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We can use Newton-Raphson algorithm to optimize <math>g(A)</math>.
We can use Newton-Raphson algorithm to optimize <math>g(A)</math>.
===2. PSD formulation ===
. PSD formulation ===
Another approach is given in <ref> Ali Ghodsi, Dana Wilkinson, Finnegan Southey, Improving Embeddings by Flexible Exploitation of Side Information</ref>, in which the loss function is given by

Another approach is given in <ref> Ali Ghodsi, Dana Wilkinson, Finnegan Southey, Improving Embeddings by Flexible Exploitation of Side Information</ref>, in which the loss function is given by

Revision as of 18:32, 13 June 2009
- 1 June 2nd Maximum Variance Unfolding (Semidefinite Embedding)
- 1.1 Constraints
- 1.2 Objective Functions
- 1.3 Algorithm for Optimization Problem
- 1.4 Colored Maximum Variance Unfolding .<ref>Song, L. and colleagues; Proceedings of the 2007 Conference, 1385-1392.</ref>
- 1.5 Steps for SDE algorithm
- 1.6 Advantages
- 1.7 Disadvantages
- 1.8 Application in SVM classification
- 2 June 4th
- 3 June 9th
- 4 June 11th
- 5 References
June 2nd Maximum Variance Unfolding (Semidefinite Embedding)
Maximum Variance Unfolding (MVU) is a variation of Kernel PCA in which the kernel matrix is also obtained from the data. The main proposal of this technique is not to choose a kernel function a priori like classical kernel PCA or construct a kernel matrix by algorithm like LLE and ISOMAP, but instead learn a kernel [math]K[/math] optimizing an objective function with several constraints when the data set is given.
First, we give the constraints for the kernel.
1. Semipositive definiteness
Kernel PCA is a kind of spectral decomposition in Hilbert space. The kernel matrix stores the inner products of vectors in a Hilbert space, hence it must be positive semidefinite. The semipositive definiteness means all eigenvalues are non-negative, i.e. [math] K\gt =0[/math].
2. Centering
Considering the centering process in Kernel PCA, it is also required here. The condition is given by
[math]\sum_i \Phi\left(x_i\right) =0 .[/math]
[math] 0 = \left|\sum_i \Phi(x_i)\right|^2 = \sum_{ij}\Phi(x_i)\Phi(x_j)=\sum_{ij}K_{ij}. [/math]
3. Isometry
The local distance between a pairwise of data [math]x_i, x_j[/math], under neighbourhood relation [math]\eta[/math] (i.e. [math]\eta_{ij}=1 [/math] indicates data [math]x_i, x_j[/math] are neighbours), should be preserved in new space after mapping [math]\Phi(\cdot)[/math]. In other words, for all [math]\eta_{ij}\gt 0 [/math],
[math]\left|\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right|^2 = \left|x_i - x_j\right|^2. [/math]
Additonally, for the consider of conformal map, the pairwise distance between two points having a common neighbour point should also be preserved. Two data points having a common neighbour can be identified as [math] [\eta^T\eta]_{ij}\gt 0. [/math] This ensures that if two points have a common neighbour, we preserve their pairwise distances and angles.
[math] \left|\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right|^2 = \left(\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right)^{T}\left(\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right) [/math]
[math] \left|\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right|^2 = \Phi(x_i)^{T}\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)^{T}\Phi(x_j) - 2 \Phi(x_i)^{T}\Phi(x_j)[/math]
Thus, [math] K_{ii}+K_{jj}-2K_{ij}=\left|x_i - x_j\right|^2[/math] for all ij [math] \eta_{ij}\gt 0 [/math] or [math][\eta^T\eta]_{ij}\gt 0.[/math]
Objective Functions
Given the conditions, the objective functions should be considered. The aim of dimensional reduction is to map high dimension data into a low dimension space with the minimum information losing cost. Recall the fact that the dimension of new space depends on the rank of the kernel. Hence, the best ideal kernel is the one which has minimum rank. So the ideal objective function should be
[math] \min\quad rank(K). [/math]
However, minimizing the rank of a matrix is a hard problem. So we look at the question in another way. When doing dimensional reduction, we try to maximize the distance between non-neighbour data. In other words, we want to maximize the variance between non-neighbour datas, and it is the same as maximizing the sum of the eigenvalues. In such sense, we can change the objective function to
[math] \max \quad Trace(K) [/math] .
Note that it is an interesting question that whether these two objective functions can be equivalent to each other. Although they are not totally equivallent, it can be shown that they usually converge to each other.
Algorithm for Optimization Problem
The objective function with linear constraints form a typical semidefinite programming problem. The optimization is convex and globally. We already have methods to slove such kind of optimization problem.
Colored Maximum Variance Unfolding .<ref>Song, L. and colleagues; Proceedings of the 2007 Conference, 1385-1392.</ref>
MVU is based on maximizing the overall variance while the local distances between neighbor points are preserved and it uses only one source of information. Colored MVU uses more than one source of information, i.e it reducing the dimension satisfying a combination of to goals
1- preserving the local distance (as first information)
2- optimum alignment with second information (side information)
Examples of how Colored MVU can leverage the side information
- Given text data from a newsgroup as first information, a hierarchy of topics can be used as side information to guide the embedding.
- Given term-frequency and inverse-document-frequency representation of academic papers as first information, co-author relationship can be used as side information to guide the embedding.
Rationale of separating the side information from the data
- We cannot merge all kind of information in one distance metric because the data(first information) and the side information may be heterogeneous
- The side information may be a feature of similarity(papers with the same co-authors tend to be more similar) rather than difference(papers with different co-authors are not necessarily far apart).
- When inserting new information, usually only new data but not new side information is added.
Algorithmic Modification
In Colored MVU, [math]Trace(KL)[/math] is maximized instead of [math]K[/math], where [math]L[/math] is the matrix of covariance of first and side information.
One of the drawback of MVU is that its statistical interpretation is not always clear. However one of the application of Colored MVU, which has great statistical interpretation is to be used as a criterion to for measuring the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence.
Steps for SDE algorithm
- Generate a K nearest neighbor graph. It should be a connected graph and so if K is too small it would be an unbounded problem, having no solution.
- Semidefinite programming: Maximize [math]Tr(K)[/math] subject to the above mentioned constraints.
- Do kernel PCA with this learned kernel.
- The kernel that is learned from the data can actually reflect the intrinsic dimensionality of the data. More specifically, the eigen-spectrum of the kernel matrix K provides an estimation.
The dimension needed to preserve local distance while maximizing variance is dependent on the number of dominant eigenvalues of K. That is, if top r eigenvalues of K account for 90% of the trace then an r dimensional representation can reveal about 90% of the unfolded data's variance.
- MVU is a convex problem which guarantees a unique solution.
- Distance-preserving constraints can be easily expressed and enforced in the semi-definite programming framework. This flexibility allows tailor-made constraints to be imposed on particular applications, for example analyzing robot motions(ARE).
- SDE can be solved efficiently in polynomial time but still has a high computational complexity. (O(matrix_size ^ 3 + number_of_constraints ^ 3))
- SDE is limited to a isometric map
Application in SVM classification
The optimized kernel replaces the popular kernels using in SVM (i.e. linear kernel) for classification. It actually performs worse than other kernel functions chose in priori.
June 4th
Action Respecting Embedding (ARE)
It is a variation of Maximum Variance Unfolding.
The data here is temporal or ordered, i.e we move from one point to another by taking an action. In other words action [math] a_i [/math] is taken between data points [math] x_i [/math] and [math] x_{i+1} [/math].
Action labels,even with no interpretation or implied meaning,provide more information about the underlying generation of the data.It is natural to expect that the actions correspond to some simple operator on the generator's own degrees of freedom.For example,a camera that is being panned left and then right,has actions that correspond to a simple translation in the camera's actuator space.We therefore want to constrain the learned representation so that the labeled actions correspond to simple transformations in that space.In particular,we can require all actions to be a simple rotation plus translation in the resulting low-dimensional representation.<ref> M.Bowling, A.Ghodsi, and D.Wilkinson. Action respecting embedding. In International Conferenceon Machine Learning,2005. </ref>
Consider action [math] a [/math] taken between the points [math] x_i , x_{i+1} [/math], and the points [math] x_j , x_{j+1} [/math], in the original data space, it may not be a simple transformation (Rotation, Translation or combination of both).
A transformation [math] T [/math] is called simple or distance preserving if and only if
[math] \forall x, x' [/math] [math]\left \Vert T(x)-T(x') \right \|=\left \Vert x - x' \right \|[/math]
Notice that [math] T_a(x_i)=x_{i+1}[/math] and [math] T_a(x_j)=x_{j+1}[/math]
In the low dimension space, as in the camera case where actions corresponds to a simple translation in the camera's actuator space, the action can become a simple transformation. Therefore constraining the action to be a simple transformation in dimension reduction would help us to find a low dimension representation close to the true one, if the action indeed corresponds to a simple transformation in the intrinsic dimension space.
The goal here is not only to reduce the dimensionality of the data but also reducing the complexity of actions in the sense that actions in this low dimension representation is a simple transformation. Therefore to obtain a low dimensional embedding of the high dimensional temporal data, the action in low dimension must be represented by a constraint that preserves the distance. This constraint is called action respecting constraint.
For any two data points [math] x_i[/math],[math] x_j [/math] if the same action a [math]\left(a_{i}=a_{j}\right)[/math] is carried out, transforming them into [math] x_{i+1} [/math] and [math] x_{j+1}[/math] respectively, then the distance between [math] y_i [/math] and [math] y_j [/math] must be equal to the distance between [math] y_{i+1}[/math] and [math]y_{j+1}[/math] where [math] y_i [/math] , [math] y_j [/math] , [math]y_{i+1} [/math] , [math] y_{j+1} [/math] are the corresponding points in the low dimension. This constraint is given as:
[math]\left|y_i - y_j\right|^2=\left|y_{i+1} - y_{j+1}\right|^2 \rightarrow \left|\Phi(x_i) - \Phi(x_j)\right|^2=\left|\Phi(x_{i+1}) - \Phi(x_{j+1})\right|^2[/math]
The kernel form of the above constarint is:
[math] \forall i, j a_{i}=a_{j} \Rightarrow K_{ii}+K_{jj}-2K_{ij}=K_{(i+1)(i+1)}+K_{(j+1)(j+1)}-2K_{(i+1)(j+1)} [/math]
The above, action respecting constraint is added to the constraints of MVU and the algorithm of MVU is run to obtain a low dimension embedding for the temporal data.
This example is extracted from the "Action Respecting Embedding" paper listed in the references.
Consider a virtual robot that observe a 100 by 100 patch of a 2048 by 1536 image. The actions of the robot consists of four translations(rightward/leftward/upward/downward). In this example, we consider two action sequences and compare their representations by SDE and ARE.
It is obvious that the first sequence of actions lie in a one-dimensional subspace and the second sequence lies in a two-dimensional subspace. Although both SDE and ARE succeed in capturing this low dimensionality, the embedding achieved by ARE is much smoother and corresponds much better(almost exactly) to the actual actions.
June 9th
Applications of ARE
