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Greek religion, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes. Greek religion is not the same as Greek mythology, which is concerned with traditional tales, though the two are closely interlinked. Curiously, for a people so religiously minded, the Greeks had no word for religion itself; the nearest terms were eusebeia ("piety") and threskeia ("cult").
Although its origins may be traced to the remotest eras, Greek religion in its developed form lasted more than a thousand years, from the time of Homer (probably 9th or 8th century bce) to the reign of the emperor Julian (4th century ce). During that period its influence spread as far west as Spain, east to the Indus River, and throughout the Mediterranean world. Its effect was most marked on the Romans, who identified their deities with those of the Greeks. Under Christianity, Greek heroes and even deities survived as saints, while the rival madonnas of southern European communities reflected the independence of local cults. The rediscovery of Greek literature during the Renaissance and, above all, the novel perfection of Classical sculpture produced a revolution in taste that had far-reaching effects on Christian religious art. The most-striking characteristic of Greek religion was the belief in a multiplicity of anthropomorphic deities under one supreme god. Priests simply looked after cults; they did not constitute a clergy, and there were no sacred books.
The sole requirements for the Greeks were to believe that the gods existed and to perform ritual and sacrifice, through which the gods received their due. To deny the existence of a deity was to risk reprisals, from the deity or from other mortals. The list of avowed atheists is brief. But if a Greek went through the motions of piety, he risked little, since no attempt was made to enforce orthodoxy, a religious concept almost incomprehensible to the Greeks. The large corpus of myths concerned with gods, heroes, and rituals embodied the worldview of Greek religion and remains its legacy. (See Greek mythology.) It should be noted that the myths varied over time and that, within limits, a writer—e.g., a Greek tragedian—could alter a myth by changing not only the role played by the gods in it but also the evaluation of the gods' actions.
From the later 6th century bce onward, myths and gods were subject to rational criticism on ethical or other grounds. In those circumstances it is easy to overlook the fact that most Greeks "believed" in their gods in roughly the modern sense of the term and that they prayed in a time of crisis not merely to the "relevant" deity but to any deity on whose aid they had established a claim by sacrifice. To that end, each Greek polis had a series of public festivals throughout the year that were intended to ensure the aid of all the gods who were thus honoured. They reminded the gods of services rendered and asked for a quid pro quo. Particularly during times of crises, the Greeks, like the Romans, were often willing to petition deities borrowed from other cultures.
The roots of Greek religion
The study of a religion's history includes the study of the history of those who espoused it, together with their spiritual, ethical, political, and intellectual experiences. Greek religion as it is currently understood probably resulted from the mingling of religious beliefs and practices between the incoming Greek-speaking peoples who arrived from the north during the 2nd millennium bce and the indigenous inhabitants whom they called Pelasgi. The incomers' pantheon was headed by the Indo-European sky god variously known as Zeus (Greek), Dyaus (Indian), or Jupiter (Roman). But there was also a Cretan sky god, whose birth and death were celebrated in rituals and myths quite different from those of the incomers. The incomers applied the name of Zeus to his Cretan counterpart. In addition, there was a tendency, fostered but not necessarily originated by Homer and Hesiod, for major Greek deities to be given a home on Mount Olympus. Once established there in a conspicuous position, the Olympians came to be identified with local deities and to be assigned as consorts to the local god or goddess.
An unintended consequence (since the Greeks were monogamous) was that Zeus in particular became markedly polygamous. (Zeus already had a consort when he arrived in the Greek world and took Hera, herself a major goddess in Argos, as another.) Hesiod used—or sometimes invented—the family links among the deities, traced out over several generations, to explain the origin and present condition of the universe. At some date, Zeus and other deities were identified locally with heroes and heroines from the Homeric poems and called by such names as Zeus Agamemnon. The Pelasgian and the Greek strands of the religion of the Greeks can sometimes be disentangled, but the view held by some scholars that any belief related to fertility must be Pelasgian, on the grounds that the Pelasgi were agriculturalists while the Greeks were nomadic pastoralists and warriors, seems somewhat simplistic. Pastoralists and warriors certainly require fertility in their herds—not to mention in their own number.
The Archaic period
The name Dionysus occurs in the Linear B tablets, so it seems very likely that his worship was a part of Mycenaean religion. His devotees, armed with thyrsoi (wands tipped with a pinecone and wreathed with grapevine or ivy leaves) and known as maenads (literally "mad women"), were reputed to wander in thiasoi (revel bands) about mountain slopes, such as Cithaeron or Parnassus; the practice persisted into Roman imperial times. They were also supposed, in their ecstasy, to practice the sparagmos, the tearing of living victims to pieces and feasting on their raw flesh (ōmophagia). While such behaviour continued in the wild, in the cities—in Athens, at any rate—the cult of Dionysus was tamed before 500 bce. Tragedy developed from the choral song of Dionysus.
In the 7th and 6th centuries bce "tyrants" (monarchs whose position was not derived from heredity) seized power in many poleis. Some tyrants, such as Peisistratus in Athens, were nobles and rose to power by offering the poor defense against the rest of the nobility. Once established, Peisistratus built temples and founded or revived festivals. At that time too, the earliest references to the Eleusinian Mysteries appear. The Mysteries offered a more-personal, less-distant relationship with the divine than did most of the Olympians. There was no Eleusinian way of life. On one or two occasions (depending on the grade they wished to attain) the initiates went to Eleusis; what they saw there in the place of initiation sufficed to ensure them a life after death that was much more "real" than the afterlife portrayed in the Olympian belief that the dead were witless ghosts.
The Classical period
During the 6th century bce the rationalist thinking of Ionian philosophers had offered a serious challenge to traditional religion. At the beginning of the 5th century, Heracleitus of Ephesus and Xenophanes of Colophon heaped scorn on cult and gods alike.
The Sophists, with their relentless probing of accepted values, continued the process. Little is known of the general success of those attacks in society as a whole. The Parthenon and other Athenian temples of the late 5th century proclaim the taste and power of the Athenians rather than their awe of the gods; but, it is said, after the completion of Phidias's chryselephantine (gold and ivory) Athena on the Acropolis, the old olive-wood statue of Athena, aesthetically no match for Phidias's work, continued to receive the worship of most of the citizens. Antiquity evoked awe; some of the most-revered objects in Greece were antique and aniconic figures that bore the name of an Olympian deity.
Festivals were expressive of religion's social aspect and attracted large gatherings (panēgyreis). Mainly agrarian in origin, they were seasonal in character, held often at full moon and on the 7th of the month in the case of Apollo and always with a sacrifice in view. Many were older than the deity they honoured, like the Hyacinthia and Carneia in Laconia, which were transferred from local heroes to Apollo. The games were a special festival, sometimes part of other religious events. Some festivals of Athens were performed on behalf of the polis and all its members. Many of those seem to have been originally the cults of individual noble families who came together at the synoikismos, the creation of the polis of Athens from its small towns and villages. The nobles continued to furnish the priests for those cults, but there was, and could be, no priestly class. There were no "priests of the gods" or even priests of an individual god; one became a priest of one god at one temple. Except for those public festivals, anyone might perform a sacrifice at any time. The priest's role was to keep the temple clean; he was usually guaranteed some part of the animal sacrificed. A priesthood offered a reasonably secure living to its incumbent.
Popular religion flourished alongside the civic cults. Peasants worshipped the omnipresent deities of the countryside, such as the Arcadian goat-god Pan, who prospered the flocks, and the nymphs (who, like Eileithyia, aided women in childbirth) who inhabited caves, springs (Naiads), trees (dryads and hamadryads), and the sea (Nereids). They also believed in nature spirits such as satyrs and sileni and equine Centaurs. Among the more-popular festivals were the rural Dionysia, which included a phallus pole; the Anthesteria, when new wine was broached and offerings were made to the dead; the Thalysia, a harvest celebration; the Thargelia, when a scapegoat (pharmakos) assumed the communal guilt; and the Pyanepsia, a bean feast in which boys collected offerings to hang on the eiresiōne ("wool pole"). Women celebrated the Thesmophoria in honour of Demeter and commemorated the passing of Adonis with laments and miniature gardens, while images were swung from trees at the Aiora. Magic was widespread. Spells were inscribed on lead tablets. Statues of Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, stood outside dwellings, while Pan's image was beaten with herbs in times of meat shortage.
The Hellenistic period
Greek religion, having no creed, did not proselytize. In the heyday of the polis, the Greek religion was spread by the founding of new poleis, whose colonists took with them part of the sacred fire from the hearth of the mother city and the cults of the city's gods. ("Heroes," being essentially bound to the territory in which they were buried, had to be left behind.) There was a tendency for Greeks to identify the gods of others with their own, often at a superficial level. So the virgin Artemis was identified with the chief goddess of Ephesus, a fertility deity.
