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Be it intended as primordial or amniotic, nourishing or sanguine, the oft-felt presence of liquids in Robert Altman's 3 Women is but one analogous formal nod to the idea that, throughout all human life–perhaps especially, as evoked by the title, that of women–a connectivity exists that blurs our sense of individual character. Shot through a veil of dream-inspired ambiguity, Altman weaves a work that purposefully eschews a logical interpretation or deconstruction of its events, favoring instead to let it exist within a state of nebulous distinction. But in spite of this purported air of impenetrableness, it's still possible to breakdown the piece's oneiric flourishes and unearth its creator's still-relevant social innuendos. Rife with symbolic and narrative layering, the film shows an artist with a definitive vision for conveying progress and power struggles as things corrosive to our grasp on personal identities.
The titular trio of the film represents but a microcosm of a larger implicative picture, with their link to each other taking the form of a social and maturational mis en abyme. From the opening scene–which features a glacially moving low-shot that seems to glide across the surface of a therapeutic pool for the elderly, at once establishing a dynamic of human bodies and personal gravities whilst arranging life, as we so often do, within a linearly temporal context–Altman furnishes his picture with themes of social orientation and arrangement. When we're introduced to Pinky (Woman 1, played by Sissy Spacek) during her first day working at the aforementioned clinic for the aged, she's but an impulsive naiveté, an on-the-nose personification of puerile individuality. It's after meeting her mostly-unknowing mentor, Millie (Woman 2, Shelley Duvall), that she begins shedding her jejune shrillness, turning what's initially a case of idolism into a warped pattern of self-redesign. But this is just a stitch in the film's matryoshka fabric. Just as genealogy is perpetuated throughout generations of biological coupling, behavior, natural imperatives notwithstanding, also follows a sequence of sociocultural pairings and impressions. Pinky, through proximity and inexperience, comes to imitate Millie, who, due to media influences and accordant expectations, molds herself into something of a cosmopolitan poseur. In this, Altman employs one of myriad examples concerning perceptional dualities, as he underscores the battle between personal projection and interpersonal repute.
But besides understanding the way habits and trends tend to imbricate from person to person, Altman also realizes, and formally conjures, the sometimes-eerie manners through which we glean such behaviors. There's a certain, understood sense of personal and private compartmentalization in 3 Women, one that speaks to the embarrassing-for-all-parties brand of voyeurism that's inherent to the human experience: How, at our most curious, we're prone to violating others' intimate barriers for the sake of our own fulfillment. As such, 3 Women exudes a suitably shuddersome tonality, with its hazy lucidity invoking the shadier corners of social nuance. Many times the frames emphasize this exchange between off-putting observers and those unknowingly observed, ensconcing the picture less with sinisterness, as it's been too often labeled, than with the unease associated with boundary perversion.
Although this is a film that revolves ostensibly around the ever-relevant concept of identity theft (Pinky eventually stakes a claim to Millie's Soc. number, name, diary, and even bed), I feel that this thematic facet seems too distant, too illusory to be interpreted as literal. (Altman has repeatedly stated that the idea for the film came to him in a dream, and this helps explain the picture's aeriform dynamic of transient vision and cultural value.) Mirrors and other reflective surfaces litter the work's visual language in adroit arrangement, suggesting not the idea of self-reflection but instead that of an incomplete, even fragmented existence. Altman, being an American master, realizes that such objects have broader applications than mere introspection; his framing explicates just how much mirrored views omit, and how, without fail, the images we see echoed fail to reflect reality.
It's at the time we're introduced to the third member of the triad, Willie (3, Janice Rule), that some of the symbolism comes to read, in my mind, as just a little too tidily forward, especially given the film's cyclically opaque narrative and interpret-as-you-will tenor. Willie is pensively silent. She's a woman who's now old enough to know of the world's patriarchal snares but is too confined by current life to escape them. Married to and pregnant by Edgar (Robert Fortier), with whom she owns both a gaudy apartment complex and kitschy western-themed tavern, she spends her days painting beastly mythological murals–purportedly abstract depictions that almost too-neatly delineate the film's undercurrent of rampant gender disparity. 3 Women, despite its title, exists within a world encapsulated by masculine demand, with the character of Millie acting as a fulcrum between immaculate youth and disenchanted adult. As Millie bends to the cultural pressures of the surrounding world–thinking she's treading water despite being dragged unknowingly by the social current–she's not only heading for a life of patriarchal bondage but is blazing the trail for Pinky to do the same. (At one point, Millie, as though she's attempting to mold the young girl, exclaims, "You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't do any of the things you're supposed to do!") In this, these three women are, in some ways, one and the same, a suggestion that probably reads as more homogenized than Altman actually intended. Indeed, a somewhat assumptive air permeates the work's broader gender-based concerns, but the subversive denouement comes not without catharsis. And while I personally prefer films that more precisely-than-intuitively expound upon discrepancies and power struggles, the picture's final familial tableaux leads even me to question my own, often-brazen convictions–leaving them to be dusted up by a desert gale or slowly bleached away by its relentless sun.
The odd yet apropos chromatic punctuations of Altman's 3 Women mark the apex of this digital rendering, with the purples, greens, yellows, and of course, pinks of its various Californian (or is it Texan?) locales emitting a vibrant contrast to the acid-washed aridity of its landscapes. The image as a whole may seem a bit light, soft even, though this seems to align well with the picture's diaphanous essence. Detail ranges from excellent–Spacek's freckle-strewn skin demonstrates great stability and color reproduction–to average, though excessive noise or enhancement are never an issue. The picture quality as a whole exudes an organic, natural quality, making this an unforced though not altogether flooring version of Altman's self-contained chimerical culture.
Predictably–and I say this because of Criterion's well-earned reputation–the audio track is lossless and wholly stable, with nary a hint of distortion, crackling, or hissing to be found. An appropriate dynamic between the woodwind accents of Gerald Busby's sometimes-awkward score and character's always-awkward (in a good way) dialogue makes the aural aspects of this release most impressive, even if it's not strong on depth and dynamicism–it's good enough that I now find myself crossing my fingers for a McCabe & Mrs. Miller treatment of this caliber.
Move along, folks, nothing to see here. While Robert Altman's running commentary track proves a worthy if not essential supplement–hell, it helped bolster my previously lukewarm appraisal of the film–the rest of the extras are as wafer-thin as the film's Dodge City denizens. A stills gallery and a few trailers and TV spots round out the disc space, and the booklet, though containing a solid essay by David Sterritt, doesn't offer much that augments Altman's own musings.


text:
Our new lesson plans from the Mütter Museum cover everything they need to know about Civil War Medicine.
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An exciting new exhibit will soon be open at The State Museum of Pennsylvania. "Objects of Valor: Commemorating the Civil War in Pennsylvania" opens Friday, April 19.
PA Civil War 150 is proud to announce the publication of a new book, "The Civil War in Pennsylvania: A Photographic History."
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text:
shake (one's) head no(redirected from shook their head no)
shake (one's) head no
To rotate one's head back and forth (to the left and to the right) to indicate a negative response, disagreement, or disapproval. "No" is added to the common phrase "shake (one's) head" as an extra clarification that the motion is indicating a negative response. I see you back there shaking your head no. Is there something you disagree with?


