text:
Music Business
The Transhumanist and Police State Agenda in Pop Music
Today's pop music is filled with symbols and messages aimed to shape and mold today's youth. Apart from the occult symbolism discussed in other articles, other parts of the elite's agenda are communicated through music videos. Two of those parts are transhumanism and the introduction of a police state. We'll look at the way those agendas are part of the acts of Rihanna, Beyonce, Daddy Yankee and the Black Eyed Peas.
As seen in previous articles on this site, the world's biggest stars exploit common themes in their work, permeating popular culture with a set of symbols and values. The cohesiveness of the message that is communicated to the masses, regardless of the artists' musical genre, attests to the influence of a "higher power" over the industry. Other articles on this site have explored the way Illuminati symbolism, based on secret society occultism, has been reflected in popular videos. Exposing and desensitizing the world to the elite's sacred symbols is, however, only one aspect of their agenda. Other aspects of Illuminati control are reflected in today's popular music as well, including mass mind control, transhumanism (the "robotization" of the human body) and the gradual introduction of a virtual police state. Through the news, movies and the music industry, this agenda is being insidiously presented to the masses, using various techniques. If the news scares people into accepting measures diminishing their personal freedoms and ushering in a "new era", the music business accomplishes the same job by making it seem sexy, cool and trendy. This angle is mainly aimed at the younger crowd, which is much more susceptible to "take in" the industry's message.
Essential Information
"Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities. The movement regards aspects of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death as unnecessary and undesirable. Transhumanists look to biotechnologies and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Dangers, as well as benefits, are also of concern to the transhumanist movement.
The term "transhumanism" is symbolized by H+ or h+ and is often used as a synonym for "human enhancement". Although the first known use of the term dates from 1957, the contemporary meaning is a product of the 1980s when futurists in the United States began to organize what has since grown into the transhumanist movement. Transhumanist thinkers predict that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label "posthuman". Transhumanism is therefore sometimes referred to as "posthumanism" or a form of transformational activism influenced by posthumanist ideals.
The transhumanist vision of a transformed future humanity has attracted many supporters and detractors from a wide range of perspectives. Transhumanism has been described by one critic, Francis Fukuyama, as the world's most dangerous idea,while one proponent, Ronald Bailey, counters that it is the "movement that epitomizes the most daring, courageous, imaginative, and idealistic aspirations of humanity".
What is almost never mentioned is the fact that those technological "improvements" will be out of reach for the average man. The huge price tags of those scientific discoveries will render them only accessible to a select elite. While the common man is forced to seek nourishment in genetically modified, chemically altered and even poisonous foods, the elite is trying to achieve immortality through science. Even if the masses cannot have access to those discoveries, mass media makes transhumanism cool, desirable and, ultimately, acceptable.
Police State
George W. Bush's Patriot Act has enabled the American government to expand surveillance of its citizens, whether it be phone calls, e-mails, and physical movements. It also gave the government almost unlimited powers of arrest, detention, search, and seizure. Donald E. Wilkes, Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law describes this last concept:
"I want to examine here a single section of the USA Patriot Act–section 213, definitely one of the most sinister provisions of this monstrous statute.
In euphemistic language that conceals the provision's momentous significance, section 213 states that with regard to federal search warrants "any notice required … to be given may be delayed if … [1]the court finds reasonable cause to believe that providing immediate notification of the execution of the warrant may have an adverse result …; [2] the warrant prohibits the seizure of any tangible property … except where the court finds reasonable necessity for the seizure; and [3] the warrant provides for the giving of such notice within a reasonable period of its execution, which period may thereafter be extended by the court for good cause shown."
Section 213 may be couched in Orwellian terminology, but there is no doubt about what it does.
Section 213 is the first statute ever enacted in the history of American criminal procedure to specifically authorize an entirely new form of search warrant-what legal scholars call the sneak and peek warrant (also dubbed the covert entry warrant or the surreptitious entry warrant). A sneak and peek search warrant authorizes police to effect physical entry into private premises without the owner's or the occupant's permission or knowledge to conduct a search; generally, such entry requires a breaking and entering."
– Donald E. Wilkes, Flagpole Magazine Sept 2002.
Subsequent acts have further diminished civil liberties of citizens by enabling the government to declare any American a "terrorist" with little to no proof. The government can also declare martial law with little or no valid reason.
"The John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006, "named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from Virginia," was signed October 17, 2006, by President George W. Bush. The Act "has a provocative provision called 'Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies'," the thrust of which "seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to [Hurricane] Katrina-like disasters," Jeff Stein, CQ National Security Editor wrote December 1, 2006.
"But on closer inspection, its language also alters the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to limit the president's power to deploy troops within the United States … 'to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy'," Stein wrote.
"But the amended law takes the cuffs off" and "critics say it's a formula for executive branch mischief," Stein wrote, as "the new language adds 'natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident' to the list of conditions permitting the President to take over local authority — particularly 'if domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order.'"
"One of the few to complain, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., warned that the measure virtually invites the White House to declare federal martial law. … It 'subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military's involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law,' he said in remarks submitted to the Congressional Record on Sept. 29."
– Source
We'll see how those concepts are cleverly inserted into pop music in order to create a specific climate in the collective consciousness.
Rihanna's Hard and AMA Performance
Previous articles on this site looked at the occult or mind-control related symbolism found in Umbrella, Disturbia and Russian Roulette. Fully embodying Illuminati agenda, Rihanna's Hard incorporates the military/police state element.
In hip-hop slang, the term "hard" usually refers to someone who is street-savvy, gritty, rebellious and who is clearly "not down with police". Hard transposes this term to a military context. Her militaristic video features a gang of uniformed men dancing under the orders of "General Rihanna". We've come a long way from Public Enemy's Fight the Power…it is now Submit to the Power. All of this military/dictatorial imagery is mixed with Rihanna's sexy moves and outfits, appealing to the masses' basest instinct: sex. This generates in the viewer an unconscious positive response to this otherwise terrible backdrop. I mean, who likes to be in a war zone? Not people who have experienced it, that's for damn sure.
How come guns were always censored from music videos (especially rap) until very recently? Is it only acceptable when they are used to promote war and a police state?
At the end of the song Hard, Rihanna chants "Where the bloggers at? Where the bloggers at?"
I'm right here.
Beyonce's Grammy Performance
Beyonce walks on stage with a bunch of men dressed in riot gear… the type of unit a police state would use to repress opposition during civil turmoil. What are they doing in Beyonce's performance? Contributing to permeate popular culture with police-state imagery.
Is the American public being mentally prepared for martial law? But that's impossible, Beyonce is such a good girl … oh wait.
Daddy Yankee's Performance at Premio Lo Nuestro 2010
Reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee has likely been chosen to promote the Agenda to the Latino community. His performance at the Premio Lo Nuestro awards in Miami is simply a perfect Illuminati fit. At the beginning of the performance, a picture of Daddy Yankee standing under a Masonic compass is displayed.
Daddy Yankee's is surrounded by dancers looking like robotic cyber-police/soldiers. The name of his new single is Descontrol, which means "lose control". Interesting.
By the way, here is the logo of Premios Lo Nuestro awards.
The Black Eyed Peas' Imma Be Rocking that Body
This long video is all about the merger of humans and robots, which is, as seen above, the ultimate goal of transhumanism. It starts with Fergie saying "we are not robots!" … only to see her become a half-robot shooting a gun that causes an irresistible need to breakdance.
Will.I.Am starts his verse by saying "Imma be the upgraded new negro", which pretty much sums up the transhumanist philosophy.
At the end of the video, Fergie wakes up from her "dream". It sure was cool when she was a robot, wasn't it?
In Conclusion
Articles on this site have mainly focused on the occult symbols found in music videos. There are, however, other aspects of the Illuminati agenda that are present in popular culture. Transhumanism and the establishment of a virtual police state are two objectives that are slowly but surely being implemented with little to no public debate. Movies, video games and the music industry are doing the job of leading the masses' collective consciousness towards a new era by saturating the airwaves with those concepts. The "robot agenda", as some observers call it, has been an intricate part of the music industry for years now and examples of it are way too many to enumerate. The theme of the "upgraded human" due to his robotization has been exploited by most of today's international stars. There is a difference between a trend and an agenda.
The "police state" element found in video and performances is relatively new but equally, if not more, disturbing. Music has always been a healing, liberating and emancipating medium. Looking at the music industry's products of the last years, is there a possibility of it being hijacked by an ever-intrusive elite? Think about who owns the record companies.
