text:
Christmas in America becomes battleground
As holiday traditions draw national controversy, believers, pagans grapple over Jesus' inclusion
Every December, a call goes out from the nation's pulpits to "put Christ back into Christmas," but growing numbers of Americans – including fundamentalist Christians – are claiming Jesus Christ had nothing to do with the holiday, and news items from across the country this week indicate that the U.S. has become the new battleground for Christmas.
Cases in point:
- A first-grade teacher in Sacramento Co., Calif., says her principal has prohibited instructors from uttering the word "Christmas" in class or in written materials;
- A school superintendent in Yonkers, N.Y., banned, then unbanned, holiday decorations that contained religious themes more than the generic "season's greetings";
- New York City schools are being sued for alleged discrimination against Christians;
- and atheists reposted their vandalized winter solstice sign in the Wisconsin Capitol, as they declare "Christians stole Christmas" from ancient pagans.
All this comes on the heels of a national survey indicating just over a tenth of Americans today believe Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the focus of Christmas, with almost nine out of ten people saying the holiday has become less religious.
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Are atheists correct that the very day set aside by hundreds of millions across the world to honor the birth of their Savior is merely a relic of sun worship? And if it is, why would some schools ban it? And even if today's holiday traditions have their roots in heathen practices, should Christians who wish to be true to their faith take part?
Sign of the times
"The real reason for the season is winter solstice," proclaims Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation which re-erected its atheistic message Monday in the rotunda of the state seat of government.
After six years on display, her placard had been damaged last December by an unknown assailant, and has since been repaired.
Atheists' winter solstice sign at Wisconsin Capitol
The front of the sign states: "At this season of the winter solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
The back reads: "State/Church: Keep them separate," and carries a little caveat, advising "Thou shalt not steal."
The 23-by-30-inch billboard was OK'd as part of Wisconsin's seasonal display which also features menorahs, angels, and what appears to be a giant Christmas tree more than two stories tall.
"We call it a 'holiday' tree," said Brian Hayes, deputy secretary for Wisconsin's department of administration. "We're trying to be sensitive to [the public]."
That politically correct terminology comes despite the dismissal of a lawsuit last year where the message content of items adorning the state tree had been challenged, yet it's indicative of the thought-conscious age of the 21st century.
Banned in the USA
The fact that atheists view Christmas with disdain is not astonishing, since they've attempted to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God we trust" from U.S. currency, as well as Ten Commandments displays from numerous publicly owned places.
What may be surprising, though, is that some devout Christians, many dating all the way back to the days of Jesus, never celebrated the birth of Christ, nor sought to. America's early colonists banned observance of Christmas, and still today, there are many Christians abstaining from what millions more of their brethren joyfully celebrate as God's coming in human form.
The Catholic Encyclopedia states, '"the word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131."
It explains "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church," pointing out "first evidence of the feast is from Egypt" around A.D. 200 with attempts by theologians to assign not only the year of Christ's birth, but also the precise date.
Historians agree that through the subsequent centuries, traditions from ancient pagan (non-Christian) religions became intertwined with those of Christianity, and depending upon one's point of view, either paganism became Christianized, or Christianity became paganized.
In 1644, the English Parliament outlawed the holiday, compelling shops to be open that day, and condemning plum puddings and mince pies as "heathen."
In his Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Battle for Christmas," historian Stephen Nissenbaum at the University of Massachusetts documents the American development of the holiday now ensconced in popular culture.
"In New England, for the first two centuries of white settlement," writes Nissenbaum, "most people did not celebrate Christmas. In fact, the holiday was systematically suppressed by Puritans during the colonial period and largely ignored by their descendants. It was actually illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681 (the fine was five shillings). Only in the middle of the nineteenth century did Christmas gain legal recognition as an official public holiday in New England."
Nissenbaum agrees with other historians that the first recorded observance since the New Testament recounted Christ's birth took place hundreds of years after Jesus' resurrection.
"It was only in the fourth century that the Church officially decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25. And this date was not chosen for religious reasons but simply because it happened to mark the approximate arrival of the winter solstice, an event that was celebrated long before the advent of Christianity. The Puritans were correct when they pointed out – and they pointed it out often – that Christmas was nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer."
Christmas in America saw huge growth during the 19th century, starting with Washington Irving's 1820 book "The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall." A week before Christmas in 1834, Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol," and in 1860, American illustrator Thomas Nast created Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, based on European stories of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children.
Spirit of the rising sun
Today, followers of ancient paganism strive to remind the public about the heathen origins of traditions that many may never have questioned. They've published books, given speeches, and created websites proffering a heathen history of modern customs.
Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox
CircleSanctuary.org is among the Internet addresses run by nature-worshipping pagans. Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox discusses the state of being pagan and celebrating the lengthening of days during the Northern Hemisphere's darkest time of year.
- "Yule, the winter solstice, is a festival of peace and a celebration of waxing solar light. I honor the new sun child by burning a[n] oaken yule log in a sacred fire. I honor the great goddess in her many great mother aspects, and the father god as Santa in his old sky god, father time, and holly king forms. I decorate my home with lights and with holly, ivy, mistletoe, evergreens and other herbs sacred to this season. I ring in the new solar year with bells."
Fox even provides a list of suggestions on how 21st century citizens can take part in the ancient rituals, to "re-paganize" Christmastime:
- Have gift exchanges and feasts over the course of several days and nights as was done of old
- Adorn the home with sacred herbs and colors; decorate in druidic holiday colors of red, green and white
- Hang a sprig of mistletoe above a major threshold and leave it there until next yule as a charm for good luck throughout the year
- Have family/household members join together to make or purchase an evergreen wreath
- If you choose to have a living or a harvested evergreen tree as part of your holiday decorations, call it a solstice tree and decorate it with pagan symbols
- Reclaim Santa Claus as a pagan godform by decorating him with images that reflect his various heritages ranging from the Greek god Cronos (father time) to Odin, the Scandinavian all-father riding the sky on an eight-legged horse
- Place pagan mother-goddess images around your home, possibly including one with a sun child, such as Isis with Horus
- Honor the new solar year with light – light candles, burn a yule log and save a portion for the following year, put colored lights outside your home, and with the popularity of five-pointed stars, consider displaying a blue or white pentagram.
The greatest story never told?
The pagan connections to Christmas are not news to the likes of Garner Ted Armstrong, a Christian evangelist and political commentator based in Tyler, Texas. Armstrong has been proclaiming such information for the past 46 years on a peak of 135 television and 360 radio stations, stating "it is impossible to 'put Christ back in Christmas,' since He was never in Christmas in the first place!"
Garner Ted Armstrong
"None of the apostles of Christ ever heard of the term; not one of them ever celebrated Christ's birthday," writes Armstrong in his booklet "Christmas … The Untold Story." "The words Christmas, holly wreath, mistletoe, Rudolph, Santa Claus and Christmas tree do not appear anywhere in the Bible."
Armstrong is among Christians who believe God's plan of salvation for mankind is more accurately depicted through holidays which are frequently mentioned in Scripture, such as Passover and the Day of Atonement. If anything, he thinks Dec. 25 would most likely be Jesus' conception day, thus placing his birth in the autumn, possibly during the Feast of Tabernacles, symbolizing God's "tabernacling" – that is to say, dwelling – with mankind.
Like-minded preachers say the Bible warns extensively about adopting pagan customs, pointing to the 10th chapter of Jeremiah to specifically cite the practice of tree decoration, which some historians date back to ancient Egypt and Babylon:
"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."
- (Jeremiah 10:2-4)
Armstrong says the pagan celebrations, including winter's Saturnalia, or feast of Saturn in ancient Rome, crept into ostensible Christianity over many years, and some writers began urging a celebration at the same time as the secular events "for the simple reason that so many pagans were already accustomed to 'joyous,' sometimes 'riotous' orgies of feasting at the time of the winter solstice."
"It would be a sin for me [to celebrate Christmas], but it doesn't mean it's the unpardonable sin," Armstrong told WorldNetDaily, stressing he doesn't feel at all threatened by the holiday.
"I have no more difficulty walking through Beijing at the Chinese New Year and seeing the dragons and fireworks. It doesn't affect me. … [the Apostle] Paul says the idol is nothing."
While Armstrong teaches against the observance of Christmas, he adds that most people who celebrate it are doing so with good intentions, simply unaware of the facts regarding its origins, and they should neither be judged nor condemned by fellow believers in Jesus. He encourages people to type words like "origins of Christmas" into Internet search engines to find out for themselves the background on the customs.
