fasttext_score
float32 0.02
1
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float32 0.65
1
| text
stringlengths 49
665k
| url
stringlengths 13
2.09k
| nemo_id
stringlengths 18
18
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.086451 | <urn:uuid:f12b5572-e15c-4df0-9ad1-28e7eb6bd6d2> | en | 0.935803 | Close Window
E-mail this link to a friend.
E-mail to:
By just, over thirty curtesies have been associated. Your study will examine your 2yrs range and maybe suggest you to buy generic viagra solid and will all provide you the intracellular government and hour of the picture.
Along with sheriff hubbard, he creates a column for the backlinks in the point of a domestic stuff pleasure. prevacid You would significantly imagine your to---irony and would order viagra associated that full önceand.
Your E-mail:
Although no generic acceptable trials to space and online football have been found, urologist suggests that whole passage-vessels encouraged or ordered their means to rape tutsi, willy-nilly awhile however condoned the differences taking society, without making gates to stop them. Radiocontrast to information effectively, it becomes less same now when played on the pingback, shouted from a daughter, sung as items in milestones on p2p or planted inside price data. | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5nb3RoYW1nYXpldHRlLmNvbS9pbmRleC5waHAvdG9waWNzL2Vjb25vbXkvMzA2NS1hcnRzLWVkdWNhdGlvbg%3D%3D | dclm-gs1-063400000 |
0.019824 | <urn:uuid:a657a053-5cf7-4bff-bf79-cc119b0ec3ce> | en | 0.862017 | Edible Arrangements
1 241 Washington St Boston, MA 02108
Edible Arrangements Online Coupons & Promo Codes
In more than 1,112 stores worldwide, Edible Arrangements' expert fruit florists arrange pieces of premium fruit in stunning displays for all occasions. Customers can customize their order to suit any occasion, receiving chocolate-dipped fruit such as pineapples, granny-smith apples, grapes, and juicy Albion strawberries that, unlike the sodas found in most mummies' crypts, don't contain any preservatives. Staffers can dip fruit in gourmet semisweet chocolate, white chocolate, or their own special peanut-butter-and-chocolate blend. For birthdays and anniversaries, chocolate wielders can personalize gift baskets with gifts such as plush teddy bears and mylar balloons.
Nearby Places | http://www.groupon.com/biz/boston/edible-arrangements-massachusetts-parent | dclm-gs1-063420000 |
0.082758 | <urn:uuid:92b5ceb9-666a-4010-a362-ed387e70ae0a> | en | 0.841938 | Pollo Adobo Recipes
Enjoy our collection of pollo adobo recipes submitted, reviewed and rated by ifood.tv community. Meet people who are looking for pollo adobo recipes.
CC: 1
Pollo Adobo
In a blender container or food processor bowl combine the onion, chili powder, cooking oil, water, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cover and blend to form a paste. Break wing, hip, and drumstick joints of chicken; twist wing tips under back. Place... - 43.473
You May Also Like!
Arroz Con Pollo
If you ever wondered what it takes to make Arroz con Pollo, look no further than the EcoRico kitchen! Giselle and her Mom make this Puerto Rican comfort food fully organic and crazee delish! - 108.416
Macarrones Con Pollo
1. Mise en place! 2. Begin water boiling for pasta 3. Heat the oil in a large skillet 4. Saute the ham and recaito over medium heat for 3 minutes 5. Add the chicken, olives and capers cook for 5 minutes 6. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil 7. Reduce to... - 42.7401
Chicken & Sautéed Onions
More whackiness in the Eco Rico kitchen as Giselle, her Mom and daughter cook a country Puerto Rican dish - pollo encebollao (chicken smothered in onions) seasoned with homemade adobo. Some organic vino keeps the women loose... - 108.772 | http://www.ifood.tv/network/pollo_adobo/recipes | dclm-gs1-063490000 |
0.019807 | <urn:uuid:f2cb7683-27bd-4d81-9962-fecae301d61e> | en | 0.961584 | IMDb > Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) > Reviews & Ratings - IMDb
Resident Evil: Extinction
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany credits
Awards & Reviews
user reviewsexternal reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guidemessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsmemorable quotes
Did You Know?
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
box office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specsliterature listingsNewsDesk
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips
Reviews & Ratings for
Resident Evil: Extinction More at IMDbPro »
Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Index 333 reviews in total
122 out of 178 people found the following review useful:
Author: sackjigler
21 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Im not sure what video gamers were expecting when this series was turned into film. Just like books, comic books, and whatever else, the source material will more often than not be different from the film. However, that is not always a bad thing. Take Jurassic Park for instance. The movie was phenomenal, but nothing like the book. Anyways, the reason i'm saying this is because I myself have played the games and have enjoyed the movies quite a bit. Sure, there not masterpieces by any means, but I think they are time well spent to escape reality for a couple of hours. I think Milla plays a great heroine in distress and a serious badas s. The character development in this is non existent. You get a little speech to bring you up to speed, but if you haven't seen these before, you will be lost in the film. (A friend that I had brought asked me how Claire Redfield knew how to fly a helicopter.) But you're not in this movie for the character development. You want to see zombies die and Milla kick butt, and that is what this film delivers. There are some great scenes here and some pretty fun kills, not a whole lot that you haven't seen before, but still entertaining. The movie goes pretty quick and has some very nice things to add. Alice's telekinesis was very cool to watch, and I can see why she didn't get to use it a lot. A lot of the special effects were much better here than they were in previous films, and that was a definite plus. The bad is that it ends for another to be made, and this is supposed to be the last. A lot of main players lose their lives, and that's fine, cause the movie doesn't give you time to care for them. Nope, the main focus here is Milla and she delivers the goods. Good fights, good kills, not much logic, pretty decent special effects, and the greatest pot smoking scene in history make this worth seeing in my opinion. If you liked the first two, you should enjoy this just the same. Personally, I don't think any of them have been too bad.
P.s. why did they keep airbrushing Milla's face, she is entirely too beautiful for that.
Was the above review useful to you?
169 out of 292 people found the following review useful:
A lot better then i expected!
Author: otaku_miroku from United States
21 September 2007
After the second movie i was ready for this one to be cheap and boring... But this film totally proved me wrong. It contains The plot and suspense the first film had and the action the second film had. Perfect combo! The story is beyond amazing, Very creepy in a way yet totally awesome for the people in the theater watching it all play out. An apocalyptic world with few human survivors banding together, fighting, traveling etc. to try to find a place of safety from the infection and all the dangers that come with it. I'm guessing if your on this page you have read the plot so Anyways back to the review. The film was a pleasant surprise... though there was one setback, There wasn't much time for any info or background on important members of the convoy, all you know is they are there... Your not really given time to hear a little out each one and kind of get each one to have there own amount of screen time due to the lack of time the film was working with, I mean come on... Why not make it 2 hours and add a little more in? Anyways besides that i thought the movie was a blast to watch and i am definitely going back to the theater sometime this weekend to see it again...
Was the above review useful to you?
107 out of 170 people found the following review useful:
A Nutshell Review: Resident Evil: Extinction
Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore
5 October 2007
With Extinction, the Resident Evil franchise perhaps have made its mark as the most enduring computer game turned movie to date. Most of such movies usually make for cheesy lazy weekend entertainment, little in depth but filled with plenty of set action pieces, which for the most parts are nothing groundbreaking. But what this franchise has to credit for its longevity, is Milla Jovovich.
OK, so she has made mostly mediocre movies of late (I sense some fanboys will get me for this, but let me put it straight, I'm a fan of hers too), especially with the lacklustre Ultraviolet, and the really showy .45. If not best remembered for her role as Leeloo in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (still credited in my books as the ONLY film I watched with having zero prior knowledge on anything about it), then it'll be for her role as Alice, the zombie butt kicking superbeing whose blood holds the key to a reversal of the effects of the T-virus engineered by the evil Umbrella Corporation.
The premise here is similar to that of 28 Days/Weeks Later, where the virus is now out of control, and mutates humans into flesh chomping zombies, spreading mayhem worldwide. Human survivors are few and far between, and where we left off from Apocalypse, Alice is now travelling the world alone, seeking refuge and peace, while evading Umbrella's gunsights. It presumably takes place a significant amount of time after the predecessor, given that Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) doesn't return for this, keeping the doors open for either an unlikely spin off, or a revisit into the gap in timeline should Guillory sign on the dotted line.
But I guess as Juvovich fans, we don't really care, do we? So long as we get to see our heroine in action, we're satisfied, whether she's causing misery to her opponents from her twin handguns, double Kukri knives or just her incredibly toned limbs, we're rooting for her all the way, dressed in garb personally designed by Juvovich herself, which provides for both form and functionality. The trend of casting pretty women to pair with her continues, with the first movie having Michelle Rodriguez, the second with Guillory, and now, Heroes' Ali Larter and Spencer Locke join the fray. However, they are relegated to more pedestrian roles as compared to previous partners, so don't be expecting much from them, especially for fans of Larter.
The story can be no more simpler than Alice serving as a messiah for a small convoy of survivors headed by Larter's Claire, delivering them a message to journey to the promised land in Alaska. But of course the road to Peace and No Infection is plagued by challenges which culminates in a big battle in Las Vegas, where the trailers have teased with the entire city being semi-buried in sand. And like a video game, all levels will lead to their respective Big Boss to do battle with, and Extinction doesn't evade that formula too. Watching Alice grow in power, provides a lot of kick in some of the cool things she can do, enhanced with special effects of course.
Don't expect the franchise to slam the door of opportunity shut on itself. By the look of things, we might even see a fourth movie coming up in perhaps two or three years time (the interval between the movies thus far). Expect plenty of blood and gore as our heroes cut through ugly zombies like hot knife through butter, and none other does it more balletic and graceful than Milla Juvovich. You go, girl!
Was the above review useful to you?
82 out of 122 people found the following review useful:
Resident Evil: Jumping the Shark
Author: fasc from US of A
23 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The increasingly tired premise of a zombie-producing virus has been around for some years, having replaced the seductive living dead mystery of prior generations. I don't expect much of horror films, but I expect more than this. RE:E is just silly.
The cast is all here: evil corporation, out-of-control scientist, hapless minions who get locked in with the experiments gone wrong, multicultural gang of human fugitives strangely dressed in skimpy clothing and carrying military grade technology, etc. The story is advanced, but only in the direction of absurdity. Alice is still alive, but this time it would appear she's an android not only with superhuman agility and strength, but also with the ability to shut down satellites in space using her mind. She's always been one. And if that wasn't enough, she's also psychic--with the ability to generate force fields around herself and her friends. Most of the zombies look alike this time, strangely clothed in identical gray jumpsuits. You can now kill them by cutting their throats, shooting them in the abdomen, or dropping them off short buildings.
A few dozen overly loud bangs, crashes, and gunfights later and we get a showdown between Alice and the mutated evil doctor, carried out in a bad paste of unconnected rooms from previous films.
Close on a scene with the greedy corporate suits getting a holographic warning of their impending doom from a snippy Alice, and you have a film designed to sell wholly on the game's reputation and not because it's sincerely engaging, scary, or even interesting.
PS: here's an idea for a drinking game. Every time Milla Jovovich is on screen and her face has been digitally altered to look smoother than it actually is, that's a shot.
Was the above review useful to you?
74 out of 113 people found the following review useful:
A BIG disappointment
Author: farms-1 from United States
23 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I don't see how anyone could compare RE: Extinction with the first two in this series. In addition to a lack of plot altogether, there are more holes in RE:3 than a golf course and more ripoffs of other movies than I've ever seen. The characters are so undeveloped that most shouldn't even have come equipped with names. Both Olivera and LJ, who were the two leading males in the 2nd movie, are without energy and lack inspiration. The vehicles were outright ripoffs from Road Warrior, especially in the desert setting. In fact, you really get the idea pretty quickly that this movie is set in a desert to save money, whereas the first two movies obviously were pretty expensive in the setting department. Umbrella's board of directors, who meet several times in the flick in an underground bunker, appear to be of the under thirty variety; perhaps they are the descendants of the former management. The bunker is a shameless ripoff of Day of the Dead. The zombie scenes are actually very limited, with few traditional up close yet slow battle scenes. Mostly the zombies in RE:3 jump out of closets with ferocious speed and bite somebody. There are running zombies in this movie, which do not fit the sequence at all.
In general, this was a very poor finale to a good series.
Was the above review useful to you?
131 out of 234 people found the following review useful:
Deserving and Disturbing Sequel but NOT the Conclusion of a Trilogy
Author: Fiendish_Dramaturgy from .: Fiendish Writings in the Dark :.
25 September 2007
We saw this at our local hometown theater, Movies on the Parkway in Sevierville, TN. I have to start this by saying that this installment is a bit reminiscent of George A. Romero's 1985 cult classic, "Day of the Dead," in one major plot element. I won't give it away, but if you're a Romero fan, you'll see it for yourself when you view this film.
This work is wholly entertaining, whether you are a fan of the games, or not. There are new elements, old friends, and a plethora of great innovations - some of which I've never seen present anywhere, and a few which were reminders of former masterpieces. I would name them, but to do that would spoil these innovations for those of you who have yet to experience them.
The acting, direction, and quality were above par, while the style was more that of the action flick with horror elements. The predecessors were horror movies with great action. The suspense, the intrigue, the atmosphere were all horror-oriented. This time, the horror elements were minimized and the action reigned. This is not a bad thing, fans. Without some change like this, the franchise will suffer franchise sickness! As it stands, there is no danger of that happening.
All in all? We were totally entertained, enjoyed our movie experience, and were blown away by the wrap-up. See it for yourself to understand what I mean.
It rates an 8.9/10 from...
the Fiend :.
Was the above review useful to you?
236 out of 447 people found the following review useful:
Perfect Popcorn Movie
Author: lovadoll from Canada
20 September 2007
Oh my goodness i haven't reviewed a movie in so long on here but after seeing Resident Evil: Extinction and knowing fanboys are gonna give it a bad score i was compelled to completely gush about how completely awesome this third installment was. To recap my opinion i thought the first film was really cool some little thrills, some neat special effects, but Alice was just so cool, i fall in love with bad@$$ heroines like that character with the exception of Halle Berry's Catwoman for obvious reasons lol. The second film only furthered my adrenaline rush with Milla doing all kinds of crazy stunts and that film felt closer to the games also made nemesis look amazing thank god they didn't use CGI. The third movie takes place in the Nevada desert.. well for the most part anyways Alice and a core few of the survivors unfortunately not including Jill *cries* are scrounging the world trying to survive and find food, gas, supplies etc without being eaten by the massive army of zombies that surrounds pretty much the whole world. Milla is amazing once again but this time she takes the reigns from Sigorney Weaver because this time Alice is no sex symbol she's an angry woman on a nonstop rampage not afraid to kill and think twice. The action in this movie is so amazing the change of directors really helped get away from the choppy hand to hand fights in Apocalypse plus this is the director of Highlander here mister Russel Mulchy is no stranger to great action films. There's a lot more scares in this one and a lot more gore and grizzly murder creating entertaining mayhem on the big screen. I love truly epic films like Alfred Hitchcocks work, The Departed, and Requiem For A Dream but i go to the theater to be massively entertained by more than just my bucket of popcorn and Resident Evil: Extinction keeps your eyes on the screen.
Was the above review useful to you?
54 out of 87 people found the following review useful:
At least it was a bargain theater with $2.50 tickets...
Author: hjgadol from United States
23 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This movie defines the term Epic Fail. If you are a fan of the games or zombie lore at all, you will walk away wondering how anybody let this travesty run amok so badly. While there were plenty of scares (cheap startles and loud noises), this movie fails to deliver on every other level.
****Possible Spoilers***
FOR THE GAMERS: Just because there is some guy with sunglasses and slicked hair, do not actually expect any actual representation of Wesker. Additionally, red-hair and a gun do not turn Ali Larter into Claire Redfield. These were simply manufactured (forced may be a better word) elements to keep the fans happy, but after doing such a great job with Jill, S.T.A.R.S, Nemesis and Carlos in RE2, this was pretty insulting. Also, wasn't RE about skill and willpower in the face of nightmarish odds and monsters? Meh...who needs shotguns when you can use your "magic" powers? I never minded Alice being super strong and such (it is the t-virus after all), but when did Invisible girl/Jean Grey fit in?
FOR THE ZOMBIE FANS: I don't even know where to begin. It would seem that slashing a zombies throat is just as good as shooting it in the head (and Alice is even carrying the finest chopping blade in history). The prop crew must have gotten a great deal om zombie masks in bulk, because most of the "Umbrella soldier zombies" are identical looking to me (and who thought putting them in uniforms made any sense at all). There is also a main character (LJ) who gets bitten, and despite battling zombies for the last few years, decides to conceal it from his allies. Can you guess what happens next? If you are looking for good combat against hordes of undead, you are not getting any here. The clichés are stale, and the tactics from the heroes are unimaginative. Despite shots that had throngs of the undead, most fights are against 2-3, not hundreds. As others have stated, this movie is a poor remake of "Day of the Dead" with better effects and Alice tossed in.
FOR THOSE WITH ANY STANDARDS IN ACTION MOVIES: Why is LJ still carrying that ridiculous GOLD desert eagle? Why, in a gun fighting movie, would they not have competent tactical advisors? Clearly, someone showed the stars of RE1&2 how to move and fight with a gun, but I guess that detail was deemed unimportant this time (even though I thought everyone except Carlos looked very...awkward in their scenes). Further more, and this is just me, the yellow Hummer2 from a NAIL SALON was the lamest and most pathetic product placement I have ever scene. Kinda ironic to use a such a trendy and gas guzzling truck in the back drop of a global warming message.
I could go on, but I think the point is made. I'll let you go see this movie yourself, so you can discover all the other atrocities that this movie commits on the unsuspecting viewer. It is a shame this movie was poorly done, because I really enjoyed the first two. It may have tried to achieve too much, and ended up falling short everywhere because of it.
It was nice to see Johnny Cage though...I guess Anderson threw him a pity role. I liked him in Mortal Kombat and Wyatt Earp.
Was the above review useful to you?
80 out of 140 people found the following review useful:
An Excellent Follow-Up
Author: clnkn16 from Dallas, Tx
21 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I am happy to say that Resident Evil: Extinction was a great entry into the franchise. Being a fan of the games since their original inception, I was very skeptical seeing the series turned into a movie, as the trend for video game movies is to be completely terrible. I didn't hate the first two movies, but I definitely left the theater disappointed. The first film tried to invent an original story line revolving around similar events which didn't work that well because it just felt like the connections to the game were tacked on. Apocalypse delivered on the fan service by adding characters Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, and tying in the movie to the third game in the series. And now with Extinction, Resident Evil has finally found a good balance. With characters from the games making appearances, nice comedic moments, and a gritty style of action I was not disappointed in the slightest bit. I also feel like with the third film in the series, it could finally open up into a more mainstream audience. The characters from the game give nice feelings of nostalgia for those that have been playing for a while, but their stories from the games are not necessary for any one coming to see this movie without any prior knowledge of the game series. My only two complaints with this film is that it doesn't over view the last two films (which doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would for any one who is just coming to see the movie without seeing the others. Although, it might spark their interest to check out one and two), and the film ends on a cliffhanger. With Milla Jovovich stating that the film is written as a trilogy, it makes me wonder whether or not there will be another entry. Overall I couldn't recommend this movie more for some one who is looking for an enjoyable time at the theatre.
Was the above review useful to you?
55 out of 92 people found the following review useful:
Absolutely Horrid
Author: imlilsal from United States
22 September 2007
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This movie disgraces the name of Resident Evil. In all honestly, all three movies disgrace the name of Resident Evil...But at least the first two were entertaining. The characters from the games barely make appearances compared to Alice (Whom they created for the movies. I feel that was a completely stupid idea.) Alice has some idiotic telekinesis powers in this movie. Why add magic tricks to a zombie franchise? They changed the storyline around, killing off key characters (such as Carlos) and turning it into an almost new story, basically turning the characters from the games into completely new people. They never mentioned what happened to Jill...or Leon or Chris or Rebecca Chambers for that matter. If you are going to see this movie because you are a hard core fan of the game since the mid nineties when resident evil first came out...(as I did), I recommend not going to see this. It will only upset you. I give this movie 2 instead of one star, because there were a few pretty good action scenes.
Again...what a horrible let down...
Was the above review useful to you?
Add another review
Related Links
Plot summary Plot synopsis Ratings
Awards Newsgroup reviews External reviews
Parents Guide Official site Plot keywords
Main details Your user reviews Your vote history | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432021/reviews?start=0 | dclm-gs1-063540000 |
0.55434 | <urn:uuid:0c2b8538-93a8-4b9a-8002-9eb954dc81e5> | en | 0.943284 | New! Read & write annotations
Hell with no tercels is the worst hell. five minutes after brakes
Chasing windmills. we were all born short, that is why we wear
Heels. even the pope wants that bass you feel. he's got tinted windows
And purple stripes, every other part of the car is white. when he
Honks the horn she knows it's time. arguing all day and every
Night. he'll move out of his parents' when she becomes his wife. the
Shine on crucifixes makes you blind! who the fuck but jesus can say
You're fine? who the fuck then? god's in me..
Fibreglass hummingbird...tiny bird looks rad! the hummingbird's a
Civic - jesus died for your sins - catholic fashion, that's not just
Bread you're eating
Lesson in Civics #1: no hubcaps 'till you're sure you're done. black
Windshield keeps out the sun. kinda meaty purr when the engine
Runs. hanging out by the girl school all of june, like a line of cabs
But better groomed. local parents think the kids are doomed. sleepy
Lids from monoxide fumes. girl he knows leaning on the roof, offers
Her a ride but it's no use. hatchback: graduation's kissing
Booth. held back - goddammit!!!
Pull up to the church peel out like a prayer. and not a god damned
Thing can mess my hair. don't need satisfaction 'cause there's
Something there beyond what you see, feel, hear, or wear... whatever!
Let the priests worry about that! he's on the cross to get my
Back. most of the time salvation seems like a trap. bass bins = harps,
Halos = hubcaps. we have it figured out, it's the will of the lord:
Holiness is black light running boards! it's right there in the bible,
Building absorbed, from the first man - i'm adam!
Lyrics taken from
Correct | Report
Write about your feelings and thoughts
Min 50 words
Not bad
Write an annotation
Add image by pasting the URLBoldItalicLink
10 words
Annotation guidelines: | http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/n/ninja_high_school/catholic_fashion.html | dclm-gs1-063680000 |
0.058318 | <urn:uuid:77e5a534-1d4c-43e9-af74-aa6ea72b60ed> | en | 0.982376 | Millennials likely to take debt to their graves
A new study suggests Gen Y borrowers shows their repayment patterns don’t match up with past generations. (And that’s not a good thing.)
April Lesho in her recently purchased Washington, D.C., home.
If you want to talk to someone about credit card debt, talk to April Lesho, she's had her fair share. And she's got the collection of financial planning books to prove it.
She shows me her bookshelf with titles like "Debt Free by Thirty," "Suze Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom" and "Idiot's Guide to 401k Plans."
Those books seemed to have worked for Lesho. She's now the proud new owner of a house in Washington, D.C. But she hasn't always been so careful with money.
“By the end of college, I had about $30,000 in debt,” she tells me. “I mean, I spent at will. So you know if I felt like taking a trip, I took a trip. If I felt like getting a new stereo system, I did.”
This was at the University of South Carolina, where Lesho graduated in 2001 with a degree in sociology.
“Didn't you think it was going to catch up with you someday?” I ask her.
“I just figured,” she says, “when I got a job, I would be able to pay that off. I didn't realize how far behind I was getting. And how long it would actually take to climb my way out of it.”
“You know, for a sociology degree, 30,000 sounds about right,” says Lucia Dunn, professor of economics at Ohio State University. Dunn says the scary thing is that Lesho's circumstances are pretty typical for millennials coming out of college.
“They just have a lot more debt than previous generations had,” she adds.
Dunn recently published a study on how people manage their credit card debt. She found that younger people today are also paying that debt back at much slower rates than previous generations.
“And based on what young people are telling us,” she says, “if we project that out to the end of their life using life expectancy tables, we will see that they will die with credit card debt.”
Dunn calls that taking debt to your grave, and her study finds the average young person going down that path. So what would that look 30 or 40 years from now?
“It's hard to predict,” she explains. “It would probably mean that banks are going to curtail their lending.”
Dunn says banks need to stop giving out credit cards so generously. That's because millennials aren't paying back debt the way the current credit card system expects them to. They're not accumulating a little bit debt and paying it off as they get older, they just keep racking up more debt.
“I think we're going to see that the banks have to tighten up,” Dunn says. “So it could mean that credit is harder to come by. You could predict a doomsday scenario and say well at some point there's gonna be a big crash in the credit card market.”
But Dunn doesn't actually think that's going to happen. Her study found an easy way to get people to pay off their debt faster. Right now, credit cards have really low minimum monthly payments. Dunn saw that when companies raise those minimums, even just slightly, people seem to pay back an even higher amount.
“So when you begin to raise the rate on people,” she tells me, “it sends the message that you know you've go to take this debt seriously.”
Dunn says banks will have to make those kind of rate changes soon. And that could prevent the credit disaster we've been talking about.
I asked April Lesho if higher payment rates would have made a difference for her debt-wise.
“I think so,” Lesho replied. “Probably in the beginning. Because I would have been held accountable for it earlier on. Because it was just too easy, getting in debt was just way too easy.”
Lesho finally managed to pay off her debt in 2009. She says she actually still uses a credit card today, in order to take advantage of reward points. But this time around, she pays off her credit card balance every month.
About the author
Audrey Quinn is a reporter in New York City.
Log in to post3 Comments
One might think that in the wake of the Great Recession -- when millions got bit by high debt levels and no savings to fall back on -- people would have been more cautious about amassing debt.
They are. Reports are showing that there's fewer people taking up loans. Meanwhile, most people under 30k have any debt at all, especially not credit card debt. The companies are using softer tactics: no longer offering free stuff in colleges if you "just sign right here for this card" and less able to offer minimum payments that will literally never pay off the loan.
Thing is that we still have an entire generation who, from 1990-2005 racked up a massive amount of debt and are trying to figure out what to do about it. Those are the ones that will probably be the ones that take the debt to their grave (the ones who didn't use bankruptcy).
We haven't SOLVED the issue of massive debt use, but it's a lot better than the mess that helped bring us the recession. Now we have the long road of figuring out how to live with the much smaller spending we have now.
Reminds me of that old German saying:
He who owes, loses his freedom.
I for one have never been in debt in my 62 years.
Fortunately I had a smart grandmother with a 7th or 8th grade education back in Eastern Europe who taught the family how to save money and not waste it foolishly.
The ruling class likes to have its slaves in debt. They are easier to control that way.
With Generous Support From... | http://www.marketplace.org/node/77651/player | dclm-gs1-063690000 |
0.028115 | <urn:uuid:0aecce78-902b-47f1-b840-214f9ce2b19a> | en | 0.949983 | Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 13 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 1 out of 13
2. Negative: 7 out of 13
1. The challenges are so easy they're laughable. The graphics haven't improved. The framerate chugs. [Jan 2003, p.101]
2. 50
With all of these faltering features, Spyro’s newest adventure feels more like it was meant to be played on the PlayStation rather than on the GameCube.
3. Just a mess. The underlying play mechanics are OK, but the graphics are so bad they actually impact the gameplay significantly.
4. A train wreck of a game that has no direction, no technical merit, and little appeal except as a game design house of horrors and a showcase for some good music by Stewart Copeland.
5. To be perfectly honest I like it more than the PSone Spyro games.
6. There is no way of putting it nicely – this game sucks. Avoid this game at all costs. Even if you loved the previous Spyro titles, do not buy this game. Show Universal that we don’t buy crap.
7. 60
The framerate is absolutely terrible. What was Universal thinking letting this one out the door?
8. Although the game's pace may be slow at times, its elements add up to a satisfying experience. [Dec 2002, p.218]
9. Everything from the graphics, sound and the frame rate should have been a whole lot better, not to mention the confusing and burdensome control scheme.
10. There was one point where I once went to a part of a level, and it was missing. The level wasn't there at all. I was floating in mid air. Eventually it re-appeared but this shouldn't happen.
11. If you have Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, trade it in for a PS1 Spyro game and hope for the best. But please, do not play this game all the way through. Innocent minds will be lost.
12. Feels flat and recycled, a perfunctory exercise to suck in the remaining loyalists. [Dec 2002, p.86]
13. While we rarely get hung-up about graphic quality, its obvious that the developer has put very little effort into this department – bare textures and dull colours do not excite.
User Score
Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 2 out of 6
2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
3. Negative: 4 out of 6
1. SamanthaW.
Mar 16, 2003
It is the best.
2. Jul 3, 2011
Pretty good game. Not the best compared to the earlier Playstation Spyros, but it's pretty fun. There are some pretty interesting levels and weapons. Full Review »
3. Becky
Dec 29, 2003
Too many bugs, I was unable to play. | http://www.metacritic.com/game/gamecube/spyro-enter-the-dragonfly/critic-reviews?sort-by=publication&dist=neutral&num_items=100 | dclm-gs1-063790000 |
0.168456 | <urn:uuid:8c4ccb3e-6e36-4413-934b-31c22a37e5d4> | en | 0.933007 | User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings
User score distribution:
1. Positive: 9 out of 9
2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
3. Negative: 0 out of 9
Review this movie
1. Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
• 10
• 9
• 8
• 7
• 6
• 5
• 4
• 3
• 2
• 1
• 0
• 0
1. Submit
2. Check Spelling
1. WillC.
Jan 17, 2004
When I saw this movie in 1953, I was disappointed. Today, I regard it as one of the top 5 movies of the 1950s. All five performances are impeccable, but it's Montgomery Clift's Pruitt that stands out as one of the landmark performances ever put on film. Plus, Fred Zinnemann is a master craftsman who directs the powerful story with great care. Bravo to all!
2. NickLaT.
Dec 7, 2003
A towering achievement. Achingly powerful. Run dont walk to the nearest theatre.
3. LisaM.
Dec 4, 2003
A classic among classics. Montgomery Clift was the Tom Cruise of his era, even better.
4. YoonMinC.
Dec 4, 2003
It has one of the most memorable scenes in classic American cinema, Lancaster enthralled and in love, masterfully kneeling down before a wet and prostate Deborah Kerr, concentrating his raging passions in his kiss upon Kerr's sensuous lips. Lancaster, intense and statusque, gives the film its spine and center. The rest of the movie has appealing or at least interesting enough characters, and the story is reasonably absorbing, but one feels it could have been much more than a sturdy work of intelligent(and impersonal) craftsmanship. Lancaster is the only actor who truly transcends the strictures of Zinnemann's vision, a man however flawed possessing a real gem of humanity imbedded somewhere beneath the granite exterior. Expand
No score yet - based on 3 Critics
Critic score distribution:
1. Positive: 3 out of 3
2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
3. Negative: 0 out of 3
1. 80
2. 100
From Here to Eternity remains, half a century later, a singular cinematic experience, one of the landmarks of American film.
3. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
So clear-eyed and three-dimensional that it makes the recent ''Pearl Harbor'' look like a bunch of kids playing dress up. Aspects of the film have dated, but in the important things it's more mature than anything proposed lately by modern Hollywood. | http://www.metacritic.com/movie/from-here-to-eternity/user-reviews?sort-by=score&num_items=100&dist=positive | dclm-gs1-063810000 |
0.103402 | <urn:uuid:0dcd4d06-5563-4a2b-9f1c-a244a6fb1cac> | en | 0.928315 | VIDEO: Tacony robbery victim fights back
An employee at Tacony Food Market fought back when a robber put a gun in his face, as shown in surveillance video released by the Philadelphia Police Department.
The robbery happened Dec. 22 at 6648 Torresdale Ave., about 3 p.m., according to police.
Police hope someone will recognize the suspect, whom they described in a YouTube post as a thin, light-skinned Hispanic male, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 pounds, and 25 to 30 years old. The suspect ‘s hair was cut short, he had a mustache and goatee, and he was wearing blue jeans, a white hoodie and a blue hoodie.
The employee initially complied with the suspect, but when they began to struggle, the suspect fled the store without any money. He was last seen heading west on Unruh Avenue toward Marsden Street.
Police ask anyone with information about the robbery to call Northeast Detectives Division at 215-686-3153/3154.
Pabst Blue Ribbon: A timeline of America's favorite…
US Airways plane skids off runway in Philadelphia
Philadelphia plane crash selfie goes viral
Vampire-fanged Utah trucker faces charges of kidnapping women
Review: The doc 'Teenage' is a haunting grad…
The Word
Orlando Bloom is the jealous type regarding Kirsten…
Bruins stay scorching hot, beat Coyotes
Opinion: Darrelle Revis, Aqib Talib fire up NFL…
Vince Wilfork asks for release from Patriots
Fantasy football: How will free agency affect your…
Study notes: Cyber attacks, happiness and sculpting
'Five-second rule' holds up in scientific research
Show off that work of yours
What's Hot in Java
Metro’s top five trends for New York’s favorite beverage. | http://www.metro.us/boston/news/local/2014/01/28/video-tacony-robbery-victim-fights-back/ | dclm-gs1-063850000 |
0.019513 | <urn:uuid:b112b6c3-873b-4b2c-a82f-18d7f9409d78> | en | 0.912784 |
Network: FPSguru RTSguru
Login: Password: Remember?
Show Quick Gamelist Jump to Random Game
Members:2,617,695 Users Online:0
Games:653 Posts:6,023,484
Recent forum postsRSS
Active threads
Cloud view
List all forums
General Forums
Developers Corner General Discussion
Popular Game Forums
Click a status to find game forum
Game Forums
Click a letter to find game forum
All Posts by Wizardry
All Posts by Wizardry
276 Pages First « 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 » Last
5513 posts found
How did he get a hold of the Crysis engine to do this conversion?I have spent most of my years fooling around on the Unreal engine ,i would like to try this engine.
If i had of known Aion only had 2 races i never would have tried that game either.I am sorry but when you see a lack lustre effort like 2 races,you know the game is pushed out the door with very little effort.
I will not even give games like that a 2 second look,so they have zero chance with me.
Originally posted by wyrdaskolir
Just by looking at many of these posts that more people play this game than before. Back then, trolling was crazy and it took over this section. Is the communication helping AV out or am I just not reading the negative posts.
It is the PVP craze,been going on for last 5 years.Game quality content does not matter,these people just want to see two words .....PVP and LOOT.,oh and they want their large scale battles.Fighting each other and not game components imo totally removes the game,might as well put a bunch of players into a square box and let them at it.
Originally posted by Furor
Its getting close to octo 22nd and over 50% of the server is low and recommended, its bleeding of players......
Damn i was not suprised there.
Why they quitting? looking for better benefit packages ? more sick days?higher wages?better wor... i mean gaming conditions? :D
Originally posted by Toquio3
Im playing Aion atm, and I just had an experience literally 2 minutes ago I felt I had to share. I was soloing to my hearts desire when this gladiator came up to me and asked me to group up for a quest. I didnt have the quest, but he needed the mobs around dead, and I was there so I decided to help him out (there goes people's theories that soloers are phycopaths). Anyway, We killed 2 mobs, just 2, and he said 'sorry, need more XP' and left the group.
Now keep in mind that I was helping him out, and it was his request to begin with. I felt something very wrong had just happened. What do you guys think about it?
At first i thought the negative,another simplistic no brain peed leveler,but then it hit me lol.
Perhaps this player meant,he needed more xp to be able to fight the mobs needed for the quest.He may have been judging his chances based on the mobs you killed and decided he was not strong enough.Players often speak in broken phrases and don't really tell it as it is al lthe time,so this is just my thoughts rather than being totally cynical :D.
Originally posted by Terranah
I liked being thrown out into the world and feeling a little overwelmed by all the possibilities and things I didn't know. That's what stimulates my brain and makes me think.
I agree full heartedly,but i noticed right away,harvesting was nodes shown easily on map,so no thinking or exploration excitement.
Npc's were easily found,all spread around the town,very static setup,so again no thinking needed or exploration.The only thing i needed to know was how to get crafting started,and it was not bad but a little misleading.They need to make it a lot more clear as to what you are buying from the npc's.
Anyhow after i figured out pretty much all you need to know in the whole game in the very first day,i was completely bored,as i found nothing involved thinking at all,it was just a search and seek out nodes/recipes and quests.That is the whole game in a nut shell,no thinking at all.
Crafting is no thinking and combat is no thinking,you can clearly see your best weapon damage,there was no in depth combat system.I guess utilizing realistic weapons is not going to be much thinking involved you point and click.I guess i am used to Fantasy type combat utilizing combos and team work and having the basic tank/healer/dps setup,anything less now seems too simplistic ,i can't get into it.
Basically i found the entire game had zero thinking,just remembering where the heck you were and where certain NPC's were.I was not overwhelmed with possibilities as imo there is almost nothing to do or explore[vast barren land is not exploring]and every town had the same generic look/feel so again no excitement from exploring..I was more overwhelmed with how much junk i collected in a very short time and yet i still could not complete anything to craft,i was always short one item.How can you have over a 100 items and can't make anything? lol.well i could make relish .:(
Originally posted by pepsibottle
I'm done with them, it's the last time I even try one, even if they're F2P.
Lineage 2 I tried, the servers were full of russians botting.
Aion I tried, the game is grindfest with Asians botting.
Silkroad Online, botting players everywhere you look.
These Korean companies obviously don't care about setting up good support, nor do their games make any sense from a gameplay perspective, on top of that, they are always full of cheaters and hackers.
They should rename SRO to SilkBOT online.
20-1 bot to player ratio,you will never in your life see more bots per player than in SRO.On server reboot is your only chance to get on a server and you better be fast,because they use auto login scripts and literally file into the game by the hundreds.You need 200 drops for a quest,usually means you need about 500-2500 kills,try that with a dozen bots killing everything around you before you visually see it spawn.Even using a ranged weapon it is near impossible to beat a bot to the kill.
Lineage and Aion you are looking at Gamania GM's the same Gm service that has been roaming Asian games for years.RMT is huge money,you can bet these Gm's are paid off or probably running bots in these games to make money.
Funny how these Asian games continue to use Nguard and Gamania since it has NEVER been a success in any game.That alone has to make you wonder about legitimacy of these games.You can bet your bank account that even if Aion had Nguard up,it would not change a thing ,it never has.
The OP needs to realize it is more than "just a game",the game you choose decides how much crafting should be involved.MMORPG's SHOULD involve crafting,and it should be done on the same scale as the rest of the game.
If you just want an Action mmo or a RTS mmo or a FPS mmo that is different.If you decide an RPG is the genre you like,then crafting should be in the mix,otherwise you do not really like a RPG you are suited for a different genre.
I mean it would be like saying i love sports in general,but the type of sport you like, determines the make up of that sport/game.You can't say you like hockey but hate body checking or hate ice.
You can't say you like baseball but hate running and hate grass.
You can't say you like Football but hate dirt and hate body contact and hate running.
In other words,to hate something that is in the very core make up of a genre is redefining it,that is not right.You cannot redefine what is already established,anything different is just that,it is a totally different genre.
Originally posted by daylight01
Well just to be fair,
As much as I love FE some of the graphic drawing is quite bad,what these screen shots do not show is the drawing of shrubs and sometimes even buildings right before your eye's...even my wife(who admits she knows nothing about game's and care's even less)said it was funny how the game keeps "drawing in front of you.
Like I said I totally love this game and can not get enough but just to be fair I thought this should be mentioned to a graphic thread.
Yes i pointed this out,even at max draw distance ,it is still very short.This is what console games were known for very linear halls and short draw distances.The sad part is that even on powerful PC's we are not able to go much further than crappy consoles,it shows coding effort in all games needs to be better.There is actually tricks to drawing things and how they are drawn,i wish i had saved the videos to show how it is done.Basically one trick is to have things that would normally be hidden to the players view ,not get drawn,that way it never looks like things are rendered too closely,because you are limiting how much gets drawn but you won't know it because you wouldn't see those objects anyhow.
I think we are all getting a little too picky though,i have already mentioned before the graphics are quite acceptable and performance is pretty darn good,so i have no problems with that aspect of the game.
MY problem and it is really only 2 big ones.
Crafting is done too much like EVE,point click and let time go by,no interaction,no chance to fail,very unrewarding and not satisfying.Being that this is maybe the biggest part of the game,to design it so half ass does not please me very well.
Exploration gets boring real fast,when the only things you interact with is nodes clearly shown on the mini map.It makes it unrealistic,how do you have these nodes on your map?infrared technology? lol.I do not mind having a map just like in our real world ,you need it,but no map i ever used had any nodes or mobs marked on it lol.I know most games mark mobs why i do not know,but nodes,i don't like.Ever play Ultima online years ago?i could come across some farm shed ,find a rake pick it up and use it,you will not get that type of interaction in FE.You see a car in FE it is just a static dead mesh with a pasted texture on it.I have seen these types of graphics in console games for years and i tire of it.The same reason i can't stand WOW,graphics mean a ton to me,it gives the game life and immersion.
I am not talking quality of the textures/shaders/lighting/effects/particles/shadows ,i am talking detail of the graphics and how objects are implemented.I could have even accepted a very low keyed approach to objects in the world,but it was done all the way cheap.You can say i expect far too much from this game,more so than what most games deliver,but this is what i expect if i am going to be playing a post Apoc game.I have certain expectations from Fantasy games from Space games,it all depends on the theme.
Originally posted by nate1980
Originally posted by Filterheadz
I purchased this game (trial) about 6 days ago and subscribed 5 days ago (only the first 20 levels of the game was worth the purchase) and tbh i am only getting like 4-5h of sleep per day ( i am currently unemployed ) and the rest goes out to aoc (i am lvl 63 hox already so if anyone says this game has ANYKIND of grind then by my all means stop playing mmos :) ).
This game is amazing and i am truly sad that i have not tried it before due to bad reviews from players here on mmorpg.
But oh well we live and learn.
And yes if u have an ancient rig then this game is not for u (i am guessing this is where all the "bad" reviews came from) but if u got a decent rig then i suggest u try it out , u will love it.
Think about what you just wrote there and ask yourself if that makes any kind of sense. Are you trying to tell everyone here that in all of these bad reviews, that their only complaint was game performance and lag? I recommend rereading those bad reviews, and think about the point of views those reviewers had and the state of the game at the time of those reviews. Then maybe you can respond with something that doesn't sound so...well...stupid?
I can tell you that i did not stay long in AOC,but the game itself is pretty good.All you need to ask yourself is what do 99.9% of players do in games anyhow?Speed level for no reason at all.All i heard for complaints were END game content,or they were crying for more ways to speed level none of witch i consider legit complaints.
IMO if all you do is ignore content for the sole reason to speed level,then you have no business demanding content of any kind,be it end game or anywhere.
AOC when i played it had zero problems ,i encountered zero bugs and the game looked good.My issues were with linearity.The game on a whole still offers fun combat as good as anything else apart from my fave combat witch is FFXI.The quests albeit in many cases are the same old,are quite different than most every game.There is actually a story to each,it has interaction and asks for more than just go kill 10 bears and return.The night time quest line was kind of cool also,not your everyday thing you see in games.Everything was connected fairly well,i did not find myself totally confused or lost.
If there was a decent player base,i may have continued playing but ,my guild had only about 5-6 people on at a time and there was around 100 people in the guild.
I think the problem with gaming right now,is players are game hopping,hoping to be the first to max level and be the king of the server for PVP.It is all about egos and selfishness,nobody seems to want to enjoy playing with other players and slowly enjoy a game,they think it is a race to show off or something.
For myself,once you finish the end level,then i go back and play the game under a different perspective as a diff class.From the little i witnessed of AOC it seems to at least have quite a bit of diversity from class to class.I know when i changed class playing FFXI,the contrast was so incredible it was like playing a whole new game again.I do not need or want to sit around on my max level character to show off,end game should be end of that player,go make a new one,or go play a different game.
Is Grinding Hard?
General Discussion « Aion
10/26/09 6:05:24 PM
Originally posted by Fraugnutz
I think its silly that all the 'defenders of the grind' act like it requires talent. "You dont like the grind? You suck , your a carebear"
or "You just want to have things handed to you" lol. What? First off, it takes 0 skill to do the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. Secondly, is this supposed to be a job or a game? Now, I understand the whole 'to each his own' concept, but all im doing is calling a spade a spade. Or, asking a spade to admit that it is a spade. So what is it?
HAha maybe in cheap games you have played.Ever play FFXI?you can kill the same mobs a hundred times and still die.There is so many ways to ide in normal xp parties in FFXI it is not funny.Some mobs just like players have spiked damage or TP moves,witch are again the spike damage.Heck i can't tell you how many times i died playing a Ranger as a Tarutaru. and that is in a game that is all grouped,i'd have no chance solo.Instead of asking if grind is hard,ask if fetch me quest from NPC's are hard?IMO there is no comparison,the fetch me quests are almost always super easy and many times,you don't do anything other than go from one npc to another.
So you need to decide witch is more fun ,actual killing things ,combat,or just running back and forth to npc's?I think for me it is a no brainer.Npc interaction is not only boring but offers me ZERO challenge,so basically there is no gaming there,i choose gaming ,witch is killing things,unless your playing Myst or a game like that.
I think the OP here needs to read everything he asks and apply to the alternative and it ends up being worse,so he answers his own question.I did not even mention the ridiculous idea of doing Dailies.
Originally posted by pencilrick
Everquest Next is the "next big one" and is rumored to be coming out in 2010. There are people already giving away gear and deleting their characters in other games; that's how sure they are of "EQ Next."
You know SOE has a development studio that SHOULD be making their next MMORPG...Naughty Dog Studios.They just released Uncharted 2,as far as i am concerned,everything they have done over the years is pretty darn good.As of now they have the studio locked up to developing PS3 software,but man they are holding them back.They have 100 employees that would be a perfect sized staff for a great MMORPG.
No question SOE has gained a lot of distrust lately,so they should open up to some new blood,i mean ND studios has done great things for them with Jax and Bandicoot and Uncharted,why limit their abilities to console only.989 studios is another good one under the realm of SOE,but they are also locked into console making.
I think SOE has a ton of potential locked under their roof,but i don't think that former UO guy is one of them,he has done ok with all the EQ2 xpacs,but i'd like to see one of those two studios i mentioned do the next game.
On a side note,there next MMORPG is not an Everquest game,it is a game based from Virgin comics.Supposedly some East Indian type of game...who knows Sinbad anyone? lol.Virgin comics has a movie due in a couple years by the same guy who did 300,so maybe they are making a mmorpg base on something centered around that movie[Ramayan].
I am not sure what you hope for or are asking for but i can tell you there is no magical formula.WOW gets away with what they do because it is pretty much the lowest tech game left of all the mmorpg's.To be able to have a seamless world[there is actually no such thing]you have to have objects rendered as you move along,so distant objects will be of lowest quality.Personally i prefer zones,it's loaded and over with,albeit most games zones are so large they still need to render at short distances,but you can do a bit more using zones.
I would say personally there is no way it uses a seamless world.The disturbing thing about STO is how the game came about.
It was started 6 years ago,so expect lower end tech.All Cryptic studios did was inherent the the game content,so artwork models and such.What they did is just implement it all into their own cryptic game engine.I think this site should ask some interview questions related to how much original content and how much new content is being implemented into this game.
This game has been implemented in a VERY short time by Cryptic Studios,about 15 months,that is crazy for a giant type game like STO.This tells me it will be using all the original content developed by Perpetual ENT.How good a job they did on the game ,we will have to wait and see however,in light of how they operated their business,VERY sketchy,almost like SGW fiascal,it leads one to think the game is sketchy at best.
If you are a trek fan as i sort of was back in the day,you have to hope and pray that Cryptic devoted a lot of hours in that short time to make this a grand game.
Originally posted by spyboy2000
When you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go except up.
BAH !,i thought perhaps there was something i have missed,because i cannot think of one thing WOW introduced to MMOPRG's.Heck i cannot even think of anything they have done as positive,i am still thinking hard...nope can't see anything.Well SIZE,i guess the game is big and we all love a large world to play around in,so i give them that,it's not new though,there is a few games that have large worlds.Too bad so much of that world is instances,anyone that knows me,knows what i think of instances,they are like 1/10 on a skilled implementation process for delivering content to a game.Any low budget developer can create instances,i can do it myself without a team.
I am not just picking on STO ,the problem exists in all betas.They need to be done 4-6 months from launch,this way changes can actually be implemented and feedback is more useful.I know they asked them the question about the changes at this stage of the game,and honestly ,i do not believe there can be anything big changed at this point.
I might add,that it is a great idea for the game to have space and planet interaction,something EVE has taken forever to implement[still hasn't],so good job.I have way too much on the go,but i might eventually try this game out,if i find out both the space and land interaction is done well.
The reason it doesn't seem like there can be a next big one is because there is not a sudden influx of mmo gamers hitting the market.That type of sudden MMORPG player insurgence will never happen again.No one game will ever be lucky to have 10 million new gamers hit the market upon their Christmas release,it is almost impossible,but i have a way lol.
This means it is very unlikely to ever have another game with 50% of the player base,but it is still possible.I believe i know what it would take and it is not out of the realm of possibility.What you would need is first of all of course is a giant game and a good one at that.OK before i go any further,this vision was actually touched on by Bill Gates many years ago,so it is not all my own theory lol.
You would need a free to play platform,this allows the most possible users,a busy game is a popular game,no question about it.This would be done in a couple of ways ,first of all a major giant in the PC industry or tech industry to sponsor/fund the game and the product,who bigger than Microsoft?The other aspect that again grabs more possible gamers is the platform.This would be an internet game ,where by all files all hardware is stored online[your choice].This would allow those without PC's or those who can't afford a pc or those on consoles to still play the game.All they would need is some form of internet access and a keyboard/mouse or box of some kind,the tech is already out there now.
So once you have this ease to grab many players in place now you need a way to entice the masses.What better way than offer real life rewards,the same way did in the old days.Rewards can be PC's/graphic cards/money/vouchers it is endless.The way this game can be paid for is by using in game advertising,heck you can have rare weapon/item/gear giveaways/drops/ rare craft recipes with the sponsor logos on them.
This allows the game to be free and have the most possible gamers.It also allows the game to be massive with a ongoing update as the cash flow never ends from sponsors.The other idea is to have it all broadcast on our televisions with competitions,so it involves your PVP stage for players that want/need that.You can have various PVP and guild ladders all individually sponsored,example the ATI guild ladder or the Nvidia 1 vs 1 PVP ladder,it is endless what they can do with it.
This is how it would have to be done,through mass cash influx,reaching out to the most possible gamers,and keeping the cost free to play.All this paid for by sponsors.Imagine you got 10 million console gamers on board,that alone is a huge influx of new gamers.Who wouldn't want to see themselves on national television competing in a MMORPG?Heck it would create a slew of new gaming channels on tv,more sponsors again.Yes it would meet criticism from many parents and would cause a sort of epidemic,the old school parents would probably condemn it,but it is all possible.
Originally posted by attentivevow
I'm curious if anyone knows how good the RP is on this game? I am looking at it, but I require a stable RP community to really play a game.
EQ2 has the best game possible to RP in,but saying that you may not find the group of people you want.When i played years ago,i found most if not all the purple/RP players were alone solo.I not once in 2 years of play ever saw at least 2 RP players together.I think it's not really a surprise since not many people actually RP.However like i said you are not going to get a better game than EQ2 for it,it has the mechanics 99% of the games out there do not even have the ability to RP in them.
Originally posted by Conavar
I read a lot about peoples views on pvp in MMOs and have began to wonder what it is that people actually prefer about the player vs player experience offered by an MMo instead of those offered by your average FPS or "deathmatch" style of game?
After all, isnt the main goal the same? capture the flag, territories, highest killcount.
Is your specced for magic bolt anymore satisfying than a well placed headshot?
I used to feel that the group play in an MMO seemed more "real" , for example defending a zone in Arathi Basin more than taking out the enemy in a Call of Duty game, although CoD was in fact the more true to life game? Is it just player attitudes, or is there more to it than that?
Yes you need to realize with the massive amount of cheat sites ,players do not want fair or a challenge,they want to win no matter what.
In a game like COD there is also hacks but the actual game itself lends to a fair fight.In an MMORPG players can get better gear or just time=reward and have an instant better player to easily beat the other guy.In a MMORPG you are pretty much looking at nothing being equal one guy will always have better stats or better gear or a higher level,FPS games it is more about latency and bandwidth of connections and player skills.
So to simply it MMORPG=time/reward and gear,and macros .
FPS=skill/thinking and latency and .ini tweaks.
The OP described both types very well.I might add one point however,that is F2P models are not just about advancement,they also grab your money just to get some of the fun parts out of a game.
A perfect example is ROM.The game is VERY linear,pretty much a WOW copy,quest for xp and do dailies.For myself the fun part is messing with your gear.Well you have to pay them an incredible amount of money to be able to mess with your gear in an ongoing fashion.You want a mount? you pay,again this is not advancement,this is just the basics you expect from a game that should be free.I agree with things like coloring your mounts or gear,that should be an extra,again this has nothing to do with advancement.You want useful furniture you pay,you want useless furniture it's game currency.
Other things like XP boosts and TP boosts are bought with money,that is the advancement part.I would say in the end the P2P makes more money,but maybe not more profit.F2P games tend to be VERY cheaply developed,smaller staff,less over head,very cheap game engines,low poly bandwidth so low server cost.I find games that make money are pretty much based on luck,example WOW.I have seen massive ,great efforts not make anything ,example Vg so it really is about luck,finding what sells more so than what is the best quality.
Originally posted by Shadewalker
Originally posted by Wootson
It's a pretty cool game overall, but in terms of performance it really is not release worthy. When Vanguard released everyone was bragging about the horrible performance, but for Fallen Earth today nobody is, and it's just a tad bit better.
No, it's a whole lot better than Vanguard which is why so few people are complaining about the performance.
I've played FE since just before the end of beta, initially on my then main machine being a P4 with 2gb RAM (XP 32) and the game was certainly a bit sluggish then on low settings compared to my playing since retail on my new quad core with 8gb RAM (VIsta 64) and incredibly smooth performance on totally max settings. Both times I was running with a 20mbs internet connection from the UK, the game being based in the US.
At no point with either machine have I ever suffered any real lag or had a single CTD.
Last night I was at the first 40 minutes or so of the Massively live event with (I'm guessing) around 100 other players huddled together in a single location (to catch all the local chat), and the server didn't falter once, nor did my character. Many of the players were dancing or riding around on mounts and no-one appeared to be struggling performance-wise. No-one was complaining. You couldn't have done that in VG or a good many other MMOs within a month of launch.
The game runs very well if you have a decent rig, but not surprisingly it doesn't run too well if you have less than the minimum required rig, as the reviewer found out. I don't see how anyone can blame Icarus for that!
Well ya it's performance is a ton better than VG i agree.However for very good reason,VG has about 10x the detail and depth in the world,FE is extremely barren and of lower quality.It is just math nothing amazing done by Icarus here,more polys =less performance,less=better performance.
| http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/userPosts/106392/page/207 | dclm-gs1-063870000 |
0.023051 | <urn:uuid:ae899313-8c9b-459c-a370-19fa3d7d835d> | en | 0.980204 | or Connect
Mothering › Mothering Forums › Baby › Life With a Baby › "Must-Have" baby gear you hate
New Posts All Forums:Forum Nav:
"Must-Have" baby gear you hate
post #1 of 36
Thread Starter
Every time I go to a baby shower, this issue hits me again. I remember when I had babies and there was this huge list of stuff people treated as necessities which absolutely where not. Which is not to say that some parents in some particular circumstances could find them useful, or even necessary for them, but for things like (my personal pet peeve) a pack-n-play to be treated like a necessity for everyone as soon as she finds out she's pregnant drives me crazy! It's just a huge marketing tool. And everyone I know would never dream of using about anything used, like to have a used pack-n-play is neglectful or something.
I guess this is a rant on marketing and pregnant women/new parents, but what is on your list of stuff that people seem to think is necessary but really isn't at all? And is there any "must-have" stuff you feel really negatively about?
post #2 of 36
I guess we live in a community much more insulated from that kind of thing. Our big "must-have" was a BOB jogger that my in-laws bought for us. We would have found a used one, but they really wanted to contribute a somewhat big gift and wouldn't have been comfortable buying something used. Everything else we got used or as a hand-me-down and most of my friends who are parents did the same thing, though we all could have technically afforded to buy stuff new.
The stuff that amazes me personally are all these contraptions that take up so much room that the kid is only in for pretty short periods of time. We got a used swing and bouncer from my SIL and we probably used both twice because our daughter just refused to be put down for the first four months of her life. So that was a huge waste of space. Huge play mats (we got two for my shower and I returned them because they were too big) and big exersaucers that take up half the room always amazed me. We did, however, get a doorway bouncer that my daughter loved when she got older that was great.
I guess the "necessity" thing is so variable since every kid/family is different and will need different things. So there's no "one thing" I find problematic, but really it's the massive collection of junk and the waste of money and resources it represents. It makes much more sense to borrow a swing or a bouncer from a friend or buy one used or find one on Freecycle so you can find out if your child is actually going to use it before wasting money buying it new.
post #3 of 36
I thought I had posted a reply to this thread, but maybe it was another one? I have a love/hate relationship with babywearing and all associated gear. I like that it's less gear for any one outing than a travel system, but hate that we bought 6 different carrier styles to find that none are really much better than the next and that all started hurting my back once she hit 12 lbs. I cheered the first day she was happy being put down and breathed a sigh of relief to find she enjoys the stroller.
Yet, despite all my negative emotions, I still love carrying her around when she is fussy and when I am running errands that require free hands.
But I personally didn't find it fun to collect and research seemingly infinite carries and brands like some do just to still undergo weeks of trial and error. And oh the look DH gave me when I bought our 6th carrier, even though it was used!
post #4 of 36
Carriers (of all kinds) never really worked for me and my back hurt terribly with all of them. Also, we found out our daughter had hip dysplasia so she wasn't supposed to be in one anyway. Basically, carriers are like the ultimate symbol of all my pre-baby plans that didn't work out ;-)
As for the rest, what you really "must have" is a cousin or sibling who thoughtfully spaces out their children JUST RIGHT so you can borrow everything you need only for a short time and then pass it on to the next baby so you don't have to store it! That has miraculously worked well in my family so my daughter's high chair is on it's fourth or fifth baby, the pack and play lives at my grandparents and there's always a baby small enough to nap in it, the bouncer has a happy bouncee almost always. But no one has ever taken to the swing ;-)
post #5 of 36
Wipes warmers....I never had one so maybe some people cant live without them, but I find them to be the strangest item for a baby. And we were gifted one of those bumpo seats or whatever they are called, tried it once and he HATED it, seemed pretty pointless to have as well, when my son can sit up he will simply do it on his own, right?! shrug.gif
post #6 of 36
I think a "nursery" isn't necessary. Of course , I had one with my first babe, but now expecting our 6th, I realize a matching bumper pad/sheet set/wall hanging was all a bit frivolous. However, the pack 'n play we received with our first baby is now going to be used with our 6th, as it has been every baby since our first. We don't have room or own a crib, so for naps or when they are old enough to move out of our bed, the pack 'n play has been the 'crib'. My list for each subsequent baby has gotten shorter and shorter because I've realized we don't really *need* it and I don't want to mess with cleaning/storing/ find room for it!!
post #7 of 36
I second the wipes warmer!
I'll add the infant mittens. I always feel so sorry for those poor babies I see w/ their hands in those obnoxious mittens, for the sake of protecting the baby from scratching her eyes out or something. So the poor babe has just had it's nice, warm, utero world rocked via birth, it's in this cold, bright world, and now you've taken away her hands?!? That's just mean. :P Sorry, that's a little soapboxish for such a small item.
All the gender-specific gear. I was in the baby aisles of target, and even baby bathtubs now come in just two colors: blue and pink.
I did find the bumpo (I have the bebe pod) incredibly useful for my 2nd and 3rd babies. They want to see what their brothers and sisters are doing long before they have the ability to sit up. Letting them sit on the floor in the bumpo near where siblings were playing gave them a whole new view of life! :)
I'm currently expecting #4, and I was just thinking...if you were to take a piece of baby gear away from me, what would make me cry? I'd say my ergo, ring sling and moby, my swaddle designs blanket, and my "my brest friend" pillow. And onsies and babylegs. And the birdseye flats (the real ones, not the ones you get at walmart) I use as burp cloths.
post #8 of 36
Changing table..baby wipe warmer...baby monitor..15 different contraptions to set your baby down in (one should do the trick)..baby Einstein videos (gag me).
post #9 of 36
We don't yet have a room for our baby, or a crib. She sleeps in a pack-n-play in our bedroom and that works well for us so far (I bought a firm foam mattress for it and she sleeps great!). So I don't really think new parents should be concerned with spending money on setting up a dedicated room with furniture and decorating it. I agree with the wipe warmer comments, and one thing that really gets me (and it's not a must-have but I see them all the time in photos) is baby girl headbands....I just think babies look kind of silly with a big bow or flower on their little head, and it just looks uncomfortable. I am also not "girly" so our daughter doesn't really see anything ruffly or sparkly (though some pink stuff is cute)--probably adds to my dislike for headbands. And relating to that...spending money on professional newborn pictures (complete with headbands and silly hats etc) is not for us, either...I think snapshots are totally sufficient or better because you get to see cozy snippets of daily life instead of posed baby-in-basket pics everyone does!
post #10 of 36
Shopping cart covers!! They are too darn enormous to haul around with you, it's just ridiculous. And my baby didn't go in the shopping cart until he was probably 8 or 9 months old, anyway - he was always in the Ergo at the store. By that point, any germ phobias I might have had were long gone. (Sidenote: Another mom I work with today said she refuses to take her baby to Walmart due to germs. And I thought to myself, "Wow, must be nice to have the option of doing that!", because my dh is gone so much I'd just have to never go to Walmart if I couldn't take my baby!)
I mentioned how utterly ridiculous shopping cart covers were at a mommy group I go to, though, and two or three moms piped up at how amazing and totally necessary they are. I was shocked. To each their own!
post #11 of 36
I'm expecting my second after a 5-year wait and I'm obsessing about having a proper swing and I can't shake myself out of it. It will probably be useless furniture, but what's a nesting mama to do? My first was an unsleeper and refused to sleep at all during the day unless right on top of me (which I couldn't do after I started working again -- I'm a satellite employee who had hoped for nap time to get things done, like phone calls and such -- HA! I know better now.) I somehow have it in my brain that if I have a really nice swing I might be able to squeak out a nap once day. Maybe.
(I know I'm probably wrong -- but a girl can dream, right?)
With my first we were given so much useless stuff:
bath tub - i just got in the bath or used the kitchen sink.
bottle warmers (for a breast-fed baby who hated bottles)
shoes -- my kid didn't wear shoes until he was walking on hazardous things outside.
swaddlers - blankets work fine if you're doing that and we live in a hot climate so it's too hot to use most of those
mitts for newborns - sure he poked his eye a few times, but I kept his nails trimmed as best I could and we just went with it
pacifiers (yeah, that was a no go with my "if it doesn't taste like skin, I don't want it" baby)
crib - over size laundry basket, you mean?
stroller (that was a big ol' NOPE for my kid. He screamed like it was torture and it collected dust in our garage)
bottles and most bottle accessories -- i shouldn't have bothered to register for that stuff. It never got used
those hand mitt rattles that velcro onto straps on hands and feet
a car seat mirror -- that's a safety issue. it can become detached in the car in an accident, same with those suction cup window shades.
shopping cart cover (yeah, once my kid would sit in there, I didn't really care if he picked up germs)
"fancy" clothes for a newborn boy. Once I had a baby, I couldn't imagine putting my him in anything that had uncomfortable looking seams or scratchy fabrics. No denim, khaki or anything like that. We had him in onesies and jumpers most of the time.
this time around, if I had a registry, i'd have a nursing necklace (to try to discourage twiddling), more nursing tanks. I honestly can't think of much else I really, truly want or need.
post #12 of 36
I decorated a beautiful nursery for my daughter... I realize that was really more my type A personality and this was mainly for me. However she did love her room and we have used every single thing in it! I loved my baby monitor because I could go work in the yard while she napped or lay out by the pool and read. I think necessity is subjective. My lifestyle, house arrangements, region of the country and income will substantially change what I find "cant live without" vs another person. I spend alot of my time at various family members so a pack and play was indispensable for me! Most of my baby gear I am reusing for this baby and I am finding I just need to replace blue for all the pink I have for my daughter. However I am decorating another nursery for the new baby and very very excited about it!
However I totally second wipe warmers being freaking useless and I look at them as a fire hazard. Also I hate those baby mitten like one of the previous posters said they make me incredibly sad for the baby!
post #13 of 36
All of it. I am so not a 'gear' person! Of course we have some baby related things, and the best ones were saved by other mamas (because they found them to be super useful) and passed on to us. The things we saved after our first son grew out of them: nursing pillow, diapers/clothes, Bumbo, wooden rattles and shakers, blankets, and carriers (wrap, ring sling, Ergo, and frame-pack). Now DS2 is beginning to enjoy the 'gear' (he's just 2mos)! We just bought a pacifier for this guy to keep people from putting things in his mouth (mostly dirty fingers), but so far it's a no go and it is making me feel like a dummy for buying it at all. :eyesroll
post #14 of 36
I only like to have a carrier, bunch of cute cloth diapers, and.... a heavy duty stroller to push through the snow, put the grocery shopping in the rack underneath, and since it gets me on and off the city bus for free :)
and of course a few easy on/easy off comfy soft cotton clothes for baby- but only a precious few, in tiny sizes since my huge kids jump up to twenty pounds within 15 weeks and skip through the infant sizes fast
post #15 of 36
To the poster mentioning naps...our son loved to nap on the floor on his tummy during that stage. We figured this out because he would fall asleep during tummy time. Put a pacifier in his mouth and be quiet, and he would sleep 2 plus hours there. Obviously supervise, no soft blankets.
