text:
Homage to the Sagarmatha of Humanism: The Living Lessons of Gautama Buddha (Tribhuvan University, 1995)
Delivered at the Convocation Ceremony of Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, on November 2, 1995
It is a great honor and joy to have been given this opportunity to speak at the Convocation Ceremony of Tribhuvan University, here in the beautiful land of Nepal, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. 1 I am deeply grateful and would like to express to you my heartfelt thanks.
I would also like to offer my sincere congratulations to all of you who have graduated today from this university, one of the most respected institutions of higher learning in Asia. I was deeply impressed to learn of the series of solemn vows that you undertook during the Convocation Ceremony. My heart swells with boundless hope and expectation when I picture you in the future, scaling the mountain ranges of the twenty-first century, keeping always in mind the solemn dignity of the pledge you made here today.
The title of my talk today is "Homage to the Sagarmatha 2 of Humanism: The Living Lessons of Gautama Buddha." I would like to take this opportunity to consider with you the spiritual legacy of this great teacher of humanity, focused on two themes central to his philosophy and character: the penetrating light of his wisdom and the vast scale of his compassion.
When we consider the condition of contemporary humanity, which can be likened to a forced passage across an uncharted, storm-tossed sea, I am reminded of the following poem by one of your nation's great poets, Bala Krishna Sama:
Shun all squabblings as those of an ignorant boy,
Dispossess disunion, flourish and give up blind belief!
Take faith in humanism, live and let others live!
Let there be rivalry always in matters of truth and
resolution for doing good.
Please, O world! break the atom's bow before
I breathe my last,
Wipe away the name of war with the song
of everlasting peace! 3
This poem expresses a keen yearning for peace in this, our war-torn century, as one in the desert craves water. And these lofty and beautiful sentiments are, I am certain, shared by the people of Nepal.
Our aspiration and yearning are met with the sight of Gautama Buddha who, in his towering wisdom and compassion, stands as a Sagarmatha of humanism; his life was one of unsparing and incessant effort to enable humankind to enjoy peace and security.
The first aspect of Gautama's wisdom that I would like to discuss is his urgent appeal that we bring forth the full brilliance of the Treasure Tower of our inner life.
Since the dawning of the modern era, the activities of human society--such as the development of science and technology, industrial and economic growth--have been underlain by a strong faith in the "cult of progress," where the measure of advancement has always been quantitative expansion. This has contained, however, an unforeseen pitfall. As humanity has pursued progress, drunk on the promise of its dreams, we have found reality sacrificed on the altar of social blueprints, the present on that of the future, the environment to growth, the human person to empty theory.
Here is to be found the root cause of the tragic horrors of our century.
In response to our present dilemma, Gautama Buddha's wisdom would urge us to turn our gaze once more to the deepest, most elemental dimension of human life.
Central to the Saddharma-pundarika, or Lotus Sutra--considered to be the core of Gautama Buddha's teachings--is the appearance of a magnificent, ornate Treasure Tower. This tower is symbolic of the vast cosmic life existing in the depths of the human being, and it was to the task of enabling each individual to cultivate this richly fertile dimension of life, the microcosm comprising the universe within the individual, that Gautama Buddha devoted his life-long endeavors.
When we note the growing attention and emphasis placed on the goals of human development in recent years, I cannot help but feel that Gautama's vision and insight have come to shine all the more brightly.
Some ten years ago, I engaged in a dialogue with The Club of Rome cofounder Aurelio Peccei in the course of which he offered the following words of advice to future generations: "within ourselves lies a prodigious wealth of undeveloped and unused capacities that have never been so much as explored . . . a most extraordinary resource indeed, one that is both renewable and expandable." 4
The term Dr. Peccei and I used to describe this process of developing the potential inherent in human life was "human revolution."
It goes without saying that the key to this kind of development lies in education, an area in which Nepal has continued to set an important example. Likewise, education is indispensable to realizing the goals of sustainable development, and to fulfilling our responsibilities to future generations.
The teachings of the Buddha also contain the following passage, "If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present." 5
This passage indicates a way of life that is neither caught up in the events of the past, nor swayed by excessive fear or expectation for the future. Rather, it emphasizes the importance of our integrity and fulfillment in the present moment. The intent of this passage is to encourage us to "dig into the earth on which we stand," knowing that we are certain to find a rich fountainhead in the depths of the eternal instant.
Gautama Buddha urges us to bring forth the brilliance of the Treasure Tower, existing within us at this very moment, and, with that light, to illuminate the future, thus forging the way for humanity's genuine progress and advancement. His are the words of a spiritual giant, a true victor in life.
The second aspect of Gautama Buddha's wisdom I would like to treat is his attitude of listening attentively to the voices of the common people.
Even more than eternal, unchanging truth, Buddhism emphasizes the importance of the adaptive wisdom acquired through the fusion of one's life with that truth. In other words, we are encouraged to awaken to the truth that is valid and unchanging in any age or circumstance, and thus to call forth the free-flowing wisdom that can respond to the ceaselessly evolving reality that surrounds us.
I personally feel that the source of Gautama's untrammeled wisdom is to be found in his attitude of lending his ear to the heartfelt expressions of ordinary citizens.
He constantly encouraged those around him to ask any question that might be in their hearts. Truly, Gautama Buddha deserves to be ranked with Socrates as one of the great masters of dialogue. He was an unparalleled giant of humanistic education who guided people through a continual process of dialogue.
For example, when a mother who had lost her beloved child implored Gautama to save the child, he told her he could devise a cure for the child if she would bring him some mustard seeds. But, he added, these had to come from a home that death had not visited. The mother began her desperate house-by-house search but could find, of course, no home in which no one had ever died.
Slowly, the grief-stricken mother came to realize that she was not alone in her sorrow, but that every home bore the same burden of bereavement and loss. Thus she determined to overcome her own grief and awakened to the quest to resolve the fundamental human sufferings of birth, aging, illness and death. This story, as many others like it, illustrates the depth of Gautama Buddha's insight into people's hearts, and the wisdom and compassion he brought to bear on the work of helping them elevate their life condition.
In the Lotus Sutra, the virtue of listening to the voices of all people is given in the description of the ideal practitioner of the Sutra:
The countless varieties of human voices--
one can hear and understand all these.
Again one can hear the voices of heavenly beings,
subtle and wonderful song sounds,
and one can hear men and women's voices,
the voices of young boys and young girls.
In the midst of hills, rivers and steep valleys
the voices of the kalavinka,
the jivakajivaka and other birds--
all these sounds he will hear.
From the tormented multitudes of hell
the sounds of various kinds of suffering and distress,
sounds of hungry spirits driven by famine
and thirst
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[the voices of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas,
from the Avichi Hell to the Akanishta Heaven,]
he can hear all these sounds
and never impair his faculties of hearing. 6
I feel that this provides a paradigm of leadership that extends beyond the confines of religious practice, and embraces all fields of human endeavor, including the political, economic, cultural and educational.
The first president of our organization, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, was also the originator of the value-creating pedagogical system (Jpn soka kyoikugaku). His resistance to the Japanese militarists during the Second World War resulted in his being imprisoned and ending his life in jail at age seventy-three. He was an elementary school principal, and whether he was speaking to one of his pupils, or to his jailers and harsh interrogators, he always conducted dia¬logue based on a profound sense of respect for the humanity of the other person.
The pioneering wisdom that shines in his proposals for lifelong education, for community-based environmental education, and in his efforts to reflect the voices of mothers in the process of education, was born of his unwavering effort always to listen to people and to engage them in open dialogue.
The third aspect of Gautama Buddha's wisdom relates to the question of value creation, for it is wisdom that enables us to make the fullest use of knowledge.
Today's graduates, who have benefited from the cutting-edge scholarship available here at Tribhuvan University, remind me of nothing so much as the youth of Gautama and his rigorous studies at Kapilavastu. As a young prince being groomed to rule, Gautama studied a wide range of subjects including astronomy, medicine, law, economics, literature and art. "He did not learn science to cause suffering to others, but studied only the knowledge that was beneficent . . ." 7 This, apparently, was the tradition in which the kings of the Shakya clan were trained.
What impresses me most deeply about Gautama's studies is that he was able to make full use of everything he had learned in his youth as he later strove to save people from suffering. This is why, whether he was addressing kings, farmers, or members of the then emerging merchant class, he was always able to find the most suitable parables and lines of reasoning with which to expound the Dharma. He was able to awaken the wisdom of his listener by teaching in accordance with that person's capacity. He always prescribed, as it were, the right medicine for the illness at hand.