After Alexander the Great had created a political world in which the poleis were engulfed by large kingdoms, those deities who were not too closely linked with a particular place became more prominent. Mystery cults, which offered a personal value to the individual in a large and indifferent world, also flourished. The Cabeiri of Samothrace, deities that had come in from Asia, were patronized by both the Greeks and the Romans, while the Egyptian cults of Isis and Serapis, in a Hellenized form, spread widely.
Rulers sometimes officially invited new gods to settle in times of crisis, in the hope that they would strive on their new worshippers' behalf against their mortal foes; that mode of religious thought flourished at least until the days of the Roman emperor Constantine. Those novel cults that seemed likely to pose a threat to public order, on the other hand, were suppressed by the Romans. The Senate destroyed the Bacchic cult in Italy in 186 bce, perhaps for the same reasons that the emperor Trajan gave to the writer and statesman Pliny the Younger for his treatment of the Christians: any cult in which men and women, bond and free, could participate and meet together—a most unusual circumstance in the ancient world—had dangerous political implications.
Beliefs, practices, and institutions
The gods
The early Greeks personalized every aspect of their world, natural and cultural, and their experiences in it. The earth, the sea, the mountains, the rivers, custom-law (themis), and one's share in society and its goods were all seen in personal as well as naturalistic terms. When Achilles fights with the River in the Iliad, the River speaks to Achilles but uses against him only such weapons as are appropriate to a stream of water. In Hesiod what could be distinguished as anthropomorphic deities and personalizations of natural or cultural phenomena both beget and are begotten by each other. Hera is of the first type—goddess of marriage but not identified with marriage. Earth is evidently of the second type, as are, in a somewhat different sense, Eros and Aphrodite (god and goddess of sexual desire) and Ares (god of war). These latter are personalized and anthropomorphized, but their worshippers may be "filled" with them. Some deities have epithets that express a particular aspect of their activities. Zeus is known as Zeus Xenios in his role as guarantor of guests. It is possible that Xenios was originally an independent deity, absorbed by Zeus as a result of the Olympo-centric tendencies of Greek religion encouraged by the poems of Homer and Hesiod.
In Homer the gods constitute essentially a super-aristocracy. The worshippers of these gods do not believe in reward or punishment after death; one's due must come in this life. Every success shows that the gods are well disposed, for the time being at least; every failure shows that some god is angry, usually as a result of a slight, intended or unintended, rather than from the just or unjust behaviour of one mortal to another. The Greeks knew what angered their mortal aristocracy and extrapolated from there. Prayer and sacrifice, however abundant, could not guarantee that the gods would grant success. The gods might prefer peace on Olympus to helping their worshippers. These are not merely literary fictions; they reflect the beliefs of people who knew that though it might be necessary to offer prayer and sacrifice to the gods, it was not sufficient. Greeks and Trojans sacrificed to their gods to ensure divine support in war and at other times of crisis. It was believed that Zeus, the strongest of the gods, had favoured the Trojans, while Hera had favoured the Greeks. Yet Troy fell, like many another city. The Homeric poems here offer an explanation for something that the Greek audience might at any time experience themselves.
There is no universal determinism in Homer or in other early writers. Moira ("share") denotes one's earthly portion, all the attributes, possessions, goods, or ills that together define one's position in society. Homeric society is stratified, from Zeus to the meanest beggar. To behave in accordance with one's share is to behave in accordance with one's status; even a beggar may go beyond his share, though he is likely to be punished for it. Zeus, the most powerful entity in Homer's universe, certainly has the power to go beyond his share; but if he does so, the other gods will not approve. And Zeus may be restrained, unless he feels that his "excellence," his ability to perform the action, is being called into question. Then he may insist on displaying his excellence, as do Achilles and Agamemnon, whose values coincide with those of Zeus in such matters.
In Homer, hērōī denotes the greatest of the living warriors. The cults of these mighty men developed later around their tombs. Heroes were worshipped as the most powerful of the dead, who were able, if they wished, to help the inhabitants of the polis in which their bones were buried. Thus, the Spartans brought back the bones of Orestes from Tegea. Historical characters might be elevated to the status of heroes at their deaths. During the Peloponnesian War, the inhabitants of Amphipolis heroized the Spartan general Brasidas, who had fought so well and bravely and died in their defense. It is power, not righteousness, that distinguishes the hero; it is the feeling of awe before the old, blind Oedipus that stimulates the Thebans and the Athenians to quarrel over his place of burial. Since they are the mightiest of the dead, heroes receive offerings suitable for chthonic (underworld) deities.
Of several competing cosmogonies in Archaic Greece, Hesiod's Theogony is the only one that has survived in more than fragments. It records the generations of the gods from Chaos (literally, "Yawning Gap") through Zeus and his contemporaries to the gods who had two divine parents (e.g., Apollo and Artemis, born of Zeus and Leto) and the mortals who had one divine parent (e.g., Heracles, born of Zeus and Alcmene). Hesiod uses the relationships of the deities, by birth, marriage, or treaty, to explain why the world is as it is and why Zeus, the third supreme deity of the Greeks, has succeeded in maintaining his supremacy—thus far—where his predecessors failed. Essentially, Zeus is a better politician and has the balance of power, practical wisdom, and good counsel on his side. (Whether Hesiod or some earlier thinker produced this complex nexus of relationships, with which Hesiod could account for virtually anything that had occurred or might occur in the future, the grandeur of this intellectual achievement should not be overlooked.)
In the period in Greece between Homer and about 450 bc the language of relationships between god and god, mortal and god, and lower-status mortal with higher-status mortal was the same. The deities remained a super-aristocracy. There was a scale of power and excellence on which the position of every mortal and every deity could be plotted. Both god and mortal were likely to resent any attempt of an inferior to move higher on the scale. It constituted hybris ("overweening pride," or hubris) for a Greek hērōs to claim that he would have a safe voyage whether or not the gods were willing; it was likewise hubris for Electra to presume to criticize the behaviour of her mother, Clytemnestra.
A further reason for Olympian disapproval, only marginally present in Homer, was the pollution caused by certain actions and experiences, such as childbirth, death, or having a bad dream. The divine world of the Greeks was bisected by a horizontal line. Above that line were the Olympians, gods of life, daylight, and the bright sky; and below it were the chthonic gods of the dead and of the mysterious fertility of the earth. The Olympians kept aloof from the underworld gods and from those who should be in their realm: Creon is punished in Sophocles' Antigone by the Olympians for burying Antigone alive, for she is still "theirs," and for failing to bury the dead Polyneices, gobbets of whose flesh are polluting their altars; and Artemis abandons Hippolytus, her most ardent worshipper, as his death approaches, for all corpses pollute. Pollution was not a moral concept, and it further complicated relationships between the Greeks and their gods.
In Homer only the gods were by nature immortal, but Elysium was reserved for their favoured sons-in-law, whom they exempted from death. Heracles alone gained a place on Olympus by his own efforts. The ordinary hero hated death, for the dead were regarded as strengthless doubles who had to be revived with drafts of blood, mead, wine, and water in order to enable them to speak. They were conducted, it was believed, to the realm of Hades by Hermes; but the way was barred, according to popular accounts, by the marshy river Styx. Across this, Charon ferried all who had received at least token burial, and coins were placed in the mouths of corpses to pay the fare.
Originally, only great sinners like Ixion, Sisyphus, and Tityus, who had offended the gods personally, were punished in Tartarus. But the doctrines of the Orphics influenced the lyric poet Pindar, the philosopher Empedocles, and, above all, Plato. According to the latter, the dead were judged in a meadow by Aeacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus and were consigned either to Tartarus or to the Isles of the Blest. Long periods of purgation were required before the wicked could regain their celestial state, while some were condemned forever. The dead were permitted to choose lots for their next incarnation. Subsequently they drank from the stream of Lethe, the river of oblivion, and forgot all of their previous experiences. (See also Orpheus; mystery religion: History).
Sacred writings
Greek religion was not based on a written creed or body of dogma. Nevertheless, certain sacred writings survive in the form of hymns, oracles, inscriptions, and instructions to the dead. Most elaborate are the Homeric Hymns, some of which may have been composed for religious festivals, though their subject matter is almost entirely mythological. Delphic inscriptions include hymns to Apollo but, like the Epidaurian hymn by Isyllus to Asclepius, they are not concerned with liturgy. Delphic oracles are quoted from literary sources but appear, on the whole, to be retrospective concoctions, like the Hebraic-Hellenistic collection of Sibylline prophecies. Questions scratched on folded lead tablets have been found at Dodona, and detailed instructions to the dead, inscribed on gold leaf and possibly of Orphic inspiration, have been found in Greek graves in southern Italy. Papyrus fragments of similar character have been recovered from graves in Macedonia and Thessaly.
