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From Our Friends
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How about hummus & pita chips omitting the garlic?
This was made keeping in mind a very 'kosher' guideline that a lot of orthodox hindus follow, You may omit the ghee if you want to avoid any dairy.
ChezSuzanne's red pepper dip is phenomenal, and I have made it without the creme fraiche (thus vegan) and added extra coconut milk. It is really good served on bread toasts: http://www.food52.com/recipes...
I concur with ChezSuzanne's red pepper dip. Mark Bittman has a recipe for a chickpea pizza that is really wonderful and would compliment the red pepper dip or stand on its own.
Potato Tikkis would be very satisfying.
Boil potatoes. Add salt, roasted cumin powder and pepper and mash really well. Take lemon sized balls of potato and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness and shallow fry till it browns on either side. Serve with cilantro chutney [cilantro, mint, green chillies,lemon juice,salt, pepper. Blend. Add a dollop of thick yogurt to the chutney if you want creamy.
Serve with hot, sweet milk tea.
Sorry, edit previous response of milk and yogurt. Didn't notice the vegan part. It will still work.
Anita is a vegan pastry chef & founder of Electric Blue Baking Co. in Brooklyn.
My raw vegan blue cheese dressing is garlic and onion-free! A yummy and satsifying snack paired with vegetable crudites.
Onigiri, Japanese rice balls with vegan fillings. My roommate in college used to make these for road trips, they were a snack from his childhood and they are great fun to eat. He would wrap them fully in nori and the filling in the center was always a surprise. Many recipes call for salmon or tuna, but he used pickled vegetables, marinated tofu and various sauces.
Sam is a trusted home cook.
Kale Chips with sea salt and a spray of olive oil.
roasted, seasoned nuts.
how about a platter of grilled vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers, etc) drizzled with good olive oil, a splash of balsamic, and salt and pepper. brushetta would also be delicious (minus garlic, of course), as would stuffed mushrooms. for a more asian twist, you could do steamed vegetable dumplings.
Get the recipes and features that have us talking, plus first dibs on events and limited-batch products.
(Oh, and $10 off your order of $50 or more in the Food52 Shop, too.)


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Clifton Journal Sound Off Feb. 22, 2013
Parking problems persist
I watched the Clifton Council and heard about other streets with parking problems and will be looked into. In better words - don't hold your breath. It's sad for the last couple of years I wrote the mayor; I wrote the Clifton Journal and (I) feel like I am wasting my breath. Commuters that come from other towns should not have the right to park on a residential street. The people don't respect the residents on those streets. Also the residents from the top of Brookwood by the apartments don't respect the people who live at the bottom going towards Allwood Road speeding up and down. The councilman who lives on Sycamore used my letter for his personal benefit, and that is wrong (be)cause the letter was stated for Brookwood Road only.
Stacy Ostrander
Good religion comments
Eugene Bernascone may well surpass Phil Patti as the target of the religiously inclined if he writes any more letters like the one in the Feb. 15 Clifton Journal. What might save Patti in his number one position is that many of his detractors don't understand what he is saying. No one will fail to understand Bernascone's plain and simple statements that I agree with.
Paul Furlong
Vote out union?
The fate of Western civilization hangs in the balance! That's because this month Clifton teachers will be selecting a union president. It's a thankless job choreographing the hand-wringing hysteria, but someone has to do it.
Or maybe not. Why not let Clifton teachers decide, by a fair election, whether they want the organization to even exist? A no vote would save them over $1,100 in mandatory dues every year. It would also send a strong message about the level of support unions have in the public sector. Best of all, Clifton students wouldn't be subjected to the mindless political advocacy that seeps into the classroom. Let's ask union president Frank Gengaro if he'd allow such a vote.
Rob Dominianni
Woodland Park
Mustang and Indian are not Clifton
I'm sorry; I didn't express myself clearly in my recent letter. I have no opinion regarding keeping or changing the mustang as the high school's mascot. My intent was to point out that Clifton's most prominent promotional images - its city seal and its high school mascot - are misleading because they have no connection to Clifton.
I think it's time for Clifton to re-brand itself. The Indian and the mustangs are symbols of a city stuck in a mid-50s TV Western. That's the Eisenhower generation's memories, but the Indian and the mustang mean nothing to today's generation in Clifton. I think it would be a great way to engage the non-Eisenhower generation in civic life if the city has a contest for city residents to design a modern, factual image for the city.
Elizabeth Swift
Bow to Big Brother
Unfunny comedian Chris Rock may claim that we should all bow down to Barack "Benghazi" Obama because he is allegedly "the dad of our country." But Obama's State of the Union address promoting endless government means Obama is more of a Big Brother.
Mark Kalinowski

subset: commoncrawl


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Reading or writing? Narrative and the purity of open worlds
Patrice Désilets has said the first Assassin's Creed was the best game in the series as it's "pure," free of manufactured plotting. Dave Cook asks whether or not games have the strongest narrative when the player's doing the writing.
Narrative headlines
Arkham City storytelling: Rocksteady and Paul Dini talk narrative
After popping up earlier to discuss the 'heat' between Batman and Catwoman in Rocksteady's stunning looking sequel, Paul Dini's back with some more thoughts on narrative.
Molyneux - The greatest story ever told will be in a computer game
Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux thinks games will surpass the level of storytelling seen in the Godfather. Bold claims. Not bold enough. He's told VG247 that games will tell the best story in the world. Ever. "The greatest story ever told? I think it's going to be in a computer game," he said. "And I think […]


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10 Creative Ways To Make Money Online
If you'd claimed it was possible for the average guy on the street to make millions of dollars online just a decade ago, the chances are good you'd have heard nothing but laughter in response. Today, though, there are countless Internet millionaires who turned a great idea into obscene profit, used the power of the web to promote their offline business or simply worked their butt off to sell their skills online.
While it's unlikely that you'll ever earn enough to buy your own private island, there's nothing to stop you from using your skills to make a comfortable living online. In fact, while the media would have you believe that online success stories are limited to just a few lucky, hard working people who stumbled on a great idea that went on to make millions, the reality is that there are tens of thousands of people who make a living exclusively online. Here are just ten ways you can join them.
How To Make Money Online
1. Sell Stock Photography
The Internet has caused an explosion in the demand for stock photography. As the number of media and commercial outlets has increased dramatically with the growth of online media there's an enormous need for high quality stock photos.
Yuri Arcurs is the man everyone turns to for their stock photo needs. As the world's top selling stock photographer he sells an image every 8 seconds, 24 hours a day (that works out to over 4 million images each year). Arcurs makes millions of dollars each year simply by being the best at what he does. There are lots of great photographers in the world and the barrier to entry is as low as ownership of a camera, but Arcurs has managed to build a reputation online for consistent, high quality and imaginative images.
If you're a professional photographer (or even just a hobbyist) you should consider the possibilities of selling stock images online.
2. Tweet For Sponsors
SponsoredTweets.com is an online platform that allows you to make money on Twitter by charging sponsors for communicating their advertising messages to your followers. You set the amount you want to get paid for every tweet you make, choose a category and select keywords you want to work with. You then wait for advertisers to contact you and take you up on your offer, paying you the amount you specified for each tweet that you make.
All throughout the process, the tweeter has full control over his or her account, and may choose the wordings of the tweets, or may choose to reject the tweet altogether.
3. Blog for Ad Revenues
If, however, you already have a blog with a devoted following it should be easy for you to leverage your readers into hard cash. Ad networks such as Google AdSense pay big money to place their ads on your site, and you'll receive a payment every time a reader clicks one. While it's easy to go overboard and fill every spare pixel, if you place your ads well it's possible to make a comfortable income from your site.
One of the most successful bloggers around today is John Chow, a Canadian blogger who makes more than $40,000 a month through ad sales and other revenue streams. Ironically, his blog is about ways to make money online.
4. Sell Affiliate Products
If you have a flair for sales copy you could try your hand at selling products for affiliates. While many people take the seedy route of selling diet pills and penis enlargement products, if you want to keep your conscience clear you'll find that Amazon runs a very successful affiliate program that allows you to make money advertising any of the products for sale on their site. eBay also have a pretty good affiliate setup, with their top affiliates earning $1.3 Million a month, WOW!
5. Write an e Book
In recent years the self-publishing world has exploded online to the point at which you don't even have to run your own site in order to promote a book. Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo are just a few of the sites on which you could self-publish today, with commission rates of around 70% available on every sale.
The number of eBooks on Amazon reached 8 million last year, and Amazon stated that eBooks are outselling hard backs 2 to 1, 62% of ebook sales fell into the Thriller and Mystery genre, so if you feel that you could pull this style of genre off then you will be in for a good chance of sales.
26 year old self published author, Amanda Hocking from Minnesota makes more than $2 Million a year from her ebook sales. Amanda Hocking's stories about, trolls, vampires and zombies and 'supernatural teen romances' sell for $2.99 or for as little as $.99.