Today we stand at the crossroads, facing the crucial question of whether our rapidly growing scientific knowledge--potently symbolized by atomic energy and genetic engineering--will be used for the happiness of all humankind, or to satisfy the egotism of certain individuals, peoples or states.
Our world today, in which nuclear weapons have yet to be abolished and where we remain hostage to the counterpoised terror of nuclear deterrence, is, to my eye, the sad and pathetic figure of humanity unable to rise above its egotistical nature, and thus prey to the forces of violence and militarism.
Elsewhere in the Buddha's teachings, we find the admonition that "one should become the master of his mind rather than let his mind master him." 8 This means neither being controlled by the negative impulses of greed and violence, nor attempting unreasonably to extinguish one's natural desires. Rather, it means, as master of one's mind, to guide and redirect these potentially destructive tendencies toward the creation of value. To be master of one's mind means to cultivate the wisdom that resides in the inner recesses of our lives, and which wells forth in inexhaustible profusion only when we are moved by a compassionate determination to serve humankind, to serve people.
Together with his wisdom, the embracing, oceanic compassion of Gautama Buddha merits our attention.
The first aspect of this that I would like to address is the idea that humanity's collective mission in the cosmos lies in the practice of compassion.
To my mind it is clear that, for Gautama, the universe itself was the very embodiment of compassion. His own behavior was a consistent manifestation of this primal compassion.
All phenomena in the universe exist within the context of mutually supportive relationships, what Buddhism refers to as "dependent origination." In this view, nothing exists without meaning and nothing is wasted. Interweaving these "threads" of interdependence, the universe has brought forth and nurtured life, including human life on this planet.
The views of Buddhism on this point accord with those of modern astronomy in that they suggest the existence of active, intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. From this perspective we can view the cosmos as a creative life form, the embodiment of an inestimably vast compassion.
Thus we find Gautama on his final journey, which likely had as its destination his place of birth, repeatedly voicing his sense of beauty and joy at the sight of the villages and verdant forests along the way. The compassion of the Buddha, who traversed vast regions in his lifelong pursuit of peace and human happiness, resonated with the eternal rhythm of compassion inherent in the very life of the universe.
In our own age, a central crisis facing humanity is that which could be termed the loss of meaning. We are without answers to such essential questions as: What is the human being? For what do we live? Consumed by our unquenched thirst for meaning, we wander aimlessly, estranged from society, nature and the cosmos.
Buddhism teaches us that the purpose of humanity's advent on earth is to be active participants in the compassionate workings of the universe, enriching and enhancing its creative dynamism as we live out our lives to the very fullest.
In other words, Gautama Buddha's message is that compassionate action--nurturing and leading all forms of life toward happiness and creative evolution--is the mission with which we have been entrusted by the cosmos. It is by becoming aware of and working to fulfill this mission that we can enjoy the experience of genuine meaning.
The Buddhist understanding of compassion can, I am confident, serve to foster a new culture of symbiosis that is based on respect for the human person, and to foster a new relationship with nature, one of mutual flourishing for humanity and the global environment. Further, it encourages the kind of altruistic action or Bodhisattva practice that alone can redirect human history from division to unity, from confrontation to harmony, from war to peace.
The second aspect of Gautama Buddha's compassion that I would like to consider lies in his admonition that we maintain at all times a Himalayan composure and confidence. The establishment of a firm and unshakable sense of self is the necessary basis for true compassion.
The vast and compassionate life condition of the Buddha, directed toward the happiness of all living beings, reminds me of nothing so much as the magnificent peaks of the Himalayas, unswayed by the fiercest of storms.
In one of his teachings, he states: "Even from afar the good reveal themselves like the Himalaya mountain; the wicked though near are invisible like arrows shot by night." 9 To me this indicates that when Gautama imagined his own human ideal, these soaring mountains, their peaks wrapped in a glistening mantle of snow, were clearly present in his mind.
As many thinkers have pointed out, the more vigorously freedom and equality are championed, the more fluid and changeable human societies--for better or worse--become. Thus the work of forging a firm sense of identity and purpose becomes all the more vital. Without this, it is all too easy to lose oneself in meaningless comparisons with others, to fall prey to the habits of jealousy and animosity.
In any age, the peace and stability of societies ultimately derive from the actions of individuals who can maintain a consistent, unshaken selfhood in the midst of changing circumstances. I think there has perhaps never been an age that demanded this more urgently than our present era.
Therefore, I feel that Gautama Buddha's parting admonition to his disciples, "Rely on your self, rely on the Law," 10 is at the same time a message for humanity as a whole, encouraging us toward the establishment of an unshak¬able "Greater Self" fused with the cosmic Dharma.
Finally, I would like to discuss some guidelines for action which Gautama Buddha has given us, and which I feel can be expressed by the phrase "seek happiness for yourself and others."
It goes without saying that the greatest achievement of human rights thinking in the modern era has been to demand that the sanctity of the individual be respected. The problem of human rights, however, cannot be solved through institutional measures alone. Rather, the single-minded focus of contemporary humanity on our personal rights has caused us to forget the existence of others. Ironically, this undermines the basis for our own being.
Gautama Buddha described the relationship between self and other in the following words: "People cannot find anything more precious than themselves. In the same way, others also treasure themselves. Thus, one who treasures him- or herself will, from the knowledge of self-love, refrain from harming others." 11
He recognized that for human beings, nothing is more important than oneself. Accordingly, if we can truly place ourselves in the situation of others, we can naturally understand their value and importance. The first step toward compassion is to put ourselves in the place of others, empathetically acknowledging the reality of their existence.
I do not think I am the only one who senses that here indeed is the "good medicine" that can alleviate the profound sense of isolation afflicting modern humanity.
After he attained enlightenment, the Buddha underwent a wrenching process of inner struggle and doubt as to whether or not he should expound the Dharma to others. He knew that if he did, he would doubtless face criticism and persecution growing out of people's inability to understand his message. He considered the possibility of remaining silent, of enjoying in quiet solitude the pleasures of his enlightened state.
According to Buddhist tradition, Brahmadeva 12 appeared before Gautama and beseeched him to preach the Dharma for the sake of all those people poised between advancement and retreat, happiness and sorrow, victory in life and defeat.
This "urging of Brahmadeva" revived a sense of the "other" within Gautama, and occasioned the birth of a genuine Buddha, fully devoted to creating indestructible happiness for self and other.
Elsewhere we find these words: "Because all living beings are subject to illness I am ill as well." 13 The cries of people--enduring the sufferings of birth, aging, illness and death--always resounded in Gautama Buddha's ears. His message to us, which transcends time and place, is: "Revive the other within you, and together savor the greatest happiness!"
The thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhist teacher Nichiren offers, in his exegesis on the Lotus Sutra, this reply: "Joy is to share wisdom and compassion with self and other. 14
This message also relates to the idea of third-generation human rights or solidarity rights, among which are the right to a peaceful international order and to a wholesome natural environment. This solidarity of humanism is the key, I am certain, to the general prosperity for humankind, realized through the development and advancement of the richly diverse and unique human societies that adorn our planet.
Each of you possesses a profound mission. It is my hope and my confidence that--extending the twin wings of wisdom and compassion--you will rise into the skies of a twenty-first century marked by peace and reverence for life.
Finally, as an expression of my sincere wish that your future will be filled with hope, health and happiness, I would like to quote from one of your national poets, Madhav Prasad Ghimire, whom I deeply admire. His poem is entitled "Youth."
The first rays of light on the snowy peaks,
And new fresh vigour springing up in the hero's arms,
Fetch up, o youth, the arrows of the new rays,
Start, with your touch, a new wave,
And with your fingers, wake the world up
To a new, pulsating life! 15


text:
Diane Ayres was just following doctor's orders when she gulped down a large yellow pill with her grapefruit juice that morning in October 1992. Within hours, though, the frightening symptoms began. "I felt a melting sensation behind my eyes. I had a tingling sensation in my arm," she says. "I thought, 'My God, I'm having a stroke.' "
Later that day emergency room doctors at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia determined that Ayres, now 42, was in fact having an adverse reaction to a single 300-mg tablet of the antibiotic Floxin, which had been prescribed for a minor infection. Instead of clearing up the problem, the drug had attacked her central nervous system, triggering a harrowing, difficult-to-diagnose manic-depressive condition that was heralded by symptoms such as severe insomnia and dramatic mood swings, and would rage on for the next three years. Confused and angry, her husband, journalist Stephen Fried, 40, wasted little time in contacting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Ortho, the drug's manufacturer, for information and guidance; he even scoured the Internet to try to find out why his brilliant, vivacious wife had become so dreadfully ill. It was the beginning of a five-year odyssey that would take Fried deep inside a $90 billion-a-year industry, earn him a National Magazine Award, set off new FDA investigations into antibiotic safety and culminate in his explosive book Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs. Diane's crisis, Fried learned, was less unusual than he had ever imagined.