Shrines and temples
In the earliest times deities were worshipped in awesome places such as groves, caves, or mountaintops. Mycenaean deities shared the king's palace. Fundamental was the precinct (temenos) allotted to the deity, containing the altar, temple (if any), and other sacral or natural features, such as the sacred olive in the temenos of Pandrosos on the Athenian Acropolis. Naoi (temples—literally "dwellings"—that housed the god's image) were already known in Homeric times and, like models discovered at Perachora, were wooden and of simple design. Poros and marble replaced wood by the end of the 7th century bc, when temples became large and were constructed with rows of columns on all sides. The image, crude and wooden at first, was placed in the central chamber (cella), which was open at the eastern end. No ritual was associated with the image itself, though it was sometimes paraded. Hero shrines were far less elaborate and had pits for offerings. Miniature shrines also were known.
Most oracular shrines included a subterranean chamber, but no trace of such has been found at Delphi, though the Pythia was always said to "descend." At the oracle of Trophonius, discovered in 1967 at Levádhia, incubation (ritual sleep to induce a dream) was practiced in a hole. The most famous centre of incubation was that of Asclepius at Epidaurus. His temple was furnished with a hall where the sick were advised by the demigod in dreams. Divination was also widely practiced in Greece. Augurs interpreted the flight of birds, while dreams and even sneezes were regarded as ominous. Seers also divined from the shape of altar smoke and the conformation of sacrificial animals' entrails.
Even in the state cults, priesthoods were frequently ancestral prerogatives. Eteobutads organized the cult of the hero-king Erechtheus at Athens; Praxiergids superintended the washing of Athena's robes at the Plynteria; and Clytiads and Iamids officiated at the altar of Zeus at Olympia. Although there was no official clergy, since the religious and secular spheres were not sharply divided, professional assistance was available at sacrifices. There was no necessary correspondence between the sex of deities and that of priests. Hera and Athena favoured priestesses, but Isis and Cybele favoured priests. Apollo inspired the Pythia (priestess) at Delphi but a priest at Ptoon. The mysteries at Eleusis were administered by the Eumolpids and Kerykes. The latter assembled the initiates (mystae), while the former provided the Hierophant, who revealed the mysteries in the torch-lit Anaktoron (king's shrine) within the great Telesterion, or entrance hall.
The precise details of many festivals are obscure. Among the more elaborate was the Panathenaea, which was celebrated at high summer; every fourth year it was celebrated on a more splendid scale (the Great Panathenaea). Its purpose, besides offering sacrifice, was to provide the ancient wooden image of Athena, housed in the "Old Temple," with a new robe woven by the wives of Athenian citizens. The Great Panathenaea included a procession, a torch race, athletic contests, mock fights, and bardic recitations. The Great Dionysia was celebrated at Athens in spring. At the end of the ritual the god's image was escorted to the theatre of Dionysus, where it presided over the dramatic contests. It, like its rural counterpart, included phallic features.
The Olympic Games formed part of the great festival of Zeus held every fourth summer in the god's sacred precinct—the Altis beside the river Alpheius in the western Peloponnese. A truce was proclaimed in order to permit any warring Greeks to compete, and the celebrations lasted five days. Sacrifice and libation were made at the altar of Zeus, where omens were taken and oracles proclaimed, and at the tomb of Pelops and the altar of Hestia. Competitors and judges took an oath to observe the rules; processions were held; bards recited; and winners were honoured at state banquets. The richer and more famous were immortalized by lyric poets, such as Simonides, Bacchylides, and Pindar. Though women were banned, girls competed at the festival of Hera. The games held in honour of Zeus at Nemea, Apollo at Delphi, and Poseidon at the Isthmus followed the Olympian pattern.
Sacrifice was offered to the Olympian deities at dawn at the altar in the temenos, which normally stood east of the temple. Representing as it did a gift to the gods, sacrifice constituted the principal proof of piety. The gods were content with the burnt portion of the offering, while the priests and worshippers shared the remainder of the meat. Different animals were sacred to different deities—e.g., heifers to Athena, cows to Hera, pigs to Demeter, bulls to Zeus and Dionysus, dogs to Hecate, game and heifers to Artemis, horses to Poseidon, and asses to Priapus—though the distinctions were not rigorously observed. The practices of ritual washing before sacrifice, sprinkling barley grains, and making token offerings of hair are described by Homer. Victims were required to be free of blemish, or they were likely to offend the deity. Sacrifice also was made to chthonian powers in the evening. Black-coloured animal victims were offered and placed in pits, and the meat was entirely consumed. Sacrifice preceded battles, treaties, or similar events. Human sacrifice appears, if it was practiced at all, to have been the exception. Bloodless sacrifices were made to some deities and heroes.
Prayers normally began with compliments to the deity, followed by discreet references to the petitioner's piety, and ended with his special plea. In addressing a prayer to an Olympian, the suppliant stood with his arms raised and palms upward. Processions formed part of most gatherings (panēgyreis) and festivals. The Panathenaic procession set out from the Pompeion (sacred storehouse) at dawn, headed by maiden basket-bearers (kanēphoroi) who carried the sacred panoply. Elders bore boughs (thallophoroi) while youths (ephēboi) conducted the victims for sacrifice, and cavalry brought up the rear. The robe was spread on the mast of a wheeled ship.
The procession to Eleusis to restore the sacred objects, brought by the ephēboi to the Eleusinium sometime previously, followed the wooden image of Iacchus (a personification of the ritual cry), which was escorted by its own priest, the iacchagogos, and officials. The mystae wore myrtle crowns and carried sheaves of grain. Whatever the nature of the mysteries, those initiated returned in a mood of exaltation. Adepts (epoptai) were later admitted to more solemn rites (to see an ear of wheat, scoffers said).
Religious art and iconography
Art often portrays incidents relevant to the study of Greek religion, but frequently essential information is missing. On a well-known sarcophagus from Ayías Triádhos in Crete, for example, a priestess dressed in a skin skirt assists at a sacrifice, flanked by wreathed axes on which squat birds. The significance of the scene has been much discussed. The birds have been regarded as epiphanies of deities, giving sacral meaning to the transformations in Homer. Again, since goddesses appear to preponderate in Minoan-Mycenaean art, while male deities are represented on an inferior scale, this has been thought to reflect the general superiority of goddesses in many parts of Greece.
In the earliest period, terra-cotta statuettes of deities were small and crude, while the old cult images were made of wood and commonly attributed to Daedalus. When artists turned to bronze and marble, they depicted the anthropomorphic deities as idealized human beings. The skill of Greek sculptors reached an almost unparalleled height in the new temples on the Acropolis of Athens; but while high attainment in the visual arts indicates the presence of a high level of aesthetic consciousness, it would be hazardous to conclude that it necessarily accompanied a profound religious experience. The human form idealized was still used for portraying the gods, but only a brief step was needed to produce an art in which the human form was idealized for its own sake. The growth and decline of religions may be matched by the growth and decline of their art, and works of high artistic quality may inspire, and be inspired by, profound religious emotions; but, as the continued worship of the old wooden aniconic statue of Athena, mentioned above, indicates, it is often the antiquity of a cult object that inspires the awe that surrounds it.
Apart from cult statues and dedications like the Acropolis korai ("maidens"), the gods frequently were represented on the pediments, metopes, and friezes of temples, usually in mythological scenes. For the details of ritual, vase painting has proved a fruitful source of information. Dionysiac subjects are common, though usually imaginary, but cult scenes and fertility customs also appear.
If "Greek religion" is understood to denote the beliefs about the Greek gods and their relationships with humanity as recorded in surviving writings from the Homeric poems onward, then Greek religion was always evolving. Cultic activity, however, was conservative, as it is in most cultures. Practices continued to be observed that were no longer understood by the worshippers. High claims have been made, and continue to be made, for the quality of Greek religion as a religion, with ethical deities and strong tendencies toward monotheism. Indeed, this is probably the orthodox view. Those who contest it hold that it is incautious to extrapolate from a few scattered passages in a Greek author to produce a systematic theology that can then be used to interpret the rest of the work under discussion. The debate shows no sign of coming to an end, but the heterodox are wont to observe that Xenophanes, Pindar, and Plato evidently read Greek literature in the same way as the heterodox propose that it should be read. Plato's strictures in Books II and III of The Republic and elsewhere on Greek religion as he knew it bear eloquent testimony to this.
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More About Greek religion54 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- Aegean cultures
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5 Things to Cut Out of Your DietBy Tony Horton, creator of P90X®
When I begin training new clients, the first thing I do is ask them about their diets. Because if you want to get major results, you have to cut out what I call "food porn"—food that's doing nothing to fuel your body, and in some cases is actually doing more harm than good. To keep things simple, I tell them there are 5 things that they absolutely, positively, MUST stop eating and drinking if they want to achieve their fitness goals:
- Processed sugars. I'm talking about white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or pretty much any kind of sugar that came from a factory instead of a piece of fruit. Processed sugar negatively affects your metabolism, your insulin response, even your mood—and all for totally empty calories. Cutting sugar out of your diet means you're going to have to read some labels, because it is by far the most common food additive in the U.S.
