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Kriterion: Revista de Filosofia
versão impressa ISSN 0100-512X
Kriterion v.3 n.se Belo Horizonte 2007
On the ludicrousness of humanism: the critique of human perfectibility in Pascal and Luther
Do humanismo ridículo: a crítica da prefectibilidade humana em Pascal e Lutero
Prof. Luiz Felipe Pondé1
Professor at the Program of Postgraduate Studies in Sciences of Religion and at the Department of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and Guest Professor at the Postgraduate Studies in Teaching of Health Sciences of The Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo
Translated by Carlos Afonso Malferrari
Translation from Kriterion, Belo Horizonte, v.47, n.114, p. 347-366, Dec. 2006.
The text has three levels. On the first level, we follow the semantic construction of the philosophical concept of "humanism", from the artiens in the 13 th Century up to Pico de La Mirandola and his mysticism of "human nature dignity and sufficiency" in the Renaissance. On the second level, we examine Luther's and Pascal's criticism of "humanism", showing that human behavior gives no empirical support for such abstract mysticism. Last but not least, on a third level, we argue that the Christian critics of humanism seemed to be right in doubting the viability of such "ridiculous worship of human nature".
Keywords: Humanism; Perfectibility; Construction; Anti-Humanism; Pascal; Lutero; Renaissance; Pico de La Mirandola; Human Nature
O texto tem três camadas. A primeira apresenta a construção semântica do conceito filosófico de "humanismo" a partir dos artiens medievais (século XIII), chegando ao seu clímax na Renascença, identificado com a obra de Pico de La Mirândola e sua mística da "suficiência e dignidade da natureza humana". A segunda camada do texto é a crítica que o reformador Lutero e o jansenista Pascal fazem ao "humanismo" e sua mística, concentrando essa crítica na idéia de que nada no comportamento humano sustenta um tal conceito, e que, portanto, se trata de uma abstração sem fundamento, e não de um fato empírico. Na terceira e última camada, analisam-se os desdobramentos desse embate, indicando que, possivelmente, os críticos cristãos do humanismo teriam acertado na sua dúvida com relação à viabilidade de um tal "culto ridículo da natureza humana".
Palavras-chave: Humanismo; Perfectibilidade; Construção; Anti-Humanismo; Pascal; Lutero; Renascença; Pico de La Mirândola; Natureza Humana
I have completed the construction of my burrow and it seems to be successful. All that can be seen from outside is a big hole; that, however, really leads nowhere; if you take a few steps you strike against natural firm rock. I can make no boast of having contrived this ruse intentionally; it is simply the remains of one of my many abortive building attempts, but finally it seemed to me advisable to leave this one hole without filling it in. True, some ruses are so subtle that they defeat themselves, I know that better than anyone, and it is certainly a risk to draw attention by this hole to the fact that there may be something in the vicinity worth inquiring into.
Franz Kafka. "The Burrow" in The basic Kafka.
New York: Pocket Book/Simon & Schuster, 1979. (Italics mine.)
The term "humanism" is widely used among us. We can hear it used by corporate pundits "A more humane company!" as well as in supposedly more critical environments "A more humane society!", usually implying a less "techno-dependent" and more human-centered one, where a "human" would be, above all, a regulating and pseudo-Weberian "ideal type". Philosophy and its history are excluded from this debate (which is actually only commonsensical, even if taking place within the walls of the Academy), inasmuch as philosophy is only one of many professional activities and, within its asphyxiating field of action, one would be hard-pressed to find the function of correcting semantic or pragmatic usages (current philosophical practice is not characterized by the social exercise of "semantic awareness"). In other words, we professional philosophers should have no say in what humans understand as "humanism". Meanwhile, we are all, evidently, "humanists". As if rigor (the hygiene by which we recoil) and asphyxiation were twin noetic attitudes. When we examine the conceptual history of this term, we see that, while today it is part of the jargon of "human resources" and existential consultants, in the past it was the object of violent philosophical and theological debate in fact, one of its most fundamental roots stems precisely from the collision between these two fields of knowledge.
The word "humanist" is not evident in itself; on the contrary, it is a clear-cut case of semantic and pragmatic instability. When we utter it, we are normally taken in by approximation and compromise. "Humanism", "humanist", "humanistic", "anti-humanism" bring to mind to controversies from a period usually known as Renaissance even if, strictly speaking, it cannot be said that Renaissance authors used such terms in ways that would be evident to us today (if they used them at all). The philosophical and historical consistency of these words2 derives, above all, from polemics regarding "human nature" a concept in unremitting decline with regard to its semantic and pragmatic stability in the human sciences and the focus of hostile controversies between socio-sympathizers and bio-sympathizers. As we will see, this is actually a debate on the consistency of the human will, that is, on its autonomy and validity. If this term demands a careful and obsessive archeology of the concept, its relationship and philosophical/historical implications with the modern myth of "Man" are plain enough: the myth of "humaneness" (an untimely universal that was offal of the nominalist razor) is a construction at the service of our "self-image" or rather, pride. This suspicion is at the root of a "humanistic dogmatism" being refused by both the classicist Reformation and Jansenism (the latter taken as a Calvinism manqué).
I believe that the censure by Luther, the reformer, and Pascal, the Jansen, of the fledgling "humanism" of their time is useful to establish a dialogue with such construction. The preliminary vocabulary of these writers is derived from the Augustinian legacy of the theology of grace and from the internal struggles of a later "humanistic" Christianity. The "disjunction" of philosophy from its condition of theology's "servant", which began in 13th century Paris, is another important reference. The Renaissance (and, specifically, the expositions of Pico della Mirandola) is a third essential landmark in this process. To be sure, my intention here is not to embrace this discussion in its entirety, but simply to attempt to understand the focus of Luther's and Pascal's criticism to the myth of "human" sufficiency.
On Construction
Inversely, we understand that man's efforts to know and elucidate, if based on human experience and on the data of philosophical research alone, find no confirmation of the doctrine of Man's "Fall". Even if philosophy's role is not that of opposing or combating theology, it must, nevertheless, set forth the distinctions between the philosophical issue of man's perfection and the theological assumptions regarding the correctitude and fall of our nature.
FAYE, Emmanuel. Philosophie et perfection de l'homme. Paris: J. Vrin, 1998, p. 24.
The medieval (13th century) and Renaissance debate (as presented by Faye in his work on human nature's possible perfection) is particularly elucidative of this matter, inasmuch as it opposes two ideas that are usually assumed as implicated: theology's dogmatic assertion of human nature's inevitable corruption due to the Fall, on one hand, and philosophy's averment, based on the use of its peculiar instruments (namely, elucidative research and human experience, according to Faye), that no empirical data (italics mine) exist that necessarily deny the possibility of human perfectibility. According to Faye, philosophy's presumptive "possibility of perfection" is not hindered by any a priori theological appreciation that delegitimizes its consistency. Thus, by freeing itself from theological negativity, the philosophy of man finds breathing room in the possibility of redemptive undefinableness: the true gain here pertains not to a positive empiricism (the denial of the theological a priori does not imply the affirmation of any symmetrically opposed a priori), but only to an ideal. Indeed, there is no definitive evidence of the Fall, as there is no definitive evidence of human perfectibility. The liberation one "discovers" here pertains to the absence of any supernatural predetermination. It seems to me, however, that the concept of perfectibility requires a notion of process that implies the ability to self-overcome previously defined conditions as the metrics that legitimizes a gain in perfection: from caves to airplanes, for instance, or from human sacrifices to the democracy of snugly contented consumers. I would even say that, in this case, the "true advancement" of late medieval and Renaissance philosophy occurred with regard to a falsely necessary theological stewardship, not to a field of evidences that might provide legitimacy exempt from dogmas or myths. The indefiniteness of human nature, which is (supposedly) supported by elucidative research and human experience, disembogues in a construction, not on evidences that are symmetrically opposed to the obscure myth of the Fall. Let us examine some instances of this construction.
The fundamental reference of the aforementioned "disjunction" is a process that stretches from the artiens of Siger de Brabant in 13th century Paris to authors such as Pico della Mirandola in the 15th century or Charles de Bovelles in the early 16th century (and the Renaissance "humanists" in general), a long-winded encomium of the dignity of ("humanized") philosophy per se.
There is, however, something that specifically characterizes the artiens philosophers of the 13th century: their asceticism and their absolute and exclusive high regard for intellectual life. [ ] In this regard, the philosophical current that would emerge in France in the 16th century will include a more comprehensive notion of Man's perfection and will prioritize the complete set of the virtualities of his nature, both corporal and spiritual.
Emmanuel Faye. Op. cit., p. 27.
The idea of the "virtualities of human nature" is central here; the same is true for the process of understanding the intellect as a faculty that does not require supernatural content for its fulfillment the greatest virtue for the artiens. That is where idea of the dignity of a purely philosophical life finds its conceptual locus: dignity describes a virtue, not an evidence. The Parisian artiens' advocacy of the intellect will make way for a "more comprehensive notion of man's perfection" in the Renaissance, according to Faye. Above all, we can see that the parti pris of theologically predetermined imperfection is at the core of the philosophy/theology "disjunction". As part of this movement, the idea of the sufficiency (autonomy) of all the "natural virtualities of Man" will become enrooted. The "pessimism" of the Reformation will attack precisely this idea of excluding transcendental efficaciousness. A "more comprehensive notion of man's perfection" refers specifically to the corporal and spiritual "virtualities" in question. Thus, we see that what is usually called Renaissance "humanism" is a misnomer (at the very least, it is semantically polysemous): it refers here to the dethronement of the theology of the Fall as the determining hypothesis of philosophical anthropology which, ideally, affirms the autonomy of this set of "virtualities". I do not believe it is feasible to oppose Yahwehian mythology to "humanistic" empiria.3 From a strictly neopragmatic perspective, I would say it is merely a supposedly self-valuating redescription. Modern Augustinians would see here a very sophisticated development of the third concupiscence, pride. The foci of the discussion are the postulates of perfection and dignity, not any justifiable description. It is a moral, not conceptual/empirical "enunciation". If the theological myth is a ghost, the "human" cannot be otherwise.
That is why I suggested abandoning an anachronistic and troublesome term, focusing the appropriate terminology of the time, and studying the way the dignitas hominis was conceived throughout history. [ ] If we indeed pay no heed to each author in particular and, instead, consider the issue of man's dignity generally, we find that this notion [ ] is historically always subservient to a greater motif, namely, free will. There is nothing here that is uniquely Renaissance.
Emmanuel Faye. Op. cit., p. 31.
Thus, the topos of dignitas hominis is, in reality, a discussion regarding free will. Medieval scholars Duns Scotus, Bernard de Clairvaux, and Richard de Saint Victor, among others already conceived this human dignity, but it was still necessarily conditioned by man's capax Dei; in other words, it was supernaturally determined. In theoretical (i.e., moral and ontological) terms, a typical Renaissance scholar differs from his medieval counterpart for refusing to discuss the corruption of free will, as exemplified by the torments of De miseria humanae conditionis (Lotario di Segni, later pope Innocent III), as happened with Pico and other authors.4 This is the essential trait of the "humanistic" mythology: the identification of a virtual free will with the actual human possibility of being free from any a priori moral dysfunction. There is clearly a theological argument at stake here (in the medieval authors, that is); but I do not find it equally evident that by abandoning an explicitly theological vocabulary the issue is resolved in favor of the "humanistic" mythology. In other words, an empirical appreciation does not necessarily justify the somewhat naive Renaissance position.
The argument Renaissance5 scholars does not (or, at least, not evidently) propound an a priori perfection in human nature i.e., man's dignity as a being capable of sufficient free will , but rather that there is an infinite potentiality (virtuality) that is not predetermined by any necessary restrictive inability. This restriction was the argument of corruption.
The true distinction, by the way, resides in the fact that man has no fixed properties but has the power to share the properties of every other being, according to his own free choice.
Paul Oskar Kristeller. "Introduction to Oration on the Dignity of Man" in The Renaissance philosophy of man, Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, John Herman Randall, Jr. (orgs.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1956, p. 218.
According to Kristeller, it is precisely this emancipation from the medieval hierarchy of beings that sets Man free from the property-affixing restriction inherent in the idea of conditioning sin. Let us listen to the words of Pico himself:
He made man a creature of indeterminate and indifferent nature. [ ] The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted within laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will [ ] trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature. [ ] Man, to whom it is granted to have what he chooses, to be what he wills to be!
Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man.
The notion of undefinableness actually gives support to the idea of unconditional infinite power. The arguments of the Oration have a marked tendency to deny the very notion of human condition (specifically, the restrictive conditioning of theology): Man's minimal condition is to be free for anything. Pico says, "It will be in [his] power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life; [he] will be able, through [his] own decision, to rise again to the superior orders whose life is divine." Man's choice is Cause. There is a clear theological bias in Pico's discussion and vocabulary. He describes a blessing that Man has received, a blessing characterized by indefinite free will. Pico's "humanist" philosophy is a "theology" with no conditioning restriction.6 In this sense, the "disjunction" mentioned above once again precludes any corruption of the free will and any transcendental effect upon all that is "human". It is, therefore, a controversy within a deifying concept of Man, but severed from the infelicitous argument of his misery. The hypothetic undefinableness is the core of dignitas hominis, the nucleus of the idea that human nature is sufficient in and by itself, and that finds fulfillment in the production of culture.
As presented in the Oration, the idea of undefinableness or indeterminateness is essential to understand the transition from a purely historical concept of the "humanistic" position in the Renaissance to a philosophical discussion. However, the strictly historical definition (namely, that "humanism" is actually classical scholarship redeeming the non-Christian, Greco-Roman tradition) will certainly play an important role in the mystical construction7 of "humaneness': indeterminateness, dignity, nobleness, nature/nurture, and sufficiency.
What is, exactly, the notion that led to the transition from historical (i.e., classical) meanings to philosophical ones? From historically determined humanists to humanism as a philosophical category? [ ] Humanism is what might be called "mysticism of human nobleness [of character]". [ ] It is precisely the same mysticism of human greatness that nurtures the Renaissance man and the humanist. [ ] We could define humanism as an ethics of human nobleness.
Henri Gouhier, L'anti-humanisme au XVIIeme siècle. Paris: J Vrin, 1987, p. 17.