Adverse drug reactions to legally prescribed medicines are among the leading causes of death in the U.S., killing an average of more than 100,000 people a year, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Illicit drugs, by contrast, kill some 5,000 to 10,000 people a year.) While some medications with dangerous side effects, like fen-phen, a diet drug combination that has been linked to heart-valve problems, and Accutane, an acne remedy that can cause birth defects, have been widely publicized, the full dimensions of the problem are not generally recognized. And with more than 2.5 billion drug prescriptions dispensed to patients each year, it is probably impossible for pharmaceutical companies to eliminate all risks of side effects or dangerous combinations of drugs. Fried says it will take a more concerted effort from all involved—including doctors, patients, pharmacists, the drug industry and the FDA—to make a dent in the problem. "This is a country that believes in checks and balances," he says. "We can't expect the drug companies to police themselves."
Fried understands the benefits medicines can provide—another drug, after all, has enabled Diane to resume her own writing career—and he warns people not to stop taking their prescribed medication. "Putting the industry out of business," he says, "is not the answer."
Neither is placing the blame on doctors, who generally get little pharmacology training after medical school. "Doctors know that drugs are the one thing they know the least about," Fried says. And the FDA (which Fried calls "the best regulatory agency in the world") lacks the money, manpower or legal mandate, he says, to effectively monitor the nation's 14th-largest industry. While researching Bitter Pills, Fried learned that the government had been wrangling with the industry for more than a year over warning labels for Floxin and related antibiotics.
If there is one thing Fried and Ayres have learned, it is the need for patients to take a more active part in their own health care. Some experts advise people to fill all prescriptions at the same pharmacy, where potentially harmful interactions may be spotted by computer databases, and to tell their doctors about all their medications.
For Ayres the best cure was the devotion of a man she first met at a Valentine's Day party in 1986 and wed a year later. "It was love at first sight," says Fried, who hails from Harrisburg, some 200 miles from North East, Pa., where Diane grew up. "I always thought of Stephen as my rock," she says. "When I became sick that became more apparent."
Early on, Ayres decided not to sue Ortho. The couple's focus was on getting Diane better. Her persistence was rewarded: She recently sold her first novel and now works six to seven hours daily in an office on the third floor of their South Philadelphia row house. "We had a real tight, close relationship before this all happened," says Ayres. "And now it's just tighter and closer."
Alec Foege
Bob Calandra in Philadelphia
Poison Pills
updated 09/07/1998 AT 01:00 AM EDT
•originally published 09/07/1998 AT 01:00 AM EDT

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Always in her heart
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on May 26, 2013 1:50 AM
News-Argus/MICHAEL BETTS
Christina Kazakavage holds her son, Adam's, dog tags while his stepfather, Jim, holds a picture of him. Adam, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, was killed in Afghanistan Jan. 19, 2010, when his unit was ambushed while responding to a call to check a school that was reportedly wired with explosives.
News-Argus file photo
Airmen stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base salute the funeral procession of their fallen comrade, Adam Ginett, in January 2010. Ginett, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, was killed in Afghanistan.
Adam Ginett
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It started with a long embrace -- a young man holding his mother tighter in his arms than he ever had. It continued when his cheek touched hers -- when he pleaded with her to read the book he had...
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text:
Bill H wrote:
> Have a Spectrum 128 +2 with various tapes and a home made power supply
> for use with 120v that is free to a good home. If you are in the NY
> Hudson valley area and can pick it up it is yours.
> Bill H
Would you consider shipping it?


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13th East-European Conference on Advances in Databases and Information Systems (ADBIS-2009)
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MySQL Cluster
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MySQL Training for DBA in Mumbai
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Ahoy lads, I recently joined this community and before hand I would like to thank the men behind this project.
Now, for the real reason why I created this thread, I'm turning 22 years old this year and all I can say is...I've traveled around the world via plane and the closest I've used to a train was my dads car, yes I used to be a posh kid. Long story short, I'm no longer under my parents guardianship, which means I can't affoard high class plane tickets.
I have a girlfriend living in Sweden and I thought with LowCost flights I could easily go visit her but either I'm bad at searching or it's really costy(mainly to Sweden, because other countries have great offers) so then I found out about InterRails and I have a question, if I'm not interested in actually traveling around Europe and just meet her, should I buy an InterRail ticket or should I just buy a ticket 'straight'(I know there are no such thing as straight with trains) to Sweden? I'm looking for the cheapest yet efficient way to reach Sweden, nothing else
If it matters, She's from Lulea.
I currently live in Spain but I'm originally from The UK.


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Life As We Know It: August 5, 2013
One of life's little pleasures that retirement has afforded is the opportunity to indulge an old hobby: photography. It's a passion that began a long time ago in college when I was introduced to what had long been a staple of the newspaper profession: the "Speed Graphic" and its enormous 4-by-5 inch negatives. The pictures those big negatives produced were crisp and sharp, never grainy. But the camera was bulky and cumbersome and it required carrying around a lot of heavy "plates" if you wanted to take more than a couple pictures.
We've come a long way.
Today's digital cameras are as prolific as cell phones, and they come with bells and whistles light-years removed from the Brownie Starflash of my youth. Don't like the picture you just took? Grandpa blinked? Aunt Hazel looked to the side for some reason? Just delete the photo and take another.
A digital camera small enough to fit in your shirt pocket can take photos in stunning detail and brilliance, provided you have your mega pixels all in a row.
But where the digital revolution really shines is in your computer after you load the photos into an editing program. One of the most popular is Photoshop, and it's almost unfair what someone skilled in its nuances can do to make an otherwise average picture exceptional. You can turn a gray, leaden sky dark blue. You can add clouds or take them out. You can give a pale face a beautiful tan and even take out the wrinkles. You can remove a distraction – like a stranger pushing a baby stroller – from the background.
Of course, darkroom manipulation of photos has been around since there have been darkrooms. In the hands of a true master like Ansel Adams, in my mind the greatest landscape photographer who ever lived, it's called artistry. Adams could bring out detail that more closely revealed what the human eye could see. But he didn't put a mountain where there was none.
All of which makes me wonder: what if we could Photoshop our lives?
What if we could go to the computer and simply get rid of the bad stuff? Just imagine it. The fender-bender at the supermarket – erased with one keystroke. The worrisome diagnosis at the doctor's office – swept away with an electronic brush. That long ago D-minus in algebra – gone just like that. That strikeout in high school with the bases loaded – expunged from the personal data bank forevermore.
There are so many things we'd be tempted to go back and change if we could. But seldom do we get do-overs in life. You can flunk the bar exam and get another shot. You can take an ill-advised impulse purchase back to the store for a refund. Medical advances have added years to our lives, and miracle medicines hold off diseases that would have killed our grandparents.
But for the most part, we can't rewrite our personal history. Mistakes in judgment, illnesses, broken bones and broken hearts, economic setbacks, the loss of a loved one – none of us get through life without experiencing some or all of them, and they define who we are.
We are flawed individuals, each of us. The blemishes, the warts, they're all part of the package. As that noted merchant of wisdom, Jimmy Buffett, once observed, "the cosmic baker took us out of the oven a little too early."
We can't Photoshop away the blunders we make, no matter how well intentioned they seemed at the time. We can't sprinkle "pixel" dust on the pain and make it go away. We can't digitally reverse the bad things that happen. But we can be better husbands and wives and sons and daughters because they did.


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@ BarbeyGirl: Oh you are such a doll! I was worried you might think I was bashing you. New to the forum, yaaay for moderate, level-headed and sweet PB'ers.
@misathemeb: We have similar stories. I do suggest trying a period of cutting out dairy. I was soooooo resistant to the idea. Loved cheese, milk, EVERYTHING dairy. But when I did, I has fantastic results. In fact, I think I may have been slightly allergic to milk! Beyond body composition, I noticed a reduction in excema, skin troubles, and stomach bloating. I was so happy! and now I don't even miss it. When I do, I have just a smidge.