text:
Browsing Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM/IKL) by Title
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Now showing items 135-154 of 298Next Page
Security on the US-Mexican borderBislev, Sven; Salskov-Iversen, Dorte; Krause Hansen, Hans (København, 2001)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6953
Files in this item: 1wp 42 2001.pdf (202.0Kb)
Transformations of a hegemonic discourseSalskov-Iversen, Dorte; Krause Hansen, Hans; Bislev, Sven (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7014
Files in this item: 1wpnr.35 1999.pdf (235.7Kb)
Lorenzen, Mark (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper builds insight into how globalization impacts cultural clusters, through a case study of Bollywood, the Indian film cluster in Mumbai. The paper's analysis of the recent growth and consolidation of Bollywood, as well as the cluster's development of a new film formula, illustrates that globalization does not necessarily entail westernization of culture. Instead, the paper suggests that early-mover advantages held by the world's core cultural clusters may be eroded by globalization, as it creates pipelines of information, talent and capital, allowing hitherto peripheral cultural clusters to access export markets and develop exportable products. Analyzing the role of the Indian diasporas for the export growth of Bollywood, the paper also offers a discussion of the difference between two different aspects of globalization: Global flows of people and global bridgeheads of people. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7796
Files in this item: 1
The Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crises over Developing Countries' Automobile IndustryWad, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the Global South automobile production evolved behind protectionist walls and was promoted by infant industry policies and outright national automotive projects from the 1950s. In recent decades, many developing countries have liberalized their automotive markets and allowed automobile TNCs to take majority control over joint ventures, transforming domestic automotive industries into foreign controlled sectors while leaving a few national automakers in India, Malaysia and China. Decomposing and reorganizing the national value chain into regional and global automobile value chains OEMs and TNC original equipment suppliers (OESs) have off-shored and outsourced component and parts production to developing countries. Again, local auto suppliers have been acquired or relegated to lower 'tier' positions if not forced out of the market. However, with economic growth and development in the Global South during the 1990s and 2000s automobile sales have boomed, and the automobile sectors in Latin America and Asia have become "brown sunrise" industries generating investment, technological upgrading and employment. The present global financial and economic crisis has not profoundly changed this trajectory. The global crisis did not impact automotive markets in developing countries severely, except for automotive exporting countries like Mexico, Thailand and South Africa. Only in 2009 automotive sales and production declined across the board in the Global South, but key markets turned around in the end of the year. Thus, the automobile crisis is a downward business cycle, not a structural crisis of the industry. Companies in the automotive industry responded with traditional crisis management (temporary downsizing, cost reductions, retraining, consolidation, innovation), and governments launched traditional stimuli packages (cash-for-clunkers, tax reductions on smaller and/or cleaner cars etc). Strategic initiatives were taken to improve the competitiveness of the domestic industry (consolidation, liberalization) on the one hand and to transform it from a brown industry to a "greener" industry on the other hand (tightening environmental regulations, fuel efficiency and emission standards, subsidizing purchases of smaller and "greener" cars, investing in appropriate infrastructure and green technology R&D). Thereby, some developing countries and their surviving local automakers and parts makers are leapfrogging into "clean" technology frontiers competing head-to-head with global automakers or partnering with foreign firms in their common endeavor to manufacture green automobiles. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8180
Files in this item: 1Wad-Green sunrise or brown.pdf (408.6Kb)
Erwartungen an Kommunikationstechnologie und -mitarbeiterPogner, Karl-Heinz (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Unternehmen, Institutionen und Organisationen setzen zunehmend auf elektronische Kommunikati-on (1). Vor diesem Hintergrund legt der Artikel erste Ergebnisse einer Pilotstudie zum sozialen und technischen Umfeld der Text- und Medienproduktion in dänischen Organisationen vor. Kommuni-kations- und Informationschefs sowie Kommunikationsberater wurden befragt zu: Kommunikati-onsstrategie, Nutzung digitaler Kommunikationsformen und gewünschte Mitarbeiterqualifikationen (2, 3). Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse lauten: Das Intranet soll besser strukturiert und vereinfacht wer-den, ausserdem soll es vermehrt als Forum für den Dialog genutzt werden. Bei der Nutzung digita-ler Kommunikationsformen dominiert die E-Mail. Andere Medien wie Homepages oder TV/Film werden, je nachdem, ob sie der internen oder der externen Kommunikation dienen, als unterschied-lich bedeutsam gewertet. Bei den Mitarbeiterqualifikationen stehen persönliche und soziale Kompe-tenzen sowie Vermittlungsfähigkeiten und -fertigkeiten im Vordergrund, nicht technisches Spezia-listentum. Handwerkliches Können bei der Produktion von Texten und anderen Kommunikations-inhalten sowie generelles Wissen über Vor- und Nachteile der einzelnen Medien werden als wichti-ge Voraussetzungen für die Meisterung zunehmend strategisch geprägter Aufgaben angesehen (4). Da sich die Studie auf dänische Organisationen beschränkt, wären vergleichbare Untersuchungen in anderen Ländern wünschenswert (5). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6993
Files in this item: 1wp79.pdf (96.01Kb)
Leander, Anna (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This article begins by clarifying and defining field and habitus (1) anchoring these concepts in a tradition drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, but also underlining the extent to which the concepts have been used beyond this tradition (2). The article then proceeds to discuss the use of field and habitus in international studies (3). It points out that field and habitus can be (and has long been) used for empirical studies linking the national, the international and the transnational. However, the concepts were imported into scholarly IR/IPE disciplines proper as part of the theoretical discussions surrounding the reflectivist turn. At present, field and habitus are often used to transcend the key divides (inside/outside and public/private) rather than to study relations across them. Finally, the article concludes on the avenues for further research using field and habitus in international studies, insisting on the scope for enhancing and clarifying the heuristic value of the concepts (4). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7966
Files in this item: 1Habitus_and_Field_Working_Paper.pdf (178.5Kb)
reconsidering Japanese Business OrganisationMoeran, Brian (København, 2001)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7005
Files in this item: 1wp. nr. 51 2001.pdf (243.1Kb)
Krut, Riva; Moretz, Ashley (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6997
Files in this item: 1krut.pdf (136.4Kb)
A Governmentality PerspectiveFlyverbom, Mikkel; Koed Madsen, Anders; Rasche, Andreas (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The aim of this paper is conceptualize and illustrate how large-scale data and algorithms condition and reshape knowledge production when addressing international development challenges. Based on a review of relevant literature on the uses of big data in the context of development, we unpack how digital traces from cell phone data, social media data or data from internet searches are used as sources of knowledge in this area. We draw on insights from governmentality studies and argue that big data's impact on how relevant development problems are governed revolves around (1) new techniques of visualizing development issues, (2) a reliance on algorithmic operations that synthesize large-scale data, (3) and novel ways of rationalizing the knowledge claims that underlie development efforts. Our discussion shows that the reliance on big data challenges some aspects of traditional ways to collect and analyze data for development (e.g. via household surveys and deductive approaches), and we articulate intersections between different kinds of knowledge production, different ways of collecting and controlling data, and different epistemic foundations for addressing and governing development problems. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9414
Files in this item: 1Flyverbom_KoedMadsen_RascheEGOS2016.pdf (638.8Kb)
An Ethnography of a Juried Ceramic Art Exhibition in JapanMoeran, Brian (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This article discusses the social processes among members of a panel of jurors required to award a major prize to one of the submissions to a national ceramics exhibition in Japan. Uniquely based on participant observation-style fieldwork, the article details the voting procedures and (inconclusive) results, before analysing why one particular potter's submission was selected for the Princess Chichibu Cup. It shows how social relations, rather than aesthetic taste, influenced the final choice, since jury members operated according to an informal pecking order that depended on pre-existing networks and reputations, themselves determined by seniority and age. The fact that judges did not overtly resort to aesthetic criteria when making their evaluations meant that they considered each submission in relation to other submissions, rather than on their own particular merits. They thus ended up comparing 'incommensurate flaws', rather than making a selection according to agreed 'merit'. And yet 'meritocratic principles' seem to prevail in the longer term cumulative recognition of potters who are awarded prizes at such exhibitions. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8510
Files in this item: 1Brian_Moeran_2012.pdf (266.7Kb)
The Case of Amnesty InternationalVestergaard, Anne (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The development of corporate communication in recent years has brought about a fading of the division of labor between commercial and non-commercial organizations. While the practices of commercial organizations are becoming increasingly ethicalized, so the practices of non-profit organizations are becoming increasingly commercialized. This paper explores the use of media discourse for the communication of ethical messages by humanitarian organizations, caught, as they are, in a tension between, on the one hand, the commercial strategies of visibility and still greater dependence on the media, and, on the other hand, the public's skepticism toward mediated morality and what is commonly referred to as compassion fatigue. The issue is investigated through an analysis of a TV spot produced by the Danish section of Amnesty International in 2004. This spot is taken as an example of how the organization's branding strategies testify to a high degree of reflexivity about the conditions of what Luc Boltanski calls a Crisis of Pity. The analysis illustrates how, in the face of compassion fatigue, the organization manages to carve out a new space for itself in the marketized ethical discourse, and leads to a discussion of the consequences of such rebranding for the construction of morality by the organization. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6965