Quoting Augustin Renaudet8, Gouhier lists the definitions that have precisely to do with the ideal character of humanistic dignity. Humanism is an ethics and, if the theological argument of corruption proves itself consistent in any way, this ethics will reveal itself as phantasmal. If there are no empirical restrictions to breaking with the somber hypothesis of the Fall, there is also no empirical restriction to suspecting the phantasmal nature of humanistic dignity. This would mean that Augustine's distrust of the intellectual drive underlies "humanism" (with clearly critical effects): the phantom ethics is well-suited for the anthropological lie Man tells about himself, nurturing the very same dysfunction (structural hubris, the love for the nothingness of the creature) that it denies by excluding theology's somber argument. However, before embarking on the negativity of the construction, let us pay attention to this last and long quote, which I believe accurately summarizes the core of the "humanistic" argument, while shedding light on modern Augustinian anti-humanistic critique.
[ ] the blurry idea of "grandeur" is to be replaced by the distinct idea of "sufficiency", allowing us to recognize humanism by three precise characteristics:
1. Humanism means a certain sufficiency in man. [ ] Man is capable of anything because of the only forces that make him a man, reason and will specifically.
2. What does "by the only forces that make him a man"? It is by no means an accident that the notion of nature has always been linked to that of humanism. [ ] The sufficiency that humanism acknowledges is, in fact, that of nature itself. And what is nature sufficient for? It refers to nature being able to find fulfillment: thus, its sufficiency means that, at least within certain limits, nature is capable of recognizing and achieving what is good. In other words, the notion implies a relative goodness of nature.
3. In man, nature has the particularity of finding fulfillment in and through culture. It is by no means an accident that the notion of culture has always been linked to that of humanism. This can be seen today when reference is made to "modern humanism" or "technical humanism". [ ]
Sufficiency, nature, and culture are three complementary terms.9 [ ] Whenever they are not present, we can rightly speak of anti-humanism.
Henri Gouhier. Op. cit., p. 20-21.
Thus, the relationship with culture is at the very root of the cult of a priori human dignity. The naive character of this devotion is evident, for isn't history a pageant of horrors? What is determinedly beautiful in "culture"? We can easily fall into denial regarding this most reasonable of evidences: we need only to nurture that what must never be offended (namely, our ontological self-esteem, our haughtiness), as modern reformers would say. I believe this mythic atmosphere remains among us; we have only rejected its pragmatic and semantic consciousness.
The glorification of man was one of the favorite themes in early Renaissance literature. In the 16th century, this provoked a violent reaction. The emphasis of the theology of the first protestant Reformation on total depravity may have been a response to the exacerbated praise of common man found in the humanistic literature of their time.
Paul Oskar Kristeller & John Herman Randall. Op. cit., p. 19.
Immediately below, Kristeller and Randall state that underlying the violent reactions against the inordinateness of humanistic orations was the Augustinian concept of Man. And then they refer to Montaigne, this rather non-humanistic Renaissance man. However, according to these scholars, the distinguishing feature of Montaigne's critique is that it "detheologizes" or "humanizes" Augustine's notion in other words, that it does not resort to dogmatic beliefs (a redundancy?). It is interesting to bear in mind that when dealing with Montaigne we are in skeptical terrain. The Augustinian concept, if deprived of its "redeeming" theological component, necessarily oozes into skeptical criticism and aggressive anthropological pessimism traits of a noetic attitude that, saturated by realism (in opposition to idealism), seems smothering. Arguments with skeptical overtones usually reveal themselves to be empirically powerful.
On Denial
Truth is not premier. It is of the order of disillusionment, it is always a demystification that presumes the mystification that founds it and that it denudes. Every society survives through the self-mystification of its mechanisms, in order to assure its own perpetuation, and through the desire to conceal its extraordinarily self-destructive character.
Pascal Quignard, "Traité sur Esprit" in La fausseté des vertus humaines de Jacques Esprit. Paris: Aubier, 1996, p. 65.
The process of attaining "truth", as described by this contemporary Jansenist (Quignard) commenting on another Jansenist (Esprit) from the 17th century, leans heavily on a typical Augustinian reaction to the Renaissance's reverence of human sufficiency: disillusion as epistemic transcendence. But what, specifically, is the underlying delusion? The self-righteous and prideful construction. In the field of philosophical-theological anthropology, the root of this reaction lies in Augustine's reflection on the free will. It is not a matter of denying the possibility of associating the term "dignity" to human beings in any circumstance, but rather of questioning the consistency of the oration to the free will that is, the worship of a self-evident moral autonomy. Philosophically, the conceptual remains of this critique is the idea of Man's cognitive and volitional dysfunction.
What have you that you have not received? And, if received, why do you glorify yourself as if you had not received it as a gift? That is: "Why glorify yourself as if you had received from yourself a gift that, had you not received, you would not have by yourself?" [ ] It is better to have less than what we asked God for than to have more than what we attribute ourselves.
Augustine. "Epistula ad hilarium syracusanum" in La crise Pélagienne I.
Paris: IEA, 1994, pp. 50-51, (10).
But that free will, whereby man corrupted his own self, was sufficient for his passing into sin; but to return to righteousness, he has need of a Physician, since he is out of health. [ ] He goes further, and in the most open manner gainsays the grace of Christ whereby we are justified, by insisting on the sufficiency of nature to work righteousness, provided only the will be present. [ ] This, a prideful spirit cannot understand.
Augustine. De natura et gratia. XXIII, XXV.
Augustine attacks the idea of sufficiency advocated by Pelagius because he deems it pride. Moreover, this very same pride is raised to the category of a negative epistemic transcendental, rendering the understanding of his criticism unfeasible: an example of the spirit's (i.e., the intellect's) submission to a haughty will. Albeit the term is anachronous it was even in the Renaissance! , Pelagian sufficiency is a conception of human nature that is very close to the humanistic oration. Augustine denies such sufficiency and maintains the strict necessity of effective grace and contingent grace (which are not liable to the rational economy of human merits) for the free will to unburden itself from the gravity of sin. Throughout his argumentation,10 Augustine describes the empirical miseries of Man as proof that the hypothesis of the Fall does a better job of explaining the human condition than the vain attempt of sustaining a possible moral autonomy (even, as Augustine himself acknowledges, if the latter is in certain measure justified by Pelagius' disgust with the Christian's moral laxism that blamed sin for the deplorable state of human condition, in a kind of perverse Manichaeism). Augustine opposes the reality of an empirical condition (human nature seems bemired in a monotonous repetition of conditioned acts of love for the creature, beginning with Man's love for himself) to the possibility of deconditioning brought about by free will. Augustine sees this conditioning as the corruption of sin, as described by theology. Pelagius, in turn, contends that this condition is arguably mere existential rhetoric (in contemporary terms) for moral sloth. Augustine recognizes that worthiness of struggling against sloth, but stresses that we must not attempt to resolve this sloth falsely: the Pelagian solution is a prescription for Stoicism-induced human pride, for acknowledging a dignity in human freedom that is, it displaces the rhetoric of blamelessness by advocating that pride is a builder of the personality (once again, contemporary lexicon, of course). This kernel of themes (false sufficiency, error, vanity,11 etc.) will be retrieved by the Reformation and by Jansenism in general, notwithstanding the important differences between the likes of Luther and Pascal.
Now this book ought really to have a title [to indicate] that it was written against the free will. For the entire book tends to show that the counsels, plans, and undertakings of men are all in vain and fruitless, and that they always have a different outcome from that which we will and purpose. Thus, Solomon would teach us to wait in confident trust and to let God alone do everything, above and against and without our knowledge and counsel.
Martin Luther. "Preface to Solomon's Ecclesiastes" (1524), in Faith and freedom: an invitation to the writings of Martin Luther. John F. Thornton & Susan B. Varenne (orgs.) New York: Vintage Spiritual Classics, Random House, 2002, p. 68. (Italics mine.)
For Luther, the Ecclesiastes12 should not be understood as a disqualification of Creation itself, but as a critique of the idea of Man as rational and moral Cause. The reformer sees as wisdom the acknowledgement that God does not take into account what we assume to know in order to conduct His Creation. There is here a somewhat ruthless exclusion of what we might call the dynamics of Man and the core of this exclusion is the free will because for Luther, as we will see below, the human situation no different from what Augustine described. This preface was written at the same time (1524) that Erasmus of Rotterdam prepared his De libero arbitrium (published in Basle) and against whom Luther would write his The bondage of the will. These are the synthetic words of a commentator, which I deem quite accurate in defining Luther's position:
Erasmus' ultimate condemnation by Luther can be found in the book's opening words. The writing is trenchant, with an overall Final Judgment tone, and embodies the diversity of both men's assumptions. On Erasmus' side, there is a paramount intelligence that, however, evades every decision. On Luther's, there is the irrefutable truth, invulnerable to sophistry, of a holy and marvelous God, for whom reason and will are gladly taken captive in obedience and humility.
Martin N. Dreher, "Introdução a 'Da vontade cativa' de Martin Lutero" in Obras selecionadas, debates e controvérsias II. Belém: Editora Sinodal/Concórdia Editora, 1993, p. 16.
Sophism: the position that reveres the functional autonomy of the will and of reason is seen as no more than intelligent word games and therefore worthless in the eyes of God (He acts against and beyond such games) , which are irrelevant to decision-making and, thus, totally without value. Its value is merely the repetition of the love for one's self, the hubris of the creature. The perception that advocating for human autonomy is empty rhetoric against empirical evidences that deny the consistency of such rhetoric completely pervades Augustinianism as understood by the Reformation and by Jansenism.13 In his Preface to the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (1546 version), Luther expounds his skepticism:
Hence all men are called liars in Psalm 116 [:11] because no one keeps or can keep God's law from the bottom of the heart. For everyone finds in himself displeasure in what is good and pleasure in what is bad. If, now, there is no willing pleasure in the good, then the inmost heart is not set on the law of God. [ ]
Accustom yourself, then, to this language, that doing the works of the law and fulfilling the law are two very different things. The work of the law is everything that one does, or can do, towards keeping the law of his own free will or by his own power. But since in the midst of all these works and along with them there remains in the heart a dislike of the law [ ] these works are all wasted and have no value. [ ] Hence, you see that the wranglers and sophists practice deception when they teach men to prepare themselves for grace by means of works. How can a man prepare himself for good by means of works, if he does good works only with aversion and unwillingness in his heart? How shall a work please God if it proceeds from a reluctant and resisting heart? [ ]
Faith is not the human notion and dream that some people call faith. [ ] This is due to the fact that when they hear the gospel, they get busy and by their own powers create an idea in their heart which says, "I believe"; they take this then to be a true faith. But it is a human figment and idea that never reaches the depths of the heart, nothing come of it either, and no improvement follows.
Martin Luther, Preface to the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans in Op. cit., pp. 90, 92, 94.
In this long quote, where Luther recalls the classical Pauline critique of the behaviorism of works14, we see the chain of arguments that goes from the refusal to vainly and exteriorly execute God's will (the Law) to the definition of the essentially invisible character of this Law. If we bear in mind that, in Judaism, the Law is the manifestation of God's will and that, strictly speaking, there is no ontological theology in biblical Judaism (but rather only moral theology or ethical monotheism15), we will see that the Luther's discussion deals in-depth with what could be the beginning of any relationship between Man and God. It follows, then, that there can be no relationship between Man and God if the latter does not take the initiative (and herein, perhaps, lies one of the reasons Catholics accuse Luther of "hebrewifying" Christianity when he makes God "excessively" transcendental). The ontological exile is represented by a structural, rather than contextual, moral inconsistency (if we assume the fallen condition as structure). According to Luther, the human heart is incapable of feeling true pleasure as it seeks to fulfill God's will and, therefore, is incapable of adhering to the ethics of God, the only dimension of the divine Being that we know because the human heart is lost in gestural rhetoric, that is, amidst mere inarticulate mimicry. Further on, Luther proceeds from the abyss that lacerates Man the internal fracture between the gestural rhetoric of the visible and his profound moral inconsistency to the ontological abyss between nature and the supernatural: that which we psychologically (my term) understand when uttering things like "I believe" is not the entelechy of true faith. The human heart, which is the locus of God's will gone adrift and the milieu of the creature's hedonism, is incapable of making a leap with a morally consistent and, thus, ontological (as far as Judaism or Christianity are concerned) differential: true faith, understood as being attuned to the will of God, derives from a Cause that has no place in natural human dynamics. Luther is criticizing the idea that there might perhaps be sufficiency in the human ethical system. But, whatever human sufficiency might be, it will only be the monotony of sin. There is no "humanism" here, merely an ingrained suspicion that the "humanism" of natural human dignity the strict exclusion Transcendence is simply and solely part of the gestures that delineate and make visible the dynamics of the Fall. As the Fall is a fall in the grief-stricken purity of the creature, and as the creature is ontologically devoured by the void, it is only natural for Luther to deem a text that speaks of clouds of nothingness (Ecclesiastes) as profoundly wise regarding the haughty humanistic delusions. In this commentary on Galatians, Luther summarizes his criticism:
Our opponents go even further than that. They say, nature is depraved, but the qualities of nature are untainted. Again we say: This may hold true in everyday life, but not in the spiritual life. In spiritual matters, a person is by nature full of darkness, error, ignorance, malice, and perverseness in will and in mind.
Martin Luther. Commentary upon the epistle to the Galatians. Translated by Theodore Graebner. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949.
By necessity, the reach of misery is here amplified: immersed in the condition that is denied by the humanistic oration, Man, in Luther's eyes, is a somnambulist. Theologically, Luther is speaking of sin; philosophically, his discourse sheds light on the human condition with his suspicions of an ontological dysfunction. Skeptical arguments, when they are not at the service of a purely formal and cynical rhetoric, tend to be dismal for the techniques of vanity. Karl Barth, the great protestant theologian of the 20th century, defines reformed anthropology:
The perversion of sin is brought forth from the depths and center of human existence, from the human heart. And the resulting state of sinful perversion extends to the entirety of his way of being, with no exception to any of its determinations.
Karl Barth, Dogmatique IV. Cahier n. 1, Geneva, p. 58.
Barth's words point to the same amplification Luther spoke of: it is a critical anthropology with an empirical appeal, fruit of theological dogmas applied philosophically. The perfectibility of Man, heralded by the "disjunction" mentioned above, after having pragmatically excluded the theological vocabulary, will have to deal nevertheless with its philosophical remnants.
Pascal16 was not a Lutheran and wrote some of his Écrits sur la grace17 against the Reformation. However, the relationships between Jansenism and the Reformation (Luther and Calvin) remain a plenteous field of scholarship. Perhaps the continuous accusations made by Jesuitical Molinism that the Jansenist interpretation of Augustine is actually Protestantism are not entirely unfounded.18 However, my interest here are not the particularities that separate Pascal from Luther (that is, Pascal's rebuttal of Man's imperviousness to effective grace, which he believed was an error found both Luther and Calvin against his own position that Man remains permeable to effective grace but is never the efficient or sufficient cause of the actions of grace) but their critical stance vis-à-vis the humanistic oration namely, that the Cause of the possible relationship between Man and God is always non-human and that, by definition, Man is morally dysfunctional when he is not under or submissive to the actions of God. This position implies that ideas of possible human perfectibility, whatever they may be, are either divine or an error (and, therefore, doubly grievous). In this sense, the anthroponomical "disjunction" would obviously be an error: man by himself is always miserable, because his condition is that of a circular animal.
