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|Financial markets
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In the 1970s Eugene Fama defined an efficient financial market as "one in which prices always fully reflect available information".[1]
The most common type of efficiency referred to in financial markets is the allocative efficiency, or the efficiency of allocating resources. This includes producing the right goods for the right people at the right price.
A trait of allocatively efficient financial market is that it channels funds from the ultimate lenders to the ultimate borrowers in a way that the funds are used in the most socially useful manner.
Market efficiency levelsEdit
Eugene Fama identified three levels of market efficiency:
1. Weak-form efficiency
Prices of the securities instantly and fully reflect all information of the past prices. This means future price movements cannot be predicted by using past prices. It is simply to say that, past data on stock prices are of no use in predicting future stock price changes. Everything is random. In this kind of market, should simply use a "buy-and-hold" strategy.
2. Semi-strong efficiency
Asset prices fully reflect all of the publicly available information. Therefore, only investors with additional inside information could have advantage on the market. Any price anomalies are quickly found out and the stock market adjusts.
3. Strong-form efficiency
Asset prices fully reflect all of the public and inside information available. Therefore, no one can have advantage on the market in predicting prices since there is no data that would provide any additional value to the investors.
Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH)Edit
Fama also created the efficient-market hypothesis (EMH) theory, which states that in any given time, the prices on the market already reflect all known information, and also change fast to reflect new information.
Therefore, no one could outperform the market by using the same information that is already available to all investors, except through luck.[2]
Random Walk theoryEdit
Another theory related to the efficient market hypothesis created by Louis Bachelier is the "random walk" theory, which states that the prices in the financial markets evolve randomly and are not connected, they are independent of each other.
Therefore, identifying trends or patterns of price changes in a market couldn't be used to predict the future value of financial instruments.
Evidence of Financial Market EfficiencyEdit
- Predicting future asset prices is not always accurate (represents weak efficiency form)
- Asset prices always reflect all new available information quickly (represents semi-strong efficiency form)
- Investors can't outperform on the market often (represents strong efficiency form)
Evidence of Financial Market In-EfficiencyEdit
- January effect (repeating and predictable price movements and patterns occur on the market)
- Stock market crashes, Asset Bubbles, and Credit Bubbles[3][4]
- Investors that often outperform on the market such as Warren Buffett,[5] institutional investors, and corporations trading in their own stock[6]
- Certain consumer credit market prices don't adjust to legal changes that affect future losses [7]
Market efficiency typesEdit
James Tobin identified four efficiency types that could be present in a financial market:[8]
1. Information arbitrage efficiency
Asset prices fully reflect all of the privately available information (the least demanding requirement for efficient market, since arbitrage includes realizable, risk free transactions)
Arbitrage involves taking advantage of price similarities of financial instruments between 2 or more markets by trading to generate losses.
It involves only risk-free transactions and the information used for trading is obtained at no cost. Therefore, the profit opportunities are not fully exploited, and it can be said that arbitrage is a result of market inefficiency.
This reflects the weak-information efficiency model.
2. Fundamental valuation efficiency
Asset prices reflect the expected past flows of payments associated with holding the assets (profit forecasts are correct, they attract investors)
Fundamental valuation involves lower risks and less profit opportunities. It refers to the accuracy of the predicted return on the investment.
Financial markets are characterized by predictability and inconsistent misalignments that force the prices to always deviate from their fundamental valuations.
This reflects the semi-strong information efficiency model.
3. Full insurance efficiency
It ensures the continuous delivery of goods and services in all contingencies.
4. Functional/Operational efficiency
The products and services available at the financial markets are provided for the least cost and are directly useful to the participants.
Every financial market will contain a unique mixture of the identified efficiency types.
Financial market efficiency is an important topic in the world of Finance. While most financiers believe the markets are neither 100% efficient, nor 100% inefficient, many disagree where on the efficiency line the world's markets fall.
It can be concluded that in reality a financial market can't be considered to be extremely efficient, or completely inefficient.
The financial markets are a mixture of both, sometimes the market will provide fair returns on the investment for everyone, while at other times certain investors will generate above average returns on their investment.
- ↑ Script error
- ↑ Script error
- ↑ Michael Simkovic, "Secret Liens and the Financial Crisis of 2008", American Bankruptcy Law Journal 2009
- ↑ Michael Simkovic, "Competition and Crisis in Mortgage Securitization"
- ↑ Script error Script error[dead link].
- ↑ Amedeo De Cesari, Susanne Espenlaub, Arif Khurshed, and Michael Simkovic, The Effects of Ownership and Stock Liquidity on the Timing of Repurchase Transactions (October 2010). Paolo Baffi Centre Research Paper No. 2011-100.
- ↑ Michael Simkovic, "The Effect of BAPCPA on Credit Card Industry Profits and Prices" Berkeley Business Law Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2009
- ↑ Script error
- Script error
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- Davidson, Paul. Financial markets, money and the real world. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2002.
- Emilio Colombo, Luca Matteo Stanca. Financial Market Imperfections and Corporate Decisions. Springer, 2006.
- Frisch, Ragnar Anton Kittel. Econometrica. Econometric Society, JSTOR, 1943.
- Script error
- Leffler, George Leland. The Stock Market. 2. Ronald Press Co., 1951.
- Marc, Levinson. Guide to Financial Markets. 3. Bloomberg Press, 2003.
- Peters, Edgar E. Fractal Market Analysis: Applying Chaos Theory to Investment and Economics. John Wiley and Sons, 1994.
- Teall, John L. Financial market analytics. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999.


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Ivanka Trump™, a preeminent American business woman and entrepreneur, saw an opportunity to create a line designed for the way professional women, like herself, really live. This woman may walk her daughter to school, make it into the office for a 9 a.m. presentation, and then meet her friends after work for drinks. She wants to look chic, and she needs clothes and accessories that transition with her throughout her day and fit the various roles in her professional and personal life.
The brand appeals to the kind of woman it represents: a woman who embodies the realities of life and works at everything she does. She lives a full life, lived to the fullest.
Since launching seven years ago, Ivanka Trump has evolved into a full lifestyle collection that includes footwear and handbags. Her seamless collection offers an array of elegant pumps, flats, and sandals to the essential satchels, totes, and clutches for any woman day to night.

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Informazzjoni u opportunitajiet għaż-żgħażagħ madwar l-Ewropa.
SALTO-YOUTH stands for Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities within the Erasmus+: Youth in Action programme, the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport.
Eager to gain technical experience but still studying? With IAESTE, you can do a traineeship abroad while still at university.


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Pitt defensive coordinator Keith Patterson was sitting in his dorm room at East Central (Okla.) University one day in the mid-1980s when his roommate walked in.
"Let's go," he said.
"Where are we going?" Patterson asked.
"We're going to see the defensive coordinator," Todd Graham said.
Patterson was co-captain, and Graham, his roommate and a year his junior, was his partner at safety. Then, as now, Patterson followed Graham almost anywhere.
"We sit down in the coach's office, and he commences to tell him what we should be doing," Patterson said. "It was really uncomfortable for me. I grew up in the home of a coach. But we went to spring ball, and we made those changes."
The story is one Graham loves to tell.
"I walked in there and said, 'What we're doing is unsound,' " he said. "I thought Keith was going to have a heart attack. He is a coach's kid. He never questioned anything."
They're still together — in Pittsburgh, of all places — with Patterson entering his fifth consecutive season as Graham's defensive coordinator after spending the past four at Tulsa.
Patterson's mission: Take a Pitt defense that finished eighth in the nation in yards allowed (305.1) and returns eight starters, reshape it from a 4-3 base set to a 3-4 and turn up the heat so pass-rush pressure can come from almost anywhere.
And, just as important, keep his best friend and boss happy at the same time.
That might be the easiest job: For their many differences in personality and approach, they make a formidable pair.
Graham was a city kid from Dallas who never shut up and always wanted to change the coach's play call. Patterson was a quiet country boy who grew up in western Oklahoma during the oil boom, earning respect by doing the right thing and being where he was supposed to be.
"Keith just followed him around — and he didn't have to, you know," former East Central coach Pat O'Neal said. "He is aware of what is going on, but Keith kind of locked onto him. Todd was the strong safety; Keith was the free safety. Todd was more aggressive; Keith was more conservative."
A bond formed on the field, and two opposite personalities meshed into a lifelong friendship.
They began coaching together at Texas' Allen High School in 1995, where Graham was the coach and Patterson a trusted assistant. Allen won no games the year before they arrived, but the team earned playoff berths in five of the next six seasons.
At Allen, the coaches decided to change the culture by painting the word "champions" above every doorway. No one was unsure of the goal.
"We believe what goes into your mind takes root in your heart," Patterson said.
Later, they took different paths, with Patterson coaching at Allen and Ardmore (Okla.) High Schools for seven years until they were reunited at Tulsa in 2003 — Todd as defensive coordinator, Patterson as linebackers coach.
Except for 2006, when Graham went to Rice to take his first head coaching job and Patterson succeeded him as defensive coordinator at Tulsa, they have worked together since.
Like Graham, Patterson learned his craft at high schools in Oklahoma and Texas. Patterson has great respect for Graham, but he insists his father, Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Famer Bob Patterson, is "the best coach I have ever been around."