Files in this item: 1
Bille, Trine (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Det er helt centralt i Richards Floridas teori om vækst, at kunne tiltrække den kreative klasse, men hvad er det egentlig som tiltrækker den kreative klasse? Formålet med denne artikel er at undersøge hvad det er for kultur- og fritidsaktiviteter den kreative klasse især benytter sig af. Det er dels interessant fra et kulturpolitisk og ikke mindst et regionalt udviklingspolitisk ståsted: hvad er det for kultur- og fritidsaktiviteter den kreative klasse bruger og tiltrækkes af? Dels er det interessant at undersøge, fordi det er punkt, hvor Florida ikke er særlig nuanceret. Den danske kulturvaneundersøgelse indeholder detaljerede data om den danske befolknings brug af de fleste kultur- og fritidstilbud. Ved at koble disse data med data for befolkningens arbejdsstilling opdelt på Richard Floridas klassificering, kan der opnås en helt ny viden om, hvad det er for kultur- og fritidstilbud den kreative klasse benytter, og dermed – må man antage – tiltrækkes af. Resultaterne, som er baseret på multivariate regressionsanalyser, viser nogle markante tendenser. Den kreative klasse er generelt mere aktive end serviceklassen på en række af de mere "populære" og "brede" kulturområder. Den kreative kerne adskiller sig for derimod ved at være mere kreative i deres fritid end andre. Herudover er de bl.a. mere interesseret i litteratur og viden, kulturarv og historie samt klassiske kulturformer som klassisk musik og teater. Endelig viser analysen, at der er en række kultur- og fritidsaktiviteter, hvor den kreative klasse ikke synes at adskille sig fra andre grupper. Det gælder først og fremmest en række hverdagskulturelle hjemlige aktiviteter, nogle "brede" kulturaktiviteter samt mere oplevelsesorienterede familieaktiviteter. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7203
Files in this item: 1wp04-2007_Final.pdf (2.207Mb)
Onarheim, Balder; Christensen, Bo T. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The paper investigates the question of screening ideas in the 'fuzzy front end' of engineering design, examining the validity of employee voting schemes and related biases. After an employee-driven innovation project at {Company Name removed for review}, 99 ideas were to be screened for further development. Based on the concept of 'wisdom of the crowds', all ideas were individually rated by a broad selection of employees, and their choices of ideas and idea categories compared to those of a small team of senior marketers. The study also tested for two biases: visual complexity and endowment effect/ownership of ideas. The study shows that the crowd wisdom of employees significantly correlates with the preferences of the marketing team: overall, in top 12 selected ideas and in choice of idea categories. This match increases when including only the ratings of the most experienced employees. The experienced employees also proved to be less affected by visual complexity in the ideas presented. The endowment effect was potent in that every employee proved to be more likely to select their own ideas over others, but this effect disappeared when aggregating across the crowd of employees. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8255
Files in this item: 1
'If the bridge ain't broke, don't fix it'. The Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education InternationalizationThoughts from DenmarkBlasco, Maribel; Tackney, Charles T. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Denmark is among the world's most competitive nations. At the same time it has a strong tradition of citizenship‐oriented tertiary education. Nevertheless, we are currently witnessing the erosion of this tradition, arguably as a result of neoliberal ideologies ushered in by globalization and internationalization processes. These processes have stirred domestic fears, evident in government reports, about the need to improve Danish higher education to 'meet the challenges of globalisation'. Concrete instances of possible erosion include recent directives to examine and grade group work on an individual basis, the abolition of the '13' grade for individual or group performance, and the introduction of measurable skills via "learning objectives," for all tertiary education courses. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7921
Files in this item: 1wp 2009-4.pdf (318.0Kb)
Images of Users and Products Shown During New Product Design Increase Users' Willingness-To-Use the InnovationChristensen, Bo T. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Two studies tested whether introducing images to designers during the design process lead to more useful design solutions as evaluated by the end-users willingness-to-use the final design. It was hypothesized based on theories in cognitive science and design that there were at least two paths from images to usefulness. One path concerns analogically transferring within-domain properties to the design solution. The other path concerns mentally simulating end-user characteristics and preferences and inclusion of the user in the resulting design. Study 1 supported that random images led to increased outcome usefulness, and supported both hypothesized paths, by using withindomain products and end-user images as input. Study 2 showed that the image categories competed for attention, and that the within-domain product stimuli attracted the most attention and was considered the most inspirational to the designers. The practical use of the technique may lead to only marginally original products perhaps limiting its applicability to incremental innovation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7941
Files in this item: 1
Ramirez, Jacobo; Sergio, Madero; Muñiz, Carlos (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper presents a mixed-method study that explores the configuration of human resource management (HRM) systems in "narco-terrorism" environments. The quantitative analysis focuses on 204 news stories. In addition, 25 interviews were conducted with managers and HR professionals at 20 firms in Mexico to explore the direct and indirect impacts of narco-terrorism on firms. Our analysis of firms' responses in terms of HRM systems indicate that trust of formal and informal institutions seems to shape HRM system in the focal firms. More specifically, a combination of strict employee control, an emphasis on soft-skills training and development, and a flexible work schedule seems to facilitate the building of trust in narco-terrorism contexts. It seems that the role of firms as social institutions integrate strategies, which seems to aim at avoid and manipulate the institutional constraints. Our findings highlight the importance of reinforcing values, such as trust, openness, and participation to develop a strong HRM system in violent driven environments. We examine the various effects of institutional contextual factors on the operation of HRM systems and practices. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9000
Files in this item: 1Ramirez_et_al_wp3.pdf (604.4Kb)
voluntary versus mandatory approachesChudnovsky, Daniel; López, Andrés (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6952
Files in this item: 1chudnovsky_improving.pdf (177.4Kb)
Understanding PSC AccountabilityLeander, Anna (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In security, as in other areas, the emergence of transnational private organizations with a central role in governance poses profound challenges to established conceptions of international politics and democracy. This paper discusses one side of this challenge by looking at accountability of private security companies (PSCs). PSCs have become authorities in their own right in the security sphere. This has raised the question of their accountability and also resulted in considerable efforts to improve the accountability of the firms. This paper looks at why these efforts bear so little fruit. It begins by pointing to the tension involved in any effort to hold an authority (private or public) accountable, namely the tension between the centrality of acceptance for authority and accountability measures that necessarily involve contestation. It then proceeds to analyse this tension in the case of PSCs. The paper argues that PSCs' status as experts on risk and entrepreneurs of security mobilizes a favourable bias, making contestation less likely. The difficulty of seeing and/or admitting that PSCs are independent actors in turn makes contestation of their activities seem ill-directed and unnecessary. The point made in this paper that this, rather than sheer complexity or hidden political agendas, is key for understanding the present rather puzzling lack of (democratic) accountability of PSCs and its likely continuation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6985
Files in this item: 1leander_isa07_woc-wp89.pdf (174.0Kb)
Towards An Analytical FrameworkPyke, Frank; Lund-Thomsen, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this article, we explore the relationship between industrial clusters and social upgrading in developing countries. Our article focuses on the hitherto little-considered influence of the economic and regulatory environment on the social upgrading of a cluster and on its governance system. In doing so, we develop an analytical framework that seeks to explain how the enabling environment and different actors in cluster governance can either facilitate and/or hinder the process of social upgrading in cluster settings in developing countries. Finally, the conclusion outlines our main findings, the research and policy implications of our analysis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9155
Files in this item: 1Pyke_Lund-Thomsen.pdf (293.8Kb)
Skov, Lise (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Analyser af industrialisme byggede indtil for tyve-tredive år siden på en narrativ figur – 'fra håndværk til industri'. I vores postindustrielle samfund hvor butikkerne ligger tæt, og der er langt til fabrikkerne, må denne analysefigur suppleres med et nyt slutpunkt, så den forløber 'fra håndværk til industri til globaliseret industrinetværk'. Der er opstået et nyt grundlag for en globaliseret industrikultur baseret på en voksende afstand mellem produktion og forbrug. I denne artikel analyseres den danske og europæiske pelsbranche ud fra denne tre-punktsfigur. Pels har aldrig været et skoleeksempel på industrialismens udviklingsparadigme. På grund af pelsbranchens særlige materielle udfordringer – hvert skind er unikt, og det kræver en stor viden at bearbejde det – har det været svært for branchen at følge med industriudviklingen og høste de stordriftsfordele, som andre brancher gjorde i efterkrigstiden. Den fortsatte næsten håndværksmæssige organisering satte branchen så meget udenfor modens og industriens netværk, at den ikke havde mange venner tilbage, da dyrerettighedsbevægelsen i 1980erne lancerede en række anti-pelskampagner. Under efterfølgende krise og omstrukturering er branchens organisation blevet ændret, således at pelsbeklædningsproduktion i dag er koncentreret i Kina, mens distribution og salg er knyttet til internationale designermærker. Denne del af branchens strategiske repositionering kan i høj grad tilskrives markedsføringsorganisationen Saga, der er finansieret af de nordiske pelsdyravlere og beliggende i Danmark. Denne artikels overordnede argumentation er, at denne omstrukturering sammen med den voksende interesse for etik og forbrugerpolitik har været den afgørende forudsætning for pelsens tilbagevenden i modebilledet. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7794
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Michael Sam fails to impress in NFL Combine drills
Michael Sam needed to have a dynamite on-field performance in the NFL Combine drills. Unfortunately for him, he didn't deliver.