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Europe Stocks Finish Mostly Unchanged
Asia markets end higher; Canada shares inch higher at close
European stocks finished slightly higher, but mostly unchanged on Monday. Germany's DAX index enjoyed the largest surge, and was higher by 40.32 points, or 1.15%, to 3,556.99 just before its close. The index pushed ahead amid reports of higher earnings and growing perception German economy might have reached a bottom.
London's Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100 index added 3.5 points, or 0.08%, to 4,347.50. Trading was restrained following a report that the U.K. budget deficit has widened. In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 5.08 points, or 0.15%, to 3,358.80.
Asian stocks finished higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 123.82 points, or 1.12%, to finish at 11,161.71. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index increased 103.40 points, or 0.86%, to 12,147.89
Canada's benchmark S&P/TSX added 2.38 points, or 0.03%, to 7,719.85.


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Marked in Stone and Sand
An Iranian sculptor brings his art to the river, beaches—and parks.
By Robert C. Morgan
Ahmad Nadalian's work is like a synaptic charge between
Paleolithic cave art and ancient Persia. He works directly with the earth,
primarily sand and stones on the shores or in the shallow pools of rivers,
ponds, and streams. He can often be seen near the Haraz River in the village of
Poloor, approximately 65 kilometers north of Tehran, wearing his wide-brimmed
straw hat and carving fish, human hands and feet, river goddesses, and animals
into rocks beneath the surface of the water. In his Haraz River Project (2000–2001), numerous animals, fish, and human
signs appeared along the course of the river, suggesting a timeless allegory
that could have been created thousands of years ago but was in fact carved in
postmodern times.
In addition to receiving a degree from the University of
Tehran in the 1980s, Nadalian earned a doctorate from the University of Central
England. He is well versed in computer technology and believes the most viable
and effective way of transmitting his message as an artist is through digital
displays, the Internet, and his own extensively designed web sites, www.riverart.net and www.nadalian.com. French artist Yves
Klein felt that art was somewhere between the ancient world and the future. A
similar statement could be made about Nadalian, except that his forms appear as
simulacra of a prelinguistic culture, in fact, as true signs reiterating something
about our present moment. One of his titles, The River Still Has Fish, alludes to the fact that pollution and
climate change are changing the rivers of the world in ways that threaten all
species on Earth.
…To read the entire article, subscribe to LAM!
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UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center: Mindfulness Meditation Tutorial
Imagine sitting in class, listening to a lecture you find less than stimulating. As the instructor speaks, your mind begins to drift away to more interesting subjects: homework you need to finish, bills you have to pay, a foot that is falling asleep. How can we regain our attention and redirect our wandering mind away from daydreams and back to our professor's lecture? One way is through the practice of mindfulness.
As described in Virtual Learning Lab Unit 6: Active Listening, mindfulness is the cultivation of present-moment awareness. A simple mindfulness practice can train our minds to stay alert, attentive, and help us return a wandering mind back to the task at hand.
The following tutorial provides a link to a number of guided mindfulness meditations offered by the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC).
Diana Winston
Director of Mindfulness Education
Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC)
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior


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Get ready for another batch of winter weather to move in later this weekend. Get all the details in this morning's webcast from 40/29 Meteorologist Brad Carl.
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Ajit Bhawan
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Historical Traveler Reviews Ajit Bhawan Jodhpur
Wunderschöner Ort
Das Hotel hat sehr sch�ne Bungalows, einen fantastischen Pool (der im Winter allerdings recht k�hl sein kann) und freundliche Angestellte. Das gesamte Haus ist wirklich sch�n gestaltet und leider etwas teurer (obwohl es w�hrend der letzten Jahre einen Preiskampf in Indie gab). Das Hotel bietet aber trotzdem ein gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verh�ltnis. Das Abendbuffet kann man getrost auslassen, es gibt aber wirklich gute Restaurants wie z.B. das 'on the rocks', das auch eine sehr gute Bar und DJ hat.
Seien Sie vorbereitet...
Ich war ein wenig von diesem Hotel entt�uscht. Jedes Zimmer war eigentlich nur eine H�tte, die einmal als Jagdh�tte fungierte. Den Service musste man erst suchen und die Rezeption war ebenfalls weniger hilfreich. Das Hotelzimmer war dunkel (keine Nachttischlampen). Es scheint, als hatte man mitten in den Renovierungsarbeiten aufgeh�rt. Die Klimaanlage war laut. Nachdem wir 4 tage in den Taj Hotel verbracht hatten, war dies nat�rlich ein Reinfall. Werde das n�chste Mal im Taj Umbar wohnen, auch wenn ich daf�r etwas mehr zahlen muss.
So much character
This dusty old former palace is an unlikely location for a top notch hotel, the original building is certainly worse for wear and it was with great unease that I moved the lobby, dreading what was to come. Thankfully when we moved out the back into the gardens and were led to our cottage I had the most pleasant of surprises. We stayed in a charming little hut called the Warrior cottage and I couldn't help but raise a smile at the decor of this room, saddles for seats!!!. we had a little verandah with a swing to sit on which at night gave us the perfect location to view the live entertainment in the garden and was just yards from the open air restaurant. The beds were firm but comfy enough for a good night sleep. The food is OK but the restaurant next door is far better. The buffet breakfast was great. I'd stay here again but only if I was in one of the cottages, I don't think I'd be quite so pleased if I'd been in the main building
Be prepared....
Was a little disappointed with this hotel. Each of the rooms is basically a hut used orginally as a hunting lodge. The service was a little hard to find. Front desk was not to helpful. Hotel room was very dark (no bed side lamps) ac was loud. Looks as if they were remodeling the room and stopped hallfway. After spending 4 days at the Taj hotels this was a let down. Will stay at the Taj Umbar next time for just little more cost.
Excellent place
The hotel is set up as a village of small bungalows and ours (29) was really great. We had a peek at some of the older ones and they did not look so good. The room was new, great with super quiet a/c. the best part of the hotel is the pool, but you have to be there early to catch a good spot. We went there around 9 AM and it starts filling up around noon. Evening meal was ok, although they spiced up the pasta. There is evening performance (music and dance) every night. There is also a small shopping arcade next to the hotel with a great store called Anokhi where you can buy some well designed clothes in embroidery and silk, but very wearable and cheap.
Very Nice hotel
We stayed for six nights at the Ajit Bhawan in late January 2006, staying four nights, leaving, and returning for two. The hotel itself is beautiful. The grounds are incredible and the pool (which was very cold...no heating) is very picturesque. The staff were incredibly nice and helpful. The hotel is on the edge of town which makes it quieter; it is easy to get to town by hiring a rickshaw so location isn't a problem. For our first stay (the four nights) we were upgraded to a deluxe room, located right next to the pool. It had a stone patio with a love seat swing which was great. The room itself was huge, with a stone floor and walls, which made it very cold inside. The plumbing was not great (bathtub didn't drain) and generally we felt a bit swallowed up as if we were in a huge castle. On our second stay (two nights) we were in a "normal" room that was very nice, still with Rajasthani touches and charm, smaller and more manageable, with better plumbing! If you want the "heritage" aspect of the hotel, getting one of the older rooms is the way to go; you'll feel like you are indeed in an old palace. We preferred the newer room which still gave great ambience with slightly updated amenities. The nighttime buffet dinner was excellent, and the hotel's restaurant next door, "On the Rocks" was also terrific. If we were to return to Jodhpur we would definitely stay here again.
Warning warning.Do not request room 104 or any of the 3 rooms above the pool.They look very appealing until all hell breaks loose. The bed was definitely third world, no support and curved, unbelievable. We had to sleep on the sofa bed halfway into the night.Correction, we didnt sleep, as our room was next to the kitchen they were working all night- banging doors, moving furniture. I blasted management and they didnt care.It took 5 attempts to find a manager after 24 hrs.They didnt appologise and had to work hard to get my money back.The hotel itself is very appealing.We spoke to the massage therapist and said that people move out of this room regularly.They naturally said we were the first to complain.I said to manager you are a liar.
Make sure you get a modern deluxe room within this resort.Ours was old (room 104)and not fit for humans, until we moved to room 29 which was great.Why didnt they place us here first.