Angels in the outfield
For millions of Christians, the story of Christmas in the Bible is among the most beloved, and is one of their foundations of faith – that God came to dwell as a man and offer eternal life to mankind. It is both simple enough to be understood by young children, and has majestic meaning to provide adults with inspiration and awe.
The events surrounding the birth of Christ are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which give an almost play-by-play description:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
- (Luke 2:8-14)
The shepherds subsequently found the child in the manger, but unlike depictions on many modern holiday cards and Nativity scenes, there were no wise men present at the birth. The Gospel of Matthew says the Magi arrived at a house, not the manger. And as for the tradition of three wise men, the Bible never mentions their number – only the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Those gifts were presented to Jesus, not exchanged with other people.
The accounts don't mention a tree – evergreen or otherwise – nor do they specify the time of year. Some analysts theorize that since the shepherds were still out in the fields by night watching their flocks, the event could not have been in winter, due to plunging temperatures. Still others think Dec. 25 has a valid claim on the actual event.
Spirit of the rising Son
"I believe the celebration of Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to honor Christ and share the gospel," says Rev. Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University in Virginia and one of America's best known ministers. Falwell is a staunch defender of the holiday he's celebrated for every one of the 69 years he's been alive.
"And I plan to celebrate it on the 'other side,'" he tells WorldNetDaily.
Falwell acknowledges that many of the customs associated with the observance are not found in the Bible, but he doesn't have a problem with that.
"The Christmas tree and Santa Claus don't bother me," he said. "If we can use anything to get people under the sound of the gospel, without violating Scripture, it's a good thing."
While there are some unknowns such as the exact date of birth, Falwell stresses "we do know He was born – virgin-born as the Son of God."
Yet over 2,000 years after that history-changing event, most Americans think Christ is fading from the Christmas picture, at least according to a recent poll.
When the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University asked if "most people focus on the birth of Jesus at Christmas time, or has the holiday become less religious than it used to be?" only 11 percent said they believed Christmas was still about Jesus, with 87 percent responding "less religious."
Close to half of adults – 45 percent – say they personally know someone who doesn't believe in God, but still will celebrate the holiday this year; 62 percent say they'll attend a religious service on Christmas Eve or Day; and 81 percent plan to put a decorated tree in their home this year.
"Do I put up a tree? I have in the past; this year I won't," says Jose Negron, a 34-year-old Christian minister at the Stonehouse Church to the Nations in Toano, Va. Even without the tree, he still plans to celebrate Christmas.
"I grew up in America. It's an historical constant," Negron said.
President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the National Christmas Tree in 1940
Indeed, trees and their decoration have played a role in American history, even in the nation's darkest hours. In 1942, just a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to Washington to join President Franklin Roosevelt in lighting the National Christmas Tree, a tradition started by Calvin Coolidge in 1923.
"Against enemies who preach the principles of hate and practice them, we set our faith in human love and in God's care for us all men everywhere," said Roosevelt.
Thousands of citizens turned out for the event, which was broadcast nationwide on radio in the grips of World War II.
"Let the children have their night of fun and laughter," proclaimed Churchill. "Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied the right to live in a free and decent world."
The tree-lighting ceremonies continue to this day, with President George W. Bush having two dedications under his belt.
The history of mankind's fascination with trees long antedates World War II, the founding of America, and even the Middle Ages. Historians have found evidence of tree decoration and tree worship in places such as ancient Rome and Egypt. The Old Testament also records God's displeasure with his own people for following pagan practices involving trees:
- "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves."(Judges 3:7)
- "For the Lord shall smite Israel … because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger."(1 Kings 14:15)
- "For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree." (1 Kings 14:23)
In the 1800s, Alexander Hislop, a noted historian of antiquity, examined the origins of customs such as the Christmas tree and date of celebration. Writing in "The Two Babylons," Hislop maintains the practice derives from the worship of pagan deities.
- The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in pagan Rome and pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the pagan Messiah. … The mother of Adonis, the sun god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been [recognized] as the "Man the branch." And this entirely accounts for the putting of the yule log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning. …
Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solis, "The birthday of the unconquered sun." Now the yule log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas tree is Nimrod redivivus ? the slain god come to life again.
The 2001 National Christmas Tree took on patriotic colors in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks
"I can count about a hundred trees, wreaths, poinsettia displays, lights, everywhere I look [in my office] complex," says Bob Sipsky, of Stuart, Fla. "Christmas gorge-as-much-food-as-you-can eat-a-ramas every day for two weeks. Enough already."
Sipsky is a Bible believer not affiliated with any organized church. He celebrated Christmas for 35 years before abandoning it, now thinking it an insult to God.
"There are clearly explained festivals that God tells us to observe, which teach how to have peace on earth, and what the true Savior requires of us," Sipsky says, "yet mankind ignores these, and prefers to make up his own festivals and traditions. Christmas is based in deception: its origins; lying to small children about Santa Claus; talking about having peace on earth while ignoring God's instructions on how to achieve it; saying it is biblical, while 99 percent of it is all about commerce and other selfish objectives. Myths and traditions do not please the God of the Bible, a right way of living does. Deception is at the top of the list of what He hates."
That anti-Christmas view is echoed by Tom Moniz of Hobe Sound, Fla. "Being a God-fearing man, I cannot honor a lie, nor do I think adopting a pagan holiday and calling it his birthday does any honor to him."
"Most of these people are killjoys," says Rev. Falwell regarding those who attack the celebration of Christmas. "Most of these tightwads just don't want to [spend] cash. … I don't take my children or grandchildren near them."
To many Christians, Christmastime is among the most sacred times of the year, and they look to keep it that way.
"It's the reason for being a Christian, because we believe Jesus is God," says Louis Giovino, director of communications for the New York-based Catholic League, the nation's largest Catholic civil-rights organization.
With recent controversies surrounding Christmas in the public arena, the league has issued a list of guidelines to help people understand what kind of religious expression is permissible at this time of year.
Giovino admits the observance has picked up some pagan customs over the years, but says they've been "baptized" by the Church. He notes by the time of Dickens in England, the holiday took on a more raucous tone, with drinking parties and violence, and says the Protestant legislation to outlaw Christmas was in direct response to the riotous revelry.
"The Puritans weren't into celebrating anything," he said.
Giovino stresses the important part of Christmas is the larger picture of the Christian message, the belief that "the Word became flesh."
"It's not like saying 'Happy birthday, Jesus!'" he exclaimed. "I think personally Christmas is ridiculous without Christ. Otherwise, we might as well celebrate the winter solstice as pagans."
The baby with the bathwater?
With the extremes on Christmas observance ranging from total holiday indulgence to complete abstention, there are plenty of people who seek middle ground. Pastor Richard Bucher of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Clinton, Mass., is one of them, asserting celebrating Christmas is not pagan.
"It's laudable that certain Christians care so much about pleasing God to ask the question if it's right," Bucher told WorldNetDaily, "but a lot of arguments they're making are just not sound. They end up placing guilt on Christians celebrating Christmas and do a real disservice."
On his church website, Bucher addresses examples such as the tree decorated with silver and gold in Jeremiah's 10th chapter, and explains upon close examination, it does not refer to anything like a Christmas tree.
"The very next verse, 10:5, goes on to say, 'Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.' This passage and the passages that follow make it crystal clear that the 'decorated tree' that Jeremiah was talking about in 10:3-4, was a tree that was cut down and made into an idol, a very common custom in the ancient world."
"Just because heathens took something God has created for good," he asks, "does that mean such things are off limits [to Christians] permanently?"
He says many have invented sin where God has not said that something is sinful, and adds the issue boils down to what exactly is meant by "Christmas."
"Is it thanking God for the birth of the Savior, or everything that people do associated with it? People just lump everything together."
Despite all the conflict, some believers have little problem with the controversies over Christmas; in fact, they rejoice in them.
"Those who would attempt to take Christ out of Christmas are fighting a losing battle," says Joan Driscoll of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. "The harder they try, the stronger the holy message and meaning of Jesus' birth becomes. The heavenly voices of the angels singing 'Alleluia' will easily drown out the guttural tones of the dissenters."
Bible is completely true, but you may never have heard the spectacular,
ultimate destiny God has in store for you. It's far more glorious than
just floating around on clouds in heaven! Find out what you've never
been told,
direct from your very own Bible!
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Yes, the grand bargain is coming up before the deadline by December 31st, 2012.