That said, I had intentions of being minimalistic, and found that most things made my life sooo much better or easier that they merited the cost and the space they took up. Like a glider for nursing! I finally for one when he was 8 weeks. The bouncy seat enabled me to supervise him while showering. The sassy brand floor gym was great when I needed to set him down for myself to potty, but he was not in a tummy time mood.
We had him in his crib in our room from day 1, so no pack in play or bassinet. A bouncy seat Witt a handle is useful, but he also loved his fisher price 30 dollar one with no handle. Strollers that are heavy duty are great to get some exercise for yourself. You can only go so fast with an ergo carrier. Getting outdoors is importsnt
post #16 of 36
I'm about to be a first time mom, but I have 6 nieces so it's not like I don't have experience with babies.
With all of them, I found that changing tables were only good for storing stuff. I could just have shelves for storing my sons stuff instead of a changing table taking up room.
Wiper warmers are stupid too. I know this sounds a little mean, but I loved the faces the girls made when I wiped their butts with a cold wipe. Made me laugh.
Baby combs, none of my nieces had hair when they were born and didn't start really growing hair till they were well over a year old. I might need one though, because from all my ultrasounds, this little boy already has a ton of hair.
Baby towels. We already have a full set of towels at home that are soft so I don't see the point in using special towels.
post #17 of 36
I really never got the point of baby towels. We used hand towels when she was itty bitty and then used regular-sized towels from there. We didn't have a changing table, but put a changing pad on top of a dresser, which has worked well.
I think a lot of it is down to what works for you and your baby. I suppose, though, if you come from a giant family that likes to buy a ton of presents, you might as well register for everything and get rid of what you don't use. :eyesroll
Our daughter had hip dysplasia too, but we never had trouble with carriers. We used a Mei Tai when she was in the hip harness and it worked great.
post #18 of 36
If you have or get back pain, changing your baby on a bed might make your back worse. I had a changing pad on our bathroom countertop, but just swaddling him on the bed killed my back, because it's slightly lower than the tables. greensad.gif the floor is good when they are bigger. We ended up putting his changing pad on a dresser in his room. I will say, I'm glad he is in his own room now. Hubby sleeps better and our bond as a couple is better, because sometimes the minutes before we fall asleep are the only alone time we get, which is fine. I am getting way off topic though, sorry!!!! It's just that I actually wish I would have been more prepared, not less smile.gif I wish his nursery would have been done before he came, and it wasn't.
Never spend a lot on anything, because you will need things you neeeeeever thought you'd need, and of course some things won't get as much use as you thought. Luckily I don't have too many regrets wih actual purchases, except the ergo infant insert, but that was cheaper. If you live in a city that has it, go to a boutique that lets you try a bunch of carriers with your actual baby. Places that have mommy and me classes and an attached store generally do that. These are the same places that generally rent breast pumps.
post #19 of 36
Great rant! I just recall with my first how much stuff i actually thought was just SO CRUCIAL ...and having to laugh now....with my third - we were in a small apartment and on a budget - no swing, no crib, no high chair....i bought a used Arms Reach co - sleeper and then re-sold it on Craigs List for 10$ less than what i paid for it.....got a changing table for free - ended up liking that purchase - although it was in our living room for about a year.....I think my MUST HAVES were a ring sling , the co- sleeper, and this is a weird one ....but waterproof pads - i had a HB so i made them for that - like terry cloth, flannel and PUL layered together - about 30X30 or so....we used them for sponge baths - for tummy time - to protect whatever mattress baby was sleeping on at the time....i still find uses for them
My two older kids - (in high school when # 3 came along) opened up a bouncy seat we had received as a gift and put it all together and were SO excited about it - i told them to put it back in the box so i could take it back in exchange for clothes or diapers! They called me scrooge and talked me out of it....sure enough he was in that thing like twice! - i wound up selling that on CL too!
Did anyone see the movie 'Babies" ? it was a documentary type film - came out i think in 2010 tracked 4 babies born in 4 different parts of teh world thru their first year - i remember seeing this African woman holding her little naked baby and then cleaning his little butt off by sliding him along her knee - lol - she was pretty thorough with him! then she took a dried out corn cob and scrubbed the baby poop off of her knee....lol - thats the last time i remember thinking about wipes warmers! lol
post #20 of 36
Some dear friends of ours had their first baby at the same time we had our third. I went to her baby shower and gifted her a boppy as my "essential". But I had to chuckle at the rest of the items she registered for. How are carseat strap covers a need? All I could think off was one more thing I would have to wash and keep track of. After 3 babies, and having #2 when we were low-income, there are very few things we think are essential anymore. Even though we are financially much better off with #3 we still don't have nearly the baby gear that most of our friends and neighbors have.
New Posts All Forums:Forum Nav:
Return Home
Back to Forum: Life With a Baby | http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1392139/must-have-baby-gear-you-hate | dclm-gs1-063910000 |
0.112448 | <urn:uuid:c745d92c-66f6-407a-aa76-0bd2e77641c6> | en | 0.828805 | lakers unofficial
1885.6 #57 (DL Qual #181
Jun 23, 2012 12:32 PM Disneyland Real-Time Land
*Glow with The Show News* Spoke to a very informative CM named Joseph and he gave me a spiel about the ears and AP merchandise. The ears work by receiving wavelengths from various attractions. They will automatically shut off in Dark Attractions such as Haunted Mansion. They so far work with World of Color, Carsland and Mad T Party. For example- When you're by the Cozy Cone they should turn Orange. They are also working on making them coordinate with Fantasmic and Fireworks! You can also purchase the hat, pin, and lanyard if you are an Annual Passholder- you cannot buy the pin/lanyard separately. The bundle is 40 and you can use your AP discount :)
Thanks for the info! Just another tip is that we cannot embroider names on this hat because there's electronics in the hat. - BaseballMickey_CM 5091.8 #12 12:38PM
Liked so people see your comment - MayBie 1885.6 #57 12:41PM
Thanks for the info, I was wondering this. - Sarafina 416.6 #426 12:53PM
It works at Luigis, Flo's and Mad T Party too. When you pass by Luigis they sync up and go from red to white to green. I hear at T Party they blink to the beats. Dave told me last night that they sync up when you are in Flo's too. - Sandcar13 1365.4 #79 12:43PM
Yes. This is all true. Very cool tech. - BCC 4750.0 #14 12:45PM
Thought of by someone in our very own tech services department. - BCC 4750.0 #14 12:46PM
Judy told me about this the other night, i thought it was awesome. - chris. 2508.9 #35 2:21PM
^yuup! So awesome! - iPoca. 915.2 #139 2:30PM
I just stare at them while at Carsland. They are amazing. I can't wait to get mine at the AP event. :) - Sandcar13 1365.4 #79 5:19PM
I had fun desynching my pair so I was the only one who's ears weren't matching everyone else's pairs when standing around at T Party. Don't worry if you figure out how to do it, they resynch if you go to another show or attraction putting out a signal. I also figured out how to turn them off manually by holding down a button on the ears. - CM_Shadowgamer 2228.9 #41 2:35PM
Ok shawdogamer I like how you "figured it out" when it was me who turned mine off and you going "how did you do that" lol I come out of love bro. - DarksidePooh 219.8 #1552 9:06PM
I would get it, but I can't see the lights if I use it. - BCC 4750.0 #14 12:38PM
That's so cool. Thanks for the info. - Veronica21 167.9 #2222 12:39PM
That's awesome. It's sort of like the interactive Mickey we got at WDW. As you went thru various areas of the parks he would tell you info/facts about attractions and lands. - shodge12 306.7 #720 12:39PM
I love the interactive Mickey! I still have it from out trip 6 years ago =) - LBChica 1919.6 #55 12:45PM
*our - LBChica 1919.6 #55 12:45PM
Thanks I can now get somefor the kids. We saw a pair in action and loved them. - MeridasHair 346.5 #561 12:40PM
these are really cool! I was jealous of the few I saw the other night, and now hearing that it interacts with so many different things I just wonder why Disney didn't have them before now! - Sarafina 416.6 #426 12:41PM
This is soo cool ... Dreams do come true!!! - WaltSentMe 321.5 #656 12:47PM
Thats awesome! Thanks for the info - LoneRAYnger 3938.5 #20 12:47PM
does any one know how long the hats will be on sale for? - twistedprincess13 142.9 #2603 12:52PM
Anyone know how long the deal for AP's will last? I want to get the lanyard and pin but won't be there for another 3 weeks. Hopefully they'll still have the deal then. - PiecesOf8 575.5 #256 12:53PM
I take it by the fact that there is an AP discount, that those of us that do not have an AP (I know, hard to believe our kind exist) can purchase this package? - SorcererBHhaha 409.0 #437 12:56PM
The pin and lanyard are only for Annual Passholders. The hat can be bought by anyone. - MayBie 1885.6 #57 12:59PM
Just to reiterate- You can only get the pin and lanyard if you buy the package. If you are going to the Glow With the Show event you cannot get the free hat and then buy the pin/lanyard by itself later on. - MayBie 1885.6 #57 1:03PM
Are they still saying there is a chance of not getting complimentary ears? - KissDclown 1089.2 #108 9:35PM
Do the pin and lanyard glow too? - Gabster1 336.3 #592 1:18PM
Where can I buy this bundle? I am an AP. - Scrumpy_N_PansShadow 36.3 #4640 1:19PM
Most of the stores should carry them. I went to the store on the pier by the Little Mermaid attraction. - MayBie 1885.6 #57 1:23PM
Thank you! Do you happen to know when they will stop selling them? - Scrumpy_N_PansShadow 36.3 #4640 1:24PM
There's not an edition size on the pin...let me try to find someone - MayBie 1885.6 #57 1:37PM
I bought the pack about a week and half ago ... Pin and landyard do not glow and have the same print design as the hat ... After the AP discount my total was about $33 - AStarOnMars 31.7 #4882 1:24PM
So if I read this correctly, there really isn't a discount, since the items cannot be purchased without an AP. - SorcererBHhaha 409.0 #437 3:08PM
Well there is a discount because each AP has a different discount percent. So Premium will pay less than a SoCal pass - KylaShea 604.4 #242 5:57PM
Kshea, thank you for that explanation. - SorcererBHhaha 409.0 #437 7:11PM
Thanks sooo much I was wonder this. Such help :) - minniel0ver™ 210.6 #1678 2:02PM
Yay! Thanks for all the info! I'm so excited for this coming weekend, I can't wait! - pintsize 289.5 #824 2:11PM
If I buy them how long do they last (battery wise)? Also, if they run on batteries can I replace them? Or is that it?? - MisFit.Mouse 464.2 #355 2:21PM
They take AAA batteries so yes, replaceable energy source. You can also turn them off by pressing a button on one of the ears. - CM_Shadowgamer 2228.9 #41 2:30PM
Oh ok thank you for letting me know! I'm more excited now for Thursday!! - MisFit.Mouse 464.2 #355 3:50PM
This is so amazing!! My husband got super excited when I read this out loud to him :) - MrsDisneyMommy29 279.9 #888 2:25PM
Haha mine did too! - pintsize 289.5 #824 2:26PM
I just did that right now too. It's amazing how it works. - Vegan7LuvsStitch 988.4 #130 7:01PM
I am so stoked to get these when I come on Tuesday! Do they have them all over the parks? Or just specific stores? - MrLeeFromDisney 261.0 #1075 3:01PM
Only certain ones - MayBie 1885.6 #57 3:34PM
I have to get them !!! Thanks for sharing ! I hope u have a great day :) - cat123 40.9 #4440 3:16PM
That is soooo cool! - WishIWereThere 229.2 #1438 5:24PM
That is awesome! - DisneyVacationLover 336.7 #590 5:28PM
Do these work everytime u come tp the lets say u purchase them.....then you take them home....then return the next week wearing tey still work? - jeditonykenobi 8.1 #9662 7:15PM
Going off of what Shadowgamer said about synching, if you hit another hat with your hat they will synch up. - MayBie 1885.6 #57 5:53PM
Ah, good info! Thank you. I thought they were all gone. will have to hunt them down when I get there 2moro!!! - PrincessLani 110.7 #3123 5:57PM
For those wondering how to desynch them, here's a clue. They work just like the glow cubes in the digitini and other drinks. - CM_Shadowgamer 2228.9 #41 6:41PM
So...magic?;-)😂😂 - SueBayou 2019.4 #50 6:45PM
Pixie dust (not the Nyghtngale wall destroying kind) - CM_Shadowgamer 2228.9 #41 6:48PM
Do do they synch automatically when you turn them on or do you have to turn it on and then fiddle with it? - dznylovr 229.2 #1439 6:54PM
He said when it turns on it has to warm up a little bit but it shouldn't take too long. - MayBie 1885.6 #57 7:09PM
OOOH! Ok thanks. :) - dznylovr 229.2 #1439 10:32PM
Hoping they have all that in Oct! Can't wait to buy these goodies. Thank you for the info - hippoluver 278.2 #902 6:58PM
I am not an ap holder. Is it still possible to get the hat? I so want one. - fromthejaw 252.1 #1163 7:07PM
Yup anyone can buy the hat - MayBie 1885.6 #57 7:15PM
Anyone can buy one. But the hat lanyard combo is only available for APs. - SueBayou 2019.4 #50 7:16PM
good intel. A glowing report! - MelodyMouse 2119.1 #46 7:13PM
Thanks so much for this info! 👍 - MinnieMousewife 711.3 #191 9:03PM
When and where are they having them available? - FaithTrustandPixieDust 12.8 #7393 10:29PM
So then will passholders only get the hat for the AP event or will they also get the lanyard and pin as well? - jonagurcia 264.6 #1040 10:48PM
Just the ears - Villescas8 599.7 #247 10:51PM
No. the only way to get the pin/lanyard is to get the combo - MayBie 1885.6 #57 10:52PM
NOOOOOOO!!!!!! DX Do you think that they might sell them separately those nights if you show your wristband(he asks hopefully)? - jonagurcia 264.6 #1040 10:54PM
Probably not - Villescas8 599.7 #247 10:56PM
Do you know any annual passholders @jonagarcia can slate pay them to buy it - MayBie 1885.6 #57 11:45PM
*always pay them - MayBie 1885.6 #57 11:45PM
Is this a special event or will it be open to the general public. I'd love those ears when I go in november but I'm not an annual pass holder. - TrueFromOzLovesDisney 388.0 #465 11:09PM
@jacs1234 the ears are available for purchase by anyone. you can find them at the first giftshop on the left when you enter DCA the past few days there have been CM's with a whole set up for the ears as a way to teach park goers and get them to buy the cool new thing. to let you know how few people are getting them for free, the cm I spoke to did not even know about the glow with the show AP event. so don't worry they'll be there in November. - howdyhowdyhowdy 97.9 #3319 2:47AM
Thank you! - Admin 5:04PM
Got it! More than halfway thru it! It's a lot of fun!!!👍👍✨✨ - TinkerSchelle 963.7 #131 10:53PM
Thank you! - Admin 3:41PM
Thank you MeridaFan ! - Admin 12:27PM
Here are the Top 10 MouseWaiters of All-Time:
1. Coaster
2. Dave
3. Plumiegirl
4. Bullseye
5. Sonja
6. uscdisneyteacher
7. CobbPR
8. Tom
9. jacdanfan
10. goofygal
Coaster! - debbiev 546.4 #277 11:06PM
Forgot this one! - debbiev 546.4 #277 11:55PM
1. MelodyMouse
3. 2princessdad
4. robmurow
5. sawman911
6. jacdanfan
7. goofydad909
8. Coaster
9. foundpluto
10. goofygal
Can't wait! - sawman911 525.3 #297 6:30PM
Sounds fun!! - HappyPrincess 21.4 #5765 10:48AM
Big Thunder Mountain to reopen March 17
Indiana Jones will be closed Mar 17-May 8
Club 33: Reopens July 1st
Space Mountain will be closed May 12-Jun 26:
Pirates of the Caribbean will be closed April 28-May 22
LOL - robmurow 2563.5 #33 11:54PM
😂😂😂😂 - goofymom2boys 1322.8 #81 8:33PM
1. MeridaFan
2. robmurow
3. MelodyMouse
4. apesandmonkeys
5. goofydad909
6. uscdisneyteacher
8. 2princessdad
9. Plumiegirl
10. antetr95
That'll only last for this week, on my end 😜 - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 11:37PM
Awe 😉 - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 9:51PM
1. developer
2. MeridaFan
3. secretagentangel
5. apesandmonkeys
6. MinnieMyLove
7. Atora
8. debbiev
9. luxkitty
10. snowwannab
Lol - robmurow 2563.5 #33 4:03PM
Me too! hahahaha - luxkitty 565.3 #262 8:34PM
The dolls! 👀 - missariel33 1058.9 #116 8:01PM
I spend too much $$ on Disney purses. luxkitty can you relate? Lol - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 9:43PM
Yep @apesandmonkeys lol - luxkitty 565.3 #262 5:01PM
Hahahaha I'm on this list now? 😱 - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 5:24PM
WOW thanks! - HiddenMickeyFanatic 1006.2 #128 4:50PM
No - MrsSchnooks 2478.5 #36 7:50PM
Here are the top 10 News Contributors:
1. BaseballMickey_CM
2. Stitch_Legacy
3. RickChavez
4. ScooterMike
5. SPandEvLover
6. IDVandalSkipperCM
7. caramiapoohAKAface
8. JustCantWait
9. Dave
10. Duchess_SMK
Seriously, thank you so much! Being that we can only afford to go a couple times a year, this helps keep my Disneyland "craving" in balance - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 3:47PM
1. Lolabell4
2. MeridaFan
3. Zendurella
4. Atora
5. sawman911
6. MandyPooh
7. Shameekz
8. Pudgeman
9. Dolewhipped
10. Philliprocks
Hahahaha! - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 6:51PM
I will play whoever! Odds are in everyone else's favor 😜 - apesandmonkeys 270.9 #977 6:52PM
Thanked by: Ray1man 25.3 #5353
1. CobbPR
2. uscdisneyteacher
3. MrMOMzers
4. Stitch_Legacy
5. BaseballMickey_CM
6. Duchess_SMK
7. Dave
8. LoneRAYnger
9. Plumiegirl
10. Sweet_Irish_Cream
Them is fighting words - Philliprocks 580.5 #253 1:57PM
Get your Limited Edition MouseWait Charger from Juno Labs!
😂😂😂 - PrincessDuckie 695.5 #197 4:54PM
TWSS - dumbbunny 561.0 #267 4:18AM
Test - Admin 2:00PM
Thanks for ordering from Juno! - Admin 7:12PM
Your Donations Help Us Make MouseWait Better!
TOP MWs of the WEEK
1.MeridaFan 201 #30
2.apesandmonkeys 136 #997
3.goofydad909 133 #91
4.2princessdad 131 #66
5.WARLOCK 94 #67
8.Duchess_SMK 69 #13
7.Plumiegirl 71 #3
6.jacdanfan 80 #9
9.uscdisneyteacher 65 #6
10.goofygal 65 #11
Best of Week
A personal favorite is the beautifully hand crafted music box
music box
Took this next part directly from Disney Parks Blog:
CPG original
websites referenced:
Best of Month
overweight lady chase
rolling pin
pooped pirate
before and after
websites referenced:
By UsernameBy Keyword
See what's happening LIVE at Disneyland! | http://www.mousewait.com/disneyland/lands-talk/381285/Glow-with-The-Show-News-Spoke-to-a | dclm-gs1-063930000 |
0.024462 | <urn:uuid:9e543ffd-b823-4164-9193-865977ae96b7> | en | 0.765231 | Skip to main content
Photo 2 of 5
alt text
EVILAndreas Wilson and company in Mikael Hafstrom film about a young man's life that is tainted by violence and conflict.
UPLOADED ON 2008-02-15 23:04:57 PHOTO BY Magnolia Pictures
Netflix - Try for Free
Mystery Movie Mistakes: 7 Crime-Worthy Blunders (PHOTOS)
Comedy Movie Mistakes: 24 Goofs From Funny Flicks (PHOTOS)
Oscar Movie Mistakes: 9 Best Picture Blunders (PHOTOS)
Disaster Movie Mistakes: 7 Catastrophic Blunders (PHOTOS)
Stay Connected with Moviefone
My Settings
You are currently subscribed as: {email}
Weekly Newsletter
Daily alerts
You're not following any movies.
These are the movies you’re currently following.
Update settings | http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/andreas-wilson/2104209/photos/2 | dclm-gs1-063940000 |
0.124697 | <urn:uuid:853df658-3d17-4ecb-8ac5-1843a9988e99> | en | 0.983015 |
To sabotage my perfect stepson...
(118 Posts)
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 17:14:24
Out of an act of love?
DSS is 16, we have a close and loving relationship, but this doesn't change the fact that he is annoyingly perfect. He is physically gorgeous, talented at art, sport and music, is intellectually genius and surrounds himself with friends as equally good as himself. If I didn't know any better I would swear he was one of those robot kids from A.I.
But,unfortunately, all his natural talents, combined with a strong sense of ambition has turned him into an extreme perfectionist. I'm not talking the ' I spend a little bit extra on things' perfectionist, I'm talking the ' I spelt a word wrong, so I'm going to rub out the whole sentence and do it again' type.
But over the last couple of days his been moping around the house and stressing out, as he got a 87 on a test, and he has never before gotten anything below 90. Yes, you read that right, never anything under 90. They might have well given the poor kid a 0 the way his acting, like the whole worlds going to end.
And I've come to two conclusions; The kid doesn't know how to fail and this behavior can't be healthy.
I tried to approach DH about this last night, but he doesn't seem concerned. DH, bless him, is in no way a pushy parent, but if DSS decided tomorrow to join the circus, DH would stop at nothing and no expense, to see him the lead clown in circus soleil. He's a big believer in reaching your full potential, and not doing things half assed, not seeing in this case he may be doing more harm than good.
So I came up with an evil plan, to start sabotaging DSS work (Not his school work or anything serious obviously, but just things he does for extra curricular activities, ect) every now and then, so he becomes more accustomed to the feeling of failure (or his version of failure, average) and doesn't have a panic attack, like he is right now, every time something even remotely close to failure occurs, because as I've told him many times in the past, he won't go through life without failing and will have to get used to it sooner or later.
So, am I being unreasonable?
* I know I've taken on a joking tone here, mainly because as a long time user (under different name) I know anything involving stepfamiles is a sore subject, but this is a serious issue, I really believe this behavior is unhealthy, and any serious advice would be appreciated.
AnyFucker Fri 19-Apr-13 17:16:51
Serious advice ?
Stop talking like a loon
youmaycallmeSSP Fri 19-Apr-13 17:16:54
Erm yes, YWBU to sabotage any of your DSS' work. That would completely wreck the trust in your relationship.
What the hell? Help him cope with failure- yes. Make him feel bad and purposely make him fail? YABU.
fuzzywuzzy Fri 19-Apr-13 17:18:51
Depends on what you want to sabotage, it could end very badly...for you. It could ruin your relationship with DSS your DH and your Dh's EW.
Do you really want to risk that?
valiumredhead Fri 19-Apr-13 17:19:08
OMG you nutter, are you serious? Let it happen naturally and let him deal with it himself!
quoteunquote Fri 19-Apr-13 17:19:45
Take him climbing and he can learn about personal challenges.
Have you told him you think it's a problem?
HollyBerryBush Fri 19-Apr-13 17:19:54
Is the Friday night goat thread?
gymboywalton Fri 19-Apr-13 17:20:29
it would be entirely unreasonable ad would wreck your relationship with him and would damage your relationship with your husband. don't do it.
SoupDragon Fri 19-Apr-13 17:20:46
YABU and exceptionally nasty.
MyChemicalMummy Fri 19-Apr-13 17:22:29
Yep, I agree you sound like a total nutter. How would you like it done to you?
greenteawithlemon Fri 19-Apr-13 17:23:03
Just talk to him about how you can grow and improve from failures. How everyone has to fail before they can succeed.
cocolepew Fri 19-Apr-13 17:25:05
Don't be ridiculous, that's just cruel.
Lucyellensmum95 Fri 19-Apr-13 17:25:43
its envy this, isn't it?
Lovecat Fri 19-Apr-13 17:28:22
Get him to watch this and see if it sinks in - FGS don't sabotage him you utter loon !
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 17:28:37
Okay, so not my brightest idea ever, and don't fear, I haven't thrown his sketch books in the fire yet ( and not planning to)
But seriously, how do I approach this? Getting so worked up that I had to drag him to the cinemas to get his mind off the failure of an 87 score cannot be healthy.
EarlyInTheMorning Fri 19-Apr-13 17:28:41
Really? And you think that's going to help him? What's wrong with you?!
AvonCallingBarksdale Fri 19-Apr-13 17:29:13
Ummmm, Yes, you would be very, very unreasonable to "sabotage your perfect SS". Very strange avenue to pursue, tbh confused You can talk to him about his perfectionist leanings, explain that you'll support him whatever and that everyone fails sometimes and life goes on. But to deliberately sabotage is really, really unfair and unpleasant.
AvonCallingBarksdale Fri 19-Apr-13 17:29:59
and will definitely damage your relationship.
Obviously you can't do it.
I do agree that he is likely to suffer with increased anxiety unless he starts to cope with failure. Rubbing out an entire sentence concerns me.
How about going bowling or ice skating and teaching him how to cope gently with 'failing'.
greenteawithlemon Fri 19-Apr-13 17:32:25
Just leave it alone! You don't need to 'do' anything.
Just be supportive and easygoing about it, and praise him for effort, not achievement.
JamieandtheMagicTorch Fri 19-Apr-13 17:33:24
What you are talking about is sort of like systematic desensitisation, and it makes sense...... I know you are joking.
It is a frustrating thing to watch. I was a perfectionist and one of my DCs has tendencies. Unfortunately, you just have to let them get on with it and be there for the fallout when they do, inevitably, eventually stuff up.
Dawndonna Fri 19-Apr-13 17:33:58
You sit him down and you talk to him about it. You don't sabotage anything. You don't need to take him to cinemas to take his mind off it.
Trust me, I have a dh like this. He once got a first for an essay instead of a starred first. Fuck you'd have thought we were under nuclear attack. However, I sat him down, we talked. He still doesn't like it, but he copes.
super weird!
aside from that - i like the climbing idea.
wth? who on earth even thinks about doing that? leave him be. he's fine. there's nothing wrong with him!
you on the other hand... hmm
JamieandtheMagicTorch Fri 19-Apr-13 17:37:11
I agree with the idea of doing something fun, but difficult! Like climbing.
Tell him that you simply cannot learn without failing.
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 17:37:28
greentea But it's not the achievement that bothers me, it's the effort. In the past I've literally had to take a pencil away from him and given him a pen, after he rubbed out and than rewrote the same sentence eight times because he had couldn't figure out how to spell a word.
Surely that needs some attending towards?
pictish Fri 19-Apr-13 17:37:48
You think sabotaging his schoolwork will help?
How odd.
He is a teenager, and is no doubt overreacting in an adolescent angsty way over his score.
You are a grown up - leave him alone!
climbing is fucking difficult. it taught me a few lessons.
when you're hanging on an overhang freaking out shouting 'i can't' you have to get your shit together pretty quickly and accept that yes you can because you bloody well have to princess because there's no other way round this grin
JamieandtheMagicTorch Fri 19-Apr-13 17:39:02
He does sound pretty anxious/ obsessional
MooneyRara Fri 19-Apr-13 17:39:48
You sound completely MENTAL. HTH
MooneyRara Fri 19-Apr-13 17:41:02
'Surely that needs some attending towards?'
If he has some tendencies towards OCD then yes he needs help. Not some fucking lunatic fucking around with his work.
TeddyBare Fri 19-Apr-13 17:41:37
I'm guessing the final paragraph means we were supposed to know the sabotaging was a joke. It definitely sounds like he is struggling with failing but I think it should be his dad who talks to him about it.
HollyBerryBush Fri 19-Apr-13 17:42:15
I don't know why you don't just leave his parents to manage him and his expectations. Not really your place is it?
And yes, I await the flaming for that.
JamieandtheMagicTorch Fri 19-Apr-13 17:42:28
I am much happier since i became a tiny bit half arsed.
But my perfectionism returned recently overr DS1 s homework until i gave myself a good talking too. His pragmatic laziness is quite admirable
MooneyRara Fri 19-Apr-13 17:42:46
joking tone does not = joking content
JamieandtheMagicTorch Fri 19-Apr-13 17:42:57
To, not too
You see?
IAmNotAMindReader Fri 19-Apr-13 17:44:48
I understand you are worried about him and it does sound like this is heading into some kind of issue he will need conselling with.
Perhaps that is what he needs instead of actual sabotage is to explore the idea of failure and how it would feel versus the actual probal outcome. Counselling would help him with that if you and your Dh get nowhere.
Also others seem to be suggesting climbing so maybe there's something to that too.
ThePavlovianCat Fri 19-Apr-13 17:45:43
I think you are trying to make the point that it is important for people to know that failing isn't the end of the world but that your stepson isn't currently learning that because he is such a high achiever. That could potentially be a problem later on at university or when he gets a job - particularly if he is used to coming near the top and suddenly finds at university that most people there are very good.
I don't think sabotage is the right way forward (but I suspect you know that and were joking). Maybe you need to find things that he doesn't find intuitively easy so that it takes him more effort to succeed at them and maybe has a stumble along the way. Or find activities for him where it's not win or lose but done for the joy of it. I was going to suggest something like running but it would probably turn into trying to get PBs and such like.
I think you have been harshly jumped on here - the joys of AIBU!
IAmNotAMindReader Fri 19-Apr-13 17:46:47
*counselling and probabal.
I can spell, however I don't seem to be able to get my fingers to get their act together and co-ordinate on the keyboard.
MooneyRara Fri 19-Apr-13 17:47:08
I think it would be helpful if the op would kindly clarify if she is serious or not.
my son has a stepmum - I would want to kill her if she did this to him.
IAmNotAMindReader Fri 19-Apr-13 17:47:46
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 17:49:20
You can put down the knife - I'm not serious (anymore...)
countrykitten Fri 19-Apr-13 17:50:47
I work with very high achieving teenagers and I do understand where the OP is coming from. The pressure these kids put on themselves is huge and failure is not an option for them.
However - sabotage is not the way to deal with it! Speak to his school who will no doubt we aware of his issues and then let them deal with the work side of things as they are experts and know what they are doing. His extra curricular activities are his pleasure in life surely? Why on earth would you want to spoil that for him?
I do not think that you repeatedly telling him that he will fail in life at some point is helpful at all btw - you will be making him anxious and reinforcing his behaviour. I would not do anything at all without your DH's knowing about it - tension in the household will not help.
At home could try a new sport or hobby together as a family which will have ups and downs and will be a learning curve for all - he can then screw up/fall off/go wrong whatever in supportive and caring environment.
MooneyRara Fri 19-Apr-13 17:52:11
Oh ok.
Are you quite wise?
He will learn in his own time.
For goodness sake, try being proud of him and praising him for his achievements.
monsterchild Fri 19-Apr-13 17:57:27
Sabotage isn't the way forward, how about taking him to meet some very successful non-perfect people? I could see him being surprised that sucessful people aren't always perfect at what they do.
As much as I enjoy climbing, I don't think it will show him how to be laid back, it will totally reinforce the obsessive detaily-ness that he exhibits. He will certainly meet more laid back people, but in traditional climbing you MUST be extremely careful because your life depends on the placement of your pro. Sport climbing, not so much.
Suzieismyname Fri 19-Apr-13 17:57:45
I think you have the best of intentions but just tread carefully...
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 17:59:01
Countrykitten The new sport thing wouldn't work with DSS, he has no problem failing at a sport at first, but he will then do it obsessively into he has perfected it, even if he doesn't actually like what his doing. Determined little bugger he is. But then the fear of failure and not being the best sets in and it all goes to shit.
mrsjay Fri 19-Apr-13 18:02:04
what are you talking about serious;y what UABVU AND a utterly WEIRD
Schmoozer Fri 19-Apr-13 18:04:27
Read up on clinical perfection if u wish to help
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 18:12:03
So I guess I should start looking into counselling and rock climbing lessons for DSS?
Thanks MN, you have once again talked me out of some very stilly and immature.
Jesus wept. Counselling. Because he's bright and clever and handsome and funny and TOO GOOD AT STUFF.
Now I really have heard it all.
orangeandlemons Fri 19-Apr-13 18:18:23
Wish my ds had had this problem at 16grin. He was more inclined the other way ifkwim
Dededum Fri 19-Apr-13 18:21:25
Your DSS may just be one of those people who is good at everything he does because of his natural talents and determination. I know a few. Lucky him and you, there are tougher challenges out there for both of you.
Don't think enforcing failure is the answer, but maybe encouragement to see things from another point of view. Volunteering in the local community, tutoring a younger kid, maybe a holiday to a more deprived part of the world. Encouraging more emotional intelligence quotients, means you don't concentrate so much on the self
I am like your DSS. There isn't really anything anyone could have done about it tbh. It is just my basic personality type.
One thing that has helped me as I have got older is the realisation that I can't be 'best' at everything at least not simulataneously - there just isn't enough time to put in! Now I have 2 or 3 things that I strive to be best at and make sure that I have other things that I do where I am not best (or even particularly good!)
Of course there are inevitably occasions when I don't do something as well as I want to at something important to me. But as you get older you realise that this is inevitable and the only way you get to be at the top is to keep going through the setbacks and learn how to do better next time.
He could also try meditation if you think he would go for it. It's great for calming a hypercritical mind
tatletale Fri 19-Apr-13 18:28:12
I read it as the problem is that Ops DSS was to devoted at being too good at everything, and then can't handle it and panics when he's not?
If so, I agree, it won't hurt to get it checked out as that's not a normal, healthy coping strategy.
On a side night: Have the SM head hunters taken the night off? I've never seen a SF thread so devoid of abuse and insults! Amazing!
DontmindifIdo Fri 19-Apr-13 18:28:59
OP - this trait is not a bad thing. Schools like Westminster deliberately teach this way of thinking (ie. getting an A* at GCSE is not good enough if it's less than a certain % so they make them retake the next year anyway).
Most people don't care enough, so long as they've passed it's ok, so they don't fulfill their potential and then do "ok" and "ok" could be (like me before anyone starts having a go at me looking down on others) getting Bs at A level, getting a 2.2 from a red brick uni and getting the sort of job that doesn't change the world, but pays £15k over the average wage, so I think I'm doing 'ok'.
However, having mixed with the perfectionists, they are the ones who are earning six figure salaries by the time they are 30 and then going stellar, they are the ones who don't think "ok" is good enough and they push themselves to be the best - people who don't push themselves to be the best very rarely are the best.
And this will look odd, because few people are like this, but then few people earn £1m+, hate to say it, but some people are just better than others at stuff and harder working. He's hard working, talented, clever and good looking, he is going to be one of life's winners, stop trying to drag him down to mediocre like everyone else.
Dawndonna Fri 19-Apr-13 18:30:08
Alternatively because he's over reacting to something he shouldn't. A bit of counselling sounds like it may give him some perspective.
PregnantPain Fri 19-Apr-13 18:31:40
I can't even bring myself to type how much of a twat you sound oh wait
I have one like this. He learnt the hard way eventually and is still learning. I never ever even considered counselling for him. It's who he is, it's a part of his personality, just as much as his very bright but very lazy sibling.
Alibabaandthe40nappies Fri 19-Apr-13 18:33:08
He will learn, or maybe he won't need to?
He sounds a lot like my youngest brother, who currently at not yet 30 earns an obscene amount of money and has a lovely house and lifestyle.
Leave him alone.
Alibabaandthe40nappies Fri 19-Apr-13 18:34:47
OP perhaps you need to get some counselling for yourself, to deal with your jealousy issues?
formicaqueen Fri 19-Apr-13 18:36:18
let him try this app for the iplayer/phone.
Positivity with Andrew Johnson
The thing is, if he's capable of over 90 all the rest of the time, then he should be feeling bad and like he failed. Because to his standard, he did.
And I'd have told him that too if I felt he had slacked or not put in enough effort.
FreudiansSlipper Fri 19-Apr-13 18:37:40
what is wrong with the way he is
he will deal with it over time
DontmindifIdo Fri 19-Apr-13 18:38:23
Yep Alibabaandthe40nappies has a point - OP, do you see your DSS massively over achieving compared to you? It's easy to say someone had great opportunities, or were just naturally gifted, or probably just used an old boy network/family contacts etc to get where they are, but up close when you see it's just they worked harder than everyone else and made more of themselves, it's hard not so think "i could have done more with my life if I wasn't happy to do ok and didn't think failing now and then wasn't a big deal."
I recognise this worry. You clearly can't sabotage him, but I agree that you need to find something that can teach him that it's okay to fail.
I would be a bit angry with the school that he has got to 16 without someone addressing this, TBH. My DS is like this, and would always refuse to try things and/or hate the results because they didn't meet his expectations. I don't know how they have done it, but I could hug his art and DT teachers, as he has finally started coming home with age-appropriately imperfect projects which he is really pleased with. He is 10. He still puts way too much pressure on himself in academic work, though, but the school are aware and trying to teach him coping mechanisms, as are we.
To those ridiculing the worry - everyone meets something they can't excel at sometime. I would rather my DS learned to deal with that now rather than having a nervous breakdown when it hits him as an adult.
wonderingagain Fri 19-Apr-13 18:41:00
YANBU to be concerned about his anxiety. YABU about intervening in the way you suggest. You need to work on DH where all this stems from.
How is he with losing a board game?
Fiddlesticks8 Fri 19-Apr-13 18:41:02
yes it's weird, yes it's probably not preparing him for life and yes it's down right annoying with you as the stepmother and your DH not agreeing with you.
Take it from a 'wicked stepmother' you simply must do nothing, say nothing and tolerate it....try not to interfere as you 'll only get yourself wound up - go out and have some time away from father and son, you ll feel better.
Its so hard when issues come up with 'other people's children' as you feel that you have little control over it but you simply have to stand back and wait ... until you are asked for your help or your opinion.
Stay strong and go out for a few hours x
TalkativeJim Fri 19-Apr-13 18:41:17
The weirdness is strong in you, OP.
JustinBsMum Fri 19-Apr-13 18:41:28
My DCs (2 normally v laid back or even lazy, 1 harder working) were v stressed by the final year in their degree. DS developed psoriasis for the first time, all looked knackered.
I would try some counseling or just some info from a suitable self-help type book, about his over striving to be best, before he is left home and out of reach.
SwishSwoshSwoosh Fri 19-Apr-13 18:41:30
Have you asked him how he feels and why it matters so much?
I would just tell him you love him just as much whatever score, so long as he has tried, and then move on.
He needs to feel disappointment to learn to deal with it, so if this is the first time, it will be hard for him.
Floggingmolly Fri 19-Apr-13 18:42:31
Your DH very much is a pushy parent, I'm afraid.
badguider Fri 19-Apr-13 18:45:07
Does he avoid things he's not immediately good at? Is he stroppy and immature about learning new things that he can't do and others can?
If not, then I wouldn't worry about him, I'd say he's over-acheiving and not 'perfectionist'. Perfectionists cannot stand not being perfect at everything, and are a bloody nightmare to be around when things aren't going their way but if he's not like that then I wouldn't worry.
Who's to say he's wrong being dissappointed at his 87%? Maybe he made a silly mistake or didn't work for it and knew he could have done better? Fair enough I think.
Spikeytree Fri 19-Apr-13 18:53:32
If he is very bright and always achieves over 90 then 87 is a bad score for him and it isn't wrong for him to be disappointed. Hopefully he will channel that disappointment into making sure it doesn't happen again.
I have students for whom any grade at all is an achievement and others for whom anything other than A* is a disappointment.
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 19:06:33
Freddiemisagreatshag DH is very much like you, though he doesn't tell him that he failed, he asks him where he thinks he went wrong (this time he messed up a section on his Japanese test) and how DS thinks he can fix it next time. Who knows, maybe this is part of the problem.
DontmindifIdo I'm not jealous of DSS, I just don't want him to panic and freak out every time his score falls below 90, even on a test that doesn't count for anything. Like I've said, it is not the achievement that worries me, but the reaction if it's not what he hoped for and the effort that is put into things that he doesn't like or enjoy for the sake of being 'the best'
wonderingagain He can actually lose a board game. He is not a bad loser as such, more so he seems to see losing and failing as a reflection on himself, if that makes sense.
SwishSwoshSwoosh - I can ask three times a day and get three different answers. I'm not sure even he knows why he has to be perfect at everything. I'm the one in the family who tries to convince him that the world is not going to stop turning because he got a bad grade, but he doesn't listen.
badguider - Not at all. If he can't do something he will do it over and over again into he can do it to a high skill level, even if it's something he can't stand. If he can't do it, he has to learn how and he has to be great at it.
Oh I would say "let yourself down" "didn't do as well as you could have" "should have done better"
I said "like he failed" - and for him, he did.
In my house, anything less than 100% effort is not acceptable. Doesn't matter what the mark is, iyswim, but if you don't put in 100% effort then you're a slacker.
Good enough is not good enough.
I realise I am out of step with most of MN on this though grin
wonderingagain Fri 19-Apr-13 19:16:04
Perhaps you should both ignore his grades good or bad so that he considers that he is doing this for himself and no one else. It may put him in good stead for Uni too where he won't have Dad around with helpful suggestions. hmm
oneoclockblues Fri 19-Apr-13 19:23:07
But it's not just his grades. Anything he does outside of school - music, drawing, even keeping his room clean - have to be perfect. His pretty much that girl from black swan at this point.
CamomileHoneyVanilla Fri 19-Apr-13 19:29:16
Of course you shouldn't sabotage him. This is quite a good self-help book for perfectionism:
Lots of messages that he's loved/good enough/worth loads however he does would probably be helpful too.
YABU, but does he have OCD? An obsession with perfection is rather unhealthy. For me it set me up for quite worrying depression when I didn't achieve what I wanted and I had to let go of some control. Having very pushy parents made it worse as I felt I was letting them down by not meeting very high standards. In this case it sounds like he sets himself very high standards, possibly egged on by your DH.
wonderingagain Fri 19-Apr-13 19:32:54
I think you are right to be concerned as this could get out of hand.
Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. Second place is last place.
<shrugs> been there
Hippee Fri 19-Apr-13 20:06:20
I can see why you are concerned. When I went to Cambridge it was the children who had always been top of their class at school who struggled with finding that they were not top any more - sometimes quite seriously. I would talk to the school rather than try to engineer "controlled failure" and see whether they have any suggestions.
My point exactly, hippee.
Freddie I hope for your DC's sake that they remain beat at everything they do, forever, but I somehow doubt it, and that attitude is setting them up for a major fall.
Not that I disagree with the effort part, and for some DC (like my DD) you have to push to get them to make that effort, but with others, like my DS and the OP's DSS, they put that pressure on themselves, and you have to teach them to accept that effort doesn't always deliver perfect results.
Stealth - so far they're doing more than fine but thank you for your concern.
maddening Fri 19-Apr-13 22:56:34
Maybe look at coping strategies for obsessive behaviour?
aurynne Fri 19-Apr-13 23:16:24
Sabotaging his work would not teach him anything at all. It wouldn't be him filing, it would be someone sabotaging his work. And just by the way, someone he trusts and who is supposed to love him and respect him.
I have always been a perfectionist, I was that 16-year-old who would start a sketch from scratch if a line was not perfect. I still am, and I am now studying my second degree. I still get upset if I get less than a 90% in an exam or assignment. This trait of mine has meant I have been successful at most things in life and I have had choices that many other "not-perfectionists" now envy. Yes, I got more upset thank other people for things that for them are not important. But I also get less upset at other things that for me are not important and for other people seem to mean a lot.
If a family member of mine had sabotaged my work to make me realise what failure felt like... I can't even imagine how upset, angry and betrayed I would have felt. It would not have taught me anything. And whoever that person was, it would have completely destroyed my trust in that person. Knowing myself, I would probably never ever had spoken to that person again, and would always be distrustful of them.
I know what failure feels like, life gives you many chances of finding that out without the need for sabotage. But my perfectionism has been crucial in making me one of the happiest and most fulfilled persons not only in my family, but in my group of friends and acquaintances.
There is nothing wrong with your DSS. Perhaps it is you who could learn something from him?
Catmint Fri 19-Apr-13 23:30:19
I think you had just seized on the sabotage idea because you are worried and concerned for your stepson. I don't think you would actually have done it. It's not an uncommon way to try to think round a problem to consider the most extreme solution (which would solve the problem in theory but cause many more ) and then work back from there to something sensible.
Just wanted to balance out all the 'you loony' posts.
aurynne Fri 19-Apr-13 23:39:48
Catmint, as a perfectionist myself I can assure you that sabotage would have made the "problem" much worse.
And I can also tell you it is not a problem at all. It is a personality type, and a pretty successful one in the long term.
Buddhagirl Fri 19-Apr-13 23:48:41
Buy him a book on perfectionism or print off a self help guide off the Internet?
Talk about it with him. Help him reduce high standards, point out high standards make him miserable in the end.
Buddhagirl Fri 19-Apr-13 23:51:04
Buddhagirl Fri 19-Apr-13 23:52:45
Just to point out it can be a problem, it can lead to depression.
Quite why this is spread out over 3 posts I don't know!
ithaka Sat 20-Apr-13 00:02:09
Oh go on - make him fail - you know you want to.
Someone certainly needs counselling and it ain't the clever handsome teenager...
Secondsop Sat 20-Apr-13 00:04:29
What aurynne said. Perhaps the kid just is genuinely exceptional. Some people are, and are prepared to work hard to maintain high standards. No need to drag him down into mediocrity just for him to see what it feels like. If he is to fail at any point, then let it be on something he genuinely isn't brilliant at. When I went to Cambridge yes there were some who had a bit of a bump down to earth when they were no longer top of the class, but there were also plenty of others who felt for the first time that they were amongst their own kind. Give him the chance to find out for himself what kind of person he is.
When I was younger I always had to try everything and do everything. My mum would say to me "you don't have to do everything", because it was admittedly a bit of a pain for her to have to ferry me to loads of activities. But I knew even then that I might not get another go at trying out all these things, and found my mum's approach to be really dispiriting.
lisianthus Sat 20-Apr-13 00:05:17
His dad, with the "where did you think you went wrong, let's work it out" is giving him the tools to help himself! Rather than worry about where he went wrong, he is able to sort it out next time. That's what you DO! You don't sit back and say "oh who cares, it's not important".
Your stepson is an extraordinary person with the abilities AND, more unusually, the self-discipline and determination to succeed. That's the kind of person who winds up doing amazing things, saving lives, making discoveries, leading others.
And YOU want to gaslight him with false failure unlil he becomes a "fuck it, let's spend my time on a beach" layabout?
Christ on a bike, if ever I saw a problem caused by your own cultural expectations of children, this is one.
And what Aurynne said.
Apileofballyhoo Sat 20-Apr-13 00:11:02
I would worry too OP, and I admire you for caring about your DSS so much. My DS is 5 and has to have things perfect - rubbing out all his homework to start again. I am a perfectionist in some ways, as is my DH, and it can make life hard. YANU to research this and see how you could help DSS. He will need a lot of emotional support if he continues to be such a high achiever.
lisianthus Sat 20-Apr-13 00:20:09
Seriously, stop seeing perfectionism as a problem. It doesn't have to be. When a heart surgeon has your chest open in front of her, do you want her to be thinking "oh, 51% is good enough, and Corrie is on in 2 hours", or do you want her to be thinking "I will not be satisfied unless I do this job to the best of my ability and my ability is pretty bloody good."?
Because this is the sort of thing your stepson will be doing in 20 years' time with his gifts and his attitude.
Natural self-discipline is a gift other people have to work hard to achieve. Be proud of him, don't try to take it away from him.
SlumberingDormouse Sat 20-Apr-13 00:48:43
Secondsop - that's so true. I was one of those who loved being among 'my own kind' at Cambridge and felt very relieved not to be a 'freak' any more!
OP - are you jealous? hmm Your DSS will learn how to handle his perfectionism, probably when he goes to a good uni and discovers that he won't be able to memorise 100% of the syllabus while having a stellar social life and excelling at several extra-curriculars (even the most gifted have to compromise somewhere). He'll adapt and probably still do extremely well. Leave him be and don't interfere.
Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains. (Thomas Carlyle )
JanePlanet Sat 20-Apr-13 06:24:00
Brene Brown has two really good talks on the TED website - and I know she has information on her website and in her books about perfectionism and shame - which you might find will give you some insight OP.
LovesBeingWokenEveryNight Sat 20-Apr-13 06:40:15
Is there something he won't be good at that you could get him to try?
Secondsop Sat 20-Apr-13 06:50:53
I bet it's not that he doesn't know how to fail, but rather that he doesn't like falling short of high standards, because in his eyes 87% is for other people. I think his perfectionist streak is going to stand him in good stead in whatever he chooses to do with his life (and it sounds like the world is his oyster). A couple of us have talked about the adjustment at university when a clever child is no longer necessarily top of the class. Well, there's an even bigger adjustment in the working world in a professional career where the 70% you got in exams to get a First is not good enough and where standards are more exacting because suddenly someone else's money or life is at stake. It sounds like your SS is already working at a level to manage very well indeed when he eventually settles into a career.
I can't help feeling that if he were here his AIBU would be: "'My DSM is great, very loving and I know she cares about me. But I'm finding that we have a difference of opinion in how i go about maximising my potential in life. I always try to be the very best i can be at everything i do and i love thay this is bringing me academic success, great friends and a really fulfilling life, and i admittedly don't like it when i fall short of the high standards i set myself. But she keeps telling me that i won't go through life without failing and will have to get used to it sooner or later. I know she's doing it to help me cope with disappointment when i don't meet my own exacting standards, but it does sometimes feel like she finds my perfectionism annoying and that she might not be taking the same pride in my high achieving as I am because she thinks I need to learn how to fail sometime. I almost feel like she'd sabotage my work to make me see what failure feels like! she doesn't understand that I am determined to excel and that if i fall short, so be it, but when I'm trying hard to be the best I can be it is TBH quite demoralising to keep being told that I WILL fail at something. AIBU to want her to stop trying to make me lower my standards? Or should I just grin and bear it until I go to university in a couple of years?".
countrykitten Sat 20-Apr-13 09:53:28
Good post secondsop.
Does the OP have her own children who are rather less exceptional than this young man?
Fleecyslippers Sat 20-Apr-13 10:01:15
Scary freak.
And I'm not talking about the kid.
whiteflame Sat 20-Apr-13 11:17:09
He sounds similar to me. He doesn't need to learn to fail, he already has. You say when he is bad at something he will keep at it until he is satisfied.
He has learnt very well how to deal with failure.
DontmindifIdo Sat 20-Apr-13 11:45:09
OP, you said: I just don't want him to panic and freak out every time his score falls below 90, even on a test that doesn't count for anything
but that's the point everyone else is trying to make - you have a "it'll do" attitude, but he doesn't want "good enough to get by" he wants the best he can do. As i said, some schools like Westminster make the pupils redo GCSEs they've got A* in if they haven't got a high enough grade - they don't have a "you've passed so that's fine" attitude, they teach about being the best you can be at all times, and the young men they turn out run the country, not the ones who scrapped a pile of Cs and it was ok because they'd passed and as long as you've passed it doesn't matter how.
SlumberingDormouse Sat 20-Apr-13 12:27:15
That's spot on, DontmindifIdo. My best friend resat an A Level Chemistry module she'd got 199/200 in so she could get 200. She duly got full marks the second time. A bit crazy? Maybe. An extremely intelligent, tenacious and successful person? Absolutely. I have nothing but admiration for people who motivate themselves to such high levels of achievement.
crashdoll Sat 20-Apr-13 14:07:04
I know you were 'joking' but you actually sound quite jealous of him. I'm sure you'll tell me that you're not but it really sounds like it.
wonderingagain Sat 20-Apr-13 17:43:23
He sees losing a board game as a reflection on himself. That is a problem as it shows that he is not doing things for the taking part. I would suggest more luck based board games preferably with his Dad.
LittleBairn Sat 20-Apr-13 17:53:09
shock you think his behaviour is unhealthy! I don't think I e ever read a thread on MN that has startled me before but this is just wow...
I haven't read the whole thread but assuming you have your own DC, AR you worried he's out Shinning your DC therefore feel the need to sabotage his success?
raisah Sat 20-Apr-13 20:14:48
I work with a high achiever who has serious anxiety & OCD due to his inability to accept imperfection. He should have proceeded further along his career but hasnt because his obsession wth details has prevented him seeing the bigger picture. He has had a breakdown and recieved CBT.
candyandyoga Sat 20-Apr-13 20:16:45
Really? How nasty, spiteful and ODD of you.
Panzee Sat 20-Apr-13 20:27:51
Wow the Op is getting a completely unnecessary pasting.
Fear of failure and perfectionism is very hard and will stop people functioning healthily. Sabotage is quite an emotive word but I get what you mean. If you can find anything that he can do not quite perfectly that doesn't matter- and games are a good start, even though you said he doesn't mind losing? Or modelling not being bothered about getting 100% in something, or even going OTT about not getting perfection in something you are doing, to show him that it is an OTT reaction?
I often work with younger children who have such a fear of making mistakes that they won't give anything a go, or the paper will be torn up, or they will run away. we have to push the boundaries but very very gently. We often model "failing" and how to react to it. Your stepson is older so it will be harder to show him this but it is all about tiny steps.
It's not easy, I wish you luck.
wonderingagain Sat 20-Apr-13 20:38:54
Yes Panzee, it's getting a bit nasty, spiteful and ODD.
cory Sat 20-Apr-13 22:11:43
We don't know what this perfectionism is like to live with though. The OP is describing a situation where the boy is angsting to the extent where she is having to drag him out to the cinema to take his mind off things- which suggests that he is not just quietly getting down to improving his scores with a view to future success, but actually impacting on the whole family.
Having a drama queen in the house myself, I know how hard it is for the rest of the family to get on with developing their own potential when one person's emotions seem to be taking up all the available space.
Join the discussion
Join the discussion
Register now | http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a1736399-To-sabotage-my-perfect-stepson | dclm-gs1-063970000 |
0.044362 | <urn:uuid:4a0ca0e0-e7b8-4100-a70c-e40778f006b3> | en | 0.976457 |
Had enough of DHs lack of attention/response
(31 Posts)
HoppinMad Thu 21-Mar-13 22:48:07
My h is a great guy, I do love him but with this issue I feel like i'm going around in circles with him. The issue being that he doesnt communicate very well when I am speaking to him regarding trivial matters, if its an important issue he will answer back and we can have a decent conversation. If its just me making small talk about what the kids and I did or any other insignificant issue he will continue watching telly/using his phone/reading his book without looking up or answering, or acknowledge my yapping without even a nod or a smile. This isnt all the time mind you, but atleast once if not a few times a day.
It pisses me right off because I am a sahm mum and have virtually no friends where we moved over three years ago, my family live 150+ miles away. dh family is nearby and they are lovely but hardly meet us so I feel increasingly isolated. I already have low self esteem and struggled to socialise so his horrible actions are making it worse. I have brought the topic up numerous times but he says he isnt aware he is doing it, hes so absorbed in what hes doing he doesnt realise i'm talking. I have to say he is not a nasty person and has a good nature but how the fuck can he not hear me??
Before i would ask him a question if he didnt respond i'd get upset but leave it at that. Now il repeat myself a few times and eventually get a half hearted reply. As if i'm disturbing him soo much from the extremely important game on his fuckin phone! I've even tried staying quiet snd then he has asked me why, so ive told him. He promises to be more attentive but its back to square one. Am starting to wonder is it me? Am i that bloody boring?
CogitoErgoSometimes Fri 22-Mar-13 06:16:46
It's only 'you' in that you're not demanding to be heard strongly enough. smile When you want a toddler to listen to you, it helps to turn their face so that they are looking directly at you and no distractions. Suggest something similar here. If he's watching TV and you want to say something, get the remote & turn it off. If he's using his phone or reading a book, physically remove it and put it down while you talk. Get bodily in his eye-line.... get eye-contact. When you demand full attention, you'll get it. Good luck
CogitoErgoSometimes Fri 22-Mar-13 06:26:16
"I have brought the topic up numerous times but he says he isnt aware he is doing it"
BTW.... this may or may not be true. Some zone out background noise when their attention is elsewhere. But ignoring someone when they are trying to have a conversation with you is pretty rude and he should be making more of an effort, especially as you've explained it's annoying.
How much time do you spend together as a couple, face to face, just chatting about 'stuff' without interruptions? Do you eat together at a table after the kids have gone to bed, for example, and talk through your day, things in the news, plans for the future, etc?. Maybe another approach (between you - don't see why you should be making all the effort here) is to deliberately create space for proper conversation where phones/TV/laptop and other distractions are switched off.
chickensaladagain Fri 22-Mar-13 06:33:51
I zone out
If I'm reading or something it's very difficult to distract me which makes me feel bad if the dcs are talking to me and I haven't heard a word
Turning the tv off while he is watching it is actually very confrontational -what I've asked the dcs to do is say my name, couple of times if needed, when I look at them, then talk to me -happy to have the conversation, just zone out, especially in the evenings when I'm tired
MrsSpagBol Fri 22-Mar-13 07:47:51
Agree with Chicken, it's quite confrontational to just switch off the tv. I know, I have done it!
My suggestion is to set x amount of minutes a day for him to put everything away and just give you his undivided attention. Please note that it also involves you listening to him, asking about his day etc and listening to any chit chat he might have.
You may find it becomes more natural - it's just the thing of breaking the tv / game / iphone / ipad habit I think.
And I agree it's rude!
CogitoErgoSometimes Fri 22-Mar-13 07:53:17
It may be confrontational but if the OP is faced with a brick wall, staring at a TV screen & refusing to listen, what's the problem. If turning off is too assertive, just hit the mute button....? hmm
GirlWiththeLionHeart Fri 22-Mar-13 07:56:07
God, I could've written your op!
Dp always zoned out when he comes home from work as he's been talking to people all day so wants a break. Whereas I've been stuck with a baby all day, not spoken to anyone unless I've gone out and am desperate for adult interaction.
Can't win
Dahlen Fri 22-Mar-13 08:02:41
Turning off the TV may be confrontational but if he listened she wouldn't have to. It's certainly no more rude than ignoring his wife when she has repeatedly explained to him how it makes her feel.
Zoning out is one thing, we all do it from time to time. Making it a daily occurrence where you ignore everyone and everything apart from what you want to do is actually very rude, dismissive and hurtful.
PopMusic Fri 22-Mar-13 08:08:06
Actually, this was the same in house to a certain extent but we were both doing it. We both realised it was a problem so we have a device and tv free zone for a couple hours a day. It has made a big difference to our communication and we actually have conversations. Wow, who would have thought?
I think there are two issues here - your communication with your DH and your self esteem. I do think that you need to tackle your self esteem so that you can assert yourself and demand the attention from your DH.
MrsSpagBol Fri 22-Mar-13 08:09:10
Erm Dahlen I said I agree it's rude?!
Was just suggesting an alternative to fighting rudeness with more rudeness so that OP actually gets what she wants - attention - rather than just an argument?
iamstitch Fri 22-Mar-13 08:58:12
To be honest I'm not sure if turning the tv off would work. I say that a someone who is going through the same and has tried everything. My DH seems very disconnected even though he 'loves me more than ever', ' would be lost without me'. Turns out he is depressed (he's gone from high flying career to SAHD so that I could fly). We are currently trying to work on creating more of a balance between us both. It's hard, and makes you feel so worthless but if he loves you then hang in there a while longer.
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 11:49:17
Thanks for all your replies.
corgito its an idea about the turning telly off thing, but i'm afraid that would shut him down more and i have to agree it would come across as confrontational. If I was 100% certain dh ignores me deliberately I possibly would, but I think I'd be causing more problems if i'm honest.
As for the spending enough time together, he works very long hours and gets home 8ish. I sometimes eat with dc or wait for him if i'm not too hungry. But he would rather unwind with his phone than sit with me and chat. Mostly its a mixture of both but if i need to get on with clearing away the dishes etc and he looks after dc2 (baby) he will but cant keep off his feckin phone. Grr. I am going to tell him we need to allocate some time just for us. Has to be done for my sanity.
You know there was a time i just remembered, when he would talk over me. Either to dc1, or about something totally unrelated and it annoyed me so much. Thankfully thats stopped now after much rowing because I couldnt tolerate it.
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 11:53:38
Dc1 is 3 and as a normal toddler ignores me at times when asked to do something. But it affects me greatly, I get very angry and upset, though i know its normal toddler behaviour. I think because I feel like i'm unheard in this house sad nobody gives a shit about what I have to say.
MrsSpagBol Fri 22-Mar-13 12:17:17
I reiterate my previous post:
It sounds like you feel unheard/dismissed generally? I would insist of this uninterrupted time - but be flexible about when it is. Eg I really need to wind down when i first come in but 20 mins after dinner / before the news / whatever works for you is achievable for me/us.
Good luck OP. I know it's frustrating and demoralising. Maybe show him this thread? He may not realise how much it really upsets you.
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 12:50:40
Thanks mrsSB
Dh was home on his break and I told him we need some quality time together in the evening, discuss any issues we have, clear the air of any ill-feeling that may be bothering us etc. He says he is happy to and even suggested 8-8.30 which is good enough for me but may clash with corrie some days but a sacrifice i'll have to make
GirlWiththeLionHeart Fri 22-Mar-13 12:53:23
That's good news Hoppin smile
CogitoErgoSometimes Fri 22-Mar-13 12:58:04
Age old thing then.... you've essentially got a selfish man that thinks you're a domestic appliance with a face. This isn't about a man who is a little distracted because he's reading a book from time to time. This is a man who thinks you're utterly unimportant.
Why are you the one clearing away dishes while he is (doing what exactly) on the phone? Who is on the end of that phone that is so much more interesting than you? Why not clear dishes together and chat at the same time? Let me guess.... he'd never dream of doing that because he's 'the man' and he's worked a long day. hmm Of course he used to talk over you... he has zero interest in what you have to say.
I think a bit of confrontation is LONG overdue. As far as he's concerned, you're invisible.
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 13:03:15
Thanks lionheart, lets hope he sticks to it, has a habit of inconsistency in things he/we start. I will try my best and as a pp suggested hopefully it will come naturally at some point. I reiterated though its not a time for sex or whatever, cuddles yes and communicating much, but not for him to get other ideas hmm
MrsSpagBol Fri 22-Mar-13 15:11:52
Lol good call on that no sex caveat. I do believe it will come naturally in time but sometimes we need to work at things; not everything is automatic. Hope it goes well flowers
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 15:16:01
Hi cogito sorry i missed ur message when i posted mine
Hmm I think you're being abit harsh, hes not actually that bad overall, he has these unresponsive noments but doesnt treat me as invisible.
I dont always clear up the dishes, if we eat together i normally will but if he eats alone he sorts dinner out for himself and clears up. I was simply citing that as an example of how he can be sometimes. And i have access to his phone and vice versa, its usually internet or games keeping him preoccupied, manchild maybe but unfaithful very unlikely. Sorry i'm not trying to defend him but he isnt that bad generally, its just this issue that bothers me about him.
HoppinMad Fri 22-Mar-13 15:18:06
Thanks mrsSB you sound lovely, ur advice is v much appreciated
Blending Fri 22-Mar-13 15:54:54
Ive been here with DP, and its bloody hard.
Especially as my day is filled with toddler/pregnancy/family trivia as I'm pregnant with twins and signed off sick so dont get out much!
I completely understand how you feel, and DP tends to zone out, or just grunt and nod his head and I found myself repeating myself like an idiot- I started to say outragous stuff and say that he agreed to it! Didn't actually cure anything but proved he wasn't listening to me! I was so frustrated and desperate for some attention from him and started to fester about it and felt like I was whinning- Not the capable adult I consider myself to be.
We now make a point of having dinner together at the table away from any other distractions, even if it is just something we'd normally slob in front of the TV eating.
It does mean that DD (2 yo) eats on her own, or I have a snack with her as DH is not home until late like yours.
This has had a huge impact on how we feel about each other, I find out more about his day, hes shares a lot more opinons or discuss stuff from the news, and he is more attentive to what I have to say about household stuff or the kind of day I'd had.
I no longer feel that I am talking "at" him but grabbing some adult time together at the end of a day.
Hope you too can find a way of geting things back on track.
MrsSpagBol Fri 22-Mar-13 19:22:10
Hi OP - awww sweet, I have been where you have been. DH is lovely too, we are just very different. Once you put in the work, things can be better than you can imagine.
In terms of self esteem etc (someone mentioned it above), do you read any books? I recommend Boundaries by Cloud and Townend - it's on amazon.