- Alcohol. Calories that are as empty as sugar, and at 7 calories a gram, booze can really pack it on. Alcohol also dehydrates your body, which compromises muscle growth. Plus it slows your metabolism, so you burn fewer calories. In short, drinking gives you less muscle and more fat—you're just undoing everything you're trying to achieve with your workout.
- Caffeine. I know there are a lot of people out there who say caffeine can give your workout a little extra "oomph." Obviously, it can give you some extra energy to make you push harder, but the cost is that it increases cortisol levels in your body, which inhibits lean muscle growth. Plus, it can negatively affect your sleep patterns, and you're better off working out when you're rested than when you're juiced.
- Anything with a face. It used to be that you could find some decent lean meat sources, but in the last few decades, the hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals that have been used to process meat and fish make them pretty worthless as a source of protein. There are plenty of excellent vegetarian protein sources, like beans, tofu, and nuts, so you can eat clean while you get lean.
- Gluten. Gluten is a grain-derived protein found in lots of different foods, mostly wheat, rye, and barley products. The name comes from the Latin word for "glue." You don't need to eat glue. Even if you're not one of the millions who are sensitive or allergic to gluten, you'll be operating a much cleaner machine if you cut it out of your diet. There are plenty of other healthier gluten-free alternatives, like millet, amaranth, quinoa, and oats.
By eliminating these empty or harmful "foods" from your diet, you can start turning your body into the well-oiled machine nature intended it to be. By eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you can give yourself the premium fuel to get into the best shape of your life.
Related Articles
"6 Guilt-Free Choices for Thanksgiving"
"9 Foods That Can Fool You"
"10 Tricks for Losing Those Last 10 Pounds"
Questions about your workout program, diet, the latest newsletter, or anything wellness related? Chat with the overseer of Beachbody's fitness and diet development, who also serves as your Fitness Advisor on the Message Boards, Steve Edwards, on Monday, December 6th, at 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PT. Go to the Beachbody Chat Room.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Check out our Fitness Advisor's responses to your comments in Steve Edwards' Mailbag on the Message Boards. If you'd like to receive Steve Edwards' Mailbag by email, click here to subscribe to Steve's Health and Fitness Newsletter. And if you'd like to know more about Steve's views on fitness, nutrition, and outdoor sports, read his blog, The Straight Dope.
Consult your physician and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program or using any supplement or meal replacement product.
†This product is only available to residents of the United States and its territories.
9 Ways to De-Stress Your Holiday SeasonBy Steve Edwards
It's the most stressful time of the year. Do you remember when that line had "wonderful" in it? Here are a few ways to get that feeling back. Let's face it, the holidays are stressful. But we'll get through them. We always do. This year, let's do it in style.
First, it helps if you know your enemy. According to the American Psychological Association, lack of money (61 percent) and the pressure of gift giving (42 percent) are the most significant contributors to holiday stress. These are followed closely by lack of time (34 percent) and good ol' credit card debt (23 percent).
Roughly 20 percent of us are worried that holiday stress will negatively affect our health, and over a third of us will turn to food or alcohol to cope. On the upside, nearly half of us attempt to use exercise and/or spiritual activities to relieve stress.
These statistics suggest that we're aware of the situation. So why is it such a problem? Probably because we roll them into one big mess in our heads and allow it to paralyze our actions, causing us to be reactive instead of proactive. Another factor is articles like this one (but not this one, of course). Most of them advise you to "not spend more than you can afford" and "get some exercise" or "spend some time with yourself" or any number of activities that if you could do, you wouldn't be stressed out in the first place. So, basically, they just add to your already skyrocketing stress level!
So let's reshuffle the deck and come up with some new ways to take the edge off.
- Don't go for a walk. Or do any low-intensity aerobic activity unless you're already calm. You know you should exercise and everyone tells you it's important but rarely do they tell you how. During these periods, a walk around the block has a very real possibility of increasing your stress levels. The reason is that easy aerobic exercise only slightly elevates your breathing and stimulates brain function. This allows—or induces—thought, which is exactly what you don't need when your mind is already overloaded with tasks you don't have time for. A walk, especially in a beautiful area, might calm and enlighten you but it also could make you worse. You don't want to roll those dice, especially when you're short on time and there are other things that will work.
- Do intense exercise. Hard exercise is all-consuming. It forces you to focus on your breathing or movement to the point where you can't think about anything else. It also promotes hormonal release, which alters your mood in a positive way. When you're jumping up and down, lifting heavy weights, or having a roundhouse kick launched at your head, you can't think of anything else. Intense exercise is the perfect de-stressor because you are being stressed in a different way that's good for your body. It also doesn't take as long. Even if your intense session is shorter than the time it took you to warm up (because you do need to warm up), you're still benefiting from every second your heart rate exceeds your anaerobic threshold.
- Get cocky (or at least confident). What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and how many holiday seasons have you survived so far? No matter how bad things seem to be, you are going to get through it. And you know it, too, because you've done it before. You do it every year. No matter how broke, how tired, how busy, or how many family members you never want to see again descend on your abode, you are going to survive and, come January 1st, be right back to doing whatever you were doing before it all began. You know you can—and will—make it though, so why worry?
- Embrace your mornings. Ever notice that no matter how you felt when you were falling asleep, you wake up feeling calm and relaxed? This feeling may only last a few seconds but it's there, every day. You can force yourself to control this feeling and hang onto it to the point where it permeates your entire day. Statistics say that 14 percent of us use yoga or meditation to combat stress, but sometimes it's hard to find that state when you're already amped up. Plus, these activities take time, which creates a catch-22 because the lack of it is adding to your stress. In the morning, you're already in a meditative state. Enabling yourself to ride this state out for awhile greatly enhances your ability to fend off stress throughout the day.
- Exercise while you shop, and drive. Shopping is exercise already. You get the physical benefits of a walk or hike and are mentally stimulated enough to barely notice that it's exercise. At least until you get into the car and feel like—whoa—you've just carried a bunch of weight up and down flights of stairs. But this is no time to stop exercising. Use your time in the car to de-stress and promote recovery. You can do breathing, stretching, and ab work while you're driving (at lights or in slow traffic) and it won't be dangerous, as the movements you want to do will make you more alert and supple so that you'll react better to all those stressed-out crazy drivers on the road.
- Try some desk stretches. You probably know that stretching calms and relaxes you, but between parties, shopping, and getting the house ready for family, who's got the time? You don't need any if you get creative. You can steal a short stretching session from time you're devoting to something else by looking for opportunities. You just need to be aware. Possibilities are everywhere.
- Think, don't drink. You don't need to avoid holiday cheer altogether, but keep in mind that each drink you have will take away from your valuable time and available energy. We tend to reach for alcohol during times of stress because, up front, it alters our mood and temporarily eases the situation. But during the holidays, money and time are causing most of your stress. Alcohol is expensive and, even when it's free, it takes time. It's not so much the front end that matters. Feeling hungover can zap the little extra energy that you need to combat your stress and stay on top of your game. It's like adding a handicap to your holiday challenge. So think ahead and strategize those holiday events, and they'll be so much easier to handle.
- Remember what the season is supposed to be about. The holiday season is about embracing family and friends, not being beholden to them or showering them with gifts you can't afford. The commerciality of Christmas has caused our society to lose focus on what really matters. Since nearly half of us use spirituality to combat holiday stress, we're trying already. But it takes more focus than aimlessly going to church. We need to believe that the holidays are about people and relationships, and not stuff. When you can do this, you'll know that the last thing your friends and family want from you is something that adds strain to your life. They just want you, which is why we refer to them as family.
- Take back the night. After a whirlwind day, it's easy to spend the evening remembering things you'd forgotten and figuring out how you're going to fit them in tomorrow. While it's great to try to be organized and efficient, this is not the optimal condition for hitting the sack. If you can't go to sleep, you're losing both valuable time and your ability to perform the next day. So try to set a time each night at which you'll finish working. Write it down, or whatever works for you, and then check it off the list. Then spend some time de-stressing. Maybe read the kids a seasonal story, snuggle up on the couch with It's a Wonderful Life, or get into bed with a cup of valerian tea and a book. Do whatever you like—just make it for you and your family because, ultimately, that's what the holidays are about. Sorry, Santa.