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will be on the chopping block like it was last time. This is not a conspiracy theory, and it comes from solid sources involved in all of the deliberations if you read the source material provided. Sure, some can pretend it is CT. They can even cry it out loud from the rooftops while closing their eyes and plugging their ears, but the reality based community is all talking about this because this is confirmed reality, and the prospects are real like they were last time.
It's really up to those that would deny this confirmed reality to prove the actual sources in the Senate are all liars in the WaPo peice. Either that or they have heads their heads in the sand for all of 2011 and this is just too much of a downer to acknowledge but it's time to grow up. These are facts. Denying the factual historical record in 2011 disqualifies anyone writing about these matters at all. Yes, when the entirely self induced entirely avoidable fake fiscal cliff was made real through the stop go that was passed to raise the debt ceiling in Aug 5, 2011 it set this whole pathetic fiscal cliff debacle coming up.
Rick Pearlstein: Author of Nixonland details the Grand Bargain coming up as well.
America didn't vote for a "grand bargain"
I heard Dick Durbin, the Illinois senator who is close to Obama, on the radio the next morning boasting that he was one of the Democrats on the Simpson-Bowles Commission to vote for its recommendations — recommendations that included, in addition to changes in the tax code meant to increase revenue (while also cutting tax rates), diminishing eligibility and benefits for Medicare and Social Security. Though the commission failed to reach consensus, making its proposals moot, it was aiming at just the sort of "grand bargain" that Obama has consistently and quietly spoken about as his sort of beau ideal for what a successful presidency would look like. Durbin went on to say he hoped a grand bargain might be wrapped up in the next calendar year, before congressmen and senators became preoccupied with reelection.
When you read statements like this from the likes of Senator Dick Durbin safely away from the constituents he secretly disdains, it makes you wonder whether this continuous flirtation with the destruction of the New Deal by the modern third way Democratic leadership wasn't the goal all along. After this debt ceiling debacle and the fallout we will still be dealing with was something I predicted. It was rather easy to predict that once the Obama Bush tax cuts were extended the political game of hostage taking by the Republicans enabled by the Democrats failure on these issues would continue. How did I know that? It was quite simple: President Obama thought it would be a great idea to put the full faith and credit of the United States in John Boehner's hands by taking his word instead of getting a raise of the debt ceiling in the Bush/Obama tax cut sellout in 2010 as part of the deal.
Transcript Of Obama's Press Conference On Tax Cut Deal
THE PRESIDENT: Look, here's my expectation — and I'll take John Boehner at his word — that nobody, Democrat or Republican, is willing to see the full faith and credit of the United States government collapse, that that would not be a good thing to happen. And so I think that there will be significant discussions about the debt limit vote. That's something that nobody ever likes to vote on. But once John Boehner is sworn in as Speaker, then he's going to have responsibilities to govern. You can't just stand on the sidelines and be a bomb thrower.
That political malfeasance and naivete on display is why we are still dealing with the fallout of this easily predictable and entirely avoidable debt ceiling debacle that this so called fiscal cliff spawned from. The only thing that seems destined to fall off the cliff is any intelligence whatsoever about fiscal issues and our monetary system. It would have been nice had more people not had deluded themselves into thinking the President had some brilliant plan, because after all, if he did, we wouldn't be dealing with any of this by the end of this year in the first place.
Unless we are honest about what happened and put a stop to it, the second term for President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress is going to be an endless cycle of selling out and political failure in the name of budgetary and monetary fairy tales instead of the reality that is national accounting. The only deficit problem is the intelligent deficit on these accounting identities and the dynamics of a country that issues its own currency. This ignorance or corruption, take your pick, might be amusing if seniors' lives weren't at stake like the many other people whom will suffer because of these cuts to appease downright stupidity.
After all, most presidents have secured multiple raises in the debt ceiling from Congress. that's probably because they didn't trust or agree with their political enemies like President Obama did Speaker Boehner. The President is responsible for that and so are the people who made excuses for it. After all, we'll be paying the political and economic price. The President was warned but maybe this was his plan all along.
The Constitution does state that our debt will not be in question. If only our constitutional scholar knew this or assuming he does, acted on it instead of continually dragging out this political disaster which will occur through every raise of the debt ceiling. Neo Chartalist economist James K. Galbraith was correct as usual; the right thing to do was challenging the constitutionality of the debt ceiling because it is frankly unconstitutional. We shouldn't have to go through this or the fallout from it again and again.
"Dangerous Precedent" Being Set in Debt Ceiling Debate, Galbraith Says
I also think kossack Letsgetitdone's 60 trillion coin seigniorage idea has merit which is worth looking into once this never ending debacle rears its heads again. Once the tax cuts expire even for those making under $250,000 a year added to when the 1.2 trillion sequester(cuts across the board. The deal also includes mandatory spending reductions on top of the sequester by putting caps on non-entitlement discretionary spending that will reduce funding by $1 trillion by 2021) kicks in the CBO states it will likely send us back into a recession sometime in 2013. So just imagine if the President got the 4 trillion of cuts that he wanted?
That being said, there need not be any grand bargain because of cuts that should not have been on the table in the first place, and there is plenty of time to legislate away this stupid triggered sequester that should have never existed in the first place even after December 31st. What's the lesson from all of this, anyway? Austerity is a failure. Look at the Eurozone and the UK double dipping back into recession. It's simple: politicians who embrace austerity are also embracing failure. Therefore the contest on who was the best deficit terrorist during this Presidential and Congressional campaign was a losing proposition for the people.
Income inequality is worse now(93 cents out of every dollar to the 1%) than it was during the Bush administration(64 cents our of every dollar to the 1%), but we didn't hear about it in this campaign, only deficits blah blah blah. Nothing about a private debt jubilee which would be another serious move towards full employment. Even on a practical level, instead of replacing DeMarco(whom still is refusing to write underwater mortgages down) at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (holding roughly half of all these mortgages) during a recess appointment which the POTUS can and has failed to do in past recesses.
Instead we're going to go through this predictable pathetic recurring debacle that will put our social safety net in danger once again because people in Washington don't want to study national accounting or what government budget deficits really are and why we need them.
Oh No! Private sector surplus! This is what the players in the grand bargain are so scared of continuing. What will we do if there are more dollars in the private sector during a period of low demand and high income inequality? Shouldn't we put more dollars into private pockets? The answer is yes. You see, this is reality unlike the bond vigilantes and confidence fairy fairy tales that were spun to us during this campaign.
But the Washington consensus either doesn't get it or doesn't want to get it. This grand bargain will hurt people especially seniors. It's just a matter of degree because this entire fiscal cliff debate is over complete nonsense stemming from a failure of leadership and adhering to the principles of the New Deal and Great Society that define the Democratic party platform. Failing to live up to that is all Congress seems to get done anymore. No more.
No more grand bargains, fiscal cliffs, sequesters, gangs of six, eight, or twelve. Demanding that Congress recognizes the truth will stop the abuse and failure of leadership across the board we have seen since this whole debacle started in 2010, but will you? I know many of you will, but I sadly still many of you will follow the six steps. For instance, some of you can hate Glenn Greenwald all you want because of his "awful" concern for civil liberties instead of politicians' personalities, but he has accurately outlined exactly how this is going to play out. He has outlined exactly the excuses many of you will give and I know this because I have already heard many of them already. Here are a few, but you should read them all because they are painfully accurate and prescient.
From Liberal Victory to Disempowerment in Six Easy Steps
STEP THREE: Many progressives – ones who are not persuaded that these cuts are less than draconian or defensible on the merits – will nonetheless begin to view them with resignation and acquiescence on pragmatic grounds. Obama has no real choice, they will insist, because he must reach a deal with the crazy, evil GOP to save the economy from crippling harm, and the only way he can do so is by agreeing to entitlement cuts. It is a pragmatic necessity, they will insist, and anyone who refuses to support it is being a purist, unreasonably blind to political realities, recklessly willing to blow up Obama's second term before it even begins.
STEP FOUR: The few liberal holdouts, who continue to vehemently oppose any bill that cuts social security and Medicare, will be isolated and marginalized, excluded from the key meetings where these matters are being negotiated, confined to a few MSNBC appearances where they explain their inconsequential opposition.
STEP FIVE: Once a deal is announced, and everyone from Obama to Harry Reid and the DNC are behind it, any progressives still vocally angry about it and insisting on its defeat will be castigated as ideologues and purists, compared to the Tea Party for their refusal to compromise, and scorned (by compliant progressives) as fringe Far Left malcontents.
