text:
Septon field
At the level of the ezoosmic grid all real Po particles, although each of them exists in its ezoosmic cell, are connected with each other through the common septon field. (Note: for more information about this field refer to the book "AllatRa" where it is mentioned under the term "Animal mind"). The septon field unites all stationary Po particles in one solid system, "managing part" of the material world, which functions as one "control centre" only within 6(!) dimensions (Note: refer to the book "AllatRa" – "the power of the Animal mind is limited to 6 dimensions"). In the septon field there is an immediate informational contact between the real(stationary) Po particles. It means that in this field information is transmitted immediately from one real Po particle to another, no matter how far they are placed from each other in the ezoosmic grid. There is no time in this field.
The septon field is a common universal field thanks to which all the fundamental interactions in the material world take place. It is at the core of any phenomena, process, object and their components. Both the objects of macrocosm and the objects of microcosm have their own septon field. This is a common field which unites them in their essence, as the real Po particle and the phantom Po particle consist of the elements of this field – septons. This universal field determines the behavior of complex systems. The knowledge of the septon field are the key one for the understanding of the material world at all levels of its existence. It can give answers to such questions as: what is time, space, gravity, electromagnetism, the nature of the electric current, what makes the particles and objects move and strive to survive, interact with each other. If you know how the septon field functions, you can understand how the process of information transmission, its encoding and decoding by different systems, etc. takes place. Moreover, knowing how the septon field of various objects, including human beings, functions, one can understand how the process of thoughts formation takes places.
The unique structure of the septon field, its minimal component is a septon (the modern term which is used in the PRIMORDIAL ALLATRA PHYSICS). The word septon derives from the Latin word "septem" which means "seven". Such name was given due to the number of elements in this structure. Moreover, taking into account the philosophical context, the concept of septon (as part of the Animal mind) relates in its meaning to both the Latin word "septum" and the Greek word "σήψιζ" (sept). The Latin word "septum" means "fence", i.e. a soft wall dividing some space, room into parts, internal enclosing structure, main framework. As it was written in ancient times, one of the main actions of the Animal mind is division and separation of one into parts (divide and rule). The Greek word «σήψιζ» (sept) means "decay", "rotten", i.e perishability, destruction, decomposition of the dead, the transformation of the dead under the influence of some conditions (that plays a significant role in the cycle of elements). Septon may not be ascribed even to the smallest indivisible Po particle as it is what creates the Po particle itself (both the real and phantom one) but it is not the Po particle in its basic essence. The structure of septon consists of an inclusion of the force of Allat and surrounding six "antipode-reflections" – antiallats, i.e. overall – 7 elements. As a figurative example, taking into account many associations of the threedimensional world, we can say, that it is some kind of a mini-machine, a mechanism which transforms the force of Allat into antiallat, which allows the material world to exist.
From the book "AllatRa": And here is another very important aspect of the creation of the Universe, which gives an understanding of what the Universe represents now. The drive of the force of Allat for the unified ordered form set the motion of the Universe "from the inside to the outside" and started spinning it in the right spiral, i.e. towards expansion. So the function to create was set. (People from the upper Paleolithic times symbolically depicted this movement "from the inside to the outside" as the right swastika (the "straight", "right" swastika), in other words as a cross with edges bent to the left. Such a swastika symbolizes the clockwise movement — in the right direction. By the way, translated from Sanskrit, the Old Indian word "swastika" from the word "su" means "associated with good", i.e. "su-asti" means "the beautiful exists", "good existence".
Simultaneously, while spinning the Universe in the right spiral, the force of Allat gave birth to the opposing force, which started spinning in a reverse spiral inside the Universe, in the direction which was opposite to the main direction of Allat — "from the outside to the inside", bringing matter together into a unified material Mind (the Animal mind). Thus, the destroying function was set, an opposition to the forces of Allat. (Peoples symbolically depicted this motion "from the outside to the inside" as the wrong, aggressive, reverse swastika, i.e. as a cross with edges bent to the right. Such a swastika symbolizes the counterclockwise movement — in the left direction. In mythology, the emergence of the countervailing force is reflected in the image of the emergence of fire out of water).
So, in such a way there appeared two directly opposite forces in the Universe: the greater force spinning the Universe outwards, and the smaller force that opposes it within the Universe itself. After these two forces had manifested themselves, the Universe lost its spherical shape and flattened under their influence, that is, compressed, became flatter. This point is recorded in the cosmic legends of nations of the world as the cracking of the world egg, splitting it in two halves, out of which heaven and earth were created, and divisions (spaces) and waters were placed between them. Other legends say that the components, which remained after the egg had cracked, expanded and turned into the Universe. Still other episodes mention the division of the world into two elements or two deities with directly opposite functions, the creation of an invisible couple. The spirals themselves are represented in myths as, for example, the first couple of gods with opposite functions (one having the divine essence, while the other one, the demonic one), from whom the other gods later descended. In another version of the legends, they were depicted as half-humans and half-snakes (at that, the creative ones being the water deities, had bodies of the distinctive green colour). In a third version, there were characters that embodied order, life waters, fertility, and light; the opposite ones personified disorder, death, darkness, an unpaired creature (for instance, according to African myths, the jackal who desired to become the master of the Universe). So this is how the creation of the Universe was reflected in myths. It is just that modern people have lost the understanding of the spiritual side of the subject, and everything has been reduced to the level of the material perception of ancient stories. (Note: for more information about the force of Allat please refer to the book «AllatRa»)
In ancient times this structure, which is the main unit of the septon field, was also associatively compared to 6 "smoking mirrors" (baneful origins), that surround the shining source (the candle of living light; the true origin). These mirrors, while turning, only distort the reflected light and are not light by their nature. In ancient legends the true nature (the inclusion of the force of Allat) was compared to a burning candle. It was mentioned that once the burning candle disappears, all the visible will disappear and turn into nothing. The candle is a constant burning, the mirrors are constant reflection. In such a way ancient people explained the essence of the constant movement and action of this structure – septon. There are much more reflections, they attract man's eye, focusing his attention on the dead. The real source of life for a human being is only one, and it is hidden not in the external world or human body, but in the Soul. On the whole, it was mentioned that this is plural mirror reflection of the one, as the brink between the visible and invisible worlds, reality and illusion, which only disguises as reality. That is why it was written in spiritual texts that only that one who is not bound to the visible, takes care of the Soul.
Using modern associative comparisons, 6 "antipodes-reflections" - antiallats - may be called some kind of microgolographical objects which exist only thanks to the presence in this world of the force of Allat and make up the essence of the illusionary world – the world of many pseudocopies. Ancient texts contain mentions that this temporal world is just an illusion of mirror crossings, which captures the man's attention by false realism of shadows, their play of mutual contemplations. Everything is just a reflection of something, a cause and a consequence. What draws human attention more: the mirror play of many reflections of the material world or the true spiritual source – the part of that he becomes in the end.
Every Po particle (both the real and phantom one) - is in its essence a concentrated cluster of septons around which there is its own moderate diffused septon field. It means that Po particle represents a high concentration of septons in a small space - the ezoosmic cell. Figuratively, in order to understand the process, Po particle maybe compared with the atmospheric vortex (tornado) where septons are the molecules of the air. Also Po particle can be associatevely compared with snow clod consisting of many snowflakes (septons). In this concentrated clod (Po particle) there are up to 80% of septons, in its own septon field which surrounds this clod – up to 20% of septons. On the whole, the phantom Po particle (which all the elementary particles consist of) may be associatively compared to a convenient mechanism intended mainly for storage and transportation of an inner potential (energy and information). And the real Po particle (one of the main elements of the ezoosmic cell) which has a higher concentration of septons may be compared to a convenient mechanism intended for partial redistribution of the inner potential of the phantom Po particle.
In early Vedic mythology there was a concept "maya" (in Sanskrit माया literally ‒ "illusion"), which later was introduced to Hinduism and other religions of India. This concept denoted the image of something that exists on its own, aside God. It was thought that if God is not visible, nothing could be seen in its real form because in this case man is under the influence of maya. The material world – maya, consisting of collection of many illusions - makes man perceive and see everything in a wrong way, in false form which are not such in Reality (spiritual world). Maya hides Reality. An illusion appears because man is tempted by wishes in this world and unwilling to enter the genuine Reality. In Veda the term maya denotes the force which originates in the material world.
References: Религия: Энциклопедия / сост. и общ. ред. Грицанов А.А., Синило Г. В. [Religion: Encyclopedia/ editors – A.A. Gritsanov, G.V. Sinilo] Minsk: Knizhny Dom, 2007 [In Russian].
A septon field is the basis of the material Universe. This field is everywhere. It forms the basis of all known and unknown (to official science) fields and interactions, material objects, organic and non-organic combinations and so on. The septon field may be found in all living and non-living objects and phenomena. For example, the Earth has its septon field too. And as in cases with other objects it activates before certain phenomena happen. It was noticed that almost 7-8 hours before a tornado there is a drastic rise of the septon field intensity in the places where it originates and on its way. According to the latest research in the sphere of seismology and volcanology, conducted by the scientists of the ALLATRA International Public Movement, in "focal" areas of our planet there is a rise of the septon field intensity and its alterations before earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Our experience has proven that we can study these processes, control them and make accurate forecasts of natural events. (Note: for more information please refer to the report "On the Problems and Consequences of Global Climate Change on Earth. Effective Ways to Solve These Problems" ‒ http://allatra.org/ru/reports/o-problemah-i-posledstvijah-globalnogo-izmenenija-klimata-na-zemle).
