which "Dion pulls out a handful of black sparkles and blows them into the air causing all the pink and blue outfits to become black and white gender-neutral pieces."
Ezra Levant of Rebel Media posted a video commentary in which he said the clothes "are as ugly as you'd think."
"For one thing, they have lots of skulls. That's not normal, either, Children are a fountain of life; they are vivacious, lively, inspiring, energetic, growing," he said.
"It's gross and unnatural to have children and dead men's skulls together.
"I think she was trying to be funny, but you can't miss the sheer creepiness of her saying that 'out children are not ours.'"
In the ad, Levant says, Dion sneaks into a hospital nursery and is busy "de-gendering children."
See the commentary (The Dion ad appears at about 8:20 in the video):
The Catholic Register explained Dion partnered with a company called Nununu for the clothing.
"According to the website: 'CELINUNUNU liberates children from the traditional roles of boy/girl and enables younger people to grow on values of equality with the freedom strengthen their own power of personality based on mutual respect,'" the report said.
"Aside from the clothing being hideously ugly, occult themes on children is disturbing. The babies and children look sullen. Who would pay $77 for a baby blanket with skulls or $161 for a jacket that looks like a trash bag. And who wants a baby playsuit with skulls?"
The Register noted Nununu's "own line" features "large Illuminati eyes and lots and lots of skulls. … Boys are dressed as ganstas and girls with 'Ho!' emblazoned on shirts."
Patti Armstrong at NCR reported: "For a perspective from a wise spiritual director, I contacted Msgr. John Esseff who was once a spiritual director to Saint Teresa of Calcutta. He has been a priest for 65 years and an exorcist in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for over 40 years. He is also a founder and past president of the board of directors of the Pope Leo XIII Institute, which trains exorcists and is dedicated to bringing the healing of Christ to those afflicted by evil."
Essef said: "I'm convinced that the way this gender thing has spread is demonic. It's false. I don't even know how many genders there's supposed to be now, but there are only two that God made."
He continued: "The devil is going after children by confusing gender. When a child is born, what is the first things we say about that child? It's a boy, or it's a girl. That is the most natural thing in the world to say. But to say that there is no difference is satanic."
Armstrong reported: "Although the devil has been at war with humanity from the beginning, Msgr. Esseff noted that satanic attacks at this time have become bolder. 'The evil one feels that he can do these things without somehow being recognized behind it all,' he said. 'This [gender neutrality] is a ploy he has. It is being driven by an agenda because there is a spirit behind it.'"


text:
Q: Strange neo4j cypher behaviour I am pretty new to neo4j and the cypher query language.
My node / relationship dataset basically looks like the following:

*

*I have about 27000 User nodes in the database

*I have about 8000 Question nodes in the database

*Question nodes can be answered by User nodes so there are basically relationships like (user)-[:ANSWERED]->(Question)

*Some of the Question nodes trigger a property for the user, so there are relationships like (user)-[:HAS_PROPERTY]->(Property)

*Furthermore some of the Question nodes require some Properties to be able to get answered. So there are relationships like (Question)-[:REQUIRES]->(Property)

Now my query is all about finding the Questions not already answered by a particular user, taking question property requirements into account with a limit of 50 questions.
After hassling around for a while I came up with the following query:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
OPTIONAL MATCH (:User {code: 'xyz'})-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)
WITH q, user
WHERE a IS NULL
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

The above query gives me the rows as expected and is pretty fast (about 150 milliseconds), which is awesome.
What I do not understand is the following:
When I replace the second line in the query with the user variable instead of doing a label lookup the query gets very slow. Especially for users who have answered a lot or even all the questions.
So the following query is a lot slower:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
OPTIONAL MATCH (user)-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)
WITH q, user
WHERE a IS NULL
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Why is this the case, cause I really don't understand it? Actually I thought the query would be cheaper with reusing the already matched user as a basis for the second optional match.
While doing my research on cypher performance I came along a lot of articles telling me that you should try to avoid optional matches if possible. So my first query looked like the following:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
MATCH (q) WHERE NOT (q)<-[:ANSWERED]->(user)
WITH q, user
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Same problem here. The above query is a lot slower than the first one. About 20-30 times slower.
Finally I would like to ask if I am missing something and if there is even a better way to achieve my goal.
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Alex
EDIT
Below are some profiling details:
Using the following query:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
OPTIONAL MATCH (:User {code: 'xyz'})-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)
WITH q, user
WHERE a IS NULL
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Cypher version: CYPHER 2.2, planner: COST. 26979 total db hits in 169 ms.

Using the suggested query from Michael Hunger:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'abc'})
MATCH (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
WHERE NOT (user)-[:ANSWERED]->(q)
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Cypher version: CYPHER 2.2, planner: COST. 2337573 total db hits in 2622 ms.

So my current query is much faster and more efficient.
What I really don't understand and why I titled the post "Strange neo4j cypher behaviour" is the fact, that when I modify the second row of my kinda fast query from:
OPTIONAL MATCH (:User {code: 'xyz'})-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)

to:
OPTIONAL MATCH (user)-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)

which would be kinda simpler and logic for me I get the following:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
WHERE NOT (user)-[:ANSWERED]->(q)
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Cypher version: CYPHER 2.2, planner: COST. 2337573 total db hits in 2391 ms.

