text:
The New Evangelization At Work?
Assumption Church is in Barnesville, Minnesota, a town about 30 minutes southeast on I-94 from Fargo, North Dakota. Fr. Gary LaMoine is the pastor at Assumption who (apparently) has decided that supporting same-sex marriage is grounds for being denied the sacrament of confirmation."If you want to be a Catholic, you have to be 100 percent Catholic.Thats the lesson one family here learned after their 17-year-old son was denied confirmation after the priest at the Assumption Church here found a pro same-sex marriage post on the teens Facebook.The decision by the Rev. Gary LaMoine to deny the religious rite of passage for Lennon Cihak in mid-October shocked his mother, who said her son has gone to church every week and volunteered around the community in preparation for his confirmation this year.You kind of know the Catholic beliefs, but I never thought they would deny somebody confirmation because you werent 100 percent. I guess thats what shocks me, Shana Cihak said."
Well, that's one way to redouble the Church's support for the traditional legal definition of marriage.Although there's apparently a fine theological distinction at play here that escapes me. "Lennon said fellow students in his confirmation class liked the photo on Facebook, but they were still allowed to be confirmed. " Perhaps some of our more theologically informed readers could explain what the exact limit is for a faithful Catholic's opposition to a referendum question that the state bishops' conference supports. Is "liking" on Facebook okay, but posting isn't? Or is posting allowed, but not photographs? (And what does the Catechism have to say about this? Where do Catholics go to find out the rules?)For me the most amazing and inexplicably hopeful thing about the whole incident so far is that "...through it all, Lennon said his faith hasnt faltered. 'I dont want the church to be put down. I dont want the Catholic religion to be put down...."
About the Author
Luke Hill is a writer and community organizer in Boston. He blogs at dotCommonweal and MassCommons.
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"We removed laws that criminalized adultery; the law is now silent. That is not the case with gay marriage."The law is *not* silent in Minnesota; it simply the opposite of what you imply.
As we have removed laws that prohibited adulteryJack,We removed laws that criminalized adultery; the law is now silent. That is not the case with 'gay marriage'.
The word "wacky" comes to mind when reading about this priest. His actions raise so many questions. Luke, there are no rules. Merely discretionary pastors. There are plenty of Catholic parishes which will confirm this candidate. As far as dealing with the "rules" is concerned, here is an extraordinary Catholic who seems to be quite effective while receiving suspicion from both the Catholic right and left. http://ncronline.org/node/39371
The Sacrament of Confirmation is not a "religious rite of passage." Rather, we receive the graces of the Sacrament in order to be able to join and actively participate in the mission of the Church to spread the faith and be a witness for Christ, who is Love and Truth. (Acts 1:8) If one has a poor understanding of the Catholic faith, if he has a poor grasp of truth, including the truth of marriage, both civil and the Sacrament of Matrimony, if he is not willing to join in the mission of the Church, then he is not ready to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Further explanation and teaching for him are necessary.
This must be a getting ready for winter story.. Checking out Facebook pages of teens to check on their orthodoxy on SSM ??. If they did an orthodoxy check of San Francisco students' Facebooks, in SF, the home of the USCCB's Archbishop in charge of Catholic US anti- SSM, I guarantee that all Catholic High Schools and three Catholic universities in the Archdiocese would have to close doors by next semester. You may be able to bully people in the boondocks but everyone knows where, if you use bully boy tactics, you lose big time. I invite Bender to come on out and see if he can get an audience in SF Catholic schools. .
This priest fails to understand that all Catholics have the right to acess all the means of salvation. The Bishop needs to exercise some firm leadership with this priest and I would be shocked if he didn't correct this asap
Just think. If the RCC had some form of congregational governance in local parishes, this "pastor" would most likely be out on his a** very shortly after uttering this nonsense. But, of course, only the ontologically superior have the right to control everything in THEIR prish and the sheeple are just expected to roll over and go to sleep ... which way too many of them do. They want a smaller, purer and much QUIETER place; easier to snooze during mass and avoid reality while getting their tickets punched on a weekly basis.
now the family is not allowed to participate in Communion thereThey contacted the bishop, who apparently claimed not much could be done.
Why the snide reference to the New Evangelization? What does any of this have to do with the New Evangelization? And what's wrong with the New Evangelization?
"But now the family is not allowed to participate in Communion there, Doug said". This is just insanely out of line."Shana said she contacted Bishop Michael Hoeppner of the Catholic Diocese in Crookston to see what her options were to appeal, but Hoeppner said not much could be done"A bishop can't do anything about who gets confirmed in his diocese? What nonsense. If this report is true, it's outrageous.