Today, the main topic of discussion between physicists (as well as philosophers of Аntiquity) is the "hypothesis" of existence of a unified field, which is the basis of all phenomena and fundamental interactions of the material world. But unlike the antique scientists who used more ancient knowledge of this unified field, many of today's scientists, being under control of the system, wander in the darkness of "materialism". Perhaps, progressive scientists of the world should put themselves into the position of Observer above the existing problem and ponder the question, why so much human energy, attention, nerves and resources are focused in this restrictive framework. From where did originally such a thought-program, such zealous aspiration to assign by all means to the matter the central role in any "Grand Unification Theory" to matter and thereby to strengthen the new "acknowledgment" of materialism in the consciousness of present and future generations emerge? Who benefits from guiding the mankind in that direction of thinking and focusing so much attention on the priority of material nature, first of all strengthening this program in the human consciousness? Why, in very ancient times the knowledge about the Unified field as a unified collective material Mind, World Mind, unified field of Consciousness, "cosmic Thought basis", "Prince of this world" and so on was presented as an antipode to the spiritual world? Why, anyhow, was it mentioned that the human consciousness (his own septon field where thoughts arise) belongs to the animal nature and is a part of the unified Animal Mind of the Universe? Why were the deepest feelings were considered to be the unique human perception (process without the participation of septon field of consciousness!), which connected the Personality with the soul (the spiritual nature), with the spiritual world of an exclusive creative force, offering to the Personality an absolute freedom from the power of the Animal nature?
Nowadays many physicists spend their life time, making tremendous efforts to create new materialistic theories, struggle with the insoluble dilemma of creation of "The theory of everything", with searching of a Unified field equation which would unite only four fundamental interactions known nowadays gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong. But what lies at the basis of these fields, and why is the ancient rule "change conditions and everything will change" also applicable to them? Mentioned force fields known nowadays are not a limit of the existing interactions in nature. It is enough to glance at the list of unsolved problems of modern science on each of its fundamental directions to understand how little people know about themselves, about the world and its structure. There is no need even to go deep into the complexity of cosmic processes, but just try to answer simple questions, what is human thought? How is it formed and what does it consist of? What lies at the basis of phenomena related to it? What are the conscious and subconscious fields composed of? What power is hidden in the human attention, and why is it an action trigger? How does actually the process of information transmission in the world invisible to the human eye take place? After all, the basis of all these processes is pure physics. The PRIMORDIAL ALLATRA PHISICS not only answers these questions, but also gives an absolute understanding of who a human being is and what the primordial sense of human existence consists in.
Septon field (the Animal Mind) - is the highest by the organization self-conscious intelligent structure of matter, which perceives itself as "living in the real world." It was mentioned since the most ancient times as the all-pervading force which originates in the material world, as its Higher intelligence, as a kind of pervasive, dominating in this material world Principle (the Animal mind ) which is opposite in functions to the spiritual world. And the human consciousness was mentioned as a material part of this intelligent structure, which was opposed to the nonmaterial part of the person ‒ to the spiritual nature (the soul).
Since ancient times in human society there was a knowledge of the existence of power (demonic essence) which was intelligent and to a great extent exceeded human abilities in the material world, but it was insignificant compared to the forces of the spiritual world. In extreme antiquity people knew that nature isn't a dead object. Along with the concepts of the main sense of human existence –the spiritual life, the soul, its independence from the body, the rebirth of the soul, people knew also about life and the material world order, they knew that every natural phenomenon is produced by the force, which is inherent to the entire matter (Note: by septon field). They called some of its manifestations "spirits" (the invisible forces of the world) and they had an understanding that all surrounding objects of nature have supernatural doubles (Note: any object in a material world has its own septon field).
For example, people of Melanesia and Polynesia knew about all-pervading spirit "mana" ‒ a supernatural force (latent or potential) which is not perceived sensually, brings mainly evil for a person and only at first sight seems good. Mana as a force can be individually inherent to some spirits, dead, and also people (generally to sorcerers, priests, leaders), animals, objects. For Melanesians mana is a mysterious and active force, qualitatively different from physical forces, and acting randomly. For example, they believed that: the head of the clan has mana; magic rituals of white people (missionaries) who came to their lands possess stronger mana than mana of local rituals; the British conquered the Maori people because their mana was stronger; even latrines have mana being "receivers of force " which the human bodies and their excretions possess. Moreover, this force was associated with the "shadow" of the soul (Note: subpersonality), fated to disappear with the death of its carrier, whether it passes to another person or transforms into a totem. It is interesting that in other parts of the world echoes of this knowledge have also remained. There were other nations that knew from ancient times about the existence of such a force. For example, in some tribes of American Indians, this force is known as Wakan (Wakanda, in the Dakota Sioux tribes), Orenda (in Iroquois; they believed, for example, that there is Orenda in tempest, Orenda takes possession of man when he is in a rage), pokunt (in the Shoshone tribes), mannitou (in the Algonquian tribes), eki (in Pongwe in Africa), megbe (in African Pygmies - Bambuti) etc.. All these concepts express the same, as mana of Melanesians.
Till now in the modern world the component of compound words "-man" pointing to obsession by any action, phenomenon, etc. is used. In Greek, there is a word «manía» - "madness, exaltation, passion." In Slavic languages the word "manna" means "temptation, deception, lure, something misleading, sorcery". It is related to the Russian words "маять , "маю", "намаять"(to the Russian words "to languish") (which have such meanings as: "torture; to let know by a sign; to deceive; mirage, roundabout way) as well as the ancient Hindu word "māуā́" - "transformation, magic power, deception, illusion" ("dur-māyú ṣ" ‒ "applying evil spells"). The Slavs since ancient times have also preserved a mythological character Mara – a malicious spirit that causes harm to people. In Sanskrit «mâra» literally means - "killing", "destroying". In Buddhist mythology, Mara – is a spirit that personifies evil and all that leads to death of living beings. The huge number of evil spirits representing negative emotions of a person (desire, hatred, doubt and so on) is subordinated to it. Its main function is considered to be the creation of obstacles to people following the spiritual way, seeking enlightenment, their distraction from inner spiritual life by the external earthly outer illusory attraction, giving lie as truth, negative as positive. Its mission - to lead their spiritual life to death. In the mythology of Buddhism Mara - is a demon-tempter, who tried to seduce Gautama Buddha by different earthly visions and desires. In Chinese mythology, there is a character Man - a monstrous serpent (dragon), who was considered the greatest snake, the king of snakes.
Different ancient nations had an understanding that all things in the world were endowed with a force which doesn't belong to these things. Such natural phenomena as, for example, wind, rain or objects ‒ rivers, trees, stones and so on were said to have "their own spirit". It was considered that all-pervading force is present everywhere in the Cosmos, but appears only in extraordinary phenomena, for example, in the activity of the Sun and Moon, in times of strong earthquakes, hurricanes, thunder, etc., in creatures, and also in people who were obsessed by this force (sorcerers, etc.). The latter manipulated manna to get material benefits (note, different from spiritual!), momentary desires, for example, such as recovery from illness, good weather, success in battle, achievement of wealth and power. This force formed the basis of magical actions. It was thought that such a man (sorcerer) can communicate with the spirits of nature and dead people (ghosts) in the process of divination, magic, sorcery. However, there was also an understanding that no one possesses that power himself: everything he did, using this force, he did by means of spirits belonging to this force which, eventually, started controlling him as a slave. Such a person, succumbing to these temporary, illusory temptations of the Animal mind paid for his illusions and games with its force disproportionately more - his real vital force and true freedom. It was considered the way of a doomed to Death. (Note: see more in the book "AllatRa")
However all this knowledge about the material world, hostile for person, and the force which this temporary world was endowed with, was secondary on the background of the basic concept of the spiritual world and a person's connection with this higher world. It existed as a supplement to the explanation of what is the sense of human life is, and what the reasons of human temporary existence and suffering in this material world are. That means that this knowledge was given in addition to the general spiritual knowledge, wide disclosing of the meaning and importance of the spiritual nature in a human – the soul. From extreme antiquity people knew that the soul exists out of body (during lifetime and after the death of body), has the ability to move to new bodies and is not the exclusive property of a person, and is only a force which is capable to bring a person beyond the limits of the material world to reunite with the eternal and initial spiritual world. People had an understanding, that the Personality (not the body but as whom a person feels inside) can during the life, thanks to the merger with the soul go to the spiritual world, thereby acquiring an absolute freedom from the power of the Animal nature of the material world. This is the main sense of human life. The rest, as it was pointed out by ancient people, whatever the person reaches in the material world during the life, everything is temporary, illusory, mortal, and for all the actions the Personality will bear the responsibility after the death of body.
In fact, ancient Greeks called priests of the Medes and Persians ("magush, mugh") by the word "magician" (in Latin ‒ "magi", in Greek ‒ "magos"). It is assumed that this word goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root «mugh» - «to have the power to be able to", many European words denoting the concept of I " I can", "I have opportunity" are formed from this root. In ancient times gifted people who possessed a force were referred to as "those having an opportunity" (Note: refer to the book "AllatRa"). Some possessed it from birth, and some acquired it in the course of development of special techniques. In essence, it is the force of Allat. But the more force was in a person the more active his or her septon field became. Force is force, here everything depended on what the person chose, where he or she invested their attention in, as they said in ancient times – either his living flame (the Soul, his deepest feelings) or the curling smoke of the illusory world (thoughts, emotions from the Animal nature).
If man focused the most part of his attention on the septon field, i.e. on the desires (thoughts) of material life, then as a result he got magic and catastrophic consequences for his Personality. If man directed this force to the spiritual selfdevelopment, he reached the main goal of his life – his spiritual transformation and inner freedom from the material world, from the dominating influence of septon field.