So I get totally the same amount of DB hits as with the priorly mentioned slow query.
Does anybody has an explanation for this?
Furthermore it doesn't make any difference when I modify the first row
from:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)

to:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'})
MATCH (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)

So I have basically two questions:

*

*Why is the query much slower when reusing the already defined User node variable (user) compared to using (user:User {code: 'xyz'})

*With my second row I use the quasi equivalent of an outer join. Against all recommendations I have come over this is much faster than using MATCH (q) WHERE NOT (q)<-[:ANSWERED]->(user) I thought the latter is doing an outer join too which seems not to be the case.
EDIT
After some further profiling I came up with a bit cheaper query. See the profiling details below:
Using the following cypher query:
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'}), (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q)
OPTIONAL MATCH (:User {code: 'xyz'})-[a:ANSWERED]->(q)
WITH q, user
WHERE a IS NULL
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(p)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(p)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50

Cypher version: CYPHER 2.2, planner: COST. 21669 total db hits in 120 ms.

So I basically got rid of the explicit node labels (:Question) and (:Property) in example, which sounds logic for me because no explicit label scanning is required any more. This saves me about 5300 DB hits.
Anything else that could be tuned on this query?

A: You span up a lot of rows with that second match, which you have to collapse again, so if you change your first WITH to either with distinct q, user or an aggregation with q,user, count(*) as answers. Then you reduce your cardinality again.
Also this already spans up a lot of rows I think (:ActiveQuestions)-[]->(q:Question)
If you run your query with PROFILE you should see how much data is accessed.
In general I'd try to change your OPTIONAL MATCH into a WHERE condition and see how it goes.
Btw. you can just label the active-questions as :ActiveQuestion no need for the additional relationship. I also added a rel-type.
MATCH (user:User {code: 'xyz'})
MATCH (:ActiveQuestions)-[:IS_ACTIVE]->(q:Question)
WHERE NOT (user)-[:ANSWERED]->(q)
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)
WITH q, user, count(r) as rCount
OPTIONAL MATCH (q)-[r:REQUIRES]->(:Property)<-[h:HAS_PROPERTY]-(user)
WITH q, rCount, count(h) as hCount
WHERE rCount = 0 or rCount = hCount
RETURN q ORDER BY q.priority DESC LIMIT 50


