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Congress v. the President in Iraq and VietnamNews Abroad
Not since the Vietnam War has the nation witnessed such congressional courage in resisting a significant escalation of a disastrous and immoral war. Richard Nixon in his epochal April 30, 1970 announcement, declared that Cambodia would be invaded by U.S. and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (A.R.V.N.) forces to destroy the Central Office for South Vietnam. This alleged North Vietnamese "Pentagon" we were told had to be destroyed or "totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world." Such a command center did not exist and was never located. Similar to the Bush administration's prewar assertion that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it is another egregious example of deliberate disinformation or careless inattention to inconclusive intelligence used to justify an invasion of a third country.
During Vietnam, it was the Senate and not the House of Representatives that attempted to constrain the military action of an imperial presidency. By 1970, Americans had tired of the war and wanted to withdraw from Vietnam. Senators John Sherman Cooper, Republican of Kentucky and Frank Church, Democrat of Idaho, led a bipartisan effort to reverse the escalation. The Cooper-Church Amendment was an effort to stop a Nixonian expansion of the conflict. This post-surge amendment would have cut off all funding for the Cambodian "incursion" by June 30; it passed the Senate but died in the House. Yet Nixon, perhaps coincidentally, did withdraw American and A.R.V.N. forces from Cambodia by the end of June. It is unlikely Mr. Bush would be prepared to follow a similar Nixon disengagement strategy given his oft-repeated commitment to continue his futile crusade for military "victory" for the remainder of his presidency.
Furthermore, in June 1970 the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was repealed by the Senate. Passed in 1964, it was the closest Congress came to a declaration of war. It followed non-existent and possibly fabricated North Vietnamese patrol-boat attacks on the U.S.S. Maddox and U.S.S. C. Turner Joy in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 4. While perhaps moot by 1970 due to Vietnamization, it was, nevertheless, a dramatic withdrawal of Senate support for the Vietnam War. Senator Joe Biden, Democrat of Delaware, and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has proposed a similar repeal of the Senate's "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution" of October 2002.
Nixon pursued his "Peace With Honor" with strategic bombing and "Operation Linebackers" with their horrific Vietnamese civilian casualties for another two and a half years. It seems unlikely that a similar Senate or House of Representatives repeal of their authorizations to use force, would materially alter the neo-conservative-messianic-imperialist vision that continues to hold sway at the Executive Branch. It would not succeed in coercing the president to terminate the conflict and withdraw American occupation forces from Iraq.
The most heroic effort by Congress to stop the Vietnam War was the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment. Named after Senator George McGovern, Democrat of South Dakota, and Senator Mark Hatfield, Republican of Oregon, it was another post-Cambodian "surge" response. It was introduced in 1970 and would have required Nixon to withdraw all American forces from Vietnam by the end of 1971. It would have reserved funding only for the safe and orderly withdrawal of American forces. While the amendment could not garner a majority in either house, it did receive the support of some thirty-nine Senators. When it was introduced on September 1, 1970, the future presidential candidate George McGovern said:
It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us.
It would appear that if the 110th Congress wishes to end the carnage and the crime that is Iraq, it would have to cease funding future military operations. This would take political courage because of the never ending myth that supporting the war is required in order to support the troops. Of course, military conflicts are not fought for the troops but for alleged war aims that purportedly serve the national interest. Whether those war aims are just or not, wars are never fought to benefit the combatants, who suffer and sacrifice greatly in a conflict, but for some other constituency.
In the Iraq War, 3,180 Americans have been killed in action and some 24,000 have been wounded. United States military personnel should not be asked to continue that kind of sacrifice unless the mission is just, the war had been waged as a last resort and the support of the American people is widespread and sustaining. In Vietnam, beginning with the TET Offensive in January 1968, the country had progressively recognized that the war was wrong, that the sacrifice was too great and that the killing must end. Congress should be willing to end this Iraq War and challenge, however belatedly, the president's constitutional authority to wage preemptive war under the most egregious and false pretenses.
We do not need to accept a restrictive notion of patriotism as merely an expression of national or presidential worshipping in time of war. Engaged citizens would do well to remember Vietnam, when a Congress decided that the national interest and the international community would benefit from an end to the war. Such is the time now, when militarists need to be challenged, super-patriots need to be confronted and a president needs to be stopped in the prosecution of the Iraq War.
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Edwin Moise - 3/17/2007
Kirstein wrote in caps that Herring had said the Defense Department had not been sure, in 1970, that COSVN existed. Herring did not express an opinion of his own, as to whether the Defense Department had been correct to doubt COSVN's existence, and Kirstein did not claim Herring had expressed an opinion of his own on this question.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/16/2007
I remember when I was in Socialist Eastern Europe in June 1975. I was in Budapest shortly after the liberation of Vietnam by the communists on April 30, 1975--five years to the day after the Kampuchean invasion and the Nixon administration lie about C.O.S.V.N. being "the headquarters for the ENTIRE Communist miitary operation in South Vietnam."
A friend and I went to the Vietnam Embassy on a beautiful tree-shaded street on embassy row. I approached a black steel-grated fence bordering a beautiful courtyard and thought: "Things were a lot different at the U.S. embassy in January 1968 in U.S. occupied Saigon."
I rang a bell. A minute or two later two embassy personnel came to the gate. After some discussion in French, they let us in the courtyard area with verdant flowers and trees. I told them I mourned for the victims of this holocaust and for the destruction of your country. One then returned to the interior of the embassy; I embraced the one still outdoors and then the other returned with several books in French that were written by Ho Chi Minh.
I offered to pay but they refused. We left, walked a few steps, turned to look again at this bucolic setting and thought to ourselves: "Why did the U.S. do these awful things to these people?"
Trung T. Nguyen - 3/16/2007
Professor Moise,
Well, he did, in CAPS:
If you prefer a more technically correct statement, please consider " 'cause it can be found in a Herring's book".
Edwin Moise - 3/16/2007
Kirstein is not arguing that his view of COSVN must be accurate "'cause Herring said that". If Herring has ever expressed an opinion on COSVN's existence, size, or organization, I have not heard of it and Kirstein has not mentioned it. What Herring is interested in, and what he knows a lot about, is the activities of the Americans in Vietnam.
Trung T. Nguyen - 3/16/2007
Dr Kirstein,
Anticipating your objection to wikipedia, I provided another link to the _official_ online encyclopedia of Vietnam, short of a Vietnamese Webster online. I can provide bibliographic data to Vietnamese books that acknowledge the very same information found under those two url.
Your _personal_ feelings toward any aspect of the Vietnam War should not in any way affect your assessment of a simple fact that C.O.S.V.N did exist, was the brain of all PLAF military actions in Soth Vietnam, did have a very extensive ogranizational structure, did employ a sizeable staff, and was not a mobile command post. This fact is quite simple to verify, without bringing out arguments that " 'cause Herring said that".
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/16/2007
Professor Herring is one of the great historians of the Vietnam War and his work appears on numerous reading lists on university courses on the Vietnam War. I would have to say, with all due respect, that Wikipedia does not approximate in accuracy or scholarship the work of Dr Herring.
Wikipedia did a biography of me which was littered with error so I am in a position to assess that source with particular knowledge.
I presume you are Vietnamese and every day of my life I think about the genocide and the war of extermination that this lawless, vicious nation perpetrated throughout Indochina. Nothing I have seen in my study of history compares in scope to the American war crimes and racist butchery since the end of World War II.
Trung T. Nguyen - 3/12/2007
Dr Kirstein:
Perhaps you should wonder what Prof. Herring would have to say about this:
(online official Encyclopedia of Vietnam)
For a mobile command structure, this had quite an impressive organizational structure and a lengthy history.
I find it amazing that today the existence and significance of COSVN can still be disputed when the answer is only a click away.
Edwin Moise - 3/11/2007
Kirstein cited as sources Americans who did not have any great expertise on the subject of Communist organizations and did not have any direct personal knowledge of COSVN.
I cited Vietnamese sources. One was a man, Truong Nhu Tang, who was a member of a Communist-controlled organization that was located in Cambodia not far from COSVN, and had considerable dealings with COSVN. The other was a book published by the People's Army of Vietnam.
I am not close to being the ultimate expert on Vietnam, or even on 20th century Vietnam. Of the books I have written, the two most important, for both of which I did a significant part of my research in Vietnamese language sources, are LAND REFORM IN CHINA AND NORTH VIETNAM and TONKIN GULF AND THE ESCALATION OF THE VIETNAM WAR. Neither of these is comprehensive, and neither of them deals with COSVN. I have not done any serious scholarly research dealing specifically with COSVN. But I have been interested every since I learned about COSVN while reading Jeffrey Race's enormously important book WAR COMES TO LONG AN in 1972. All specialists in this field have at least a vague knowledge of COSVN.
Carl Becker - 3/11/2007
Kirstein answered your arguments, cited sources which you ignored as not authoritive. So you must be the ultimate expert on Vietnam: so where are your sources and what are the names of all the comprehensive books you've written on the subject?
Edwin Moise - 3/8/2007
This is getting strange. You started out, originally, saying that COSVN "did not exist". After I disputed this, you shifted to saying that COSVN had been very small. You cited various sources stating that COSVN had been a small, mobile facility, that was ready to move on a moment's notice.
But now, contradicting your own statements of the past few days ("Sure there were perhaps a few senior officers in the south" - March 5) and most of the sources you yourself have been citing, which (while understating the size and importance of COSVN) made it clear that COSVN existed as an operational entity in the theater, you seem to be going back to your original position that it did not exist in those terms.
I must also object to your rather seriously misrepresentation of my statements. I have not suggested that Nguyen Chi Thanh or Pham Hung were involved in anything resembling a "Pentagon" or "Pentagon East".
Since you have brought up Tran Do: Yes, he was a major figure at COSVN, though I am pretty sure he was deputy head, not head, of the political committee. I am not sure whether he was actually a full member of the Trung uong cuc mien Nam. He was not promoted from alternate member to full member of the Lao Dong Party Central Committee until 1972, and I am not sure it was possible to be a full member of the Trung uong cuc mien Nam without being a full member of the Party Central Committee. Source: _Tu dien bach khoa quan su Viet Nam_ (published by the People's Army of Vietnam, Hanoi, 1996), page 800.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/8/2007
This is now becoming personal and so it is time to stop.
Edwin Moise - 3/8/2007
It is true that specialists can disagree, but so far as I am aware, every specialist in this field agrees with me on the issue of COSVN. You certainly have not been able to come up with a specialist who disagrees with me.
So this is not an example, prime or otherwise, of the fact that specialists can disagree.
Partial definition: Anybody who does not read Vietnamese probably is not a specialist in this field.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/8/2007
Specialists can disagree. This is a prime example. May peace replace war so one day such discussions will indeed be ancient history.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/8/2007
You have made that link for four days that because there were Hanoi personnel running this "Pentagon," it must have existed. Examples you cite are Nguyen Chi Thanh as director of "Pentagon East" and Pham Hung. I think Tran Do was also a "major" figure of this "office" who ran the "Political Department." Yet you provide no evidence these individuals were in the field, outside of the D.R.V. with P.A.V.N. (North Vietnam) forces in either the south or in Kampuchea. Hence you seem to make the assumption if there were staff command in Hanoi, which might have been more titular than operational, there must have been an equivalent entity in the theatre.
Even though I have provided four sources to support my conclusions, and you dismissed each of them, I think the burden of this argument and the evidence marshaled strongly supports my conclusions in a single paragraph of the H.N.N. article.
Of course history is about debate and people can draw their own conclusions from my article, our exchange and other independent sources.
Edwin Moise - 3/8/2007
Dr. Kirstein:
I am a specialist on Vietnam; I actually do know quite a lot about Communist organizations in Vietnam. But I don't ask you simply to accept the fact that I think COSVN was a substantial organization as proof that it must have been one.
I think it is unreasonable when you cite statements about COSVN made by people who are not specialists on Vietnam, and don't know much about Communist organizations in Vietnam, and expect me to accept the fact that those people say COSVN was not a substantial organization as proof that it wasn't.
Edwin Moise - 3/8/2007
One of the problems with historical encyclopedias like that is that so many of the entries are written by people who don't know much about the subject matter. Tilford is a good scholar of U.S. air operations in Indochina, and I respect his work on that subject. Mangrum's specialty is the American Civil War. Neither of them knows any more about COSVN than President Nixon did. Quite possibly less.
If you are going to talk about proof, you need to find statements made by people who have some serious knowledge of the subject matter at hand.
Edwin Moise - 3/8/2007
I have never heard of anyone who confuses COSVN with any office in Hanoi. You say some people do. Can you tell me who?
Le Duan did visit China and the Soviet Union during the war. He was in South Vietnam late in 1958, but he did not go back there during the war. What makes you bring this idea up? I did not say or imply anythign whatever about Le Duan's movements during the war. I wrote nothing carrying the faintest implication that he was on the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the war (which he wasn't), any more than I implied he had travelled abroad during the war (which he did).
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/8/2007
Ok, I am a lousy typist.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/8/2007
In Spencer Tucker, Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, Oxford University Press:
Earl H. Tilford, Jr of the Army War College described C.O.S.V.N. in this manner:
"Since the end of the Vietnam War, it has been learned that C.O.S.V.N. was hardly a Communist "Pentagon." Rather it consisted of a radio transmitter and a dozen or so individuals who moved around constantly."
In the formal entry for C.O.S.V.N., Robert G. Mangrum of Howard Payne University described C.O.S.V.N. as:
…" C.O.S.V.N. eluded destruction throughout the war. In terms of organisation or structure , it was no more than what the U.S. Army would describe as a forward command post, consisting of a few senior officers and key staff personnel. As a result, it was extremely mobile and moved frequently to avoid capture or destruction."