Sam, the SEC co-defensive player of the year from Missouri, was hoping to improve his draft status with his workouts. While he handled himself superbly during media interviews, addressing questions about football and his status as an openly gay player, his polish did not transfer into the drills.
MORE: Clowney runs offical 4.53 | Top 15 all-time Combine performances
MORE: Sam: 'See me as a football player, not a gay football player'
His official 40-yard dash time was a 4.91. Other measurables: 25-1/2-inch vertical leap; 9 feet, 6 inches in the broad jump and 17 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press.
At 6-2 and 261 pounds, Sam isn't an ideal fit at defensive end and doesn't have ideal speed at outside linebacker.
As many projected, Sam's biggest challenge at the Combine wouldn't be facing questions regarding his sexuality. It all came down to his workouts. He'll have another chance at Missouri's Pro Day to impress, and he'll need to take full advantage of it.


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planeboy747 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 127 diseños de 27 diseñadores freelance.
Need a stylish, chic logo for my brand of clothing accessories.
zhä-kôb is the brand name of a line of stylish, waist wear (belts) made from recycled, vintage neck ties.
I need a stylish logo designed for the zhä-kôb brand . The logo should visually be:
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Tagline: custom-made, stylish waist wear
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Use your discretion and creativity. I'm completely okay with NOT having an icon on this logo as most fashion retailers are defined by the typeface rather than a particular icon. However, if you have an idea for something that you believe would look good, by all means, I'm interested in viewing your ideas.
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Saturday afternoon, at John Sessions Stadium, at Jacksonville University the Bisons beat the Dolphins 7-5 for their first Atlantic Sun win of the season. The Bisons, who also ended an eight-game losing streak, are 8-15 overall, 1-4 in the conference. Jacksonville is 14-9, 5-3 in the A-Sun.
"Our confidence has definitely been boosted," Bisons' coach Jeff Forehand said. "After losing the first four conference games we breathed a sigh of relief. It was a momentum changer for us."
The Bisons didn't make it easy for themselves. Starting pitcher Connor Sinclair, 2-3, spotted Jacksonville two runs in the first on three singles.
But starting with two runs in the second inning the Bisons scored seven runs before the Dolphins struck for three more in the eighth.
Catcher Matt Brewer drove in both runs in the second for the Bisons on a home run to left field, his first round-tripper of the season. Josh Chism had walked to start the inning.
In the fourth the Bisons scored four runs capitalizing pitching and fielding errors by Jacksonville as well as a two-RBI double to left center by Ricky Coleman and RBI-singles by Kyle Henry and M.L. Williams.
In the seventh Tennyson Dodd slammed a double down the left field line, his seventh of the season, to score Shawn Mehring.
Right-hander Josh Cotham gave up a single to lead off the ninth, but struck out the next two batters he faced and forced the last one to pop up to end the inning and the game. Cotham picked up his second save of the season.
The Bisons were out-hit 11-7, but Jacksonville committed four errors.
"The six, seven and eight hitters really contributed and knocked in some runs," Forehand said. "That took some pressure off of the guys at the top of the order."
Sinclair pitched seven innings. He scattered eight hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out eight.
"Connor gave up three hits early, but he didn't waver or panic," Forehand said. "He went six scoreless innings after that before we had to take him out."
Left-hander Chris Nunn pitched a third of an inning in the eighth and gave up two runs on one hit. Chad From, a right-hander, also made a brief appearance in the eighth allowing one run, one hit and one walk.
"Chris came in to start the eighth," Forehand said. "He did his thing, but we made a couple of mistakes behind him. Fromm came in and didn't have it and then Cotham shut them down."
Leading the Bisons at the plate was Henry with two hits. Coleman and Brewer both had two RBI.
"Friday night with bases loaded Kyle hit a 100-mile-per-hour shot up the middle that the pitcher caught at his waist," Forehand said. "I am going to say he has hit a ball in half of the games we have played that should have gone in for a hit and driven in some runs and he has had nothing to show for it. Hopefully, he can build on this game."
The series concludes Sunday afternoon at noon. The Bisons are sending right-hander Dannie Strable, 2-3, 5.01 ERA, to the mound in an attempt to win the series. Jacksonville has not announced a starter.
"Jacksonville has a good team," Forehand said. "We have to take advantage of what we did in this game.
"They are not sure who they are going to start. They might be running a little thin in their pitching."
Written by Mark McGee, Senior Publisher/Director of Media Relations.


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When it comes to ball bearings…What Keeps Customers Rolling? "Five Factors of Excellence"
EP Editorial Staff | March 1, 2008
Providing unfailing operation from ball bearing failure requires looking at the subject the way experts do—with a cold eye on the factors leading to success and failure. Ignore them and the result could be production interruptions that cost your company time, money and reputation. Embrace them and you can look forward to a number of benefits, including fast product delivery and fatter profit margins.
When Goodrich Aerospace (GA) of Vermont opened the door to The Five Factors formula, good things rushed in. According to senior buyer Ross Lowery, long lead times for product delivery vanished, even "troublesome" parts were always in stock and the mind-bending exercise of price comparisons for various quantities of parts came to an end. GA thus expanded its contract with the formula originator, Intercontinental Bearing Supply Company (IBSCO). This Houstonbased supplier of ball bearings and services defines and utilizes The Five Factors for its clients as follows:
Factor One: Traceability…
Goodrich Aerospace is a Prime Contractor and OEM for the Federal government. Accurate and complete traceability is requisite, especially for bearings. Thus, if there's a failure in the field, IBSCO's ball bearing experts will be able to isolate those failures to a given stock number and then take necessary precautions. If it is shown to be a factory defect, IBSCO can do a recall of the specific bearing and minimize the impact. For example, a ball bearing in a piece of handheld equipment used in brain surgery heated up so much that doctors couldn't handle the device. Diagnosis: a lubrication overfill from bearings acquired through a distributor. Traceability made it possible to pinpoint each of the bearing lots that went into the surgical tool for that particular customer.
On the other hand, ruling out a bearing malfunction can help lead to the real cause of a problem. For example, a client reported that a ball bearing was corroding fast. When a review of the suspect bearing lots showed no prior history of problems, the client shifted focus and discovered the culprit to be its own process that allowed etching fluid into the bearing housing assembly.
As industry relies more on high technology, these days, such situations are not isolated incidents. A problem in a manufacturer's process creates a domino effect that can cause long-lasting harm to business relationships. Every part received and delivered by your bearing supplier should be accompanied with a Manufacturer's Certification and lot number or traceability identifier. By providing the Manufacturer's Certification, it makes the distributor 100% accountable for each bearing—from the point of entry to point of delivery. You ought to know what you are getting, whether you're buying a $2 bearing or a $10 bearing.
Factor Two: Delivery…
Suppliers that "out-think" the customer are a step ahead. By being prepared, they can significantly reduce lead-times for delivery. This is critical given the fact that in today's economic climate, delivery time can stretch from 30 to 55 weeks. With IBSCO's help, Goodrich Aerospace has reduced its delivery time to days—or a few weeks at most—by obeying one rule: Managing inventory well is the key to managing delivery time.
IBSCO manages Goodrich Aerospace's inventory. In doing so, GA's needs are evaluated on a weekly basis with the help of a complex computer matrix and extensive data about sales cycles. As a result, short-term trend changes can be accommodated, such as those occasions when product is required sooner or later than anticipated.
That type of flexibility helped Goodrich Aerospace pause in its delivery of a braking system. Components needed to move forward on the project were delayed, forcing GA to hold back its own production. The change was accommodated without harm to the outcome. There have been other instances where replacement parts for military aircraft, for example, came in sooner than expected. Again, communication about what's in the pipeline and safety stock for unique situations provided the solution.
Also, remember delivery is not just related to time. Procurement and Quality Control requirements are a significant issue. The U.S. government enforces the Defense Federal Acquisition Register Schedule (DFARS). This means all government-contract parts must be manufactured, purchased and built with raw materials from the United States market or a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country. If DFARS compliance is required, all raw material and product components must be made from U.S. steel that can be traced back to the milling process. This has grown more difficult as the domestic steel industry has eroded, even as demand and manufacturing costs have increased.
Factor Three: Re-lubrication…
The ability to re-lubricate bearings serves a dual purpose. First, it restores the shelf life for product with expired use dates. The ability to re-lubricate expired bearings is essential to the aircraft and aerospace industry.
But the primary purpose is producing a custom lubricated bearing. This means while product specific to client needs is stocked, the commonly used sizes are onhand and available for lubing as needed.