Related Articles
"7 Ways to Beat Holiday Stress"
"10 Tips for Stress Relief"
"5 Ways to Sneak Fitness into Family Time"
Questions about your workout program, diet, the latest newsletter, or anything wellness related? Chat with the overseer of Beachbody's fitness and diet development, who also serves as your Fitness Advisor on the Message Boards, Steve Edwards, on Monday, December 6th, at 8:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM PT. Go to the Beachbody Chat Room.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at email@example.com.
Check out our Fitness Advisor's responses to your comments in Steve Edwards' Mailbag on the Message Boards. If you'd like to receive Steve Edwards' Mailbag by email, click here to subscribe to Steve's Health and Fitness Newsletter. And if you'd like to know more about Steve's views on fitness, nutrition, and outdoor sports, read his blog, The Straight Dope.
Pull-Ups with Tony Horton
They're a part of any of Tony's fitness programs, and they're the exercise many people find the most difficult. But fear not, Tony is here to help you conquer pull-ups.
If you'd like to ask a question or comment on this newsletter article, click here to add a comment in the newsletter review section or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Recipe: Apple-Raisin Coffee CakeRecommended by P90X nutritionist Carrie Wiatt
Got relatives staying with you over the holidays? Here's an easy breakfast recipe, chock-full of healthy fruit and nuts, that'll serve a small army.
- 5 cups cored, peeled, and chopped apples
- 1 cup raisins
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2-1/2 cups whole-grain flour
- 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan
- Large mixing bowl
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish or pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, raisins, sugar, and walnuts, and mix them together well. Allow mixture to stand for 30 minutes. Then stir olive oil, vanilla, and egg into mixture. Sift flour, soda, and cinnamon together, then slowly stir into apple mixture, making sure it stays moist. Fold mixture into pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before serving. Makes 20 servings.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 to 40 minutes
|Nutritional Information (per serving)
|Fat Total
|Saturated Fat
|3 grams
|3 grams
|28 grams
|5 grams
|1 gram
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Reviewed by Aidan M. (age 9)
I loved this book because every chapter is more thrilling than the next. My favorite part is when Pete attacked the robbers that were in the van because Benjie actually kicked the robber and made him sing on cloud nine. I HATED the robbers because they kicked Pete. It is unlike any other book I've read because the vocabulary is rich and the mysteries are thrilling. This book has a series that follows in the same line of events: Peace, danger, and still no happy ending until the end. I felt more excited word by word.
I would really recommend this amazing novel to you 4th grade readers out there. Any mystery reader would love this book, too.


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Sneak Peek Tuesday - Fact or Faked/Ghost Hunters
Jael and Ben use a helicopter to try and produce the same video from a famous location where Albert Hitchcock filmed his movie. See what they discover on Tonight!
Taps helps a brewery owner find out if her family is keeping tabs on her shop from the grave. See what they find on Wednesday 9/8c


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Adapt an image to be printed on a white mug
Presupuesto $10-30 AUD
I'm hoping to get an image printed onto a white mug as a gift for my Dad - it's a joke from an episode of Father Ted. I'm surprised that they aren't available to order as official merch!
I'd like the logo to match the teacup shown in the pictures, with the 'TEAMASTER' logo either on top or below. Then, on the opposite side, a quote that reads "Tea Master takes the misery out of making tea!"
Will be printing through Vistaprint using the white Wraparound Mug style, which has the below specs:
Full Bleed Size
215 x 80 mm
2538 x 944 pixels
Document Trim Size
215 x 80 mm
2538 x 945 pixels
Thanks for viewing this listing! :)
Adjudicado a:
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I can create the wraparound MUG design for you following the concept with the TEA cup illustration in the attached images in a professional manner. I have years of experience in Graphic Designing so I am confident th Más
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Hello, I have read and understood the requirement and will be happy to create this design for the tea cup. Will be delivered as per vistaprint specs. Thanks
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Psychologist Claims Christmas Music Is Bad for You
Christmas music might be harmful to your mental health, British psychologist Linda Blair says.
Blair told Sky News that while many claim Christmas music helps them relax, it has quite the opposite effect.
She says Christmas music reminds people of all the chores and errands they have to complete before the holiday arrives. And the fact that it's often ubiquitous—playing on the radio, in stores and on the street—in the weeks leading up to the holiday only makes it worse.
"You're simply spending all of your energy trying not to hear what you're hearing," Blair told Sky News.
The negative effects are even more substantial on people who work where Christmas music is playing incessantly, like in retail stores.
Blair says retail workers are "more at risk" because they're unable to tune out the music and it limits their ability to "focus on anything else."
"Christmas music is likely to irritate people if it's played too loudly and too early," she added.
Many retailers began playing Christmas music in late-October.
Photo: Getty Images


text:
Dempster keeps Sox in it, but Breslow, 'pen falter
BOSTON -- What was Ryan Dempster's reward for a fifth straight quality start on Wednesday night at Fenway Park?
A 6-2 loss to the Rays that dropped his misleading record on the season to 4-8.View Full Game Coverage
BOSTON -- What was Ryan Dempster's reward for a fifth straight quality start on Wednesday night at Fenway Park?
A 6-2 loss to the Rays that dropped his misleading record on the season to 4-8.View Full Game Coverage
Every year, it seems there is a snake-bitten member of a pitching rotation who doesn't get as many wins as he deserves.
At this point of the season, nobody would dispute that Dempster is that man on the Red Sox. His team is 6-9 in his 15 starts.
"Yeah, I just wish we were winning more of the games that I'm starting," said Dempster. "That's all I care about -- that the day I pitch, we win. We're not winning those right now. I've just got to keep working hard, keep trying to make better pitches and get better every time out and give us a chance to win."
Without question, Dempster gave his team a chance to win in this one. Over six innings, Dempster allowed eight hits and three runs, walking two and striking out three.
When he exited, the Red Sox trailed just 3-2.
"Seemingly there's a guy on each staff that might pitch on the wrong day. That's probably the case with Ryan on a few occasions," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "That's something completely out of his control, and yet at the same time, we're in a position to win most every time he walks to the mound."
It was just the third time the Rays have beaten Boston in 12 tries this season.
"We have to beat these guys. You have to beat the people in front of you in the division, obviously," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "We've done a pretty good job over the years; this year has been awkward. A lot of close losses late. And that's something we're not normally used to. We have to get better with that. Hopefully this is the kind of game that can push you in the right direction."
The normally dependable Craig Breslow had an off night for the Red Sox in the seventh, giving up a single to left by Desmond Jennings and then an RBI single off the wall in left by Evan Longoria. James Loney then hit a double, pushing runners to second and third.
Alex Wilson came on and tried to keep Boston within striking distance. But Wil Myers hammered his 0-2 pitch for a two-run double that made it a 6-2 game.
"The seventh inning was probably the pivotal point," Farrell said. "We were in a one-run ballgame, and particularly the 0-2 base hit to Myers, that gave them enough of a spread to keep us in check."
All of the runs in the inning were charged to Breslow, who recorded two outs while allowing three hits.
Dempster did get into some early trouble. Two batters in, Jennings unloaded for a solo homer to left. Ben Zobrist and Longoria followed with singles, setting up a sacrifice fly by Loney that made it 2-0.
"Yeah, just made a mistake to Jennings that he hit for the home run," said Dempster. "They hit a couple of balls that fell in, and that's the way it goes sometimes."
The Red Sox got a run back in the second. David Ortiz led off with a double and moved to third on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Jonny Gomes belted one off the glove of a diving Longoria for an RBI single.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia sparked Boston with a two-out double in the fourth. Gomes again ripped one off the glove of Longoria, this time a line drive, to tie the game at 2.
From there, the Boston bats went quiet.
Zobrist put the Rays back in the lead with a two-out RBI single up the middle in the fifth.
If not for the seventh, it would have been a tight game. Instead, it ended up as another tough-luck loss for Dempster.
"Yeah, a guy that's going to come in, we're hopeful of 190, 200 innings," said Farrell. "With the exception of that three-start stretch we've talked about a couple of times, he's going to throw the ball over the plate, he's going to make the opposition beat us and he's been a source of dependability for us."
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne.


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This information was filed in the traffic division of Marion County District Court. All fines include court costs.
Mickey Lee Brubaker, Lincolnville, Feb. 2, failure to yield at stop or yield sign; illegal license tag; texting while driving; no liability insurance, $543.
Xavier Guerrero Jr., Sequin, Texas, March 9, speeding, $203.
Michael C. Kephart, Denton, Texas, March 11, speeding, $185.
Kalli Elizabeth McClure, Lawrence, April 6, speeding, $230.
Roger D. Slater, Wichita, April 13, speeding, $230.
David Earl Woody, Florence, March 3, speeding, $143.