I noticed you were one of the contributors to this anthology.
Perhaps, I am not being ironic, Clemson might host a panel on the following topic:
"Vietnam: The Battle for History."
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/7/2007
My first question of course referred to the beginning of war on March 19, 2003. I typed 2007. I have the beginning of the fifth year of this war on my mind.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/7/2007
You are a good sport and I will let your answers stand on their own. On my blog I did spell your family name with an umlaut which I know is your preference.
By the way:
Some confuse C.O.S.V.N. Hanoi's "office" which was set up in May 1959 even before the National Liberation Front was formed the following year. This was during the Eisenhower administration and folks might be lured into believing it had a correlative, bureaucratic structure in the South or in Kampuchea when such was not the case.
Le Duan I doubt ever left Vietnam during the war, unless he went to China or Russia, and would not venture south of the 1954 partition line. I am not saying you said that directly but he was too important to be sitting in a tent with a walkie talkie on the Ho Chi Minh anti-genocide trail.
Edwin Moise - 3/7/2007
None of the questions you ask has any relevance to the issues we have been discussing (did COSVN exist, and how many Americans have been K.I.A. in Iraq). But since you ask:
1) I was neither a supporter nor an opponent of Bush's decision to invade Iraq, in 2003. I was perched on the fence. I could tell that the Bush administration's argument for the war was unfounded, but I had very little respect for the Bush administration. I did not assume that Bush's failure to articulate a valid case for war proved that there was no valid case to be made.
2) No.
3) No.
4) Yes, I am proud to be an American, but no, I would not make the blanket statement that America's use of military force has historically been positive and just. It has sometimes been positive and just, sometimes not.
John Charles Crocker - 3/7/2007
The stop surge action in Congress was delayed not stopped by Republican obstructionism (filibuster - remember how Republicans howled about anti-democratic that tactic was when they were in power).
The surge did not stop the violence it merely displaced it. The number of attacks did not diminish appreciably. When the troops move the violence will move in behind them. They have a minor victory that is quite limited both spatially and temporally. This will not likely do much to sway public opinion which is still strongly against the war and for bringing home our troops.
As for your advice to the GOP, I sincerely hope they take it.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/7/2007
Dear Professor Moise:
Do you believe George Bush was correct in his decision to invade Iraq on March 19, 2007? I am not referring to tactics and atrategy but did you or do you support military engagement in Iraq?
Do you believe it was moral and ethical for the United States to wage war in Indochina in the 1960s and 1970s?
Do you believe patriotism means that one should support the troops and defer opposition to their mission until a war is completed?
Are you proud of being an American and do you believe generally speaking, America's use of military force in its history has been positive and just?
Edwin Moise - 3/7/2007
Yes, exactly. Herring is really a historian of what the Americans did in Vietnam. He does not deal much with what the Communists did, which I why I cannot really regard him as the preeminent American historian of the war. The book you cite, a broad history of the war, has no index reference for Nguyen Huu Tho, Nguyen Chi Thanh, or Pham Hung, and only one for Le Duan. This reveals a real lack of interest in what the other side was doing. So I cannot take the book seriously as a source for information on what the other side was doing.
If I had to pick the authors who have written seminal works on the war, I would probably start with Jeffrey Race, Neil Sheehan, and David Elliott. Then maybe Andrew Krepinevich? Not Herring.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/7/2007
You ignored Professor Herring. Do you consider my citing the preeminent historian on the Vietnam War as "information from the sort of Americans who know little about COSVN?"
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/7/2007
You ignored Professor Herring. Do you consider my citing the preeminent historian on the Vietnam War as "information from the sort of Americans who know little about COSVN?"
Edwin Moise - 3/7/2007
You are getting your information from the sort of Americans who know little about COSVN, because the United States never found COSVN. I try to pay attention to the information that comes from the Communists, who know more about COSVN because they were running it.
COSVN was headed by Nguyen Chi Thanh from 1964 to 1967, and by Pham Hung from 1967 to 1975. Both of these men were of _very_ high rank in the Vietnamese Communist command structure, higher than the rank of anyone the United States ever assigned to command the U.S. military forces in South Vietnam. Men at that level would not have been wasting their time running "an episodic mobile communications device."
You are wrong in saying "They said this thing was 50 miles from Ho Chi Minh city over the wall in Cambodia." There were areas of Cambodia within 50 miles of Saigon. But COSVN was not in those particular areas of Cambodia, and I don't believe the U.S. government ever said it was.
Instead of quoting a reporter who says he thinks senior officials thought of COSVN as a big bamboo Pentagon, it would be nice if you would find a quote from a senior official _describing_ COSVN that way.
And while Langguth was correct in saying that COSVN was spread out in a number of small facilities, rather than being one big one, he is wrong in saying that they could be abandoned on a moment's notice. Truong Nhu Tang, who was not a member of the Trung uong cuc mien Nam (he was not that important) but was a member of another organization housed in a similar Communist base area in Cambodia near the Vietnamese border, has described some of the preparations that had to be made early in 1970 when the Communists decided to move such organizations northward deeper into Cambodia, away from the Vietnamese border. Elements of the 5th, 7th, and 9th Viet Cong Divisions were assigned to provide security for the move. COSVN, the most important, made the move first, two months before Nixon launched the Cambodian incursion. Tang's outfit, much less important, was still in its base near the border when the incursion began.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/6/2007
Sorry for the typos. I am really busy:
..."although the Defense Department had made clear to him its uncertainty where COSVN was located or WHETHER IT EVEN EXISTED."
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/6/2007
Also George Herring, one of the great historians of the Vietnam War wrote in his seminal work: "America's Longest War:" President Nixon in justifying his invasion of Cambodia claimed, "COSVN was the "nerve center" of North Vietnamesee military operations, although the Defense Department had made clar to him its uncrtainty where COSVN was located or WHETHER IT EVEN EXISTED."
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/6/2007
You apparently are one of the few who believe that C.O.S.V.N. was more than an episodic mobile communications device. They said this thing was 50 miles from Ho Chi Minh city over the wall in Cambodia. GEE, never quite found it did they?? My article was accurate in every detail on this. Do you really think President Nixon would have minimalised this as the justification for the invasion? Do you actually believe that they wanted Americans to know the truth of this trumped up illusion?
L.B.J. who was the chief architect of the genocide, launched "Operation" Junction City in 1967, if my memory serves, and could not find this "Pentagon."
Kindly consult an oral history of the Vietnam genocide, Christian Appy, Patriots. He interviewed A. J. Langguth, the esteemed reporter for the New York Times who was in country:
"A mythology had grown up about COSVN in the minds of American policy makers. I think they pictured it as a kind of huge bamboo Pentagon. Though they had some relatively sophisticated communication tools, COSVN was really just a collection of SMALL JUNGLE OUTPOSTS that could be abandoned in a moment's notice. The idea that you were going to go in and wipe out the source of the infection once and for all was preposterous."
It is your burden to prove Johnson and Nixon correct in demonstrating with evidence that is was more than an improvised, mobile command center that reflected guerilla war. Small, adaptable and easily relocated with a small, very small coterie of senior officers. To think the U.S. would invade a country to destroy something so minor as this is a disgrace and a war crime.
Lawrence Brooks Hughes - 3/6/2007
It seems to me the stop-surge sentiment in Congress has subsided in direct response to the surge's success. Baghdad now looks like it will be pacified, and if so, Anbar cannot be far behind. Whether Democrats like it or not, this will be perceived as victory by the public, and they can expect to see their cut-and-run noises turn up again in the commericals for GOP candidates in 2008.
Lawrence Brooks Hughes - 3/6/2007
When you see a large number of wounded you should remember every wound requiring a band-aid is counted, and also many soldiers report multiple wounds and re-up for multiple tours, which can get the same person counted several times... As for the death totals, it is amazing how many members of the armed forces are killed in accidents during peacetime.
Edwin Moise - 3/6/2007
Supplement to my previous comment: When I wrote that the Trung uong cuc mien Nam was not just a military operational headquarters, I should have mentioned that it was headed, at the time of the Cambodian incursion, not by a general but by a member of the Politburo of the Lao Dong Party. This was Pham Hung. He had replaced Nguyen Chi Thanh, who had been both a general and a member of the Politburo.
Edwin Moise - 3/5/2007
It simply is not true that news outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press habitually apply the label "K.I.A." to the figure for total deaths. On the contrary, they are pretty good about observing the distinction between total deaths and killed in action. See for example "U.S. casualty pace in Iraq combat higher than ever," Associated Press, February 8, 2007, which states "Since the start of the war in Iraq, nearly 3,100 U.S. troops have died, of which nearly 2,500 were killed in action." See also "Army Finds 7 Incorrect War Death Reports," Associated Press, October 31, 2006, which states "In another case, in September 2005 the Army acknowledged publicly that it had known for more than a year after 1st Lt. Kenneth Ballard's death in Iraq in May 2004 that he was not killed in action, as it initially told his family."
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/5/2007
You have chosen to break down the figures. Fair enough. I chose to give an accurate figure on K.I.A. which is the most conventional one and includes both hostile, friendly and non-hostile fire. Perhaps if I were to do an article, unlikely because it is too depressing on the numerous categories of death, I will rely on your work.
My figures are the same as the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, B.B.C. and other major news outlets of the world. They all use the general figure and conventional notation of K.I.A. as I did.
Some of the K.I.A. were not in Iraq but in the gulf area which is considered, or parts of it, as included in the theatre of war. An example is:
Jennifer A. Valdivia, Petty Officer 1st Class 17-Jan-2007
Yet the 3180 are those who were in the theatre of war and died for a variety of reasons. I did NOT say they were all classic combat deaths.
I assure you when they build another wall or memorial for those who died in the Iraq War, all of the fallen that were included in my 3180 figure will be included--not just those killed by I.E.Ds. The same applied to Vietnam as well.
Most authors do not directly defend their work on this website, I have done so three times and it has been a pleasure.
Edwin Moise - 3/5/2007
The web site to which you refer me gives a figure, matching the one you cited, for total deaths from all causes. But it does not suggest that all these people were killed in action. It gives considerably lower figures for what it refers to as "hostile" deaths, meaning killed in action. See in particular the figure of 2,764 "hostile" deaths on the sub-page "Hostile/Non-Hostile Deaths" at http://icasualties.org/oif/hnh.aspx
"Killed in action" means either killed directly by enemy guns and bombs, or killed in ways to which enemy action contributed (killed in aircraft crashes or vehicle crashes that occurred while the aircraft or vehicle was under fire, drowned while in combat, etc.). But the figure for total deaths, which you have been using as a figure for killed in action, includes men who died of heart attack, leukemia, drowning not occurring in combat, vehicle crashes not occurring during combat, etc. On the web site to which you referred me, go to the sub-page "Coalition Casualty Count Metrics" at http://icasualties.org/oif/Stats.aspx and choose the menu option "View Totals by Cause of Death Detail."
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/5/2007
Kindly consult:
I stand by my figures and every fact of my article. You are free to disagree but I used a round figure which is accurate in the normal and general use of the term K.I.A.
You may wish to consult this website for greater differentiation on the categorisation of casualties.
Virtually every study of the war's casualties uses the type of categorisation that I used. The 3180 figure, given the rounding and the normal use of the term, was factual and accurate.
Edwin Moise - 3/5/2007
The statement that 3,180 Americans have been killed in action in the Iraq War is a bit of an exaggeration. I think it probably is a figure not for those killed in action, but for deaths from all causes, including accident and disease as well as hostile action.
The number of American military personnel who have been killed in action in the Iraq War is 2,546. I know some American civilians have also been killed in action, but not more than 600 of them.
Edwin Moise - 3/5/2007
Prof. Kirstein: Can you refer me to a Nixon administration description of COSVN that matches this description (huge C3I, underground bunkers, massive cache of weapons, major hierarchical command structure, etc.)? I see no such description in Nixon's very brief comment on COSVN in his speech of April 30, 1970, in which he announced the Cambodian incursion.
I know the image to which you are referring; I remember the marvelous cartoon by Herblock of an American soldier who yells "Hey Joe, I think I found it" as he lifts up a pentagon-shaped cover that looks as if it is woven out of bamboo, under which is a pentagonal hole in the ground, containing a steno pool, and a lot of desks with papers on them with titles like "Cost Overruns in Rice Production." But I am not sure to what extent this image was based on statements by the Nixon administration.
The Trung uong cuc mien Nam was more than a few senior officers running an operational command unit. It was a political-military headquarters, with a significant staff.
Peter N. Kirstein - 3/5/2007
It did not exist in Cambodia in 1970 in even a remote manner to the Nixon administration claims. This was the rationale for this escalation and was presented as a Pentagon "East" with huge C3I etc. If it were so extensive with underground bunkers, massive cache of weapons, major hierarchical command structure, I have seen no evidence of that. Sure there were perhaps a few senior officers in the south who had some command over a mobile operations command unit.
Like W.M.D. in Iraq, it was just another myth perpetrated by a deceitful and dishonest government.
Edwin Moise - 3/5/2007
The command center that the Communists called the Trung uong cuc mien Nam and that Americans called the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN), which President Nixon announced as a major target of his Cambodian incursion in 1970, certainly did exist. It has been discussed in numerous books published in Hanoi since the end of the Vietnam War. At the time of the Cambodian incursion, the Communists were in the process of moving the Trung uong cuc mien Nam (headed at that time by Pham Hung, with Nguyen Van Linh as his deputy) from the area near the Vietnamese border, where the Americans searched for it in vain, to a location much deeper in Cambodia, near Kratie.
It didn't have a great resemblance to the Pentagon, but it did exist.
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- Calls for 'The Star-Spangled Banner' to be Replaced With a New US National Anthem
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- The Day the White Working Class Turned Republican (Review)
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- Did Rutgers Find The Perfect President For 2020? Meet Jonathan Holloway, Black Historian.
- In Search of King David's Lost Empire