What does any of this have to do with the New Evangelization? Actually, a great deal. As Pope Benedict has noted frequently (and as Pope John Paul II did when he first used the term outside Nowa Huta in 1979), the New Evangelization began with the Council, most especially Blessed Pope John's opening address, wherein he stated that "The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be safeguarded and expounded more effectively. . . . What is needed at the present time is a new enthusiasm, a new joy and serenity of mind in the unreserved acceptance by all of the entire Christian faith, without forfeiting that accuracy and precision in its presentation which characterized the proceedings of the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. . . . What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which the faithful owe obedience, be studied afresh and reformulated in contemporary terms."A major concern of Pope John XXIII, and hence of the New Evangelization, is a defense of Catholic teaching, of preserving the truths of the faith that have been handed down to us, and finding more effective ways to correct the many errors and misunderstandings that people might have about the truth of Church teaching, which would necessarily include the Church's teachings on marriage, not to mention the teaching on the purpose of Confirmation and a person's duty and obligation therein.Thus, if someone has a fundamental misunderstanding of the faith, and thus is unable to join in the mission of the Church, but instead has a desire to think and do his own thing separate from or in contravention of what the Church professes, then as a matter of truth and charity, the Church has an obligation to further teach him, to do a better job explaining things, before administering the Sacrament of Confirmation to him.This young man has a fundamental right to learn and know what the Church teaches and why she teaches it, rather than simply pass him along as if this is merely some social rite of passage. And if after learning that and understanding it, he does not want to safeguard and defend the faith that has been given us, as stated by Pope John, if he does not wish to profess to the world what the Church teaches and has always taught, but instead wants to oppose the Church, then in all good conscience, he should not be requesting the Church to provide him the Sacrament.
It's strange how a disagreement about whether a particular civil contract should be defined in a state constitution is considered a fundamental element of the faith.
In normal times I would dismiss this as a hoax. But we hear such weird things about the Catholic church these days that it's becoming hard to tell.
In the immediate enthusiasm after the Second Vatican Council, the priests of a church in Chicago did a quick-and-dirty renewal while waiting for the contractor to move the altar and do the other heavy lifting. Among other things, they removed statues from their niches along the sides of the nave to focus more attention on the altar. After a week or two they restored the statues because parishioners were stumbling or wrenching their shoulders when they reached out to rub the saint's foot for good luck and their hand encountered nothing but air.Rubbing "the saint's foot" for good luck fits the definition of forbidden superstition in the Catechism (2110-2111). A moral theologian can rule on whether it is a separate offense to do it unconsciously or whether the original sin of starting the habit covers all the rubs, but I think even Bender would agree that it would have been counterproductive to pay for injuries while attempting to talk those parishioners out of their superstition. And no priest currently on earth could have convinced them there was anything out of line in the practice anyway.I bring up this deviation in our pre-Vatican II past (although watching the gyrations some of our older parishioners perform at the holy water font, I am not sure our past is even past) to note that social media are going to multiply the ways in which we can discover the weird faith practices and ideas of our brothers and sisters. It is unlikely that pastors will get very far using sites like Facebook as a surveillance satellite to spot deviation and enforce preservation of the truths of our faith.
Another reason not to be on Facebook!
May the good Father needs a little sabbatical or a retreat. He surely needs some rest to help calm and stabilize his mind (and soul).
Bender: thanks for your exposition. I admire your abilities as a teacher of the faith. Your comment deserves a much longer response than what I'm able to pull together right now. But for now, I'd ask you to consider this:You write, "This young man has a fundamental right to learn and know what the Church teaches and why she teaches it, rather than simply pass him along as if this is merely some social rite of passage"I agree wholeheartedly that Confirmation is not a mere social rite of passage. But neither is it a board exam which one must pass in order to receive his membership card. Confirmation is the opposite of a final exam: it is a sacrament of initiation. Initiation connotes beginning. What is more likely, more prudent and more merciful: that separating this young man, and his family(!) completely from the faith community is going to bring about a change of heart (if one is needed; that question is critical and needs to be explored at greater length than I have time for right now); or that the strength given by the grace of the sacrament, to sustain his and his family's life as part of a community of disciples, is going to support and guide him in his Christian life?I think there is no question that the latter is the better way here.This young man seems to be on fire for the Catholic faith. He seems to have been evangelized already. It's worse than a shame that any pastor would seek to douse that fire with an over-scrupulous application of sacramental criteria. If his faith is not yet perfect, then a pastor can help guide him toward perfection. That won't happen if the young man isn't part of the flock.