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text:
Kevin De Bruyne Net Worth: His International Career and Personal Life!
By Jeremy Caroll Last updated Apr 12, 2022
Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (born June 28, 1991) represents both Manchester City of the English Premier League and his country of birth Belgium at the international level. Pundits have frequently referred to him as a "complete footballer," and he is usually considered one of the top players in the world.
While in Genk, De Bruyne was an integral part of the team that won the Belgian Pro League in 2010–11. He joined Chelsea in 2012 and played sporadically before being loaned out to Werder Bremen. Having made his name as one of the finest players in the Bundesliga, and playing a key role in Wolfsburg's 2014–15 DFB-Pokal victory, he signed an £18 million contract with the club in 2014. Manchester City paid £54 million for De Bruyne in the summer of 2015. Since then, he has helped the team win three Premier League championships, five League Cups, and an FA Cup. As a key member of Manchester City's squad in 2017–18, he helped the team set a Premier League record by finishing the season with 100 points, the most ever. This season, De Bruyne set a new Premier League record for assists and was named Player of the Year.
Bruyne made his full international debut in 2010 and has since gained over 80 caps and scored 23 goals for the Belgian national team. He played in both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 UEFA Euro tournaments for Belgium, where he made it to the quarterfinals on both occasions. While at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he played for Belgium and was a member of the Dream Team for the tournament's third-place match against England.
In 1997, De Bruyne made his professional debut with KVV Drongen, his local team. In 2005, he joined Gent and relocated to Genk. He had been there for two years. While still in the club's junior system, De Bruyne excelled and was eventually promoted to the main team in 2008. De Bruyne was a fan of Liverpool and Michael Owen, according to an interview with his junior club.
On May 9, 2009, De Bruyne made his debut for Genk in a 3–0 loss against Charleroi.
On 7 February 2010, De Bruyne scored his first goal for Genk in a 1–0 win over Standard Liège.
Genk won the Belgian title for the third time during the 2010–11 season thanks to his five goals and 16 assists in 32 league games.
A 5–4 win for Genk over Club Brugge on 29 October 2011 was De Bruyne's first hat-trick for the Belgian club.
READ MORE: Lionel Messi Net Worth 2022: Here Is All Information About the Football Player!
De Bruyne scored two goals in a 5–0 victory over OH Leuven on January 28, 2012. In a 1–2 away win against Mons on February 18, 2012, De Bruyne scored his first goal after his agreed transfer to Chelsea. In a 3–1 win over Gent, De Bruyne put the finishing touches on his season's worth of goals. He scored eight goals in 28 league games to conclude the season.
Kevin De Bruyne Net Worth
He is Kevin De Bruyne. Kevin De Bruyne is a Belgian professional soccer player with a $60 million fortune. As a winger or offensive midfielder for Manchester City, he is perhaps best known. Additionally, he has played for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and the Belgian national team.
He was born in Drongen, Belgium in 1991. As a youth, Kevin started off playing for KVV Drongen, his hometown team. He then played for Gent and moved to Genk in 2005. He was promoted to Genk's senior squad in 2008. De Bruyne played for Genk until 2012 when he signed with Chelsea of the Premier League. The transfer fee for De Bruyne was rumored to be around $7 million. He stayed with Chelsea until 2014, although he was loaned back to Genk and also to Werder Bremen. In January 2014 Kevin signed with Wolfsburg for $18 million. Kevin De Bruyne has represented Belgium's national team since 2008, as a member of the country's under-18, under-19, and under-21 teams.
READ MORE: The Net Worth of Cory Joseph: His Family, Age, and Personal Life!
He started playing for the senior team in 2010. He scored four goals and helped the Red Devils qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup competition. De Bruyne plays attacking midfielder or winger and was named Bundesliga's Young Player of the Year in the 2012-13 season.
A three-time Belgium youth international captained by De Bruyne. On August 11, 2010, he made his Belgian national team debut in a friendly against Finland in Turku; Belgium lost the game 1–0. De Bruyne was eligible to play for Burundi, his mother's country, before making his official debut for Belgium's senior squad.
Belgium qualified for their first major tournament in 12 years thanks to four goals from De Bruyne during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
Born in Burundi and having resided in the Ivory Coast, De Bruyne's mother is Belgian. Its hometown of Drongen is in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, a sub-municipality of the larger Ghent. De Bruyne is fluent in Dutch, French, English, and German, as well as has a working knowledge of Spanish. De Bruyne and Michèle Lacroix have been dating since 2014. The pair tied the knot in June of 2017 and now has three kids.
A post shared by Kevin De Bruyne (@kevindebruyne)
In October 2014, Borgerhoff & Lamberigts released his autobiography, Keep It Simple.
Thibaut Courtois, De Bruyne's compatriot, left him for De Bruyne's then-girlfriend in 2014 after the incident. According to De Bruyne, "Although I still cannot comprehend what Courtois has done, we continue to work together."
READ MORE: Ben Foster Soccer Net Worth: Success Story of Famous Goalkeeper?
This year's Special Olympics in Antwerp had De Bruyne as an ambassador and a contentious advertising campaign on his personal Instagram account was a part of that role. De Bruyne was represented as having Down syndrome, with the caption "Would you still be my fan if I looked like this?"
Jeremy Caroll 2940 posts
I written for a lot of different movie-related publications. I first worked as an editor and then as the head film critic. Now, I works as a freelance film journalist and writes for many different media outlets. I also done a lot of work for radio shows and TV shows in the movie business.
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text:
Guest Post: 5th Circ.: D&O Insurer Must Cover Firm for Social Engineering Losses Despite Professional Services Exclusion
Geoffrey B. Fehling
Michael S. Levine
In the following guest post, Geoffrey B. Fehling and Michael S. Levine review and analyze a September 2, 2021 Fifth Circuit decision in which the appellate court reversed a lower court ruling and held that a D&O insurance policy must cover a settlement related to a social engineering loss. Geoffrey is a counsel in Hunton Andrews Kurth's Boston office and Michael is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog's readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors' article.
The Fifth Circuit recently reversed a lower court's no-coverage ruling, holding that a D&O insurer must indemnify a financial services firm for money wired to a fraudster pretending to be a customer. The ruling in HM International v. Twin City, No. 20-20122, 2021 WL 3928970 (5th Cir. Sept. 2, 2021), shows the breadth of defense and indemnity coverage under many D&O policies for tort claims alleging that the insured's misconduct resulted in financial losses and highlights the need for financial services firms to carefully construct a comprehensive liability program to avoid overbroad application of "professional services" exclusions like what the policyholder had to correct on appeal.
HMI provided various accounting and financial services to Greg and Kathy Geib. One day, HMI's CFO received an email from Mr. Geib's account, requesting that HMI send $1 million to a certain bank account. HMI complied and executed the order. Unbeknownst to HMI, the email was from a fraudster impersonating the Geib's, and when the firm received a second email for another transfer two days later and contacted the Geib's, it discovered the fraud. But the damage had been done, causing the Geib's to lose $1 million, much of which was unable to be recovered.
Three months later, the Geibs accused HMI of negligence and demanded that HMI compensate them for their losses. HMI notified its D&O liability insurer, Twin City, of the demand, but Twin City refused to provide coverage, contending the claim was excluded under the policy. HMI sued Twin City alleging breach of the policy and, while the coverage litigation was pending, HMI settled the Geibs claim for $470,000 and assigned its right to pursue recovery of the stolen funds from Twin City. The Geibs never filed suit against HMI.
The parties cross-moved for summary judgment. The district court ruled in favor of Twin City, finding that it had no obligation to provide coverage for the settlement payment to the Geibs because the settlement was made after the limitations period had run. Specifically, the court held that the settlement payment was not a "loss" because it was not an amount HMI was "legally liable to pay solely as a result of a claim." The court reasoned that, "[i]n the very sense of the words 'legally liable,' a claim barred by the statute of limitations cannot be a claim in which HMI faced legal liability—the law actually bars liability." HMI appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit.
The Opinion
Applying Texas law, the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's ruling on multiple grounds.
First, the district court misapplied the D&O policy's definition of "claim" by equating it with "cause of action," which was apparent from the district court's reference to a claim barred by the statute of limitations. A cause of action can certainly be barred by the statute of limitations, the Fifth Circuit reasoned, but the policy's definition of "claim," which broadly includes a "written demand for monetary damages or other civil non-monetary relief—i.e., a Demand Letter—cannot."
Second, the district court erred by barring coverage under the assumption that "HMI actually lost or would have lost had the Geibs filed suit" and, as such, HMI could not ever be "legally liable to pay" the claim because any suit by the Geibs would have been time-barred. The Fifth Circuit ruled that this view was inconsistent with Texas law, which interprets "legally liable to pay" to include a "contractual obligation to pay" through settlement. The broader view of "legally liable to pay" is further bolstered because the policy includes "settlement amounts" among the list of covered damages.
Clarifying those two misinterpretations, the Fifth Circuit found that coverage for HMI's settlement payment to the Geibs becomes clear—the demand letter constitutes a "claim" because it is a "written demand for monetary damages or other civil non-monetary relief" and "HMI's settlement payment constitutes a Loss because it is an amount that HMI is legally liable—through contract—to pay to the Geibs as a result of the demand letter."
The Fifth Circuit explained further that the Geibs' failure to timely file suit is immaterial because the D&O policy "does not require that the party suing the insured win a judgment" or even that they file suit at all. Likewise, the policy does not require a policyholder to "meet a threshold likelihood of losing the threatened lawsuit before a settlement can be recovered." In defending the lawsuit, HMI had the right to "measure the legal risk it presents and decide whether to settle," which is why Texas law holds that "insurers that breach their duty to defend cannot challenge the reasonableness of a subsequent settlement. The merits of the hypothetical suit by the Geibs do not change that "basic tenet of insurance law."
The Fifth Circuit also quickly dispatched Twin City's two alternative theories against indemnifying HMI. Twin City argued that it had no duty to indemnify HMI because the settlement "was not the result of an adversarial process." The court disagreed because the lack of an adversarial process "only releases an insurer that breached its duty to defend from being fully bound by the settlement." Stated differently, "showing the settlement did not result from a fully adversarial process gives insurers the opportunity to contest the amount and validity of the settlement, but it does not give them a get-out-of-coverage free card."
The court also disagreed with Twin City concerning the adversarial nature of HMI's settlement, which turned on whether HMI bore an actual risk of liability for the damages agreed upon or had other meaningful incentives to ensure that the settlement accurately reflected the Geibs' claimed damages. The court found that the "possibility of being liable for damages or the settlement if the insurer does not ultimately cover it" was an adequate incentive to make the settlement "adversarial." In HMI's case, it settled with full knowledge that if it lost the pending coverage dispute it would be responsible for the settlement, which is enough incentive to reach a fair settlement.
Finally, Twin City argued that coverage was barred by the policy's "professional services" exclusion for loss "in connection with any Claim based upon, arising from, or in any way related to any actual or alleged . . . rendering of, or failure to render, any services for or on behalf of others for a fee." It contended that HMI "regularly performed wire services for the Geibs for a fee" and that the Geibs' threatened suit arose from a wire service. HMI disputed that the wire transfer it provided was "for a fee." Citing evidence that the parties' services agreement did not list "wire transfers" among the services for which HMI charged the Geibs and testimony from an HMI employee that wire transfers were free, the Fifth Circuit found that Twin City was not entitled to summary judgment based on the professional services exclusion due to a genuine dispute of material fact.
The court vacated summary judgment in favor of Twin City and remanded for further proceedings.
The HM International decision touches on a number of important coverage issues for policyholders to consider, both in pursuing recovery for social engineering losses and, more generally, in purchasing and renewing D&O policies.
The first is not to overlook D&O policies as a potential source of recovery for cyber scam liability. With a continued uptick in both the frequency and severity of social engineering, business email compromise, phishing, malware, and other cyber threats, companies are facing more risk than ever, some of which may be covered by D&O, E&O, general liability, and other non-cyber policies.
Second, policyholders must remain vigilant in aggressively pursuing coverage based on the actual policy language used and not based on the insurer's preferred narrow reading of coverage grants or expansive reading of exclusions where those interpretations conflict with the policy's plain language. In the case of HMI's claim, the insurer (and later, the court) adhered to readings of "claim" and "legally liable to pay" that artificially constricted coverage inconsistent with the policy's broad grant of coverage for "demands" for monetary and non-monetary relief that could result in legal liability for settlement payments. The Fifth Circuit's reversal is a good reminder to meticulously review every applicable policy provision compared to the insurer's grounds for denying or limiting coverage to ensure that the insureds are getting the benefit of the purchased coverage.
Third, be wary of broad language in "professional services" and other exclusions. The lead-in language in HMI's policy, which applied to any loss "based upon, arising from, or in any way related to any actual or alleged" professional services, was especially broad. Policyholders often can negotiate more reasonable causation language or narrower definitions of "professional services," especially when a significant portion of the insureds' business is to provide services that could be deemed professional in nature. Financial services firms—or really any business that performs services for a fee—should pay close attention to "professional services" exclusions that may result in large swaths of business potentially outside the scope of D&O coverage. Coordinating appropriate types of liability coverage across multiple policies, including by purchasing a separate E&O policy to respond to professional liability claims, can mitigate the risk of disputes like those in HM International that can result in significant gaps in coverage.
Tags: cause of action, insurance coverage, legally liable, Professional Services Exclusion, settlements, social engineering fraud, statute of limitations