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Another Key Motorola vs. Apple Patent Trial Tossed Out By A Judge Frustrated With Apple's Games
from the bye-bye deptEarlier this year, in a key patent fight between Apple and Motorola Mobility, Judge Richard Posner, who was "slumming" it down in the district courts for a bit, dismissed that case with prejudice while slamming Apple for its patent litigation strategy. Now, it appears that we have something of a surprise repeat situation, as a different judge in a different patent fight between the same parties has also dismissed the case with prejudice after angrily teeing off on Apple for its litigation strategy. Most of the reasoning can be found in an opinion the judge released late last week.
The key issue was that Apple was pushing the court to determine what the FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) rate was for the patents in question. Motorola wanted 2.25% of every iPhone sold. Apple was pushing for much lower. However, as the judge explored whether or not the court should determine a rate, Apple was asked if it would abide by whatever rate the court set -- leading it to say that it would only do so if the rate were under $1 per phone. This seriously ticked off the judge, who noted that it would take a ton of work for the court to come up with what it believed to be a FRAND rate -- and if it was only doing that so Apple could then use it as a bargaining chip in future litigation, that just didn't seem worth it.
Despite its position, Apple maintains that it is entitled to specific performance in the form of the court determining what a FRAND rate is for Motorola's patents. At the final pretrial conference, I asked Apple to explain why it believed the court should determine a FRAND rate even though the rate may not resolve the parties' licensing or infringement disputes. I questioned whether it was appropriate for a court to undertake the complex task of determining a FRAND rate if the end result would be simply a suggestion that could be used later as a bargaining chip between the parties. Apple responded that the rate would resolve the dispute in this particular case, namely, whether Motorola's license offer was FRAND and if not, what the rate should have been.Apple made a last ditch to salvage the case -- and even to argue that if the case is dismissed, it should be dismissed without prejudice, so it can refile. However, the judge dumped the case entirely, with prejudice, meaning that Apple is out of luck here. It can, and almost certainly will, appeal the dismissal, but the judge is clearly not at all pleased with Apple's actions here. The judge also had some choice words for Apple concerning its argument that Motorola's actions have "irreparably" harmed the company.
Apple's response was not satisfactory and did not assuage my concerns about determining a FRAND rate that may be used solely as a negotiating tool between the parties. After further consideration, I believe it would be inappropriate to grant Apple's clarified request for specific performance.
Apple's allegations of "irreparable harm" have at least two problems. The first problem is that Apple's request for specific performance in the form of court declaration of a FRAND rate without any obligation by Apple to accept the rate would not prevent Motorola from suing Apple for patent infringement and requesting injunctive relief. In other words, if Apple refuses to be bound by the rate determined by the court, Motorola could continue to sue Apple for patent infringement and request injunctive relief.Basically, Apple's playing games here, and the judge (the second one in a row in such a case) is not at all happy about it. Apple may want to revisit its legal strategy.
The second problem is that Apple has provided no reason why its injuries would not be remedied by an award of money damages.
Of course, just as this case is getting thrown out, it's been leaking that the FTC's main focus in its planned antitrust attack on Google will be... Motorola Mobility and the licensing rates for these patents. I do admit that I think it's a silly move for Google to try to continue this path of forcing other companies to pay high fees on patents (and seems to go very much against Google's stated position on patents historically), but taking that to the level of antitrust seems like an odd stance. We'll have to see when the actual complaint comes out, but seeing as one of the key cases related to this just got thrown out, it would seem to weaken the FTC's argument somewhat...
Filed Under: frand, licensing, patents
Companies: apple, motorola


text:
Suicide Girl of the Day: Quinne Suicide
Quinne is a Suicide Girl from California with deadly curves and a smart mouth.
NAME: Quinne Suicide
LOCATION: California, USA
HOMETOWN: The Milky Way
OCCUPATION: Land mermaid
STATS: Short and sweet, occasionally hilarious.
BODY MODS: Deadly curves and a smart mouth.
GETS ME HOT: My apartment in the summer, riding my bike uphill, vegetarians/vegans.
FAVORITE POSITION: Choker
FANTASY: That several versions of me live in different realms, doing all the things I didn't/don't do in this one.
SIGN: Do not mix with alcohol.
I LOST MY VIRGINITY: On prom night, with a beer in my left hand, to someone else's date. Heyo! (Seriously.)
MY KINK FACTOR: I'll try anything once, especially if you beg for it.
MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME: When I go out, ANYTHING can happen.
MY PIGEONHOLES: Hip hop, crafty, arty, hardcore, tattooed, indie rocker, designwank, retro, hillbilly, punk, piercing, metalhead, hippy, rockabilly, bookworm, drum & bass, geek, fetish.
INTO: Climbing onto rooftops, cold beaches, windy nights, yoga, being kind, dreamy music, sleeping with the windows open, people from Boston.
HOBBIES: Reading, yoga, cooking, crochet.
VICES: Nostalgia, coffee.
SuicideGirls is a community that celebrates alternative beauty and alternative culture from all over the world. Since 2001, tens of thousands of models have submitted millions of photos to their website hoping to become SuicideGirls.


text:
Game Credits
|RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes (2000)
|(Thanks To for help with research and game testing)
|RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999)
|(Thanks to)
|RollerCoaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies (1999)
|(Thanks To)
Developer Biography
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[add bio]
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text:
President Barack Obama's U.S. election victory positions him to claim a mandate for pushing a proposal through Congress that would let tax cuts expire for top earners and avert $1.2 trillion in automatic spending reductions.
Obama now must decide how to contend with opposition from congressional Republicans who demand a tax-cut extension for all income levels.
Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney to win a second term that will begin with the same balance of power in Congress: Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans holding the majority in the House. Republicans were counting on a Romney victory or a Senate takeover to improve their negotiating posture.
Emboldened by the election results, Obama "will offer a brand-new plan of his own," Steve Bell, senior director of the Economic Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said in an interview.
Bell said one option the Obama administration is considering is pushing anew for a "balanced" plan to cut as much as $100 billion in spending as a deficit-reduction down payment while letting the George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire for top earners.
"In the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together: reducing our deficit; reforming our tax code; fixing our immigration system; freeing ourselves from foreign oil," Obama said in his victory speech early today.
Congressional aides have previously said that lawmakers in both parties are discussing fallback plans for $60 billion to $100 billion in deficit reduction.
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said this week that he expected Obama to call on Congress soon after the election to pass a deficit-reduction plan that includes revenue increases and spending cuts.
"There's a mandate for a balanced approach, and that means it's got to be a combination of revenue and cuts," former Representative Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat, said in an interview. He said he would like to see Obama "put a very bold plan out there."
Unless Congress acts, automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, will begin in January and the Bush tax cuts will expire Dec. 31. Obama and congressional Democrats want to let the tax cuts expire for top earners, while Republicans advocate extending them for all income levels. The spending reductions and tax increases, amounting to $607 billion in 2013, are known as the "fiscal cliff."
To help bring Republicans to the table, Obama also may propose "minor changes" to entitlement programs, such as a temporary change in the formula used to calculate annual benefit adjustments, Bell said.
"Obama will certainly be very proactive," he said.
A big question is the degree to which Republicans will back off from their opposition to tax increases.
"For two years, our majority in the House has been the primary line of defence for the American people against a government that spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much when left unchecked," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said yesterday at an election event in Washington. "With this vote, the American people have also made clear that there is no mandate for raising tax rates."
Boehner indicated before the election that the House may be willing to pass short-term legislation to make time for broader talks on reducing the deficit and averting automatic spending cuts over the next decade.
"The American people re-elected the president, and re-elected our majority in the House," Boehner of Ohio said in a statement. "If there is a mandate, it is a mandate for both parties to find common ground and take steps together to help our economy grow and create jobs, which is critical to solving our debt."
The speaker plans to make a statement on the fiscal cliff at 3:30 p.m. Washington time today, according to an e-mailed statement issued by his staff. He'll make the statement after holding a conference call with House Republicans to discuss the fiscal cliff and the election results, according to a House Republican leadership aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the private meeting.
Eric Ueland, chief of staff to former Senator Bill Frist when the Tennessee Republican was majority leader, said Obama "has a responsibility to step forward quickly and express his specific interest in what he wants to see happen in December and then let Congress react to that."
Ueland said Obama's victory increases pressure on him to reach across the aisle.
"While he'll have the ability to argue that he received an endorsement of his positions, he also has the responsibility of working with the Republicans in the House and Senate," Ueland said.
Some congressional Republicans, especially in the Senate, have said they may be willing to consider eliminating some tax breaks to help pay for eliminating automatic cuts to defence programs.
To the extent that Obama "wants to move to the political centre, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him halfway," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement. "That begins by proposing a way for both parties to work together in avoiding the 'fiscal cliff' without harming a weak and fragile economy."
Obama wants to boost top income tax rates to the levels they reached when President Bill Clinton left office in 2001 -- at 36 per cent and 39.6 per cent. He also wants higher taxes on capital gains and dividends than now and a smaller estate tax exemption and higher rate.