At the heart of these changes and transformations of a person there is pure physics. According to the ancient primordial knowledge, the force of the attention ‒ is an enormous vital force in which the creating force of Allat is concentrated. It is thanks to the power of attention that the Personality exercises the freedom of choice and forms his or her afterlife destiny by every moment of his or her life. Where person draws his attention (inner potential), that becomes his reality. Any attempts to draw attention to the material world, its desires and delusions, subsequently always form the reality of suffering extended in time. That is why in the spiritual treatises it was said that it's important for man to focus his attention permanently on his spiritual inner world. Only in this case, the person will invest his precious inner potential to the formation of life after death, and not spend it on the formation of death during the life (subpersonalities). In the language of the PRIMORDIAL ALLATRA PHYSICS if a person spends no more than 10% of power of his attention to the material life and 90% of the attention focuses on the state of domination of spiritual life in his inner world then this leads to the spiritual transformation of that person. Otherwise, when 90% of attention are paid to material life, desires and thoughts of the Animal nature and 10% ‒ to care about the spiritual condition, then during the lifetime a person forms for himself a subpersonality. It is not philosophy or religion, but the fundamental laws of physics.
All these spiritual knowledge in one or another form existed in human society initially and it is confirmed by ethnographic researches of different nations of the world. It is interesting that among those nations, which nowadays some scientists of consumer society call "primitive communities", magic practices, in contrast to the spiritual life, are developed less (they receive less attention), than among those nations which have already established the Institute of religion and politics. The latter has magic on the leading place as the secret knowledge of priests and those in power (leaders). Thus despite the fact that magic is found everywhere, it has the prevailing influence in "developed societies'. The obvious fact: till now magic and occultism are the core of the majority of the most developed priestly and political systems of the modern world and are at the heart of any global world reorganization designed on the kitchen of the world politics. It is enough to wonder why priests belonging to different religious systems, using all sorts of tools, force millions of believers to spend their inner potential on "the smoking mirrors", to ask "the supreme forces" for things that are temporary and illusory for a human being, e.g. solution of any material problems, health, good harvest, victories in wars and so on. What stands behind it? Who controls the consciousness of priests when they motivate crowds to ask about the earthly concerns? After all, ideally they should preach to people about the soul and the spiritual vigil in this temporary world. What is the sense of the majority of various religious rites and how does that differ from the magical rites of aboriginals who use the force of mana?
Spiritual life implies the only request – for the spiritual salvation of the Personality, salvation thanks to his or her soul. This request is made by person in his inner world without external intermediaries. In the history of religions of different times there were enough people who awoke spiritually and understood all the falsity and deception of the system, all that mirror distortion of the initial Truth. Such people, usually, whatever position in the religion they held, after realizing it, moved far away from the system of power and dedicated more time to the real spiritual improvement.
In ancient India, it was considered that the basis of magic are the supernatural forces which were connected with the force of world illusion (maya). Since ancient times, the Hindus had the concept of the"maya" as a designation of world illusion, the "overturning", transforming principle, determining the existence of the material world. There was the whole doctrine about "maya" which was connected with the word "magic" (the Sanskrit word "maya" ‒ sorcery, deception, mystification, illusiveness). It was based on the Law of Similarity (the similar generates similar), on the possibility of person's conscious impact on the elements of the surrounding world. It was believed that using maya god brings to the imaginary, illusory life (which is perceived only by consciousness) the whole world of objects to which a person not possessing a genuine knowledge, is inclined to attribute the status of "reality."
At the heart of magic always lies the desire for power. The famous philosopher of antiquity Proclus wrote about using of the supernatural forces that are the basis of magic by priests of antiquity: "Ancient priests, taking into account that the natural things have some affinity and sympathy of one thing to another, and between manifested things and occult forces, and having discovered that all things are contained in everything, created a sacred science on the basis of this mutual sympathy and similarity... and used both the celestial and the earthly essences in occult purposes, by means of which, through a certain similarity, relegated the divine forces in this lowest dwelling".
The principle of the Animal mind "divide and rule" repeated fractally in human consumer society. In history it is possible to track clearly the periods of active impact of the unified septon field on human society in different periods of time through human consciousness controlled by it. Exactly during these periods we can observe a splash of activity of people (its conductors), connected with the power (magic, occultism) in the human society, which distorted the spiritual knowledge of the previous generations and introduced the attitudes favorable to the system of Animal mind based on fear, hatred, servility to young generations of mankind.
Ancient spiritual legends said that the primordial spiritual knowledge make people truly free, independent of the illusions of the material world, reveal inner spiritual force. However, when in human society religions as institutes of the priestly power started to be formed, they began to rebuild the primordial spiritual knowledge into a form convenient for manipulating people. If we trace the history of the different religions existing at various times in human society, we will see that every religion that gained mass popularity on the basis of grains of the spiritual knowledge was subsequently split into different movements due to the problem of dominating and power in the religious community. There was a breaking of power within the family of descendants of priests that generated dogmatic divergences of different sort inside of religious movement. Differences in the interpretation of the nature of power took a form of various doctrines of supreme power, in somebody's "own" understanding of spiritual knowledge claimed to be truth. It is an indicator of how the material stereotyped thinking controlled by septon field acts.
If we compare the institutions of religion and politics of different times and nations, it is possible to identify the same stereotypes of struggle for power and influence inherent in any complex system of organization of matter. Today it is possible to observe in its entirety the result of the work of the unified septon field of the stationary Po particles and their effects on the consciousness of people as a part of this field. This is a multiple breaking of a human society into small pieces on the basis of any signs: starting with nationality, religion, social status of a person, the presence of territorial borders and ending with all sorts of institutions of power, hierarchies and so on. "Divide and rule" – this is a reflection of what is happening in people's minds and who actually manipulates them and for what purposes.
Knowing the foundations of the PRIMORDIAL ALLATRA PHYSICS, it is possible to understand that consciousness with its multiple thoughts is only the septon field of the Animal nature which easily manipulates man, taking his potential for its life. However, due to the spiritual development of a person a completely different perception opens, independent of the septon field, that allows a person to get free from the dominance of the septon field and reach his genuine source of forces - the soul. As ancient people wrote, having lost the primordial knowledge over time, having lost the keys of the access to their inexhaustible spiritual source, people started to serve mirrors, seduced by the game of their illusions.
References: Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / chapters. Ed. Ilicheva LF, PN Fedoseyev, Kovalev References: Философский энциклопедический словарь / глав. ред. Ильичёв Л. Ф., Федосеев П. Н., Ковалёв С. М., Панов В. Г. [Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary/ editors - L.F. Ilichev, P.N. Fedoseev, S.M. Kovalev, V.G. Panov] Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983 [In Russian]; Мифы народов мира. Энциклопедия // гл. ред. Токарев С.А. [Myths of Nations of the World. Encyclopedia/ head editor – S.A.Tokarev] Мoscow, 1987 [In Russian]; Элиаде Мирча. Очерки сравнительного религиоведения. [ Mircea Eliade. Essays on Comparative Religious Studies] Moscow, Ladomir, 1999[In Russian]; Рели- гия: Энциклопедия / сост. и общ. ред. Грицанов А.А., Синило Г. В. [Religion: Encyclopedia/ editors – A.A. Gritsanov, G.V. Sinilo] Minsk: Knizhny Dom, 2007 [In Russian]; Учебный словарь-минимум по религиоведению/ глав. ред. Яблоков И. Н. [Educational Dictionary Minimum on Religious Studies/head editor – I.N. Yablokov] Moskow: Gardariki, 2000 [In Russian]; Атеистический словарь/ общ. ред. Но- виков М. П. [Atheistic Dictionary/ editor – M.P. Novikov] Moscow: Politizdat, 1986 [In Russian]; Ос- новы духовной культуры (энциклопедический словарь педагога) / общ. ред. Безрукова В.С.[Basics of Spiritual Culture (encyclopedic dictionary of teacher)/ editor- V.S. Bezrukova] Ekaterinburg, 2000[In Russian]; Человек и общество: Культурология. Словарь-справочник/ ред. Штомпель О. М. [Man and Society: Culture studies. Dictionary and reference book/editor – O.M. Shtompel] Rostov-on-Don: Fenix, 1996 [In Russian]; Касавин И.Т. Энциклопедия эпистемологии и философии науки. [Kasavin I.T. Encyclopedia of epistemology and science philosophy] Moscow: Kanon+, 2009 [In Russian]; Ве- ликий тлумачний словник сучасної української мови / уклад. і голов. ред. Бусел В. Т.[The Large Explanatory Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language/ editor- V.T.Busel] Kiev; Irpin: Perun, 2009 [In Ukrainian]; Skeat, Walter William. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. NY: Cosimo, 2005; Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Clarendon Press, 1872; Burnett, Tylor Edward. Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. Volume I. London: John Murray, 1871; Pokorny, Julius. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2 Bde. Francke: Bern-München, 1959; Mauss Marcel. Sociologie et anthropologie, recueil de textes, préface de Claude Lévi-Strauss, Presses universitaires de France, 1950.
Hacia atrás Adelante
Tabla de contenidos
- Reactions involving α-particles
- The formulas of nuclear reactions involving neutrons
- Formulas of photonuclear reactions
- The formulas of reaction of the carbon cycle (cn-cycle)
- Formulas of proton–proton chain reactions (pp-cycle)
- Here are the formulas of the reactions which are In the basis of a controlled thermonuclear fusion
- Formats of nuclear reactions recording
- The composition of the nucleus of the atom. A calculation of protons and neutrons
- Verification of known formulas and reactions
- Electron
- Neutrino
- Photon
- Allat
- The structure of the elementary particles
- Associative examples of process of ezoosmos, transmission and distribution energy and information
- Free energy
- Transmission and distribution of energy and information
- Process of Ezoosmos
- Ezoosmos
- Main differences between real and phantom Po particles
- Phantom Po particle
- Real (stationary) Po particle
- Septon field
- Ezoosmic membrane
- Ezoosmic cell
- Ezoosmic grid
- PRIMORDIAL ALLATRA PHYSICS definitions
- About non-material nature
- Human perception
- Elementary particles
- About the ether
- Atoms
- About the report
- History


text:
National program will support first-generation students at Kansas State University
Thursday, June 27, 2013
MANHATTAN -- Through a highly competitive selection process, Kansas State University has emerged as one of the next program sites for First Scholars, a national program aimed at increasing graduation rates among first-generation students.