Make sure you take bacterial wipes in India.(3 or 4 per day) . Avoid eating their spicy food at all costs, unless you are game.A lot of western people who are there for two or more weeks get ill at some point. Stick with basic foods. I was very very ill for 24 hours and that was being careful and a non Indian style eater. I think it was from the outdoor buffet on new years eve in Jaipur.
N and J
Fun & campy, but don't get the "Royal" tents!!
Overall, the hotel is nice, if overpriced. It has nice grounds with a good-looking pool (though a bit dirty from all the pigeons), lots of trees and bushes and flowering vines. There's a windy stone path to all the rooms and a campy village theme with cottages/rooms named things like "weaver's cottage," "warriors cottage" etc. The food at the Jodhpur cafe is pretty good actually, and the breakfast buffet is one of the best I came across during my two week visit in India. Just don't stay at the "royal tents" which are not only the most expensive rooms at the hotel at 5500 Rs a night (about US$130), but rather shoddy and run-down looking, with probably the worst views as well. Our room had a dusty brown carpet that rolled up at the corners, lots of chipped stucco on the walls, a mildewy shower curtain, slightly dusty furniture with cup ring stains all over them. It felt depressing. Other types of rooms, I noticed, seem to have stone floors, which are preferable in dusty Jodhpur. Also, because it has a tented ceiling (which was brown and looked pretty dusty as well), there was less sound insulation than with a regular room so you can hear the trains screaming by and dogs barking all night long. The "views" from the tents are no good either. From our tent, you could see the air conditioning units of the other tents, the dusty porch area, which was not at all charming or inviting, or a group of cows that lived at the back of the hotel. I stayed for three nights, but wished I had only booked two.
Marvellous place
The hotel features nice bungalows, a fantastic pool (can be quite chilly during winter though) and friendly staff. The whole place is really nicely decorated and though slightly on the pricy side (though there apparently has been a price hike going on in India over the past few years) it's good value. The buffet dinner is definitely not worth the money but there is a decent dining place just next to the hotel called 'on the rocks' that also has a bar & DJ.
Do not go there!
We were at the Ajit Bhawan at the end of Oct 2005. I booked this hotel directly via email. The manager claimed that there were no standard rooms available. Only deluxe rooms were available, and we took one. Through email, I had negotiated for complimentary two-way transfers for two people to and from the airport/train station, and the hotel did *not* disagree with us on this. However, when we arrived in Jodhpur, there was no one to pick us up from the airport. We had to ring them and then, they arrived 1/2 hour later! We were also told after we arrived at the hotel, that they did *not* transfer to the train station and that we had to pay for transfers! The "deluxe" room they gave us only had hot water between 6-10 pm, our airconditioner didn't work properly and the room looked as though it hadn't been dusted for months. When we checked in, we were told that one of the two bottles of water in our room was complimentary. When we checked out, they told us that we had drunk the *wrong* bottle of water (although these two bottles of water looked identical to us when we saw them in our room fridge. So obviously, one of the bottles was recycled - their staff could differentiate between the two bottles but we could not. Fortunately, we drank from the correct bottle!). Our accommodation included breakfast but the food looked stale and unappetising.
Our friends had warned us about staying at "Heritage Hotels" in India. They didn't specify why. We have, and we won't be staying at any "Heritage Hotels" in India in the future! We were concern that all hotels would be similar for the rest of our trip, but thank goodness, the other hotels, be they cheaper or more expensive than Ajit Bhawan, were fine.
TripAdvisor Reviews Ajit Bhawan Jodhpur
Travel Blogs from Jodhpur
Horse riding clothes !
... Palace, which was constructed between 1929 and 1944, named after the late Maharaja Umaid Singhji, the palace is still the residence of his successors. We stay in the Mandore Guest House in little bungalows. Live Blog An uneventful start to the morning with breakfast at 6.30 and a six hour drive across Rajasthan... The blue ...
... guests - apparently tourism in India has taken quite a sharp downturn in light of safety concerns, and people are just not coming in the numbers they used to. Even more reason for us to support this small village community in their bid to branch out into tourism. As we walked around the village, we were met by smiles, waves and demands for photographs - happy to oblige! Despite requests for everything from sweets and pens to lipstick and nail varnish we had ...
South East to Jodphur
... vagaries and excitements of travelling on Indian roads. Just when do you go the wrong way around a roundabout (answer - I don't know !!); how do you know when there is a contra-flow on a dual carriageway (answer - when traffic starts coming your way in the opposite lane); if you breakdown how you warn other road users (answer - put stones in the road behind your vehicle).
By late afternoon we arrived at our ...
The blue city
... moved seats. He looked at me, I just glared at him and luckily he didn't try anything. We arrived and got a tuk tuk with the 2 French guys she was travelling with to a central guesthouse. You could tell it was low season in Jodphur as most places were closed and those that were open had a limited menu. One guy offered to do us Dahl and veg curry with rice and chapatti which we ate before wandering through the maze of tiny streets ...
Spectacular fort in Jodphur
... Over the years, many other rulers have added to the architecture, the most recent extensive renovation taking place at the beginning of the 20th century. The present head of the Rathore clan, Maharaja Gaj Singh II, continues to live at the fort and has spearheaded modern museum practices to preserve the historical record of his ancestors.
The palaces are filled with a display of fabulous palinquins, a jaw ...


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Q: I recently used a discount coupon, issued by a local restaurant. When the bill came, they charged me sales tax on the total amount before applying the discount. I argued that sales tax should be charged on the amount remaining after the discount was applied. What is the answer?
-- G.P., Shaker Heights
A: It would appear the restaurant miscalculated. Coupons, rebates and discounts work this way in Ohio: If the coupon comes from an outside source - such as a manufacturer in the case of a coupon in a store - then the sales tax is calculated on the full amount, because the state considers that a discount after the sale. The store will get reimbursed for the coupon from the manufacturer.
But if it's a store coupon, tax is calculated on the amount after the discount. This is because the state views this as a price adjustment - meaning the store's price being charged to you has changed. Therefore the sales tax should change.
So if this was a coupon from the restaurant itself - and not some restaurant association or chamber of commerce that is going to reimburse the restaurant - then the tax should have been calculated on the discounted amount.
Of course, any time you use a coupon of any kind in a restaurant, you should always tip your server on the full amount because you should tip on the value you received. It's just the right thing to do.
Q: I plan to marry within 18 months. I have excellent credit. My husband-to-be filed for bankruptcy 12 months ago. How will this affect my credit rating when we get married.
-- J.R., Amherst
A: It won't. People have separate credit files for a reason - you are separate people with separate histories.
However, I would be very careful. Do NOT add yourself to any of his existing negative accounts -- or any good ones either, for that matter, if you're concerned that his financial ways haven't changed.
His poor credit rating will affect the interest rates on any loans you apply for together, such as a mortgage or car loan. And it could affect his wages and your joint assets if any garnishments or liens are filed down the road (such as if he has bills that he is still paying off under terms of the bankruptcy).
If I were you, I'd keep the finances as separate as possible for many years, perhaps seven or more.
Keep in mind that the negative blemish of bankruptcy can remain longer than 10 years. There is no statute of limitations, for example, if your husband-to-be applies for life insurance that is worth more than $150,000. Insurers are allowed to ask whether he has ever filed for bankruptcy, and the answer could affect his rates.
Q: I received a disturbing phone call about 10 days ago that I wanted to share with you. I have caller ID and it was marked "private." I have several family members' numbers that come up this way, along with my doctors at MetroHealth, so I answered it. A lady was almost yelling at me. She was saying, "I need your Social Security number" and when I asked why, she said that they needed to update it and give me a new number. I asked for a supervisor, who was just as obnoxious.
I knew it was a scam and told them so. I'm 54 and know better. I know that government offices' numbers don't come up as private. But I worry about people like my mom, who is in her 80s, who might feel pressured to just give up the information.
I wonder what can be done about this.
-- J.H., Parma
A: The best thing we can all do is have a talk with all of our older loved ones. Tell them they shouldn't disclose so much as their shoe size to someone they don't know. They should always ask for a call-back number for any important issue. If the caller won't provide it, that's your answer. Getting that call-back number will give someone time to verify (with help from the Internet or a relative or the phone book) whether it's a legitimate phone number.
And I wouldn't rely on what the caller ID says. There are sophisticated scammers who can bluff a number to make it look like they're calling from another number.