6. Become a Virtual Assistant
Every small businessman would love to hire a full time assistant to take care of the little things, but many simply can't afford one. Thanks to the Internet, though, they can now hire part time assistants who work for a whole host of clients, and all at a much lower cost than a full time staff member.
If you work from home this may be a perfect opportunity to make a consistent income. Virtual assistants can earn $20 an hour in return for booking travel tickets, interacting with clients and dealing with the daily needs of small businesses.
7. Lease Your Skills
Most people have at least one skill that carries a market value, though until now that skill may have been impossible to monetize in the traditional job market.
Sites such as 99Designs, Elance, Freelancer and iWriter allow people to hire out their skills as writers, coders, designers, translators and lots more on a contract basis. Freelancing sites are a great way to boost your income in your free time, and with enough motivation and hard work you could find yourself earning a comfortable full time income from them.
8. Selling on eBay
eBay is a great way to turn your unwanted things into a little spending money, but it isn't just a place to sell your old Star Wars action figures. In fact, eBay's global marketplace can offer a great way for canny traders to buy and sell their way to profit. By buying wholesale you can sell anything with a mark up. Even better, if you have the skills to make things people want to buy you could start your own home-based craft business, selling to customers around the world.
Matt & Amanda Clarkson are a successful couple who so far have managed to make over $8 Million in eBay sales.
9. Become A Mobile App Tester
People that are rather uncertain of their application development potential can still make some money through the usage of iPhone apps.
People that have the time and desire to test iPhone apps and discover bugs can be rewarded payments for their efforts. uTest is one such application. Individuals that have signed up will also build some reputation on the basis of the testing they have done so far.
Better reputation signifies access to more profitable app testing opportunities.
10. Designing T-Shirts
Finally, if you have something of an artistic streak you could kick off the next viral sensation with your own range of funky, arty t-shirts. Sites such as CafePress allow users to upload their own t-shirt designs and sell them on their personal online store.
You can also contact distributors such as threadless.com or designbyhumans.com to release your t-shirt designs to the masses.
If your designs catch the eye you could be looking at enormous profits when they take off in a big way.
Checkout our article The Top 10 Tips On Starting Your Own Successful Clothing Line, this should give you an idea on how to kick things off.
As you can see, to make money online you don't have to be particularly skilled with computers. You don't need to be know how to build your own website from the ground up, and you don't have to be a mogul with millions of dollars to invest in success. If you have any kind of artistic skills, creativity or business savvy you can turn it into profit.
In short, you should understand that the online world is just like real life. The same opportunities are there for the taking, but instead of drawing your customers from just your home town you can reach out with your great ideas to the far reaches of the earth.
So why not start today?
Great Article for a newbie like me.
Advertising on your blog and affiliate marketing are two best ways to make money online in my opinion. Building niche blogs and sites and then promote affiliate products.
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Hi Joel,
I loved this post. I recently started affiliate marketing and have already begun to see some results.
So I'm trying to learn all I can to increase my commissions. I hadn't even thought of Amazon, so looking into that now.
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Satire night fever
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Chas (top right) perfects the smug self-righteousness of a young Ray Martin. Danny Bhoy thinks the sun shines out of (cough, cough) the sky.
The boys who once published the PM's phone number are out of the satirical newspaper business. So they're taking their schtick onstage, Jack Marx reports.
Seymour Theatre Centre Downstairs, corner of City Road and Cleveland Street, city
Tuesday to March 13, $30
Bookings 9351 7940
More information http://www.chaser.com.au
For a form so allegedly loved, satire appears to be a lonely cul-de-sac for those who want to entertain the masses. Los Angeles's Spy magazine and then Britain's much-loved but troubled Private Eye have managed to make a fist out of satirical publishing. However, Australia's newspaper The Chaser folded recently, despite rave reviews even from those who found themselves in its crosshairs.
Chas Licciardello, one-seventh of The Chaser and CNNNN team, has several theories as to why.
"Well, some might say that we were ahead of our time, while others might say that perhaps we were too caustic for Australian tastes," he says.
"Others, of course, might say that we were financial numbskulls who drove an otherwise successful company into the ground. I think probably the latter group would be considered the 'realists', but I'd like to consider myself affiliated with one of the first two."
Despite losing the flagship, there's no time to fiddle. The website http://www.chaser.com.au is still full steam ahead, and this week, as part of the Big Laugh Comedy Festival, The Chaser team moves to the live stage for the first time - a move Licciardello says threatens to throw more than the accounts department into a state of panic.
"We've all got revue experience, but only a few of us have had a horrific six-minute experience in stand-up," he says.
"Both Andrew [Hansen] and I had a go in a university stand-up comedy competition some time back, and it's significant that we haven't done anything like that since.
"It's really very much an experiment. We've always talked about doing stage, so if it comes off we might just keep on going, but we're not about to become a full-on theatre company, so I think John Bell is safe for now."
Licciardello says the show features three distinct parts: a musical interlude of sorts, a "lecture" segment based upon their experience in doing "corporate" presentations, and another subdivision he is either unwilling or unable to discuss in any useful detail.
"I probably should have said there were two parts," he says after much umming and ahhing. "It's really just the things you've come to know and love from the TV show, except that it has none of the professionalism and less of the quality. Apart from that, it's all there."
One gets the impression The Chaser are winging it this time around, and that certainly can't be a bad thing. But it will be interesting to see how such an acerbic crew will cut it when faced without the protective battlements that TV and the print media tend to provide.
Fortunately, The Chaser team thrive on the moans of their enemies - sounds that Licciardello says have been curiously lacking in their world to date.
"Every now and then, we'd do something and get inundated with hundreds of complaints," he says.
"But usually we were quite disappointed with how few complaints there actually were. In the whole history of The Chaser I'd say there were perhaps three or four things that seemed to cause any real offence.
"I guess that's a combination of a couple of things: first of all, people got kind of used to us; secondly, nobody was reading. When you put two forces like that together you're not likely to get many complaints. But hopefully we can really upset someone this time."
Nevertheless, the immediacy of a fight in real time will be a challenge for Licciardello. He is arguably the most deliberately irritating of the team, but reveals courteous weakness underneath the gall - something he admits might be exploited by hostile elements in a live crowd.
"When we're doing a joke on TV, making a joke of a politician who I know to be a decent person, I can feel pretty lousy," he says.
"Even when I know the point I'm making is a fair point, I still feel a bit slack to be sandbagging guy who I know is a nice guy, who I'm making look like a bit of a dick. Having said that, it's their job to make me feel like that, so I'm awake to the truth. But it's not enjoyable by any means.
"Sometimes there's a direct proportionality between how funny a piece is and how much of an arsehole I'm being. A lot of the humour comes from shock value, like: 'I can't believe he's doing that to this person.' Nobody ever says: 'I can't believe he's buying that guy a beer.'
"So there's a certain amount of pressure for me to be really nasty, and I often feel bad about that. I'm not sure I want this to get out lest people start taking advantage of it.
"We'll see how this goes. I've actually found it quite easy so far, writing for the stage. Then again, maybe we'll discover the horrible truth when we actually perform it."
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Miami International Airport (MIA) has embarked upon a major Capital Improvement Program (CIP) which includes the refurbishment of Terminal interiors and construction of new concession locations.
There are approximately 126 existing retail, duty free and food and beverage locations at MIA. When all concessions are built out in the new North and South Terminals, MIA will have more than 250 locations.
The Airport is divided into three terminals:
Interior view of MIA's North Terminal Concourse D - Photo by Steven Brooke
The North Terminal will have approximately 60-65% of the passenger traffic.
The North Terminal has 48,500 square feet of existing concession space. There are two duty free stores, seven news/gifts, 11 specialty retail stores, and 26 food and beverage locations.
Current food and beverage concessions include Jose Cuervo, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Sam Adams, Freshens, Café Versailles, Au Bon Pan, Islander Bar & Grill, Villa Pizza Manchu Wok, La Carreta, South Beach Snack/Bar, Carousel Cone, Havana Jet Bar, Chicago Pizza, Fresh Attractions, Corona Beach House and Sushi Maki.
Specialty Retail includes In-Motion, $10 Gifts and Newslink news/gifts.
Interior view of MIA's Central Terminal - Photo by Miami-Dade Aviation Dpt.
The Central Terminal is located between the North and South Terminals in the center of the landside area and is now known as Terminals/Concourses . The majority of the retail space is located on the pre-security portion of the Airport Terminal.
Existing concessions include five duty free stores, ten news/gifts stores, fifteen specialty retail stores and thirty-five food and beverage locations totaling 90,000 square feet.
There is a food court in the Central Terminal with recently changed concepts including Starbucks, California Pizza Kitchen, Great American Bagel, Burger King and Café Bacardi. Additional concepts throughout the landside include Chili's, Café' Versailles, Sbarros, Au Bon Pain, and Cozolli's. Concourse concessions include Chili's to Go, Guava-Java, and Burger King.