As the first in their families to pursue a bachelor's degree, these students may face unique challenges and require additional support systems, programming and strategies to graduate. The Suder Foundation, Plano, Texas, awarded the university $850,000 in funding to cover student scholarships and start-up costs to launch First Scholars on campus.
Created five years ago by The Suder Foundation, First Scholars provides first-generation freshmen with tools to understand their strengths and talents and then equips them with mentors, training and leadership opportunities to maximize those talents throughout college and career. The program will initially help 20 incoming freshmen, with additional freshmen joining each year, all receiving support throughout their time at Kansas State University. Long-term, the success of First Scholars depends upon additional private funding from individuals and organizations.
"The First Scholars program helps Kansas State University maintain affordability and strengthen success for first-generation students, who comprise fully 40 percent of all K-State undergraduates," said Steven Dandaneau, vice provost for undergraduate studies. "As the nation's pioneering land-grant university and as an institution committed via K-State 2025 to strengthening its standing as a leading national research university, we are pleased and honored to join the First Scholars national network of affiliate institutions."
First Scholars already operates on several large public university campuses: University of Kentucky, University of Alabama, Southern Illinois University, University of Memphis, Northern Arizona University and Washington State University. Data shows program participants outperform the general student body in four-year and six-year graduation rates and grade point average. The program utilizes many strategies already underway at Kansas State University to engage students and prepare them holistically for long-term success.
"The university's commitment to student success was evident from our conversations with the planning team and visit to campus," said Diane Schorr, executive director of The Suder Foundation. "Kansas State brings unique strengths that will add to the collaborative interactions of our network."
The mission of The Suder Foundation is to dramatically increase the graduation rate of first-generation college students and to prepare each scholar for a life with self-awareness, success and significance. To learn more about The Suder Foundation's First Scholars program, visit http://www.firstscholars.org.
Philanthropic contributions to Kansas State University are coordinated by the Kansas State University Foundation. The foundation staff works with university partners to build lifelong relationships with alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students through involvement and investment in the university.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Molly Canyes '15, an alto sax player, joined a marching band of 107 college and high school students who re-enacted a St. Patrick's Day parade from the 1970s for the upcoming film "Black Mass," about notorious crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. Johnny Depp plays the recently convicted mobster and Benedict Cumberbatch his brother William, then president of the Massachusetts Senate.
"It was really the experience of a lifetime," said Canyes of Haverhill, Mass., a communications major and music minor.
Canyes, who played saxophone in high school and performs in Merrimack's jazz and pep bands, saw the call for musicians on Facebook and signed up. The group met at 4 a.m. June 23 at Boston University — BU's band formed the core of the film group — and took buses to Lynn, Mass., where streets had been set up to look like the South Boston of Whitey Bulger's heyday.
"It was hot — 76 degrees," she said. "We were pouring sweat." The white-uniformed band did 28 takes between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. — four times playing "Garryowen," 24 times just marching around.
"It was very chaotic," Canyes recalled. "There's a lot of waiting around, and you don't get much information. You stand there and wait for someone to tell you what to do, and you do it."
She did see Depp and Cumberbatch on set, but didn't get to meet them. "Johnny Depp can pull it off as Whitey Bulger," she affirmed. "He's really intense looking."
She also couldn't take photos: Cell phones were forbidden on set, she said, though the film crew didn't have to confiscate devices. "We're good students," she said. "Plus, we're all hoping we get invited to California so we can be on the red carpet" when the film is released in fall 2015.
Canyes, who is working at Teradyne in North Reading during the summer, keeps busy on campus as president of the Art Warriors, a member of Lambda Pi Eta and, of course, as a member of Merrimack's bands. It's an impressive resume that she hopes will propel her to graduate school for communications, but her one-day film career already made big waves at home.
"My parents were really impressed," she said. "My mom was freaking out."


text:
Alaska State Troopers used an armored tactical response vehicle Wednesday night to persuade a Homer man to surrender after troopers said he fired a .44-caliber handgun when troopers announced themselves outside his house on Char Court.
Timothy A. Magee, 39, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of third-degree assault, a felony, for causing fear of injury to Wildlife Trooper Trent Chwialkowski and Trooper David Chaffin. He also was charged with fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons for allegedly being drunk while shooting a weapon.
The Special Emergency Response Team responded to the scene with a BearCat armored tactical vehicle, one of three $280,000 trucks purchased last March. This was the first use of a BearCat on the Kenai Peninsula.
No weapons were fired by troopers and no one was hurt in the incident, including a woman at the home at the time, said Lt. Dane Gilmore, deputy commander for E Detachment.
"By being able to use this piece of equipment, we were able to resolve the situation with no use of force by the responding troopers. That's the goal," Gilmore said.
At 7:06 p.m. June 19, troopers went to the neighborhood on the Cook Inlet side of the Sterling Highway opposite Diamond Ridge Road after neighbors reported hearing what sounded like an argument and gunshots.
Chaffin and Chwialkowski approached a home on Char Court and identified themselves. A man replied from an area near the next home down the road about 200 feet away, saying "Come on down here and show me what you've got," Chaffin wrote in a criminal complaint filed at the Homer Courthouse. Chaffin wrote that the man sounded irate and drunk. The man shouted "I'll blow your —ing head off" and said something about a .44, Chaffin wrote. A few minutes later, troopers heard several large-caliber gunshots coming from the area where they had heard the man.
Troopers called the SERT officers about 8:15 p.m., and the team arrived with the BearCat about an hour later, Gilmore said. More shots were fired before the armored truck arrived, but gunfire stopped after that, Gilmore said. A crisis negotiation officer contacted the suspect by telephone, and he identified himself as Magee.
The BearCat has a public address system, but no mounted weapons, Gilmore said. There are gun ports in the armored truck. Weighing 20,000 pounds and mounted on a Ford 550 truck chassis, the BearCat also has a ram plate on the front and can push down doors and move cars or other obstacles.
"The idea was to make it clear we are the police, we've got this thing," Gilmore said of the BearCat. "The idea with the presence of the vehicle is they can offer surrender."
Neighbors got away to safety and weren't endangered by the shooting, Gilmore said. No one was threatened on the Diamond Creek trail to the south, a gravel road and hiking trail that leads to the beach at Diamond Creek.
Chaffin wrote that after Magee surrendered, he interviewed him. Magee was visibly intoxicated, Chaffin said, and admitted drinking. A preliminary breath test showed a breath-alcohol level of .289, Chaffin said, more than three times the legal limit for driving under the influence. Magee said he did not know troopers were there, Chaffin wrote in the criminal complaint.
Magee was arraigned at the Homer Courthouse on Thursday before Judge Margaret Murphy. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $2,500 cash-only bail, ordered not to leave Alaska, not to use or possess firearms, and not to contact the troopers involved.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text: This image shows a mosaic of the south polar cap of Mars. In the lower left corner is a global view of the polar caps. The south pole of Mars contains many interesting features, such as layered terrain, which may play roles in the Martian climate. The Mars '98 mission to Mars will land in this region in 1999. In preparation for that mission, the Mars Global Surveyor is taking enhanced images of this same region.


text:
An eye on ABC NEWS: Keeping the bastards who keep the bastards honest - honest.
Please keep to the topic. Abusive comments and bad language are simply not tolerated. Note that your comment may take a little while to appear.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.


text:
At one point, Tesla's third car — the one they're trying to get to the market for around $35,000 — was called the Model E.
Then Ford got huffy and threatened legal action, given that they've got something of a history (and a trademark or two) for cars with a similar name.
So Tesla is changing it up. Their third generation car will be called, appropriately, the Model 3. (Which, if you ask me, is even more similar to Model T phonetically. Oh, and it's also not to be confused with the BMW 3 Series.)
Tesla confirmed the name on Twitter this afternoon, after details trickled out in AutoExpress. According to the same article, the Model 3 should have a range upwards of 200 miles per charge.
Tesla says the Model 3 will come sometime after their SUV, the Model X, which should ship sometime in 2015. Alas, there's still no concrete evidence as to what the Model 3 will look like, though it's said to look like a smaller version of their somewhat wide-bodied Model S.


text:
Contact Center AI
Delight your customers with human-like generative AI powered contact center experiences, lower costs, and free up your human agents' time. Contact Center AI enables you to do just that.
Improve customer service with AI that understands, interacts, and talks
Create agents that are superheroes for your customers
Free human agents to focus on more difficult and specialized calls, providing them with real-time information, workflows, and turn-by-turn guidance.
Enable natural interactions with virtual agents
Deliver lifelike customer experiences that support accurate multi-turn conversations, built with deep learning technologies powered by Google Assistant.
Empower your teams with actionable insights
Turn your conversations into insights through analytics and reporting that uncover key call drivers, customer sentiment, and more.
Key features
Enable rich and conversational experiences with AI-powered capabilities
Contact Center AI offers natural interactions that redefine the possibilities of AI-powered conversation.
Virtual agent, powered by Dialogflow CX
Dialogflow CX allows enterprise customers to create virtual agents powered by generative AI that can seamlessly switch between topics, support transactions, and operate across multiple channels 24/7 to minimize live agent interventions.
Intuitive drag and drop visual flow builder makes it easy to build and maintain sophisticated conversations. Join over 1.5 million developers using Dialogflow.