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It's funny how Vigilant Citizen only made me sure of what I've observed for several years. Ever since I gained initial consciousness that pop culture is infecting our minds, I've been utterly disgusted by how many rap & pop songs are about a rapper "wanting it" and a luscious woman "giving it". It simply struck me in awe, that all these women want themselves to be treated as sex objects or how all the rappers just go on about being rich, wanting sex or how much sex they get. Or all combined. Now it's all clear to me. A realisation occurred. You don't have to believe in God, or any belief for that matter, to see the truth behind all this. All you need to do is look at today's teenagers, really. Pretty much every kid has forsaken the simplest morals, empathy and compassion. Everyone's goals are to become rich & famous, saving no means to achieve them. People have become utterly superficial with no will to seek for compassion or emotion, instead they focus on "living in the moment" and fulfilling carnal desires. Conforming as the dead fish that go with the flow, for the sake of not feeling… Read more »
If you think that this blog can't be true because it has not been taken down, let me remind you that taking down a you tube video is easy, because you tube is a company that can monitor itself with a single click of a button. A blog, on the other hand, can only be taken down by taking down the blogger. So there are three possibilities, as I see it. 1. This blog is a bunch of bs, 2. The Illuminati or whoever do not think it is worth it to send out a death squad, or 3. They really do want this information out. I find option 3 to be the most interesting. But why would they want such a thing? Perhaps, the world does not work in quite the way many of us think it does; that is, perhaps our energy and what we decide to pay attention to actually affects the world itself. It is a metaphysical perspective, and it would mean that if we are not careful, that even by decoding and understanding these symbols and stories, we are still paying homage to them, and still granting them our energy and mindset. It is the… Read more »
Wow…VC was right…look at what is happening now 6 years later…hmmm wonder if Beyonce was thinking of this performance when she did Lemonade…
What is this country of degenerate… wake up Americans… obama and a degenerate… wall street and Bank Federal it ruined your country… wake up Americans…. rockefeller and his Satanic band betrayed the American people….United States a police state Franc Masson n--i its fact fear your country… How can you accept all these degenerate… beyoncé lady gaga, The Black Eyed n--i Rihannanal -suck Jay z Franc Masson n--i … those are all degenerated…. me I remain a Nice cote d'azur…
I also noticed some people bringing religion into this so they can resist the "devil" they see in these videos. LOL Come on, people. First of all, not all of us are Christians on here. Personally, I'm a person born to Muslim parents but I'm agnostic. All you need to understand and resist their mind control games is to be intelligent, question, research, read, think for yourself and have an open-mind that nothing is impossible. Religion does the opposite and is just another control tool where you follow what others tell you to believe in without questioning so stop with the whole "Go, read the bible and praise Jaysussssssssssss so it will all be okay!" People who say this are completely missing the point this article is trying to make in the first place !!! This is not to say religion is bad. I respect all religions as long the person sat down and chose their own religion, and most of us did not do that. We were born into the religion we hold dear to us now, and our religion is mostly determined by the country we were born in so it is nothing more than luck. Bottom line… Read more »
I have a psychology degree, and I completely agree with this article. It might sound a lot of mumbo jumbo to your ordinary citizen but from a psychological point of view, all the techniques used to control the mind mentioned on here are 100% correct. This is nothing new. Advertisements and commercials we see and watch everyday do the same. It's a known and used technique. What do you think makes you go and seek a specific product or brand? Why do you think product brands spend millions of dollars on a 30 second commercial and even more during Super Bowl? Why is it that Hollister, Abercrombie & fitch, etc are so popular among young people? Because they all create possitive emotional associations in your brain (positive association can be funny, sexy, cute…pretty much anything positive that makes you feel good). Abercrombie & Fitch & Hollister use muscular hot guys so in time, young girls associate the brand with this extremely sexy image that their brains tell them they should shop at that store. They don't go there for the quality of the clothes. They don't sit and try to rationalize why they want to go there. They instinctively want… Read more »
check this link will.i.am hired by intel wtf for ???
Transhumanism sucks a-s. Never forget that. In the end, truth always wins. Keep up the good work bro!
Now she hates the police…lololol…yea right
And yet, there's the famous song from 1978 which openly describes what's it like being trashumanized: "Man machine, super-human being. Man machine, pseudo-human being"
I think RED has caught on to this because their song Feed the Machine says Wake up and kill the machine at the end.
my bad on the last link, since it links back to right here
superbowl halftime show – transhumanism at its finest
then read
And the owner, or at least the author of this article, is definitely someone who has a psychology background. He/she can also punctuate (unlike some people who think they know how to punctuate) – another sign that shows a high level of education and intelligence.
This series is the best videos to explain about Transhuman.
yea, its getting a little to blantant now when they constantly use police force in their performances… hellooo, no one thinks they are cool
was i the only one that noticed the leopard print on Rhianna's helmet towards the end of her "hard" vid?(pause about the 3.50 mark) when shes with the flag?
still one of my favourite articles since discovering this site
cable tvs these days are rapidly being converted into a digital service which offers more value added services -~~
Wow that article was to awesome i agree with everything. i hate how the elite stole the ideas of great rappers, soul singers and turned it into a demoralizing tool to promote their agenda. i dont watch tv much and dont listen to mainstream music its all garbage anyways. some artist started out teaching with rap like Kanye if you check out his first two albums then he just sold his soul when he got his mom killed. smh. God Bless those people.


text:
Sex was all up in "Glee" on Tuesday night, as two couples took things to the next level in an episode appropriately titled "The First Time."
The coitus will surely complicate Finn and Rachel's situation, while it brought Kurt and Blaine closer than ever. For the second week in a row, "Glee" introduced a new character. This one's named Sebastian, played by Grant Gustin, an aggressive new Warbler with one mission: Snatch Blaine away from Kurt.
Yes, Karofsky returned for a brief scene in a gay bar, and yes, Coach Bieste now has a love interest, and yes, Mike Chang's dad cut him off for performing "West Side Story" with his castmates. But let's face it: All anyone's talking about is the dirty deed.
So take a gander at my latest musical "Glee"-Cap. It's waiting for you in all its Hype Williams-inspired glory in the embedded video player above. Sing along if you feel like it!
Light a Duraflame, baby
Silence your phone
They're gonna do it, maybe
While their parents aren't home
Takin' it slow so far
Just a magical kiss
Blaine is horny in a car
So drunk at the gay bar
And Kurt's all, "You ain't gettin' this, no"
Now's not the time
Kurt is losing his mind
(Kurt's losing his mind!)
Jealous of a new guy in town
(He's a slut. And a pig. And a slut pig)
Sebastian's his name
Stealing men is his game
But Blaine's devoted
Now Kurt, he knows it
So Klainers put your hands in the air for ...
Soft-focus sexin'
All up on my TV screen
Soft-focus sexin'
It's tame 'cause conservatives will scream
Soft-focus sexin'
If you want grinding watch "Queer as Folk"
Soft-focus sexin'
You'd think at least we'd get one tiny grope, nope
Rachel wants to do the nasty
To prepare for a role
Her motives make Finn antsy
So he decides to withhold
Cooter the Recruiter tells Finn
"You're not the best"
But it gets him in the mood for
Some pity sex
Soft-focus sexin'
The straight couple makes out on a bed yet ...
Soft-focus sexin'
... The gay guys just lay there instead
Soft-focus sexin'
You can have sex while wearing clothes?!
Soft-focus sexin'
We're still dealing in prime time
So no cigars, just close
[Spoken outro]
I know there are some heartbroken
Klainers out there
Who wanted some bump 'n' grind (Bump 'n' grind!)
But we have to wait for our nation to be more accepting
Just give it time (Give it time!)
Soft-focus sexin'
It's better than nothin', I guess
Soft-focus sexin'
I mean, holy crap — they had sex!
What did you think of this week's episode? Let us know in the comments!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Planar dual polarization antenna
A microwave-frequency microstrip antenna (10) simultaneously usable for both transmitting and receiving microwave-frequency signals that have dual orthogonally polarized components. The components may be either linearly or circularly polarized. A radiating patch (26) is mounted on a first dielectric (12). A ground plane (20) abuts the first dielectric (12) and has two elongated coupling apertures (32,31) at right angles to each other. A second dielectric (22) abuts the ground plane (20) and has embedded thereon two substantially identical conductive planar feed networks (52,51) that are disposed at right angles to each other. At least one additional optional dielectric layer (16,18) having a conductive patch (36,34) may be interposed between the first dielectric (12) and the ground plane (20) for purposes of broadening the bandwidth of the antenna (10). A meanderline polarizer (45) or a 3 dB 90.degree. hybrid coupler (40) may be used for converting from linear polarization to circular polarization.
Latest Ford Patents:
Technical Field
The present invention relates to microstrip antenna structures and more specifically to a microstrip antenna capable of handling two orthogonally polarized signals simultaneously, while exhibiting wide bandwidth characteristics (2:1 VSWR bandwidth and 25 dB polarization isolation bandwidth greater than 20%).
The use of microstrip techniques to construct microwave antennas has recently emerged as a consequence of the need for increased miniaturization, decreased cost, and improved reliability. One primary application of high interest is in the construction of large phased array systems.
However, few microstrip antennas are designed to handle dual orthogonally polarized signals simultaneously, both for transmit and receive. Furthermore, microstrip antennas have heretofore suffered from relatively narrow operational bandwidth, which limits tunability of the devices. It is desirable to have an antenna having at least as great a bandwidth as the feed system. And it is in general desirable to have devices with as wide a bandwidth as possible for various wideband applications.
Background Art
The following references were uncovered in relation to the subject invention:
Lopez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,050, describes a dual polarization microstrip antenna wherein the radiating elements are cross-slots rather than conductive patches as in the present invention. The cross-slots are formed in a conducting sheet sandwiched between a vertical feed network and an orthogonal horizontal feed network. Interference may result in the radiation pattern because of blockage of radiation by the feed networks. In the present invention, the feed networks 52,51 for both polarizations lie substantially in a single plane 30. The feed networks 52, 51 do not block radiation leaving or entering the antenna 10. A ground plane 20 sandwiched between the feed circuitry 52,51 and a radiating patch 26 prevents radiation from the feed circuitry 52,51 from interfering with the desired radiation from patch 26.
The following additional references all disclose microstrip antennas, but none discloses dual polarization, which is an essential ingredient of the present invention:
U.S. patent application 156,259 filed Feb. 16, 1988, having the same inventors and same assignee as the instant application, discloses the use of conductive patches intermediate the radiating patch and the ground plane to improve bandwidth.