One night in the late 1990s, after his father had retired from a career of 30-plus years, Patterson's Ardmore team was having trouble moving the football. The game was particularly distressing to Patterson because his father was watching from the top row of the bleachers.
Headed to the locker room at halftime — nearly defeated — Patterson looked up to see his dad walking toward him.
"I'll never forget it," Patterson said.
They didn't say a word, but the elder Patterson reached in his pocket and pulled out a napkin. On it, he had scrawled, "Give the ball to the fullback."
That was all his son needed to hear.
"We ran the fullback belly dive seven times on the last drive to win the game," Patterson said.
Winning won't be as easy in the Big East, where five starting quarterbacks return among Pitt's seven conference opponents.
Patterson said he has an advantage he seldom enjoyed at Tulsa: superior physicality. Tulsa lived by its offense last season while finishing 10-3; the defense was ranked 111th of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, allowing an average of 450.8 yards. The pass defense was last in the nation (319 ypg).
"Nothing against the young men at Tulsa, but there were a lot of times — there were two or three games, maybe more — where we were outmatched physically," Patterson said. "There is not one time I look at it (at Pitt) and we are outmatched physically. We had very smart kids at Tulsa, but there is no doubt we have more quality players at Pitt."Additional Information:
By the numbers
How the Pitt and Tulsa defenses ranked among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools last season:


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Van Eck Global's Market Vectors exchange traded fund division launched the first U.S.-listed ETF that follows Indonesia's small-cap equities market Wednesday.
Market Vectors Indonesia Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: IDXJ) is the small-cap version to the Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEArca: IDX). The new fund will track small capitalization companies domiciled and primarily listed in Indonesia, or generate at least 50% of their revenue in Indonesia. [Indonesia ETFs Build Momentum on Economy, Technicals]
IDXJ holds 27 securities, with the top five holdings accounting for 33.7% of the overall fund, and has an expense ratio of 0.61%. The ETF offers a dividend yield of 0.95%.
Sector allocations include financials 39.5%, industrials 18.3%, energy 15.6%, consumer staples 15.5%, materials 5.8% and consumer discretionary 5.3%.
The "fund may benefit from Indonesia's rising consumption expenditure and disposable income levels," according to the fund fact sheet. "Small caps may offer greater exposure to domestic growth, less exposure to global cyclicals."
According to the press release, Indonesia has brought in significant foreign direct investment as the country undergoes fiscal and monetary reforms to improve its financial status. Both Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investor Services have recently upgraded Indonesia's sovereign debt to investment grade.
"Indonesia has grown rapidly over the past several years and we believe that it is well positioned to continue to prosper, with an economy supported by rising domestic consumption and higher levels of disposable income," Ed Lopez, Marketing Director at Market Vectors ETFs, said in the press release. "In our view, smaller cap companies that generate the majority of their revenues in the local market provide the best way for investors to gain exposure to the domestic growth story. In that regard, IDXJ provides a complement to our broader-based Indonesian ETF, IDX."
For more information on new product launches, visit our new ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.


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Minority and women writers have made modest job gains in the television industry but have a long way to go before the playing field is level.
So concludes the latest analysis from the Writers Guild of America, West, which reviewed employment patterns for 1,722 writers working on 190 broadcast and cable television shows during the 2011-2012 season.
The study focuses on three groups that have traditionally been underemployed in the TV industry: women, minority and older writers.
Minority writers nearly doubled their share of staffing positions in the last decade. Between the 1999-2000 and 2011-2012 TV seasons, minority writers' share of TV employment increased from 7.5% to 15.6%, with much of the gains occurring among Asian and Latino writers. The report attributes part of the shift to the growth in multicultural dramas. (Los Angeles Times)
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Spaziergang im Garten by Lotta Groeger
Welcome! You are browsing as a guestWould you like to see 7 projects made from this pattern and much more? create a free account What am I missing?
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Spaziergang im Garten
This pattern is available for €4.50 EUR buy it now
The name "Spaziergang im Garten" is german for "a walk in the garten".
You begin with a walk in a clover field (Klee in german), then go up to the wheat fields (Weizen) and end with a lovely hyacinth flower (Hyazinthe).
I love shawls with leaf and flower stitches and loved to design a shawl just with those patterns.


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Paul Putz
We're back for another year of book preview lists! Like last year, I plan on posting three of these. This first one will cover books set to be published in January-April. Part two (posted in late April) will cover books published in May-August, and the last (posted in late August) will include those published in September-December.
The usual preface: I've listed the books in roughly chronological order based on the month of their tentative release date. Although I've tried to include as many relevant and interesting titles as I could find, I'm sure that I left out some deserving books. Sometimes this is because publishers don't have updated information on their websites, and sometimes it's because I just missed it. Please feel free to use the comments to add to this list and I can update the post as needed.
As for how I define what is "American" in American religion (to say nothing of what is "religion" in American religion), for the purposes of these lists I mostly follow Kathryn Gin Lum's response in this IUPUI RAAC forum. There, she articulated an understanding of "America" as the region that eventually became known as the United States. That definition does have problems, of course, which is why your contributions to this list -- contributions which envision "America" differently -- are more than welcome.
Now, on to the books! (after this collage to add some color to any social media links)
Hugh B. Urban, Zorba the Buddha: Sex, Spirituality, and Capitalism in the Global Osho Movement (University of California Press, January)
From the publisher: "...the first comprehensive study of the life, teachings, and following of the controversial Indian guru known in his youth as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and in his later years as Osho (1931–1990). Most Americans today remember him only as the "sex guru" and the "Rolls Royce guru," who built a hugely successful but scandal-ridden utopian community in central Oregon during the 1980s. Yet Osho was arguably the first truly global guru of the twentieth century, creating a large transnational movement that traced a complex global circuit from post-Independence India of the 1960s to Reagan's America of the 1980s and back to a developing new India in the 1990s."
Marla F. Frederick, Colored Television: American Religion Gone Global (Stanford University Press, January)
From the publisher: "...illuminates the phenomenal international success of American TV preachers like T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, and Juanita Bynum. Focusing particularly on Jamaica and the Caribbean, it also explores why televangelism has resonated so powerfully around the world. Investigating the roles of producers, consumers, and distributors, Marla Frederick takes a unique look at the ministries, the communities they enter, and the global markets of competition that buffer them."
C. Lynn Carr, A Year in White: Cultural Newcomers to Lukumi and Santería in the United States (Rutgers University Press, January)
From the publisher: "In the Afro-Cuban Lukumi religious tradition—more commonly known in the United States as Santería—entrants into the priesthood undergo an extraordinary fifty-three-week initiation period. During this time, these novices—called iyawo—endure a host of prohibitions, including most notably wearing exclusively white clothing. In A Year in White, sociologist C. Lynn Carr, who underwent this initiation herself, opens a window on this remarkable year-long religious transformation."
Micah Schwartzman, Chad Flanders, and Zoë Robinson, eds., The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty (Oxford University Press, January)
Martha Nussbaum: "The scope, limits, and grounds of corporate religious liberty are among the most urgently important questions in current American law. This collection does a great service, bringing together top scholars to analyze the history and the various dimensions of these issues. A must-read for legal scholars, it will also be compelling reading for political scientists, scholars of religion, and many general readers."
W. Bradford Wilcox and Nicholas H. Wolfinger, Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage among African Americans and Latinos (Oxford University Press, January)
Christian Smith: "The social transformation of American family life over the last half century has produced complex and varied consequences in people's lives. Soul Mates closely examines those experiences among two important minority groups, contributing particular insight on the often-neglected question of how religion interacts with family structure to shape life outcomes."
Stephen Prothero, Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections): The Battles That Define America from Jefferson's Heresies to Gay Marriage (HarperOne, January)
From the publisher: "As Prothero makes clear, our culture wars have always been religious wars, progressing through the same stages of conservative reaction to liberal victory that eventually benefit all Americans. Drawing on his impressive depth of knowledge and detailed research, he explains how competing religious beliefs have continually molded our political, economic, and sociological discourse and reveals how the conflicts which separate us today, like those that came before, are actually the byproduct of our struggle to come to terms with inclusiveness and ideals of 'Americanness.'"
Matthew Avery Sutton and Darren Dochuk, eds., Faith in the New Millennium: The Future of Religion and American Politics (Oxford University Press, January)
Kevin Kruse: "In this outstanding collection, two leading scholars of religion and politics in America's past have brought together an all-star roster of historians to discuss religion and politics in our present. Brimming with expertise and insights, Faith in the New Millennium is scholarship-in-action at its very finest."
Daniel K. Williams, Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade (Oxford University Press, January)
From the publisher: "In Defenders of the Unborn, Daniel K. Williams reveals the hidden history of the pro-life movement in America, showing that a cause that many see as reactionary and anti-feminist began as a liberal crusade for human rights....It was because of this grounding in human rights, Williams argues, that the right-to-life movement gained such momentum in the early 1960s. Indeed, pro-lifers were winning the battle before Roe v. Wade changed the course of history. Through a deep investigation of previously untapped archives, Williams presents the untold story of New Deal-era liberals who forged alliances with a diverse array of activists, Republican and Democrat alike, to fight for what they saw as a human rights cause. Provocative and insightful, Defenders of the Unborn is a must-read for anyone who craves a deeper understanding of a highly-charged issue."