Agent Assist
Agent Assist empowers human agents with continuous support during their calls and chats by identifying intent and providing real-time, step-by-step assistance.
CCAI Insights uses natural language processing to identify call drivers and sentiment that helps contact center managers learn about customer interactions to improve call outcomes.
Contact Center AI Platform
Contact Center AI Platform complete cloud native platform to support multichannel communications between customers and agents, optimized for the smartphone era.
CCAI Advisory Services
Partner with our experts to improve your Dialogflow CX virtual agent and overall end to end Contact Center AI solution. Collaborate with our experts to get a full evaluation of your current solution and get a report of areas of improvement and suggested next steps to get the most out of your virtual agents. Contact sales to get started or learn more about our entire consulting portfolio.
See how AI can automate your contact center
Related services
Integrations and products
See tutorials, guides, and resources for this solution
Build virtual agent with Dialogflow CX prebuilt agents
Learn how to rapidly build and deploy advanced virtual agents using prebuilt agents for various usecases in healthcare, retail, travel, and more industries.
Dialogflow CX and Dialogflow ES documentation
View all Dialogflow quickstarts, how-to guides, references, and other technical resources.
CCAI Insights documentation
See CCAI tutorials, how-to guides, and concepts.
What's new
See the latest Contact Center AI updates
Sign up for Google Cloud newsletter for product updates, special offers, and more.
Cloud AI products comply with the Google Cloud SLA policies. They may offer different latency or availability guarantees from other Google Cloud services.


text: Dental models are three-dimensional reproductions of a patient's teeth and gums, according to "Torres and Ehrlich Modern Dental Assisting." Also called study casts, these models are valuable diagnostic tools for creating devices such as dentures or braces, or for making temporary crowns or mouth guards. Whatever the reason, making a permanent teeth model is easy to do, if you don't mind having plaster in your mouth for a few minutes. You could do it yourself with a few pieces of equipment, or you could have your local dentist make a mold for you. It is painless and doesn't take more than an hour to complete. With these models, the dentist can study a patient's mouth at angles he or she cannot reach during a regular patient examination in the dental chair. Continue reading


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Collection Schedule (PDF Download)
Show All Answers
During the year of 2021 trash pick-up for the City of Inkster will continue on a weekly schedule for the entire year. Your trash pick-up day (Monday through Friday) will remain the same.
Collection is delayed for certain holidays. The schedule (effective holidays) are clearly marked on the calendar.
Containers should be placed at the curbside after 6:00 PM on the day before Collection Day and should be removed from the curbside before 6:00 PM on the Collection Day.
The 95-gallon, wheeled curb cart had been provided to each household. If you have more trash than the new curb cart will hold, you will need to call for a special pick-up 48 hours in advance.
Any EPA labeled hazardous substances, including but not limited to, gasoline, acid, inflammable or explosive materials.
Heavy household items (Stoves, refrigerators, freezers, furniture) items that do not fit into the cart. You will be allowed two bulk items a week, if you have more than two items you will need to call for a dumpster. It will be picked up on your regular pick-up day. Please call (844) 464-3587 at least 48 hours ahead so that the proper moving equipment will be available. Business hours: Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM.
These items will be collected on your regularly scheduled collection day only of the following conditions are met (see next column)
Vacant lots are the responsibility of the owner. If vacant lots are maintained, the owner may receive a citation and the lot will be cut/cleaned at the owner's expense. Complaints should be directed to Code Enforcement at (313) 563-0835 or the Department of Public Services at (313) 563-9774.
GFL recommends using lawn mowers with mulching blades.


text:
San Rafael 'Provence' style garden
Garden features a park-like setting with a large lawn, extensive plantings,stone walls, and a kitchen garden. Garden feels like it is in Provence.
Back Yard Flower Close-ups Garden Hardscape Kitchen / Potager Large (5,000 - 10,000 sq ft.) Lawn Path / Walkway Stone / Rock
2 of 15: A decomposed granite walkway flanked by geraniums, phormiums, and helichrysum lead the eye to a birdbath.
8 of 15: Les roses sont rouges. The roses are red, as in Rose 'Floral Carpet Red'. Walkway leads up to the pool.
9 of 15: O la la!!! Phormium 'Guardsman, Geranium 'Tricolor', Dichondra argenta, Canna 'Erebus' and Chondropetalum tectorum sont formidable ensemble!!!
11 of 15: Le potager (kitchen garden)is the ante-garden as you enter. Thujas flank entrance into main garden area lawn.
Comments / Questions
Perfect great job
Incredible. Love the gazing ball. Highlight of the garden. Excellent job.
Add Comment or Question
Login to add comments.


text:
Xylina McDaniel scored 15 points with nine rebounds as No. 11 North Carolina cruised past Virginia 71-60 on Thursday night to win its 11th straight game.
The Tar Heels (18-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who came in leading the nation in steals (14.9 per game) had 14 steals and scored 32 points off 24 Cavaliers turnovers.
North Carolina led 23-12 with 11:27 to go in the first half en route to a 42-22 halftime advantage.
The Tar Heels expanded their cushion to 27 with 13:29 left, then Virginia made a 13-2 run to get to 60-44. After going more than 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal, North Carolina pushed the lead to 21 before the Cavaliers closed the final 3:52 with a 10-0 burst.
Waltiea Rolle and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt added 14 points apiece for North Carolina.
Telia McCall and Kelsey Wolfe scored 13 each for Virginia (11-6, 3-3).


text:
If media scrutiny is supposed to reveal our innermost fears and insecurities, you'd think that the thing that humanity worries about the most revolves around the dead coming back to life. The zombie horde is legion, appearing in an almost absurd number of high profile games--to the chagrin of many. And yet for all the eye-rolls and criticisms, the game industry keeps producing and consuming zombie games in droves. That type of oversaturation doesn't just happen without a reason. The truth is, we can't quit zombie games because we love them.
Let's get the obvious reasons why we love zombie games out of the way. Yes, it's likely that publishers who throws millions at games want to rest easy in knowing they're producing something the market responds well to. Zombie games are popular and proven. Why not give people what they want?
But there's more than an economical, practical reason that zombie games keep resurfacing; many of these reasons are mechanical. Zombies are versatile. Nathan Drake can't kill a small nation of henchmen without us kind of wondering if it violates the good-natured character that Naughty Dog builds up. But a mindless swarm of things that aren't human anymore? Yeehaw, go for the head, dude, and try not to miss, OK? Supplies are scarce. At the same time zombies make way for difficult and powerful situations where we have to kill people that once meant something to us, like in The Walking Dead.
Either way the zombie apocalypse is overwhelming. This means you should bring some buddies, and if Left 4 Dead or Zombies and Call of Duty have taught us anything, it's that braving the horde is more fun (if not safer) with a friend. Aesthetically the vast horror of a post-apocalyptic setting is something we also adore. It's not just that we get to explore what we already know in a new context, like in Fallout, but that we also get to be the hero in what feels like a new, untamed frontier.
And that frontier always has danger lurking around the corner. If you so much as get scratched by the undead, that's it, you're screwed. You'll be one of them shortly. The tension then becomes palpable, because it's not enough to keep yourself alive. As if surviving wasn't hard enough, as if it wasn't hard to juggle the desires and expectations of strangers you may not know, but nonetheless have to depend on. What these other survivors end up showing us is that maybe, just maybe, humanity is worse than the undead--I mean, geez, look at the people behind the Umbrella Corporation. Yikes.
So far, that's all kind of obvious. I think there's a deeper reason we love zombies as much as we do, why we can't quit zombie games--and it does involve the reflection of deeper fears and anxieties.
Think about how zombie outbreaks usually happen: viral plagues that cause overnight pandemics, or bioengineered terrorist attacks. The Jetsons-like future many of our parents envisioned made it seem as if it used to be easy to predict where science might take us, and that future was bright and chipper. Now it's practically impossible to keep up with the pace of scientific discoveries and all we're left with is a subconscious fear that we don't know what we're capable of anymore...but it's probably not good. Zombies reflect that. They also reflect the constant paranoia of societies afraid of terrorist plots that never seem to arrive. But when they do arrive, the consequences will be felt by everyone--even after death.
Zombies also capture the darker aspects of our culture. Where we might decay, the things that persevere through the apocalypse are our suburbs, our malls, and artifacts like billboard signs advertising the latest and greatest things to buy. These things haunt us in ways that the undead can't, and at the same time they provide us with havens and resources that we need to pilfer in order to survive. We hate that part of our culture and what it might say about us, but we need it to sustain ourselves for another day.
Beyond that, the zombie itself carries on the spirit of the culture that created our reality. A zombie never stops being hungry. Contrast that to what seems to be an endless desire to consume in real life, and the endless search for instant gratification. We want that new iPhone so that we can stay plugged in to our barrage of notifications and emails and Tweets. And we eat each other alive to enjoy those everyday conveniences. It's not just people in third world countries, but our very own countrymen--who we may not always want to help because some people believe they "should" pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Not much changes when you're a zombie except that then, you have to consume just to stay dead. Damn.
You know that kid at parties who talks too much? Drink in hand, way too enthusiastic, ponderously well-educated in topics no one in their right mind should know about? Loud? Well, that kid's occasionally us. GR Editorials is a semi-regular feature where we share our informed insights on the news at hand. Sharp, funny, and finger-on-the-pulse, it's the information you need to know even when you don't know you need it.


text:
AP News
Is America Ready for Gay President? Iowa Casts First Votes
4 years agoon
DES MOINES, Iowa — The question posed to Pete Buttigieg — gay, married and running for president — came from a supporter at an Iowa campaign stop: What should he tell friends who say America isn't ready to elect a gay man as president?