View of South Terminal Concourse J from ramp area - Photo by Steven Brooke
The South Terminal accommodates the Star Alliance and Skyteam Alliance, which includes United Airlines, U.S. Airways, Delta Airlines and their code share and marketing Alliance partners. Approximately 20-25% of all passenger traffic is expected to flow through the South Terminal with 20 airlines occupying the Terminal.
The existing South Terminal Concourse and Terminal area currently has five retail, and seven food and beverage locations totaling 10,500 square feet. Food and beverage offerings include Starbucks, Cinnabon, Au Bon Pain, Pizza Hut, Quizno's, and Bud Brewhouse. Retail locations include Newslink news/gifts, Airport Wireless, Jet Setter Spa, Bead Factory, and Airport MD.
This terminal has approximately 42,000 square feet of concession locations. The new Concession Hall in the South Terminal joins Concourse and Concourse with forty (40) new concessions. Concourse J and the Concession Hall are located beyond security with limited additional concessions before security. There are duty and tax free concessions totaling 7,500 square feet. There are 26 locations totaling approximately 25,300 square feet of news/gifts, newsstands, books and retail specialty.
- Opportunities
- Upcoming Projects Six Month Forecast
- Advertisements
- Become a Vendor
- Doing Business with MIA Concessions
- The New MIA
- South Terminal
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- MIA Mover
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- Miami Central Station
- Central Boulevard Widening Realignment and Service Loop Project


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Free speech in Botswana at risk, says academic
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An Australian academic fighting deportation from Botswana says President Festus Mogae's Government is seeking to muzzle free speech in a country often hailed as one of Africa's success stories.
Botswana wants to deport him as an illegal immigrant, but Kenneth Good and his supporters say it is an attempt to prevent him speaking out about what he says is the ruling elite's secretive style of government.
Professor Good, 72, was to find out yesterday if the country's highest court would uphold the deportation order. If he is expelled from the country it will be the second time this has happened to him. In 1973 the white minority government of then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, expelled him.
"This raises grave constitutional questions over the freedom of speech," Professor Good said on Sunday in his home in the capital, Gaborone.
Many speculate the order, signed 11 days ago, was aimed at preventing Professor Good from giving a lecture last week in which he lambasted the ruling Botswana Democratic Party - which has held power since independence in 1966 - and Mr Mogae's likely successor, Vice-President Ian Khama.
Professor Good's lawyers made an immediate appeal, halting his deportation. He gave the speech, now widely circulated, to a packed university hall, saying Botswana was run by an elite that made decisions behind closed doors.
Lofeko Molebatsi, who teaches with Professor Good at the University of Botswana, said of the deportation order: "It has big implications for the intellectual community, particularly for foreign lecturers. It will be difficult for them to be free."
Professor Good said he felt there was a growing authoritarian trend in Botswana.
The former army chief Mr Khama, son of Botswana's first president, Seretse Khama, will probably succeed Mr Mogae in 2008, but Professor Good said he was worried he might not back down if beaten at the ballot box.
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I love them!!!!
Welcome to the Quilting Board!
These are very fun to make! Just by what you show in the pics you've made many more than I have (I've made only 3 of them!!!) but they are FUN!!!
So pretty! I've seen these so much I had to run out for supplies, making some right now too :D
WOW You are busy. They are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my, these are just beautiful
Thanks a lot..I will do that..Originally Posted by magpie
Beautiful gift and what a nice gesture!
They are beautiful! I was at a Christmas shop in NC and they were selling these for $30.00 apiece.


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Home › Forums › General Forums › SuperUltraLight (SUL) Backpacking Discussion › SUL gear list, how does it look?
Feb 7, 2013 at 8:05 pm #1298977
The last few months have been eye opening, I have been on this site quite a bit to say the least. I remember posting my incomplete gear list on the other section which was 9-10 pounds and I thought I couldnt ever go lighter. But now I have. I have used most of the gear listed out in the field, with my exception of my new EE 10d quilt and a few other items like my .6oz knife.
I am still trying to decide what inflatable i'd like to upgrade to (reccomendations?). I also realize I could drop another pound if I got a cuben pack and shelter, or went without bug protection… But that is going to have to wait until I wear this new gear out.
5.85 pounds suited for nighttime lows around the 30's, and hiking most of the time.
Click here: http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=8993Feb 7, 2013 at 8:32 pm #1952058
Nick GatelBPL Member
@ngatelLocale: Southern California
Does hiking most of the time with lows in the 30's mean you will not be carrying an insulated jacket?
I don't think that is a good idea.
Don't see any rain gear either.Feb 7, 2013 at 8:45 pm #1952064
Lows around 30's is meant to describe the low temps this kit is capable of(worst case scenario) I don't do winter hiking, mostly summer. If needed I have an atom lt jacket I can throw in last minute if needed. And with that and my windshirt I am pretty toasty in colder situations.
Also I did forget my rain gear, it is a disposable poncho that weighs 1.1 ounce and cost .98 cents. Ill add that to the list.Feb 7, 2013 at 8:47 pm #1952066
W I S N E R !BPL Member
+1 Nick.
I've had a Tachyon anorak. Great piece of gear, but wouldn't want to sit around in <40 temps with it alone….
Where's insulation or raingear?
Are you wearing pants? A long sleeve shirt?
Clothing seems a bit lacking.Feb 7, 2013 at 8:55 pm #1952069
Guys clothing varies so much depending where I go, sometimes I'm 13k feet up and other times ill be in Hawaii with nothing but a swimsuit. So it's hard too say :)
What I listed for clothing are things that will always be with me, and I could add a merino baselayers and arcteryx atom lt if needed. But I don't do much winter hiking.Feb 7, 2013 at 9:24 pm #1952087
Well this kind of got off on a wrong start. But thanks anyways.Feb 8, 2013 at 2:55 am #1952113
Cesar ValdezMember
@primezombieLocale: Scandinavia
"Well this kind of got off on a wrong start. But thanks anyways."
Nah, just a simple issue of semantics with your OP is all. Nick and Craig were just trying to give constructive criticism because they thought this was a winter list, I think.
If this is a summer list, add a rain poncho and you seem pretty good to go. The 30 degree bag in the summer seems a bit overkill, but not sure where you will be. For example, I am planning on upgrading to a Zpacks sleeping bag 40F/5C degree to use 3 season, but for here in Sweden/Norway. In the spring/fall just swap out wool base layers for the lighter synthetic ones I have my current SUL summer list, which is here if you want to see it: http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=10426
My current bag is only rated 55F/13C, but I sleep in all my clothing if needed if there is a cold sap. Once I upgrade my bag, I can then cut weight on my clothing worn–lighter pants, jacket, etc. in the summer, and in spring/fall add clothing when needed.
So I guess what I am saying is that your SUL list seems like you are trying to push it to a 3 season list when perhaps it should be more of a summer or 1+ season list. So I say save weight and swap out your 30 degree bag for something lighter, or just a nylon or silk liner if it is really warm. To make it a 3 season SUL list, looks like you will have to switch out your pack and/or shelter for lighter stuff (does not have to be Cuben, though that is a good choice, if expensive). Or just mod it a bit and be happy with a 6-7lb UL gear system.
Right now my spring/fall gear list on my profile is around 7lbs and can go lighter based on a few variables, maybe to 6lbs. A 5lb BW and a 6lb BW does not really feel much different, but a 4lb BW vs. a 8lb BW does from my experiences.
Good luck and hope this helps. Next time, just a little more details or more clear language (this is a challenge we all struggle with, myself included, and not always possible to do) helps. :)Feb 10, 2013 at 5:02 pm #1953012
Thanks Cesar for your input.
I am actually considering picking up a down vest to add a little more warmth in camp in the shoulder seasons. I am thinking about the stoic down vest, or maybe a montbell one. 4-5 ounces would be better. I am thinking I don't need a full hoodie because I already have the zpacks down hood.
Any recommendations on a really light down vest?Feb 10, 2013 at 5:18 pm #1953015
Nick GatelBPL Member
@ngatelLocale: Southern California
I am happy with my Montbell Ex UL down vest. Just under 4 ounces.Feb 10, 2013 at 11:33 pm #1953099
Cesar ValdezMember
@primezombieLocale: Scandinavia
Good call on the vest, especially since you have the down hood. I have a down hat, but I prefer the comfort of a synthetic beanie, plus easier and more practical to wash. I have a synthetic vest and would love to upgrade to a down one, but with new summer bag and Cuben bivy already up on the list, vest will have to wait. I really like vests, and with wearing lots of layers, it makes it easier to move your arms around too rather than feeling like the Stay Puff marshmallow man. My vest is 6.7oz/190g but was cheap, only paid 100 SEK (15 USD), and it is on its third year of use.
If it is warmer out I will leave the vest, and if it is colder (under freezing at night) I will add my down jacket as an insulating layer.