Anna Su, Exporting Freedom: Religious Liberty and American Power (Harvard University Press, January)
From the publisher: "Religious freedom is widely recognized today as a basic human right, guaranteed by nearly all national constitutions. Exporting Freedom charts the rise of religious freedom as an ideal firmly enshrined in international law and shows how America's promotion of the cause of individuals worldwide to freely practice their faith advanced its ascent as a global power."
William C. Ringenberg, The Christian College and the Meaning of Academic Freedom: Truth-Seeking in Community (Palgrave Macmillan, January)
From the publisher: "William C. Ringenberg lays out the history of academic freedom in higher education in America, including its European antecedents, from the perspective of modern Christian higher education. He discusses the Christian values that provide context for the idea of academic freedom and how they have been applied to the nation's Christian colleges and universities. The book also dissects a series of recent case studies on the major controversial intellectual issues within and in, in some cases, about the Christian college community."
Jan Stievermann, Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity: Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in Cotton Mather's 'Biblia Americana' (Mohr Siebeck, January)
From the publisher: "...pioneering study of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana examines this Puritan scholar's engagement with the Hebrew Bible as Old Testament. The author focuses specifically on Mather's struggle to uphold or modify traditional typological and allegorical readings in the face of a growing awareness of the historicity of Scriptures."
Kelsy Burke, Christians under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet (University of California Press, February)
Dawne Moon: "Challenging stereotypes of evangelicals as prudish Puritans, Kelsy Burke brings a respectful feminist and queer sociological gaze to this examination of what it means for twenty-first century evangelicals to understand sex as a deeply satisfying gift they can try to get the most of. This is a fascinating case study of how human beings reproduce social power as they seek to navigate its effects."
Barbara Alice Mann, Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath: The Twinned Cosmos of Indigenous America (Oxford University Press, February)
Bruce E. Johansen: "'Authentic' has been a much-abused word in the world of Native American spirituality, populated by ersatz dream catchers, 'great spirits,' and plastic medicine men. Into this muddle, Barbara Mann in Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath offers a clear, lively analysis of Native American spirituality's roots that will open your eyes. Her command of the subject matter sparkles with insight. Native American history and philosophy badly needs this ground-breaking book, now."
John Gary Maxwell, The Civil War Years in Utah: The Kingdom of God and the Territory That Did Not Fight (University of Oklahoma Press, February)
From the publisher: "In 1832 Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormons' first prophet, foretold of a great war beginning in South Carolina. In the combatants' mutual destruction, God's purposes would be served, and Mormon men would rise to form a geographical, political, and theocratic 'Kingdom of God' to encompass the earth. Three decades later, when Smith's prophecy failed with the end of the American Civil War, the United States left torn but intact, the Mormons' perspective on the conflict—and their inactivity in it—required palliative revision. In The Civil War Years in Utah, the first full account of the events that occurred in Utah Territory during that war, John Gary Maxwell contradicts the patriotic mythology of Mormon leaders' version of this dark chapter in Utah history."
Anne M. Heinz and John P. Heinz, eds., Women, Work, and Worship in Lincoln's Country: The Dumville Family Letters (University of Illinois Press, February)
From the publisher: "Anne M. Heinz and John P. Heinz draw from an extraordinary archive at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to reveal how Ann Dumville and her daughters Jemima, Hephzibah, and Elizabeth lived these times. The letters tell the story of Ann, expelled from her Methodist church for her unshakable abolitionist beliefs; the serious and religious Jemima, a schoolteacher who started each school day with prayer; Elizabeth, enduring hard work as a farmer's wife, far away from the others; and Hephzibah, observing human folly and her own marriage prospects with the same wicked wit. Though separated by circumstances, the Dumvilles deeply engaged one another with their differing views on Methodism, politics, education, technological innovation, and relationships with employers...."
Michael S. Evans, Seeking Good Debate: Religion, Science, and Conflict in American Public Life (University of California Press, February)
Elaine Howard Ecklund: "Michael Evans moves the whole conversation about religion and science from one about conflict to one about what constitutes good debate in American society. As he well argues, 'ultimately our shared commitment . . . offers hope for our shared future.' Anyone who cares about good public debate should read this book!"
Betty Livingston Adams, Black Women's Christian Activism: Seeking Social Justice in a Northern Suburb (NYU Press, February)
Judith Weisenfeld: "With care and nuance, Betty Livingston Adams illuminates the social worlds and religious activism of a group of ordinary black working women who made extraordinary contributions to black public life. Well researched, engaging, and accessible, Adams's work adds new dimensions to our understanding of the history of the black women's club movement, their participation in interracial social reform and political organizing, and leadership in black churches."
Elizabeth Pérez, Religion in the Kitchen: Cooking, Talking, and the Making of Black Atlantic Traditions (NYU Press, February)
From the publisher: "In this innovative work, Elizabeth Pérez reveals how seemingly trivial 'micropractices' such as the preparation of sacred foods, are complex rituals in their own right. Drawing on years of ethnographic research in Chicago among practitioners of Lucumí, the transnational tradition popularly known as Santería, Pérez focuses on the behind-the-scenes work of the primarily women and gay men responsible for feeding the gods. She reveals how cooking and talking around the kitchen table have played vital socializing roles in Black Atlantic religions."
Cathleen Kaveny, Prophecy without Contempt: Religious Discourse in the Public Square (Harvard University Press, February)
From the publisher: "American culture warriors have plenty to argue about, but battles over such issues as abortion and torture have as much to do with rhetorical style as moral substance. Cathleen Kaveny reframes the debate about religion in the public square by focusing on a powerful stream of religious discourse in American political speech: the Biblical rhetoric of prophetic indictment."
Peter Randolph, Sketches of Slave Life and From and From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit, ed. Katherine Clay Bassard (West Virginia University Press, February)
P. Gabrielle Foreman: "Readers will benefit not only from having Randolph's texts available to them in this new form, but also from the critical interventions and extensive knowledge that Bassard's introduction offers to various literary and historical fields."
Tahneer Oksman, "How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?" Women and Jewish American Identity in Contemporary Graphic Memoirs (Columbia University Press, February)
From the publisher: "American comics reflect the distinct sensibilities and experiences of the Jewish American men who played an outsized role in creating them, but what about the contributions of Jewish women? Focusing on the visionary work of seven contemporary female Jewish cartoonists, Tahneer Oksman draws a remarkable connection between innovations in modes of graphic storytelling and the unstable, contradictory, and ambiguous figurations of the Jewish self in the postmodern era."
Sara M. Patterson, Middle of Nowhere: Religion, Art, and Pop Culture at Salvation Mountain (University of New Mexico Press, February)
From the publisher: "Pilgrims travel thousands of miles to visit Salvation Mountain, a unique religious structure in the Southern California desert. Built by Leonard Knight (1931–2014), variously described as a modern-day prophet and an outsider artist, Salvation Mountain offers a message of divine love for humanity. In Middle of Nowhere Sara M. Patterson argues that Knight was a spiritual descendant of the early Christian desert ascetics who escaped to the desert in order to experience God more fully....Recounting the pilgrims' stories, Middle of Nowhere examines how Knight and the pilgrims constructed a sacred space, one that is now crumbling since the death of its creator."
Julius H. Bailey, Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American Religious History (Fortress Press, February)
Sylvester Johnson: "Through skillful interpretation and a creative display of scholarly knowledge, Julius Bailey has written an exceptional book that transcends the restrictive paradigm of the Black Church to examine Black religions up to the twenty-first century. Bailey's path-breaking volume will reshape the way students and scholars understand African American religions."
Elijah Siegler, ed., Coen: Framing Religion in Amoral Order (Baylor University Press, March)
Diane Winston: "A tour de force not just for cinephiles and students of religion, Coen: Framing Religion in Amoral Order is compelling reading for anyone seeking meaning, identity, and purpose in the contemporary world. Each chapter dives deeply into a Coen film, illuminating how the brothers, and by implication, all of us, tease transcendence from the heartbreak of everyday life."
Iddo Tavory, Summoned: Identification and Religious Life in a Jewish Neighborhood (University of Chicago Press, March)
Ann Swidler: "This finely observed, beautifully crafted ethnography takes the reader into the intricate life of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community thriving in ultra-secular Los Angeles. At once witty and deeply serious, Summoned describes the moral obstacle course religious Jews face as they navigate the neighborhood, the identities and commitments evoked in everyday interactions, and the exquisite judgment required to enact religious obligations. At a deeper level, Summoned offers a new way of thinking about the interconnections among situations and anticipated situations that determine the density of summoning to which we are all subject.
Mary I. O'Connor, Mixtec Evangelicals: Globalization, Migration, and Religious Change in a Oaxacan Indigenous Group (University Press of Colorado, March)
From the publisher: "...a comparative ethnography of four Mixtec communities in Oaxaca, detailing the process by which economic migration and religious conversion combine to change the social and cultural makeup of predominantly folk-Catholic communities. The book describes the effects on the home communities of the Mixtecs who travel to northern Mexico and the United States in search of wage labor and return having converted from their rural Catholic roots to Evangelical Protestant religions."