text:
package au.com.noojee.acceloapi.util;

import java.time.Duration;
import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.LocalTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

import org.apache.commons.lang3.time.DurationFormatUtils;
import org.joda.money.Money;

public interface Format
{

	static final DateTimeFormatter dateFormat = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd-MM-yyyy");

	static final DateTimeFormatter saasuDateFormat = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");

	static final DateTimeFormatter dateWithMonthFormat = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd MMM yyyy");

	static final DateTimeFormatter dateFormatTime = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd-MM-yyyy hh:mma");

	static final DateTimeFormatter timeFormat = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("hh:mma");

	public static String format(LocalDate date)
	{
		return (date == null ? "" : date.format(dateFormat));
	}

	public static String formatWithMonth(LocalDate date)
	{
		return (date == null ? "" : date.format(dateWithMonthFormat));
	}

	public static String format(LocalDateTime dateTime)
	{
		return (dateTime == null ? "" : dateTime.format(dateFormatTime));
	}

	public static String format(LocalTime time)
	{
		return (time == null ? "" : time.format(timeFormat));
	}

	public static String saasuFormat(LocalDate date)
	{
		return (date == null ? "" : date.format(saasuDateFormat));
	}

	/**
	 * Formats the Duration to H:mm
	 *
	 * @param duration
	 * @return a blank string if duration is null otherwise the duration as per the format.
	 */
	public static String format(Duration duration)
	{

		if (duration == null)
			return "";
		if (duration.toMillis() >= 60000)
			return DurationFormatUtils.formatDuration(duration.toMillis(), "H:mm");
		return DurationFormatUtils.formatDuration(duration.toMillis(), "s") + " secs";