Pozar, "Microstrip Antenna Aperture-Coupled to a Microstripline," Electronics Letters, Vol. 21, pp. 49-50, Jan. 17, 1985, describes an aperture coupling technique for feeding a microstrip antenna. The reference does not disclose the present invention's use of multiple tuning patches situated intermediate a radiating patch and a ground plane to increase bandwidth.
Yee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,689, describes a microstrip antenna structure having stacked microstrip elements. However, the coupling is a direct, mechanical connection. A central conductor extends from a ground plane directly to an uppermost conducting plane which serves as a radiator. Because there is a central conductor extending through the multiple layers, the central conductor presents an inductance which contributes to detuning effects, an undesirable characteristic. Physical connection such as soldering is required to secure the feed electrically to the conducting plane. Couplings which rely on physical connection are subject to undesired mechanical failure. The aperture coupling feed scheme of the present invention eliminates soldering. Furthermore, in the reference, no provision is shown or suggested for continuous wideband operation as in the present invention.
Fassett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,549, describes a microstrip antenna in which a feedline and a radiating element, a ring, are on the same side of a ground plane. As a consequence, there is a possibility that undesired or stay radiation patterns may be generated from the feedline. The reference does not disclose bandwidth-broadening patches.
Black, U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,013, describes an antenna with a stripline feed. The stripline (sandwiched between two ground planes) is directly connected to a radiating patch. The radiating patch in turn radiates through an aperture. The aperture must be larger than the radiating patch. In the present invention, the radiating patch is larger than the coupling apertures. The reference does not disclose bandwidth-broadening patches.
Bhartia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,987, describes a microstrip antenna having a bandwidth broadening feature in the form of a pair of varactor diodes. Physical connection of the diodes is required to electrically couple between the radiator and the ground plane.
Yu, "Multiband Microstrip Antenna," NASA Tech Briefs, Spring 1980, MSC-18334, Johnson Space Center, describes a multiband, narrow bandwidth microstrip antenna having a direct physical connection between radiating elements and a pin feed attached to a coaxial connector. No provision is made for continuous wide-bandwidth operation.
Sabban, "A New Broadband Stacked Two-layer Microstrip Antenna," Digest, 1983 IEEE AP-S International Symposium, Houston, Tex., May 23-26, 1983, pp. 63-66, describes a microstrip antenna which employs a direct feed. The design is said to have a continuous 2:1 VSWR bandwidth of 9-15 percent. The feed network and the radiator are on the same side as the ground plane. Aperture coupling is not used.
Chen et al., "Broadband Two-layer Microstrip Antenna," Digest, 1981 IEEE AP-S International Symposium, pp. 251-254, describes another microstrip antenna with a direct feed. A probe, which is typically the center conductor of a coaxial cable, is connected as by soldering to a first patch near the ground plane. As such, the physical connection is subject to failure, and the probe presents an effective inductance which contributes to detuning effects. The feeder patch and radiating patch are on the same side as the ground plane. Aperture coupling is not used.
James et al., Microstrip Antenna Theory and Design, IEE, 1981: Peter Peregrinus Ltd., Chapter 10 (on trends and future developments) illustrates various schemes for a patch antenna. Of particular note is FIG. 10.18 on page 274, which shows radiation by a slot rather than a conductive patch.
United Kingdom patent application GB 2,166,907A describes another microstrip antenna in which there is a direct coupling to a radiating element. This is a fabrication technique for producing a pretuned conventional narrow bandwidth microstrip antenna. The device is tuned without significantly affecting bandwidth by painting coatings of a dielectric across the radiating surface. Multiple bandwidth-broadening patches are not disclosed.
What is needed, and what is provided by the instant invention, is a microstrip antenna having the capability of simultaneously handling duel orthogonal polarizations (both for transmit and receive), having a physically sturdy coupling, and which is capable of wideband operation.
Disclosure of the Invention
The invention is a microwave-frequency microstrip antenna (10) simultaneously usable with dual orthogonally polarized signals. The antenna (10) comprises a substantially planar 90.degree. rotation-symmetric conductive radiating patch (26) mounted on a substantially planar first dielectric (12) having first and second sides. A substantially planar conductive ground plane (20) has a first side facing the second side of the first dielectric (12). The ground plane (20) has two elongated coupling apertures (32,31) having substantially the same size and shape, and being disposed at right angles to each other. A substantially planar second dielectric (22) has a first side facing a second side of the ground plane and a second side (30) on which lie two substantially identical conductive planar feed networks (52,51) that correspond to the first and second orthogonal polarizations. The feed networks (52,51) are disposed at right angles with respect to each other. Each feed network (52,51) is symmetric about a center plane which is orthogonal to the first and second dielectrics (12,22) and ground plane (20), and which bisects a corresponding one of the coupling apertures (32,31).
These and other more detailed and specific objects and features of the present invention are more fully disclosed in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of microstrip antenna 10 in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the embodiment of antenna 10 depicted in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment of coupling apertures 31,32; and
FIG. 6 is an alternate embodiment of microstrip feed network 51.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of a microstrip antenna 10 in accordance with the present invention. The antenna described herein is practical for application at microwave frequencies between about 1 GHz and 20 GHz. There is no theoretical frequency limit based on principle. Above about 20 GHz, however, microstrip antennas in general exhibit high losses. Below 1 GHz, wire antennas are more practical because of the large size of antenna needed.
Microstrip antenna 10 comprises several layers, selected ones of the layers contributing to the functions of feed, coupling, impedance matching, radiation, and bandwidth broadening. It is to be understood that the layers of the antenna 10 are generally planar.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is a radiating layer 12 having one side 14 exposed to free space, possibly one or more optional intermediate layers 16, 18 as hereinafter explained, a ground plane 20 of no particular thickness, and a feed layer 22. Mounted on one edge of the feed layer 22 is a feedline connector 24 connected to a feed network 52 (see FIG. 2). Mounted on an adjacent edge of layer 22 is a feedline connector 23 connected to a feed network 51, which is also illustrated in FIG. 2. Networks 52,51 correspond to dual orthogonal linear polarizations. It is to be appreciated that antenna 10 is usable for both transmit and receive. Feedline connectors 24,23 may be standard coaxial SMA-type connectors suited to the operating frequencies of interest.
Radiating layer 12 is fabricated of a dielectric material and has embedded thereon a substantially planar conductive radiating patch 26. Radiating patch 26 may have the shape of a square, circle, octagon, or any other shape which is "90.degree. rotation-symmetric". By this is meant that if one rotates patch 26 by 90.degree. in either direction in the plane of layer 12, one does not change the shape of patch 26 from the point of view of a stationary observer looking broadside onto patch 26. In the embodiment illustrated in the Figures, radiating patch 26 is square-shaped with no apertures therethrough. Radiating patch 26 is inductively coupled to feed networks 52,51, as hereinafter explained, for radiating microwave energy applied through feed networks 52,51; or reciprocally, for receiving microwave signals and coupling those signals to feed networks 52,51.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown an exploded view of the antenna 10 of FIG. 1. Feed layer 22 is fabricated of a dielectric material and has embedded on its bottom surface 30 two substantially identical planar feed networks 52,51 that are disposed at right angles with respect to each other. Feed networks 52,51 are in the form of strips of electrically conductive material attached to the center conductors of feedline connectors 24,23, respectively. The configuration shown in the Figures is a microstrip configuration in which only one ground plane 20 is used. Alternatively, a stripline configuration could be employed, in which a second ground plane is used, situated on the side of feed layer 22 opposite that of ground plane 20.
Feed layer 22, optional intermediate layers 16 and 18, and radiating layer 12 are constructed of dielectric material suited to operation in the environment of interest. Suitable dielectric is high-density foam or a standard dielectric material sold under the registered trademark RT/DUROID of Rogers Corporation, Rogers, Conn. RT/DUROID material is available with a dielectric constant in the range of about 2.2 to about 10.6. Other materials are also useful in accordance with the invention, so long as dielectric losses are minimized at the frequencies of interest and other mechanical criteria are satisfied. RT/DUROID is available with copper cladding on one or both sides. Feed layer 22 is advantageously constructed of double-cladded RT/DUROID material, wherein the bottom side 30 is etched to form feed networks 52,51; the cladding on the opposing side can become ground plane 20.
In accordance with the invention, coupling apertures 32,31 are provided in ground plane 20 as part of the electromagnetic coupling to radiating patch 26, as explained hereinafter in greater detail. Apertures 32,31 may be etched from the copper cladding forming ground plane 20.
One or more optional intermediate layers 16, 18 are used when one wishes to increase the continuous bandwidth, similarly as described in our aforesaid U.S. patent application Ser. No. 156,259 filed Feb. 16, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,625. Layers 16,18 and radiating layer 12 may be cladded on one side with a conductive layer. The cladded layers are then etched away to leave coupling patches 34, 36, 26 of conductive material, each in a 90.degree. rotation-symmetric pattern of relatively small thickness. A typical thickness of a patch 34,36,26 is 25 microns, whereas a typical intermediate layer 18,16 thickness is 500 to 1000 microns.
When optional intermediate layers 18,16 are not used, radiating layer 12 is normally made to have a relatively large thickness, e.g., greater than 1000 microns, in an attempt to increase the bandwidth. However, a radiating layer 12 having a thickness which is of any significant percentage of the wavelengths of interest will inhibit effective aperture coupling and may well allow excitation of undesired surface waves. Therefore, one or more intermediate layers 18,16 should be used when layer 12 becomes too thick. Coupling patches 34, 36 are positioned between radiating patch 26 and apertures 32,31. Patches 34,36 provide the desired broadband tuning and capacitive energy coupling across the separation between radiating patch 26 and apertures 32,31.