- Planning: To find a sequence of events to achieve a desired goal i.e. we want to find a path that leads us to the desired goal given the initial point and the set of all possible actions.
Given a set of pts [math]y_t \rightarrow^a y_{t+1}[/math] we want to predict [math]y_t [/math] given [math]y_{t+1}[/math]. This can be formulated as a regression problem and therefore we find a functon such that,
[math] f_a(y_t)=A_ay_t+b_a [/math] subject to [math] A_a^TA_a=I [/math]
We build a tree starting from the initial point to the desired point by considering all possible actions and then find the shortest path to reach the goal.
- Robot loaization: It is accomplished by using the motion and sensor probabilistic model. But using ARE, we can do robot localization in the low dimensional map rather than in the original space. This has the advantage that it becomes independent of the environmental constraints.
Metric Learning
Metric Learning is a supervised algorithm used for dimensionality reduction, in which some kind of extra sources of information (side information)are used besides the first source of variation. In more detail, two types of class-related information are brought in consideration.
Given a set of points [math]\{x_i, i=1, \cdots, m\}[/math], we define two different sets, similar and dissimilar.
Similar Set
a set of pairs of similar points, denoted by [math]S[/math]
[math]S : (x_i, x_j) \in S [/math] if [math]x_i[/math] and [math]x_j[/math] are similar;
Dissimilar Set
a set of pairs of dissimilar points, denoted by [math]D[/math]
[math]D : (x_i, x_j) \in D [/math] if [math]x_i[/math] and [math]x_j[/math] are dissimilar.
Note that a particular pair of points may not be known to be similar or dissimilar, in which case it will not be placed in either set.
We want to learn a distance metric
[math]d_A(x_i, x_j) = \|x_i - x_j\|_A = \sqrt{(x_i-x_j)^T A(x_i-x_j)}[/math], where [math]\|x_i - x_j\|_A[/math] is not the euclidean distance but the mahalanobis distance
which determined by semi-definite matrix [math]A[/math]. Equivalently, we want to know [math]A[/math] from the given data.
[math] A= WW^T[/math] where [math]W[/math] is the transformation that maps data from a high dimensional space to a low dimensional space. The euclidean distance between the points in the low dimensional space is represented by mahalanobis distance in the high dimensional space.
Such idea comes from firstly in 2004. After that, several different approaches are given to find the metric.
1. Original Optimization Problem
It is given by Eric P. Xing, Andrew Y. Ng, Michael I. Jordan and Stuart Russell in 2004 .<ref>Eric P. Xing, Andrew Y. Ng, Michael I. Jordan and Stuart Russell, Distance metric learning, with application to clustering with side-information, </ref> .
The authors give the optimization problem in following form:
[math]\min_A \sum_{(x_i , x_j) \in S} \|x_i - x_j\|^2_A[/math]
[math]s.t. \sum_{(x_i , x_j) \in D} \|x_i - x_j\|_A \ge 1 ,(*)[/math]
[math] A \ge 0 .[/math]
The constraint is given to keep the distance between dissimilar points. If the constraint is ignored, [math]A = 0[/math] will be an obvious solution, which means all points collapse to a single point. The choice of constant [math]1[/math] is not important, and can be changed to any other positive number. In the paper, it is also shown that it is a convex optimization problem. Hence, we can solve it use some efficient and direct algoritms without considering getting stuck at local minimas. In this paper, the author also notes that there are some possible alternatives to (*). [math]\sum_{(x_i, x_j) \in D }\|x_i - x_j\|_A \ge 1[/math] would not be a good choice despite it maintain a linear constraint. It would result in A always being rank 1 (i.e., the data are always projected onto a line).
Futher discussion about A
Obviously, letting A = I gives Euclidean distance. Now, let us suppose we want to learn a diagonal, that is [math]A=diag(A_{11},A_{22},...,A_{nn})[/math]
Define [math]g(A)=g(A_{11},A_{22},...,A_{nn})=\sum_{(x_i , x_j) \in S} \|x_i - x_j\|^2_A-log(\sum_{(x_i , x_j) \in D} \|x_i - x_j\|_A) [/math]
We can use Newton-Raphson algorithm to optimize [math]g(A)[/math].
2. Maximally Collapsing Metric Learning
Globerson & Roweis <ref> Globerson, A., and Roweis, S. 2006. Metric learning by collapsing classes. In Weiss, Y.; Sch¨olkopf, B.; and Platt, J., eds., Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 18, 451–458. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.</ref> proposed another metric learning method which considerably overperforms the previous technique suggested by Xing, et. al.
3. PSD formulation
Another approach is given in <ref> Ali Ghodsi, Dana Wilkinson, Finnegan Southey, Improving Embeddings by Flexible Exploitation of Side Information</ref>, in which the loss function is given by
[math]L(A) = \sum_{(x_i, x_j) \in S } \|x_i - x_j\|^2_A - \sum_{(x_i, x_j)\in D} \|x_i - x_j\|_A^2.[/math]
Motivation for using this loss function is that, it is minimized equivalently if its first component (sum of the differences between points in similarity class) is minimized while, its second component (sum of the differences between points in dissimilarity class) is maximized.
The optimization problem is
[math] \min_A L(A); s.t. A \ge 0, Tr(A) = 1 (1)[/math].
The Positive semi-definiteness ([math] A \ge 0 [/math]) constrain guarantees a valid Euclidean metric and the trace constraints is to prevent the solution [math]A =0[/math]. In order to be able to use standard semidefinite programing software [math] L(A) [/math] must be linearized. To do so function [math] vec() [/math] (which rearranges a matrix by concatenating its columns) which gives quite useful results like,
[math] vec(ABC)=(C^{T}*A)vec(B) [/math].
in which [math]*[/math] is the Kroneker product.
since [math] (x_{i}-x_{j})^{T}A(x_{i}-x_{j}) [/math] is a scalar we can write
[math] (x_{i}-x_{j})^{T}A(x_{i}-x_{j})=vec((x_{i}-x_{j})^{T}A(x_{i}-x_{j})) [/math]
also from Kroneker product for any two (same size) vectors [math] a , b [/math] we have
[math] (a^{T}*b^{T})=vec(ba^{T})^{T} [/math]
using the two results above it is easy to drive the following conclusion.
[math] L(A) = \sum_{(x_i, x_j) \in S } (x_i - x_j)^T A (x_i - x_j) - \sum_{(x_i, x_j)\in D} (x_i - x_j)^T A (x_i - x_j)[/math]
[math] = \sum_{(x_i, x_j) \in S } vec(A)^T vec((x_i - x_j)(x_i - x_j)^T) - \sum_{(x_i, x_j)\in D} vec(A)^T vec((x_i - x_j)(x_i - x_j)^T) [/math]
[math] = vec(A)^T \left[ \sum_{(x_i, x_j) \in S } vec((x_i - x_j)(x_i - x_j)^T) - \sum_{(x_i, x_j)\in D} vec((x_i - x_j)(x_i - x_j)^T) \right] [/math]
This form along with the two linear constraints given in (1), makes a semidefinite positive problem that can be easily solved by a SDP solver, called SeDumi in Matlab. Therefore, it is a more convenient form than that used by Xing et all. Furthermore, in the original form, at least one dissimilar pair is required, while it is not necessary in the form given by Ali Ghodsi et al., because of the trace constraint. There can be only similar pairs, only dissimilar pairs, or any combination of the two, and the method will still avoid the trivial solution. Furthermore, in the absence of specific information regarding dissimilarities, Xing et al. assume that all points not explicitly identified as similar are dissimilar. This information may be misleading, forcing the algorithm to separate points that should be in fact be similar. The formulation presented by Ali Ghodsi et al. allows one to specify only the side information one actually has, partitioning the pairing into similar, dissimilar, and unknown.
June 11th
Closed form Metric learning (CFML)
As, [math] (x_i-x_j)^TA(x_i-x_j)=Tr((x_i-x_j)^T WW^T(x_i-x_j))=Tr(W^T(x_i-x_j)(x_i-x_j)^T W)[/math]
The cost function to be minimized is:
[math] \min \frac 1S \operatorname{trace}(W^TM_SW)- \frac1D \operatorname{trace}(W^TM_DW)[/math]
s.t. [math]\operatorname{trace}(A)=1[/math] or [math]\operatorname{trace}(WW^T)=1[/math]
Solving this as a lagrange multiplier problem we get,
[math]\mathbf {(M_S-M_D)} \mathbf W = \lambda \mathbf W[/math]
This results in matrix[math]\mathbf W[/math] being rank 1 i.e it consists of eigenvectors (as its columns) each having the same eigenvalue and therefore A is also rank 1. As a result all the data points are projected on a line.
Projection of the data points on a line is due to the constraint imposed on the cost function and therefore to avoid that we need to change our constarint. There are two alternative constraints that can be imposed on the cost function:
- The constraint imposed is: [math]\mathbf W^T\mathbf W= \mathbf I_m[/math].
So, the objective function is:
[math] \min_{\mathbf W}\operatorname {trace}(\mathbf W^T(\mathbf M_S-\mathbf M_D)\mathbf W)[/math] s.t [math] \mathbf W^T\mathbf W=\mathbf I_m[/math].
[math]\mathbf W[/math] is the eigenvectors of [math](\mathbf M_S-\mathbf M_D)[/math].
- The constraint is: [math]\mathbf W^T\mathbf M_S\mathbf W= \mathbf I_m[/math].
So, the objective function is:
[math] \min_{\mathbf W}\operatorname {trace}(\mathbf W^T(\mathbf M_S-\mathbf M_D)\mathbf W)[/math]
s.t. [math] \mathbf W^T\mathbf M_S\mathbf W=\mathbf I_m[/math]
this alternative algorithm is called CFML-II.
To solve this new form of optimization problem, let [math]\mathbf M_S=\mathbf {HH^T}[/math]. Substituing this in our constraint and also considering[math]\mathbf {H^TW}=\mathbf Q[/math], we get our cost function as:
[math] \min\operatorname {trace}(\mathbf Q^T(\mathbf I-\mathbf {H^{-1}M_DH^{-1^T}})\mathbf Q)[/math] s.t [math] \mathbf Q^T\mathbf Q=\mathbf I[/math]
[math]\mathbf Q[/math] is the eigenvectors of [math](\mathbf I-\mathbf {H^{-1}M_DH^{-1^T}})[/math].
That is, [math](\mathbf I-\mathbf {H^{-1}M_DH^{-1^T}})\mathbf Q=\lambda\mathbf Q[/math]
ie, [math]\mathbf {H^{T^{-1}}H^{-1}}\mathbf M_D\mathbf W=\lambda\mathbf W[/math]
ie, [math]\mathbf {M_S^{-1}}\mathbf M_D\mathbf W=\lambda\mathbf W[/math]
This optimization problem is related to an old technique called Fischer discriminant analysis(FDA)
So far , we have discussed a number of algorithms in metric learning. Xing et al., MCML, CFML, CFML-II, and FDA. Compared to the others, Xing doesn't give a good result, CFML and MCML compete with each other, CFML has a closed form and runs pretty fast, and FDA has a restriction on the rank such that given the number of classes as k, the rank is always equal to k-1.
Using partial distance side information <ref> Ali Ghodsi, Dana Wilkinson, Finnegan Southey, Improving Embeddings by Flexible Exploitation of Side Information</ref>
In this case, only par>=tial distances are known i.e. we are given exact distances between some pairs of points.
Suppose a set of similarities is given: [math]S : (x_i, x_j) \in S [/math] if the target distance [math]d_{ij}[/math] is known, then the cost function that preserves the local distnces is:
[math]\min_{\mathbf A} \sum_S\|\|x_i-x_j\|_A^2-d_{ij}\|^2[/math] s.t [math] \mathbf A \succeq 0[/math]
The above function can be written as:
[math]L(A)=\min_{\mathbf A} \sum_S\|vec(A)^T vec(B_{ij})-d_{ij}\|^2[/math]
[math]L(A)=\min_{\mathbf A} \sum_S(vec(A)^T vec(B_{ij})vec(B_{ij})vec(A)+d_{ij}^2)-2d_{ij}vec(A)^Tvec(B_{ij})[/math]
where, [math]B_{ij}=(x_i-x_j)(x_i-x_j)^T[/math] and as [math]d_{ij}^2 [/math] is independent of A, it can be dropped.
Therefore, the loss function is:
[math]L(A)=vec(A)^T[Qvec(A)-2R][/math] where, [math]Q=\sum_S vec(B_{ij})vec(B_{ij})^T[/math] and [math]\sum_SR=2d_{ij}vec(B_{ij})[/math]
The above loss function being in the quadratic form, semi definite programming can not be applied. It can be converted to a linear function using 'Shur Complement.'
Shur Complement
[math]\begin{bmatrix} \mathbf X & \mathbf Y \\ \mathbf {Y^T} & \mathbf Z\end{bmatrix}\succeq 0 [/math] if and only if [math]\mathbf {Z-Y^TX^{-1}Y}\succeq 0[/math]
By decomposing [math]\mathbf {Q = S^TS}[/math], a matrix of the form
[math]J =\begin{bmatrix} I & Svec(A)\\(Svec(A))^T &2vec(A)^TR + t\end{bmatrix}[/math] is constructed. By the Schur complement, if [math]J \succeq 0[/math], then the following relation holds
[math]\mathbf {2vec(A)^TR + t}- \mathbf {vec(A)^T S^T Svec(A)} \succeq 0[/math]
Scalar [math]\mathbf t[/math] is an upper bound on the loss and therefore,
[math]\mathbf {vec(A)^T S^T Svec(A) }-\mathbf { 2vec(A)^TR} = \mathbf {vec(A)^TQvec(A)}-\mathbf{ 2vec(A)^TR} \lt = \mathbf t[/math]
Therefore, minimizing t subject to [math]J \succeq 0 [/math]also minimizes the objective. This optimization problem can be readily solved by standard semidefinite programming software
[math]\min_A \mathbf t [/math] s.t. [math]\mathbf A \succeq 0 [/math]and [math]\mathbf J \succeq 0[/math]