text:
Hey Darwin Day is next week-- What are you all doing?
Im gonna be doing this:
SPECIAL DARWIN DAY EVENT AT OU.Creationists are free to come and attempt to avenge Dembski.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT EVOLUTION?Ask the Experts at the DARWIN DAY Forum, 7PM, Tuesday, February 12, Baird Lounge, Oklahoma Memorial Union on the OU Campus.Whats the evidence? Isnt it just a theory? Are there gaps in the fossil record? Did humans come from apes? What about Intelligent Design or Creationism?Professors and doctoral candidates will answer the tough questions for you. Panel will include Ola Fincke, Richard Broughton, Abbie Smith and perhaps others. Sponsored by Center for Inquiry (CFI) on Campus.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I have the following test:
Feature: Test the login for all roles
In order to login
As user
I need to provide my password and username
Scenario Outline: Test login for role
Given user should exist with email: "email@example.com", name:
And the user with email: "firstname.lastname@example.com" is a "<role>"
And I am on login_path
And I should see "Inloggen" within "h1"
When I fill in "login" with "firstname.lastname@example.com"
And I fill in "password" with "123456"
And I press "login"
And I should see "Welcome."
And I should not see "Inloggen" within "h1"
> role |
> admin |
> Retailer |
> Client |
> superuser |
> tester |
I know that it fails on this line 'And I should see "Welcome."' for 2
of the 5 tests. But Cucumber doesn't give which example fails.
Cucumber only gives the failing line of the Scenario Outline and not
from the Examples.
Does anyone know how to get for which example it fails?