STEP SIX: Once the deal is enacted with bipartisan support and Obama signs it in a ceremony, standing in front of his new Treasury Secretary, the supreme corporatist Erskine Bowles, where he touts the virtues of bipartisanship and making "tough choices", any progressives still complaining will be told that it is time to move on. Any who do not will be constantly reminded that there is an Extremely Important Election coming – the 2014 midterm – where it will be Absolutely Vital that Democrats hold onto the Senate and that they take over the House. Any progressive, still infuriated by cuts to social security and Medicare, who still refuses to get meekly in line behind the Party will be told that they are jeopardizing the Party's chances for winning that Vital Election and – as a result of their opposition - are helping Mitch McConnell take over control of the Senate and John Boehner retain control of the House.
Now surely you will want to prove both of us wrong, won't you? Or maybe you want to prove us right, right now. You should at least know that when politicians are fear mongering over a fake problem like the deficit terror and fiscal cliff they hope you don't understand, they don't have anything qualitatively good planned for your future. You should know that when you accept the unacceptable you are not being pragmatic. You are further lowering any Democratic standards you have left and any left you have left left in the party you blindly follow that is not the party you signed up for.
When you ignore sellouts like these you don't matter and are fodder for a form letter in your email box; an endless cycle of election fundraising but nothing will truly get better. Many of you of course know this, but too many of you want to believe like the President and Harry Reid want to believe in sovereign non pegged currency defaults, bond vigilantes, and confidence faeries. Is this delusional? Very.
These are grim times. Not time for Grimm's political fairy tales. Wake up.
The reality is that Social Security simply must be reformed
and by reformed I mean that the FICA Tax cap needs to be completely eliminated. Additionally, ALL income must be subject to the FICA tax. No form of income should be exempt. That means dividend income, interest income, passive income, active income and every freaking kind of income that exists. With these simple changes the program would be sustainable until Jesus comes back to Jerusalem.
If the president wants to find a few hundred billion of easy budget cuts he might want to take a cab over to the Pentagon..............the DOD's free ride at the taxpayer expense needs to end.
The contribution determines the benefit ...
... just uncapping the benefit could mean $100,000 social security checks.
(1) We are a decade away from having to worry about the Social Insurance fund.
(2) If we put a floating levy of on incomes above $1m, starting at 0.1%, +0.1% when the Disability Insurance fund has under 10yrs funding, -0.1% when it has over 20yrs, it wouldn't hit 0.5% before the DI fund was funded 20yrs ahead.
there are numerous reasonable proposals out there today
I have read proposals to cap benefits at a specific dollar amount, or to decrease it dollar for dollar when a person's AGI hits a certain amount. That would be one way of preventing SS checks from exploding. I have written that before but neglected to put it in this comment. The formula that is used to calculate a person's monthly benefit is a little complex. Anyone that wants more information should go to the SSA website, or you can read this article in AARP.
Eliminate the cap, apply the FICA tax to more forms of income (at a minimum, investment income should be taxed), and cap the maximum monthly benefit that a person can receive.
If deficit reduction is the goal then a financial transaction tax should also be reimplemented.
Capital Gains should be taxed at a higher rate.
Taxes should be paid on inheritances exceeding 1 million dollars in value.
Tax treaties with Switzerland and other countries should be repealed, if they allow U.S. citizens to legally avoid paying taxes by hiding their money in offshore banks.
Raise the marginal rates on higher income earners.
This is not too complicated.
I fail to see why
benefits could not be capped even if contributions are not. I know the Republicans would kick and scream over that but seriously, I don't see why that would be a bad idea.
Cap it at a reasonable amount - say, $100K for the very highest wage earners, who don't need Social Security income anyway - and then provide for COL adjustments.
Benefits should be capped, contributions should not be capped
A rare agreement, Mehitabel. Currently, medicare beneficiaries pay different Medicare Part B premium rates based on their last two years of reported AGI. Note: this table is from the Medicare website and is for 2012 premiums. It references 2010 because tax returns from the last 2 years are used to calculate a beneficiary's Medicare Part B premium
|If your yearly income in 2010 was
|You pay
|File individual tax return
|File joint tax return
|$85,000 or less
|$170,000 or less
|above $85,000 up to $107,000
|above $170,000 up to $214,000
|above $107,000 up to $160,000
|above $214,000 up to $320,000
|above $160,000 up to $214,000
|above $320,000 up to $428,000
Quite a few people had problems with this 'means tested' approach. However, I think it is quite fair. The premium issue is addressed on a yearly basis and the beneficiary can appeal the decision every single year.
I absolutely think that a program such as Social Security should include some sort of means testing. Cap the monthly benefit, eliminate the cap on contributions. Expand the amount of income categories that are subject to contributions.
They could be ...
... but that was not the proposal that was made up top. The proposal that was made up top was just to remove the cap on contributions, to address a Social Security crisis that does not exist.
The difference between a levy on higher income earners and contributions that go beyond a capped benefit is pure semantics ~ the current social security benefit is tied to contributions by formula, in a progressive way (each dollar in the first rungs on the income ladder lead to a higher benefit than each dollar on the top rungs of the income ladder), but each dollar contributed during the qualifying period before retirement adds to the social security benefit on retirement.
I'd rather just call the part that is just a levy on higher incomes a levy.
gotcha arguing boots on today, eh?
I'm assuming that when you refer to 'the proposal made up top', you're referring specifically to me, and not any of the other numerous comments 'up top', or even the article itself. Changing the formula in which benefits are calculated is hardly semantics. To suggest that such a change is an engagement in semantics is disingenous at best. The exclusion of income that is not tied to a paycheck is hardly progressive. I have zero problems with a cap on the monthly benefit that a recipient can earn. As in the means testing of Medicare Part B and Part D premium payments, I'm not necessarily opposed to re-visiting how the program pays out benefits. Call the 'part that is just a levy on higher incomes a levy', if it makes you feel better, I can live with that too. I'm able to live with all sorts of new fangled ideas tonight. I'm sorry that I did not initially include every single thought that I have on this issue in my initial comment. Feel free to read my other comments that expand on my ideas regarding Social Security. It's a fairly complex program and not one that is always able to be answered completely in one comment. I apologize if my initial comment was not 'complete' enough. Nice catch.
You're mathematically correct that a Social Security crisis does not exist. However, you're politically incorrect to suggest that we are not currently facing a Social Security crisis when the people that have the power to change the Social Security program are getting ready to do just that, change the program. Pointing out the math to them is probably the ultimate exercise in futility.
Yes, shorthand for top comment.
The DIFFERENCE between changing contributions to that past a certain point they no longer determine your benefit, and adding a levy ON TOP OF the current contribution IS just a matter of semantics.
The current contributions as they actually work set your entitlement. The more you contribute to the retirement income of the current recipients, the more you receive in turn ~ though of course not on a strict proportional basis.
You are NOW proposing to break that connection. To me, that undermines part of what has made Social Security so robust to attack.
I would rather pass a levy in addition.
But all of that is a side issue to the claim that Social Security "must" be reformed. That's just bullshit. A projected shortfall over two decades in the future on entitlements themselves projected to be greater purchasing power than today's social security recipients is no basis for saying that there is any reason to CHANGE Social Security right now.
Indeed, if someone thought that demographics are moving to our side, the LAST thing they would propose would be a change NOW to a system when we are likely to be able to get a far better outcome by waiting until it has some slight degree of urgency.
ah, Bruce. you never fail to condescend.
Well, you sure are on fire tonight. There is in fact, no mathematical crisis in Social Security. There is in fact a political crisis brewing. This is in fact a blog and I'm not in fact making policy. I am in fact making comments regarding ideas for the Social Security program. That you don't agree with my comments is more than sufficient. Condescension is not really conducive to discussions. I apologize for mistaking this site as one that allows comments that you might disagree with. You have a great evening and to paraphrase the Carter Sisters: Keep on the I'm Always Right Side of Life..............
If by condescend you mean ...
... not agreeing that something you've stated as a fact is actually a fact, yes, under that definition. You said:
The reality is that Social Security simply must be reformed
... and, I disagree that that there is any such "reality". Repeating a lie that has been peddled by the bullshit artists for well over a decade does not convert it into a truth.
The "crisis" is a trumped up thing, and compared to all changes able to get through the current Republican House, "no change" is the superior choice.