The number and thickness of the intermediate layers 16, 18 are selected in accordance with design specifications respecting the desired bandwidth characteristics of antenna 10. Thus, the two intermediate layers 16,18 depicted in the Figures is an arbitrary number; there can be more than two such layers. The greater the separation imposed by substrates 18,16, the broader the operational bandwidth. However, at a frequency of about 20 GHz, it is recommended that the maximum separation between top and bottom conductive layers 26 and 20 not exceed about 1000 microns.
Intermediate layers of different dielectric materials might be employed to achieve variations in the dielectric characteristics in the axial direction. Dielectric materials might also be used, for example, to construct antennas 10 having integrated focussing elements. Layers of material (not shown) may also be applied over radiating patch 26 for protection or for matching with the impedance of free space.
If one wishes to use antenna 10 with circular polarization rather than linear polarization, two techniques are possible, both of which are illustrated in FIG. 2. The first technique is to place a meanderline polarizer 45 on top of radiating layer 12. Meanderline polarizer 45 consists of a planar dielectric layer, the top surface of which is embedded with conductive, generally parallel, wiggly meanderlines 46. Meanderlines 46 must be positioned so that they make substantially 45.degree. angles with respect to each of the coupling apertures 32,31. In transmit mode, polarizer 45 converts dual linearly orthogonally polarized signals into dual orthogonally polarized lefthand and righthand circularly polarized (LHCP and RHCP) signals. In receive mode, polarizer 45 converts lefthand and righthand circularly polarized signals into dual linearly orthogonally polarized signals.
The second technique for using antenna 10 with circular polarization is to employ optional 3 dB 90.degree. hybrid coupler 40. Such a coupler 40 has four ports, 41-44. Ports 43 and 44 are connected to the center conductors of feedline connectors 23,24, respectively. Signals applied to ports 41 and 42 are converted to signals at ports 43 and 44 which are propagated by antenna 10 as dual orthogonally circularly polarized signals.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a bottom plan view of layer 22 of the embodiment of antenna 10 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the lateral alignment of feed networks 52,51 with their associated coupling apertures 32,31, respectively. For both linear and circular polarization, the long axes of elongated coupling apertures 32,31 are orthogonal to the direction of beam propagation. The preferred maximum aperture 32,31 length is less than one-half the wavelength at the nominal center frequency of intended operation.
FIG. 3 shows that each feed network 52,51 preferably comprises two elongated branches (58,60 and 57,59, respectively) of planar conductive material. Feed networks 52,51 are disposed at right angles to each other, have substantially the same size and shape, and are symmetric about a plane which is orthogonal to dielectric 22 and bisects the corresponding coupling aperture 32,31, respectively. This balanced geometry preserves isolation at the connection ports 24,23; minimizes the coupling between the apertures 32,31; and keeps the cross-polarized far-field radiation suppressed.
The conductive branches (58,60 and 57,59 respectively) are connected together via power combiners 56,55, respectively. Power combiners 56,55 can be of the reactive type, as illustrated in FIG. 3, or they can be of the Wilkinson type, in which case resistors (not illustrated) connect the branches (58, 60 and 57, 59, respectively). Between each power combiner 56,55 and its associated feedline connector 24,23, respectively, is a relatively wide impedence matching section 54,53, respectively.
Each coupling aperture 32,31 is seen to extend a distance D beyond the corresponding conductive branch 57-60. D is preferably approximately equal to one-fourth the length of each coupling aperture 32,31.
The distance that each conductive branch 57-60 extends beyond its corresponding coupling aperture 32,31 in a direction along the long axis of the branch 57-60 (nominally L1) and the width of branches 57-60 are selected for best impedance matching of antenna 10. L1 should be approximately equal to one-quarter of the wavelength at the operating frequency. This maximizes the current in the vicinity of the coupling apertures 32,31. The exact value of L1 depends upon the overall structure of antenna 10, for example, the thicknesses of the layers 12,16,18,20,22 and their dielectric constants. In practice, it is often desirable to slightly change the value of L1 for two of the branches 60,57. This is because an air bridge crossover 47 (see also FIG. 4) must be used to avoid an electrical connection between branches 60,57. Thus, branch 60 extends a distance of L1A beyond its corresponding coupling aperture 32 and branch 57 extends a distance of L1B beyond its corresponding coupling aperture 31.
FIG. 5 illustrates that loading (i.e., regions of relatively greater width) may be used in coupling apertures 32,31 to further improve the impedance matching and increase the bandwidth of antenna 10. FIG. 5 shows that aperture 32 uses end loads 64,62 and intermediate loads 68,66; while aperture 31 uses end loads 63,61 and intermediate loads 67,65. The loads can be of any shape and can be located at any point along the long axes A32,A31 of the apertures 32,31, as long as symmetry is preserved about both the long and short axis of each aperture 32,31. There can be more than one pair of loads on each aperture 32,31.
FIG. 6 shows that loads, i.e., regions of relatively greater width, can be used on the conductive microstrip feed networks 52,51, also to further improve the impedance matching and increase the bandwidth of antenna 10. The loads can be of any shape. If the loads are located between the power combiner 56,55 and the ends of the branches 57-60, they should be symmetric about center plane P of the feed network 52,51. This is shown in FIG. 6 for end loads 71,69 and intermediate loads 73,72 of network 51. If the load is situated between the power combiner 56,55 and the corresponding feed line connector 24,23, however, symmetry about plane P is not necessary. This is illustrated in FIG. 6 with respect to load 70.
The above description is included to illustrate the operation of the preferred embodiments and is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims. From the above discussion, many variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art that would yet be encompassed by the spirit and scope of the invention.
1. A microwave-frequency microstrip antenna simultaneously usable with dual orthogonally polarized signals, comprising:
- a substantially planar 90.degree. rotation-symmetric conductive radiating patch mounted on a substantially planar first dielectric having first and second sides;
- a substantially planar conductive ground plane having a first side facing the second side of the first dielectric, said ground plane having two elongated coupling apertures having substantially the same size and shape, being disposed at right angles to each other, being less than one-half wavelength long at the nominal center frequency of operation, and crossing each other at their respective midpoints;
- a substantially planar second dielectric having a first side facing a second side of the ground plane and a second side on which lie two substantially identical conductive planar feed networks that correspond to the dual orthogonal polarizations and are disposed at right angles with respect to each other, wherein each feed network is symmetric about one of two center planes, respectively, each of which is orthogonal to the first and second dielectrics and ground plane and which bisects a corresponding one of the coupling apertures; and
- at least one additional substantially planar tuning layer interposed between the first dielectric and the ground plane, wherein each tuning layer comprises a dielectric material on which lies a conductive non-apertured tuning element that is centered with respect to each feed network, whereby the bandwidth of the antenna is dependent upon the number, composition, and thickness of the tuning layers; wherein
- the projection of each aperture onto the plane of the radiating patch is centered with respect to the radiating patch;
- each feed network comprises two elongated substantially identical parallel conductive microstrip elements positioned equidistant from their associated center plane, each microstrip element being disposed orthogonally with respect to its associated coupling aperture; and
- the antenna radiates in one direction only, said direction being defined by a vector originating at the midpoints of the coupling apertures and terminating at the midpoint of the radiating patch.
2. The antenna of claim 1 wherein each coupling aperture is symmetric about a long axis that is orthogonal to the center plane of the corresponding feed network.
3. The antenna of claim 1 further comprising a substantially planar third dielectric having first and second sides, said second side of said third dielectric facing the first side of said first dielectric; wherein:
- the first side of said third dielectric has embedded thereon a meanderline polarizer comprising generally parallel wiggly conductive elements that are oriented at substantially a 45.degree. angle with respect to each of the two coupling apertures.
4. The antenna of claim 1 further comprising a 3 dB 90.degree. hybrid coupler having four ports, two of which are respectively coupled to the two feed networks.
5. The antenna of claim 1 wherein each coupling aperture has loaded regions where the aperture has been widened with respect to an aperture not so loaded, and each aperture is symmetric about each of the two center planes.
6. The antenna of claim 1 wherein each conductive microstrip element has at least one loaded region that is relatively wide compared with a conductive microstrip element that is not so loaded; and
- symmetry of each feed network about its corresponding center plane is preserved despite the presence of the loaded region(s).
7. The antenna of claim 1 wherein the length of each aperture is less than one-half the wavelength at the nominal center frequency of operation;
- the distance that the projection of each aperture extends beyond each of its corresponding two conductive microstrip elements is approximately one-fourth the length of said aperture; and
- the distance that the projection of each conductive microstrip element extends beyond its associated aperture is approximately one-quarter of a wavelength at the operating frequency.
8. The antenna of claim 1 wherein the two feed networks are co-planar, except that one microstrip element from one of the feed networks is bent out of the common plane into an air bridge crossover to avoid touching one of the microstrip elements from the other feed network at a crossing region of said microstrip elements.
Referenced Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
|December 1974
|Ranghelli et al.
|October 18, 1977
|October 2, 1979
|May 11, 1982
|December 14, 1982
|July 16, 1985
|Bhartia et al.
|November 19, 1985
|Fassett et al.
|December 1, 1987
|January 12, 1988
|August 2, 1988
Foreign Patent Documents
|December 1981
|July 1987
|March 1987
|September 1985
Other references
- Pozar, D. M., "Microstrip Antenna Aperture-Coupled to a Microstripline", Electronic Letters, vol. 21, pp. 49-50, Jan. 1985. I-Ping Yu, "Multiband Microstrip Antenna", NASA Tech. Briefs, Spring 1980, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex. Sabban, A., "A New Broadband Stacked Two-Layer Microstrip Antenna", IEEE AP-S International Symposium, Houston, Tex., Digest, May 23-26, 1983. Chen et al., "Broadband Two-Layer Microstrip Antenna", Digest, 1981, IEEE AP-S International Symposium. James et al., Microstrip Antenna Theory and Design, IEE, 1981, Peter Peregrinus Ltd.