text:
Forums: Index > The Wizengamot > Derathly Hallows renovating?
With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 coming out in about a month and a half, maybe we should start creating another skin for the wiki in a little bit, since I am sure wikia is going to spotlight us before the film comes out and we are goung to have Half-Blood Prince skin still. Any other takers?--L.V.K.T.V.J.(Send an owl!) 23:02, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
- There may be no point to doing this. Wikia is introducing a new skin design called Oasis, and discontinuing the Monaco skin. Oasis is still in beta, but may be released before the film release, rendering any work on a new Monaco skin null and void. - Cavalier One(Wizarding Wireless Network) 23:06, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
*Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Fandom will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


text:
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Yankee Candle Store at Clintons
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text:
Flames vying for first ACHA DI national title in Chicago
February 27, 2013 | Bensenville, Ill.
Heading into the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I national tournament, hosted by Robert Morris Illinois at The Edge Ice Arena near Chicago, Liberty University's Division I men's hockey team is five wins away from claiming the first championship in program history.
It is seeking to become the 11th team in the ACHA's 22 years of existence to take home a national title.
But 13th-year head coach Kirk Handy isn't looking that far ahead, instead focusing on the 13th-ranked Flames' first-round game against 20th-seeded John Carroll, set for Friday at 9:30 p.m. (EST).
"We go there like every other team … looking forward to the challenge of playing five games and being successful," he said. "In a (single-elimination) tournament like this, you have to win Game 1 so we're focusing all of our attention into Game 1. It starts Friday night and we've got to be ready to go play. The level of intensity is going to be ramped up. You have to respect your opponent."
John Carroll, located outside of Cleveland, earned its first ACHA DI national bid by clinching the College Hockey Mid-America regular-season title by the slimmest of margins. The Blue Streaks went 13-3 in conference play to edge West Virginia and Mercyhurst (both 12-3-1).
"They've got an impressive record and obviously have played well this year," Handy said. "We feel like we match up very well against them (but) we're going to have to play our A game."
JCU split two games this season against West Virginia, a team the Flames swept four games from, including in their regular-season-ending series, by 3-2 and 8-3 scores. Those wins snapped Liberty's three-game losing streak, in games against reigning ACHA DI champion Delaware and runner-up Oakland.
"Two wins against West Virginia helped us out in getting our team back to where we want to be," Handy said. "We were struggling a little bit leading up to that point (but now) we're confident in our team and what we're doing."
Liberty faced nine of the 19 other teams in the national tournament field this season, including seven of the top 10 seeds, and went 9-13-1 against them. In the 2012 national tournament the Flames lost in the second round to Adrian (28-3-1), this year's No. 1-ranked team.
"We played a solid schedule and have a solid lineup," Handy said. "It's going to be a good test (and) a great game. We're looking forward to going out there and playing our best hockey Friday night. We're ready to go."
One of Liberty's and JCU's three common opponents this season is fourth-ranked Ohio, the team the winner of Friday's game will go on to play in Saturday's second round, set for at 8:30 p.m. The winner of that will face the winner between fifth-seeded Robert Morris and No. 12-seeded Iowa State in Sunday night's quarterfinals.
The Blue Streaks opened their season with 9-1 and 5-3 setbacks on the road against the Bobcats before the Flames split two games against Ohio in late October at LaHaye, winning the second 4-3 to bump the Bobcats out of the No. 1 spot in the sixth ACHA poll.
The Flames, ranked No. 13 in the 17th and final ACHA DI poll, announced live Feb. 13 from the LaHaye Ice Center, are making their sixth trip to nationals in the seven seasons they've had a DI team, a year after reaching the 2006 DII national championship game.
"Having guys who have national tournament experience is going to be a big key for us," Handy said.
Liberty also will get a boost with the return of a few of the many players sidelined by injury in the second semester, including defenseman Cam Bakker and forwards Christian Garland and Lindsay LeBlanc.
Regardless of who's on Liberty's lines, Handy is blessed with depth and has faith in all of the Flames, including goalie Clayton Brown.
"I like the line combinations and Brown's been strong in the net," Handy said. "We're excited and ready."
Scouting Preview, Game 39: No. 20 John Carroll (20-13) vs. No. 13 Liberty University (23-13-2), Friday, March 1 (9:30 p.m. EST) at The Edge Ice Arena near Chicago. Here is the complete tournament bracket. Tune into a live webcast of the game on pay-per-view.
Liberty Scouting Report: Senior forward Brent Boschman is the second-leading scorer in Flames history with 98 goals, but Rick Turner, Liberty's third all-time leading scorer, still leads the team and ranks fifth among ACHA DI players in scoring with 72 points on the season after netting a hat trick and adding two assists vs. WVU in his final game at LaHaye. His 41 goals in 28 games is third most in the league while his seven power-play goals and three game-winning goals lead the team.
Ryley Egan is second among the Flames with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists) and LeBlanc (18 goals, 21 assists, 39 points), who missed the last two games against West Virginia due to a torn meniscus, ranks third.
Brown has recorded two shutouts and a 13-8-1 record in 1,256 minutes this season. He has a 3.63 goals-against average and has stopped 89 percent of opponents' shots on goal.
John Carroll Scouting Report: Junior forward Dan Potter is the Blue Streaks' scoring leader with 25 goals and 28 assists (53 points). Senior Sean Lattal ranks second with 43 points (24 goals, 19 assists) followed by sophomore Tyler Rhodes (19 goals, 17 assists) and Lou Morici (11 goals, 22 assists), who leads JCU with three game-winning goals.
Junior Justin Camuto has played the most minutes (1,670) in goal for the Blue Streaks. He has a record of 16-13 and boasts a GAA of 2.98 with a 0.91 save percentage.
All-Time Series: This is the two teams' first-ever meeting, though they have faced a few common opponents this season. JCU went 1-1 against West Virginia, a team in its conference, while Liberty finished 4-0 against the Mountaineers. The Blue Streaks lost their two season-opening games against Ohio by a total of 14-4 while the Flames split two contests with the Bobcats. Both teams lost to Robert Morris Illinois — Liberty by a 7-3 count on Oct. 7 in Springfield, Ill., and JCU by 2-0 and 11-0 scores at home on Nov. 2 and 3.
Coaches: Kirk Handy is in his 13th season as the Flames' head coach, with an overall record of 278-121-14. Christian Wilk is in his eighth season as JCU's head coach after guiding Kent State to three ACHA DI national tournament appearances in his 12 seasons at the helm. His record with the Blue Streaks is 97-155-9 after going 129-222-15 with the Golden Flashes, bringing his career mark to 226-377-24.