text:
Winter break is coming, and it couldn't come sooner! This past month I've been reminded of how it feels like to be a student and how I felt as a student.
I am very fortunate to have a career that allows me to connect to the younger population through the lines of health and education (and they are completely interlinked). Earlier this month I was asked to talk about Naturopathic Medicine as a career choice for students in a highschool health class. The question I was asked most? What can I take naturally for stress? Although bright-eyed and attentive, you could see the physical affects of stress on these kids. They suffer from back and shoulder pain, lack of sleep, lack of focus, emotional outbursts, and palpable anxiety. They don't sleep, use stimulants to stay awake, and many times go without eating in order to have extra time to study and do projects. Of the basic health fundamentals – food, sleep, air, shelter, water – they are lacking basic building blocks of health, ultimately leading to their inherit lack of focus and concentration. Seeing these kids reminded me of myself as a highschool student – sacrificing basic fundamentals such as food and sleep in order to succeed academically.
And is that truly the way to succeed academically? Many students now take to memorizing rather than learning, so that they can recall facts for tests but not for life. They are learning facts, not lessons. Learning means to slow down, concentrate, and actually comprehend the concept. To process learning and cognitive thought, we need the proper nutrients and restoration to create an optimal environment within ourselves for learning (hence the link between health and education). This principle applies to "adult" life too. How many times have we sacrificed our basic health principles in order to "advance" further in physical accomplishments? Such as miss lunch to finish emails? Or forgo sleep to finish that project? How is that any different than the student mentality of everything important in life being grades (ie. how people view them, and putting a scale mark of approval to define self worth via accomplishments)? It's analogous to the adult mentality that our worth is defined by what we have (our grade) rather than who we are (our learning). Being a professional student in my past life for over a decade, I can say with complete confidence that many times my grades did not reflect my learning. And the more I respected myself and valued my health, the more I truly learned and applied my knowledge.
I was reminded of this fact tutoring last week. After a week of 6am baby-waking, working, commuting and skipping meals (it was a week where I had to make sacrifices to get things done, "tis the season", and hence I wasn't my best self in health). Tutoring quadratics I had mistaken the quadratic formula (as I had memorized it, not learned it) and didn't realize it until after the lesson (when I was able to have a moment to rest and process). Instantly I felt a moment of panic, couldn't believe my mistake, and chastised myself for mistaking the well-known formula. I had automatically been transported back to my once familiar student mentality of self doubt and negative self thought. Where I had sacrificed my health and made simple mistakes because I had a lapse of focus, and only realized it when I had a calm moment. After forgiving myself for my mistake, I had a moment of gratitude. I relived what it was like to be a student and also was given a hard-knock lesson in self care. I was unfocused because I was uncaring to myself. So I went home, made my meals for the rest of the week, and took off the next afternoon to rest and recooperate.
The lesson in all of this is the importance of self care, and how it positively relates to health and education. Hence why it's called "health care". We care for ourselves, we see the importance of our health, and we are then receptive to learning the lessons presented us, to process them, and to grow from them. When we take care of ourselves and stop sacrificing health basic fundamentals for physical accomplishments, then our children mimic us and stop sacrificing their health for grades. Ironically then they learn more, about themselves and about the world.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Glynn Clements <glynn.clements at virgin.net> writes: >> 3. The default encoding is settable from Haskell, defaults to >> ISO-8859-1. > > Agreed. So every haskell program that did more than just passing raw bytes From stdin to stdout should decode the appropriate environment variables, and set the encoding by itself? IMO that's too much of redundancy, the RTS should actually do that. > There are limits to the extent to which this can be achieved. E.g. > what happens if you set the encoding to UTF-8, then call > getDirectoryContents for a directory which contains filenames which > aren't valid UTF-8 strings? Then you _seriously_ messed up. Your terminal would produce garbage, Nautilus would break, ... >> 5. The default encoding is settable from Haskell, defaults to the >> locale encoding. > > I feel that the default encoding should be one whose decoder cannot > fail, e.g. ISO-8859-1. You should have to explicitly request the use > of the locale's encoding (analogous to calling setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") > at the start of a C program; there's a good reason why C doesn't do > this without being explicitly told to). So that any haskell program that doesn't call setlocale and outputs anything else than US-ASCII will produce garbage on an UTF-8 system? > Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that "simple, > stupid programs" probably shouldn't be using Unicode at all. Care to give any examples? Everything that has been mentioned until now would break with an UTF-8 locale: - ls (sorting would break), - env (sorting too) > I.e. Char, String, string literals, and the I/O functions in > Prelude, IO etc should all be using bytes, I don't want the same mess as in C, where strings and raw data are the very same. Haskell has a nice type system and nicely defined types for binary data ([Word8]) and for Strings (String), why don't use it? > with a distinct wide-character API available for people who want to > make the (substantial) effort involved in writing (genuinely) > internationalised programs. If you introduce an entirely new "i18n-only" API, then it'll surely become difficult. :-) > Anything that isn't ISO-8859-1 just doesn't work for the most part, > and anyone who wants to provide real I18N first has to work around > the pseudo-I18N that's already there (e.g. convert Chars back into > Word8s so that they can decode them into real Chars). One more reason to fix the I/O functions to handle encodings and have a seperate/underlying binary I/O API. > Oh, and because bytes are being stored in Chars, the type system won't > help if you neglect to decode a string, or if you decode it twice. Yes, that's the problem with the current approach, i.e. that there's no easy way get a list of Word8's out of a handle. >> > The advantage of assuming ISO-8859-* is that the decoder can't fail; >> > every possible stream of bytes is valid. >> >> Assuming. But UTF-8 is not ISO-8859-*. When someday I change most of >> my files and filenames from ISO-8859-2 to UTF-8, and change the >> locale, the assumption will be wrong. I can't change that now, because >> too many programs would break. >> >> The current ISO-8859-1 assumption is also wrong. A program written in >> Haskell which sorts strings would break for non-ASCII letters even now >> that they are ISO-8859-2 unless specified otherwise. > > 1. In that situation, you can't avoid the encoding issues. It doesn't > matter what the default is, because you're going to have to set the > encoding anyhow. Why do you always want me to set the encoding? That should be the job of the RTS. It's ok to use a different API to get Strings instead of Word8's out of a handle, but _manually_ having to set the encoding? IIRC, Haskell is meant to be portable, and locale handling is pretty platform-dependent. > 2. If you assume ISO-8859-1, you can always convert back to Word8 If I want a list of Word8's, then I should be able to get them without extracting them from a string. > then re-decode as UTF-8. If you assume UTF-8, anything which is neither > UTF-8 nor ASCII will fail far more severely than just getting the > collation order wrong. If I use String's to handle binary data, then I should expect things to break. If I want to get text, and it's not in the expected encoding, then the user has messed up. > Well, my view is essentially that files should be treated as > containing bytes unless you explicitly choose to decode them, at > which point you have to specify the encoding. Why do you always want me to _manually_ specify an encoding? If I want bytes, I'll use the (currently being discussed, see beginning of this thread) binary I/O API, if I want String's (i.e. text), I'll use the current I/O API (which is pretty text-orientated anyway, see hPutStrLn, hGetLine, ...). > completely new wide-character API for those who wish to use it. Which would make it horrendously difficult to do even basic I18N. > That gets the failed attempt at I18N out of everyone's way with a > minimum of effort and with maximum backwards compatibility for > existing code. If existing code, expects String's to be just a list of bytes, it's _broken_. String's are a list of unicode characters, [Word8] is a list of bytes. > My main concern is that someone will get sick of waiting and make the > wrong "fix", i.e. keep the existing API but default to the locale's > encoding, That would be my choice and is in line with the Haskell spec. Binary I/O should have a completely different API. > so that every simple program then has to explicitly set it > back to ISO-8859-1 to get reasonable worst-case behaviour. Which would be just as bad as your "fix", which would require many programs to set the locale back to the environment setting, just to get sorting, accentuations, etc. right. Gabriel. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 188 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.haskell.org//pipermail/haskell-cafe/attachments/20040915/b07a9a41/attachment-0001.bin