Also, buying basic ball bearing stock at bargain prices allowed a medical firm to improve gross sales, even as the value of the U.S. dollar dropped. How? The currency imbalance meant overseas customers would eventually want to buy more American-made products because when the dollar value dropped so did the price. By stocking up on basic parts, the medical firm was well prepared when overseas demand for its equipment increased.
Factor Four: Custom Lubrication…
Goodrich Aerospace benefits when its provider buys large quantities of "vanilla" stock on its behalf—stock that later can be custom-lubed to GA specs. When incorporated in this type of purchase, OEMs like Goodrich Aerospace may get a better price than they would get from the factory they normally buy from.
Also, as technologies change, adjustments to lube specs may be required. Sometimes re-lubes are needed because the design specs change due to improvements in technology. Dental tools, for example, pose a particular challenge. They require lubricants that can withstand hot-steam cleansings after each use, yet are not so heavy that they promote heat build-up during operation.
Goodrich Aerospace chose IBSCO because of its expertise in custom lubrication blends, fill amounts and understanding the specific needs of the customer.
Factor Five: Certification…
A factory certification is essential because it includes lot numbers that allow the material to be traced all the way back to the smelting factory. Certification ensures that you're getting the legitimate part you ordered. You need paperwork to make sure there's a pedigree.
Lubricants, as well as ball bearings, must be documented. The original factory certification papers must include a lot number and where it was made. Substantial time can be saved if your supplier is factory authorized to do re-lubes. Without this authorization, manufacturers can expect to wait 30 weeks for delivery of a full-warranty product. You need certification detailing what work was done before it was shipped to you. Also, it is essential that the factory scrutinize the processes of the distributor that has been authorized to do full-warranty work—twice a year.
When it comes to ball bearings, those who pay attention to these Five Factors of Excellence should have no trouble rolling along.
Jack O'Donnell has spent 37 years in the bearing business. He has served as president of IBSCO since 1998. IBSCO is a distributor of NHBB, NMB, IJK, Barden and Timken products. Telephone: (800) 231-6480; e-mail: email@example.com


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One of the laws of thought employed in the field of logic is the law of rationality, which states that one should accept as true only those conclusions for which there is adequate evidence. This is sensible, for accepting as true a conclusion for which there is no evidence, or inadequate evidence, would be irrational. In establishing the prima facie case for the existence of God, theists present—through logic, clear reasoning, and factual data—arguments adequate to justify the acceptance of the conclusion that God exists. The approach is intended to be positive in nature, and to establish a proposition for which adequate evidence is available.
The evidence used to substantiate the theist's proposition concerning God's existence may take many forms. This should not be surprising since, if He does exist, God would be the greatest of all realities. His existence, therefore, could be extrapolated not from just a single line of reasoning, but from numerous avenues. As one writer of the past suggested:
The reality of such a Being can be firmly established only by concurrent reasons coming from various realms of existence, and approved by various powers of the human spirit. It is a conclusion that cannot be reached without the aid of arguments inadequate by themselves to so great a result, yet valid in their place, proving each some part of the great truth; proofs cumulative and complementary, each requiring others for its completion (Clarke, 1912, p. 104).
The various arguments presented by theists, all combined, make an ironclad case for God's existence. Where one particular argument fails to impress or convince an inquirer, another will avail. Considered cumulatively, the evidence is adequate to justify the intended conclusion. It is my purpose here to present and discuss additional evidence substantiating the proposition: God exists.
In contending for the existence of God, theists often employ the Teleological Argument. "Teleology" has reference to purpose or design. Thus, this approach suggests that where there is purposeful design, there must be a designer. The deduction being made, of course, is that order, planning, and design in a system are indicative of intelligence, purpose, and specific intent on the part of the originating cause. In logical form, the theist's argument may be presented as follows:
This correct form of logical reasoning, and the implications that flow from it, have not escaped the attention of those who do not believe in God. Paul Ricci, an atheistic philosopher and professor, has written that "...it's true that everything designed has a designer..." (1986, p. 190). In fact, Mr. Ricci even conceded that the statement, " 'Everything designed has a designer,' is an analytically true statement" and thus requires no formal proof (p. 190). Apparently Mr. Ricci understands that one does not get a poem without a poet, a law without a lawgiver, a painting without a painter, or design without a designer.
He is in good company among his disbelieving counterparts. For example, atheistic evolutionist Richard Lewontin made the following admission in an article he authored for Scientific American:
Life forms are more than simply multiple and diverse, however. Organisms fit remarkably well into the external world in which they live. They have morphologies, physiologies and behaviors that appear to have been carefully and artfully designed to enable each organism to appropriate the world around it for its own life. It was the marvelous fit of organisms to the environment, much more than the great diversity of forms, that was the chief evidence of a Supreme Designer (1978, 239[3]:213, emp. added).
To be fair to both of these authors, and others like them, let me quickly point out that while they agree with the thrust of the theist's argument (i.e., that design leads inevitably to a designer), they do not believe that there is evidence warranting the conclusion that a Supreme Designer exists, and they therefore have rejected any belief in God. Their disagreement with the theist would center on statement number two (the minor premise) in the above syllogism. While admitting that design demands a designer, they would deny that there is design in nature providing proof of the existence of a Great Designer.
A good example of such a denial can be found in a book written by British evolutionist, Richard Dawkins. During the 1800s, William Paley employed his now-famous "watch argument." Paley argued that if one were to discover a watch lying upon the ground, and were to examine it closely, the design inherent in the watch would be enough to force the conclusion that there must have been a watchmaker. Paley continued his line of argumentation to suggest that the design inherent in the Universe should be enough to force the conclusion that there must have been a Great Designer. In 1986, Dawkins published The Blind Watchmaker, which was intended to put to rest once and for all Paley's argument. The dust jacket of Dawkins' book made that point clear:
There may be good reasons for belief in God, but the argument from design is not one of them.... [D]espite all appearances to the contrary, there is no watchmaker in nature beyond the blind forces of physics.... Natural selection, the unconscious, automatic, blind yet essentially nonrandom process that Darwin discovered, and that we now understand to be the explanation for the existence and form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind's eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker (1986, emp. in orig.).
The disagreement between the theist and atheist is not whether design demands a designer. Rather, the point of contention is whether or not there is design in nature adequate to substantiate the conclusion that a Designer does, in fact, exist. This is where the Teleological Argument is of benefit.
Design of the Universe
Our Universe operates in accordance with exact scientific laws. The precision of the Universe, and the exactness of these laws, allow scientists to launch rockets to the Moon, with the full knowledge that, upon their arrival, they can land within a few feet of their intended target. Such precision and exactness also allow astronomers to predict solar/lunar eclipses years in advance, or to determine when Halley's Comet can be seen once again from the Earth. Science writer Lincoln Barnett once observed:
This functional harmony of nature Berkeley, Descartes, and Spinoza attributed to God. Modern physicists who prefer to solve their problems without recourse to God (although this seems to be more difficult all the time) emphasize that nature mysteriously operates on mathematical principles. It is the mathematical orthodoxy of the Universe that enables theorists like Einstein to predict and discover natural laws, simply by the solution of equations (1959, p. 22).
The precision, complexity, and orderliness within the Universe are not in dispute; writers such as Ricci, Dawkins, and Lewontin acknowledge as much. But while atheists willingly concede complexity, and even order, they are not prepared to concede design because the implication of such a concession would demand a Designer. Is there evidence of design? The atheist claims no such evidence exists. The theist, however, affirms that it does, and offers the following information in support of that affirmation.
We live in a tremendously large Universe. While its outer limits have not been measured, it is estimated to be as much as 20 billion light years in diameter (i.e., the distance it would take light to travel across the Universe at a speed of over 186,000 miles per second; see Lawton, 1981, 89[1]:105). There are an estimated one billion galaxies in the Universe (Lawton, 1981, 89[1]:98), and an estimated 25 sextillion stars. The Milky Way galaxy in which we live contains over 100 billion stars, and is so large that even traveling at the speed of light would require 100,000 years to cross its diameter. Light travels in one year approximately 5.87 x 1012 miles; in 100,000 years, that would be 5.87 x 1017 miles, or 587 quadrillion miles just to cross the diameter of a single galaxy. If we drew a map of the Milky Way galaxy, and represented the Earth and Sun as two dots one inch apart (thus a scale of one inch equals 93 million miles—the distance between the Earth and the Sun), we would need a map at least four miles wide to locate the next nearest star, and a map 25,000 miles wide to reach the center of our galaxy. Without doubt, this is a rather impressive Universe.