Clothing worn vs. clothing in BW is a whole other puzzle. After going UL then SUL is when I bothered to really put my clothing worn under the microscope, but it was not as hard as I thought to upgrade my system. This summer my clothing worn should be around 1-1.5kg/2.2-3.3lbs.Feb 11, 2013 at 10:52 am #1953218
I think I will end up getting the MB ex light, they just seem hard to find, they may be discontinued but the weight is admirable so im still looking.
One more thing, I ordered a BA Q-core SL (4.5 r-value)66 inch long sleeping pad online last night. Its going to weigh about 16-17 ounces. Sadly I dont think im going to be in the 5 pound range anymore unless I keep using my CCF.
Still I am at 6.43 pounds, and once I add a down jacket ill be around 6.9 pounds for a kit thats pretty versatile so im happy. During the heat of the summer ill have no problem dropping a few warm things and ill be able to hit 5 pounds again.Feb 11, 2013 at 12:25 pm #1953249
jeffrey armbrusterBPL Member
@bookLocale: Northern California
I have a Western Mountaineering down vest that's great. I think that it weighs 4-5 ounces. Has served me well for many years. I think that it's 900 fill but I could be wrong; certainly 800.Feb 12, 2013 at 6:21 pm #1953740
Aaron SorensenBPL Member
@awsorensenLocale: South of Forester Pass
Can someone actually copy and post this list?
Both my computers cannot view it.Feb 13, 2013 at 7:16 am #1953875
Randy MartinBPL Member
@randalmartinLocale: Colorado
"Sadly I dont think im going to be in the 5 pound range anymore unless I keep using my CCF. Still I am at 6.43 pounds, and once I add a down jacket ill be around 6.9 pounds for a kit thats pretty versatile so im happy. During the heat of the summer ill have no problem dropping a few warm things and ill be able to hit 5 pounds again."
I know this is heresy on an SUL thread but I think for each of us the game is really about finding the setup we are happy with. Don't let a label (SUL) drive you into discontentment.Feb 14, 2013 at 5:58 pm #1954525
Ill try and post a picture, check your plugins, I think you may need to download Abobe Flash.Feb 14, 2013 at 6:03 pm #1954529
"I know this is heresy on an SUL thread but I think for each of us the game is really about finding the setup we are happy with. Don't let a label (SUL) drive you into discontentment."
Right now Im at 6.37 pounds, If I add more insulation I will be around 7 pounds which I am happy with.
One thing that is bringing me out of the 5 pound range is my new BA Q-core SL air pad. 16.9 ounces, I had a neo air trekker before, and love the packability. My pack is super tiny too w/o the CCF needed to be carried.
Overall I am very happy with the current baseweight, I have some sweet gear and have progressed as a hiker with the help of this forum. Thanks all.Feb 25, 2013 at 8:50 pm #1958742
A DBPL Member
Your list looks great. Have you thought about shedding an ounce or two with a different light? I use the Fenix LD01 which clips to the bill of my hat. Weighs .85oz, including a AAA battery.Mar 4, 2013 at 8:54 pm #1961555
My 2.4 ounce Petzyl works well for right now. But if I did get anal about a few things I could definitley shave some weight. But I think im to the point where what I have works, and If I wanted to drop weight im going to do it by dropping pounds…
For example my pack which is made of Xpac weighs 15.6 ounces, I could replace it with a Zpacks zero that weighs 5 ounces. I could also cut 8 ounces off my shelter going with cuben.
My shelter is a silnylon hexamid replica that BearPaw made for me (I helped design it).
It can fit two people, it doesnt need a ground sheet, and has full bug protection. Best of all its simple. I could go cuben but I think im close enough to SUL that im happy with my setup.
Let me know what you guys think of it, I havent shown it to anyone yet. Weight is 18.7 ounces with litetrail 1mm guylines.Mar 5, 2013 at 7:34 am #1961664
A DBPL Member
The tent looks great. What did it cost? Considering the same thing in cuben is near $400.Mar 5, 2013 at 10:05 am #1961718
About $250.Mar 5, 2013 at 12:17 pm #1961758
Randy MartinBPL Member
@randalmartinLocale: Colorado
Tent seems a bit loose in those pictures. Is that just because you didn't finish tensioning it?Mar 5, 2013 at 12:20 pm #1961760
Correct I didn't have enough time to set it up perfect. One thing I noticed is that the mesh zipper becomes real tight and hard to zip when the tent is completely taut. I might just need to play with guylines lengths so e more though.
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text:
Twice Told Tales HTML version
The Minister's Black Veil
The sexton stood in the porch of Milford meeting-house pulling lustily at the bell-rope.
The old people of the village came stooping along the street. Children with bright faces
tripped merrily beside their parents or mimicked a graver gait in the conscious dignity of
their Sunday clothes. Spruce bachelors looked sidelong at the pretty maidens, and fancied
that the Sabbath sunshine made them prettier than on week-days. When the throng had
mostly streamed into the porch, the sexton began to toll the bell, keeping his eye on the
Reverend Mr. Hooper's door. The first glimpse of the clergyman's figure was the signal
for the bell to cease its summons.
"But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his face?" cried the sexton, in astonishment.
All within hearing immediately turned about and beheld the semblance of Mr. Hooper
pacing slowly his meditative way toward the meeting-house. With one accord they
started, expressing more wonder than if some strange minister were coming to dust the
cushions of Mr. Hooper's pulpit.
"Are you sure it is our parson?" inquired Goodman Gray of the sexton.
"Of a certainty it is good Mr. Hooper," replied the sexton. "He was to have exchanged
pulpits with Parson Shute of Westbury, but Parson Shute sent to excuse himself
yesterday, being to preach a funeral sermon."
The cause of so much amazement may appear sufficiently slight. Mr. Hooper, a
gentlemanly person of about thirty, though still a bachelor, was dressed with due clerical
neatness, as if a careful wife had starched his band and brushed the weekly dust from his
Sunday's garb. There was but one thing remarkable in his appearance. Swathed about his
forehead and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath, Mr.
Hooper had on a black veil. On a nearer view it seemed to consist of two folds of crape,
which entirely concealed his features except the mouth and chin, but probably did not
intercept his sight further than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate
things. With this gloomy shade before him good Mr. Hooper walked onward at a slow
and quiet pace, stooping somewhat and looking on the ground, as is customary with
abstracted men, yet nodding kindly to those of his parishioners who still waited on the
meeting-house steps. But so wonder-struck were they that his greeting hardly met with a
"I can't really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was behind that piece of crape," said the
"I don't like it," muttered an old woman as she hobbled into the meeting-house. "He has
changed himself into something awful only by hiding his face."


text:
The 29 PeacePlayers – South Africa teams that will participate in the 2014 Primary School Programme (PSP) began to take shape this past week, and the four teams set to re-launch the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) for high school players are ready to take to the court beginning this weekend.
Coaches and office staff have been busy conducting tryouts for 6th and 7th grade boys and girls at 15 primary schools around the Durban area, including five in the city, four in Umlazi, three in Wentworth, two in Lamontville, and one in Waterloo. Interest in the programme is very high, with some schools having over 100 kids trying out for just 24 spots (12 boys, 12 girls). There are many familiar faces, but also a huge number of new participants looking to replace last year's 7th graders who have moved on to high school this year.
Our Primary School Programme focuses on basketball fundamentals while promoting character-building traits such as self-confidence, self-discipline, and goal-setting. We hope that all of our PSP participants finish the year better equipped to make positive decisions in their lives, which isn't always easy in their home communities that are often filled with obstacles, dangers, and bad influences.
While tryouts are being conducted in the primary schools, our office staff has also been at high schools in the townships of Umlazi and Lamontville to recruit kids for our Leadership Development Programme. There will be a boys and a girls team in each township, and the first round of tryouts have been set for this weekend. We challenge our LDP participants to not only make positive decisions in their own lives, but to become a positive influence on others in their community as well. Many of our best coaches over the years have been products of the LDP programme, and we are excited to have it back up and running this year.
Check back here on Tuesdays for updates on both programmes throughout the year.


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The Supremacy of Nothing, The Complete Chapter
by gonzodave coulon
Not For Sale
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THE SUPREMACY OF NOTHING - the Complete Chapter
By DL Coulon
The following is an excerpt from my "non-professional," 1200 page, 500,00 word, and first-time journalistic effort, titled: God Save Me From Your Followers, or the gonzo journalism of grace. It is a trilogy that contains many citations from well recognized writers associated with Dallas Theological Seminary, who have contributed much to the understanding of God's graceful salvation accomplished wholly through the subsitutional and vicarious penal death of His Son, Christ Jesus.
In these heavily footnoted volumes many Bible verses and notes from a new translation, the NET Bible (www.bible.org), are included. Numerous familiar photographs are used to accent the different themes of of God's grace. The titles are: The Paradox of Law and Grace, Glorious Grace!, and The Tribunal.