I agree, BruceMcF nt
I appreciate your POV, Sartoris
But I don't agree with you this time. The only reforms I support right now are raising wages and the minimum wage a lot as Galbraith proposes. That's the only thing that needs to happen right now. If all income is subject to the FICA tax that puts SS in political danger and why FDR wanted payroll taxes even if regressive. I want to fund SS without SS taxes someday just out of general revenue because the government working in tandem with its central banks creates money(as do private banks) and is not dependent on tax revenue per-say. What you mention is great for income inequality purposes so that income can be distributed to the 99%, but we really do not need to reform SS at all and none of the reforms you mentioned will be considered.
Modern Monetary Theory is where my views come from and they are not mainstream, but they are correct(except for some disagreements on political realities).For Instance, a brilliant brave MMT economist from the UKMC named Stephanie Kelton outlined the real facts about Social Security in order to protect it from "it's saviors."
Fact #1: Social Security is not "broken." It is not "going broke." It will, as Eisner told us more than a decade ago, "be there" as long as we protect it from its so-called saviors.
Eisner, Robert. "Save Social Security from its Saviors", Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Vol. 21, No. 1, Fall 1998). This is, in my view, the most honest and concise essay on the subject.
Bell and Wray. "Financial Aspects of the Social Security 'Problem'", Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 34, No. 2, June 2000.
Fact #2: The balance in the Social Security Trust Fund is absolutely irrelevant when it comes to the government's ability to make payments, in full and on time – today, tomorrow and forever.
Eisner (again) who said, "Accountants can just as well declare the bottom line of the funds' accounts negative as positive – and the Treasury can go on making whatever outlays are prescribed by law".
Bell and Wray again.
Greenspan: "A government cannot become insolvent with respect to obligations in its own currency." (1997)
Greenspan: "I wouldn't say that pay-as-you-go benefits are insecure, in the sense that there's nothing to prevent the federal government from creating as much money as it wants and paying it to somebody. The question is, how do you set up a system which assures that the real assets are created which those benefits are employed to purchase" (2005)
Social Security isn't broken. It doesn't need to be "fixed". Why on earth would we play along with this charade in order to give cover to the Democrats? Doesn't anyone remember 1983? For anyone who doesn't, that was the last time we saw "incremental reforms" of the kind many "progressive" economists support. As a result of those reforms, today's workers are contributing more and retiring later. And for what? Those reforms were supposed to make the system solvent for 75 years. Now, here we are, less than three decades later and it's still "broken"? And we're supposed to defend further, incremental cuts?!
As far as practical reforms I am with BruceMcF with the disability fund(the only fund in trouble right now) etc. We should just mandate that we just fund SS like current law dictates we automatically fund Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Funds in Medicare. We can also decide SS is too big to fail and just fund full benefits like we have decided our military is too big to fail(and must remain strong as the President says spending more than the whole world's defense budgets), which is a shame, because we need cuts to the military and those commitments need to go into the pockets of human beings that can spend as well to gain resources for their well being rather than bombs. Bombs that kill human capacity ie people we can export to, and now sadly even american citizens abroad thanks to the subversion of our laws.
There was no talk of cuts to the military(and no one is worried it is going to go broke), only to social security as we can see from history what "tweaking" means. It's all up there in Stephanie Kelton's piece and her research is solid as a rock like the rest of the UKMC's research which I recommend highly.
This is certainly not an orthodox view but you might have noticed the pattern now. Thank you for commenting, my friend. I hope that explains my views.
the subject is complex and big enough to support many views
Hey, Price. Disagreement on a subject as complex Social Security is completely fine. People can and should disagree when discussing ideas. Just no need to be a complete wiseacre, right?
My rationale for wanting to include more (if not all) forms of income is simple. I see it as one of basic equality. The way the contributions are viewed now, investment income is excluded. That works out to a substantial tax benefit for the hedge fund manager and a substantial 'penalty' for the mechanic. How is that fair? I don't see that as progressive but as regressive. Always enjoy the discussions with you, Price.
Completely understand I understand the rationale an as i said I am for those things as far as income inequality is concerned. I just think we need to just decide SS is too big to fail unlike the big banks and fund it and stop pretending it can go broke or the government for that matter. If so you would see military contractors crying out.
Obama will meet with no resistance.
I think so, too. nt
They'll need to do it
Who are possibles?
Franken, Merkely and Jay Rockefeller are up for re-election in 2016, they might do it to grandstand.
Among those re-elected, Brown of Ohio might join Sanders in opposing it ~ he'll do enough things to tick off the big money people between now and 2018 that one more won't mean any extra work getting re-elected.
Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar.
Amy Klobuchar?
Wouldn't Dick "Deficit Hysteria" Durbin be as plausible an anti-deficit-hysteria champion?
I know nothing about Warner ~ as an ex-VA Governor, I'd assume he spouts deficit hysteria, to make political hay about of being forced to balance the budget as a state governor. However, the Wikipedia machine says he ran in VA as a "moderate" Democrat, which normally spells being among the deficit hysterical.
Merkley has been very good
not great, but very good, which surprises me. I thought he was more middle of the road than he's turned out to be. I was hoping to find something on his website about the economy but no luck there. It's a very polite site, with stuff like this, on Afghanistan:
"Senator Merkley will continue to encourage the President to rethink this
mission and to adopt a counter-terrorism approach that recognizes the
substantial terrorist activities round the world and brings our
nation-building deployment in Afghanistan to an end."
That was good for the first half of the first sentence.
You are correct, type1error
I haven't seen that article -
I don't see it as Obama caving on anything
You can say that again.
Great to see you here, aliasalias!
nice to find you here too
It's has a lot more freedom than the DK booster club site, still good stuff there (your's included) but I actually think more about HOW I say something there just to avoid a pointless firestorm (with the one exception of the 'what's happenin' diaries) from the Obama can do no wrong club.
That place is not what I joined in 2006, or at least what I thought I was joining , but I really like some of the people there and I see them elswehere on the MANY other sites that I lurk ,including FDL, Glenn Greenwald and HERE.
In a way it's funny to be here because I came via a link in a comment on FDL and when I went to register I found out that (at some time in the past that I'd forgotten about) I had already been registered on this site.
All that aside this is excellent stuff and I posted it on my Facebook wall.
Indeed! I loved it! nt
Although Cenk is a 'deficit hawk' ...
... which I take it means he wants the economy to limp along with declining income and persistently high unemployment, but not to feast on the unfortunate, which would be a deficit vulture ...
... and there's this other bozo who "looks into it" and talks glibly about the framing of the cliff and then falls right into the "all or nothing" assumption which is why the cliff framing is such a lie ...
... Cenk does make a clear prediction about the Obama administration bargaining strategy, which seems quite likely to be what will happen, given the Obama administration's fiscal policy "bargaining" history:
Indeed, it's the political stuff Cenk is right on
when people listen carefully, like listening
to a lawyer and trying to be wary of every phrase, a lot of what Obama wants is no secret...
"I am not going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me, making over $250,000, aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. I'm not going to do that."
With a real Press someone would ask Obama 'if not the ENTIRE deficit', then HOW MUCH of it will seniors, students and middle class pay?
He should be asked to explain why Corporate taxes need to be lower especially when many not only pay no taxes but get massive tax credits and how does that NOT add to the debt borne by seniors, students and middle class? Who takes up that slack, and many more questions a real press might ask but how about at least asking if he supports reinstating Glass Steagal, campaign finance reform and cuts to the biggest military budget in the history of the world?
One other thing is that I think he wants to do these things in the lame duck Congress before any more liberal voices (like Alan Grayson or Elizabeth Warren) are sworn in to give voice to the opposition of his austerity policies.
if you want to examine word choices...
this is a famous one, on Social Security, from the White House website so it's not rumor, it's approved and official.
"He believes that no current beneficiaries should see their basic
benefits reduced and he will not accept an approach that slashes
benefits for future generations."
Now why would he choose two different words for two different groups of people? Is there any way to read this, other than "he will reduce benefits for future generations"?
This is what he wants, this is what he (and his o-bot friends) will call "strengthening Social Security" when it obviously is going to weaken it.
There is another way to read it ...
... which is to reduce the projected growth rate of Social Security benefits to future generations ...
{After all, the same projection that says that the trust fund will exhaust and then beneficiaries will be paid 75 cents on the dollar, also says that 75 cents on the dollar of that benefit will be a higher purchasing power than 100 cents on the dollar for today's recipients.}
.... but if it was desired to leave the door open to that without leaving the door open to benefit of future beneficiaries being lower than those of today, there are ways to say that which make the statement sound even more appealing, which make that the less likely reading.