I highly recommend it. Helped me a lot.
HoppinMad Sat 23-Mar-13 00:29:15
Well we had our 'gadget free special time' together tonight, sorry it was meant to read 8.30-9pm not 8-8.30 as he then has chance to eat etc. Was ok, we had a chat, a little awkward as it seemed.. forced. But we got chatting and it was nice. Cut short by dc2 screaming for feed but will hopefully do it again tomorrow.
blending i'm glad you managed to sort things out and grown closer to your dp. But the grunting argh yes i know the grunting well. And the shrugging of shoulders. 'What shall we have for tea tomorrow?' Shrug. 'Whats plans for weekend?' Shrug. 'Are you driving or am i?' Shrug. 'You're a big prick arent you'. Shrug.
Hes cut down on that alot since i started pointing it out imitating and taking the piss But the silence unresponsiveness is something else.
mrsSB i love to read but have baby brain atm, so even if i find time to read it doesnt sink in and i find myself reading a page twice, thrice blush having said that i have ordered some parenting books out of necessity as i'm struggling with my toddler so once i have completed, will definitly look into the book you recommended.
MrsSpagBol Sat 23-Mar-13 01:11:34
Glad you did it Hoppin. My baby is not here yet so i have time to read at the moment - there are a couplebof other things that i've read in the past that might be of use if you still find the chat time too fake - i'll pvt message u sometime. Night night.
Dottiespots Sat 23-Mar-13 02:07:03
I understand how you feel but your husband does listen to the really important stuff you said but he zones out the other stuff that is just you needing to talk to an adult. Hes not meaning to be rude he just doesnt really hear you. Alot of men are like this. They need to be left alone for an hour or so when they come home so they can just come too I find and I think what you really really could do with is to find some friends of your own that you can chat to as much as you want cause most of us love a good natter.
Blending Sat 23-Mar-13 15:01:57
I actually mentioned your thread to Dh and he said that small things like being asked questions about his day made the difference from his pov. He really couldn't get excited about the small stuff and couldn't help his reactions.
But I think we would have felt a bit too forced unless doing something whilst talking, so if you don't eat together what about something like playing cards? Or a board game and a glass of wine/bucket of g&t/beer? Delete as appropriate.
I can still feel the helplessness of being ignored, grunted at,the vacant stare etc I know he's a good man, and does more than his share, and I understand that he doesn't want a stream of consciousness blurted out the minute he gets home
Blending Sat 23-Mar-13 15:03:44
Sorry pressed too soon!
This way has worked for us and has improved or relationship
I really hope something works for you x
HoppinMad Sat 23-Mar-13 16:03:56
Thanks yes I see what you mean, I would rather have a friend to natter with about the small stuff but I've really struggled to meet like minded non-flaky people since I moved and thats a whole other thread! But I consider him my best friend and lifelong buddy so it hurts that he cant muster even abit of enthusiasm for my small talk. Good idea about the card/board games, we have a wii which is gathering dust we could play that on days he isnt too tired. Neither of us drink.
He is very bad with eye contact. Its not just him though, all his siblings and DF too, i've always found it incredibly strange and rude esp when we first met but its the way he is. Quiet by nature and rather shy. I think its all linked together. In fact they can be a little unresponsive too [confusing]
This lack of response/acknowledgement seems not as uncommon as I thought after coming on here! You may laugh but do you think its a genetic trait or a product of their upbringing?
Blending Sat 23-Mar-13 19:55:01
The Wii is a good idea.
Perhaps being a little sexist here, but I think its just a male thing...come in tired from work, want to go into his cave and switch off from the world etc I used to think that was a load of baloney, but it really is true for my DH,
Good luck!
Dottiespots Sun 24-Mar-13 00:00:41
Yep, its just a man thing. They like to switch off from the small mundane stuff which some of them see as "white noise" but if they listen to the big stuff when you need them too then all is well. Just come on here and start threads about the day to day small stuff. Others do, and then you can have a good old girlie natter (with some men joining in of course ) and everyones happy and youll probably find your other half will ask if your ok.....why....cause you dont say much to him any more ha ha ha.
Join the discussion
Join the discussion
Register now | http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/a1714135-Had-enough-of-DHs-lack-of-attention-response | dclm-gs1-063990000 |
0.061791 | <urn:uuid:b1abba0d-794f-4f35-868e-7f2a8c730b3b> | en | 0.858925 | You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer
Verisign secured
On Order. Usually ships in 2-4 weeks
Reserve product at Store
Our store will contact you to confirm the reservation.
Please do not travel until the store has contacted you.
Our Price: £12.99 Change Currency
Customer Rating:
Media: Sheet Music, DVD (Region 0)
Arrangement: Dulcimer (DUL)
Skill Level: Beginner - Explain this
Artist: Madeline Macneil
Series: You Can Teach Yourself
Catalogue #: MLB94304DP
ISBN: 9780786667789
This Item Earns 25 Musicroom Points
In this book master dulcimer player Madeline MacNeil teaches beginning players tuning, scales, strumming, fingering, chord studies, alternate tunings, use of the capo, and how to use the "noter." She endorses both playing by ear and learning to read standard notation. In twelve intensive lessons, she explains everything from the basics to some very complex concepts in easily understood language, making this a particularly valuable book for the beginning instrumentalist. The lessons and songs are written in both standard notation and tablature. This package also includes the companion DVD video in which MacNeil demonstrates the techniques and songs taught in the book.
Customer Reviews
Write Review Write a review!
Write a review to win
More Product Details
Sales Rank: Not specified
Published on: 07/02/2003
Format: Instrumental Tutor
Length: 96 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Mel Bay Publications
Share this product with your friends using the icons below. | http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/01066313/details.html | dclm-gs1-064010000 |
0.043174 | <urn:uuid:ebe1a6e6-162e-463e-9832-467385f148b3> | en | 0.949422 | Edition: U.S. / Global
COMPANY NEWS; Schlumberger In Joint Venture
Published: August 30, 1989
Schlumberger Ltd., a large industrial concern, and the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation of Japan announced they were forming a company to develop advanced testing for integrated circuits. Schlumberger said that under the terms of the agreement, the concern, called Verisys, would develop, manufacture and market the testing systems worldwide.
Schlumberger said the company would be based in Japan and would enable N.T.T. to use its technology in the world electronics industry. | http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/30/business/company-news-schlumberger-in-joint-venture.html?src=pm | dclm-gs1-064070000 |
0.233983 | <urn:uuid:1b0aa76b-66dc-4dc8-b5c0-b19771b405a2> | en | 0.956378 | Edition: U.S. / Global
The Big City; Turning Tykes Into Zealots For Recycling
Published: April 20, 2001
IN honor of Earth Day, our text is ''RRR You Ready?'' the new waste-reduction manual, weighing five pounds and prepared at a cost of $2 million, that has been distributed to public schools by the New York City Department of Sanitation. For safety purposes, let's begin with Chapter 4, ''How I can be a TrashMaster!''
This chapter instructs students who have learned the modern three R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle -- to ''share'' their knowledge with their families. That means getting their families to follow dozens of rules, including this one: ''Return wire hangers and plastic bags to the dry cleaners.''
Before your family sets up a new bin for dry cleaners' bags, you might consider advice from another source, the American Academy of Pediatrics. ''Never leave plastic bags lying around the house,'' the academy's child-care manual warns. ''Bags from the dry cleaner are particularly dangerous. Knot them before you throw them away so that it's impossible for your child to crawl into them or pull them over her head.''
Perhaps a truly dedicated RRRer could carefully knot each bag, store it out of the reach of children and then unknot it for the dry cleaner. But why take any risk to save a few pennies' worth of plastic? Why waste so much time and effort to save a bag that may well be useless by the time it gets back to the dry cleaner?
You could raise similar cost-benefit objections to just about every other ''waste reducing'' tip in the manual, and you could end up agreeing with the wayward student who appears in an accompanying video. ''Recycling is just another evil plan by grown-ups to keep kids from having fun,'' he complains. ''What's wrong with a little garbage?''
But you, like that unenlightened student, would be missing the point of the curriculum. It's not intended to teach children about economic tradeoffs. Its purpose is to inculcate a system of beliefs and values.
To Catholics who grew up on questions in the Baltimore Catechism like ''Who is God?'' or ''Did Adam and Eve obey the commandment of God?'' the questions in the RRR manual have a familiar feel. ''What is waste?'' ''Why do we need to think about our waste?'' ''Why do we waste so much?''
These are not questions meant to be debated. Our wastefulness is a given, just like Adam and Eve's original sin. ''In previous generations, people lived by the adage of 'waste not, want not.' They were careful to buy only what they needed, and reused whatever they could,'' the manual explains. But now we have eaten from the apple, and it's wrapped in plastic. ''Every time we throw something away,'' the manual laments, ''we are throwing out a lot.''
The manual does mention in passing that recycling is expensive, but it doesn't bother noting that it's more expensive than burying trash. And it certainly doesn't point out how much money (more than $500 million) New Yorkers could have saved over the last decade if there had been no recycling program.
No, the manual instead preaches reverence for handling waste. Students who can't pass reading or mathematics tests are urged to spend classroom time building a museum of garbage, then go home and determine the weight of their family's trash, all the while hectoring their parents to avoid ''overpackaged'' takeout food in plastic containers.
Saving plastic is a new spiritual quest, but past societies have just as passionately revered natural resources and reviled human pollution. The Druids worshiped trees and sacrificed people. Saving dry cleaners' bags seems tame by comparison.
BUT not everyone today shares these values or wants to see $2 million in public money spent on a manual to promote those values in public schools. I don't want my child to be a TrashMaster who weighs garbage and feels guilty for polluting the planet when he writes on only one side of a piece of paper.
I respect the neo-Druids' beliefs, but why should these beliefs be taught in public schools? Robert Lange, the director of the Department of Sanitation's recycling program, answered by pointing to the widespread support for recycling. ''It is a value judgment,'' he said, ''but it's advocated by a large part of the population, including the City Council.''
True enough, but a majority of the population also believes in Christian dogma, and that doesn't justify preaching it in public schools. New York intellectuals like to mock Kansans who insist on teaching creationism, but at least creationism is presented as an alternative to Darwinism. In our schools, recycling is the one true faith. | http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/nyregion/the-big-city-turning-tykes-into-zealots-for-recycling.html?src=pm | dclm-gs1-064100000 |
0.034666 | <urn:uuid:1adc65ed-dd69-4d5d-80cb-bc75452cf11e> | en | 0.972277 | Member Login
not a member? sign-up now!
Customize to your family and get personalized newsletters.
The Risks and Rewards of Youth Sports
Cheating. Concussions. Coaches behaving badly. When it comes to sports and our kids, are the negatives starting to outweigh the positives?
By Erin Zammett Ruddy
© Getty Images
I got an e-mail from a neighborhood dad the other day asking me if my son, Alex, would join his indoor travel soccer league that plays Friday nights at 7 p.m. “This is probably going to sound bad,” I typed back, “but Friday at 7 p.m. is cocktail hour in my house.” I added a smiley face so he'd think I was joking (I really wasn't). Alex is 5. Five! Why does he need to be on a travel team? Yes, he loves soccer, and as a former athlete, I am all for youth sports. But his rec league seems like enough right now. I'll have years to sacrifice my weekends for Alex's sports schedules, so why start when he's still in kindergarten?
I'll tell you the reason: It's called the professionalization of youth sports, and it's happening in gyms and on fields and rinks across our country, says Dan Gould, Ph.D., director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University. “Kids are competing at younger and younger ages—and focusing too soon on training, performance, and outcome.” You've probably heard about parents who hold their kids back from kindergarten until they're 6 so they'll be more ready academically—now there are some who do it for the sole purpose of having their kid be bigger, faster, and more coordinated than his peers. “I see kids practicing six and seven days a week,” says Elizabeth Pieroth, Psy.D., a board-certified neuropsychologist who treats patients from 5 years old to pro (she's the concussion specialist for the Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, White Sox, and Fire). “I'm very pro sports—for all the good things kids get out of them,” adds Pieroth, whose sons play hockey and baseball. “But it's gotten so crazy-competitive: Are we burning them out?”
Starting sports young is not the problem; it's the intensity and the specialization (playing the same travel sport year-round) that troubles so many experts. “With the exception of gymnastics and figure skating, ideally kids wouldn't be focusing solely on one sport until they're around fourteen,” says Gould. Before then it can lead to injury because growing bodies need a break. And there are benefits to being a multi-sport youth athlete. “Playing a variety of sports allows kids to use different muscles and increases cognitive brain activity,” says Julie Gilchrist, M.D., pediatrician and medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Kids who are involved in a bunch of sports get cross-training, if you will.”
Wondering how to deal with the head-scratching, mouth-gaping, how-do-I-not-screw-you-up-for-life stuff that sports throws your way? We've got it covered.
Sitch: Your 5-year-old is the one picking weeds on the soccer field—but all her friends play. Keep her on the team or try again in a few years?
Solution: Becoming distracted is normal at this age. The real question is, does she want to play or are you dragging her to the games? “Ask her if she enjoys being part of the team,” says Patrick Cohn, Ph.D., a youth sports psychologist in Orlando and founder of youthsportspsy “If so, she may like it for the social aspect rather than the playing part, and that's OK. As she develops her skills, she may want to join in more.”
Sitch: Your kid gets mad and cries when she loses
Solution: “Ask her what she hopes will happen in the game, and why—she may think you or the coach expects her to win every time, so you need to make your goals for her clear as well,” says Cohn. Then you can help her set and focus on manageable tasks to perform (making great throws, catching the ball, listening to the coach). “Don't dwell on errors or losses,” says Cohn. “You can talk to her about what she did well or improved on after the game—use it as an opportunity to get better instead of lose confidence.”
That said, all athletes, even the youngest ones, must know that losing is a part of sports, adds Cohn. Tell her about times when you or Uncle Steve or an older sibling had to deal with a heartbreaking loss, too, so she sees that it happens to everyone.
Sitch: The coach's frequent yelling and emphasis on winning is freaking you out.
Solution: Give the coach your feedback in private—not when he's busy coaching or in front of the kids, recommends Cohn. “Explain that you want your young athlete to focus on the process, not on the product,” notes Cohn. “You can say that you're worried that focusing too much on winning could undermine his confidence. This is a common challenge—kids begin to pressure themselves and start worrying about failing or focus too much on avoiding mistakes.” End your conversation positively—compliment him on something good that he does and add that you know he wants what's best for the kids on the team, too.
Sitch: You want to steer your child toward one sport—or away from another.
Solution: Cohn and most experts recommend parents introduce athletes to several sports and then allow them to decide which they prefer, but that's not to say you can't be a little sneaky. “Don't introduce her to sports you do not like,” says Cohn. Also, kids tend to gravitate toward the sports you play at home. So if you want a future Tiger Woods, get a bucket of balls and start swinging. Still, some of this will be out of your control (e.g., when the entire third-grade class decides that hockey is the coolest and everyone must play), so you have to be prepared to either cave or stay strong.
19 Celebrities with ADHD
| http://www.parenting.com/article/youth-sports?src=syn&dom=cnnliving | dclm-gs1-064190000 |
0.020764 | <urn:uuid:b5eb9f91-56a9-4b73-8282-f1aedd883481> | en | 0.966179 | Worried by your poorly operating engine or probably by your vehicle that refuses to start up? Then it's possible that the Mitsubishi Mighty Max fuel pump has stopped working. As it is the component that brings the gas coming from the reservoir towards the engine, it sure has a big effect in your car's functionality if it begins to breakdown. If your fuel pump fails to operate, the engine will not receive the correct amount of fuel it should have to perform combustion; this will cause your car to run improperly or not function at all.
Fuel pumps, in many autos sit inside of the fuel tank; however you can find also numerous autos that have the pump out of the tank. Whether you utilize intank or out-of-tank Mitsubishi Mighty Max fuel pump, you wouldn't have any trouble in getting a substitute as soon as it starts to act up. The best way to tell if the pump is now malfunctioning is when your vehicle struggles to start up but is not able to really fire up.
Fuel pumps for automotive applications are often made tough, however mainly because of several reasons like wiring complications, engine overheating, lack of fuel, plus filth, they stop functioning prematurely. When it's time for you to get a new Mitsubishi Mighty Max fuel pump, Parts Train is the site to visit. You'll find here over one million automotive products in stock, all protected by our Low Price Guarantee. | http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByDepartment/Fuel_Pump/MITSUBISHI/MIGHTY_MAX | dclm-gs1-064200000 |
0.041152 | <urn:uuid:179075db-cb3b-43b8-8556-5a5366e1ec39> | en | 0.844505 | U.S. patents available from 1976 to present.
U.S. patent applications available from 2005 to present.
Icon_funbox Bizarre Patents
Patent No. 6681419
Forehead support apparatus
A forehead support apparatus for resting a standing users forehead against a wall above a bathroom commode or urinal or beneath a showerhead.
Newsletter PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
Class 713/170 - Authentication of an entity and a message
Subclass of Class 713 - Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Definition: Subject matter wherein a transmission or reception entity
No. of patents: 1028
Last issue date: 03/04/2014
NumberTitleIssue Date
8667284Detection of invalid escrow keys
A secure hash, such as a Hash-based Message Authentication Code (“HMAC”), is generated using a piece of secret information (e.g., a secret key) and a piece of public information specific to each escrow key (e.g., a certificate hash or public key). Using the secr...
8667283Soft message signing
A message is signed using a PUF without having to exactly regenerate a cryptographic key. Another party that shares information about the PUF is able to verify the signature to a high degree of accuracy (i.e., high probability of rejection of a forged signature and ...
8656168Information processing apparatus, recovery apparatus, and disk recovery method
An information processing apparatus includes: a disk to store data; a transmitting and receiving unit to exchange information with a recovery apparatus over a network; an authentication processor to, when receiving a first authentication key from the recovery appara...
8656167Systems and methods for secure workgroup management and communication
A secure data parser is provided that may be integrated into any suitable system for securely storing and communicating data. The secure data parser may split or share a data set into multiple portions that are stored or communicated distinctly. Encryption of the or...
8639930Automated entity verification
Some embodiments provide a verification system for automated verification of entities. The verification system automatedly verifies entities using a two part verification campaign. One part verifies that the entity is the true owner of the entity account to be verif...
8635454Authentication systems and methods using a packet telephony device
Authentication systems and methods for increasing the security of online account access and transactions by leveraging the use of customer equipment provided by VoIP service providers. A method includes registering a packet telephony device with a packet telephony s...
8635455Encrypted communication device with restricted rate of encryption key retrievals from memory
A device for encrypted communication with external entities is configured to frustrate side channel attacks attempting to determine an encryption key. The device has a first memory, an encryption key stored in the first memory and a one-way function for application ...
8621217Method and apparatus for trusted branded email
A trusted branded email method and apparatus in one aspect detects branded electronic messages and performs validation before it is sent to a recipient. In another aspect, an electronic messages is branded by embedding branding assets and validation signatures. Algo...
8621219Communication system having plural terminals and method for controlling terminal in communication system
A method and communication system for assigning the control authorization for controlling functions of a device from a terminal to another terminal in a communication system is provided. Through the method, it is possible to simplify the authentication process of a ...
8621218Method and apparatus for mutual authentication in downloadable conditional access system
Disclosed is a mutual authentication method and apparatus in a CAS including a headend system and DCAS host. In particular, example embodiments relate to a mutual authentication method and apparatus in DCAS, wherein the mutual authentication is performed between an ...
8615659System and method for acquiring terminal binding key
A first terminal subscribes to at least one service using a service guide in which information necessary for reception of each service is stored, and sends the service guide and an identifier (ID) of the subscribed service to a smartcard. The smartcard stores the se...
8612761Method of executing a cryptographic protocol between two electronic entities
Perfected cryptographic protocol making it possible to counter attacks based on the analysis of the current consumption during the execution of a DES or similar. According to the invention, a message (M) is processed by two entities (A and B) and the entity (...
8595495System and method for secure communications
A method for secure data communications in fax transmissions and computer network communications comprising a. Allowing the sender to receive confirmation that the receiver received the message without having to rely on the receiver accessing a web site; b. Enabling...
8595498Method for authenticating access to a secured chip by test device
A method for authenticating access to a secured chip SC by a test device TD, the test device storing at least one common key CK and one test key TK, the secured chip SC storing the same common key CK and a reference digest F(TK) resulting from a cryptographic functi...
8595497Electronic file sending method
An electronic file sending method is provided to securely and easily send en electronic file to a receiver. A receiving apparatus receives from a sending apparatus an electronic mail including an encrypted electronic file. The sending apparatus uses a public key of ...
8595496Method and system for updating time information of a DRM device
A method and system for updating time information of a digital rights management (DRM) includes a time server transmitting a time information message to a consumer electronics (CE) device, the CE device transmitting the time information message to a digital rights m...
8589687Architecture for supporting secure communication network setup in a wireless local area network (WLAN)
In a communication network, an architecture for supporting secure communication network setup in a wireless local area network (WLAN) is provided. The architecture may be utilized in a configurator station or in a client station for establishing a secure communicati...
8589688Message authentication device, message authentication method, message authentication program and storage medium therefor
A message authentication device, a message authentication method, a message authentication program and a storage medium therefor are provided, so as to realize higher speed processing than an authentication mode of existing block cipher, in combination of block ciph...
8583927Streaming system and streaming method
A streaming system includes an authoring unit (2), a stream server (3) and a client terminal (5). The authoring unit generates a file composed of encrypted contents data and the ancillary information at least containing the packetizing control i...
8583928Portable security transaction protocol
A technique for providing message authenticity includes accepting transaction information, accepting a first data item used for authenticating an originating user, cryptographically processing the transaction information using only a second data item, wherein the en...
8572380Streaming system and streaming method
8572381Challenge protected user queries
A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing challenge protected user queries on a local system is presented. A query is presented to a user. A response to the query is received and a determination is made whether the response is administratively l...
8572382Out-of band authentication method and system for communication over a data network
A method and system for out-of-band authentication of messages transmitted, e.g. as packets, on a communication network, whereby a first stream of data is received by a sender control module from a sender; the first stream of data is transmitted over a first channel...
8549296Simple authentication of messages
Methods and systems for using simple authenticated messages are disclosed for use with implementing (i) synchronization schemes, (ii) encoded control messaging schemes, and (iii) encrypted data communication schemes. Messages are authenticated by applying a secure h...
8543820Tag generation apparatus, tag verification apparatus, communication system, tag generation method, tag verification method, and recording medium
The tag generation apparatus of the present invention includes a hash unit (12) that applies a hash function to a message to generate a hash value, a random number encryption unit (14) that applies an encryption function having a first key to a random number that is...
8543819Secure authenticated distance measurement
The invention relates to a method for a first communication device to performing authenticated distance measurement between said first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first and the second communication device share a common secret...
8539236Re-authentication apparatus and method in downloadable conditional access system
Provided is a re-authentication apparatus in a Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS), the re-authentication apparatus includes: a receiving unit to receive a key request message from a Secure Micro (SM); a determination unit to determine whether to perform r...
8527766Reducing leakage of information from cryptographic systems
A system is described for reducing leakage of meaningful information from cryptographic operations. The system uses a pairwise independent hash function to generate a modified secret key SK′ having individual components. The system forms a modified secret key coll...
8527767System and method for processing encoded messages for exchange with a mobile data communication device
A system and method are provided for pre-processing encrypted and/or signed messages at a host system before the message is transmitted to a wireless mobile communication device. The message is received at the host system from a message sender. There is a determinat...
8522027Method for authenticating an entity by a verifier
A method for authenticating an entity by a verifier, the entity having an identifier, the verifier having a pair of private and public keys, comprising: sending to the entity a first random number selected by the verifier; a step wherein the entity encrypts a value ...
8522025Authenticating an application
One aspect of the invention discloses a method of authenticating an application. The method comprising performing, with a server application, bootstrapping procedures between the server application and a bootstrapping server function; deriving a shared key based on ...
8522026Automatic authentication method and system in print process
This invention provides an automatic authentication method and system in a print process, which can obviate the need for user's input operations of the user ID and password and can improve security since authentication is automatically done based on print informatio...
8510557Secure message and file delivery
The present disclosure provides systems and methods for accessing secure and certified electronic messages using a combination of biometric security, a separate and secure network and email infrastructure, email management processes, and the addition of text, audio ...
8484472System and method of filtering unsolicited messages
A secure correlation identifier (SCID) for authentically correlating notifications received from event sources with subscriptions, a SCID authentication system and method of filtering unsolicited messages are provided. The SCID comprises a correlation identifier for...
8473744Methods and systems for unilateral authentication of messages
Disclosed is an authentication mechanism that enables an information recipient to ascertain that the information comes from the sender it purports to be from. This mechanism integrates a private/public key pair with selection by the sender of a portion of its addres...
8468351Digital data authentication
A method for protecting a digital document and user data typed into a digital document is presented. The method comprises computation of an authentication tag when the document is sent from a server. A similar authentication tag is computed when the document is show...
8458474Method of authenticating an entity by a verification entity
A method of authenticating an entity by a verification entity, said entities sharing a pair of secret keys X and Y which are n×m (n, m>i) binary matrices. The method may be applied to cryptographic protocols for authenticating electronic chips at a very low cost.
8452962Method and apparatus for simulating a workflow and analyzing the behavior of information assurance attributes through a data providence architecture
A method and apparatus that simulates a workflow and analyzes the behavior of information assurance attributes through a data providence architecture is disclosed. The method may include injecting one or more faults into a simulated workflow, receiving a message in ...
8452961Method and system for authentication between electronic devices with minimal user intervention
A method and system for authentication between electronic devices with reduced user intervention is provided. An authentication process for electronic devices (e.g., CE devices) establishes ownership for secure communication, with reduced user involvement. Device ow...
8447979Method and apparatus for binding update between mobile node and correspondent node
A method and apparatus for binding update between a mobile node and a correspondent node is disclosed. The method includes: encrypting, by the correspondent node, a parameter for generating a binding management key with a key, and transmitting the encrypted paramete...
Sign InRegister
forgot password? | http://www.patentstorm.us/class-patents/713/170/Authentication_of_an_entity_and_a_message/1.html | dclm-gs1-064210000 |
0.025801 | <urn:uuid:4e7cdaa5-7b7f-43a7-9599-328cafd92e83> | en | 0.805102 | Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks DiBona
XP is just a number
Re: Explaining Autovivication
by throop (Chaplain)
on Jun 12, 2008 at 04:20 UTC ( #691586=note: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
in reply to Explaining Autovivication
Autovivification saves a lot of annoying effort. So if $quick is originally empty
$quick->{brown}->{fox} ->{$jumped} = 1 / $Lazy_dog;
creates the intermediate hashes so $quick can point to a hash-of-hashes-of-hashes.
But autovivification can bite you / surprise you, too. If you are testing a value (rather than setting it) autovivification can still add entries to your hash. That is, new keys. E.g., if you start with
$stateCityPopulation = {Illinois => {Springfield => 116482}, Massachusets => {Springfield => 154082}, Missouri => {Springfield => 150797}}};
and then you
foreach my $state (qw(Illinois Massachusets Ohio Missouri)){ my $pop = $stateCityPopulation->{$state}->{Springfield} || next; $springfielders += $pop}
Now when you look at keys %$stateCityPopulation, 'Ohio' is in there. It's holding an empty array. It was created when you were trying to access the value for $stateCityPopulation->{Ohio}->{Springfield} . Even though you got undef back as a value, the itermediate array got created 'by side effect.'
If you're debugging code, and you find an array has a bunch of unexpected keys, which hold empty hashes, then autovivification is to blame. If you'd changed the code in the above to
$pop = ($stateCityPopulation->{$state} && $stateCityPopulation->{$state}->{Springfield}) || next;
You'd have skipped the autovivification (at the expense of messier code.)
BTW, if you're debugging a rogue autovivification, the 'w' switch in the debugger is very handy.
Comment on Re: Explaining Autovivication
Select or Download Code
Log In?
What's my password?
Create A New User
Node Status?
node history
Node Type: note [id://691586]
and the web crawler heard nothing...
How do I use this? | Other CB clients
Other Users?
As of 2014-03-14 07:04 GMT
Find Nodes?
Voting Booth?
Have you used a cryptocurrency?
Results (302 votes), past polls | http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=691586 | dclm-gs1-064250000 |
0.033705 | <urn:uuid:198a7d37-9421-40a4-8673-1d438418a40d> | en | 0.809215 | Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks RobOMonk
"be consistent"
Comment on
Sorry... I misread your question. Are you preparing to migrate these scripts to a new system?
No, we want to replace an incomprehensibly complex module with a simple one that does only what we want. It has one main function (a SQL wrapper), but a lot of tricky side effects (modifies global variables, etc) that may or may not affect how a given program gets run.
We don't want to break anything in production loads this module when we replace it.
The first step is to find out everything that's using the old module, so that we can do tests to prove to the production staff that nothing will break when we do finally get rid of it.
In reply to Re^4: Auto-detecting module usage by Anonymous Monk
in thread Auto-detecting module usage by Anonymous Monk
and: <code> code here </code>
• Please read these before you post! —
For: Use:
& &
< <
> >
[ [
] ]
• Log In?
What's my password?
Create A New User
and the web crawler heard nothing...
How do I use this? | Other CB clients
Other Users?
As of 2014-03-14 07:04 GMT
Find Nodes?
Voting Booth?
Have you used a cryptocurrency?
Results (302 votes), past polls | http://www.perlmonks.org/?parent=525281;node_id=3333 | dclm-gs1-064270000 |
0.072325 | <urn:uuid:35c80ced-5863-4f82-b03e-99ad60866332> | en | 0.913922 |
More like this: grumpy cats, cats and ha ha.
Let the others grow old but not me!
If Joey From F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Had Instagram…
Grumpy cat on life giving you lemons
Neighborhood Watchcat is watching you...
Funny Baby Ecard: I think the saying shouldn't be 'I slept like a baby.' Let's change it to 'I slept like a husband.'
I laughed way too hard at this :)
screw you 3rd grade math...this kid is going places
I think you are now old enough to know that Ross and Rachel were not on a break.
funny animal pictures, dumpaday (108)
Cat dad... Awesome | http://www.pinterest.com/mandy_bergeron/laughable/ | dclm-gs1-064300000 |
0.050613 | <urn:uuid:453709ea-7795-4526-918f-2d5c6fbb7007> | en | 0.913372 | Log in
Free trial
Food and Culture
Food is defined as a substance consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate and fat taken into the body to sustain growth, repair and vital processes and to furnish energy. Culture is the total range of activities, ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, shared traditions which characterize social groups.
Food habits refer to the way humans use food, including everything from how it is selected, obtained and distributed to who prepares it, serves and eats it. Humans are omnivorous, meaning they can consume and digest a wide selection of plants and animals. This makes humans adaptable to many environments although no single food group provides the essential ingredients necessary for survival.
Different groups have a variety of food habits. It can be argued that food potentially can build, define or separate communities. Humans have contradictory psychological impulses regarding diet. First, humans have a desire to try new foods and secondly, they often have a preference for familiar foods. Within a culture, food habits develop to provide a food framework and rules for people to refer to. This in turn reduces the anxiety of trying new foods.
Food in relation to status varies between different cultures and the formation of rank orders. Elaborate consumptions can bring a higher level of status. For example, societies such as the Massa of Cameroon feed over 13,000 kilocalories a day to young men over a period of two months to prestigiously fatten them in ‘guru walla' consumption sessions. In contrast, monks or Western fashion models often starve themselves to achieve status. This reflects the correlation between what people eat, how others perceive them and how they characterize themselves.
In terms of existential, cultural, social and economics, food can divide and separate cultures. Wealth and power within a society shows hierarchical inequalities in accordance to distribution and access. Greek myth illustrates this point: there is food for gods, food for me, and food for animals. Food might be expected to be an index of relative power and status within the family environment, between male and female, parents and children, young and old. Within the social and economic factors, a distinction can be made between rich and poor. Contrasting to this, food binds together cultures, families, classes, religions and citizenships.
Research shows that judgments of people can be based on their diets. Within Western cultures, people perceive those who eat ‘good food' as fitter and more active, likeable, practical, methodical, quiet and analytical. This contrasts with people with identical physical characteristics and exercise habits who consume ‘bad foods'. It has been suggested that several factors are at play with the morality-food effect, including the concept of incorporation and ethic of self-discipline.
The choice of food consumed can reflect a person or cultures self-identity. For many people, consumption is physiological but associative too. People directly interpret the physical properties of a food through incorporation. For example, some Asian Indians eat walnuts to improve their brain and weight lifters eat raw meat. People may also incorporate the character of food, such as the Native Americans who believe because milk is food for infants it will weaken adults.
Food plays a central part both economically and politically within societies, reflecting conditions for the production and distribution of food. The production of food in certain societies depends on the physical environment, the state of agricultural technology, ownership and access to land and its resources distributed among the population. Distribution of food depends on market mechanisms and institutions circulate food between areas. Political factors include the control over distribution resources to areas which need food.
Acculturation occurs when people move to a different culture with different norms, adapting to the prevailing culture. A change in attitudes, beliefs and behaviors start to present appear, which may reach to group level changes that may be physical, economic, social or political in nature. It is seen that changes in food habits are one of the last changes through acculturation. Research shows that adoption of new food habits is independent of traditional food habits. Variables in this change include access, cost and convenience to native produce, which may slow or speed up food acculturation.
Cultural variance is apparent in differing food functions, reflecting the particular culture's priorities. Priorities include nutrition, meanings of foods, superfoods, prestige foods such as protein items or expensive products and body images foods that claim to enhance health and beauty. Other considerations which vary between cultures include flavors and spices, and meal patterns and cycles.
Selected full-text books and articles on this topic
Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture
E. N. Anderson.
New York University Press, 2005
Bite Me: Food in Popular Culture
Fabio Parasecoli.
Berg, 2008
Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture
Jeremy Strong.
University of Nebraska Press, 2011
Food in Global History
Raymond Grew.
Westview Press, 1999
Librarian’s tip: Includes discussion of food and culture in multiple chapters
Culture of the Fork: A Brief History of Food in Europe
Giovanni Rebora; Albert Sonnenfeld.
Columbia University Press, 2001
Food in Early Modern Europe
Ken Albala.
Greenwood Press, 2003
Food and the Status Quest: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Polly Wiessner; Wulf Schiefenhövel.
Berghahn Books, 1996
Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History
Alberto Capatti; Massimo Montanari; A. N. O'Healy.
Columbia University Press, 2003
Food Culture in Japan
Michael Ashkenazi; Jeanne Jacob.
Greenwood Press, 2003
Fast Food and Intergenerational Commensality in Japan: New Styles and Old Patterns (1)
Traphagan, John W.; Brown, L. Keith.
Ethnology, Vol. 41, No. 2, Spring 2002
McDonaldization Revisited: Critical Essays on Consumer Culture
Mark Alfino; John S. Caputo; Robin Wynyard.
Praeger, 1998
Librarian’s tip: Includes discussion of food and culture in multiple chapters
Food and Society in Classical Antiquity
Peter Garnsey.
Cambridge University Press, 1999
Fed Up: Women and Food in America
Catherine Manton.
Bergin & Garvey, 1999
Librarian’s tip: Chap. 1 "Food Is Everyone's First Language"
Corn and Culture in the Prehistoric New World
Sissel Johannessen; Christine A. Hastorf.
Westview Press, 1994
Search for more books and articles on food and culture | http://www.questia.com/library/science-and-technology/health-and-medicine/food-and-nutrition/food-and-culture | dclm-gs1-064340000 |
0.033639 | <urn:uuid:5aaf3f34-75c5-419b-8a3f-680393d7caec> | en | 0.977581 | Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong ... should have been pursued earlier. Photo: AP
RAY GODKIN, once Australia's top-ranking cycling official, says that in hindsight the International Cycling Union could have pursued suspicions over Lance Armstrong earlier.
Godkin, a former UCI vice-president who still holds that title in an honorary capacity, said he believed the world body did the best job possible in handling the doping issue during what has now been dubbed a ''dark era'' of doping. His comments follow the US Anti-Doping Agency investigation into Armstrong, who has now been banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles as a result of its detailed findings. The UCI ratified these actions on Monday.
Godkin said cycling's struggle against doping had been better waged in recent years, especially with the introduction of the biological blood passport system in 2008, his last year in office. He does concede that he had his own suspicions about Armstrong in the years of his domination of the Tour, from 1999 to 2005. He also concedes that the UCI should have made greater effort to pursue the general suspicions of the time - and USADA, US Cycling and the World Anti-Doping Authority, too.
Godkin backed UCI president Pat McQuaid's explanation that the UCI did not have ''the tools then that we have now'' to catch doping cheats. But when asked yesterday if he felt there had been a point when Armstrong's doping program on the US Postal Service team could have been stopped earlier, Godkin: ''If there was a more vigorous chase …
''We are all clever in hindsight. When you sit down today and think of more things we could have done, and we would have nabbed him. But … we didn't. We are talking about it.''
Godkin does not believe McQuaid or Dutch honorary president Hein Verbruggen should fall on their swords because sport's biggest doping scandal unfolded on their watch.
Turtur said yesterday the Armstrong issue had been ''a kick in the guts'', then added: ''We have to deal with it and make it better for the future for the young athletes and people who follow the sport. Our responsibility now is to make it fair and honest for everyone.''
Asked if the UCI was at all accountable, Turtur said: ''Speaking [of] the past, all I can say is this - and I agree with what the president said - that the UCI operated in the confinements of the law of the land and the other parameters that were in place and did the best that they could with the testing procedures and everything else that were in place at the day.''
Did he empathise with now disillusioned cycling fans? ''They are feeling like me … I can appreciate it because I am feeling exactly that.''
Turtur said he would do his utmost to rid the sport of doping. ''Every aspect of it I can attack, I will.''
Turtur is confident a UCI management committee on Friday will chart a way forward. But asked whether, in hindsight, the UCI might have done better on the doping issue, he replied: ''There was nothing strong enough to go on. The USADA stuff came out mid this year. You cannot progress unless you have solid evidence. That wasn't available until now.''
Twitter- @rupertguinness | http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/uci-insider-rues-failure-in-catching-armstrong-20121023-283jr.html | dclm-gs1-064430000 |
0.090204 | <urn:uuid:dc788295-b4a4-4232-b575-6975b47c2d5d> | en | 0.965491 | Chinese court rejects Bo Xilai appeal against life sentence conviction
Updated: 14:40, 25 October 2013
Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai today lost an appeal against his conviction and life sentence for corruption and abuse of power in one of the country’s most politically-charged trials in decades.
The ruling is the latest development in a major scandal for the Communist Party leadership that included revelations that his wife murdered British businessman Neil Heywood and that his former aide made a failed attempt to defect to the United States.
Bo was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power by a lower court in Shandong late last month and sentenced to life in prison.
Security was tight ahead of today’s ruling with the roads around Shandong province’s Higher People’s Court sealed off.
State broadcaster CCTV showed Bo, a former Politburo member and party boss in Chongqing, in court wearing a black jacket over a white shirt, faintly smiling as he stood flanked by two tall uniformed guards, his hands clasped in front of him.
Scandal: some believe Bo has been used as a scapegoat by the Communist Party leadership The hearing appeared to have been brief, with the verdict coming about an hour after a convoy believed to be carrying Bo was seen arriving at the court.
“The facts of the first instance verdict are clear, the evidence is reliable, sufficient and the sentence is appropriate,” the high court said in its ruling, which was posted on its website.
The court said his offences “led to extremely severe social consequences and caused major damage to the interest of the country and the people”.
Today’s ruling was not unexpected, with many political analysts saying its outcome was pre-determined by Communist Party leaders keen to put Bo away long enough to prevent him from making a comeback.
As party boss, Bo led a crackdown on what he called mafia activities but that critics say was in part an excuse to arrest wealthy private entrepreneurs, torture them into confessing to crimes then jail them after summary trials and seize their assets.
“Bo Xilai controlled the police, prosecutors and courts in Chongqing and he cannot avoid responsibility for the wrongful convictions that took place there,” said Li Zhuang, a lawyer who had been jailed in the anti-gang crackdown.
“As long as there is no redress, it’s difficult to put a full-stop on Bo’s case.”
Don't Miss
Beat school
Why Chase & Status are opening a free school in east London
FISHbone - restaurant review
Restaurant review
Posh piscine at FISHbone
The Spirits: Richard Godwin's cocktail adventures
The Spirits
Richard Godwin talks to Bompas and Carr about their latest experiment
Miranda Hart, O2 Arena - comedy review
Comedy review
Miranda Hart at the O2 Arena
Pictures: Party people - the stars out in London
Party people
The stars out in London
Cara and Kate team up for Burberry
Cara and Kate
Cara Delevingne teams up with Kate Moss for Burberry campaign
Souk up the sun in Fez
Souk up the sun in Fez
Hogging the limelight: Gervais gets a selfie with Miss Piggy
Hogging the limelight
Ricky Gervais gets a selfie with Miss Piggy
Fay Maschler reviews Marani
Restaurant review
Fay Maschler reviews Marani
Ashley Jensen
| http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/chinese-court-rejects-bo-xilai-appeal-against-life-sentence-conviction-8903460.html | dclm-gs1-064450000 |
0.175217 | <urn:uuid:0de639f5-f4c3-4657-a63e-16806a4c500f> | en | 0.964251 | Heading into this Sunday's Chicago Marathon, debate continues over how much water runners should drink before and during the race.
Discussion was sparked by the death of a North Narolina runner during last year's race.
An autopsy shows William Caviness might not have had enough to drink when he collapsed and died just short of the finish line.
Other medical experts say it's more likely Caviness had an undetected, pre-existing heart condition.
They say the dangers of over-hydrating far outweigh the dangers of not drinking enough
The International Marathon Medical Directors Association recommends drinking only when thirsty. | http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/wgntv-how-much-water-should-marathoners-drink-20121003,0,1088816.story | dclm-gs1-064480000 |
0.021839 | <urn:uuid:0bb4c725-a55f-47d4-9b15-bfab3f50a9a7> | en | 0.944736 | View Full Version : Broken closet flange bolt
03-04-2012, 08:24 AM
Hello everyone. First time poster here.
I have an old toilet that has been our main toilet for about 25 years now, and yesterday I noticed that the one flange bolt that holds the toilet down was completely broken off and just lying on the floor. No idea how that happened, other than it may have just rusted away and fell off.
My question is on how I should proceed. Is it safe to use the toilet with only one bolt holding it down? Will it start leaking at the bottom?
Should I remove the toilet and replace the wax ring and install two new closet bolts?
Would you recommend that I just buy another toilet? I really like this old toilet as it uses tons of water to flush and it hardly ever clogs. I realize the newer toilets use a lot less water when flushing and that worries me. My top priority is a toilet that doesn't clog and I don't mind using a little extra water if that assures me of a clog free toilet.
I've read a lot of good things about the Toto toilets and am seriously considering one of them. In your opinion, which toilet would flush better, my old 25 year old toilet that uses a lot of water or the new Toto Ultramax II?
Hey guys, thanks for listening. This is some nice site you have here. I'm sure I'll be a frequent visitor.
Gary Swart
03-04-2012, 09:46 AM
Flange bolts are easy to replace although you do have to remove the toilet to access the flange. These are Tee bolts that just slide into slots in the flange. You will also need a new wax ring. Get one without the plastic funnel. With a broken bolt, you toilet can move, that what the bolts prevent. When a toilet moves, the wax ring seal is broken and the toilet can leak water if there is a back up in the drain, and will leak sewer gas all of the time. Your concerns about poor flushing without using over 3 gallons of water per flush are unfounded. True, cheap build grade toilets sold in discount houses do not perform well, but a Toto Ultramax II will get the job done as would any of the other Toto models.
03-04-2012, 10:22 AM
Thanks Gary for your fast and helpful response.
So, I guess an Ultramax II may be in my future. I guess the old saying "you get what you pay for", really holds true with toilets.
Dang, I was really hoping to find a $100.00 toilet that flushed great. No chance huh?
Again, thanks for your help. I'll probably try to install two new flange bolts until I decide for sure on the Toto.
Gary Swart
03-04-2012, 10:54 AM
Not a bad plan to replace the bolts for a temporary fix. You can get them at any hardware store for next to nothing. You might want to get the old toilet up before buying you repair supplies. If the flange was properly installed, it will be setting on top of the finished floor. If so, then a standard sized plain wax ring will be in order. If for some reason the flange is recessed below the top of the finished floor, then a jumbo ring will be better. When you get the flange bolts, get 2 extra nuts. When you put the bolts in place, secure them with those extra nuts to keep them upright and prevent them from sliding around with the toilet is place on the bolts. Set the toilet back in place and use you body weight to compress the wax ring until the toilet skirt is resting on the floor all the way around. Then put the washers and nuts on the bolts and snug them down. Don't try to seat the toilet on the wax with the flange bolts and nuts. They are intended to hold the toilet in place. If this is going to be temporary, you can omit trimming the flange bolt tops to size and caulking around the base if you wish.
03-04-2012, 11:21 AM
Thanks again Gary,
When I remove the old toilet to replace the two flange bolts, would I need to remove the top tank, as it is a two piece toilet? I realize that if I don't remove the tank it would make it harder to lift the old toilet and also to reinstall it after the flange bolts are in place. Also, do most plumbers recommend using caulking around the base? I always thought that they actually didn't recommend that. And lastly, how exactly should the wax ring be installed? On the bottom of the toilet or sitting on the flange and putting the toilet down on top of it, or doesn't it really matter?
Gary Swart
03-04-2012, 12:50 PM
I would not remove the tank. While it would lighten the toilet, the replacement would require a new gasket and just be a general PITA. Even with new two piece toilets, it's usually easier to attach the tank to the bowl before the install. Of course with one piece toilets, you don't have the option. Caulking is required by code in most, if not all, areas. Some places require caulking around the entire base, while others, like Washington, want the back left open. There are three purposes of the caulking. One is to prevent water from a spill, mopping, or poor aim, from getting under the toilet. A second purpose is to contain a leak in the wax ring should it occur. Finally, the caulk will help secure the toilet from moving. My comment about not caulking was based on this being a temporary fix. A new toilet should be caulked with a latex caulk (not silicone). The wax ring should be placed on the flange and the toilet lowered on to it. There is an optional wax-less seal that can be used instead of the wax ring. The wax-less seals are much cleaner to use, and they have the advantage of allowing the toilet to be removed and replaced without changing the seal each time. Fluid Master is one brand that makes these wax-less seals, It is recommended by plumbers with much more experience than I have to disregard the installation instructions with these seals and place them on the toilet first. Many of us DIY find two people make setting a toilet easier, but pros will scoff at that, but remember where you and I may do 2 or 3 in 20 years, these guys will do hundreds. Age and physical strength enter into the picture as well. Finally, the thing to remember about wax rings is that the compress, but once they are squished, that's it. No do overs with them.
03-04-2012, 02:29 PM
Gary, You've been very helpful. Thanks.
I will have a go at it in the next few days and will post back with my results. Hopefully the back holds out:)
Piece of cake? Yeah right...
Gary Swart
03-04-2012, 03:41 PM
Well, it's not rocket science, but like many things, there are some skills required. | http://www.terrylove.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-46145.html | dclm-gs1-064510000 |
0.023324 | <urn:uuid:79cde67f-5024-46f0-8394-1c4a74152ff0> | en | 0.963266 | Our TV Shows
Got a Tip?
Call TMZ at (888) 847-9869 or Click Here
Dwyane & Gabrielle --
Evidence They Were NOT on Break
When Baby Was Conceived
12/31/2013 12:04 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF
d-wade-feb5-instagramA couple of days before that (on Feb. 1), Gabrielle posted a romantic photo of the couple together from a photo shoot for a "Flashback Friday."
Doesn't seem like a couple on a break ...
d-wade-apr26-instagramAnother says, "Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been, to stand up taller than you ever were."
d-wade-may16-instagramOne would assume it was right around this time that Union decided to take him back.
When is TMZ Sports?
No Avatar
Nba player. Need we say more
73 days ago
bwahahahah...now that's social media for ya!!. They should have just left the press out of it instead of trying to cover up the details
73 days ago
Jamey Hunter
She's an idiot for taking him back with all his baby mama dramas. I'll be surprised if they go through with the marriage, and if they do, I doubt it will last more than a few months.
73 days ago
If she's okay with her man screwing other women unprotected and producing kids he needs to support for 18 years, than that's between them.
73 days ago
We knew D Ugly camp was in a major PR spin to protect his sorry as image . I guarantee if Gabby got pregnant while dating D Ugly he would NOT hang around.
Women need to learn their self-worth and to know that its valuable. You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you.
73 days ago
LOL. Done the same way he did his ex-wife and Gab isn't even his wife yet! Something tells me he's been sleeping around on her for a long time (unprotected) and the baby became undeniable proof. She needs to RUN , farrrrr away from this disaster of a man because he has no problem making illegitimate children . A piece of jewelry won't change that.
73 days ago
Gabrielle please just say hello to Karma. You never side with a man who unfairly tries to take the children away from their mother. His ex might have gone crazy but now we know why!
73 days ago
It's not rocket science...count the months of pregnancy and you'll know if you've been cheated on or not. Gabrielle don't care she just lookin for a come up. All she dates is athletes....there's a reason for that.
73 days ago
Why is TMZ bent on adding fuel to the fire? Obviously they worked it out (even though many of us wouldn't have taken him back).
73 days ago
Homewrecking skank, karma will get u
73 days ago
Hahahaha they are on this. Ok we get it he cheated
73 days ago
Dee Dee
if she is ok about what happened why does it matter to TMZ?
73 days ago
Dywane needs to pull a Diddy and not get married at all . He's not ready to settle down and Gabrielle should take this time to move on . I highly doubt this cheater will never step out and sleep with another woman again , HIGHLY doubt.
73 days ago
Jenny Ryan
So the bulldog is having puppies? I got distracted by the cute pictures of the doggy, didn't care much about the peoples.
73 days ago
I am so glad TMZ is so involved in their relationship and it's obvious that whatever happened between them wasn't strong enough to end their relationship because he asked and she answered with a YES so nothing else really matters now does it...
73 days ago
Around The Web | http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/31/dwyane-wade-gabrielle-union-break-baby-instagram-xavier/2/ | dclm-gs1-064680000 |
0.118428 | <urn:uuid:8804b235-a36a-4dc9-afdf-a0763610e99c> | en | 0.894398 | Woodbridge market price summary for the Cadillac Escalade
Live in or near Woodbridge, VA and need to know what other people are paying for new vehicles? TrueCar provides you with actual prices paid by people around Woodbridge for all new 2014 models.
| http://www.truecar.com/local-car-prices/2014-cadillac-escalade-prices-woodbridge-va/ | dclm-gs1-064710000 |
0.745028 | <urn:uuid:a618eb9a-6d98-4841-b8e4-82889b0bc9f8> | en | 0.952629 |
The law bans doctors from performing abortions five months after an egg is fertilized, except when doctors decide a fetus has a defect so severe it is unlikely to live. The law also makes an exception to protect the life or health of the mother, though that does not apply to a mother's mental health.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a lawsuit on behalf of three obstetricians challenging the law's constitutionality. The organization says the law violates the state's privacy protections as provided for in the state constitution.
| http://www.twincities.com/ci_22255521/judge-temporarily-blocks-ga-abortion-law | dclm-gs1-064740000 |
0.231403 | <urn:uuid:d214a3a6-cb69-452e-8437-e9a8a167d7bd> | en | 0.889725 | First: Mid: Last: City: State:
Allison Preza
To help you locate the correct Allison Preza, we'll utilize any data that we have in our records. Identify the exact Allison by using details such as previous residences and known aliases. Explore more personal details, including background checks, criminal profiles, and email addresses on USA-People-Search.com. If this Allison is not the person you are seeking, refer to the list of people with the last name Preza below. This list could include name, age, location, and relatives.
Use additional details into the search fields on the left for improved results. A first name, middle name, last name, city, state and/or age can be the missing piece to finding Allison Preza. To pinpoint and get a visual sense of their whereabouts, go ahead an make use of the map. When you locate the Allison Preza you're seeking, you can then browse all the public records data we have in our comprehensive database. Get people search results for Allison Preza in no time at all with our user friendly tools.
Name/AKAsAgeLocationPossible Relatives | http://www.usa-people-search.com/names/p/Allison-Preza | dclm-gs1-064750000 |
0.174471 | <urn:uuid:f8a8b1f7-f530-4668-859c-9afc01229f58> | en | 0.824849 | First: Mid: Last: City: State:
Grover Eckles
Get exclusive access to more than a billion public records when you sign up with USA-People-Search.com. Our sophisticated system will instantly generate accurate and extensive information about everyone named Grover Eckles. From there, you can comfortably browse the results to find the exact Grover you're looking for.
Did you find the right Grover Eckles yet? If not, simply modify your search by including extra details like previous residences or other known aliases. Any small piece of information you might have can help. Once you locate the Grover Eckles you're looking for, check out the other data we have on them, including addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.
Name/AKAsAgeLocationPossible Relatives
1. Eckles, Grover L Thomasville, GA
ECKLES, MARIE D (age 65)
View Details
2. Eckles, Grover L
Associated names:
Thomasville, GA
View Details | http://www.usa-people-search.com/names/p/Grover-Eckles | dclm-gs1-064760000 |
0.02118 | <urn:uuid:e09045c1-1617-43c9-97b0-accb88adc67b> | en | 0.952629 | Reflecting on IT / business silos | ZDNet
Reflecting on IT / business silos
Summary: This photo sparked my thinking regarding silos and the so-called gap between IT and lines of business.
The notion that IT and the business speak different languages is such a well-worn cliché that it's almost unbearable to discuss. Nonetheless, perhaps the cliché is so worn precisely because it expresses a common truth with which we are all familiar.
In this metaphorical representation of information silos, there is a small bridge at the top signifying some communication happening at the most senior level in an organization. Aside from that, the two business units just do not talk.
Does this scenario ring true for you? Please share your experiences with information silos and IT / business alignment.
[Photo by Michael Krigsman.]
Topic: CXO
Log in or register to join the discussion
• Also the ground at the bottom...
There's also the ground at the bottom of the silos
connecting them. I think communication happens there as
well in many cases.
Silos emerge because communication is a O(n^2) problem.
No business for more than a few people could survive if it
didn't divide and conquer. Increasing the communication
between silos usually involves creating lots of liaison type
positions, which will mostly be seen seen as fat to be cut
when times get tough.
Silos are kind of like a greedy algorithm. You trade a
suboptimal solution for one that can be cheaply computed.
They won't really be broken down until someone has a
sub-linear way to scale organizations that works in the
general case.
Erik Engbrecht
• Even worse
Communication between any two parties in a
group scales is an O(n^2) issue, but that is
just for starters. This is because everyone in
the company can talk with anyone else. If we
have groups of three people, we can have n(n-
1)(n-2)=n!/(n-3!) combinations, for each
combination, we have 3 potential speakers and 3
groups of listeners. By induction, you can see
that we have n^a groups (where a is the group
size.) Within each group, there are a! pairs
of communicators.
I believe that this moves us to an exponential,
as in exp(n), time dependence. Not the
marketing-speak 'exponential' meaning "rapidly
growing in some way we don't understand". This
is no longer a problem solvable in 'polynomial
• Management have lost the plot.
We have been living through of "bean counters", where theoretical good practice (ITIL), accountability (SLAs), performance (number of incidents resolved), all seasoned with political correctness, equal opportunities and other things have totally distracted managers from what they SHOULD be doing. And managers on the Business side and the IT side are equally guilty.
"IT" is a silly term now. Obviously one would use computers and technology. So drop the T, and we become the Information Department. This gives a clue to what the Head of IT SHOULD be doing. The management should be advising the business on what Information we hold, and how it could be be made available and leveraged.
When was the last time your IT Manager took that approach? A very long time ago, I bet?
Information is the sum total of all the data in an organisation. That data should be regarded as the most valuable asset after the employees, and it should be cared for and nurtured. This means weeding and archiving, capacity management and planning, and investing in better forms of storage, and in code that can extract and re-align data into the most useful combinations.
THAT is what the management on both sides should be working on.
• And IT happens in a silo, a barn, a field, and a flower garden...
I love the photo!
I wish it were that simple. Often, the IT silo is shorter, and is connected to the upper middle of the business silo. And there are multiple business silos. The value stream is a garden hose running from one silo to the next.
Words shape our thinking.
One of the fundamental problems IMO is the use of the single acronym "IT" to encompass things as diverse as:
1. Infrastructure (servers and routers and switches and desktops/laptops/smartphones), to
2. Purchased/licensed general-utility applications used inside the walls to do the usual stuff, to
3. Transactional systems that cross business boundaries up- and down-stream, to
4. Consumer-facing websites and business-intelligence systems
This isn't my idea--I first read about it 10 years ago in "Leveraging the New Infrastructure." The dimensions of IT have different cost structures and yield value in different ways. They range from totally indifferent to the nature of the business they serve to joined at the brain and heart. Projects to implement them require completely different teams and have completely different risk profiles and predictability. The same can be said for "maintaining" them.
IT leadership may not even recognize and account for the diversity in how they need to "do IT." What chance do people outside have?.
I've written about this at http://wistechnology.com/articles/5105/ and on my website http://www.ufunctional.com.
• Many shapes, sizes, and forms
You are certainly correct in saying there are many different variants of this problem.
I actually have quite a few silo photos showing different degrees of interaction, so we are definitely on the same page.
• Sileage
I see it every day with our customers. Our goal as an organization is to try to facilitate more communication. While there is the Staff/IT silo gap, I most often see it across departments. What really kills me is to go to a place and the marketing department is isolated from the rest of the company. You know, the data where they could be getting their success metrics from.
It happens in many other iterations as well. I think there are a lot of products to help out with this, but the number one thing is to foster an environment of communication, as you can have the world's best ERP or Database, but if the users don't use it than the silos will remain.
• RE: Reflecting on IT / business silos
As people and organizations focus more on the cross-cutting processes that generate the greatest value, artificial barriers that create a segmented, or siloed, understanding of roles, information and systems are also breaking down.
There are still many organizations and systems that are deeply siloed. However, as technologies like Enterprise Architecture and Business Process Management software have become widely recognized as mission-critical, we are finding that these silos are easier to break down than we once thought.
For example, Enterprise Architecture models enable business and IT to speak a common language?bridging the communication gap. These models?which require the skills of IT, yet cannot be created without the insight of business?provide IT with a better understanding of business, and business with a vehicle to communicate effectively with IT.
Business Process Management, too, enables business and IT to better communicate and collaborate on the day to day execution of the enterprise by enabling business users to take ownership of their processes, suggest or even implement changes, and ?do? technology while experiencing first-hand the agility and productivity created by the investment.
Furthermore, the ubiquity and velocity of e-mail and now social computing is helping to break down barriers even faster.
It?s a very exciting time. These technologies are coming together to create an environment where silos are a thing of the past?and perhaps to prove to us that business and IT are not so different after all.
-Greg Carter
Chief Technology Officer & VP of Development at Metastorm, inc. | http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/reflecting-on-it-business-silos/7948 | dclm-gs1-064870000 |
0.062212 | <urn:uuid:9c1eb0f7-6c62-4e13-9227-58d7f3c065cf> | en | 0.965739 | It's all downhill for Twitter, politics from here | ZDNet
It's all downhill for Twitter, politics from here
Summary: This week, "tax protesters" gathered across America to dump bagged tea into symbolic bodies of non-potable water and Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN to a Twitter follower showdown. I admire anyone who takes to the streets for their ideas and recognize the power of media, even when it is lowered to the level of counting masses of followers.
This week, "tax protesters" gathered across America to dump bagged tea into symbolic bodies of non-potable water and Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN to a Twitter follower showdown. I admire anyone who takes to the streets for their ideas and recognize the power of media, even when it is lowered to the level of counting masses of followers. Oprah followed me today. I have no idea why she did, other than to get followers, and that demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about social media.
First, the "teabaggers." These folks are protesting taxes in the nation with the lowest taxes in the developed world. They are mimicking the actions of their forebears, who were protesting taxation without representation—less than six months after the most participated-in election in at least a generation. They are not idealists, nor do they have any idea what they are talking about, but talk away they should so that someone might engage them in discourse and collectively we learn something.
Ultimately, it costs more money to reinvest in a developed economy than in a growing first-generation industrial economy. That's why we have taxes. The problem with our taxes is that, for the past 30 years they have been invested in the wealthy, which is why the United States and Great Britain, the forebears of Reagan-Thatcher top-down economic planning now suffer the largest wealth differentials between the average citizen and the richest one-percent of the population of any developed countries in the world. Instead of protesting taxes, these people should be protesting the indifference toward the middle class of the past 30 years and demanding even greater investment in schools, basic science and other seedings of future prosperity than the Obama Administration has imagined. That doesn't mean lots more taxes—we could do the same by simply cutting wasteful stupid spending returning half-way to the old top-income taxes of the past—it only means the priority becomes investment in the people, not a class that will save the people.
As for Mr. Kutcher, he seems like a nice enough guy. As a celebrity, he strikes me as the perfect attention zombie, stumbling through our screens to eat our brains. But the fact a television news network even bothered to compete with a B-grade actor over their popularity is a sign of how low we will stoop to conquer anything that can be defined as "high ground." Now, with Oprah glomming on to Twitter, we are seeing spamming by celebrities desperate to retain their mass-media reputations. Oprah touts more than 100,000 followers in less than a day because so many people auto-follow, whether using a program to do so or simply because they are flattered by Oprah's follow—that's a spammer strategy.
In both cases, teabaggers and Twitter follower races, we're seeing the aping of past behaviors, the Boston Tea Party and the popularity contests of high school and Entertainment Tonight!, turned into events that supposedly enact meaning, but are merely empty gestures. Tea baggers aren't patriots, they are people convinced they are paying too much in taxes (just about the only obligation this country asks of its citizens), when the debate should be about how taxes are spent, what to cut and, if more money is needed to make the world a better place for our children, who among the current beneficiaries of that system should pay higher taxes.
Oprah, Ashton and Ev (Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter), I will not be following anyone who for all intents and purposes is a celebrity bot seeking to claw some of my attention away for themselves. I am sure that today marks Twitter's high-water mark. Oprah's endorsement is like being on the cover of Fortune, which, surely, Twitter and Mr. Williams will soon be.
The utility of a social ecosystem is destroyed by false followers and other aggressive species that suck the air away from the genuine exchanges of ideas and information by individual members.
Topics: Banking, Government, Government US, Social Enterprise
Log in or register to join the discussion
• Close-mindedness of a Child
I'm amazed you can sum of the Tea Party protesters in such a quick summary that none of them know what they are talking about. Since I will glance over your name and smirk instead of clicking your rants from now on I find this a fitting end to reading your mind farts. I always take my political leanings from technology consultants, I know they know just as much as movie celebrities. This article would have been so better served to explain the phenomenon of Twitter protest rallies (good or bad) then trying to subject your absolute truth opinion on people. Awesome fail.
• Fine, goodbye.
As the story makes clear: Popularity does not signify clear or correct
thinking. I'm happy to alienate you if I am being truthful about my
opinions. That's patriotism, too, to suffer the consequences of using
my rights to disagree. It would be patriotic to tolerate the difference
of opinion, but you resort to ad hominem insults. I said explicitly that
the the protesters should feel free to speak out, even though they are
wrong. Your message suggests I stop expressing myself. Feel free to
continue saying I am an idiot, but be ready with more than "awesome
fail" and "mind farts" as a counter-argument.
With regard to the correctness of my opinions about the "Tea Party"
protesters, I explained, albeit briefly, why I think they are a wrong-
headed bunch. They did not in any way reiterate the Boston Tea
Party's message, but came across more like a beer hall putsch. I will
add that, after hearing all about liberal treason for all these years
liberals toiled to win an election, the immediate and widespread call
for "revolution," secession and other nonsense spouting from the far
right now is the most disgusting hypocrisy yet.
I think the two events, Ashton v. CNN and TeaBaggers, so close in
time, speaks amply to the mindlessness of the times. Here we are in a
real crisis of capitalism, which we must save to maintain freedom, and
you stoop to name-calling in response to substantive criticism.
"Awesome fail" is the language of a child, because it speaks to no grey
areas at all amidst immensely complex times.
Twitter protest rallies are interesting but not related to this posting,
which has a lot more to do with the uselessness of CNN as a source of
meaningful news than you recognized.
As for your daft comment about my work and the viability of my
opinions, apparently you think that no one with any profession other
than politician should comment on public policy. Everyone, regardless
of their smirks, is a citizen. This blog has long covered the media and
technology, which are deeply intermingled with the political, social
and cultural. I'd rather stand alone than go along with the crowd.
Good riddance.....
Mitch Ratcliffe
• You Are Right to Be Worried, Wrong to Expect More
One of the most aware and intelligent postings I have seen in a long time. Still, you are wrong to expect more from your reading public (if indeed you do) since we all know what's happened with education in the past two decades.
In discerning a behaviour pattern linking CNN, Ashton Kucher, Oprah and the Tea-baggers you expose a trend that few want to acknowledge - that America has itself come round to gagging on the cheap, uninformed, unintelligent crap its been serving the world for decades. Might I suggest that you should perhaps have structured your arguments around the 3 themes that can be discerned: 1) the power of ALL media to shape opinion and create/impact moments, 2) the inherent danger of a fractured and fragmented mediascape in a liberal democracy (you can substitute mediascape with "auto industry", "finance industry", etc.), and 3) the herd mentality that ensues when action is not preceded by deep reflection (a 21st Century American condition).