Patent History
Type: Grant
Filed: Apr 1, 1988
Date of Patent: Feb 20, 1990
Assignee: Ford Aerospace Corporation (Newport Beach, CA)
Inventors: Chich-Hsing Tsao (Saratoga, CA), Yeongming Hwang (Los Altos Hills, CA), Francis J. Kilburg (Mountain View, CA), Fred J. Dietrich (Palo Alto, CA)
Primary Examiner: Rolf Hille
Assistant Examiner: Michael C. Wimer
Attorneys: Edwrad Radlo, Edward J. Radlo, Keith L. Zerschling
Application Number: 7/176,581
International Classification: H01Q 138;


text:
Before I start my slamming of Arundhati Roy's worldview, let me start off by saying that I do not endorse Hindu extremism. Let me first make it a point to rebut the Hindu extremists' worldview, lest this article of mine slamming Roy be misused by them.
We should only be glad that we opted for being a modern, inclusive state, rather than defining our nationalism based on religious identity, as Pakistan and Uganda did, and we all know the havoc that religious extremism has wreaked for even the majority Muslim and Christian communities respectively in those two countries by the TTP and Lord's Resistance Army respectively.
As much as some tend to level baseless allegations against and float nonsensical conspiracy theories about Gandhi and Nehru (to clarify any misconceptions you have about them, see this article and this one), these two personalities, while certainly not being above criticism, undoubtedly have great legacies, and one should not fall prey to the Hindu right trying to appropriate the legacies of Sardar Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose either. (I am not a supporter of the Congress party of today if anyone inferred that, and I am a supporter, though not uncritical admirer, of the AAP, though I respect everyone's political preferences in a democracy.) It is wonderful to identify with the heritage of one's civilization, which has also evolved, but to imagine scientific or artistic creativity or valid notions of morality to be the sole preserve of one's own version of Indian culture, imagining other influences as necessarily being pollutants, is nothing but intolerance (which the Rigved opposes, saying one should accept noble thoughts from all directions), and one must guard against chauvinistic notions of tolerance that can and indeed do also produce very lethal intolerance.
I personally know several Muslims who are unprejudiced and are strongly patriotic Indians, and I see no reason to see Indian Muslims loyal to their country as being exceptions to the general norm. In fact, a Hindu acquaintance of mine, who studied at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), told me that while those cheering for Pakistan were quite a vocal lot there, most Muslims cheered for India, and this was in a Muslim-majority setting where the apparently pro-India majority did not have to conceal its true feelings, and another friend of mine, who is an Assamese Hindu from Guwahati and who is very resentful of the Bangladeshi Muslim influx in his state, told me that on a train journey, he overheard a conversation between two Muslims from AMU bashing the students who cheer for Pakistan. Also, another friend of mine whose father is an Indian Army officer once told me that he loves the entire Muslim community (though I don't support any stereotyping, positive or negative!), for once, his father was fired at by militants in Kashmir and his father's driver, a Muslim, rushed to bear the bullet to save his father's life! He also narrated another anecdote of how a Muslim once donated blood to save his father's life and asserted that he was not in the least ashamed of the fact that "Muslim blood" (whatever that is supposed to mean!) runs through his veins!
Terrorism, and even terrorism citing a theological basis, is not a Muslim monopoly. As you can see here, very many instances of terrorism globally, even in the name of religion, have been carried out by those identifying themselves as Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and even Buddhists, the victims of the acts of terrorists from each of these religious groupings not always being Muslims. However, just like most people of these religious groupings are not terrorists or supporters of terrorism, and they do not believe that their religion preaches terrorism, the same is the case with most Muslims (and not supporting terrorism applies to even most of those Muslims with other regressive and not-so-liberal attitudes on issues like gender and homosexuality).
It is possible to quote any scripture (allegedly out of context according to its liberal adherents) to justify malpractices, like some verses in the Bible namely Deuteronomy 13:12-15, Samuel 15:3, Leviticus 24:16 and Matthew 10:34 seemingly advocate violence against "non-believers" and the Purusha Sukta of the Rigved, an ancient Hindu scripture, is taken by some to justify caste discrimination, but these verses do not define the entire religion. This article mentioning an anecdote from the British parliament does make an interesting read in this regard, as does this video make an interesting watch in this connection. There are Quranic verses like 2:256, 5:2, 5:8, 5:32, 6:108, 6:151, 10:99, 49:13, 60:8 and 109:6 preaching peace, religious tolerance and human brotherhood, as does the letter from Prophet Muhammad to the Christian monks of St Catherine's monastery and there are episodes from Prophet Muhammad's life, as per Islamic lore, indicative of such an approach too, such as his allowing a woman to throw garbage at him daily and his succeeding in ideologically, winning over her by way of humanitarian affection. Those suggesting that peaceful verses in the Quran are superseded by violent verses (which the vast majority of practising Muslims globally regard as contextual) would do well to note that verse 109:6 appears towards the end of the book, and preaches nothing but peace.
There is a fairly well-known website run by an apostate and basher of Islam who has even offered a cash prize to anyone who can disprove his allegations against Prophet Muhammad (but there are books by apostates of other religions criticizing their former religions too, the most famous one being 'Why I Am Not a Christian' by Bertrand Russell, and there's also 'Why I am Not a Hindu' by Kancha Ilaiah, levelling very strong allegations), but practically, he is the judge of the debate, or to go by what he is saying, the "readership" of the website, a rather non-defined entity. In fact, he has acknowledged that he came across a Muslim who "intelligently argued his case and never descended to logical fallacies or insults" and while that Islam-basher "did not manage to convince him to leave Islam", that Muslim earned his "utmost respect", which implies that practically, the Islam-basher is the judge of the debate. Likewise, that Islam-basher has mentioned with reference to a scholar of Islam he debated with, that the latter was "a learned man, a moderate Muslim and a good human being" and someone he (the Islam-basher) has "utmost respect for". So, that Islam-basher's critique of Islam, whether valid or invalid, has no relevance in terms of making blanket stereotypes about the people we know as Muslims or even practising Muslims. By the way, that Islam-basher bashes Judaism too. And it is worth mentioning that I have encountered several practising Muslims on discussion groups on the social media, who have, in a very calm and composed fashion, logically refuted the allegations against Islam on such websites. Indeed, as you can see here and here, there are several other apostates of Islam who have stated that while they personally left Islam thinking that the extremist interpretations are correct and moderate ones wrong (as is the case with apostates of many other religions), they have equally explicitly emphasized that that does not in the least mean that they believe that most people identifying themselves as practising Muslims support violence against innocent people.
And in fact, even speaking of the West, a report submitted by Europol, the criminal intelligence agency of the European Union, showed that only 3 out of the 249 terrorist attacks (amounting to about 1.2%) carried out in Europe in 2010 were carried out by Muslims. Even in the United States, most terrorist attacks from 1980 to 2005 were not carried out by Muslims. And no, I am not in the least seeking to undermine the heinousness of the crimes committed by some in the name of Islam by pointing to others having committed similar crimes under other ideological banners, for a more highlighted wrongdoing is no less of a wrongdoing than a less highlighted wrongdoing, but only to point out that viewing only Muslims as villains, and that too, all or even most of them, would indeed be grossly incorrect. However, despite jihadist terrorists being a microscopic minority of Muslims, Islamist terrorism has become a bigger global threat for its well-coordinated international network since the 1990s, with the US-backed Islamist resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan having signaled its rise. And, let us not forget that when we had the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the victims included Ahmed Merabet, a Muslim police officer who died fighting the terrorists (and by the way, there are more French Muslims in the local police, including those who have died fighting jihadist terrorists, than in the Al Qaeda unit in their country), Mustapha Ourad, a Muslim who was one of the magazine staff members killed in that attack and there was Lassana Bathily, a Muslim shopkeeper who gave sanctuary to many innocent civilians during the hostage crisis in Paris that followed. Even in the context of the more recent attacks in Paris, a Muslim security guard Zouheir, risking his own life, prevented one suicide bomber from entering a packed football stadium. More recently, Kenyan Muslims very laudably protected fellow bus commuters, who were Christians, from jihadist terrorists, and Kurdish, Emirati, Iraqi and Syrian Muslims have also been fighting the ISIS. In India too, most of the terrorism is not by Muslims, as you can see here and here.