	}

	/**
	 * Formats the Duration to the given format. Formats support are any supported by
	 * {@link DurationFormatUtils.formatDuration}
	 *
	 * @param duration
	 * @param format to render duration to.
	 * @return a blank string if duration is null otherwise the duration as per the format.
	 */
	public static String format(Duration duration, String format)
	{

		return (duration == null ? "" : DurationFormatUtils.formatDuration(duration.toMillis(), format));
	}

	public static String format(Money money, boolean showDollarSign)
	{
		String prefix = "";
		if (showDollarSign)
			prefix = "$";
		if (money != null)
		{
			long cents = money.multipliedBy(100).getAmountMajorLong();

			return String.format(prefix + "%,1d.%02d", cents / 100, Math.abs(cents) % 100);
		}
		return prefix + "0.00";

	}

	public static String format(Money money)
	{
		return format(money, false);
	}

	/**
	 * No delimiters and no currency.
	 *
	 * @param money
	 * @return
	 */
	public static String formatSimple(Money money)
	{
		if (money != null)
		{
			long cents = money.multipliedBy(100).getAmountMajorLong();

			return String.format("%1d.%02d", cents / 100, Math.abs(cents) % 100);
		}
		return "0.00";
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Hearts are heavy following Wild Beasts' recently announced split – yet Domino nonetheless announce the release of the 'Punk Drunk And Trembling EP', available digitally on Friday 20th October 2017 and on limited 10" via Dom Mart on Friday 17th November 2017. An uncovered rarity from the band's Boy King recording sessions, with its lead track available digitally now. The EP also features the tracks 'Maze' and 'Last Night All My Dreams Came True', previously only available on the deluxe vinyl version of Boy King.
The band released the following statement yesterday: "Wild Beasts are coming to an end. Our hearts and minds have been devoted to the band since we were teenagers. We've created something quite of our own, and built a body of work which we stand by, as heartfelt and true. The four of us have decided for our own reasons, and in our own ways that it is now time to leave this orbit. We're care takers to something precious and don't want to have it diminish, as we move forward in our lives. Thank you for your love and energy, and for helping us make it what it is. We consider ourselves remarkably fortunate to have lived out this dream. Before we go, we'd like to celebrate with you".
Tickets for the shows are available now from wild-beasts.co.uk.


text:
Inspiring / Inspired: Hendrix, SRV, Mayer
I'm trying out a new series here on Chasing Sound called Inspiring / Inspired. The premise behind the series is to show a song from a guitarist who was deeply inspiring to so many people, and then show one of the people that that guitarist inspired. For this inaugural edition of Inspiring / Inspired I'm going 3 deep. I'll feature Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Mayer.
If you truly, actively listen to your favorite guitarists, you'll soon find out something special. Simply by listening and really honing in on what makes them great, what vocabulary they're using, what techniques and more, you find out that these players become your teachers. Steal an idea here, a riff there, and make these ideas your own.
You'll soon become a mixture of all of your favorite things on the guitar, making something new again. These players below all were initially inspired by players before them, and listening to each provides a new take on what makes guitar so great. Let's start with Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix - Red House
Hendrix was one of the most inspiring guitarists of all time, but just like any other player, he had his influences too. From bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Elmore James to rock acts like The Beatles, The Stones and more, Hendrix had many phases throughout his life and his influences show up throughout his recordings.
On his bluesier side, you had Hendrix's Red House. Red House itself was inspired by Albert King (who later was a huge influence on SRV). It is without a doubt one of the most covered songs in rock and blues.
In the book Ultimate Hendrix they talk about how the version of Red House on Are You Experienced "came about during the last fifteen minutes of the December 13 session", "Jimi just winged through one take for reference and we started rolling." Pretty incredible stuff for one of Hendrix's all time greatest songs.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a huge Hendrix fan, and covered some of his songs like Little Wing, Voodoo Chile and others while playing live. Although not an original SRV tune, Stevie made the most popular version of the song Texas Flood.
Stevie's version, especially some of the live cuts, have Hendrixisms all over the track, as he lengthened the original version and added some of his own style to the song. In a true "small world" turn of events, Stevie only heard about the song because Larry Davis who originally wrote Texas Flood was invited to clubs where Vaughan would frequent by none other than Albert King.
Texas Flood and Red House are very similar, but you also had other Hendrix tunes that inspired SRV. Just take a listen to Little Wing, and then go listen to Vaughan's Lenny or Riviera Paradise. And for more Hendrix inspired blues, check out SRV's original Ain't Gone 'n' Give Up on Love.
John Mayer - Out of My Mind
John Mayer gets a lot of flack, whether it be for his playing style, his signature guitars, or his guitar faces, there's a lot of people who can't seem to get into him. Mayer has been influenced heavily by Hendrix, Vaughan, and early on by Dave Matthews. At the beginning of his career there were so many comparisons to Dave Matthews that Mayer started playing his signature guitar.
While his pop rock songs are a lot of fun, Mayer really gets to stretch out on his John Mayer Trio album, Try! The song that's similar to Texas Flood and Red House is Out of My Mind. A slow, smoky blues with some great riffs. If you can't get into John's playing, this album might change your mind. Listen to Mayer's solo on this song after he asks the crowd, "let me play my guitar people."
It's funny because Mayer's known for having so many pop rock hits, that it's only so often he gets to nerd out and really play. The whole album is great, and it closes out on a happier number with the title track, Try, which I've always loved. The album features the amazing Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass.
Who's Inspired You?
What's a song or guitarist that's inspired you? Can you think of any other great players or songs that have inspired players who've come after them? Let me know by reaching out on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
Tagged: hendrix, stevie ray vaughan, john mayer, rock, blues, Inspiration
Newer PostG3 Jam: Watch Satch, Petrucci, Collen and Glenn Hughes jam Deep Purple's Highway Star
Older PostThe Top 25 Greatest Wah Guitar Players


text:
Състезанията по ски бягане на зимните олимпийски игри през 2014 г. се провеждат в комплекса "Лаура" в Красная поляна.