By considering their effects, we can identify the causes, the former being meritorious causes of the latter, the latter being the final causes of the former. But if we take them all together, there is no cause outside the will of God.
Blaise Pascal, "Lettre sur la possibilité de commandements" in Écrits sur la grace, p. 658.
In this short excerpt, we have an example of Pascal's arguments defining the ethical Cause as God, even if this is not immediately evident. Within the ethical causal web, there seems to be a cause other than effective grace, but when our perspective transcends our cognitive provincialism, we become aware that this cause is always secondary.19 Pascal's arguments are more markedly philosophical, inasmuch as they have greater autonomy vis-à-vis vocabularies that are not theologically rooted (Revelation). However, according to Pascal himself in the passage above, we can also apply a differential epistemic perception (between a local outlook and an enhanced vision of the arguments/causes that sustain the overall conceptual web) and, in this manner, perceive that his thinking is essentially religious20 as Luther's. We will mention three concepts in particular, which are not directly related to the moral/theological controversy, as examples of Pascal's anthropological criticism regarding the feasibility of the oration of perfectibility: the pair divertissement x ennui (entertainment x anxiety/boredom/annoyance); the faculty of contingency, that is, imagination and its perverse effects; and Man's disjunctive nature derived from the heterogeneity of his constituent orders. At the end of Pascal's argumentation, we are left with an a priori dysfunctional Man, in whom the disqualification of the idea of dignitas hominis breaks through the frontiers of a merely moral discussion.
Man finds nothing so intolerable as to in a state of complete rest, without passions, without occupation, without diversion, without effort. Then he faces his nullity, loneliness, inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, emptiness. And at once there wells ups from the depths of his soul boredom, gloom, depression, chagrin, resentment, despair.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées. Translated by A. J. Krailsheimer, ed. Lafuma, frag. 622.
In this fragment, Pascal makes his existential analysis of Man. Indeed, his argument is that when Man does not move (is not entertained), he necessarily submerges into what sprouts from his heart, because this is his structural essence. Pascal refutes the idea that when this self-alienating movement ceases, Man can exist without experiencing anguish, despair and sadness. The focus of his analysis seems to stray away from an eminently moral argumentation and to delve into a profound psychological scenario. In this sense, the rhetoric gestures of perfectibility would be a means of deflecting Man's essential agony, of denying the theological conditioning yet Man would nevertheless fall prey to inevitable ontological anguish. Would it be possible to deny this profoundly negative self-awareness highlighted by Pascal (that imbues us with feelings of structural unsustainability in very precise empirical terms: disease, old age, continuous cognitive failures, the inertia of moral misery throughout history) without resorting to deviating resources? Most of the time, Pascal seems to say there is no way to escape the dynamics of despair without the intervention of God. His subject matter is the phenomenology of conversion, which he deals with in his spiritual correspondence, and he eventually meanders into a rumination on déchirement (laceration), while sustaining that the withdrawal of human desire from the world of creatures is experienced as an agony that tears the very innards of the human structure of Man, this lover of the creature.21 Furthermore, in a state of déchirement, with regard to our affections, agony cannot be replaced by the deliria of pleasure. Pascal seems to think that, from a strictly human point of view, the only thing we can do when we are overcome by agony (that springs upon us when the deviating movements cease) is to bravely face it by suspending the mechanisms of self-delusion. In this way, there would at least be some oxygen for negativity in strictly human terms. For Pascal, then, a human being that does not lie is, necessarily, a melancholic. Moreover, any oration of perfectibility would be a lie in virtue of this profound condition experienced by anyone who has ever looked within himself and apprehended his overwhelming ontological void. This is the minimal definition: the awareness of our structural unsustainability.
It is the dominant faculty in man, master of error and falsehood, all the more deceptive for not being invariably so; for it would be an infallible criterion of truth if it were infallibly that of lies. Since, however, it is usually false, it gives no indication of its quality, setting the same mark on true and false alike. I am not speaking of fools, but of the wisest men, amongst whom imagination is best entitled to persuade. Reason may object in vain, it cannot fix the price of things.
Blaise Pascal. Op. cit., 44.
This is classical Pascal expounding how reason engenders unhappiness whereas imagination is the mistress of joy. The breadth of his criticism even touches upon epistemology, which is not, however, our focus in this essay. The faculty that brands everything with the same sign (namely, the contingency of imagined adherence) also dissolves all criteria. Its perverse action is greater among the "wise", inasmuch as intellectual pride is greater among them and inexorably leads them to diminishing epistemic activity the Augustinian tendency of turning morality into an epistemic transcendental is obvious in Pascal. The disjointedness promoted by the imagination turns the oration of perfectibility into a ludicrous act, as Man never knows what he thinks he knows be it in a strictly cognitive realm or in a moral or value-driven one. The final statement is exceptionally skeptical with regard to how much humans can grasp and a useless cry is all that is left.
In Lafuma 308 and 933, famous fragments where Pascal reclaims Augustine's three lusts (matter/body, spirit/knowledge, will/pride/caritas or God) and turns them into three general ontological orders, the ludicrousness of human dignity is deepened by a structural ontological bias. Pascal scholar Jean-Luc Marion has this to say about those fragments:
But, above all, it establishes that Pascal only joins them in order to disjoint [disjoindre] them; actually, far from constituting a system [ ], as Pascal reinstates them, they are definitely separated by a "distance". [ ] Infinite means here immeasurableness and "infinite distance" [ ] abolishes once and for all every measurable relationship one might say every ordination [ ] neither ordo nor mesura can assure a systematized sequence.
Jean-Luc Marion. Sur le prisme métaphysique de Descartes. Paris: PUF, 1986, p. 327.
Marion is referring to the relationship that Pascal establishes between the elements of Descartes' metaphysics and his own orders. Marion's intention is to show that the signs that sustain a metaphysical, world-organizing system are shattered by Pascal's cosmic disjunction this is Marion means when, later on, he talks about the "derangement" of concepts. Man and the cosmos do not compose the idea of minimal nature and, therefore, are not metaphysically founded. The breadth of this negative metaphysics distresses an imagined dignity in the same way the universe is defined by undefinableness and is, therefore, deranged an infinitely infinite heterogeneous distance produces abysses where there ought to be a system. The infinite is a sign not of unending power (undefined, as in Pico's Oration), but of exile in the void of structure. It is a negative infinite: there are no hierarchies, no fixed properties, only infinite spaces, devoid of any sustainable relationship.
In the eyes of those who criticize humanistic perfectibility, the construction of the ludicrous oration is more than fruit of a conscious decision by the sinner; in philosophical and theological terms, it is the remains of the inherent somnambulism of Man's disjunctive mechanics exiled from his founding Cause, mired in internal contingencies, smothered by a heart that lies the whole time, Man is an animal of fear. Dignity can never be founded by a being that, in himself, is without foundation, is a mere shadow trying to reach itself. The thought of dignity does not establish dignity. Man does not found value this is a truly human experience, the outcome of reasonably elucidative scholarship. Perhaps we, post-moderns, better than Renaissance men, can experience the negative awareness of this risible oration. And I do not find it at all strange that, of late, this oration has become increasingly closer to (and needy of) the rhetoric of advertising.
BARTH, K. Dogmatique IV. Cahier. Genève, n. 1.
CASSIRER, E. KRISTELLER, P.O. RANDALL, Jr., J.H. The Renaissance philosophy of man. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1956.
ESPRIT, J. La fausseté des vertus humaines. Paris: Aubier, 1996.
FAYE, E. Philosophie et perfection le l'homme. Paris: J. Vrin, 1998.
GOUHIER, H. L'anti-humanisme au XVIIeme siècle. Paris: J. Vrin, 1987.
GUTTMANN, J. A filosofia do judaísmo. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2003.
HESCHEL, A.I. Go in search of man. New York: FSG, 1999.
KAFKA, F. "A Construção" in Um artista da fome/A construção. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1998.
LUTHER, M, Comentaire de l'épitre aux Galates. Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1958.
_______. "Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans" in Faith and freedom: an invitation to the writings of Martin Luther. John F. Thornton & Susan B. Varenne (orgs.). New York: Vintage Spiritual Classics/Random House, 2002.
_______. "Preface to Solomon's Ecclesiastes" in Faith and freedom: an invitation to the writings of Martin Luther. John F. Thornton & Susan B. Varenne (orgs.). New York: Vintage Spiritual Classics/Random House, 2002.
_______. "Da Vontade Cativa" in Obras selecionadas: debates e controvérsias II. Belém: Editora Sinodal/Concórdia Editora, 1993.
MARION, J.L. Sur le prisme métaphysique de Descartes. Paris: PUF, 1986.
MIRANDOLA, Pico della. "Oration on the Dignity of Man" in The Renaissance philosophy of man, E. Cassirer, P. O. Kristeller & J. H. Randall, Jr, (orgs.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1956.
PASCAL, B. Pensées, ed. Lafuma. Paris: Intégrale/Seuil, 1963.
_______. "Écrits sur la Grace" in Oeuvres complètes, ed. Jean Mesnard. Paris: DDB, 1991.
PONDÉ, L.F. O homem insuficiente. São Paulo: Edusp, 2001.
_______. Conhecimento na desgraça. São Paulo: Edusp, 2004.
QUIGNARD, P. "Traité sur Esprit" in La fausseté des vertus humaine: Jacques Esprit. Paris: Aubier, 1996.
AUGUSTINE, Aurelius. "De natura et gratia" in La crise Pélagienne, v. I. Paris: IEA, 1994.
_______. "Epistula ad Hilarium Syracusanum" in La crise Pélagienne, v. I. Paris: IEA, 1994.
SELLIER, P. Pascal et saint Augustin. Paris: Albin Michel, 1995.
REHFELD, W. Nas sendas do judaísmo. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2003.
RENAUDET, A. Autour d'une définition de l'humanisme, Biblioethèque Française de l'Humanisme, Travaux T. VI, 1945.
1 He is the author of O homem insuficiente: comentários de antropologia pascaliana [The insufficient man: comments on Pascal's anthropology] (São Paulo: Edusp, 2001), Crítica e profecia: filosofia da religião em Dostoievski [Criticism and prophecy: the philosophy of religion in Dostoevsky] (São Paulo: Editora 34, 2003), Conhecimento na desgraça: ensaio de epistemologia pascaliana [Knowledge in wretchedness: an essay on Pascal's epistemology] (São Paulo: Edusp, 2004) and Do pensamento no deserto: ensaios de filosofia, teologia e literatura [Thinking in the desert: essays on philosophy, theology and literature] (São Paulo: Edusp, forthcoming).
2 F. J. Niethammer used the term "Humanismus" in 1808 to refer to a trend he deemed important in the study of languages. According to A. Campana (The origin of the word "humanist', J. Warburg, 1946, pp. 60-73), we find usages such as "Umanista" in 1538. But if we deliver ourselves from the term itself, we will find usages that sanction our interpretation of "humanism" and its analogues as an "ideal type of self-image'.
3 In Freudian terms, we might say this is precisely the case where the patient "the men and women" re-signify their self-image and choose a less self-deprecating version. This, however, is only a metaphor.
4 Cf. Emmanuel Faye. Op. cit., p. 32.
5 Hereafter, whenever I mention the "Renaissance position", I am referring specifically to Pico della Mirandola's argument regarding man's indeterminate nature.
6 I do not wish to specifically invalidate how Faye views on how philosophy sets itself free from theology, nor can I dedicate myself to this question here. But it should be noted that this liberation, at least as it relates do Pico's work (and his concept of undefinableness, by asserting Man's free will and deducing his noble dignity, seems essential to the construction of the "humanistic myth"), occurs within a religious milieu: there is merely a change of focus, from an oration to Him who can effectively condition human free will to an oration in homage to human dignity.
7 In the words of Kristeller and Randall: "Even if 'humanities' is merely another name for these specific studies, the choice of the term implies a very characteristic appeal to the cultural and educational ideal of the humanists: the cultivation of the classics (or 'humanities') is justified because they are well-suited to educate and develop a desirable type of human being. The classics represent the highest level of human achievement and, thus, should be an essential concern of every man." Paul Oskar Kristeller & John Herman Randall, Jr. Introduction to the Renaissance philosophy of man, p. 4. The locus of culture (as the topos that defines Man's natural being) is essential here because of the historical tendency to define man as a cultural animal rather than a supernatural animal. The relationship of identity (being both a strictly natural animal and a cultural animal) is of great importance, but unfortunately I cannot linger specifically on it at this moment.
8 See Augustin Renaudet. Autour d'une définition de l'humanisme, Bibliothèque Française de l'humanisme, Travaux T. VI, 1945.
9 See note 6 above. The third point is precisely the one that would refer to the "continuity" of nature being manifested in the course of the history of culture. The classics, then, would represent this period prior to the infelicitous incursion of a discourse that clashed with and denied the possibility of autonomy in human nature.
10 Other works that compose the two volumes of La crise Palegienne published by the Institut d'Études Agustiniennes de Paris are: De Perfectione Iustitiae Hominis, De gratia christi et De peccato originali libri II, and De natura et origine animae libri IV.
11 It is extremely important to keep in mind how the meanings of "ephemeral", "vain" and "conceited" overlap in this discussion of pride, particularly when we see how highly Luther thinks of Ecclesiastes as the quintessential book written against the illusion of an autonomous free will.
12 The Qohelet is often described as the Skeptic of the Hebrew Bible, that is, as book of wisdom against the supposedly wise pursuits of Man. In Judaism, the book is normally read in moments of joy (such as after a harvest) to remind technical Man that he must not believe himself to be the Cause of his apparent successes. See Julius Guttman. Philosophies of Judaism: the history of Jewish philosophy from biblical times to Franz Rosenzweig. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964.
13 The empiricist bias (there is more reality in the non-humanistic doubts of the skeptics than in the defense of humanism) in scholarly Augustinian tradition is confirmed by Philippe Sellier. Pascal et Saint Augustin. Paris: Albin Michel, 1995.
14 A critique that was and is part of Judaism itself. Thus, Paul is seen here as Jew critical of the legalist trend, which Jewish philosopher Abraham Ioshua Heschel calls "religious behaviorism" the concern with the external fulfillment of the Law, in order to attain public recognition as a decorous Jew, without inner consistence (i.e., without spirit). See God in search of man. New York: FSG, 1999.
15 See Walter Rehfeld. Nas sendas do judaísmo. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2003.
16 I have already dealt with Pascal's philosophical anthropology in two books, O homem insuficiente (2001) and Conhecimento na desgraça (2004), both published by Edusp, and therefore will not repeat what I have said there. My intention is merely to stress some specific points that might shed light on the false sufficiency of the humanistic oration.
17 See Blaise Pascal. "Écrits sur la grace" in Oeuvres complètes, Paris: Jean Mesnard, 1991, v. III.
18 See Hélène Michon. L'ordre du coeur, philosophie, théologie et mystique dan les Pensées de Pascal. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1996.
19 See Luiz Felipe Pondé. Conhecimento na desgraça. Edusp, 2004..
20 I do not intend here get to the bottom of these roots; it suffices to say they are close to Augustinian Protestantism. See Luiz Felipe Pondé. O homem insuficiente. Edusp, 2001.
21 See Luiz Felipe Pondé. Op. cit., particularly chapter 2.