The first of these volumes will soon be available as an E-Book in the FaithWriters.com Bookstore. Sola Gloria Dios and God willing.
Maxim: In all the universe, there is only the nonexistence of nothing or the presence of something.
Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer writes:
"An intuition is confidence or belief which springs immediately from the constitution of the mind. It must ever be so; hence intuition is a necessary human function. Therefore, it may be said that intuitive knowledge is that which the normal, natural mind assumes to be true. It includes such themes as time and eternity; space, cause and effect; right and wrong; mathematical demonstration; self-existence, the existence of matter, and the Person of God. These and other primary truths, being already accepted by the rational mind, are little enhanced by added demonstration, nor or they greatly increased by counter argument. Intuitive knowledge is little more than a bias in the direction of certain truths. Each intuitive theme offers a field of endless research and conceals inexhaustible stores of reality. This is particularly true of the knowledge of God. The very universality of the belief in God proves that it is intuitive. Such general knowledge is not the superstition of perverted minds, for it is evidently more assertive when culture and education obtain. In the midst of a universe of transcendent marvels, whether observed in their telescopic grandeur or microscopic perfection, the rational mind can find but one explanation for the phenomenon which is observed, namely, a God of infinite wisdom and power. It is true that some men have sought to move themselves away from this intuitive conception of God and profess to be agnostic. The Bible recognizes this abnormal mind when it says: �The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God� (Ps 14:1; 53:1)." i
Excerpt from Microsoft Encarta:
�In his system of philosophy Duns Scotus [John Duns Scotus, 1266?-1308] closely analyzed the concepts of causality and possibility in an attempt to set up a rigorous proof for the existence of God, the primary and infinite being. He held, however, that in order to know the truth in all its fullness and to fulfill one's eternal destiny, a person must not only make use of the insights afforded by natural knowledge or philosophy but must also be taught by divine revelation. Revelation supplements and perfects natural knowledge, and, in consequence, no contradiction can exist between them. For Duns Scotus, theology and philosophy were distinct and separate disciplines; they were, however, complementary, because theology uses philosophy as a tool. In his view, the primary concern of theology is God, considered from the standpoint of his own nature, whereas philosophy properly treats of God only insofar as he is the first cause of things. With regard to the nature of theology as a science, however, Duns Scotus departed sharply from his Dominican forerunner, Thomas Aquinas. Whereas Aquinas defined theology as primarily a speculative discipline, Duns Scotus saw theology as primarily a practical science, concerned with theoretical issues only insofar as they are ordered toward the goal of saving souls through revelation. He argued that through faith a person may know with absolute certainty that the human soul is incorruptible and immortal; reason plausibly may argue the existence of such qualities of the soul, but it cannot strictly prove that they exist.�
Microsoft � Encarta � 2006. � 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
To be intellectually convinced of the source of your own childhood wonder is not saving belief. A creator God could exist without the attributes of three distinct and separate personalities sharing one essence or nature. The Bible reveals that God is a person. The �personhood� of God was His testimony about Himself in the OT, and, the revelation of the incarnate God-man, Jesus Christ. The perfect revelation of God was the supremely perfect Man.
The testimony of the NT is God�s witness to His Son, and, the Son�s testimony was restricted to what the Father would have Him say or do. Two divine sources have given their word about each other. The Spirit of God does not give testimony about Himself. He uses the Word of God [the water of life] to witness the Son to those who will believe God�s testimony about Himself, �Except a man be born of water and Spirit, he cannot (see or) enter the kingdom of God� (John 3:3ff, 5). Unless one can see the entrance to eternal life, he will remain outside the kingdom of God � suspended in a state of childhood wonder.
"God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him."
Martin Luther
Classical Arguments For the Existence of God
THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: It is true there was a time before the origin of man. God has written the record of time onto the pages of primeval light. The �big bang� theory is now fact. Men have looked into the blinding explosion of the origins of the cosmos. They know the material universe is 13.8 billion years old. This is an argument proposed by matter itself for the existence of an uncaused-first-cause. Thus the cosmological argument for the existence of God.
Aside from the puerile foolishness of an infinite regression of causes, what caused the big bang? To begin, some will say there is no God. For starters, a universal negative is a logical impossibility. The immense time element required to move about the universe � even at the fastest known speed of light � proves this assertion false. No truly honest person can rationally claim the nonexistence of �anything.� Anything could move to another place or come into being anywhere - as the hypothetical witness moved about the universe to prove his negative claim.
THE TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: The biography of the theory of relativity has been poorly publicized. Einstein first postulated a special theory that may be understood by college level calculus. He later proposed a general theory that few men can fully appreciate. A final unified theory is still unresolved.
Similarly, in his day, the scientific milestones of Isaac Newton were adopted as proofs for both Deism and Atheism in the Age of Reason/Enlightenment. The men who championed the opposing theological views for the cause of the Newtonian model of the universe knew nothing of Newton�s personal theism and experiments in alchemy.
In the special theory postulated by Einstein - all motion is relative because there is no absolute rest. Which is an issue between two self-exclusive truths, �if not one then the other.� He proposed that the speed of light was constant �another truth. From this he proposed that kinetic energy would be converted to mass. Another truth. So, I ask, How may Einstein�s proof of three absolute truths, prove �truth is relative�? Or, the anecdotal extension of �moral relativism�?
In its original use among knowledgeable men, �relativity,� was a philosophical dictum to indicate something that was dependent on a contextual factor, or the result of how something else was used. The idea of things being in a state of proportion to something else, relativity (E=mc2), is not the same as relative terms that observe a change in circumstantial diversity such as �big� and �small� (BigA>SmallA).
Before it was successfully demonstrated to the world, it was counterintuitive at best and, foolish in the extreme, to propose that the splitting of an atom releases massive amounts of energy. Thus, the apparent quandary of the very �big� result from the very �small� context. The atomic bomb itself proposes the argument for the existence of intelligent design and absolute truths. Should the universe be chaotic, why does it not self-destruct? Thus the teleological (design, goal-directed activity) argument for the existence of God.
THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: God has left no concrete record of the origins of Adam and Eve for discovery and rational consideration. No material proof of body, spirit, and soul creation will be found until Christ Himself returns to establish an undeniable modern authority. God�s Word reveals that Adam was simply created from dirt (stardust) and then Eve from the flesh of Adam. These divinely created paternal twins - who were fully formed adults possessed of wit and sexuality - disobeyed God�s one command. Therefore, the irreversible conclusion, based on living men, is that the first child was born of created, but sinful human parentage. For these reasons, the moral or anthropological (though fallen, the nature of man still shares in the divine nature of God) and the ontological argument (the reality of God must exist outside the mind to be perfect) are demonstrated.
"To the man � under the sun,� the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, Sheol [OT Heb. and NT Gk. Hades, the temporary residence of the unsaved dead] seems no more than the grave �the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but of life itself (Eccl. 9:5, 10)."
C. I. Scofield
Excerpt from Microsoft Encarta:
Models of the Universe
"According to the widely accepted theory of the big bang, the universe originated about 14 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since. Astronomers recognize four models of possible futures for the universe. According to the closed model, many billions of years from now expansion will slow, stop, and the universe will contract back in upon itself. In the flat model, the universe will not collapse upon itself, but expansion will slow and the universe will approach a stable size. According to the open model, the universe will continue expanding forever. In the accelerating expansion model, the universe will expand faster and faster until even the particles in normal matter are torn away from each other. Astronomers currently favor the accelerating expansion model."
� Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft � Encarta � 2006. � 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
From the Microsoft Encarta article above, within the four proposed futures of the universe, the open and flat are modifications of the extremes of closed and accelerating. From either the accelerating or the closed models the universe could begin again. Thus, the universe itself would be the cause of an endlessly repeating and reappearing �Big Bang� that may only be explained by an infinite regression that denies a first or final event and cause. Additionally, there is a fifth proposal, a quintessential future state of no material movement.
To say that �all living things� in God�s creation may be determined by the record of time, or based upon antecedent random cause and effect, is to apply a known result (things as they now appear) to an unknowable fact (things as they did appear). This is a logical �antecedent clause� (hypothesis or assumption) that places the assumed chaotic origin of all life upon the existing foundation of time. Time may or may not support this assumption. Time is elastic and may only be determined by place, or position in space. Also, an event may only occur in four dimensions - at the intersection of two lines of space and time.
More important than the answer to the origins of man, is the answer to the question: How and when was chaos introduced into the universe after the �Big Bang�? There is no proven straight line from the initial burst of the �Big Bang� to the universe of today. There, also, is no proven straight line from man today backwards to his origin, be it a bi-pedal mammal or a single cell. The following discussion is offered as a consideration of the of the tenets, not proofs, upon which evolutionists base their theory of the common �spontaneous� origin of all life.
(A) Assuming no God.