George Marsden, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity: A Biography (Princeton University Press, March)
From the publisher; "George Marsden describes how Lewis gradually went from being an atheist to a committed Anglican—famously converting to Christianity in 1931 after conversing into the night with his friends J. R. R. Tolkien and Hugh Dyson—and how Lewis delivered his wartime talks to a traumatized British nation in the midst of an all-out war for survival. Marsden recounts how versions of those talks were collected together in 1952 under the title Mere Christianity, and how the book went on to become one of the most widely read presentations of essential Christianity ever published, particularly among American evangelicals."
William B. Sweetser Jr., A Copious Fountain: A History of Union Presbyterian Seminary, 1812-2012 (Westminster John Knox Press, March)
From the publisher: "A Copious Fountain tells the two-hundred-year-old story of Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. From its first days at Hampden-Sydney College, Union Presbyterian Seminary has answered its call to equip educated ministers to serve the church. As the first institution of its kind in the South, Union Presbyterian Seminary created a standard for theological education across denominational affiliations."
John W. Catron, Embracing Protestantism: Black Identities in the Atlantic World (University Press of Florida, March)
From the publisher: "John Catron argues that people of African descent in America who adopted Protestant Christianity during the eighteenth century did not become African Americans but instead assumed more fluid Atlantic-African identities. America was then the land of slavery and white supremacy, where citizenship and economic mobility were off-limits to most people of color. In contrast, the Atlantic World offered access to the growing abolitionist movement in Europe."
Bridget Ford, Bonds of Union: Religion, Race, and Politics in a Civil War Borderland (University of North Carolina Press, March)
Alice Fahs: "A richly rewarding and fascinating book that provides a fresh perspective on the complicated connections between Ohio and Kentucky as a Civil War borderland during a time of great sectional tension and strife. Original insights and nuanced observations appear on almost every page--this is cultural history at its finest."
Christopher D. Cantwell, Heath W. Carter, and Janine Giordano Drake, eds., The Pew and the Picket Line: Christianity and the American Working Class (University of Illinois Press, March)
Paul Harvey: "The coeditors have assembled a tremendous and diverse team for this volume. Each essay is by itself a significant contribution, and some provide brilliant and pioneering analysis and the introduction is definitely the best historiographical overview, survey, and analysis of scholarship in the field that I have ever read. It sets the standard for the next generation of scholarship."
John G. Turner, The Mormon Jesus: A Biography (Harvard University Press, March)
Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp: "Richly researched and beautifully written, The Mormon Jesus moves far beyond biography to survey the entirety of Mormon history through a focus on the ways that believers see, hear, pray to, and depict Jesus. This groundbreaking new book renders Mormonism as both quintessentially Christian and utterly distinctive."
John Fea, The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society (Oxford University Press, March)
Margaret Bendroth: "...far more than a definitive history of the American Bible Society, though it succeeds admirably in that respect. John Fea also tells a broader story about American culture, how religion came to play such a central role in shaping national identity and how, in turn, secular ideals have shaped American belief and behavior. It is an important story, told with affection, care, and thoughtful critique."
Elizabeth Drescher, Choosing Our Religion: The Spiritual Lives of America's Nones (Oxford University Press, March)
Leigh Schmidt: "As the rate of religious disaffiliation nears 25% of the American population, the importance of understanding the 'Nones'--from roving seekers to settled nonbelievers--has risen correspondingly. Drescher offers a splendidly variegated account of the religious practices and engagements that continue to flourish among the unaffiliated. The spiritual voices of the 'Nones' emerge with unusual clarity and resonance in these pages."
Robert Orsi, History and Presence (Harvard University Press, March)
From the publisher: "The question of 'real presence'—the Catholic doctrine of the literal, physical, embodied presence of Christ in the host—coincided with early modern global conquest and commerce and shaped how Europeans encountered the religions of others. The gods really present, in the Catholic sense, were translated into metaphors and symptoms, and into functions of the social and political. Presence became evidence of superstition, of magical thinking, of the infantile and irrational, the primitive and the savage. History and Presence radically confronts this intellectual heritage, proposing instead a model for the study of religion that begins with humans and gods present to each other in the circumstances of everyday life. Orsi then asks what it would mean to write history with the real presence of special beings restored. With reference to Marian apparitions, the cult of the saints, relations with the dead, and other Catholic instances of encounters with the gods really present, Orsi elaborates a theory of presence for the study of both contemporary religion and history."
Neil Weinstock Netanel, From Maimonides to Microsoft: The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print (Oxford University Press, March)
Edward Fram: "Neil Netanel follows Jewish copyright law from the very advent of print to the digital age. His contextualization of developments in terms of history and the laws of the societies in which Jews lived make this an exceptionally rich and rewarding read. Enviably well-versed in the language and debates of modern copyright law, Netanel contrasts and compares Jewish and secular jurisprudence through the ages and ultimately offers conclusions about changes in traditional Jewish life that make this much more than just a legal history."
Corwin E. Smidt, Pastors and Public Life: The Changing Face of American Protestant Clergy (Oxford University Press, March)
From the publisher: "Based on data gathered through national surveys of clergy across four mainline Protestant (the Disciples of Christ; the Presbyterian Church, USA; the Reformed Church in America; and the United Methodist Church) and three evangelical Protestant denominations (the Assemblies of God; the Christian Reformed Church; and, the Southern Baptist Convention), Pastors and Public Life examines the changing sociological, theological, and political characteristics of American Protestant clergy over the past twenty-plus years."
Michael N. Barnett, The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews (Princeton University Press, March)
Joel Migdal: ""Through a wide-ranging survey of history, Michael Barnett examines key concepts--internationalism, particularism, and cosmopolitanism--for understanding how Jews worked to tame and shape the world around them. His beautifully written book uses these ideas to unravel the ways Jews endeavored to alleviate Jewish suffering and guard their identity in the world."
Steven M. Nolt, The Amish: A Concise Introduction (John Hopkins University Press, March)
Donald B. Kraybill: "If you only read one book on the Amish, read this one. With engaging prose, Nolt answers our questions and explains how this horse-and-buggy community thrives in our hypermodern world. This is the gold-medal overview of America's largest plain community. A great antidote to the fictitious fluff of 'reality' TV shows."
Elizabeth J. Clapp, A Notorious Woman: Anne Royall in Jacksonian America (University of Virginia Press, March)
From the publisher: "Widowed and in need of a livelihood following a disastrous lawsuit over her husband's will, Royall decided to earn her living through writing--first as a travel writer, journeying through America to research and sell her books, and later as a journalist and editor. Her language and forcefully expressed opinions provoked people at least as much as did her inflammatory behavior and aggressive marketing tactics. An ardent defender of American liberties, she attacked the agents of evangelical revivals, the Bank of the United States, and corruption in government. Her positions were frequently extreme, directly challenging the would-be shapers of the early republic's religious and political culture...The definitive account of a passionate voice when America was inventing itself, A Notorious Woman re-creates a fascinating stage on which women's roles, evangelical hegemony, and political involvement were all contested.
Jonathon S. Kahn and Vincent W. Lloyd, eds., Race and Secularism in America (Columbia University Press, March)
Leigh Schmidt: "Focusing attention on the fundamental whiteness of American secularism, the collection highlights the ways in which the specificities of both race and religion have been managed—and obscured—through the ideals and practices of secular statecraft. All told, a very impressive and necessary critique of the widespread neglect of race and racialization in contemporary secular studies."
C. James MacKenzie, Indigenous Bodies, Maya Minds: Religion and Modernity in a Transnational K'iche' Community (University Press of Colorado, March)
From the publisher: "...examines tension and conflict over ethnic and religious identity in the K'iche' Maya community of San Andrés Xecul in the Guatemalan Highlands and considers how religious and ethnic attachments are sustained and transformed through the transnational experiences of locals who have migrated to the United States."
Eileen P. Sullivan, The Shamrock and the Cross: Irish American Novelists Shape American Catholicism (University of Notre Dame Press, March)
From the publisher: "...traces changes in nineteenth-century American Catholic culture through a study of Catholic popular literature. Analyzing more than thirty novels spanning the period from the 1830s to the 1870s, Sullivan elucidates the ways in which Irish immigration, which transformed the American Catholic population and its institutions, also changed what it meant to be a Catholic in America."
Matthew S. Rindge, Profane Parables: Film and the American Dream (Baylor University Press, April)
Gary Laderman: "Fantastic! This is a perfect study that brings together both Rindge's own deep expertise in New Testament studies and his agile, interdisciplinary approach to popular culture. The films Rindge has selected are perfect vehicles for his fine-tuned analysis, both in terms of the aesthetics and meaning of film, but even more compellingly, his own perspectives on American culture generally and the mythic realities of the American dream."
Robert Elder, The Sacred Mirror: Evangelicalism, Honor, and Identity in the Deep South, 1790-1860 (University of North Carolina Press, April)
Charles Irons: "In this elegant and exciting book, Robert Elder sets himself apart by arguing that white southerners hastened modernity's arrival when they accepted evangelicalism. Elder's highly nuanced discussion of the relationship between the 'secular' culture of southern honor and the 'sacred' culture of southern evangelicalism establishes him as part of a robust movement of scholars quick to call attention to the 'modern' elements of intellectual discourse in the antebellum South."