text:
This lesson is an extension lesson to Shakin' and a Movin'. This lesson will provide the students will more support around how sound makes matter move. This lesson also has the students engaging in opinion writing which is the perfect integration of the ELA Common Core Writing Standards.
Next Generation Science Standards Connection:
Students will develop predictions about sound movement and then compare their predictions to what actually happens in our experiment. The students will investigate ways that sound can make solids and liquids move. Using cause and effect the students will demonstrate an understanding of the sound waves ability to move various phases of matter. They will record their observations and evidence in their Wave: Sound and Light Journals.
Classroom Structures:
In order to support a high level of student discourse within my science lessons I have assigned two different student partnerships. Turn and Talk Partners are discourse partners that work together to share the deep thinking that happens throughout the day. Workshop Partners are partners who are matched together for the purpose of working during our independent times. In this lesson students will be engaged in both partnerships.
Prior Knowledge Needed:
Students will need a basic understanding of the phases of matter.
Students will need experience with writing an opinion piece.
Home-School Connection:
I LOVE involving parents in the learning in my classroom. This parent letter is both an introduction to our next two units as well as a request for supplies. Many of the items used to teach this unit are recyclable items so I ask for help from parents and colleagues.
1. Mystery Bag with a cup of Oobleck
2. Sticky Notes
3. Anchor chart: each column is labeled with type of music; country, opera, audio test tones, pop music.
4. Subwoofer
5. Music samples: country, opera, audio test tones (40, 50, 63Hz), pop music
6. Oobleck - 2 cups of corn starch to 1 cup of water
7. Towels, blankets & plastic wrap
8. Metal cookie sheet
9. Sound Loud, Soft, High, Low by Natalie M. Rosinsky
10. Science Journal (Avery Labels 5163) - I use blank paper in my journals so my students have more space and freedom to experiment with graphic organizers, illustrations, etc.
The purpose of the engagement activity is to help students make connections with what they know and can do. My goal is to mentally engage the students engaging prior knowledge and using a Mystery Bag.
Boys and girls the other day you learned that sound is a form of energy. It is something we can feel. You learned that as the sounds get louder the objects move about. The louder the sound gets the more it causes stuff to rattle or move. For example, the louder you scream at the sugar the more it rattles. Today we are going to learn more about ways that sounds can make matter move.
We will be making predictions before starting our experiments today. A prediction is a basic science process skill that we want our young students to perform. I have a Mystery Bag with a cup of Oobleck inside. We will be exploring Oobleck and making predictions.
We are about to do a really neat experiment. You will need to make some predictions today. A prediction is something people do all the time in math, reading, writing and in science. A prediction is when you use what you already know and clues to make a smart guess. Let's try it. I am holding a Mystery Bag and in this bag there is something you will be working with today. Here are the clues: 1. It sticks to your fingers. How many of you are already making guesses in your head? Are you ready for clue number two? Great! Two - It is also a liquid. Let's take a minute to share some of your predictions. How many of you are using the clues and what you already know? I allow the children to share some predictions. Are you ready for the last two clues? Three - You can play with it. Four - It can also be a solid. Can you make a prediction or a guess what is in my Mystery Bag I allow the students to share answers with their Turn and Talk Partners before opening the bag.
WOW! You made some great predictions. You used your schema (what you already know) and the clues to make your predictions today. Do you want to see what is in my bag? Great! This is called Oobleck or Goop! We are going to study what type of sound waves make Oobleck vibrate. Oobleck can be both a solid and liquid.
This activity is quite messy so I reserve our school stage where we can make big messes. I have the Oobleck already made for my students and I allow the children to explore the Oobleck.
During the exploration my students work in partnerships or teams to explore ideas through hands-on activities. The goal is to have students clarify their own understanding of the concepts and skills being taught while the teachers acts as a facilitator clarifying information through conferring and questioning.
Are you ready to make some more predictions? Each of you have a sticky note and I would like for you to write your name on it. If you look up on my chart I have 4 columns. Each column is labeled with type of music; country, opera, audio test tones, pop music. I play a sample of each type of music in the Subwoofer and turn the volume up. Boys and girls, let's all make some more prediction. Today we want to find out what type of music will make our matter vibrate and dance. Which sound do you think will do that? Think about what you already know about sound waves. The children each put their sticky note in a column on our anchor chart.
For the exploration I have a Subwoofer wrapped in plastic wrap and a thin metal cookie sheet placed on top of the Subwoofer speaker. I also have an app of an audio test tone (it is recommended to use 40 Hz, 50 Hz, and 63 Hz, with high volume), music and food coloring (optional).
W pour the Oobleck onto the thin metal cookie sheet and begin our exploration. We play the country music and observe the Oobleck shake. Next we play the opera music and observe the Oobleck lay still. We play the pop music and observe the Oobleck shake and vibrate and then we play the test tones. The Oobleck begins to shake and move and then it begins to dance. We add food coloring: blue, red, yellow. My students begin to yell, "The colors are mixing. It is dancing!" We observe the colors mix as the Oobleck dances about.
I have the students join me on the carpet to explain their new understandings. What did you observe? As they are sharing I wander the group to listen in the conversations. I want to listen for both new understandings and misconceptions. When we rejoin I share out all the smart thinking I heard.
Boys and girls today you observed sound making matter vibrate. As you were sharing I heard you all talking about the Oobleck. You learned that it is both a solid and liquid and you noticed that some music just made the liquid vibrate while other sounds make the solid part of the Oobleck dance about.
Now you know that sound can make matter vibrate! You learned that sound is a form of energy. Today you noticed that all the sounds were loud but not all of them made the Oobleck dance about. The pitch and the beats in the music made large vibrations. When studying sound and vibrations it is so important that we understand pitch and volume. Both pitch and volume play a part in making matter vibrate.
In this part of the lesson I challenge my students to apply what they have learned and build upon their new understanding of concepts through a read aloud. I will guide my students to see the link between the dancing Oobleck and the volume and vibrations.
I read the book Sound: Loud, Soft, High, Low by Natalie M. Rosinsky.
Boys and girls, you have learned that sound is created through vibrations and when the pitch changes the vibration changes. Think about what you have learned about vibrations, pitch, and volume. Why do you think the Oobleck danced? Turn and talk and share your thinking with your partner.
I have my students join me in our meeting area and I conclude by saying, "Boys and girls you have learned a bunch of different ways that sound can make matter move."
In order to check for understanding, I ask my students to answer our question today. I want you to think for a minute and see if you can answer our question today. How did the sound waves make the Oobleck move? Please share with your turn and talk partner. After a brief discussion I ask my students to record their new learning in their science journals. I remind my students to use words like pitch, volume and vibrations in their journals.
Boys and girls will you take a minute to write ways that sound can make matter move in your science journal? Great! Off you go!
The senior center doesn't like music that causes a lot of vibrations at their weekly dances. Can you write the senior center a letter telling them what type of music would be the best for low vibrations and can you tell them why?
After the letters are finished we meet at the carpet. I have my students share their writing with the class. As the children are sharing I take notes on who used some of the vocabulary words that we have learned in this unit: sound waves, vibrations, pitch, volume.
During the writer's workshop my students are taking this letter through the publishing process and are sharing it during a publishing party. This writing piece will be used to assess whether or not my students are able to determine between low and high vibrations and the amount of moving that happens with each vibration.


text:
Toshio Watanabe: Ryoanji Garden as the Epitome of Zen Culture
The final lecture in the 2012 Frank Davis Lecture Series was given by Prof Toshio Watanabe, from the University of the Arts, London. At its centre was an extraordinary object, the Ryoanji Garden in Kyoto, regarded as one of the finest examples of the Japanese Zen garden. As we discovered in Prof Watanabe's fascinating lecture, Ryoanji's canonical status is a more complicated affair than the garden's antiquity might suggest.
I have, I confess, very little knowledge of Japanese dry gardens, and the lecture slides filled me with a mixture of wonder tinged with bafflement. In the everyday meaning of the term, Ryoanji is scarcely a garden at all: it's a rectangle of raked shingles, in which a small number of rocks have been significantly placed; the only vegetation is small patches of moss forming islands around these mysterious objects. The garden's history, in Watanabe's account, only adds to its strangeness: its designer is unknown, and it was constructed at some point between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries (recent scholarship favours the later date). Its austere beauty, as part of the Ryoanji temple complex, clearly suggests a contemplative purpose, though the ritual or symbolic intent of its authors remains a matter of scholarly conjecture.
The subject of the lecture was not the history of Japanese gardens – though I would have been happy enough to sit through that. Watanabe's theme was the creation of canons, a process that results, in Ryoanji's case, in 300,000 visitors a year. It turns out that the origins of this pilgrimage are not lost in the mists of time, but can be specifically dated to the inclusion of Ryoanji in guides to Japanese gardens from the 1920s onwards. The key turning point was 1935, when the American author Lorraine Kuck linked the garden to Zen Buddhism in her book One Hundred Kyoto Gardens – previous scholars had been more circumspect in their claims, if they mentioned Ryoanji at all. The lecture then sketched out the progress toward Ryoanji's present-day mythic status, passing through American transcendentalism (five million copies of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance), the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, and the works of John Cage. At some point along the way, Kuck's speculative theory of Ryoanji's Zen credentials became hardened into certainty.
The joy of Prof Watanabe's lecture was that it spoke, with great clarity, to a fundamental issue in the history of art. How do works of art enter the canon, and what does this inclusion signify? A simple appeal to artistic quality is, clearly, inadequate: works may be elevated or ignored for all kinds of contingent reasons. Watanabe did not suggest that we can do without the canon – it's basic to cultural value systems, and to the creation of interest groups – only that we should be aware of the complex power relations that underlie them. And that, as the Ryoanji example perfectly illustrated, historians need on occasion to follow received wisdom back to its original sources.


text:
As far as I can see, there is no
GL_PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFER. Also, the OpenGL ES 2.0 specification (and as far as I know, no iOS device currently supports OpenGL ES > 2.0) states that
glMapBufferOES() can only use
GL_ARRAY_BUFFER as a target, yet
glTexImage2D() and
glTexSubImage2D() only seem to use PBOs if
GL_PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFER is bound.
The OpenGL documentation for
glBindBuffer() also states that:
GL_PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFERare available only if the GL version is 2.1 or greater.
So, can I use PBOs for textures? Am I missing something obvious?


text:
Be Our Guest
Local celebrities spend a day teaching—and learning—at Parlin Elementary as part of American Education Week's 'Educator for a Day' program.
Beth Barrett got a powerful assist from two prominent visitors yesterday in teaching her 29 fourth-graders at the Parlin School in Everett, Massachusetts: Boston Mamas blogger Christine Koh and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel.
The guest teaching was part of an American Education Week event in which celebrities and union leaders visited classrooms to celebrate the work of America's public educators.
Barrett's math agenda for the day was to teach her students what "perimeter" and "area" mean, how to calculate them, and how to use them.
She began with a song on tape: "Perimeter means the outside! …Area means the inside!"
Soon, she handed her whiteboard marker to Van Roekel, who taught high school math for 23 years but had never tested his skills in an elementary class before.
He did fine, though, getting the children to create rectangles on the board and then figure out the distance around and the area within, while taking care to bring everybody into the discussion — "This side of the room: You haven't talked to me yet!"
The song was clearly a hit. At one point, a boy answered a Van Roekel question by singing him some lines.
Then it was Koh's turn. She read a complicated, funny story about relatives coming over for Thanksgiving and the hosts having to arrange and rearrange a set of small, square tables to make room for different numbers of people as they arrived a few at a time. PowerPoint slides showed how shapes made with the same number of tables could have different numbers of chairs around them.
Koh said she had wanted to take part in the event to show her support for public schools. She said her parents sent three younger sisters to an elite private school and wanted her to go there for high school, but she resisted.
"I wouldn't want to generalize our experience to all private schools, but my sisters had social problems at their school because they were on scholarship and they didn't have some of the things other kids had. I was also really interested in music and the public high school had a great music program, which the private school didn't have—you had to pay for lessons there."
Koh's daughter's public school in neighboring Medford, Massachusetts, has an excellent music program, she added.
Parlin is a full-inclusion, K-8 school, and Barrett's 29 students include five with disabilities, but special education teacher Fran Tenaglia is in the room full time, helping the five and also other students.
Principal Michelle Massa said classes in Everett are big because the population is growing. She said many of the students are from families that move frequently because of financial difficulties. Everett is working to align its teaching with neighboring communities so that students who move from one community to another won't find themselves out of sync with their new classmates, she said.
While Koh, Van Roekel, and Barrett were introducing the fourth-graders to the mysteries of area and perimeter, television and radio host Billy Costa and Massachusetts Teachers Association President Paul Toner were in the seventh-grade social studies class of Everett Teachers Association Treasurer Stacy Schiavo.
Schiavo divided her students into small groups to talk about rules for living. The rule Costa suggested was "positivity rather than negativity," but he said later that he was more impressed with one that a student in his group came up with: "Don't be sad it ended; be happy it happened."
Toner said his hope for all the classroom visits was that the visitors would "witness the great work of our members and relay that to the public."
Meanwhile, downstairs in the gym, physical education teacher Jason Abruzzese's eighth-graders were getting a rousing pep talk from former Boston Celtics guard Dana Barros.
"No matter what you want to do, it's going to take a lot of work," he told them. "I'm only five foot 10, but I played in the NBA for 15 years, against great basketball players like Michael Jackson. I practiced seven or eight hours a day to get there.
"Follow your own dream, not mine. You have the opportunity to do anything you want. Maybe your skill is music, or maybe it's math. If you don't take advantage of your skill, you'll be missing out."
American Education Week presents all Americans with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education.
Visit the AEW site for news, artwork, photos, and more.
Educator for a Day Program Participants Share Their Experiences
- Let's Empower Teachers!
By Rep. Mark Takano
- Be a Teacher for a Day
By Melissa Taylor
- Preparing Our Future Workforce
By Rep. Tim Walz
- Educator for a Day
By Christine Koh
- Milwaukee Public Schools Educator for a Day
By Tia Richardson