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Editable November 2022 Printable Calendar Template with Notes
November 2022 Printable Calendar: Here we are in the second last month of the year i.e. November, which means you have to do a lot of work. It is very difficult to remember everything so we have shared the November 2022 Calendar Printable Template so that you can add reminders for all your important tasks.
A person is involved in many activities in his daily life due to which he becomes a victim of mental stress. A calendar is a tool through which you can manage your time. This makes the person easier to work with and also reduces the stress level to remember events. With its help, the meeting, birthday, program, etc. can be remembered easily.
You can mark all events using a printable calendar. It helps you to perform well in the workplace and can increase your work performance and productivity. So we have provided the best calendar for the month of November.
November 2022 Printable Calendar
The calendar serves as a very useful tool for managing time, work activities, and daily routines. Today almost everyone uses the calendar in some way or the other to manage their tasks. Thus we can say that the calendar is one of the important tools used in human life. A calendar has many uses, you have to choose which tasks you want to use it for. There is no need to have any specific knowledge to use the calendar, just you should have basic knowledge of how a calendar can be used. So download Printable Blank Calendar October 2022 and manage your personal and professional work activities.
Also Check: November 2022 Calendar with Holidays
Recommended For You: October November December 2022 Calendar
Editable November 2022 Calendar Template
A calendar is like a tool or a document that is used to manage time and work activities in a manner way. Basically, people use the calendar to remember an important day, date, and holiday. Nowadays people use a calendar as a scheduler, planner, reminder, and time management tool to manage their work activities and stay on work track. Time is a very precious thing. Every person who wants to become a successful person in his life has to understand the value of time.
We all get 24 hours in a day for better use of these 24 hours we need to manage our timetable. For better management of time, you have to make planning. For making planning, we always prefer a calendar template. Below we have shared the November 2022 Printable Calendar Template in multiple designs and formats. All the calendar templates are downloadable, printable, and editable. So choose any one of them which seems suitable according to your work.


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by appointment only
(773) 551 – 4685
Tell us what you want – what you really, really want. Just saying hi? Ready to get going on a couture project? We'd love to hear from you. Simply complete the form below and – poof! – you're on your way to making magic. Our people will call your people as quickly as possible.


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Welcome to Double Deuce Outfitters
Double Deuce Outfitters offers exclusive guided and unguided hunts on private Montana hunting ranches and hunting land. We specialize in rifle and archery/bow hunts for trophy mule deer, whitetail, antelope, upland birds and waterfowl on the Yellowstone River in Southeastern Montana. Our other hunts include pheasant, grouse, turkey, huns, coyote, varmint and goose hunting. Montana trophy hunting at its finest!
Hello my name is Terry Patterson. I am the owner, outfitter and founder of Double Deuce Outfitters. As a fourth generation cattle rancher, and having been in the hunting business since 1988, I know most of the in's and out's of providing you, the hunter, with a quality hunting experience you are not likely to forget and will look back on as a fond memory for many years to come. My ranch, my camps and all my hunting leases are all in the area I was born and raised in and with a lifetime of hunting experience myself I believe this gives me an edge in providing you with a truly exceptional hunt. My leases are all privately owned ranches consisting of tens of thousands of acres and selected for providing some of the finest hunting southeastern Montana has to offer. Here you will find some of the highest concentrations of trophy mule deer, whitetail, and antelope found anywhere. Not to mention a wide variety of upland birds and goose hunting second to none. You can plan on having an exclusive hunt on thousands of acres, ranging from the higher country of rolling hills, thick pockets of Ponderosa pine and brush to the river bottoms of the Yellowstone River. We are located an hour and half east of a major airport in Billings and 15 miles south of interstate 94. Regardless of your age, abilities or the type of hunt you want, whether it is a fully guided hunt with meals provided or an unguided do it yourself (DIY) type hunt, we will cater to your needs to give you the best chance possible at a hunt of a lifetime.
Contact us today by phone at 406-342-5475 or by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com
Licensed and Insured #4846