(B) Any precept of duality in the universe is an assumption. A dark force and a light force does not appear to exist. Emphirically there is only "nothing" and something. Therefore, defining a cosmic state of nothing as a lack of events, not substance or material, but rather as an �absolute� rest of all material in an irreversible state of non-activity. (Comment to �absolute� rest: �absolute� zero is a theoretical state of no motion and no pressure derived from a total lack of heat to excite atoms into motion; there is no opposite state or limitation to atomic motion and pressure generated by heat. Also, darkness in any color is a complete lack of a specific vibration - no vibration equals nothing and no color, or "black.")
(C) Of necessity, accepting that an uncaused �something� was set into random motion. This is the beginning of chaos that caused the first �event.�
(D) Accepting on authority (as do most astrophysicist) that the universe was not created by, nor may it be sustained by, means of infinite and unlimited chaos. What is proven about the universe does not agree with pure chaos.
(E) Using chaos and evolutionary naturalism as the foundation of an �a posteriori� argument.
To illustrate the complexity of our material universe, from either organization to chaos or chaos to organization, there are two hypothetical automobiles moving randomly about an infinite empty space. These automobiles may change position relative to each other; but, they will not change state until they collide at some speed. The speed of collision will determine their change of state. This collision would be the intersection of a material �zero� event, or the starting point of chaos. A universe driven by an organized pure, infinite expansion from an original single burst (the �Big Bang�) is void of a �zero� event because there was no intersection with a second line.
That is to say, the �Big Bang,� although recently observed to have occurred at a predicted time in the past by astrophysicists, cannot be the beginning of chaos. Energy and mass, or material, are allowed to trade places (e.g., the standard illustration of the immovable object and the infinite force). Predictably, like automobiles on a freeway, any group of objects originating from a single point and moving freely without intervention or boundaries, uniformly at the same speed, or speed of acceleration, in infinite and outward directions - do not collide. The �Big Bang� is a non-chaotic starting point lacking the conditions that match the definition of a material �event.�
Proposal 1: Would it be possible that these two automobiles were the result of a series of chaotic events that repeatedly destroyed (collision and fragmentation) and then repeatedly reassembled the automobiles (collision and fusion)? A universe where energy and mass are continually recycled through chaos and organization. Should this be true, chaos would be then be the cause of design, or purpose. And, any point between one �zero� event and the next would not be chaotic; but the infinitely duplicated path to the next �zero� event. Where a new cycle of fragmentation and fusion would begin once more.
(a) This would be an infinite cycle of limited development (never improving upon the original automobiles) and redevelopment. (b) This would be an inherently goal-directed activity. (c) It is logically predictable; but not necessarily true.
Proposal 2: Would it be possible that the post-zero event collision of fragments deplete the initial �energy� and eliminate any events after some �final� collision? A universe where energy is converted into organized mass by chaos until all energy is depleted. Should this be true, chaos would then regress into a perfect state of absolute rest defined as nothing. Where movement and occurrence would be non-existent.
(a) This would be depletion of movement regressed into a final state defined as nothing where the universe slips into absolute rest and non-activity. (b) This would be an inherently goal directed-activity. (c) It is logically predictable; but not necessarily true.
Hypothesis/Antecedent Clause
Reasoning from proposal 1 and 2, �if one then not the other�: Any �zero� event produced by the depletion of energy and chaos cannot be part of a universe that has an infinite cycle of regression and progression of causes (development and redevelopment). It may be agreed that to do something once by design is non-complex and superior to a more complex design which duplicates the same process an infinite number of times. Therefore, counter-intuitive to common assumption, complexity and motion as either forwardness or regression, are not proportional. Motion and time are proportional.
The intrinsic design, or natural force of the universe must be consistent throughout. The purpose of life and matter must agree because life is 100% material in a naturalistic view of the universe. For this reason, it may be concluded that life is either in forward motion towards another �zero� event at all times, or it is not. If not, then, it is in regression towards a �final� event of no motion, or movement. Evolutionist assert that life ends in nothing. Nothing, therefore, is the natural force that drives the universe and life. A universe where the end of life is the material precursor of the entire natural universe. Consequently, the universe and life are not progressive in the perfection of purpose; but of a certainty, chaos and evolution are completely regressive and on a predictable path to the non-complex perfection of a motionless nothing. And, thus, man is the more complex offspring of an inferior missing link. Which in turn was the inferior, chaotic result of an original �something� that set uniformly organized matter and energy into random motion. The end of chaos is nothing.
In conclusion: Evolutionary man and life precede the universe in death, but will eventually regress and join the universe in the supremacy of nothing when all matter comes to a complete rest.
The ancient Greeks had an often repeated maxim: It is better for a man that he was never born.
The phenomenon of personal existence demands explanation. To reject intentional design, even as a force of nature, and insist on �natural selection� as a predictable consequence of mutation is to say that a properly rounded ball rolls down hill because of chaos. On the one hand, it is dishonest to the principles of naturalism, empiricism (scientific method), and materialism for evolution to both champion an idea of development, or forwardness, with the claim that life ends in nothing. Forwardness is inseparable and logically tied to a natural design or force of the universe that is governed by limited development in a universe that endlessly destroys and recreates itself. On the other hand, to claim nothing as the end of life and by default � the universe � and to then both deny design and not accept, but ignore the plain conclusion of regression and depletion which is joined to a natural design of a perfect nothing, is intellectually dishonest.
To be consistent and truthful to the rational thought and conclusions of their own theories � a chaotic universe that contains life � the modern authorities who take such great academic pride in their certainties about life and death should admit nothing to be the goal of all research and thought. Because, by their own claims, the in-between state of man and the universe, as they exist today, came from something and will regress into a superior non-complex nothing. Their theories logically prove the supremacy and the final existence of nothing.
So then, what proves life occurred spontaneously out of chaos and at one point in time and space only? This is an unproven hypothesis where the predicate, the object of the action in the verb of the sentence or statement is - nothing. Whereby, God and/or a natural purpose of design is not proven to be, but is merely considered to be non-existent and chaos is claimed as the supreme purpose of the universe. This is much like fabricating the particular facts surrounding one�s birth. Facts which, patently, must be taken on the authority of others.
Atheism is not a tangible philosophy, religion, or world-view; rather, it is a reaction to theism that may be linked variously to many concrete philosophies. Without theism � atheism is non-existent. Whereas, theism does not rely upon atheism for existence. No logical conclusion can be found in the �reverse or negative truth� of any atheistic mental construction for the existence of God. This is demonstrated by using a consistent logic that leaves out any positive consideration for a creative God, namely:
On the one hand, life began as a spontaneous natural event here on earth (which is one of only two possibly true, positive statements or possibilities). On the other hand, if life did not begin as a spontaneous natural event here on earth (which is the single possible true negative that may be proposed), then either - (a) life never happened, which is a false negative, or (b) life migrated from another planet (which, in essence, only side-steps the single possible true negative that life did not begin as a spontaneous natural event here on earth).
The statement above is completely circular logic. Even so, why would life have a better chance to originate somewhere else, and, how could it then exist here? The truth of the statement that life began spontaneously anywhere has only the force of its own authority and the fact of human existence to support its possible validity. This is a closed, exclusive system that has no alternative truth. It is itself an alternative truth. Other creatures, as far as we know, are not concerned about such matters. Which demonstrates to me a vital living difference between man and beast.
For these reasons, it is simply an act of �whistling in the dark� when evolutionist assume that the spontaneous origins of man prove a �non-created� origin. Because, within their own admitted reality, there is nothing to be afraid of. Man exists prima facie, and, for the present, no one can prove his origin. There are no modern authorities who can prove the origin of man. A small closet full of bones with a history of questionable identity and fraud are not convincing proof. Likewise, there is only the future knowledge after individual death, or the universal knowledge after the future return of Christ, to prove the existence of God. So what if there are no modern authorities to prove the origins of man or the existence of a creative God who saves mankind from His own judgment?
Evolution cannot be demonstrated. Evolution is a material theory. Whereas, gravity and electricity, although lacking a modern theoretical consensus for authority - where every attempt at explanation ends in a circular statement - continue to be a predictable factor in our lives. Colors surely existed before a neuro-physical detection system called the human eye first perceived them. Cosmic microwaves contain an ancient record of the universe and existed long before they were discovered and reproduced by men.
True discovery consists in observable phenomenon, whereas speculation may only be held as an intellectual noumenon, or thought. Faith in Christ for salvation or faith in bones for validation are both limited to human intellectual expression. If the existence of God the Son Jesus Christ and His salvation could be materially demonstrated and proven, then faith and free will would be eliminated and only foolish rejection would remain. For the time being, faith and foolishness are permitted to co-exist in free will. Man is the instrument of God who was created to demonstrate His sovereignty over chaos. The perfect man was Jesus Christ. God has demonstrated the supremacy of Christ to His satisfaction.
The theory of evolution is a religion of chaos that has been conjured out of nothing to explain away nothing �the non-existence of a creative God. Therefore, intelligent men and women can rest assured in the supremacy of nothing. Or can they? Thomas Jefferson, when speaking of another�s religious freedoms, said, �it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.� Which in essence is to say, It is nothing to me.