text:
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February 2008
[2] reservation released
[1] Today 8:30 - 10:30 RAITH session released due to death of sample...
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[1] Any User may now operate the RAITH system up to 30 keV acceleration voltage. FE_GUN adjustments aslo performed today.
[1] Done Early. Raith Free 12:45p-2:00p
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Owners of LG's G2 Google TVs were treated to a surprise today, as cloud game streaming service OnLive arrived via a software update.
The app was originally announced for LG's G2 series televisions back at June's E3 conference, and now it appears the series is the first to receive the update.
OnLive allows users to stream console-quality games directly to their Smart TVs, which can then be played using an OnLive wireless controller. Other than the controller, OnLive requires no additional hardware. Games can also be taken on-the-go using compatible Android, PC and Mac devices.
Questionable future
The application also allows users to preview games and download demos before committing to buy them, plus OnLive offers a game rental service too.
Currently the OnLive app is only available on LG's G2 series, with the company planning to pre-install the service on all future LG Google TVs. LG G2 Smart TV owners can access OnLive through the 'Premium Apps' area on their televisions.
It may look like things are looking up for OnLive, but it's hard to forget the difficult waters the company got into just a few months ago, when it appeared to be going under and made huge staff layoffs before being adopted by a new company.
Via Engadget


text:
By Bill Spiegel
Kansas Wheat
This is Day 2 of the 2013 Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports, brought to you by the Kansas City Board of Trade - a part of the CME Group, the Kansas Grain & Feed Association, the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.
While some wheat farmers wait for fields to dry out in south central Kansas, harvest activity is moving slowly into central Kansas.
Brookville farmer Joe Kejr began harvesting a neighbor's wheat on Wednesday. Test weight is in the 61 pound range and it is too early to estimate yields. Kejr says much of the area's wheat still has a green cast to it, but by Monday harvest should be in full swing.
Jonathan Reazan, manager at Mid Kansas Co-op in Galva, says that location started taking in wheat Wednesday night. Test weights averaged around 60 pounds with moisture averaging 14. No farmers have reported any yield s yet and no comparisons can be made to last year's crop as harvest has just begun.
Oxford farmer Tom Morton started harvesting Wednesday afternoon on a field planted to the variety Everest. Although early, Morton is pleased with the results so far: 13% moisture, 60 pound per bushel test weight and about 50 bushels per acre. Morton said the area was stressed by dry conditions throughout much of the growing season but moisture came late to help the crop finish strong.
Rick Kimbrel, manager of Valley Co-op in Winfield, says although harvest began last week, rain slowed harvest until yesterday. With just 1% of the area's wheat harvest, early test weights average 60 pounds with a moisture average of 13.8. One early yield report indicates 50 bushels per acre.
With five locations in Sedgwick County, Andale Farmers Co-op had only taken in about 10 loads as of Thursday morning. Protein averages 11.5 and test weights average 58 pounds. Harvest will be in full swing by Friday if the area does not receive any more rain.
The 2013 Harvest Report is brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and sponsors Kansas City Board of Trade - part of the CME Group, and the Kansas Grain & Feed Association.


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Let $k$ be a field, $p,q$ positive integers, and let $R$ be the space of $(p \times q)$-matrices over $k$, and $S$ be the space of $(q \times p)$-matrices over $k$. For every matrix $A \in R$, we define a so-called principal inner ideal
$$[A] := \{ ABA \mid B \in S \} \subseteq R.$$
Define the principal rank of $A$ as the length $n$ of a maximal chain of principal inner ideals
$$[0] \subsetneq [A_1] \subsetneq [A_2] \subsetneq \dots \subsetneq [A_{n-1}] \subsetneq [A].$$
Is it true that the principal rank of a matrix coincides with its usual rank?
Motivation: The pair $(R, S)$ is an example of a so-called Jordan pair, introduced by O. Loos, and the inner ideals play an important rôle in the theory of Jordan pairs. Loos seems to indicate that for matrix pairs, these two rank notions coincide, but he doesn't provide any details.


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Friday, August 07, 2009
Book Review: Born To Run
I must say, when I picked up this title in the bookstore earlier this summer I had no idea what the story was all about. There are no names listed on the jacket telling who the participants are of this race the world has never seen.
As I sit here and count upon my fingers how many titles I have read this summer, 19, and I am probably missing a few. I know, I have too much time on my hands. I did just register for a few classes at ARCC, perquisites for a Nursing Program that I am thinking of entering..but that is another story. Back to Born To Run. Of the 19 titles I've read this summer THIS is the one that was purely for fun, for entertainment, for easy reading. From the moment I opened the cover to the moment I read the last page, I was hooked. I was enthralled. I couldn't put this book down, so, I read it again. I liked it just as much, or more than the first time. I had missed a few things.
The story is about man who has one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? He wants to run but is always having some sort of ailment, pain and injury. He goes to doctors who tell him to stop running, but still asks the question Why does my foot hurt? This simple question leads him on a great adventure. He eventually learns that everything he thought he knew about running was wrong.
He seeks out the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and finds his answer.
It's amazing. How this man takes us on his trek to track down "Caballo Blanco", a loner among the Tarahumara, how he takes us to Harvard to watch the cross country team run barefoot instead of in their Nikes because barefoot running is better for the foot, how he shows us that yes, we are born to run, is enthralling.
We get to know some of the ultra greats. We view the Leadville 100 in a different point of view. One from the Tarahumara as they run against Ann Trason.
Eventually we witness the great race. The fifty mile race between the Tarahumara, Scott Jurek, Jenn Shelton, Luis Escobar, Barefoot Ted, Bonehead Billy, Eric Orton and Christopher McDougall, our writer, as well as others. It's amazing. Incredible. I didn't want the race to end. I won't give any more away. You really should read this title. Especially all of you ultrarunners!
I enjoyed this story so much. In fact, it has led me to try something new. The past few weeks I have actually been barefoot running. Yup. The first few times were in the football field, with the long, dense grass after my track workouts for a mile of my cool down. Then on the grass at home, making my family think I have lost my brain..again. Today on the trail with Topaz for a full 5 miles of barefoot running. It was magical. I frolicked. Yup, frolicked through the foliage! Ha. I never realized that running barefoot might even be an option. I thought 'those' people were kind of 'off'. No more. I didn't realize I was being judgemental. Now I know how running barefoot can actually make me feel so fine. My feet flex, they give to the contour of the ground, feel for the different surfaces, it's just too much. The nerves on the bottom of the foot are incredibly sensitive. I did not realize.
Good grief. Here I am, eating tofu and running barefoot. Crazy is the new normal . What's next?
9 comments:
- Vince A. said...
I just finished the book - oh the joy of running...
No barefoot for me, but I'll continue to hold on to my shoes way past 300 miles; I always knew that was a ploy to sell more shoes!
i have always wanted to try barefoot running. just not sure where i would do it! all my short runs are on my rock/graveled drive! i know my feet have been screwed up because of running shoes. maybe i could go up to the school and run in their grass! i love the posts lately! i always enjoy them, but it is always fun following you on a different path!
- Helen said...
BF running is super fun!! As you know I've just read the book also and it def inspired me to kick off the shoes. I've just been on grass - waiting on the KSOs before I try anything rougher!!
Hey Julie -
I'm Jen, Zach Pierce's wife, and Helen steered me to you to ask a completely un-blog related question but this is where I knew I could find you. I just got a rescue dog 3 weeks ago and I'm really debating if I'm going to use a topspot type product. She said you might have some insight, perhaps a personal experience with Frontline? I usually try to be chemical free, but I don't know what to do. Any advice you have would be appreciated! Thanks much, Jen
- Julie B said...
Hi Jen, would you like to email me at email@example.com I can then give you my #
- Unknown said...
A couple of things as I haven't checked in with you in years but I have been reading without fail.:)
1. I am going to have to get the book. I keep hearing about it and your approval is the proverbial straw....
2. I love watching you grow in this blog and please know that you continue to inspire some to do things they never thought about. I will have to try this barefoot thing. I have been thinking about it but now; for sure.
3. I think you would be a great nurse so good job on that thought process. Also maybe a physical therapist or athletic trainer.......
Run on Julie.
- Thinnmann said...
Great that you have found the right way to run! Keep it up!
- Scott said...
Its so great to see more people getting interested in barefooting since reading Born to Run. We are looking less and less like goofballs! Glad it is working for you, it really is so fun and free-feeling.
- Julie B said...
Jenna! So good to hear from you. My goodness, my first cyber buddy and first reader of this blog. Was it Body for Life we were following? I'm glad you are still reading along. I often wonder what the original readers think out there as to all of the programs/diets/etc I decide to try. I wonder if they think I'm a lunatic .I hope all is well.