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Decision not likely to end Gleneagles golf course dispute
For an obscure, turf-challenged, nine-hole golf course, Visitacion Valley's Gleneagles is certainly generating controversy.
In theory, the issue of management of the course should be settled Thursday when the Recreation and Park Commission meets. The commissioners will hear public comment and then meet in closed session to decide who should have the contract to run the facility.
There's not much suspense to the outcome. Virtually everyone, including critics, expects that current operator Tom Hsieh will be granted a nine-year extension. Earlier, Hsieh said that the terms of his agreement with the city - particularly a lack of funds for the increasing cost of water - might force Gleneagles to close. However, Hsieh and Rec and Park officials have hammered out a compromise that will keep the blue-collar course operating.
And that's that, right?
Not a chance.
When it heard Gleneagles might fold, a rival group - fronted by Gleneagles regular and dot-com investor Brian Smith - demanded a chance to bid on the contract. When it began to look as if the proposal would not be considered, things turned ugly. Attorney Andrew Zacks, who is part of Smith's group, says Hsieh is benefiting from "backroom San Francisco politics."
"Somebody is doing Tom a favor," Zacks said. "And I believe that it is Mayor (Ed) Lee. There needs to be a public hearing. Tom made it seem as that if he left, the golf course was going to close. But Tom never intended to walk away. It was all about squeezing the best deal out of the city."
So even if the commission extends Hsieh's lease, Smith's group intends to press its argument at the Board of Supervisors, where six votes are needed to approve the deal.
"The board is the ultimate decision maker," Zacks said. "Let's send it back to Park and Rec and open the bidding."
Those are the basics. Now let's try to get to what is really going on.
For starters, Smith's group has a point. Hsieh did kind of pull the old okeydoke when he gave 30-day notice on July 1 and implied that the 52-year-old golf course might shut down.
Hearing that, Smith's group and members of the golf club stepped up. Smith found a course manager and an experienced groundskeeper and was willing to invest in the property.
"I got into this to pick up the pieces if it was going to fail," Smith said this week. "We have professionals ready to go, and we wanted to try to get a bidding process going."
Truth be told, some people in City Hall were not happy with Hsieh for negotiating in public - especially since he's reversed his field after getting concessions. Now Hsieh says that not only will the course stay open, but he also wants another nine years.
Meanwhile, Smith's group is claiming that when Hsieh gave the 30-day notice, all bets were off.
It's a fine concept, but good luck.
Hsieh not only is a known commodity in City Hall, but he's also come up with an intriguing concept - turning the golf course into a training facility for neighborhood youngsters in a partnership with the Northern California Laborers Training Center. With the Sunnydale Housing Project next door, an apprentice program would be a huge boost to the neighborhood.
Smith says his group has a similar plan, but Hsieh was first. The mayor's office likes the idea, so Lee will probably look favorably on Hsieh's bid. The supervisors might get involved, but it is hard to imagine that a run-down golf course will be a hot political topic.
That is the real point. After all the accusations and infighting, Smith says it best.
"The course," he said, "is kind of a disaster right now."
As anyone who's seen the dust bowl conditions will tell you, "kind of" is an understatement. Let's get past the lease and get some grass on the fairways.
C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail: email@example.com. Twitter: @cwnevius