text:
NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch expressed concern about Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decision to give the military authority to arrest people without judicial review.
Morsi enacted a state of emergency last weekend giving the military broad judicial authorities. Frustration with his administration reached a breaking point last week as Egyptians marked the second anniversary of the uprising that forced former President Hosni Mubarak from power.
Joe Stork, deputy director of Middle East programs at Human Rights Watch, said that Morsi's decision was a "knee-jerk response" to protests that turned deadly last week. He expressed frustration from New York that there were no corresponding restraints on the use of force.
"Unless the law is amended to specifically limit the jurisdiction of the military justice system to purely military offenses, civilians may still be taken to military courts whenever the military feels like it," he added in his statement.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed frustration with the level of violence in Egypt two years after the revolution. The country, less than a year after its first democratic presidential election, is in an "extremely fragile and unstable" state, she said.


text:
Intercollegiate Contact Athletes with Shoulder Instability Return to In-Season Sports
Nearly 63% of Sample Group had Recurrent Instability
7-Jul-2014 1:30 PM EDT
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM)
Available for logged-in reporters only
AOSSM Annual Meeting
KEYWORDSshoulder instability, collegiate athletes
Newswise — SEATTLE, WA – College athletes experiencing in-season shoulder instability regularly return to play within one week of injury, but developed recurrent instability in 63% of cases, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting. This latest information may help guide team physicians in providing the most optimal treatment plans for injured players.
"We examined 45 athletes who suffered an anterior shoulder instability event, and found that 33 (73%) returned to play for at least part of the season after a median 5 days lost from competition," noted lead author MAJ Jonathan F. Dickens, MD, from the John A. Feagin Jr. Sports Medicine Fellowship and Keller Army Hospital in West Point, New York. "While a large portion of the athletes in this observational study return to mid-season sport, only 36% completed the season without subsequent instability."
Data from this study were collected over two academic years from three intercollegiate athletic institutions. All patients underwent a standardized accelerated rehab program and were not subject to shoulder immobilization or surgery. Athletes included in the sample were both male and female, and participated in sports including basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and football. Athletes with a subluxation injury (partial dislocation) of the shoulder were 5.3 times more likely to return in the same season compared to those with a complete dislocation. The most common reason for athletes not returning was the inability to reach sufficient shoulder function for athletic participation.
"These early results should be valuable to physicians caring for the in-season athlete with shoulder instability, as we have not yet reached a consensus treatment approach on these injuries," noted Dickens. "More research is needed to determine the effect of multiple recurrent instability events on long-term outcomes and this study will hopefully be a first good step in understanding this relationship."
While the study is still relatively limited in sample size, it remains the largest prospective study evaluating shoulder instability in in-season athletes.
The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries. AOSSM is also a founding partner of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign to prevent overuse and traumatic injuries in kids.


text:
Home » Analog Synthesizers » Analog Synthesizers Modules » 9700 Series - New Modules
This second-generation 9700-series processing element for modular sound synthesizers is designed to provide great sound and excellent value. This module is designed to be compatible with most modular synthesizer systems with little or no modification. Most active components are already mounted, making assembly a snap.
The 9747 Passive Mixer/Splitter is a set of four separate networks (each with four 1/8" TR jacks) on a single-width panel. Each network can be used as a mixer (3 into 1) or a splitter (1 out to 3). The networks can also be wired together for other functions (7-to-1 or 11-to-1 passive mixer or splitter, etc.) and the network resistance can be modified or removed for special purposes. Although the panel is simple, it is very handy for building patches.
To purchase the assembled module, click the 9747ASM product page.
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Record of License and Permit Process Template
Use this template to keep track of federal, state and local licenses and permits your business needs, requirements, and progress towards receiving them. Read more
How to Get Your Freelance Business Taken Seriously
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text:
|Tutorial Series
|Marble C++ Tutorial
|Tutorial 4 - Changing basic map properties
|What's Next
|Tutorial 6 - Displaying places the proper way(via GeoDataDocument)
|Further Reading
Osm files can be used for creating small street maps or can be scaled to store streets worldwide. OSM files can be exported from OpenStreetMaps by clicking the export button as shown below.
Marble uses so-called runners to calculate routes, do reverse geocoding, parse files and search for placemarks (cities, addresses, points of interest, ...). This tutorial shows how to open a .osm file and display it into the Marble Widget.
#include <QtCore/QDebug>
#include <QtCore/QFileInfo>
#include <QtGui/QApplication>
#include <marble/MarbleWidget.h>
#include <marble/MarbleModel.h>
using namespace Marble;
int main(int argc, char** argv)
QApplication app(argc,argv);
QFileInfo inputFile( app.arguments().last() );
if ( app.arguments().size() < 2 || !inputFile.exists() ) {
qWarning() << "Usage: " << app.arguments().first() << "file.osm";
return 1;
MarbleWidget *mapWidget = new MarbleWidget();
mapWidget->centerOn( GeoDataCoordinates( 77.5674, 12.9782, 0, GeoDataCoordinates::Degree ) );
mapWidget->zoomView( 3000 );
mapWidget->model()->addGeoDataFile( inputFile.absoluteFilePath() );
return app.exec();
Copy and paste the code above into a text editor. Then save it as my_marble.cpp and compile it by entering the following command on the command line:
g++ -I /usr/include/qt4/ -o my_marble my_marble.cpp -lmarblewidget -lQtGui -lQtCore
If things go fine, execute ./my_marble some-file.osm and you get a Marble Widget which displays your OSM file. For example, download and unpack Map.osm (a LinearRing representing Bangalore city junction), place it in the same folder as your my_marble.cpp file and run ./my_marble map.osm. The result should be similar to this:
The placemarks on the map are clickable and trigger a dialog. The screenshot below is of the dialog of Bangalore City Station triggered by clicking it on the map.
|If you provide maps in your application please check the Terms of Use of the map material. The map material that is shipped with Marble is licensed in the spirit of Free Software. This usually means at least that the authors should be credited and that the license is mentioned. E.g. for OpenStreetMap the license is CC-BY-SA. Other map data shipped with Marble is either public domain or licensed in the spirit of the BSD license.


text:
I was a little nervous as I headed to the reunion dinner at the VFW in the tiny western New York State town where I grew up.
My classmates and I were gathering from locations that ranged from an apartment down the street to a house in Thessaloniki, Greece.
I'm sure every one of us heading to the event felt a touch of the silly old fears that come with these gatherings. Then I spotted the big orange sign on the nearby bridge over the Erie Canal:
"WARNING: Emergency Scene Ahead."
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David Kilcullen, one of the world's leading counterinsurgency experts and preeminent advisor to the US government, says that we must meet certain markers if we are to "succeed" in Afghanistan: We must face the realities of historical and contemporary Afghanistan. There must be agreement between Afghans and Americans on our goals. We must eliminate the Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan. There must be a solid, long-term US commitment including a flexible timeline.
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
So reads an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City.
Perhaps it's time to add, "... but a lack of funding, will."
The Postal Service has ended its third quarter $3.5 billion in the red, according to a release issued Thursday, and officials are declaring they won't be able to pay all of their 2011 obligations.
As many times as I've been there, close to a half-dozen, maybe, I'm still not sure how to find the Birds of Vermont Museum in Huntington.
What I can say to anyone with even a passing interest in birds, nature or carving is that it is worth picking up an atlas (old school) or going online (non-Luddite) and learning how to get to the remote, gravel-surfaced byway of Sherman Hollow Road, where the museum may be found.
So far this summer, I've honored my vow not to unload any zucchini on friends and coworkers, especially those who have never done me wrong.
But it's not easy.
I've never grown zucchini before and I'm not entirely sure why I did it this year. I know only too well — as the grudging recipient of several hundred pounds of zucchini each summer — that the number of zucchini eaten annually by the average American family is three, yet the yield of a single zucchini plant is 30 times that. So far. The season's not over.
Vermont, like the United States, has a government of laws, not of men — what Abraham Lincoln called "of the people, by the people and for the people."
It's an ancient idea, one that dates back at least to the time of Aristotle and Plato, more than 300 years before Christ. It was a keystone of the American Revolution. In Britain, the king was the law, but Thomas Paine wrote that, "in America, the law is king."
Maybe Armando Vilaseca and the municipal officials of Hartford, Vt., should brush up on the principles of democracy.
What do the times require?