Murray is The Plain Dealer's personal finance writer. Because of the volume of requests, she cannot help everyone who contacts her.
On Facebook:PDMoneyMatters
On Twitter: @teresamurray
Previous columns online:cleveland.com/moneymatters


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Sanders was part of 1963 March on WashingtonAugust 25,2013Sanders was part of 1963 march
Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., was among more than 200,000 people who gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington 50 years ago to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his I Have a Dream speech.
Sanders was a 22-year-old college student.
Since then, he said, there has been real progress in breaking down barriers of discrimination and segregation, including the election and re-election of an African-American president.
But Sanders said the country is worse off in unemployment, low wages and wealth disparity.MORE IN Vermont NewsMONTPELIER Vermont has reached a deal with the federal government to move forward with a plan... Full StoryThis story appeared in the electronic edition of the Rutland Herald earlier this week. Full StoryMONTPELIER Gov. Full Story
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News about the Toyota unintended acceleration debacle is beginning to sound like a broken record, but Toyota's new, related paranoia is highly entertaining. Toyota released a bulletin today entitled "Why is My Car Doing This?" proving how little car buyers (at least some Toyota buyers) actually know about the product they're purchasing.
The bulletin goes into detail specifically about why engine speed can increase for seemingly no reason and no, none of the reasons are because the vehicle is accelerating like a runaway freight train. Some are things, we admit, that many people wouldn't realize. But discussing that shifting can cause an increase in rpm? Transmissions have had gears for decades, but somehow people don't realize this?
Here is the bulletin in all of its paranoid hilarity:
'Why is My Car Doing This?'
Modern technology in today's automobiles can cause engine rpm to increase slightly without warning, but don't panic. There's a reason for this and once you understand why, you won't be surprised when it happens.
Here are a few examples of these common occurrences from the experts at Toyota:
Cold start idle-up: An increase in engine idle speed normally occurs just after a cold start on the first drive of the day. This high idle speed is a normal condition of a cold engine. The engine idle speed will reduce as the engine warms up.
Transmission shift: When accelerating while driving at a slow to moderate speed, the driver may experience a slight pause, as the transmission downshifts to a lower gear, followed by a notable increase in engine rpm as the vehicle accelerates.
Catalytic converter protection: On some manual transmission models, the engine control computer may keep the engine rpm above idle as the driver shifts between fifth and sixth gears at highway speeds. This momentary rpm increase is designed to enhance the life of the catalytic converter.
Air conditioning idle-up: On vehicles with an engine-driven A/C compressor, the engine idle rpm will increase slightly as the compressor cycles on. This is done to reduce the chance of an engine stall condition due to the increased load being placed on it by the operation of the A/C compressor.
Power steering idle-up: On vehicles with engine-driven hydraulic power steering, the driver will note a slight increase in engine idle rpm when the steering wheel is turned while stopped or at low speeds. This is a normal operating condition and is done to reduce the chance of an engine stall due the increased load placed on it by the operation of the power steering pump.
This leaves us wondering if Toyota is going to begin issuing a series of these bulletins in order to completely cover itself and begin educating its consumers, should they read the bulletins. Do you think this is taking things a step too far or is this a necessary step to begin educating the public?
Source: Toyota


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Series 1 Episode 2: Naples
Anyone who knows me, they know that I love my coffee. But when I say I love my coffee, I'm talking about 10 to 15 coffees per day!
Gino's Italian adventures continue in Naples - the area of Italy where he was born and where he trained to be a chef. Here, he examines the foods and ingredients that have made the city famous - pizza and coffee!
Naples is world famous for its pizza and credited for inventing the Margherita pizza of mozzarella, tomato and basil in 1889.
Whilst in Naples Gino investigates the Neapolitan food trend of fried pizza – and helps an award winning chef make this surprisingly tasty street snack.
I know it sounds a bit strange, but believe me it is sensational. I grew up with it and I want everybody to see it
Enthused by the mouth-watering food around him, Gino shows off a dish invented by his mother – chicken in breadcrumbs, topped with fresh mozzarella with a pizza-style sauce. A dish Gino stills makes for his own sons today. Before he leaves the city centre, Gino is thrilled to find a tiny café, which serves sixty-three different types of coffee! Fantastico!
The region's volcanic landscape is the inspiration for Gino's final Neapolitan location. To the west of Mount Vesuvius lies an extinct volcano, which houses a quaint organic restaurant. Gino picks vegetables and herbs inside the fertile crater – and creates a sumptuous courgette frittata, topped with a vibrant tomato, basil and olive salsa.


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LA Auto Show: Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo Concept Walkaround
Imagine if a video game developer came to you and said "Would you mind creating a unique car for our game?" What would you do? Well, if you're Mercedes-Benz and the developer happens to be Polyphony Digital, the creators of the popular Gran Turismo series, you would say yes. This is the AMG Vision Gran Turismo Concept and it draws a lot of its design from Mercedes-Benz's sports cars of the fifties. The best part is that if you have Gran Turismo 6, you can drive this concept in the game. Hubert Lee, Mercedes-Benz Creative Director, gives us a walkaround.


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The definition of a successful project usually includes an expectation for project to be delivered within budget. In this blog I look at some of the key considerations for a project manager.
As a starting point, I'd summarise the aims of project accounting as follows:
These can be subtly different from the aims of traditional accounting. For example project accounting is frequently forward looking, whereas traditional financial accounting typically looks at how historical costs are recorded.
The foundation for project costs is an approved budget of estimated costs that forms part of the underlying business case. This is usually developed from a number of assumptions and estimates. It's important to translate the budget into a suitable structure of cost accounts so that costs can be recorded and in a logical manner. The precise structure required for cost accounts varies depending on the size and complexity of the project but it's common for costs to be split either by project phase (planning, build, test etc) or type (Internal staff cost, external staff cost, hardware etc). A key requirement is to ensure that each cost account has a suitable owner who is responsible for approving spend and reviewing regular cost reports for the cost accounts under their control.
Project cost reporting needs to be timely and accurate. It's useful to split costs into the following categories:
The analysis of variances to budget is an extremely useful exercise for a project manager. If costs are lower than expected this may indicate lower levels progress than planned. If costs are higher than expected it may indicate productivity issues or false assumptions. Good project governance requires material variances to be approved by the relevant party.
This blog has set out some basic principles for project accounting and isn't intended to be an exhaustive description. The key to successful project accounting is applying the correct techniques in the right circumstances.
If you've enjoyed this review on project accounting, you may want to download our white paper on avoiding project failure below.
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Tracking Matthew
Caught on video: TX officer jumps off bridge to avoid being hit by carUPDATED 5:34 AM EDT May 20, 2014
A Texas police officer, who was conducting a traffic stop, jumped off a bridge to avoid being hit by an alleged drunken driver, and the incident was all caught on dash cam video.Video Transcript
MARCH 21st AND APRIL 18th. 11 ILLNESSES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED SO FAR. NEW VIDEO, A COP JUMPS OFF OF A BRIDGE TO AVOID BEING HIT BY A CAR. AN OFFICER WAS CONDUCTING A TRAFFIC STOP WHEN A DRIVER SLAMS INTO HIS CRUISER. HE FELL ABOUT 30 FEET BUT IS EXPECTED TO BE OKAY.
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Relational And Trees
I am not sure relational by definition excludes tree-friendly operations. Some vendors have added tree-friendly operations.
Question: Did
exclude tree operations from ever being added to root relational operators? If he did, can he be "overridden"? Can tree-friendly operators be derived from the original set? It does not look possible to me.
No Dr. Codd most certainly did not exclude anything. Actually, by
's definition a proper relational database should include a transitive closure operator. Which is all you need to operate on trees. SQL 99 goes further and provides WITH RECURSIVE syntax, that is more general than transitive closure, and it is even implemented partially in the current IBM DB2 version (8.1).
There are various ways to represent trees in relational tables. The simplest is a "parentID" to refer to the key of the parent. (Root has zero or null parent.) Another technique is to have a path column where paths are separated by a special character such as a dot. But navigating these requires some string parsing and comparing. There are yet other approaches which I will try to provide links to later.
In addition to the methods mentioned above, there is also the "nested set model". This model allows retrieval of an entire subtree in one step, without any joins. Of course, it has its own set of problems too.