Yet while the size itself is impressive, the inherent design is even more so. The Sun's interior temperature is estimated to be over 20 million degrees Celsius (Lawton, 1981, 89[1]:102). The Earth, however, is located at exactly the correct distance from the Sun to receive the proper amount of heat and radiation to sustain life as we know it. If the Earth were moved just 10% closer to the Sun (about 10 million miles), far too much heat and radiation would be absorbed. If the Earth were moved just 10% further from the Sun, too little heat would be absorbed. Either scenario would spell doom for life on the Earth.
The Earth is rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, and moving around the Sun at 70,000 miles per hour (approximately 19 miles per second), while the Sun and its solar system are moving through space at 600,000 miles per hour in an orbit so large it would take over 220 million years just to complete a single orbit. Interestingly, however, as the Earth moves in its orbit around the Sun, it departs from a straight line by only one-ninth of an inch every eighteen miles. If it departed by one-eighth of an inch, we would come so close to the Sun that we would be incinerated; if it departed by one-tenth of an inch, we would find ourselves so far from the Sun that we would all freeze to death (Science Digest, 1981, 89[1]:124). The Earth is poised some 240,000 miles from the Moon, whose gravitational pull produces ocean tides. If the Moon were moved closer to the Earth by just a fifth, the tides would be so enormous that twice a day they would reach 35-50 feet high over most of the Earth's surface.
What would happen if the rotation rate of the Earth were halved, or doubled? If it were halved, the seasons would be doubled in their length, which would cause such harsh heat and cold over much of the Earth that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to grow enough food to feed the Earth's population. If the rotation rate were doubled, the length of each season would be halved, and it would be difficult or impossible to grow enough food to feed the Earth's population. The Earth is tilted on its axis at exactly 23.5 degrees. Were that tilt to be reduced to zero, much of the Earth's water would accumulate around the two poles, leaving vast deserts in its place. If the atmosphere surrounding the Earth were much thinner, meteorites could strike our planet with greater force and frequency, causing worldwide devastation.
The oceans provide a huge reservoir of moisture that constantly is evaporating and condensing, thus falling upon the land as refreshing rain. It is a well-known fact that water heats and cools at a much slower rate than a solid land mass, which explains why desert regions can be blistering hot in the daytime and freezing cold at night. Water, however, holds its temperature longer, and provides a sort of natural heating/air-conditioning system for the land areas of the Earth. Temperature extremes would be much more erratic than they are, were it not for the fact that approximately four-fifths of the Earth is covered with water. In addition, humans and animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. On the other hand, plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. We depend upon the world of botany for our oxygen supply, but often fail to realize that approximately 90% of our oxygen comes from microscopic plants in the seas (see Asimov, 1975, 2:116). If our oceans were appreciably smaller, we soon would be out of air to breathe.
Can a person reasonably be expected to believe that these exacting requirements for life as we know it have been met "just by accident"? The Earth is exactly the right distance from the Sun; it is exactly the right distance from the Moon; it has exactly the right diameter; it has exactly the right atmospheric pressure; it has exactly the right tilt; it has exactly the right amount of oceanic water; it has exactly the right weight and mass; and so on. Were this many requirements to be met in any other essential area of life, the idea that they had been provided "just by accident" would be dismissed immediately as ludicrous. Yet atheists and agnostics suggest that the Universe, the Earth, and life on the Earth are all here as a result of fortuitous accidents. Physicist John Gribbin (1983), writing on the numerous specific requirements necessary for life on our planet, emphasized in great detail both the nature and essentiality of those requirements, yet curiously chose to title his article, "Earth's Lucky Break"—as if all of the precision, orderliness, and intricate design in the Universe could be explained by postulating that the Earth simply received, in a roll of the cosmic dice, a "lucky break."
For more than a decade and a half, British evolutionist Sir Fred Hoyle has stressed the insurmountable problems with such thinking, and has addressed specifically the many problems faced by those who defend the idea of a naturalistic origin of life on Earth. In fact, Dr. Hoyle described the atheistic concept that disorder gives rise to order in a rather picturesque manner when he observed that "the chance that higher forms have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein" (1981b, p. 105). Dr. Hoyle, even went so far as to draw the following conclusion:
Once we see, however, that the probability of life originating at random is so utterly miniscule as to make the random concept absurd, it becomes sensible to think that the favourable properties of physics on which life depends, are in every respect deliberate.... It is therefore almost inevitable that our own measure of intelligence must reflect in a valid way the higher intelligences...even to the extreme idealized limit of God (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, 1981, pp. 141,144, emp. in orig.).
Atheist Richard Dawkins was forced to admit: "The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an intelligent Designer" (1982, p. 130, emp. added). That is the very conclusion theists have drawn from the available evidence—in keeping with the law of rationality. The statistical improbability of the Universe "just happening by blind chance" is staggering. The only alternative is an Intelligent Designer—God.
Design of the Human Body
Many years ago, the ancient scholar Augustine observed: "Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering." Indeed, while we stand in amazement at so many stunning scenes from our unique Universe, we often fail to stand equally amazed at the marvelous creation of man. According to those who do not believe in God, the human body is little more than the result of a set of fortuitous circumstances credited to that mythical lady, "Mother Nature." Yet such a suggestion does not fit the actual facts of the case, as even evolutionists have been forced to recognize from time to time. The late George Gaylord Simpson of Harvard once suggested that in man one finds "the most highly endowed organization of matter that has yet appeared on the earth..." (1949, p. 293). Another evolutionist observed:
When you come right down to it, the most incredible creation in the universe is you—with your fantastic senses and strengths, your ingenious defense systems, and mental capabilities so great you can never use them to the fullest. Your body is a structural masterpiece more amazing than science fiction (Guinness, 1987, p. 5).
Can one reasonably be expected to conclude that the "structural masterpiece" of the human body—with its "ingenious" systems and "highly endowed organization"—is the result of blind chance operating over eons of time in nature as atheism suggests? Or would it be more in keeping with the facts of the matter to suggest that the human body is the result of purposeful design by a Master Designer?
For organizational purposes, the human body may be considered at four different levels (see Jackson, 1993, pp. 5-6). First, there are cells, representing the smallest unit of life. Second, there are tissues (muscle tissue, nerve tissue, etc.), which are groups of the same kind of cells carrying on the same kind of activity. Third, there are organs (heart, liver, etc.), which are groups of tissues working together in unison. Fourth, there are systems (reproductive system, circulatory system, etc.), which are composed of groups of organs carrying out specific bodily functions. While we will not have the space in this article to examine each of them, an investigation of these various levels of organization, and of the human body as a whole, leads inescapably to the conclusion that there is intelligent design at work. As Wayne Jackson noted: "It is therefore quite clear...that the physical body has been marvelously designed and intricately organized, for the purpose of facilitating human existence upon the planet Earth" (1993, p. 6). In light of the following facts, such a statement is certainly justified.
A human body is composed of over 30 different kinds of cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, nerve cells, etc.), totalling approximately 100 trillion cells in an average adult (Beck, 1971, p. 189). These cells come in a variety of sizes and shapes, with different functions and life expectancies. For example, some cells (e.g., male spermatazoa) are so small that 20,000 would fit inside a capital "O" from a standard typewriter, each being only 0.05 mm long. Some cells, placed end-to-end, would make only one inch if 6,000 were assembled together. Yet all the cells of the human body, if set end-to-end, would encircle the Earth over 200 times. Even the largest cell of the human body, the female ovum, is unbelievably small, being only 0.01 of an inch in diameter. Cells have three major components. First, each cell is composed of a cell membrane that encloses the organism. Second, inside the cell is a three-dimensional cytoplasm—a watery matrix containing specialized organelles. Third, within the cytoplasm is the nucleus, which contains most of the genetic material and serves as the control center of the cell.
The lipoprotein cell membrane (lipids/proteins/lipids) is approximately 0.06-0.08 of a micrometer thick, yet allows selective transport into, and out of, the cell. Evolutionist Ernest Borek has observed: "The membrane recognizes with its uncanny molecular memory the hundreds of compounds swimming around it and permits or denies passage according to the cell's requirements" (1973, p. 5).
Inside the cytoplasm, there are over 20 different chemical reactions occurring at any one time, with each cell containing five major components for: (1) communication; (2) waste disposal; (3) nutrition; (4) repair; and (5) reproduction. Within this watery matrix there are such organelles as the mitochondria (over 1,000 per cell in many instances) that provide the cell with its energy. The endoplasmic reticulum is "believed to be a transport system designed to carry materials from one part of the cell to the other" (Pfeiffer, 1964, p. 13). Ribosomes are miniature protein-producing factories. Golgi bodies store the proteins manufactured by the ribosomes. Lysozomes within the cytoplasm function as garbage disposal units.