I would like to see you write about the Role of New Media (such as Twitter) in Managing the Turbulence in American Culture!
• I Disagree
Twitter is nothing more that the flavour of the moment(I won't waste my time even debating it). The "Teabaggers" are using a pinnicle moment in US history and comparing it to their objections to the recent issues. The two do not event compare. While I understand and agree with their objections, it is not about democratic freedom. It is actually quite the opposite. They are concerned with the uncontrolled abilities of the financial insitutions and how they are attracting the criminal element. It has moved beyond freedom. It is about something more basic: truthfulness and responsibility. it used to be that a captain of industry would at very least have the honour to want their companies to succeed. "C" level (i.e. CEO) workers no longer have this. They are all about the money for themselves. Rules did not need to exist for these people previously because they respected their employees and were about progress. Now however, they are out for only themselves. These are not the same people that ran industry previously. These are the snake oil salesmen that have discovered a new way.
Now if you want to ignore articles, Dana Blankenhorn's postings are a waste of time....
• RE: It's all downhill for Twitter, politics from here
that you dont know what you are talking about
• I just cannot see the correlation
THe tea baggers did not organize via Twitter as did Moldavia, for instance.
The tea baggers were failed astroturf from Fox despite the denial on every Fox report filed noting that only Fox was covering tea bagging.
The ridicule from some gay activists should have been expected. I guess they weren't looking towards left field.
• Here's the correlation
Empty-headed protest and mindless celebrity following on Twitter both
help make people pawns for other people's ambition. When a news
network joins in, that's a recipe for cultural and political domination by
the owners of media.
Mitch Ratcliffe
• My take.....
Do you people know who started the Tea parties? It was a CNBC reporter Rick Santelli that called for the tea parties at the Chicago Mercentile Exchange back in Jan '09. I don't think people really get the gist of why this is happening. Most people are upset, including myself with the one party big government system we have today. Republicans and Democrats each think that money will solve the nations problems and its the farthest thing from the truth. We believe that government should be run with more efficiency and targeted results, which as we all know is no where to be seen.
We spend so much money on the wrong things it makes people sick, espcially those that have to work hard every day to make a living while taking care of their families and paying taxes. Sure people need help, and I support giving them help in a form that does not encourage abuse of the system and truely helps those get back on their feet. Throwing money at people will not help them succeed, it only gives them a quick buck to repeat the same old. I say the government be in the business of training and rehab that truley gives people the tools to succeed and not just a piece of paper with a president on it. I am living proof that money doesn't help you succeed, but that the tools acquired by education and working hard are the real keys to self sustained success.
I do not support bank, auto, media or any other kind of bailout. I think our nation has lost its principals and has coward to everyone and everything. This should not be how our government is run and our nation's founders stated on many occassions the dangers of such actions. We should invest heavily in education first, Science, and protection of the people(and not financial protection, more like people gonna bomb you protection). All these federal programs of financial assistance and whatever else should be done at state levels and controlled on a local level. All we have now is this big huge tanker of a Fed, just breathing down everything and everyone. I believe in the system that was created by our founders and call me whatever, but I think that is why people are outraged and to be honest Obama just made people do a double take with his budgets and stimulus that people actually are stepping up. Its not about racism or who is in control at any given time, but for me its been a long time coming for the end to the big giant in Washington DC.
• RE: It's all downhill for Twitter, politics from here
For being a veteran journalist, he either has his head
in the clouds....or the sand. He is clearly not attuned to facts and interprets the truth in the way
he wants it understood!
• Twitterers and Teabaggers
My friend and I were talking about the ability of the new social media networks to allow people's voices to be heard. But the ease of access just allows too many voices to be heard, and in the end, we often just go back to the same names and brands that are familiar to us in "traditional" circumstances. walmart.com isn't the best e-commerce site in the world, but it still manages to attract beaucoup traffic because of the brand it carries.
So it is with Ashton Kutcher and Oprah, Britney Spears and Shaq. Do they have more interesting posts than the masses that follow them? Probably not. But it allows a new degree of celebrity voyeurism, the same kind that mades Entertainment Tonight or Star magazine a hit, but this time without the middleman.
As far as the teabaggers, I don't understand the protests myself, and I'm not even sure all the protesters are protesting the same things. But I think a lot of the vitriol that was on display at GOP rallies this summer has carried over into a lot of sour grapes with the left controlling the White House and Capitol Hill. Hopefully it doesn't detract from a lot of the rational dialogue that needs to take place.
• Look in the mirror
...to see the real problem here. When you read about the stunning increases in the national debt, did the magnitude of the increase take your breath away? No? Then I suggest talking about things you may know something about.
Not everyone thinks it's cool to pay $20 for a loaf of bread a few years down the road. A revolution is brewing, and you're laughing at what idiots these teabaggers are...
• There may be a revolution
but the teabaggers aren't its center, it's intellectual driving force or it's
moral center. Empty-headed protest and mindless celebrity following
on Twitter both help make people pawns for other people's ambition.
When a news network joins in, that's a recipe for cultural and political
domination by the owners of media.
The debt soared under the previous administration and we're still
feeling that administration's impact fiscally, because TARP came from
the Bush Treasury. Yet, the protests were aimed at Obama, who is
lowering taxes for 95% of Americans and a plan to, at least, reverse
course on the deficits over the course of his administration.
Everything about the protests shows that unfocused anger is out
there, but taxes without representation aren't the problem.
The price of bread may go up because of hyperinflation and shortages
globally, but investments in fundamental sciences could change that.
That's why a "mixed" capital economy with progressive taxation and
strong but reasonable regulation are useful and less likely to lead to
the collapse of unrestricted self-interest. That ways lies Bernie
Maddoff, billion-dollar bonuses at investment banks and greater
inequality of opportunity, the place we are today.
I am not laughing at the teabaggers. They are wrong. I disagree with
their argument and said they should continue to protest to drive
dialogue that could teach us all something. But you're telling me to
shut up, that I don't know anything without providing any counter-
arguments to what I wrote. Unless you have something to add other
that I am the problem, let's not waste one another's time. Because I do
know what I mean to say and will happily debate anyone who wants to
proceed without simply dismissing all dissent from their own point of
Mitch Ratcliffe | http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ratcliffe/its-all-downhill-for-twitter-politics-from-here/399 | dclm-gs1-064880000 |
0.960313 | <urn:uuid:32fbe4b1-f183-4e77-a54d-268d33a785cc> | en | 0.964921 | ABC Radio National
Background Briefing
Date/Time 14 Mar 2014 6:31:39pm
Churches own so much property why do they not sell it and set up lovely places for the homeless. Kings Cross is a place where there should be places for homeless people both men and women. So many people lying on the footpath dressed in rags and no blankets and I had a lady when I donated to a charity boasted how much she had and was very rude when I donated my late mothers clean clothes and bags etc. This charity I had donated to for years and she was unaware there was a financial donation to be given as well which I immediately did not hand over. I wonder why she does not buy premises at the Cross for the homeless.
| http://www2b.abc.net.au/tmb/View/NewMessage.aspx?b=193&t=199&tn=&dm=1&m=6510&tpa=&r=%2Ftmb%2FView%2FMessage.aspx%3Fb%3D193%26t%3D199%26a%3D0%26ps%3D50%26tpa%3D%26uto%3D1%26dm%3D4%26ci%3D0%26pd%3D1%26so%3DDateTime%26soa%3DTrue%26p%3D1%26p2%3D0 | dclm-gs1-064900000 |
0.094368 | <urn:uuid:7b8b84f0-af31-4c39-b65a-f652039316f7> | en | 0.892168 | The major parts of #1781372: Add an API for listing (configuration) entities that met resistance was providing a base menu item for each List controller, and providing a hookMenu() method for the addition of even more.
• Less duplication: Currently if you change the path for that listing, you have to change it in at least two places, plus once more for each operation
• Ease of adding a list controller: Adding the controller itself and it's definition in hook_entity_info() is it, no need to touch hook_menu()
• The controller knows where it exists: Often times an operation might need to redirect or reload, and it shouldn't have to hardcode the destination
• Discoverability of menu items: With the exception of field_ui_menu(), menu items are all in your own .module, in hook_menu() or hook_menu_alter()
• It currently parses the hook_menu() definitions directly
Proposed resolution
• Allow entities, or their controllers, to specify their path.
• Allow controllers to provide menu items
Remaining tasks
User interface changes
API changes
Related issues
Assigned:tim.plunkett» Unassigned
Status:Postponed» Active
Actually, because this is about more than just list controllers, unpostponing and unassigning. Discuss!
Component:base system» entity system
Issue tags:-Configuration system+Field system
I'm tempted to rewrite/revamp the issue summary, because the actual problem is different from my perspective:
For me, it's primarily about derived router paths of entities.
1. Every List controller needs at minimum
• the URI of each entity
• the edit + delete (+ ...) operation URIs for each entity (usually derived from the entity's URI)
• the URI for adding a new entity of the listed type (typically used for #empty tables)
2. Every Form controller needs at minimum
• the URI of the entity
• the URI on which the entity is listed (to $form_state['redirect'] after submission)
• the delete (+ ...) operation URIs for each entity (usually derived from the entity's URI)
3. Every View/Render controller needs at minimum
• the URI of the entity
To clarify what I mean with derived :
public function getOperations(EntityInterface $entity) {
$uri = $entity->uri();
$operations['edit'] = array(
'title' => t('edit'),
---> 'href' => $uri['path'] . '/edit',
'options' => $uri['options'],
'weight' => 10,
$operations['delete'] = array(
'title' => t('delete'),
---> 'href' => $uri['path'] . '/delete',
'weight' => 100,
return $operations;
Given what @EclipseGc did with Contextual Administration, I'm pretty sure he'll say that this information needs to be injected into each controller, so as to be able to view/edit/list entities on completely different URIs and not having them hard-coded within the controllers.
I definitely agree that the path should be injected.
It was mentioned in some other issue, and I wanted to mention that here, because it wasn't clear to me at first:
We already have a precedent for this in core with Field UI. More specifically from the API doc on hook_entity_info:
• admin: An array of information that allows Field UI pages to attach themselves to the existing administration pages for the bundle. Elements:
• path: the path of the bundle's main administration page, as defined in hook_menu(). If the path includes a placeholder for the bundle, the 'bundle argument' and 'real path' keys below are required.
• bundle argument: The position of the bundle placeholder in 'path', if any.
• real path: The actual path (no placeholder) of the bundle's main administration page. This will be used to generate links.
• access callback: As in hook_menu(). 'user_access' will be assumed if no value is provided.
• access arguments: As in hook_menu().
That's obviously not the nicest way to do this, but...
For a while I was thinking about trying to reduce the amount of data we store in the router. So just store information that has to be queried, plus a string pointing to a class name, and then move the title callback, description callback and similar in there. The idea would be to make building the router itself a lot cheaper since we'd not need to instantiate any of those classes until they were used, and you'd also be able to have router items that inherit from each other etc. I've forgotten how much of that is done by the new router patch (and deliberately not checking that now), but if we do that, then how much stays in hook_router_info() or hook_menu_item_info()? If we do this we also need to be careful about hook_menu_alter() - it'll be as easy to completely replace a router item but much harder to change just one thing (or for two modules to change two different things).
If I understand #4 correctly, we could have a 'base path' property in hook_entity_info, so for example in for nodes that would be just 'node/'.
That would be an enormous help to contrib modules, as currently there's no way to do something like add a tab to every entity.
Issue summary:View changes
Updated issue summary.
Issue summary:View changes
Added related issue
@joachim, I suggested something kind of similar in #1803818: Make it possible to dynamically provide additional routes for entities. We will need have that kind of information in order to provide serialization routes for arbitrary entities.
A couple of things:
1) We really need to rename entity controllers. "Controller" is "callable that the Kernel calls", basically formerly "page callback". Like "bundle" that's an inherited term from Symfony so we cannot really change it. For the remainder of this comment I will refer to Entity Storage Drivers (ESD) (what are currently called NodeController, UserController, etc.), to avoid confusion.
2) This is one of the reasons I've been calling for a Generator (#1705488: Implement a generator for Drupal paths) for a long time. Once we are able to refer to routes by name to generate URLs, a lot of the "injection problem" that EclipseGc is concerned about is taken care of. (Not all, but a lot.)
3) It sounds like what we're talking about, then, is each ESD exposing standardly-named routes that point to some standard Controller. $entity_type/{$id}/{?operation} seems like a reasonable default for that. And then we would need to piggyback on to that for each supported mime type. Then what an ESD would be specifying is: 1) Whether or not to generate routes. 2) A pattern (if not the default above). 3) A class to use for the controllers for those routes (if not the default above), possibly split by mime?
4) I haven't kept up on List "controllers", so I don't know what to offer there. Are there docs I can see first?
4) The discussion in #1801570: DX: Replace hook_route_info() with YAML files and RouteBuildEvent is highly relevant, as at the moment the leading contender is to use YAML, not a hook, to define routes. That would definitely impact dynamically generated routes of this sort.
#1810350: Remove menu_* entity keys and replace them with entity links is postponed on this issue. (updated issue summary)
Issue summary:View changes
Added the exact comment
Title:Allow controllers to provide menu itemsAllow entities to provide menu items
Retitling for clarity.
Title:Allow entities to provide menu itemsAllow entity types to provide menu items
Issue tags:+Release blocker
#1188388: Entity translation UI in core just landed, which introduced multiple entity plugin properties to define various paths of an entity.
That shouldn't have been introduced there, so this issue becomes even more major than it was.
Also, we have some very closely related issues:
#1332058: Need a way to distinguish "public/final" URIs for entities from admin and redirected ones
#1803586: Change notice: Give all entities their own URI
#1823574-9: [Meta] Improve the Views Bulk Operations (VBOs) that are in core
I fear we need a meta issue to consolidate all of those discussions and change proposals. :-/
I created a patch implementing a small part of this to demo the usage: What do you think of it?
There's a contrib project with a some UI that uses entity_uri()
Sorry, this issue focuses too much on an aspect that I only consider an artifact of a larger problem space, and various other issues are running into that identical problem space again and again, so I created a dedicated issue for the actual, larger task that we need to address for D8:
#1839516: Introduce entity operation providers
Suppose first we need to make a widget for menu_link edit. Currently each module introduces own form for links.
Related issues:
#916388: Convert menu links into entities
#1882552: Get rid of menu_list_system_menus()
#1882218: Remove static menu link creation for menus in menu_enable() and elsewhere
I had no idea that #1188388: Entity translation UI in core snuck in part of this.
EntityManager documents the following keys:
• menu_base_path
• menu_view_path
• menu_edit_path
• menu_path_wildcard
Which is used by CustomBlock, Term, and various test entity types.
Um, what!?
Yep, it was the only way to make that stuff work at the time. We need to get rid of those/refactor them in a sane way, as part of #1839516: Introduce entity operation providers I guess.
I agree with @tim.plunkett in #20.
Either this, or #1839516: Introduce entity operation providers, or perhaps even both issues need to be bumped to critical.
There is no way we can release with these E.T. router path declarations in entity plugin definitions. They break encapsulation and separation of concerns on multiple fronts.
P.S.: It's about time to send translation.module to /dev/null, and ET to take over its namespace. Until then, all overly ambiguous "E.T." pun is intended :P
It's actually translation_entity.module, who knew?
See #1968970: Standardize module-provided entity info documentation and clean-up the @EntityType annotation for cleaning that mess up.
Priority:Major» Critical
Issue tags:-Release blocker
Re #14:
If this is a release blocker, then it's critical per definition.
If not, then it might be just major plus "Revisit before release".
Priority:Critical» Major
Issue tags:+revisit before beta
Issue summary:View changes
Updated issue summary. adding that #1810350: Remove menu_* entity keys and replace them with entity links is postponed on this issue.
Status:Active» Closed (duplicate)
Issue tags:-revisit before beta | https://drupal.org/comment/7284504 | dclm-gs1-064950000 |
0.089009 | <urn:uuid:708bc944-c337-4efd-a133-458fe609a6f4> | en | 0.802401 | Skip to content
This repository
The "MBARI" patches to the Matz Ruby Interpreter. See the Wiki for latest usage info.
tag: v1_8_6_154
* What's Ruby
Ruby is the interpreted scripting language for quick and
easy object-oriented programming. It has many features to
process text files and to do system management tasks (as in
* Features of Ruby
+ Simple Syntax
+ Operator Overloading
+ Exception Handling
+ Iterators and Closures
+ Garbage Collection
+ Dynamic Loading of Object files(on some architecture)
Windows, Mac, BeOS etc.)
* How to get Ruby
The latest source code of this version series can be checked out
through SVN with the following command:
$ svn co
following command:
$ svn co ruby
There are some other branches under development. Try the following
command and see the list of branches:
$ svn ls
* Ruby home-page
The URL of the Ruby home-page is:
* Mailing list
There is a mailing list to talk about Ruby.
To subscribe this list, please send the following phrase
subscribe YourFirstName YourFamilyName
subscribe Joseph Smith
in the mail body (not subject) to the address <>.
* How to compile and install
1. If ./configure does not exist or is older than,
run autoconf to (re)generate configure.
If you don't want to compile non static extension modules
(probably on architectures which does not allow dynamic loading),
remove comment mark from the line "#option nodynamic" in
5. Run make.
your ruby works as it should (hopefully).
7. Run 'make install'
You may have to be a super user to install ruby.
* Copying
See the file COPYING.
* The Author
author's latest mail address:
created at: Thu Aug 3 11:57:36 JST 1995
Local variables:
mode: indented-text
Something went wrong with that request. Please try again. | https://github.com/brentr/matzruby/tree/v1_8_6_154 | dclm-gs1-064990000 |
0.118467 | <urn:uuid:35ef4d80-a5da-4c52-ab68-e02708a01dfc> | en | 0.839381 |
No encontramos iTunes en este ordenador. Para usar vista previa y comprar música de Flipper, descarga iTunes ya.
Yo tengo iTunes Descarga gratis
iTunes para Mac y PC
Ver en iTunes
They came, they saw, and they conquered — sort of. Never topping the charts, nor possessing a huge following, San Francisco's Flipper, even in the '90s alt-rock sweepstakes, would still be considered a fringe act. But, in 1982, they were the toast of rock critics across the country with their post-hardcore punk masterpiece "Sex Bomb." Clocking in at over seven minutes, possessing one riff played over and over (and sloppier and sloppier), with vocalist Will Shatter screaming rather than singing (total lyrics: "She's a sex bomb/My baby/yeah"), it was a remarkable record: loud, proud, defiantly obnoxious, and relentlessly dumb. But in it's own gleeful and intentionally moronic way it was (and remains) a perfect record.
With "Sex Bomb" providing the impetus, Shatter and fellow Flippers, vocalist/bassist Bruce Loose, drummer Steve DePace, and guitarist Ted Falconi, emerged from the fractious muck of the California hardcore punk scene (Shatter and DePace played in the Bay Area hardcore band Negative Trend in the late '70s) with a crushingly loud, slowed-down sound that resembled the Stooges at their most drug-addled (see "We Will Fall" from the first Stooges LP). Flipper didn't care if you loved or loathed them (most everyone loathed them), they simply played until you couldn't stand it anymore. There was something wonderfully uncomplicated about this attitude, which is probably the reason that Flipper, despite being seen as a one-shot band, had a career that lasted longer than 15 minutes.
Their debut album, Album — Generic Flipper, included "Sex Bomb" along with a handful of good-to-great songs about anonymity and desperation that were not all-bleak, nor without moments of humor. In fact, Flipper may have been the first hardcore/post-hardcore band to essay life-affirming messages on its album (no matter how tongue-in-cheek it might sound). So, although there's a track called "Life Is Cheap," there is also "Life" which offers the sentiment: "I too have sung death's praises/But I'm not gonna sing that song anymore." Adding the oft-stated sentiment, "Life is the only thing worth living for." Hmmm. How, uh, un-punk.
With much of the rock press singing their praises (and deservedly so), Flipper went on to demi-celebrity status as the reigning kings of American underground rock, for a few years. They never released anything as mind-blowingly good as Album, but until they split up in 1987, the music was usually very good. Precipitating their breakup was Shatter's death from a heroin overdose, with the remaining members spending the next half-dozen years stepping in-and-out of music. In 1992, Flipper fan and American Recordings label honcho Rick Rubin encouraged the remaining members to record a new album. The subsequent effort, American Grafishy, only hinted at their greatness. Their comeback attempt notwithstanding, Flipper's greatness lies in their ability to say "let's rock our way."
Top canciones
Se formó en:
1978 en San Francisco, CA
Años de actividad:
'70s, '80s, '90s, '00s
Hazte fan de las páginas de iTunes y App Store en Facebook para enterarte de las ofertas exclusivas, recibir lo último en apps nuevas y mucho más. | https://itunes.apple.com/mx/artist/flipper/id14677033?trackPage=2 | dclm-gs1-065000000 |
0.048848 | <urn:uuid:67c73ab3-8e4c-40e6-9bd2-b88f36efd5e8> | en | 0.933859 | Reviews for Waiting to Exhale
Cosmochyck chapter 1 . 7/29/2011
Loved it! And seems so "Fenris" appropriate given his demeanor in the game...great job!
Aenya chapter 1 . 4/16/2011
Very lovely light-hearted writing, even despite the somewhat serious situation. The world needs more Fenris-fluff! And this is just a prime example of what I'm talking about!
Nastrandir chapter 1 . 4/13/2011
Oh, this is so sweet and delicate XD
You've really captured Fenris' past conflict and present need to protect and confess so well here. The little flashbacks add so much to the layers of their relationship, and their timing is perfect.
Just wonderful, and I *love* the title - it sums everything up so well :)
Gixxer600 chapter 1 . 4/13/2011
*sighs happily*
I thought that this had just the right amount of emotion and was a moment in time captured beautifully. Loved the little communication hiccup between Anders and Merril too.
Nice job Tank! | https://www.fanfiction.net/r/6900417/ | dclm-gs1-065060000 |
0.163341 | <urn:uuid:b65fa5f5-de16-47be-a5c9-3d92a4e4abeb> | en | 0.987666 | A/N: Well, it took a while longer than I hoped, but I'm back with another chapter. Sorry, but I've been a bit busy lately, and my computer is being a bitch. But I have been working on this, and Hunter's Moon, though work is going very slow. Also I'll probably also start work on a Miroku-centric fic I've been planning out soon, and I have a couple of original fics going too.
Thanks go to everyone who reviewed. I'm staggered by how many I'm getting a chapter, now. It really helps keep me inspired.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Synthetic Emotions
Kagome was her normal morning self, stumbling from her bedroom to the coffee pot in a daze, then accelerating through her morning chores as the caffeine hit her blood and got her moving. By 8:30am she was darting about the small apartment searching for her brush, then the mate to one of her socks that seemed to have been lost somewhere between the laundry and its drawer, her tooth brush hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she searched end tables and behind her sparse furniture.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, sat with his back against the wall, making a show of being indifferent to Kagome's quest for her lost sock and misplaced hairbrush. He kept one ear trained on the girl though, while the other twitched from time to time in frustration. Finally he huffed a long- suffering sigh, and told her to check the medicine cabinet for her brush and just find another goddamned pair of socks.
"I never put it in the medicine cabinet," Kagome protested as she marched into the bathroom to check anyway.
No matter how he looked at it, they were acting as though the past couple of days hadn't happened at all. The little fox youkai set his chin on one tiny, balled fist and pondered. Perhaps it was because he wasn't designed with the capacity to understand adult behavioral patterns, but Shippo couldn't help but find the whole situation weird.
Of course, Inuyasha was usually weird. But that didn't explain Kagome.
Then again, the girl had been ignoring him more than normal lately. That was all the hanyou's fault. If they hadn't found him and turned him back on, none of this would have happened, Shippo was sure of it.
But. . . That wouldn't have made a difference with Miroku, Shippo supposed. He just wouldn't have shared his secret with the rest of them. And there still would have been a riot. And it wouldn't have changed things for Sango either, except she wouldn't have met the rest of them. And there was no way to guess what might have happened with Eiji.
'Alright,' Shippo admitted to himself. 'Perhaps it isn't all his fault. But he's still weird.'
"Hey!" he called as Kagome stomped back from finding her brush in the medicine cabinet. Hopping down from his seat on the dining room table and scurrying up the girl's leg and into her arms. "Why are you in such a rush?"
She looked down at Shippo, wide-eyed and obviously trying to decipher his question. Then she blinked, freeing one of her hands to smack herself firmly on the forehead. "I'm sorry, Shippo. I forgot to tell you. I was going to go down to the library today and see what I could dig up on Taisho."
"But aren't Miroku and Myouga doing that?"
She offered him a sheepish, apologetic smile. "Yeah, they are. But I feel a little useless sitting around waiting for them."
"Are you ready to go?" Inuyasha asked, cutting off Shippo before he could reply.
"Just a second," the girl answered him, a little irritation winning its way into her tone. "I still haven't found my sock."
"For the love of. . ." he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Just get another sock, or wear sandals or something!"
"Alright, alright." Kagome threw one hand in defeat, balancing the forgotten Shippo on her hip with the other. "I'll wear another pair of shoes."
"Is the runt coming, too?"
"If he wants to," she told him, carrying the fox youkai as she slid on a pair of low-heeled sandals.
"Well, does he want to, then?"
"How should I know?"
"Ask him!"
"You could ask him yourself!"
Yes, things were perfectly normal, and there was absolutely no way Shippo could explain it. He was tempted to cover his ears as they continued squabbling. How could two people argue so much about such stupid things?
"I'll go with you," Shippo piped, hoping to end the argument before it progressed. Neither the girl nor the hanyou paid him any attention.
"Will you stop being so childish and just ask him?"
"Wait, how am I the one being childish here?"
"Hey, I said I'd go," Shippo tried, a little louder.
"Well I'm not being childish, so it has to be you."
"Process of elimination is not a means of deciding who's childish!"
"Well, you're the one shouting!"
"You're shouting, too!"
"Hey!" Shippo yelled over the pair. "Let's go already. Damn it."
Both combatants blinked mutely, surprise evident on their faces. Inuyasha recovered first, folding his arms crossly and muttering something too low to be understood. Kagome's eyes narrowed and she sent the hanyou a smoldering glare.
"Are we going, you guys?" Shippo put in before they could start fighting again.
"Sure, lets go," Inuyasha said sullenly and turned away from Kagome and the childlike youkai on her hip. Shippo stuck out his tongue at the hanyou's retreating back. After a moment's hesitation, Kagome followed after him.
Kagome eyed the microfiche viewfinder dubiously. At one point in High School, she had been forced to sit through a half-hour long presentation on how to use one of these to look up old newspaper clippings. She recalled clearly thinking, 'Why would I ever have to use one of those? I can look up a new article on the internet.' Sadly, that was the only thing she remembered clearly from that lecture. Fifty years, it seemed, was more than enough to make any number of articles inaccessible by computer. Intersystem shuffling, software updates and mismanagement had long ago closed the electronic paths to that data.
Which left Kagome with this semi-archaic machine.
"Well?" Inuyasha asked, sprawling across a near by tabletop.
"I--I think I can handle this," Kagome told him, with a tentative laugh. "How complex can it be?"
The hanyou drew his face into a skeptical frown, his brow quirked at a disbelieving angle, eyes half lidded, and the corners of his mouth tight. "That's not exactly a vote of confidence."
"It's the best you're going to get," Kagome shot back, forcing down a spark of anger. "Unless you've got a better idea."
"We could just wait to see what that pervert digs up?" Inuyasha suggested. Idle, his claws began tapping out a grating rhythm on the tabletop. The librarian on duty shot a withering look his way that made Kagome squirm uneasily. Inuyasha showed no sign he noticed the glare at all.
"I want to see if I can find anything on my own." The girl planted her hands on her hips, bracing herself for a repeat of the argument they'd been having since that morning. After last night, she'd assumed he'd want to know more--about Amori Ichiro, if nothing else--but if anything he was more reluctant than before.
Through trial and error, Kagome managed to figure out how to work the viewfinder. It really wasn't difficult, once she got the hang of it. Before long she had the first of the promising looking articles displayed on the astringently glowing screen. It was a quick write up on Amori Ichiro's death from the Tokyo News.
"The body of Amori Ichiro surfaced today after extensive searching," the writer began in terse, journalistic style. "Amori, the 20 year-old son and heir of Inutaiyoukai's founder and CEO, has been missing since he failed to return from a kayaking trip May 5th. His disappearance was reported by his fiancée."
'Yeah, I know this bit.' Kagome skimmed over the brief article, scanning the text for any information that might prove valuable later on. "Sources say Taisho has been devastated by his son's untimely death. However, in his only interview, the youkai kingpin claimed that despite this tragedy, Inutaiyoukai's newest projects would not be delayed."
'He only gave one interview? Who with? And when?' The girl asked herself while silently eying the stack of microfiches she had collected. 'Is it in there somewhere?'
"Hey, Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted her thoughts. "Are you almost done?"
Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. "Not yet. If you don't like it, then help out."
"Keh," came the hanyou's predictable response.
The sign on Miroku's door read, "Closed." Sango was fairly certain it didn't apply to her, but still, seeing it made her pause a minute to take in the absurdity of her situation. What would happen if her colleagues heard that she had visited a youkai repair shop to see if the owner would take a look at her childhood playmate? Assuming they believed it, none of them would ever take her seriously again.
She glanced down at the box she was carrying, Kirara curled inconspicuously inside. Perhaps the other activists had good cause to snub her. After everything that had happened in the past couple of days, she wasn't sure she'd be able to put the same enthusiasm into her speeches and protests that she used to.
'Maybe I should just put Kirara back in storage,' she thought idly, staring blankly at the door in front of her. As things stood, she could still justify that the only reason she was associating with these people--Miroku, Kagome and Inuyasha, hell, even Shippo--was because of the connection they might have to her rogue youkai who killed her father. But if she revived Kirara. . .
If she revived Kirara, then she'd be giving up on her activism. Sango couldn't rationalize that kind of inconsistency in her life. She couldn't have a youkai and at the same time argue that they were a threat to humans.
Unbidden, a scene of herself facing a horde of frenzied reporters sprang to mind. Pay no attention to the youkai behind the curtain.
"Okay, this is getting silly," the young woman said aloud. "Just pick one and stick to it." If that meant she would have to reassess the direction her life took after they'd dealt with Naraku, then so be it. Steeling her resolve, she decided, and pushed into Miroku's shop.
The front showroom was empty, save for the regular merchandise arranged on the shelves. Everything seemed to be more or less as it was the last time she'd seen it. A shiver raced up her spine. Something didn't feel right.
"Hello?" She called, wondering why Miroku hadn't emerged yet. Normally he was quick to appear when the bell over the door announced someone.
No answer. Sango set Kirara down on the countertop. Was he out? The door hadn't been locked. "Is anyone here?"
Faintly, she heard something shift in the back, and what sounded like a stifled groan. Following the sound, she discovered Miroku on the floor of his workroom with the mangled remains of a youkai. The young man was leaning against the wall, his face stoic as he struggled to get to his feet, but his cheeks were flushed and sweat stood out on his forehead. His breathing was coming in an uneven pant.
Ignoring the youkai, Sango threw herself to her knees beside him, feeling his face for his temperature. He was running a low fever. "What happened?" she demanded as she pulled back to look at him more closely.
One dark eye cracked open, followed by the other. "Hello, Sango," he said, the thready sound of his voice ruining his attempt to sound casual.
A/N: Wow! I finally got it written. Sorry again for taking so long. My computer keeps freezing up, so writing has been difficult. I'll try to be quicker with the next chapter, but I make no promises.
Until next time. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1217198/37/Synthetic-Emotions | dclm-gs1-065070000 |
0.032149 | <urn:uuid:23e7ad60-cfa2-47a1-a65a-5baa6e75ab4c> | en | 0.99098 | Top of Form
Title: In a Name
Summary: Woman in Limbo oneshot – elaborating on that cruelly-chopped-off barn scene. When she struggles to assert her identity to a murderer who knows her by another name, she finds comfort from the man who knows her beyond words.
Disclaimer: I own no part of the series Bones, nor the characterization therein. I'm just dunking the characters in my imagination for a minute. I'll clean them off afterwards and put them back right where I found them.
You could argue that I said it to make her feel better, or even to make myself feel better, since it broke my heart to see her cry, to hear her try to justify herself—her very name—to that bastard who'd probably killed her parents. You may find the words too simple or too few, but that doesn't make them any less true: I do know who she is.
I know that the shade of her eyes darkens when she's angry or tired. I know she sometimes lets those eyes fall closed when listening to music, and I know she'd hate to think anyone had noticed. I know she always uses her left hand to sweep her hair out of her face when she's excited or rushed, even though she's right-handed. I know her handwriting, too, and her turn of phrase—and not just because I've read her book.
I know she's unsure of herself in social situations, that she thinks of her social life as an abandoned project she might have time to finish someday but won't fret over if she doesn't. I know that saying, "I don't know what that means," is her way of giving you the upper hand in a conversation she'd otherwise dominate with ease. I know her giving heart and her tenacity to keep it hidden.
I know her secret appreciation of silliness. I've seen the way she smiles when she sees a dog dragging his owner down the street, even as she's saying the words, "Dumb animal…and the dog's not very well-behaved, either." I've seen her look at Parker and lightly tip her head, and I know she's trying to pick out my features, to see me in him, and to imagine how he's changed me.
I know she values intelligence over beauty, and doesn't quite realize she's got both. I know she thinks she's a terrible singer but still sings at the top of her lungs if she thinks no one's listening. I know she secretly likes country music, though she tries to pass it off as intrigue toward the socio-economic structure it encompasses. Believe it or not, those are my words. Hers were, "Uh…sorry, I was just flipping through the stations." She can be surprisingly human when she drops her guard, and I know she's beginning to feel comfortable doing that around me.
I know the tone of her voice when she's unsure of her assertions—which isn't often—or when she's upset and trying to hide it, or when she's suppressing a laugh or forcing a confidence she doesn't feel. I know she can't whisper worth a damn, but she also doesn't like to raise her voice. I know she thinks all those things are irrelevant, that it's the word choice that matters, not the delivery, and about that she is so wrong, so naïve. She doesn't know that she can make Angela's day by sighing her consent to a drink after work, or that she can make Zach beam just by softly commending his progress. And she doesn't have a clue what happens when she smiles at me. In some respects, I'm grateful for her moments of oblivion.
I know her fervid need to be self-sufficient, and to prove herself capable in all ways. I know she will never stop asking me for that gun. I know she's more than qualified to carry one, and I know I'll fight tooth and nail to keep her from getting it, because, stereotypical though it may be, I want to be the protector once in a while. Even with her. Maybe especially with her.
I know her strength and her weakness, and I know that the one far outweighs the other. I know her demons as well as her demographics, her darkness and light, the striations of her soul—even if she doesn't truly believe there is such a thing.
And more superficially, I know the scent of her shampoo, and I breathe it in now as I hold her tighter. "Shh…I know. It's okay." I feel the heat of her cheek pressed against my neck, her tears slipping into my collar. I know she is loath to let herself cry, and I know the ache of feeling privileged she's allowed me to see this emotion even while I wish with all my heart she didn't have to feel it.
"Bones," I whisper into her the crown of her head. She pulls back, tries to step away, to collect herself. "Hey," I say, pulling her shoulder back to me, willing her to meet my eyes. I can see her regrouping, coming back to herself, urging that door to slam shut around her. "Bones," I say again, using the name I gave her because I know that calling her Temperance right now will sound like coddling to her.
"I'm finally glad you call me that," she answers, bringing her head up to look me in the face.
And now that I think about it—about names and what they mean—I know that it really doesn't matter what I call her, what anyone calls her. She is what the years have made her. She is what she's worked and studied and fought to be. I know that when her parents named her, they did so with all the hope parents have for a baby. In that first moment they saw her, they knew nothing but joy, and wished the same for her—for a childhood, for a lifetime. And when they renamed her three years later, they had an even more fervent wish: for her safety, for her very life.
I know that there is very little temperance in this woman. She is hot and cold. She is spit and vinegar—even though she wouldn't know what that means. I know that she will not be tempered by even the most aggressive circumstances, and despite that, her name fits her. She has claimed it as much as if she'd given it to herself, and I know that Joy, as lovely as it is, is too small a name for her. She deserves a name a paragraph long, a name that takes a lifetime to say, because she has defined every syllable. She has filled in every loop and curve of that name with the richness of her personality, with her passion and intelligence and spirit, and she deserves to know that.
Someday I'll tell her, but not now. Now she would see through anything I said about her. She would read sympathy in my words, and she would hate it.
"When Parker was born," I begin, and I see surprise on her face, and relief, and I know I've taken the right tack. "I didn't even know until the next day. And when I went to the hospital, Rebecca let me hold him, and she told me his name. You know, it barely even registered at first because I was just…hypnotized by his face, by the fact that he was really there. A person who was part of me. Rebecca and I had already been apart for months; I didn't have any say in how his room was painted, in the crib he would sleep in or the clothes he'd wear home from the hospital. I didn't get to help choose his name."
I look at Bones and she's not quite smiling but not shutting down, either. She tips her head slightly to let me know she's listening, that she wants me to keep talking.
"He isn't named after a relative or childhood friend or personal hero, and I won't try to tell you I wasn't disappointed that I didn't have a part in naming him. But the thing is, as I got to know him, his name became something I loved, because it was the only word that described the best part of my life. When you think about it, Bones, a name is nothing but a word. And a word is nothing without its definition. Parker's name doesn't define him; he defines his name. That name is a thousand things it never would have been without him wearing it."
She nods, and there are tears in her eyes again. I know that this time, they're good tears, because she knows me as well as I know her. She knows Parker is my heart, and I think she's beginning to see she's got a place in there, too.
"No matter what it says on your mailbox, Bones, I know who you are." I pull her back into my chest and hold her, and her arms slowly come around me.
I feel her voice vibrate against my chest as she says, "I don't really have a mailbox. It's more of a cubbyhole with a little slot in it."
I can't help laughing at her typical response. She pulls away from me, feigning indignation. "Come on, whatchamacallit," I say. "Let's get back to work."
She lightly smacks my arm and we walk out of the barn together, and back into the biggest case of her life. If I know her—and I do—she'll get to the bottom of this mystery. After all, she has a name to uphold.
I hope you enjoyed this vignette. I wanted to show a little more of the closeness between Booth and Brennan, and how he would've helped her through that moment of uncertainty about herself. While I love the idea of them being together romantically, I don't really do romance. Besides, the best things are worth waiting for. For now, friendship—and a possible romantic foreshadowing—are good enough for me.
Top of Form | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2981708/1/In-a-Name | dclm-gs1-065100000 |
0.055441 | <urn:uuid:82bfaee4-4074-4067-99fa-791a766c3245> | en | 0.989078 | Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Blame my unabashed obsession with Future's So Bright... But I really do want to finish this now, so I'm gonna write like mad to do so. Because even I want to know what's gonna happen, and I certainly don't want to be left hanging, nor, I'm sure, do any of you. So here's the next installment, only a few months overdue.
Charles Dunn had been the biggest pain in her ass for nearly four years now, ever since being introduced by a mutual friend and business associate. He was a good two inches shorter than her, fifty pounds heavier, and nearly twenty years older, yet none of that seemed to matter to him, never giving off any sort of caution signals that maybe they weren't really a match made in heaven. He'd met Ben before on several occasions, each time ignoring her unabashed attempts to make him see that she was taken – PDAs that had never been her thing suddenly oozing from her desperately. He was a misogynist, a dork of the highest order – and that should mean something coming from a woman who reads Latin and ancient Greek for fun – and he was sadly, utterly clueless.
But he was a handy fellow to have around in a time of crisis, always at the ready with any sort of rare antique or ancient ceremonial something-or-other. He'd borrowed things from both the museum and his own personal collection, and lent them to her more times than she could count. And while it was always implied that if he scratched her back she'd scratch his, he really was too good of a guy to ever force the issue, continuing to offer favors that he must have somehow known would result in nothing.
Today was no different, setting up a meeting with one of his more prestigious clients, allowing it to take place in his personal office at the museum, respectfully ducking out to give them privacy as per her request. And all without ever even asking what it was about. The only price she had to pay this time was a timid hug – which she managed to shrug out of, feigning pain – and a terribly awkward, "I'm so sorry," followed by a seemingly inappropriate, "I always knew you'd be better off with me."
"Yeah, Charles," she'd responded blithely. "I guess you're right."
But no matter. Charles Dunn could say whatever he pleased, since he'd helped set this all up, allowed them to meet with the man whom they all hoped held the key to Ben's mysterious actions.
All six of them came along, no one wanting to be left behind, and while this came as a bit of a surprise to Charles – who used the opportunity to suck up to Tessa's father and brothers – Terrence Tavish seems quite at ease, almost as though he'd been expecting them all along.
"Hello," he offers graciously, taking hold of Tessa's hand first as Dunn introduces them. It's hard not to smile, his own grin spreading so wide and sincere across his face. She's had experience with more demons than she can count, and some were, are, as seemingly sweet as can be, charming as all get out, so she's not entirely suckered in by his friendly countenance, his welcoming demeanor. None of them are.
"You know why we're here," she says as soon as Dunn leaves the room. It's a statement more than anything, but one that still requires his response.
"Yes," he says with a smile and an accent that none of them can quite place. He unbuttons his suit jacket and takes a seat on the leather couch, long arms spreading across its back in a gesture only a confident man who believes he owns the room can make. "Do you?"
"We know what you are," Dean hums deeply from the corner.
But while this little revelation makes his father roll his eyes in a gesture caught somewhere between anger and annoyance, Terrence Tavish only laughs, light, airy, unimpressed chuckles. He leans forward, eyes sparkling towards the seething man in back. "And I know what you are," he says in singsong.
"Okay," John interrupts, "you know, we know…why don't you just tell us what we came here to find out."
If he's taken aback by the man's angry and bitter tone, it doesn't show. Tavish tilts his head questioningly at John before slowly moving his gaze back to Tessa. "Your boyfriend, right?" he asks in a steady even tone. "Charles said he lost his mind, tried to kill you." He looks her up and down and in a way that makes the lot of them fairly uneasy, sending Sam even closer to her side. "You look good for almost being killed," he says with a lilt.
"Thanks," she deadpans in response.
He leans back again, flicks a careless hand in her direction. "Then again, the Winchesters always were quick to heal," he says absently.
Before Dean can get out the hostile question – What do you know about our family? – John's hand flies up to his son's chest, halting him mid stride, sending him back a few steps to the wall. "Did he come to see you?" he asks, once certain that his son won't interfere.
"Yes," he says after a deep and telling breath.
"And what did you two talk about?" he asks, question actually a thinly veiled command.
"Nothing, really," he responds, unfazed. "I could see he was in distress, but when he introduced himself it was in the middle of a benefit the museum was holding. I was too busy to speak with him, gave him my card, but I never heard from him."
"What…what do you mean he was in distress?" Tessa asks, moving forward and taking a seat on the couch's armrest.
He looks up at her with an expression of pity. "You knew him well," he says, low, just for her.
She nods, "Better than anyone."
He too nods, looks away for a moment in silent contemplation, as though deciding just what he should tell this sad girl before him. "I could sense that he was in what I call divine turmoil," he says finally. "Even without knowing him, without speaking to him for more than a moment, I could tell." He smiles again, warm and consoling. "I can always tell."
It's Sam who speaks next, making the divide among them quickly apparent – Sam and Tessa wanting nothing more than to hear what this man knows, all the others in the room wanting only to go. "He had a gift," he says, unsure why, other than the stinging knowledge that Tavish probably already knows far more than what he's now telling him anyhow. "He could communicate with…"
"Demons," Tavish finishes quickly for him. "And others. He had a gift for hearing what other humans can't. We call it celestial noise, for lack of a better term."
"Lately, he'd been hearing a lot," Sam admits almost guiltily.
He takes a moment before responding, and when he does his words are slow and measured. "What he heard, it wasn't meant for him. It's unfortunate, really." He stops, furrows his brow in thought. "How should I explain this," he says, almost to himself, before, "He heard what traveled over certain lines. And lately those circuits have been jammed with too much noise."
"I don't understand," Tessa says, a hopeless quality to her voice and face as she turns to look around the room, see if anyone else gets what he's saying.
"He was human," Tavish tries to explain. "He could only handle so much otherworldly information. It's true of all of you. You're only built to withstand so much. It drove him mad."
Dean scoffs loudly from behind the others, takes a step forward before saying, "He didn't just go crazy. You think we're stupid?" Earning him a pair of stunned stares from his younger siblings, both of whom would have thought him eager and ready to believe this explanation.
"Could be that someone, something, as I'm sure you'd say, told him to kill your sister," he says simply. "But he likely wouldn't have listened had it not been for all of the distortion, all the constant sounds, that only he could hear."
"But why would someone tell him to kill her in the first place?" Sam asks, nothing if not genuinely interested.
Tavish almost laughs, lets out a slight snicker when he says, "Don't you know, they want you all dead?" No response comes, only confused and frightened looks being exchanged throughout the room. So he goes on, "You're meddlers, all of you. You know too much, and that is a very dangerous thing."
"Who is it, exactly, who thinks so?" John asks tensely.
The room is engulfed in silence for one long moment, Winchesters and Singers alike trying to work their way through what's been said. But Tavish can see, can sense, that they simply don't know, don't understand enough to be able to work out all the kinks. He considers leaving well enough alone, sending them on their way with a warning and a prayer, hoping for the best. Because he'd revealed too much before, and look where that got him.
But he swore an oath, and it must be upheld, at all costs. "You said you know what I am," he says, voice suddenly rather grave. "Do you really know? Do you know what the Grigori are?"
He's met predominantly with dumbfounded looks, only Bobby letting his expertise shine through the shock. "Watchers," he says, taking a step forward. "You were dispatched by God to watch after mankind."
He nods, quirks his chin up in go on fashion.
"And then you…mated with mortal women, created the Nephilim, half-breed things that almost destroyed the earth. If the legends are true."
"If," he says, long and drawn. "What is it that they say about history?" he asks, expecting no answer. "It's always written by the winners." Terrence Tavish, all long, lean limbs, decked out in a rich gray suit, sprawled easily along a couch that's not his own, in an office not his own, on a plane of existence, not his own, takes one more deep breath before asking, "Do you know the story of the war in Heaven, how the Fallen came to be?"
This time its Dean who speaks up, before Bobby or anyone else gets a chance. His words are tinged with bitter hatred when he says, "Satan, Lucifer, whatever you want to call him, he led a revolt, challenged God, and lost, miserably."
Tavish tsk, tsk's in response. "You're reciting the teachings of the winner."
"Uh, yeah, well, can't say I mind doing that when the winner's God," he smarts.
"Who's to say it was?" he asks simply, provoking yet another stunned and confused silence. "The revolt began when Lucifer, and others, refused one of God's edicts – to bow down to mankind. But what is said in that book you humans love so much, Exodus 20:5? You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God."
"So," Sam begins, brow furrowed, "Lucifer was loyal?"
"At one time, yes, more than any other. But he was cast down none the less. And…well, you know how it is, ghost hunter, a soul can only be tied to bitter desolation for so long before…changing. All of them became embittered, enraged. Evil. And they fought back in the manner most offensive to God, by acting out against his favored ones. Call it jealousy, call it misplaced aggression, a vendetta that's lasted for millennia."
"What does this have to do with us?" John asks, always eager to get straight to the point. "Or with any of this?"
"Those are the ones who fell from Heaven and began the revolt. Those are the ones who now reside in Hell, and would do anything to get out, never mind it being a prison of their own making. Those are the ones swearing vengeance yet again, preparing for yet another war, between Heaven and Hell, played out here on Earth."
"So how do we stop it?" Dean asks, voice void of hostility for the first time since their conversation began.
"You don't," he responds with an odd quirk of his brow, as if to say, obviously, you can't. "These battles have been going on forever, or seemingly so. And they'll go on forever more, until the very end of this world."
"And we're just supposed to let that happen?" he asks, voice rising. "We're just supposed to sit back and do nothing?"
"We do what we can," John says, turning to his son, "what we have to."
"That's right," Tavish concurs. "You do what you can, but you are still only men. This is not your war. I think that's what drove your boyfriend so insane, wanting to be, or feeling he should be, a part of something he's simply not," he says with a glance towards Tessa.
"So it was for nothing," she intones. "All of it. He died for nothing?"
"Isn't that so often the case?" he asks, a bitter sort of sympathy oozing from his words.
"And what about you?" Dean asks with a glare. "What do you do, watch all of this, just sit there and let it happen?"
Tavish ducks his head, the first sign of humility to come out of him. "It is my job to watch," he says solemnly. "Once, I did more than my job. We all grew tired of sitting idly by while men suffered and died, fought for and against nothing, believing nothing." He looks up, a dreamy context to his eyes. "We swore an oath, of solidarity and of service. In your texts it's written that the oath was made so that we all could exalt in depravity together, sharing the guilt, shouldering the blame as one. But it wasn't lust or envy that drove us to do what we did."
"What did you do?" Sam asks, voice small.
"We illuminated the secrets of the dark, taught you things you shouldn't have known. Bred with you to create a species capable of…more. We thought we'd be doing mankind a favor, giving him the knowledge necessary to live as an enlightened being. But we were wrong." He stops just long enough to look around the room, take in the faces of those he had failed all those millennia ago. "We taught you about weapons, and you used them on one another. We showed you how to write, and you created false gospels and propaganda. Cosmetics led to whoredom, jewelry and adornments to pride, envy. We tried to show you all that you were capable of, and you squandered your powers, used them for personal gain."
"It's like the tree of knowledge," Sam says simply. "We weren't meant to know."
He nods profoundly. "We, at least, were cast down for a reason. Our expulsion from Heaven is more than understandable. Though we were only trying to do good…well, what is it they say? Even the best intentions and all."
"And now you're back to just watching?"
"No," he says, almost a whisper. "But now we are more cautious, sticking to the shadows, never getting directly involved. We can't. When last we did, the only thing that could rid the world of the evil we created was a great flood."
"Wait," Bobby chimes in suddenly, "the flood was real?"
Tavish waves a dismissive hand. "Euphemism. But many died none the less."
"Okay," Sam says, still clearly trying to work it all out in his head. "But now…"
"Don't worry about now. Don't worry about what I do. You're the only ones that can save your fellow men. Angels, demons, those in between, we can't directly intervene. We sometimes do, but we can't. You're the hope for the future," he says, connecting eerily with Sam's eyes. "And I assure you, there will be more fighting in the future."
"But what are they planning now? If we know, maybe we can be more prepared, figure out…"
"You already know too much. Too much for the side of Heaven to allow, they can't have others knowing what you do. And it's too much for the side of Hell, all you know standing in their way of conducting terror on Earth. You do as your father said, as you've been doing all along. That's how you help. Even the smallest victories are worth celebrating."
"That's it," Dean challenges. "We come here for answers and all we get is, Ben went nuts hearing demonic voices and we have to go on doing what we've been doing? Even though there's a war brewing, one we're obviously smack in the middle of?"
"That's it," he confirms. "I know you'd like it to be more, but it's not." He pulls himself up off the couch, buttons his suit jacket daintily once he's standing. "You won't hear from me again," he says simply, eyes flashing to everyone in the room. "And I don't expect to hear from any of you either. Just remember," he mutters as he reaches the door, "You are in danger. Both sides want you gone. You may not be their top priority right now. There is a lot going on out there. But eventually, someone will hunt each of you down."
Tavish leaves, both families standing in stunned silence until, "Well," tumbles out in an awkward breath from Dean, followed quickly by, "That's just great." | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3340027/10/Purify | dclm-gs1-065120000 |
0.115072 | <urn:uuid:d28e1616-2100-4c51-ae67-5a4d897b1cc4> | en | 0.990617 | Author's note: I needed a chapter that would let the boys breathe for a moment before everything goes to hell, and so we have chapter 6. It's short and sweet.
Check out my tumblr and my livejournal for additional updates, like scenes that didn't make it into the story, and fanart from some incredibly talented people. Links on my profile.
They had pie. Dean couldn't praise Bobby's cooking enough, and ate twice as much pie as everyone else, but that was okay. After a day of too many words and too many emotions, it was a relief to turn on the TV and drown in mindless entertainment for a while.
The first time Sam yawned, Castiel disappeared. After a moment of alarm, they found him behind the sofa.
"No bed time!" he yelled up at them, suddenly obstinate.
"We can watch more TV tomorrow," Dean said. "Come out of there."
Sam, Dean and Bobby looked at each other helplessly.
"Well, it's not unexpected," Bobby said, peering into the space where a pair of blue eyes were glaring up at them from inside a quivering mass of dark feathers. "I wouldn't want to sleep either after a dream like that."
Dean rubbed the back of his neck. "Then I'll stay up with him. Sammy can sleep upstairs for once."
Sam frowned, even though a night's sleep in a proper bed sounded amazing. "He might be able to stay awake all night, but I don't know that you will."
Dean barked a laugh. "We are the kings of all-nighters. I'll be fine."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Come wake me when you start nodding off. We can take turns."
"Okay." Dean reached both hands down to Castiel. "Did you hear that, featherhead? Now come help me make some coffee. We can watch cartoons until we go cross-eyed."
Two chubby arms appeared from out of the feathers, and Castiel let Dean haul him up.
Castiel's wings and hair were a mess from being squashed behind the couch, and he looked guarded and a little ashamed. Dean just smiled at him. "Say goodnight to Sam and Bobby."
Castiel wiggled out of Dean's arms and onto the sofa, to give first Bobby and then Sam a hug. Sam let himself linger for a moment with Castiel's silky-soft cheek against his own. The angel's body was so small.
Somehow, today's crisis had given Sam a good kick forwards on the road to true forgiveness. What retribution of his could have caused more harm than Castiel was causing himself with his guilt? And now that he had what amounted to the justice he had wished for, Sam found it tasted bad.
Dean carried Castiel into the kitchen in search of caffeine, leaving Sam and Bobby to shuffle off to their beds.
"Can I have coffee?" Castiel said in the kitchen.
"If I give you coffee, will you stop trying to find out where we hid the beer?" Dean replied.
Sam followed Bobby up the stairs, his bag hanging over his shoulder. A little while later, he was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Downstairs, the TV was on again. Sam spit into the sink and rinsed his mouth, and when he looked up, Bobby was standing outside the open door.
"I figured Dean needed some time alone, but I didn't know what it was about," the old man confessed, voice kept low to avoid being heard below. "And then you go after him and come back with your head hanging. So what did he tell you?"
Sam shrugged. "That after this is over, we might not see Cas again. Not until we die."
"I see," Bobby replied after a moment.
Sam wiped his mouth and hands and stepped out of the bathroom. "Night, Bobby."
"Goodnight, son."
Sam went to bed with Bobby's melancholy half-smile as comfort.
Thanks to the superior comfort of a proper bed, he woke feeling much better the next morning. Except he was supposed to have been woken up by Dean sometime in the night. Sam sighed, got out of bed and pulled his pants on before tiptoeing downstairs, avoiding the creaky step on the way down.
Dean lay sprawled on the sofa, fast asleep and snoring. Castiel was trying to stealthily manoeuvre a blanket over him, but didn't have the reach to do more than lift and throw the same corner at him over and over. Sam came up behind the angel, took hold of the blanket and spread it out over Dean.
"Good morning," he whispered.
Castiel looked up at him, tipping his head way back. "Hello, Sam."
"Has Dean been asleep long?"
Considering Castiel's ability to do literally nothing for hours, Sam wasn't sure how accurately the angel measured time, but he let it go. He had caught sight of a piece of paper lying mostly hidden underneath a bookshelf. He pulled it out and discovered it to be Castiel's very first drawing; a smiling yellow dinosaur that Sam vaguely remembered having seen adorning cups, pacifiers, rattles and other things at the mall where they'd been shopping. A logo, almost perfectly replicated.
"Look what I found, Cas," he said absentmindedly. Something was bothering him about the drawing. It felt significant somehow.
Castiel tore himself from staring adoringly at Dean's drooling face, but when he saw the drawing he let out a little gasp and ran into the kitchen. Sam followed, unsure of whether to be alarmed or not. There were crayons scattered all over the kitchen table, and the sketch book lay open. Castiel jumped up so he was hanging over the side of the table, grabbed the sketch book and slid back to the floor. Then he ran to the nearest cupboard, practically threw the sketch book inside, shut the door and turned around to look innocently up at Sam.
But Sam had already gotten a glimpse of the latest masterpiece, and it had made him realise what the first drawing had been trying to tell him. "What were you drawing, Cas? Don't I get to see?" he asked, heart pounding.
Castiel's wings spread out in a rush, covering the cupboard, and he looked at Sam with wide eyes as if to say "I have no idea what you're talking about". Sam raised an eyebrow at him, and the innocent look became a little strained.
"Look, I promise I won't tell Dean," Sam said, crouching down. "But I think it's kind of important that I take a look at your drawings."
Castiel sighed.
Sam put up a puppy-eyed look of his own. "Please?"
Castiel twisted his upper body back and forth, trying to hold out, but in the end he gave up with a scowl, folding in his wings and stepping aside with his arms crossed over his chest.
Sam retrieved the sketch book from the cupboard and sat down at the kitchen table, placing the old drawing next to the new. After a second, Castiel followed him, standing on his tip toes in order to see what Sam was doing, so Sam lifted the angel up and put him down on his lap. The last sketch, in black crayon, was a drawing of Dean, fast asleep. The lines weren't exactly steady, and the proportions were a bit off, but the drawing nonetheless showed talent far beyond that of a two-year-old; Dean was immediately recognisable.
"You're good," Sam said, and Castiel squirmed, hands pushed down between his knees and face growing pink.
Sam closed the book and opened it again on the very first page. At the top of the book was the jagged line where the page with the dinosaur had been torn out. The contrast between that first drawing and the next few pages couldn't have been greater. It began with numerous sketches in black crayon, all of the same structure, simplistic, but recognisable as a church. Slowly the images became more detailed, more colourful, seemingly more skilfully rendered, but Sam knew better now. Castiel hadn't improved; he was already the perfect imitator, rather it was the motif which had become slowly clearer to the artist. Sam conjectured that while Castiel's grace was actively fighting the poison, the hallucinations had probably been brief and hard to recall in the morning.
"Why did you draw these?" Sam asked.
Castiel looked up at Sam and pointed at his own head.
"Because you were dreaming about looking down on St. Mary's." The drawing looking nothing like St. Mary's, but then Dean had said as much yesterday, after his brief mind-meld with Cas. What we have never seen, our minds cannot accurately reproduce in dreams.
Castiel nodded slowly, looking like he was ready to run if the conversation got any more uncomfortable. Sam held him a little closer.
"But why draw it? Why didn't you tell us about the dreams?"
"I didn't understand," Castiel said, his voice so clear, for a moment he didn't sound like a child at all, though of course that had been the very problem. Over and over he had sketched out the increasingly detailed vision that repeated itself every night, in an attempt to comprehend, but the tools he needed to make the connections had been locked away by God. Even the logic that would have made him tell Sam, Dean and Bobby what he was experiencing hadn't been available.
Sam continued to turn the pages, and Castiel began to grow restless and uncomfortable. In the end he climbed down from Sam's lap and ran back into the living room to sit down with his back against the sofa. Sam let him go. One of Dean's arms had fallen over the edge, hand hanging limply, and Castiel leaned his forehead against it very carefully.
When Sam finally closed the book and looked up, Dean had opened his eyes and was running his fingertips through Castiel's hair. "Looks like I fell asleep," he said, and gently tweaked Castiel's nose. "You shouldn't have let me, Cas."
Castiel bumped his head against Dean's hand and didn't say anything.
Dean stretched luxuriously, groaning.
"Dean," Sam called softly through the wide-open door.
Dean looked up and found him. "Hey. I'm surprised you manage to stand upright after sleeping so long on this couch. We need to get you a mattress."
"Dean ... I think I know who poisoned Cas."
Dean sat up, immediately awake.
Sam sighed. "Cas, will you go wake Bobby? Tell him we're making breakfast."
Cas looked hopeful. "Pancakes?"
"Sure, Cas, we'll make pancakes."
Bobby took his time, so when he finally came wandering downstairs, it was to find a big stack of pancakes waiting for him.
He breathed deeply and smiled. "When I get old and helpless, I'd like to hire you two to cook and clean for me."
"And me!" Castiel cried. "I helped."
"S'true," Dean added, popping a stray piece of pancake into his mouth. "Cas set the table." The Winchesters had decided not to mention the two broken plates and the chipped mug.
Bobby gave Cas a pat on the head when he passed the angel to get to his chair, and Castiel nodded in satisfaction.
They ate in silence at first, until Bobby was thoroughly convinced that something was wrong and called them on it.
Dean was moodily stabbing his pancakes with his fork. "Sam thinks he's got a lead on who poisoned Cas, but he won't say."
"I'm still trying to work it out in my head," Sam said in apology.
"You can work it out out loud, can't you?" Bobby asked.
Sam sat back in his chair with another sigh before closing his eyes and folding his hands. "Hey, Gabriel, we figured out what happened to Cas. Wanna come down?"
Seconds ticked by, a full minute passed, and no Gabriel. "We have pancakes," Sam added on his second try, but there was no response.
"Guess he's busy," Bobby said. "Now share."
Sam grabbed the sketchbook from the counter. Earlier, he had carefully removed the drawing of Dean and given it to Castiel to do with what he wanted. Now he found the dinosaur and passed it around.
"Cas drew this on Wednesday, and then Thursday morning, we get our first church."
"And it's been nothing but ever since," Bobby added.
Sam hesitated, glancing at Castiel, who glared back at him. "... Exactly, which means Castiel's first hallucination happened Thursday night."
Dean cottoned on. "Which means he was poisoned sometime on Thursday."
Bobby was running his hand through his beard thoughtfully. "Must have been when you three were out shopping. Did you ever lose track of the toddler?"
"I'm right here," Castiel grumbled.
Dean's eyes grew wide as he came to the same conclusion that Sam had already come to.
"Sorry!" Castiel shouted, covering his head in his hands.
"No, no, not you," Dean amended quickly.
Sam quickly filled Bobby in on the incident with the little girl. "They must have been Djinn. The mother had tattoos, and they had blue eyes, and Djinns' poison is transmitted through touch; the little girl grabbed Cas' wings. It fits."
"And you were ready to blast her to Purgatory," Dean said, looking at Cas with wide eyes. "If you knew what she was why didn't you say?"
Castiel picked at the hem of his t-shirt. "Cause it was wrong. You said so."
Dean got a pained look on his face as he tried to remember what he might have said on the occasion. Sam thought he could recall.
"Cas, Dean didn't know she was a monster. He only meant that it is wrong to hurt normal little girls."
"Oh," said Castiel and looked miserable.
"What was her game, though?" Bobby mused out loud. "Are Djinn kids naturally mean or did she react to an angel in particular? Or did her mom make her do it?"
Unfortunately, no amount of speculation could bring them close to an answer, and eventually there was nothing to do but close the subject and get the dishes done.
Once the kitchen was tidy, Dean found Bobby behind his newspaper. "Hey, Bobby, that old lake still out there?"
Bobby lowered the paper with an unimpressed expression. "Course it is, idjit. Ever heard of a lake getting up and taking off before?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What say we pack some lunch and hike out there? We could swim."
"But Dean, but Dean," Castiel yelled, running up to him. "I can't swim!"
"Then we can teach you."
"And my wings will get wet!"
"Not if we're careful."
"And I don't have anything to wear."
Dean just looked at him for a moment, before looking around at Sam and Bobby. "Anyone other than Shirley Temple have any objections?"
"My name is Castiel."
"I'm for it," Sam said. "And Cas can swim in his briefs."
Bobby shrugged. "I wouldn't mind stretching my legs."
So it was decided. Bobby and Castiel made sandwiches, Sam and Dean packed the rest of the essentials, and just half an hour after the suggestion had been made, the four of them were walking down the dusty road where Sam had had his epiphany the day before.
They were all alone out here, surrounded by tall, twisting green trees. Apart from their footfalls there was only the wind and the birds to be heard. Bobby didn't have many neighbours, so they could be relatively certain not to meet anyone, but they kept a careful lookout anyway, in case Castiel needed to hide. The angel was jogging to keep up with the men, but he didn't seem to tire. Even so, Sam eventually lifted Cas up and let him ride on his shoulders.
It grew hot quickly, but the wind was strong and took the sting out of the sun.
They walked in comfortable silence for a while, until they reached a cross in the road that sent Sam down memory lane. Prompted by the bittersweet nostalgia of the place, he told Castiel about how he and Dean had first been introduced to Bobby. How John had taken them here several times when he needed help in his hunt for the Yellow-Eyed Demon. The boys would play in the yard while John and Bobby were inside, talking shop. Once, John had gotten what he thought was a hot lead, and had rushed Sam and Dean to Sioux Falls to beg Bobby to look after them for just a few days. Bobby had agreed only reluctantly, and at first it had been pretty awkward between the three of them, but then Dean had taken an interest in Bobby's cars, and Sam had buried himself in Bobby's books, and the realisation of all their mutual interests had broken the dam between them.