Possible tree-friendly operators
(entity, parentColumnName, parentID, orderType,...) - return all children under parentID as named in parentColumnName. orderType is the traversal type, such as left shallow, left deep, right shallow, right deep (do we need another ordering parameter?). Original relational operations did not define ordering of result sets, so how to deal with this is controversial. Perhaps just have it add an extra virtual column that provides a sequence, and maybe also indent level. If you later want to sort on that info, you can. A null or zero parent ID would mean start at the top. Here is a fuller set of possible parameters:
Entity - The table, virtual or real to be traversed. (Note that joins can be performed to produce a virtual table out of many. The virtual table just has to satisfy the necessary parent-pointing column convention.)
parentColumnName - The parent indicator, as described above.
parentID - The "node" at which to start
orderType - The traversal order qualifier, as described above.
nodeSequenceColumn - Column name to put the node sequence number into. If this is not supplied, then perhaps a default can be used, such as "nodeSequence". Or perhaps this should be replaced with a SEQUENCE() function.
levelColumn - Column name to put the level value into. Zero for the top-most, 1 for the nest level, etc. If not supplied then no such column is created. Perhaps this can be replaced with a LEVEL() function.
orderClueColumn - A column used to determine the order of traversal if there are multiple candidates. If not supplied, then primary key is used.
criteria - like a WHERE clause
The node sequence will not be a unique value, for there may be many nodes at the same branch and level. For ordering of those nodes under the same branch and level, use the node sequence in conjunction with other operators. See
for some possibilities. It may require two passes through orderBy operator, one before and one after.
I realize this is a lot of parameters. If you can think of a simpler way, I am all ears.
Maybe something similar can be devised for graph traversal.
, which can be considered in many respects the definitive documentation of the
, defines a transitive closure operator in the
for this purpose. (...which I noticed after I wrote this, is mentioned at the top of this page. Muy bad.) I believe practical application of this low-level operator is still a matter of some research, however.
, it may be argued that such is not in the spirit of declarative languages.
Why is a transitive closure operator not in the spirit of declarative languages?
In declarative form perhaps it would look the same. I am not sure what kind of interface you have in mind. It is any kind of recursion that I feel doesn't fit the flavor. To me, recursion is "how", not "what". (However, the difference may be a matter of interpretation.)
(I second that opinion - recursion and transitive closures are mechanisms, not declarations of intent. E.g. with the basic 'Select' operator, you're saying "I want things from this table that meet these constraints". However, with transitive closures and recursion and the sort of pointer-hopping you typically see with trees, you end up saying: 'take the set R, apply transitive-closure to R, apply join, apply filter to result, return result'. Constraint-based programming is the only 'true' declarative programming. You should just be saying: 'Viewing this table as representing a set of trees with root-nodes described by property R and [... more view-stuff here that could be associated with table in meta-data ...], give me all all node-triples where the first node is a root of a tree and the two sub-nodes are descendents where the left node has properties X and the right node has properties Y', or even just 'Give me all root nodes of trees that have one descendent with properties X and another (different) descendent with properties Y'. I.e. you name the constraints, and the query processor figures out how to fulfill it. This isn't a description in terms of what to do (e.g. transitive closures and filters and joins) to find those requirements, but rather just what you want at the end.)
In the
described in
, a unary transitive closure operator is defined. Should a single, self-contained operator be considered declarative or imperative? Does a series of linearly-executed declarative statements, as is frequently used in SQL, represent imperative programming or declarative programming? Is the
best leveraged via an imperative language, a functional language, or a declarative language? Is it possible to unambiguously define clear boundaries between these? I think these are partly philosophical questions, and partly subjects for further empirical research.
That said, I am increasingly of the belief that effectively representing and manipulating graphs & trees is outside the
, and would be better handled by a "graph algebra" and associated structures built for the purpose and embedded in DBMSes along with complete implementations of the
, plus operators for (where appropriate) converting between relations and (sub)graphs and/or trees. However, I freely admit this is idle speculation.
A series of linearly
declarative statements is imperative in nature.
Not necessarily. A declarative representation may have an imperative equivalent, but does not require it. See toward the bottom of
for more on this.
Yes. Necessarily.
It isn't the presence of an "imperative equivalent" that determines whether an expression is imperative; rather, any expression that something is to be executed is imperative in nature. All declarative statements that communicate that action should be taken are imperative in nature... but it's the expression, not the communication, that is discussed here. Your example of
is not a counter; it is not a series of declarative statements to be executed linearly.
Well, let's deal with the classification of "linearly executed declarative" on a case-by-case basis as encountered and see if it really has been "imperatively polluted" or just looks that way.
It is possible to define clear boundaries between imperative, functional, and declarative
, but language necessarily crosses these boundaries. That is, a particular language expression might describe action vs. calculation vs. result, but working with that expression will demand the others: describing results of actions, describing results of calculations, performing actions in order to complete calculations, calculating actions, planning (result-of-action), and constraint (result-of-calculation)). For example, to describe what you want, you'll need to describe an abstraction. Abstractions are equivalent to patterns, which are equivalent to functions over propositions in a logic language. Thus, describing what you want will require describing a calculation. Always. Even "find me all dogs" requires calculation of sensory-data or object-data against the pattern associated with "dog", and I described said pattern with said word.
Relational model aside, the
ideal way to express a query
is declarative: describe what you want to learn from that data (e.g. "which breeds of dogs are most common Paris?" or "what hair-care products are popular in Rome?"), and whatever database management system you're using will evaluate that expression of
you want to learn, will compute an efficient mechanism on
to accomplish that goal, and then will proceed to accomplish this for you. Ideally, one can also subscribe to something like a query, allowing for both immediate feedback and updates when things change ("keep me up-to-date on the life of
") which ultimately requires that the database keep data about what it's already told me (or that I accept a lot of redundant data).
You express as growing opinion that
"effectively representing and manipulating graphs & trees is outside the
. With this, I half-agree. It is very important to remember that the relational model was designed for representing
, with each tuple representing a
. Representing
is completely outside the domain of the
. Values can include trees and graphs; those sorts of values should be tuple-attributes in the
. However, when representing data about things that are
by nature
hierarchical (e.g.
"the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is part of the United States Department of the Interior") then this would be within the domain of the
- the representation of data. If the
is weak when working with hierarchies (and it is) this represents a real weakness in the model.
"It is very important to remember that the relational model was designed for representing
, with each tuple representing a
. Representing
is completely outside the domain of the
That's a curious pair of sentences. Could you provide a reference in any of the standard texts on the
) that confirms your assertions? I'm not saying you're wrong, because I think I know what you're attempting to convey, but your application of the terminology appears to differ from the usage with which I'm familiar. --
I would like to see what the declarative competitors are to relational before dismissing relational for tree and graph handling. Is the argument that no satisfactory declarative approach can be found for trees & graphs, or that only relational, and not all of declarative space, is the problem?
There are no good competitors. You'd know about them if there were. The closest you can get is in research on knowledge representation and data-mining, but nothing in those fields is ready for the sort of workhorse labor the
s receive. Of course, "There's nothing better" is a fine argument for continuing to use a weak model, but it's hardly a defense of the model. A weakness indicates something to fix, perhaps by creating a competitor, or perhaps by fixing or adding to the language.
To perform proper declarative statements over graphical and hierarchical data (where it represents real data) requires a language that understands such things as hierarchical or graph relations both within the current table and across tables. This sort of thing must be expressed in the meta-data associated with the database, much like 'primary key' and 'foreign key' are at the moment. To perform proper operations over recursively structured values requires proper pattern-description languages for them, which are functional in nature. Both of these things should be fixed in whatever becomes the next generation of database technology. I don't imagine knowledge-representation and the associated inference engines getting into the DBMS arena (for actual management of data) for at least a full generation beyond that, and beyond even that is recognizing patterns in the structural and temporal associations between real data items and queries upon them.
Rather than wait 2 generations, there are at least two good reasons to work on refining relational declarative traversal:
A sufficient competitor is a long way off, as you agreed.
A good many apps are not likely to be pure traversal-oriented, but rather a mix of "graphiness" and traditional queries. Even though the additions may not be the ideal traversal technology, it does allow apps to live in both worlds in an integrated way fairly well. The New Thing may not do the "traditional" stuff well, making mixing difficult (limiting it to very narrow niches).
The first steps I mentioned (
Both of these things should be fixed
) are refinements to the relational model (a little) and the query language and language processor (a lot). It also wouldn't hurt Relational to shift the query language up a declarative level (so you're declaring what you want, and the query processor figures out which tables to join, access, etc.). OTOH, that would add a mountain of a burden to the DBMS.