Of the many intriguing things about Buttigieg and his candidacy for president — his Ivy League, Rhodes Scholar pedigree and his war service in Afghanistan — a vital question overlaying the 2020 campaign is whether as a gay man his sexual orientation is a barrier to the nation's highest office.
The first answer will come in Iowa, a state where the 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor has campaigned frequently and spent heavily. So far, Democratic voters here seem to say that Buttigieg's sexual orientation is immaterial.
"The world will be watching. The activist world. The party world," said Paul Tewes, who directed Barack Obama's 2008 Iowa caucus victory, which propelled him to become the nation's first African American president. "It would signal to the rest of the world that this stuff doesn't matter, that people just want him to be president."
Buttigieg, the nation's first gay presidential contender in his party's top tier, is scheduled to be among 10 fellow Democratic candidates to attend a LGBTQ issues forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Friday. The forum itself is a measure of the acceptance gay rights have achieved in the state party.
In June, the Iowa Poll by The Des Moines Register and its partners found that 62 percent of likely Iowa caucus participants said it would make no difference to them for a Trump challenger to be gay. They were more concerned, by 12 percentage points, about a Democratic nominee being over 70 years old.
Iowa Became the First State Outside of the East Coast to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
The age group most likely to disregard the notion of a gay nominee was voters 65 and older, people like John Sauer, a retired school superintendent from the Cedar Rapids area.
"I have no problem with it," said Sauer, 71, who showed up at a Buttigieg campaign office opening in Cedar Rapids this month. He and his wife, Elizabeth, say Buttigieg tops their lists of candidates.
Sauer's feelings, which he described as unheard of in his parents' generation, speak in part to a decade-long maturing of gay rights in Iowa.
In 2009, Iowa became the first state outside of the East Coast to legalize same-sex marriage, a change implemented by a unanimous state Supreme Court case that came six years before the U.S Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationally. In 2003, only 23 percent of Iowans overall supported allowing same-sex marriage.
By 2015, not only did 81 percent of likely Democratic caucus participants support gay marriage, so did 26 percent of Republican caucus goers, the Iowa Poll showed.
"But, I do think there are people who might have a problem with it. You can't get around that," Sauer said.
That sentiment also registered in the June Iowa Poll, where 28 percent of likely Democratic caucus participants said being gay would be a disadvantage for a Democratic nominee.
Buttigieg's profile in the state may not be so out-of-the-ordinary among Iowa's progressive Democratic caucus electorate, said JoDee Winterhof, Human Rights Campaign's senior vice president for policy and political affairs.
He Is Not Even the Unanimous Choice in Iowa's Democratic LGBTQ Community
"That package of things I don't think is extraordinary to Iowa Democrats," said Winterhof, a veteran Iowa Democratic campaign strategist and former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns. "I bet you in terms of the questions he gets asked very few of the questions he is asked are about being gay."
Buttigieg's answer focused on his personal hope of finding a partner after returning from Afghanistan.
"I just had to find the courage that said, either way, I can live with it. But I've got to be who I am and trust the voters, based on the job I've been doing," he said, noting that he was overwhelmingly reelected mayor in 2015.
Still, he is not even the unanimous choice in Iowa's Democratic LGBTQ community.
Des Moines lawyer and gay-rights activist Sharon Malheiro, who isn't supporting Buttigieg, says his age and lack of more global experience is a liability in her mind.
"I'm not hearing people say I'm not looking at him because he's gay," said Malheiro, who is leaning toward supporting former Vice President Joe Biden or California Sen. Kamala Harris.
At the same time, Buttigieg may have a built-in advantage in Iowa, should he emerge as the consensus choice of Iowa's LGBTQ voters, estimated at roughly 80,000 and a potentially decisive slice of a caucus electorate that could number roughly 300,000.
"That's a lot in terms of overall caucus participation," Winterhof said.
You may like
Air Travel Across US Thrown Into Chaos After Computer Outage
Slatic's Afghan Translator Says He's Safe Near Texas Army Base. Sister's Still in Kabul.
Translator Who Told Fresno 'You Guys Are My Last Hope' Exits Afghanistan, Reaches U.S.
Afghan Translator Begs Fresno Radio Audience: 'You Guys Are My Last Hope'
Ex-Marine and Fresno Schools Leader Seeks Safety for Afghanistan Translator
Afghans Who Helped the US Now Fear Being Left Behind


text:
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cupcakes Berko
22 comments:
Fruit and chocolate tarts for me!
I love this about Europe, so many QUALITY pastry shops with delicious coffee.
I think we must get together and drink champagne while sampling a few of these delicious works of art!
I am also really enjoying your book suggestions! I too have French Women Don't Get Fat.
I read your post about Donna Leon, what is your favourite work by her? I am thinking of picking one of her books up.Ah, but Carol, I didn't have dessert tonight, and this leaves me feeling distinctly unsatisfied...
Entre parentheses, the name of the shop is funny, because it sounds regrettably similar to the French version of yuck (beurk). And yes, this observation is how you can be certain I am the mother of young children.
P.S. my 'captcha'/word verification word is lowemat, just a hair away from being lovemat. What this hare-brained observation tells me is that I could really use a slice of Berko cheesecake. Or maybe the pecan pie.It's hard to choose the best Brunetti since I've only read About face and now Death in La Fenice (and the cookbook). But all see to be character studies through Brunetti's eyes and he doesn't miss a trick.
There isn't that much to the mini cupcakes - top heavy with icing. So I wouldn't say they were 'dry'. But I'm no expert Canadian Saver.
I wish I had bought TWO of the long tartes...


text:
The Opportunity:
Agility AVL a leading audio, video and lighting solutions partner for event production, backline rentals, commercial installations and surveillance in the Pacific Northwest. In order to more easily service world-class venues and A-list national acts, Agility AVL were searching for a compact, rider-friendly line array system that could deliver exceptional sound quality, reduce setup time, and streamline transportation requirements.
The Solution:
After extensive research, Agility AVL upgraded their inventory with 24 JBL VTX A12 line array loudspeakers and 16 S28 subwoofers. Since acquiring the VTX A12 system in April 2018, Agility AVL have deployed the system for performances by world-class artists such as Little Big Town, 3rd Eye Blind, Jay Leno, Buddy Guy, Pitbull, Queensryche, Great White and Lynch Mob, as well as the I Love The 90s tour featuring Vanilla Ice, Salt N Pepa, Spinderella, All 4 One, Color Me Badd, Coolio, Tone Loc, Rob Base and Young MC. Agility will also be deploying the A12 system for upcoming performances by Amy Schumer, Paul Anka, Lonestar, Cam, Dwight Yokum and Adam Craig.
VTX Series loudspeakers pack a powerful punch into a surprisingly small package, allowing production companies to put on bigger productions with less equipment. The innovative rigging mechanism and redesigned suspension system enables two technicians to fly a full VTX A12 line array system in minutes. Up to four VTX A12 loudspeakers can be stacked on the VTX A12 VT | Vertical Transporter cart for quick and easy transportation. The rigging system and transporter cart were big selling points for Agility, enabling the team to streamline setup and loading time, and reduce transportation costs.
The Impact:
"We were recently working with one of the biggest artists in the world, and they have the VTX A12 listed as the top request on their rider," said Kevin Hill, VP of Sales and Marketing, Agility AVL. "It was nice to know when we got the rider that we had exactly what they wanted—that's very reassuring for a production company."
"One of the best things about the A12s is that they sounds great no matter what genre you're working with," said Hill. "Even with hard rock or heavy metal acts like Queensryche, Great White or Lynch Mob, the A12s can pump out a ton of SPL without sounding shrill or harsh."
"When we saw how easily you could pack the A12 boxes on a truck and how quickly you can fly them with the rigging mechanism, we instantly fell in love," said Hill. "Plus they weigh significantly less than some of the competitor's boxes, which creates fuel and time savings."


text:
The following is the prepared text of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's speech to an audience in Toronto this evening—a speech that has made news for its criticism of the Harper government.
Thank you, Ken, for that kind introduction. And thanks for all the work you do for the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. MISC depends more than anything on generosity of spirit, and you have been beyond kind with your time and talent over the years. Countless McGill students have had their lives and career choices touched by your wisdom, and we're all better for it.
I also want to thank the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada for hosting this great event.
Wasn't that a fantastic debate?
You know, I dabbled in the debating union at McGill. I even debated Ted Cruz once at a tournament at Yale.
He hasn't changed very much.
Anyway, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't convincingly argue for things I didn't believe in. I congratulate tonight's debaters for overcoming that obstacle.
As you all know, I had a unique window on Canada and the world through my childhood. But, like all McGill graduates, I had my ideas shaped, tempered and tested by my time on campus. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to McGill, to my professors and to my fellow students.
Most of you will know what I mean when I say this. One of the first things you learn at McGill is that every room is teeming with people who are used to being—or, at least, feeling like—the smartest person in the room.
Then, as now, since you are all in the same room, basic math requires you to put that feeling behind you.
And if you're really smart, you learn to do it quickly. You take advantage of the unique opportunity that comes from being immersed in such a dynamic environment. I remember hours spent at Gerts over pints, arguing with friends from the women's union about whether a man could be a feminist.
I remember challenging fellow students in seminars about a culture of political correctness that didn't change mindsets, but just drove them beneath the surface.
McGill, like Canada, is an amazing place. And MISC serves both extraordinarily well.
The Institute was created by McGill and the Bronfman family to help us all understand this great country better. To see our history and heritage with clear eyes, to grapple with the challenges we face today, and to gain the broadest and deepest sense of the many possibilities open to us in the future.
It's a big, important mission. And I want to address one particularly vital aspect of it. I hope tonight to make a modest contribution to the Institute's ongoing effort—and I'm quoting from the mission statement here—"to identify and explore the benefits that a pluralistic society offers."