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NEWS: Camden Rocks Festival 2014 confirm more acts, including Devil Sold His Soul!
Forever bringing a massive amount of bands to the line-up, a further batch has just been confirmed to join this year's Camden Rocks Festival bill. The latest additions to join the festival, including Devil Sold Read More


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Josh Taylor was overlooked by many Division I colleges.
Josh Taylor was overlooked by many Division I colleges.
The four-year starting quarterback for the New Bern Bears owns nearly every offensive category in the school�s illustrious history.
Taylor, listed at 5-foot-11, had an option to play at just about any Division II program, and start almost immediately, from across the state. Scholarship offers from Division I programs just weren�t coming like people expected.
Then, N.C. State�s new head football coach Dave Doeren saw film of Taylor, and became interested.
Taylor, who led the Bears to the 4-A state championship on Nov. 30, signed with N.C. State as a preferred walk-on.
�We weighed his options,� New Bern football coach Bobby Curlings said. �Just about every Division II school around offered him.
We talked about going to a smaller school and playing right away, but it�s been his dream to play at a big school and play in the ACC.�
Doeren visited Taylor in New Bern � a rare move for a college coach to make a trip to see a walk-on.
East Carolina football coach Ruffin McNeil also paid Taylor a visit. Both coaches wanted Taylor to walk-on.
�(Josh) was about that far away from being offered by several big schools,� Curlings said. �Because of his height, people didn�t offer him a scholarship and tried to get him to walk-on, knowing that he would probably earn one.
�They wanted to get him on campus and work with him first hand before putting money on the table.�
Doeren told Taylor he expects him to come in and compete for a job, and earn a scholarship.
�I�m really going to go in there with a chip on my shoulder,� Taylor said. �I�m going to try and out-work somebody and show them I play with a lot of passion.�
The Wolfpack is looking for a quarterback to replace last year�s signal-caller Mike Glennon. Entering next season, Taylor will compete with Pete Thomas, Manny Stocker and Garrett Leatham for playing time.
Stocker threw two passes last season.
�They say that the quarterback spot is wide open,� Taylor said. �They have a transfer that�s sitting out, two scholarship players and me and another guy coming in.
�I know it will be unlikely to come in and start, but crazier things have happened.�
Taylor, whose brother Zack attends N.C. State, is not to prototypical pocket-passer. He has the speed to elude opposing defenses, while still being able to hurt teams with his throwing ability.
�What (Doeren) expects him to do is go in there and compete for a job,� Curlings said. �He told him point blank, with me standing there, �I�m not just getting you on the team to be a practice player. I want you to go in with a chip on your shoulder and compete for the job.
�They watched his film and saw how mobile he is. That�s the type of offense they want to get into.�
Taylor said he is willing to do what it takes to get on the field.
�I think I bring something different that the quarterbacks there don�t have,� Taylor said. �They are a little bigger, not as quick, and can throw the ball. It depends on what (N.C. State) wants to do on offense.�
Taylor attended an N.C. State practice last week and is going to the Spring Game on Saturday.
He is ready to don the Wolfpack uniform.
�I�m really excited about it,� Taylor said. �It�s gotten me back into a football mode. I�m ready to put the pads back on and go in there and compete, and try to out-work somebody and win a spot.�
Taylor, the 2012 Sun Journal Co-Player of the Year, holds New Bern school records in touchdowns (130), wins (41), total yards (11,296), passing yards (7,987) and rushing yards (3,309).
As a senior, he passed for 2,300 yards and 25 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,159 yards and 17 more scores.
�I am going continue to try and play within myself and not do too much, and I think that�s what�s made me a pretty successful quarterback,� said Taylor, who grew up as a North Carolina fan. �It�s a huge opportunity. It�s a good situation, and it�s at an ACC school that has a good history and great new coaching staff.�
Taylor led New Bern to the 4-A Eastern Regional Finals three years in a row. He culminated his high school career with a 39-38 win over Porter Ridge in the state championship game.
Taylor, the game�s Most Outstanding Player, drove the Bears 80 yards in less than six minutes to clinch the victory. The Bears� scored the game-winning touchdown on a run by Jachin Watkins with less than 20 seconds remaining.
�(Josh) is a competitor and he is a winner,� Curlings said. �I think (N.C. State) will have a hard time not finding a place for him.
�He is going to learn the playbook faster than anybody and he will understand the adjustments that you need to make. His football IQ is through the roof.�
N.C. State officially begins practice on Aug. 1. It opens the season with four-consecutive home games, starting with Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5669 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.