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Imagine your child's monthly academic results are dropping and you've decided to opt for in-home academic support to help them get ahead.
The UK tutoring market is now estimated at around £2bn and growing. Around 18% of students have been tutored at some point during their academic careers and in London, this figure is even higher at around 42%.
Last year, around a quarter of secondary school pupils were working with one on one tutors. Half of them took English tutorials and a fifth were receiving music tuition.
However, around two thirds of these students were studying maths. If you ever struggled with things like trigonometry, geometry, and algebra, you can probably understand why this number is so high!
The growing popularity of tutoring services is hardly surprising. Investing in a child's future academic and professional success is why so many parents are deciding to find a tutor.
However, if you have weekly or intensive one on one tutoring during the school holidays, you can develop a personalised action plan to deal with any gaps or struggles and help them with homework.
In this article, Superprof is asking how in-home private tutorials or online tutoring can provide personalised education for a student.
Private Tutorials: Educational Help
Private tutorials came about to deal with parents' growing concerns about the glaring flaws of a national education service which can't offer personalised teaching.
That's the difference between classes at school and hourly private tutorials:
At primary school or secondary, a certified teacher creates a uniform set of lessons to fit a group of around thirty students.
They have to follow a strict schedule, often something like a chapter every four or five hours of class time, meaning they don't have time to go at the speed best suited to struggling students.
Getting an in-home private tutor or an online tutor provides personalised support, time to catch up and understand concepts that the student may have otherwise found difficult. In fact, private tutors also provide academic mentoring.
During their tutorials, the teacher is looking to improve the student's understanding of the subject.
A tutor needs to be calm, listen to their student, and employ useful teaching tools in order to take the best pedagogic approach.
Whether maths, physics, chemistry, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Russian, there is a standard teaching model that every private tutor should adopt:
- Read every exercise, text, or statistic clearly.
- Give your student time to think.
- Work from general ideas to specifics: start by asking general questions before beginning an exercise.
- If an exercise is difficult, work towards the answer by asking related questions before reaching the original answer.
- Encourage your student, give them positive feedback when they do well.
- Give them real-life examples of complicated concepts.
- If necessary, simplify technical terms by explaining them in everyday words.
Private Tutorials: Support Techniques
In-home academic support and music tutorials (such as jazz piano, guitar, or violin tutorials, for example), allow for a different approach to typical schooling.
Weekly one to one tutorials are the time for the tutor and the teacher to work together on a particular topic, subject, exam, or set of exercises.
This means the student can perfect their approach, learn study skills, work on an assignment, or get homework help. A home tutor will give them everything they need in order to succeed in their progress tests and exams.
If you're struggling with your approach, bringing ideas together into concrete and structured plans, scheduling your private in-home tutor or finding a tutor online may be the best way to help you to get ahead.
By training again and again. And again.
Here's a great technique to help students perform better in essay exam questions for GCSEs and A Levels:
Provide students with an essay question from a past paper
Ask students to brainstorm everything that comes to mind when they think about the task (ideas, authors, theories, etc.)
Create a rough draft paraphrasing the central concepts to highlight the main arguments
Organise these main arguments into an essay outline
Build upon the points of the argument
Ask your student to put together an excellent introduction, reminding them to start with a hook, provide background information, describe the topic, define the terms of the subject, the issue, and outline the objective of the essay
Draft the conclusion
Flesh out the content of the essay, with an argument, an example, a source, and evidence
Don't forget to correctly cite reference
Never move on from a point without having clearly explained it and never give a personal opinion (make sure you're neutral)
Of course, this approach can't be used for solving maths or physics problems, but for subjects like English, French, Spanish, history, or geography, it's great for essays.
The tutor needs to make sure that academic support helps the student form habits and break their harmful old habits.
If you're looking for private tutorials to improve your own approach to studying, now's the time.
Private tutoring is great for students from primary school through secondary school and at university.
Private tutorials provide students with personalised teaching that works for them. But is a tutor right for you?
A Personalised Service for the Student
Throughout the year, supplemental instruction is great for teaching a student but also gives them the skills to become better learners.
A private tutor can focus on everything their student struggles with and create a learning support programme adapted to them. This is what private tutoring is all about.
It's a bit like renovating a house:
Every topic is like a room and they have to be fixed up before the deadline (which is usually the exam date).
You need to regularly check on the progress of the work (provide feedback on progress tests to the parents), there may still be a few cracks in the plaster (gaps or difficulties), and it might take longer than expected (intensive classes during the school holidays may be necessary).
During in-home classes, the private tutor works for their learner.
On the one hand, they love teaching their students and they're delighted when their student does well and they're happy when the parents are happy.
On the other hand, students are also their livelihood and the private tutorials make up their income.
Even with a tutor you can feel stressed by exams, check out our tips to go through them more easily.
Use a Private Tutor to Get Ahead and Get Your Confidence Back
Finally, a private tutor is a personalised academic advisor for your child. Academic tutoring is the reason the best tutors decide to become a tutor in the first place!
But they do so much more than just pushing them: once your child is struggling in school, they'll start to get frustrated. Feelings of disappointment can even demotivate students who are academically brilliant. Their teacher's job as a motivational coach is to lead the student on a path of guided discovery that leads to academic success.
An in-home tutoring programme allows the tutor to both fill in any gaps in the student's knowledge and also improve their understanding of the learning process through regular study.
Of course, the student's grades will improve and then they'll get their confidence back. And with school soon resuming, it's about time you formulate your educational resolutions, isn't it?
Academic coaching can give the student confidence in their tutor which can help motivate them: a satisfied tutee will ask for even more work so that they can progress even further.
It's the key to success!
Not convinced by the benefits of private tutorials? Read more here.
The platform that connects tutors and students


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The Supreme Court announced Monday that it has agreed to hear a case challenging a California law requiring crisis-pregnancy centers, under the threat of heavy fines for noncompliance, to tell their clients how to obtain state-subsidized abortions.
The case, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, charges that the Golden State's Reproductive FACT Act violates the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech and religion by forcing pregnancy centers to disseminate information that violates their religious beliefs.
The law passed the California legislature in 2015 on a party-line vote — Democrats yea, Republicans nay — and was signed by Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat. As The New American reported at the time, the act mandates that pregnancy centers offering medical services either post or distribute to their clients the following notice:
California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the telephone number].
The statute "also burdens pro-life religious unlicensed centers' speech by requiring them to place extensive disclaimers in large fonts and in as many as 13 languages in their ads, which significantly burdens their ability to advertise," according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) on behalf of a number of California pregnancy centers.
"Providers that fail to comply with the law are fined $500 to $1000 per violation, roughly the cost of an abortion in California," wrote the Daily Caller. "As such, the clinics say they are forced to chose [sic] between promoting abortion and subsidizing abortion through the state."
Democrats claimed that the FACT Act, which was sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice California, was necessary because pregnancy centers weren't telling their clients about their options to abort their unborn babies at taxpayer expense. Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu said pregnancy centers represented "a growing and alarming movement … working to mislead women in order to achieve their political ideology. We have a responsibility as lawmakers to make sure that the information given to women who are making their own healthcare decisions is accurate and timely."
However, as Republican Assemblywoman Shannon Grove observed, "According to this logic, if the government finds that your message isn't 'fully-informed,' it now has a right to compel you to do say [sic] things you do not believe in. The founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves."
ADF filed suit over the law just days after Brown signed it. It asked a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the act while the lawsuit was in progress, but the judge declined to do so. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, citing the state's "substantial interest in the health of its citizens, including ensuring that its citizens have access to and adequate information about constitutionally protected medical services like abortion."
The Ninth Circuit's opinion stands in stark contrast to those of the Second and Fourth Circuits, both of which invalidated similar laws adopted in other states. This "circuit split" likely contributed to the Supreme Court's decision to hear the case.
"It's unthinkable for the government to force anyone to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. This is especially true of pregnancy care centers, which exist to care for women who want to have their babies," ADF senior counsel Kevin Theriot said in a press release. "The state shouldn't have the power to punish anyone for being pro-life. Instead, it should protect freedom of speech and freedom from coerced speech."
Whether the "unthinkable" remains the law in California is now in the hands of nine men and women, few of whom are known for their devotion to the original understanding of the Constitution, particularly when it comes to abortion. All Americans who value freedom of speech and religion — and even those who don't — have much at stake in the outcome.
Original Article:https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/27366-supreme-court-to-consider-california-law-forcing-pro-lifers-to-promote-abortion
Read More:Guise Of Equality: Gay Activists Look To 'Punish' Christians Not Willing To Go Along With LGBT Agenda
Read More:Satanist In Missouri Claims Abortion Law 'Violates Her Religious Freedom'- Wins Case
Read More:Washington Post Column Promotes Satanism, Jeers Christ And Christianity
Watch More:Christian Persecution Coming To America: Prepare For The Coming Wrath
Watch More:Wickedness Abounds: DNC Staffer 'Shouts Her Abortion' -Crowd Cheers


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Call 844.344.3536 For Trade Pricing
This item is no longer available. Our Lighting Experts are standing by to assist you with locating a suitable replacement. Please call 866.344.3875 for assistance.
Direct wire 4-light interior wall sconce with glass and finish options. The Opaline glass option is hand-blown and will contain natural variances in tone from piece to piece. Also suitable for ceiling installation as a semi-flush.
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Just how Start any Operation Online business
Performing a operation is a energetic operations which inturn just isn't merely dealt with by the user, however corporate and business brain this happen to be able to be looking after quality conditions. There normally are not any not one but two methods relating to driving traffic to the shop, as well as mainly recognised the initial an example may be through advertisements. Be selected that occur to be in front side of the competitiveness through getting by simply far typically the most weather time, in relation to competing using your competition
Getting your name in view is often the most challenging part connected with starting an business, nevertheless, you should really pass-up which will phase in the event you are actually opening some sort of operation. Various brandnames, this sort of as McDonald's or Subway, are widely recognized, but despite the fact that purchase some sort of lesser-known manufacturer, your corporation can take advantage of a number of volume of big name reputation, which will often requires years to build up The top quality of program is possibly not an issue that a end user will be misled about, and this is often the very rationale individuals opt for to shop at places where they are actually wholly advised just what high quality you may anticipate
The particular corporate company will notify you about the expenses connected with starting a small business00, which tends to make it easy for you to be able to take a look at precisely how serious the actual water is usually before likely to dive. While entering within the corporate company, you should submit team cost, that is a perquisite each and every trader has to give Discovering precisly how substantially you are actually likely for you to invest in the organization just isn't some thing may very well be estimated inside a traditional internet business, however , that is not true any time initializing a new series just where specialists are available to tell you only what anyone are getting yourself into. When cracking open your extremely own business without the main advantage of some team, anyone almost most certainly will certainly function into unpredicted costs.
A person find any lawyer or attorney and also even a new lawyer simply because the father or mother company features your returning, and it's have the ability to supply you success generally in most business practices. Location properly as other important points of your company franchise's internet business already are satisfied on the increased highs previous to you get started on your individual campaign. Instruction can be a key part associated with creating a specified ambiance with the business where workers depict your current motto, as well as the hard section of teaching these people the behavior has actually been dealt with via the main management.
Convincing people enthusiastic in relation to your current solution, in addition to thinking about the very strategy it again has an effect on these products is just what encourages you to definitely create a seductive theme for your franchise, and it also is noticeable that people don't want spend some time considering the item ever since the corporate magic size will be already recently been established. It doesn't matter how much problem a part has so that you can experience, presently there will remain the "franchisor" that is certainly prepared form you thru the litter. Not an individual has got the monetary sources or loans to begin upwards the franchise's, and even this is usually where anyone relate to typically the franchisors that will supply you actually commence right up finance. When ever someone begins a business, the particular mission they desire simply just about the particular most is long durable achieving success, many people dream to lie down in their whole final years, along with similar to the state of mind within the fresh fruits typically the plant the should the business started out, and the stat cited with the International Business Association exhibit that dispenses do not have mainly higher long life than your company's normal small business and moreover a significantly higher performance.
Read a great deal more: .