I think "Cupcake" has identified the problem, and folks like Bender who defend a black-and-white approach to these kinds of social issues are going to end up in a dying church. There is a difference between being for SSM through civil channels--which allows gay couples to protect their assets and property, gives them rights of visitation in sickness, and rights of survivorship in death--and full-blown sacramental church marriage, which is still defined as an indissoluable union between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation and rearing children. Same-sex civil marriage, in my view, simply recognizes a social reality and, if homosexual activities are not in violation of any state law (like, say incest, polygamy, or bestiality), then extending legal rights to their union does not seem unreasonable. Why can't it be taught in confirmation that a Catholic who is called to marriage is expected to follow a much narrower path? Certainly those of us trying to live within the confines of a Catholic marriage requires considerably more sacrifice, compromise, and soul-searching than any secular notion of marriage does. They are not the same. It seems to me that the Church expends far more effort inserting itself into the secular legislative process than it does trying to strengthen the faith of those who are trying to follow its teachings. It would be interesting to know how many sacramental marriages are left foundering without recourse to healing because parish and diocesan resources are being wasted on opposition to gay marriage legislation?
Molly Roach: that's very funny - and true! :-)
To Anthony Andreass:If the priest indeed needs a retreat/sabbatical, then so do a number of the bishops, such as Dolan and Myers, and their chief spokesman Dr. William Donohue of the Catholic League. What this priest from Minnesota said and did is not outside the mainstream of how the leadership of this church thinks. The bishops and seminaries created men like LaMoine, and will continue to do so. God help the Roman church...
Its strange how a disagreement about whether a particular civil contract should be defined in a state constitution is considered a fundamental element of the faith.Its even more strange that a Catholic would dumb down a sacrament to the level of a particular civil contract...
Another thought - what if the kid were holding a sign that said he supported the death penalty? Would he be denied the sacrament?
@Jim Pauwels (11/15, 11:11 pm & 11/16, 9:20 am) Please excuse the poorly chosen headline. (Alas, it was the best I could come up with at the time.)As for evangelization in general and the New Evangelization in particular (note: I claim no expertise in either), I think your comment earlier this morning (in reply to Bender) is a lovely example of evangelization: clear about the faith and your understanding of it, also clear about the pastoral virtues of prudence, mercy and a careful consideration of what approach is most likely to enliven the fire of faith already alive in Lennon Cihak (and, presumably, his friends and classmates).I say this "half in fun, whole in earnest" (as the saying goes), but maybe in addition to your new role as advice columnist (long live the Magic Conch! http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=21856#comments), there's a role for you as teacher in the practice of evangelism in dioceses across the country.
I think the creepy thing is that this priest was checking out the Facebook pages of the kids in the confirmation class. Is that appropriate?
The priest wasn't "checking out the Facebook pages of the kids in the confirmation class." He "was shown" the boy's page.http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/380562/group/News/
1) Strange priest and, imho, an even stranger bishop:"The mother did say that Bishop Michael Hoeppner of the Diocese of Crookston informed her that if Lennon stood before the church and denounced his support of same-sex marriage claims, he could be confirmed."(Does he have to wear sackcloth and ashes?)2) Why is Confirmation now delayed so long? In the early Church, it was administered with Baptism. After Trent, it was made available to children who had reached the age of reason. Now, 17? And why has the bishop, the ordinary minister of the sacrament, ceded his responsibility to the priest?3) The watchdog groups who inform on priests, teenagers, etc., are among the reasons many Catholics leave the Church, imho. The spies intimidate everyone.
I actually find myself agreeing with both Bender and Jim Pauwels. Lennon does have an opportunity to be a full member of the Church. And the Church also has an obligation to educate him in the faith. But if he has a fundamental misunderstanding of marriage, confirmation is one of the few moments where the Church has the opportunity to provide this education. And Lennon, as a member of the Church, has an obligation to be open to the teaching AND conform to it. Otherwise, professing Catholicism means basically nothing.And a fundamental misunderstanding of the sacrament of marriage is IMHO in a completely different realm than misunderstanding the teaching on the death penalty.
Initial understanding and use of modern communications with pastoral wisdom appears to have been another topic, like the equally ubiquitous economy, which the bishops assembled this week were to have addressed. Mentioned were "social media, blogging and cellphone technology". Cdl. Wuerl withdrew the proposed document because of the need for further work toward a more comprehensive document by the committee chairmen for doctrine, evangelization and catechesis, and canonical affairs and church governance. Perhaps the next draft will resolve new technological-theological issues like those Luke notes. http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/bishops-agree-need-better-preachi...