Марит Бьорген става най-успешната спортистка в историята на зимни олимпийски игри. Норвежката печели три златни медала и събира общо 10, колкото имат и Раиса Сметанина и Стефания Белмондо, но Бьорген има 6 златни отличия.

Дисциплини

Програма
Разписание на 12-те дисциплини.

Часовете са в местно време (UTC+4).

Класиране по медали

Резултати

Скиатлон 15 km жени
Скиатлонът на жените представлява ски бягане 7,5 км в класически стил, смяна на ските и 7,5 км в свободен стил. Норвежката Марит Бьорген, доминираща ски бягането в годините преди олимпийските игри, печели безапелационно пред шведската представителка Шарлоте Кала и сънародничката си Хейди Венг. Това е четвъртият златен олимпийски медал за Бьорген.

Скиатлон 30 km мъже

Спринт свободен стил жени

Спринт свободен стил мъже

Класически стил 10 km жени

Класически стил 15 km мъже

Щафета жени

Щафета мъже

Отборен спринт жени

Отборен спринт мъже

Свободен стил 30 km жени

Свободен стил 50 km мъже

Източници

Ски бягане
Зимни олимпийски игри 2014

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


When the growth lobby's powerful political machine is dependent upon the outcome of key elections conrolled by their own elections department, consistently fair and verifiable elections are impossible without legal intervention. Richard Hernandez, the Chairman of Sunnyside's effort to recall two school supervisors, understands this dilemma.
"For months, hundreds of residents in the Sunnyside Unified School District have worked to restore honesty and integrity to the Governing Board. The effort to recall SUSD Board president Louie Gonzales and Board member Bobby Garcia has already been a huge victory for the over 100 members of the recall committee and the students and teachers of the District.
We are exhausted from hurdling the many obstacles thrown in our way by corrupt-powers-that-be, but we will not rest until every ballot is counted in a fair and transparent manner."
A recent meeting at Pima County's Election Integrity Committee (EIC) offered a unique opportunity for Hernandez and recall candidates to catch a first hand glimpse of how the outcome of their campaign is bureaucratically managed by the county. Previous court cases have established legitimate concern over illegal early peeks at election results by the Elections Division. This information becomes a valuable tool for changing the outcome so Hernandez rightfully expressed the desire to have all the ballots in this small election counted on election day.
Once EIC member Mickey Duniho asked Elections Director Brad Nelson about possibly counting all the ballots on election day, Pima County loyalist Benny White had a little temper tantrum. He pounds his hand on the table to 'demand the floor' and proceeds to complain while dubiously citing jurisdictional issues barring the board from simply making an inquiry to Brad Nelson about his schedule. In this watershed moment, the peculiar behavior of Benny White reveals the infiltration of interests that contradict the majority's desire for transparency, especially when he later complains that "there might be an opposing view, there might not be an opposing view. I don't know but the opposing view party is not represented here." In other words, the County Attorney wasn't given the chance to develop some legal contrivance to justify this betrayal of public trust.
Any bureaucratic nuanced interpretation of rules or policy can be generated to hide key election processes from public oversight. If it wasn't such a threat to the democratic process, Pima County's rationale for skirting public scrutiny can be amusing at times. Who would have thought we would hear Brad Nelson, the head of elections in Pima County, try to explain how he's too busy to count ballots on election day?
In Sunnyside's district, two elected officials are the subject of a recall effort resulting from the reappointment of Superintendent Manuel Isquierdo. This appears to be making Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry a little uncomfortable. Citizens within the Sunnyside district have the political will to remove elected officials that continue to support the same corrupt bureaucratic head at Sunnyside. What if these uppity citizens realize that similar efforts should be aimed at PIma County's Board of Supervisors for their continued deferrence to Chuck Huckelberry?
Shortly after the election integrity meeting, Pima County realized that it's not a good idea to suggest that the elections department is too busy for such a small election day count. Pressure from Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, Richard Hernandez, various recall candidates and election integrity advocates led to Pima County's 'magnanimous gesture' of counting all the ballots on election day.
While this one concesssion alleviates early counting concerns, adequate oversight is denied in key areas where the vote can still be manipulated. One suspicous location is Apollo Middle School, which has been designated as a 'ballot drop-off area'. Acting in conjunction with the political bureaucracy, Ann Rodriguez's office provides a handy excuse for barring election observers.
"The room that will be used is directly adjacent to space used daily by the students and we are required to maintain the secured environment of the educational institution."
Nothing beats the emotional appeal of children's safety when when it comes to eroding civil liberties. Those fighting corruption through the recall effort find the Apollo location suspect because Louie Gonzales, the Sunnyside Board President being recalled, has a son whose office is located inside Apollo Middle School.
Last Tuesday, Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller was denied her request to hold an emergency meeting over various concerns for the integrity of the Sunnyside election. The rest of the elected supervisors publicly voted against further actions to protect the integrity of the Sunnyside election. We should question their wisdom as this vote was witnessed by those who succeeded with holding a recall election against their own district's corrupt elected officials.
In this non partisan election, Chuck Huckelberry ironically mandated that only representatives from the two major political parties can observe the tabulation. These two are EIC members Barbara Tellman and Benny White. Surprised? Perhaps another watershed moment surrounding the Sunnyside election is the decision to ban EIC member Mickey Duniho as an observer. Transparency advocate John Brakey requested from Brad Nelson that Duniho observe the tabulation process like he has in previous elections. Nelson replies "Absolutely not". Although the bureaucracy seems to be leaning on the idea that Duniho's political affiliation is Independent, many recognize Duniho's exclusion as a retaliatory and vindictive decision against one committee member known for asking the right questions.
Like forever following an unhousebroken dog through an unfamiliar home, election integrity advocates have trailed the Pima Elections Division through every conceivable contrivance and opportunity to manipulate the count. This type of relentless oversight requires an abundance of tenacity and vigilance that few can afford to sustain for any significant length of time. Pima Elections can only be tamed through Attorney Bill Risner's legal pursuit of prospective relief through the courts. To get an idea of what this dog has left behind over the years, check out Bill Risner's Statement of Facts, which informs the court what integrity proponents intend to prove. Once evidence is presented through the discovery process, the court can proceed to clean house.
Friday, May 16 marks the eight-year aniversary of the RTA debacle. Despite Pima County spending milllions of dollars to prevent an adequate examination of those RTA ballots, we still have the opportunity to begin the process of disentangling corporate influence over key elections. Those RTA ballots are still at Iron Mountain and people are beginning to ask, "How many more temper tantrums can Benny White throw?"