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Vancouver, BC: Illuminares Lantern Procession
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Photographs from the wonderful Illuminares Lantern Procession at Trout Lake, Vancouver, B.C., Canada on August 29, 2006. The best way to go to this event is not to be only spectators like we were, but to participate by making and bringing a lantern. You can take a lantern-making workshop before the event.
To see the full set of photographs from this event, click here. For event information, click here.


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The Miura's signature eyelashes around its headlights draw many comparisons. But what exactly is their function?
The slatted lashes are just one more trick up the Miura's bottomless sleeve of deception, beginning with the optical illusion created by the transversely mounted V12 in the middle, which gives the car the proportions of a front-engined berlinetta. The eyelashes make the car rather cute from a distance only to then transform into menacing alien claws up close.
But perhaps they are neither claws nor eyelashes, but the blades of an electric hair trimmer. While this might indicate that the Miura is but a hairdresser's car, nothing could be further from the truth. Beneath its High Sixties curvaceous skin of steel, it is a blood and thunder V12 supercar, barely half a step removed from the racetrack.
The eyelashes would be gone for the Miura SV, the last edition of the car before it was phased out for the Countach. Surprisingly, their function is not clear—and I've just realized that never during my trysts with various Miuras have I peeked in to see what's underneath.
I've always suspected cooling ducts for the brakes, but the only Miura I've seen with its front open had a screwed-down panel on the opposite side of the headlight assembly where a cooling duct might appear:
Perhaps the panel can be removed for actual road use, as a fake air scoop on a 60s Italian supercar would be just plain wrong. The slats on the door, for instance, send cool air into the engine bay:
Hat tip to Sertészsír.


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All hail the Queens! What an AMAZING night! It was so much fun getting to meet Victoria Aveyard and Sophie Jordan! And Kathryn Purdie, of course, did a phenomenal job moderating their panel. It was fascinating listening to them discuss the motivation behind their novels and some important details about their books and writing that I personally wouldn't have known otherwise.
Have you ever wondered what inspired Victoria Aveyard to write The Red Queen? I know I have, so here's a little video of her discussing that very thing.
Fun Facts:
From Victoria Aveyard:
- I knew Victoria wrote screenplays in the past, but I did not know that she is still actively writing them as well as working on the fourth book in the Red Queen series. She's even worked on a screenplay called Eternal with Marvel's Stan Le!
- I was ridiculously impressed by this, but Victoria actually drew the map for the Red Queen world. There's a picture below, so you can also be blown away by her multitude of talents as I am.
- I always feel a little bit bad for authors during signings, because I assume that their wrists must be KILLING them, but Victoria and Sophie confirmed that it's not so much theirs wrists as their faces from smiling so much. Hahaha. Totally makes sense though.
From Sophie Jordan:
- So first of all, I have to say I made the mistake of assuming Reign of Shadows was a Rapunzel retelling. It is not! It is very much it's own work, which becomes much more apparent in Rise of Fire. It was inspired by Tangled, The Riddick Chronicles, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones.
- Sophie has published over 20 novels. That is insane! I'm not entirely convinced she's human…
- Also EXCITING news, Sophie should be able to announce her next book soon! She was able to confirm that it is a YA novel, and she'll hopefully be able to give us some news in the next couple of weeks!
Some Pics of the Event and the YA and Wine Book Club!
I love our book club members so much. These are just a few of us in these pics. We did get to touch a copy of Crystal Blade for just a minute, and it's STUNNING. Cannot wait to get to read that one! We also just happened to have our ARC copies of Blood Rose Rebellion with us. They weren't part of the event, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend picking up that book when it comes out in March!
Remaining Tour Dates
This awesome tour is quickly coming to a close, but there are still a few stops left. Check the schedule below to see if they'll be stopping by a city near you!
Have any of you gotten to meet these lovely ladies during their tour? Have you read King's Cage or Rise of Fire yet? What did you think of them?


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From casual to formal trousers
The pants trend has changed through times from denim and jeans to chinos, single pants and linen trousers. What is common is a desire for beautiful materials. It is no longer the same pants we wear on weekdays and parties. We've got a more varied wardrobe.
Among other things opened up for is a smart-casual style, where for example, we see the short linen pants with a pair of sailors in barefoot or chinos in a twill weave that can spice up any shirt you throw after it.
Is there a party, we have everything from the party pants that are ready for a trip into down town, or maybe a more formal pair of trousers for an elegant outfit with a shirt and blazer.
Men Trousers with a fit
Pants for men are what we call a necessity in the wardrobe. Whether you need pants to work, for the holidays, in the office, to dinner or to the party, so that means a thought out selection is important.
The selection of pants for men does not mean everything. It is important to find your own style and customize your wardrobe so. At Bertoni we launch four collections a year and with each collection we get better at serve you with new fits and guide you your way to a perfect style.


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RS Components stocks a full range of sensors and transducers for everyday electronics applications. The range includes temperature, image, pressure, and hall effect sensors.
Microcontrollers are everywhere, from children's toys and your TV remote control to your motorcar and implantable medical devices. There is no escaping the wide variety of microcontrollers out there and the myriad of applications they can inhabit and the effects that they have on our lives.
View More Here
The Internet of Things (also referred to as IoT), is the increasing use of cheap and easy to program hardware to add internet and other types of connectivity to everyday objects.
View More Here
In today's world we are interacting with wireless technology more than ever, whether at home in the office or at the workshop, it's never far away. Contactless payment, wireless internet access and GPS are the everyday applications we associate with wireless communications.


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Cold and flu season is well underway. There are several different types of influenza, including the infamous H1N1 (aka Swine Flu), and more than 200 viruses that can cause a cold -- rhinovirus is the most common one. Antibiotics are not effective against any of them. So, how can you tell if you have the flu or just a common cold? According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you may have influenza if you exhibit some or all of these symptoms:
- Fever
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
- Stuffy nose
- Body aches
- Headache
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
Note: You can have the flu even if you don't have a fever.
Symptoms of a cold are different -- usually much milder -- than seasonal flu or H1N1. Here are some symptoms of a cold:
- Sneezing
- Stuff nose
- Runny nose
- Sore throat
- Coughing
- Watery eyes
- Mild headache
- Mild body aches
If you or your child have symptoms that last more than 10 days, symptoms that are not relieved by over-the-counter medications, or a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, you should consult a health care provider immediately.