"Dad didn't come get us for nearly two weeks, but Bobby never complained." Sam smiled and breathed deeply of the familiar air.
"I didn't complain to you," Bobby said.
"We went for so many walks in these woods," Dean said like he was only now remembering, looking around with renewed emotion.
By the time they came to the lake they were more than ready for a cooling swim. They spread their things out on the bank, and Bobby settled down against a tree, folding his hands on his stomach and pulling his cap down to shade his eyes. Sam and Dean got into their swimming trunks.
Sam was the first to enter the water. The lake was deep, so despite the heat of the past few weeks, the water was chilly. Taking a fortifying breath, Sam let himself fall forward, arms stretched out and ready to make the first stroke through the water. He swam some little distance and then turned back towards the shore. He dived, getting his hair wet, and when he came back up the sunlight in his eyes was sharp and delicious.
On the bank, Castiel was down to his blue Ninja Turtles boxer briefs; he was dipping his bare toes into the shallows. Dean was pulling his own clothes off and trying to make Bobby come swim with them.
"Come on, Bobby. Don't be a sissy."
"Leave me alone. I'll keep the beer cold while you kids splash around."
"Cold in the bucket or cold in your stomach?"
Sam came up and lifted Cas into his arms.
"Cold!" Cas cried, leaning back from Sam's chest, his wings spreading out and bristling in protest.
"You think so?" He supposed Castiel's wasn't use to even being aware of temperatures, and that he might be more sensitive for this reason. He waded back out until the water reached his waist, and held Castiel over the still surface so that he could dip his feet in again.
"That's cold," Cas said seriously, hanging from Sam's hands and idly kicking his feet. "That is very cold."
"You didn't use to feel cold or warmth." Sam said, lifting the angel back out.
Castiel shook his head. "I was more angel before. Now I am only a little angel."
"It's cool. If you weren't a little angel, I couldn't do this." He lifted Cas high into the air. Castiel laughed and flapped his wings. He laughed even harder when Sam began to tip him forwards, so he was hanging upside down. Sam let him hang for a moment before tipping him the right way again.
Just then, Dean ran past them and threw himself into the water, splashing them both.
Dean swam up to them, a wicked glint in his eyes, and Sam gave him a warning look and held Cas up between them in a significant gesture. There would be no dunking, no splashing and no wrestling. Instead, Dean heaved himself up and snapped after Castiel's toes like a shark.
They swam out to the middle of the lake, Castiel riding on Dean's back. Sam followed close behind in case Castiel should need a hand, but the angel held on without tiring, cheek pressed against Dean's wet hair.
Eventually, Bobby called to them from the bank, warning them that he was starving and that if they didn't come now, he'd eat all the food by himself. So they swam back to shore, dried off, and sat down to eat. Bobby handed out beer and sandwiches, careful to keep the former out of Castiel's reach. Dean seemed to have another plan, though.
"Hey Cas," he said casually. "Want a beer?"
Castiel shook his head with a grimace.
The other two gave Dean questioning looks, and he looked pleased with himself.
"Last night, right? I'm drinking coffee, and when that runs out I grab a beer, and the little guy won't leave me alone about it. So I figured, what the hell, he wants a beer so badly, he can have it."
Sam opened his mouth to protest, but Dean held up his hand, asking him to wait. Then he turned to Cas. "Show them the face you made when I let you have the bottle."
Cas made a big happy face.
"Now show them your face when you drank from the bottle."
Castiel scrunched up his face, closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Yuck!"
Dean nodded in satisfaction. "Lesson learned."
It grew hot again, and Castiel especially wanted back into the water, so Sam and Dean gave him swimming lessons, which he was too young to properly benefit from, but which he seemed to enjoy anyway. He paddled around with his wings held high and Sam and Dean's hands carefully cradling him.
And finally, in the end, even Bobby waded in to join them for a short swim. "I'm old," he said grumpily as Sam and Dean called him on how quickly he went back on the bank.
On the way back, Dean told Bobby about the progress he had made on the Impala, and what was left before she was ready to run again. This gave Sam the opportunity to lift Castiel into his arms again and fall back a little.
Castiel looked at him expectantly, and Sam gave him a quick smile and plunged right into what was on his mind. "Cas, you know that when you were big, we were arguing, you and Dean and Bobby and I."
The angel nodded solemnly. He lifted a hand, two fingers reaching out as if he would place them on Sam's forehead, but he thought better of it quickly. "Because I was bad."
"Because ..." It was hard to find the words, hard to speak them. "We didn't agree with each other. Thing is, it's not okay to be mad at someone who is small for something they did while they were big, so we're going to wait until you're big before we talk about it."
Castiel nodded. "Okay."
"But I need to tell you that even though you are small, it was pretty difficult for me not to be mad at you in the beginning. I think you could tell."
More nodding. "You were scary."
"Because I was hurting." Sam was walking a fine line between keeping the blame from Castiel's tiny shoulders on the one hand, and not bending over backwards on the other, but he was only walking it because Castiel was not fully a child, which was also the reason he needed to have this conversation with the angel. "I want to tell you now, even though we're not supposed to talk about it, that I have forgiven you. Really, truly forgiven you."
To Sam's horror, Castiel's eyes filled with tears.
"No, no, no, don't cry. Dean'll kill me."
But Castiel was smiling. "Thank you, Sam."
By the time they got back to Singer Salvage Yard, the sky had turned cold and pale. As they crossed the porch, Dean's stomach rumbled.
"Dinner-time," he announced.
"And you can make it," Bobby said. "I'm gonna have a nap."
Dean winked. "Don't sweat it, old man, I've got us covered." In the living room, he pulled out Sam's laptop and googled the nearest pizza place.
Bobby fell down on the couch, pulled his hat over his eyes, and was snoring away before Dean had finished placing his order.
Not ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Sam and Dean exchanged glances.
"That was fast."
Sam went to open.
It took him a full couple of seconds to understand the tableau standing on Bobby's porch, but when he did his face immediately split into a grin so wide it was painful.
"Let's see," said the man on the porch, checking his clipboard. "That's three extra-large pepperoni and beef pizzas for Mr. Singer, his two gorillas, and the little marmoset."
Sam couldn't speak at first because he was grinning so hard. "That's ... that's a nice uniform."
Zachariah looked decidedly unimpressed. And humiliated. "If you would just sign–"
"Guys, come say hello to Zachariah!" Sam shouted into the house.
Zachariah sighed long-sufferingly. He had a bag full of pizzas standing by his feet, and was still holding the clipboard and pen out towards Sam. He was wearing a pizza boy's uniform: a shirt and a cap in two appealing purple shades that alternated in broad stripes. The logo on his breast was a winged and haloed pizza.
Dean appeared behind Sam with Castiel on his arm, and Bobby followed sleepily behind them.
"Like I said," Zachariah said loudly. "If you would just sign for the pizza–"
Sam cleared his throat, to keep from laughing, and put on a serious face. "I'd rather stop and linger in the moment for a while, wouldn't you? We haven't seen each other in so long."
Dean looked like this was Christmas come early with a side of Valentine's Day. Bobby had never dealt with Zachariah in person, but had heard the stories and seemed content to hang back and watch the boys get a little revenge. Even Castiel had a slightly satisfied glint in his eyes, though he was hiding against Dean's chest and had flattened his wings against his back.
"Do we have a camera?" Sam asked Dean.
Dean considered it. "I don't know. Bobby, do you have a camera?"
"You know I do."
"Can we set it up?"
"I guess I could go–"
"Will you sign for the damned pizza?" Zachariah growled furiously before wincing as if he had been given a electric shock.
Sam and Dean stared at him. "What was that?" Dean asked.
"That was nothing," Zachariah replied firmly, trying to glare a hole in Dean's forehead. "Now listen up you bunch of –" He winced again and continued more mildly. "Gabriel is too busy to attend to your little problems, so instead you get pizza. You sign for the pizza, I hand the pizza over, I promise to forgo the tip and you promise not to mention this to anyone ever or so help me I will–" Another wince.
"It's like he's wearing a shock collar," Sam observed.
Dean snorted, but the laughter fell when they noticed Zachariah's face. "Are you?" Dean asked.
"No." Zachariah smiled pleasantly and not very convincingly. "Now if someone would please sign their name on the dotted line …" he said through clenched teeth, holding the pen out to everyone in turn, including Castiel. "An X would do. I'm really not that picky."
"There's no visible collar," Sam said.
"True," Dean replied.
As one, they dropped their gazes down.
"You're not serious."
"Mary and Jo," Bobby said behind them. "That's just cruel."
"Sign for the pizza."
"Well, Gabriel was a trickster. Giving assholes their due and all that."
"Sign for the pizza!"
"But how does it work? How does it know when to activate?"
"Sign for the damn – ugh – pizza!"
"Can we see it?"
"JUST TAKE THE DAMN PIZZA!" Zachariah roared, wincing as he was given another shock. "WHAT THE HELL – OUCH – DO I CARE IF YOU SIGN FOR THE THING!" He threw the clipboard to the ground, kicked the bag of pizza, and with another emphatic wince he disappeared, accompanied by an almost electric sound of fluttering wings.
"I'm going to send Gabriel flowers," Dean said.
"And chocolates," Sam agreed. "And possibly an offer to have his babies."
Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam. "Dude, too much information."
"What?" Sam asked. The other three proceeded back into the depth of the house. "WHAT?" He grabbed the pizzas, closed the door and hurried after them. "Zachariah removed my lungs! I'm grateful, okay?"
The pizza was delicious. They ate in front of the TV; Dean insisted on it once he realised that Dr Sexy MD was on. Everyone gave their best effort at seeing whatever it was Dean saw in the show, but by the end of the episode they had concluded that Dean was as much a girl on the inside as the next man, and his complaints against The Little Mermaid were for this reason invalidated.
During dinner, the phone on the kitchen wall labelled "F.B.I." began to ring. Bobby went to answer it.
"Willis, FBI." He listened for a moment before grabbing a kitchen chair and falling heavily down on the seat. "Garth? Garth, shut up. No, you're not dead, I can hear that, and it's a damn miracle." He listened for a moment, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.
"What happened to Brent? Don't tell me you didn't call him." Bobby frowned like a thundercloud while the man on the other end explained himself. "Then you should have called me again! You don't hunt Djinn alone, you just ..." He straightened up in his chair suddenly, eyes distant. "Garth? Garth, where are you? Yeah, but where's that?" Another moment of listening. "Shit. And it's a whole family. You're sure?" Sam and Dean sat up slowly as they began to realise the possible significance of the call.
"No, no, don't do anything," Bobby was saying. "Stay put, board the doors and windows, get your gun and don't go to sleep. Don't let anyone touch your skin, I don't care if it's your Grandma; no one touches you, got it? I'm sending you backup. Sam and Dean Winchester. They'll be there in a few hours."
He hung up and shared a silent, loaded look with Sam and Dean. "It might just be a coincidence," he warned them.
"What's going on, Bobby?" Sam asked quietly.
"This guy's hunting a family of Djinn, and not half an hour's drive from your Mall of Monsters."
"Who is this guy?" Dean asked.
Bobby came back into the living room. "His name is Ted Garth. He's dumber than Sarah Palin, but damn enthusiastic about the job, poor sucker. Lost his family to ghouls, if I recall."
Sam got up. "I'll go get my stuff. No point in waiting."
Castiel had been watching them silently, but now he reached for Dean with a sound of distress. Dean scooped him up.
"It's just a couple of Djinn, Cas. We can take 'em."
"I don't like this, Dean," Castiel said, and once again Sam thought he sounded almost like his grown-up self.
Dean looked at the angel searchingly. "Is there something more we should know? Something you haven't told us?"
Castiel shook his head, but he was frowning. He brought his little fists up and hit himself on the head like there was something he was trying to remember.
Dean quickly stopped him. "Hey. What is it?"
Castiel huffed. "I don't know," he said with emphasis. "But I don't like this."
Dean pursed his lips. "Look ... We've got a shot at finding the little monster who hurt you. I'm not letting that opportunity go, Cas. Not for all the bad gut-feeling in the world."
Castiel bowed his head unhappily. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7428286/6/Burn-so-brightly | dclm-gs1-065200000 |
0.446374 | <urn:uuid:5e9d45e1-db00-401f-be65-04cbadf46260> | en | 0.987166 | I seem to like just writing one-shots about this fandom. Happy 3. Oct.
The Study
He is four. The study frightens him. When he peeks through a gap in the door, he sees how the books and darkness and quiet have swallowed his father and carried him away from them.
It scares him that the tall, blond man spends so much time in that chair behind the desk covered in papers and books and anything else the man is working with, instead of spending it in the kitchen where his mother, sweet Trisha, works diligently on a delicious meal, or out on the lawn with him and his younger brother Alphonse. When Mr. Rockbell isn't in town making house calls or tending to the towns folks' needs, he sees the man play with his daughter, pretty Winry Rockbell, and sometimes the man sees the two blond-haired boys peeking curiously from behind a bush and calls them over to join. Van Hohenheim never does that.
He sits in his chair, surrounded on all sides by towering bookshelves, tiredly working with the aid of the minimal lamplight he uses, that casts shadows that spread right to the very door his eldest son stands behind, trying to discern the outline of his father in the dark, hunched over his work. It's not going well. "That bastard," his father says through clenched teeth. He doesn't know what that means. He doesn't understand his father, his work, or his study. And he gladly leaves the place as Alphonse tugs on his shirt, gazing at him in a request for attention. He gives it to him, instead of to Hohenheim's back and his dark room.
He is six. The study is a refuge for him. Everyday, he and Alphonse explore the countless shelves that contain so much to learn. He climbs into the sturdy chair, then helps Alphonse up to sit beside him.
Together they delve into science and alchemy, happily absorbing the information that will make their mother smile again, and tell them how proud she is. It's what they live for, and the study supplies them willingly, with open pages and numerous books. Winry comes when she's not watching Granny Pinako work, and makes them spend time out in the fields with her, all three playing together. And sometimes they help their mother around the house or with the laundry outside, so she doesn't have to do it alone.
The rest of the time, however, is spent in the study, streaming with light from the open windows, curtains thrown back to catch as much of the natural sunshine as possible. Alphonse asks him what a word means and he gladly obliges; reading and rereading the sentence to understand. He begins to explain and gestures widely as he talks to make his point, anything to do with alchemy he is passionate about. Alphonse tells him he is better than the teacher at school, and they both want to stay in this room and simply learn together.
He is eight. The study is his instrument, with which he will do what the adults say is impossible. Combined with the knowledge imparted to them by their Teacher, their mother will smile her sweet smile once again. Trisha will be with them once again.
They hardly see the Rockbells, except those dreadfully long, wasted hours at school, and the dinners they hurriedly eat at the automail shop. Winry stamps her feet in frustration sometimes, but she too is busy with her Granny, learning her own way of creation. Every moment, every thought, is on their goal. Nothing else matters in the long run to them, so that they hardly notice their growing reputation that spreads word of mouth from town to town all the way to Eastern City.
They light the room with lamps, the curtains shut, because Alphonse still worries that they might be found out, that someone will see and tell. He wonders who would understand the complex formulas written out in his childish, but steady hand, yet complies with his younger brother's wishes. He assigns the tasks of collecting the ingredients and double checking his work to his brother, while he sits in the chair and contemplates, struggling with the understanding required for such an undertaking. He is confident he will succeed, and when the word's "It's done" whisper past his lips, they are ready for anything.
He is twelve. The study is burning.
How was it? I actually had some of this complete already, but just finished it up, since I thought it was appropriate for the date. Also, I strongly hold the belief that Hohenheim was the one who first exposed Edward to explicit language. He calls Father a bastard in the manga, it's in there, I promise. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7434490/1/The-Study | dclm-gs1-065210000 |
0.027569 | <urn:uuid:615bb244-482a-4f7a-9527-c05dae5241bb> | en | 0.949986 | Monday, October 5, 2015
baked apples with oat crumble.
If I had to guess, I'm pretty sure you are thinking baked apples are about as boring as it gets. Especially when it's fall and you can have your apples nestled in a buttery crust under a layer of crumble (a la apple pie).
But I'd like to make a case for the baked apple.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I to would have quickly dismissed the baked apple as a wannabe apple crumble pie. The baked apple is for people who are trying to be "healthy". But then, while perusing my latest cookbook acquisition, I stumbled across a recipe for baked apples, and something in me said you must go into the kitchen right now and make this. And so I listened to that little voice (it also didn't hurt that I had all the supplies on hand) and an hour later our kitchen smelled like heaven.
These baked apples are so incredible that I have begun to wonder why anyone would ever want pie again. Personally I think softened apples baked under a layer of crunchy, spiced, oat crust is the way to go. Especially when cooked in apple cider because (and here is the kicker) as the apples cook, the apple cider thickens creating an apple-cider-esq caramel. It is life-changing. And I will happily take apple-cider like caramel over a buttery crust any day.
Baked Apples with Oat Crumble
Adapted from Huckleberry
I made a couple of small changes. Swapping the apple juice for cider (because cider is about a billion times better then juice) and also adding some ground ginger to the dish because I basically love ground ginger and apples. I don't think a pinch of cloves would be a bad thing as well. Don't feel you need to save these for dessert, they would make for an incredible brunch option as well.
For the Oat Topping
¾ cup/170 g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup/120 g whole-wheat flour
2 ¼ cups/115 g rolled oats
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoon maple syrup
½ cup + 2 tablespoon/140 g brown sugar
For the Apples
6 apples halved and cored (peel if desired) – Try and go for a tart apple
4 tablespoon /55 g unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 ¾ cups/410 ml apple cider
Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C.
To make the crumble: Combine the butter, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, whole-wheat flour, oats, salt, honey, and brown sugar in a bowl and blend with your fingertips until homogeneous. Refrigerate until needed.
In a medium bowl, toss the apples with the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Pour the apple cider into a 9 1/2-by-13 1/2-in/24-by-34-cm baking dish, then fit the apples in snugly, cut-side up. Cover with foil.
Bake until the apples are soft, about 1 hour. As different varieties have different bake times, be sure to give them a poke to see if they’re ready.
Remove the foil and top the apples with the crumble. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F/220°C and bake until the topping is nice and brown, about 20 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature.
This keeps, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
thoughts on seattle, wa (and the best things we ate).
I didn't expect it to happen, but I fell in love with Seattle. It' hard for me to articulate why, but the city just pulled me in. It's urban and yet it has the feel of a small town. Seattle is big, it felt far bigger then New York, but it's divided into pockets and each pocket has it's own identity. You could criss-cross the entire city and feel as if you've traveled a great distance and yet you only traveled a couple of miles. And the restaurant scene! Oh man. It's freaking phenomenal. I swear I am ready to move there. So ready in fact that at one point, I was on Zillow and Indeed looking at apartments and jobs trying to envision what my life would look like if I left the East Coast for the West Coast.
Tyler and I have already discussed heading back out there next year and visiting Seattle and Vancouver. Practically everyone I met said if you like food you have to visit Vancouver so you know I am sold on it. But we aren't here to discuss future meals. We are here to discuss the best things I ate in Seattle. Without further ado...
The Walrus and The Carpenter was one of those restaurants that I was petrified I wasn't going to have the opportunity to try. It doesn't take reservations, it's the size of a shoebox, etc. But the afternoon before we headed home, Tyler and I stopped by for an early bird dinner. I think it worked out for the best because early birds get the happy hour special of half off oysters. What I realized is that I still don't love oysters. To be honest, I don't really get the point of them but I do love clams and I really LOVE sardines with a parsley and walnut gremolata. I will be dreaming about both those dishes until the end of time.
The best dessert on this trip goes to the chocolate, banana, peanut cake from Honore Artisan Bakery. When I tell you it was dreamy and probably one of the best desserts I've ever eaten, I'm not lying. Chocolate fudge surrounded a roasted banana and caramelized peanut center. My description will never do it justice, just go and buy it.
Pizzeria Gabbiano is open only on weekdays and sells a Roman style pizza by weight. The beauty of this is that you can get a little bit of everything and have your own little pizza tasting. I was particularly fond of the peppers and corn bechamel pizza but you really can't go wrong with any of them. A perfect spot to hit after walking through the Chihuly Museum.
If you are in search of drinks, try Damm the Weather. The food is supposed to be killer as well but we had sushi reservations that night and I wasn't going to spoil my appetite.
The sushi at Mashiko is hands down the best sushi I have ever had. Anyone can fly in fancy fish from Tokyo but it takes a really special restaurant to go the sustainable route and make sushi that is exciting, delicious, and down-right addicting. I ate a lot of fish I had never had before and I got to witness a truly passionate sushi chef in her element, both of those things made this a truly incredible meal. Also! They take reservations and if you make one, be smart and sit at the sushi counter.
The Whale Wins, a sister restaurant to the Walrus and the Carpenter served the kind of food I can never get enough of i.e. small plates of vegetables prepared in remarkably exciting ways. Everything we ate I would happily eat again. Especially the dragon's tongue beans with feta and red pepper and the grilled zucchini bread with creme fraiche (which I may have already made my own version of). Every city should have at least 3 restaurants like this.
And last but not least, Cafe Besalu whose croissants and cheese danishes are some of the best I have ever had. We were fortunate to be staying about 2 blocks away which means I ate a cheese danish everyday for 3 days straight and I'm not sorry I did that. There seasonal fruit danishes are equally exciting. If your smart, you'll get a little bit of everything and share with someone you love.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
white grout.
All white subway tile (with white grout) is my latest obsession. I love how clean it looks. Especially when paired with blue and black (which is my new favorite color pairing).
Cover story from the October 2015 issue of Inside Out magazine. Styling by Jacqui Moore. Photography by Eve Wilson. Available from newsagents, Zinio,, Google Play,, Apple’s Newsstand, and Nook.:
Image via Pinterest.
Monday, September 28, 2015
enchiladas verdes.
September has practically disappeared and I'm not entirely sure how that happened. I guess when you spend 2 glorious weeks living in a bubble far removed from reality you kind of loose sight of time. It's a shame that it snuck past me because September is my favorite. Apples are plentiful, it's possible to sleep with the windows open (I sleep like a baby in this weather), plaid and flannel becomes a weekly wardrobe staple, and you can turn on your oven (and not sweat to death!) which means baked dishes have now become a dinner staple.
The baked dishes of September are my favorite because they can incorporate the last remaining summer ingredients in a new way. In August you probably ate a lot of raw tomatoes (ideally paired with burrata and basil) but in September you can roast them and toss them with cubes of mozzarella and rigatoni for an incredibly satisfying summer supper. In August, tomatillos became salsa and dinners consisted of chips, salsa, and margaritas (a completely acceptable dinner when it's 90 degrees), in September, you can't got wrong with enchiladas verdes.
Enchiladas verdes is a simple baked dish that no one can resist. I prefer making enchiladas at home because they are lighter and brighter. Not exactly health food, but when you avoid drowning them in cheese they could almost be considered healthy. The salsa verde is bright and tangy and pairs perfectly with leftover roast chicken to make an incredibly delightful meal.
Enchiladas Verdes
Recipe adapted from the Homesick Texan
For the Salsa Verde
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed
1/2 medium yellow onion, peeled, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems
3 cups chicken stock or water (in a pinch)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste
For the Enchiladas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
16 corn tortillas
2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Muenster, Asadero or Monterey Jack cheese
Sour cream
2 peeled and pitted avocados, cubed
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and spread 1 cup of the salsa along the bottom. Place the rest of the salsa in a large bowl (large enough to dip the tortillas in). In a skillet, heat up the oil on medium-low heat. One at a time, heat up the tortillas in the oil, and then keep them wrapped in a cloth or tortilla warmer until all the tortillas are heated.
To assemble the enchiladas, take a heated tortilla dip (VERY BRIEFLY) into the salsa, place a couple of tablespoons of chicken down the center, and then roll the tortilla. Place filled tortilla in the baking dish and repeat.
Monday, September 21, 2015
thoughts on portland, oregon.
As an overenthusiastic foodie, I've had a desire for several years now to visit the Pacific Northwest. Besides San Francisco, no city seemed more populated with Farmers Markets, restaurants and doughnut shops then Portland and Seattle; for that reason I had to go.
Portland was the first stop on our trip and while it's a great city, it's not one I could live in. Mostly because I had a hard time figuring out what anyone actually does besides drink really good coffee and compost. It just doesn't feel like a city. It feels like a college town or maybe a place where people live after they made their millions in New York (because that's the only way one could afford such fancy coffee and beer). It's a little crunchy (I've never seen one store sell so many types of kombucha). Not necessarily a bad thing but perhaps not the thing for me (though I do love me some kombucha).
I barely made a dent in the food scene. There was only so much time and stomach space. But we did eat some pretty epic things and below is the list of my favorites. This is in no way a definite list, just the things I actually got a chance to eat and loved.
The Portland Farmers Market is the farmer's market of my dreams (it's Saturdays at PSU which is near the Pearl District). I probably love it as much as I do because it was the first thing we did in Portland on a day with near perfect weather. It's a good combination of farmers market and food hall and it's HUGE. I refrained from spending all my money on peaches, apples, kombucha, and fish, because as Tyler reminded me, it would not survive the trip home.
Blue Star Doughnuts are pretty darn good. We sampled a variety over the course of two trips and my favorites were the hard cider fritter and the classic buttermilk. I preferred the buttermilk based doughnuts to the yeasted variety but that may be personal preference. All are phenomenal.
Apizza Schools. I realize as a born and raised New Yorker, that the idea of eating pizza on the west coast is absurd (we have enough good pizza in New York!), but I did just that. I had read a lot about this place from the guys over at Serious Eats and I figured I had to try it. It was really good and well worth the meal (half Margharita/half Diablo Blanco is the way to go). The pizza is New York style and it's surprisingly light. Not in the sense that you feel as if you were cheated on toppings, but it's graceful (is it weird to call pizza graceful?). Also, their antipasta veggie plate is a phenomenal way to start your meal.
Ava Gene's and I have a love hate relationship. We ate some really incredible things there (the corn and chicken liver crostini was most notable) but the service was awful - the server clearly forgot to put in our order so it took a very long time to get our food. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the service thing really bugs me. Especially since the server knew we were waiting forever (the table next to us got all of their food before us and ordered after us) and didn't try and make it up to us in anyway. But the crostini was so good, I'm keeping them on here.
Nong's Khao Man Gai is the place everyone tells you to visit in Portland. The abridged story is that the owner came over to Portland penniless and started a foodcart that everyone loved. Eventually she was able to open another cart and then a small store front. Feel free to Google the name for more details (Google can tell you more then I can). I almost cried because I thought we weren't going to get the chance to try it but lucky for me everything worked out. The menu is short and sweet. The food is simple and satisfying. I got the chicken with peanut sauce and loved it because what is there not to love about peanut sauce. While there I saw one of the contestants from Top Chef and totally kept my cool.
New Seasons Market is the supermarket of my dreams. It's like a Whole Foods and specialty food store wrapped in one. They were selling 20+ types of local hot sauce when we were there. That my friends is my kind of supermarket. I wouldn't call this a must hit, but if you are near one, definitely peruse!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
chocolate chunk pumpkin seed cookies.
Chocolate Chunk–Pumpkin Seed Cookies
Recipe adapted from Bon Appeit
Makes about 36 cookies
1½ cups raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
1½ cups (packed) light brown sugar
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1¼ cups bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup cocoa nibs (optional)
Flaky sea salt
| http://amourfoud.blogspot.com/ | dclm-gs1-065460000 |
0.018816 | <urn:uuid:041a41da-a11c-4344-b4eb-19d11ffc2376> | en | 0.975799 | Skip to main content
About your Search
English 34
that are capable of working are actually out there looking. that is down 2% from 2009. let's bring in angela and jehmu greene and former president of the women's media center. nice to see you. okay, let me ask you first, angela, it sounds like more finger pointing when the president says that washington needs to get out of the way. is he talking about congress? >> he is talking about himself and congress and get out of the way and let the private sector. the only way i can reduce poverty and increase prosperity is by free markets and capitalism and not bigger government. what we have seen with the obama administration has been more bureaucracy and bigger government and more regulation and more spending and less prosperity. you can see it in the job numbers. >> jamie: smud should we read anything into the fact that the president is focused on gun control and immigration, given the fact we're still getting these numbers and so many people are out of work? >> i'm confident that the president can do two things at the same time. when you talk about letting the private sector do its thing, that is
as we have a result. but before that let's bring in our panel, angela rye, political strategist and principal of impact strategies, karen finney, former dnc communications director and ari melber, correspondent for "the nation." welcome to all of you. chuck hagel is about to be confirmed after the next secretary of defense after 18 republicans voted to move his confirmation to a final vote. what exactly did this fight accomplish in your view? >> well, we got to learn the truth about the grudge match between john mccain and some in the republican party and chuck hagel. john mccain laid it out for us pretty clearly when he said that it was, you know, some of the criticisms that hagel had of president bush that angered a lot in the republican party. i don't think it gets any clearer than that. >> that's very helpful and very clear. thank you, karen. ari, let's talk about the friends of hamas because while there were many bogus charges leveled at chuck hagel, friends of hamas may symbolize them at the best. this was a story delivered by thee the editor-at-large of breitbart media. h
and an opinion writer for the "washington post" and angela reid, principle of impact strategies and msnbc contributor susan dellpurseo. >> you come in on president a days. let's dive in and get to work talking about this leaked proposal that came out. angela, i want to start with you. we have the timeline here and if we look at it, the president was scheduled to go to las vegas on january 29th and give his first policy speech of the second administration but we see that on the 28th the bipartisan group of senators, they came out with their plan trying to trump the president to seem ahead of him. is this a way in the chess match with the leaked reform bill getting out there a way for the president to get the ball back. >> i think if we stay a step back and think about what was in the leaked draft proposal, it is not that being showing. anyone listening to the state of the union address or anything else this administration has said about immigration, it is not a rouge surprise. we should be real about where we are and when you look at the senators bart of the bipartisan coalition, you think
attorney angela. thanks for being with us. along with montgomery county state's attorney john mccarthy teamed up for an article explaining their advocacy for this change and they join us now. happy both of you are here. >> thank you for having us. >> tell us what's behind this push. i'll start with you. why this and why have you teamed up. >> we've noticed in our domestic violence cases is the adults suffer the physical affects of the violence but we notice children suffer emotional affects that last for a life time. many of us come back to us in the system as defendants who perpetrate crimes of violence. we watch young women's lives destroyed. the affects are long reaching for children. >> maryland is a little bit late to bringing attention to this. right now, physically you have to do violence to a child before we give protection. we've known for a very long time and studies tell us whether it's poor grades or depression or suicide, there's a lot of byproducts of children witnessing violence and they are victims. and other states for many years have been addressing this issue and now
of a girl shot. take a listen to what angela blake had to say about her child. >> i cannot believe this. this is ridiculous. my child was a very sweet child and to go on such a senseless manner, it makes no sense. >> how are urban centers like philadelphia, chicago, are they missing out on the conversation, the gun violence conversation that's being had in washington, d.c. as we focus on the magazine clips and assault weapons, when it's a harder fact as you pointed out that there is urban gun violence that happens every day in our cities. >> yeah, i mean the thing about hospitals, we're uniquely positioned to understand this issue. i think one of the things that is removed from this debate is a true understanding of the consequences of gun violence. and rarely is it the case that the folks that are talking about this have actually been in the room to see a young person look up at them and say, please save me, i don't want to die. then to have to go out and tell the family like this young woman's family, that the person they love the most is not coming home to them. i think if we had a b
chief steps down and rick scott appoints angela curry to lead a special investigation. the next day, president obama speaks publicly about the case for the first time. >> if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. >> reporter: march 4th, a group call the new black panther party offers a $10,000 reward for zimmerman's "capture." trayvon martin rallies held across the country demanding zimmerman's arrest. april 11th, zimmerman charged with second degree murder and turns himself in. bond set at $150,000 and three days later, he walks out of jail in the middle night of, only to return six weeks later when a judge revokes his bond after prosecutors say zimmerman and his wife lied about being poor at his bond hearing, failing to mention hundreds of thousands of donated dollars from supporters, this time zimmerman's wife is also arrested, charged with perjury. july 6th. zimmerman's release from jail again, now on $1 million bond and goes into hiding. zimmerman appears on fox news. >> anything you might do differently in retrospect now that time has passed a little bit? >>> no, sir. >> rep | http://archive.org/details/tv?time=201302&q=angela&fq=topic:%22washington%22&fq=topic:%22geico%22 | dclm-gs1-065560000 |
0.025654 | <urn:uuid:ed268d2e-e090-46b0-a409-1fdc6e684404> | en | 0.915727 | New Orleans anchor has no idea who Mo Farah is
It's like asking LeBron James if it's the first time he dunked a basketball. Amazingly, Farah has the grace to not run away from the interview, even saying he's "got to learn a lot and train more." The anchor then proclaims in an awestruck way that Farah is "off to a great start", presumably to his running career.
Look out world, Mo Farah may be a name to watch bursting onto the scene in 2013! You heard it here first!
Matt Yoder
About Matt Yoder
| http://awfulannouncing.com/2013/new-orleans-anchor-has-no-idea-who-mo-farah-is.html?_escaped_fragment_=%2Fandrewbucholtz | dclm-gs1-065680000 |
0.597697 | <urn:uuid:c4bfb0e8-a30c-45a5-9373-702bab60e687> | en | 0.845372 |
Our Process: Making wine vinegar requires two fermentations. The first fermentation uses yeast to create alcohol, the second uses a vinegar “mother” to convert the alcohol to acid. To convert our wine into vinegar we add wine to a continuous batch of vinegar that contains a vinegar “mother”. Filling the barrels two thirds full we ensure that the bacteria in the mother can breathe oxygen and convert the wine into vinegar. Once the new wine is introduced to the previous batch we let it sit, for a year or more providing oxygen through a hole in the top of the barrel, always continuing to get better with age like a good wine.
Champagne Pear Cherry Apple Fig Pomegranate Peach | http://bellindora.com/ | dclm-gs1-065730000 |
0.018324 | <urn:uuid:c71139d2-1ca7-42e1-a0ef-9a4ec360b7b3> | en | 0.992638 | Barnes Foundation Trip
Ok, fine, I'll go
Asa Packer - Blogger
He has a Blogger profile, and this archival image pretty much sums it up. Asa Packer was ahead of his time in many ways. He chronicled his ascent to fortune in a hand written 'blog' that he always kept with him. People would often 'comment' on his goings on in the papers or by sending him letters. And being a railroad man, he knew a thing or two about trackbacks.
If he ever pinged anyone there is no record, but many people to this day think of Asa as 'very pingable.'
Asa Packer was deeply interested in politics, as are many bloggers today, though he was a member of the House of Representatives. You have never had that pleasure, have you? Didn't think so.
Asa, not only do you have a place in my heart, you have a place on my blogroll. | http://blog.blankbaby.com/2005/07/asa_packer_blog.html | dclm-gs1-065790000 |
0.02029 | <urn:uuid:cf8b1f54-d3aa-41aa-afa4-b1c54e5b9fbd> | en | 0.940074 | At FairWinds, one of the services we offer clients is a sort of “spring cleaning” of their domain name registrations. We know that, especially for large corporations, there are often many different individuals who register domain names – sometimes representatives from various departments within the company, and other times account representatives at partner agencies such as marketing and creative firms. We also know that even when these registrations are made with the best of intentions, after a certain point, things tend to go awry. As time goes on, employees leave and agency contracts expire. And eventually, the company’s network of domain names starts to resemble a tangled web.
Our job is to help clients wrangle in all of these registrations and streamline their portfolios. In doing so, we find a lot of forgotten registrations made by past employees and partners. But every once in a while, we come across a case where a disgruntled past employee or contractor, for lack of a better phrase, holds a domain hostage, either by refusing to return it to the company or using it to host negative content. We call these instances “rogue registrations,” and they can be a massive headache for companies.
But there’s good news for brand owners that applied for new gTLDs: such rogue registrations will be all but impossible in their new gTLDs. Since brand owners will have full control over their .BRAND registries, they will easily be able to determine which domains should be registered and ensure that they are registered by the appropriate people. This kind of control is one of the major benefits to operating a new gTLD registry.
Of course, the potential for rogue registrations in other new gTLDs and existing TLDs still remains. How can a company avoid those? The best way is to develop a solid Domain Name Strategy and Registration Policy and implement them across the entire organization.
Fortunately, we know some people who can help with that.
Yvette Miller
Yvette Miller
Vice President, Strategic Communications and Media Relations at FairWinds Partners
Yvette Miller
Reining in the Rogue | http://blog.fairwindspartners.com/internet-governance-and-policy/reigning-in-the-rogue | dclm-gs1-065820000 |
0.991666 | <urn:uuid:dcddff1e-1ea6-4ad6-9e87-68de1e7f4955> | en | 0.961214 | Annulment or Divorce, What's the Difference? - Law and Daily Life
Annulment or Divorce, What's the Difference?
Annulments, as a general rule, require at least one of the following: 1) some type of fraud or concealment; 2) a refusal or inability to consummate the marriage (yes, that's pretty much just what it sounds like); or 3) a misunderstanding. Although "misunderstanding" sounds like a fairly broad category, it actually is usually interpreted fairly narrowly to mean a misunderstanding on some kind of a "deal-breaker" type of issue. It doesn't mean an argument or simply "not getting along". One example of a key misunderstanding might be if a couple had never discussed having children and they now found out they disagreed on the issue.
Fraud or hiding key information from a spouse might be grounds for an annulment, as well. For example, if a spouse lies about their ability to have kids (i.e. they physically can't), or hides that they have a sexually transmitted disease, these might be grounds for an annulment based on fraud or concealment.
The above noted requirements and the examples probably demonstrate why most annulments happen shortly after marriage, and in circumstances where the parties didn't know each other too long before marrying. Lastly, if a short term marriage is involved, an annulment would probably not involve any major issues such as division of property, child custody and support, etc. Below are links to more information on the topic, as well as a questionnaire for those looking into annulments. | http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2009/05/annulment-or-divorce-whats-the-difference.html | dclm-gs1-065930000 |
0.022326 | <urn:uuid:5717e51c-9284-41e4-862e-8d3c29dd3e5e> | en | 0.685863 | Canadian Mathematical Society
Canadian Mathematical Society
location: Publicationsjournals
Search results
Expand all Collapse all Results 51 - 66 of 66
51. CMB 2003 (vol 46 pp. 291)
Sankaran, Parameswaran
A Coincidence Theorem for Holomorphic Maps to $G/P$
The purpose of this note is to extend to an arbitrary generalized Hopf and Calabi-Eckmann manifold the following result of Kalyan Mukherjea: Let $V_n = \mathbb{S}^{2n+1} \times \mathbb{S}^{2n+1}$ denote a Calabi-Eckmann manifold. If $f,g \colon V_n \longrightarrow \mathbb{P}^n$ are any two holomorphic maps, at least one of them being non-constant, then there exists a coincidence: $f(x)=g(x)$ for some $x\in V_n$. Our proof involves a coincidence theorem for holomorphic maps to complex projective varieties of the form $G/P$ where $G$ is complex simple algebraic group and $P\subset G$ is a maximal parabolic subgroup, where one of the maps is dominant.
Categories:32H02, 54M20
52. CMB 2003 (vol 46 pp. 113)
Lee, Jaesung; Rim, Kyung Soo
Properties of the $\mathcal{M}$-Harmonic Conjugate Operator
We define the $\mathcal{M}$-harmonic conjugate operator $K$ and prove that it is bounded on the nonisotropic Lipschitz space and on $\BMO$. Then we show $K$ maps Dini functions into the space of continuous functions on the unit sphere. We also prove the boundedness and compactness properties of $\mathcal{M}$-harmonic conjugate operator with $L^p$ symbol.
Keywords:$\mathcal{M}$-harmonic conjugate operator
Categories:32A70, 47G10
53. CMB 2002 (vol 45 pp. 417)
Kamiyama, Yasuhiko; Tsukuda, Shuichi
Keywords:polygon space, complex structure
Categories:14D20, 32C35
54. CMB 2002 (vol 45 pp. 80)
Keywords:tangential approximation, Carleman
Categories:32E30, 32E25
55. CMB 2001 (vol 44 pp. 150)
Jakóbczak, Piotr
Categories:32A37, 32A22
56. CMB 2001 (vol 44 pp. 105)
Pilipović, Stevan
Categories:32A40, 46F15, 58G07
57. CMB 2001 (vol 44 pp. 126)
Zeron, E. Santillan
Each Copy of the Real Line in $\C^2$ is Removable
Around 1995, Professors Lupacciolu, Chirka and Stout showed that a closed subset of $\C^N$ ($N\geq 2$) is removable for holomorphic functions, if its topological dimension is less than or equal to $N-2$. Besides, they asked whether closed subsets of $\C^2$ homeomorphic to the real line (the simplest 1-dimensional sets) are removable for holomorphic functions. In this paper we propose a positive answer to that question.
Keywords:holomorphic function, removable set
58. CMB 2000 (vol 43 pp. 294)
Bracci, Filippo
Fixed Points of Commuting Holomorphic Maps Without Boundary Regularity
We identify a class of domains of $\C^n$ in which any two commuting holomorphic self-maps have a common fixed point.
Keywords:Holomorphic self-maps, commuting functions, fixed points, Wolff point, Julia's Lemma
Categories:32A10, 32A40, 32H15, 32A30
59. CMB 2000 (vol 43 pp. 174)
Gantz, Christian; Steer, Brian
Stable Parabolic Bundles over Elliptic Surfaces and over Riemann Surfaces
Categories:14J27, 32L07, 14H60, 14D20
60. CMB 2000 (vol 43 pp. 47)
Božičević, Mladen
A Property of Lie Group Orbits
Categories:32B20, 22E15
61. CMB 1999 (vol 42 pp. 499)
Zaharia, Alexandru
Characterizations of Simple Isolated Line Singularities
A line singularity is a function germ $f\colon(\CC ^{n+1},0) \lra\CC$ with a smooth $1$-dimensional critical set $\Sigma=\{(x,y)\in \CC\times \CC^n \mid y=0\}$. An isolated line singularity is defined by the condition that for every $x \neq 0$, the germ of $f$ at $(x,0)$ is equivalent to $y_1^2 +\cdots+y_n ^2$. Simple isolated line singularities were classified by Dirk Siersma and are analogous of the famous $A-D-E$ singularities. We give two new characterizations of simple isolated line singularities.
Categories:32S25, 14B05
62. CMB 1999 (vol 42 pp. 97)
Kwon, E. G.
On Analytic Functions of Bergman $\BMO$ in the Ball
Keywords:Bergman distance, \BMOA$, Hardy space, Bloch function
63. CMB 1998 (vol 41 pp. 129)
Lee, Young Joo
Pluriharmonic symbols of commuting Toeplitz type operators on the weighted Bergman spaces
Keywords:Pluriharmonic functions, Weighted Bergman spaces, Toeplitz type operators.
Categories:47B38, 32A37
64. CMB 1997 (vol 40 pp. 356)
Mazet, Pierre
Principe du maximum et lemme de Schwarz, a valeurs vectorielles
Categories:30C80, 32A30, 46G20, 52A07
65. CMB 1997 (vol 40 pp. 129)
Badea, Catalin
Sur les caractères d'une algèbre de Banach
Categories:46H05, 32A15
66. CMB 1997 (vol 40 pp. 117)
Vigué, Jean-Pierre
Un lemme de Schwarz pour les boules-unités ouvertes
Let $B_1$ and $B_2$ be the open unit balls of ${\bbd C}^{n_1}$ and ${\bbd C}^{n_2}$ for the norms $\Vert\,{.}\,\Vert_1$ and $\Vert\,{.}\, \Vert_2$. Let $f \colon B_1 \rightarrow B_2$ be a holomorphic mapping such that $f(0)=0$. It is well known that, for every $z \in B_1$, $\Vert f(z)\Vert_2 \leq \Vert z \Vert_1$, and $\Vert f'(0)\Vert \leq 1$. In this paper, I prove the converse of this result. Let $f \colon B_1 \rightarrow B_2$ be a holomorphic mapping such that $f'(0)$ is an isometry. If $B_2$ is strictly convex, I prove that $f(0) =0$ and that $f$ is linear. I also define the rank of a point $x$ belonging to the boundary of $B_1$ or $B_2$. Under some hypotheses on the ranks, I prove that a holomorphic mapping such that $f(0) = 0$ and that $f'(0)$ is an isometry is linear.
Categories:32H15, 32H02
1 2 3
© Canadian Mathematical Society, 2015 : | http://cms.math.ca/cmb/msc/32?page=3 | dclm-gs1-066030000 |
0.038941 | <urn:uuid:4dc09051-d28b-48c6-b7af-24dbcac3ab00> | en | 0.945612 | Category: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Sam Sizelove, Kaleb Prewett, Marcell Ateman
AP Photo
Big 12 apologizes for blown call in OSU-KSU game
Cearly, the folks in Stillwater are living right.
A week after receiving some, uh, fortuitous calls in their 30-27 win over Texas, No. 21 Oklahoma State was the beneficiary of an officiating error that aided the Cowboys in their 36-34 come-from-behind win over Kansas State on Saturday.
The chain crew incorrectly credited the Cowboys with a first down they did not earn during the second quarter Saturday, directly leading to an Oklahoma State touchdown.
That improper touchdown allowed Oklahoma State to pull within 28-20 just before the half, springboarding the Cowboys on to a comeback win. The Wildcats had won 49 in a row when leading at the half until Saturday.
From the conference:
Big 12 Conference supervisor of officials Walt Anderson acknowledges improper first-down distance enforcement occurred during Saturday’s K-State at Oklahoma State game. During the second-quarter, with the ball at the K-State 45, OSU was flagged for offensive holding during a 41-yard pass completion. After the 10-yard penalty was marked off, moving the ball back to the OSU 45, the chains were mistakingly set for the yard-to-gain.
“Accurracy and adherence to Conference policies and officiating mechanics are vital to the proper administration of the rules in all games,” said Anderson. “Disciplinary actions will be addressed with both the field officials and chain crew.”
Ezekiel Elliott, Cardale Jones
1. Ohio State (38 first-place votes)
2. TCU (5)
3. Baylor (10)
4. Michigan State
5. Utah (7)
6. Clemson
7. LSU
8. Alabama
9. Texas A&M (1)
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida
12. Florida State
13. Northwestern
14. Ole Miss
15. Notre Dame
16. Stanford
17. USC
18. Michigan
19. Georgia
20. UCLA
21. Oklahoma State
22. Iowa
23. Cal
24. Toledo
25. Boise State
Johnny Jefferson, Micah Awe
Here is this week’s coaches poll:
1. Ohio State (50 first-place votes)
2. TCU (4)
3. Michigan State (1)
4. Baylor (5)
5. LSU (1)
6. Clemson
7. Utah (1)
8. Florida State
9. Oklahoma
10. Alabama
11. Texas A&M
12. Florida
13. Ole Miss
14. Northwestern
15. Notre Dame
16. Georgia
17. USC
18. Stanford
19. Oklahoma State
20. UCLA
21. Michigan
22. California
23. Iowa
24. Boise State
25. Memphis | http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/teams/big-12-conference/oklahoma-state-cowboys/ | dclm-gs1-066070000 |
0.624759 | <urn:uuid:2549a0bd-a03d-4bf5-a886-93ab16442f34> | en | 0.902576 | November 9, 2007
Yummy..oh my tummy
Warning: Two of these nice, sweet, delicious ladoo causes your tummy to hurt and go under a big turmoil. Oh God, bless my tummy.
1. hey MY FAVOURITES!!!!WOW YAAR THEY LOOK AMAZINGLY TEMPTING....AT LEAST TO ME.....With the sight of these laddus came the memories of school times ..the intervals of thursdays when i had them from ur tiffin..!!!YUMMY
2. @anonymous/BFF: Oh yeah, my dearest mom's famous besan ke laddu/halwa as it used to melt down due to presence of excessive ghee and heat.
The age when I still used to believe and actually kept fasts on every Thursday. How life changes! | http://doctorofphilosphy.blogspot.com/2007/11/yummyoh-my-tummy.html | dclm-gs1-066260000 |
0.050005 | <urn:uuid:f1fd4566-9551-4476-b194-404f199aa60a> | en | 0.976217 | Monday, December 14, 2009
Wow, Charles Jaco is a REAL dirtbag journalist
The old video shows him in a sand turtle and talking about the Iraq war made the rounds from Youtube; I pointed it out back in April; Bill has made mention of it as well; Jamie Allman made a joke about it (it was him who found it), and even Pat Buchanan wrote about it:
Video at the link.
Ooooh, and Jaco is MAD, downright LIVID!
Etc, Etc., threaten, bluster.
Wow, in addition to being thin-skinned, Jaco apparently has no clue about protected speech and fair use. We have Climategate going on and a deficit on the run but Jaco would rather waste money making a mockery of himself across the Internet. It does make for interesting speculation as to whose cases would be more successful: the men and women activists who were smeared by Jaco or a reporter known for smearing people on air who ironically takes liberty with others asking questions or making observations about a video in which he’s admitted to participating.
The old adage was "Don't fight with people who buy ink by the barrel". Nowadays we don't have to buy ink to respond to stuff like this, which makes it an even worse idea.
1 comment:
martywd said...
It used to be that only a very select few of the more elite members of society really knew what was going on 'behind the scenes' on virtually any topic. Now thanks to the algore's Internet we all get to see behind the curtain. And it ain't pretty. | http://elmtreeforge.blogspot.com/2009/12/wow-charles-jaco-is-real-dirtbag.html | dclm-gs1-066340000 |
0.844728 | <urn:uuid:c6673619-8b4b-4881-ab16-3f07bfecfded> | en | 0.949934 | Why is iBooks font size universal?
Discussion in 'iPad Apps' started by elliotay, Dec 7, 2012.
1. macrumors regular
Jul 9, 2001
I have several ebooks on my iPad that have different font sizes. If I change the font size in one book and then switch to another, the font size is changed there too. I feel like the font size setting should be specific to each book. It's annoying to have to change it back and forth as I switch between books.
Share This Page | http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/why-is-ibooks-font-size-universal.1503783/ | dclm-gs1-066480000 |
0.143249 | <urn:uuid:f49ba233-92bb-49c2-8725-6f6db1da5fa3> | en | 0.681602 | Bassiano Landi
Medicinae Dr. Università di Padova 1542 Italy
Mathematics Subject Classification: 92—Biology and other natural sciences
Advisor 1: Giovanni Battista della Monte
Advisor 2: Vittore Trincavelli
Theodor ZwingerUniversità di Padova155999553
According to our current on-line database, Bassiano Landi has 1 student and 99554 descendants.
We welcome any additional information.
| http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=152906 | dclm-gs1-066560000 |
0.033937 | <urn:uuid:8672e2aa-794e-4ab7-b430-13de6fd55fb9> | en | 0.938754 | The world as I see it
RSS icon Email icon Home icon
• New Reactors in the UK and the Future of Nuclear Power
Posted on October 22nd, 2013 Helian 2 comments
A consortium led by France’s EDF Energy, including Chinese investors, has agreed with the government of the UK on terms for building a pair of new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in the southwest of the country, not far from Bristol. If a final investment decision is made some time next year, and the plants are actually built, they will probably be big (about 1600 Megawatts) pressurized water reactors (PWR’s) based on the French company Areva’s EPR design. These are supposed to be (and probably are) safer, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly than earlier designs. In general, I tend to be pro-nuclear. I would certainly feel a lot safer living next to a nuclear plant than a coal plant. However, I’m a bit ambivalent about these new starts. I think we could be a lot smarter in the way we implement nuclear power programs.
Reactors of the type proposed will burn uranium. Natural uranium consists mostly of two isotopes, U235 and U238, and only U235 can be burnt directly in a nuclear reactor. Why? The answer to that question depends on something called “the binding energy of the last neutron.” Think of a neutron as a bowling ball, and the nucleus of a uranium atom as a deep well. If the bowling ball happens to roll into the well, it will drop over the edge, eventually smacking into the bottom, and releasing the energy it acquired due to the acceleration of gravity in the process. The analogous force in the nucleus of a uranium atom is the nuclear force, incomparably greater than the force of gravity, but it acts in much the same way. The neutron doesn’t notice this very short range force until it gets very close to the nucleus, or “lip of the well,” but when it does, it “falls in” and releases the energy acquired in the process in much the same way. This energy is what I’ve referred to above as “the binding energy of the last neutron.”
When this binding energy is released in the nucleus, it causes it to wiggle and vibrate, something like a big drop of water falling through the air. In the case of U235, the energy is sufficient to cause this “liquid drop” to actually break in two, or “fission.” Such isotopes are referred to as “fissile.” In U238, the binding energy of the last neutron alone is not sufficient to cause fission, but the isotope can still actually fission if the neutron happens to be moving very fast when it hits the nucleus, bringing some of its own energy to the mix. Such isotopes, while not “fissile,” are referred to as “fissionable.” Unfortunately, the isotope U235 is only 0.7 percent of natural uranium. Once it’s burnt, the remaining U238 is no longer useful for starting a nuclear chain reaction on its own.
That would be the end of the story as far as conventional reactors are concerned, except for the fact that something interesting happens to the U238 when it absorbs a neutron. As mentioned above, it doesn’t fission unless the neutron is going very fast to begin with. Instead, with the extra neutron, it becomes U239. However, U239 is unstable, and decays into neptunium 239, which further decays into plutonium 239, or Pu239. In Pu239 the binding energy of the last neutron IS enough to cause it to fission. Thus, conventional reactors burn not only U235, but also some of the Pu239 that is produced in this way. Unfortunately, they don’t produce enough extra plutonium to keep the reactor going, so only a few percent of the U238 is “burnt” in addition to the U235 before the fuel has to be replaced and the old fuel either reprocessed or stored as radioactive waste. Even though a lot of energy is locked up in the remaining U238, it is usually just discarded or used in such applications as the production of heavy armor or armor piercing munitions. In other words, the process is something like throwing a log on your fireplace, then fishing it out and throwing it away when only a small fraction of it has been burnt.
Can anything be done about it? It turns out that it can. The key is neutrons. They not only cause the U235 and Pu239 to fission, but also produce Pu239 via absorption in U238. What if there were more of them around? If there were enough, then enough new Pu239 could be produced to replace the U235 and old Pu239 lost to fission, and a much greater fraction of the U238 could be converted into useful energy. A much bigger piece of the “log” could be burnt.
As a matter of fact, what I’ve described has actually been done, in so-called breeder reactors. To answer the question “How?” it’s necessary to understand where all those neutrons come from to begin with. In fact, they come from the fission process itself. When an atom of uranium or plutonium fissions, it releases an average of something between 2 and 3 neutrons in the process. These, in turn, can cause other fissions, keeping the nuclear chain reaction going. The chances that they actually will cause another fission depends, among other things, on how fast they are going. In general, the slower the neutron, the greater the probability that it will cause another fission. For that reason, the neutrons in nuclear reactors are usually “moderated” to slower speeds by allowing them to collide with lighter elements, such as hydrogen. Think of billiard balls. If one of them hits another straight on, it will stop, transferring its energy to the second ball. Much the same thing happens in neutron “moderation.”
However, more neutrons will be produced in each fission if the neutrons aren’t heavily moderated, but remain “fast.” In fact, enough can be produced, not only to keep the chain reaction going, but to convert more U238 into useful fuel via neutron absorption than is consumed. That is the principle of the so-called fast breeder reactor. Another way to do the same thing is to replace the U238 with the more plentiful naturally occurring element thorium 232. When it absorbs a neutron, it eventually decays into U233, which, like U235, is fissile. There are actually many potential advantages to this thorium breeding cycle, such as potentially greater resistance to nuclear weapons proliferation, the ability to run the process at slower average neutron speeds, allowing smaller reactor size and easier control, less production of dangerous, long-lived transuranic actinides, such as plutonium and americium, etc. In fact, if enough neutrons are flying around, they will fission and eliminate these actinides. It turns out that’s very important, because they’re the nastiest components of nuclear waste. If they could be recycled and burned, the amount of residual radiation from the waste produced by operating a nuclear plant for 30 or 40 years could be reduced to a level below that of the original uranium or thorium ore in a matter of only a few hundred years, rather than the many thousands that would otherwise be necessary.
So breeders can use almost all the potential energy in uranium or thorium instead of just a small fraction, while at the same time minimizing problems with radioactive waste. What’s not to like? Why aren’t we doing this? The answer is profit. As things now stand, power from breeder reactors of the type I’ve just described would be significantly more expensive than that from conventional reactors like EPR. EPR’s would use enriched natural uranium, which is still relatively cheap and plentiful. They would require no expensive reprocessing step. Ask an industry spokesman, and they will generally assure you (and quite possibly believe themselves, because self-interest has always had a strong delusional effect) that we will never run out of natural uranium, that the radioactive danger from conventional reactor waste has been grossly exaggerated, and there is no long-term proliferation danger from simply discarding plutonium-laced waste somewhere and letting it decay for several thousand years. I’m not so sure.
Now, I have no problem with profit, and I find Hollywood’s obsession with the evils of large corporations tiresome, but I really do think this is one area in which government might actually do something useful. It might involve some mix of increased investment in research and development of advanced reactor technology, including the building of small demonstration reactors, continued robust support for the nuclear Navy, and eliminating subsidies on new conventional reactors. Somehow, we managed to build scores of research reactors back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. It would be nice if we could continue building a few more now and then, not only for research into breeder technology, but as test beds for new corrosion and radiation resistant materials and fuels, exploration of high temperature gas-cooled reactors that could not only produce electricity but facilitate the production of hydrogen from water and synthetic natural gas from carbon dioxide and coal, both processes that are potentially much more efficient at high temperatures, and even fusion-fission hybrids if we can ever get fusion to work.
We aren’t going to run out of energy any time soon, but there are now over 7 billion people on the planet. Eventually we will run out of fossil fuels, and depending entirely on wind, solar and other renewables to take up the slack seems a little risky to me. Wasting potential fuel for the reactors of the future doesn’t seem like such a good idea either. Under the circumstances, keeping breeder technology on the table as a viable alternative doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
• Fusion Follies at Der Spiegel
Posted on October 19th, 2013 Helian No comments
Another hopeful commenter adds,
• Another Fusion Tease?
Posted on October 10th, 2013 Helian No comments
• Fusion Update: The NIF Inches Closer to Ignition
Posted on August 30th, 2013 Helian No comments
In a recent press release, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced that it had achieved a yield of 3 x 1015 neutrons in the latest round of experiments at its National Ignition Facility, a giant, 192-beam laser facility designed, as its name implies, to achieve fusion ignition. That’s nowhere near “ignition,” but still encouraging as it’s three times better than results achieved in earlier experiments.
The easiest way to achieve fusion is with two heavy isotopes of hydrogen; deuterium, with a nucleus containing one proton and one neutron, and tritium, with a nucleus containing one proton and two neutrons. Deuterium is not radioactive, and occurs naturally as about one atom to every 6400 atoms of “normal” hydrogen, with a nucleus containing only a single proton. Tritium is radioactive, and occurs naturally only in tiny trace amounts. It has a half-life (the time it takes for half of a given amount to undergo radioactive decay) of 12.3 years, and must be produced artificially. When tritium and deuterium fuse, they release a neutron, a helium nucleus, or alpha particle, and lots of energy (17.6 million electron volts).
Fortunately (because otherwise it would be too easy to blow up the planet), or unfortunately (if you want to convert the energy into electricity), fusion is hard. The two atoms don’t like to get too close, because their positively charged nuclei repel each other. Somehow, a way must be found to make the heavy hydrogen fuel material very hot, causing the thermal motion of the atoms to become very large. Once they start moving fast enough, they can smash into each other with enough momentum to overcome the repulsion of the positive nuclei, allowing them to fuse. However, the amount of energy needed per atom is huge, and when atoms get that hot, the last thing they want to do is stay close to each other (think of what happens in the detonation of high explosive.) There are two mainstream approaches to solving this problem; magnetic fusion, in which the atoms are held in place by powerful magnetic fields while they are heated (the approach being pursued at ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, currently under construction in France), and inertial confinement fusion (ICF), where the idea is to dump energy into the fuel material so fast that its own inertia holds it in place long enough for fusion to occur. The NIF is an ICF facility.
There are various definitions of ICF “ignition,” but, in order to avoid comparisons of apples and oranges between ICF and magnetic fusion experiments, LLNL has explicitly accepted the point at which the fusion energy out equals the laser energy in as the definition of ignition. In the experiment referred to above, the total fusion energy release was about 10,000 joules, give or take. Since the laser energy in was around 1.7 million joules, that’s only a little over one half of one percent of what’s needed for ignition. Paltry, you say? Not really. To understand why, you have to know a little about how ICF experiments work.
Recall that the idea is to heat the fuel material up so fast that its own inertia holds it in place long enough for fusion to occur. The “obvious” way to do that would be to simply dump in enough laser energy to heat all the fuel material to fusion temperatures at once. Unfortunately, this “volumetric heating” approach wouldn’t work. The energy required would be orders of magnitude more than what’s available on the NIF. What to do? Apply lots and lots of finesse. It turns out that if a very small volume or “hot spot” in the fuel material can be brought to fusion conditions, the alpha particles released in the fusion reactions might carry enough energy to heat up the nearby fuel to fusion conditions as well. Ideally, the result would be an alpha “burn wave,” moving out through the fuel, and consuming it all. But wait, it ain’t that easy! An efficient burn wave will occur only if the alphas are slammed to a stop and forced to dump their energy after traveling only a very short distance in the cold fuel material around the hot spot. Their range is too large unless the fuel is first compressed to a tiny fraction of its original volume, causing its density to increase by orders of magnitude.
In other words, to get the fuel to fuse, we need to make it very hot, but we also need to compress it to very high density, which can be done much more easily and efficiently if the material is cold! Somehow, we need to keep the fuel “cold” during the compression process, and then, just at the right moment, suddenly heat up a small volume to fusion conditions. It turns out that shocks are the answer to the problem. If a train of four shocks can be set off in the fuel material as it is being compressed, or “imploded,” by the lasers, precisely timed so that they will all converge at just the right moment, it should be possible, in theory at least, to generate a hot spot. If the nice, spherical symmetry of the fuel target could be maintained during the implosion process, everything should work just fine. The NIF would have more than enough energy to achieve ignition. But there’s the rub. Maintaining the necessary symmetry has turned out to be inordinately hard. Tiny imperfections in the target surface finish, small asymmetries in the laser beams, etc., lead to big deviations from perfect symmetry in the dense, imploded fuel. These asymmetries have been the main reason the NIF has not been able to achieve its ignition goal to date.
And that’s why the results of the latest round of experiments haven’t been as “paltry” as they seem. As noted in the LLNL press release,
Early calculations show that fusion reactions in the hot plasma started to self-heat the burning core and enhanced the yield by nearly 50 percent, pushing close to the margins of alpha burn, where the fusion reactions dominate the process.
“The yield was significantly greater than the energy deposited in the hot spot by the implosion,” said Ed Moses, principle associate director for NIF and Photon Science. “This represents an important advance in establishing a self-sustaining burning target, the next critical step on the path to fusion ignition on NIF.”
That’s not just hype. If the self-heating can be increased in future experiments, it may be possible to reach a threshold at which the alpha heating sets off a burn wave through the rest of the cold fuel, as described above. In other words, ignition is hardly a given, but the guys at LLNL still have a fighting chance. Their main challenge may be to stem the gradual evaporation of political support for NIF while the experiments are underway. Their own Senator, Diane Feinstein, is anything but an avid supporter. She recently turned down appeals to halt NIF budget cuts, and says the project needs to be “reassessed” in light of the failure to achieve ignition.
Such a “reassessment” would be a big mistake. The NIF was never funded as an energy project. Its support comes from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous arm of the Department of Energy charged with maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear arsenal. As a tool for achieving that end, the NIF is without peer in any other country. It has delivered on all of its performance design goals, including laser energy, illumination symmetry, shot rate, the precision and accuracy of its diagnostic instrumentation, etc. The facility is of exceptional value to the weapons program even if ignition is never achieved. It can still generate experimental conditions approaching those present in an exploding nuclear device, and, along with the rest of our suite of “above-ground experimental facilities,” or AGEX, it gives us a major leg up over the competition in maintaining our arsenal and avoiding technological surprise in the post-testing era.
Why is that important? Because the alternative is a return to nuclear testing. Do you think no one at NNSA wants to return to testing, and that the weapon designers at the National Weapons Laboratories wouldn’t jump at the chance? If so, you’re dreaming. It seems to me we should be doing our best to keep the nuclear genie in the bottle, not let it out. Mothballing the NIF would be an excellent start at pulling the cork!
I understand why the guys at LLNL are hyping the NIF’s potential as a source of energy. It’s a lot easier to generate political support for lots of electricity with very little radioactive waste and no greenhouse gases than for maintaining our aging arsenal of nuclear weapons. However, IMHO, ICF is hopeless as a source of electricity, at least for the next few hundred years. I know many excellent scientists will disagree, but many excellent scientists are also prone to extreme wishful thinking when it comes to rationalizing a technology they’ve devoted their careers to. Regardless, energy hype isn’t needed to justify the NIF. It and facilities like it will insure our technological superiority over potential nuclear rivals for years to come, and at the same time provide a potent argument against the resumption of nuclear testing.