In July, the Senate, which Democrats now control 53-47, passed legislation to extend through 2013 the tax cuts for individual income up to $200,000 a year and income of married couples up to $250,000. Above those thresholds, taxpayers would face higher rates for ordinary income, capital gains and dividends.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said yesterday in a statement that voters rejected "the strategy of obstruction, gridlock and delay" he has accused Republicans of employing.
"This is no time for excuses," Reid said. "This is no time for putting things off until later. We can achieve big things when we work together, and the middle class is counting on us to achieve big things in the months ahead."
The Republican-led House passed legislation in May to avert defense spending cuts and voted in July to extend all of the expiring tax cuts. Neither measure advanced in the Democratic- controlled Senate. Obama opposed them, too.
The automatic cuts over 10 years would be split equally between defense and non-defence programs. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the cuts and say they want to avert them.
Representative Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said in an interview before lawmakers left Washington in September to campaign that he was optimistic lawmakers could at least find a short-term solution to allow time for talks on a larger deficit- cutting plan.
"The keys are in the Republican hands," Van Hollen said. "The minute they decide to take a balanced approach to deficit reduction we can get there."


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Fabric & Patterns
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What a Bunch of Squares Address Book,
The What a Bunch of Squares Address Book is at once practical and beautiful. Address sections are divided by stunning images of Denyse Schmidt Quilts designs. The 21 designs are shown with a full-quilt image as well as a detail shot. Detail images highlight Denyse's use of vintage fabric and dynamic color as well as the intricacy of Amish hand-quilting. 5-7/8 x 7-1/2 inches. $16.95.
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Pages: 1
I have a few questions using the newest Xfce which btw is sooo much faster then the KDE.
1. How can i remove files from under the menu.
Ex I have about 40 files under other that are related to the yast! that i cant not even use.
2. How can I have a shortcut place on the desktop from a file under the menu. Ive tried left and right clicking. Am i suppose to be holding a certain key?
3. Im running opensuse 10.3 and how can i get rpms and such to automatically open with the software manager.. under yast Under properties it says for it to open under the install software but it never does anything when i open it
I had the same question:
I'm actually kind of interested; is anyone working on converting the Xfce Menu to use the new Freedesktop.org Menu standard?
probably you are looking for this http://forum.xfce.org/index.php?topic=3737.0
Pages: 1


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Tuesday Tech Help
Hosted by: Grove City LIbrary
The event will start on: Nov 06, 2012 3:00 PM
And will end on: Nov 06, 2012 5:00 PM
Location: Grove City Library
Address: 3959 Broadway Grove City, OH 43123
Tuesday Tech Help
Do you need a simple introduction to computers? Would you like assistance with email or online job applications? Are you uncomfortable using the Internet? The Grove City Library Reference staff is available to provide basic computer instruction by appointment on Tuesday afternoons.
Please call 875-6716, ext. 503 to arrange a one hour session.
Grove City Library, Tuesdays, 2-4 p.m.


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Design project -- 5
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I need some graphic design.
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Hi there, Send me a message and I will help you out. It would be a pleasure to work with you. - Josef.


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File data is growing at an exponential rate. While that isn't exactly breaking news for most observers, the rate at which data is growing still boggles the mind. Devices, applications and users all store more data than ever before, and for a variety of reasons – including compliance and analytics – data is rarely deleted.
But with technical challenges come new technologies, and, in this case, emerging enterprise storage that harnesses the power of cloud has stepped in to overcome these challenges. In this slideshow, Nasuni, a provider of Cloud NAS, will highlight the amazing growth in file data and what is being done to take control of this rapid expansion.
Related Topics : Fujitsu, Storage Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization, Virtual Tape Library, InfiniBand
Survey findings include pain points for secondary storage, average restore times, the growth of hyperconvergence and rate of cloud adoption in enterprises. ... More >>
With today's modern solutions, enterprises should be able to transform backup and recovery from a low-level legacy IT function to a modern function delivering continuity and value to the entire business. ... More >>
The top three data dangers lurking in cloud environments and tips for how to manage data protection and backup in a SaaS-based world. ... More >>


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Using Social Media For Your Business
Social media may be a new frontier for some racing businesspeople, but when used properly, it can prove to be cost-effective and beneficial to a racing business. Here are some ways racing businesses are using Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and more to promote their organizations.
By Emmanuel Martinez
With the everyday advances of technology, the Internet has become a necessity, offering breaking news and valuable information at the blink of an eye. Aside from the mountains of knowledge that are easily accessible, the Internet has also become synonymous with social media.
And as more racing business owners are discovering, the Internet is proving to be a valuable, yet sometimes, daunting place to conduct business. However, social media is one area of the Internet that allows racing businesses and race teams to quickly, and cost effectively, pass along a message.
This article will explore the various social media outlets, how some racing businesses are using these methods successfully, and how you can incorporate social media into your own company's marketing program.
Social Media Basics
Facebook, one of the more popular social media sites, allows its users to create a profile, add other users as friends, comment on other profiles, send messages to other users and add interest groups created by the workplace, schools and the like.
Twitter, a micro blogging site where users can send and read messages called "tweets," has gained its own popularity among users. Messages must be succinct as the tweets are limited to a maximum of 140 characters.
YouTube offers a different dynamic to the social media world, allowing users to upload, share and view videos. On YouTube, videos can range from TV clips to music videos and video blogs.
Although Facebook, Twitter and YouTube may be the most popular social media sites, others include LinkedIn, a site that focuses on forming business relationships instead of personal ones; Plaxo is an online address book that provides automatic updating of contact information; Four Square, a social media site that allows its users with smart phones to make their current location known to other Four Square users. MySpace, an early pioneer in the social media realm, offers similar features to that of Facebook such as adding friends, sending messages and posting comments. However, MySpace has seen a decline in its popularity over the last couple of years and is now geared toward a younger, non-professional crowd, whereas Facebook is open to businesses.
Many motorsports companies also turn to blogs, which combine text, images, videos and links to other blogs. One major difference between a blog and other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, is that blog users can post lengthy and elaborated content, whereas content on Facebook and Twitter is more concise. But just like Facebook, blogs also offer an interactive feature, allowing visitors to post comments on blog entries.
Another useful tool in the Internet world are RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds, which are used to deliver content that is constantly changing. An RSS document brings blog entries, news headlines and audio or video clips all into one site, which in turn save Internet users time because they don't have to visit multiple websites to get a variety of information.
Whether it is LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, many generations—old, young and those in between—have gravitated toward these social media sites as it opens another line of communication.
Due to this immense popularity, motorsports businesses like ASA Racing, COMP Performance Group, Edelbrock and many others have incorporated or are beginning to use social media in their marketing programs.
"Fifty-one percent of Americans have a Facebook account, which leads to a wide audience," said Kevin Ramsell of ASA (American Speed Association) Racing, Daytona Beach, Florida. "A lot of people think Facebook is for the younger generations but one of the biggest increases was with the over-45 generation. What Facebook does is that it hits all the platforms."
"Everyone is all over Facebook," added Tommy Mason of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, California. "It is the first thing people check when they get free time and when they get home from work. A lot of people are on Facebook as well as Twitter. It usually goes directly to their phone or computer. That's key to us because that's when we drive to try and get our customers interested in reading what we've got going on."
Aside from its broad reach, another aspect that makes social media so attractive is its instantaneous nature. Through websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, companies can inform their customers and followers of new products, race results and any other news much faster than traditional news outlets, explained Kenna Primm of Roush and Yates Racing Engines, Mooresville, North Carolina.
Most companies agree that social media is an appealing marketing tool because of its popularity among the masses, but the thing that varies is how it's used and the content that is posted.
"We use YouTube to post anything from quick tech videos to where we break down a subject like how to install Quarter Master starters down to behind-the-scenes tours of the COMP R&D center—stuff the customer would never have the opportunity to see," noted Chris Douglas of COMP Performance Group, Memphis, Tennessee. "On Facebook, we usually do promotions, contests, comment on our schedule and give people updates—if it's going to rain or if we are cancelling," said Anthony Xavier of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. "We get a lot of traffic through Facebook, so it's one way to communicate what is going on with the track. Our main focus is doing contest and customer service. When customers have questions we try to respond right away. It's easier for them instead of having to call or look up a phone number."
"One unique thing we do would be if we are at the race track we will actually make an update on our Facebook page right after we make a pass," Matt Petka of Pro Line Racing in Woodstock, Georgia said. "We will record the pass itself on a video camera, upload it on YouTube and link that to our site and our Facebook page. Our customers can see it within 30 minutes of it happening."
The type of content that can be posted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is endless, but restrictions like character limitations do arise. And when problems come up, companies like Edelbrock use social media as a way to funnel customers into their blogs and websites.