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This year is the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong cinema. Films were shot in the colony by foreigners as early as 1898, but it wasn't until 1908 that Russian-American Benjamin Brodsky hired theatre director Lian Shaobo to make two comic shorts. Lian later joined the Minxin Company in Hong Kong to make the first HK feature in 1925. The era's network quickly grew to encompass both Shanghai's maturing industry and influences from across the Pacific, with Chinese-American filmmakers Kwan Manching and Chiu Ahu-sun establishing Hong Kong's pioneering Grandview studio.
These inaugural developments foreshadowed the pragmatic commercialism that would drive Hong Kong cinema's success in post-war Asia. Mandarin-speaking mainland studio veterans competed with Cantonese studios, and Hong Kong films dove headlong into the international arena. Eventually, a locally born art cinema would enable a city of just six million to sustain the second largest film industry in Asia.
Since the 1980s, Hong Kong filmmakers have faced severe challenges in the cinema marketplace even as they achieve ever-wider international critical recognition. This panel of critics, archivist-historians and film programmers will discuss the past and prospects of Hong Kong cinema – 100 years after they started.
–Bart Testa
Sam Ho, head, Hong Kong Film Archive
Jessica Li, visiting fellow, York University
Raymond Phathanavirangoon, international programmer, Toronto International Film Festival and Reel Asian
MODERATOR: Bart Testa, professor of Cinema Studies, University of Toronto


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Lady Flames held scoreless on fall break trip to Michigan
October 4, 2013 | East Lansing, Mich.
Junior goalie Chantal Lischynski, who allowed only a controversial third-period penalty shot in Liberty University's ACHA Division I women's hockey team's 1-0 loss at Adrian College on Thursday night, repelled 34 shots in three periods plus overtime to earn the shutout in a 0-0 tie, Friday night at Michigan State.
"Chantal was absolutely outstanding tonight," Liberty head coach Paul Bloomfield said of Lischynski, who tore the ACL in her knee a week after the 2012 ACHA DI national tournament and sat out most of last season. "When hurt your knee bad like that, (the recovery) becomes mental as well as physical. But she did a great job last night and she really stood on her head tonight. She was amazing."
Lischynski made 18 saves against Adrian, but Liberty lost on a penalty shot with 5 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in regulation on a call that Bloomfield questioned.
"There was a little bit of a scramble and Chantal got caught out of the net and she threw her stick to try to stop a shot and they were awarded a penalty shot," Bloomfield said, noting if the puck had hit the stick, it would have been an automatic goal. "A girl ran Chantal and ended up with a penalty. If the girl hadn't hit Chantal, she wouldn't have been out of position," where she had to throw her stick to try to make a save.
"We outshot them 28-18 and felt like we outplayed them," he added.
However, the Lady Flames (1-2-2) suffered their first ACHA loss of the season, after tying and losing exhibition games against a Raleigh (N.C.) 18-under team.
At Michigan State, the rink's Zamboni broke down, leaving spots of standing water on the ice.
"The ice was terrible," Bloomfield said. "It was really slow and when it's slow it's hard to skate (but) the girls battled really well."
After already starting the season short-handed without junior defenseman Madison Fischer and sophomore forward Catherine Burrell, who underwent offseason ankle and knee surgeries, respectively, Liberty had a handful of players suffer minor injuries in the two games in Michigan, including junior defenseman Autumn Kucharczyk.
"We've got some sore girls coming back," Bloomfield said before the team boarded a bus after midnight that would take them back to Lynchburg by around noon on Saturday. "It'll probably be Christmas before (Burrell) is able to rock and roll."
Lady Flames' forwards Carrie Jickling, Jenny MacArthur, and Sarah Stevenson also got hurt but played through their injuries.
"They're just banged up," Bloomfield said.
Liberty played with only three defensemen, but still managed to shut out the Spartans, who had plenty of reinforcements.
"Michigan State had a full squad (and) they got through (the defense) a few times, but (Lischynski) did a good job," Bloomfield said. "The girls played really strong in the third period and the overtime, stronger than the first two periods. Michigan State was the stronger team of the two (compared with Adrian). We ended up drawing three penalties, but battled out of them each time. I told the girls after the game tonight, we're going to have to battle all year."
Liberty has next weekend off before hosting Robert Morris, which it edged in double overtime in last year's ACHA DI national semifinals, Oct. 19 and 20 at the LaHaye Ice Center.


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Dog food reviews
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Naturapet Innova Senior Dry Dog Food
Date of last review
Sat July 18, 2009
Recommended By
Average Price
Average Rating
No recommendations
None indicated
None indicated
Calorie Content:
3,331 kcal/kg
374 kcal/cup
Turkey, chicken, barley, brown rice, potatoes, rice, pea fiber, chicken meal, herring, flaxseed, chicken fat, natural flavors, apples, carrots, herring oil, egg, sunflower oil, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, cottage cheese, alfalfa sprouts, pumpkin, dried chicory root, glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, direct-fed microbials, rosemary extract, lecithin, vitamins/minerals
Guaranteed analysis:
Crude Protein (min) 18 %
Crude Fat (min) 8 %
Crude Fiber (max) 5.5 %
Moisture (max) 10 %
Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (min) 1.8 %
Vitamin E (min) 925 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) (min) 100 mg/kg
Glucosamine (min) 600 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate (min) 500 mg/kg
DHA plus EPA 0.1 %
Typical analysis:
DHA 22:6n3 0.07 %
Protein 18.49 %
Arginine 1.19 %
Histidine 0.41 %
Isoleucine 0.7 %
Lysine 1.03 %
Met-Cysteine 0.6 %
Methionine 0.38 %
Phe-Tyrosine 1.23 %
Phenylalanine 0.76 %
Threonine 0.66 %
Valine 0.84 %
Fat 8.32 %
Linoleic Acid 1.9 %
Arachidonic Acid 0.06 %
Ash 4.76 %
Calcium 0.74 %
Phosphorous 0.65 %
Potassium 0.86 %
Sodium 0.11 %
Chloride 0.29 %
Magnesium 0.12 %
Iron 150.13 mg/kg
Copper 16.49 mg/kg
Manganese 32.8 mg/kg
Zinc 231.64 mg/kg
Iodine 2.97 mg/kg
Selenium 0.59 mg/kg
Vitamin A 22815.88 IU/kg
Vitamin D 2201.76 IU/kg
Vitamin E 883.5 IU/kg
Vitamin K 0.26 mg/kg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 6.49 mg/kg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 4.22 mg/kg
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 20.92 mg/kg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 51.22 mg/kg
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) 5.92 mg/kg
Folic Acid 0.78 mg/kg
Biotin 0.11 mg/kg
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) 2.97 mg/kg
Choline 1312.95 mg/kg
Taurine 0.07 mg/kg
Leucine 1.25 %
Tryptophan 0.2 %
Fiber 4.71 %
Carbohydrates 56.53 %
Starch 8.47 %
Calculated Calorie Content* 3333.06 kcal/kg
Carnitine 0.0 %
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) 110.7 mg/kg
Beta Carotene 24.24 mg/kg
Lutein 0.03 mg/kg
Chromium 0.0 ppb
Cobalt 0.74 mg/kg
Sulfur 0.04 %
Glucosamine 716.07 ppm
Chondroitin Sulfate 585.2 0
Lycopene 0.0 mg/kg
Linolenic Acid 0.36 %
Omega 3 0.59 %
Omega 6 1.75 %
EPA 20:5n3 0.07 %
DPA 22:5n3 0.02 %
*Calculated amounts may differ from packaging as some packaging values are based on available feeding trial data.
Nutritional statement:
Animal feeding tests using AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) procedures substantiate that Innova Senior Dry Dog Food provides complete and balanced nutrition for maintenance.
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Registered: October 2005
Posts: 3953
Review Date:
Sat July 18, 2009
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First two ingredients are named meat products
Insufficient meat content
The first two ingredients of this food are named meat products. These are inclusive of water content (about 80%). Once that is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredients will weigh around 20% of their wet weight. Since ingredients are listed in order of weight, is thus likely that these dry ingredients are not the majority ingredients in the food but may be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list than the wet form. The sole meat meal ingredient in this food does not appear until 8th on the ingredient list, below even filler such as pea fiber, making it appear unlikely that the food contains a great deal of meat.
The major ingredients of this food are likely to be grain. There are three grains and potato ahead of the first and only meat meal ingredient, making it likely that this food contains a greater amount of grain than meat (note this includes two forms of rice). The grains are, at least, good quality whole grains - but dog food should be based on meat not on grain.
Pea fiber is filler, though this is a minor ingredient in the food. There is a range of oils high in omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, as well as some amount of fruits/vegetables and egg. We appreciate the range of probiotics.
Overall, this food appears to be of good quality and uses decent ingredients. It would appear to be rather grain heavy, however, and animals may benefit from the addition of real meat to the diet. Senior dogs are not in need to inferior nutrition due to age.
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For the week ending 28 July 2007 / 13 Av 5767
Get a Sweater
A funny thing happened to me on the way out of the synagogue.
A follow worshipper came over to me to apologize for what he imagined had been an offense to me.
"If you heard me loudly say the name 'Weinbach'," he said, "let me explain what it was about."
To appreciate his delightful explanation I must mention that my rebbetzin runs the very active "Begged Yad Leyad" used clothing Gemach centers to enable needy families to acquire good quality second-hand clothes with token payments.
"Someone was complaining that the air-conditioning was making the synagogue too cold," my neighbor continued, "so I told him 'if you are too cold just go over to the Weinbach place and get a sweater'."


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Enjoi Umbrella Logo Black T-Shirt
Enjoi Flocked Panda Black Hoodie
Enjoi is a premium brand of skateboards, t-shirts, and accessories, like stickers and belts. Originally headed by professional skateboarder Marc Johnson, Enjoi embodies street and skate smarts with a sense of humor. The Enjoi panda logo is quickly recognizable, and is found on Enjoi tees and Enjoi decks at skate parks and all over.
Enjoi doesn't take themselves too seriously, except when it comes to making the best skateboards and graphics. Zumiez is the place to shop Enjoi, carrying a huge selection of Enjoi skateboards, Enjoi t-shirts, Enjoi hoodies, belts, stickers, wallets, and more.