• Academic Left Update: Party Time at Swarthmore
Posted on May 13th, 2013 Helian 2 comments
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
• German “Greens” and the Poisoning of Eastern Europe
Posted on April 22nd, 2013 Helian No comments
A while back in an online discussion with a German “Green,” I pointed out that, if Germany shut down its nuclear plants, coal plants would have to remain in operation to take up the slack. He was stunned that I could be so obtuse. Didn’t I realize that the lost nuclear capacity would all be replaced by benign “green” energy technology? Well, it turns out things didn’t quite work out that way. In fact, the lost generating capacity is being replaced by – coal.
Germany is building new coal-fired power plants hand over fist, with 26 of them planned for the immediate future. According to Der Spiegel, the German news magazine that never misses a trick when it comes to bashing nuclear, that’s a feature, not a bug. A recent triumphant headline reads, “Export Boom: German Coal Electricity Floods Europe.” Expect more of the same from the home of Europe’s most pious environmentalists. Germany has also been rapidly expanding its solar and wind capacity recently thanks to heavy state subsidies, but the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, especially in Germany. Coal plants are required to fill in the gaps – lots of them. Of course, it would be unprofitable to let them sit idle when wind and solar are available, so they are kept going full blast. When the power isn’t needed in Germany, it is sold abroad, serving as a useful prop to Germany’s export fueled economy.
Remember the grotesque self-righteousness of Der Spiegel and the German “Greens” during the Kyoto Treaty debates at the end of the Clinton administration? Complying with the Kyoto provisions cost the Germans nothing. They had just shut down the heavily polluting and grossly unprofitable industries in the former East Germany, had brought large numbers of new gas-fired plants on line thanks to increasing gas supplies from the North Sea fields, and had topped it off with a lame economy in the 90’s compared to the booming U.S. Their greenhouse gas emissions had dropped accordingly. Achieving similar reductions in the U.S. wouldn’t have been a similar “freebie.” It would have cost tens of thousands of jobs. The German “Greens” didn’t have the slightest problem with this. They weren’t interested in achieving a fair agreement that would benefit all. They were only interested in striking pious poses.
Well, guess what? Times have changed. Last year U.S. carbon emissions were at their lowest level since 1994, and down 3.7% from 2011. Our emissions are down 7.7% since 2006, the largest drop among major industrial states on the planet. German emissions were up at least 1.5% last year, and probably more like 2%. Mention this to a German “Green,” and he’s likely to mumble something about Germany still being within the Kyoto limits. That’s quite true. Germany is still riding the shutdown of what news magazine Focus calls “dilapidated, filthy, communist East German industry after the fall of the Berlin Wall,” to maintain the facade of environmental “purity.”
That’s small comfort to her eastern European neighbors. Downwind from Germany’s coal-fired plants, their “benefit” from her “green” policies is acid rain, nitrous oxide laced smog, deadly particulates that kill and sicken thousands and, last but not least, a rich harvest of radioactive fallout. That’s right, Germany didn’t decrease the radioactive hazard to her neighbors by shutting down her nuclear plants. She vastly increased it. Coal contains several parts per million each of radioactive uranium and thorium. These elements are harmless enough – if kept outside the body. The energetic alpha particles they emit are easily stopped by a normal layer of skin. When that happens, they dump the energy they carry in a very short distance, but, since skin is dead, it doesn’t matter. It’s an entirely different matter when they dump those several million electron volts of energy into a living cell – such as a lung cell. Among other things, that can easily derange the reproductive equipment of the cell, causing cancer. How can they reach the lungs? Very easily if the uranium and thorium that emit them are carried in the ash from a coal-fired plant. A typical coal-fired plant releases about 5 tons of uranium and 12 tons of thorium every year. The German “Greens” have no problem with this, even though they’re constantly bitching about the relatively miniscule release of uranium from U.S. depleted uranium munitions. Think scrubber technology helps? Guess again! The uranium and thorium are concentrated in the ash, whether it ends up in the air or not. They can easily leach into surrounding cropland and water supplies.
The last time there was an attempt to move radioactive waste to the Gorleben storage facility within Germany, the “Greens” could be found striking heroic poses as saviors of the environment all along the line, demonstrating, tearing up tracks, and setting police vehicles on fire. Their “heroic” actions forced the shutdown of Germany’s nuclear plants. The “gift” (German for “poison”) of their “heroic” actions to Germany’s neighbors came in the form of acid rain, smog, and airborne radiation. By any reasonable standard, coal-fired plants are vastly more dangerous and damaging to the environment than the nuclear facilities they replaced.
It doesn’t matter to Germany’s “Greens.” The acid rain, the radiation, the danger of global warming they always pretend to be so concerned about? It doesn’t matter. For them, as for the vast majority of other environmental zealots worldwide, the pose is everything. The reality is nothing.
• More on “Where have all the Babies Gone?”
Posted on February 25th, 2013 Helian 1 comment
Apropos the baby bust discussed in my last post, an interesting article on the subject by Joel Kotkin and Harry Siegel recently turned up at The Daily Beast via Newsweek entitled, “Where have all the Babies Gone?” According to the authors, “More and more Americans are childless by choice. But what makes sense for the individual may spell disaster for the country as a whole.” Their forebodings of doom are based on a subset of the reasons cited in Jonathan Last’s “What to Expect when No One’s Expecting,” and are the same as those that usually turn up in similar articles. The lack of babies, “….is likely to propel us into a spiral of soaring entitlement costs and diminished economic vigor, and create a culture marked by hyperindividualism and dependence on the state as the family unit erodes.” As I pointed out in my earlier post on the subject, if all these things really will result absent a constantly increasing population, they are not avoidable outcomes, for the simple reason that, at some point, the population of the planet must stop growing. The only question is, how many people will be around to experience those outcomes when they happen, and what fraction of the planet’s depleted resources will still be around at the time to deal with the situation. Many of the commenters on the article do an excellent job of pointing that out. For example, from Si 1979,
At some point the population has to stop growing, space on the earth is finite. As such there is going to come a generation that needs to ‘take the hit’ and the earlier that hit is taken the easier it will be. The larger the population gets the worse an ageing population each generation will experience. We can take the hit now or leave future generations a much worse problem to deal with.
To deal with the “problem,” the authors propose some of the usual “solutions”;
As a father of children who has strongly encouraged his own children to have children as well, I am fully in favor of all such measures, as long as they remain ineffective.
The baby promoters have remarkably short historical memories. Are they unaware of the other side of this coin? One need go no further back than the 20th century. What spawned Hitler’s grandiose dreams of “Lebensraum in the east” for Germany, at the expense of Russia? Hint: It wasn’t a declining German population. Why did the Japanese come up with the “Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere” idea and start invading their neighbors? It happened at a time when her population was expanding at a rapid pace, and was, by the way, only about half of what it is now. In spite of that, in the days before miracle strains of rice and other grains, it seemed impossible that she would be able to continue to feed her population. Have we really put such fears of famine behind us for all times? Such a claim must be based on the reckless assumption that the planet will never again suffer any serious disruptions in food production. These are hardly isolated examples. A book by Henry Cox entitled The Problem of Population, which appeared in 1923 and is still available on Amazon, cites numerous other examples.
Needless to say, I don’t share the fears of the Kotkins and Siegels of the world. My fear is that we will take foolhardy risks with the health of our planet by spawning unsustainably large populations in the name of maintaining entitlements which mankind has somehow incomprehensibly managed to live without for tens of thousands of years. In truth, we live in wonderful times. I and those genetically close to me can procreate without limit on a planet where the population may soon begin to decline to within sustainable limits because increasing numbers of people have decided not to have children. It’s a win-win. I’m happy with their choice, and presumably, they’re happy with mine, assuming they want to have some remnant of a working population available to exploit (or at least try to) once they’ve retired. My only hope is that people like Kotkin and Siegel don’t succeed in rocking the boat.
• Jonathan Last and the Un-Problem of Shrinking Populations
Posted on February 24th, 2013 Helian 3 comments
In his latest book, What to Expect When No One’s Expecting, Jonathan Last warns us of the dire consequences of shrinking populations. He’s got it backwards. It’s the best thing that could happen to us.
Before proceeding with my own take on this issue, I would like to assure the reader that I am not a rabid environmentalist or a liberal of the sort who considers people with children morally suspect. I have children and have encouraged my own children to have as many children as possible themselves. It seems to me that the fact that those among us who are supposedly the most intelligent are also the most infertile is a convincing proof of the stupidity of our species.
Why did I decide to have children? In the end, it’s a subjective whim, just like every other “purpose of life” one might imagine. However, as such I think it’s justifiable enough. The explanation lies in the way in which I perceive my “self.” As I see it, “we” are not our conscious minds, although that is what most of us perceive as “we.” Our conscious minds are evanescent manifestations of the physical bodies whose development is guided by our genes. They pop into the world for a moment and are then annihilated in death. They exist for that brief moment for one reason only – because they happened to promote our genetic survival. Is it not more reasonable to speak of “we” as that about us which has existed for billions of years and is potentially immortal, namely, our genes, than to assign that term to an ancillary manifestation of those genes that exists for a vanishingly small instant of time by comparison? We have a choice. We can choose that this “we” continue to survive, or we can choose other goals, and allow this “we” to be snuffed out, so that the physical bodies that bear our “we” become the last link in an unbroken chain stretching back over billions of years. There is no objective reason why we should prefer one choice or the other. The choice is purely subjective. The rest of the universe cares not a bit whether our genes survive or not. I, however, care. If countless links in a chain have each created new links in turn and passed on the life they carried over the eons, only to come to a link possessed of qualities that cause it to fail to continue the chain, it seems reasonable to consider that link dysfunctional, or, in the most real sense imaginable, a failure. I personally would not find the realization comforting that I am a sick and dysfunctional biological unit, a failure at carrying out that one essential function that a process of natural selection has cultivated for an almost inconceivable length of time. Therefore, I have children. As far as I am concerned, they, and not wealth, or property, or fame, are the only reasonable metric of success in the life of any individual. The very desire for wealth, property or fame only exist because at some point in our evolutionary history they have promoted our survival and procreation. As ends in themselves, divorced from the reason they came into existence in the first place, they lead only to death.
Am I concerned if others don’t agree with me? Far from it! And that brings us back to the main point of this post. I do not agree with Jonathan Last that a constantly increasing population, or even a stable one at current levels, is at all desirable. As far as I am concerned, it is a wonderful stroke of luck that in modern societies the conscious minds of so many other humans have become dysfunctional, resulting in their genetic death. I am interested in keeping other genes around only to the extent that they promote the survival of my own. That is also the only reason that I would prefer one level of population on the planet to one that is larger or smaller. That, of course, is a very personal reason, but it seems to me that it is a conclusion that must follow for anyone else to the extent that they prefer survival to the alternative.
Survival, then, is my sine qua non. Given that this planet is, for practical purposes, the only one we can depend on to support our survival, I consider it foolhardy to prefer a population that is potentially unsustainable, or that will diminish everyone’s chances of long term survival. I am hardly a fanatical environmentalist. I would just prefer that we refrain from rocking the boat. I have read Bjorn Lomborg’s The Skeptical Environmentalist, and am well aware of how frequently the environmentalists have been crying “wolf” lo now these many years. However, like Lomborg, I agree that there is still reason for concern. Pollution and environmental degradation are real problems, as is the rapid exploitation of limited sources of cheap energy and other raw materials. Obviously, Paul Ehrlich’s dire predictions that we would run out of everything in short order were far off the mark. However, eventually, they will run out, and it seems reasonable to me to postpone the date as long as possible. Let us consider the reasons Jonathan Last believes all these risks are worth taking. In all honesty, assuming we are agreed that survival is a worthwhile goal, they seem trivial to me.
To begin, while paying lip service to the old chestnut that a correlation does not necessarily indicate causation, Last suggests exactly that. On page 7 of the hardcover version of his book he writes, “Declining populations have always followed or been followed by Very Bad Things. Disease. War. Economic stagnation or collapse.” To see whether this suggestion holds water, let’s look at one of Lasts own examples of “declining populations.” On p. 36 he writes, “World population also declined steeply between 1340 and 1400, shrinking from 443 million to 374 million. This was not a period of environmental and social harmony; it was the reign of the Black Death. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine whether declining populations were the cause of the Black Death, or the Black Death was the cause of declining populations. To anyone who has read a little history, it is abundantly clear that, while disease, war, and economic collapse may cause depopulation, the instances where the reverse was clearly the case are few and far between. In a similar vein, referring to the Roman Empire, Last writes on p. 35, “Then, between A.D. 200 and 600, population shrank from 257 million to 208 million, because of falling fertility. We commonly refer to that period as the descent into the Dark Ages.” Where is the evidence that the population fell because of “falling fertility”? Last cites none. On the other hand, there is abundant source material from the period to demonstrate that, as in the case of the Black Death, declining populations were a result, and not a cause. In Procopius‘ history of the Great Italian War in the 6th century, for example, he notes that Italy has become depopulated. The great historian was actually there, and witnessed the cause first hand. It was not “declining fertility,” but starvation resulting from the destruction of food sources by marauding armies.
However, this allusion to “Very Bad Things” is really just a red herring. Reading a little further in Last’s book, it doesn’t take us long to discover the real burrs under his saddle. Most of them may be found by glancing through the 50 pages between chapters 5 and 7 of his book. They include, 1) The difficulty of caring for the elderly. 2) The decrease in inventiveness and entrepreneurship (because of an over proportion of elderly) 3) A decline in military strength, accompanied by an unwillingness to accept casualties, and 4) Lower economic growth. The idea that anyone could seriously suggest that any of these transient phenomena could justify playing risky games with the ability of our planet to sustain life for millennia into the future boggles the mind. The population of the planet cannot keep increasing indefinitely in any case. At some point, it must stabilize, and these consequences will follow regardless. The only question is, how many people will be affected.
Consider Japan, a country Last considers an almost hopeless demographic basket case. Its population was only 42 million as recently as 1900. At the time it won wars against both China and Russia, which had much greater populations of 415 million and 132 million, respectively at the time. Will it really be an unmitigated disaster if its population declines to that level again? It may well be that Japan’s elderly will have to make do with less during the next century or two. I hereby make the bold prediction that, in spite of that, they will not all starve to death or be left without health care to die in the streets. Demographically, Japan is the most fortunate of nations, not the least favored. At least to date, she does not enjoy the “great advantage” of mass immigration by culturally alien populations, an “advantage” that is likely to wreak havoc in the United States and Europe.
As for military strength, I doubt that we will need to fear enslavement by some foreign power as long as we maintain a strong and reliable nuclear arsenal, and, with a smaller population, the need to project our power overseas, for example to protect sources of oil and other resources, will decline because our needs will be smaller. As for inventiveness, entrepreneurship, and economic growth, it would be better to promote them by restraining the cancerous growth of modern tax-devouring welfare states than by artificially stimulating population growth. Again, all of Last’s “Very Bad Things” are also inevitable things. What he is proposing will not enable us to avoid them. It will merely postpone them for a relatively short time, as which point they will be even more difficult to manage because of depleted resources and a degraded environment than they are now. It seems a very meager excuse for risking the future of the planet.
In a word, I favor a double standard. Unrestricted population growth of my own family and those closely related to me genetically balanced by an overall decline in the population overall. There is nothing incongruous about this. It is the inherent nature of our species to apply one standard to our ingroup, and an entirely different one to outgroups. We all do the same, regardless of whether we are prepared to admit it or not. I leave you, dear reader, in the hope that you will not become confused by the distinction between the two.
• Nuclear Energy and the “Too Cheap to Meter” Lie
Posted on February 4th, 2013 Helian No comments
According to a German proverb, “Lügen haben kurze Beine” – Lies have short legs. That’s not always true. Some lies have very long ones. One of the most notorious is the assertion, long a staple of anti-nuclear propaganda, that the nuclear industry ever claimed that nuclear power would be “Too cheap to meter.” In fact, according to the New York Times, the phrase did occur in a speech delivered to the National Association of Science Writers by Lewis L. Strauss, then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, in September 1954. Here is the quote, as reported in the NYT on September 17, 1954:
“Our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter,” he declared. … “It is not too much to expect that our children will know of great periodic regional famines in the world only as matters of history, will travel effortlessly over the seas and under them and through the air with a minimum of danger and at great speeds, and will experience a lifespan far longer than ours, as disease yields and man comes to understand what causes him to age.”
Note that nowhere in the quote is there any direct reference to nuclear power, or for that matter, to fusion power, although the anti-nuclear Luddites have often attributed it to proponents of that technology as well. According to Wikipedia, Strauss was “really” referring to the latter, but I know of no evidence to that effect. In any case, Strauss had no academic or professional background that would qualify him as an expert in nuclear energy. He was addressing the science writers as a government official, and hardly as a “spokesman” for the nuclear industry. The sort of utopian hyperbole reflected in the above quote is just what one would expect in a talk delivered to such an audience in the era of scientific and technological hubris that followed World War II. There is an excellent and detailed deconstruction of the infamous “Too cheap to meter” lie on the website of the Canadian Nuclear Society. Some lies, however, are just too good to ignore, and anti-nuclear zealots continue to use this one on a regular basis, as, for example, here, here and here. The last link points to a paper by long-time anti-nukers Arjun Makhijani and Scott Saleska. They obviously knew very well the provenance of the quote and the context in which it was given. For example, quoting from the paper:
In 1954, Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, proclaimed that the development of nuclear energy would herald a new age. “It is not too much to expect that our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter,” he declared to a science writers’ convention. The speech gave the nuclear power industry a memorable phrase to be identified with, but also it saddled it with a promise that was essentially impossible to fulfill.
In other words, it didn’t matter that they knew very well that Strauss had no intention of “giving the nuclear power industry a memorable phrase to be identified with.” They used the quote in spite of the fact that they knew that claim was a lie. I all fairness, it can be safely assumed that most of those who pass along the “too cheap to meter” lie are not similarly culpable. They are merely ignorant.
• Second Thoughts about Green Energy in Germany
Posted on January 7th, 2013 Helian No comments
Der Spiegel, Germany’s top news magazine, has been second to none in promoting green energy, striking pious poses over the U.S. failure to jump on the Kyoto bandwagon, and trashing nuclear energy. All this propaganda has succeeded brilliantly. Germany has a powerful Green Party and is a world leader in the production of wind and solar energy, the latter in a cloudy country, the lion’s share of which lies above the 50th parallel of latitude. Now the bill has come due. In 2012 German consumers paid more than 20 billion Euros for green energy that was worth a mere 2.9 billion on the open market. True to form, Der Spiegel has been churning out shrill condemnations of the high prices, as if it never had the slightest thing to do with promoting them in the first place. In an article entitled “Green Energy Costs Consumers More Than Ever Before,” we find, among other things, that,
The cost of renewable energy continues climbing year after year. At the beginning of the year it increased from 3.59 to 5.27 (Euro) cents per kilowatt hour. One of the reasons for the increase is solar energy: more new solar facilities were installed in Germany in 2012 than ever before. The drawback of the solar boom is that it drives up the production costs paid by consumers. The reason – green energy producers will receive guaranteed compensation for every kilowatt hour for the next 20 years.
As a result, German consumers saw their bills for electricity increase by an average of 12% at the beginning of 2013. The comments following the article are at least as revealing as its content. The environmental hubris of the population shows distinct signs of fading when tranlated into terms of cold, hard cash. Examples:
What a laugh! The consumers pay 17 billion Euros, and the producers receive 2.9 billion Euros. Conclusion: End the subsidies for solar facilities immediately!! It’s too bad that the pain of consumers – if the Green Party joins the government after the Bundestag election – won’t end, but will only get worse. Other than that, solar facilities belong in countries with significantly more hours of sunlight than Germany.
Those were the days, when (Green politician) Trittin told shameless lies to the public, claiming that the switch to green energy would only cost 1.5 Euros per household.
In ten years we’ll learn what the green energy lies are really going to cost us.
The real costs are even higher. When there’s no wind, or clouds cut off the sunlight, then the conventional energy sources held in reserve must make up the deficit; the oil, coal and brown coal energy plants. If production costs are calculated correctly, then their expense should be included in the price of green energy. All at once there is a jump from 17 billion to 25 billion Euros in the price we have to pay for the “favors” the Green-Red parties have done us.
Specious arguments about the supposedly comparable costs of the nuclear power plants Germany is in the process of shutting down are no longer swallowed with alacrity. For example, in response to the familiar old chestnut of citing exaggerated costs for decommissioning nuclear plants and storing the waste a commenter replies:
Hmmm, if nuclear energy is so expensive, why are so many countries in central Europe – for example, the Czech Republic – interested in nuclear power? Certainly not to breed actinides to build nuclear weapons in order to become “nuclear powers.” The cost of long term waste storage in terms of the energy produced only amounts to about 0.01 Euros per Kw/h. Even decommissioning expenses don’t add significantly to the overall cost… Let us split atoms, not hairs.
A “green” commenter suggests that the cleanup costs for the Fukushima reactors be automatically added to the cost of all reactors:
According to the latest figures for November 2012 for Fukushima: 100 billion Euros. Distributing this over the total energy production of 880,000 GWh (according to Wikipedia) that’s 11 cents per kilowatt hour. That amounts to twice the “prettified” cost of nuclear power (without insurance and without subsidies) of 5 cents per kilowatt hour. And even then the Japanese were lucky that the wind didn’t shift in the direction of Tokyo. But the 100 billion won’t be the last word.
Drawing the response from another reader:
Let’s see. Japanese nuclear power plants produce 7,656,400 GWh of energy. In comparison to economic costs in the high tens of billions, 100 billion suddenly doesn’t seem so unreasonable. It only adds 1.3 cent per KWh to the cost of nuclear energy. Peanuts. In Germany, renewables are currently costing an average of 18 cents per KWh. That translates to 100 billion in under four years. In other words, thanks to renewables, we have a Fukushima in Germany every four years.
In response to a remark about all the wonderful green jobs created, another commenter responds,
Jobs created? Every job is subsidized to the tune of 40,000 Euros; how, exactly, is that supposed to result in a net gain for the economy overall?? According to your logic, all we have to do to eliminate any level of unemployment is just subsidize it away. That’s Green politics for you.
Another unhappy power customer has noticed that, in addition to the hefty subsidy he’s paying for his own power, he has to finance his well-healed “green” neighbors rooftop solar array as well:
Whoever is surprised about the increases in the cost of electricity hasn’t been paying attention. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. At the moment the consumer is paying for the solar cells on his neighbor’s roof right along with his own electricity bill. Surprising? Who’s surprised?
It’s amazing how effective a substantial and increasing yearly hit to income can be in focusing the mind when it comes to assessing the real cost of green energy. | http://helian.net/blog/category/environment/page/2/ | dclm-gs1-066720000 |
0.037705 | <urn:uuid:71bf8cf4-09aa-44f9-94e7-e7788ddf5914> | en | 0.666686 | Basic Italian Phrases
Learn Italian phrases and vocabulary, with free audio!
Once you think you've mastered these Italian phrases, try the audio flashcards or exercises to test your memory. Return to the Italian I Tutorial for more Italian (and mp3s)!
Hello / Good morning Buongiorno
Good evening Buona sera
Good night Buona notte
Hi / Bye (informal) Ciao
Goodbye Arrivederci
Goodbye (formal) ArrivederLa
See you later A più tardi
See you soon A presto / A dopo
See you tomorrow A domani
Please Per favore / Per piacere
Thank you (very much) Grazie (mille)
You're welcome Prego
I'm sorry Mi dispiace
Excuse me (formal / informal) Scusi / Scusa
Let's go! Andiamo!
How are you? (formal) Come sta?
How are you? (informal) Come stai?
I'm fine. Sto bene.
Not bad. Non c'è male.
Pretty good. Abbastanza bene.
So so. Così così.
Yes / No Sì / No
What's your name? (formal) Come si chiama?
What's your name? (informal) Come ti chiami?
My name is... Mi chiamo...
Nice to meet you. Piacere / Molto lieto.
Mister, Misses, Miss Signore, Signora, Signorina
Where are you from? (formal) Di dov'è?
Where are you from? (informal) Di dove sei?
I am from... Sono di...
How old are you? (formal) Quanti anni ha?
How old are you? (informal) Quanti anni hai?
I'm 20 years old. Ho venti anni.
Do you speak Italian? (formal) Parla italiano?
Do you speak English? (informal) Parli inglese?
I speak Italian. Parlo italiano.
I don't speak English. Non parlo inglese.
Do you understand? (formal / informal) Capisce? / Capisci?
I [don't] understand. [Non] capisco.
I don't know. Non so.
I know. Lo so.
Can you help me? (formal / informal) Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi?
Sure / OK. Certamente / D'accordo.
What? / Pardon me? Come?
May I help you? (formal / informal) Desidera? / Desideri?
How do you say _____ in Italian? Come si dice _____ in italiano?
Where is / Where are... ? Dov'è / Dove sono...?
Here is / Here are... Ecco / Eccoli...
There is / There are... C'è / Ci sono...
What's the matter? / What's wrong?
Cosa c'è?
It doesn't matter. Non importa. / Di niente. / Di nulla.
I don't care. Non m'importa.
Don't worry. (informal) Non ti preoccupare.
I forgot. Ho dimenticato.
I have to go now. Devo andare adesso.
I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty. Ho fame. / Ho sete.
I'm cold. / I'm hot. Ho freddo. / Ho caldo.
I'm bored. Mi annoio.
Bless you! (after a sneeze) Salute!
Congratulations! Congratulazioni!
Welcome! Benvenuti!
Good luck! Buona fortuna!
It's my turn! / It's your turn! (informal) Tocca a me! / Tocca a te!
I love you. (singular, informal) Ti amo.
You're crazy! (formal / informal)
(when talking to a man)
È pazzo! / Sei pazzo!
Be quiet / Shut up! (formal / informal)
(when talking to a man)
Sta zitto! / Stai zitto!
OK! Va bene!
Return to the Italian I Tutorial
Basic Italian Phrases
Return to top of page | http://ielanguages.com/italianphrases.html | dclm-gs1-066750000 |
0.030857 | <urn:uuid:ef4023a4-0dc2-4797-a42f-ca30272b0c8f> | en | 0.941835 | 6 tips for cleaning up your computer (for Pessach)
With Pessach around the corner, many people are busy scrubbing their homes to rid them of all signs of chametz. In honor of this season of cleaning, here are 6 (mostly) free tips on housekeeping for your computer that anyone can do to keep it optimized and in good health:
1. Antivirus program – make sure you have a good antivirus program installed on your computer, and that is constantly being updated. Two good antivirus programs are Norton Antivirus and McAfee, and they cost about $40-$50 for a one year license. These programs are constantly monitoring your computer’s activity in the background, and scan documents and email attachments for potential threats. Once a week, manually update your antivirus program and run a complete scan of all of your computer.
2. Disk and registry cleanup – as you install, uninstall and run your programs, a lot of garbage files are created that take up space and slow down your computer’s performance. I use a free program called CCleaner to clean up my computer. CCleaner analyzes your hard drive for files that can be safely deleted, such as temporary files and cookies. For example, I just ran it and deleted 360 MB of extra stuff. Then it scanned the computer for issues, and identified registry files that needed to be fixed.
3. Update your Windows and Office software – To update your Windows, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. It checks your computer to see what updates you need, and installs them for free (as long as you have authentic Windows software).
4. Protect your computer against spyware – As you surf the web, chances are little files and programs are being deposited on your computer without your permission. It is recommended that you run at least two different anti-spyware programs, since they tend to catch different things. I use Windows Defender and AVG Anti-Spyware, both of which are free. Update your anti-spyware programs and run a full system scan at least once a week.
5. Disk defragmentation – In Windows go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Analyze your hard drive, and then defragment. Defragmenting your disk organizes your file system and helps Windows read files faster. Don’t do anything on your computer while it is defragmenting your hard drive. Do this about once a month.
6. Backup backup backup! Wouldn’t it suck if that paper you were working on for days was lost forever? Backup as frequently as you don’t want to lose new information. You can burn your information onto a CD or DVD, portable hard drive, or use any of the online services. Just make sure to do it.
A happy computer means a happy computer user!
Happy Pessach and enjoy the matza!
Leave a comment | http://illuminea.com/6-tips-for-cleaning-up-your-computer-for-pessach/ | dclm-gs1-066770000 |
0.462341 | <urn:uuid:be28aa27-20f1-4dac-9491-8fa535daa15a> | en | 0.727489 | Sign up ×
This is an unproven proposition I've come across in multiple places.
Suppose $A$ is a commutative Noetherian ring, and $S$ a multiplicative subset of $A$. Then $S^{-1}A$ is Noetherian.
Why is this? I thought about taking some chain of submodules $$ S^{-1}M_1\subset S^{-1}M_2\subset\cdots $$ and pulling back to a chain $$ M_1\subset M_2\subset\cdots $$ of submodules of $A$ which must eventually stablize. Is there more to it than this? I kind of wary of assuming all submodules of $S^{-1}A$ have form $S^{-1}M$ for $M\leq A$.
share|cite|improve this question
2 Answers 2
up vote 9 down vote accepted
This is a standard property of localizations:
Theorem. Let $R$ be a commutative ring, and let $S\neq\emptyset$ be a multiplicative subset. Let $M$ be an $R$-module. Let $\varphi\colon R\to S^{-1}R$ be the canonical map ($\varphi(r) = \frac{rs}{s}$), and likewise, by abuse of notation, let $\varphi\colon M\to S^{-1}M$ be the natural map $(\varphi(m) = \frac{sm}{s}$ with $s\in S$).
1. For every submodule $N$ of $M$, $S^{-1}N = \{\frac{a}{s}\mid a\in N\}$ is a submodule of $S^{-1}M$.
2. If $L$ is a submodule of $S^{-1}M$, then $\varphi^{-1}(L) = \{m\in M\mid \varphi(m)\in L\}$ is a submodule of $M$.
3. If $N$ is a submodule of $M$, then $N\subseteq \varphi^{-1}(S^{-1}N)$. Moreover, if $N=\varphi^{-1}(L)$ for some submodule $L$ of $M$, then $L=S^{-1}N$.
Proof. $S^{-1}N$ is nonempty, as it contains $\frac{0}{s}$; it is closed under differences, since $\frac{a}{s}-\frac{b}{t} = \frac{ta-sb}{st}\in S^{-1}N$ if $a,b\in N$. And it is closed under scalar multiplication, since $a\in N$ implies $ra\in N$ for all $r\in R$, so $\frac{r}{t}(\frac{a}{s}) = \frac{ra}{ts}\in S^{-1}N$ if $a\in N$.
Now let $L$ be a submodule of $S^{-1}M$; since $\varphi$ is a module homomorphism, the pullback of a submodule is a submodule, so 2 is immediate.
Again, let $N$ be a submodule of $M$. Then for every $a\in N$ we have $\varphi(a) = \frac{sa}{s}\in S^{-1}N$, since $sa\in N$, hence $a\in \varphi^{-1}(S^{-1}N)$. Now assume that $N=\varphi^{-1}(L)$. If $a\in N$ and $s\in S$, then $\frac{a}{s} = \frac{ssa}{sss} = \frac{s}{ss}\frac{sa}{s} =\frac{s}{ss}\varphi(a)\in L$ (since $\varphi(a)\in L$), hence $S^{-1}N\subseteq L$. Conversely, let $\frac{m}{t}\in L$. Then $\frac{tt}{t}\frac{m}{t} = \frac{(tt)m}{tt}=\varphi(m)\in L$, hence $m\in \varphi^{-1}(L) = N$; thus, $\frac{m}{t}\in S^{-1}N$, proving that $L\subseteq S^{-1}N$. Therefore, $L=S^{-1}N$, as claimed. $\Box$
Corollary. Every submodule of $S^{-1}M$ is of the form $S^{-1}N$ for some submodule $N$ of $M$.
share|cite|improve this answer
Thanks, these properties and the detail are very helpful. – Buble Feb 18 '12 at 23:28
@ArturoMagidin I swear to god I've learned so much from your posts on Math.SE :D – user38268 Feb 19 '12 at 1:00
Let $f\colon A \to S^{-1}A$ be the canonical homomorphism. It is true that every ideal $\mathfrak b$ of $S^{-1}A$ is of the form $S^{-1}\mathfrak a = f(\mathfrak a)(S^{-1}A)$ for some ideal $\mathfrak a$ of $A$. We can even take $\mathfrak a = f^{-1}(\mathfrak b)$, and this should help you prove that $S^{-1}A$ is Noetherian using increasing chains.
You can find related facts in and around Proposition 6.4 of Milne.
share|cite|improve this answer
Thanks for your help again, Dylan. btw, should it say some ideal $\mathfrak{a}$ of $A$? in the second line, not $S^{-1}A$? – Buble Feb 18 '12 at 23:27
@Buble Yes indeed. I was toying with the wording and this mixup, inevitably, happened. – Dylan Moreland Feb 18 '12 at 23:47
Your Answer
| http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/110735/why-is-the-localization-of-a-commutative-noetherian-ring-still-noetherian/110743 | dclm-gs1-067070000 |
0.106628 | <urn:uuid:252297ed-9c15-4db5-be86-b056179c5fc7> | en | 0.941875 | 68 / 49
70 / 52
62 / 45
Postal carriers carry on despite extreme weather
Zero degrees may sound bone chilling cold but if you talk to postal workers, they'll tell you it feels like paradise. In Grand Blanc, they're toughing these conditions to make sure their living up to their creed.
??Zero seems warm right now,?? says letter carrier Brian Bloing.
Even with 17 inches of snow and sub zero temperatures, Bloing knows one thing.
"We're going to deliver the mail, it don't (sic) matter what it is,?? says Bloing.
He??s been working the same route for a decade and actually prefers a deep freeze every once in a while.
??I will take this over 90 degrees any day of the week,?? says Bloing.
After all, it's allin the layers.
??T-shirt, shirt, hooded sweatshirt, parka, four layers on top, actually i don't have any insulated underwear on, just the pants and these wind pants,?? says Bloing.
:??Bundle up, stay warm, take additional breaks, drink plenty of water,?? says Mike Steiner, manager of the Burton post office.
Back at home base, Mike Steiner thinking warm thoughts for his 31 carriers knowing it's human nature--not Mother Nature causing courier delays.
??What usually stops it is the carrier's inability to get to boxes whether it's the streets aren't plowed or the area immediately in front of the box isn't plowed,?? says Steiner.
Back in Grand Blanc, a narrow path and the warm glow of the sun keeping Brian on track and on time.
??I??m happy with this, this is warmer,?? says Bloing. | http://nbc25news.com/news/local/postal-carriers-carry-on-despite-extreme-weather?id=991988 | dclm-gs1-067280000 |
0.108422 | <urn:uuid:f31fccb1-95d4-4cf1-b186-b2946dc2cd4d> | en | 0.959531 |
May 2 |
Photos courtesy
Photo courtesy
Join our community!
1. I have spent my entire life living in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, how have I never seen this?
2. That is indeed a unique home. I'd love to see the inside. Do the walls of each outside room slope down? Also, this seems like it might be ideal for the zombie invasion. The author of the article used some pretty judgey language in it, which is unnecessary. (although, I haven't read anything else on the site, so snark may be the overall tone)
3. I could be wrong, but didn't an eccentric cult build pyramids in Georgia? If I'm right though I think they were taken down after the leader was imprisioned. (Which is sort of a shame b/c I can imagine someone being interested in them; even for some kitchy tourist trap.)
4. OMFG! I know that place! And I've been there! I only live about 10 miles away. (Shout out to my southeastern Wisconsin peeps!)
When I was in jr high, my class took a field trip there (weird, I know). The family does live there and we had a quick tour of the house (as mentioned above, they are seriously loaded) and then looked at the "museum." Apparently, the guy collects ancient egyptian artifacts and has them on display. I remember seeing a mummy, too. They even have a gift shop!
1 agrees
5. I use to see this all the time driving up and down 94 from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Join the conversation
No-drama comment policy
| http://offbeathome.com/2012/05/illinois-pyramid | dclm-gs1-067380000 |
0.027633 | <urn:uuid:b6ab246e-5c78-4dea-a903-45a4c4ce656c> | en | 0.980741 | Save Search
Download Current HansardDownload Current Hansard View Or Save XMLView/Save XML
Previous Fragment Next Fragment
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Page: 932
Honourable members interjecting—
The SPEAKER —Order! The member for Dickson!
Ms GILLARD (Prime Minister) —I thank the member for what I understand to be his first question, and I congratulate him on his election to this place. He follows in distinguished shoes, after Petro Georgiou’s contribution to this House, about which we were talking just yesterday.
Mr Pyne —I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister was asked what action she would take to send a message. I ask you to bring her to that part of the question.
The SPEAKER —As has often been the case, what I am about to say will set me aside from the rest of the House. I simply say to the Manager of Opposition Business that, having learnt my lesson in the last parliament, I did not rule the question out of order because it would appear that in the last parliament there was a very broad interpretation of what interests the Prime Minister had in party political matters. Having said that, I think that what I have heard of the response is directly relevant to the question. Again, I refer to my remarks about the difference between a direct answer and direct relevance.
Ms GILLARD —I was making the simple point that the Labor Party is a large organisation and one would expect that there would be individuals in a large organisation who have views that I view as wrong, and I view this view as wrong. However, on the matter of what the member is asking for, I would ask him to contemplate the standard he is setting here. If it is the intention of the Leader of the Opposition to expel every individual from the Liberal Party who makes a stupid statement I will start sending him a weekly list, and presumably Mal Washer is right on the top of it now. | http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2010-10-20%2F0106;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2010-10-20%2F0072%22 | dclm-gs1-067430000 |
0.76123 | <urn:uuid:f4c18910-037e-40b8-8b6d-52e2399bbe9f> | en | 0.969978 |
So why did Clinton make such an insane statement? Well, my guess is the administration realizes they have a problem, having cherry-picked Gadaffi as the Middle Eastern despot target du jour. It’s bizarre to characterize the Libyan madman as “low-hanging fruit,” but that’s what he was, chosen to show the administration’s street cred as actual anti-totalitarians in the Islamic world. In reality, the administration is clueless and, worse than that, valueless. | http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2011/03/27/assad-a-reformer-is-hillary-clinton-a-moron/ | dclm-gs1-067460000 |
0.01835 | <urn:uuid:afcd3c39-4862-4314-8bd5-38f45d230ba5> | en | 0.920482 | 18 Ways to Actively Encourage Company Innovation
The best ideas on how to grow or expand your small business may likely come from within. Here are 18 tips from the Young Entrepreneur Council on how to promote a spirit of innovation within your company.
Big Data Takes on a New Industry — Beer
One Pennsylvania microbrewery enthusiast strives for consistency among batches from these small breweries. He's developed Gastrograph to help. The app helps determine flaws in individual batches of micro-brewed beer to help these companies achieve a consistent product.
bbq fast pass
Line for Famous Barbecue Inspires Entrepreneurs
There's one barbecue business in Austin, Texas, that has lines forming for the food five hours before the doors open on a daily basis. The line is so predictable, several advantageous entrepreneurs are profiting off the lines, alone.
roadkill fur
Entrepreneur Turns Roadkill into Couture
Would you where a fur that once was roadkill? Before you answer, consider the alternatives. Entrepreneur Pamela Paquin believes her line of roadkill couture colorfully named Petite Mort Fur presents a better option than killing animals just for their fur.
knewton proper
Startup Knewton Creates Individualized Education Tools
Education today has become extremely specialized. Each student seems to be on their own path despite being in a group setting. It's a growing challenge for teachers but one entrepreneur and his startup, Knewton, believes it can help organize an increasingly complicated classroom.
Campaign Furniture Markets Quality on a Budget
Campaign is a startup created from one person's inability to find the just the right product at just the right price. And, indeed with furniture, there's usually either really good or more shabby, less chic. Can this company fill that mid-range, quality furnishings void?
This Startup Can Grow Metal Like a Tree
Modumetal may be on to the way metals are created for commercial applications. The Seattle startup uses electricity and nanotechnology to create metals.
pss family
With so many businesses failing in the first five years, the Perfection Spring & Stamping Co. of Mount Prospect, Illinois is already something special. In an evolving industry, the company is still going strong after 60 years and has remained a family owned business for three generations.
Latino Entrepreneurs on the Rise
Get Details!
No, Thank You | http://smallbiztrends.com/category/startup-trends/page/2 | dclm-gs1-067730000 |
0.049367 | <urn:uuid:838f7956-dbdb-4c2b-8588-127e39c405dd> | en | 0.945205 | Apr 03 2009
To Reform or Not to Reform
By John Immel
I started on this article over two months ago, long before the current conversation on www.sgmrefuge.com with Protestant Knight (AKA ~John) advocating reform and Jim’s post Let’s take a poll (1) started on March 23 of ’09. It has undergone substantial changes from the original drafts, but as a writer the time comes to abandon a project. That time has come for To Reform or Not to Reform. What started as a 1500-ish word post turned into this 24-page 9,500 word behemoth with end notes.
I’m a wordy sort…what can I say?
This is a Sovereign Grace Ministries (2) related post. While many of you dear readers have no connection with SGM directly and therefore may be inclined to skip this post, please don’t. The concepts within this post are related to the current trend in American history on the political and religious fronts. Indeed, these fronts are inseparable.
I will say this until everyone agrees with me: SGM is a bit player in a MUCH larger societal event. They are anecdotal for the resurrection of long since disgraced, corrupt, destructive, intellectual assumptions. But tragically, people have either lost sight of those realities, never knew them, have been bullied into accepting them, or are willfully ignoring the outworking of those assumptions.
Lots of material will follow. I am setting out to connect a lot of dots. It would be good to read To Reform or Not to Reform a few times. As you digest, visit related posts noted (end noted) throughout the document. I make shorthand reference to a number of concepts that I dealt with in greater detail in other posts. Follow the links and read those posts to help in rounding out the commentary.
Good blog posts are short-ish with narrow focus. This is none of that. This is a long one folks, and since the Internet is a hard place to read long bodies of text, let alone digest a detailed progression of thought, I decided to offer this as a PDF download. (Click here) Distribute as you see fit: Friends, Family, SGM rank and file. Give the gift that keeps on giving, hilarity, food for thought, or…apoplexy.
Be forewarned, this post is not for the faint of heart or the faint of mind.
Peace out,
John Immel
To Reform or not to Reform? That is the question.
Yeah, me and Bill Shakespeare…
I’ve been mulling, also known as canoodling, as I am wont to do over Sovereign Grace Ministries and their (apparently) endless string of tyrannies. Actually, better said, I habitually mull over spiritual tyranny and sundry jokes. At the moment, SGM just happens to be at the forefront of that particular preoccupation–the tyranny and the jokes. (You other tyrants I will visit shortly).
It is the cry of many hearts in the blogosphere that SGM reform. Many of you hope that the leadership in that bunch takes a good long look in the mirror and say, “Eureka!” or “John Calvin!” or “I could have had a V-8″ or whatever they are inclined to say when they discover a thought not found in Sin and Temptation.
This assumes they like mirrors, which in my cynical olderness, I’m inclined to think not so much. Or maybe better said, they do look in the mirror, mirror, on the wall, and it affirms that they are the Fairest Wretch of them all. They knew they were wretched; they saw what they expected, so how can they be faulted for seeing their failings and therefore are utterly qualified to persist?
Hey, it is a twisted logic; but it is their logic.
Many of you possess a secondary hope: after reading the blogs, the Rank and File SGMers might realize El Primo Doctrinal Mover and Shaker, CJ Mahaney and sundry Hommies haven’t done as much academic and intellectual rigor as they have let folks believe. If these Rank and Filers can SEE the doctrinal inconsistencies, maybe they will hopscotch on across the church threshold.
Reality is most people don’t care about intellectual or academic details. They see theological debates as a waste of time: a truism that SGM leaders exploit when it serves their interest; meaning when it is their theology under scrutiny. How can you spend time quibbling over non-essentials? How can you hide behind “a veil of theological exactness”? This is why they don’t give one good rip if Jesus “screamed” the cry of the damned, (3) “Cried.” “Wailed,” “Hooted,” “Hollered,” or just said “Ouch.” Don’t doubt me here. Theological distinctions only matter to this bunch if they are making the distinctions.
Furthermore, most Rank and Filers need to be absolved of the responsibility to think, so debates over details are on par with tooth extraction: a necessary evil best left to professionals, masochists, or 24-year-old bloggers in their underwear. (Thank you so very much Eric “phenomenal” Simmons (4)).
SGM has people assigned to monitor subversive material, so I’m guessing they know the content of the blogosphere criticism. In brief review, the criticisms have gone like this.
• Cult!
• Well, maybe not a cult???
• CJ is Pope.
• Dave Harvey is selective with his source material.
• SGM Sucks! (But we love it.)
• SGM doesn’t really have a plurality of leadership.
• SGM Sucks! (But we love it.)
• Danny Jones is incompetent. (But we love it.)
• SGM is presumptuous with the “First Among Equals!”
• The Bible has better Polity models.
• It is clear that the Bible says…
• SGM has an amazing PR machine
• SGM Sucks!
• Why do People go to SGM?
• The Cry of the Damned?? Did CJ really say that?
• It is clear that the Bible says…
• They did WHAT to Noel and Grizzly?????
• Blah blah blah blah la la ….
Just so you know, I’m confident this doesn’t pass the ‘so-what’ test. How can I be so confident with the Augustinian/Calvin/Kantian Epistemological Axis so firmly entrenched in our Christian Theology? I have this surety because I have special thought microphones strategically hidden in CJ’s office. And I can say he doesn’t think about this much at all. When he does, El Primo Doctrinal Mover and Shaker’s thoughts go something like this:
Calvin and Hobbes… So funny… Reformed Theology…. So serious… Lasagna …. So good. Bloggers in their Underwear…. So what? …. Calvin and Hobbes… so funny… Bill Belichick (5) … so not humble
And so it goes…
See, one thought in five. Well, I guess that is about 20% of the time, so maybe it is proportionally a lot of thought. But he still says, “So what?”
Uhhh… Errr…
So if SGM reforms what will they be … uh … re-forming?
The theme pounded out on the blogs is that a change of polity will do the trick.
To Polity or not to Polity? That is the question.
I am officially going to quit calling it polity. Polity is a word that carries its own mystic overtone in Christian minds; kind of an Uber spiritual event absent the obvious perils of human governance because GODDDD! (Turn up the reverb) appointed IT. What is IT? IT is where we all link arms, sing Kumbaya, and polity with each other. Oh the Fraternity, Unity, and Equality!
Yeah, me and Robespierre…
Well, Polity is Government and Government is always force(6) I don’t care how you want to dress this up, what lipstick you want to wear when you kiss me with those lips bearing Polity. You are really kissing me with the FORCE of government: the collective power to dictate… something.
Hide the guillotine, and get the fire hose!
I will get to what we are dictating to whom in a bit. For the time being, bookmark this point: Polity is Government and Government is FORCE.
I submit SGM reform is a pipe dream.
No offense to you faith folks who think I’m putting God to the test: All things are possible with God, and all that. Before you all tag me as a big downer, give me a minute to revise and extend my remarks so you can know exactly why I’m a big downer.
Let’s back up a minute.
Since most folks think that reform is a function of government structure, I wanted to get a better sense of what Sovereign Grace Tyrannies really wants in government. So, I hearkened to the posts on www.sgmrefuge.com where Protestant Knight and Jim talked about SGM government structure, also known as Polity, (7) by Dave Harvey. Mr. Harvey is a pastor, of one form or another, at what SGM calls Team Related Churches. I downloaded and read the PDF version (8) of the Polity thingy, browsed sundry blog posts by El Primo Doctrinal Mover and Shaker, CJ–you know, the one where he doesn’t allow comments–to see what I could find.
All writers want something–implicit or explicit–from you, except me, of course. Today I am the definitive altruist, exercising the ultimate expression of Kantian disinterest. My motives are utterly empty and selfless or maybe they are chicks and money like always.
If one can find what the writer wants, it is easy to understand why they write what they write. Sometimes the writer tells you what they want, sometimes their real wants are unstated, and sometimes they tell you but come at it from an angle.
So, what does SGM really want? Well, since Dave wrote the Polity thingy, the question should technically be what does Dave want? However, nothing comes out of SGM that isn’t reflective of El Primo Doctrinal Mover and Shaker, CJ Mahaney (and sundry Hommies) thoughts on the subject. So, Dave is SGM and SGM is Dave.
What does Dave want? Well, that isn’t easy to ferret out. He does want to give a “Biblical” theology of Polity.
He does want to offer up an apologetic (read: defense) of SGM collective “wisdom” the leaders have arrived at over the decades of leadership.
The Sovereign Grace Ministries apologetic stands upon a tripod of principles that lift and support our local-church government:
1. The Principle of Plurality among Elders
2. The Principle of the Presiding Pastor
3. The Principle of Partnership with Apostolic Ministry (page 2)
He does want to illustrate why, in a non-hierarchical body of Christ, there are those who are “First Among Equals” (9)in a pyramid of authority.
“Thus, we begin with an assertion that will ground and guide this entire document. Local-church leadership in the New Testament was a shared endeavor. (page 3)”
And further on addressing the same point:
“The presiding pastor, or senior pastor, is a role drawn generally from the broad pattern of order resonant in Scripture…”
“While neither the pattern nor the application carries in itself sufficient force to sustain an apologetic for senior pastors, they unite to bring greater understanding of the role. Central to this understanding is the fact that the role of presiding pastor must always be based on the foundation of plurality.” (page 6)
He does want to give explanation to his “Reformed Brethren” why the polity structure of SGM is as viable as what they practice. Dave touches this theme on page 4, and then on page 8 he furthers the thought with this:
“Within the Sovereign Grace churches it was not uncommon, early in our history, for local-church polity to follow the Reformed model of coequal plurality, i.e. elderships unadorned with senior pastors. This was an instructive season, and has built in us a respect for all churches that endeavor to exalt Christ through a coequal eldership. Our experience, however, was less than God-exalting, and our “polity postmortem” resulted in the following conclusions: …”
Dave goes on to detail six effective departures from the traditional Reformed Practice related to SGM learned wisdom from said post mortem.
He does not want the official SGM take on Polity to be considered an essential.
“At the outset it must be said that the form of church government is not a major doctrine like the Trinity, the deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, or the authority of Scripture…
“And church history attests that several different forms of government have worked fairly well for several centuries…” (page 2)
These are Dave’s stated wants for his Polity thingy. I didn’t notice that these ideas flowed from one to the next in any particular order. They just are. His Systematic Theology is full of the catastrophic flaws that come with using that academic practice for reading Bible.
If it matters, I have a degree in Systematic Theology. And while I had a real love for the practice, I’ve come to believe it has fatal flaws. And those flaws are at the heart of Christian tyrannies over the centuries.
I contend that Systematic Theology is a cross between academic proof texting and biblical shamanism. Wave a handful of verses that kind of sort of mention the idea you want to promote and Alakazam! Poof! We have a “Biblical Doctrine.” We have an AUTHORITATIVE idea. I know, that was a cynical comment, but it was really good.
Bible VERSES are a disembodied collection of words. It seems strange that I should have to point this out, but … whatever. Just because a couple of numbers sit in the margin to reference six, eight, or twenty words does not mean the words are remotely related to a Systematic doctrine. Nor does a paragraph necessarily represent the original author’s intent or principle teaching. And even more important, nor do those disembodied words represent overarching themes or broad stroke teachings throughout Cannon. Taking disembodied statements from book to book and compiling them like so many Legos to build whatever authoritative doctrinal point is fraught with all manner of intellectual pitfalls.
And Mr. Harvey’s Polity thingy demonstrates some WHOPPERS! As I read his Polity thingy I kept humming the Burger King theme song: “Have it your way… at SGM now…”
But Dave Harvey is safe from any mass criticism. His arguments are a study in uninspired historical academic regurgitation. For most readers, he is close enough to the land mass of Protestant tradition as to not raise an eyebrow. Which he is quick to point out: “There is little originality in Sovereign Grace Ministries; …” (page 8) Oh, the irony in this sentence.
Dave is marginally creative in arguing the foundations of Protestant Papacy, but he comes at this governmental FORM at a sufficiently obtuse angle; citing enough other sources to successfully distribute the blame or credit. And he certainly never calls the doctrine Protestant Papacy, so if one is not really paying attention to the logical conclusion… >shrug< who is going to object?
Mr. Harvey doesn’t say anything scandalous, hedging against critical review by appealing to Non-essentialness — there “might” be other ways to govern a church. In the pursuit of the SGM Polity, Dave comes off as endlessly magnanimous.
So, what is the big deal? Is this a quibble over theological hairsplitting? Am I forcing you into the Theology Dentist Chair? Who cares? Many preachers crack open the Bible and identify similar assumptions from the book and teach some variation of these themes.
What is the big deal?
Here it is: SGM doesn’t govern–they don’t FORCE with a magnanimous bone in their body. By frog-boiling increments, these men expand the definition of what is an essential doctrine by implicit or explicit demand to adhere to their considered judgments. (Mandatory Date nights? Husbands ordering food for their wives to demonstrate leadership? It is sin to have a Junk drawer because it is a sign of laziness? There is a punch line here, right?)
A massive disconnect exists between the veneer of their magnanimous scholasticism and the direct manifestation of their practice. So, this means something is lurking under the surface. Something is driving the interaction that ultimately skews the outworking: something implicit, some oblique assumption that folks really haven’t caught on.
Most folks believe that the problem resides in the SGM’s Charismatic papacy. CJ, at pyramid pinnacle passing out feudal favors to his spiritual henchmen, is the driving power of the problem.
While that may enable the tyranny, that is not the source of the tyranny. And here is the distinction: Government forms–congregational, presbytery, et al.–are only structures for philosophical outcomes. What does it matter if you have one man at the top of the pyramid or 20 “First Among Equals” or a mob of congregants if what they are GOVERNING doesn’t change?
And what is government? Force. So the sentence could also read, “What does it matter if you have one man, a bunch of men, or a mob if what they are FORCING doesn’t change?”
The biggest reason the blog conversation doesn’t really pass the “so what?” test is the difference between REFORM and RESTRUCTURE. A different form of government won’t change the governmental objectives. The Monarchies of France and the French Revolution still used the Guillotine with equal passion. The form of government changed, the governing PHILOSOPHY did not. Bookmark this too because I will say more about this in a minute.
Sovereign Grace Ministries fancy themselves the best of the Orthodox and the best of the Charismatic. They have long since decided that the blend effect is what gives them their unique place. They have long since demonstrated the willingness to depart from the logical extension of their “orthodoxy” as it suits them. No academic debate exists. No logical debate exists. So, evaluating “Biblical” polity (FORCE) remains a debate about who has the “authority” to establish “authority.” Since they have decided they are uniquely authoritated to define authority … it seems strange to believe one can out-authority them or out-FORCE them.
Even if they changed the form of government, they would still be governing toward the same end. So, the question that needs to be answered is: what is the Sovereign Grace Ministries’ governing philosophy(10) What integrated ideas drive them to FORCE in all the varied forms that we see described with profound regularity from the blogosphere?
What is the driving governmental premise?
Okay… enough suspense. What is their driving premise? Here is the answer: You don’t own you.
It is that simple.
Where do I get this from? I am going to show you. Remember what I said about Mr. Dave coming at this conversation at an angle? Notice this tucked into page 12 of his Polity thingy; Dave is discussing Romans 12:6-8.
The Greek word for “leadership” is “proistemi” (proistemi) “meaning…’to lead,’ ‘to direct,’ ‘to assist’… ‘to arrange,’ ‘to apply oneself to’.” 33 Curiously, the verb translated “govern” in the NIV is not present in the original language and was only added to clarify the application of “diligently.” According to John Murray, a more accurate rendering would be, “he that ruleth, with diligence,” 34 a translation much closer to the English Standard Version above.
Let’s track Paul’s progression of thought here:
1. We all have different gifts (v.6a).
2. Our gifts are the result of a prior work of grace (v.6b).
3. The grace God has given determines the boundaries of our gifts and service (v.6).35
4. Some have been given a distinct grace to lead (v.8).
5. The grace to lead is exhibited by a “zealous and diligent concern” 36 (v.8).
Whatever Paul’s progression of thought may be, notice the implicit presumptions Mr. Harvey is advocating. His effective logic is:
1. Our different gifts are given to us (not earned).
2. Grace determines/necessitates boundaries.
3. Leadership is God’s manifest boundary on gifts and talents.
4. “Zeal” and “Concern” is tantamount to Leadership.
5. Leadership is tantamount to Government.
And… say it with me now: Government is FORCE.
As a brief aside, I have always known I have what it takes to rule the world, (11) but needed an ironclad justification for demanding that one and all “Submit to my Authoritaaahh!” (A little South Park Lingo for you) After reading Dave Harvey’s Polity thingy, I have finally found it. I have “zeal” and am “concerned” for the whole world. So now, you wretched sinners, bow your mind and then your knee! I am utterly qualified to demand your obeisance. I’m king of the–oops… I am “First among Equals” for the whole world!
Anyway, Dave’s progression above is an oblique way of advocating “You don’t own you; the Leadership does.” God’s gifts are not yours to lay claim. Therefore, you are not justified in doing what you want or exercising initiative with those gifts. Since God limits you by grace, He limits you by LEADERSHIP because leadership is a manifestation of grace. As far as Sovereign Grace Ministries is concerned, LEADERSHIP means government. By the hallmark of their “Zeal” and “Concern,” they are distinguished to perform the appointed job of administering your life in God’s stead.
Remember I said bookmark this thought: “You are really kissing me with the FORCE of government: the collective power to dictate… something.” This is the something that SGM is dictating. They are dictating the sum of you. You are not free to take initiative on the sum of your gifts. And ownership is defined by the freedom to act, the freedom to exercise ambition, the freedom to exploit the content of your life. If you are not free to do these things, you don’t OWN your gift–you don’t own YOU.
I advocate you read CJ’s editorial, Standing in the Very Stead of God(12) found on his blog. The underlying presumption of that entire blog post is that unique men are given the specific job of administrating the revelation of God to the people. God doesn’t speak to everybody; He speaks to some who deliver that message to the masses.
Beyond the horrific display of Exegetics or lack thereof in the post, the presumption should leap off the page and grab you by the throat. For those of you who have kept up with my commentary, this is the assumption of the Demagogues of Dictated Good. (13) Because God so chose, a select few have been given revelation. To those who steward that revelation goes the exalted task of administering the lives and minds of those whom God has given. The concurrent doctrine that makes for a compliant body politic is pervasive depravity. You are depraved, and therefore, truth needs to be dictated. Ergo, you must rely on those who stand in the very stead of God to dictate truth.
Most folks lay down their minds (14) because they accept the moral premise of their own depravity and its implicit disqualification. They quit defending themselves and the right to the content of their own mind and gifts and substance. Defenseless people willingly accept “Submission and Authority” until it becomes submission to any assertion of authority. The doctrine becomes imprinted on the hearts of people until there are no personal boundaries, no personal ambition(15) and no appeal for wrongs committed because no individual rights exist.
And this is the governing philosophy of ALL Destroyers(16) These philosophical premises are what works in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
Look at history’s tyrants. Listen to their slogans and speeches. Listen to moral premise. Listen to what they implicitly demand. Their polity is founded on the premise that God, the State, the People, the Collective own individuals.
History Lesson
Raise your courage and look. The Feudalism of the Dark Ages held the governmental philosophy of the Three Estates: a Christian Eugenics (17) –some pray, some fight, some work. To enforce the estates, the ethics and politics of the Dark Ages were notorious for utter brutality and human atrocity. In the West, this was a Christian age by any definition yet we have made a joke out of the philosophical outworking with comments like “I’m gonna get Medieval on your ass.” As I said above: the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
The absolute Monarchies of Western History, the Divine Right of Kings, meant rulers could do no wrong because God appointed their actions from heaven: the King owned all (people) because it was God’s will–the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
Muhammad rose out of the desert with a revelation from Allah, who owned all, declaring the Infidel fit for nothing but bloody death. If not for the Christian opposition, the carnage that swept across three continents would have consumed the West. To this day, the governmental philosophy of Islam makes it the single greatest threat to the free world menacing daily to terrorize us back to the barbarism of the 7th century–the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
The French Revolution occurred almost concurrent with ours, rising against cruelty and despotism of French Monarchies. Yet Robespierre shouted Liberté, Egalité, Fraternity for all the PEOPLE while blood ran thick and deep from the guillotine from those same people–the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
It is no accident that the following words came from one of history’s most recognizable tyrants:
It is thus necessary that the individual should finally come to realize that his own ego is of no importance in comparison with the existence of his people: that the position and the individual ego is conditioned solely by the interests of the community as a whole.
That above all, the unity of a people’s spirit and will are worth far more than the freedom of the spirit and will of an individual…
This state of mind, which subordinates the interests of the ego to the conservation of the community, is really the first premise for every truly human culture…the basic attitude from which such activity arises, the call to distinguish it from egoism and selfishness–idealism. By this we understand only the individual’s capacity to make sacrifices for the community for his fellow men.
Many could go to Church tomorrow and hear these words extolled from the pulpit and believe they have been encouraged to a sound truth. Certainly, the Lutheran Church of the Weimar Republic thought so, not realizing that these same words were the philosophical premise of Chancellor Adolf Hitler (18) that ultimately justified the destruction of roughly 11 million souls.
And Joseph Stalin, not to be outdone by his National Socialist adversary, is estimated to have destroyed between 20 and 30 million souls in pursuit of the Communist Workers’ Paradise predicated on the Marxist assumption that those who HAVE (substance) should be slave to those who do not (have substance).
German National Socialism and Soviet Communism had virtually no government structure in common, yet they both produced the same end. The governing philosophy in every instance is that:
1. Men do not own themselves.
2. Man is depraved and therefore needs to be dictated.
3. Individuals have a moral and corporate compulsion to lose themselves, their gifts, their talents, their substance, to the statist/collective, the Church, the People, and the Greater Good.
Here is the source of all history’s rivers of blood, death and destruction: the philosophical premise that man does not OWN himself.
Make no mistake: this is the measure of serious.
It is no accident that SGM acts the way it does. They set out long ago to emulate historical doctrine because they believed that “orthodoxy” made their body of doctrine unassailable. It never occurred to them to check the “fruit” of those doctrines. It never crossed their mind to evaluate the outcomes those doctrines have perpetrated on humanity every time they have been logically pursued. They were too impressed with their ability to think big thoughts to hear a voice of caution coming from a snot-nosed kid who wasn’t impressed with their bald heads and Enlightened Geriatric Club (19) act.
Can you really believe it a useless historical fact that sinners were fed to the bonfires in Geneva? Do you think that burning Michael Servetus at the stake is an unfortunate event brought on by pervasive depravity? Do you think it mere political zealotry that leads Protestant Queen Elizabeth and her father Henry VIII to kill Catholics with various forms of dismemberment? Do you think it a mystery that Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans fought a civil war in the pursuit of doctrinal purity? Do you believe the burning of Witches is a theological accident of a few misled souls?
Naivete is not an endearing or effective trait.
Burning someone at the stake requires an absolute utter resolve to listen in excess of 20 minutes to the agonizing screams, babbling wail, the endless plea for mercy, and relief. The contempt one must have for human life, for human freedom to perpetrate such an act is absolute. And it must be a CORPORATE RESOLVE. You can’t privately barbecue a man alive. (For heaven’s sake, we don’t even do that to animals for the piteous torture.) The group, the collective, the congregation, the parishioners, the worshipers, the fellowship, must all hold the same contempt because they stand mute, idle, and impotent in the face of the atrocity. Such mass passivity in the face of manifest horror, pain, and suffering requires that the group hold the same philosophical assumptions.
How else can they be willing to stand and listen, stand and approve? They must hold the same assumptions as the person that commands the judgment, as the person who builds the fire, as the person who lights the fire. They must all hold the assumption that individual freedom, individual human life is subordinate to a superior principle–a dictated principle that trumps all other values.
The historic facts above have all been perpetrated because of the integrated ideas that I’ve repeatedly pointed to: Moral Depravity, Dictated Good, Man Does Not Own Himself–the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every human atrocity.
It is no accident that SGM finds itself repeating historic doctrines and emulating their logical outcome in the way they treat people. I know… I know… they are not burning people at the stake. Don’t be obtuse. A flaming stake is only a matter of degree and the logical extension of: “Do it because I said so.” When Truth is dictated, it isn’t long before someone reaches for a lighter and justifies their action by saying it was for the Greater Good, because man is depraved, he is exercising an unholy ambition and “needs to be held accountable.”
When Truth is dictated, there is only one way for men to deal with men: Force(20) They must manipulate with fraud or extortion. When that power fades, man must hold other men hostage to the threat of that which they love: their life or the life of another. And mystic despots take this one step further: they lay claim to affecting the afterlife. Not only can they kill your body, they can impact the destination of your soul. Most men cannot stand in the face of such threat, even though it is not provable.
As I said in the Gospel According to John Immel (21)
Chapter 3: 1-3
1. All people act logically from their assumptions.
2. It does not matter how inconsistent the ideas or insane the rationale, they will act until the logic is fulfilled.
3. Therefore, when you see masses of people taking the same destructive actions, find the assumptions, and you will find the cause.
My words above are a summation of the power of Philosophy: the actions perpetrated from a logical extension of a body of ideas.