I am not even suggesting that it is so much as possible to classify any religious grouping into watertight compartments of 'communal' or 'secular', and communalism among those we identify as communal does vary in degree. I would even assert that not every instance of Muslim communalism in India necessarily, in the conventional sense, amounts to affinity with Pakistan or hostility to India, and while communalism, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or any other, strikes at what Tagore called the "idea of India", any communal statement from a Muslim, like Azam Khan's ridiculous statement attributing India's victory in the Kargil war only to Muslim soldiers (but he did indeed explicitly glorify these Muslim soldiers serving India's national cause in the same speech), should not be seen as "anti-national" in the conventional sense of the term if Hindu communal statements are not seen in the same vein, and even Asaduddin Owaisi has ridiculed Pakistan for the partition dividing the Muslims of the subcontinent as also for being backward as compared to India but bearing animosity towards India, making life difficult for Indian Muslims. Also, I do not believe that communalists under any banner, except arguably those actually resorting to killing innocent civilians, should be dehumanized or can never be logically made to modify their views, as the must-watch movie Road to Sangam, based on a true story, demonstrates, and to draw an analogy, you can see this video of a Muslim who initially wanted to become a terrorist wanting to blow up Jewish civilians but changed his standpoint about Israel for the better after visiting that country. It is not as though Muslims are another species that can't be rationally engaged with, the way some extreme anti-Muslim rightists almost make them out to be, portraying Muslims in general as cruel, slimy, backstabbing and aggressive (many Muslims whom the non-Muslim readers would know personally would not exhibit such traits if the non-Muslim readers were to analyze dispassionately, rather than making baseless presumptions, and indeed, most Indian Muslims are of Hindu ancestry and so, they share the same genes as the Hindus – Hindu religious lore also refers to treacherous human beings like the Kauravas wanting to burn the Pandavas in a wax palace; so, treachery was not unknown to India before the advent of Islam, as royal family feuds among the Nanda and Gupta rulers also demonstrate, and some of the worst atrocities in history have been committed by the likes of Hitler and Stalin, who were not Muslims, nor was Chengiz Khan who was an animist), but like many people in other communities in different contexts, some (not all) Muslims are in the stranglehold of anachronistic ideas like a global pan-Muslim fraternity and the upholding of Islamic law, other than having prejudiced notions of an exaggerated sense of victimhood, and I have dealt with how to ideologically combat Muslim extremism in some depth in this article.
Sacrificing animals as a religious ritual is indeed not exclusive to Muslims, and 'bali' has existed among Hindus too, something Gautam Buddha (who lived centuries before Jesus and Muhammad) had opposed (and even Emperor Ashok the Great consumed meat of peacocks, which he stopped after embracing Buddhism, though interestingly, Buddhists in China, Japan, Bhutan etc. do consume meat, as do most Sikhs, Christians, Jews and Parsis, and what is halal for Muslims in terms of dietary regulations and the mode of slaughtering some animals is almost identical to what is kosher for Jews and several sects of Christians, and that is true for the practice of circumcision for males as well, which even has health benefits), and still continues in many Hindu temples across India, especially in West Bengal during the Navratri season. Also, it may interest some to know that the story of Prophet Abraham associated with Id-ul-Zuha is found in the Old Testament of the Bible too, which the Jews and Christians also believe in (those regarded as prophets by the Jews are regarded as prophets by the Christians too, with the addition of Jesus, and those regarded as prophets by the Christians are regarded as prophets by the Muslims as well, with the addition of Muhammad). And obviously, not all of Arab cuisine is non-vegetarian either, with Arab vegetarian dishes like strained yogurt using labneh cheese and sweet dishes like zlabia, popular in South Asia as jalebi!
And yes, all those resorting to whataboutism misusing the tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandits or other such episodes should read this article and this one, and as far as the rhetoric of love jihad goes, please see this article. And yes, I, for one, do not, in the least, shy away from calling the MIM a communal party which should be rejected, as you can see here. For all residual resentment against Muslims, I'd request you to peruse (not skim through and judge based on one's preconceived notions) this e-book of mine available for free download.
And also, while some Hindus may not have had the opportunity to make many Indian Christian friends, I have, and can assertively state that all claims of them being ultra-westernized and unpatriotic are completely fabricated generalizations, and a certain Malayali Christian friend of mine knows the Hindu epics better than many of my Hindu friends, and it would be interesting for some to know that Malayali Muslims and Malayali Christians observe the harvest festival of Onam, in spite of its Hindu religious connotation, as being their own, some Malayali Muslims preparing the Onam feast even when Onam falls in Ramzan.
Now, coming to Roy. Her silence on many issues is loud, but selective activism/outrage, while being very unhealthy, isn't a very sustainable argument beyond a point for the simple reason that anyone can claim a different set of priorities inasmuch as what they want to raise their voice against. Issues in the world or even India are far too many and that way, all of us can be accused of not speaking up for something or the other, and she has made a few token statements here and there condemning the driving out of the Kashmiri Pandits and Maoist violence.
That said, I guess the larger problem with Arundhati Roy is this-
Part 1 - Public Policy and Forms of Government
(a) She wants the state to control and regulate the economy, and detests private enterprise (read corporates), and instead of lamenting the lack of stronger law-and-order mechanisms to check exploitation by some corporates, has demonised corporates, many of whom offer innovation, efficiency and employment-generating capacity, when even non-corporate entities like small-time vegetable-vendors and milkmen engage in unethical business practices. There is no disagreement on the point that an MNC has much more money power to exert, and hence, more influence, but the underlying dishonesty is the same - someone below the poverty line is a different case, but a relatively non-rich guy too has no moral rationale to engage in malpractice - the reason for both is greed, but not every corporate executive or small-time shopkeeper engages in malpractice, and there are those among both who do. Of course, the rule of law needs to be strengthened so that no one gets away with wrongdoings, and that is another matter.
(b) She sees the state and the media as not being as she desires them to be and therefore, without much evidence, makes baseless exaggerated claims that the state machinery and the media have no human complexities and are completely sold out only to corporate interests, as if every media outlet, every judge, every university is completely dehumanised and is acting as an agent of vested interests (though she ironically gets her articles published in the very same media and gives lectures in government universities like JNU). Interestingly, as you can see here, when asked as to how she could claim that the entire Indian media was on the payrolls of the Tatas, to prove her point, she cited a report by the mainstream Indian magazine Outlook, perhaps not even realising the self-contradictory nature of her argument! As noted social activist Harsh Mander, who is far from being a right-winger, points out-
//I still find myself in fundamental and passionate disagreement with some of her major conclusions. The first is her rejection of what she describes as "the failing light" of democracy in India. She believes that India pretends to be a democracy: "it has been hollowed out and emptied of meaning"; and each of its institutions - the judiciary, police, "free" press and elections - "have metastasized into something dangerous", designed to uphold the consensus of the elite for market growth.
Roy rejects "liberals" who continue to have faith in a "tolerant, lumbering, colourful, somewhat chaotic democracy" in India. I am afraid I am one such "liberal". I am acutely aware of all the flaws in democracy in India, and join battle on many - indeed most - of the issues that Roy so eloquently dissects. And yet I do not share her terminal pessimism with the functioning of democracy in India. Unlike her, I do not believe that secular democracy in India is fake window dressing for the world to admire. With all its failings and betrayals, the guarantees contained in India's secular democratic constitution have made significant difference to the lives of its dispossessed people. They would have been even far poorer than they are now, more insecure, more oppressed without democracy. Of this, I am convinced.
Roy regards the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which creates a statutory right to 100 days employment in public works to every rural household as "crumbs". "It amounts to Rs. 8,000 (about $170) per family per year. Enough", she says, "for a good meal in a restaurant, with wine and dessert". I have observed how much NREGA, again with its flaws, has meant for millions of India's poorest people. Many live on less than one dollar a day, therefore 170 dollars is not a trifle for them. It has enabled them to survive, and that too without doles but instead with the dignity of (admittedly hard) labour. It has reduced distress migration and debt, brought more food to their plates and those of their children, and has raised agricultural wages. It is likely that this partly influenced the emphatic vote for the UPA government in 2009. To me, this is evidence of democracy delivering to its dispossessed people. Even flawed democracy.//
(c) By doing so, she undermines the work of activists for social and ecological causes who work within the democratic system with all its flaws, with PILs, agitations etc. to get better laws (e.g. the RTI Act or the Forest Rights Act which has empowered Adivasis more than Maoism) or implementation of existing laws, better policies etc. To study the nuances of the system, to lobby for laws, to fight it out in the judicial system, to work for the implementation of government schemes etc. is a tedious process, which acknowledges the state as legitimate, and which can be reformed democratically. Strongly left-leaning lawyer and civil rights agitator Prashant Bhushan operating under the Indian constitution branded Roy as downright jealous for her rejection of a popular anti-corruption struggle that took India by storm.
(d) She is not interested in doing what I stated above and even practically sabotaged a negotiated settlement of the Narmada issue, as Ramachandra Guha pointed out. She subtly almost questions the legitimacy of the state, and romanticizes Maoists but falls short of supporting them. By being so strongly anti-establishment and making sweeping claims, she impresses impressionable people with her rhetoric, who even overlook the falsehood in her claims like tracing Naxalism/Maoism, which started in the 1960s, and went strong in the 1970s and 1980s, to have emerged from the economic reforms of 1991! Interestingly, it was big development projects by government undertakings or misplaced environmentalism that kept the tribals disempowered even before liberalisation. The jobs created by liberalisation for those who managed some high school or college education, in call centres or even further up the success ladder in many private companies, or by being entrepreneurial, that have reduced poverty in very many cases, after liberalisation, are ignored by her, even if left-leaning economists like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and others have appreciated this development, albeit with some reservations. She chooses to believe statistics that suit her, reject those that don't and base her contentions, which do have an element of truth (but then, all bigots engaging in sweeping generalisations do base their contentions by citing some valid examples of wrongdoing by some from the set of folks they seek to bash), into sentimental bombast with hyperbole, as discussed here, here, here and here.