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15 men accused of solicting children online
St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, other agencies make arrests
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office arrested 15 men from across north Florida and southeast Georgia over the past five days in an undercover operation to find people using the Internet to try and sexually exploit children.
It is the second time in two years that the Sheriff's Office and other agencies collaborated, with detectives posing as juveniles or parents to arrange to those soliciting for sex with children.
Deputies say that between last Wednesday and Sunday, 15 men solicited a parent/guardian or minor through an online chat room and traveled to an undercover house in northwest St. Johns County expecting to have sex with children between the ages of 13 and 14, investigators said. Once the suspects arrived at the house, they were arrested.
Faces, names, charges in St. Johns County arrests
The 15 suspects range in age from 19 to 49 years old and are facing all felony charges. Three of those arrested traveled from different areas of south Georgia, three came from Volusia County, two came from St. Johns, Duval and Alachua counties and one each came from Clay, Nassau and Flagler counties.
Among the professions of the suspects arrested, one was a St. Johns County school bus driver, a Navy enlisted man, students and clerks.
"I've known him for years and I never imagined him doing anything like that," said Karrie Lewis, a neighbor of 47-year-old Richard Copeland, the St. Johns County special needs bus driver accused of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old boy.
The Sheriff's Office said when Copeland arrived expecting to meet the boy, he was in possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
The St. Johns County School District placed Copeland on paid leave and is in the process of trying to have him removed from the school system.
"It's very disheartening," said Christina Langston, spokeswoman for the school system. "We can't control the actions of others."
Multiple agencies participated in "Operation No Soliciting" under the auspices of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Those agencies included the FBI, the U.S. Marshal's Task Force, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Office of the State Attorney 7th Judicial Circuit, the Sheriff's Offices of St. Johns, Alachua, Volusia, Clay and Brevard counties as well as the Gainesville, Daytona Beach and Tallahassee Police Departments.
Copyright 2013 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Helkay on Family Tree Circles
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Journals and Posts
Ferdinand Frederick NIEMANN or NEUMANN
searching for when my great great grandfather came out to New zealand settled & died in Nelson NZ.
I have fruitlessly searched for him coming out to NZ on a ship from Germany but haven't found anything.
Ferdinand Frederick Niemann or could be spelt Neumann born 1826 Germany married Nelson 1855 to Mary PRITCHARD died Nelson 1880.
Now I believe he may of gone to South Australia as in 1859 in the South Australian Gazette Natralisation that name appears as Neumann.
so how do I go about trying to search the shipping records from there to Nelson NZ.
John McDonald & Janet Grant from Inverness Scotland
John was born Abt 1810 Inverness he married Janet Grant there Abt 1829.John Sailed from London 27th April 1841 on the "Whitby",for New Zealand. Anyone who have these people in your tree I would really like to hear from you.
Newth from Wootton Bassett, England
Like to make contact with any Newth researcher.
I have a Robert Newth b 1811 Wootton Bassett,he emigrated to NZ on the "Willwatch" along with his cousin Mark.They were the Pioneer Settlers to New Zealand.
Niemann From Germany
Ferdinand Frederick Neimann was born in Germany abt 1826 Shipping records passengers to Nelson 1845 -1879 Catalogue page 18
I found a Mr Numan left Gravesend 7th July 1855 [ this links with the year that Ferdinand was supposed to of come out ] on board the "Maori" which arrived Nelson 23rd Oct 1855.could this be him ? yet to be confirmed
Original German spelling would have double 'n' on the end
Name believed to have been frequently anglicized to " Newman"
He married Mary Pritchard born 1823 Monmouthshire,Wales.
I haven't been able to find out where he was born as nothing but germany on his death certificate.They had 3 sons & one daughter.
Bethune from Otago New Zeland
Malcolm Bethune born 1877 Dunedin New Zealand went to the 1st World war with the Australian Forces as a dispatch Rider. He was wounded in the head and took on an Assumed name.
I haven't been able to find out any mor info on him.
Son of David Bethune & Annie Malcolm
Burnett/Ironmonger England to Dovedale,Nelson,New Zealand
I am researching my ggggrandparents Richard Burnett born 1805 Kent, England he was a Agricultral labourer,sailed from London 27th April 1841 on the "Whitby",arriving in Nelson New Zealand 20th Oct 1841.. His wife Sarah Ironmonger born 1805 England came out on the " Lloyds"
with her husband Richards two children from his first marriage, George & Harriet, and pregnant with her first child. George was to die on the voyage out to New Zealand.
I would like to hear from any decendants.
- Displaying 1-6 of 6 Journals
- 1
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Thank you to "FaceOff" and Syfy for asking some of the Heroes of Cosplay cast to make a little appearance.
From left to right: Holly Conrad and Jessica Merizan of Crabcat Industries, myself in my original Absinthe Fairy costume, Midnight Armor and Riddle's Messy Wardrobe!
We loved that the setting was the Park Plaza, and oddly enough I wore the same Absinthe Fairy costume in that building in 2011 for the Jareth's Labyrinth Ball! The FaceOff producers selected my Absinthe Fairy from my collection of original costumes as the one I would be wearing on the show. Since it was a surprise to us where we would be headed for the FaceOff shoot, I had a serious cosplay déjà vu moment when I realized where I was!!


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In Facebook's S-1 filing for an initial public offering there is no mention of revenue from mobile advertising -- mostly because they don't advertise on mobile. Yet.
With an increase in mobile consumption that exceeds its desktop pace, moving some needles on the smaller screen makes long-term sense. And, according to one report, Facebook will have sponsored stories "within week" on its mobile web and apps.
The Financial Times quotes several sources familiar with the plan to roll out targeted (marketed? featured?) stories to its 425 million active mobile users. Perhaps geolocating users and serving them hyper-local advertising, or click-through deals and offers.
U.S. & World
In September 2011, Facebook's Global VP of Marketing Carolyn Everson told an industry conference that the company hadn't figured out how to crack the mobile nut. But in December of 2011 they must have formulated an idea, because Bloomberg reported that in March 2012 sponsored stories would roll out.


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Amarantus BioSciences Explores Orphan Drug Strategy Based on MANF Protein Folding
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: AMBS), a biotechnology company developing new treatments and diagnostics for Parkinson's disease and Traumatic Brain Injury centred on its proprietary anti-apoptosis therapeutic protein MANF, today announced that it intends to pursue the identification of one or multiple therapeutic indications for its lead therapeutic candidate MANF that could lead to the therapy receiving orphan drug designation(s) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The strategy is centred on exploiting MANF's unique mechanism of action related to facilitating proper protein folding and processing in the endoplasmic reticulum in order to identify rare and/or ultra-rare diseases where MANF treatment may play a significant role in improving patient outcomes in disease states where no other treatment options are currently available.
"Protein misfolding and aggregation plays a significant role in a wide range of human diseases, including very common diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as many rare and ultra-rare diseases," said Gerald E. Commissiong, President & CEO of Amarantus. "MANF has a unique ability to mediate protein folding in an extracellular fashion, making it potentially an ideal biologic drug candidate for a wide range of human conditions. Parkinson's continues to remain the Company's primary focus, especially in light of recently announced data where MANF demonstrated superiority over GDNF in a neurorestoration animal model of Parkinson's disease. However, the recent grant the Company was awarded by the Center of Excellence in Apoptosis Research will allow our scientific team to explore MANF's utility in diseases that have much smaller patient populations, and we will make a concerted effort to focus on rare and ultra-rare diseases when reviewing the results. This strategy may afford the Company an accelerated pathway to commercialization by identifying therapeutic applications for MANF that would require few small clinical trials. Data already pooled from publicly available databases suggests this orphan designation strategy may bear fruit for the Company in the near-term."
The Orphan Drug Act (ODA) provides for granting special status to a product to treat a rare disease or condition upon request of a sponsor. The combination of the product to treat the rare disease or condition must meet certain criteria. This status is referred to as orphan designation. Orphan designation qualifies the sponsor of the product for the tax credit and marketing incentives of the ODA. A marketing application for a prescription drug product that has been designated as a drug for a rare disease or condition is not subject to a prescription drug user fee unless the application includes an indication for other than a rare disease or condition.[1]
A prime example of a successful strategy is Genzyme, who was successful in turning its orphan drug strategy into a $20.1Bbuyout by Sanofi Aventis in 2011. Another example of a successful orphan strategy is FerroKin Biosciences, who was successfully acquired by Shire for $325M in early 2012 with only $27M in paid-in-capital and a virtual staff of 7 employees. In 2011, Alexion Pharmaceuticals reported $783M in revenue based on sales of its only product Soliris, a drug that treats a population of approximately 10,000 patients in the US and Western Europe.
About Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. is a development-stage biotechnology company founded in January 2008. The Company has a focus on developing certain biologics surrounding the intellectual property and proprietary technologies it owns to treat and/or diagnose Parkinson's disease, Traumatic Brain Injury and other human diseases. The Company owns the intellectual property rights to a therapeutic protein known as Mesencephalic-Astrocyte-derived Neurotrophic Factor ("MANF") and is developing MANF-based products as treatments for brain disorders. The Company also is a Founding Member of the Coalition for Concussion Treatment (#C4CT), a movement initiated in collaboration with Brewer Sports International seeking to raise awareness of new treatments in development for concussions and nervous-system disorders. For further information please visit www.Amarantus.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the possible benefits of MANF therapeutic applications and/or advantages presented by Amarantus' PhenoGuard technology, as well as statements about expectations, plans and prospects of the development of Amarantus' new product candidates. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks that the anticipated benefits of the therapeutic drug candidates or discovery platforms, as well as the risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the development of Amarantus' new product candidates, including those identified under "Risk Factors" in Amarantus' most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in other filings Amarantus periodically makes with the SEC. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements Amarantus does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views or events or circumstances that occur after the date of this presentation.
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.
Gerald E. Commissiong


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Friday, April 20, 2018
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Ongoing N.Z. poetry language and art project. Includes art & text. It is 'constructed'. A total poem. Indeterminate. History, process: total culture & not limited to any media or "perfect" isolated texts or "poetics". It rejects lines between poetry and prose or art and life. It struggles with the need for perfection. It can be everything. It is subjective as much as it is objective.


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