Social Implications of the Supremacy of Nothing
Pure chaos does not drive the universe. As discussed in the above, �spontaneous origin� must have a natural affinity to whatever logical purpose drives the universe. This is only important to determine the end result that the concept of evolution is moving towards. Evolution has no alternative material or natural truth. I have proposed a rational basis for natural design, which is pure unproven speculation, yet it remains logically and hypothetically as valid as any proposed by evolutionists. (I have not entered into consideration the new discovery of �genomes� which complicate DNA to a mind boggling degree.)
The spiritual truth is the only alternative to a natural concept of human origin. Consideration for this truth has been actively silenced by legal manipulations. And, as a sidebar, truly educated professionals are well aware of the age-old fact that the ability to reason effectively -, the capacity for rational thought - is severely limited in the vast majority of people.
Overly zealous activity against something that neither �picks my pocket nor breaks my leg� proves motive not diligence. The proponents for the theory of evolution, with unreserved dishonesty and a lack of respect for science, law, and truth has secured a twofold, non-scientific, activist victory to recruit sympathizers by repeatedly attacking the same vital area, namely:
___First, in the classrooms and courts, not the laboratory. And this only beginning in the late half of the 20th century. The famous Mr. Scopes was levied a small fine and not permitted to teach evolution in the classroom. Evolution did not re-enter the classroom, through unapproved textbooks, until the late 60�s. When the illegal textbooks appeared and were ordered to be removed, a civil action - well prepared in advance - was filed. Under the ruling of the recent legalized fiction of separation-of-church-and-state the books were allowed and the gate was open for the writers of textbooks, not scientists, to introduce evolutionary thinking and conclusions into the cross-over sciences studied by school children. And, naturally, by virtue of their education, these generation �X� and �Next� children grew-up to write professional papers and books of their own.
___Secondly, evolutionist have stepped out of science and atheism into a world-view to claim they have successfully silenced forever the anthropological, or moral argument for the existence of a directly involved God with qualities like intelligence, morality, and creativity. The moral argument for the existence of God is based on the observation of these same immaterial qualities in man. The force of the counter-argument held by the new evolutionary moralist has been driven home by informing three generations of �open-minded� school children that Einstein, as the greatest philosopher of the modern age, proved by �the unified theory of relativity� the philosophical dictum that everything is morally relative and only proportional to and unified with everything else. To which there is no end of circumstantial diversity. Thus, within this calamity of comprehension, the evolutionary moralist proposes that a new higher morality must, by necessity, be based upon the proven theory that big is big and small is small, and all things are relative.
The argument for a new morality has gained much force and momentum in my lifetime. Theoretical proofs against a traditional concept of morality were not bandied about when I was a �flower child.� The military draft and a corrupt war seemed to be strong enough persuasion against inhibitions. Inhibitions that were simply called �hang ups.�
I offer the following example to demonstrate how the ingrained theory of evolution, which has been around a long time, is used in conflation with the much more recently introduced theory of �anecdotal� unified relativity to offer an almost undetectable and circular argument against the legitimacy of what is considered the low morality of traditional moral intolerance. Unlike the old blind husband, January, in The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer; but more like, May, the young cheating wife - who was given the special powers of �glib� by the Fairy Queen - the modern moralists claims a socially imposed agreement with �choice� is the mandatory virtue of the new moral high ground:
___(1) Morality is logically counterintuitive to the proven theories of evolution and relativity because men are only one of thousands upon thousands of past and future life-forms evolved from a common source of life, which absolutely makes all things unified and relative.
___(2) Morality is logically counterintuitive because only the uneducated and mean-spirited would speak against such a formidable array of academically accepted and published proofs 1 in favor of modern evolution and relativity.
___(3) Morality is logically counterintuitive by reason of (1) and (2) which are true because there is no end of future diversity in life-forms. Therefore everything will always be unified and relative.
___These theories support each other and are the twin pillars of man�s social and scientific progress to benefit the future of our planet in the 21st century. Things are as they are because they must be. The theories prove them to be true. Thank you, so very much!
Closing Statement
In creative evolution, man is grouped with all currently living organisms, which are then proposed as �a posteriori� proof of unobserved facts and results from the record of primordial organisms. Because the bodily remains of organisms are fossil fuels that �appear� to have been formed long before man (e.g., the idea of an earth created by God to �appear� old) may in no way determine conclusively that ancient fauna carried the seeds of mankind.
The theory of evolution, at best, is �biological materialism.� Rooted in ancient animalism, that denies the immaterial aspirations of man�s psyche, this theory is extended and conveniently used to explain the origin, morals, and destiny of �all things� that possess an evolved life force that is assumed to be driven only by the sexual urgings of genetic survival. A common culture of �relative� and innocent desires are claimed to be true of humans who do no �harm� to another life-form.
Evolution would propose a universe without a god, or, if you please, in a less militant and palpable view of Deism, allowance is made for a very egalitarian god who is far removed, impersonal, and morally neutral in relation to any distinction in the affairs of fauna - ants, whales, men, snakes, bacteria � namely, all interdependent life-forms as we know them. Child and maggot possess equal value and purpose in this imagined cosmos of chaos.
The usual brilliant debate offered by scientific discipline is totally lacking in this particular area. An indoctrinated academic regime has relocated evolution and diversity into all areas of lower and higher education. A collection of biology, psychology, sociology, the philosophy of ethics, and the dreams and aspirations of mankind have been moved into a dark corner of hopeless despair. Witnessed only by a theological impossibility - nothing.
Creative evolution as the origin of man remains an unproven hypothesis. It denies any �ghost in the machinery� that animism would propose and gives the theory of material animalism the scientific credentials (albeit bogus) to offer an assumed explanation for the origin of life and the evolution of a self-named animal called homo sapiens, �wise man�; but it cannot demonstrate its primary assumption that all life had a common origin. This theory is jeopardized by the vital question, �Is the life in man the same as the life in the family pet?� But more importantly, do they share in the same death?
Life and death extend far beyond human sensibilities - into what unregenerate man is prohibited from knowing - into the infinite domain of God�s authority. When one recognizes this, he has answered in the affirmative the �ontological� argument (the philosophy of reality, Anselm, 1100 A.D.). And, also, in so doing, he/she has answered the cosmological, the teleological, and the anthropological argument to the satisfaction of the only persons who matter, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. An eternal blessing will follow after believing the proofs offered by God about Jesus Christ.
Equally flawed by the convenient misuse of facts and results that deny the suprarnatural, is the restrictive Protestant �Rectoral or Governmental theory of atonement.� This theory willfully deletes stated facts and results to propose a new limited value in the infinite value of the death of Christ. The death of Christ reaches far beyond forgiveness for sins into the infinite realms of the counsels of God through the works of grace that perfectly satisfy His love.
What God has revealed regarding His divine purposes are the many aspects of the value of Christ�s death that obtains the power of grace for undeserving men. Primary positive facts in the voluntary death of Christ are redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation. Because of these facts, the gift of forgiveness, the righteousness of God, and eternal life result on the one condition of belief that they exist because Jesus Christ is God�s offer of salvation. Whereby, God joins man to Himself and to the body of all other believers in Christ - through the baptism of the Holy Spirit - when He accepts the individual�s trust in His message.
Religion is man�s unsuccessful attempt to bind himself to God. Grace is the power of God to successfully bind man to Himself for all eternity. A different message than the saving grace of God lacks the essential content for saving faith and will fall short of successfully uniting man to God. This may be called a negative gospel. Whereas the successful union of man to God may be said to reach into infinity on the positive side of a number line. Then, so too, man�s inborn separation from God and his spiritual death reach into an infinite negative direction that only the positive message of God�s saving grace has the power to reverse.
Central to the theme of this paper is the manifest reality that saving faith is determined by a force that will defeat man�s free will. The will of man is guided by what he knows and what he desires. Much like a fraudulent business prospectus, a negative message may be naively declined more times than naively accepted as true. Either way, the individual remains unsaved and the active force of deception succeeds in maintaining a negative direction! Any skilful rejection is only possible because of a present unity with God. One may also, regardless of many and various reasons and any profound depth of conviction, �naively� reject God�s positive message of divine grace that regenerates the spiritually dead with the gift of eternal life. But, the truth yet remains - one can never �skillfully� reject God�s testimony. His word is Truth.
(1 John 5:9-13; John 3:15-18, 33, 36; Rom 5:8-10; 1 Pet 2:24-25; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7-10; 11-21 KJV)
�If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he who hath not the Son hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NET). For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
ut God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Who his own self bare our sin his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes (singular =injury, wounding NET) ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop (Overseer) of your souls.
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one [believer] another, as he gave us commandment.