"The blog is nice because you are limited with Facebook—you can only type so many characters," explained Eric Blakely of Edelbrock in Torrance, California. "With a blog we have absolute control of it. We can post as much content as we want. We also mention our blog on Twitter and Facebook and say, 'Hey, you want to learn more or read more on the article, then go here.'"
Social media is not only used to inform, but it is also a great tool to listen to customers and fans.
"We use social media to listen and that cannot be underestimated," said Rick Loughery of GoPro, Half Moon Bay, California. "It is important to listen to what the customers are saying or asking. A lot of the times people ask questions about how to use the product and oftentimes they get suggestions directly from other Facebook users."
"We get a lot of suggestions like, 'Hey guys, why don't you put this in' and all the way down to some of the minutia like, 'there is a print ad that's running that has a misspelled word that got missed by the copywriters,'" Douglas added. "You get everything. If you will just listen objectively, your customers will tell you how to run your business and the areas that need to be addressed. We try to do that on Facebook, Twitter and all the other different channels."
Through the information that companies send out and the replies or suggestions that customers give, an interaction is created, which is something that should not be undervalued.
"I will put something like 'comment to win' or 'Toyota Speedway is...' It's like fill in the blank through a comment and that creates interaction on Facebook," Xavier explained. "We will take a picture of the Speedway and post, 'you can enter to win this contest.' Usually it is through pictures, comments, likes, stuff like that. We really try to generate engagement."
"Facebook gives an easier form of interaction," said Petka. "We get a lot of people that contact us or make comments on Facebook. Whereas on our website, that same form of communication is not available."
Nothing beats the face-to-face interaction with the fans, but this is the perfect way to do it during the week when we don't have any fan functions," Mason explained. "During the week people are at home and through social media you keep that seed planted in their brain. You tell them this is what's going on and this is what's happening."
"There are a lot of NASCAR drivers who do their own tweeting, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and a bunch of others, and what that does is it creates a fan interaction with those drivers," ASA's Ramsell said. "I have gotten to the point to where I have suggested to our members to start looking and utilizing Twitter at their local tracks. Find out which drivers are using Twitter and encourage fans to follow their favorite driver on Twitter and tell the drivers to tweet little updates from the pits that night of the race. This way fans can stay involved with what is happening in the pits while they are sitting down watching the race."
Social media creates a unique interaction between a company and its customers and it is through this interaction where companies can learn about their products and what their customers or fans are looking for.
"We've learned what people like about the product and what they don't like," GoPro's Loughery noted. "Something that we learned is understanding how our product is perceived by our fans and customers."
"We have learned a lot as far as what the fans like to see and what they like to interact with. Overall, you learn things like what fans would like to participate in as well as watch out here in the Speedway," explained Mason, of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
Act Now
Most will agree that any business, whether small or large, should incorporate social media into its marketing program.
"Times are changing and social media is the way people are getting their information," said Primm, of Roush and Yates Racing Engines. "It is a great tool to have. Every business needs to have some type of social media plan," said Xavier, of Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. "I have learned a lot by the different methods you can go about it, whether it is posting a contest on Facebook or tweeting out, 'Hey, the race is starting at this time or that time.' You can use it for so many different avenues and they are still coming out with more ways. It has definitely given me more tools to provide that relationship or provide the building blocks to better customer service."
"There is a relatively low cost, other than your time and from a small business standpoint that would be a major benefit," explained Douglas, of COMP Performance Group. "It is a way to get your message out there. If you go into it thinking it's a one-way communication that's never going to work, you have to be willing to converse back and forth. Sometimes you are going to hear things that you don't really want to hear, but it is good stuff to know. And customers are already there. There are thousands of racers on Facebook. We have a saying, 'Go where your customers are,' and if they are already there and that's a normal part of their day-to-day routine, then why wouldn't you take advantage of that?"
"It is another channel of communication, another way to communicate with your customers and another way to take tech calls," Edelbrock's Blakely added. "For small businesses, it is another channel to engage users and announce new products. If you are doing something exciting and if you have the content then it is a nice way to share that with users. The great thing about social media forms like a blog, Facebook and Twitter is that anyone can do it. You don't need a graphic designer or a web developer. It is a nice way to share information that you have and anyone can do it. Anyone can work behind the scenes of Facebook—from the company president to the secretary—you don't need to have resources on hand like web developers. At the same time, too, the challenge is resources because these social media sites definitely consume a lot of time. That is the challenge for companies, finding that happy medium of talking to people but not spending all day doing it."
Although having a great social media presence does not require an expert knowledge of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or a savvy web developer, it does, however, require planning.
"Do some planning on the front end," advised Douglas. "Because it is so easy to get started a lot of people rush into it before they really sit down and think about what their goals are. I would also say that on the front end you should build a system to sustain a consistent presence. It does no good if you post a lot of stuff one week and you are not on it again for three weeks. You've got to have a good, consistent presence."
Constant updates are key when it comes to social media, because if not updated, customers and fans will start ignoring a company's social media site explained Primm.
Getting Started
For those who are just starting up with social media the best advice ranges from using it as a promotional tool, keeping it simple and maintaining a constant presence.
"Use social media as a promotional tool," advised Ramsell, of ASA. "Don't use it use to bring up conversation, don't go into the message board type of phase. Use it for positive promotion. Let everyone know if you have a race on Saturday night. Let everyone know if your race has been rained out, when the next event is going to be and where."
"Keep it simple," Blakely said. "You pick the low hanging fruit first. You go for a Facebook account first then you work your way up to a blog. I think you have to do some research and find out what is best for you. For some companies a blog may be the way to go because they may just want one-way communication. Other companies may want to talk to their customers. If you want to hear what customers have to say maybe you should go with a Facebook account because you will get the interaction. You have to start with knowing your customer, knowing the medium that is best going to work and then building off that."
"Keep it constant. Keep it coming," Mason added. "Throw out something once a day not once a week and not once a month. Always think of something new to say. Think of your customers. Go on to other Facebook pages and look at a particular company that involves you. If you are Lucas Oil, go to the drag racing community, the stock car community, the big rig community, and start linking those types of companies and people."
Technology—the Internet and social media included—is a process that is always changing and never stagnant. For those companies that are incorporating social media into their marketing programs or are just beginning to do so, the best approach is to embrace the ever-changing dynamic of the technological world. Go ahead, jump in, and see what social media can do for your business.
The answer to these questions will surely give direction to smart innovations in the future.
When it comes to reaching customers, every company in America is exploring ways to take advantage of social media, although there are plenty of older generation business people who would just as soon ignore it, especially in racing. There's good news here as a little creativity and effort, without a huge expense, delivers another avenue to keep your customers connected to your latest news on how they can go faster with the latest racing products.


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The delectable taste and distinct flavor of our Personalized and Custom Chocolate Coins has led 'Chocolate Delights' Magazine in UK to vote them as Best Quality Custom Chocolate Coins' for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
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Pardon my nails. They came back from Japan broken and damaged. This was despite my careful attempts at moisturizing them regularly in the dry and cold climate. I've trimmed them down but they're going need so much pampering.
For the next couple of weeks, it's just going to be simple swatches then.
Darn. And I had wanted to do Easter nails...
Color Club Angel Kiss,
2 coats + HK Girl TC.


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Israeli and Palestinian officials over the weekend again signaled how very far they are from reaching a compromise peace agreement, just days after Western leaders who apparently have their eyes tightly shut and their fingers firmly planted in their ears declared that the peace process was picking up pace.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority "have been engaged now in 13 meetings - serious meetings," US Secretary of State John Kerry stated last week. "All the core issues are on the table. And they have been meeting with increased intensity."
That assessment was echoed just days later by UN Under Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman, who optimistically announced that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was "picking up pace."
But a Palestinian official who spoke to Israel's Channel 2 News over the weekend revealed that the two sides remain as far apart as ever in their respective positions.
The Palestinians are now insisting that any land swaps with Israel amount to a maximum of 1.9 percent of the so-called "West Bank," less than half the amount of land needed to incorporate all of the major Jewish settlement blocs inside Israel's recognized borders.
The Palestinians also continue to demand control over half of Jerusalem, freedom for all jailed Palestinian terrorists, and the right for millions of "Palestinian refugees" to take up residence inside the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the leaked demands at Sunday's cabinet meeting, explaining that Israel places great importance on the unity of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, and will never allow its own demographic destruction by opening its gates to the bulk of Palestinian refugees.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
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As the year drew to a close, the story around Apple got incredibly negative as the stock fell from $700 to almost $500. But, if you step back and look at the full-year picture, the stock was up 31%, which is actually stronger than its performance in 2011. And, on a product basis, it was really strong.
Follow the Chart Of The Day on Twitter: @chartoftheday