" He was shown the boys page.'I can't imagine being in a parish/community that would have members 'showing crap' to the pastor and a pastor being willing to act on the 'showing'. The usual totalitarian experience is to have neighborhood reporters, "ears' to report on neighbors. The sick part of Catholic culture is prone to encourage this crap. Shame shame shame. This kind of activity was encouraged when the Minnesota Archbishop sent out 200,000 DVDs [at what cost] denouncing SSM.
To Bruce:If the boy were to say "I do not believe that God is a trinity", or "I do not believe that Jesus is God's Messiah" or "I reject Jesus' teaching on love of enemies" or "I refuse to believe that Jesus rose from the dead" then we would have reason to argue that he is not prepared to be confirmed. That he expressed an opinion on a matter of civil law,(and, by the way, the definition of marriage in the Catholic church is not in the league of dogma, but rather moral teaching,) is not a sufficient reason to bar him from a sacrament. In fact this priest's actions have caused scandal, and that is arguably a violation of canon law. Your assertions about the death penalty seem to suggest that it is self-evident that this subject is in a "different realm." It is not self evident, and I would refer you to John Paul II's clear and unambiguous teaching re capital punishment.
It is very different to say that the state should support civil marriage for gay people and for one to say that the Church should allow gay marriages itself. Where Church and state intersect is always tricky business and given how much heat (and how little light) there is when people talk about gay marriage, I think it is COLOSSAL mistake to deny a teen confirmation because he simply posted something in support of civil gay marriage. I wonder if this priest really wants to know how many of his clerical confreres support gay marriage? Maybe they should not have been ordained? Most of the priests I know support it, but then again, I hang around with an unruly crowd
Intimidation keeps everyone in line: the bishops, the priests, religious, the laity, etc. (See, e.g., Joan Chittister's article at NCR this morning.) Everyone is afraid. Those whose livelihoods depend on the Church have good reason to be afraid of what the stood pigeons will report. And those who believe their eternal fate depends on the good will of someone who is clinging to his job/palace because of fear are up a creek.
Regarding the comments about the priest seeing things on facebook: at least in our deanery, it is common for youth ministers (and sometimes priests) to get friended by the kids who are doing confirmation preparation. The kids usually have NO filter, and it often gets them in trouble when they willing write things on their facebook walls that would make any minister (or parent) shudder. See also the updated AP story from this morning, where the priest says the kid wasn't denied confirmation, but won't comment any more. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Same-sex-marriage-supporter-isn-t-con...
Although nobody has mentioned the "E" word (excommunication), the poor lad is of age to be excommunicated. It is age 17. Hope that this isn't in 'cards' for him.
Just more of the idiotic legacy of JPII, who apparently succeeded in selecting only men like him in temperament for promotion to the episcopate, and knowing that his clones would likely ordain to the presbyterate only those guys who would "suck up" to their bishops.Fifteen and more years ago, our cathedral pastor informed our congregation of pew spies and of the more conservative guys being ordained.JPII cloning is alive and well in the Church of Rome.Fear rules.
Surveillance and sanction in the name of purity of the faith a la Fr. LaMoine with a 17-year old deserves some thought. A picture of Lennon's incriminating yard sign is now disseminated worldwide, online from North Dakota. The story comes to the East Coast from Minnesota via San Francisco. If one of the defining elements of scandal is publicization, some forethought is warranted before turning a molehill into a mountain these days. Facebook is one of a very large number of venues where Catholics can be found speaking out this afternoon about the Church in its many aspects, publicly, with worldwide accessibility and retrievability (e.g., see above). Some serious disagreements with the Church can be noted. Who have obligations in defense of the Faith to report and to punish appropriately these offenders? The question seems more suited to George Orwell, who already thought about it, than to Bishop Hoeppner and confreres, who obviously haven't.
" --- sacramental church marriage, which is still defined as an indissoluable union between a man and a woman for the **purpose of procreation and rearing children** ---"I wonder how many priests preach this to those couples who present themselves for marriage and are obviously beyond child-bearing age? Or those couples about whom the priest might have a suspicion that child-bearing doesn't fit into their "social and career game plans"? Or those couples, one or both of whom are embarking on second marriages and already have children to raise?
"Its even more strange that a Catholic would dumb down a sacrament to the level of a particular civil contract"And it's even stranger that Catholic would attempt to equate a civil contract that imparts civil benefits, rights and responsibilities for ALL citizens, irrespective of religious bias or prejudice, with what may be considered by many of those citizens as irrelevant nonsense that has no bearing on their lives.Or as has been said before: stop trying to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear." -- what if the kid were holding a sign that said he supported the death penalty? Would he be denied the sacrament?" What is the sign said that Obama is a socialist foreign-born Muslim? I suspect that, in that pastor's eyes, he would have been a hero, but that's only speculation.