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Frequently posting news on your website or want to display your content in a dynamic way? Breaking news! WP latest posts are right there for you.
THE PLUGIN IS DIVIDED Into 4 MAIN CONFIGURATION TABS:
- Advanced parameters for date and all miscellaneous stuff
Perfect to present large information, easy for final users.
The Latest posts version 2 is now available, including a lot of amazing responsive themes, masonry themes, color chooser, unlimited widget, animation selection, automatic cropping for title and text (see hereunder).
- Unlimited Latest posts instances
- Completely customizable news template
- Insert news blocks in the content editor with a button
- Display as a sidebar widget
- Select number of columns and pages in a news block
- Select number of elements (post, pages) to be loaded
- Dispatch and order content in each block with jQuery mouse drag-and-drop
- Select categories of the listed contents
- Limit the total number of displayed news items
- Select image source (featured image thumbnail, first image attachment, or post first image)
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PHP 5.3 or better.
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Discover beautiful venues for a perfect Venician wedding
This magical city has long been one of the world's great locations for a romantic break or honeymoon, so where better than a wedding abroad in Venice? Floating on its canals, historic palazzos and luxurious aristocratic houses lining the water, it's a fairytale sight even before you start planning a ceremony. Imagine arriving by gondola or sailing away together as newlyweds, watching the reflections in the lagoon or gliding along the Grand Canal under the Rialto bridge.
Although only a few locations in the city are licensed for civil ceremonies, even the main venue is somewhere to dream of. The 16th century Palazzo Cavalli is set right on the Grand Canal with a stunning view through the windows out onto the water and decoration fit for the nobility who once lived here. A second room for smaller ceremonies looks out onto the Rialto Bridge. For larger wedding groups, Ca Farsetti has space for up to 140 guests, while Casino Venezia is the only location for civil ceremonies with its own garden.
Then celebrate with an equally memorable reception – try the marble rooftop terrace at what's said to be the city's oldest hotel, Luna Hotel Baglioni, board a luxurious Venetian galleon for a cruise around the lagoon or head to the gardens of an ex-convent on its own small island.
For Venice with a twist, take the short boat ride to Murano, home to the city's talented glassblowers, where you can marry in the island's 13th century Byzantine Palace before posing for photos on the colourful island of Burano nearby.
More About Getting Married in Venice...


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I'm just going to cut to the chase here: If you really want to wow people this Christmas, you need to make these incredibly adorable, genuinely easy Christmas Tree Cupcakes. They're hands-down the cutest treat you'll consume this holiday; your kids will love helping out (and they can actually help!); and come on, it's a Christmas Tree Cupcake -- is this even a discussion? Here's the recipe:
Christmas Tree Cupcakes
- 1 Box of your favorite cake mix (and the ingredients required to make them)
- 1 Box of sugar ice cream cones
- 2 cans of white frosting
- Green food coloring
- "Christmas tree decorations" -- your choice. (M&Ms, edible glittler, marshmallows)
1. Make cupcakes according to the box.
2. Frost cooled cupcakes with a bit of white frosting. Your choice -- buttercream, vanilla, whatever.
3. Add green food coloring to another batch of white frosting.
4. Place a sugar ice cream cone upside down on each frosted cupcake.
5. Using a pastry bag and the star tip, pipe short bursts of green frosting onto upside down cones, covering them completely.
6. Decorate them to your liking.
7. Have a great holiday!
Image via niner bakes/Flickr


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1954 Willys M-170 - Army Ambulance Resuscitation
Saving an M-170
It's sometimes not what ya know, it's who ya know. Such was the case with my most recent old-Jeep purchase. My buddy's wife is a realtor. One day she called me out of the blue to say one of her clients 15 miles down the street from me needed to clear out an old long-wheelbase Willys. The only hitch was that I had just bought a non-running 1971 Jeep CJ-6 a week earlier, and it was still sitting on my trailer. Real Jeepers never say die, so after a few more phone calls and some assurance that the Jeep was a runner, I headed to his place with my towbar and a wad of cash.
There in a shed on his 15-something acre property sat a mostly complete '54 M-170. Essentially a stretched M38A1, the Jeep M-170 is a Korean War-era military Jeep. Most were utilized as litter-carrying ambulances, but a few were used as less-common radio platforms, such as the one sitting before me. Although the UHF antenna, AN/MRC-87 radio set, and even the stock 24-volt generator were missing, the drivetrain, suspension, and most of the major mechanical systems were present and accounted for. I traded him cash for the title, borrowed an angle grinder to remove the '70s cop car pushbars that had been welded to the bumper some time in antiquity, and pointed the tow rig for home.
Thankfully the trip was only 15 miles, because at speeds over 25 mph, the Willys began to death wobble, shake, and hop side to side so violently that I thought it was literally going to flop on its side. I peeled off tarmac and took dirt roads the rest of the way home to avoid horrified stares and angry honking from drivers around me. Once home, I began the process of making it safe to drive on the street in its current state so I could tinker on and modify what would've been the next Jpproject Jeep. But as you no doubt read in my farewell Trailhead editorial, recent corporate events means that's not gonna happen. So here's your last Hazel junk Jeep purchase story. Appropriately, it's a real oddball.


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As part Obama-Care put into effect in 2010 is a provision to increase the employee portion of the Medicare tax from the current 1.45% by .9% to a total rate of 2.35%. This new rate only applies on the amount of earned income in excess of $200,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for married couples (another example of the "marriage" penalty).
For farmers, earned income applies to any net farm income reported on Schedule F plus any self-employment earnings received as a partner in a partnership (or LLC taxed as a partnership). In addition, the tax applies to wages the farmer earns from his corporation if any plus wages earned off-farm by him and his spouse.
The final calculation is done on the tax return and if the total exceeds the base amount listed previously, the excess is subject to the new Medicare surtax.
Example #1
Farmer Joe earns Schedule F income of $295,000 for 2013 and his spouse earns $120,000 working in town. Their combined income is $415,000. All of this income is subject to the regular employee Medicare rate of 1.45% or 6,017.50. Additional tax of $1,485 is owed on the $165,000 in excess of the base amount.
Example # 2
Jane earns $250,000 working in town. Her employer is required to withhold an extra $450 for the Medicare surtax on the $50,000 in excess of the $200,000 single level (employers withhold based on single floor even if the employee is married). Farmer Joe has a break even year farming and they are entitled to a refund of the $450 withheld from Jane's wages since combined earned income is exactly $250,000 the married limit.
Note, the employer portion (including the farmer's self employed portion) remains at 1.45% on all of the earned income. The Surtax only applies to the employee. However, if the employer does not withhold the required Medicare surtax from the employee, they are subject to the liability for the tax.


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Swim. Splash. Stay.
It's always 84 degrees at Grand Lodge Waterpark Resort – the biggest indoor waterpark in Central Wisconsin! Speed and slip your way down one of our seven waterslides, laze the day away in our relaxing lazy river and splash around with your little ones. Dry off and enjoy our fun-packed Blue Ox Arcade and our delicious food options at Smokey's Grill, we've got something for everyone! Head back to one of our luxurious rooms and fun bunk bed suites, for a night filled with family fun and lasting memories. Don't forget, waterpark passes are free for guests who stay!
"Certificate of Excellence, 2017"- TripAdvisor