The "declarative level" isn't a "Relational" issue, because query languages aren't a component of the
. The
defines tuples, relations, and an algebra, and that's essentially the lot. It's unfortunate that the model and query language design (which usually means some reference to
) are so often conflated. I would be curious to know what refinements you suggest to the model, however. --
One could argue that a mathematical expression is both declarative and could also serve as a query language. Early relational languages were indeed more math-like, but IBM decided to COBOL-tize it to make it (hopefully) more marketable.
Mathematic and functional expressions (ignoring typing and computability) describe a value, not a consequent. Think about it. What did you 'declare' with a statement like: '1+1' or 'f(a,b)^2' or 'table1 joined with table2 joined with table3'? You declared nothing; you just described something that can be calculated by programmatic application of formally defined rules.
declarative expressions describe consequents, and the programming style that most correctly embodies them is constraint-based, not functional programming. This is well understood by people who have actually worked with both sorts of languages. E.g. instead of 'given a,b, find f(a,b)^2', you say 'give me one pair (a,b) such that f(a,b)^2=81'. You describe the consequent (the value (a,b) and its properties), not the expression that evaluates to it. (Note: the declarative axis with imperative programming describes goals for state (or effect) rather than how to obtain it.) The best known of constraint-based languages are Prolog and Maude. It'd be well worth figuring out how to express queries in a more declarative manner than existing languages currently provide.
But is it safe to say that the distinction is probably blurry and/or continuous?
No. It is safe only to say that there is a singularity point of contact between the two expressive forms: when one desires a value that is exactly the result of calculating a functional expression (e.g. x = 1+1). In this sense, you can consider constraint-based declarative programming to be superior (in expression) to functional programming. Every functional expression qualifies as a constraint-based expression, but there is no natural way to transform or consider constraint-based expressions as functional ones (e.g. give me one pair (a,b) such that f(a,b)^2 = 81; this might or might not be optimizable by attempting to solve for (a,b), but optimization is beyond the issue of expression.)
The "declarative level" is an issue for Database Management Systems in general, so it is an issue for RDBMS. The
does define a bit more than that regarding the use of keys and consistency constraints, though I guess that depends on which iteration of the model and
's work you're looking at. Anyhow, you say
"it's unfortunate that the model and the query language design are often conflated"
, but I say
"tuples, relations, and an algebra
a language, and don't you forget it"
. SQL has its flaws, and while some of them don't come from the
, some certainly do, including the difficulty seen with
. If you wish to fix the flaws, you need to get down to modifying that language... perhaps not so much on the representation side (saying how different things relate to one another), but on the algebra side (saying how to connect things together).
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June 22, 2013
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A-Li, The Adorable Grey Bear in Substitute Princess, Was Born to Be a Star!
Remember this adorable bear that was in Substitute Princess? Lin Guan Jun (James Wen) gave it to Jin Da Hua (Nikki Hsieh) just before she left to try to help her family. Anyway, this little bear named A-Li has been causing quite a stir! A little webcomic has been developed for our little friend, and was posted on A-Li Bear's Official Facebook Page. Check out the comic and a translation below: Da Hua: Guan Jun, I want one~ Guan Jun: Da Hua, you just wait! A-Li Bears: Psh! Yeah right, you would be able to get us that easily! Haha! Hehe! Director: A-Li! Do as the script says! A-Li Bear: (CAUGHT!) Ouch... no... Guan Jun: Da Hua! This bear will go with you to Australia. When you run into trouble he will help me protect you! Da Hua: Him? A-Li Bear: W-what's wrong... Da Hua: Yes! He's so cute! He will save me some expenses! Da Hua: Does he have a pouch? Does it contain a first aid kit? A-Li Bear: That's… an egg shell! I'm not Doraemon! And just in case that wasn't enough of a cute overload, here are some more A-Li bear pictures! A-Li: We're going to travel! Yay! A-Li in Venice, Italy. A-Li in Rome. A-Li: When it's cold I just want to stay in bed! A-Li: Yes... This is so relaxing. A-Li: It's finally Chinese New Year's Vacation! Yes! A-Li: If you're tired, remember to take a break! We love A-Li and are thinking about adding him to our office soon! What do you think about this grey little guy? He's also been in another Taiwanese series titled "Love, Now" with George Hu from our new series Summer Fever. (Source: www.facebook.com)


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Despite complaints from residents, the New York City Board of Health seems to be all for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban large sugary drinks at restaurants.
Bloomberg announced his plan last month to help fight obesity in his city, but many New Yorkers weren't happy.
"Well I figure since it's America, people should decide what they want to do or what they pay for," New York resident Abraham Wilkins said. "What they should do is stop going around trying to judge people for what they want."
If passed, food service establishments in New York City would be banned from serving drinks like sodas and lemonade in containers larger than 16 ounces. Consumers will be allowed to have refills.
At a meeting this week, several board members agreed with the ban and even suggested new restrictions on other food, like movie popcorn and milkshakes.
"Some of the board members seemed to think this proposal didn't go far enough and that's very alarming because the majority of New Yorkers, as we've seen in several polls, think that this is already over regulation," Andrew Moesel, with the New York City Restaurant Association, said.
Any restaurants that don't comply with the big beverage ban could face a $200 fine. A formal vote is scheduled for September.
Most New Yorkers Sour on Sugary Drink Ban
NYC Seeks Soft Drink Ban to Combat Obesity
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A quiet, poetic, and intimate look at the last moments of a marriage, before a husband leaves his wife.
55 backers pledged $4,861 to help bring this project to life.
Wildfire: A new project is underway!
To all of you who donated to my last short film, Knock Softly,
I wanted to quickly notify you that a new Kickstarter campaign for my NYU thesis film, Wildfire... Read more
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Hey everybody,
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Happy weekend to ya. At long last, I have finished the film and am preparing uploads and DVD's for your viewing pleasure. The color is set, the sound... Read more
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Blake Lively reveals Spice Girls fixation
Published 06/09/2012
Blake Lively has joked she should have been "medicated" for her obsession with the Spice Girls when she was younger.
The 25-year-old actress was a huge fan of the British girl band as a child. She often recreated the iconic outfits worn by Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Mel B and Mel C.
"When I was a child I probably should have been medicated about my obsession with the Spice Girls," she quipped to the latest issue of UK magazine Marie Claire. "I had the Buffalo shoes, a customised Baby Spice necklace - when I say custom made it was made out of plastic from the local mall - and a Union Jack dress.
"I had poster after poster."
Blake fulfilled a childhood dream by meeting the girl group recently.
The star was in London last month and had dinner with the band, who briefly reformed to perform at the London Olympic Games closing ceremony.
"On the last night I went out for dinner. After I'd arrived, I was told a bunch of paparazzi had showed up. I thought, 'That's so weird. I've been left alone most of my stay - why are they bothering me now?' But then someone told me it was because Victoria Beckham was in the same restaurant. I was like, 'OK, that makes sense,'" she recalled.
"She's a friend of mine and I would have said hello but I decided I didn't want to bother her. Then I was told that she was there with the rest of the Spice Girls. I was like, I definitely need to say hello! So, there you have it; I got to hang out with the Spice Girls. It was my lifelong dream. That's it now. I can quit."
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To the Editor:
It's recently been reported that the Johnson family applied to the state Department of Transportation for a private helistop after their application to the Tewksbury Land Use Board for a variance was turned down.
What is ironic is how the Johnson's application to the state flies in the face of what they loudly and repeatedly claim to be — that is, good neighbors. They had a fair fight with the Land Use Board, which is comprised of some of their neighbors, and they lost. They also heard from numerous neighbors that their private helistop is not wanted. And what was the Johnson's neighborly reaction to their neighbors? They made an end-run around Tewksbury's Land Use Board by applying directly to the state for a private helistop. What makes the situation even worse is what Jack McNamara, the Johnson's aviation attorney, told me in a private conversation after one of the Land Use Board meetings: if the state approves the application for a helistop, then "all bets are off" regarding the Johnson's promise to fly only over Johnson property in order to help minimize noise to neighbors. I hope that was only legal posturing by Jack, but I believe in my heart that it was not.
Anyone interested in submitting comments to DOT on the helistop can do so in writing by Oct.12 to the Office of Community Involvement, Department of Transportation, 1035 Parkway Avenue, P.O. Box 600, Trenton 08625-0600.
Tewksbury Township