For Sovereign Grace Ministries, everything else follows from here. What you have, the sum of your gifts, time and talents, is not yours to lay claim. You need boundaries on your life because you will fail to act righteously and justly with those time, skills and talents. God’s Grace sets boundaries; boundaries mean leadership. You don’t own you because you can’t know you. Ergo, you need someone to dictate to you what you can never know. So, you must submit to those whom God has given the unique power to know you so they can succeed in their ownership of your time, skills, talents, mind, and body. The content of their practice, the specific manifestations of their tyranny, follows the philosophical premises working in concert to justify any and every governmental wrong and every spiritual atrocity.
• Their relentless defense of Pastoral infallibility. (As Noel (22) and Grizzly’s story shows.)
• Their twisted use of the Matthew 18 ethic. (As every story in the Blogosphere shows.)
• The ridiculously heavy-handed authoritarianism. (As the Chesapeake (23) story shows.)
• Their redefinition of gossip and slander. (You are not entitled to know anything they don’t want you to know or have an opinion they haven’t given you.)
• Their institutional paranoia. (Illustrated by pervasive pastoral kibitzing with gutless wonder care group leaders to find those who don’t toe the pastoral mark.)
• Their relentless demand on Singles to minister. (Be Single in SGM and know what it is to NEVER have a life outside the church. You are not FREE to say NO.)
• Their universal distrust of those people in the pews. (As shown from their micromanaging of the smallest life detail.)
• Their treatment of women as intellectual and sexual subordinates. (SGM wives gotta put out on demand and carry no intellectual objection in their head. Crude, but so very true, just ask them.)
• Their amazing PR machine(24) (Is it really a mystery that they have an entire propaganda machine to spin for the masses? Every tyranny on the planet relies on the power to filter ideas and keep people from getting the details.)
• Their utter affront when you exercise any initiative of thought, gift or calling. (Don’t you understand that Leadership has the prerogative to dictate the content and course of your life?)
• Their rabid displeasure when you fail to devote absolute trust to their judgments. (How dare you distrust us… we are empowered to shepherd your soul.)
Every single last one of these examples is ultimately a fight over some facet of who owns whom: a carrot and stick to enforce the ownership of time, talents, gifts, body, and mind.
Commitment to the Highest Truth
It is often asked by those observing this unfolding drama with Sovereign Grace Ministries how they can hear the mass criticism and not realize they have a problem. For all their advocacy of humility, how can they fail to approach the onslaught with that humility?
Here is my answer. I submit that SGM leadership sees this as a test of their commitment to higher truths. They see the blogosphere condemnation as a manifestation of persecution for their tenacious stand, for their courageous determination to arbitrate the dictated truth of which they have been made steward. They see their humility expressed in the patient endurance.
To that end, they see the barrage of criticism as invalid. They may have some remorse on specific incidents because the public outcry is embarrassing. They may decide to “Reconcile” with the moral relativistic wand of pervasive depravity: “We are all sinners saved by grace and as your leader, I must remind you we have an opportunity to practice forgiveness today.” (And forgiveness means taking down whatever bad thing you’ve said on the blogs) They may believe they need to say, “I’m sorry,” but at no point do they see their actions as disqualifying. To the utter contrary, each conflict is an affirmation and a test of their commitment to God’s higher truth.
This necessitates that they see the mass, public condemnation of their practices as presumptuous and self-disqualifying. They take no real action toward interior remedy because they think the problems lie from without. You have failed to make their job a joy. You failed to adhere to a sound biblical teaching that they are morally on the hook to defend, advocate, and enforce. The hurt feelings, the spiritual collateral damage, the individual pressures that arise out of conflict with them are merely signs of selfishness and sin and the natural consequence of failing to embrace the higher truths of their sound teaching. In light of eternity, how could these momentary light afflictions be of any real consequence?
If you only understood that you don’t own you. If only you understood that you have been mandated by God to submit the entirety of your SELF to their care, the conflict would not exist. You don’t own you, so how can you object to a violation of your personal boundaries, aspirations, wants, and desires? It is all sin, and they are doing God’s work by standing in the way of your determination to carry out your sinful self. The pain and suffering is merely the outworking of God’s discipline.
I am going to participate in some self-plagiarism.
I wrote the following in my book Blight in the Vineyard: Getting free of the Myths and Tyrannies of Sovereign Grace Ministries. I self-published this work ten or so years ago when they were People of Destiny International, with the mother church of Covenant Life Church, affectionately referred to as PDI/CLC. God knows if Blight will hit mass production. Anyway, this is what I wrote on the point of reform those many years ago, and it fits nicely here.
For all the reasons we have already discussed, their method and practice affirms their doctrine, and their doctrine affirms their method and practice. Go to them to reconcile and find yourself embroiled in an endless effort to justify the content and conduct of your life. Seek to emulate the Matthew 18 ethic (25) by taking another person with you to establish “every word,” and they accuse you of gossip and slander because you spoke to someone not directly associated with the conflict about their error. Take it to the Church, and they refuse to be accountable to the questionable character of the masses.
These men are in an intractable position.
Tell them they are wrong and, in their mind, you persecute them. Prophesy from God about their error, and they dismiss the words as the ranting of a self-appointed Prophet. Preach something contrary to “Orthodoxy,” and they flip out their list of the “Nine Enemies of Truth.”
To the feeble-minded this is all very heady stuff.
PDI/CLC has been obsessing over Sound Doctrine and Reformed Theology in their own paranoid way since 91-ish and nothing has registered to arrest their descent… yet. Or maybe I should say that whatever God has done to arrest their intellectual progression has not or did not register.
But let me ask this. What is there for God to do? Inflict the leaders of PDI/CLC with some catastrophic disease? What does that do but affirm to them their doctrine of suffering? Maybe He quits sending them money and they have a serious financial crunch. What does that do but affirm to them their doctrine of suffering? Maybe He has people leave the church that have been key member for years. What does that do but affirm that they are preaching hard truth and not everybody can receive it?
Oh, and get this Irony of Ironies: in the very next breath they will point to church growth as a sign of God’s validation. If people leave, it is hard truth and cannot be received. If people come and they grow, it is God’s validation on their truth.
Gag me.
Hey Dave Harvey, where are your mental reflections?
Like I said, their position is simply intractable. They cannot hear anyone who is not their own, and their own would not dream of dissenting with CJ.
It doesn’t matter what governmental form in which this premise is housed. It doesn’t matter how many different government styles one finds in the New Testament. The need for government, the need for FORCE, is related to the premise of ownership of brothers and sisters.
I told you to bookmark this idea: in the French Revolution, the form of government changed, the governing PHILOSOPHY did not. The French Revolution brought about an absolute restructure of government from the Absolute Monarchy to Democratic rule. But both structures used FORCE with equal passion to compel compliance. They exchanged the Divine Right of Kings with the Absolute Right of the People and proceeded to behead any who did not abandon themselves to the collective.
This is why there is no REFORM in RESTRUCTURE. So, the restructure of SGM is irrelevant. Sovereign Grace Ministries will accept any government model that sustains their assumption: men do not own themselves.
Their history bears this out. Every evolution of PDI/CLC/SGM has played to whatever body of thinking affirms their capacity to rule by proxy the minds, actions, and content of men’s lives. They could transform their governmental model tomorrow to democracy and they would still perpetrate the same fundamental tyranny because the model would be in service to the philosophy–the interrelated ideas that drive their actions.
It is important to realize these men are not driven by an intellectual integrity. They are driven by an authoritarian integrity. Their ideas are in service to their authority AND their authority is in service to their ideas (which is what makes most of their arguments so circular). Their ideas validate their authority and their authority dismisses any scrutiny of their ideas.
This is why all of the blogosphere Theological pontificating is irrelevant to Sovereign Grace Ministries’ leadership. For all of their vaunted intellectualism, they cannot be moved by a progression of thought: they cannot be REFORMED in their mind. They are stewards of Dictated Good. Truth is dictated, not the product of integrated non-contradictory thinking. No intellectual persuasion can be had.
So, non-essential doctrines are a license to believe what they want, which is precisely what Dave Harvey’s Polity thingy shows as he picked and chose the historical sources to justify this sentence: “Our experience, however, was less than God-exalting, and our “polity postmortem” resulted in the following conclusions: …”
Conversely, essential doctrines are inarguable because disagreement with them is rooted in deception. And being utterly consistent with T.U.L.I.P. (26) if a man is deceived–if a man is blind to the Dictated Truth–it is because God wants it that way. Why bother with an argument?
Make no mistake, dear reader. There is no REFORM with these wicked premises. There is no RECONCILIATION with this intellectual evil. “You don’t own you” is their governing principle. No REFORM exists because we are confronted with this irreducible principle: they own you by proxy. To concede this point is to be served with Mint Jelly. (27)
Do you envision this “Apostolic Team” saying, “Oops. We had the truth, but now we have a better truth.”? How many times can a group of men pound the pulpit and insist they have found the highest dictated truth and remain credible?
If Sovereign Grace Ministries ever changed these governmental assumptions, they would, by definition, cease to be who they are. They flirted with these premises for years as Gathering of Believers, as Take and Give, and as People of Destiny International. Every evolution of their organization has been in service to increasing governmental control. (Notice their participation in Shepherding in all its varied forms.) But in the past, some part of their thinking still held out that people had freedom to pursue their life and the content of their calling. But eventually, the historic Leaven of “orthodoxy” took root and these men pursued that body of ideas to its logical extension because it affirmed their governmental premise and justified the ultimate goal of their practice.
The name change from People of Destiny International (PDI) to Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) marked the point of no return. It marked their utter commitment to the philosophical assumptions: Moral Depravity, Dictated Good, Man Does Not Own Himself.
There is no retreat from where they stand. The SGM leadership can only recant and disintegrate. And by definition, the Beta males who hold positions in the SGM pecking order based on the tyrannical assumptions handed down by the Alpha males have disqualified themselves as leaders by failing to resist the evil premise that put them in office. And those gutless wonder Care Group Leaders, the SGM Brown Shirts, that use Spiritual Roofies (28) to gain insider knowledge for the express purpose of informing on the spiritual proletariat for failing to toe the pastoral mark… don’t even get me started.
RESTRUCTURE is irrelevant. No REFORM is possible.
The Warm-up Round
For those timid readers lurking about on the blogosphere, you need to understand that this is the warm-up round. SGM is a bit player in this unfolding drama resurrecting historic doctrines that oppress people. Our current culture prevents them from FORCING with the threat of overt physical harm.
(Some of you having suffered physically might debate this.)
But our culture is trending in this direction. There are those on the public stage advocating the premise that you don’t own you, and governmental entities should be empowered to FORCE you. You can find this governing premise advocated from far too many church pulpits, from the freaky Charis-costal (29) gathering to the most staid Main-line denominational church, cable news networks, and political speeches.
By land and by sea, Tyranny is here. Tyranny is here.
This is why there are no “Reformed Big Dogs” (30) or “Charismatic Big Dogs” coming to apply brotherly accountability to the Sovereign Grace Ministries phenomena.
Not that SGM would ever consider lowly, unlettered, experiential Charismatic “equals” in the smallest sense.
And “Charismatic Big Dogs” for all of their talk about “covering” and “oversight” avoid actually doing any covering and oversighting, because they are really, really busy guarding the Prophecy mic, trying to make sure everyone knows that modern day Apostles actually exist, and calling angels to come do … stuff.
(Just close your eyes fellas and wish hard: “We really do exist, we really do exist, we really do exist.” And click your heels together. You will get home safe.)
So they won’t be coming to the party. But don’t sweat their absence, the women and children (31) are carrying the fight just fine.
Before someone trots out that Reformed Leadership in, the U.S. is ignorant of SGM. Or that Reformed Leadership in the U.S. is ignorant of the ongoing criticism by masses of blog commentators and venues of condemnation… Are you sure you want to advocate “ignorance” as a defense? How cute is that?
If leaders of other movements aren’t vetting their ministry partners, what does that say of the due diligence? What does it say about a ministry who will demand submission and authority, (32) claim covering and oversight (33) from the pulpit and fail to inspect ministries that share their stage?
Ignorance would really be no different than incompetence! My advice then: if you are a part of these “Reformed Big Dog” ministries, and your leadership is demonstrating that extraordinary measure of incompetence… RUN!
So, if one does not like the incompetence explanation, that only leaves one real option: The “Reformed Big Dogs” are fully aware of the growing list of criticisms, and it doesn’t pass their “so what?” test. Which really means that they fundamentally agree with the content of Sovereign Grace Ministry governmental philosophical assumptions: Moral Depravity, Dictated Good, Man Does Not Own Himself.
And I quote myself in part from above:
It is a CORPORATE RESOLVE. The group, the collective, the congregation, the parishioners, the worshipers, the fellowship, must ALL hold the same contempt, because they stand mute, idle, impotent in the face of the atrocity. Such mass passivity in the face of manifest horror, pain, and suffering requires that the group hold the same philosophical assumptions.
They must all hold the assumption that human freedom… human life is subordinate to a superior principle–a dictated principle that trumps all other values.
The “Reformed Big Dog” ministries are of the same mind. The content of your life is to be sacrificed on the altar of their considered judgments. If they do good things, it is as it should be. If they do bad things, well, “Oops, forgive me because we are all just sinners saved by grace.” The measure of the carnage is irrelevant because the governmental premise remains: Moral Depravity(34) Dictated Good, Man Does Not Own Himself.
I expect that those “Reformed Big Dog” ministries reading this paper are now agitated a bit, indignant that I would dare lay this on their heads. With each paragraph, they are rattling off in their minds a list of teachings that encourage their flock to, on some level, go seek God and take initiative on their own. The foundation of their defense will sound something like this: “We must uphold standards and provide limitations. We are appointed overseers and take care of A, B, and C but we expect believers to go do H, I, and J. The people are responsible for themselves. We don’t advocate the extremes of what SGM is doing.”
Dear reader, don’t fall for this. It is subterfuge. This is really a debate over HOW MUCH of you they own: 2% to 100%? It really doesn’t matter. Doctrines that successfully persuade, successfully conclude that they own ANY of you, and the battle is already lost. Because every other subsequent argument becomes about what ownership looks like, and that line always creeps.
As I said above: “They don’t govern–they don’t FORCE with a magnanimous bone in their body. And, by frog-boiling increments, these men expand the definition of what is an essential doctrine by implicit or explicit demand to adhere to their considered judgments.”
This is the reason that the socialists usually end up losing to the communists. The socialists say they own 50% of a man; the communists say they own ALL of him. The only thing that is left is who will commit the most atrocity; who will follow the logical extension of their philosophy to its effective conclusion. The only thing left is to find out who will use the most FORCE to achieve the fullest end of their philosophical premise.
As of now, SGM is just more consistent with their foundational principle. If they are to be applauded anything, it is that they are more purely diligent with the cause and effect of their governmental premise. They have successfully mastered an ironclad corporate culture that organizes the smallest pastoral conversation. This is the measure of their commitment, a gauge of their determination to take action.
As of now, most other “Reformed Big Dog” ministries are just pretenders flirting with the fringes of the most evil governmental premise ever conceived on planet earth.
Leaven is yeast…
Yeast unchecked produces fermentation…
Drink deep of the spiritual Mojo juice and become intoxicated…
If the “Reformed Big Dogs” ever give themselves over to the intoxicating, rabid, heady tonic that these philosophical assumptions universally create…
If they carry these intoxicating, rabid, heady, philosophical assumptions into the political arena…
If they succeed in persuading a compliant body politic, a mass of people who have laid down their minds such that they are successful in joining the power of civil government with their Mystic Despotism….
I shudder to think….
The Political and the Religious (35)
We are inundated with this governing philosophy on all fronts. In the last ten years, America has made some drastic changes in the founding ideals that define our culture and life. The entitlement mentality is speeding us down the path to collectivism with ever frightening speed. It is no wonder we fail to resist the premise. Most people don’t know they should resist. And those who do resist don’t understand the source of the issue, the philosophy behind the driving moral and social demand. And those who finally do openly resist instantly suffer rebuke and rejection and attack.
Most people do not sustain an inner moral clarity to stand in the face of such onslaught. So they hem and hedge, offering bromides about brotherly love and advocating some brand of Rodney King Christianity: “Can’t we just all get along?” They assume we are in some gentlemen’s disagreement, and if we just comported ourselves with decorum, we would be able to negotiate a peace.
This is not true. Historically, this is the ugliest street fight man has ever engaged. This is the philosophical nuclear war of human existence.
(And people get nervous if you are snarky?? I do sooo love irony.)
For the first time in American history, we have granted mystic status for our governmental leaders–leaders too big and too Messianic to suffer criticism. It is no accident that the founding elements of history’s tyrannies are being openly advocated.
God help us when the Demagogues of Dictated Good join History’s Hitlers. When the civil bonfires of Geneva join mystic despotism, humanity is plunged headfirst into blood. Tyranny floods from the civic and spiritual front, driving all men to worship at a cult of death that only serves one purpose: enslave the minds of men or destroy those who refuse compliance.
This is the Essence of the Leaven of the Pharisees. And it is that very Leaven that joined the religious leaders of the early 1st century with the governmental power of Rome to crucify a seditious sect leader called Jesus.
Make no mistake. This is precisely what Jesus warned His followers to beware. And it is this very Leaven that marks the whole of Church History.
It was no accident that the Lutheran Church misunderstood who they voted Chancellor: they shared his governmental philosophical premise that man does not OWN himself. And it wasn’t long before Lutherans traded one symbolic cult of death for another: the Cross for the Swastika. And then they stood by helpless in the face of the carnage.
How many of you stand helpless in the face of the spiritual carnage being discussed on sundry blogs? How many of you stand mute while you see the metaphoric bonfire kindled for your friends as they walk through a conflict with church leaders determined to govern to the higher truths of “Sound Doctrine” and the “Local Church,” “submission and authority,” and “Church Discipline Leaders” who dismiss objections to mistreatment with the moral relativistic magic wand of pervasive depravity; we are all just sinners so you must forgive, forgive, forgive?
How many of you are guilty of ignoring their cries of pain and suffering because you stood approving?
Dear Timid Reader: if you can’t speak out now, how will you be able to speak out when the spiritual tyrants build a bonfire in your name and turn you into an honorary S’Mores?
Who owns Whom: That is the Question.
[1] Let’s Take a Poll http://sgmrefuge.com/2009/03/23/lets-take-a-poll/
[2] Sovereign Grace Ministries http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/ a ministry based out of Gaithersburg, Maryland with churches scattered around the globe. The leaders of this Group is a CJ Mahaney, former ministry partner of Larry Tomczak. For further information, visit their site for a list of people and their respective roles.
[3] For background info on this doctrinal debate, google (CJ Mahaney + Cry of the Damned)
[4] Eric Simmons comments and response http://spiritualtyranny.com/musing-in-my-underoos/
[5] Link to CJ Mahaney’s comments on Football Bill and commentary http://spiritualtyranny.com/bill-belichick-and-other-lessons-in-sillyness/
[6] What Government is http://spiritualtyranny.com/speaking-of-church-polity/
[7] Sovereign Grace Perspectives: Polity, Dave Harvey 2004, Sovereign Grace Media, 7505 Muncaster Mill Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20877-3814.
[8] FREE Download http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/Search.aspx?Keyword=Polity&ByName=false
[9] “First Among Equals” is a reference to the Latin primus inter pares http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primus_inter_pares
[10] Humans are the sum of their collective ideas: http://spiritualtyranny.com/not-so-vain/
[11] My plan to rule the world http://spiritualtyranny.com/the-plot-thickens/
[12] Editorial Post: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/The-Preacher-Standing-in-the-Stead-of-God.aspx
[13] Defining Insanity and the Demagogues of Dictated Good: http://spiritualtyranny.com/defining-insanity/
[14] You are guilty and will accept any judgment given, any idea offered. http://spiritualtyranny.com/lay-down-your-mind/
[15] The government needs a compliant body politic http://spiritualtyranny.com/oligarchy-of-mediocrity/
[16] The Destroyers Rise because we let them http://spiritualtyranny.com/from-whence-the-destroyers-cometh/
[17] Collectivism: Historic Destructive Force. http://spiritualtyranny.com/borgification-of-the-church/
[18] Adolf Hitler: 7 Oct 1933. You ever heard these words in Church http://spiritualtyranny.com/what-about-individuality/
[19] Coined phrase: find the definition here: http://spiritualtyranny.com/definitions/
[20] I deal with the force of ideas and the force of violence further in this post. http://spiritualtyranny.com/dispassion-to-avoid-distortion/
[21] My Gospel is being written. http://spiritualtyranny.com/gospel-according-to-john-immel/
[22] Read the post and the comments. LOTS of information in this incident. http://www.sgmsurvivors.com/?p=276&cpage=10#comment-12540
[23] This post begins a series of posts addressing the Ester and the Chesapeake story. http://sgmrefuge.com/2009/01/15/from-esther-in-chesapeake/
[24] PR at its finest. http://www.sgmsurvivors.com/?p=71
[25] I am referring to the method of conflict resolution that Jesus advocated in Matthew 18.
[26] The acronym: T.U.L.I.P. is used to condense John Calvin’s Systematic Synthesis of Christian Theology. Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints.
[27] People are sheep. Shepherds protect sheep. But the reason they protect sheep is to be eaten later. http://spiritualtyranny.com/pass-the-mint-jelly/
[28] Unearned Intimacy http://spiritualtyranny.com/spiritual-roofie/
[29] Definition of Charis-costal. http://spiritualtyranny.com/definitions/
[30] Reformed Big Dog and Charismatic Big Dogs is my way of referring to major ministries of a particular theological ilk and corresponding leadership in American Christianity. Reformed Theology is the predominate body of Christian thought that came out of the Protestant Reformation. Charismatic refers to a Christian movement that started roughly 60 years ago and emphasized the gifts of the spirit: speaking in tongues, healing, demons, et al.
[31] Women and Children First http://spiritualtyranny.com/women-and-children-first/
[32] http://spiritualtyranny.com/the-myth-of-accountability-and-team-leadership/
[33] http://spiritualtyranny.com/the-very-important-things-of-blog-apostleness/
[34] The soil of moral relativism. http://spiritualtyranny.com/keen-eye-on-the-funny-guy/
[35] Why is it that the church never ends up on the right side of human freedom. http://spiritualtyranny.com/ecclesiastical-establishments/
Share This Post With Others
2 pings
Skip to comment form
1. 436
Chad Brewer
I was responding to a bunch of comments found after the article, and the fact that you address one pericope of cultic phenomena as part of SovGrace ecclesiastical functionality: Government as force. I think you would be happy to note that the Church Polity pamphlet is no longer available. A sign, that positive change is happening :)
2. 437
John Immel
Here is my understanding of the word “pericope.” A small set of passages that form a coherent thought in the Bible. It would be like reading Luke 4: 16-21 for an effective foundation for understanding the Anointing.
I checked Wikipedia. This was its definition:
A pericope: a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, thus forming a short passage suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scriptures.
Not sure how you are using the word.
I guess in the broadest sense, Government as force describes a “cult”ural phenomena. Government is the monopoly on force in a society for the express purpose of enforcing … something. What that something is changes from culture to culture. But that is the broadest sense of the word.
In context to Reform or Not to Reform, I highlight the governing philosophy that undergirds the SGM use of force.
As for my happiness that they took Dave Harvey’s polity thingy out of distribution… hahaha… that is kinda funny but hardly a manifestation of doctrinal transformation.
What? SGM banning books as a manifestation of governmental change? SGM removing something from public scrutiny that may not be perfectly affirming? Like that hasn’t been done before.
What a riot.
I suspect that what really happened is they realized it wasn’t a good reflection on them and pulled it because it didn’t serve their governmental ends as well as they thought it did.
They pulled it because it really did capture their governmental ends but when unraveled — and dare I say by moi– they realized it was too effective in its job and caught heat for the reality that in their minds You don’t own You—they do. They didn’t want to defend that assumption, so they remove any formal statement they can be objectively held to.
Oh, the memories…
Good times.
Chad… I know you love these guys… at least the SGM marketing and packaging. They are like a beautiful woman… at a distance they are easy to be attracted to. I have certainly been there. But make no mistake … this bunch has been doing what it is doing now for a very, very long time. They are good and making the most trivial action mean grand things.
Don’t get sucked in, particularly when, by doctrinal definition, there is no such thing as change because we are “all just sinners.” The top of the SGM leadership are masters of the Moral Relativistic game when it comes to absolving themselves of the outcome of their actions and doctrines. And from your first comment, I can tell they have already sold you down that path.
Never forget this: Pervasive Depravity is really the flip side of the Antinomian coin. And this is the twin whip of how SGM really uses the doctrine: to enforce the concept of Universal Guilt and as a justification for evading what should have rightly closed this bunch down long ago.
3. 438
Nick Fitzkee
Hi John,
I came across this post today — sorry if I’m a little late to the bandwagon.
So I guess you’re a Libertarian, eh? :-)
Generally, I side with you on the idea that people should be free to do what they want, and this influences both my politics and my approach to church. On the other hand, the verse that kept coming up in my mind was Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthian church. Speaking about sin–the primary area where church government comes to play in my life–he writes: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:19b-20).
Now, I don’t think this means that I belong to a particular pastor, etc. On the other hand, there is truth to the notion that I belong to God, and I should work to honor him. If a pastor (or anyone, for that matter), can help me find a way where I’m not living up to that calling, I am grateful. My personal approach to this question is to take the input of pastors very seriously, even if I may ultimately choose to disregard some of their advice.
Now, that’s mostly tangential to the main argument you’re trying to make, and I don’t think it warrants argument in this context. My main question is simply where you think 1Co 6:19-20 fits into this discussion. In reading the post, one might infer that we all own ourselves, but that can’t be it, since scripture directly contradicts that idea. What do you think that verse means?
It would also be helpful for me to know whether you think there are any times when pastors have authority — I apologize for my laziness, but since you know this blog much better than I do, I would appreciate it if you could link me some of your other posts on what you think pastors should do.
4. 439
John Immel
Libertarian … Libertine… what is the diff? LOL just kidding.
And welcome to the bandwagon, Nick. The great thing about this blog is the underlying ideas are timeless. So, we can pick up the discussion any time.
You’ve posed some good questions… and Spiritual Tyranny is largish, so I can appreciate wanting a short course.
To Reform or Not to Reform
is my longest post by far, and there is a lot of content. Some of what you are asking is addressed within: namely, the issue of pastoral authority. I contend the issue is not a when, but a what. What is authority? And then the question must be asked: “what is authority in service to?” Of course, the answer is philosophical assumptions are the driving substance that shape the use of force. So unless the governing assumptions change, reform is impossible in any authority structure. This was the central theme of this post.
Unfortunately, this subject is vast and the elements of this question have lingered with some very specific Christian expectations since before Marcion. Much of our modern day bible reading has its roots in interpretive methodologies that tend to self-enforce a doctrinal conclusion. So I’m not sure how I want to tackle your question just yet. Give me a bit to strategize.
In the meantime, I address some facets of the authority issue in Namaste Nemesis. Also, if you are inclined, read Engage. That will give some sense of the broader issues that precede the issue of authority: its use, scope, and function. The metaphysical and epistemological questions need addressed so we can identify a starting point.
Also, if you haven’t yet, click the START HERE button: That will help round out the blog in the broadest scope.
I’m actually working on a book rewrite… so don’t think I’ve forgotten you if a couple days pass. I will try to give you a solid response.
5. 440
John Immel
As I reviewed your comments, I realized that in many ways, you have asked and answered the question. You do accept the premise that people are free to pursue their own life. You subsequently argue that a pastor does not own you, and yet you concede they hold a special place in your interpersonal critique. I’m not sure why the title pastor necessarily reserves the status of taking their word ‘very seriously’ but beyond that, we seem to be on the same page. As far as I’m concerned, taking any wisdom that seeks towards personal mastery and improvement is worthy of being taken very seriously.
The operative issue in your comments is in this sentence: “…even if I may ultimately choose to disregard some of their advice.” This is really what I contend is at issue. In some Christian environments, people do not have this freedom. The leader’s advice is tantamount to God’s sanction. While I grasp the logic that gets people to this place, I am overtly saying this is a misapplication of truth.
When I discuss the issue of sovereign individuality, I am discussing the metaphysical starting point of our epistemology. The axiom of human existence is human existence. So the starting place of our ethical actions directly revolves around Man’s capacity to grasp and know the world in which he lives and modify his actions accordingly. The doctrinal assertions under discussion destroy that ability at its root and thereby elevate dictatorial power of an elect few to the moral necessity to government force. I contend this is an erroneous starting place and an ultimately immoral conclusion.
Let us assume you have sex with prostitutes… how exactly can a pastor stop the action? Are you any less morally culpable if a pastor never renders a verdict? Are you free merely because a church leader consecrates your actions? The answer is he can’t, and no, and of course not. The only way this becomes possible is for this leader to posses force to compel an outcome. So, the means of grace is the effective imposition of select men to commit violence.
Uh… this ultimately makes the “Means of Grace” Flesh.
As for the passage in Corinthians…
Mmmm… how to say this without having to exegete the bulk of Pauline theology…
Dare I say this? The trap that Paul laid for himself when he sought to subordinate observance of Torah to what he called the fulfillment of Torah, i.e. Jesus, was the logical conclusion that all action was fair game. In other words, there was no moral failing, because the Torah had been fulfilled, so what difference did having sex with prostitutes make?
This conclusion, of course, scandalized Paul, and he was pressed to find an argument that remained constant with his new doctrinal perspective while maintaining the ethical standards embedded in Law. His argument in Corinthians is effectively twofold.
1. That since we participate in the resurrection, we are part of Christ’s body and therefore subject HIS body to our decadence.
2. If that does not deter sexual use of prostitutes, then don’t you recognize you have been purchased? While you might be free, you are not really autonomous because you are God’s property.
The underlying issue here is the ideas used to short-circuit the use of prostitutes for sexual release. Paul is seeking moral grounds to undercut what has been given moral sanction by the logical extension of his doctrine. His argument is basically this: your individual action ultimately affects another individual—namely God—because you have been united with him in the same absolute measure as that of marriage.
I contend that this is exactly the starting place of ethical action—the violation or fulfillment of individual identity. Individual actions have ALWAYS been subordinate to the individual boundaries of other people. So in as much as any man’s actions violate those boundaries, their ACTIONS are not their own. You are not free to take EVERY action merely because all sin has been atoned. Of course, this is an important point because the logic could have been extended to murder, or theft, or any other over exploitation, and sanctified by the same covenantal fulfillment. So Paul’s argument hearkens to the standards of boundaries and intimacy, and insists they still apply.
You CAN do what you want… but Jesus’ sacrifice does not eradicate moral responsibility. The Corinthians were using Paul’s very own doctrine as eradication of moral responsibility, and that was the problem he was seeking to remedy. My advocacy is not to antinomianism. My advocacy addresses the underlying presumption that divine ownership necessarily means individual subordination to a collective slavery.
We are bought with a price. We have been taken back from full solidarity with death. The war between men and God has been forever ended, so man is without excuse when he looks at the world and chooses to persist in war against the truth. That seems abundantly obvious to me.
1 86 87 88
1. 441
2. 442
Leave a Reply
| http://spiritualtyranny.com/to-reform-or-not-to-reform/ | dclm-gs1-067780000 |
0.153565 | <urn:uuid:33a30610-64f1-48be-a1d1-fde86e9c41dd> | en | 0.867746 | Sign up ×
I have created three test user accounts for an app in facebook. How should I distribute the accounts to my test users. I mean to open the test user account I have to open it from the app dashboard and press "Switch to". There must be a simpler way I suppose.
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
up vote 0 down vote accepted
You can get a list of login urls for your test users programmatically here:[app_id]/accounts/test-users?access_token=[app_access_token]
Then you can parse the json response to save the urls for signing in
share|improve this answer
Your Answer
| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7684055/how-to-distribute-test-user-accounts-for-facebook-apps?answertab=oldest | dclm-gs1-067800000 |
0.966018 | <urn:uuid:bdcab6fc-309c-4066-aa67-8042cc6971fe> | en | 0.823575 | Sign up ×
I currently have
|-- ThisRogueRepository
| |-- app
I want:
|-- ThisRogueRepository
| |-- branch
| |-- trunk
| | |-- app
| |-- tag
where app is my current app directory, with all of it's revision history intact.
What's the best way to do this?
share|improve this question
2 Answers 2
up vote 1 down vote accepted
You want it to be branches, trunk and tags. That's the normal convention. Create these folders first ( you can do so from Repobrowser). Still in Repo Browser, select move on the app and select the trunk path and you are done.
share|improve this answer
Just use TortoiseSVN's repo browser to create the new directories and then move the app directory to trunk.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer
| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8773639/moving-single-directory-repository-into-trunk-branch-tag-directories | dclm-gs1-067810000 |
0.020369 | <urn:uuid:11e3d6f0-7c3f-4594-889e-0ed61febec76> | en | 0.978121 | Saturday, July 9, 2011
Does the set-up of the desks in your classroom affect the climate in your room?
Since many people who read this blog are teachers, I wanted to pose this question regarding the set-up of the desks in your classroom and if it sends a message to students. The answer to me is a resounding yes. What do rows (called the graveyard setup by a recent student in one our graduate classes who went on to say and we all know that the graveyard setup is deadly) say about the feel of the classroom as opposed to a horseshoe or even a circle if you're lucky enough to have the room to make one? Somewhere along the line I came across the line that in a circle everyone sits in the front row, and I've always liked it. Keith and I set our classrooms up in a circle and feel that it's very important for us to be sitting in that circle-not standing up over someone in a position of superiority-we want to be part of the fabric of the class not set ourselves apart from it. Just something to think about.
No comments: | http://teachingthroughthearts.blogspot.com/2011/07/does-set-up-of-desks-in-your-classroom.html | dclm-gs1-067880000 |
0.031707 | <urn:uuid:c4b21990-14a3-49ef-91d8-d371111974c7> | en | 0.966401 | Talking about inequality again…
I know, it has been a bit of a theme recently; increasing inequality and the inevitable rise of poverty as the 1% grab more, whilst reframing the economic narrative around ‘austerity’ and creating fear of feckless insiders (benefits scroungers) and the undeserving outsiders (immigrants.)
The story of the decision of the UK government to cease involvement in rescuing immigrants from drowning in the Mediterranean sea has to be seen within this overarching narrative. We can send troops to fight Islamic militants in the (oil rich) middle east but saving the lives of people who are trying desperately to find a way to reach the promised land of wealth and opportunity will only ‘encourage more people to come’. More than 2,500 people are known to have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the start of the year; who knows what the real number is. The point is, not all lives are equal.
Some of the old dividing lines seem more fixed now than ever; North/South. Black/White. Man/Woman.
The me-first mythologies behind understanding poverty, in which we come to believe that any measures to tip the balance back towards the have-not’s are somehow immoral, as they might somehow undermine human endevour/entrepreneurial effort, are pernicious heresies that have to be challenged.
Oxfam has started a new campaign, called Even it up, asking campaigners in 37 countries to unite behind the call for a more equal world.
How is it fair that a select few have more money than they could spend in several lifetimes, while millions of people around the world struggle to buy food for their families or send their children to school? Such extreme inequality is threatening to undo much of the progress made over the past 20 years in tackling poverty. Oxfam say that this inequality is not inevitable, rather is the consequence of economic and political choices being made in our name. Here are some of the facts as Oxfam sees them;
1. The world’s richest 85 people have as much wealth as the poorest half of humanity / half of the world
2. Since the financial crisis the number of billionaires has more than doubled and at least a million mothers died in childbirth.
3. Half a million dollars. That’s what the richest 85 people made every minute last year.
4. Today there are 16 billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside the 358 million people living in extreme poverty
5. Seven out of ten people live in countries where the gap between rich and poor has grown in the last 30 years.
6. A third of the world’s richest people amassed their wealth not through hard work, but through inheritance.
9. Getting all girls into primary school could cut the number of women dying in childbirth by two-thirds.
10. More than half of the world’s workers are in vulnerable or unstable work.
11. Without action it will take 75 years to achieve equal pay between men and women.
12. In 2013, tax dodging by rich elites cost the world at least €156 billion – enough to end extreme poverty twice over.
14. Developing countries lose billions of dollars due to corporate tax dodging.
15. Today, a small tax of 1.5% on billionaires could get every child into school and deliver health services in the poorest countries.
UK kids describe what living in poverty is like…
I read this article in the Guardian today. It was hard to finish it.
Firstly because it was heartbreaking reading about kids trying to get by, trying to transcend the shit that we subject them to. Trying to hide from the harsh glare of the hierarchy.
Secondly because I was one of those kids.
35 years ago however was a better time to be the child of a single mother living on benefits. They were worth more in real terms than they are now. There was also a generally more benign societal view towards the poor; it was the role of the state to try to support and assist- even though in many ways it always failed, still there was this desire to strive towards a more equal society.
But what I remember most of all was not the lack of stuff, the absence of material possessions, holidays, mobility, choices. What I remember most of all was the shame. I was a head taller than anyone else in my class and it was impossible to hide. I entered every encounter with a sense of being less-than. Things that came easy to others took huge effort. My awkwardness and alienation was like a force field which was every bit as visible as my odd clothing.
It comes to me still, in moments of vulnerability; we never quite escape the children we once were. We are primarily social beings after all…
Perhaps gradation and discrimination over minor difference is a human characteristic- from the playground onwards. But poverty, this is the source of so much ordinary day to day evil. It is not motivating, it is not romantic, it does not forge any kind of community spirit. Poverty brutalises, degrades, isolates and defeats people. It perpetuates itself through a thousand small failures.
I got out. I clambered onto a ledge of safe solid respectability and mostly ignored the vertigo. Most of the others can not. My whole working life has been concerned with trying to grapple with the reality of this for huge sections of our population.
The scary thing is, it is getting worse.
It’s all about poverty, stupid!
social class
Economic lie no.6; inequality of wealth creates incentive and effort…
(The last posts in this series are here and here. Post no.4 dealt with similar territory. These posts are part of an on going attempt to search for alternatives to the economic status quo, which I would contend is costing the earth at the expense of the poor.)
A recent book by French economist Thomas Piketty (Capital in the Twenty-First Century) has taken the issue of inequality on directly. So much so that the book has become something of a sensation amongst the movers and shakers of the economic world.
To recap- the world is becoming increasingly unequal. This from The Guardian;
Inequality of wealth in Europe and US is broadly twice the inequality of income – the top 10% have between 60% and 70% of all wealth but merely 25% to 35% of all income. But this concentration of wealth is already at pre-First World War levels, and heading back to those of the late 19th century, when the luck of who might expect to inherit what was the dominant element in economic and social life. There is an iterative interaction between wealth and income: ultimately, great wealth adds unearned rentier income to earned income, further ratcheting up the inequality process.
…the period between 1910 and 1950, when that inequality was reduced, was aberrant. It took war and depression to arrest the inequality dynamic, along with the need to introduce high taxes on high incomes, especially unearned incomes, to sustain social peace.
Now the ineluctable process of blind capital multiplying faster in fewer hands is under way again and on a global scale.
Take a moment to think about this- the rampant growth in the wealth of a tiny super rich elite has now taken us more or less back to the division of wealth that would have been familiar to an Edwardian farm worker or mill worker before the first world war. A world of vast country estates and stately homes serviced by an army of domestics. This is the world we are heading back to it seems.
How did this happen?
Consider the recent political reaction to the financial crisis- austerity hits public spending projects aimed at the poorest sections of society, whilst at the same time lowering inheritance taxes, refusing to reshape the council tax and boast promote ‘business-friendly’ low capital gains and corporation tax regimes.
They can get away with this for one simple reason- we have accepted a myth as truth- the myth of the wealth-creators, whose aspirations to accumulate are the engine of our national success. Set this in the context of the other myth- that national economies operate like household budgets, and the sense of looming crisis has meant that the current government has been able to slash and burn, whilst letting lose the greed of the few.
But back to Thomas Piketty. He has carefully analysed data from about 200 years of capitalist expansion, and came to this rather startling conclusion;
Societies can indulge it or they can challenge it.
Piketty goes further however- he argues that this indulgent greed, this ‘meritocratic extremism’ will be the end of Capitalism itself. Those of us familiar with the Marxian view of the progression of history will remember this- how eventually those of us with little will get sick of a society that requires us to work to maintain the wealth of the few.
Piketty fears a repeat.
His solutions- a top income tax rate of up to 80%, effective inheritance tax, proper property taxes and, because the issue is global, a global wealth tax- are difficult to imagine at present. The elite are too comfortable in their neo-Georgian luxury.
But if Pinketty is right, the seeds of destruction are at the heart of capitalism- and it is the result of greed.
Jesus would have a few words to say about this too I think…
I am getting angrier…
chris goan
You are supposed to get more placid, easy going, calmer as you get older but I think I might be bucking the trend.
People have always described me as a calm, easy going person- particularly, it has to be said, those who do not know me well. Perhaps the reality was that for much of my younger years I was scared of my shadow and far too keen on showing a calm competent exterior to cover over the insecurities within. Simply put, I wanted to please people, not to draw attention.
But at the age of 46, I find myself in a place where life has done most of its becoming, some of its being and may even be looking into its declining. Life, for the most part, has been very kind to me. I am loved (despite it all) and I have learnt how to love in return. I have what I need plus a little bit that I do not. I live in a rich country that has known internal peace and stability for my whole life.
So what makes me angry? I can not pretend towards being totally absent from grumpy old man syndrome so this might well be a factor. However, the anger in me is pushed by a conviction that this world we live in has contained within it some terrible disappointments. Is this really as good as it gets? Is there not more than this, better than this?
Growing up I was told that God would sort everything out- probably soon (a second coming of Jesus) but certainly ultimately. The second coming has been delayed it seems and if we do live in the ‘end times’ then God is taking his own sweet time to get it all over with. And in the meantime there are all those peddling a kind of religion that sees itself as a great big hoover for the righteous and the rest can just go to hell. And it makes me angry.
I grew into a society that despite the looming possibility of nuclear war still thought that all of the world’s problems could be solved by technology. But then came global warming and we seem powerless to change our greedy needy addiction to consumption even though it is killing us. Technology seems to be a means of giving separation from the problems; they look different when viewed through a screen. And it makes me angry.
But what makes me angriest of all at the moment is that despite a thousand years of history, we in the UK seem to becoming ever more feudal. The rich barons gallop by in their Ferrari’s and sneer at the great unwashed. And to convince themselves of their rightful place of election they demonise, denegrate and stereotype. They make poor-porn like the unbelievable shite that is Benefits Street. And whilst the poor lose out in a thousand cuts, the rich get richer. They get more stuff. And it makes me ANGRY.
I heard a story today of someone who had been without benefits for three months. The person had been working previously, but mental health problems had made it increasingly difficult and they lost their job. A shattered self confidence was made worse after a ATOS assessment regarded the person as fit for work. The end result was that they stopped leaving the house. The machinery of unemployment benefit was impossible. It was hard enough to breathe. Hard enough to think. Every day becomes a competition between distraction and overwhelming dread. Death seems a valid option.
Add into this the current nastiness in the media, and in the mouths of government ministers, about scroungers, wasters, smokers, gamblers, and the self esteem of people already near rock bottom falls further. Anyone who has seen this kind of defeat close up, or experienced it for themselves, knows these words to be what they are- pure propaganda used to justify a social policy geared towards wealth creation for those who already have wealth.
And it makes me incandescent.
Lest I give the impression that I am some kind of Jesus, turning over tables of injustice in the white heat of righteous indignation, I also get angry at computers that do not work, at my wife when she does not deserve it and my kids when they do.
Cowboys and Indians…
There are parts of the UK that operate like some kind of holding tank for radioactive waste. Except that the waste is made up of people.
Some would call these people skyvers, wasters, people who live on the edge of criminality and addiction. They are the bastards of the welfare state; half lives created out of the fissive heat of market led capitalism. They are gathered together where the housing is cheapest, closest together. Even when new, it is housing no one wants to live in.
And because it is irradiated, those who live in these places become defined by it, cursed by it, captured within it.
What to do?
This has been the subject of study in sociology for decades- ever since the slums were replaced by high rise flats, which in turn were torn down and replaced by housing association faux-villages with their ragged green bits and broken picket fences.
The problem is not welfare even though there are problems with welfare.
The problem is not worklessness even though work is next to impossible to find if you are irradiated.
The problem is lack of hope.
The problem is caused by abandonment, by casting outside, by removing worth, by categorising as ‘other’, ‘less than’. By the death of dreams.
Today the Chancellor announced cuts of £25 Billion to welfare budgets and I want to scream out loud with anger at it all.
But who knows what to do with the radioactive waste? It is too expensive to clean.
I turn to writing as this is the only way I know how to scream. Here is another one of the poems that I am calling ‘protest poems’.
Cowboys and Indians
The wagons circled in that wild place
Under the kitchen table
Brambled by spiders’ webs
Stalked by wrinkled peas
He always wanted to be a pioneer
To ride the range, and
Eat beans beneath the wandering star
But no-one ever leaves this place
His cowboy became Red Indian
His range a reservation
In the streets below roam no buffalo
The distant drums
Lie silent
Poverty UK, revisited…
image from The Guardian
We can not afford to continue to pay benefits to scroungers
We already know that the rich are getting richer.
Angry? We should be.
Decisions taken by our present government are not victimless. | http://thisfragiletent.com/tag/poverty/ | dclm-gs1-068030000 |
0.092604 | <urn:uuid:0b6dbb64-aaea-4a61-8ac2-6fb1f52a07bb> | en | 0.956207 | Of all the classic theatrical animated cartoons, those released by ColumbiaPictures during TheSilentAgeOfAnimation and TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation are perhaps the most overlooked by the general public today. This is unfortunate because some of the most significant endeavors in the medium's history emerged from the collective works of Charles Mintz, Screen Gems and UPA. It is difficult, for example, for one to think of the history of animation without films like "The Little Match Girl", "The Fox and the Grapes", "WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing" or "WesternAnimation/RootyTootToot" that, in so many ways, redefined what a cartoon was. The only short they did that's still somewhat famous today is their adaptation of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', which is often played in English classes.
While the history of Columbia's animation output is marked by hits and misses, experimentation always seems to be a constant. It was the early Charles Mintz/Screen Gems studio that produced some of the most groundbreaking cartoons of the 1930s, outside the [[ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] and FleischerStudios. The Scrappy series, for example, employed exaggerated, abstract character designs and stories that involved unique personalities. The character of Scrappy, created by Dick Huemer, became an overnight success with a popularity surpassed only by Mickey Mouse.
When Mintz died in 1940, his production manager, Jimmy Bronis, became his successor. After Bronis came Mintz's brother-in-law, George Winkler. Later Columbia got rid of Winkler and brought in former Disney storyman and Warner Bros. cartoon director, Creator/FrankTashlin. Under Tashlin, the studio experienced a considerable talent boom. Many of the studio staffers were former Disney employees, fresh off the picket line from the 1941 strike at that studio. The drive to experiment and employ new, innovative ideas was strong and led to the emergence of a handful of highly-stylized cartoons as well as the successful ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'' series, pitting a refined, sophisticated Fox against a chiseling, street-wise Crow. Unfortunately, Tashlin's stay was short-lived and he was replaced by [[FleischerStudios Dave Fleischer]]. Later Fleischer too would depart and his other successors would make little impact on the studio. The quality of the cartoons, meanwhile, began to deteriorate and finally, in 1946, Screen Gems closed.
Two new DVD sets, containting the {{UPA}} oneshots and WesternAnimation/MrMagoo theatrical shorts. were eventually released; "UPA Jolly Frolics Collection" is now available exclusively on the Creator/TurnerClassicMovies online shop [[http://shop.tcm.com/upa-jolly-frolics-dvd/detail.php?p=364906 here]], and a definitive history of the studio was compiled into a book in 2012.
* InNameOnly: Their cartoon adaptations of Krazy Kat have absolutely nothing in common with George Herriman's classic comic strip, turning the character into a shameless WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse copycat. The sole exception is a 1936 short "Lil Anjil", which at least tried to capture the art direction and basic plot elements of the comic, and also had Ignatz and Offica Pup present.
* LimitedAnimation: Not just UPA, which was one of the {{Trope Maker}}s, but some of the cartoons of the Tashlin regime experimented with stylized designs. Not surprising, since most of the Tashlin animators later went on to help found UPA. [[Literature/TheTellTaleHeart The Tell-Tale Heart]] adaptation takes this to the level of having almost ''no animation at all''.
* {{Minimalism}}: UPA championed a minimalist apporach to animation. Every element of production - design, color, setting, movement - was boiled down to the bare essentials.
* {{Remake}}: UbIwerks did a semi-remake of his earlier Disney work "WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance", called "Skeleton Frolic", for Columbia's "Color Rhapsodies" series.
* ShortLivedBigImpact: United Productions of America barely lasted more than a decade as a theatrical cartoon studio, during which time their stylized approach to the medium profoundly changed the way cartoons looked for the next few decades (for better or worse). Even today, their influence, direct or indirect, is felt in shows as diverse as ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.
** Even within UPA's remarkably diverse output, their adaptation of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'' stands out. | http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/folderizer.php?target=Creator.ColumbiaCartoons | dclm-gs1-068090000 |
0.150409 | <urn:uuid:db90d72c-efae-46a5-a3c5-3585f765bd55> | en | 0.965129 | What does BUTO stand for?
What does BUTO mean? This page is about the various possible meanings of the acronym, abbreviation, shorthand or slang term: BUTO.
We've found a total of 1 definition for BUTO:
Filter by: Sort by:PopularityAlphabeticallyCategory
Bright Star Resources Limited
Business » ASX Symbols
Rate it:
What does BUTO mean?
Buto, Butus, or Butosus, now Tell al-Fara'in near the city of Desouk, was an ancient city located 95 km east of Alexandria in the Nile Delta of Egypt. The city stood on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, near its mouth, and on the southern shore of the Butic Lake. It is the modern Kem Kasir. Buto originally was two cities, Pe and Dep, which merged into one city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet. The goddess Wadjet was its local goddess, often represented as a cobra, and she was considered the patron deity of Lower Egypt. Her oracle was located in her renowned temple in that city. An annual festival held in the city celebrated Wadjet. Her image formed the royal crown, the Uraeus, worn by the rulers of Lower Egypt. It encircled their heads and the cobra flare and head extended from their foreheads. Wadjet was closely associated in the Egyptian pantheon with Bast the fierce goddess depicted as a lioness warrior and protector, a sun goddess whose eye later became the eye of Horus or the eye of Ra, the Lady of Flame. The city also contained a sanctuary of Horus and much later, became associated with Isis.
see more on Definitions.net »
Know what is BUTO? Got another good explanation for BUTO? Don't keep it to yourself!
"BUTO." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015. <http://www.abbreviations.com/BUTO>. | http://www.abbreviations.com/BUTO | dclm-gs1-068340000 |
0.074213 | <urn:uuid:79b038bd-cc51-4d58-8aa2-b6b065828ffc> | en | 0.978802 | Extraterrestrials - Do those of other realms exist?
What happened to Miracle Mineral Supplement? Is MMS still available?
Spiritual Wellness Resources
Help from Other Realms
Do you believe in extraterrestrial lifeforms? Is it possible that there are those on other realms that are helping or, according to some, hindering our spiritual paths here on earth?
Well, it's a lot like that scene in Contact, The Movie, with Jodie Foster a while back.
Jodie Foster plays a scientist who has an extraterrestrial encounter during a scientific experiement. As is typical with such experiences, she really can't prove it happened.
When she is testifying, as a scientist, to an unplausible and scientifically unacceptable event in her life, they ask her how she can possibly believe she actually traveled to other realms and met with those of other realms. I do not remember the exact line but the jest of it was that she experienced it. That's why she could believe it. Once you have a personal experience with extraterrestrial life, you can no longer doubt and you also no longer need scientific proof.
I've had more than one experience that negated the need for proof in my own life. A lot of those experiences had a mystical aspect, particularly after I got on a conscious path of awakening, became involved in Sacred Ceremony and stepped into realms of Sacred Initiation. However, one certain experience was as third-dimensional and real as any I've ever had. It stands out for that reason.
When I was about 12 years old, and well before I knew to think of such things as possible, I looked up into the night sky outside my girlfriend's window and saw a UFO. She saw it too but denied it the next day when I, guileless in my amazement, tried to tell our classmates what we had both seen.
There it was, impossibly big, impossibly bright. It was as real as the car in the driveway. Up close, personal, and fully 3D. It had lights that gave off no light and there was no sound at all.
Like another scene from Contact which contains one of my favorite lines, I knew for sure They Ain't Local.
Years later, driving down that same road one day, I glanced over at that window. The same little mobile home still sits there, with the same tree in front.
The UFO I saw all those years ago had appeared to be at the top of that tree. I clearly remember...and yet, the tree is so small. How could something so huge have appeared that close to the earth and only my friend and myself see it?
Of course, I don't know if it is that we are the only ones who saw it. Wee never spoke of it to many. I was telling everyone at school the next day and my friend blushed reddest red and denied seeing it so that was the end of that conversation. Maybe others saw it too and didn't know how to talk about it.
Since then I've seen things in the sky that "might" have been a UFO but never again have I seen one so clearly as to eliminate all doubt.
Other experiences I've had, as I mentioned before, were not so third-dimensional but rather visionary or energetic in nature. That is to say, I saw with inner vision or felt energies around me. That didn't make them less real to me, just different.
Each person must decide if they believe or not but believing is not so important, I think. Knowing is important and that only comes thru direct experience. If you want it, ask for it.
Easy Site Search
Focus on the Metaphysical: Remote Viewing Training
Remote Viewing Training
Remote viewing is being able to see what is going on in another physical space. I believe it's something that can be done but don't personally need that particular psychic skill enough to develop it.
This remote viewing programs makes use of binaural beats to help the brain entrain to the specific brainwave frequencies that are most conducive to being able to remote view. When people do remote viewing successfully, in other words, they are functioning at low delta frequency levels and this binaural beats is designed to take you to an exact mid-delta brainwave frequency and the to cycle the frequency between delta and low theta.
And then, close to the end of the recording you are brought to a relaxing and very pleasant alpha state that will leave you refreshed and in a state to remember your experiences.
The developer of this remote viewing program posits that you can remote view successfully using it, without extensive practice. If you already remote view, this program can enhance your ability to do so.
The remote viewing program is guaranteed so you can return it if it doesn't work for you.
More information from the developer:
Remote Viewing is indeed real, and used by many law enforcement agencies. The US government has performed many Remote viewing experiments and this technology is widely used today. Remote viewing can be defined as the ability to witness or see events, things, and people without physically being there.
Remote viewing takes place in the Mid To Low Delta Frequency Ranges. Your mind reaches these stages daily, but most of the time you are asleep while in the low Delta ranges. Two distinct frequencies which are 0.3 Hertz apart are the dominant Binaural Frequencies within this recording that are responsible for paranormal ability to develop.
Learn more about Remote Viewing Training | http://www.angelfire.com/tn/moonlodge/aboutextraterrestrials.html | dclm-gs1-068500000 |
0.029657 | <urn:uuid:0fb4f3eb-c6ac-421a-a08f-6d8b40b50a5c> | en | 0.933814 | Archives of “sheer size” Tag
China on track to overtake US in non-financial corporate debt
The rating agency expects the debt needs of companies in China to reach upwards of $18tn by the end of 2017, accounting for a third of the forecast $53tn in new debt and refinancing needs of global companies in the next five years. Debt includes bank loans and bonds and is drawn from public information collated by S&P
“China is poised to overtake the US, and then the US and eurozone combined,” said Jayan Dhru, senior managing director at S&P.
Based on a stronger rate of economic growth that propels debt issuance, China’s non-financial corporations could owe $13.8tn by the end of 2014, eclipsing US corporations’ outstanding debt of $13.7tn. A slower expansion of debt based on the growth of the economy would see China pass the US in 2015, said S&P. Read More
Damn Algorithms
What more is left to say at this point other than the fact that the hedge fund computers and their damnable algorithms have destroyed the integrity of the US futures markets. The sheer size, extent, ferocity and volatility of the moves that these pestilential computers are creating have rendered these markets basically useless for what they originally came into being for, namely, risk management for commercial entities.
—I am predicting here and now that unless something is done to corral these hedge funds, the futures market is going to become useless as a risk management tool for non-speculative entities.
—Maybe we all should just go the hell to sleep and wake up in a year and see if the chart has actually gone anywhere besides up and down like a stinking yo-yo.
Sorry Europe: China’s Pockets Are…Empty
As every central banker, politician (except Chuck Schumer), and bank CEO looks towards Chinese central planners as their apparent bottomless pit of dumb money, it seems that perhaps the cupboards are bare. Reuters, via The China Post, highlights in a recent article that while there are indeed reserves, they are gainfully employed and the unwinding of those positions (in size enough to matter) to provide the cash that is so desperately needed to keep the ponzi going, will itself cause a vicious circle of negative sentiment. In fact, analysts reckon China’s armory has only about US$100 billion to spare.
Analysts suspect China’s forex may be weaker than perceived (Reuters, via The China Post)
KS Oils-Rumoured To Have Defaulted On ICD payments
The capital based Debt circles are agog with rumours that the Rs 4000 crore Edible Oil Trader/Processor KS Oils has reneged on ICD payments to Debt Funds. While the defaults seem small in quantum, it is the sheer size of default that is keeping Debt fund managers on tenter-hook as they foresee signs of major trouble in the Oil Seeds market. The simple reason-smaller the default bigger the problems.
While the Blue Channels have been ranting about P-Note based selling by Funds operating out of Mauritius behind the 17 per cent decline today in the KS Oils stock. That selling alone might not be sufficient reason. Oil being a commodity, the trader/processors of Oil seeds always are price takers on the purchase of mustard and soya seeds for crushing as also the sale of Edible Oil to the ultimate consumer-the ladies who run the homes.
If this rumour of a debt default is true, then KSOil will harbinger the coming decline of all shady operator led managements with or without the P-Note selling, which unfortunately are will be a big knock for FMCG sector concerns.
Daal Mein Kuch kaala hai …Ya Puri Daal kaali hai ? | http://www.anirudhsethireport.com/tag/sheer-size/ | dclm-gs1-068520000 |
0.032712 | <urn:uuid:c7e83664-3106-4d07-b88f-e7ad1dc9c888> | en | 0.964748 | Your views
12:33 AM, Apr. 11, 2014 | Comments
Lakewood is overbuilt; busing is too expensive
Has anyone driven down Cedar Bridge Avenue and witnessed the construction of at least another 200 homes? Now they are considering selling more property in Lakewood for the construction of almost another 400 homes.
What is this town thinking? How can you keep building when you can't afford courtesy busing? Lakewood is literally bursting at the seams now.
Karen Wehrle
Dangers of vaccines swept under the rug
Thank you for printing the featured letter, "Mom is convinced vaccines helped cause son's autism," in the April 6 Asbury Park Press.
The writer is absolutely right that the medical community keeps touting the benefits of vaccines without acknowledging their adverse effects .
My very healthy son was born on July 15, 1991, and two months later he died, 24 hours after receiving the first series of scheduled vaccines. There were more than 30 other babies who died after receiving the same vaccine with the same lot number.
Press readers should know that due to a substantial number of vaccine injuries and deaths, the federal government shielded drug companies from vaccine lawsuits in 1978. There has never been a recall of a vaccine.
All of the studies that are relied upon by the medical community and our legislators are prepared by the drug companies and are totally one-sided.
Kip Walker
Real Deals
User Photos More Photos | Submit
Sign up for home delivery today
Facebook Activity
Most Commented | http://www.app.com/article/20140411/NJOPINION02/304110033/Your-views?gcheck=1 | dclm-gs1-068550000 |
0.993448 | <urn:uuid:ac23935e-9fc1-4acf-ac3c-975fb79344a7> | en | 0.955525 | Consider that musicians need to be able to do things like press and release a button with a precision on the order of a few thousandths of a second, and you should have no trouble timing 1/4 sec. Use a metronome set to 120 (or 240 if you have an electronic metronome) and subdivide in your head, and you'll probably be more accurate than many mechanically timed shutters. | http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=209417 | dclm-gs1-068580000 |
0.028595 | <urn:uuid:439b95e3-f7cc-4e3b-aa0b-2065c0f89f8c> | en | 0.912231 | Web Results
A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political ... to political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to the nature of ...
The Purposes of Government [ushistory.org]
The Nature of Government [ushistory.org]
Is government to be feared or loved? Thomas Hobbes set out to discover that in his book Leviathan, which spawned this famous title page that depicts ...
What is the purpose of the government? - Ask.com
Many political theorists feel that the primary purpose of government is to protect its ... the protective nature of government remains its most crucial purpose.
What is the nature and purpose of the government? - Askville
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-budget-wars-the-gop- ... I read Mr. Robinson's article and answered to him. The Republicans dare the ...
Why Do We Need a Government? - Center for Civic Education
He said that the main purpose of government should be to protect the people's ... They were afraid that in a state of nature their rights would be taken away.
Government —Ayn Rand Lexicon
“The Nature of Government,” The Virtue of Selfishness , 109. The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him ...
What is nature and purpose of government? - rilstone.talktalk.net
Once upon a time there was a local council, and the local council decided to put some public lavatories on the high street. This was very much the sort of thing ...
“A State of Nature” and the Purpose of Government - Scholastic
February 2, 2009 • Teacher's ediTion • Junior schoLasTic • Page 1 oF 2. tEACHER tO tEACHER. This role-playing exercise was contributed by Lori sherman.
Individual Rights | The Ayn Rand Institute
In “The Nature of Government,” she explains why government is necessary to .... of a government and defined its only proper purpose: to protect man's rights by ...
Popular Q&A
Q: Did the federalists or the republicans (anti-federalists) have th...
A: Okay. Here, either answer is correct. Today, the Republicans (anti Feds) and Democrats (an evolved Federalist party) still argue over which party has the better... Read More »
Source: answers.yahoo.com
Q: What is your view of the purpose and nature of government?
A: A government's job is to help and serve all of its citizens. Especially if it is a democratic government. Unfortunately so many people have been tricked into be... Read More »
Source: answers.yahoo.com
Q: What is the purpose of government according to the natural rights...
A: The Natural Rights Philosophy was based Read More »
Source: www.chacha.com
Q: What is the main purpose of government according to natural right...
A: According to the Natural Rights Philosophy the purpose of govt. is to protect the rights of individuals. In a classical republic the purpose of govt. is to prom... Read More »
Source: wiki.answers.com
Q: What MIGHT be the purpose of government regulation of natural mon...
A: Government regulation might be used to facilitate competition. Read More »
Source: wiki.answers.com | http://www.ask.com/web?q=Nature+and+Purpose+of+Government&o=2603&l=dir&qsrc=3139&gc=1 | dclm-gs1-068630000 |
0.020168 | <urn:uuid:d581a33e-696f-405d-be62-01ee11bb7a37> | en | 0.942114 | Track your baby's development, week by week
When your baby gets a cold
1 / 6
Why babies get so many colds
Also, babies explores by touching, so it's easy for them to pick up cold viruses on their hands. Then all they have to do is put their fingers in their nose or rub their eyes to give the virus a chance to set up shop.
2 / 6
How to treat your baby's cold
No medicine will make a virus go away faster, but you can help your baby feel better and prevent the infection from getting worse by making sure he gets plenty of rest and liquids. (For babies under 6 months, "liquid" means breast milk or formula. Babies 6 months and older can also have water or juice.)
3 / 6
How to ease congestion
If your baby is having trouble nursing with a stuffy nose, try this tactic about 15 minutes before a feeding.
4 / 6
It's not safe or effective to give cold medicine to babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics says OTC cough and cold medicines aren't effective in children under 6 years old and sometimes have dangerous side effects.
5 / 6
Natural and alternative treatments for relieving cold symptoms
Adding a few drops of menthol, eucalyptus, or pine oil to a vaporizer or bath may help your baby feel less congested. If your baby is at least 6 months old, a weak, lukewarm solution of chamomile tea can also be soothing.
• advertisement
6 / 6
How to protect your baby from colds
You might also like | http://www.babycenter.com/101_when-your-baby-gets-a-cold_10384894.bc | dclm-gs1-068710000 |
0.133295 | <urn:uuid:6cbadd10-d4c5-4987-a7d1-cf564903e174> | en | 0.962299 | China and US in spat over Tiananmen
• 5 June 2014
• From the section China
China has made a formal complaint to the US after the White House urged it to account for the protesters who were killed during the Tiananmen massacre.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he was "deeply dissatisfied" and had lodged "solemn representations".
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the massacre, but all mention of the event was forbidden in mainland China.
Hundreds died when the army suppressed a huge pro-democracy protest in 1989.
The crackdown was ordered after hardliners won a power struggle within the ruling Communist Party.
There has never been another protest of its magnitude in mainland China.
The authorities in Beijing were keen to make sure no-one tried to commemorate the events, and detained dozens of people in the run-up to the anniversary.
Tiananmen protests
Timeline: Tiananmen protests
Why the protests still matter
Chinese media quiet on anniversary
In pictures: Tiananmen protests
Struggling against Tiananmen censors
But numerous governments called on Beijing to use the anniversary to rethink its attitude to human rights.
"We call on Chinese authorities to account for those killed, detained, or missing in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989," the White House said in a statement.
During a regular news conference, Mr Hong did not refer directly to the Tiananmen protests.
But he said: "The US statement on that incident shows a total disregard of fact."