The nucleus is the control center of the cell, and is separated from the cytoplasm by a nuclear membrane. Within the nucleus is the genetic machinery of the cell (chromosomes and genes containing deoxyribonucleic acid—DNA). The DNA is a supermolecule that carries the coded information for the replication of the cell. If the DNA from a single human cell were removed from the nucleus and unraveled (it is found in the cell in a spiral configuration), it would be approximately six feet long, and would contain over a billion biochemical steps. It has been estimated that if all the DNA in an adult human were placed end-to-end, it would reach to the Sun and back (186 million miles) 400 times.
It should also be noted that the DNA molecule does something that we as humans have yet to accomplish: it stores coded information in a chemical format, and then uses a biologic agent (RNA) to decode and activate it. As Darrel Kautz has stated: "Human technology has not yet advanced to the point of storing information chemically as it is in the DNA molecule" (1988, p. 45, emp. in orig.; see also Jackson, 1993, pp. 11-12). If transcribed into English, the DNA in a single human cell would fill a 1,000 volume set of encyclopedias approximately 600 pages each (Gore, 1976, p. 357). Yet just as amazing is the fact that all the genetic information needed to reproduce the entire human population (about five billion people) could be placed into a space of about one-eighth of a square inch. In comparing the amount of information contained in the DNA molecule with a much larger computer microchip, evolutionist Irvin Block remarked: "We marvel at the feats of memory and transcription accomplished by computer microchips, but these are gargantuan compared to the protein granules of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA" (1980, p. 52). In an article he authored for Encyclopaedia Britannica, Carl Sagan observed that "The information content of a simple cell has been estimated as around 1012 bits [i.e., one trillion—BT]..." (1974, 10:894). To emphasize to the reader the enormity of this figure, Dr. Sagan then noted that if one were to count every letter in every word of every book in the world's largest library (over ten million volumes), the final tally would be approximately a trillion letters. Thus, a single cell contains the equivalent information content of every book in the world's largest library of more than ten million volumes! Every rational person recognizes that not one of the books in such a library "just happened." Rather, each and every one is the result of intelligence and painstaking design.
What, then, may we say about the infinitely more complex genetic code found within the DNA in each cell? Sir Fred Hoyle concluded that the notion that the code's complexity could be arrived at by chance is "nonsense of a high order" (1981a, p. 527). In their classic text on the origin of life, Thaxton, Bradley, and Olsen addressed the implications of the genetic code found within the DNA molecule.
We know that in numerous cases certain effects always have intelligent causes, such as dictionaries, sculptures, machines and paintings. We reason by analogy that similar effects have intelligent causes. For example, after looking up to see "BUY FORD" spelled out in smoke across the sky we infer the presence of a skywriter even if heard or saw no airplane. We would similarly conclude the presence of intelligent activity were we to come upon an elephant-shaped topiary in a cedar forest.
In like manner an intelligible communication via radio signal from some distant galaxy would be widely hailed as evidence of an intelligent source. Why then doesn't the message sequence on the DNA molecule also constitute prima facie evidence for an intelligent source? After all, DNA information is not just analogous to a message sequence such as Morse code, it is such a message sequence....
We believe that if this question is considered, it will be seen that most often it is answered in the negative simply because it is thought to be inappropriate to bring a Creator into science (1984, pp. 211-212, emp. in orig.).
The complexity and intricacy of the DNA molecule—combined with the staggering amount of chemically-coded information it contains—speak unerringly to the fact that this "supermolecule" simply could not have happened by blind chance. As Andrews has observed:
It is not possible for a code, of any kind, to arise by chance or accident.... A code is the work of an intelligent mind. Even the cleverest dog or chimpanzee could not work out a code of any kind. It is obvious then that chance cannot do it.... This could no more have been the work of chance or accident than could the "Moonlight Sonata" be played by mice running up and down the keyboard of my piano! Codes do not arise from chaos (1978, pp. 28-29).
Indeed, codes do not arise from chaos. As Dawkins correctly remarked: "The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an intelligent Designer" (1982, p. 130, emp. added). That is the exact point the theist is making: an intelligent Designer is demanded by the evidence.
Atheistic philosopher, Paul Ricci, has suggested that "Although many have difficulty understanding the tremendous order and complexity of functions of the human body (the eye, for example), there is no obvious designer" (1986, p. 191, emp. added). The only people who "have difficulty understanding the tremendous order and complexity" found in the Universe are those who have "refused to have God in their knowledge" (Romans 1:28). Such people can parrot the phrase that "there is no obvious designer," but their arguments are not convincing. One does not get a poem without a poet, or a law without a lawgiver. One does not get a painting without a painter, or a musical score without a composer. And just as surely, one does not get purposeful design without a designer. The design inherent in the Universe is evident—from the macrocosm to the microcosm—and is sufficient to draw the conclusion demanded by the evidence, in keeping with the law of rationality. God does exist.
[to be continued]
Andrews, E.H. (1978), From Nothing to Nature (Welwyn, Hertfordshire, England: Evangelical Press).
Asimov, Isaac (1975), Guide to Science (London: Pelican Books).
Barnett, Lincoln (1959), The Universe and Dr. Einstein (New York: Mentor).
Beck, William (1971), Human Design (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich).
Block, Irvin (1980), "The Worlds Within You," Science Digest special edition, pp. 49-53,118, September/October.
Borek, Ernest (1973), The Sculpture of Life (New York: Columbia University Press).
Clarke, William N. (1912), An Outline of Christian Theology (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons).
Dawkins, Richard (1982), "The Necessity of Darwinism," New Scientist, 94:130-132, April 15.
Dawkins, Richard (1986), The Blind Watchmaker (New York: W.W. Norton).
Gore, Rick (1976), National Geographic, September.
Gribbin, John (1983), "Earth's Lucky Break," Science Digest, 91[5]:36-37,40,102, May.
Guinness, Alma E., ed. (1987), ABC's of the Human Body (Pleasantville, NY: Reader's Digest).
Hoyle, Fred (1981a), "The Big Bang in Astronomy," New Scientist, 92:521-527, November 19.
Hoyle, Fred (1981b), "Hoyle on Evolution," Nature, 294:105,148, November 12.
Hoyle, Fred and Chandra Wickramasinghe (1981), Evolution from Space (London: J.M. Dent & Sons).
Jackson, Wayne (1993), The Human Body: Accident or Design? (Stockton, CA: Courier Publications).
Kautz, Darrel (1988), The Origin of Living Things (Milwaukee, WI: Privately published by the author).
Lawton, April (1981), "From Here to Infinity," Science Digest, 89[1]:98-105, January/February.
Lewontin, Richard (1978), "Adaptation," Scientific American, 239[3]:212-218,220, 222,228,230, September.
Pfeiffer, John (1964), The Cell (New York: Time,Inc.).
Ricci, Paul (1986), Fundamentals of Critical Thinking (Lexington, MA: Ginn Press).
Sagan, Carl (1974), "Life on Earth," Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 10.
Science Digest (1981), 89[1]:124, January/February.
Simpson, George Gaylord (1949), The Meaning of Life (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
Thaxton, Charles B., Walter L. Bradley, and Roger L. Olsen (1984), The Mystery of Life's Origin (New York: Philosophical Library).
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AL DIVISION SERIES: TIGERS v YANKEES
October 5, 2006
Joe Torre
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Two
Q. Jim Leyland was in here before and he said that he didn't think the Yankees had anything to do with the confusion that they felt last night over the rain, but he did have a funny line, he said it was the first time he had ever been outmanaged on an off-day by you.
JOE TORRE: I know, he told me outside. (Laughing) I love him to death. It was one of those things. I don't envy Major League Baseball for having to make these decisions, especially initially when it's 8:00 and it's not raining and you have, I think sometimes technology just kicks us in the rear end and you have all of this information on what is supposed to happen.
And, in fact, Moose went out for the eight o'clock start and we had to go get him. He hasn't doing anything, was just in the dugout and then it just became Tim McClellan came in and said we're not on time and just sit here and told, and maybe 9:30 we'll start. And then at 9:30, they came in and mentioned that we were going to start at ten o'clock, and I said, well, I don't know if ten o'clock is reasonable, because it takes 25 minutes for my pitcher who is sitting in the other room, so maybe a little after ten.
And then they start talking about the forecast, the really heavy rains that were going to come by 11,11:15 and we start talking about the fact that post-season play is not about playing an abbreviated game. I said neither manager wants to lose a pitcher, and that was the extent of our contribution to that. And then they came back a little bit later and told us that it was going to be called.