That he expressed an opinion on a matter of civil law,(and, by the way, the definition of marriage in the Catholic church is not in the league of dogma, but rather moral teaching,) Brian,Your premise, civil law and not dogma, are fundamentally incorrect. The Church believes and teaches that marriage was given to humanity by God - one body (Gn 2:24) or one flesh (Mk 10:8, Mt 19:6) - and this is a dogma: Marriage is a true and proper Sacrament instituted by God. The other 6 sacraments are also dogma of the Church.Since marriage is instituted by God, it is impossible for the Church to change its terms: an indissoluble lifetime commitment. From the Church's perspective, that also makes it impossible for any government to change the terms as well, since conformity to God's will is fundamentally necessary for human flourishing. That makes any civil law tinkering with marriage terms unjust, since the government is attempting to exercise an authority which it does not and cannot possess. And according to Augustine an unjust law is no law at all." But, as we all know, God gave us complete freedom to act, even if it is contrary to our own best interests and his Will.Finally, JPII's clear teaching on capital punishment is not a dogma of the Church.
"Since marriage is instituted by God, it is impossible for the Church to change its terms: an indissoluble lifetime commitment."Moses is laughing at you.
Bruce:According to the standards established by God himself, as recorded in the Old Testament, a marriage could be between a man and a woman, or a man and several women, or a man and his first cousin, etc., etc. Your appeals to scripture leave much to be desired. For example, regarding marriage, you assert that scripture is clear and the church simply follows what God has ordained and instituted. However, Jesus himself forbade his disciples from taking oaths, yet Catholics love to make each other take oaths; Jesus forbade divorce, yet we do not exclude from the sacraments those who divorce. Jesus unambiguously preached non-violence, yet the Church has found a way to justify the use of violence. So why is it that while Jesus himself "instituted" these teachings, the church has unilaterally opted to to ignore them? But with marriage however, defined as a sacrament not until well into the second millennium, you make baroque appeals that rely on an extremely literal interpretation of scriptures that are, in a number of cases, ambiguous and contradictory.
Can we assume that Fr. LaMoine is investigating his remaining parishioners - at least those who were old enough to vote - to make sure none of them who voted wrong on the referendum enjoys any sacrament to which they may have been looking forward? Surely his constancy would demand at least that.
What if I rise up and preach against The Tim's new push for Fish on Fridays? Will I be banished to the outer reaches of hades?
Bruce,The part of marriage that the state of Minnesota is concerned about is not a sacrament. It is fundamentally only a special legal contract. The Church and the state have separate responses to life's major events. A birth certificate is not a baptismal certificate, a marriage license isn't a Catholic marriage, and a death certificate isn't a funeral. A vote on whether to incorporate a definition of marriage into the state constitution is not a vote to change the sacraments.
Brian: for your edification (you can thank me after reading this): http://www.yawningbread.org/apdx_2004/imp-141.htm
It is fundamentally only a special legal contractCupcake,That is what the state wants you to believe. It may not, in fact, actually be what it is. And our church teaches that it is actually not a special legal contract but something much more. In fact, the proponents of gay marriage also believe it is something much more or they would be satisfied with civil unions, but they are not. So your entire premise is incorrect.
Your appeals to scripture leave much to be desiredBrian,It is still dogma.
@Bruce (11/16, 5:20 pm) What's your understanding of Minnesota's civil recognition of marriage between two Lutherans, or two Jews, or of interfaith marriages, or or marriage between those of no faith? And how does that intersect with the Church's sacramental understanding of marriage?
Cupcake --Interesting analogies. (You ever think of going to law school?)
Confirmation is not only a reaffirmation not only of one's baptismal vows, but as I recall, requires the entire parish is to renew their vows and to promise to support young candidates in their faith. So what boils my blood about this situation is that some smug parishioner, instead of looking for ways to help these kids understand the faith and its teaching--and given that most young people believe gay marriage is OK, wouldn't this be an issue that the parish would take special pains to address in confirmation classes??--decides to nark out a kid for what he's got on his FB page.It strikes me that this is not an indictment of Assumption's entire confirmation program (and its failure to adequately transmit the teachings of the Church), but the charity of its parishioners, and the pastoral abilities of its priest. I think this poor kid and his family deserve our prayers. And the priest and whoever took it upon themselves to rat the kid out need them even more.
Bruce wrote:Since marriage is instituted by God, it is impossible for the Church to change its terms: an indissoluble lifetime commitment. From the Churchs perspective, that also makes it impossible for any government to change the terms as wellShould I understand you to mean that the civil law should forbid all things that the Church holds to be sinful?Neither Augustine nor Aquinas believed that.