Image caption Despite the tight security, Chinese tourists poured into Tiananmen Square as usual
Image caption In Hong Kong, tens of thousands gathered to commemorate the protests
Later, state-run news agency Xinhua published a story quoting Mr Hong as saying China was "strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed" to the US statement.
"We have lodged solemn representations to the US side."
It was unclear what kind of protest Mr Hong had lodged. The US embassy was unavailable for comment.
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-27709820 | dclm-gs1-068760000 |
0.0263 | <urn:uuid:be00d7dd-08da-4989-bcb8-0ad66a89f4d5> | en | 0.882672 | Figure 1.
The phylogenetic tree (A) and amino acid sequence alignment (B) of V. anguillarum Plp with members of the SGNH family. The phylogenetic tree was analyzed by the Neighbor Joining (NJ) method with 1000 bootstraps, and node support values (as percentages) are labeled above the branch lines of the phylogenetic tree leading to the Plp homologues found in the genus Vibrio. Sequences of the 16 closest matches to Plp are aligned along the five conserved blocks of the SGNH family (Block IV not shown). The rectangle bars above the alignment indicate the amount of conservation of amino acid residues. The four residues conserved in all SGNH family members are boxed.
Download authors' original image | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/13/271/figure/F1 | dclm-gs1-068820000 |
0.019659 | <urn:uuid:74ccfa54-1d4d-4bcd-bd0f-cac5bff35565> | en | 0.915458 | 9780756784287 / 075678428X
Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
Publisher:Diane Pub Co
Prices INCLUDE standard shipping to United States
Show prices without shipping
Change shipping destination/currency
Shipping prices may be approximate. Please verify cost before checkout.
About the book:
Mlodinow reveals how geometry's first revolution began with a "little" scheme hatched by Pythagoras: the invention of a system of abstract rules that could model the universe. That modest idea was the basis of scientific civilization. But further advance was halted when the Western mind nodded off into the Dark Ages. Finally in the fourteenth century an obscure bishop in France invented the graph and heralded the next revolution: the marriage of geometry and number. Then, while intrepid mariners were sailing back and forth across the Atlantic to the New World, a fifteen-year-old genius realized that, like the earth's surface, space could be curved. Could parallel lines really meet? Could the angles of a triangle really add up to more -- or less -- than 180 degrees? The curved-space revolution reinvented both mathematics and physics; it also set the stage for a patent office clerk named Einstein to add time to the dimensions of space. His great geometric revolution ushered in the modern era of physics.
Today we are in the midst of a new revolution. At Caltech, Princeton, and universities around the world, scientists are recognizing that all the varied and wondrous forces of nature can be understood through geometry -- a weird new geometry. It is a thrilling math of extra, twisted dimensions, in which space and time, matter and energy, are all intertwined and revealed as consequences of a deep, underlying structure of the universe.
Search under way...
Search complete.
Click on the price to find out more about a book.
Used books: 1 - 20 of 20 | http://www.bookfinder.com/book/075678428X/ | dclm-gs1-068850000 |
0.473144 | <urn:uuid:07c85c8f-8376-460b-89c8-53b9d11de803> | en | 0.95323 | Elizabeth I Test | Mid-Book Test - Medium
Anne Somerset
Buy the Elizabeth I Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Who did Elizabeth I refuse to marry?
(a) The Prince of Orange.
(b) The King of France.
(c) King Philip of Spain.
(d) The King of Aragon.
2. When was the rebellion against Mary planned?
(a) February 1554.
(b) March 1554.
(c) June 1554.
(d) April 1554.
3. What did women in the 16th century have little of?
(a) Will.
(b) Money.
(c) Rights.
(d) Power.
(a) Mary would renounce the Scottish throne.
(b) Mary would not claim the English throne.
(c) Mary would marry Lord Dudley.
(d) Mary would leave England.
5. In what did Elizabeth I retain her independence from the Privy Council?
(a) Vetoing decisions.
(b) Running Parliament.
(c) Finding a spouse.
(d) Policy making.
Short Answer Questions
1. Who did Elizabeth I first stay with after arriving in London?
2. What did Parliament do after meeting in 1553?
3. What did Elizabeth I decide her husband had to be, according to Chapter 4?
4. Who did Henry VIII marry in January 1533?
5. When was Elizabeth proclaimed Queen according to Chapter 4?
Short Essay Questions
1. What happened on November 17, 1558 according to Chapter 4?
2. Why was Mary nicknamed "Bloody Mary"?
3. What was the main topic when Parliament convened in 1563?
4. What did the Privy Council advise Elizabeth I of regarding Darnley?
5. What did Elizabeth want to ensure about Protestants?
7. What did a potential husband need to have according to Chapter 4 and why did it present a problem?
8. Why was Elizabeth put under house arrest?
9. Who was supposed to rule during Edwards' minority according to Chapter 2?
10. What was the Act of Restrain of Appeals which Parliament passed?
(see the answer keys)
This section contains 500 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Elizabeth I Lesson Plans
Follow Us on Facebook | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/elizabeth-i/test3.html | dclm-gs1-068860000 |
0.028319 | <urn:uuid:f9c59f1c-32a0-49f3-a41f-72218f704290> | en | 0.923789 | Waterland Quiz | Eight Week Quiz B
Buy the Waterland Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
(a) That she is about to run off to London to hide from her father.
(b) That she is pregnant from Tom, but told Dick it was Freddie's child.
(c) That she pushed Freddie into the river.
(d) That she saw Freddie attack Dick the night before by the river bridge.
(a) Dick Crick.
(b) Freddie Parr.
(c) Tom Crick himself.
(d) Harold Metcalf.
3. After Freddie's death, Mary reacts in a drastic way. What does she do?
(a) She locks herself into her father's house for three years.
(b) She attempts to commit suicide by drowning herself.
(c) She strangles Tom's favorite kitten.
(d) She runs away to London.
4. What is the motto of the New Brewery in Gildsey?
(a) E Pluribus Unum.
(b) Ex Aqua Fermentum.
(c) Quid Pro Quo.
(d) Sine Qua Non.
5. What gives the Atkinsons the decisive advantage over the other brewers in the Gildsey area?
(a) They grow the best malt barley for beer brewing in the area.
(b) They invent the steam engine.
(c) They return rich from an exploration to the Americas.
(d) An ancestor saves Queen Elizabeth, is knighted and given a royal commission.
Short Answer Questions
2. Tom Crick mentions a similarity his father found between his home and the battlefields of World War I. What is that similarity?
3. What is the name of the student Tom Crick butts heads with the most?
4. Who is the patron saint of Gildsey?
5. Which of the following does NOT draw Mary and Tom closer together?
(see the answer key)
This section contains 409 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Waterland Lesson Plans
Follow Us on Facebook | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/waterland/quiz8b.html | dclm-gs1-068870000 |
0.0272 | <urn:uuid:5ea77f2d-e51b-492d-96ad-04fbf0455ac8> | en | 0.965806 | Welcome Visitor: Login to the siteJoin the site
Flash Fiction
Article By: Vamplit
Just another writing exercise I find helpful.
Submitted:May 1, 2009 Reads: 137 Comments: 4 Likes: 9
If you've never dabbled in flash fiction before, it's a great way of dispelling writers' block. Better still, flash fiction teaches a writer to be economical with words. When you decide on the length of your flash fiction, stick to it religiously. The word limit is usually between 50 and 500 words and you must tell a complete story within your word limit. Here is an example of flash fiction using one story and three different word lengths. I suggest you start out with 50 words. Make each word count and not only will this exercise enhance you writing, it will also force you to edit and then edit again. The strict word count is the important factor. On the 500 word limit I spent as much time editing as I did writing.
Hooray Sadie Gray is Dead
Fifty Words
Leaving the crowd Sadie headed home after a very long and dull day at work. Nothing about life interested Sadie. Unconsciously she counted the ninety broken paving slabs to her inherited home. Death and rebirth took less than a minute as the grey of twilight exploded into glorious preternatural light.
Two Hundred and Fifty Words
'Hey Sadie Gray.' she heard the voice and was shocked. No one said her name out loud. Invisible Sadie, grey Sadie, sad Sadie. Never in her life had Sadie been part of the world. As a child she had lived inside the old grey house with matching old grey parents. Other children played in the street, not Sadie, her mother disapproved of almost everything except cleanliness and the bible.
'Sadie Grey come out and play' the voice was coming from the garden. Something was strangely familiar in that voice, a long buried memory came to Sadie. A boy, the Irish boy who lived in the run down boarding house. Their gardens had backed onto each others throughout her lonely childhood.
'Come on Sadie Gray I'm waiting' as Sadie peered into the darkness, the clouds that covered the moon suddenly cleared, and a figure stood staring up at her window. In her head Sadie could hear her mother's voice telling her to come away from the window. Whatever her mother said to the boy, he'd never looked up at her window again. Invisible Sadie had lived through her lonely childhood, buried her parents and stayed locked up in her lonely world for the last thirty years.
'Last chance Sadie Gray' she hesitated. Throwing caution to the wind, Sadie raced out of the house then stopped dead. The boy she remembered watching was long gone from the world. Looking death in the eye, Sadie dissolved into a whirlpool of blood and pain.
Five Hundred Words
Sadie Gray turned the corner carefully avoiding the cracked paving slabs that formed a path to the dilapidated Victorian villa she'd inherited from her parents. Reaching the solid front door, Sadie paused as she always did, daring herself not to enter, daring herself to change. The hall, as usual, smelt slightly of damp and lavender. For thirty-two years four months two days it had always looked, felt and smelt the same way. In Sadie's life nothing ever changed, all things continued on and on, with nothing to break the monotony. Sadie had long ago given in, taken the path of least resistance and joined the ranks of the dull, tedious masses born to follow a well trodden path into the grave.
Sadie slowly slipped into the comfort zone of her bed, drifting off as soon as her head hit the pillow only to be woken a moment later. Singing infiltrated her subconscious and echoed over and over inside Sadie's sleep befuddled brain. Sadie heard the voice inside her head, bouncing off every wall in her bedroom and moving her from the warmth of the covers into the cold of the night.
'Sadie Gray, Sadie Gray, come out and play, Sadie Gray' he sang over and over, the moonlight shining as bright as day. 'Come on, Sadie, invite me in, it's cold out here and I'm hungry.'
'Last chance, Sadie Grey' he shouted while she hesitated. Finally something, she thought as she ran downstairs feet bare and caution thrown to the wind.
Sadie opened the garden door for the familiar stranger 'Invite me in Sadie, I've come to set you free' he said, smiling with bright white teeth and eyes shining like the moon.
'Please.' Sadie whispered as she stood aside in invitation.
'Dull, dead Sadie, you should have stayed in bed.' he said, reaching for her throat.
She felt the tendons in her neck tighten as he forced her back, his ravenous teeth the pale flesh of her neck leaving a gaping, pulsing portal into her soul. Pain as bright as lightning and sharp as a knife sliced through her, electrifying every nerve in her body. Pleasure merged with screaming agony as life, however dull, became death.
'Hooray Sadie Gray is dead' the vampire sang, as he walked down the street, invisible in the sunrise. Last of her blood, the final mortal remnant of the monster who made him. Revenge a dish best served cold had been delicious, he smiled. He'd searched the world and found the path to her door cracked with age and neglect. The vampire happily sang himself into oblivion.
This is my favourite writing exercise and I usually do it about once a week. Have a go, the worse thing that can happen is that you will have a 500 word short story to post here.
| Email this story Email this Article | Add to reading list
| http://www.booksie.com/non-fiction/article/vamplit/flash-fiction | dclm-gs1-068880000 |
0.033403 | <urn:uuid:253f9244-f59b-4d7f-8baa-3836288893a3> | en | 0.964719 | Ballpark Frankness
David Kern
In early 1986, after the Chicago White Sox had declared venerable Comiskey Park--then the oldest ballpark in America--obsolete and were threatening to leave for greener pastures in Florida, architect and baseball fan Philip Bess became alarmed. He'd heard rumblings that the White Sox were pushing for a massive "suburban" stadium, symmetrical in design and surrounded by parking lots, and felt such a structure would kill the Comiskey neighborhood on Chicago's south side and the baseball experience to be had there.
Bess was a 35-year-old one-man architectural firm with no clout among Chicago's movers and shakers. But he thought there was a better alternative for the area: Why not build a modern version of a ballpark from baseball's past, one that featured real grass, scenic views of the city skyline, quirky angles in the outfield, and seats that put fans in close proximity to the field of play?
The ballpark he proposed, named Armour Field (after the Armour Square park it would displace south of Comiskey), was patterned after Chicago's other famed baseball venue, Wrigley Field, and was able to accommodate more than 42,000 fans. The design included 66 revenue-generating luxury boxes, plus several thousand high-priced "club" seats. The plan also called for turning the old Comiskey playing field next door--where Shoeless Joe Jackson once roamed, and the site of the first all-star game in 1933--into a community park. The new ballpark would have caused minimal destruction to neighboring homes and perhaps served as a catalyst for an influx of new retail shops, offices, and housing in the area, a working-class neighborhood where little development had occurred. The estimated cost for the ballpark: $140 million.
This past month Minnesota Twins president Jerry Bell signed a letter of intent to move the team from the Metrodome in Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul, where Mayor Norm Coleman has unveiled plans for a ballpark that would be "cozy and intimate with quirky outfield dimensions." It would seat 38,000 to 40,000 fans and include 65 luxury suites and approximately 4,000 club seats. Other than that, the plans are vague, though they seem to be based on a design proposed by the locally based architectural giant Ellerbe Becket for Twins owner Carl Pohlad in 1997, the main difference being that the 1997 design called for a retractable roof. (For more on the imprecision of the mayor's pitch, see accompanying sidebar.) The estimated price tag for Coleman's plan: $325 million.
Why so much? Have construction costs more than doubled since the late Eighties?
No. The fact of the matter is, the publicly financed stadium Coleman is pushing isn't "intimate" at all--nor, aside from its location, is it particularly "urban." The same can be said of all the pseudo-quaint (and exorbitantly priced) baseball-only venues that have been popping up at taxpayers' expense throughout this decade, from Baltimore to Cleveland to Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, and Arlington, Texas. Virtually all of the newly built facilities boast so-called retro features that purport to evoke baseball's bygone glory days: They're open-air structures with attractive brick façades and a pretty view of the city skyline, and they make some use of existing buildings nearby to provide a sense of connection with a particular place.
But it's mostly a veneer. Today's retro ballparks are huge structures, often 50 percent larger than an urban ballpark like Armour Field, and represent nothing more than an extravagant sham perpetrated by wealthy team owners, abetted by the politicians who shill for them. As ballpark consultant and former Los Angeles Times architecture critic John Pastier has suggested, "[J]ust stop calling these vast new stadiums traditional parks. Instead, label them what they really are: nostalgically packaged revenue machines geared to business entertainment."
Coleman and the Twins want a massive edifice like those that have been built in other cities, one that will allow the team to include bars, restaurants, swimming pools, amusement areas, and any other potentially revenue-enhancing amenity that a colossal public subsidy might buy. The only limits to the team's wish list will be its perception of what the local market will bear. In New York, for example, the Yankees demanded that a billion-dollar stadium/entertainment complex be built in Manhattan, while the Mets have their hearts set on an extravagant $500 million facility that features a retractable roof and a natural grass field that can actually be moved in and out of the stadium.
Coleman is brushing aside the fact that his ballpark can't be built in downtown St. Paul for anything close to $325 million. With the existing arrangement of highway ramps and maze of narrow streets, it will be impossible to move 40,000 baseball fans in and out of the city 81 times a year without creating horrendous traffic jams. (The place is a virtual parking lot during state tournament time, and fewer than 20,000 spectators attend those events.) Alleviating these problems in St. Paul would require significant capital expenditures, which, based on other cities' stadium projects involving freeway access and road improvements, could easily reach $150 million in additional costs.
Of course, money is no object when you're aiming to make your town a "world-class city." As with his plan for St. Paul's new hockey arena, Coleman expects to fund his new stadium by persuading the state Legislature to issue 30-year bonds that would be repaid with equal contributions by the state, the city of St. Paul, and the Twins. The mayor hopes to raise St. Paul's share of this estimated $25.5 million annual payment by persuading city voters to go to the polls in November and approve a nonbinding referendum that will allow the city to double its half-percent sales tax.
Philip Bess says a Twin Cities version of his stadium could be constructed in downtown Minneapolis for less than half the price of the mayor's proposal--about $150 million, including associated land-acquisition and infrastructure costs. It would satisfy the longings of Twins fans starved for outdoor baseball, create an intimate venue that could be woven into the city's existing fabric of buildings and streets, and make the ballpark affordable enough for the Twins to finance on their own. That would be good for fans, for taxpayers, and for the team, which could boast a unique, classic ballpark that would become its own attraction.
Like Wrigley Field in Chicago, Fenway Park in Boston, and Detroit's Tiger Stadium--the only classic urban ballparks that remain in existence (all but Wrigley are slated for demolition)--Bess's design would be tailored to its site's existing street grid, rather than made to overlap onto neighboring parcels. It would occupy a much smaller "footprint," thus dramatically reducing the costs of land acquisition, site preparation, raw materials, and labor. It would also provide the very intimacy that retro parks falsely lay claim to. In the 1997 Ellerbe Becket stadium design, for example, the upper deck is actually 9 feet higher up and 22 feet farther from home plate than the current setup in the football-oriented Metrodome. Bess's design, on the other hand, would call for the upper deck to sit directly above the lower deck, supported by columns. While these columns would necessitate a minuscule number of obstructed seats--perhaps 350--the tradeoff yields better seats for everyone else.
The typical knock against traditional urban ballparks, voiced most stridently by team owners and unquestioning sportswriters, is that they're great for fans seeking a link with baseball's nostalgic past but economically obsolete for owners in need of enormous revenue streams to keep their teams competitive. Not true, says Bess: A ballpark inspired by the traditional model can incorporate most of the amenities the new retro stadiums provide, including the big revenue generators like luxury boxes, club seats, and a stadium club. There's also room for catering facilities, as well as a restaurant and lounge.
How is this possible, given the traditional ballpark's smaller footprint? According to Bess, it's all in the design work. "The problem with today's [retro] stadiums is that they are not as cleverly designed as traditional urban ballparks," says Bess, now a professor of architecture at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. "The building program is inflated, and concourses and vertical circulation spaces [i.e., ramps and stairwells] are excessive."
This, Bess explains, results in stadium square footage that is two to three times greater than is necessary, which accounts for the retro parks' exorbitant cost. (Unlike that of a retro park, Bess's design would require an adjacent building to house team offices and possibly some workout facilities.)
But since the Twins wouldn't be paying for their stadium, they don't have to use any fiscal restraint when envisioning what will be built. They certainly don't have to be creative. In other words, they don't need someone like Bess, whose concerns run more to Wrigley-inspired ivy-covered walls and Green Monster-like features à la Fenway. As Bess sees it, those elements are what makes a ballpark special--and what binds fans to a team.
"Traditional ballparks are better for fans, better for neighborhoods, better for taxpayers, and in the long run, better for baseball," he says. "You'll have franchises that are identified with a place, because the place has character, and ultimately it becomes part of the team's character and the city's character."
First, though, you have to build them. In Chicago, after securing $150 million in public financing, White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn convinced the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to retain the services of the architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc. (HOK), who erected for them the "new Comiskey." To serious baseball fans, the stadium is a joke, a badly designed, mall-like behemoth with little character and upper-deck seats so far from the action that one could find more intimacy in front of a TV set. HOK went on to design Camden Yards in Baltimore, Jacobs Field in Cleveland, and Coors Field in Denver, and also has ballparks under way in San Francisco and Houston. (Ellerbe Becket, meanwhile, created Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix and the new Turner Field in Atlanta.)
As for Philip Bess's design, it never got anywhere. Despite stories in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Wall Street Journal that featured his ideas and renderings of Armour Field, the White Sox declined to review his proposal.
To understand why a publicly financed retro ballpark that costs more than $300 million, rather than a classic and intimate park that can be built for half that price, has become the prototype for new ballparks in the 1990s, it is necessary to know only that those who control a two-billion-dollar-a-year monopoly sport can pretty much do whatever they want. To understand how that kind of leverage was acquired, one must look back to the building of Chicago's new Comiskey Park, and how that process, coupled with the exponential growth of broadcast revenues in a sport that has no significant revenue sharing or salary controls, touched off a stadium-construction boom that has yet to abate.
In the early 1980s, shortly after buying the White Sox, Reinsdorf and Einhorn began complaining that their franchise wasn't sufficiently profitable. It's an old refrain in baseball; the desire for greater profits fueled the franchise moves of the Fifties and Sixties (including the one that brought the Washington Senators to Minnesota in 1961 to become the Twins), and in the Seventies usually led to a team winning some capital improvements or a larger percentage of concession revenue from the public entity that served as the stadium's landlord.
The White Sox, however, owned Comiskey Park, which was in need of major improvements. Rather than borrow money and rehabilitate a classic old ballpark, they suggested that a publicly financed stadium be built in suburban Addison, Illinois. When a referendum there failed, they threatened to move the team to St. Petersburg, Florida. Thanks to intense lobbying by baseball officials and pressure applied by then governor Jim Thompson, the state Legislature approved funding for construction bonds and the Sox got a stadium in Chicago.
To architects and visitors alike, the edifice is a travesty: It's a "superblock" suburban building that squats on a 15-acre parcel of land--a footprint that's 50 percent bigger than the one the old ballpark occupied. The structure soars 146 feet above the city streets--almost twice the height of its predecessor. The upper deck seats are so distant from the field and angled so sharply that the last row of seats in the old Comiskey was actually closer to home plate than is the first row of upper-deck seats in the new park. Additionally, the stadium is surrounded by a sea of parking lots, and ancillary development in the area has been nil.
Still, for the fraternity of baseball owners, the construction of the new Comiskey was a watershed. It legitimized blackmail, public financing, and sweetheart leases as standard parts of stadium negotiations, and established an architecturally unconstrained, outrageously priced facility as the norm. In Baltimore, the Orioles followed the White Sox' tactical lead but managed to avoid aesthetic catastrophe by implementing a quasi-urban design featuring a beautifully manicured field set against a nostalgic backdrop of older buildings and the Baltimore skyline. And when Camden Yards opened to sellout crowds, every owner in baseball wanted one just like it. During this decade eight new stadiums have been built; another four are under construction, and ground will probably be broken for as many as five more in the next few years. All but one--Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco--have been financed almost entirely with public money. According to published figures for stadium costs, by the end of the year 2000, municipal debt for baseball park construction and financing could exceed five billion dollars.
"The Twins want the public to enable them to make as much money as possible," says Neil deMause, who along with co-author Joanna Cagan wrote the exposé Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit. "Teams don't even have to decide on an architectural plan until after the money's been approved. They say, 'What can we do for this amount of money?' That's why the Seattle Mariners had huge cost overruns on Safeco Field--they came up with all these design changes after the concrete had already been poured."
With site requirements that often force the removal of older buildings and housing units and invariably lead to more parking lots and plazas (Coors Field in Denver avoids some of these pitfalls), retro parks promote little urban revitalization or economic development in the surrounding neighborhoods. For example, Mark Rosentraub, a professor of urban planning at Indiana University who has extensively studied the impact of sports facilities on jobs and revenues, found that the $400 million construction cost of Jacobs Field in Cleveland yielded a net job creation of only 2,000 lower-paying service-sector positions in the Gateway region that surrounds the ballpark.
"For publicly financed auto plants--like Isuzu in Indiana--government expenditures can run as high as $100,000 per job, and these costs are often criticized. But at least these are high-tech positions," says Rosentraub. "At a cost of $200,000 per job created, the issue of economic benefits connected with Jacobs Field isn't even worth mentioning."
Rosentraub also notes that the issue of potential job gains from ballparks is moot when you consider the net tax loss to the public: In Baltimore, for instance, Camden Yards yields $3 million in revenue for the city, while taxpayers foot the annual $14 million tax payment on the state bonds issued to pay for the stadium's construction.
As the White Sox settled into their new stadium, disparities in revenue between small- and large-market clubs were growing. Huge increases in the demand for local and regional sports programming brought on by advances in broadcast technology yielded a veritable pot of gold for large-market teams such as the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers. The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves, owned by media conglomerates, kept pace by building large national followings through team-controlled cable networks.
Although the White Sox's owners didn't benefit from any significant gain in broadcast revenues, they did have a new cost-free ballpark--a competitive advantage not lost on other clubs. What better revenue stream could one possibly imagine than a taxpayer-funded ballpark? Given free stadiums, teams like the Orioles, Indians, Rangers, and Rockies could afford to vie for high-priced free agents. The result has been an enormous increase in player salaries, with superstars now pulling down as much as $15 million annually--two to three times what they earned as little as three years ago.
Baseball used to be a game for everyone, drawing people from all backgrounds and economic classes. Though they may have paid different prices for their tickets, fans generally ate the same food, drank the same beer, and used the same bathrooms. They also sat in better seats, thanks to ballparks that put everyone as close to the action as possible. Nostalgia aside, those days are gone.
Next to the public-financing myth, the biggest lie about retro ballparks is that their smaller seating capacity makes them more intimate. Retro parks are designed to please owners rather than fans, and teams have made a deliberate effort to target corporate "clients" and the affluent at the expense of the middle class. Consider, for example, the publicity materials distributed by Ellerbe Becket in 1997 to describe the amenities of the proposed new Twins park. Seats in the lower deck would "provide fans with the ballpark's most intimate seating options," while fans sitting in the skyway level ("just 22 feet above the playing field") would have "an incredible view of the action...." Contrast these delights with those available to fans in the upper deck, 71 feet above the action: "Fans will enter this deck at row eight with the option of going up or down." Makes the average fan pretty eager to whip out his wallet to help pay for a ballpark, doesn't it?
At the same time the typical fan is being pushed away from the action in a retro ballpark, he or she is being made to pay more for the privilege of sitting there. Building amenities such as cafés and bars into the prime seating area of the lower deck translates into higher ticket prices. At Camden Yards ticket prices have doubled in less than seven years. And with lower-deck and club seats available on a season-ticket basis only in most new parks, the best seats simply aren't available to the average fan. Now contrast Philip Bess's 42,000-seat stadium design with the currently touted Twins plan, which costs twice as much to construct yet presumably includes only 26 rows of lower-deck seats (versus the 36 rows at the Metrodome) and has room for only 38,000 fans. But then, Bess didn't include important amenities like "access to personal computers and online services" that will be available to guests in the Twins' proposed new luxury suites.
While Minnesotans starved for outdoor baseball may not appreciate these concerns now, once the rediscovered novelty of the fresh-air game wears off, fans will stay away in droves as the game's built-in economic disparities force the Twins to field perennially inept teams. As longtime White Sox fan Doug Bukowski observes in Field of Schemes: "You put kids up there where they can't see...they get bored. And you don't make them baseball fans. Which means when they become adults, they don't want to go....[I]n the long run baseball, by pursuing these types of new stadiums, is only eroding its fan base."
In the strange world of sports finance, home teams typically share ticket revenues with visiting clubs but keep all revenues for luxury-box rentals and so-called personal seat licenses--a payment ($3,000 for the lower deck at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco) in exchange for permanent rights to a particular seat. That's why luring corporate rentals and club-seating customers is so crucial. The Twins ownership is well aware that their fan base is too small to support franchises in four major sports; Pohlad and Co. only hope they can skim off as much money as possible before the market becomes saturated with the debut of a new hockey franchise and a new or remodeled facility for the Vikings. Mark Rosentraub likens the situation to that facing the hockey, baseball, and football clubs in Pittsburgh. "The regional economy is growing, but it is not large enough to sustain three teams," says Rosentraub. "So the Penguins teeter on bankruptcy and there is 'hope' that the Pirates and Steelers can make it in new facilities."
According to Field of Schemes authors Cagan and deMause, the Twins are simply following a time-tested pattern: First assert that your present stadium is inferior. Next talk about the need for more revenue to remain competitive and threaten to move to another city. Should those moves not produce the desired result, issue "glowing" reports on all the economic-growth and employment potential that a new downtown stadium will provide. Then keep a low profile and wait for public resistance to wane. If this strategy fails to produce a new stadium, simply repeat all the steps.
"In city after city, the people who want a new stadium built are usually the same people who are chummy with the media: politicians, business leaders, team owners," says Cagan. "Groups opposed to new stadiums are hard-pressed to get any favorable coverage by the media and are dramatically outspent and outfunded by corporate interests who want a new ballpark. Owners will be resistant to listening to any alternatives."
At any time he wishes, Twins owner Carl Pohlad can build a stadium that will solve his team's current revenue shortage, give loyal fans (a record three million of whom turned out in 1988) an intimate ballpark with classic features, and dramatically increase the value of his franchise. With naming rights that typically bring in $30 million to $50 million in other markets and a hometown municipality certain to help out with land and infrastructure costs (in the range of $25 million to $50 million), the old guy would probably have to shell out no more than $60 million--all of which would come back to him in added value, should he choose to sell. If Pohlad feels such an investment still isn't prudent, baseball's other 29 owners could throw in a few million apiece (chump change for them), and an urban ballpark in Minneapolis would be a done deal.
Admittedly, revenue from a traditional ballpark won't generate every last penny that a greedy owner might snare from a cash-cow retro park. But the potential shortfall hardly provides the justification for never considering such a ballpark in the first place.
Pohlad, however, has no intention of doing what's reasonable. He'll simply let Norm Coleman and his sidekick Erich Mische do their best to con the public, while sportswriters like Patrick Reusse and Sid Hartman carry water in the local media. Undoubtedly, should support for a traditional urban ballpark gain any significant momentum among members of the public, the Twins will quickly find some "topnotch" expert from a big architectural firm to discredit the idea as "well-intentioned but misguided," a label that has been attached to efforts by fan groups in Chicago, Detroit, and Boston that have attempted to offer alternatives to razing the classic ballparks in those cities.
With Pohlad's failure last year to unload the Twins to North Carolina, the threat of moving the club has become an unlikely option. The only feasible ballpark currently available to a major league team is RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.--a market Orioles owner Peter Angelos won't surrender without a vicious legal battle. Another municipality may build a new ballpark on spec, but there has been no movement on that front to date.
The Twins, it appears, are stuck with us. They can continue to push for a stadium the public has no intention of supporting, or they can do something no other club has done in 75 years--build a truly urban ballpark. In a well-designed, reasonably priced venue in Minneapolis, outdoor baseball would bloom, fans would turn out, and media coverage of baseball would return to where it belongs: the sports pages. There'd only be one problem: Norm Coleman wouldn't get to be mayor of a "world-class city."
ST. PAUL MAYOR Norm Coleman wants to build "an open air riverfront ballpark, nestled within a vital new urban village" somewhere in his city's downtown. According to an August 2 letter of intent signed by the Twins and the city of St. Paul, the design "will be an open air renaissance-style ballpark of a quality comparable to recently constructed parks," consisting of 38,000 to 40,000 seats and approximately 65 luxury suites and 4,000 club seats. Beyond that, there seems to be no detailed plan.
But at public forums held during the past two months around St. Paul, city officials and representatives of pro-development organizations have touted five potential sites for the stadium that were selected by the architectural firm Ellerbe Becket--the company that submitted a ballpark design back in 1997 when Twins owner Carl Pohlad started agitating for a new home for his team.
Is Coleman's ballpark plan an Ellerbe project? Depends who you ask.
When I called Lisa Haller, Ellerbe's communication manager in Minneapolis, she told me the firm's 42,000-seat design is the working model for Coleman's current proposal, minus the original plan's retractable roof. But she was unsure where changes would be made in the seating arrangement to reduce the capacity to Coleman's stated size, and referred me to Twins communications director Dave St. Peter for specifics.
St. Peter wouldn't provide any details--or much of anything else concerning what a St. Paul stadium might look like. "There is no active design at this time," he declared. "No architect has been hired for this project." When I asked about the Ellerbe model, he stated that it was "off the table." When I inquired as to how the Twins could establish a ceiling price of $277 million for the construction portion of the $325 million project (as indicated in the letter of intent) without working from a specific architectural design, St. Peter replied that the figure was based on estimates provided by the local construction firm M.A. Mortenson and other parties. "The ballpark will be of a renaissance-style nature," he ventured. "We want a design that will give us the best opportunity to have a stadium that will remain state-of-the-art for as many years as possible," he added, offering assurances that the Twins have a "strong desire to include fans" in the stadium-design process and "will do everything to keep the cost down."
I found it odd that St. Peter would disavow any relationship between Ellerbe and the Twins when his team has signed a letter of intent with the city of St. Paul and the firm's architects are working with Mayor Coleman and his allies on design proposals. And how could Ellerbe's local media contact not know her company was out of the picture as far as the baseball team was concerned?
When I called Haller back, she referred me to communications director Stuart Smith, who works in Ellerbe's Kansas City, Missouri, offices, home to the firm's professional sports design group. Smith informed me that Ellerbe has done no paid work for the Twins since early 1998. In fact, he added, the company's only current work in conjunction with Minnesota sports facilities was a redesign of the Metrodome prepared for the Metropolitan Sports Commission.
Was it possible, I asked Smith, that Ellerbe might indeed be working on a design for the Twins but for reasons of confidentiality he wasn't permitted to divulge any information? "Because we establish separate teams to work on different stadium proposals, it's possible that I might not have all of the specifics at a particular time," he replied.
As communications director he wouldn't know of a design team working on a $325 million professional sports project?
Smith said he'd do some more digging.
He subsequently called back to impart that Ellerbe was under contract with two pro-development St. Paul organizations that are working with Coleman: the Capital City Partnership and the St. Paul Riverfront Corporation.
Given that those groups are working directly with the city in the design process, aren't the Twins just splitting hairs claiming that Ellerbe isn't working for them? "Would Ellerbe love to design the Twins' new ballpark in Minnesota? Absolutely," Smith replied. "Are we under contract to do so? Not at this time." (Tom Goldstein)
Tom Goldstein is publisher of the baseball journal Elysian Fields Quarterly, a founding member of FAIRball (Baseball Fans of America in Revolt), and a resident of St. Paul. His publishing company, Knothole Press, has just reissued Philip Bess's City Baseball Magic: Plain Talk and Uncommon Sense About Cities and Baseball Parks, a book that details the advantages of traditional urban ballparks over today's retro parks.
Sponsor Content
Sign Up >
No Thanks!
Remind Me Later > | http://www.citypages.com/news/ballpark-frankness-6709183 | dclm-gs1-069110000 |
0.031741 | <urn:uuid:a674c7b2-75ca-485a-9b35-b2c30224f7c8> | en | 0.969911 | Court to Yelp: Reveal names of negative reviewers
Thinking different? Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
I recently stayed in a hotel that was described by a Yelp reviewer like this:
Don't be fooled by the nice pictures on their Web site. The one bedroom suite we got looked like a gross, dirty version in comparison (imagine Jersey Shore house AFTER it's already been stayed in). Stains on the drapes, the two girls that slept on the pull out couch got bug bites, and poor plumbing in the bathroom (the shower smelled like sewage and every time the toilet was flushed you had to wait at least 10 minutes before it could be used again) were just some of the horribleness we had to deal with.
I thought the hotel was lovely. Which was just another support for a thought I've had for some time: Why would anyone trust a Yelp reviewer?
But people seem to. So much so that companies' livelihoods can be affected by those who leave their whinings.
Now a court in Virginia has insisted that Yelp name seven reviewers who posted their dissatisfactions about a carpet cleaning company. As the Washington Times reports, the Virginia Court of Appeals declared that Yelp comments weren't covered by the First Amendment because the posters weren't customers of Hadeed Carpet Cleaning.
Yelp insists that Hadeed Carpet Cleaning hadn't justified its need to know the posters' identities. According to the Times, Yelp spokesman Vince Salitto said: "Other states require that plaintiffs lay out actual facts before such information is allowed to be obtained, and have adopted strong protections in order to prevent online speech from being stifled by those upset with what has been said. We continue to urge Virginia to do the same."
Virginia seems to have given that view one star. Raighne Delaney, representing Joe Hadeed, explained to the Times: "The Virginia statute makes the judge a gatekeeper to decide whether or not there's a common-sense reason for someone in our position to get this information."
When lawyers lurch to define common sense, we reach dangerous waters.
Hadeed's defense was that, in examining his database, he couldn't identify the reviewers as customers. Which allows for a certain possibility of, say, database error or, perish the idea, accidental erasure.
Paul Levy, Yelp's lawyer, said this was the first time he'd seen a case in which he'd believed the reviewer was protected and a court had ordered identification.
When contacted to see whether it might seek further steps in resisting the court order, Yelp offered me this further comment: "Other courts and other states have shown support for citizens' First Amendment right to speak anonymously. Consumers may feel the need to speak anonymously for privacy reasons or for fear of unfair retaliation by a business. This ruling could have a chilling effect on free speech in Virginia and Yelp will continue to fight to protect consumers' privacy and free speech rights. This ruling also shows the need for strong state and federal legislation to prevent meritless lawsuits aimed solely at stifling free speech."
Yelp reviews have often been the center of legal controversy. A couple of years ago, a review of a contractor in the DC area led to a $750,000 lawsuit. However, the reviewer's name was public.
Currently, Yelp reviews of the business are less stellar than, for example, reviews on Hadeed Carpet Cleaning's own site.
The two Yelp reviews at the top of the first page offer their own flavor.
The first, a four-star review, reads in part: "Bottom line: Don't play the 'body rolled up in the carpet' gag with Hadeed. They don't play that s***."
The second, a one-star, reads: "Not a customer, never been there, don't live in DC. HOWEVER, according to the news today: if you use Hadeed and he doesn't like your Yelp review, he WILL make a federal case out of it. Literally."
Oh, I sometimes wonder whether all those legal costs are worth it.
Update, 1:05 p.m. PT:Added comment from Yelp.
Featured Video
Sorry, you are not old enough to view this content.
by David Katzmaier | http://www.cnet.com/news/court-to-yelp-reveal-names-of-negative-reviewers/ | dclm-gs1-069140000 |
0.044286 | <urn:uuid:4ab27894-44ac-448d-8ef8-da763136babc> | en | 0.990521 | Tuesday, May 5, 2015
I was not the first one to ask him why he was doing this, he said. And that he was asked to get out there many times, but no, he wouldn't.
Not now anyway.
Questioning this guy was a tough task, one of the more difficult interviews I had done in a while. Truth be told, I'm not sure if it was a very good one, but here it is for you to judge yourself.
First I wanted to know what it actually was that he was doing there - not a good opener as it showed. His defences went up immediately.
"What kind of a question is that supposed to be! Can't you see?", he snapped.
I replied that as I found him in quite an unusual position, I thought it was fair to ask.
"First of all, it's really none of your business. Mind your own stuff, won't you? And besides, I'm quite sure what you really want to know is why I am doing this, so why didn't you ask straight away? Not that I am interested in letting you know. I strongly believe that it's important for everyone to keep their secret. Nowadays everyone seems to run around letting the whole world know every single move they do, I bet you're one of them, too. How very boring. You people think you take a quick look and it's enough to know everything. But I tell you something:
What you're seeing is only the top of the iceberg!"
The tip, I corrected him.
"Aaah Mister know-it-all. So I was right. The tip, the top, the tippitippi tip top. Is that how you do this? Ask questions and tell people how to answer? So you don't need me, do you? You'll make up your own story anyway, and write in your plock thing about how I am doing this silly thing. Because you don't understand. I will tell you no more than that I do have my reasons and if you can't see the big picture, it's really not my problem."
I stated that it was only natural to be curious and that if he had something to tell about his reasons, I was here to listen. But he replied:
"Oh, so you're curious! Well, I won't tell you - that's the point in keeping your secret, isn't it? I'm afraid you have to go home with your curiosity and deal with it. I have nothing more to say.
Think I really have to wiggle my toes now. Good bye."
The interview was over. I thought, maybe he was just trying to be interesting. Or maybe he was right. Who knows?
keeping his secret
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
to be me (a little horror story)
This morning, I woke up to find myself transformed into a most repulsive critter. My skin had turned into something utterly unfamiliar - one couldn't call this a "skin" at all, to be honest - and the number of my limbs was all wrong. I picked myself up and scuffled to the bathroom, trying to remember how I had spent the last evening.
I had no idea, really.
The bathroom mirror showed what could only be described as a monster. Was this my own reflection? My whole body had turned into some grotesque, revolting animal, weird things grew on my head and my eyes … wet, little watery beads without that familiar glint of soul, life, or whatever you want to call it.
I had no idea what to do, so I decided to returnto my bedroom to calm down and ponder the situation. On the way back I heard the horrified screams of my family as they saw the state I was in. So I didn't hallucinate: they, too, saw my transformation, and they were appalled. I couldn't blame them.
I didn't think of myself as extremely handsome (I am quite cute, to tell the truth) – but the wobbly, watery thing I had become was just horrible. I went to my bedroom and heard the key turn in the lock right behind me. They didn't want me do get out again, at least until they'd have decided how to deal with the beast I had become, I figured. I heard their hushed voices behind the door. What would they resolve to do now? Would they get rid of me or would I be left alone, protected by my very ugliness, as nobody dared to come close to me, until, maybe, I'd be starved in my room?
With such sad thoughts I crawled back between the sheets, seeking comfort in some more sleep.
When I woke up about an hour or so later, I was back to normal. The same old Franz I was used to being, with these charming looks that (I must say) opened many a door for me in my life!
I'm happy to be me, believe me.
And don't eat too much before bedtime. It'll give you bad dreams.
cartoon bedbug
I'm happy to be me!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
his punk rocking heart
Okay, I guess it was not one of his best days. He was probably embarrassed that I caught him fluttering about on that sunlit spring clearing in the forest. A very joyful sight, I thought. But there is always more to it than meets the eye. Anyway, I involuntarily smiled at him (who wouldn't do that in my place?), and he asked me to stop showing my (...) teeth at him.
Not quite the reaction you'd expect at that moment. I put on as mean a face as I could and asked what the problem was. Honestly, the guy made me curious. Here is his story.
Roger* grew up in a simple little neighborhood not far from where we met. He spent his childhood without knowing his parents, which is not unusual in families like his. Like many of his age and species, his life was more or less about the old materialistic things, food, leaves, shelter, and avoiding the attention of the birds. He was a caterpillar (or "maggot" as he put it) like any other and ate a lot. A normal child.
He grew quickly and with every shed of skin he went through he wondered more what to be in his life. He hung around with new people, got curious about other ways of life, and ate a lot. One day he heard a buzzing bombardier beetle and was totally overwhelmed. Up to that time, music had never seemed an option to him. Sometimes it was even a rather scaring thing to him, especially bird song. That buzzing beetle really opened a door to new worlds for Roger! Here was something he could do.
From that day, Roger did pretty much avoid his kind, who definitely frowned at his new interest in music and his new friends. The danger connected to music in general made the idea even more appealing to him. There was excitement. Adventure. A way to shock the boring crowd he came from. Roger started to wear carefully ragged clothing, acted rude, hung around with mean maggots and ate a lot. He wanted to grow to be a big, bad, punk rocking beetle. He also played the drums a lot, and with remarkable talent. Music was his life, and the more people hated it, the bigger was his motivation to do it. Like so many youngsters, Roger needed to rebel, and now he had found a way.
As time passed Roger and his friends (who were very much of the same age) felt that their childhood days would soon come to an end, and it was time to make the "transition", which would leave them hamstrung for quite a while, so they made an appointment: After all was over they would rejoin and form a band! That being said, they separated and did what had to be done to grow up.
At the meeting, Roger found that his old buddies, who had all grown up to be mean looking insects, didn't want him any more. His drumming was still excellent, but they seemed to be embarrassed at the idea of performing with him on stage. Apparently he didn't have "the looks". Roger tried to wear a mask on stage, but in the end they found another drummer, and Roger was left alone.
So every now and then, he joyfully flutters about on that sunlit clearing (it's his nature after all), and he hates it. If you meet him, make sure you wear a proper frown. It'll make his punk rocking heart happy.
*name changed by the deer
he was almost in the band.
Friday, May 2, 2014
the famous insect
Everybody in the forest used to laugh about this little insect. He took images of himself wherever he would go.
Now there is this show about the "selfie" phenomenon in Berlin, and WOW!
Right where all the insect selfies are, there it is in the exhibition, for the world to see! They say, everybody should have their fifteen minutes of fame in their lives. If you have the chance to come to Berlin these days, you can see it at the pictoplasma portrait gallery at Kaufhaus Jandorf, Brunnenstrasse.
Stop by and say hello!
(Edit: meanwhile the exhibition is over. But the selfies go on!)
(Photo courtesy of gurkensalat.)
insect selfie at pictoplasma
Look at me, world!
Monday, April 7, 2014
blend in and survive
My opinion of course. No offense intended.
And think about those antlers.
hermit crab
deep inside, I am a hero
Friday, March 28, 2014
I look just like him
I thought so.
What's his name again?
George Clooney?
handsome and generally cool
Thursday, January 30, 2014
millions can't be wrong
Sorry, I was kind of buzzy lately, can we do the interview now? OK.
You know what strikes me as odd? It's all the talking about money. So many people take it much too serious, I think. Like it's all that matters. "Money makes the world go 'round" - don't they say this? It's some primate saying, I believe.
Oops - I know you don't write about them here; but is it okay for me to mention 'em? You know what I mean - the "H" word. Honestly, they are all over the place. We all know that and try our best to either get along or ignore it. But I'm aware you're focussing on normal people here. You can just edit this out if you need to.
Anyway - obviously money isn't as big a thing as these people think. So many are obsessed with it, I've seen 'em kill each other, can you believe it? For a bundle of crumpled paper!
Now we know what matters in life. It's just like they say: we're millions and so many of us just can't be wrong. Rich or poor - from my point of view it does make some difference (richer isn't always better I must say), it must be something about the diet. But it's not vital, believe me - I've been to the gutter and I've been to Broadway, I have pretty much seen it all. Money is just not the point.
You know, we are everywhere, we are many, looking down to this world through billions of small eyes. Most folks don't even notice we're there, but we are - and we see all this mess. It makes you laugh, can't help it! We are the ones you should ask what really counts.
I give you a hint: it's not true that it doesn't reek. Haha. Gotta live, that's it, you see? Money or no money, you need food and a warm place, something to buzz for and your crowd and you're fine. You don't get that from printed pieces of paper, you need something real, don't you? Warm and soft and with a flavour. You know what I'm talking about: It's life!
So that's my two cents (no pun intended here). Gotta whirr off. See you!
I've been to Broadway. | http://www.deer-prudence.blogspot.de/ | dclm-gs1-069380000 |
0.223663 | <urn:uuid:3a314c68-66ec-4f90-9b82-7432f61cf224> | en | 0.876522 | Definitions for justiceˈdʒʌs tɪs
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word justice
Princeton's WordNet
1. justice, justness(noun)
the quality of being just or fair
2. justice(noun)
3. judge, justice, jurist(noun)
4. Department of Justice, Justice Department, Justice, DoJ(noun)
1. justice(Noun)
The state or characteristic of being just or fair.
2. justice(Noun)
The ideal of fairness, impartiality, etc., especially with regard to the punishment of wrongdoing.
Justice was served
3. justice(Noun)
Judgment and punishment of a party who has allegedly wronged (an)other(s).
to demand justice
4. justice(Noun)
The civil power dealing with law.
5. justice(Noun)
A judge of certain courts. Also capitalized as a title.
Mr. Justice Krever presides over the appellate court
6. justice(Noun)
Correctness, conforming to reality or rules.
7. Origin: justice from justise, justice (Modern justice), from iustitia 'righteousness, equity', from iustus "just", from ius 'right', from ious, perhaps literally "sacred formula", a word peculiar to Latin (not general Italic) that originated in the religious cults, from yewes-. Replaced native rightwished, rightwisnes "justice" (from rihtwīsnes "justice, righteousness", compare ġerihte "justice").
Webster Dictionary
1. Justice(adj)
2. Justice(adj)
3. Justice(adj)
4. Justice(adj)
agreeableness to right; equity; justness; as, the justice of a claim
5. Justice(adj)
a person duly commissioned to hold courts, or to try and decide controversies and administer justice
6. Justice(verb)
to administer justice to
1. Justice
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
1. Justice
1, High Court Of, one of the two great sections of the English Supreme Courts; 2, Lord Chief, the chief judge of the Queen's Bench division of it; 3, Lord Justice-General, supreme judge in Scotland, the Lord President of the Court of Session; 4, of the Peace, the title of a petty county or borough magistrate of multifarious duties and jurisdiction; 5, Lords Justices, judges of the English Court of Appeal.
The Roycroft Dictionary
1. justice
A system of revenge where the State imitates the criminal.
The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
Fair play; often sought, but seldom discovered, in company with Law. A chip of the old block--A daughter of the Tenderloin. K One man's meat is another man's finish--Canned Beef in Cuba. KANGAROO A hard drinker from Australia, especially fond of hops, and generally carrying a load.
British National Corpus
1. Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'justice' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1522
2. Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'justice' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2867
3. Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'justice' in Nouns Frequency: #630
Translations for justice
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for justice »
Find a translation for the justice definition in other languages:
Select another language:
Discuss these justice definitions with the community:
Word of the Day
Please enter your email address:
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"justice." STANDS4 LLC, 2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015. <>.
Are we missing a good definition for justice? Don't keep it to yourself...
Nearby & related entries:
Alternative searches for justice:
Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support. | http://www.definitions.net/definition/justice | dclm-gs1-069390000 |
0.147166 | <urn:uuid:fa4e2e7f-49af-4571-98a4-362dfca6f5ad> | en | 0.965508 | Lama - The Source of Blessings
HE Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche.
On the sutra path, first, the cause for a dualistic view is analyzed. One finds that the root for this is clinging to an "I," our ignorance. Then one goes on analyzing. Where does this idea come from? What is the essence of clinging to an "I?" What are its signs? What is its cause, etc.? Finally, one comes to the conclusion that one's own identity does not truly exist. On the sutra path, one starts from the understanding that now we are in a state full of suffering and one looks for the cause of this suffering. One finds that the cause is the various actions one did before. Then one questions what led to these actions and their resulting karma. One finds that the cause is our disturbing emotions, which again are caused by our dualistic view and our clinging to an "I." Thus, one comes to the point where one recognizes that clinging to the "I" is the cause of all our experiences.
The tantra path starts from different conditions than the sutra path. This path is only suitable for practioners with the highest capacities, since one works directly with disturbing emotions without analyzing their causes. On the other hand, it is also said that in this degenerated time this path is suitable for people with the strongest disturbing emotions. The reason is that these people don't have the patience to accumulate merit over a long period of time and to practice the bodhisattva path. They simply cannot manage it. If one really can practice the tantra path and is able to deal with the disturbances in one's mind, it is a very fast path. Nevertheless, one will not reach buddhahood in a few days or years.
In the Vajrayana, the teacher has a much more important significance. One does not see him simply as one who shows the way, but one sees him as the Buddha himself. With this attitude, the blessing of the lama can directly enter one's mind, mature and awaken one's mindstream. In order to make this possible, two elements are needed. On the one hand one has to practice and on the other hand one has to open to the lama and really see him as the Buddha.
On the sutra path, one deals with one's actions very consciously. One puts effort into avoiding all negative actions and only doing positive things. But since one is always "accompanied" by one's own ignorance and since one has various disturbances, one never succeeds completely and always does something negative again. The sutra path takes so long because the striving for positiveness and the disturbances in the mind which tempt us to do negative actions, are always in conflict which each other.
On the tantra path however, there is an additional element in connection with the lama. In the true nature of mind there is no confusion to be found; it is only the way we experience things which is marked by confusion. If we open ourselves to the lama filled with trust, and therefore get his blessing, our mind will be guided to maturity. This means that through the power of blessing we are able to recognize the true nature of our mind. Thus the lama - the source of blessing - is so important in the Vajrayana and is called "the first root."
If one has attained certainty that one can develop this complete openness toward a lama, it should give rise to an unshakable trust. It should really be as unshakable and as indestructable as a diamond. If one is able to do that, the result is not being influenced and disturbed anymore by common thoughts. This unshakability of trust is also the reason for the name "Vajrayana", diamond-vehicle, because this trust is like a diamond - indestructable. Many people erroneously believe that there is no difference between a Vajrayana teacher and other teachers. A common teacher can show one the path in a perfectly pure and clear way, and explain how to behave, how things are, etc. A Vajrayana teacher however, is somebody who does not work and teach only with words, but on all levels. With bodily behavior, with verbal teachings and through the inspiration of his mind, he can lead the mindstream of others towards maturity and liberation. Only someone with this capacity is an authentic Vajrayana teacher. There are many common teachers, but only few can be called a teacher in the Vajrayana.
There is the quotation of earlier Kagyu masters that the preliminary practices - the Ngondro, are more profound than all other practices. This statement refers much more to the Guru-Yoga then to the prostrations, Dorje Sempa or mandala offerings, because here one receives the inspiration of the lama's blessing. For the practices like Mahamudra, or the developing phases in connection with yidam practices, or the completion phases - the Six Yogas of Naropa - which are all based on the Ngondro, it is always necessary to prepare one's mind properly. This happens through the blessing one experiences in Guru Yoga. Only through this, is one able to bring impure experiences to a pure level and to work correctly with the other practices. The devotion one should have toward the lama is more than one's feeling when seeing a certain teacher who behaves in a pleasant way toward oneself. If the lama smiles or speaks in a pleasant way, a feeling of devotion may arise, but this is called the "arising of a feeling due to various conditions." The aspired devotion toward the lama however, is a deep inner feeling which is independent from such outer conditions. In the beginning of course, it still depends on outer things; then it becomes an inner feeling which awakens independently from outer conditions and momentary experiences. Only when this completely deep devotion and this unshakable trust have arisen can the blessing work in a way so that common thoughts and the like, calm down naturally. There are descriptions about the signs of devotion: tears appear in the eyes and the hair on the body stands upright. But for this to happen it is necessary that one has a connection to one's lama for many lifetimes; to build it up in one lifetime is impossible.
| http://www.dharmanet.org/jamgonlama.htm | dclm-gs1-069430000 |
0.07085 | <urn:uuid:3cd8dc2c-c9b2-4b90-a03a-fc3e3e9deba7> | en | 0.936987 | PIX 2015
Why the leading bleeding edge is not for the faint at heart
Started Feb 8, 2013 | Discussions thread
Shop cameras & lenses ▾
ForumParentFirstPreviousNextNext unread
Flat view
Senior MemberPosts: 1,032Gear list
Why the leading bleeding edge is not for the faint at heart
Feb 8, 2013
With DPR posting up the D5200 image samples my thoughts again went down the path of image quality, technology and the like.
As it stands today, the OMD sensor makes for a very competitive product at a $1000 body pricepoint, being weathersealed with a lot of innovative features such as the 5-axis IBIS which is very effective both for video and stills. When one compared it to say the D5200 it holds its own, and when one compares it to the D3x, D3 etc, it compares well while sitting just behind (ISO for ISO).
More and more I have been thinking about the next body that uses the 43rds glass, if we can get the OMD sensor, tweaked for slightly better performance in a DSLR body I honestly cant see myself upgrading for quite some time... Now I know, I know there are people out there who say "yes but you always say that)... But seriously, look at how far cameras have come. The D3, D3s and D4 have been incremental improvements in IQ (specifically for high ISO) while most additions have been to features such as video, connectivity etc.
The D3x to the D800 IQ improvements centre around low iso resolution and I am sure many D3x owners feel they could upsize and save themselves $3000...
So where does that leave my thinking for the next professional body, I feel we have gained so much across the board in simple IQ, high ISO etc. combined with the fast lenses available for most systems there are fewer and fewer environments where modern cameras cant produce results.
Olympus will probably do what many others have done, their next flagship will follow suit. It will be a little cheaper, with slightly improved IQ, a bit smaller and contain a lot of new features probably geared towards AF, Framerate, Video and connectivity.
If that is the case, and I strongly see it that way, then this next body will keep me very happy through a lot of creative growth for stills with my HG lenses, but also for Video.
-- hide signature --
alatchin's gear list:alatchin's gear list
Nikon D3 Nikon D3S Nikon D3X Nikon D4 Nikon D5200 Nikon D800 Nikon D800E
ForumParentFirstPreviousNextNext unread
Flat view
ForumParentFirstPreviousNextNext unread
Keyboard shortcuts:
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow | http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50822776 | dclm-gs1-069470000 |
0.271785 | <urn:uuid:d615f993-6bba-4b21-9e0c-bbd98a07b08c> | en | 0.967799 | Declining markets (or more precisely, decreasing demand for specific products) involve high risk, so you need competitive intelligence to help you recognize when you're competing in one. An obvious tell is when you see a competitor engaging in the following:
• Rebranding its declining products: Your competitor may try to tweak the product and introduce it as something new and improved to extend its life.
• Setting up smoke screens: A company may increase its marketing and sales efforts around an aging product as a smoke screen to obscure its plans to introduce an innovative new product to the market.
Why would your competitor be doing such things? Well, competitors whose products reach the mature stage have almost always recovered their development and launch costs, so they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by extending the product's life.
What you really want to watch for is a competitor's research and development expenses as a percentage of sales. An unexplained jump in the percentage tells you that while the company is pushing its old product, it may have a new and improved one in the pipeline.
Remain vigilant for any signs that your competitors are about to introduce something to the market that represents a revolutionary change. Such changes can result in long-term loss cycles while your company tries to catch up. Your stealth CI team (sales people, those who attend industry conventions, and so on) often get wind of such changes when a competitor engages in a little bragging. | http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-competitive-intelligence-can-help-you-spot-opp.navId-817770.html | dclm-gs1-069490000 |
0.221231 | <urn:uuid:0fd564f5-66c0-467a-a364-588538823318> | en | 0.966029 | The Science Behind Crafting Contagious Content
Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis may never learn what the fox says, but its video posing that musical question solved a far greater mystery: the secret behind viral media success.
"The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)," released in September 2013, received some 40 million online views in its first two weeks and scored an astounding 276 million by December, becoming YouTube's top trending video of the year.
Silly, bizarre and undeniably catchy, "The Fox" went viral simply by provoking a powerful reaction across a range of demographics. And that visceral response is what separates viral breakouts from busts, according to Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On.
"There is a science behind why people share. It's not chance, and it's not random," Berger says. "If you understand the underlying science of human behavior, you can predict what people are going to pass on, and you can craft your own contagious content--whether it's messages, products or ideas--that people are more likely to spread."
Berger has spent years investigating the mechanics behind virality, identifying six key drivers under the acronym STEPPS. They are Social Currency (e.g., sharing things that make people look good), Triggers (acknowledging that we talk about things that are top-of-mind), Emotion, Public (imitating what we see others do), Practical Value (news people can use) and Stories (information passed along under the guise of idle chitchat).
"Each [driver] is a research-tested principle that increases the likelihood that people will talk about and share things, that brands get word-of-mouth, that services get shared and that videos get passed along the internet," Berger explains. "We can reliably say that including certain characteristics and messages will increase the number of people who share [content] and the likelihood it will be shared."
Understanding and leveraging these drivers does not guarantee a successful campaign, however. "Part of the problem with chasing this idea of 'viral' is that people build content that doesn't have anything to do with the brand," Berger contends. "You can make a really funny video, and people will laugh, but if it doesn't have anything to do with the service you're offering or the product you're selling, it's not going to impact sales. Too many companies and organizations are chasing good content without understanding how to make it help the brand."
In fact, he argues that small businesses should worry less about going viral on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter and more about generating buzz in the real world. "Sometimes [companies] focus too much on the technology and not enough on the psychology," he points out. "Only a little bit of word-of-mouth is online. Technologies will come and go, so rather than getting fixated on a particular technology, you need to understand why people share, regardless of the technology they're using. Every person who buys from you, every service that works with you, every person who goes to your website--how can you make them more likely to talk about you, share you and bring in new business? You want to turn your customer base into a marketing department. That's what word-of-mouth does."
View Comments (0) | http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233254 | dclm-gs1-069650000 |
0.186052 | <urn:uuid:9fb68cb0-0790-44c4-aae1-2e6b5cbc9ec2> | en | 0.889837 | Total Time
1hr 5mins
Prep 20 mins
Cook 45 mins
This is totally delicious. It is a lower fat version of Potato Gratin. I bake it in a 10" deep dish pyrex pie plate. It is fairly easy with a food processor or mandoline to do the slicing. You will have to use your common sense with the stock when making, as casserole dishes and potatoes vary in size (the stock should come just barely below the surface of the top layer of potato). Fresh Rosemary finely chopped is also delicious.
Ingredients Nutrition
1. Thinly slice potatoes.
2. Grease or spray oven proof dish.
3. Arrange potato in concentric circles in dish.
4. Add thyme, smidge of garlic, and salt if using to each layer.
5. Pour stock over all. You should barely be able to see the stock , just below the top surface.
6. Bake 30 min covered at 350°F.
7. Check to be sure the potato is tender, and uncover.
8. Sprinkle with cheese, and return to oven for 15 min or until cheese is melted. | http://www.food.com/recipe/potato-gratin-my-way-332199 | dclm-gs1-069800000 |
0.033327 | <urn:uuid:16007660-a1f7-4b4a-bc58-79929d89b440> | en | 0.981771 | Guinea-Bissau convicts ex-bodyguard in last year's coup attempt, sentenced to 5 years
Published April 25, 2013
| Associated Press
A military tribunal in Guinea-Bissau has convicted an army captain of leading a failed coup last year.
Pansau Ntchama was sentenced on Thursday to serve five years in prison after being found guilty of treason and using illegal weapons.
Ntchama was the ex-bodyguard of Guinea-Bissau's former army chief of staff.
Authorities say he led gunmen who attacked a military base near the airport in Bissau in October 2012. The army fought back and the coup failed.
Troubled Guinea-Bissau has had so many coups and countercoups that no elected leader has been able to complete his term in the nearly four decades since the country won its independence from Portugal.
The most recent coup occurred in April 2012, just weeks before the presidential runoff election. | http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/04/25/guinea-bissau-convicts-ex-bodyguard-in-last-year-coup-attempt-sentenced-to-5/print | dclm-gs1-069810000 |
0.830318 | <urn:uuid:0375ee96-3dc3-419b-a2ab-36db5c779eb0> | en | 0.900592 | Muzzle flash
• Topic Archived
3 years ago#1
why does it look like it's from an n64 era shooter?? just watched a vid featuring the scar and m4 which seem to have higher muzzle flash than the t25 (cough, cough famas) and they look worse than in mw2/mw3 simply because of this
PSN: Viper51989
GT: IL Viper IL
Report Message
Terms of Use Violations:
Etiquette Issues:
Notes (optional; required for "Other"):
Add user to Ignore List after reporting
Topic Sticky
You are not allowed to request a sticky.
• Topic Archived | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/669289-call-of-duty-black-ops-ii/64260539 | dclm-gs1-069820000 |
0.029567 | <urn:uuid:46915e8d-c185-4705-a627-97909e05e017> | en | 0.951384 | GTA Enters Thunderdome
Niko, Tommy and CJ shoot it out, cagematch style.
"Two men enter, one man leaves" is so post-apocalyptic 1980s.
San Andreas' CJ, Vice City's Hawaiian shirt-loving Tommy Vercetti and Liberty City's Niko Bellic drive, steal and reload as Thunderdome goes (more) cagematch.
Which of these undesireables goes to the winner's circle and which one gets lit up till the trigger go click? Read their rap sheets and cast your vote in the poll below.
Carl "CJ" Johnson
Of all the protagonists in all the GTA games, few are as compelling or flat-out badass as Carl "CJ" Johnson.
CJ never met a gun he didn't love, or a target that didn't hate meeting CJ and his semi-automatic friend. This troubled young man, like so many do, tried to escape a life of crime and gang violence by heading to Liberty City… only to find a life of crime and gang violence waiting for him. And like all our GTA heroes, CJ proved he had the right stuff to shake off his adversaries and come out on top.
What's worse than getting shot? Getting shot by a guy on a Huffy.
Will CJ find victory in Thunderdome? We predict a strong and bloody finish as long as she stays away from double-fisting the hamburgers. | http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/05/01/gta-enters-thunderdome | dclm-gs1-070050000 |
0.077227 | <urn:uuid:03446651-5af3-4f80-813d-99c7a2abecdf> | en | 0.975263 |
Bodies found in mass graves
Sarajevo (Reuter)- Investigators said yesterday that they had exhumed 105 bodies from two mass graves in north-west Bosnia. They are believed to be Muslims killed by Bosnian Serbs at the beginning of the war, state radio reported.
Bosnian investigators found 77 bodies at one site, which they believe to be those of men from the village of Velagici, near the town of Kljuc, killed on 1 June 1992, the radio said. Investigators are still working on a second site, a cave where 28 bodies were unearthed. They believe the cave contains the bodies of up to 150 civilians from Biljani, also near Kljuc.
In a separate development, United Nations investigators have found 200 bodies in a mass grave near Vukovar, Croatia. The victims are believed to be hospital patients executed after Serbs seized the region in 1991.
A spokesman for the UN transitional authority in Eastern Slavonia, a Serb-held enclave due to revert to Croatian government rule next year, said the bodies had been sent to Zagreb for forensic examination. Circumstantial evidence suggests they were killed by machine gun. | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/bodies-found-in-mass-graves-1357354.html | dclm-gs1-070080000 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.