Kymberly N. Pinder. Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago (University of Illinois Press, April)
Sally M. Promey: "[Pinder's] bold and insightful study of local urban religious practices of 'empathetic realism' and 'tragic space' fills an inexcusable chasm in the scholarly literatures. In demonstrating the multi-media visual, material, sonic, and performative cultures of religion mobilized by her African American subjects, she illuminates not only the significant particularities of twentieth-century artistic and political history in Chicago but also invites her readers to consider larger national implications of race and religion, far beyond any one city's geographical boundaries. This is a stellar contribution."
Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez, The Valiant Woman: The Virgin Mary in Nineteenth-Century American Culture (University of North Carolina Press, April)
Jay Dolan: "The Virgin Mary has traditionally been identified with Roman Catholic piety, but Alvarez argues that Protestants also had a deep affection for Mary. In this truly original study, Mary emerges as a powerful symbol of womanhood and motherhood not just for Catholics but for Protestants as well. The Valiant Woman will forever change the way people view the role of the Virgin Mary in nineteenth century American culture."
Carol Wayne White, Black Lives and Sacred Humanity: Toward an African American Religious Naturalism (Fordham University Press, April)
Laurel Schneider: "...a major contribution to American religious thought. She deftly constructs a rationale for African American sacred humanism that accomplishes (at least) three important tasks. First, she establishes the compatibility of her notion of sacred humanism with the best of current scientific thought regarding deep relationality in biology and cosmology. Second, she provides a solidly argued alternative to dogmatically theistic assumptions about African American religiosity. Third, White traces an intellectual history of sacred humanism in key American intellectual texts (Du Bois, Cooper, and Baldwin). With narrative grace, White has created a conversation among figures and fields in American religious thought that cannot help but open new avenues of philosophical and theological possibility."
Dov Waxman, Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel (Princeton University Press, April)
From the publisher: "...explores the increasingly contentious place of Israel in the American Jewish community. In a fundamental shift, growing numbers of American Jews have become less willing to unquestioningly support Israel and more willing to publicly criticize its government. More than ever before, American Jews are arguing about Israeli policies, and many, especially younger ones, are becoming uncomfortable with Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Dov Waxman argues that Israel is fast becoming a source of disunity for American Jewry, and that a new era of American Jewish conflict over Israel is replacing the old era of solidarity."
Don Faber, James Jesse Strang: The Rise and Fall of Michigan's Mormon King (University of Michigan Press, April)
From the publisher: "Author Don Faber recounts this fascinating story of Strang's journey from impoverished New York farm boy to one of the most colorful and contentious figures in Michigan's history. This book will appeal to anyone with a love of American history and interest in the many larger-than-life personalities who emerged during the Second Great Awakening."
Kerry Archer Mitchell, Spirituality and the State: Managing Nature and Experience in America's National Parks (NYU Press, April)
John Modern: "Impressively harnessing both historical and ethnographic data, Kerry Mitchell provides a fresh take on the politics of religion-making in America. He offers a counter-narrative to scholarly celebrations of spirituality that is respectful of his subjects and acknowledges the fact that very few of us, if any, have a clear understanding of why we do what we do. Mitchell denaturalizes the concept of spirituality, showing, however, that this mode of piety is not simply made-up. On the contrary, it accomplishes an incredible amount of work in places like the John Muir Trail or Joshua Tree National Park by naturalizing the nation state and socializing the interior states of individuals."
Andrew C. Smith, Fundamentalism, Fundraising, and the Transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1919–1925 (University of Tennessee Press, April)
From the publisher: "...explores the scope and character of the interaction between Southern Baptists and early Fundamentalism during the late 1910s and early 1920s. By focusing more closely on the Southern Baptist Convention, Andrew Christopher Smith examines the interaction between the northern Fundamentalist movement and southern religion during the era."
Patricia Keer Munro, Coming of Age in Jewish America: Bar and Bat Mitzvah Reinterpreted (Rutgers University Press, April)
Keren McGinity: "Patricia Keer Munro has made an invaluable contribution to Jewish studies by elucidating the Bar/Bat Mitzvah system as a sociological negotiation between emerging adults, their parents, educators, rabbis and congregations. Her analysis illustrates how this Jewish life-cycle ritual both influences and is influenced by traditional and liberal Judaism. The book should be required reading for scholars of Jewish life and communal professionals, as well people of other faiths seeking a better understanding of this pivotal experience."
Lindsay Jones and Richard D. Shiels, eds., The Newark Earthworks: Enduring Monuments, Contested Meanings (University of Virginia Press, April)
From the publisher: "Considered a wonder of the ancient world, the Newark Earthworks—the gigantic geometrical mounds of earth built nearly two thousand years ago in the Ohio valley--have been a focal point for archaeologists and surveyors, researchers and scholars for almost two centuries....The first book-length volume devoted to the site, The Newark Earthworks reveals the magnitude and the geometric precision of what remains of the earthworks and the site's undeniable importance to our history. Including contributions from archaeologists, historians, cultural geographers, and cartographers, as well as scholars in religious studies, legal studies, indigenous studies, and preservation studies, the book follows an interdisciplinary approach to shine light on the Newark Earthworks and argues compellingly for its designation as a World Heritage Site."
Roger Horowitz, Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food (Columbia University Press, April)
Hasia Diner: "Set in the context of Jewish ascendancy into the middle class, Kosher U.S.A. traces the way in which changes in modes of production and the lure of consumption battered, challenged, and sustained an ancient Jewish practice. Horowitz tells a very readable story about the convergence of technology, science, religion, animal-rights activism, and ordinary Jewish consumers. There is no other book like it."
Emerson B. Powery and Rodney S. Sadler Jr., The Genesis of Liberation: Biblical Interpretation in the Antebellum Narratives of the Enslaved (Westminster John Knox Press, April)
From the publisher: "In this fascinating volume, Powery and Sadler explore how the Bible became a source of liberation for enslaved African Americans by analyzing its function in pre-Civil War freedom narratives. They explain the various ways in which enslaved African Americans interpreted the Bible and used it as a source for hope, empowerment, and literacy."
Carl J. Richard, The Founders and the Bible (Rowman & Littlefield, April)
From the publisher: "Carl J. Richard carefully examines the framers' relationship with the Bible to assess the conflicting claims of those who argue that they were Christians founding a Christian nation against those who see them as Deists or modern secularists."
New Books in American Religious History: 2016 Year in Preview, Part One (January-April)
Categories: books, new books, previews, putz
Posted by Paul Putz
4 comments
Posted by Paul Putz
4 comments
4 comments:
- Daniel Silliman at: January 13, 2016 at 11:57 AM said...
Coming out this month: Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity: Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in Cotton Mather's 'Biblia Americana', by Jan Stievermann. https://www.mohr.de/en/book/prophecy-piety-and-the-problem-of-historicity-9783161542701
- Paul Putz at: January 13, 2016 at 1:30 PM said...
Thanks, I just added it to the list!
- Anthony Nuccio at: January 14, 2016 at 4:44 PM said...
So many great books...my bank account is already crying.
- Samuel Dodge at: January 15, 2016 at 11:07 AM said...
I am putting together my exam lists right now. This post came just in time!
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February 10, 2012 3:00 am
The 2011 world champs have a much-improved farm system.
Previous Rankings: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
February 12, 2009 1:43 pm
Jump into an evaluation of the top programs in the country as Bryan ranks the NCAA Top 25.
This spring, while I continue to search for new ways to cover college baseball, I will nevertheless do one traditional exercise for anyone on this beat by ranking the national landscape to provide you with my own top 25 list. Yet, as I spent the offseason searching for the best schools to fill out the list and the best way to organize them, I began to see a few clear separations. More than specific rankings, there are what I see as relatively clear-cut tiers. Six programs stood out as the cream of the crop, 12 more are schools that are just a break or two away from contention, and after that initial 18 the final seven that make up my list are interchangeable with the bevy of near-misses that I'm sure will gain consideration or make it onto the list at some point during the season.
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April 7, 2008 12:00 am
A tremendous slate of conference clashes helped resolve who's headed in the right direction.
We return to format this week, though last week was a useful way to provide a wider view of the national picture. It also highlighted numerous matchups this weekend that will prove paramount to the decision-makers in May. For example, USC traveled to UCLA-a long bus ride, I'm sure-and came away with two wins to open the series. However, because last week was highlighted by so many battles, that clash isn't even one of the six I'm highlighting today. In fact, you'll notice some cramming in a few places, because halfway through the season, no other weekend had as many notable developments as this weekend's action did.
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March 31, 2008 12:00 am
Bryan handicaps who's got the best chances at making the college playoffs coming out of the best conferences.
Before the season, my initial preview of the college baseball scene was an analysis of the offensive structure of the game. I tried to show that despite the aluminum bats we weren't talking about a 30-run brand of baseball (even though Virginia defied me by dropping 27 on Coppin State in the season's first week). I really hoped to prove that it's a game where Brian Roberts' major league numbers are average, and that it's a brand of baseball where defense is inconsistent. To prove this, I used the averages of the 12 conferences that had at least one at-large bid in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. With a few exceptions, it's those 12 conferences that host the best baseball in the nation. While the midway point of the regular season isn't until next week or so, I decided to abandon our usual six-point structure just for this week to review the state of those 12 conferences. As a point of reference, last year 45 of the 64 NCAA tournament spots went to teams in these conferences.