Should I understand you to mean that the civil law should forbid all things that the Church holds to be sinful?John Hayes,Your understanding is backward. In the case of gay marriage, we are talking about creating civil law that encourages sinfulness.
"That Christian marriage (i.e. marriage between baptized persons) is really a sacrament of the New Law in the strict sense of the word is for all Catholics an indubitable truth. According to the Council of Trent this dogma has always been taught by the Church, and is thus defined in canon i, Sess. XXIV: 'If any one shall say that matrimony is not truly and properly one of the Seven Sacraments of the Evangelical Law, instituted by Christ our Lord, but was invented in the Church by men, and does not confer grace, let him be anathema'" (http://newadvent.org/cathen/09707a.htm). So, "Christian marriage" i.e., "matrimony", is a "sacrament" within the Church of Rome. According to the encyclopedia writer, this teaching is a "dogma".Jesus, a Jew, is talking to an obviously Jewish audience in Mark 10 where he conveys God's prohibition of divorce and remarriage (http://www.usccb.org/bible/mk/10:11). Then we see Jesus distinguishing between the law of God and the law of Caesar in Mark 12:16-17 (http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12). Jesus tells his Jewish listeners to obey, as appropriate, one or the other law. Today in the U.S., a marriage license bears the "image and inscription" of Caesar, not of God. Such being the case in a pluralistic society, it is the law of Caesar that governs for people who are outside the Church of Rome or who are members of the Jewish faith. It would appear that Luke Hill's comment (5:38 pm) is pertinent here.
It should be noted that the Church of Rome will not witness a marriage without a state-issued marriage license, nor will the Church of Rome act on a petition for declaration of nullity without a state-issued divorce decree. In other words, the Church of Rome acknowledges the legitimacy of state-issued marriage and divorce documents presented by its members.
A new push for meatless Fridays? Sounds like pouring new wine into old wineskins!
My quote from New Advent notwithstanding, I'm not aware of the Church of Rome having officially promulgated any list of dogmas.
"In the case of gay marriage, we are talking about creating civil law that encourages sinfulness."But this is not what the Minnesota referendum was about. Gay marriage is not recognized in Minnesota; the point here was to further build the prohibition into the state constitution.
(Put another way, I am relying on R.L. Burke regarding can. 915, Periodica Canonica 96:3 [2007], which is clearly conservative in approach. IANACL, or any other kind. I nonetheless have no idea how the parents are legally reachable in this case. "[T]he discipline requires the minister of Holy Communion to forbid the Sacrament to those who are publicly unworthy. Such action must not be precipitous." The action seems frankly penal.)
OK, I have to retract in part, as I failed to re-view the image, which goes beyond mere opposition to the referendum in question. "To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law. Confusion, of course, is one of the most insidious fruits of scandalous behavior." (Burke again.)
Lennon Cihak discusses his refused confirmation on Twitter (along with a lot of unrelated discussion of music, etc)https://mobile.twitter.com/LennonCihak/tweetsSomeone else has started an "i support Lennon Cihak" page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Support-Lennon-Cihak/305735312869261?fr..., there is a Tumblr page which opposes a number of other teachings of the Church on sexuality which claims to be from Lennon Cihak. If it is his, he has been pushed to a public position that isn't apparent in the initial news reports. It ends with "IM GLAD IM DONE WITH THAT CHURCH AND AM PROUD OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR SO MUCH SUPPORT AND STANDING UP FOR ME AND SUPPORTING MY BELIEFS BECAUSEAPPARENTLYTHE CHURCH CANT."http://lennoncihak.tumblr.com/post/35318877422/right-or-wrong-you-tell-meIs this the best we can do?
Bruce wrote:Your understanding is backward. In the case of gay marriage, we are talking about creating civil law that encourages sinfulness.i would describe it as removing laws that prohibit sinfulness. As we have removed laws that prohibited adultery.
Boonesville, Minn (Pop. 2300) may have exhausted its newsworthiness. Fr. LaMoine's letter to his parish explains it all. A second student also not confirmed is reported. Fr. LaMoine explains that the choice was Lennon's, although he wouldn't have confirmed him in any case. (Reminiscent of "I am not telling you how to vote, but ") He apologizes for the actions of the family. http://www.kfgo.com/on-air-details.php?ID=1498 http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/380685/group/News/ According to tomorrow's parish bulletin, a Sunday collection is about 100 envelopes and adult contributions are down almost 3% for the month. He may not care to be too scrupulous about going after others in the parish who may have agreed with the kids on the referendum and actually voted. http://www.catholicweb.com/bulletins/73402/Nov-18-2012.pdf
LaMoine's understanding of Confirmation is faulty.The sacrament does NOT make its recipients "full members" of the Church. They are full members already, thanks to Baptism. It does NOT bring them "into full communion with the Catholic community." They are part of the Catholic community already, thanks to Baptism. For this priest to talk about "defacing" a political sign and to misrepresent the effects of a sacrament is . . . http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04215b.htm (Confirmation in the Catholic Encyc.)