(e) What alternatives/solutions does she have to offer on the table? Does she suggest doing away with democracy? No. Would even that guarantee a better human rights scenario? China and North Korea suggest otherwise, and China has made economic progress by moving away from the communist model! The Indian Maoists bombing election booths and their kangaroo courts don't inspire any confidence either. In fact, after a lot of ranting, when asked for a solution, she shied away citing time constraints, as you can see here! As Mander points out-
//I find it ironical that people who would stoutly - and I believe rightly - oppose the death penalty, are prepared to endorse the murder by insurgents who combine in themselves the roles of self-appointed judge, prosecutor and executioner, of people they deem to be guilty of myriad crimes like exploitation, informing the police or joining rival militant factions. Or worse, the slaughter of complete innocents in bomb explosions or missile attacks.//
//I find it ironical that people who would stoutly - and I believe rightly - oppose the death penalty, are prepared to endorse the murder by insurgents who combine in themselves the roles of self-appointed judge, prosecutor and executioner, of people they deem to be guilty of myriad crimes like exploitation, informing the police or joining rival militant factions. Or worse, the slaughter of complete innocents in bomb explosions or missile attacks.//
(a) She rightly sees Hindu majoritarianism as a problem.
(b) She sees Muslim extremism as borne out of Hindu extremism, which is partly true but overlooks its larger genesis in the concepts of 'ummah' and 'sharia' as an international problem (if jihadist terrorism is only a product of victimhood, then who is being victimised by a Malala going to school or the tiny Yazidi minority of Iraq?), or even the movement that led to the partition of India in the first place. Also, what is to one make of her argument of Pakistanis feeling victimised by the Gujarat riots (as you can see here)? This is like suggesting that Indian Hindus should feel victimised by Buddhists because of the atrocities of the Sri Lankan army against Tamils and by that token, it would understandable if the Hindus engage in mass murders! Likewise, the problem of global jihadist terrorism affecting countries as diverse as Bangladesh and Sweden is relegated only to a reaction against US neo-imperialism, with little acknowledgement of genuine regressive (by Universal Declaration of Human Rights standards) and even nihilistic theological ideas that have existed among Muslims, and her reluctance to praise even Muslims standing up to the same, like Malala Yousufzai, is something for which she has drawn criticism from liberal Muslim intellectuals, like scientist Parvez Hoodhboy from Pakistan, as you can see here.
(c) She treats the Indian state as an extension of the Hindu majority, which is why she once declared India as a militaristic Hindu state, as if it actually mirrors Pakistan, which is a joke. She has gone on record to describe 150 million Indian Muslims in general as persecuted and impoverished, and has even disgraced them by calling them in general potential terrorists, as you can see here! Leave aside the super-rich and middle class among Indian Muslims, even their disproportionate poverty as compared to other religious groupings is not largely the fault of Hindus in general, as I've discussed in this article, which also differentiates between India and Pakistan on the nature and extent of religious majoritarianism.
(d) She fails to acknowledge separatist movements in Kashmir, Punjab or India's northeast as brute majoritarian, non-pluralistic movements localised to those regions, or the larger historical and legal issues pertaining to Kashmir, and for her, it's about the brute majority of the Hindu majority oppressing minorities through the state, though let me also clarify that the neglect of the northeast culturally and economically has indeed been shameful. On Kashmir, she has factually erred when it comes to statistics of Indian soldiers deployed, engaging in misleading exaggeration. That the insurgency started in the first place, and the compulsions of giving statutory immunity to security personnel, failing which they can be dragged to court over even false claims to disturb their counter-insurgency work, are overlooked in her analysis. Also, that human rights violations by elements in security forces are carried out in any secessionist conflict zone even where the majority of the population isn't of a different religion from the majority of the security personnel, as in Assam, Meitei areas in Manipur, Balochistan or even the erstwhile East Pakistan (or even in the counter-insurgency operations in Khyber Pakhtoonwa) is slyly never acknowledged by her.
She often wrongly cites Goa as being Christian-majority (though it was Hindu-majority even under Portuguese rule, despite some forced conversions to Christianity by the Portuguese in the early period of their rule in Goa) and refers to Nehru's military operation against the Portuguese in Goa as a sign of the Indian state's (read Nehru's) fascist design to subjugate Christians (when many Goan Christians and even Muslims, with the support of left-leaning Indian nationalists like Lohia, had actually been fighting the Portuguese and sought merger with India, as you can read about here, here, here and here, and there has been no anti-India separatist movement there)! This can be seen in her numerous videos. By the way, I acknowledge and condemn the human rights violations that were carried out by some Indian soldiers in that operation, but acknowledging and condemning those is a far cry from what Roy says time and again.
(e) The usual harmonious coexistence of minorities with the majority and huge achievements of those among the minorities are to be seen as aberrations in her worldview, even though many achievers from the minorities, like Shah Rukh Khan, Arshad Warsi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and APJ Abdul Kalam have also come from weak economic backgrounds.
(f) On casteism, its declining relevance in social life, evident by how more and more castes are clamouring for a 'bavkward' status and upper caste folks have been caught faking SC certificates (showing how people regard reservation benefits as favourable, and don't imagine they would face hige social stigma) cannot be acknowledged in her worldview, as if a Dalit can't be rich or a Brahmin can't be poor, and almost every upper caste Hindu should be taken as casteist by default.
(g) Any upper caste Hindu who dares to question her on facts, like even Ramachandra Guha, is branded as casteist and asked to shut up!
(h) In her worldview, it is subtly suggested that Muslims indeed have every right to assert their religious identity, but Hindus should be ashamed of religiosity in the context of their faith (even a man like Gandhi, who fought untouchability and died for Hindi-Muslim unity, is to be branded mindlessly with negative labels), for their religion is only about caste and patriarchy, as if it can't have multiple interpretations as it actually does.
Tufail Ahmad (though better than Roy when it comes to incisive analysis and concrete policy recommendations), Minhaz Merchant, David Frawley and François Gautier are to the Hindu extremists what Roy and her ilk to the Muslim extremists, and extremisms of both camps feed off each other and indeed, both need to be rejected. Also, in fact, by misrepresenting secularism in the Indian context as Hindu-bashing, the ilk of Roy has only moved many Hindus away from secularism and has strengthened the Hindu extremists.
Karmanye Thadani
(The author would like to thank his dear Kashmiri friend Khalid Baig, who is not a fan of Roy's the way many other Kashmiri Muslims are, for his valuable inputs.)


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- People want to see President Donald Trump's tax returns after his widely-panned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- The president's behaviour led some to speculate on whether Putin had leverage over Trump, possibly including his knowledge of any past business dealings between the president and Russians.
- Dating back to his campaign, Trump has refused to release his tax returns and broke with 40 years of tradition.
Prominent lawmakers, pundits, and watchdog groups are renewing calls for President Donald Trump to finally release his tax returns after the president's widely-panned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland earlier this week.
It was during a Monday press conference alongside Putin that Trump cast doubt on the US intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. He also attacked his Democratic opponents and the FBI, and said he held both countries accountable for their state of relations. That press conference followed an hours-long private meeting between the two with only their interpreters present.
"My people came to me – Dan Coats came to me, some others – they said they think it's Russia," Trump said, referring to the director of national intelligence and the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
He cited Putin's "extremely strong and powerful" denials of such interference. And he seemed to endorse a plan Putin proposed that would allow special counsel Robert Mueller's team to work with Russian investigators to question 12 Russians indicted last week by Mueller.
On Tuesday, Trump said he misspoke and actually meant to say the opposite of what he said – that he didn't see any reason why it "wouldn't" be Russia who interfered.
"I've said this many times," Trump said, reading from a written statement. "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place."
But Trump made some adjustments to the written statement, adding that the meddlers "could be other people also."
The president's behaviour led some to speculate on whether Putin in fact had leverage over Trump, possibly including his knowledge of any past business dealings between the president and Russians.
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Republicans to force Trump into releasing the returns.
"President Trump's inexplicable behaviour has many Americans asking, 'what does Putin have over him' that he's behaving in a way that is basically inexplicable in any rational, logical line of thinking?" Schumer said. "Well, that's why his tax returns would be so important. We should pass legislation that requires the president to release his tax returns. That was important before, but it's so much more important after Helsinki now."
Republican Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, whose recent battle with Trump culminated with the president endorsing his primary opponent, renewed his call for the president to release the tax returns. Sanford told The Washington Post that Trump should release the filings to clear up questions regarding any connections to Russia, adding that he didn't know if Russia had anything on Trump.
Conservative columnist George Will, who has repudiated Trump, suggested in a Washington Post column on Tuesday that the president refused to release the filings because "he had more to fear from making his tax returns public than from keeping them secret."
"The most innocent inference is that for decades he has depended on an American weakness, susceptibility to the tacky charisma of wealth, which would evaporate when his tax returns revealed that he has always lied about his wealth, too," Will wrote. "A more ominous explanation might be that his redundantly demonstrated incompetence as a businessman tumbled him into unsavoury financial dependencies on Russians. A still more sinister explanation might be that the Russians have something else, something worse, to keep him compliant."
And Bloomberg opinion editor Tim O'Brien, a Trump biographer who was once sued by the president, wrote that the Helsinki summit provided a "new reason" for the president to release the returns: "They'd show whether business dealings in Russia could give Putin leverage over the president."
A number of others added to the growing list of calls:
At this point, disclosure of Trump's tax returns has become a crucial national security/counter-intelligence concern
— David Frum (@davidfrum) July 17, 2018
George Will, arch-Republican, smashes Trump & echoes my question about #TrumpTaxReturns, which @realDonaldTrump's creepy-crawly #Helsinki performance has put back front and center. Yesterday's laughable walk back attempt does not erase the question: WHY?? https://t.co/5fPNLntHe4
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) July 18, 2018
What is @realDonaldTrump hiding in his tax returns?