Q. A moment ago, you said in a casual way about Leyland, "I love him to death." Ozzie Guillen told me a couple of weeks ago, he doesn't like a lot of managers, but he admires Jim Leyland. What is it about Leyland that appeals to guys in your line of work?
JOE TORRE: You know, he's a blue-collar guy. He's honest. He's very good at what he does and really down plays that part of it. I don't want to say he's sly, but he's very bright and really comes across as anybody can do, this what I do, and we know better. And he's had success everywhere he's gone. Again, he's not necessarily comfortable in this environment. He'd much rather be doing things, you know, out of the spotlight. But he's just a real straight, straight shooter, I guess that's probably it.
Q. Did you talk to Randy in Detroit?
JOE TORRE: I have not talked to Randy. As I said to the local media that just came into my office. I said nothing changed from yesterday except the fact that Randy should be on the ground by now.
But no, I haven't. I'm assuming everything's fine.
Q. No, I understand that, but will he watch the game on TV, will he work out at all?
JOE TORRE: Well, there's a good question. I'm not sure that after yesterday he would really do anything today anyway. I don't even think he would play catch today.
Q. If you look at the pitcher that Kenny Rogers has been throughout his career, have you given much thought why for the two years that he was here, I know one part of it he was injured, but why he underachieved while he was here?
JOE TORRE: I think Kenny is a guy who would much prefer to -- you know, a little bit like Leyland in that respect, would just like to do what he does without everything being under a microscope. I just didn't think he was comfortable here.
I thought that he -- you know, obviously he's a high-quality pitcher, he's proven that in a number of places. But it just doesn't seem like he's got his feet on the ground here. I know we've talked quite a bit during that year because he, you know, wasn't sure everybody wanted him here, including me. And at the time I said it wasn't true, and if it was true, it would having in to do with the fact that we all wanted -- we all wanted him to do well.
I know he became very close with Andy Pettitte, and Andy certainly has been here and played here and pitched here really well. And it was just I think a personality that he just wasn't comfortable here. I can't find any other way to describe it. And I can't tell you what he was like over with the Mets, because he was there for a period of time.
Q. You how would you describe Jim's managing once the game start, his strategy and using his players that, type of thing?
JOE TORRE: He knows his players, I think that's the most important thing. You witnessed that the other night. He had straight answers for you guys when he was questioned about, did you leave Robertson in too long. When you know your players, you may do things that are going to be second-guessed, but you have a reason for doing them, you're not just keeping your fingers crossed. Certain people you trust in situations, and that's what he's all about.
You know, he's certainly knowledgeable, he's great at watching the game as far as when to take chances; it did not surprise me. He tried to hit-and-run with first and second with a ground ball pitcher. He used to do the same thing to me when Tewksbury was pitching, because when Tewksbury was pitching, anywhere around the plate, the guy could put the ball in play. But he's probably right, Wanger probably through the pitch of the night at that point in time.
He's a shoot-from-the-hip type of guy, but still has the knowledge that goes along with it. It's not strictly by, you know, by feel.
Q. It's a little bit like you, but to have been away from the game for so long and to be so successful and to know his players so well, how does a guy do that?
JOE TORRE: Well, when he's away from the game, I don't think he ever stops managing. You sit there and watch the game on TV, you're probably in both dugouts at the same time and I think that's probably what gave him the itch to come back; plus working over there with Tony as close as he did in St. Louis.
It never leaves you. Yeah, you need a break from it once in awhile, there's no question. But the fact of the matter is, you know, it's in your blood and you're just going to have to deal with it whether you like it or not. I asked him the other day, with everything that's gone on lately, when you have trouble winning ball games, do you still enjoy yourself and he never even hesitated saying how much fun it was for him.
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Don't Be That Guy...
...who flogs himself in training when he can feel a bug coming on. Your immune system is like your legs—if it's tired, it's not going to spring into action.
? Instead, check yourself
If the sickness is above your neck, then going out for a ride is still in the cards. If it's below—stay in bed. Don't forget, the deeper a hole your immune system falls into, the longer you're out of action.
...who wears arm warmers with a sleeveless jersey. Do we have to explain this one to you?
? Instead, regulate your temperature wisely
This isn't the NBA. If it's cool enough to wear arm warmers, it's cool enough to wear a regular, short-sleeve jersey. Likewise, if it's warm enough to wear a sleeveless jersey, it's warm enough to skip the arm warmers.
...who races with untested foods or drinks. If you don't know how it's going to react with your body, the last place you want to try out a new food or drink is in a race. If it's going to add tension or anxiety, or affect your perspiration or respiration rates, you've got the recipe for a bigger problem. And it's not always the item itself; it may also be the quantity or the mixture. If you mix up an energy drink in a weaker or stronger solution than you're used to, you can find yourself with unexpected digestion issues or the dreaded bonk.
? Instead, try everything you plan on eating or drinking in a race ahead of time
For long, hard training rides, mix up drinks just like you would for a race. Take them from the same kind of container, drink them along with the same foods, and try to consume them with the same haste and under the same conditions in which you would in a race. Try eating combinations of foods as you'd want to in a race. Fueling yourself should be simple; don't complicate it by trying the latest energy food or miracle drink for the first time in an important race.
...who slams on his brakes in the middle of a group ride to pick up stuff on the road. Maybe you really do need that quarter, that bungee cord, or that screwdriver lying there, but you certainly don't need it so badly you have to endanger anybody else's life to have it right then. The same goes with dropping something out of your pocket; your energy bar or jacket will still be lying there, and your cell phone will not have hit the road any less hard if you wait a few seconds.
? Instead, let everyone pass before stopping to pick something up
In many cases, you could also leave that wrench or leaf rake for the next guy; do you really need another one? But if you must stop, let everyone pass, look around for traffic, and then go back and get it.
...who creeps up and drafts off someone riding on the road or bike path without saying anything. Yes, it is more efficient to draft off someone else. It is also costs less to drink if you put your drinks on someone else's tab. But it doesn't mean you should just creep in uninvited.
? Instead, just ask
"Hey, mind if I sit on?" Conversely, if you find yourself being drafted anonymously, do treat the offending party civilly. "You're welcome to sit on, but you should know most cyclists take offense at strangers jumping on the wheel without saying anything."
...who yells obscenities and throws his bike in front of kids and other fans after a flat or a mechanical.
? Instead, learn from an untimely mechanical how to be better prepared the next time
Whether it's better attention to bike maintenance, learning the right tire pressures or when to use sealant in your tubes, figure out what went wrong and why—and apply the lesson before the next race.
...who wipes his rear tire without hooking a thumb around the seatstay. We don't need another story about the inevitable consequences to tell the grandchildren. We already have several.
? Instead, hook that thumb
It may require some twisting of the elbow and shoulder, and it's especially hard with unistays...but it's better than winding up on the ground with your hand jammed between the seat tube and rear wheel.
...who tilts his saddle more than a few degrees up or down. Aside from looking dorky, it's really an indicator that something else is wrong with your bike fit.
? Instead, get a professional bike fitting if you are uncomfortable or find you have to do dorky things to your bike to make it comfortable.
...who forgets his shoes. All the technological benefits of that $5,000 bike won't do you much good if you can't clip into your pedals.
? Instead, establish a pre-race routine
Have a dedicated place for your shoes in your gear bag, and double check your bag every time before you leave.
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Girl Scouts to the rescue
Girl Scouts to help build horse stalls for the horses of SHERR
Girl Scouts team up with local horse rescue, SHERR to build more stalls for their Silver Award and to help the horses in need be warm this winter.
Fortunately for the dogs, cats and other small animals' safety, shelter and care can be provided much more easily and quickly than for an emaciated 800 pound horse standing in filthy waste outdoors in the freezing cold. Girl Scouts Rhianna Weavil and Cassie Douglas, of troop # 02435, want to help the horses. Their LOVE for horses made them decide to help build more much needed stalls for their Silver Award and SHERR.
The ground breaking is planned for October 5, 2013 provided they get the funding for the materials. Five more horse stalls and a breezeway tin roof is estimated to be a total of $5982. The girls have taken on quite a challenge and let's pull together as a community to help them succeed.
The Girl Scouts are holding yard sales, car washes, bake sales and much more to raise the money needed. They have been blessed to have people come forward offering free labor and a licensed contractor to supervise and oversee the construction they are now in need of help with materials.
Please don't leave the horses behind they deserve to be warm this winter. Please help girl scouts Rhianna and Cassie get the word out to the community. The Girl Scouts and SHERR are 501c3 Nonprofit Organizations.
For more information, please contact SHERR, www.sherrnc.com or visit our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Safe-Haven-Equine-Rescue-and-Retirement-Sherr/131402476920394