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March 24, 2008 12:00 am
Programs and prospects are sorting out who's atop the rankings, in the standings and on draft boards, respectively.
Generally, the outcomes from this weekend were pretty standard fare for college baseball. For the most part it seemed that the best teams won the weekend series, and usually the series were split two games to one. While that doesn't always make for the most interesting copy, it does help in terms of validating that we are beginning to identify the programs correctly. While we are still two months from the NCAA Tournament, we are certainly closer than we were a month ago at being able to look at which teams might host, which teams might find themselves on the bubble, and which teams were far too overhyped. We'll try to hit on that theme in today's edition of the six most interesting facts from last weekend.
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February 28, 2008 12:00 am
Our new Thursday staple, previewing the the pro prospects of tomorrow and the action to come on college diamonds around the country.
Normally, the presence of four Top 25 teams would be enough to make a six-team weekend tournament the highlight of the weekend. This weekend's San Diego tournament--hosted both by Rich Hill's San Diego Toreros and Tony Gwynn's San Diego State Aztecs--will indeed bring together those two programs in a four-cornered contest with Missouri and Fresno State. However, the weekend tournament promises to not only be exciting but also historic--never before has such a collection of high-profile arms been brought together for one regular season tournament.
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February 12, 2008 12:00 am
Who didn't make it to last year's College World Series, but rate highly enough to be seen as likely contenders this year?
Last week we looked in detail at the spring prospects for last year's eight Omaha finalists, and found that not one of them looks a sure bet for a repeat trip. So as I continue a comprehensive look at the nation's top programs and 2008 contenders, the logical next step is to see what teams that were close last season are poised to make the last leap. For today, I reviewed the final top 25 rankings in the Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and the USA Today Coaches Poll from last June. Outside of the eight Omaha teams, 18 other universities were ranked in the top 25 by at least one of those three polls. Below are the prospects of each of these teams. Next week, we'll finish out this series on the eve of college baseball by looking at the team's that could rebound from a disappointing 2007 with a big finish in 2008.
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January 2, 2008 12:00 am
Kicking off a series of previews of college baseball with a look at league strengths and park effects.
Last summer, I began covering the Cape Cod League because I felt it was a good introduction to the college game for BP readers. Many of the usual complaints about college baseball--aluminum bats, big offenses, frustrating mistakes--are absent in the nationally-renowned Cape Cod League. It was, I hope, an opportunity to see that college baseball still represents good baseball.
March 28, 2006 12:00 am
Jim has a series of creative propositions for you concerning the 2006 season.
Today, we're going to put the standings aside and look at some team propositions. What follows are five pairs of teams that either finished very close to one another in 2005 and/or are predicted to do so in 2006. Aside from that, there is a geographic component just to add subtext to the proceedings. In addition to the five pairs, there is one quartet of teams that also sort of fits this description. Your job is to pick which of these teams will win more games in the upcoming season.
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i need a favour here.
as you know hotfile is blocked so i cant find any website for the official 4.1.1 firmware for samsung s3 SHG-i747M with rogers.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has killed many people during his illustrious movie career. Onscreen, of course. Many of the choicest offings came during a rich 1980s/1990s action movie run that saw him wielding broadswords, Uzis, grenade-launchers, axes ... in fact, just about every weapon available short of a massive medieval cannon. In an once-in-a-lifetime piece of investigative journalism, Empire tracked down his victims to find out exactly what it was like to be terminated by Arnold.
Name: Sven-Ole Thorsen
Character: Thorgrim
Film: Conan The Barbarian (1982)
Apart from, obviously, Arnold, no man has been in more Schwarzenegger movies than Sven-Ole Thorsen. And certainly no man has been killed more often by Arnold than Sven-Ole Thorsen. A Danish martial arts expert and power-lifter, Sven and Arnold became fast friends when they met in the late 70s, and their impact on each other's lives has been huge. Sven brokered the peace between Arnold and Stallone when war threatened to break out in the 1980s; in return, Arnold repaid Sven with a series of what he describes as "sweet deaths". The first came in this, Thorsen's movie debut. He plays Thorgrim, a Viking with a huge hammer, and ends up getting impaled by a Conan booby trap.
"I am no actor, I am just Sven," says Sven of the scene where Thorgrim ends up with a giant spike in his sternum. "John Milius told me what to do and I did what John told me, but I didn't have any feeling or understanding for it. John gave me a line to say to James Earl Jones, 'but Master, they didn't harm you at all'. I could not say that line. I never felt that pressure before in my life."
The Doom Of Doom
Name: James Earl Jones
Character: Thulsa Doom
Film: Conan The Barbarian (1982)
In his autobiography, A Viking In Hollywood, Sven-Ole Thorsen recalls that, for the big scene in Conan The Barbarian where Arnold's Cromulan warrior bests Thulsa Doom, by hacking his head off in front of a stunned crowd of acolytes, that James Earl Jones had hunks of roast meat shoved inside his costume to a) elicit a nice chopping sound without recourse to foley artists and b) make sure Arnold didn't chop off Jones' head. When Empire recounts this to Jones - still very much head intact - he laughs uproariously. "That's a great story!" wheezes the man who was so memorable as Conan's serpentine nemesis. "Not true, but oh man, keep perpetuating it. Hunks of roast meat under my costume... that's the stuff of myth!"
Jones, now 81, has fond memories of his experience on Conan, and of meeting Arnold. "We were all billeted in the same hotel," he says. "He was working out all the time and I was a bit overweight, so he said 'let me show you a few things you can do'. They were tough - my wife was with me too, huffing and puffing with me."
But it all comes back to Doom's memorable death sequence, which begins with Doom telling Conan, "I am your father". Stop Darth Vader if you think you've heard this one before. "I kept arguing with John Milius," laughs Jones. "I said, I've done that already. I said that in another movie! John said, 'I don't remember that. You gotta say it.' I guess he got away with it." Jones is less sure that Milius got away with the shot where Conan throws Doom's severed noggin down the steps of his palace. "You could hear the head clunking down the stairs because it was made of plastic," says Jones. "I said, 'don't you want to hear the sound of a real head going down the stairs?'" Well, they could have always used roast beef.
The 'I'll Be Back' Guy
Name: Bruce Kerner
Role: Desk Sergeant
Film: The Terminator (1984)
Many have been on the receiving end since, but Bruce Kerner was the first. The first to hear it, the catchphrase that would define Arnold's career. It comes roughly halfway through The Terminator, when the T-800 walks into an LA police station in search of Sarah Connor, only be to thwarted by a couldn't-give-a-shit desk cop with a bushy moustache. The Terminator looks around, surveying his surroundings, and leans forward. "I'll be back," he states. And, seconds later, he's true to his word, driving a car through the station wall, turning Desk Cop into Splattered Against Wall Cop.
The first time he gave us the I'll be back line, I remember getting chills.
"The first time he gave us the 'I'll be back' line, I remember getting chills and going 'oh boy'" remembers Kerner. "I didn't say this would become an iconic line, but I thought it was an important and powerful moment."
Kerner, now retired and running his own vineyard - Kerner Estates - in New Zealand, was moonlighting somewhat on The Terminator. He was actually the executive in charge of production, "assigned to protect the interests of the bond company" and make sure Jim Cameron toed the line and didn't overspend wildly. But he'd also started out as an actor and so, when an early production meeting revealed that the guy originally cast as Desk Sergeant had dropped out, Kerner didn't hesitate. "I had played cops a lot," he says. "I raised my hand and Cameron said, 'You're perfect!' It had been maybe ten years, but once you're a ham, you're always a ham."
Kerner also helped out with corralling the crowd of extras for the car crash sequence ("Arnold went over to Gale Anne Hurd and said, 'This actor takes his role very seriously!"), but wasn't around for the main stunt. "They shoved a dummy in, and it flows seamlessly," he laughs. "You can't tell that there's someone dumber than me in there!"
The 'You Can't Do That' Guy
Name: Dick Miller
Character: Pawn Shop Clerk
Film: The Terminator (1984)
At last count, the legendary Dick Miller, king of the Joe Dante cameo and the cynical one-liner, has 115 films on his CV. In the grand scheme of things, the half day he spent on a movie called The Terminator as a gun store clerk who hands Schwarzenegger's killer robot the weapons with which he will be killed, may not have seemed like much at the time, but the guy playing The Terminator sure stick in his mind. "There was something about him doing this part," says Miller. "It was something about the body." He cackles, "The minute he dropped his pants, I knew he was going to be a star!"
Miller, a Roger Corman vet, was given the role after meeting with the film's director, Corman protege James Cameron. "He called me up and wanted to see me for the part," says Miller. "They'd put down that he was a sleazy gun store owner. I didn't consider myself sleazy, but all acting jobs I think I attack the same way. I think back to what experience I've had with a person of this type and go ahead and do it."