Beloved, let us love one [believer] another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one [believer] another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one [believer] another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected [made complete] in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believe the love that God hath to us, God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his [believing] brother, he is a liar: for he who loveth not his [believing] brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God who he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his [believing] brother also.�
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him�all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers�all things were created through him and for him.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.
1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son
1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross�through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. NET
In literature, the focus of tragedy is on the tragic hero � a great person of high social standing who in a moment of tragic choice displays a tragic flaw of character. Aristotle called this flaw �hamartia,� which is the NT Greek translated as �sin.� The plot of tragedy demonstrates the element of human choice. This means that the tragic person or �hero� is always responsible for the downfall, and in biblical tragedy the tragic person is also deserving of the catastrophe. God�s grace has provided an undeserving substitute in Jesus Christ who suffered the �hamartia,� the final consequence of all catastrophe in the place of every responsible person. �For freedom Christ has set us free� (Gal 5:1 NET). What is salvation if not the freedom, the free choice to make a clearheaded decision to modify one�s destiny? A destiny created by the supremacy and finished work of Christ who is the Author of new promises and possibilities.
�He hath made him to be sin for us� (2 Cor 5:21 KJV)
�But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ� (Eph 2:13 NET)
�and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross �through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And you who were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him �if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body�for the sake of his body, the church�what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God�given to me for you�in order to complete the word of God, that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me. (Col 1:20-29 NET ).
The truth of Christ and the gospel of salvation is self-evident in Scripture. How then may an extra-biblical theory of Governmental atonement produced and championed by men, which in essence reduces the ultimate - the value of the death of Christ - and then asserts this reduction of salvation to be the only ultimate, retain any saving value in a gospel of limited, conditional, parolee salvation that may only be successfully completed by an heroic self-effort?
Convergent Versus Divergent Thinking
John Morreall writes in his work, Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion:
"While there is no such thing as tragic fantasy there are comedies such as a Midsummer Night�s Dream which is all fantasy. Most thinking in tragedy is what psychologist call convergent thinking � trying to find the correct answer to a problem, as in mathematical computation. In this mode there is no room for making unusual connections between ideas. In comedy a different kind of thinking comes into play � divergent thinking, thinking in which there is no single correct answer, where unusual relationships and analogies are explored, and no train of thought is out of bounds. Divergent thinking need not be aimed at answers. But when it is, it looks for many answers rather than one."
Emotional Engagement Versus Disengagement
Jon Morreall continues:
"One reason why tragic heroes show little creativity and critical thinking is that they respond to challenges with emotions. Whether considered positive, like pride, or negative, like fear and sadness, emotions lock heroes into self-concern and into their own perspectives, just as they do to us in real life. In emotional states we tend to act in automatic, habitual and less intelligent ways; and the stronger the emotion, the less rational our actions. That is why rage and even love are called �blind.� Strong emotions tend to magnify the situation at hand, and block rational thinking that would put things into perspective. Tragic heroes driven by emotions, tend to be extremists: to reach the goal set by their emotions, they will sacrifice everything else, including their own lives and the lives of those they love. Hamlet will prove the King�s guilt and try to execute perfect justice no matter the cost. Ahab will kill Moby Dick or die trying.
Comic characters, by contrast, tend to keep an unemotional clear-headedness, even in extreme situations. Confronted by misfortune, they do not sink into self-pity or shake their fists at the sky � futile responses that at best would make them feel good for the moment. They think rather than feel their way through the problem, engaging their imagination and ingenuity instead of their emotions." -P 24-27
In closing, only Christ brings perfection to the universe through His victory over chaos. Christ is supreme over "all things." Those who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation are "in Christ" by the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is effected and completed once and for all time at the moment of saving faith. Believing saints will be future-perfected and transformed into "the image of Christ." This is the goal and highest gift that God can give to man who will be His new heavenly occupants, created and supreme over all organized creation "in Christ Jesus." The old man in Adam, the first man, is transformed by grace into the new man, the Last Man, in Christ Jesus the Son of God. This is the message of the NT Epistles and without doubt, totally unbelievable by the chaotic, unsaved world.
1 Cor 1:18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:19 For it is written, �I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.�
1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?
1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching [of the thing that is preached].
1:22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 1:23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.
1:24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. NET
1 Proofs that are self-policed to prohibit the inclusion of any �intelligent design� papers into professional peer publications.
i Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Chafer, Vol 1, p 130
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Tracking catalytic reactions in microreactors
A pathway to more effective and efficient synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs and other flow reactor chemical products has been opened by a study in which for the first time the catalytic reactivity inside a microreactor was mapped in high resolution from start-to-finish. The results not only provided a better understanding of the chemistry behind the catalytic reactions, they also revealed opportunities for optimization, which resulted in better catalytic performances. The study was conducted by a team of scientists with the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Univ. of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).
Working at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source (ALS), the team, which was led by chemists Dean Toste and Gabor Somorjai, both of whom hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, used tightly focused beams of infrared and x-ray light to track the evolution of a catalytic reaction with a spatial resolution of 15 um.
"The formation of different chemical products during the reactions was analyzed using in situ infrared micro-spectroscopy, while the state of the catalyst along the flow reactor was determined using in situ x-ray absorption microspectroscopy," says Toste, a faculty scientist with Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Div. "Our results show that using infrared microspectroscopy to monitor the evolution of reactants into a desired product could be an invaluable tool for optimizing pharmaceutical-related synthetic processes that take place in flow reactors."
Toste and Somorjai are the corresponding authors of a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
Catalysts are used to initiate virtually every manufacturing process that involves chemistry. There are two basic modes of catalytic reactors—batch, in which a final chemical product is produced over a series of separate stages; and flow, in which chemical reactions run in a continuously flowing stream to yield a final product. With the implementation of microreactors, the pharmaceutical industry aims to make the switch from batch mode to flow mode, as flow reactors provide a highly recyclable, scalable and efficient setup that enhances the sustainability and performance of catalysts. However, the synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs is a multiphase, complex process that needs to be carefully monitored. Until now, there has been no capability to follow the multistep production process of pharmaceutical drugs in flow reactors without perturbing the flow reaction.
"Our method allows us to watch an entire catalytic movie, from reactants into products formation, instead of only snapshots of the catalytic process," says Gross. "In most cases before, chemists had to extrapolate information on the reaction process based on analysis of the final product. With our technique, we don't have to guess what happened in the first scene based on what we saw in the final scene, since now we're able to directly watch a high-resolution movie of the entire process."
For this study, Gross and his colleagues used a heterogeneous catalyst of gold nanoclusters loaded onto a silica support to produce dihydropyran, an organic compound whose formation involves multiple reactant steps. Each of these reactants shows a distinguishable infrared signature, allowing their evolution into the final product to be precisely monitored with an infrared beam. The infrared microspectroscopy was performed at ALS beamline 1.4.
"ALS beamline 1.4 provides a bright infrared beam with a diameter of less than 10 um," Gross says. "The small diameter of the beam enabled us to draw a map of the flow reactor with high spatial resolution of up to 15 um. Without this high-resolution imaging, we would not be able to track and understand key processes in the catalytic reaction."
In following the reaction kinetics step-by-step, the Berkeley researchers discovered that the catalytic reaction they were observing is completed within the first 5% of the flow reactor's volume, which meant that the remaining 95% of the reactor, though packed with catalyst did not contribute to the catalytic process.
"Based on this result, we were able to minimize the volume of the flow reactor and the amount of catalyst by an order of magnitude without deteriorating the catalytic reactivity," Gross says.
While the infrared microspectroscopy technique employed in this study allowed one-dimensional mapping of a catalytic reaction along the path of the flow reactor, the actual flow reactor is three-dimensional. Gross and Toste along with Michael Martin and Hans Bechtel, beam-scientists at the ALS infrared beamline, are now exploring techniques that would permit two- and three-dimensional mapping of catalytic reactions.


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At the scant age of 15, Swindon native Billie Piper (born September 22, 1982) was catapulted to stardom in England when her debut single, "Because We Want To," entered the British charts at number one in 1998. Piper began her career by entering talent contests at a very young age, eventually winning a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School (which also produced the likes of the Spice Girls' Emma Bunton as well as three members of All Saints). She appeared as an extra in several movies, including Evita, and landed a job as a model in an ad campaign for the female-teen-oriented pop magazine Smash Hits. An executive at Virgin Records liked the attitude that Billie projected in the advertisements and signed her to a contract. A promotional blitz of TV performances prefaced the release of "Because We Want To," providing the massive publicity necessary for the single to debut at number one. Billie became the first female solo artist to accomplish that feat in Britain, and she was also the youngest female artist to score a British number one single since Helen Shapiro in 1961. Further hits followed in "Girlfriend" and "She Wants You." In 1999, Billie's first full-length album appeared under the title of Honey to the B, also the title of her fourth British single; the album was released in the U.S. with a rejigged running order in May 1999, and "She Wants You" issued as her first American single.
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Birth Name:
Billie Paul Piper
22 September 1982 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Years Active:
'90s, '00s