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Best Made Smokejumper Belts
Made from the same materials Smokejumpers rely on everyday, Best Made looked to a 136 year old textile manufacturer to craft a belt that would last a lifetime. The Smokejumper belt ($42) is built to withstand just about anything: UV damage, chemicals, abrasion, cuts, the works. Link


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User has no videos
User has no images
Thank you for the friend registration.
Because we approved, we get in touch.
Still more, the material of the BGM to be using for a private video in case of me and so on sometimes has the reason why it isn't possible to make a free-lance exhibition, and it supposes that it is private, it is saved when considering that neighborhood.
I have it had made a private video independently about child model appearing equal to or more than 15 -year-old and equal to or more than 18 years old of videos.
You're about to enter the Adult area, are you sure you want to continue?


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Tsang, who runs the Allpamama Healing Circle in Lam Tsuen and goes by the spiritual name Sol Manzana, has been dowsing for 20 years. He insists that dowsing is "a positive way to connect with your soul and nature". The practice, he says, helps improve your intuition and check your body's energy flow.
Dowsing has a long history. Its roots can be traced back to Africa some 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. People have used a forked twig, a pendulum, or a wire rod to locate ground water, buried minerals and high-energy points. They say the dowsing rod could even tell them how deep to dig.
…Anyone can start dowsing with "a screw, bell or key", Tsang says. For best results, your mind should be at peace and without bias. He says stress, doubt, and lack of sleep could affect a dowser's accuracy…
-A Hong Kong practitioner says
the art of dowsing is no mere make-believe
Young Post, South china Morning Post, 10 / 1 / 2013


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Work Package 2 (Requirements and architecture design)
This work package has been created with the aim of studying the requirements to build an SAR system for the PPDR services. In this work package, the system architecture is devised and it is used as a reference throughout the project. This model is the input to WP3, WP4 and WP5. Results from WP3, WP4 and WP5 imply updates to this model.
ORBITAL is the leader for carrying out this WP.
The definition of the tasks specified for this WP are the following:
Task 2.1: Requirements of rescue applications.
-This task deals with the definition of the rescue applications. Within the task, current state-of-the-art is analysed, in the context of search and rescue operations. A questionnaire is developed by all partners to maximise the usefulness of the activity. Such questionnaire is sent to a identified potential target groups with the aim of obtaining its feedback about the system.
- Therefore the task leader is SGSP as a potential end-user
Task 2.2: Definition of rescue architecture system.
-This task deals with definition of the global system architecture, including high-level system requirements, specification and dependencies of all involved subsystems. All relevant design decisions regarding the technological challenges and trade-offs detected to comply with the global requirements specified in Task 2.1 are addressed in this task.
- Therefore the task leader is ORBITAL
Task 2.3: Definition of EGNSS subsystem.
- This task deals with the technology specification of the EGNSS subsystem. Considering the outcome of the higher level requirements analysis in task 2.1 and task 2.2 a requirements analysis on subsystem level is done to specify the EGNSS module, e.g., the needed performance level of the GNSS receivers. This task includes the HW & SW interface definition to the other modules especially the DCT and the overall system.
- Therefore the task leader is NAVPOS.
Task 2.4: Definition of DCT subsystem.
- This task deals with the technology specification of the DCT subsystem. Definition of the requirements, specifications, range, inputs, outputs and communication interface will be performed in this task. The HW, SW and inputs/outputs of the subsystem is also described.
- Therefore the task leader is CEIT.
Task 2.5: Definition of GS subsystem, communication and control.
- This task deals with the specification and design of the Ground Segment including two segregated data chains for UAV navigation (Telemetry + Commanding) and mission payload data. Specific operation requirements obtained from end-users in Task 2.1 is driven the GS design including datalink coverage, environmental restrictions, payload data timing and jitter and Software graphical interface usability.
- Therefore the task leader is ORBITAL.
The deliverable corresponding to this WP are the following:
D2.1: Report on requirements of rescue applications: use cases.
D2.2: Report on MOBNET architecture system.
D2.3: Report on MOBNET EGNSS subsystem.
D2.4: Report on MOBNET DCT subsystem.
D2.5: Report on MOBNET GS subsystem.


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Kieran was injured in 2013 whilst playing in a pre-season game for Nantwich Rugby at age 21. A freak tackle accident left Kieran paralysed from the waist down.
In October 2015, Kieran contacted the Foundation needing assistance in buying a chair specifically designed for playing wheelchair rugby. After meeting Matt and the team it was decided he fitted our ethos of Get Busy Living perfectly and the Foundation lent its help.
In August of 2016 Kieran competed in a wheelchair rugby tournament that featured London 2012 GBWR Captain Steve Brown and many others.
The Foundation is delighted to support someone with such a positive attitude and we look forward to hearing about more of Kieran's successes in future.
2021 Matt Hampson Foundation. Registered Charity No. 1139823 Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy


text:
Zakee launched her first collaboration with the wonderful leading Fairtrade fashion pioneer, People Tree, consisting of a new collection of easy-to-wear jersey pieces with unique bold prints. The collection consisted of four individual prints in Zakee's signature style using pop colours, paisley and bird motifs. These graphics were printed onto three different styles including a stretch mini-dress, a slouchy long sleeve box sweat and a slashed sleeve tee.
All garments were hand screen-printed on 100% organic, Fairtrade-certified cotton in India by Assisi Garments, one of People Tree's Fair Trade producers who pay up to 30% more than conventional garment manufacturers. The organic cotton is from Agrocel, a pioneering Fairtrade certified organic cotton producer in Gujarat, India.


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Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Services
Debt & Budgeting help is available here!
Mangapapa Church is pleased to be able to bring
the first 'CAP Services' to the Gisborne/Tairawhiti region.
There are two strands that we offer: CAP Money and CAP Debt Help.
CAP Money
CAP Money is a financial literacy course. It is available for anyone,for those in debt and those without debt.
CAP Money teaches how to build a budget.
It teaches how to track your finances so you know where your money is going.
Contact the church office for more information Ph:06-8679604
CAP Debt Help
Struggling with debt? 'CAP Debt Help' has a proven record
of helping people get out of unmanageable debt, with their Debt Management Plan,
CAP Debt Help will provide you with an individualised pathway so you can get out of your debts
You will be supported and encouraged by supportive and trained staff, who will journey with you on your path back to financial freedom.
Need Debt Help? Ring 0508 227 111
Another person has recently escaped from the burden of living with unmanageable debt. This brings our total up to 9 people since opening !!! "It has been amazing to work alongside this person for the past six months as they have journeyed into financial freedom. I have seen this person's life transformed, from one of stress and anxiety related to not knowing how to pay off their debt and having to avoid debt collectors pursuing them for money, to one where they are now debt free, skillfully managing their money and living comfortably within their means" - Nicola (CAP Debt Centre Manager and Debt Coach)
Volunteers wanted.
If you are interested in supporting the work of CAP there are many ways for you to do this;
- prayer support
- financial support
- providing gifts or baking
- visiting clients
If you feel God wants you to be involved, please ring the church office and leave a message for Nicola.
As of the beginning of September 2018 Mangapapa church is rejoicing as another person has recently finished their journey out of debt. One and a half years ago, from a place of desperation, this person courageously asked CAP to help them and now they are ecstatic as the stress resulting from having unpaid debt is gone. This person is the 10th person to have walked into financial freedom with the help of CAP's services!
It is not God's desire that anyone be in debt. Please keep praying for Nicola, her support team and the people in the program, both those in it now, and those who have been in the past.