It's an important mission for Canada, but it's a uniquely fitting topic to talk about, here in Toronto. This city is the epicentre of Canadian multiculturalism, a place where people from every imaginable country and culture, who speak every language, live and work and build and thrive together. For much of the world, Toronto represents the most hopeful vision of what their future could look like. Here, we are blessed to call it our present.
More from Maclean's:
Bill C-51: Breaking down both sides of a most terrifying debate
Meet the professors behind the swift assault on C-51
To me, pluralism means diversity, and diversity is at the very heart of Canada. It is who we are and what we do.
We do it better than anyone else on Earth. So well, in fact, that we often take it for granted.
So let's remind ourselves: Canada is the only country in the world that is strong, not in spite of our differences, but because of them.
There are a lot of reasons for this, but I believe the root cause of our success is a uniquely Canadian idea of freedom, of liberty.
That's the idea I want to develop with you tonight.
First, I want to argue that Canadian liberty is all about inclusion. We have had deeply regrettable moments. But the history of this country is one in which we are constantly challenging ourselves and each other to extend our personal definitions of who is a Canadian.
This is a good and important thing. It is good for us, good for our country, and important to the world.
Second, I'll make the case that Canadian liberty has got one of the world's most vexatious problems right: the interplay between individual freedom and collective identity. We understand that people are defined both by the things that unite and distinguish us from one another: languages, cultures, faiths—even, importantly, our gender and sexual orientation. However, we also know that all of these contribute to a person's identity, but don't define it. These things all find their highest, most concrete expression in the individual human beings who embody them.
This, too, is a good thing. It gives people room to live and breathe. It gives our many cultures fuel to grow and change. It gives Canada over to Canadians, to build as we see fit.
Nous, les Québécois, sommes fiers de notre héritage linguistique et culturel. Avec la Révolution tranquille, nous nous sommes donnés les outils pour affirmer notre identité et notre culture dans le cadre canadien.
Notre réussite est l'incarnation et la manifestation que, dans ce pays, on peut exprimer sa différence sans compromettre l'unité et la cohésion.
Quand mon père a déposé la Loi sur les langues officielles en 1969—que Brian Mulroney a bonifié et rendu encore plus mordante en 1988—il a voulu renforcer cette idée que notre pays a été depuis ses débuts fondé sur la diversité et l'inclusion. Que les francophones de ce pays sont chez eux dans ce pays, peu importe la province dans laquelle ils résident.
Third, I want to make the important point that none of this happened by accident, and it won't continue without effort. We have built vital institutions around it, but Canadian liberty requires Canadian political leadership to be sustained. Canada is the way it is because Canadians built it to be that way. Generations of us elected leaders from all parties who shared those values and shaped this country. While I am deeply optimistic about this country's future, I recognize that that future is by no means certain. It depends on the choices we make today.
So it won't surprise anyone to hear me disagree with the kind of leadership we're getting from the current Prime Minister and his government.
But before I get into the meat of the argument, let me set the table. Plenty of people will wonder why a political leader would bother giving a speech on a notion such as liberty. After all, our politics are supposed to be retail these days. We're expected to talk about very specific measures targeted at "key audiences" and "swing voters," especially in an election year.
But I have an old-fashioned view. I think policies are concrete expressions of values. Priorities are important. Specific commitments are important. But there is no way to predict the events you will need to navigate during your time in office, let alone the measures that will be required to manage those events. People aren't naive. They know that.
So Canadians ought to know what core values will motivate their leaders' decisions, whatever events may throw at them.
For me, one of the most important core values is liberty. Specifically, I believe that one of the highest aims of Canadian political leadership is to protect and expand freedom for Canadians.
I say this not just because the Canadian idea of liberty is important to me, which it is. It has motivated several of the significant policy changes I have brought forward as leader of my party. But it's important to all of us. Our shared commitment to it is the very foundation of the amazing country we have built together.
I also think it's time Liberals took back liberty. These Conservatives pretend to talk a good game about freedom, but look at what they've done with it.
They have fallen a long way from the era of Sir John A. Macdonald to the "why do you hate freedom?" taunts of the recently departed Sun News Network.
Their instincts are now to be suspicious of people who do not share their beliefs, to harden divisions with people whose views differ from their own.
In my seven years in Parliament, I have heard the conservative Prime Minister accuse two leaders of the NDP of sympathizing with terrorists, the Conservative party accuse notable McGillian Irwin Cotler of anti-Semitism, and the former public safety minister declare: "You're either with us, or you're with the child pornographers."
For that particular effort, the Prime Minister eventually rewarded him with a judicial appointment.
This, my friends, is not your parents' Conservative party.
Their approach to politics might work in the short term, but it is corrosive over time, especially in a diverse country like Canada. It stokes anxiety and foments fear. Instead of encouraging Canadians to fight for one another's liberty, it tells us to be suspicious of each other's choices.
Mr. Harper and I disagree fundamentally about many things. None perhaps more so than this: Leading this country should mean you bring Canadians together. You do not divide them against one another.
Fear is a dangerous thing. Once it is sanctioned by the state, there is no telling where it might lead. It is always a short path to walk from being suspicious of our fellow citizens to taking actions to restrict their liberty.
And that, to borrow a phrase, is not the way we ought to do things around here. Not in Canada.
So, first, in Canada, when we are at our best, liberty means inclusion.
We haven't always been at our best. We have had many failures, the most pernicious and invidious of which is still very much with us: the second-class citizenship of indigenous peoples.
There are other dark episodes: the Chinese head tax, the internment of Ukrainian, Japanese, and Italian Canadians during the First and Second World Wars, our turning away boats of Jewish or Punjabi refugees, our own history of slavery. No Irish need apply. We don't speak French here, so "speak white." The discrimination faced by Greek and Portuguese Canadians in this very city.
For each and every one of these, we look back with regret and shame. And we should.
But we should also learn from them. Mackenzie King ordered those internments because they were popular. In fact, he did it despite evidence from the RCMP and Defence that they were unwarranted. He did it because people were afraid.
When I talk to young people today about these episodes, they can hardly believe they happened. It doesn't sound possible, not in Canada.
So we should all shudder to hear the same rhetoric that led to a "none is too many" immigration policy toward Jews in the '30s and '40s, being used to raise fears against Muslims today.
That's because the Canada we all cherish stands for the opposite of those dark moments. And for each of those, there are thousands of hopeful, open, moments, where the Canadian journey moves inexorably toward greater inclusion and greater liberty. The Underground Railroad. The Official Languages Act. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Multiculturalism Act. The admittance of Ismaili Muslim refugees. The freedom for Jews and Sikhs, Hindus and Evangelicals to practise their religion.
We all know the famous quote so beloved by Martin Luther King, Jr: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Well, for all our instructive moments of failure, the arc of Canadian history bends toward inclusion, toward liberty.
We don't get it right every day. We don't make progress every year. Sometimes we even take a step back. But as we approach Canada's 150th birthday, we can look back over our history and see which way our country bends.
The point is that each successive generation of Canadians has fought to expand liberty to their fellow citizens who had been denied it. The naysayers claimed at every step that liberty's expansion would compromise our traditional values. They said it would somehow dilute what it means to be Canadian.
We can see now that they were categorically wrong. That's because working to gain freedom for our fellow citizens is a bedrock traditional value in this country. It is in large measure what it means to be Canadian.
There is no greater illustration of this point than the history of women's experience in Canada.
When I was one, my grandmother Grace held me in her arms before she passed away. She was of a generation of Canadian women that had to fight to gain the franchise. Her eldest son—my father—was born in the first year women were eligible to vote in federal elections.
My mother, who, in many ways, represented a new movement of freedom to her contemporaries, still endured public criticism that would be unacceptable today.
And when I think of the possibilities open to my daughter's generation, it's hard not to be proud of all we have achieved. Again, though, much remains to be done. Women still face unacceptable sexual violence in Canada, and discrimination, especially when it comes to equal pay for equal work.
But when you take the long view, it is impossible to be anything but awestruck by the progress we have made in creating a society where women are not just included, but vital to our economic and social progress.
The instructive point here is obvious, but often overlooked. One set of policies in postwar Canada generated more liberty for more people than any other. It was the decades-long effort of the women's movement to gain control over reproductive health and rights.
Indeed, let me be perfectly clear on this point. The Canada we know today is unimaginable without widely available birth control and the legalization of choice.
Every conceivable measure of inclusion and progress has moved in the right direction since women gained legally protected reproductive freedom in Canada, from workforce participation to educational attainment to representation in the corridors of economic and political power.
That's why I took such a strong stand in favour of a woman's right to choose when I sought the leadership of my party. It's why I implemented a strong new policy soon after being elected, a few years back.
You see, I have this notion that the Liberal party ought to be a liberal party. It ought to stand for the policy that created an unprecedented expansion of liberty for half the population of the country.
The criticism that followed my decision from many quarters shows you how badly we need to restate and defend a clear idea of Canadian liberty. Indeed, most of my critics argued that this new policy represented a restriction of freedom—the freedom of Liberal MPs to vote their conscience.
This is an important point, because, when different notions of liberty come into conflict, it helps clarify our thinking.
Their argument went like this: Forcing a Liberal MP to vote against [his or her] conscience on a matter of morality is an unjust restriction of [his or her] liberty. It sounds like a reasonable argument. However, it is easily dismissed, when you realize it is based on a value judgment about whose freedom is more important: that of an MP elected as a Liberal, or that of Canadian women.
Let's be clear on this. For Liberals, the right of a woman to control her body is more important than the right of a legislator to restrict her freedom with [his or her] vote. MPs who disagree with that have other choices. They can sit as Independents, or as Conservatives.
But for me, Canadian liberty is not about the freedom of powerful people to exercise that freedom according to the dictates of their conscience. It is about Canadians' rights not to have their freedom unduly restricted, especially by the state.