Boris,Marriage laws must actively be changed to permit 'gay marriage'. At the present time, Minnesota says that only opposite-sex partners can marry; it is silent on gay marriage. But you are correct that the state wont issue a marriage license, however that is fundamentally different criminalizing the behavior. On the other hand, Jacks comment about adultery laws is not similar because the law was changed from criminalizing adultery to the current situation which neither permits nor criminalizes that behavior.
About half of the states have removed adultery from their laws. From a quick look, Minnesota hasn't. It also has a law on fornication.Which raises the interesting question of whether the Church would oppose a referendum to remove adultery and fornication from the Minnesota laws - and would it refuse to confirm people who supported the referendum?
This pastor and bishops of Minnesota say that voting/advocating NO on a constitutional amendment to add a prohibition on SSM is Catholic doctrine???? No State Constitution or the US Constitution has an explicit ban on SSM. To say a NO vote on thowing mud into the state Constitution is against Catholic teaching is and was a big loser. Because it's moronic and ugly. People don't like ugly in their constitutions.
This whole mess should be dismissed as a comedy except for the unconscionable treatment of two Catholic kids and their families by the Roman Catholic Church as they experienced it where they lived. LaMoine will disappear, but he leaves scars on Catholic lives. This might be another vote for married priests. Anyone who holds a 17-year old kid to his firmest convictions and expects to find them the same a year - much less a lifetime - later doesn't understand what he is doing. No comment now or any other time on adultery laws. Bruce misses his target.
"At the present time, Minnesota says that only opposite-sex partners can marry; it is silent on gay marriage."This is a tortured interpretation, to say the least."On the other hand, Jacks comment about adultery laws is not similar because the law was changed from criminalizing adultery to the current situation which neither permits nor criminalizes that behavior."I don't think you reach "not similar," but if the payload is that analogy is not isomorphism, OK. I fail to see the utility in such an observation all the same. The threshold question (which now departs from Mr. Cihak entirely) would seem to be whether it is permissible to oppose an escalation of secular legislation on grounds of principle even if the goal of that escalation is in accord with Church doctrine.
Minnesota also hAs a law against prostitution. Regarding that Aquinas said (quoting Augustine)
although God is all-powerful and supremely good, nevertheless He allows certain evils to take place in the universe, which He might prevent, lest, without them, greater goods might be forfeited, or greater evils ensue. Accordingly in human government also, those who are in authority, rightly tolerate certain evils, lest certain goods be lost, or certain greater evils be incurred: thus Augustine says (De Ordine ii, 4): "If you do away with harlots, the world will be convulsed with lust."AndAgain it must be observed that the end of human law is different from the end of Divine law. For the end of human law is the temporal tranquillity of the state, which end law effects by directing external actions, as regards those evils which might disturb the peaceful condition of the state. On the other hand, the end of the Divine law is to bring man to that end which is everlasting happiness
Personally, i am in favor of having a law against prostitution, particularly against forced prostitution. But that is a prudential decision, not a matter of doctrine. If someone promoted the abolition of the law, i would not see that as rejecting Catholic doctrine.
Ode to Fr. LaMoine, with apologies to Ms. Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas:Fellow Catholics, I am proudly standing here to humbly see.I assure you, and I mean it- Now, who says I don't speak out as plain as day?And, fellow Catholics, I'm for tradition and the cross- long may it stand. I'm a poor boy, come to greatness. So, it follows that I cannot tell a lie.Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,cut a little swathe and lead the people on.Now my good friends, it behooves me to be solemn and declare,I'm for goodness and for marriage and for living clean and saying daily prayer. And now, my good friends, you can sleep nights, I'll continue to stand tall.You can trust me, for I promise, I shall keep a watchful eye upon ya'll...Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,cut a little swathe and lead the people on.Now, Lennon Cihak, I don't know him, though I've heard his claim, oh yes. But, of course I've no close contact, so what he is doing I can only guess. And now, Lennon Cihak, he's a blemish on the face of our good church. I am taking certain steps here, someone somewhere's gonna have to close him down.Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,cut a little swathe and lead the people on.Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep...And, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step...Cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Because its moronic and uglyI actually find in moronic and ugly to encourage the use of alimentary canal orifices for sex.