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Small Kitchen Tables
We have added over 40 natural stone table designs to our catalog in the last few weeks. Each of these is a mosaic design pattern, crafted from a variety of natural slate, travertine, marble, and onyx chips, to create a dizzying array of beautiful choices.
The great thing about these designs, is that they can each be crafted into a wide variety of different shapes and sizes, allowing you to custom craft whatever kind of table you need for your kitchen or dining room. Our smallest sizes start at just 24″ X 24″ squares, or 24″ circles.
The question of whether to choose a round or a square table for a smaller kitchen is a matter of the way the space is arranged. A round table theoretically takes up less space, because it doesn't have the corners sticking out on all four ends. However it is not as easy to fit a round table flush against a wall, or stuck into a corner. Therefore the decision should be based on where you have extra room.
I know this post is rambling a bit, but my head is in a weird place this morning. Anywaus, back to the tables. They are built with a new super light core, which is durable enough to carry the stone facing, but leaves the tables light enough to be portable.
Another cool feature of these tables is that they are appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use. That means that you can bring them outside and create an outdoor kitchen with them. We can even pre drill an umbrella hole for you.
As always these tables are available online in our store at PebbleZ.com


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Blue Waters Rancho Santa Fe Gorgeous High End Sale
This is a gorgeous 9,000 square foot home. Purchased at Nativa Leather Sofas Gorgeous Artwork Wonderful Wooden Tables Tuscan dining room chairs round bar high table and chairs Game Table Many Rugs - very fine! Work out Machines - you must ask to see. wonderful Santa Barbara style decorations 2 Queen size Beds One California King size Barley Twist Bed 2 Leather Club Chairs One red Gorgeous upholstered Chair and a half! with ottoman Candle holders! Gorgeous Asian Bird panels - Many wonderful lamps Antique Slat topped desk 3 vintage style rolling swivel chairs
Bluewaters Relocation
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text:
Halsall, Jamie (2012) Community Governance – Where did it all go Wrong? Journal of Administration and Governance JOAAG, 7 (2). pp. 1-8. ISSN 1834-352X
- Published Version
Download (98kB)
Over the past decade there has been much debate challenging the approach that New Labour
took on tackling social and economic division across Britain. Coupled with this debate,
questioning the merit of community governance, British society in 2006 was described by the
then Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, as being 'broken', implying that New Labour's
policies, which focused on local government, were seen as failing. When the new coalition
government was formed in May 2010 the 'Big Society,' an alternative style of community
governance was introduced. The introduction of the Big Society is creating a new discourse in
respect of local and regional planning and decision making, which challenges the notion of
community. Against this background this paper provides an analytical discussion on the
emerging new forms of community governance and in particular the re-democratisation of
communities in Britain.
|Item Type:
|H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) > JN101 Great Britain
|School of Human and Health Sciences
|Related URLs:
|Depositing User:
|Sara Taylor
|Date Deposited:
|28 Mar 2013 10:43
|Last Modified:
|28 Aug 2021 20:04
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Abelia Edward Goucher, a hybrid abelia, was created in 1911 at the Glenn Dale Plant Introduction Center by Edward Goucher from a complex cross involving several species. It was the best abelia of its time -- and still retains that first place today.
Shrubs Image Gallery
Description of abelia: This semievergreen shrub (it loses its leaves in the northern part of its growing area) is small in size: 4 feet is the average maximum, although it can attain 5 feet in a good location. It forms a dense, rounded shrub with lustrous, dark green leaves in summer, taking on a purplish tinge in winter. The fragrant tubular flowers, purple-pink in color, are borne profusely for much of the summer and early fall.
Growing abelia: Plant in full sun or half shade in moist, acid soil. The shrub should be protected from cold winter winds, especially at the northern limits of its territory. It can be pruned in spring, since it blooms on new wood, although it looks best if pruned selectively rather than sheared.
Uses for abelia: Its lacy appearance and long blooming season make it a good choice for a spot of honor in the yard. The abelia makes a good foundation and accent plant and combines well with broad-leaf evergreens. It is sometimes used as a hedge in the South. The plant attracts hummingbirds with its tubular blossoms.
Abelia related species: Abelia x grandiflora is one of the parents of Edward Goucher. It is just as attractive, with slightly larger white flowers, flushed pink. A. chinensis has a stiff, upright form with dense flower clusters.
: Abelia Edward Goucher


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Its practically common knowledge that magazines and newspapers are in
survival mode with the way advertising budgets are pared down. So I
wasn't surprised to learn my subscription to Conde Nast's Portfolio was
coming to an end. It was very helpful for me, a blog writer, in coming
up with ideas. For instance, this past month it ran a piece about how Credit Suisse is paying bonuses. Here is the excerpt I really like:
So is there a better way? Credit Suisse,
a Swiss bank that has weathered the credit crisis better than most,
created an ingenious and gratifying solution to the problem of outsize
pay for Wall Street failure. It decided late last year to pay out part
of its bonuses in toxic assets. On Wall Street, the old saying is that
you "eat what you kill." In this case, Credit Suisse is making its
employees eat their own garbage.
What's satisfying about
Credit Suisse's plan is that it shows that investment banks are capable
of learning and bowing to outside pressure. Bonuses on average at the
bank were down 44 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, and employees in
the investment-banking division took a greater hit relative to others.
Bankers at Credit Suisse did get about half of their bonuses in cash,
but instead of stock, top employees, including all the managing
directors (except for the very top dogs, who received no bonus at all
last year), received an interest in what the bank is calling the PAF,
the Partner Asset Facility. It's made up of assets the bank valued at
just over $5 billion after roughly $2.6 billion in write-downs—meaning
that the employees got assets worth about 65 cents on the dollar.
that valuation is surely higher than what the assets would get if they
were sold in the market right now. The great question about all these
illiquid assets currently on bank balance sheets—one which goes to the
heart of whether Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's bank-rescue plan
will work—is what are they worth? Is the market setting fire-sale
prices that don't reflect their actual value, or are they truly
impaired? The banks argue that the market has become temporarily
irrational and that the prices it's setting don't represent the assets'
true value. In recent years, this hasn't been an argument as much as a
desperate belief. At least in Credit Suisse's case, it's putting its
money where its beliefs (and employees' mouths) are.
This seems like such a simple way to both placate your employees (who
doesn't want a bonus) and the tax paying public. Plus I like the idea
of particular products being part of the portfolio of the bonus. It
ensures a real belief in what you are selling.
Working Thoughts 05/14/09
Oil Attention