text:
Q: Creating random URLs in Django? I'm creating a project where:

*

*A user submits an input into a form

*That data is input into the database

*A random URL is generated (think imgur / youtube style links)

*The user is redirected to that random URL

*The input data is display on that random URL

forms.py
class InputForm(forms.Form):
    user_input = forms.CharField(max_length=50, label="")
    random_url = forms.CharField(initial=uuid.uuid4().hex[:6].upper())

models.py
class AddToDatabase(models.Model):
    user_input = models.CharField(max_length=50, unique=True)
    random_url = models.CharField(max_length=10, unique=True)

views.py
def Home(request):
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = InputForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            user_input = request.POST.get('user_input', '')
            random_url = request.POST.get('random_url', '')
            data = AddToDatabase(user_input=user_input, random_url=random_url)
            data.save()

        return render(request, 'index.html', {'form':form})

    else:

        form = InputForm()
        return render(request, 'index.html', {'form':form})

index.html
<form action="" method="POST">
    {{form}}
    {% csrf_token %}
    <input type="submit">
</form>

I'm new to Python / Django, which is probably obvious. The above code allows users to submit an input which is succesfully added to the database. It also generates 6 random characters and adds that to the database.
The problem is I don't know how to turn that random code into a URL and redirect the user there after submitting the form.
I've tried a couple of methods so far, such as adding action="{{ random_url }}" to the index.html form, as well as adding url(r'(?P<random_url>\d+)', views.Home, name='home') to urls.py

A: I would recommend using something like Hashids for your URLs instead of uuid.uuid4()[:6], but I think your immediate problem is in urls.py:
url(r'(?P<random_url>\d+)', views.Home, name='home')

Here your regular expression for random_url is \d+. \d+ matches one or more decimal digits, but the values generated by uuid.uuid()[:6] aren't decimal. I think \w will be a better fit.
The other problem is that views.Home doesn't accept the "random URL", so it never knows which one to display. Give it a second argument:
def Home(request, random_url=None):

and then use random_url inside Home to load the correct page from the database. I suspect this should actually happen in a new view function, but I'm not clear on what each page represents so I can't recommend a good name for it.

A: models.py
import uuid

class AddToDatabase(models.Model):
    user_input = models.CharField(max_length=50, unique=True)
    random_url = models.UUIDField(default=uuid.uuid4)

forms.py
from .models import AddToDatabase
class InputForm(forms.ModelForm):

    class Meta:
      model = AddToDatabase
      fields = ["user_input"]

views.py
from django.shortcuts import redirect

def Home(request):
    form = InputForm()
    if request.method == 'POST':
        form = InputForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            form_instance = form.save(commit=False)
            form_instance.save()
            return redirect("form_detail", random_url=form_instance.random_url)
  return render(request, 'index.html', {'form':form})

def form_detail(request, random_url):
    template = "form_detail.html"
    context = {}
    form_detail = get_object_or_404(AddToDatabase, random_url=random_url)
    context["form_detail"] = form_detail
    return render(request, template, context)

urls.py
from . import views

urlpatterns = [

 url(r'^home/$' views.Home, name="home"),
url(r'^form-detail/(?P<random_url>[-\w]+)/$', views.form_detail, name="form_detail")
]