Indeed, this gets to the heart of the Canadian idea of liberty. In Canada, freedom is not just an aspirational value. It is a lived reality. It is woven into the fabric of our most important institutions, from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to our uniquely successful approach to immigration, to our cities' excellent public schools.
In Canada, liberty is a public good. It is not just something that we hope you can achieve on your own, if given the opportunity. It is something we work to provide for one another, and that we have grown to rightly expect from one another.
As my second-favourite prime minister, Wilfrid Laurier, once said: "Canada is free, and freedom is its nationality."
That is why efforts of one group to restrict the liberty of another are so very dangerous to this country, especially when the agencies of the state are used to do it.
We get a very important thing right in Canada. Not perfect, but right. That thing is the balance between individual freedom and collective identity, which is the second argument about Canadian liberty I want make tonight.
In Canada, we know that people are defined, in large measure, by our relationships to other people: 0ur cultural background, our religious beliefs, our gender, our sexual orientation.
However, we also believe that all of those collective associations receive their highest expression in the form of real, flesh and blood, individual human beings. That is the genius of Canada. We expand cultural freedom by ensuring that individual Canadians who come from diverse communities have the freedom to live and express and grow and change their cultures.
We refuse to see a contradiction between individual liberty and collective identity. In fact, we have created a society where both thrive and mutually reinforce one another.
It was, at its root, a leap of faith, and a very new idea. Over time, we learned to trust that, whatever their culture of origin, the more people engage with the breadth of our country's diversity, the more Canadian they will become.
In turn, we would change our own cultures. Where there was repression, it would be defeated by the more compelling Canadian opportunity to achieve liberty. Where there was isolation, we would meet it with openness and inclusion.
It may have started as a leap of faith, but it has become a defining characteristic of our country, our great success, and our gift to the world.
We have proven that a country—an astonishingly successful country—can be built on, and defined by, shared values. Not by religion, language, or ethnicity, but shared values.
In characteristically Canadian fashion, we don't celebrate this success often enough, but the world needs us to, especially now. One of the most difficult and urgent global problems is how to develop societies where people of different cultures can live together and build common ground.
I have deep B.C. roots, but I am a francophone Quebecer, and proud of it. Very proud. But I am most proud that my country not only grants me the freedom to be who I am, but values and honours my culture in a way that has created the conditions it needs to thrive.
We are all richer for it.
Au Québec, je sais que certains mettent en opposition la dualité linguistique et le multiculturalisme, que certains voient dans le multiculturalisme—ou ce que plusieurs appellent l'interculturalisme—une forme de négation de l'identité québécoise francophone.
En tout respect, je ne les vois pas en opposition, mais en complémentarité. C'est en grande partie grâce à notre dualité que nous avons pu devenir une société ou des gens de diverses cultures, origines et religions ont pu venir s'installer ici et se sentir chez eux.
Je dirai aussi ceci: En tant que francophones, plus notre culture et notre langue sera véhiculée, valorisée et promue à travers le monde par le rayonnement de nos romans, de nos films et de nos artistes, plus nous en serons riches, en tant que Canadiens, et fiers de l'idée même du Canada.
This model of Canadian liberty, of inclusive diversity, might indeed have been born of the need for two great cultures who had been historically at odds to make a new country together. However, informed by the peoples who had lived on this land for millennia, we have turned it into a model for how to make an unimaginably more diverse society harmonious.
And the world has noticed.
Mr. Harper has been busy trying to portray Canada as a fossil-fuel superpower. He chooses to ignore that the world has already recognized us as a constitutional superpower. Places as diverse as Israel, South Africa and Australia have consciously emulated our Charter of Rights and Freedoms in an effort to tackle some of the problems that we have dealt with better than any country on Earth.
As the Globe and Mail wrote back in 2012, on the Charter's 30th birthday: "The Charter doesn't belong to the Liberals or to Conservatives. It belongs to all Canadians—and, increasingly, to the world."
Now, for obvious family reasons, I'm tempted to claim that the Charter is responsible for the idea of Canadian liberty I am describing tonight. And let there be no doubt: The Charter certainly expanded freedom for all Canadians.
We are all now free to marry whom we love, women are free to control their reproductive rights and, soon, we will be free to choose to die with dignity.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms created the opportunity and the vehicle for Canadians to gain these new liberties for themselves. Heaven knows, it would have taken a lot longer to win those freedoms, had the effort been left in the hands of Parliament. More ominously, I shudder to think about what Mr. Harper's government might have gotten away with, were the Charter not in place.
But I like to think what the Charter really does is hold us accountable to our best vision of ourselves. It requires Canadians to live up to our responsibilities to one another, and to Canada. In an ideal world, it wouldn't be necessary, but, since we live in this one, we all should be deeply thankful we have it.
Which brings me to the third point I want to make tonight: that the Charter is the ultimate guarantee of Canadian liberty, but it's not enough. It's important to remember that the Charter itself was the product of political leadership. It had its opponents, still has its detractors, and we currently have a government that refuses to celebrate it.
It is also important to understand that the Charter might protect us from our government, but it doesn't always protect us from each other. Canadian liberty might be protected by the Constitution, but it must be promoted by political leadership.
I want to tell you about someone. Her name is Rania El-Alloul, and she just endured something no Canadian ought to be put through.
Rania arrived in court in Quebec last month on a routine property matter. She is a single mom who is working hard to raise her kids. Like millions of women who face similar circumstances, she has a hard time making ends meet. She was petitioning the court for help.
Like a million other Canadians, Rania professes the Muslim faith. She presented herself to the court wearing a hijab, a headscarf very commonly worn by Muslim women, and women of other faiths, I might add. For her, it is an important part of her personal identity, and an expression of her religious liberty.
Imagine her shock when the presiding judge refused to hear her case unless she removed her headscarf. Not without reason, she said that order made her feel as if she were not Canadian.
Rania's story is part of a troubling trend that Mr. Harper seems keen to accelerate and exploit.
Last year, after more than seven years of accepting the practice, his minister of immigration declared by fiat that women would no longer be able to wear a niqab during citizenship ceremonies. The federal court of appeal overturned the policy.
But a few weeks before Rania suffered her unjust indignity, Mr. Harper made an announcement at a campaign rally in Victoriaville, Que.
What did Mr. Harper say at this rally? Despite broad consensus that he has no reasonable chance of success, he announced that his government would appeal the decision, because he found the wearing of a niqab "offensive" and was convinced that most Canadians did, too.
Within hours of that rally, the Prime Minister's party was using it as a fundraising pitch, declaring flatly, and I quote, that wearing a niqab is "not the way we do things here." Within a week, I am sad to say that a distinguished graduate of McGill, Minister Chris Alexander, was declaring in the House of Commons that even Rania's hijab represented an indefensible perversion of Canadian values.
As I said earlier, my friends, fear is a dangerous thing. Once stoked, whether by a judge from the bench or a Prime Minister with a dog whistle, there is no way to predict where it will end.
These are troubling times.
Across Canada and, especially, in my home province, Canadians are being encouraged by their government to be fearful of one another.
For me, this is both unconscionable and a real threat to Canadian liberty. For me, it is basic truth that prime ministers of liberal democracies ought not to be in the business of telling women what they can and cannot wear on their head during public ceremonies—least of all, this liberal democracy.
Cloaking an argument about what women can wear in the language of feminism has to be the most innovative perversion of liberty that conservatives have invented in a while. It is, of course, not the first time the most illiberal of ends has been packaged in the language of liberation.
You can dislike the niqab. You can hold it up it is a symbol of oppression. You can try to convince your fellow citizens that it is a choice they ought not to make.
This is a free country. Those are your rights.
But those who would use the state's power to restrict women's religious freedom and freedom of expression indulge the very same repressive impulse that they profess to condemn.
It is a cruel joke to claim you are liberating people from oppression by dictating in law what they can and cannot wear.
Whatever happened to a free society's requirement that we can disagree with a person's choices, but must defend their right to make them?
But what's even worse than what they're saying is what they really mean. We all know what is going on here. It is nothing less than an attempt to play on people's fears and foster prejudice, directly toward the Muslim faith.
This is not the spirit of Canadian liberty, my friends. It is the spirit of the Komagata Maru. Of the St. Louis. Of "none is too many."
Canada is where a million Muslims live and thrive in a free and open, secular democracy. The world needs more of that, not less of it.
Keeping these freedoms safe from those who would undermine them through violence is a vital national responsibility. It is both true and obvious that Canadian liberty cannot exist without collective security. As I learned at McGill many years ago, our social contract sometimes requires us to moderate our freedoms in order to ensure we maintain them in the long run. The ongoing question for democracies is how we strike the right balance. We will offer our answers to these questions as part of our national security policy in our election platform.
What we cannot ever do is blur the line between a real security threat and simple prejudice, as this government has done. I believe they have done it deliberately, and I believe what they have done is deeply wrong.
In defending Canada, we cannot allow ourselves to become less Canadian.
Ultimately, my friends, the antidote to repression is liberty.
It is this idea that will defeat terrorism and totalitarianism in the long run. It always has. The lethal enemies of terrorists and dictators are societies that are open, thriving and free—not just on paper, but in the streets.
Those of us lucky enough to benefit from Canadian liberty's many blessings need to be strong and confident custodians of its character: inclusive freedom, expansive freedom. That is the Canadian idea of liberty: the idea that the liberty of all is enhanced when new freedoms are granted to individuals.
Nelson Mandela, honourary Canadian, who knew something about liberty and about being deprived of it, put it this way: "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
Canadian liberty compels us to resist the urge to impose our personal beliefs upon our fellow citizens, but it is worth it because of what we get back in return. Because what we get back in return is Canada.