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As previously described my PhD-project is aimed at improving Blended Learning within Higher and Further Education through remediation and redidactization. Through a process of designing and redesigning two specific Blended Learning courses within 6 research cycles the aspiration is to enhance learner experience and learning outcome by using new augmented/immersive 3D media and a learner centered Problem Based pedagogical approach. In both cases the target group is adult teachers/ trainers from the educational and the private/industrial sector from different countries. Having teachers/trainers as target group has made it quite natural to situate my work within the field of Didactics.
Especially in Northern Europe Didactics refers to a field of research and practice concerned with reflections and actions related to teaching and learning. Historically the field has been teacher-, goal- and/or content-centered, but since the mid 1970'ies we have – at least in Scandinavia – seen an almost paradigmatic shift to a more learning and learner-centered approach. In Denmark this shift was above all initiated by the establishment of two new universities, in 1972 Roskilde and in 1974 Aalborg (where I work) that were founded in clear opposition to the "Old(fashioned)" universities by using an overall pedagogical approach based on Problem Based Learning and Project Organization in an attempt to amplify student motivation, engagement and learning with higher relevance for the surrounding society.
Within teacher/trainer education Didactic Analysis, as a means to learn how to plan, act, observe and reflect on didactic practices, has been a core component of the curriculum, and especially one model for didactic analysis has gained widespread use, namely the so called "Didactical Relationship Model" by Norwegian education researchers, Hilde Hiim and Else Hippe. Building on the work of fellow countrymen, Bjørndal and Lieberg (whose original model was more teacher-centered), Hiim and Hippe developed the model to show some important relations between different elements in Didactics using a learning theoretical approach. An English description of the model and the use of it in developing an online tutorial for Information Literacy can be found here.
In my PhD-project I currently have data from 4 completed research cycles and I've decided to use modified versions of the Hiim & Hippe model as part of my analytical strategy, which will consist of several phases progressing from a general to a more specific focus on didactic elements I find relevant in my particular case. Throughout the different phases I will be using different models, but as I find Hiim & Hippe's model useful in depicting important relations and elements for general analysis, I'll start by presenting this model briefly.
As mentioned above the model shows 6 important elements in a teaching/learning situation, these elements are interrelated and so influence each other in various ways and to various degrees. Even though I find the concept of depicting interrelated elements valuable, I don't agree on the chosen elements, the description/content of the elements and the semantics in general. In my dissertation I will of course elaborate on this, but for now I will turn to my own revised models.
At the Master Programme in ICT and Learning (MIL), where I conduct most of my teaching and research, my colleagues, Bo Fibiger (1945-2008) and Birgitte Holm Sørensen originally conceived the concept of Didactic Design and combined with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Sørensen today defines it as: "The process by which the purpose, the goals and the content is determined, and where the planning, the organization and the arena for teaching and learning is shaped based on theories and in relation to ICT-based practice in a context." I agree on the essence of the definition, but I also see Didactic Design as a result/product and sometime down the line I will also work on revising this definition. For now, the important point is that I consider my work to be part of the emerging field of Didactics combined with ICT and as a consequence my revised model is aimed at Didactic Design as depicted below:
In line with Hiim & Hippe's model, my model also portrays important didactic elements, but I have chosen to add a few more elements, substitute one and rename some of them. I also prefer to speak of connections instead of relations, while the latter to me implies some sort of personalized bond that I don't see between all the elements that are interconnected. I suspect that the major reason as to why Hiim & Hippe's model has gained such popularity has to do with the fact that the elements are quite generic and thus enable the user of the model to define sub-elements depending on own needs and purpose. One could argue that the elements I've added already are part of Hiim & Hippe's model as sub-elements, but by highlighting them I believe greater emphasis can be obtained. While I do consider the elements in my model to be generic too and that my work with the model will refine the content/sub-elements, I do have some preliminary reflections.
- ICT – in Hiim & Hippe's model part of the setting. In my point of view the use of ICT has the potential of changing the Didactic Design quite dramatically and should as such not just be a sub-element. Furthermore the use of ICT has been written into the curricular of most educational practices from pre-schools to HE in Denmark.
- Teacher(s) & Learner(s) – in Hiim & Hippe's model people are absent at first glance. The Teacher is considered to be part of the setting and I guess that since the model is aimed at describing learning conditions and learning processes the student is somehow inherent. Based on my own teaching experience I, however consider the people involved in the Didactic Design to be the most influential element. This does not mean that I don't consider the conditions (e.g. prerequisites) for teaching and learning to be important. On the contrary, but I think there is an acute need to focus on teachers' conditions separately – especially when we combine Didactics with ICT.
- Goals – in formal education goals are dominated by curriculum, but depending on theoretical foundation they can be formulated and attained more or less teacher-driven. One of the major advantages of a Problem Based approach is exactly the possibility of sharing the responsibility for this element between all participants in the Didactic Design.
- Content – another element typically determined by curriculum and goals, but again within a Problem Based and especially Project Oriented approach this element can be based on collective decisions.
- Contexts – teaching and learning doesn't happen in a vacuum. Didactic Design is always situated, but not restricted to physical buildings or formal settings.
- Activities – another very important element that shapes the teaching and learning processes possible and therefore also potential outcome.
- Evaluation – Hiim & Hippe use the word assessment, which I think mainly relates to the learners and I do believe that a critical review on the teacher(s) and the teaching also is an important part of sustaining quality and I think that evaluation better covers this.
- Time – is a crucial element, but is often missing in models and theories of teaching and learning despite the fact that there seems to be consensus on the fact that learning at a certain level actually takes a lot of time. Besides the time available for learners another sub-element could be time available for the teacher(s). In my experience many teachers/trainers find especially ICT-integration difficult and frustrating precisely because they don't feel that they have sufficient time to learn to master the technologies and subsequent practices.
Besides revising the number and to some extend the content of the elements, I've also chosen to place the elements within a frame illustrating the point that Didactic Designs within formal education generally function as quite closed systems with very little permeability. Usually the influence from external factors (e.g. political, economical and other societal factors) is much greater than the other way.
In my PhD-project I've been working with 2 different cases. The MIL course (3 research cycles) and the COMBLE course (1 research cycle). In the MIL course the majority of the activities have been online, whereas the COMBLE course was 100% online, and I would describe the Didactic Design in both cases as having been ICT-remediated. In Bolter & Grusin's original concept remediation refers to the process whereby new media refashions older media, but when we start to rely more and more on ICT/new media in our practices, I would argue that not only the media are refashioned, but there is a potential and in many cases a need to also reconsider and most likely revise the other elements in the model. These considerations have led to the next model:
It may come as a surprise that the model doesn't appear that different, but that's actually an important point of mine. ICT-remediation constitutes a potential for change, but it doesn't happen automatically, and changes will depend on the various types of ICT. Walled Garden technology – like conventional LMS'/VLEs – is never pedagogical neutral. Different types of technology have different kinds of affordances and the user's possibility to change or modify intrinsic ways of communication and content creation is usually very limited. As long as the majority of formal educational institutions choose to rely on conventional technology for remediating their practices, I personally see little prospect of real change. There are, nonetheless, some positive aspects in all of this. Regardless of the rest of the elements in the model ICT-remediation – especially based on Web 2.0 – will force the system to open up and connect more with the outside world and as both learners and teachers become more ICT literate as a consequence of ICT permeating our daily practices, I do expect changes to occur.
At the MIL education ICT is part of the curriculum and even though we also could do with more change, we do try to keep an eye on new media and their teaching and learning potentials. This was also the reason why my PhD-project became concerned with new augmented/immersive media in the shape of the 3D virtual world, Second Life (SL). Based on my experience with remediating existing practice into SL, this kind of medium clearly has the potential of changing the Didactic Design. Without having gone thoroughly through my data, I do see some changes regarding especially teacher(s), learner(s), contexts and activities. These four elements will be foci points in my analysis of SL and are highlighted in the model below:
It is quite deliberate that I've maintained the ICT element in this version of the model, because the use of SL doesn't diminish the need to consider ICT in general. Several kinds of 2D technologies are at play in-world, and as I still consider SL to be an emerging, and sometimes very unstable technology, I wouldn't at this point in time recommend using SL as a stand-alone technology.
These models all focus on traditional didactic elements and I will use them (most likely in revised versions) for my general Didactic Analysis. The last version has a clear connection to another model I've developed, which focuses on People (teachers/learners), Places (contexts) and Practices (activities). Based on that PPP-model I'll be able to focus on topics that are less common in Didactics and in this way I think the models will complement each other profitably.


text:
"Downton Abbey" has attracted so many fans that PBS showed it twice on Super Bowl Sunday so football fans would not miss an episode.
The series about the parallel lives of the downstairs servants and the upstairs aristocrats, like the Orient Express on which some long to ride and at which others prefer to hurl stones, has stirred reactions out of proportion to its Masterpiece Theater origins.
Heidi Schlumpf, the writer of this beguiling column, surveys varying opinions, asking "why a British period drama seems to have taken the world by storm." Is it the costumes, she muses, or is it just "a 'Desperate Housewives' with British accents for those who think they are more cultured?"
She concludes with good sense and good humor that, despite the pull of the Edwardian era in which the series begins, she doesn't "want to live 'Downton Abbey.' I just want to be entertained by it."
She notes that the acute social observer Jesuit Fr. Jim Martin feels a need to justify his viewing it as a "guilty pleasure, his Catholic guilt kicking in because the show celebrates income inequality, snottiness and noblesse oblige."
Writing in The Washington Post, Martin decries "a show about rich people who have poor people working for them. And don't seem to mind."
A month ago, English historian Simon Schama denounced the series in Newsweek, terming it "cultural necrophilia" as well as a "servile soap opera" and "a steaming silver tureen of snobbery."
Not to be outdone, British poet James Fenton, writing in The New York Review of Books, accuses the program of absurd plot twists and of upholding a long-past dynastic way of life centered on the "perpetuation of a gigantic nineteenth century house" that symbolizes the ultimately futile goals of a collapsed social order.
"Downton Abbey" might be better understood, in itself and in the politically correct criticism it evokes, as a story, that is, a Myth that in its purpose resembles the Myths that have always preserved the truths about human nature, inflected differently in varying historical and geographical conditions.
This seems like a story about the Crawley family's endgame as the monarchical ordering of society disintegrated and class distinctions. The latter included people born to live on a high level, replete with power and influence, and people born to live at a lower level, replete with limited opportunities and unlimited miseries, whose calling was to serve those above them.
Great Britain remembers and replays its long-lost grandeur on this series that fulfills one of the functions of Myth set down by Joseph Campbell: "to carry the individual through the various stages and crises of life -- that is, to help persons grasp the unfolding of life with integrity. This wholeness means that the individual will experience significant events ... as, first, in accord with themselves, and, secondly, with their culture, as well as, thirdly, with the mysterium tremendum beyond themselves and all things."
That is the Myth of "Downton Abbey," a story of people struggling to "grasp the unfolding of life with integrity," and that goes for the seemingly deprived people downstairs as well as the seemingly entitled people upstairs. They are all coping with a massive social transition that, a century later, remains incomplete. Whether they know it consciously or not, the artists who created "Downton Abbey" have provided a Myth that helps its viewers, perhaps only at a pre-conscious level, to understand the lives that they lead in the country and in the times in which they live them.
The Myth speaks to various levels of our own American Catholic consciousness, for we have also been living through a difficult and estranging transition from the monarchical, or hierarchical, ordering of the church to a very different collegial sense of the church as a People of God. Dynastic questions and the preservation of great symbolic structures are involved, as is the notion that there are people called to live at its highest level, replete with power and influence, and people called to live at a lower level, replete with limited opportunities and unlimited miseries. If the Myth of "Downton Abbey" includes the exclusion of women from inheriting the great house, the Myth of transition in Catholicism includes the exclusion of women's aspiring to, much less, inheriting the great house of sacramental authority.
People watch the series, therefore, for reasons they do not fully understand. That is why so many people are busy searching for reasons to watch and/or praise or denounce this Myth about their own lives and experience.
The same issues are found in American life in which politics and policies have class referents, between the middle class and the super-rich, between capital and labor, between the 99 percent Occupiers and the 1 percent they view as their oppressors, between outrageously paid athletes and the ordinary people who pay extraordinary prices to keep the games going.
On many levels, "Downton Abbey" is a Myth about our own experience in the wrenching but incomplete transition from the monarchical or hierarchical ordering of church and state into the order cleaned of the old distinctions by the advent of the Space and Information Age. At some layer inside yourself, whether you are the pope or the lowliest of Catholics, whether you are the queen or a commoner, a billionaire or one of the working poor, you feel the tension of this unnamed but inexorably unfolding change. Without really knowing it, the creators of "Downton Abbey" are trying to name it for you. Forget all the conscious reasons we may raise to justify watching it. Let it fulfill its mythic role to help us grasp the universe in which we live. You don't need any excuse for that.
[Eugene Cullen Kennedy is emeritus professor of psychology at Loyola University, Chicago.]
Editor's note: We can send you an email alert every time Kennedy's column, Bulletins from the Human Side," is posted to NCRonline.org. Go to this page and follow directions: Email alert sign-up. If you already receive email alerts from us, click on the "update my profile" button to add Kennedy to your list.