The scene itself was child's play for Miller - "one take of each angle and that was pretty much it" - until it came time for Arnold to load shells into a shotgun and blow Miller away. "I thought I was being shortchanged," he says. "They didn't squib me or rig me for being shot." Indeed, in the finished film, it cuts away before Miller buys the farm. "Later, when I saw it, it played beautifully."
Now 87, Miller was recently the subject of a documentary, That Guy Dick Miller, but otherwise he's in semi-retirement. Or, more accurately, "if my wife answers the phone, she says send the script; if I answer it, I say I'm retired!"
The Chopped With A Sword Guy
Name: Sven-Ole Thorsen
Role: Togra
Film: Conan The Destroyer (1984)
Sven-Ole Thorsen returned to the Conan franchise as Togra, a brute in a massive helmet who meets his end in a sword fight with Conan. "That was against Richard Fleischer's wish," says Sven. "I died in the first movie, so he was against putting me in. But we created a new character - I had a beard and a heavy helmet on. But he was happy in the end because the sword fight that Conan and I have is one of the most respected sword fights in the history of movie making." Although it almost came with a heavy price. "We both had bleeding fingers because we were both chopping away. I chopped Arnold's finger three times with a plastic sword, but he's a good sport. I didn't chop them off, but it was close!"
The 'I Lied' Guy
Name: David Patrick Kelly
Role: Sully
Film: Commando (1985)
Ah, Sully. The sleazy badass in a bad suit who impresses Arnie's Matrix with his wisecracks so much that he is made a very specific promise. "You're a funny guy, Sully, I like you - that's why I'm going to kill you last." Only to have that promise recanted in spectacular fashion when Matrix dangles him over a ravine, and drops him with the words, 'I lied', ringing in Sully's ears all the way down to the bottom. "I have to spoil something," says David Patrick Kelly, alum of The Warriors. "Arnold didn't really hold me by one arm over the canyon there. I was on a long cable on a crane, and it took about six hours to film that." Actually, to spoil things further, if you pause the film just right, you can see the cable, but it doesn't detract from the impact of Sully's death. "We shot it at Griffith Park, and I was excited by the fact that this was where James Dean and Dennis Hopper had filmed the knife fight scene in Rebel Without A Cause."
Kelly – who more recently starred in the Broadway musical adaptation of Once, where he sang and played mandolin every night – came to Commando through his Warriors/48 Hrs. producers Joel Silver and Lawrence Gordon, who let him craft Sully from the ground up. "There was a lot of improvisation," he admits. And, even though the character is a psychotic scumbag, Sully has his own loyal army. "I had a young fan, who had spina bifida, and he passed away about five years ago," says Kelly. "He came to visit me and he had the entire suit of clothes, and a toy Porsche his father had bought for him. So Sully hangs in there."
The Scalped Guy
Name: Lane Leavitt
Character: Soldier #48
Film: Commando (1985)
It's Commando's ultimate rewind moment: when Matrix, trapped in a garden shed by six of Dan Hedaya's rentagoons, takes them out with handy garden implements. One poor bastard, in particular, is given the short end of a buzz saw which, improbably, takes his scalp clean off. That poor bastard was played by stuntman Lane Leavitt. "I had a receding hairline so they grabbed me and sent me over to the make-up trailer," recalls the now cueball-clean Leavitt. "They brought out this $5000 Max Factor wig that had been made in the 1930s and the hair guy was crying as he cut it up, going 'I can't believe I'm destroying a masterpiece of a wig for this shot!'"
Leavitt would go on to work with Schwarzenegger multiple times, including on The Last Stand. "I've had Arnold's life in my hands five or six times," he says of the stunts gags he's rigged over the years. "I told my crew, if we screw up we'll be on the front page of every newspaper in the world in the morning'. But he's just a joy to work with. He loves to brutalise people – when he sits down next to me he says, 'I see your hair's waving... waving goodbye!'" Still, beats being scalped.
The Graveyard Goon
Name: Robert Davi
Character: Max Keller
Movie: Raw Deal (1986)
The film's poster memorably declares that 'Nobody gives Schwarzenegger a Raw Deal', but Robert Davi clearly didn't take any notice. The way Davi paints it, from the moment he and Arnold met on the set of John Irvin's ponderous, ludicrous action thriller, he dedicated himself to giving Schwarzenegger a raw deal in an escalating series of practical jokes. It began with a coincidence – "The first time I met Arnold," says Davi, "I had a Jean Paul Gaultier overcoat on, maybe a maroon colour. It had a flash to it. So I walk out of my hotel and there's Arnold, who comes in with the exact same coat – and quickly went up a notch, through boiling hot coffee spoons applied to bare necks at breakfast, Sven-Ole Thorsen firing toothpick darts at Davi in the middle of a scene, and Arnold firing poppers at Davi's hotel window when he was asleep. "I filled up a garbage pail with soap suds and water and waited for Arnold, who's under my room, to light up a gorgeous cigar, and then I dump it. Most human beings would flinch, right? He doesn't even move. He looks up at me, and says, 'This means war'."
In the war between Arnold and an Arnold Villain, there can be only one winner: Arnold. And Davi got his comeuppance when he's shot in the chest by Arnold's Kaminsky during a graveyard showdown. "I knew how I wanted to take the shots," says Davi. "I wanted to do this almost balletic thing, and they slowed it down to capture it because it was such a great death."
But when war was over, friendship began, with Davi appointing himself Schwarzenegger's unofficial acting coach. "Up until 1996 or so, every movie he did, I would go there and work with him on that character, on the script, on the dialogue. I would do Shakespeare with Arnold a lot, too." Really? Arnold and the Bard? Davi laughs. "I would do a lot of Shakespeare stuff."
The Machine-Gunned Guy
Name: Sven-Ole Thorsen
Character: Bearded Bodyguard
Movie: Raw Deal (1986)
Habitual Arnie victim Sven makes a very brief cameo as Patrovita's Bearded Bodyguard, gets machine-gunned by Arnold and does the first stunt of his career. "I was told that, being shot, I had to fall forward and reach for the bar and pull the bar down," says Sven. "In my mind, if somebody shoots me, I would fall backwards. It was so odd for me to do something that in the movies looks natural, but is against my natural reaction. Not being trained as a stuntman to do a fall, it was very hard for me. Seven, eight times I had to do it, to everybody's amusement. I learned the hard way." It paid off, though – Sven started doing stunts more regularly, and not just on Arnold movies. He progressed as an actor as well, perhaps most memorably as the Swedish gunslinger in Sam Raimi's The Quick And The Dead.
The 'He Had To Split' Guy
Name: Gus Rethwisch
Character: Buzzsaw
Film: The Running Man (1987)
Arguably the most memorable of all the Stalkers offed by Arnie in The Running Man, Gus Rethwisch's Buzzsaw is a chainsaw-wielding maniac who, ultimately, ends up with his beloved saw stored in a place where it's ill-advised to store chainsaws. And, it should be said, shrieking like a girl. "That wasn't my voice," protests Rethwisch, a power-lifter who these days is president of the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters, "I thought I had a pretty good voice, but they used somebody else."
Everything else about the fight between Buzzsaw and Arnie's Ben Richards was real including, in a world-class example of what-the-hell-were-they-thinking, the chainsaws. "Chainsaws are no problem," says Rethwisch. "Paul Michael Glaser [director] wanted to have the actual chain to make it look and sound more realistic, so Arnold and I had a system where, if we felt uncomfortable with the blade coming close to our necks, we'd give each other a signal. We were trying to test each other's strength - I was 352 lbs at the time, but he had a lot of strength." Now, nearly 70 and following open heart surgery, Rethwisch weighs in at just 265 lbs. "Instead of wanting to be the biggest, baddest sonuvabitch on the planet," he says, "I want to be the healthiest."
The 'Knock, Knock!' Guy
Name: Sven-Ole Thorsen
Character: Russian Officer
Film: Predator (1987)
In which Arnold says 'knock knock', and Sven-Ole Thorsen saves Arnold's life. As the Russian officer who is on the receiving end of one of Arnold's classic one-liners - "Knock, knock!" - and a hail of bullets that rips him through a wall, Sven had a tough time on Predator. "Under the circumstances, the stunt was primitive," he says. "It was seven guys standing by the river with a rope on a wheel, and they had to pull me out. I didn't know when I'd be pulled, so when I look surprised, that's because I was fucking surprised!" Still, Sven didn't have it as bad as Arnold on that jungle shoot when a kidney infection threatened to do what countless henchmen couldn't, and punch Arnold's ticket. "His kidney stopped," says Sven. "He had doctors flying in from all over the world, and was on drips all week in hospital." Sven's remedy was a little more homeopathic. "I read for him a lot of Hans Christian Andersen stories. It was soothing for myself, and soothing and healing and saving Arnold's life." And did Sven submit to this fiendish bug? "I'm a Dane, not an Austrian," he deadpans. "Danes are tough cookies!"
The 'Screw You' Guy
Name: Mel Johnson, Jr.