in form_detail.html template

 User Input : {{ form_detail.user_input }}


Lesotho: Democracy reigns in Lesotho - but which democracy, exactly?
THINK AGAIN: Democracy reigns in Lesotho - but which democracy, exactly?
On 28 February, citizens of Lesotho voted in parliamentary and presidential elections. These were snap elections, called two years ahead of time, and were designed to drag the country out of the political and constitutional crisis which had left its government crippled for the last year. They were meant to signal a fresh start for Basotho democracy – and, from the perspective of most observers, they did.
'Based on its observations, the [Southern African Development Community] Electoral Observation Mission [SEOM] concludes that the 2015 National Assembly Elections in the Kingdom of Lesotho were peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair, thus reflecting the will of the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho,' said South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who led the SEOM.
South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, chief mediator in the negotiations that resulted in the election, concurred. 'The people of Lesotho have spoken. The people of Lesotho have indeed indicated who should occupy the seat. Democracy has reigned,' he said.
Having witnessed it myself, there is little doubt that this was a free and fair election. Democracy reigned indeed, and – thanks to a cumbersome seven-party coalition – the party that received more votes than anyone else overall, and the most parliamentary seats, will lead government. Nonetheless, analysts have pointed to critical weaknesses in this new, democratically elected government that could plunge Lesotho back into exactly the kind of constitutional chaos from which it has just emerged.
For one thing, the incoming Prime Minister Phalitha Mosisili does not have a decisive mandate from the people. And his majority is razor thin. His party, the Democratic Congress (DC), received just 3 551 votes more than the second-placed All Basotho Convention (ABC), and just one extra seat in Parliament – 47 seats, compared to the ABC's 46.
Mosisili is also forced to rely on six other coalition parties for his parliamentary majority; a delicate balancing which his predecessor, the ABC's Tom Thabane, failed to maintain – although Mosisili, with 65 seats of 120 in his coalition, has a little more breathing room. Should any one of these parties cross the floor, Mosisili could find himself in exactly the same situation that Thabane did: unable to push through legislation, and facing a no confidence vote.
The fragility of Lesotho's coalition government begs the question: while the government may be elected democratically, is it the right kind of democracy?
Researchers, analysts and particularly journalists have an unfortunate habit of using the term 'democracy' as a kind of catch-all expression to cover a number of different political and electoral systems. Generally, a popular vote is all that's needed to satisfy 'democratic' criteria – although what exactly people vote on, and how those votes are taken into account, can differ dramatically between countries.
Many countries, for example, hold two sets of elections to choose their government: one to elect the president or head of the executive, and another to elect representatives in a legislative body. The United States works like this, as, in Africa, do the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria. This approach can be refined even further: sometimes, if no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election is required between the top two candidates. This ensures that whoever ends up as president has a decisive mandate from more than half of the electorate.
Other countries adopt the Westminster or Parliamentary system, whereby citizens choose a Parliament and Parliament chooses a head of government from the members of Parliament (MPs). Usually, cabinet ministers must also be chosen from MPs. This system too has various iterations. In the United Kingdom (UK), the House of Commons is composed entirely of constituency seats – in other words, every MP is elected by and answers to a specific geographical area. In South Africa there are no constituency seats in the National Assembly, the composition of which is determined entirely by proportional representation – in other words, seats are allocated according to each party's share of the national vote.
Lesotho's electoral system, the mixed member proportional system, is something of a hybrid of the Parliamentary model. The National Assembly is composed of 120 members: 80 members who are directly elected from constituencies, and 40 members who are elected through proportional representation. In theory, this is the best of both worlds, as it ties members to specific areas, and therefore makes them accountable, while also reflecting each party's national popularity.
One of its major advantages is that all parties with a reasonable amount of support can secure a seat – in Lesotho, this translates to just a few thousand votes. This, however, can also be a disadvantage, as it makes it difficult for any party to secure an absolute majority – a particular problem for Lesotho. Another disadvantage is that Lesotho's electoral system, like that of the UK, does not impose term limits on prime ministers, meaning that Mosisili (or a successor) could run for as many terms as he wishes.
Mahao's point is that coalition governments are inherently fragile, and that Lesotho's political parties aren't yet mature enough to manage them effectively. This is a recipe for instability. Nonetheless, it might just be the best recipe Lesotho has. 'The mixed member proportional system makes the most sense for now, in the context of Lesotho's history of post-election violence,' said Dimpho Motsamai, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.
It's hard to know exactly what electoral system is right for Lesotho, or how to get the parties to make the most of it. It's an important question, however, and it needs to be asked more often – not just in Lesotho, but in every country where 'democracy' is meant to be the solution.


Happy Thanksgiving Coloring Pages: Thanksgiving Day will take place on 28th November 2019 this year. Talking about the traditional provision of the Thanksgiving ceremony, this occasion is mostly about fun and feast. Check out Happy Thanksgiving Coloring Pages For Kids, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Kindergarten, Free Printable Thanksgiving Coloring Pages For Adults are easy to download. However, with the growing advances in technology and the evolution of Coloring Pages of Thanksgiving, one can forward an e-mail or with a post to their associates and relatives. Activities like children coloring pages and sheets will help them to hold the writing tool the correct way.
A coloring book (or colouring book, or coloring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. Traditional coloring books and coloring pages are printed on paper or card. Sending Happy Thanksgiving Images 2019 will help you resemble the original sentiment of the holiday even though you can meet with them in person.
All the Free Thanksgiving Coloring Pages Printable are designed specifically for adults with beautiful intricate designs that will make you smile while you take a few minutes just for you. Coloring Page For Thanksgiving 2019 can be incredibly relaxing and as you color these grown-up coloring pages, you can let your mind wander or simply concentrate on your coloring. Here is a way to have fun coloring while learning about the living world. These coloring pages and worksheets feature different areas of biology as well as fun facts. Crayons and markers will work, but colored pencils are recommended.


F-1 Firearms BDR-15-3G Receiver Set is a modern take on the MIL-SPEC M16 of yester-year. This set was meticulously engineered to be as lightweight as possible, while remaining rigid and cosmetically pleasing. All areas not inherent to functionality have been stripped away, leaving a beautiful base for any build. Each set is hand finished and matched in-house, for the utmost in operational and cosmetic perfection that our customers have come to expect from us here at F-1. BDR-15-3G sets accept all MIL-SPEC patterned parts as well as Magpul mags.


There are 18 products of Cylindrical.
IO-Link Makes Sensor Level Information Visible and Solves the Three Major Issues at Manufacturing Sites! Standard Proximity Sensor.
IO-Link Makes Sensor Level Information Visible and Solves the Three Major Issues at Manufacturing Sites! A Proximity Sensor That Can Be Used in a Spatter Environment.