Whoa, Bruce, do you really want to go down that path? Wouldn't kissing (using of a part of the alimentary canal) as a prelude to sexual stimulation be ugly and moronic, then? Or would you just draw the line at soul kissing? And what about the penis, a dual function organ for elimination of waste water from the bladder as well as sperm? Wouldn't that, loosely speaking, be part of the alimentary system?Please, rhetorical questions only meant to point out that much of our anatomy is multi-functional. Certainly NO ON should force you (and I don't think anyone here is even encouraging you) to have sex in ways you find morally and physically repugnant. But your blanket condemnation and the shame it attempts to inflict on others is one reason I often find the Good Catholic attitude moronic and ugly sometimes. It isn't so much what you condemn as how you do it with such certitude and pomposity.
"I actually find in moronic and ugly to encourage the use of alimentary canal orifices for sex."Does this mean it's time for a theological discussion of the Ligament of Treitz?
Bruce: you really need to check out what Your Kind of People practice in the privacy of their bedrooms. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/anal-sex-heterosexual-couples-r...'s a bit hubristic for you to be quite that shocked.
Regarding the earlier dscussion of the death penalty, it's interesting that Cardinal Dolan regrets that Californians didn't follow the recommendations of their bishops - but doesn't suggest that they have sinned in doing so."The death penalty is another issue of concern to those who believe that the promotion of the dignity of the human person and the protection of human life is the normative guide in our voting. Here again the results were not positive. The electorate in California had the chance to reject this lethal and unjust penalty. The Church in California did its best to preach the Gospel of Life, but apparently was less than effective. The referendum lost."http://cny.org/stories/Looking-Back-at-Election-Day,8444?content_source=...
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Best Diet Recipes of 2013 (Slide 4)
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Recipe: Roasted Garlic & Asparagus Salad
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Buffalo Chicken Salad
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Roasted Garlic & Asparagus …
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Creamsicle Breakfast Smoothie
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Baked Coconut Shrimp with T…
A sweet-and-sour tangelo salsa complements the toasty coconut crust on these sassy little coconut sh…View slide
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Asparagus & Ham Stuffed Pot…
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Winter Greens Salad with Sq…
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Loaded Baked Potato Soup
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Creamy Green Chile Chicken …
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Margherita Pizz'alad
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Turkey Ma Po Tofu
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Grilled Steak Salad with To…
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Peach Sorbet
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Bacon, Tomato & Farro Salad
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Antipasti Pasta Salad
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Scallop & Pepper Tacos
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Pomegranate Float
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Slow-Cooker Turkey Stroganoff
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Tuna & Bok Choy Packets
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Roasted Chicken Drumsticks …
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Hoisin-Ginger Meatloaf
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subset: commoncrawl


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text: At 01:37 PM 04/30/01, David Wood wrote: >Would you mind posting the actual code changes you made to index.c? I'd >like to give it a try as well. The piece of code now looks like: /* if (freq < 5) Note #1 freq = 5; */ d = 1.0 / (double) tfreq; e = (log((double) freq) + 10.0) * d; if (ignoreTotalWordCountWhenRanking) Note #2 { /* scale the rank down a bit. a larger has the effect of making small differences in work frequency wash out */ e /= 100; } else { e /= words; } f = e * 10000.0 * 100.0; Note #3 I didn't add any comments, this is just in my private version at the moment... This addresses three issues: 1) ranking was computed the same whether a word occurred in a file 1 time or 5 times... 2) sense of ignoreTotalWordCountWhenRanking is backwards 3) The computation of rank, when the word is found in more than 100 or so files, ends up such a small integer as to wash out all differences. Comments about the above: 1) I don't know why matches less than 5 were set to 5. I don't know if this creates any strange problems in the ranking, but in my limited testing improved the distribution of ranking. In my opinion, a document with 2 hits should be ranked below a document with 5 hits! The above change makes that happen... 2) This is clearly the right fix, except it will break everyone, since the sense is backwards. I found that dividing by the number of words so heavily weights the ranking towards smaller documents (even when others have title matches, or more word matches), that it gave a very inaccurate rank. 3) This is only a temporary work around. Note that the large ranks that can come out of this routine are OK, because in the end the highest rank is normalized to 1000 anyway. This is just to prevent ranks like 1.34231 and 1.53422 from both turning into 1. I personally found a positive effect from each of these changes, and all of the changed taken together gave far superior results, especially when looking for multiple words and/or words that appear in your files somewhat frequently. My only theory about "how could this ever have worked" was that people must have primarily been doing searches for words that only appeared in a few files. In this case, swish would find them all, but their ranks relative to each other would be nearly irrelevant... