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Excerpt: Storm Chaser Reed Timmer's 'Into the Storm' The mesocyclone, which is the rotating and rising air inside the cloud, is so powerful that it forces part, if not all, of the cloud to also turn. There's more to the spectacle, too. Miles in the sky, the warm and moist air that fed the growth of the cumulonimbus cloud has finally cooled, causing an upper layer of ice crystals to spread in all directions like a pancake. Now that same guy who was washing his car might look up and see a massive, glistening, flying-saucer-shaped, rotating cloud. If I were him, and this storm were real, I wouldn't be turning my back on the sky anymore. The rogue cloud structure is now known as a supercell thunderstorm. Pregnant with moisture, wind, and both the warm air coming in and the cooling air spewing out its top and trickling down, the storm roars forth. Thunder. Lightning. Torrential rain. Cold cloud droplets turn into hail and get swept back into the updraft, only to attract more moisture and freeze again, cycling through until the hailstones grow as big as baseballs. Then they finally fall from the sky, kill livestock, smash windshields, and put holes in the roofs of buildings. I imagine something else dropping from the storm's belly: a wall cloud. It's a signature, block-shaped mass of condensation produced close to the heart of the storm's twisting and ascending updraft. A wall cloud might be only hundreds of feet off the ground, and it can spin like a top. Here the tornado science gets fuzzy. For reasons that aren't fully known, the wall cloud sprouts a thinner funnel that features an intensified rotation. Responding to pressure and temperature changes, the funnel lowers to the ground even as it sucks air upward. The spinning cloud might get longer and thinner, or it might not. Tornadoes can look like elephant trunks, stovepipes, drill bits, or wedges. They can be straight or crooked. They can range anywhere from three hundred feet to over two miles wide and can spin for a couple of minutes or an hour. They can glisten white in the sun or appear black in the shadows, although they can also turn shades of red, yellow, brown, and pink, depending on the color of the dirt and man-made materials they pull off the ground. The F5 of my dreams doesn't do colossal damage to people and their property. I've seen all manner of such destruction: rain gutters peeled off by sixty-five-mile-per-hour F0s, large trees snapped in half by hun-dred-and-twenty-mile-per-hour F2s, and neighborhoods reduced to sticks and stones by a three-hundred-mile-per-hour F5. I've encountered semi trucks that have been lifted onto their noses and houses that ex-ploded under the force of the storm. The F5 I imagine—a bright white stovepipe—spins in the open fields. I get close enough to hear its un-mistakable jet-engine whoosh. I smell the earth as the tornado slashes through shrubbery and trees like some giant-size lawn mower generating the unmistakable aroma of fresh-cut grass. I watch as the lone, imperfect cylinder unpredictably moves one way and then skips another. When there's no more warm, moist air in the pipeline and the F5 has strangled itself by sucking in its own cold air, the once huge tornado turns into an ever-thinning, twisting rope before disappearing into the ether.
SUMO versus Ubiquitin: A Fight for Huntington’s Disease? Ubiquitin may be everywhere, but when it comes to polyglutamine diseases like Huntington’s (HD), SUMO-1 (small ubiquitin-like modifier 1) may have just as much clout, report Lawrence Marsh and colleagues from University of California, Irvine, in today’s Science. The paper raises questions about the toxicity of soluble proteins, small oligomers vs. aggregates, and about repression of gene expression by an offending protein species—all motifs that are under intense study in other neurodegenerative diseases, as well. Both ubiquitin and SUMO are used by cells to modify proteins post-translationally. Through independent mechanisms, both molecules can be covalently attached to the side chains of lysine amino acids. Ubiquitination, which targets proteins for proteasome-mediated degradation, has been shown to attenuate the toxic effects of polyglutamine-expanded huntingtin, the mutated protein that causes HD. Sumoylation, on the other hand, has been shown to protect some proteins from degradation. It has also been found in neural tissue of Huntington’s patients (see Ue
Lethal Shade of Green By: Walter Williams The Washington Times \| Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Environmentalists, with the help of politicians and other government officials, have an agenda that has cost thousands of American lives. In the wake of Hurricane Betsy, which struck New Orleans in 1965, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed building flood gates on Lake Pontchartrain, like those in the Netherlands that protect cities from North Sea storms. In 1977, the gates were about to be built, but the Environmental Defense Fund and Save Our Wetlands sought a court injunction to block the project. According to John Berlau's recent book, "Eco-Freaks: Environmentalism is Hazardous to Your Health," U.S. Attorney Gerald Gallinghouse told the court not building the gates could kill thousands of New Orleanians. Judge Charles Schwartz issued the injunction despite the evidence refuting claims of environmental damage. We're told DDT is harmful to humans and animals. Mr. Berlau, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says, "Not a single study linking DDT exposure to human toxicity has ever been replicated." In one long-term study, volunteers ate 32 ounces of DDT for a year and a half, and 16 years later, they suffered no increased risk of adverse health effects. Despite evidence that, properly used, DDT is neither harmful to humans nor animals, environmental extremists fight for a continued ban. This has led to millions of illnesses and deaths from malaria, especially in Africa. After World War II, DDT saved millions upon millions of lives in India, Southeast Asia and South America. In some cases, malaria deaths fell to near zero. With bans on DDT, malaria deaths and illnesses have skyrocketed. Environmental extremists see DDT in a different light. Alexander King, co- founder of the Club of Rome, said: "In Guyana, within almost two years, it had almost eliminated malaria, but at the same time, the birthrate had doubled. So my chief quarrel with DDT in hindsight is that it greatly added to the population problem." Jeff Hoffman, environmental attorney, wrote on grist.org, "Malaria was actually a natural population control, and DDT has caused a massive population explosion in some places where it has eradicated malaria. More fundamentally, why should humans get priority over other forms of life? ... I don't see any respect for mosquitos in these posts." Mr. Berlau's book cites many other examples of contempt for human life by environmentalists and how they've made politicians their useful idiots. In 2001, thousands of Americans perished in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. In the early 1970s, when the complex was built, the asbestos scare had just begun. The builders planned to use AsbestoSpray, a flame retardant that adhered to steel. The New York Port of Authority caved in to the environmentalists' asbestos scare and denied its use. An inferior substitute was used as fireproofing. After the attack, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) confirmed other experts' concerns about asbestos substitutes: "Even with the airplane impact and jet-fuel-ignited multifloor fires, which were not normal building fires, the building would likely not have collapsed had it not been for the fireproofing." Through restrictions on asbestos use, our naval vessels are more vulnerable to our enemies, a disaster waiting in the wings. The Columbia spaceship disaster was due to the Environmental Protection Agency's demand that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration not use freon in its thermal insulating foam. Congress mandates auto fuel mileage standards — Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards — resulting in lighter, less crashworthy cars. In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences calculated CAFE standards caused 2,000 additional traffic deaths each year. In 1999, a USA Today analysis of government and Insurance Institute data found that since the 1970s CAFE standards went into effect, 46,000 people died in crashes they would have likely survived had they been riding in heavier cars. None of this is news to politicians. It's just that environmental extremists have the ears of politicians, and potential victims don't.
King's Men (2500-2000 BC) One of the stones of the King's Men, a stone circle dating from about 2500-2000 BC. It is almost perfectly round and has a diameter of 104 ft (33 m). Originally, there may have been as many as 105 stones, but today there are 77 stones. Over a third of the stones were put back in place during the site's restoration in 1882. The stones are of heavily-weathered local oolotic limestone. Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire, England.
God vs. Satan, where did the battle begin? by Heather Moon 10/28/2012 / Bible Studies Traditional dualism refers to the state of two parts. In ethical practices, this is typically seen as the battle between good and evil. In religious sectors we note dualism from the viewpoint of Satan vs. God. When considered in these forms, dualism almost seems to refer to God and Satan as two equal parts, of equal strength and position, in the spirit realm. However, it is important to note that this is a biblically incorrect assumption. It is noted in the Bible that Satan is in fact inferior to God since he was created by God to be a heavenly angel, but chose of his own free will to try and overtake God's position of power in the universe and thus was cast out of heaven, into hell. In Isaiah 14:12-20, we see Satan filled with sinful pride, arrogance and self-importance which leads to his belief that he not only does not need God, but that he can achieve equal or greater position than God. There also tends to be a common misconception indicating the human belief that God created evil, but again, this is not so. Evil is not really a created thing, at all. 1John 1:5 shows that there is no darkness in God at all, thus rather the evil we conceive of is the human response of choosing not to follow God's plan. Even anointed angels were equipped with the option to exercise their free will in decision making and when some chose to sin they were cast down from their position on high to revel in the darkness which they had chosen for themselves. The darkness that existed in the beginning as dictated in Genesis 1, before God created the world. Satan, being the great manipulator and the father of lies, spares no expense at trying to twist the truth of God's love and light in his attempts to become greater and more powerful than his own creator. The lies and manipulation of Satan are intended to pull God's people away from him and engage them in the same sin nature that Satan himself chose, that got him cast down from heaven. If Satan can pit God's people against him then he is one step closer to reaching his ultimate goal of taking God's position. So, those who perceive Satan from the view point of death and destruction need to understand that this is not truly his ultimate goal, but it is a tool he is not afraid to use in crafting his kingdom to be greater than God's. Because Satan was originally God's creation, he is limited in his power and ability where God is not. Satan is not omnipotent nor does he retain omnipotence, even though he is omnipresent in the world since the fall of man. This is to say that although the work of Satan is present in all of the world at all times, he does not retain God's limitless power nor is he all knowing in the way that God is. In the book of Job we see Satan as the son of God, subservient to God in nature, as a member of the divine council. God is also the ultimate sustainer of all of his creation, even in his desperate sinful nature; God still sustains Satan's existence because of his original sonship and God's merciful nature towards his people. Although people tend to blame Satan for their own sin nature, this is merely a poorly executed blame game because just as Satan had the free will to choose to do as God directed and planned or to go off on his own direction, the same options apply to all mankind. No person is ever "made" to do sinful acts. Quite to the contrary, human beings were in fact "created" to reflect the character of God, but nothing forces us to do so. If God cannot force us to do right 100% of the time then Satan can no more force us to do evil to one another. It is always a choice, and action or reaction, thought or intention we each make as we either follow the biblical theme of love God has modeled for us or as we follow our own arrogant self-focused desires as Satan demonstrates in our world. The choice is always yours to make and even when the wrong ways are chosen God still promises to sustain and forgive his children.
Political Economy Analysis of the Teesta River BasinWater governance throughout South Asia has long been dominated by technical perspectives from civil engineering, economics, and international law. Across the region, state actors, scientists, and technocrats have monopolized policy formulation and implementation providing limited space for the expression of legitimate civil society voices and stakeholder interests. In this largely state driven discourse, broader social and ecological perspectives have been underrepresented. Bringing the discourse on water use, sharing, and management closer to affected communities and stakeholders can help to reduce environmental degradation. In May 2012, with support from the Skoll Global Threats Fund, The Asia Foundation in partnership with civil society organizations in India and Bangladesh began a political economy analysis of the Teesta River Basin. To try and unpack the interests around water governance in the Teesta Basin, the analysis sought to identify and map key actors and stakeholders in the basin, their incentives, relative stakes, and their ability to influence water governance decisions in the basin.
A Just God? Why is it that there appears to be a strong correlation between being a 'values' voter who claims that faith in God gives him or her a deep sense of concern over moral issues, and an overwhelming lack of concern over torture, rendition, arbitrary imprisonment, and injustice? Is it not the case that this God they are supposed to be worshipping is a just God? Why would worshippers of a just God be so eager to throw out virtually all of the basic principles of justice? Perhaps the point of this post may count as one of those things that I do not read about often because it is too obvious to mention. I am talking about the apparent connection between 'faith' and being willing to embrace torture, abuse, and injustice. President Bush's political base tends to be built on a group of people who identify themselves as faith-based voters for whom 'moral issues' are the most important items on their political agenda. The one thing that they rant and rave about more than any other is the 'decline in morality' that they find in contemporary culture. These are the same people who embrace and, at some point, even cheer the rise in torture, rendition, physical and mental abuse of people - almost all of whom are later determined to be completely innocent of any wrongdoing and released, arbitrary arrest, and indefinite imprisonment without a trial. This strikes me as an odd combination. Now, I have seen no official studies that looked into this connection. I am simply reporting what seems to be the case based on my own observations - and all rational people know how unreliable that form of evidence may be. An actual study of this phenomena may reveal that the faith-based 'values' voters that make up Bush's political base are, in fact, the most vocal opponents of these moral crimes. Yet, I would be surprised if this is the case. This is not to say that there are no faith-based 'values' voters who are opposed to torture and the other injustices that I mentioned above. It's only the fact that those faith-based 'values' voters do not make up Bush's political base. These are the faith-based 'values' voters who tend to be strongly opposed to President Bush, in part because Bush has so little respect for the principles of justice. Furthermore, I am not discounting the possibility of non-faith-based 'values' voters who may might support Bush. I am not talking about a law-like relationship. I am only talking about a tendency here - a statistically significant correlation between being a faith-based 'values' Republican and embracing torture, rendition, abuse, and other forms of injustice. I think that this relationship should not remain one of those things that is too obvious to talk about. I think that it is something that should be brought out in the open. I would like to see it explicitly mention how the faith-based 'values' voters in this election are people who apparently 'value' torture, rendition, abuse, and injustice. I think that making this a part of the public discussion (however much it is possible to do so) will cause some faith-based 'values' voters to think, "Maybe I should not be a defender of torture, rendition, abuse, and injustice? Maybe, instead, I should be defending justice?" Of course, this way of thinking will run into the thought - "Those people are terrorists! They do not deserve 'justice'!" This response will come from people who have forgotten that 'justice' means making sure that somebody is a terrorist before we subject them to all sorts of harsh treatment. We have a system where over 90% of the people who are arrested, taken from their families, imprisoned without charges or a trial, tortured, abused, and held for months or years, are eventually released without a trial - without any charges being leveled against them. Tomorrow morning, while you are on your way to work, imagine that somebody throws you in a van, hauls you off to a secret prison then tortures you while they ask you questions like, "Tell me what you know about those who hate the United States." While you are being tortured, you realize that the only way to ease the torture is to start telling your captors what they want to hear. You make up stories, and they let you get some sleep. Those stories name your neighbors. Maybe you start with co-workers and relatives you do not like very much. However, they ask for details. You find it easier to give details when you talk about their friends. But, all you really want is to get some sleep. After a couple of months, you are dumped on a street corner. You suddenly show up at home and you tell the story to your family - those parts that you are not too ashamed to tell. Of course, when you tell your family and friends what happened, you do not mention the stories that you tell your captors. You are a bit reluctant to tell them those stories. One of the things that you quickly learn is that the people you named in those stories have 'disappeared'. They are now on the list of suspected terrorists because the Americans have gotten information from somewhere that they, too, are involved in anti-American activities. Then, think about what reaction will be the next time you hear some faith-based 'values' voter say, "These people are terrorists! They do not deserve justice!" I have noticeed that for many people of "faith" morality is almost always about sexual represion and not about how you treat other people More on Happiness and Desire Fulfillment The Republican Terror Campaign Atheist Strategy and the Wal-Mart Petition Who is Bush Spying On, Really? Newsweek on Atheists Happiness vs. Desire Fulfillment MoveOn.org: Liars
Gamble's (Leon Light) Artillery Drawings from the Olustee Post Card Set. Finegan's artillery reserve consisted of the small, seventy-seven man battery of the Leon Light Artillery. The Leon Light Artillery, commanded by Captain Robert H. Gamble, was also known as Gamble's Battery and as the Florida Light Artillery. It numbered severty-seven enlisted men in addition to several officers at Olustee. The officers included: C.E Dyke as second lieutenant and E.W. Gamble as third lieutenant. At the Battle of Olustee, the whole battery, supported by the 64th Georgia, was sent to the front in advance of Finegan's command to bring on the fight as the armies approached each other. Lieutenant E.W. Gamble's, equally with Lieutenant Dyke's section, had hot work during the time the advanced force bore the brunt of the opening battle while the main force came up. Lieutenant Dyke's horse was shot, but bore Dyke through the fight and did not die until several days after. The battery consisting originally of six guns had been divided many months previous to the Battle of Olustee. 1st Lieutenant Villepigue was promoted and placed in command of the new battery, and Sergeants P. Houston (Captain Houston) and James May were elected first and second lieutenants respectively. By this division Lieutenant Dyke became 1st lieutenant and Lieutenant E.W. Gamble 2nd lieutenant of Captain R.H. Gamble's battery. During the battle the battery lost two men killed and five wounded. In addition, two horses were killed and seven wounded. "These accidents among the horses," Gamble wrote in his post-battle report, "threw several teams into confusion, during which two limbers were badly (damaged)." The stampeding horses and gun caissons injured two additional men from the battery. Owing to continued ill health, Captain Gamble was forced to resign immediately after the battle. In fact, arrangements for his doing so were all but completed prior to the battle. However, Captain Gamble would not leave his post, with a battle in sight, as he was not yet formally relieved. A month after the battle, the battery now known as Dyke's Battery, was ordered to Andersonville where it was stipped of its horses for the use of General Johnson's army. Earthworks were erected about Andersonville prison which were armed and manned by Dyke's Battery which remained under Dyke's command until the end of the war. The battery was included in the surrender on 10 May 1865. Captain Gamble's Official Report of the Battle
Pete Shaw 2 Seeing the Flood Story Through an Ancient Israelite Lens Pete Shaw highlights the story of Noah to explore how the story would have been understood in ancient times and from there he goes on to explore how we might consider it today. In this paper, Venema explores several examples in biology where random mutation and natural selection have indeed led to substantial increases in biological information. The question of how new specified information arises in DNA, far from being an “enigma”, is one of great interest to biologists. October 29, 2012 Many evangelicals believe that Young Earth Creationism is the only authentic, biblical way for Christians to understand origins, and that until the advent of Darwin's theory of evolution, it was the only view held by Christians. However, in this excerpt from Saving Darwin, Karl Giberson explains that Young Earth Creationism's origins are surprisingly recent. 12 resources found
Septal Defects Septal defects are problems with the structure of the heart. They are present at birth. Septal defects are located on the inside of the heart. They are on a wall that separates the chambers of the heart. There are two upper chambers of the heart called atrium. Two lower chambers of the heart are called ventricles. In a healthy heart, the blood flows from the body to the right atrium. The blood then goes into the right ventricle. The ventricle pumps this blood to the lungs to pick up fresh oxygen. The blood then returns to the left side of the heart. It enters the left atrium first, then down to the left ventricle. The ventricle pushes the blood out to the rest of the body. Septal defects allow the blood to move between the left and right chambers. The blood most often moves from the left side of the heart into the right side. This means that blood that has just returned from the lungs may end up being sent right back to the lungs. As a result, both the heart and lungs have to work harder than they need to work. There are three main types of septal defects: Atrial septal defect (ASD)—a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers (atrium) of the heart Ventricular septal defect (VSD)—a hole in the wall between the two lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD)—a combination of ASD, VSD, and problems with opening between chambers called valves The stress of pushing extra blood to the lungs may lead to heart failure. The following information applies to all three of these defects except where noted. Ventricular Septal Defect In most cases the cause is not known. Factors that may increase the risk of septal defects include: Family history of congenital heart defects Exposure to a viral infection, drugs, or alcohol during pregnancy Certain medications, such as those used to treat Many people with ASD or VSD do not have symptoms. Large defects and AVSD may cause: Getting tired easily A septal defect may be found during a regular exam. The doctor may hear a The heart may be tested. This can be done with: . Images may be taken of your bodily structures. This can be done with a Treatment may depend on the type and size of defect. There may be some treatment steps for any complications. Treatment options may include: ASD treatment options include: About 40% of all ASDs will close on their own during the first year of life. This is more likely to occur with small defects. An ASD that still exists at age 2 is unlikely to ever close on its own. If it is not closed in childhood, it may cause problems in adulthood. Surgery may be recommended in children with ASDs past age 2 years. Some ASDs can be closed without surgery. A device is placed in the hole with This is a process that send the device to the heart through a large blood vessel. VSD treatment options include: Many VSDs will close on their own during the first year of life. This is more likely to occur with small defects. Small VSDs that do not close rarely cause problems. Medium and large VSDs may cause problems. They may need supportive treatment in the first few months of life. Surgery may be needed in children with defects that cause symptoms or do not close after 1 year. Most infants with AVSD will have symptoms and require treatment. AVSD treatment options include: Medication, which can help the heart beat strongly, keep the heart rate regular, or decrease the amount of fluid in the blood flow Limiting physical activity Surgery to close the defect Septal defects linked to congestive heart failure—infants with signs of congestive heart failure may need to take medication The type of surgery used most often for septal defects is open-heart surgery. The hole is closed with stitches or a patch. In AVSD, the abnormal valves are also repaired. Living With Septal Defects Certain septal defects may increase the risk of infections in the heart. You may need to take antibiotics before certain medical and dental procedures to decrease the risk of this infection. Check with your doctor to see if you need to do this. If you do need to take antibiotics, ask your doctor to explain when they may be needed. Follow these prevention guidelines: Talk to your doctor before considering pregnancy. Avoid alcohol and drugs during pregnancy. Talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your risk of having a child with . One type of AVSD is associated with the syndrome.
Today In Williamsburg Virginia The 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin WallDid you know that Ripley's Believe It or Not! Owns the largest collection of the Berlin Wall in the world? Monday, November 9th, 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall came down. Built with barbed wire and concrete in August of 1961 by the Communist East, The Berlin Wall, stretching for about 30 miles, was a Cold War symbol which separated East and West Berlin, preventing people from leaving East Germany. According to the “August 13 Association” which specializes in the history of the Berlin Wall, at least 938 people – 255 in Berlin alone – died, shot by East German border guards, attempting to flee to West Berlin or West Germany. It stood for 28 years as a division between the Soviets and the Allies. The wall was torn down after Communism collapsed in 1989. During the summer of 1989, tens of thousands of East Germans fled the communist regime. The photos below show the initial building of the Wall in 1961, the fall of the Wall in 1989 and how the sections of the Wall look today. The last group of photos shows comparisons of how Berlin looked with the Wall and how the city looks now that the Wall is gone. With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall approaching museums around the world will have historic sections of the wall on display, including the Vatican, John F. Kennedy Library, the United Nations headquarters and 13 Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museums. Yes - Ripley's Believe It or Not! Ripley's owns what is likely the largest collection of Berlin Wall sections in the world - 16 10-by-10 foot sections of the wall, most of which are on display at its museums around the world. So how did a company famous for oddities acquire 160 feet of the Berlin Wall? "Like most of the country, we were watching the events unfold on TV," said Edward Meyer, VP of Exhibits for Ripley's Believe It or Not! "A couple of people in our company had the idea that something significant was about to unfold and we should get over there as fast as possible." Meyer was part of a small Ripley's team that was soon on the ground in Berlin. Meyer said "It was one of the most emotional things I have ever experienced. To walk in and out of holes in the wall and experience something that had been impossible for nearly 30 years was truly amazing." As people around him stuffed chunks of the wall into suitcases, Meyer started scouting for the most interesting sections he could find and prepared to make offers to buy them. "It was a bit of a free-for-all, because no one really owned the wall," he said. "We received assistance from an American diplomat who shall remain nameless, and we dealt directly with the German military." Ripley's was soon the proud owner of 160 feet of Berlin Wall - 16 sections that each weighed about 2 tons. "Buying it was easy. Getting it home was the hard part," laughed Meyer. The sections were taken down and put on a barge and floated up the river to Hamburg and eventually placed on a shipping vessel and sent to the U.S. Meyer won't reveal the purchase price, but says "it cost us about 50 times more to ship the collection to the U.S. than it did to buy it." Today most of the sections are popular exhibits at Ripley museums around the world. Two of the sections not currently on display will eventually head back overseas to go on display at proposed Ripley museums in Bahrain and Korea. "We were there for one of the most historic events of the 20th century," said Meyer. "And our collection still serves as a living history lesson today."
American Craftsmanship: A Q&A With A Modern Day Patriot Posted on Friday, November 11, 2011 by craneandco One of Crane & Co.’s engraving machines, where workers personalize each piece of stationery. Some of the machines are more than 100 years old. As a 200-year-old paper company that still calls the same New England town home after all these years, there are two things we here at Crane & Co. put at the top of our ‘important’ list: Writing (without it, we wouldn’t exist) and Americana (since 1801, remember?). So we were quite excited to hear that a Seattle lawyer with a penchant for all things American was writing a book on businesses born and raised right here in the U.S.A., including little old us. It’s called Simply American: Putting Our Extended American Family Back to Work, and while a date hasn’t been set yet for publication, we decided to chat with the author, John Briggs, about everything from brooms and sneakers to the American Dream. What inspired you to write this book? Chronic unemployment in this country. We’ve had this alleged recovery, but we’re not getting people back to work. I started thinking about unemployment, and what struck me is we could create a lot of jobs in manufacturing. A simple errand started my thinking in this direction. My wife told me we needed to get a new broom. The cheapest broom for sale was a Chinese broom, but next to it was a Libman broom. It was a dollar more, but I noticed it was made in Arcola, Illinois. I tend to be a cheap guy, but I realized the difference in price between the Chinese broom and the broom made by Libman was less than half the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Even for me, this difference in price became irrelevant. What’s the main focus of your book? We Americans need to consider making our default shopping choice an American product. A report by ABC News said that if every American spent $66 more on American products each year, we’d create 200,000 manufacturing jobs in this country. And considering that Americans spend $8 trillion each year on consumer goods, we could create a lot of jobs in consumer goods manufacturing in this country if we bought more American made goods. Crane & Co. stationery is hand-bordered (with lots of love, of course) by skilled craftsmen and women. What can people expect from this book? The book will discuss the decline in manufacturing employment in this country over the last 30 years, will offer principles to help people understand the benefits of buying American made consumer goods and feature a host of outstanding manufacturing firms such as Crane & Co., Karen Kane, Hart Schaffner Marx, Wigwam Socks, Allen Edmonds Shoes and Fiesta ware. How did you come up with the subtitle for your book, Putting Our Extended American Family Back to Work? ince I began thinking about writing the book, I have been talking to all sorts of people about why they buy the products they do. Often I would be on the bus and see someone wearing a pair of shoes from overseas, so I would talk to them, and ask them, if buying American – even if it cost a little more – meant keeping a family member employed, would you buy that product? They always said ‘yes.’ At our best times, such as after 9/11, we Americans realize that we are all members of an extended family, the American family. The goal of my book is to have us all realize that fact on a daily basis, and to keep that fact in mind when we make our purchases of clothes, shoes, appliances and cars. Why publish this book now? The time is right for it. For most of our history, if people were willing to work hard, be it in a factory or an office, they were able to enjoy a middle class lifestyle, to enjoy the American dream. That’s far less available today, and I think that is in large part due to the dramatic decline in the availability of manufacturing jobs over the last thirty years. We need to reinvigorate our manufacturing employment in this country, and you and I can do that by making our default shopping choice American. What was your first job? I was a lifeguard when I was 15 or 16 years old. My father was a physician and we were well off, but he made it clear to me that he expected me to work to earn my own spending money. No free lunches. Describe ‘Americana’ in one sentence. A pride in the people of this country and the products produced by those people.
12 Days of Learning \| Day 4: Holiday Music Holiday music is steeped in tradition and is a fundamental part of people’s holiday spirit. The cheerful holiday tunes you hear at this time of the year are unlike any other because they exude love, hope, and joy. You can’t help but smile and sing along any time you hear songs such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” on the radio. Children love listening to holiday music, so make sure you play some in the car and at home. You could even give your kids a radio for their bedroom, so they can fall asleep listening to it at night. It’s important for you to incorporate holiday music in your family’s holiday plans because holiday music is extremely engaging and provides many educational opportunities for children. Teaching children holiday songs, for example, is a great way to introduce new words and help children improve their memorization skills. Encouraging children to play holiday songs with musical instruments can also increase their creativity and help them develop a love for music. If children are younger, give them sleigh bells and jingle bells to ring and hold in their hands. You can also research the history of holiday music and share any interesting facts you find with your children. TLC’s Christmas Song Trivia is a great place to start. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) also lists some interesting facts about holiday songs: “White Christmas” is the most recorded holiday song. It has over 500 versions in a variety of languages. “Sleigh Ride” was originally written as an instrumental piece. The Boston Pops Orchestra first performed it at Boston’s Symphony Hall in 1948, and it did not receive lyrics until Mitchell Parish added them in 1949. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland” were both written in 1934 and are two of the oldest popular holiday songs still being regularly played on the radio. The ASCAP also releases a list of the top ten most-played holiday songs each holiday season. The top ten most-played songs in 2012 included the following: “Sleigh Ride” – Performed by Leroy Anderson “Winter Wonderland” – Performed by Eurythmics “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” – Performed by Harry Connick Jr. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Performed by the Carpenters “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” – Performed by Bruce Springsteen “Do You Hear What I Hear?” – Performed by Whitney Houston “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – Performed by Nat King Cole “Jingle Bell Rock” – Performed by Bobby Helms “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Performed by Brenda Lee “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” – Performed by Bing Crosby Which holiday songs do you think will be most popular this year? Share your thoughts and your family’s favorite holiday songs on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Check back tomorrow for Day 5 of our 12 Days of Learning!
CFR experts give their take on the cutting-edge issues emerging in Asia today. Impressions of Japan, 2011 by Sheila A. Smith December 22, 2011 A Japan Self-Defense Forces officer smiles as he holds a four-month-old baby girl who was rescued along with her family members from their home in Ishimaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, after an earthquake and tsunami struck the area. (Yomiuri Yomiuri / Courtesy of Reuters) 2011, of course, will be forever remembered as the year of Japan’s “triple disasters.” Only time will tell what this devastating experience will mean for the Japanese people and their society. For so many Americans, March 11 and its aftermath reminded us of why we so admire the accomplishments of Japan, and the civility and humanity of so many Japanese. From Kandahar to Canberra, from Seoul and Beijing, Japan’s friends around the globe responded—in part because of the tremendous scope of the tragedy, but also out of a sense of gratitude for Japan’s own effort to assist and befriend those beyond their own shores. The impact of the disasters is too broad to discuss here. But as a long time Japan watcher, several aspects of the disaster and its aftermath stood out. The first, and most widely recognized, is the depth of gratitude expressed by the Japanese people for their military, the Self Defense Forces (SDF). As Japan’s “first responder,” the SDF performed search and rescue operations, opened and sustained supply routes, and filled in the manpower for the local governments that lost staff as well as infrastructure and communications. In June, when I visited Ishinomaki, the SDF were just beginning to hand back governance tasks to an inundated municipal staff. Second, the disasters brought back into focus Japan’s Imperial family as the symbol of national unity. The Emperor spoke out in the early days as the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi unfolded to remind Japanese to remain calm and to have hope. He and the Empress also traveled back and forth to the devastated regions of Tohoku, visiting evacuation shelters and reassuring those who lost not only their homes but their family members as well. A third impression I had was how effectively Japan’s civil society coped with the trauma. Corporations and households alike jumped in to conserve energy at much higher rates than anticipated. The nascent disaster relief community was buoyed by an incredible wave of support, so much so that the NGO community found their capacities sorely tested. Volunteers streamed into the devastated areas, rolled up their sleeves, cleared debris, and dug out the remnants of homes from the tsunami’s mud. Anonymous donors left schoolbags, much needed personal goods, and in many instances, large envelopes full of cash for the hundreds of thousands of Tohoku residents stranded in evacuation centers. Nothing spoke louder to me of the national mood than the day that Japan’s women’s soccer team, Nadeshiko Japan, brought the World Cup home. It seemed that Nadeshiko’s victory released the country from the shock of the disasters, allowing a new sense of determination and pride to emerge. Several other trends in Japan this year were brought into sharp relief by the nation’s challenges. Japan’s process of political transformation remains a work in progress, and the search for a new form of governance and for new political leaders continues to keep all of us Japan watchers busy. We have a new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda—the third from the new ruling Democratic Party of Japan. Legislators continue to wrestle with a parliament that seems designed more for the old single party system than for the new politics of alternating power. The “twisted Diet” may be with us for some time, but in 2011 it revealed a structural weakness that demands more attention from Japan’s politicians. An effort by the Liberal Democratic Party to vote then prime minister Naoto Kan out of office in June failed miserably, but it called attention to the fact that an opposition party could raid the ruling party in an effort to undermine the government. Local politicians took center stage this year, however. From the governors of Tohoku responsible for Japan’s quake response to the local mayors in the devastated towns and cities along the coastline, local leaders were the heroes on the front line of disaster relief efforts in Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. Okinawa’s intrepid governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, continued his efforts to articulate his constituents’ sentiments in the never ending saga of disconnect between Tokyo and Okinawa. As the year ended, a dramatic electoral victory in Osaka’s double election transformed a governor into a mayor. Once elected, Toru Hashimoto immediately took his cause of reimagining Osaka on the road, and visited politician after politician in Tokyo to alert them that local leaders served their constituents rather than the national decision-makers. Finally, 2011 has put the economy back on top of Japan’s priority list. The cost of rebuilding in the wake of the earthquake will be far greater than anyone initially imagined, especially if we include the cost of reorienting Japan’s energy policy away from its 30% reliance on nuclear power. The yen soared in value, a defining if uncomfortable reality for those in government and in business. The decision to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership topped the list of “to dos” on the diplomatic agenda, and the drive to open the Japanese economy, symbolized by Prime Minister Noda’s gamble on trade talks with Washington and its partners, brings back some divisive tensions within both of Japan’s political parties. For all of the political and economic challenges that remain, I suspect that most Japanese will be grateful to see the end of 2011. 2012 will be a brighter year.
Nagel and Flew: The Ripple Effects of Two Atheists who Abandoned Darwin by Mike Keas It is remarkable that an atheist philosopher as prominent as Thomas Nagel announced in September 2012 in his book Mind and Cosmos that “the materialist neo-Darwinian conception of nature is almost certainly false.” While not an intelligent design (ID) advocate, Nagel argues that ID theorists “do not deserve the scorn with which they are commonly met.” He even grants the respectability of Michael Behe’s and Stephen Meyer’s “empirical arguments … against the likelihood that the origin of life and its evolutionary history can be fully explained by physics and chemistry.” The “problems that these iconoclasts pose for the orthodox scientific consensus should be taken seriously,” he concludes on page 10 his book. When famous atheist philosopher Antony Flew defected from Darwinism in 2003, he went much further than Nagel has recently. Flew became a theist (of the deistic variety). This is espcially remarkable because Flew had been the most notable intellectual atheist in the English-speaking world until Richard Dawkins took up this role. In January 2004 Flew informed the prominent Christian philosopher-historian Gary Habermas that he had become a theist. While he still could not accept special revelation (the Bible, for Christians), he accepted the notion of an enormously intelligent cause of the cosmos and life. In Flew’s words, he simply “had to go where the evidence leads.” He cited the work of the intelligent design community as being instrumental in his change of mind. What is the ripple effect of high profile intellectuals like Nagel and Flew deserting Darwinian naturalism? William Dembski writes about how it helps "create conceptual space for intelligent design." Dembski observes: Thomas Nagel, with his just published Mind & Cosmos, has now become another such defector from Darwinian naturalism. Appearing from Oxford University Press and subtitled Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False, this slender volume (it's only 130 pages) represents the most disconcerting defection (disconcerting to Darwinists) from Darwinian naturalism to date. We're still not talking the Berlin Wall coming down, but it's not hard to see it as a realistic possibility, off in the distance, after reading this book. Because intelligent design is still a minority position that is widely marginalized by the media and mainstream science, it's easy for defenders of intelligent design to wax apocalyptic. Indeed, it's a very natural impulse to want to throw off the shackles of an oppressive and powerful majority, especially when one views their authority as unwarranted and unjust. So I have to keep my own impulses in check when I make comments about the Berlin Wall coming down.... But Thomas Nagel is a very major intellectual on the American scene and his no-holds-barred deconstruction of Darwinian naturalism is just the sort of critique, coupled with others to be sure, that will, if anything, unravel Darwin's legacy. Nagel is a philosopher at New York University. Now in his 70s, he has been a towering figure in the field, and his essays were mandatory reading, certainly when I was a graduate student in philosophy in the early 1990s. His wildly popular essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" takes on reductionist accounts of mind, and his books Mortal Questions (Cambridge, 1979) and The View from Nowhere (Oxford, 1986) seemed to be in many of my fellow graduate students' backpacks. ... Now Nagel in Mind & Cosmos ... is measured and calm, but he is no less adamant that the bullying by Darwinists needs to stop. Perhaps with Richard Dawkins in mind, who has remarked that dissenters from Darwin are either ignorant, stupid, wicked, insane, or brainwashed, Nagel writes, I realize that such doubts [about Darwinian naturalism] will strike many people as outrageous, but that is because almost everyone in our secular culture has been browbeaten into regarding the reductive research program as sacrosanct, on the ground that anything else would not be science. Nagel has nailed it here. The threat of being branded unscientific in the name of a patently ill-supported Darwinian evolutionary story is the thing that most keeps Darwinism alive (certainly not the evidence for it). We saw a similar phenomenon in the old communist Eastern bloc. Lots of people doubted Marxism-Leninism. But to express such doubt would get one branded as a reactionary. And so people kept silent. When I was working on my Ph.D. dissertation on a Fulbright scholarship in East Germany (before the Berlin Wall came down), I got to meet privately with communist party members who quietly dissented from some components of communism. Having organized one major research conference for ID about six years ago, I am well aware of the growing number of talented graduate students in the natural sciences who are careful to fly under the radar as they do research that challenges specific components of neo-Darwinism (they have to keep quiet about their global doubts concerning Darwinism in order to avoid marginalization). Such students are fired up with more courage to challenge authoritarian Darwinism each time another major atheist like Nagel or Flew becomes a heretic relative to Darwinism. That is one of the ripple effects of defections from Darwinism. Read more of Dembski's November 2012 analysis of Nagel's important new book to learn about other ripple effects.
Mystery of the disappearing bees: Solved! bees \| environment \| food supply \| pesticides If it were a novel, people would criticize the plot for being too far-fetched – thriving colonies disappear overnight without leaving a trace, the bodies of the victims are never found. Only in this case, it’s not fiction: It’s what’s happening to fully a third of commercial beehives, over a million colonies every year. Seemingly healthy communities fly off never to return. The queen bee and mother of the hive is abandoned to starve and die. Thousands of scientific sleuths have been on this case for the last 15 years trying to determine why our honey bees are disappearing in such alarming numbers. “This is the biggest general threat to our food supply,” according to Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s bee and pollination program. Until recently, the evidence was inconclusive on the cause of the mysterious “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) that threatens the future of beekeeping worldwide. But three new studies point an accusing finger at a culprit that many have suspected all along, a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. In the U.S. alone, these pesticides, produced primarily by the German chemical giant Bayer and known as “neonics” for short, coat a massive 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seeds. They are also a common ingredient in home gardening products. Research published last month in the prestigious journal Science shows that neonics are absorbed by the plants’ vascular system and contaminate the pollen and nectar that bees encounter on their rounds. They are a nerve poison that disorient their insect victims and appear to damage the homing ability of bees, which may help to account for their mysterious failure to make it back to the hive.
Mary Walton to speak about... » Rutgers Conference Commemorates Community Organizing in the Modern Civil Rights Movement The determined grassroots efforts of individuals who drove the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1960s will be explored at the 2014 Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series, Tending the Light: Community Organizing and the Modern Civil Rights Movement, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, at the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., on Rutgers University’s Newark Campus, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Photo by Danny LyonMississippi, 1963: Martha Prescod, Mike Miller, and Robert Parris Moses doing voter registration work in the countryside. Moses is one of the MTW speakers in February.) The Series’ 34th installment will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mississippi Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by illuminating the history of community organizing in the black freedom struggle, the immense amount of work such struggle entails, and the heroic individuals who take it on. The daylong conference features four distinguished speakers: Bob Moses, civil rights movement veteran and president and founder of The Algebra Project; Diane Nash, civil rights movement veteran; Charles Payne, the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago; and Barbara Ransby, Professor of History and African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago. MTW speakers will reflect on the history of community organizing, from the perspective of their personal experience and of their scholarship on the topic, as well as the legacy and lessons of such grassroots work for contemporary politics. Marion Thompson Wright, the person behind the lecture series, was the first professionally trained female historian in the U.S. Immediately following the MTW conference, the audience is invited to attend a free reception at the Newark Museum, 49 Washington St., which also features live musical entertainment by The Bradford Hayes Trio. Both the MTW conference and museum reception are free and open to the public. The lecture series was co-founded in 1981 by Dr. Clement Price, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University, and the late Giles R. Wright, New Jersey Historical Commission. Over the past 33 years, the conference has drawn thousands of people to the Rutgers-Newark campus and has attracted some of the nation’s foremost scholars and humanists who are experts in the field of African and African American history and culture. It has become one of the nation’s leading scholarly programs specifically devoted to enhancing the historical literacy of an intercultural community. The annual conference was named for East Orange native Dr. Marion Thompson Wright, a pioneer in African American historiography and race relations in New Jersey, who was the first professionally trained woman historian in the United States. The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series is sponsored by the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience; the Federated Department of History, Rutgers-Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and the New Jersey Historical Commission/Department of State. The 2014 conference receives additional support from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Rutgers Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes, and the Prudential Foundation.
(M ARCIANUS, Markiânos ) Roman Emperor at Constantinople, b. in Thrace about 390; d. January, 457. He became a soldier; during his early life he was poor, and it is said that he arrived at Constantinople with only two hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed. He served in the army under Ardaburius the Alan and his son Aspar; he distinguished himself in the wars against the Persians and Huns. Aspar was a kind of king-maker, and general- in-chief for the East ( magister militum per orientem ), also for a time the most powerful man at Constantinople. But since he was a foreigner and an Arian he could not be emperor himself. Instead he placed a succession of his favourites on the throne. On of these was Marcian. At Constantinople Marcian became a senator and was a well-known and popular person. He was a widower; his daughter by the first marriage, Euphemia, afterwards married Anthemius, Emperor in the West (467-472). He was about sixty years old when Theodosius II died (450). Theodosius II (408-450) had succeeded his father, Arcadius (395-408), as a young child. During the greater part of his reign his elder sister Pulcheria managed the Government. Already during the reign of Theodosius Pulcheria was "Augusta". With her two sisters, Arcadia and Marina, she made a public vow of celibacy. When her brother died all difficulty about the succession was ended by the unanimous choice of her (who had long really guided the State) as empress. Thus began the reign of Pulcheria. Wishing to strengthen her position (it was the first case of a woman succeeding to the Roman throne) she at once made a nominal marriage with Marcian. He seems to have been the best
Chamber Celloquy details full booklet Celloquy Ani Aznavoorian, cello Lera Auerbach, piano CDR 90000 137 Lera Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for violoncello and piano (1999) receives its world-premiere recording on Celloquy in a performance by Ani Aznavoorian, an award-winning American cellist of international stature, and Auerbach, a Russian-born virtuoso pianist and one of the most widely-performed composers of the new generation. Auerbach is the youngest composer on the roster of Hamburg’s prestigious international music publishing company Hans Sikorski, home to Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Schnittke. “Her music is lyrical, passionate, and often seems to straddle the past and present,” observed the host of a recent Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program devoted to Auerbach’s multi-faceted career. The Chicago Reader called the 24 Preludes “an enthralling work of great invention and power.” The San Francisco Chronicle said, “Each of these short pieces . . . is a lyric poem in music, creating a mood, a melodic notion, or a completely imagined microcosm. . . . The range of Auerbach’s inspiration is phenomenal.” Aznavoorian and Auerbach have played the 24 Preludes numerous times, notably on stage at the Hamburg State Opera House during Hamburg Ballet performances of Auerbach’s Préludes CV, which incorporates the cello Preludes. The two musicians are longtime friends and collaborators who met as undergraduates at New York’s Juilliard School. POEMS BY LERA AUERBACH I am choreographing my own discontent. The days pile up in dried and frugal vanity, busying maneuvers of ever-moving hands, swinging pendulum from suicide to sacrifice, from ecstasy to gratitude within all shades of gray. The fugue winds tighter; I still remember its theme, but its countersubject leave me gasping for air. The counterpoint is poisonous in any larger quantities, and I don't have an antidote to this infectious music. My fever is running higher. The hot fingertips touch the untouchable body of the fugue — it can't be captured fully in the nets of notes and measures, it runs away wildly, through the untamable laughter of gods and daemons, whoever is guarding the gates of sound, the wailing chimeras of heaven and hell. I look into the black flame. Soon it will consume my days, it already freezes my heart, and takes all I still call 'my own,' turning it into dry harvest which burns — oh, so brightly — until it's no longer, until it's only ashes, until it returns to dust, becomes that silent note after the end, but just before the applause while the conductor's hands are still holding the wings of a musical phrase and the audience holds its breath as not to disturb the magic; except no one is waiting for me at the other end, there is no applause nor greeting, no bravi, but only that moment of infinite loneliness when sound dies. It is always there, waiting. As I wake, as I jog in the morning or I re-read my favorite poem — the one which struck me as true in adolescence — the Abyss is always just a step away. If you stare at anything with burning intensity — you can see the edge of its bottomless mouth. Keep looking at it through your tears and sweat, without turning your gaze even once — soon you will notice nothing else. The Abyss will tempt you to lean even closer. Others may think you must have gone blind, but you know — now you see ever clearer. You start distinguishing black on black, you start seeing the distant valleys. Once you manage to really focus, so that the outside noisy light can't disturb your full concentration — then finally you see deep within the Abyss — another Sun, and stars of another Universe, calling to you with their flickering dance. Now you may take this final step, one step that still keeps you away. As you stand on the edge, leaning ever closer to the great expanse — the empty wow of nothing-ness — you see how the Abyss, with its wrinkled topography of a world alien to comprehension, rearranges its valleys and mountains — to form your own face. An artist with major achievements in the realms of music, literature, and visual art, Lera Auerbach has published over 90 compositions in the genres of opera, ballet, symphonic music, and chamber music. In addition to poetry and prose in Russian, she's contributed to the Best American Poetry blog and writes her own stage libretti. Her 24 Preludes for cello and piano is the basis of Preludes CV, a full-length ballet by the Preludes' dedicatee, John Neumeier, honoring the 40th anniversary of the Hamburg Ballet. Another ballet, The Little Mermaid, has been performed internationally and will be staged by Neumeier in 2013–2014 for Beijing, Hamburg, and Moscow. Auerbach’s a-cappella opera, The Blind, will be performed in Moscow and New York. The 24 Preludes, written in 1999, continue a long line of musical tradition, from the Well-Tempered Clavier of Bach through the preludes of Chopin and Debussy to similar cycles by Shostakovich. Ms. Auerbach writes: “Re-establishing the value and expressive possibilities of all major and minor tonalities is as valid at the beginning of the 21st century as it was during Bach's time, especially if we consider the aesthetics of Western music and its travels in this regard — or disregard — to tonality during the last century. The 24 Preludes follow the circle of fifths, thus covering the entire tonal spectrum.” Musicians start the circle of fifths with the key of C major and its relative minor, A minor, and proceed through the "sharp" keys — G major and E minor, one sharp, D major and B minor, two sharps, etc. — then turn back through the "flat" keys, like G-flat major/E-flat minor, A-flat major/F minor, until we reach F major/D minor and the circle is complete. About the Preludes, Ms. Auerbach continues: In writing this work I wished to create a continuum that would allow these short pieces to be united as one single composition. The challenge was not only to write a meaningful and complete prelude that may be only a minute long, but also for this short piece to be an organic part of a larger composition with its own form. Looking at something familiar yet from an unexpected perspective is one of the peculiar characteristics of these pieces — they are often not what they appear to be at first glance. The context and order of preludes is important for their understanding. Combining lyricism with fierce tonal clashes, the Preludes demand extreme virtuosity from both cellist and pianist. Heard throughout the cycle are the extremes of range: both instruments move from very low to very high registers. There's an abundance of sonic special effects: for the pianist, tone clusters or thick, cluster-like chords, plus highly complex run passages. The cellist is constantly changing from arco (bowed) playing to pizzicato (plucked) motives and often playing harmonics: faint, echoing tones produced by a finger only partially depressing the string. There are an abundance of glissando passages (sliding through a quick succession of notes) for the cello and frequent directions to play "sul ponticello," on the bridge, the small piece of wood that separates the bottom of the strings from the resonating body of the instrument. Drawing the bow close to the bridge creates a dry, harsh sound that dramatically contrasts with the smooth tone we're accustomed to hearing from this instrument. Each prelude is cast in a traditional key. Many sound quite tonal, while others are tangles of dissonance. They repay repeated hearing as a cycle, especially to hear Auerbach's fascination with themes constructed on intervals of a minor second (e.g., C to C-sharp) and a seventh (e.g. C to the B-flat or B above). Many of the preludes end quietly, echoing the line from Lera’s poem, Fugue: "the moment of infinite loneliness when sound dies." The tempo markings are the best guide to the individual character of the preludes: No. 3 in G major, marked Andante misterioso, ends with haunting microtonal quarter-tone trills in the cello part, and the following No. 4 in E minor, marked Allegro obsessivo, is a perpetual-motion machine. No. 5 in D major begins and ends melodically but turns violent in the middle. No. 8 in F-sharp minor is a soulful, bluesy lament. No. 9 in E major is mostly a cello solo, until low piano octaves appear out of nowhere leading to a fff cluster chord that connects to the next prelude. The tempo marking for No. 10 in C-sharp minor contains the word Sognando (dreaming) it's an ethereal combination of staccato piano notes with pizzicato cello that creates a very distant sound. With Prelude No. 12 in G-sharp minor we reach a turning point: the following preludes will take us back through the circle of fifths on the "flat" side. An Adagio, No. 12 starts with an achingly beautiful cello theme, but when it's repeated it's played "with a disturbing sound," the string player seems to be mocking her own song, punctuated by increasingly disquieting undertones from the chromatic piano part. Prelude No. 13 in G-flat major is for cello alone. The piano starts off No.14 in E-flat minor with the dynamic marking “mp un poco grottesco;” this Allegretto scherzando (joking) turns out to be a sardonic variation on the overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Although No. 16 in B-flat minor is labeled Tempo di Valse, it's a grotesque little rondo unlike anything from the Viennese waltz kings. With its insistent rhythms, No. 17 in A-flat major seems to lie somewhere between Bartók and the rock band Queen (of Bohemian Rhapsody fame), with the cello sometimes doing an electric guitar impression. Prelude No. 18 in F minor is a more pleasant dance, a pretty, neo-baroque piano tune picked up by the cello. The surging piano runs and loud dynamics of No. 19 in E-flat major explain its Allegro Appassionato indication; No. 20 in C minor likewise lives up to its label, Giocoso (Joking). For No. 21 in B-flat major, titled Dialogo, we have the cello in conversation with itself: the “dialogue” is between the higher and lower registers of the instrument. No. 23 in F major marked Adagio sognando (draming), has the cello playing with a mute, which makes the harmonics even more ethereal than before, and gives them a unique sound. No. 24 in D minor provides a bravura conclusion, Vivo (Lively) with chords and runs constantly building in intensity to a dissonant conclusion marked Grave gandioso e tragico. Dedicated to cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, Auerbach's Sonata for violoncello and piano dates from 2002. Auerbach writes, In this sonata, the piano and violoncello are equal partners. In the dramatic sense, each often plays contrasting roles and expresses different characters. At times, this co-existence is a dialogue, at times a struggle, at times an attempt to resolve inner questions. The piano starts alone with a dark and inescapable statement, full of inner tension. The cello follows — more human, desperate and questioning. The first calling statement of the cello becomes a leitmotif throughout the sonata. The introduction leads to a strange waltz in 5/4 time — as if from the depth of the past, shadows have emerged. The second theme is both dreamy and passionate, and leads to fugal development with its dry twists. In this first movement, the rather neutral tempo marking of Allegro Moderato belies the emotional intensity of the music. After the short but emphatic opening piano statement and its brief cello reply, a longer piano solo leads us to the main motive, presented by cello alone, followed by that odd waltz, in which both instruments participate. Tempos and meters constantly change. Lyrical cello passages are suddenly interrupted with playing sul ponticello. There's a cadenza-like passage for cello alone before both instruments eventually play glissandos up to their top registers to bring about a stratospheric conclusion: marked ppp (soft-soft-soft). Click the Cedille Player at the upper left to hear excerpts from the tracks highlighted in red below. These have been carefully chosen as representative of the recording program. Lera Auerbach24 Preludes for violoncello and piano (50:00) 1. Andante (3:02) 2. Allegro (0:47) 3. Andante misterioso (1:59) 4. Allegro ossessivo (0:43) 5. Moderato (1:48) 6. Andante tragico (2:17) 7. Vivo ma non troppo e agitato (1:13) 8. Grave (1:52) 9. Vivace (0:58) 10. Adagio sognando (1:37) 11. Allegro (0:51) 12. Adagio (4:59) 13. Andantino grazioso (2:08) 14. Allegretto scherzando (1:18) 15. Allegro con brio (1:00) 16. Tempo di valzer (3:18) 17. Allegro ritmico (2:44) 18. Andantino (1:27) 19. Allegro appassionato (1:07) 20. Giocoso (1:14) 21. Dialogo (2:49) 22. Andante nostalgico (3:29) 24. Vivo (4:29) Sonata for violoncello and piano (21:51) 25. I. (Allegro moderato) (7:01) 26. II. Lament (Adagio) (5:52) 27. III. (Allegro assai) (3:00) 28. IV. Con estrema intensit� (5:54) 29. Postlude for violoncello and piano (3:08) TT (75:12)
F. Vincent Vernuccio [1] February 04, 2012 Originally published in Townhall [2] Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois soon may need to construct a wall—not to keep people out but to keep business in. While such a drastic move is unlikely, they will need to do something because they are at a severe regional economic disadvantage now that Indiana has passed a right to work law. Wise policy decisions by Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana Legislature have given that Hoosier state the highest recovery in gross domestic product [3] in the Great Lakes region. Now with the passage of right to work, 333,000 [4] Hoosier workers represented by unions (12.4 percent of the Indiana workforce) will have right to say no to union bosses and still keep their job. Indiana is poised to surge ahead of its forced unionism neighbors. With a similarly skilled workforce, geography, and manufacturing background, Indiana can offer businesses from around the world the same benefits as other states in the region without the drawbacks of having workers forced into a union against their will. According to Heritage Foundation analyst James Sherk [5], “Right-to-work states are much more attractive for businesses investment. Unionized firms earn lower profits, invest less, and create fewer jobs than comparable nonunion firms.” Sherk adds that studies “of neighboring counties on state borders with and without right-to-work laws …. manufacturing jobs in counties in right-to-work states is one-third higher than in adjacent counties in non–right-to-work states. Right-to-work laws attract jobs.” As Rob DeRocker, an economic development consultant told The Christian Science Monitor [6], some companies consider right to work essential because, “[T]he lack of a right-to-work law suggests that the mentality at the government level is that it’s not a business-friendly state”. Overall statics back up Sherk’s and DeRocker’s assessments. Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore noted in The Wall Street Journal [7] last year that, “Over the past decade (2000-09) the right-to-work states grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.” Indiana learned the hard way about how union monopolies can kill jobs. In 2010, United Auto Workers (UAW) members refused a generous deal [8] and forced an Indianapolis metal stamping plant to close. The union rejected an offer by a buyer for the General Motors plant (which was in liquidation due to the company’s bankruptcy.) The buyer agreed to keep the plant open if the union agreed to industry average wages, with a $35,000 bonus for taking a pay cut, or a transfer to another GM plant keeping their higher than average salary. The union refused and 650 local jobs were eliminated, along with potentially thousands more. The closure cost the state and local county $1.8 million in property taxes and $40 million in payroll taxes from the plant. Adding insult to injury, the union members who voted to close the plant became eligible [9] for the taxpayer-funded federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Program in 2011. This could be why Volkswagen wouldn’t return Governor Daniels’s calls when the state didn’t have a right to work law. Daniels says this helped make him realize his state needed to change. As he told Forbes [10], “[W]e’re clearly the fastest growing automotive state, and we couldn’t even get [Volkswagen] to talk to us.” Besides being better for business, right to work is also better for workers. Workers in right to work states have more disposable income than those in forced unionism states, according to the National Institute for Labor Relation Research’s analysis of government data [11]. They are also less likely to lose their health insurance. During the last decade, the percentage of workers with health insurance fell by almost three times the amount in forced unionism states compared to right to work states. It is not just economics; public opinion overwhelmingly supports right to work. A January Rasmussen poll [12] showed only 15 percent of likely U.S. voters believe that workers should be forced by law to pay union dues if their company is unionized. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed disagreed. So what are the other Great Lakes states to do? They can either try to appease Big Labor by pretending that the status quo is working. Or they can follow the example of Governor Daniels and the courageous Hoosier legislators who helped make right to work possible—House Speaker Brian Bosma, Senate President David Long, and bill sponsors Rep. Jerry Torr and Sen. Carlin Yoder. If political leaders in these forced unionism states do nothing they will continue to see their populations and economies lose to states with more freedom and opportunity, such as Indiana.
Perfect Non-linear S-boxes (1991) by K Nyberg Venue:Advances in Cryptography, Eurocrypt ’91 Proceedings, SpringerVerland Randomness Requirements for Security by Donald E. Eastlake, Jeffrey I. Schiller, Steve Crocker "... This document is intended to become a Best Current Practice. Comments should be sent to the authors. Distribution is unlimited. This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineeri ..." This document is intended to become a Best Current Practice. Comments should be sent to the authors. Distribution is unlimited. This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress. " The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at Links Between Differential and Linear Cryptanalysis by Florent Chabaud, Florent Chabaud, Florent Chabaud, Serge Vaudenay, Serge Vaudenay, Serge Vaudenay, Groupe Recherche, Groupe Recherche, En Complexit'e Cryptographie, En Complexit'e Cryptographie "... Linear cryptanalysis, introduced last year by Matsui, will most certainly open-up the way to new attack methods which may be made more efficient when compared or combined with differential cryptanalysis. This report exhibits new relations between linear and differential cryptanalysis and presents ne ..." Linear cryptanalysis, introduced last year by Matsui, will most certainly open-up the way to new attack methods which may be made more efficient when compared or combined with differential cryptanalysis. This report exhibits new relations between linear and differential cryptanalysis and presents new classes of functions which are optimally resistant to these attacks. In particular, we prove that linear-resistant functions, which generally present Bent properties, are differential-resistant as well and thus, present Perfect Nonlinear properties. 1 On leave from D'el'egation G'en'erale de l'Armement Links between differential and linear cryptanalysis 1 --- I Introduction Matsui has introduced last year a new cryptanalysis method for DES-like cryptosystems [Mat94]. The idea of the method is to approximate the non-linear S-boxes with linear forms. Beside, the performances of linear cryptanalysis seems next to differential cryptanalysis ones, though a little better. These similitudes s... Twofish: A 128-Bit Block Cipher by Bruce Schneier, John Kelsey, Doug Whiting, David Wagner, Chris Hall, Niels Ferguson - in First Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Conference "... Twofish is a 128-bit block cipher that accepts a variable-length key up to 256 bits. The cipher is a 16-round Feistel network with a bijective F function made up of four key-dependent 8-by-8-bit S-boxes, a fixed 4-by-4 maximum distance separable matrix over GF(2 8 ), a pseudo-Hadamard transform, bit ..." Twofish is a 128-bit block cipher that accepts a variable-length key up to 256 bits. The cipher is a 16-round Feistel network with a bijective F function made up of four key-dependent 8-by-8-bit S-boxes, a fixed 4-by-4 maximum distance separable matrix over GF(2 8 ), a pseudo-Hadamard transform, bitwise rotations, and a carefully designed key schedule. A fully optimized implementation of Twofish encrypts on a Pentium Pro at 17.8 clock cycles per byte, and an 8-bit smart card implementation encrypts at 1660 clock cycles per byte. Twofish can be implemented in hardware in 14000 gates. The design of both the round function and the key schedule permits a wide variety of tradeoffs between speed, software size, key setup time, gate count, and memory. We have extensively cryptanalyzed Twofish; our best attack breaks 5 rounds with 2 22.5 chosen plaintexts and 2 51 effort. by Bruce Schneier, John Kelsey - Fast Software Encryption, 3rd International Workshop Proceedings "... We examine a generalization of the concept of Feistel networks, which we call Unbalanced Feistel Networks (UFNs). Like conventional Feistel networks, UFNs consist of a series of rounds in which one part of the block operates on the rest of the block. However, in a UFN the two parts need not be of eq ..." We examine a generalization of the concept of Feistel networks, which we call Unbalanced Feistel Networks (UFNs). Like conventional Feistel networks, UFNs consist of a series of rounds in which one part of the block operates on the rest of the block. However, in a UFN the two parts need not be of equal size. Removing this limitation on Feistel networks has interesting implications for designing ciphers secure against linear and differential attacks. We describe UFNs and a terminology for discussing their properties, present and analyze some UFN constructions, and make some initial observations about their security. It is notable that almost all the proposed ciphers that are based on Feistel networks follow the same design construction: half the bits operate on the other half. There is no inherent reason that this should be so; as we will demonstrate, it is possible to design Feistel networks across a much wider, richer design space. In this paper, we examine the nature of the... GAC - the Criterion for Global Avalanche Characteristics of Cryptographic Functions by Xian-mo Zhang, Yuliang Zheng - Journal of Universal Computer Science "... Abstract: We show that some widely accepted criteria for cryptographic functions, including the strict avalanche criterion (SAC) and the propagation criterion, have various limitations in capturing properties of vital importance to cryptographic algorithms, and propose a new criterion called GAC tom ..." Abstract: We show that some widely accepted criteria for cryptographic functions, including the strict avalanche criterion (SAC) and the propagation criterion, have various limitations in capturing properties of vital importance to cryptographic algorithms, and propose a new criterion called GAC tomeasure the global avalanche characteristics of cryptographic functions. We also introduce two indicators related to the new criterion, one forecasts the sum-of-squares while the other the absolute avalanche characteristics of a function. Lower and upper bounds on the two indicators are derived, and two methods are presented to construct cryptographic functions that achieve nearly optimal global avalanche characteristics. Category: E.3 1 Why the GAC In 1985, Webster and Tavares introduced the concept of the strict avalanche criterion (SAC) when searching for principles for designing DES-like data encryption algorithms [Web85, WT86]. A function is said to satisfy the SACif complementing asingle bit results inthe output ofthe function being complemented Substitution-Permutation Networks Resistant to Differential and Linear Cryptanalysis by Howard M. Heys, Stafford E. Tavares "... In this paper we examine a class of product ciphers referred to as substitution-permutation networks. We investigate the resistance of these cryptographic networks to two important attacks: differential cryptanalysis and linear cryptanalysis. In particular, we develop upper bounds on the differenti ..." In this paper we examine a class of product ciphers referred to as substitution-permutation networks. We investigate the resistance of these cryptographic networks to two important attacks: differential cryptanalysis and linear cryptanalysis. In particular, we develop upper bounds on the differential characteristic probability and on the probability of a linear approximation as a function of the number of rounds of substitutions. Further, it is shown that using large S-boxes with good diffusion characteristics and replacing the permutation between rounds by an appropriate linear transformation is effective in improving the cipher security in relation to these two attacks. Nonlinearity and Propagation Characteristics of Balanced Boolean Functions by Jennifer Seberry, Xian-mo Zhang, Yuliang Zheng "... Three important criteria for cryptographically strong Boolean functions are balance, nonlinearity and the propagation criterion. The main contribution of this paper is to reveal a number of interesting properties of balance and nonlinearity, and to study systematic methods for constructing Boolean f ..." Three important criteria for cryptographically strong Boolean functions are balance, nonlinearity and the propagation criterion. The main contribution of this paper is to reveal a number of interesting properties of balance and nonlinearity, and to study systematic methods for constructing Boolean functions that satisfy some or all of the three criteria. We show that concatenating, splitting, modifying and multiplying (in the sense of Kronecker) sequences can yield balanced Boolean functions with a very high nonlinearity. In particular, we show that balanced Boolean functions obtained by modifying and multiplying sequences achieve a nonlinearity higher than that attainable by any previously known construction method. We also present methods for constructing balanced Boolean functions that are highly nonlinear and satisfy the strict avalanche criterion (SAC). Furthermore we present methods for constructing highly nonlinear balanced Boolean functions satisfying the propagation criterion with respect to all but one or three vectors. A technique is developed to transform the vectors where the propagation criterion is not satisfied in such a way that the functions constructed satisfy the propagation criterion of high degree while preserving the balance and nonlinearity of the functions. The algebraic degrees of functions constructed are also discussed. Designing S-Boxes For Ciphers Resistant To Differential Cryptanalysis by Carlisle M. Adams, Stafford E. Tavares - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 3RD SYMPOSIUM ON STATE AND PROGRESS OF RESEARCH IN CRYPTOGRAPHY "... This paper examines recent work in the area of bent-function-based substitution boxes in order to refine the relationship between s-box construction and immunity to the differential cryptanalysis attack described by Biham and Shamir. It is concluded that mxn s-boxes, m This paper examines recent work in the area of bent-function-based substitution boxes in order to refine the relationship between s-box construction and immunity to the differential cryptanalysis attack described by Biham and Shamir. It is concluded that mxn s-boxes, m<n, which are partially bent-function-based are the most appropriate choice for private-key cryptosystems constructed as substitution-permutation networks (SPNs). Since s-boxes of this dimension and with this property have received little attention in the open literature, this paper provides a description of their construction and shows how they can be incorporated in a design procedure for a family of SPN cryptosystems with desirable cryptographic properties. The Cipher SHARK by Vincent Rijmen, Joan Daemen, Bart Preneel, Antoon Bosselaers , Erik De Win - FAST SOFTWARE ENCRYPTION, THIRD INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP "... We present the new block cipher SHARK. This cipher combines highly non-linear substitution boxes and maximum distance separable error correcting codes (MDS-codes) to guarantee a good diffusion. The cipher is resistant against differential and linear cryptanalysis after a small number of rounds ..." We present the new block cipher SHARK. This cipher combines highly non-linear substitution boxes and maximum distance separable error correcting codes (MDS-codes) to guarantee a good diffusion. The cipher is resistant against differential and linear cryptanalysis after a small number of rounds. The structure of SHARK is such that a fast software implementation is possible, both for the encryption and the decryption. Our C-implementation of SHARK runs more than four times faster than SAFER and IDEA on a 64-bit architecture. Constructing symmetric ciphers using the CAST design procedure by Carlisle M. Adams - DESIGNS, CODES, AND CRYPTOGRAPHY "... This paper describes the CAST design procedure for constructing a family of DES-like Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) cryptosystems which appear to have good resistance to differential cryptanalysis, linear cryptanalysis, and related-key cryptanalysis, along with a number of other desirable ..." This paper describes the CAST design procedure for constructing a family of DES-like Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) cryptosystems which appear to have good resistance to differential cryptanalysis, linear cryptanalysis, and related-key cryptanalysis, along with a number of other desirable cryptographic properties. Details of the design choices in the procedure are given, including those regarding the component substitution boxes (s-boxes), the overall framework, the key schedule, and the round function. An example CAST cipher, an output of this design procedure, is presented as an aid to understanding the concepts and to encourage detailed analysis by the cryptologic community.
(1994) by M Jones Venue:In ACM Conference on Partial Evaluation and SemanticsBased Program Manipulation Compiling polymorphism using intensional type analysis by Robert Harper, Greg Morrisett - In Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages "... The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as ..." The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as TIL: A Type-Directed Optimizing Compiler for ML by David Tarditi , Greg Morrisett, Perry Cheng, Chris Stone, Robert Harper, Peter Lee - IN ACM SIGPLAN CONFERENCE ON PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION "... We describe a new compiler for Standard ML called TIL, that is based on four technologies: intensional polymorphism, tag-free garbage collection, conventional functional language optimization, and loop optimization. We use intensional polymorphism and tag-free garbage collection to provide specializ ..." We describe a new compiler for Standard ML called TIL, that is based on four technologies: intensional polymorphism, tag-free garbage collection, conventional functional language optimization, and loop optimization. We use intensional polymorphism and tag-free garbage collection to provide specialized representations, even though SML is a polymorphic language. We use conventional functional language optimization to reduce the cost of intensional polymorphism, and loop optimization to generate good code for recursive functions. We present an example of TIL compiling an SML function to machine code, and compare the performance of TIL code against that of a widely used compiler, Standard ML of New Jersey. Compiling with Types by Greg Morrisett , 1995 "... Compilers for monomorphic languages, such as C and Pascal, take advantage of types to determine data representations, alignment, calling conventions, and register selection. However, these languages lack important features including polymorphism, abstract datatypes, and garbage collection. In contr ..." Compilers for monomorphic languages, such as C and Pascal, take advantage of types to determine data representations, alignment, calling conventions, and register selection. However, these languages lack important features including polymorphism, abstract datatypes, and garbage collection. In contrast, modern programming languages such as Standard ML (SML), provide all of these features, but existing implementations fail to take full advantage of types. The result is that performance of SML code is quite bad when compared to C. In this thesis, I provide a general framework, called type-directed compilation, that allows compiler writers to take advantage of types at all stages in compilation. In the framework, types are used not only to determine efficient representations and calling conventions, but also to prove the correctness of the compiler. A key property of typedirected compilation is that all but the lowest levels of the compiler use typed intermediate languages. An advantage of this approach is that it provides a means for automatically checking the integrity of the resulting code. An important Once Upon a Type by David Turner, Philip Wadler, Christian Mossin - In Functional Programming Languages and Computer Architecture "... A number of useful optimisations are enabled if we can determine when a value is accessed at most once. We extend the Hindley-Milner type system with uses, yielding a typeinference based program analysis which determines when values are accessed at most once. Our analysis can handle higher-order fun ..." A number of useful optimisations are enabled if we can determine when a value is accessed at most once. We extend the Hindley-Milner type system with uses, yielding a typeinference based program analysis which determines when values are accessed at most once. Our analysis can handle higher-order functions and data structures, and admits principal types for terms. Unlike previous analyses, we prove our analysis sound with respect to call-by-need reduction. Call-by-name reduction does not provide an accurate model of how often a value is used during lazy evaluation, since it duplicates work which would actually be shared in a real implementation. Our type system can easily be modified to analyse usage in a call-by-value language. 1 Introduction This paper describes a method for determining when a value is used at most once. Our method is based on a simple modification of the Hindley-Milner type system. Each type is labelled to indicate whether the corresponding value is used at most onc... Tag-free Garbage Collection Using Explicit Type Parameters by Andrew Tolmach - In Proceedings of the 1994 ACM Conference on Lisp and Functional Programming "... We have constructed a practical tag-free garbage collector based on explicit type parameterization of polymorphic functions, for a dialect of ML. The collector relies on type information derived from an explicitly-typed 2nd-order representation of the program, generated by the compiler as a byproduc ..." We have constructed a practical tag-free garbage collector based on explicit type parameterization of polymorphic functions, for a dialect of ML. The collector relies on type information derived from an explicitly-typed 2nd-order representation of the program, generated by the compiler as a byproduct of ordinary Hindley-Milner type inference. Runtime type manipulations are performed lazily to minimize execution overhead. We present details of our implementation approach, and preliminary performance measurements suggesting that the overhead of passing type information explicitly can be made acceptably small. 1 Introduction Parametric polymorphic functions, as found in languages such as ML and Haskell, are traditionally compiled into code that executes uniformly regardless of the types of its arguments. This approach requires adopting a uniform data representation for all types. Typically, one pretends that every value fits in a single machine word; values that do not fit must be pointe... From ML to Ada: Strongly-typed Language Interoperability via Source Translation "... We describe a system that supports source-level integration of ML-like functional language code with ANSI C or Ada83 code. The system works by translating the functional code into type-correct, "vanilla" C or Ada; it offers simple, efficient, type-safe inter-operation between new functional code com ..." We describe a system that supports source-level integration of ML-like functional language code with ANSI C or Ada83 code. The system works by translating the functional code into type-correct, "vanilla" C or Ada; it offers simple, efficient, type-safe inter-operation between new functional code components and "legacy" third-generationlanguage components. Our translator represents a novel synthesis of techniques including user-parameterized specification of primitive types and operators; removal of polymorphism by code specialization; removal of higher-order functions using closure datatypes and interpretation; and aggressive optimization of the resulting first-order code, which can be viewed as encoding the result of a closure analysis. Programs remain fully typed at every stage of the translation process, using only simple, standard type systems. Target code runs at speeds comparable to the output of current optimizing ML compilers, even though handicapped by a conservative garbage collector. The implementation of the Gofer functional programming system by Mark P. Jones "... The Gofer system is a functional programming environment for a small, Haskell-like language. Supporting a wide range of different machines, including home computers, the system is widely used, both for teaching and research. This report describes the main ideas and techniques used in the implementat ..." The Gofer system is a functional programming environment for a small, Haskell-like language. Supporting a wide range of different machines, including home computers, the system is widely used, both for teaching and research. This report describes the main ideas and techniques used in the implementation of Gofer. This information will be particularly useful for work using Gofer as a platform to explore the use of new language features or primitives. It should also be of interest to those curious to see how the general techniques of functional programming language compilation are adapted to a simple, but practical, implementation. Dictionary-free Overloading by Partial Evaluation "... One of the most novel features in the functional programming language Haskell is the system of type classes used to support a combination of overloading and polymorphism. Current implementations of type class overloading are based on the use of dictionary values, passed as extra parameters to overlo ..." One of the most novel features in the functional programming language Haskell is the system of type classes used to support a combination of overloading and polymorphism. Current implementations of type class overloading are based on the use of dictionary values, passed as extra parameters to overloaded functions. Unfortunately, this can have a significant effect on run-time performance, for example, by reducing the effectiveness of important program analyses and optimizations. This paper describes how a simple partial evaluator can be used to avoid the need for dictionary values at run-time by generating specialized versions of overloaded functions. This eliminates the run-time costs of overloading. Furthermore, and somewhat surprisingly given the presence of multiple versions of some functions, for all of the examples that we have tried so far, specialization actually leads to a reduction in the size of compiled programs. The effectiveness of type-based unboxing by Xavier Leroy, Inria Rocquencourt - Boston College, Computer Science Department "... Abstract We compare the efficiency of type-based unboxing strategies with that of simpler, untyped unboxing optimizations, building on our practical experience with the Gallium and Objective Caml compilers. We find the untyped optimizations to perform as well on the best case and significantly bette ..." Abstract We compare the efficiency of type-based unboxing strategies with that of simpler, untyped unboxing optimizations, building on our practical experience with the Gallium and Objective Caml compilers. We find the untyped optimizations to perform as well on the best case and significantly better in the worst case. 1 Introduction In Pascal or C, the actual types of all data are always known at compile-time, allowing the compilers to base data representation decisions on this typing information, thus supporting efficient memory layout of data structures as well as efficient calling conventions for functions. This is no longer true for languages featuring polymorphism and type abstraction, such as ML: there, the static, compile-time type information does not always determine the actual, run-time type of a data (e.g. when the static type contains type variables or abstract type identifiers). Unboxed Values and Polymorphic Typing Revisited by Peter J. Thiemann - In The Seventh International Conference on Functional Programming Languages and Computer Architecture "... Polymorphic languages require that values passed to polymorphic functions all have a representation of the same size. Any value whose natural representation does not fit this size must be boxed, i.e. represented by a pointer to a heap-allocated record. Major performance gains can be achieved by hand ..." Polymorphic languages require that values passed to polymorphic functions all have a representation of the same size. Any value whose natural representation does not fit this size must be boxed, i.e. represented by a pointer to a heap-allocated record. Major performance gains can be achieved by handling values in their natural, unboxed representation whenever possible. We show that not only monomorphic functions, but also many polymorphic functions can handle unboxed values if the function calling convention of the underlying implementation satisfies a mild assumption. A representation type system is deøned which describes boxing requirements. A type reconstruction algorithm is given which translates an untyped program into an explicitly typed program where all changes of representation are made explicit. Furthermore, we define an abstract machine which employs the required calling convention and is an adequate operational model for the representation type system.
First-Order Logic (1968) by R Smullyan Stable models and an alternative logic programming paradigm by Victor W. Marek - In The Logic Programming Paradigm: a 25-Year Perspective "... In this paper we reexamine the place and role of stable model semantics in logic programming and contrast it with a least Herbrand model approach to Horn programs. We demonstrate that inherent features of stable model semantics naturally lead to a logic programming system that offers an interesting ..." In this paper we reexamine the place and role of stable model semantics in logic programming and contrast it with a least Herbrand model approach to Horn programs. We demonstrate that inherent features of stable model semantics naturally lead to a logic programming system that offers an interesting alternative to more traditional logic programming styles of Horn logic programming, stratified logic programming and logic programming with well-founded semantics. The proposed approach is based on the interpretation of program clauses as constraints. In this setting programs do not describe a single intended model, but a family of stable models. These stable models encode solutions to the constraint satisfaction problem described by the program. Our approach imposes restrictions on the syntax of logic programs. In particular, function symbols are eliminated from the language. We argue that the resulting logic programming system is well-attuned to problems in the class NP, has a well-defined domain of applications, and an emerging methodology of programming. We point out that what makes the whole approach viable is recent progress in implementations of algorithms to compute stable models of propositional logic programs. 1 A Really Temporal Logic by Rajeev Alur, Thomas A. Henzinger "... . We introduce a temporal logic for the specification of real-time systems. Our logic, TPTL, employs a novel quantifier construct for referencing time: the freeze quantifier binds a variable to the time of the local temporal context. TPTL is both a natural language for specification and a suitable f ..." . We introduce a temporal logic for the specification of real-time systems. Our logic, TPTL, employs a novel quantifier construct for referencing time: the freeze quantifier binds a variable to the time of the local temporal context. TPTL is both a natural language for specification and a suitable formalism for verification. We present a tableau-based decision procedure and a model checking algorithm for TPTL. Several generalizations of TPTL are shown to be highly undecidable. 1 Introduction Linear temporal logic is a widely accepted language for specifying properties of reactive systems and their behavior over time [Pnu77, OL82, MP92]. The tableau-based satisfiability algorithm for its propositional version, PTL, forms the basis for the automatic verification and synthesis of finite-state systems [LP84, MW84]. PTL is interpreted over models that abstract away from the actual times at which events occur, retaining only temporal ordering information about the states of a system. The a... Many-Valued Modal Logics by Melvin C. Fitting - Fundamenta Informaticae "... . Two families of many-valued modal logics are investigated. Semantically, one family is characterized using Kripke models that allow formulas to take values in a finite many-valued logic, at each possible world. The second family generalizes this to allow the accessibility relation between worlds a ..." . Two families of many-valued modal logics are investigated. Semantically, one family is characterized using Kripke models that allow formulas to take values in a finite many-valued logic, at each possible world. The second family generalizes this to allow the accessibility relation between worlds also to be many-valued. Gentzen sequent calculi are given for both versions, and soundness and completeness are established. 1 Introduction The logics that have appeared in artificial intelligence form a rich and varied collection. While classical (and maybe intuitionistic) logic su#ces for the formal development of mathematics, artificial intelligence has found uses for modal, temporal, relevant, and many-valued logics, among others. Indeed, I take it as a basic principle that an application should find (or create) an appropriate logic, if it needs one, rather than reshape the application to fit some narrow class of `established' logics. In this paper I want to enlarge the variety of logics... Automated Consistency Checking of Requirements Specifications by Constance L. Heitmeyer, Ralph D. Jeffords, Bruce G. Labaw "... This paper describes a formal analysis technique, called consistency checking, for automatic detection of errors, such as type errors, nondeterminism, missing cases, and circular definitions, in requirements specifications. The technique is designed to analyze requirements specifications expressed i ..." This paper describes a formal analysis technique, called consistency checking, for automatic detection of errors, such as type errors, nondeterminism, missing cases, and circular definitions, in requirements specifications. The technique is designed to analyze requirements specifications expressed in the SCR (Software Cost Reduction) tabular notation. As background, the SCR approach to specifying requirements is reviewed. To provide a formal semantics for the SCR notation and a foundation for consistency checking, a formal requirements model is introduced; the model represents a software system as a finite state automaton, which produces externally visible outputs in response to changes in monitored environmental quantities. Results are presented of two experiments which evaluated the utility and sealability of our technique for consistency checking in a real-world avionics application. The role of consistency checking during the requirements phase of software development is discussed. Decision Procedures and Expressiveness in the Temporal Logic of Branching Time by E. Allen Emerson , Joseph Y. Halpern "... We consider the computation tree logic (CTL) proposed in (Set. Comput. Programming 2 ..." We consider the computation tree logic (CTL) proposed in (Set. Comput. Programming 2 P.: Agent-oriented software engineering: The state of the art by Michael Wooldridge, Paolo Ciancarini - In: Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Agent-Oriented Software Engineering "... Abstract. Software engineers continually strive to develop tools and techniques to manage the complexity that is inherent in software systems. In this article, we argue that intelligent agents and multi-agent systems are just such tools. We begin by reviewing what is meant by the term “agent”, and c ..." The Complexity Of Propositional Proofs by Alasdair Urquhart - Bulletin of Symbolic Logic "... This paper of Tseitin is a landmark as the first to give non-trivial lower bounds for propositional proofs; although it pre-dates the first papers on ..." This paper of Tseitin is a landmark as the first to give non-trivial lower bounds for propositional proofs; although it pre-dates the first papers on Representing Discourse in Context by Jan van Eijck, Hans Kamp "... Contents 1. Introduction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3 2. The Problem of Anaphoric Linking in Context : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 4 3. Basic Ideas of Discourse R ..." Contents 1. Introduction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3 2. The Problem of Anaphoric Linking in Context : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 4 3. Basic Ideas of Discourse Representation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 5 4. Discourse Representation Structures : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 14 5. The Static and Dynamic Meaning of Representation Structures : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 17 6. Sequential Composition of Representation Structures : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 21 7. Strategies for Merging Representation Structures : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 27 8. Disjoint Mer Internalizing Labelled Deduction by Patrick Blackburn "... This paper shows how to internalize the Kripke satisfaction denition using the basic hybrid language, and explores the proof theoretic consequences of doing so. As we shall see, the basic hybrid language enables us to transfer classic Gabbay-style labelled deduction methods from the metalanguage to ..." This paper shows how to internalize the Kripke satisfaction denition using the basic hybrid language, and explores the proof theoretic consequences of doing so. As we shall see, the basic hybrid language enables us to transfer classic Gabbay-style labelled deduction methods from the metalanguage to the object language, and to handle labelling discipline logically. This internalized approach to labelled deduction links neatly with the Gabbay-style rules now widely used in modal Hilbert-systems, enables completeness results for a wide range of rst-order denable frame classes to be obtained automatically, and extends to many richer languages. The paper discusses related work by Jerry Seligman and Miroslava Tzakova and concludes with some reections on the status of labelling in modal logic. 1 Introduction Modern modal logic revolves around the Kripke satisfaction relation: M;w ': This says that the model M satises (or forces, or supports) the modal formula ' at the state w in M.... Lazy Satisfiability Modulo Theories by Roberto Sebastiani "... Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) is the problem of deciding the satisfiability of a first-order formula with respect to some decidable first-order theory T (SMT (T)). These problems are typically not handled adequately by standard automated theorem provers. SMT is being recognized as increasingl ..." Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) is the problem of deciding the satisfiability of a first-order formula with respect to some decidable first-order theory T (SMT (T)). These problems are typically not handled adequately by standard automated theorem provers. SMT is being recognized as increasingly important due to its applications in many domains in different communities, in particular in formal verification. An amount of papers with novel and very efficient techniques for SMT has been published in the last years, and some very efficient SMT tools are now available. Typical SMT (T) problems require testing the satisfiability of formulas which are Boolean combinations of atomic propositions and atomic expressions in T, so that heavy Boolean reasoning must be efficiently combined with expressive theory-specific reasoning. The dominating approach to SMT (T), called lazy approach, is based on the integration of a SAT solver and of a decision procedure able to handle sets of atomic constraints in T (T-solver), handling respectively the Boolean and the theory-specific components of reasoning. Unfortunately, neither the problem of building an efficient SMT solver, nor even that of acquiring a comprehensive background knowledge in lazy SMT, is of simple solution. In this paper we present an extensive survey of SMT, with particular focus on the lazy approach. We survey, classify and analyze from a theory-independent perspective the most effective techniques and optimizations which are of interest for lazy SMT and which have been proposed in various communities; we discuss their relative benefits and drawbacks; we provide some guidelines about their choice and usage; we also analyze the features for SAT solvers and T-solvers which make them more suitable for an integration. The ultimate goals of this paper are to become a source of a common background knowledge and terminology for students and researchers in different areas, to provide a reference guide for developers of SMT tools, and to stimulate the cross-fertilization of techniques and ideas among different communities.
A lower bound on the number of unit distances between the vertices of a convex polygon (1991) by H Edelsbrunner, P Hajnal Venue:Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A Arrangements and Their Applications by Pankaj K. Agarwal, Micha Sharir - Handbook of Computational Geometry "... The arrangement of a finite collection of geometric objects is the decomposition of the space into connected cells induced by them. We survey combinatorial and algorithmic properties of arrangements of arcs in the plane and of surface patches in higher dimensions. We present many applications of arr ..." The arrangement of a finite collection of geometric objects is the decomposition of the space into connected cells induced by them. We survey combinatorial and algorithmic properties of arrangements of arcs in the plane and of surface patches in higher dimensions. We present many applications of arrangements to problems in motion planning, visualization, range searching, molecular modeling, and geometric optimization. Some results involving planar arrangements of arcs have been presented in a companion chapter in this book, and are extended in this chapter to higher dimensions. Work by P.A. was supported by Army Research Office MURI grant DAAH04-96-1-0013, by a Sloan fellowship, by an NYI award, and by a grant from the U.S.-Israeli Binational Science Foundation. Work by M.S. was supported by NSF Grants CCR-91-22103 and CCR-93-11127, by a Max-Planck Research Award, and by grants from the U.S.-Israeli Binational Science Foundation, the Israel Science Fund administered by the Israeli Ac... Geometric Graph Theory by János Pach "... A geometric path is a graph drawn in the plane such that its vertices are points in general position and its edges... This paper surveys some Turán-type and Ramsey-type extremal problems for geometric graphs, and discusses their generalizations and applications. ..." A geometric path is a graph drawn in the plane such that its vertices are points in general position and its edges... This paper surveys some Turán-type and Ramsey-type extremal problems for geometric graphs, and discusses their generalizations and applications. TRACES OF FINITE SETS: EXTREMAL PROBLEMS AND GEOMETRIC APPLICATIONS by Zoltán Füredi, János Pach "... Given a hypergraph H and a subset S of its vertices, the trace of H on S is defined as H\|S = {E ∩ S: E ∈ H}. The Vapnik–Chervonenkis dimension (VC-dimension) of H is the size of the largest subset S for which H\|S has 2 \|S\| edges. Hypergraphs of small VC-dimension play a central role in many areas o ..." Given a hypergraph H and a subset S of its vertices, the trace of H on S is defined as H\|S = {E ∩ S: E ∈ H}. The Vapnik–Chervonenkis dimension (VC-dimension) of H is the size of the largest subset S for which H\|S has 2 \|S\| edges. Hypergraphs of small VC-dimension play a central role in many areas of statistics, discrete and computational geometry, and learning theory. We survey some of the most important results related to this concept with special emphasis on (a) hypergraph theoretic methods and (b) geometric applications. Geometric Representations of Graphs by László Lovász, Katalin Vesztergombi - IN PAUL ERDÖS, PROC. CONF "... The study of geometrically defined graphs, and of the reverse question, the construction of geometric representations of graphs, leads to unexpected connections between geometry and graph theory. We survey the surprisingly large variety of graph properties related to geometric representations, c ..." The study of geometrically defined graphs, and of the reverse question, the construction of geometric representations of graphs, leads to unexpected connections between geometry and graph theory. We survey the surprisingly large variety of graph properties related to geometric representations, construction methods for geometric representations, and their applications in proofs and algorithms. The maximum number of times the same distance can occur among the vertices of a convex n-gon is O(n log n) by Peter Braß, János Pach, Fu Berlin "... We present a short proof of Füredi's theorem [F] stated in the title. ..." We present a short proof of Füredi's theorem [F] stated in the title. Contents Eigenvalues of graphs by László Lovász THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EMPTY CONGRUENT TRIANGLES DETERMINED BY A POINT SET by Adrian Dumitrescu, János Pach, Géza Tóth "... Let ¡ be a set of ¢ points in the plane and consider a family of (nondegenerate) pairwise congruent triangles whose vertices belong to ¡. While the number of such triangles can grow superlinearly in ¢ — as it happens in lattice sections of the integer grid — it has been conjectured by Brass that th ..." Let ¡ be a set of ¢ points in the plane and consider a family of (nondegenerate) pairwise congruent triangles whose vertices belong to ¡. While the number of such triangles can grow superlinearly in ¢ — as it happens in lattice sections of the integer grid — it has been conjectured by Brass that the number of pairwise congruent empty triangles is only at most linear. We disprove this conjecture by constructing point sets with£¥¤¦¢¨§�©��¢� � empty congruent triangles. Extremal hypergraphs and combinatorial geometry by Zoltán Füredi How many unit equilateral triangles can be generated by n points in convex position? by Janos Pach, Rom Pinchasi - Amer. Math. Monthly "... What is the maximum number of times that the unit distance can occur among the distances between n points in the plane? This more than fty-year-old question of Paul Erdös, published in this MONTHLY [5], opened a whole new area of research in combinatorial geometry [10]. ..." How Many Unit Equilateral Triangles Can Be Induced by n Points in Convex Position? by János Pach, Rom Pinchasi "... Any set of n points in strictly convex position in the plane has at most b c triples that induce equilateral triangles of side length one. This bound cannot be improved. The case of general triangles is also discussed. ..." Any set of n points in strictly convex position in the plane has at most b c triples that induce equilateral triangles of side length one. This bound cannot be improved. The case of general triangles is also discussed.
Corrections Department #8: Marion Dougherty, or: Math Is Hard! December 9, 2011 Yesterday’s New York Times has an obituary for Marion Dougherty, an influential casting director who spent nearly two decades working in television before transitioning into feature films (including many important ones, such as Midnight Cowboy and The Sting). It seems to be par for the course that television is a minefield even the most experienced obit writers can’t get right. Actually, the Times has already issued a correction with regard to Dougherty’s movie credits – initially the writer, Dennis Hevesi, added two films that she didn’t cast, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, to her resume. But I’m guessing we won’t see a correction addressing the two pretty obvious errors I spotted with regard to Dougherty’s television work. The first suggests that Route 66 and Naked City, the two shows that really put Dougherty on the map as a discoverer of important talent, ran from 1954 to 1968. If only. The correct dates are 1960 to 1964. (Dougherty didn’t work on the earlier 1958 season of Naked City, which was cast less imaginatively by a West Coast has-been named Jess Kimmel). Although Dougherty had cast Warren Beatty on Kraft as early as 1957, it was on Naked City and Route 66 that she routinely gave early exposure to young Off-Broadway actors who would become some of the superstars of the seventies: Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Cicely Tyson, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Alan Alda, Bruce Dern, Ed Asner. The second error is an internal contradiction: Hevesi writes that Dougherty was the casting director for Kraft Television Theater beginning in 1950 (I believe this is accurate, although it could be off by a year in either direction) but later claims that she was a casting assistant for six years. Since Kraft was Dougherty’s first job in the entertainment industry, and the series went on the air in 1947, that’s impossible. As far as I can determine, Dougherty started on Kraft in 1948 or (more likely) 1949, and became its chief casting director within two years or less. In any case, she was a woman well under the age of thirty when she started in that job – a noteworthy accomplishment, although there were other women with similar track records. (Alixe Gordin, who was born a year before Dougherty, became the casting director for Studio One around the same time Dougherty ascended at Kraft; Ethel Winant was a casting executive who achieved considerable prominence at CBS a few years later.) Dougherty enjoyed a certain amount of public attention during this time – the Sunday Mirror Magazine ran a 1955 profile that called her “the nation’s top casting director” and credited her for sending Jack Lemmon, Rod Steiger, and Anne Francis to Hollywood – and her influence at Kraft cannot be underestimated. A blueprint of the offices of J. Walter Thompson, which packaged the anthology, places Dougherty in an office next to those of the two directors, Maury Holland (who was also the producer) and Fielder Cook; the three of them are the only Kraft staffers named on the plans. That Dougherty never received a screen credit on Kraft (her first, as far as I can determine, came immediately afterward, as the “talent coordinator” for the short-lived 1958 incarnation of Ellery Queen) was a noteworthy injustice, and probably one attributable to blatant sexism. (At first Dougherty’s name was also absent from the credits of Route 66 and Naked City, although the executive producer, Herbert B. Leonard, eventually compensated for that omission by awarding her the humungous single-card credit shown above.) Reading the Times article, one might get the impression that Dougherty was closeted. Actually the casting director, who kept her personal life very private, married during her Kraft years and later became the companion of director George Roy Hill (most of whose films she cast) after both their marriages ended. In the interest of full disclosure, earlier this year I worked on a documentary, Casting By, which features Marion Dougherty prominently and identifies her as perhaps the first independent casting director, at least in the sense that that profession exists today. The Times does a good job of explaining her significance, but there is a lot to Dougherty’s story that remains untold. Sometime soon, I’ll write more about her. Additionally they were married for a long time. You fail to point out she is Crystal Award winner for Casting, and should have gotten an Oscar,, the academy was petitioned by many actors and directors to creat a Oscar catagory for casting because Marion Dougherty certainly should have received one for the huge wonderful body of work she did.
Species on the brink Check here for our latest news related to species extinction. Mangrove forests in worldwide decline More than one in six mangrove species worldwide are in danger of extinction due to coastal development and other factors, including climate change, logging and agriculture, according to the first-ever global assessment on the conservation status of mangroves for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. … 09 Apr 2010 \| International news release Scientists call for biodiversity barometer For the first time scientists have put a figure on how much it would cost to learn about the conservation status of millions of species, some of which have yet to be identified. The price tag is US$60 million, according to a team of scientists, including those from IUCN and Conservation International, who presented their case in this week’s Science magazine in an article called “The Barometer of Life.” … \| Spanish Sturgeon more critically endangered than any other group of species Eighty five percent of sturgeon, one of the oldest families of fishes in existence, valued around the world for their precious roe, are at risk of extinction, making them the most threatened group of animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The latest update of the Red List assessed the status of 18 species of sturgeon from all over Europe and Asia and found that all were threatened. … 18 Mar 2010 \| International news release Habitat loss blamed for more species decline Habitat loss is having a serious impact on Europe’s butterflies, beetles and dragonflies. The release of the European Red List, commissioned by the European Commission, shows that nine percent of butterflies, 11 percent of saproxylic beetles (beetles that depend on decaying wood) and 14 percent of dragonflies are threatened with extinction within Europe. Some species are so threatened that they are at risk of global extinction and are now included in the latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. … \| French 16 Mar 2010 \| International news release Bringing bison back to North America The next 10 to 20 years could be extremely significant for restoring wild populations of American bison to their original roaming grounds. But for this to happen, more land must be made available for herds to roam free, government policies must be updated and the public must change its attitude towards bison. … 02 Mar 2010 \| International news release World's most endangered primates revealed Mankind’s closest living relatives – the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates – are on the brink of extinction and in need of urgent conservation measures according to Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2008–2010. … \| Spanish Beating back biofuel crop invasions The risk of biofuel crops becoming invasive and outcompeting native species is increasing as more advanced crops are planted. This can be managed to reduce the impact on local livelihoods and the environment, according to a report by IUCN. … 18 Feb 2010 \| News story
Why Do We Need to Play? (My #rechat Reflection) Posted by John T. Spencer ⋅ December 29, 2012 ⋅ 5 Comments The kids are in the backyard blowing bubbles. The canister reads Miracle Bubbles and it seems, at first, like hyperbole. Joel pulls out the wand and creates a floating orb. Brenna jumps up and pops the first one in delight. Micah pulls out a wand (a fitting word for the magic that happens) and asks if blowing it slower will make the bubbles bigger or smaller. This leads to a test of small and large bubbles and eventually an impromptu game happens to see how many bubbles they can pop without having to re-dip the wand. Next, they argue about what would happen if they changed the size and shape of the wand. We might just need to bend wires or paperclips to test out this theory later. Miracle Bubbles. Okay, it still sounds a bit like hyperbole. But I’m struck by the amount of learning that goes on in a short period of time – and that, the act of of play, feels, somehow magical. The same is true of the sidewalk chalk games and the imaginative painting and the story-telling they engaged in earlier this morning. They’re learning through play. I’m not sure how to define play. I’m not sure when engagement and learning become play. I think imagination, creativity, interactivity have something to do with it. But I’m not sure that my kids would even think to make the distinction in the first place. Play and learning are nearly synonymous. There is a playfulness to reading a National Geographic magazine and a seriousness to blowing bubbles. I try to defend the concept of play by pointing out the functional aspects of play: increasing creativity, driving innovation, flexible thinking, paradoxical thinking, problem-solving, role-playing, social learning, authentic contexts, questioning (and inquiry in particular). I want to prove that play and career-readiness might go hand-in-hand, but I’m not so sure. But as I watch them blowing bubbles in the backyard, I am struck by the fact that it’s not about being functional. Joel, Micah and Brenna would scoff at words like “driving innovation.” They’re playing, because that’s part of what it means to be human. It’s how we learn. It’s how interact. It is a human need and a human pleasure at the same time. So, it has me thinking about the classroom. I find it sad that students have less permission to play as they grow into more naturally independent stages of development. Play is almost non-existent in middle school. Some see it as a waste of time. Others can’t reconcile it with rigid curriculum maps. Still, others want to incorporate more play, but the testing culture gets in the way. Initially, I find myself trying to prove the functionality of play. I want to prove that it “works.” But the truth is, I want students to play, because it is vital to how students learn. It may or may not come in handy in a job someday. But that’s not the point. We need to play, because we are human and that’s a part of how humans learn.
The Crisis of Religious Liberty in Europe Let me begin by expressing my thanks to the Helsinki Commission, and especially to Chairman Smith, for holding this briefing. My own involvement in the issue of religious freedom, which has extended over some 15 years, was triggered in no small part by the life and work of Chris Smith, whose commitment to the persecuted has extended over many decades. Mr. Smith, thank you for your life of service to our nation, and to all those – Christian and otherwise – who wish to live their lives in service to God. Before I give my views on the status of Christians in Europe, I want to acknowledge the terrible state of Christian minorities outside the West. Three quarters of the world's 2.2 billion Christians live in non-Western countries. Millions of these people, along with other believers, are subject to violent persecution and death, either because of their religious beliefs or those of their tormentors. When we speak -- as we must -- of the growing travail of religious liberty in Europe and the United States, we must never forget those Christians and non-Christians whose very lives and well being are under constant threat because of their faith. Having said this, I want to make it clear that I believe we are witnessing a worldwide crisis of religious liberty - one that increasingly includes Europe and even the United States. While Christians and other believers in the West are not subject to violent persecution, we have growing reason for concern -- not only for the well being of religious freedom, but for the health of democracy. I will return to this theme shortly but let me first place Europe's problem into its global context. Evidence of a Global Crisis in Religious Liberty The Pew Research Center has in recent years conducted three massive studies that measure government restrictions on religion and social hostilities toward religion in every country of the world. What these studies have discovered is staggering: 75 percent of the world's population lives in countries where religious freedom is either highly restricted or very highly restricted. Those affected are Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and others. Most are minorities, but some are reformers within majority communities who cannot speak out without being attacked under anti-blasphemy and anti-defamation laws and practices. These people live in about 73 countries of the world. Most are Muslim-majority countries, and many of them are in the broader Middle East. Others are communist countries, such as China and North Korea, or large non-Muslim nations such as India and Russia. It is an unfortunate sign of the times that Europe has now entered this mix. The list of 73 countries includes France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Of all the religious groups that are subject to harassment and persecution, Christians fare the worst. They are harassed in some 139 nations of the world. Muslims are the second most vulnerable, suffering harassment in 121 countries. Perhaps the most alarming result of the Pew studies, however, is that the twin problems of restrictions on religion and religious persecution are getting worse, not better. Virtually all the indicators have shown a deterioration in every region of the world. Both the data and the trends constitute, in my view, a global crisis. The Travail of Religious Liberty in Europe Let's turn now to the question of the fate of Christians in Europe. Recall that Europe is the continent where the intellectual origins of religious liberty lie. In our Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown's Berkley Center, we are conducting a program on Christianity and Freedom to take a fresh look at the contributions of Christians and Christian ideas to the spread of freedom, both historically and in the contemporary world. Among other things, our research is confirming that the wellsprings of religious freedom are to be found in the first centuries of Christianity, and that the concept grew to maturity in what later became European civilization, including the American colonies and the United States. It is all the more alarming, then, to discover how the roots of religious freedom have atrophied in the Europe of the 21st century. One of the Pew studies reported that of all the regions of the world, social hostilities toward religion are rising most rapidly, not in the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, but in Europe. Here are a few indicators of that trend. As of 2010, the United Kingdom was ranked 17th in the world in social hostilities toward religion. That's out of approximately 200 countries worldwide. Germany was ranked 23rd and France 25th. Between 2007 and 2010 there were significant increases in social hostilities in all three countries. By 2010 each of these major Western European nations graded worse in the category of social hostilities than the likes of Burma, Iran, and Sudan. The three also showed significant increases in the levels of government restrictions on religion. Between 2007 and 2010 government restrictions in the UK increased by 63%, in France by 20%, and in Germany by 23%. It is symptomatic of this problem that there are currently four cases of British citizens before the European Court of Human Rights, each alleging that the state has simply ignored their fundamental rights of conscience. Both the British courts and the current British government have taken the position that they will define what constitutes orthodox Christianity -- not the individuals concerned or the churches themselves. This, I would submit, is a position that endangers not only religious freedom but democracy itself. By way of comparison, as of 2010 the United States was ranked 49th in the world, ahead of Syria, Laos, and the Congo, in social hostilities toward religion This phenomenon is, or ought to be, shocking to all of us. Like the three European countries, US scores show significant worsening between 2007 and 2010 in both social hostilities and government restrictions. What's Going On, and So What? How do we explain these findings? Why should we be alarmed? The Pew reports suggest that we are witnessing a significant downgrading of religious liberty in the West at precisely the same moment that religious persecution is spiking elsewhere in the world. Allowing for the fundamental differences in the symptoms -- violent persecution outside the West and growing discrimination inside the West -- are there any similarities? I would argue that there are. To put the matter succinctly, the belief that religious freedom is necessary for human flourishing and the success of democracy is either being rejected or it is being lost. Outside the West, a commitment to religious liberty has never taken hold. This deficit helps account for the failures of Arab and other struggling democracies to take root. There is ample evidence in history and contemporary scholarship that democracy in highly religious societies cannot consolidate without religious freedom in full. That evidence also suggests that religious freedom is important for the defeat of religion-based terrorism. The critical role of religious freedom in the consolidation of democracy and the defeat of terrorism are two reasons why the U.S. policy of advancing international religious freedom is so important to American national interests. But the Pew reports also suggest that Western nations, including Europe and the United States, are themselves abandoning the belief that religious liberty is necessary to the flourishing of individuals and the success of democracy. This helps to explain why we have proven so ineffective in advancing international religious freedom. There are many reasons for the decline of religious freedom in Europe and the West. I will cite four. First is the decline of religion itself and the emergence of what Pope Benedict XVI has called the "dictatorship of relativism," i.e., the belief that there are no objective truths, and that all rights claims have equal validity. This helps explain why in Europe, and increasingly in the United States, religion is considered a personal preference with no more claim to state protection than any other preference. The second reason is the triumph in Europe of the French model of religious liberty, in which the freedom to practice religion is confined to the private sphere. Third is the belief that religion is essentially emotive and irrational, and therefore inappropriate as a means of influencing public policy. Fourth is the contraction of faith-based organizations in civil society. Private religious hospitals, colleges, and charitable organizations have either been historically weak, as in France, or are losing their religious motivations and identities, as in the United Kingdom. I would note that each of these four trends, while less advanced than in Europe, is present in the United States as well. Why does all of this matter? Because religion is more than a mere personal preference, and more than a private matter unrelated to the health of democracy. Religion is the enterprise of discovering whether there is a more-than-human reality to which or to whom I owe my existence, whether there a transcendent reality that accounts for my being, to which or to whom I should attune my behavior, and who determines my fate in an afterlife. These are powerful questions that every human being naturally seeks to answer. In the 21st century, the data show, the vast majority of the world's peoples believes they have found at least some of the answers to those questions. Religious freedom is the right to pursue the answers to the religious questions. It is the right to join with others of like mind and spirit in worship and in civil society associations. It is the right to influence the laws and policies of the nation with religion-based arguments on the same basis as non-religious persons and non-religious arguments. It is the right not to be coerced by the state to act against one's religious conscience. To deny religious freedom in any of these senses is to mount an attack on human dignity, and to undermine civil and political society. In short, to insist that a person or a religious community must live as the state mandates -- without the right to live privately and publicly in accord with religious truth as one has apprehended that truth -- constitutes a firm step in the direction of tyranny. Unfortunately, that is the trend we are witnessing in Europe today.
A question I get often when discussing goodbre.ws and, more recently, recommendable, is why I chose to implement a system based on Likes and Dislikes rather than the more standard five-star rating scale. Usually, I’m short and succinct: I think that star rating systems suck. Sometimes, I do go into a bit more detail: I think that star rating systems really suck. However, I’m starting to think that people may be asking this question and expecting some sort of “actual answer”, so today I would like to go into just why I think that the five-star rating scale is terrible, and why I decided to use the binary system of likes and dislikes. The ★★★★★ scale The star rating scale is arguably the most classic of all, so it’s not surprising that a lot of websites use it. Big e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay utilize the five-star scale, and Netflix also uses a five-star scale to power its review system and recommendations. There are, of course, variations. IMDB uses a ten-star scale, which may as well be a 5-star scale that allows half stars (such as reviews on BeerAdvocate). There are a lot of ways to handle the star-scale, but what I’d like to get at is that they all suck. Ambiguity and uncertainty of the scale One of my big gripes about the five-star scale is ambiguity behind the ratings that you are allowed to give. What exactly distinguishes between three stars and four stars? What is enough to push your rating up to that next star? What is enough to pull it down? Because of a lack of clarity, star ratings can end up being very subjective. It is easy to end up with two people who give an item the same three-star rating but actually feel differently about it. Some websites attempt to handle this reasonably. Netflix, for instance, used to present some explanatory text for each star when hovering over them during a rating: ★ (Hated it) ★★ (Didn’t like it) ★★★ (Liked it) ★★★★ (Really liked it) ★★★★★ (Loved it) At the time of writing this post, Netflix no longer displays this text when submitting a rating. Instead, posting a rating to Netflix now closely resembles the act of doing so on Amazon: you are simply presented with five clickable stars and left alone with your fears and preconceptions. This is how it often is when submitting a star rating. However, even the explanatory text itself can end up coming off as subjective. What does it mean to “really” like a movie? Why are the intervals between the options unequal (i.e. no “Really disliked it” option)? The explanatory text can help if done correctly, but it can also simply add to the subjectivity of submitted ratings. Unreliability of ratings Because a star rating scale iteslf is so ambiguous and uncertain, so too are the ratings submitted to it. Many users will not use this scale as intended even with intent given in the form of explanatory text. Many users will use the scale as intended, but that usage is always based on their subjective ability to understand the way the scale should be used. Despite this, recommendation systems will accept these ratings as statistically accurate communications. Websites with huge samples of users and ratings may not seem to be negatively affected by the unreliable nature of these ratings. It is likely that that this unreliability becomes normalized as the data sample grows. Smaller websites and recommendation systems experiencing the cold start, however, will suffer due to the subjective nature of its small rating sample. Binary voting is already happening Despite being a scale with five possible ratings, people tend to vote in a binary fashion anyway. Back in 2009, YouTube published some interesting data concerning the ratings that videos had been receiving. As it turns out, a huge majority of videos would receive mostly five-star ratings. I think that YouTube’s takeaway from this data was spot on: Seems like when it comes to ratings it’s pretty much all or nothing. Great videos prompt action; anything less prompts indifference. The second highest rating was, of course, one star. This is a great example of binary voting in the works. A lot of people give mostly five-star ratings for things they like. If they don’t like that thing, they either give it one star or simply bounce and skip rating it entirely. I’ve also spoken to friends and acquaintances who admit to giving almost exclusively four-star ratings to things they like, and three-star ratings to things that are “just ok”. YouTube toyed with the idea of switching their rating system to a “favorites” system to “declare your love for a video”, but ultimately settled on the thumbs up or down options we know and love today. There was some level of outcry from YouTube users expressing dismay at the change in rating scale, but there’s been no evidence to support this group as anything more than a loud minority. Binary rating scales are another popular system. As mentioned earlier, YouTube now operates on a thumbs up or down rating scale. Other websites that utilize a similar scale include reddit (upvotes and downvotes) and digg (digging or burying). Some social networking sites take this even a step further and remove the negative rating option entirely (e.g. Facebook only has likes and Google+ has only has the +1 button). I’d like to focus on the classic Like/Dislike pair. What makes this system better than a five-star system? Less ambiguous The binary rating scale removes a large amount of ambiguity present in the star rating systems. Five (or more) subjective rating options are aggregated down into two options based on words that are easily understandable by native speakers of the language. It is much easier for a person to declare, “Hey, I like this thing” than it is to determine, “Well, I like this thing… But do I ‘three stars’ like it, or do I ‘four stars’ like it?” Less subjective A large amount of subjectivity is also removed. Ratings given that are based directly on feelings are much more likely to match than ratings given based on numbers. This can simplify a lot of situations in which two people may have similar feelings about something but rated it different: Me: “I liked this thing and rated it four stars.” Friend: “I liked this thing and rated it five stars.” Me: “I liked this thing and rated it three stars.” Friend: “I didn’t like this thing, so I only gave it three stars.” Our feelings about something are clearly not conveyed well by star ratings, and they don’t match. As I posited earlier, this can normalize given a large set of data, but this does not change that we have no way of knowing whether or not the underlying ratings are truly indicative of agreement. Given a binary scale, however, agreement is much more clear: “We both liked this thing” or “we both disliked this thing.” People are already doing this! Third, as stated earlier, people are pretty much already rating in this way. Why fight it? No middle ground Of course, the Like/Dislike system is not without its own flaws. Most notably, unless implemented, there isn’t an explicit neutral ground in a binary rating system aside from abstaining from a vote. It’s an all-or-nothing situation in which you either like something or you don’t. This may or may not be an issue for you as the implementor. Personally, when I’m ready to rate an item, I can always manage to categorize it into a like or dislike even if its very close. However, if I were to truly feel 100% neutral about something, I would likely ignore that thing and move on rather than rate it. If I have no feelings either way, why would I want it affecting my recommendations? Embrace the binary rating system. It’s much less ambiguous and subjective than its stellar cousin, and it’s much easier for the user to deal with in general. Feelings themselves are more easily comparable than numbers indirectly based on feelings and can lead to more accurate recommendations.
20 Years On...Challenger, Space and the Law The media--from the National Geographic Channel to talk radio--will be commemorating today’s sad anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster that led to the deaths of seven astronauts, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. But did you know that all three NASA spaceflight accidents, claiming 17 lives over the last 40 years, took place between January 27 (the Apollo 1 fire in 1967) and February 1 (the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003)? This fact, along with Challenger videos, training and liftoff photos, voice recorder transcripts, Congressional hearings, scientific investigation reports, and court decisions from related lawsuits are all available online from web sites dedicated to the history and law of space exploration. NASA’s History Division page on the ill-fated Challenger mission is a great place to start, with links to most of the key information. Spacelawstation.com, “the planet’s space law portal,” provides Challenger-related and other space law cases, a space lawyer directory, and links to space law resources worldwide.Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat
Reasonable Doubt About "Adaption Theory" That just goes to show the the gospels writers created a Jesus that reflected their intellectual limitations. If someone like Archimedes set out to write a gospel based on his extremely high mathematical & scientific intelligence, it might show Jesus discovering and inventing things like a genius character from a science fiction story. Since the OT is a history of the Jews and the NT expounds on the guidelines for salvation and describes the beginnings of the 1st century church, what relevance would it have been for God to have mentioned the Ice Age or Jesus the Fibonacci series in Nature? Regarding Jesus and salvation, Christians arguing amongst themselves isn't indicitive of Jesus's lack of clarity, it's a symptom of man's inability to deal with the hard facts.Baloney. The assertion that the doctrines of Jesus and salvation are crystal clear and utterly consistent throughtout the NT is just naive. In one text, Jesus calls himself "I AM," in another, he says, "Why do you call me good? There is only one who is good, God." In one text, Jesus says that those who keep his commandments will enter eternal life, in another, he says that all we need is to believe in him. One text says, "...baptism saves you." Another says that if we "believe that God raised him from the dead" we will be saved. One says that we're justified by faith without works, another says, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith only."Regardless of whether these texts can be harmonized (a separate question), we can't justly state that God handed us a completely unambiguous roadmap in the Bible. And I'm so weary of people blaming man's stubborn, corrupt heart for the widespread lack of agreement among Bible readers. (The person making the charge usually is the one who has the correct interpretations, of course.) ... because Jesus didn't mention the Aztecs or dinosaurs doesn't mean he wasn't divine - it means these topics had no relevance ...That's true, but here's the problem: The Bible's version of natural history rules out the age of dinosaurs. Don't you see that as a problem for inerrancy? Firstly, where does Jesus call himself “I am”? John 8:58--(Jesus speaking)Before Abraham was, I am. (Most generally used translations read in this way.) Jason,You may think these issues are all cut and dried. But they're not so simple. During my many years of Bible study, I changed my mind on doctrinal issues a lot -- even when I was certain my old interpretation was dead-on accurate. Scholars who know the original languages and the ancient historic context disagree with one another regularly. To suggest that it's always a matter of a proud, unyielding heart on someone's part is not only uncharitable, it's nutty. I'll prove it: Crack open the book of Zechariah and tell me its straitforward, easily accessible meaning. Now that it's been established were "I am" is found, how exactly does this contradict the phrase “Why do you call me good..." in Luke 18:29?Steve, the issues I mentioned are cut and dry. The Bible is silent about purgatory, heaven-going, and infant baptism. I don’t see how these issues can appear to you as being muddled or ambiguous. How can a Christian support, defend and preach a doctrine when it isn’t found in the very book he considers inspired by God?Zechariah is straightforward once an understanding of the symbols and analogies has been established. Reading the Bible logically, from front to back, starting at the beginning and finishing at the end, allows one to do this. The Bible can speak for itself. God and Jesus are separate beings, there are no fallen angels, Lucifer isn’t Satan, people don’t go to heaven when they die. Putting aside every religious bias and influence out there, the messages, lessons and doctrines in the Bible are crystal clear. hi Lowendaction,I have to rush through this, sorry.I'd like to give you some food for thought about 'god is love', all good, all powerful, all knowing, everywhere, etcLove never gives up. - if there is a god, he gave up on some of us. He knows what it would take to convince us, it should be a small matter to a god.Love cares more for others than for self. - then what is the point of praise? didn't he domonstrate his jealousy?Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. - then why does he care about our souls?Love doesn't strut, - then what was all that posturing in the old testament?Doesn't have a swelled head, - then what is the point of praise? and all that talk about 'no other gods'?Doesn't force itself on others, - didn't he pick the jews and then isn't the old testament the chronicle of him pounding them into submission?Isn't always "me first," - then whats the point of praise, and there are no other gods and all that stuff?Doesn't fly off the handle, - God never flew off the handle? for example, Lots wife? The guy that grabbed the Arc of the covenant to protect it? yada, yada, yada...Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, - then why do we have to worry about going to hell or not?Doesn't revel when others grovel, - then what is the point of praise and worshipTakes pleasure in the flowering of truth, - then why does the theory of accomodation exist, and why are there such egregious geographical errors and scientific errors such as noted in my article?Puts up with anything, - then why do we go to hell?Trusts God always, - I love things but don't trust godAlways looks for the best, - then second best never has a chance?Never looks back, - then why do we go to hell and why do we keep worrying about jesus?But keeps going to the end. - if there is a god, he gave up on some of us. He knows what it would take to convince us, it should be a small matter to a god.I am trek fan as well. If there is a god he must necessarily be more like Q than the biblical god because the biblical has the same problems that infinity has. Paradoxes. He cancels himself out. He is so good and loves so much that we can't understand it so needless suffering looks like evil and sending 70% of the population of the world to hell doesn't look like love. Hi Jason,if news of the Ice Age wasn't relevant to establishing the history of the Jews or the establishment of the 1st century church, then naturally it wouldn't be included. It's the same reason why God doesn't mention how North America was colonized or who built the first wheel. They're irrelevant to mankind's salvation and Jewish history.are you sure you want to say that there is nothing in the bible that is not irrelevant to mans salvation and jewish history?but you've done what dillie-o did and jumped to the extreme without considering the topic. I think as God on Earth, and the new messiah I think it was incumbent on him to explain some of the jewish customs about hygiene, introducing germ theory. That would have been relevant and NEW information. I for one would be thinking "surely he was god because the gospels are the first place that germ theory is recorded and only god could have known that at that time". and I think christianity would easily be top dog among religions. Hmm I dont have a whole lot to say for this as none of it seems terribly polemical. Firstly I would like to ask why John doesnt allow anonymous comments, just because its annoying to sign in every time. As for why God didnt make his existence blatantly obvious (I think we can all agree that if the bible gave us some real hard science, such as explaining the mechanisms of evolution or the way the universe formed than that would be pretty convinving). I think id be troubled by this if I viewed the bible as inerrant or what not. Now the question is, of course, related to the hiddenness of God question. I dont think I need to go through alot of arguments but I think that perhaps God does not want his existence to be so obvious that if people wish to dwell, happily, in the materal world without any thoughts about anything else they can do so. Now of course in such a world a small percentage will, at least somewhat try to find God and fail. If God is merciful, which I again believe, than that will be forgiven. But yes my answer to the question is that God, at least to an extent, wishes his creation to force itself to humbly pull itself ever so slightly from the primordial ooze in which we were spawned, look to the sky and simply say "hello?" But yes Lee, I dont think anyone will argue with you on this point. Of course one answer to the question is God is hidden because God doesnt exist. However once we come to that stage of the game we have to enter the field of natural theology, philosophy and historiography which takes us far further than this post. I may be pushing it too far, but let's say jesus did reveal the concept of zero way back then. Are you SURE you wouldn't also be asking for germ theory and other items today? How much is enough for you?You're right, they weren't that dumb back then. Heck, I think most things are still footnotes to Plato and Aristotle 8^DWhat did jesus use for his credibility? Prophecy, intense knowledge of the scriptures, and miracles. I think that these held a lot more credo in the day. When challenged by the Pharisees and Sadducees,jesus showed immense logic and insight in his responses.Is this enough credibility to believe the rest of what jesus has to say? The Bible being silent on certain issues is only a problem if you can show where the Bible should have necessarily addressed those topics. Of course, no skeptic has ever shown this. The best they can do is argue through innuendo. In other words, it's a dumb argument. Perhaps Jesus was more concerned with how we lived our lives, ethically speaking, than with more scientific knowledge, per se.After all, increased scientific knowledge has put us in a position where a world filled with nuclear weapons is taken as a given.When you think about it, civilization could be laid waste in half an hour or so, in a scenario chillingly similar to the Book of Revelation.Complain about it all you want, but why have atheistic scientists (Richard Dawkins assures us most scientists are atheists) provided nuclear weapons to any government that will pay?Fundies may talk about the end of the world, but science has made it possible.Even Einstein remarked to the effect that our scientific knowledge had already far exceeded our moral knowledge. lee,for a rush-job, you still answered quite a bit, so I will try and retort Hemmingway style (not in content but in leangth!!):Love never gives up. - if there is a god, he gave up on some of us. He knows what it would take to convince us, it should be a small matter to a god.I would argue free will here. We give up, not Him.Love cares more for others than for self. - then what is the point of praise? didn't he domonstrate his jealousy?I'll answer this one for all the praise related ones. I think our definitions of praise might differ in context here. Considering that God IS love as well as all the other omni's, it is really not praising another person as you and I might one another. I think of it, as recognizing and appreciating what and who He is. Plus, since God is perfect (results pending;) He is not burdoned with such pesty things as ego and pride. Only we are blessed with such handicaps.Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. - then why does he care about our souls?Great point! Though I believe the "wanting" is in reference to the posession of something. It's my understanding that God wishes for our love and attention through relation, but I'm pretty sure He does not seek ownership of us as such.Love doesn't strut, - then what was all that posturing in the old testament?Not 100% sure what you're refering to. I do know, that the OT relationship was quite different than the A.D. one, in that He chose to make His presence allot more "visibly" known. I like to think of this in more paternal terms than Him "showing off".and all that talk about 'no other gods'?Is this any different than saying "I do" in marriage? I'm not sure that exclusivity is synonymous with pride.Doesn't force itself on others, - didn't he pick the jews and then isn't the old testament the chronicle of him pounding them into submission?Also, IMO, more of a paternal approach. He says, "Here are the ground rules. And now here come the consequences of you breaking them." I personally am a big fan of a God of decisive consequences. I think our modern version of the "all loving, all good, fuzzy-wuzzy grace-filled" God is not entirely accurate. Though I do believe in His grace, and am obviously quite thankful for it, there is no mention of grace making Him "weaker" or "softer" regarding His character and nature.Doesn't fly off the handle, - God never flew off the handle? for example, Lots wife? The guy that grabbed the Arc of the covenant to protect it? yada, yada, yada...Clear set of rules. Concrete consequences. I don't see any emotions involved here.Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, - then why do we have to worry about going to hell or not?We don't go to hell because we are sinners (EVERYONE is a sinner...even Christians!). We go because we choose not to accept God through Christ. God is also quite clear about the fact that He does NOT keep score of ANY of our sins. They have already ALL been forgiven (and that includes not only future sins, but for ALL mankind...not just Christians!). Asking for the forgiveness of sins, is a really bad description of what is essentially, recognizing and accepting a fact. Though that might sound simple, it's really pretty deep when you consider all the implications therein.Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, - then why does the theory of accomodation exist, and why are there such egregious geographical errors and scientific errors such as noted in my article?IMO, truth is referring to the character and nature of God. Specifially, flowering is an image of the journey towards discovering who God is.Puts up with anything, - then why do we go to hell?Not related. I think this falls in the 'patience and understanding with regards to inter-personal relationships' category.Trusts God always, - I love things but don't trust godGod = love.Always looks for the best, - then second best never has a chance?That's borderline silly...It doesn't say "Only accepts the best", it is an admiral trait to always strive for the best. I think it's more of an attitude/perception thing: Glass half full.Never looks back, - then why do we go to hell and why do we keep worrying about jesus?Of course, this list represents the "perfect" qualities of love, which I am arguing are in fact one and the same with God's. So it is not a question of how this reflects on us, but merely a guide or goal for us to measure oursleves by. So hell? I'm not sure how one goes to hell by looking back? As far as "worrying" about Jesus. I guess you could say that we are "looking back" at history when reading about Him, but the scriptures also describe themseleves as being living, so one could argue that they are really right now. I think the only people that "worry" about Christ, are those that wish to discredit Him. Most Christians are actaully looking forward to His return.But keeps going to the end. - if there is a god, he gave up on some of us. He knows what it would take to convince us, it should be a small matter to a god.This again implies ownership. The whole idea of freedom discounts that. Everyone enters this life on a level playing field (from a Godly perspective), the choices we make from then on, is entirely ours. What would be more meaningful to you? A woman that fell in love with you, entirely of her own accord, based soley on who you are? Or the one you've slipped a little Spanish Fly in her drink (presuming there was a formula that would cause a person to fall in love, despite themselves)? Just because you can, does that really make it worth it? It's often the journey, the unknown, that makes the having so much sweeter.I think this is where that whole "personality type of the skeptic" thing might have some merit. I would argue that for the former, the need for instant facts over ultimate payoff can be overpowering.Q as God...now there's a scary thought!!! I think I'd rather go for the unknown given those options.thanks lee. What would be more meaningful to you? A woman that fell in love with you, entirely of her own accord, based soley on who you are? Or the one you've slipped a little Spanish Fly in her drink (presuming there was a formula that would cause a person to fall in love, despite themselves)? Just because you can, does that really make it worth it?Sure it does. If the woman is in danger of being tormented for all eternity unless she falls in love with me, then I think slipping her that Spanish Fly is the moral option. Don't you? Lee,"are you sure you want to say that there is nothing in the bible that is not irrelevant to mans salvation and jewish history?"Er, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. Would you not agree that Quantum Mechnics has nothing to do with anything from a Biblical point of view? "I think as God on Earth, and the new messiah I think it was incumbent on him to explain some of the jewish customs about hygiene, introducing germ theory."lol Why? If people don't believe in God because He failed to mention germ theory 2000 years ago, their problems are more deeply rooted then a missed science lesson. :) Hi Goldstein, Perhaps Jesus was more concerned with how we lived our lives, ethically speaking, than with more scientific knowledge, per se.I'll buy that. After all, increased scientific knowledge has put us in a position where a world filled with nuclear weapons is taken as a given.When you think about it, civilization could be laid waste in half an hour or so, in a scenario chillingly similar to the Book of Revelation.Complain about it all you want, but why have atheistic scientists (Richard Dawkins assures us most scientists are atheists) provided nuclear weapons to any government that will pay?That was very well constructed appeal to fear with a slippery slope and a nice unsubstantiated claim twist! I give it a ten.The world has enough nuclear weapons to destroy itself, I'm told, but it also has enough medical technology and sanitation to increase our average life spans appreciably. When you think about it, civilization could be laid waste in a half hour or so IF NOTHING STOPS IT. And what atheists have give whom nuclear weapons? Fundies may talk about the end of the world, but science has made it possible.Even Einstein remarked to the effect that our scientific knowledge had already far exceeded our moral knowledge.I'd say the Fundys are incredibly obsessed by the end of the world and should lighten up and use that energy for some greater good. And I'll also give you a ten for that fallacious appeal to authority, because I don't really think you believe that Einstein was an authority on morals or knowledge or human capacity for moral knowledge. Hi lowendaction That's borderline silly...It doesn't say "Only accepts the best", it is an admiral trait to always strive for the best. I think it's more of an attitude/perception thing: Glass half full.That made me smile. borderline silly? come on, admit it, you secretly think it was fully silly don't you? You are so polite! ;-)anyway, thank you for your restraint! and for the idea to do a "Reasonable doubt about God is Love" article. This again implies ownership. The whole idea of freedom discounts that. Everyone enters this life on a level playing field (from a Godly perspective), the choices we make from then on, is entirely ours.nice qualifier, godly perspective. How do you know what the Godly perspective is? you have presumed a lot. Go to an impoverished person in some poor country and tell them they entered this life on the same level playing field as you. You're lucky if they don't spit in your face. What would be more meaningful to you? A woman that fell in love with you, entirely of her own accord, based soley on who you are? Or the one you've slipped a little Spanish Fly in her drink (presuming there was a formula that would cause a person to fall in love, despite themselves)? Just because you can, does that really make it worth it? It's often the journey, the unknown, that makes the having so much sweeter.The spanish fly is too much, just a little attention, tenderness, you know, that stuff that sustains relationships. I think this is where that whole "personality type of the skeptic" thing might have some merit. I would argue that for the former, the need for instant facts over ultimate payoff can be overpowering.well, two can play at that game mister! That was borderline silly! ;-)I think this is where that whole "personality type of the christian" thing might have some merit. I would argue that for the former, the lack of need for instant facts over ultimate payoff can be overpowering. I'm thinking cognitive bias again.Thanks lowendaction. Hi Jason, lee: "are you sure you want to say that there is nothing in the bible that is not irrelevant to mans salvation and jewish history?"Jason: Er, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. Would you not agree that Quantum Mechnics has nothing to do with anything from a Biblical point of view?Jasons loading up the shirt and pants with straw..... Lee: "I think as God on Earth, and the new messiah I think it was incumbent on him to explain some of the jewish customs about hygiene, introducing germ theory." Jason: lol Why? If people don't believe in God because He failed to mention germ theory 2000 years ago, their problems are more deeply rooted then a missed science lesson. :)AND HE STANDS IT UP! THE CROWD GOES WILD, what a classic and efficient construction of a straw man we have seen here today ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't get any better than that!you have missed the point. the point is not that god should have provided the answer to quantum anything, but what was included in the bible should have appeared to have come from a god and not a compilation of Folklore. God should have at least been able to get the history, geography and science that is in the bible correct if he couldn't manage to give us any new information. I think that is a reasonable expectation from a god don't you?
In the mechanical engineering field, associate's degree programs are offered in the topic of mechanical engineering technology. This program can prepare to you assist engineers or transfer to a bachelor's degree program. Read on to learn more about programs and job options. Mechanical Engineering degrees What Kinds of Associate's Degree Programs Are Available in Mechanical Engineering? If you're interested in an associate's degree in mechanical engineering technology, you can earn various degree titles, including an Associate of Science, an Associate of Applied Science or an Associate of Engineering. Specializations are also available in nanotechnology. Online options, however, are not typically offered due to the need for supervised laboratory work with mechanical tools. What Will I Learn? An associate's degree program in mechanical engineering technology can train you in mechanical engineering concepts, as well as industry-current engineering equipment and software. Many programs also incorporate general education requirements. Areas of study could include mechanical production processes, engineering materials, manufacturing planning, mechanical design or electricity. You might also take classes in: Computer-aided design (CAD) Graphics for engineering AC networking DC networking Static equilibrium What Do I Need To Apply? The minimum requirement to be considered for an associate's degree program in mechanical engineering technology is a high school diploma or GED. You may also need to submit standardized test scores and letters of recommendation. Before beginning the program, you might want to take classes like statistics, physics and calculus to prepare yourself for the mechanical engineering coursework. What Can I Do After I Graduate? If you hold an associate's degree in mechanical engineering technology, some of your classes might be applied toward a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. You may also be prepared to study alternative but related fields, including computer hardware engineering, physics, electrical engineering or computer science. Another option may be to enter the workforce. With your associate's degree, you might assist mechanical engineers in the private, nonprofit or government sectors. For example, you might be qualified for jobs such as: CAD operator Engineering lab assistant Biotechnology laboratory technician Electron microscope technician Engineering & Technology Management What are the Different Fields of Mechanical Engineering? What is Mechanical Engineering?
An Oral History with Umoja Kwanguvu Born William Jones, and the first of nine children, Mr. Umoja Kwanguvu started his life in 1925, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was reared in Birmingham, and was graduated from Miles College there with a major in English. In 1944, during World War II, he was drafted into the U. S. Army. During his tenure in the Army, he was a cargo checker on U. S. ships in England and the Philippines. In 1945, he was honorably discharged. Returning to Birmingham, Mr. Kwanguvu attended business college for a year. Because of strict racial segregation and discrimination, he could not find work commensurate with his abilities. Moreover, he could not adjust to or accept his " place" as a second- class citizen in the oppressive South. In 1947, he reenlisted in the military-- this time in the Air Force. He was graduated from military dental technician school and served as a dental technician in Germany. Demoted for actively protesting and defying segregation which still existed in the military at that time, he was honorably discharged in 1952. He returned to Birmingham where he was arrested in 1953 for drinking from a water fountain labeled " white." In 1953, he entered Miles College where he evoked the ire of the president of that all- black institution by conducting protest activities against the prevailing Jim Crow attitudes and laws. He taught French and English in Georgia for two years where he provoked his students to begin to question a long- accepted attitude of racial " untouchability." Parents of his students counseled him to leave town before entrenched white racists could do him harm. So, he returned to Birmingham where he taught high school English and French for approximately three years. On Mother's Day, 1961, after witnessing the horror of freedom riders being beaten at the bus station in downtown Birmingham, Mr. Kwanguvu decided to relocate to New York City where he taught school. For about three years he taught at an elementary school in Bellmore, Long Island, New York. In April of 1964, he was arrested with James Farmer, the founder of CORE ( Congress for Racial Equality); the two of them were picketing the New York World's Fair because of inadequate and demeaning employment of non- white people. That same summer, the long, hot summer of 1964, he was arrested in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for attempting to desegregate the public library. His subsequent arrest in 1968 in New York City occurred when he witnessed and protested the abuse of a man by police in the subways. Mr. Kwanguvu taught English in one of President Lyndon B. Johnson's anti- poverty programs, JOIN ( Job Opportunities in Neighborhoods) in New York City from 1967 through 1972. At LaGuardia Community
Creator zwerling, matthew, 1944- (3) 20 50 100 200 Thumbnail Title Description Date Collection Oral history with Mr. Ken Fairly Oral history.; Interview conducted on July 7, 1993 with Ken Fairly, a Mississippi law enforcement officer and journalist. Fairly was born on February 18, 1928 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Now retired, he had two careers: one as a journalist and... Oral History The Civil Rights Documentation Project: The Grenada Movement A collection of eight interviews with participants in the Mississippi civil rights movement. The people interviewed discuss how they came to participate in the civil rights movement, their various activities, including voter registration, Freedom... Oral History Oral history with Harry C. Tartt Oral history.; Reverend Harry C. Tartt was born on October 16, 1908, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Reverend Tartt attended New Orleans University (now Dillard University) in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1934, Reverend Tartt began teaching school at... Oral History The Civil Rights Documentation Project: The Meridian Movement A collection of ten interviews with participants in the Mississippi civil rights movement. The people interviewed discuss how they came to participate in the civil rights movement, their various activities, including voter registration, Freedom... Oral History Oral history with John C. ""Clark"" Griffith Oral history.; An interview conducted on June 25, 2007 with Lieutenant General John C. ""Clark"" Griffith. General Griffith describes his experiences during and after Hurricane Katrina, as well as his involvement in commissions planning for the... Oral History Oral history with Rita W. Baldwin Oral history.; An interview conducted on June 6, 2007 with Rita W. Baldwin who managed Loaves and Fishes, an organization that helped Biloxi's homeless, as well as the Coastal Family Health Center. Ms. Baldwin discusses her experiences before and... Oral History The John C. Robinson Brown Condor Association Oral History Project, Part 3 A collection of interviews with African-Americans of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, circa twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, who knew Colonel John Robinson, an African-American pilot who was tapped by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellassie in the... Oral History The John C. Robinson Brown Condor Association Oral History Project, Part 4 A collection of interviews with African-Americans of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, circa twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, who knew Colonel John Robinson, an African-American pilot who was tapped by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellassie in the... Oral History Oral history with Mr. Wilson Evans II Oral history.; Interview conducted on 06-11-1981 with Mr. Wilson Evans II (born 1924). Evans began his long career as a union leader in Gulfport in 1950, later becoming president of the union. This interview covers topics as diverse as his service... Oral History Oral history with Mr. Thomas Knight, Sr. Oral history.; Two interviews conducted on February 7 and 21, 1992 with Mr. Thomas Knight Sr. at the University of Southern Mississippi. Knight was born on July 9, 1920 near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 1941, he began working at the Reliance... Oral History Oral history with Reverend Clay F. Lee, minister of the Methodist church Oral history.; Two interviews conducted on July 8 and 23, 1980 with the Reverend Clay F. Lee at his study in Jackson, Mississippi. Lee was born on March 3, 1930 in Laurel, Mississippi. After graduating with his undergraduate degree from Millsaps... Oral History Oral history with Ms. Ruby Magee Oral history.; Four interviews conducted on June 11, September 26, October 10, and November 21, 1985 with Ms. Ruby Magee in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Magee was born on August 12, 1940 in Tylertown, Mississippi. In 1962, she received a BA in... Oral History Oral history with Mr. Richard A. Murchison Oral history.; Discusses Murchison's time spent in the United States Army. Particularly focuses on his participation in the Vietnamese Conflict. During that time, Murchison served both as an adviser and in an actual unit. He received a number of... Oral History Oral history with Mr. Mayo D. Wilson Oral history.; Mr. Mayo D. Wilson, a native of Cary, Mississippi, is a graduate of Tougaloo College and a veteran of the Korean War. Following a two-year service in the Army, Mr. Wilson returned to Mississippi where he taught math and science at... Oral History Oral history with Ms. Zoya Zeman Oral history.; Interview conducted on April 18, 1996 with Zoya Zeman (born 1943). Ms. Zeman was a civil rights activist who worked on the Mississippi Summer Project in Clarksdale, where she worked at the community center, organizing classes and... Oral History Oral history with Mr. William Joel Blass Oral history.; Interview conducted on March 26, 1977 with William Joel Blass (born 1917). As a lawyer in 1952, he successfully prosecuted the Boyce Holleman case by proving that voter fraud had kept Holleman from winning. Beginning in 1953, he... Oral History Oral history with Rev. Sammie Rash Oral history.; Reverend Sammie Rash was born in Sunflower County, Mississippi, on July 31, 1942. His parents were sharecroppers, and in 1949 they moved the family to the McGann plantation in Bolivar County, where Reverend Rash grew up. In 1963... Oral History Oral history with the Honorable Frank Barber Oral history.; The Honorable Frank D. Barber was born on April 2, 1929, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Barber attended the University of Mississippi for a year before volunteering for the U.S. Army which involved National Guard work in the U.S. and... Oral History Oral history with Reverend Sammie Rash Oral history.; Interview conducted on March 30, 1977 with the Reverend Sammie Rash (born 1942). Reverend Rash, the son of sharecroppers, has been very active in both civil rights activities and Mississippi politics, in addition to being a minister... Oral History Oral history with Honorable O.H. Barnett Oral history.; An interview conducted on October 24, 1975 with the Honorable O.H. Barnett (born 1902). Mr. Barnett was elected Circuit Court Judge in 1958 and served until 1975. He presided during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, during the... Oral History 1
Date Created (Newest) Date Created (Oldest) Date Added (Newest) Date Added (Oldest) UGEC Viewpoints, No. 2, September 2009 Creator: Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project Description: Urbanization is a global phenomenon that has transformed and continues to alter landscapes and the ways in which societies function and develop. For this issue of UGEC Viewpoints, the editors collected case-studies presented at the Open Meeting that span across regions and themes: from Australia and the United States, as well as the less developed nations in Africa, megacities of Asia such as Dhaka, Bangladesh and Delhi, India, vulnerable coastal areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the largest rainforest in the world, the Brazilian Amazon. Currently, more than half of the world's population lives in cities; the United Nations projects that by 2030 the world will advance to the 60% urbanization threshold. Rapid urbanization effects will not only be present within the immediate locations (cities and their metropolitan areas), but will be experienced regionally and globally. The UGEC project seeks to better understand these implications and the complex dynamic systems of urban areas that affect and are affected by global environmental change (e.g., climate change, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, freshwater ecosystem decline, desertification, and land degradation). Several commonalities are readily identifiable in the authors' research, some of which include an attention to the roles of the governance structures within ... Renewable Energy: Sustainable Development in Africa Date: unknown Creator: World Future Council Description: Fact sheet on World Future Council's activities in Africa with the goal of promoting the use of renewable energy technologies that promote economic development and quality of life through basic needs and access to education and health care. Labour and the Environment: A Natural Synergy Creator: Smith, John Description: This report presents examples of tools and practices that promote workers' health and safety as well as environmental protection, public health, and corporate responsibility. Issues include climate change, hazardous materials, Africa Adaptation Programme: An insight into AAP and Country project Profiles Creator: The Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) Description: The Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) has been designed to support the long-term efforts of targeted countries to further develop their capability to successfully identify, design and implement holistic adaptation and disaster risk reduction programmes that are aligned with national development priorities. This report provides insight into the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) and its related country project profiles. The AAP has shifted into implementation, with Namibia and Tunisia as the first countries to complete national inception workshops. Eighteen out of the total twenty programme countries will complete national inception processes and start full-fledged implementation in the coming months. GEO Year Book 2007: An Overview of Our Changing Environment Creator: United Nations Environment Programme Description: This publication is an overview of major global environmental issues and policy decisions during the course of 2007. Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment
The theme of the pastorale and the Russian Silver Age THE THEME OF THE PASTORALE AND THE RUSSIAN SILVER AGE by Jamilya Nazyrova _______________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES) August 2010 Copyright 2010 Jamilya Nazyrova Object Description Title The theme of the pastorale and the Russian Silver Age Author Nazyrova, Jamilya Author email [email protected]; [email protected] Degree Doctor of Philosophy Document type Dissertation Degree program Slavic Languages & Literatures School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Date defended/completed 2010-05-13 Date submitted 2010 Restricted until Unrestricted Date published 2010-08-17 Advisor (committee chair) Bowlt, John E. Advisor (committee member) Habinek, ThomasSeifrid, Thomas Abstract This dissertation discusses the intuitions of the ancient forms of mimesis connected to the revival of the pastoral theme in the art and literature of the Russian Silver age. The context of this study is Walter Benjamin's ideas about the non-semiotic nature of ancient mimesis and about the possibility of non-semiotic languages. In particular, as Benjamin suggests, in contrast to the semiotic sign, the mimetic sign involves material objects - the human body and the objects of nature - as signifiers. Using Benjamin's notion of the mimetic this study analyzes key episodes in the history of pastoral leading up to Silver Age Russia. Specifically, it examines the mimetic aspects of the representation of pastoral theme in the Silver age artistic and literary legacy and compare them to the Greek and Roman classical pastoral: Virgil's "Bucolics" Longus's "Daphnis and Chloe " and Pompeian wall painting; and in the fin de siecle images of the pastoral nature and pastoral music and song in the modernist art and literature.; The first half of the dissertation examines the origin of the pastoral tradition in the Greek and Roman classics. The first chapter focuses on the settings of the classical idyll, namely its idealized landscape locus amoenus. It discusses the urban and rural aesthetics of the pastoral space in Greek and Roman classics and examines the relationship between the individual and nature that underlie the genre. The second chapter proposes an interpretation of the relationship of people and animals in the pastoral as a reminiscence of the traumatic experience of ritual sacrifice. This chapter's argument is that the main pastoral theme of reconciliation of species and the unity of people and animals in the Golden age myth is a response to the experiences of ritual killing, the archaic rituals that preceded the appearance of the pastoral.; The second half of the dissertation deals with the revival of the pastoral as a genre and as a mindset in Russian and Western modernity. The subject of the third chapter represents an overview of the history of the pastoral theme in late eighteenth to nineteenth century Russia and compares it with European pastoral tradition. It shows that the national image of pastoral space is based on the image of the aristocratic park, a space especially intended for socially prescribed bodily (and aesthetic) practices such as strolling and sight seeing. As a result of this specifically Russian development, the national adaptation of the pastoral theme became associated with estate life rather than with wild nature. The fourth chapter discusses various aspects of the pastoral’s revival in the turn of the century Russia and compares it with the theme of the pastorale in the Western fin de siecle. It analyzes the modernist development of the pastoral theme in the light of what may be called the integrative symbolism of the pastoral, or, in other words, the genre's ability to convey the symbols of integration through a harmonious relationship with the environment. This chapter demonstrates that while western Style Moderne pastoral expresses the controlling authority over nature, Russian pastorals establish harmony and equality between the subject and the setting of the pastoral. This chapter also contains a survey of the philosophic background of the Russian Silver Age stemming from the western romanticist aesthetics, in the works of Schiller and Ruskin; and an analysis of complicated relationships between the pastoral mind-set and the ideologies of the Russian symbolism including the so called life-creationism (zhinetvorchestvo). Keyword art moderne; Daphnis and Chloe;

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📚 RedPajama-pro

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RedPajama-pro is refined from RedPajama-Data-V2 using the ProX refining framework. It contains about 30B high quality tokens, ready for general language model pre-training.

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RedPajama-pro is based on RedPajama-Data-V2, which is made available under an apache-2.0 license; users should also abide by the CommonCrawl ToU: https://commoncrawl.org/terms-of-use/. We do not alter the license of any of the underlying data.

Citation

@article{zhou2024programming,
  title={Programming Every Example: Lifting Pre-training Data Quality like Experts at Scale},
  author={Zhou, Fan and Wang, Zengzhi and Liu, Qian and Li, Junlong and Liu, Pengfei},
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.17115},
  year={2024}
}

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a collection of pre-training corpora refined by ProX • 5 items • Updated 23 days ago • 5