What critical crossroads loom that Vermont must not miss in the upcoming decade?
Which gubernatorial candidate will best be able to meet the demands required to lead the state forward?
Gov. Jim Douglas has said little about his plans after his term ends in January, other than that he wants to stay in Vermont. One of Vermont's leading business positions will come open next year, and it is one for which Douglas could be a strong candidate. Bob Young, president of Central Vermont Public Service, recently announced that he will retire next spring. Board members of the state's largest utility might well want to talk with Douglas about his becoming CEO of CVPS in 2011.
One of my good friends owns only a wrench, a turtle and a dinosaur. Another close pal has a few dolphins, a suitcase and some sunglasses. Though this might sound impressive in the real world, in the world of Silly Bandz this is nothing. The 7-year-old son of a friend, for instance, just got a pack of no less than 150 of the neon-colored, silicon wristbands that take on the outline of nearly every object under the sun and then some.
The District Environmental Commission's quick denial of an Act 250 permit for the proposed Lathrop gravel pit near downtown Bristol laid out the basic issues in clear detail, but seemingly with the assumption that an appeal was likely. That's just being smart. Appeals often follow on the heels of such a significant denial. After all, the applicants have been battling with citizen-opponents for going on seven years, and it's hard for the losing side to simply admit all that effort was for naught.
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Map Vintage, small
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56"x 38". Made on the USA. The design is printed on the linen/burlap fabric.You can have the option to have the tapestry stretched on a wooden frame (gallery style +$100.00), and it would hang flat on the wall.You can also have the option of adding nail heads to the outside of the stretched frame (as seen in tap1007) for an additional $80.00Please note that Gallery style tapestries are non refundable. If you wish to have this item sent on approval, it will be shipped to you as a panel that is not stretched, and if you like it, you can ship it back to be stretched. Once it is stretched, it will be non refundable.


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Envy & Kindness
Take out a sheet of paper and number from one to seven. Now list the seven deadly sins in what you would say is their order of badness. Did you put envy last? Does it seem "less bad" to you …Read More
Pride & Humility
Pride is the idolatry of the self. It is the nature of pride as competition with God — the displacing of God by the self at the center — that has led many Christian thinkers through the ages to regard …Read More
Dante on Virtue and Vice
Dante ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Homer as the greatest writers of our civilization. Though the Italian poet, who lived from 1265 to 1321, embodies the High Middle Ages, he is sometimes called a proto-reformer for his bold …Read More
Wrath & Patience
Jesus told a parable about a king who wished to settle accounts with His servants (Matt. 18:23–35). A certain servant was brought to the king with a debt that was virtually incalculable and realistically unpayable. Facing the prospect of …Read More
Sloth & Diligence
When one thinks of the enduring legacy of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, there are a number of things that come to mind — things like justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to God's Word alone, and for His …Read More
Greed & Liberality
My guess is that you can't guess who the fastest growing debtors in America are. According to the Wall Street Journal (1/19/07, W2), it's the super rich — not to be confused with the obscenely rich. The …Read More
Gluttony & Temperance
Two mistakes accompany most discussions on gluttony. The first is that it only pertains to those with a less than shapely waistline; the second is that it always involves food. In reality, it can apply to toys, television, entertainment, sex …Read More
Lust & Chastity
We often think that "our day and age" differs significantly from previous eras. We tend to think that our day presents more dangerous and stubborn problems, requiring more complex and sophisticated solutions, from wiser and nobler people, namely ourselves. Someone …Read More


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Agence-France Press is reporting that a Bangladeshi high court has ordered police to prosecute Jahangirnagar University teacher Ruhul Khandakar for sedition as a result of a comment made on Facebook. The comment, since deleted, was "[Famous Bangladeshi filmmaker] Tareq Masud died as a result of government giving licence to unqualified drivers. Many die, why does not [Prime Minister] Sheikh Hasina die?"
He was also sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court after he failed to respond to repeated summonses to explain a Facebook posting. The article reports Khandakar has been studying in Australia and these proceedings happened without him.
It also cites a local lawyer saying that this is the first time a Bangladeshi has been ordered to be jailed and tried for sedition over comments made on a social networking site.


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Fund D'oh: Only 8% of Large Growth Managers Are Beating the Index
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The chorus at the beginning of the year was that 2014 has all the conditions to be the year of the fund manager. Stockpickers, unite!
The results so far: Nope.
For most categories, the year is shaping up as either disappointing or downright horrifying in terms of comparative performance. Investors who think fund managers should justify management fees by beating the benchmark have been stumped.
A shockingly poor 8% of large-cap growth managers are ahead of the benchmark Russell 1000 Growth Index this year, Goldman Sachs' portfolio strategy researchers write in a research note this week. Okay, you say, growth managers have been drummed. What about value managers? Value is enjoying a modest resurgence. Add in the value crowd and the tally rises to ... 10%.
Fund managers, then, are digging themselves quite a hole. Precious few can so much as match the 1.1% year-to-date rise in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF), which at 0.20% charges less than one-third the typical mutual-fund management fee.
Not too long ago, things looked rosier. As of mid-2013, about half of fund managers were ahead of the benchmark, the strongest showing in some time.
It fell apart in March. Large growth managers appear to have suffered disproportionately from the technology-sector selloff. GS' Amanda Sneider and three co-authors finger overweight positions in LinkedIn (LNKD), Google (GOOG), Visa (V), Mastercard (MA) and Facebook (FB) as contributors.
It's not all bad news. A stunningly good 80% of small-cap core managers are beating the Russell 2000. How? Easy: These managers are underweight the health-care sector and biotechnology. Small biotech stocks have gotten creamed, dragging down the index. From Sneider and colleagues:
The Health Care sector outperformed the Russell 2000 by 840 bp in the first two months of 2014, but underperformed by 1000 bp since then. Funds are underweight Biotechnology and Health Care Technology. Underweights include ATHN (-12% YTD), ISIS (-37%), and ALNY (-10%).


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Julia Smith
PO Box 452
Blue Sky Ranch
Merritt, BC V1K 1B8
(604) 780-5262
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text: While Bryan Fuller insisted the reports that his Munsters reboot Mockingbird Lane is being scrapped were "dead wrong," it appears that, like the (sort-of-)monstrous family itself, the wrongness of those reports was only mostly dead. The show's $10 million pilot is now being considered to air as a Halloween special, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with the network apparently giving up on the project that has endured such non-cheeky torment in its road to eventual ruin, and now attempting to find any way it can to salvage what's been done already. In the end, Fuller and Singer were rumored to have clashed over the show's style, the finished product was "said to have come in below the network's expectations," and poor Portia de Rossi was attached to another walking corpse of a series in much the same way her character was hitched to Jerry O'Connell. And Mockingbird Lane will most likely become a one-off airing that could become Bryan Fuller's most briefly glimpsed cult curiosity yet—or, as the endearingly ever-optimistic Fuller puts it, "MOCKINGBIRD LANE LIVES!"


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Interviewing Family: Why not Why?
What's wrong with "Why?" In the previous post, I wrote about asking open-ended questions, that is, questions that would elicit a lengthy story or explanation. Something more than a yes or no answer. "Why?" is a question designed to get a lengthy reply. So why don't I say to use "why?"
The answer is not "Because I said so." But there's something about that famous familial exchange ("Why?" "Because I said so!") that gets at the heart of Why Not Why.
Remember the two parts of attitude I mentioned yesterday?
- Be Curious.
- Be Non-Judgmental.
Asking a question using the word "Why?" might sound judgemental.
Especially if you're family.
When a family member asks another family member a question that begins with Why?, it might put the second person on the defensive in the same way as "Why didn't you take out the trash?"
You want to elicit information and stories, not put the person on the spot.
(I'm indebted to Kim Leatherdale's comments on the Lifetime Memories and Stories podcast for making this point explicit.)
I've gotten lots of insight on communication inside families from socio-linguist Deborah Tannen's book I Only Say This Because I Love You Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs, and Kids When You're All Adults. Communication inside families have a tension between what Deborah Tannen refers to as "our simultaneous but conflicting desires for connection and control" (p. 11) We talk to connect and to share our connection with a family member. But we also use language to control the other person. It goes way back to relationships that are very dominant and hierarchical and controlling. After all, what's more dominant to a young child than a parent?