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The federal government has a priority in ending veterans' homelessness. And, several agencies in Tucson are working on the local end of that goal.
Last week, the Department of Veteran's Affairs announced it will pump $300 million into ending veterans' homelessness. Of that, more than $2 million will come to agencies in southern Arizona.
The issue has gained national importance because veterans are more likely to be homeless than other Americans. They make up less than 8 percent of the population, but represent 16 percent of homeless adults, according to the federal government.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that any veteran should be homeless, that any veteran should be without a job if they're able to work, that any veteran (who) has a substance abuse or mental health disorder should not get the treatment ... they deserve," said Rep. Ron Barber in May.
The Arizona representative is sponsoring and supporting several bills, aiming to boost support services for veterans. They are designed to address issues faced by returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Barber also said he consults his Veteran's Advisory Council on all issues pertaining to veterans.
Barber said with nearly 85,000 vets in his congressional district, those from the Vietnam era face a unique set of challenges.
"I think (people) in my age group ... remember the last time we had a large group of veterans coming home," Barber said. " ... they were coming home from Vietnam. It's not a very good part of our history, quite frankly, the way they were treated when they got home."
This led to long-term problems, including homelessness.
"Many (Vietnam vets) are part of the homeless population in our country," Barber said. "One of the largest percentages of the homeless population are veterans from that era."
Gus Hasdorff lll joined the Marines when he was 17.
"It was Aug. 7, 1972 ... my first day of service," he remembered. "I got on a plane in San Antonio, Texas, flew to Los Angeles and rode a bus to San Diego."
After Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego and infantry school at Camp Pendleton, Hasdorff was sent to Nam Phong, Thailand. He was assigned to a U.S. Marine Air Base and Royal Thai Air Force joint operation.
"At the time they were bombing Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam," Hasdorff said.
Hasdorff turned 18 in Nam Phuong. He returned from the Vietnam War with a heroin addiction, he said, and entered a treatment program at the Naval Air Station in Miramar, Calif.
For a number of reasons, Hasdorff has been homeless for most of the past 30 years. Then, he met Sarah Taouil, project coordinator for 51 Homes, a local nonprofit, seeking to house the most medically vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.
"Gus was living out in a wash on the northwest side of town," Taouil said. "Our outreach workers knew him because he had lived there for so long."
The mission of 51 Homes is to provide housing first and then other support services, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Traditional models take the opposite approach by having people meet certain prerequisite criteria before qualifying for housing assistance, Taouil said.
"Once we put people into housing, they don't need or want to use substances any more, or they're ready to begin addressing these behavioral health concerns," Taouil said. "They can go to the doctor ... make appointments ... follow-up with prescriptions and take medication. They're ready and able to satisfy whatever their treatment needs are."
Over the years, outreach workers made repeated contact with Hasdorff in an effort to help him with housing.
"Gus had recently experienced a heart attack," Taouil said. "It was summer, the monsoons were coming, and I think he finally decided 'I can't do this anymore.' ... I think of him lying outside, having just had a heart attack, and having to pull himself to the neighboring camp to make a phone call."
A subsequent attempt by 51 Homes outreach workers finally paid off in July 2012.
When the nonprofit first emerged, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offered assistance. It funded housing for chronically homeless veterans through Veteran's Assisted Supportive Housing, or VASH Vouchers.
To this day, HUD VASH Vouchers help house veterans.
Taouil is the former program coordinator for Comin' Home, which is part of CODAC Behavioral Health Services.
Comin' Home is a transitional program, offering "bridge housing" for homeless vets who are transitioning into a permanent home.
Hasdorff is one of the homeless vets who has benefited from that service, Taouil said.
"He came into to Comin' Home for 'bridge housing' while he was picking out an apartment and preparing for the VASH procedure," Taouil said.
The service helped Hasdorff with his transition from homelessness into being able to live in an apartment.
"I had three weeks of living indoors," Hasdorff said. " ... getting used to sleeping in an actual bed ... having a stove and cooking. It was good. It was like a great weight lifted off of my shoulders, not having to worry."
Now, Hasdorff lives in a studio apartment in north central Tucson.
"My apartment is four or five times bigger than any tent I've ever been in or lived in," he said.
In his apartment, Hasdorff has a stereo, a TV, a refrigerator, a coffee maker, kitchen appliances, air conditioning, a bathroom, a bed and the makings of a little library in his closet.
Beyond these comforts, his new home has allowed him to focus more in his health and well-being.
Hasdorff had quit his medications because he couldn't afford them.
"Now, I've hooked up with the VA, and got my meds back," he said. "I'm (also) eating a little bit more, and have gained (some) weight."
Hasdorff remembers what it was like living in the desert.
"You gotta find toilet paper ... get food, haul water, find firewood, find a safe place to camp," he said." ... and the thing that I hated the most was the wind. If you can get out of the wind you're OK. Now I'm out of the wind - the wind, the cold, the rain."
The transition from being homeless for so many years to now living in his own apartment came with certain anxiety.
"It feels great, but ... it's hard to get used to (after) you've lived outside for...years," Hasdorff said.
Taouil has observed Hasdorff's adjustment to his new life.
"Whenever I speak to Gus, he's thankful," Taouil said. "I mean, I think he still has challenges...transition is hard for folks who have been (homeless) for decades. So, I think he feels like his four walls are a blessing but maybe (also confining).
Hasdorff misses the nature that was part of his everyday surroundings.
"You get up in the morning...watch the sun come up," Hasdorff said. "(Then), you watch it track across the sky, and each day you see the sun slowly go to the north...watch the leaves turn (colors)...it's neat...you get to see the wildlife and that's all cool. But, this is so much better, trust me."
There's a two-fold argument for supporting efforts to house homeless veterans, and others living without homes in southern Arizona, Taouil said.
"I believe that all humans have the right to have housing," she said. "It's...a basic human right...It's not a privilege, just a right."
There is also a financial reason to support programs to reduce homelessness, Taouil said.
"It costs more for a person to be homeless in a community," she said. "(It costs) more for law enforcement ... for emergency medical services ... emergency shelters. It costs less to house somebody in a one-bedroom apartment."
Now that Hasdorff is able to tend to his physical and mental health needs, Taouil said he can move beyond issues of basic survival.
"Gus is not going to die in a wash, unknown on the edge of the desert," Taouil said. "I mean, that's just huge. He has neighbors and friends, people who know him and are looking out for him. He can live with dignity, he's not a nameless person (anymore)."
Taouil hopes Hasdorff "gets to live in a home for the rest of his life, and not think of himself as a person who was homeless, and that he's just a Tucsonan like the rest of us."
Next month, it will be one year since Hasdorff left his old life and started this new one.
Hasdorff is grateful for those who persisted in bringing him home, he said, and he reflects on those who are still out there.
Listen to an extended audio version of this story as aired on Arizona Spotlight:
This story is part of Arizona Public Media's week-long series on poverty.


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A war-hardened Crusader and a Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure. Packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance, ROBIN HOOD is a never before seen story of how Robin Hood because the icon and legend as we know him today.
CAST: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Jamie Dornan, Eve Hewson, Ben Mendelsohn, Tim Minchin
DIRECTOR: Otto Bathurst
RUN TIME: 104 min


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I apologize in advance if this question seems too vague.
In many topology courses, concepts like the fundamental group and homology groups are introduced as a means of distinguishing non-homeomorphic spaces - for instance, $\mathbb{T}^2$ and $S^2$. Similarly, things like the rank of an abelian group, and the Krull dimension of a ring are (relatively) interesting ways of taking an object and capturing useful information in a number. Of course, the most interesting invariants are those that are functorial in some way or another. In my earlier question, I asked for a reason that the category of topological spaces cannot be embedded in the category of groups. Now it turns out that one nice reason is that the category of groups is not cartesian closed, while the category of (compactly generated weakly Hausdorff) spaces is. I found this to be rather nice, as cartesian closedness is a rather global property. On the other hand, lots of categories are cartesian closed, and it would be nice if there were some kind of categorical invariant capable of distinguishing them. So my question is: Are there any nice categorical invariants? Preferably a categorical invariant would take the form of a functor $\mathfrak{C}\mathfrak{A}\mathfrak{T}\to\mathscr{C}$, where $\mathfrak{C}\mathfrak{A}\mathfrak{T}$ is the (meta) category of all categories and $\mathscr{C}$ is some nice category (abelian groups, sets, etc). But I'd be interested in any interesting way of capturing global information about a category.


text: WallPops are super easy to install and they are a piece of cake to remove. We tell people this all the time, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million! We had so much fun making this DIY video on how to apply WallPops with our Brocade flower wall decals. This kit comes on 2 sheets with 11 separate pieces which you can arrange however you want to best fit your space. You can also re-arrange them as many times as you like because our wall decals are totally removable and repositionable. Applying wall decals is a perfect DIY decor project because the results are gorgeous in instants. Enjoy this quick video and check back because coming soon we will have a sequel on how to remove wall stickers!


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SongstressEnlil: *Also. Would any one terribly offended if I wrote a guide to making decent literry criticism in the Fic forum?*
FDeth: OHNO
TheWaiChibiAngel: I WOULD!
FDeth: I would, Pervy!
Metroid Priam: *literary
Metroid Priam: I'd totally not complain.
TheWaiChibiAngel: I'd probably be so offended, I'd vomit!
FDeth: I'd be all like, "You hurt my goddamn feelings, ass!"
Fiddle Reject: I would like, be scared :(
Metroid Priam: And then I'd be so vomited upon that I'd be offended!
SongstressEnlil: *Thank you Grammar Nazi*
SongstressEnlil: *GOOD. THAT SEALS IT*
FDeth: What does?
Metroid Priam: VOMIT SEALS EVERYTHING.
SongstressEnlil: *I MAKE NEW STICKY THREAD NOW FOR THIS e\/e*
SongstressEnlil: *FUCKTARDS*
FDeth: You have to include logs from the portion of this chat where everyone is offended!
SongstressEnlil: *I WILL*
As a lot of you claim not to know how to give a decent review on fics and such, I shall post some pointers here on the subject.
1. Read the whole thing. Unless you are doing a grammer/Spelling check, look over the whole piece before arriving at any sort of Judgement. Unless what you have read is such an incredible piece of crap you cannot forgive the writer for it.
2. State whether or not you actually like the piece. Writers need this.
3. Look for things that need improving, or don't sit well with you. Some suggestions are
-Odd/Awkward wording.
-Tense disagreement
-Run-ons (People love them some run-ons)
-Dialogue that seems out of character
-Awkward scene transitions
-Bad flow in wording.
-Bad Spelling/Grammar
-Unnecessary description
-Lack of Description
-Too much exposition (Stating things rather than showing it)
-Not enough exposition
-Words/Statements not matching the feel of the scene
-Plot holes
-Stagnant/Boring Plot
And so on.
4. Tell what you did like! This is important for a writer's ego. :( It can include
-Character portrayal
-Plot Creativity
-Use of characters
And so on.
5. If you have any suggestions, offer them for fuck's sake. You'd be surprised what seems blantantly obvious to you, yet is not to someone else. Remember that a good writer can change many things that may seem set in stone. Feel more than free to:
-Offer Better wording for things.
-Suggest an action that would be more IC for a character
-Offer Suggestions for the next bit of plot.
-Correct Grammar and Spelling
-Offer Suggestions on dealing with apparant plot holes.
-Suggest what should added or removed.
Feel free to add to this list as you think, I know I neglected to recall numerous things. However, this thread will be editted for content, so stay IC ^^
Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.