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) July 18, 2018
I agree. Trump,should release his tax returns. What is he hiding? What did he say to Putin behind closed doors? https://t.co/CtC4rwQqlA
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 18, 2018
Your daily reminder that Trump is the first president elected since Nixon to refuse to release his tax returns, and any payments from Russia or other foreign countries remain secret.
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) July 18, 2018
After today's revolting display in Finland, Congress must commence oversight hearings and stop attacking law enforcement. We could explore the extent of ties between Trump's business empire & Russia with @HouseGOP demanding the Trump tax returns. #CongressMustRequest
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) July 16, 2018
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Trump became the first major party presidential nominee to not release his tax returns since former President Richard Nixon. At the time, Trump said he was doing so because he was under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. However, an IRS audit does not preclude someone from making their returns public.
Late last year, when questioned about how the GOP tax legislation would affect the president, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the returns would not be released because they were "still under audit."
Now that he is president, Trump's taxes are automatically subject to audits from the IRS. IRS rules state that both the president's and vice president's tax returns are given a full, mandatory, fast-tracked audit.
Trump himself has given no signal that he will eventually release the filings.
"I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College!" he tweeted last April. "Now Tax Returns are brought up again?"
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2019 Heritage Week
Come Explore the 1903 Diary of Benjamin T. Carter (1844-1922) - Opening Windows to our Past Series Continues - Thursday, June 30 @ 7:30pm
The Albert County Museum is excited to host our second of five "Opening Windows to Our Past" Diary Explorations, Thursday, June 30 at 7:30 pm. Taking place the last Thursday of every month, the "Opening Windows to Our Past" Series, is going to explore some of the many diaries in the museum's collection. It's a walk through the past as told by the very people who lived it!
Our next diary was written by Benjamin T. Carter (1844-1922). Here is a brief biography as written by Zachary A. Tingley, a student guide at the museum.
It was 1861 in Hopewell Cape Albert County, a young clerk was aiding patrons as they inquired about his father's masonry work. This young man was Benjamin T. Carter (1844-1922), the son of Christopher and Barbra Carter. Benjamin was baptized at St. John's Anglican Church in Rustico, Prince Edward Island on 16 March 1845. His family moved to Albert County between 1851 and 1861, the exact timing remains unclear. Nevertheless, in the 1850's Christopher Carter moved his family to Hopewell Cape in search of work as a stone mason.
Benjamin's experiences in Hopewell Cape helped shape him into a successful master mariner and community steward. His position in the community allowed him to form intimate relationships with the Bennett family in Hopewell Cape, and this only augmented his status within the community.
Benjamin was first married to a Julia A. Dickson (1850-1870), it was with his first wife that he had his first two, and only, children Charles and Lillian. After Julia died in 1870 Benjamin was left a widower with two children, this was not an ideal situation to be in during the mid-1800s. As a result, Benjamin married again in 1872, his second wife was Althea M. Bennett (1836-1906). Althea was the sister of Henry J. Bennett, R. B. Bennett's father. The reasons for Althea's death remain unclear; however, what is clear is that it took some time before Benjamin was ready to marry again. Yet in 1911, Benjamin was married again to his third and last wife Jessie McNaughton. She remained his wife until his death in 1922.
Not much is presently know about Capt. Benjamin Carter's time as a sea captain; however, Benjamin did receive his captain's certificate in 1895 in Saint John, New Brunswick. His diaries seem to reveal more about his life as a farmer and community leader in Hopewell Cape rather than as a Captain on the high seas. Capt. Benjamin T. Carter was a father, farmer, captain, husband, and even a sheriff. Capt. Benjamin Carter currently is resting in the Jonah Cemetery in Dawson Settlement, New Brunswick with his first wife Alice.
Come on out Thursday, June 30 @ 7:30pm and find out what he has to say!
The Next Opening Windows to Our Past Series is:
Thursday, July 28 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, August 25 @ 7:30pm
Thursday, September 29 @ 7:30pm
Emeline Steven's 1882 Diary Exploration - The First Opening Windows to Our Past a Resounding Success!
Last night we explored the 1882-1885 Diary of Emeline Stevens (b.Jan 9, 1861, d.April 5, 1935) who grew up in Memel, Albert County, New Brunswick. It was an amazing look at the life of a young lady in rural Albert County in the 1880's. From her longest trip away from home (60km) to her yearly trips to the dentist, it was a fascinating journey into her life.
In September 1882 she noted seeing the Great September Comet of 1882, an event which no one in the crowd had heard of. A quick trip to the internet informed us of the magnitude of this comet. It was so bright you could see it in the daytime. You can see an actual photo of it to the right.
Her diary also noted 2 important events in Albert County History, the launching of two of Gaius S. Turner's ships, the 1883 launch of the Vandalia (1432 net tonnage) it sunk in 1901, and the 1884 launch of the Constance (1591 net tonnage) it sunk in 1903. The ship launches were huge public events in the county, which people travelling from miles around to see it. She noted that she was 15 minutes late to see the launch of the Vandalia, but still had a good time.
Throughout the diary she listed the books she read, and how she spent her days, from spinning, to sewing, quilting and making socks and mittens to sell. It was an amazing walk through time and her life.
We're really excited about our next scheduled Diary Discovery, Thursday, June 30 @ 7:30 pm Stay tuned to find out whose diary we will be exploring then!


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text: balance in the present December 15, 2017 Jennifer Beaumont A child's mind lives in the present and does not go the past or the future. — B.K.S. Iyengar "On Childhood", from "Tree of Yoga" mother & daughter practicing Rajakapostasana. Who is teaching who? Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life. In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present—the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity. When the intellect is stable, there is no past, no future, only present. Do not live in the future; only the present is real. The mind takes you constantly to the future, as it plans, worries, and wonders. Memory takes you to the past, as it ruminates and regrets. Only the Self takes you to the present, for the divine can be experienced only now. The past, present, and future are held together in each Asana as thought, word, and deed become one. — B.K.S. Iyengar, "Light on Life," p. 43-44


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NMB48's Yabushita Shu to graduate from the group
It's been announced that NMB48 Team BII member Yabushita Shu will be graduating from the group.
SEE ALSO: Four NMB48 members make the senbatsu for the first time
The announcement was made on December 9 during Yabushita's birthday concert at NMB48 Theater. Then on her blog, she wrote, "My activities in NMB48 were really fun, and I was full of happiness, so I think I'm going to regret it someday." She added, "After I quit, my lifestyle will completely change as I will devote myself to my studies. I will believe in the path I chose, and do my best!"
Yabushita's graduation date will be announced via NMB48's official website at a later date.
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Two Sisters Gourmet is a direct selling company that offers gourmet foods and recipes through interactive at-home cooking classes. At Two Sisters Gourmet Parties, the Consultants prepare meals for their guests. Items available include appetizers, lunch foods, Asian dishes, and dinner entrees. To begin you must purchase a Totally Gourmet Welcome Kit. One costs $80 and contains 2 meals plus sauces, and the other costs $140 and contains 4 meals plus sauces. Consultants are eligible for many kinds of bonuses and there are four levels in the company.
Contact Information for Two Sisters Gourmet
2544 E. Landstreet Rd., #600
Work: (407) 398-8130
Fax: (407) 398-7700
Entrepreneur.com Company Profile
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Opportunity Type: Network MarketingTraining Types:
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Business Start Date: 1999
Start-up costfrom $80 to $140
Opportunity Start Date: 1999
Number of Employees: 14
Number of Associates: 875


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Matthews Studio Equipment 15' 3" Sky High Combo Steel Stand - Triple Riser
In stock
- Originally designed for use with reflectors
- Rugged design
- Allows leveling on uneven terrain
- Extends to a maximum height of over 15 feet
The MSE Sky High Triple Riser Combo Stand - Steel has a wider footprint and longer legs that provide increased stability. Complete with Rocky Mountain Leg and steel construction. Accepts 1-1/8" Junior spuds or 5/8" baby receptacles. Available with aluminum risers upon request. Will accept Matthews #366068 Combo Adapter Wheels. Specifications:
- Footprint: 40" (1000mm)
- Weight: 28 lbs. (13kg)
- Min/Max Height: 56"/183" (1442mm/4648mm)
- Load Capacity: 50 lbs. (23kg)
- Folded Base: 4.5" (114mm)
Please note shipping charge on this item may vary; our shipping department will determine correct shipping charges. Crating charge may apply.
Sky High Triple Riser Combo Stand -- Steel: CAT NO. 366065
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Classic Button Down & Distressed Jeans
It's Wednesday, which means it's my day off work! Today was super nice for January - about 50 degrees and sunny most of the day! Unfortunately, tomorrow the temperature starts going down and this weekend will be incredible cold! But at least I got to enjoy some nice weather while I was off work! For my OOTD, I paired this classic button down top from Old Navy with some of my favorite jeans! I love how this shirt looks tucked in, and it would also be super cute to just tuck the front in a bit and leave the back long! I feel like you could wear all different styles of shoes with this look, depending on whether you wanted to make it more casual or not - booties or flats would look great!


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Stories UnFolding
Join storyteller and paper folder, Megan Hicks, for a storytelling/paperfolding magic show for audiences of all ages. After stories and paper tricks, a simple hands-on lesson follows. All ages.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
10:30am - 11:00am
Thomas Jefferson Meeting Room 1 , Thomas Jefferson Meeting Room 2 , Thomas Jefferson Library
Bring the whole crew! Storytelling and origami magic. 10:30 at the Thomas Jefferson Library. It's free, but you might want to call ahead first.