She continues,
Control and connection are intertwined, often conflicting forces that thread through everything said in a family. These dual forces explain the double meaning of caring and criticizing. Giving advice, suggesting changes, and making observations are signs of caring when looked at through the lens of connection. But looked at through the lens of control, they are put-downs, interfering with our desire to manage our own lives and actions, telling us to do things differently than we choose to do them. That's why caring and criticizing are tied up like a knot. [p. 13, paperback edition]
Asking a question that begins with Why inserts itself into the nexus of the caring-criticizing conflict. Find a way to avoid getting entangled in the ambiguities of connection-control and caring-criticism.
When you're engaged in eliciting stories, avoid Why…?.
How to ask a Why? question differently
Instead of asking, say, Why did you change jobs? ask the question this way:
What was your thinking at the time?
What was going on when you decided to change jobs?
The two What was…? options sound friendlier and non-threatening.
If you want to hear a master interviewer whose style is very open and curious and nonjudgemental, I heartily recommend listening to Dick Gordon, the radio host of the public radio program The Story. He's a master at the curious and nonjudgemental non-Why? question that gets at the reason why. (Plus, the stories on his show are pretty danged interesting, too)
So when you sit down to interview family, think of ways to make your questions 100% curious and 0% intimidating. There are other ways to get at Why without asking why.
Next time…. a way to think about a person's life to come up with a whole host of questions.
Until then—have you tried to ask a question—a simple basic question—and had your intentions misunderstood? What happened? Describe it in the comments.
Posted by Susan A. Kitchens on May 24, 2010 in
• Genealogy
• Interviewing
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This is good advice, and very timely for me. We'll be traveling around this summer visiting older relatives, and this will help us I'm sure! Thanks!


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For more than 80 years, the National Academies has fostered improved understanding of the nutritional needs of pets, wildlife, laboratory-research species, and food-producing animals through its Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals series—a series that is considered the "gold standard" for animal nutrition in the United States and worldwide.
This pamphlet is based on recommendations from the 2006 release of Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. The report contains useful information for companion animal nutritionists, veterinarians, scientists in industry and academe, regulators, pet owners and anyone with an interest in the health and welfare of these important animals. To order the report, contact the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or http://www.nap.edu.


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How does blood is circulated in amphibians?
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How does blood is circulated in amphibians?
In amphibians like frog,during blood circulation 2 atria contract and pump blood into single ventricle(heart is 3 chamberd).In the ventricle mixed blood is formed.How does mixed blood is circulated to various body parts via aorta?
The frog circulatory system consist of two atria and one single ventricle. It is the only organ within the coelom which has its own protective covering. The single ventricle is not divided into two compartments like a humans heart, but it is separated enough for the blood not to get mixed. This is done by the arrangement of the frogs heart, where the right atrium dips downward into the ventricle. Which causes oxygen-poor blood that is entering the right atrium to pass all the way down to the bottom of the ventricle. At the same time, oxygen-laden blood is received by the left atrium and enters the same single ventricle. The pool of oxygen-poor blood at the bottom of the ventricle holds up the oxygen -laden blood and prevents it from sinking to the bottom. Then the oxygen-poor blood flows from the ventricle into the vessels leading to the lungs and the oxygen-laden blood is forced into the arteries.
no mistakes are allow in medical life.
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Dune Café is situated in the Palm Beach Parklands, overlooking the beautiful Currumbin Lagoon.
Open daily from 6:30am, they offer a generous selection of breakfast and lunch options with a focus on using fresh and locally sourced produce. They also cater for the little ones.
They are the proud winners of most kid-friendly cafe on the Gold Coast, as voted by the people of the Gold Coast!
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Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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Scott Dunlap's blog of trail running, ultrarunning, triathlon, and other life adventures. I enjoy the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of outdoor events and the chance to meet cool people. This blog contains interviews, research, original fiction, new product ideas, and all things trail running.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Ultrabloggers Rule The Lake Tahoe Marathon
Congrats to fellow bloggers Sean Meissner (2:58) and Gretchen Brugman (3:34) for winning the super-hot Lake Tahoe Marathon yesterday! Woo-hoo!
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It's pretty hard to make Batman jealous. The dude has enough money for an entire world, gadgets to play with everyday, a secret cave to hang out in, dashing good looks and beautiful companions to take out to dinner. But here's one thing you can have that's better than Batman's: a fully returning Batarang in real life. It's beautiful.
Made by expert boomerang maker Victor Poulin, the 25-inch wide Batarang is constructed from the best 10ply Finnish birch available. In the video above, you can see it fly around the winter air like a real bat (a real bat that comes back to your hand every time).
It's bigger than Batman's batarangs and probably a lot less damaging but damn if it doesn't look fun to play with. Check our more boomerangs here.
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Perspectives on International Justice in Africa
By Richard Lee
The current edition of Openspace, a journal produced by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, focuses on international criminal justice. It offers a wealth of information, analysis, and comment about this critical and increasingly controversial concept. And there is something for everyone—from a succinct Beginner's Guide to a sweeping overview of developments in the field to academic articles on a diverse range of issues. [All links to PDFs.]
At the heart of current discussions about international criminal justice—and indeed of this journal—is the bitter dispute between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Africa, or more specifically the African Union. If you are interested in whether this relationship can be repaired, there are two contrasting opinion pieces – one arguing that the noisy complaints of AU elites can do nothing to stop the inexorable rise of international criminal justice because the concept is so widely accepted by African people, while the other—a scathing critique of the ICC—believes that even the selection of an African as the next Prosecutor cannot heal the rift.
Or perhaps you are wondering about what role the African Court (or indeed Courts since there up to four African Courts on the drawing board) will play in relation to international crimes. Or about what lessons can be learned from the experiences of the mixed tribunal in Cambodia or from the successes and failures of the outreach program conducted by the Special Court on Sierra Leone. Or—now that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is coming to a close—what duty African states have to apprehend and prosecute suspected genocidaires, who continue to live—often in luxury—in many countries of the continent.
But international tribunals are not the only arena for international criminal justice. Indeed, they should only ever be viewed as a back up—as a last resort when states are unable or unwilling to prosecute the perpetrators of mass crimes. The primary arena should always be the state. So there are authoritative articles on the need to strengthen domestic institutions and on the importance of complementarity.
And a series of pieces on the Democratic Republic of Congo—from a searing account of the trial and conviction of Lt. Colonel Kibibi for rape and crimes against humanity (and an award-winning set of photos) to a fascinating comparison between the work of mobile gender courts and their much more luxurious international cousins to an interview about the stuttering moves to create special mixed courts in the country to deal with international crimes. There is also an article on the long search for justice by the victims of the infamous Kilwa massacre, who took their case against a Canadian-Australian mining company to the Quebec courts—and won the first round (although they subsequently lost the second but the fight goes on).
And there's much more—from an analysis of the progress that has been made in the campaign to make perpetrators of mass sexual violence pay to the debate over whether or not grand corruption should be added to the very short list of international crimes to a worrying column on the threats to a host of international judicial institutions. All of the articles are available for download on the OSISA web site.
There is no way that a single issue of Openspace could cover every angle or answer every question related to international criminal justice. But hopefully the diverse range of articles will spark debate because international criminal justice is about far more than just parading venal leaders through The Hague. It is about providing justice for the victims, protecting witnesses, ending impunity, deterring future crimes, and strengthening domestic institutions and respect for the rule of law.
And it is far too important to be left to the political and legal elites. So enjoy the journal and then join the debate.
Until May 2014, Richard Lee was communications and campaigns manager for the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.


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The Daily Word 04.14.10: Police Brutality, Sarah Palin Needs Bendy Straws
LOL! One day we'll all be fired by text message.
Doug Vaughan has officially run out of attorneys.
Surprised? Cops beat the crap out of student without provocation.
Nebraska passes another restrictive abortion ban.
Strong earthquake strikes western China.
Missing 11-year-old found alive and well after five days in a Florida swamp.
Should UFO phenomena be taught in college?
Consumer Reports recommends you not buy Lexus' newest SUV.
What is in Sarah Palin's secret contract?
Being dead for 57 years doesn't stop Hank Williams from winning a 2010 Pulitzer prize.
Check out the Great American Pizza Map.
Star Wars: Uncut is a shot-for-shot, crowdsourced remake of the original Star Wars. I guess that's kind of cool.
New study suggests spanking your kids can lead to more aggressive behavior.
Long lost 1913 movie about Abraham Lincoln found in a New Hampshire barn.
This guy who went to a live recording of The Marriage Ref and lived to write about it.
Have you seen this crazy new Burger King commercial?