Character: Benny
Film: Total Recall (1990)
Oh, Benny, how could you. Total Recall's lovable mutant cab driver - the guy with three hands and the 'I've got five kids to feed' catchphrase turns out, of course, to be a traitor all along, getting his just desserts in a memorable sequence as Arnold's Doug Quaid jams an industrial jackhammer into the cockpit of Benny's tank. "I had on a metal plate, and we had blood spurting, and guys shooting blood at me," recalls Johnson who, like David Patrick Kelly, has escaped Arnold's clutches to head to Broadway in the Jekyll & Hyde musical. "Every take took hours to change costumes, and finally the producer goes, 'let's just do one where he goes 'aaaah!' and dies. That's the one they used! I asked why, and they said, 'We figured your death is too bloody'. Too bloody? How in this film can anything be too bloody?"
Johnson, who was chosen to play by Benny by Paul Verhoeven's daughters after they saw his screen test, initially didn't want the role after seeing Benny described as a 'black jivester' in the script, but is glad he relented. "It was a wonderful experience in large part because of Arnold," he says. "On my first day, I was all nervous and was hanging back a bit in shot. Arnold said, 'you want to be in the movie? You need to stay closer to me - the camera's on me!'"
And even though his career now lies largely on stage, Total Recall still looms large. "I did a play in New York, and on the first day of rehearsal I had a line, 'My wife died in a fire and left me with five kids to feed!' The playwright went, 'I'm a huge fan of that movie!" And for the record, does he have five kids to feed? "No," laughs Johnson. "I'm not married, no kids."


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Threat description
BleBla is a worm spreading via Internet. It was discovered in Poland on November 16th, 2000. The worm appears as an email message that has HTML formal and 2 attached files: MyJuliet.CHM and MyRomeo.EXE.
When an infected message is opened, the HTML part of it is executed. That part contains a script program that is automatically activated by Windows. The script program loads and activates the CHM component of the message (the MyJuliet.CHM file). The CHM component is Compressed HTML page and it is processed as HTML Help file. It contains one more script in it. This script executes the MyRomeo.EXE file, that is the main BleBla worm file.
To prevent scripts from executing attachments, the special patches from Microsoft should be installed:
To get its components and save them to disk (to activate them) the worm uses special tricks that allow to access message components (including attached files) by ID. The worm describes its attached files in message header as having special IDs, and then accesses them by these IDs.
So, the worm activates itself automatically when an infected message is being opened or previewed. To activate itself the worm uses a vulnerability in Windows scripting security: the worm CHM component is able to run EXE program by a scripting object that is listed in "safe for scripting", so no warning messages are displayed when the worm runs its components (with default Windows settings).
The main worm component (MyRomeo.EXE file) is Windows PE executable file about 30Kb long. This file is compressed by UPX compression utility. Being unpacked it appears to be a 70Kb EXE file written in Delphi, the "pure" code in the file occupies just about 6Kb.
When it is run, it opens Windows Address Book, reads Email addresses from there and sends its HTML message with attached CHM and EXE files to there. To send infected messages the worm connects to one of six SMTP servers located in Poland. The message has the Subject that is randomly selected from the list:
Romeo&Juliet :)))))) hello world !!??!?!? subject ble bla, bee I Love You ;) sorry... Hey you ! Matrix has you... my picture from shake-beer
The worm has a bug and doens't work correctly under some Windows98/NT English editions. The worm also is able to spread only in case Windows is installed to C:\WINDOWS directory (that is hardcoded in worm code).
Variant:Blebla.b (IWorm_Blebla.b, I-Worm.Blebla.b)
The BleBla.b is a remake of the original worm. When run it copies itself to \Windows\ folder as SYSRNJ.EXE and creates and modifies many Registry keys to activate this copy:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\rnjfile \DefaultIcon = %1 \shell\open\command = sysrnj.exe "%1" %*
The above mentioned key caused worm copy run when "rnjfile" is referred. Then the worm modifies the following keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \.exe = rnjfile \.jpg = rnjfile \.jpeg = rnjfile \.jpe = rnjfile \.bmp = rnjfile \.gif = rnjfile \.avi = rnjfile \.mpg = rnjfile \.mpeg = rnjfile \.wmf = rnjfile \.wma = rnjfile \.wmv = rnjfile \.mp3 = rnjfile \.mp2 = rnjfile \.vqf = rnjfile \.doc = rnjfile \.xls = rnjfile \.zip = rnjfile \.rar = rnjfile \.lha = rnjfile \.arj = rnjfile \.reg = rnjfile
The above keys cause worm's copy start when any of files listed above are opened. The worm also checks checks what file was launched before its copy was activated. It it was 'REGEDIT' (Registry Editor) or REG file, it tries to halt a system. In case of EXE file its execution continues. In all other cases the worm creates a \Recycled\ folder (if not present yet) renames the file-to-be-launched with random name to that folder (checks for duplicate files before that operation) and copies itself with the name of that file after adding .EXE extension to it.
The worm sends itself to alt.comp.virus newsgroups with messages:
From: "Romeo&Juliet"
Subject:[Romeo&Juliet] R.i.P.
While sending its copies to personal address the worm uses empty Subject, random generated Subject, or the one from the below given list:
Romeo&Juliet where is my juliet ? where is my romeo ? hi last wish ??? lol :) ,,...' !!! newborn merry christmas! surprise ! Caution: NEW VIRUS ! scandal ! ^_^ Re:
Depending on some conditions the worm also creates directories with random names in \Recycled\ folder and then creates files with random names there.
Manual disinfection of BleBla.b variant requires the following steps:
First, make sure that a worm's file SYSRNJ.EXE is deleted (from DOS) and replaced with any other EXE program, REGEDIT.EXE for example (copy REGEDIT.EXE as SYSRNJ.EXE in \Windows\ folder). Don't restart your system before the SYSNRJ file contents are replaced with REGEDIT's ones or you will not be able to open many files including EXE ones.
Then open the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE) and manually correct the following entries (default values are given). Replace "rnjfile" in Default value with the value given below. If Registry Editor is not starting, open DOS session, copy REGEDIT.EXE as REGEDIT.COM and start the COM file to open Registry Editor.
Note that the problem is that the below values depend on different software installed on a particular system, for example if ACDSEE picture viewer is installed, it associates images with itself (\.jpg = "ACDC_JPEG"). So it is impossible to restore the associations to their old values on a particulat system. You have to use defaults.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \.exe = "exefile" \.jpg = "jpegfile" \.jpeg = "jpegfile" \.jpe = "jpegfile" \.bmp = "Paint.Picture" \.gif = "giffile" \.avi = "avifile" \.mpg = "mpegfile" \.mpeg = "mpegfile" \.wmf = "" \.wma = "WMAFile" \.wmv = "WMVFile" \.mp3 = "Winamp.File" \.mp2 = "Winamp.File" \.vqf = "" \.doc = "Wordpad.Document.1" \.xls = "" \.zip = "WinZip" \.rar = "WinZip" \.lha = "WinZip" \.arj = "WinZip" \.reg = "regfile"
Then delete the following key used by the worm:
The XLS association is not restored (leave empty) because it depends on a specific MS Office version installed. The MP2 and MP3 association is restored assuming that there's a WinAmp MP3 player in a system. ZIP, RAR, LHA and ARJ associations are restored assuming that there's a WinZip installed. The WMF and VQF are left empty.
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Editorial: Holiday spirit abounds
What does this season mean to you?
Maybe one (or more) of the holidays this month has particular religious significance for you. Maybe you don't celebrate any holidays, but you enjoy the season anyway, as well as the opportunities for generosity and cheerfulness it brings.
Maybe December brings back childhood memories of snow angels and light displays, or maybe you just relish the opportunity to unearth that special Christmas sweater from the back of your closet.
Despite what the Mayan calendar might say, 2013 is coming. It's a fresh start, a chance to start over and do things differently. But before the date rolls over, take advantage of this time. Do something special. Take time to hang holiday lights; write cards or letters to loved ones; build a snowman; or even just take a moment to appreciate those Coca-Cola cans with polar bears on them.
Don't just do it for yourself, either. The holiday season is the perfect time to share with others. Try donating a few dollars to a favorite charity, or volunteer your time in the community. Additional random acts of kindness are always in season, but they can be especially meaningful during the holidays. Help a stranger carry groceries across an icy parking lot, or hold the door open for someone you've never met.
Of course, between decorating, gifts, parties and everything else, it's easy to go overboard during the holidays. Case in point: Black Friday. While it can be fun to get caught up in the spirit of things, it's important to leave time to relax and take advantage of the holidays as a time to unwind, recharge those batteries and reflect before tackling the challenges of a new year.
Opinions expressed in editorial and opinion articles are the views of individual NIC students. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sentinel, North Idaho College, or any other organizations or groups there-in. North Idaho College is not responsible for the accuracy of statements or opinions shared.


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Travel Photography Featured Travel Photos of Iraq
18 of Travellerspoint's best photos taken in Iraq Show as stream
From Amna Suraka (Red Security) Prison - now a museum depicting Saddam's gruesome treatment of the Kurds. 182,000 shards of glass - one for every Kurdish victim of Saddam's rule. 4500 lights - one for every village destroyed...
As my own picture of the parliament was lost when viruses destroyed my memory card is this picture stolen from the internet....
Semi-perpetual flame memorializing Iraqi soldiers lost in combat
Picture taken in Baghdad, April 2003.Overview from Sharaton Hotel .Across the Tigris River.
You might find some more related photos through these galleries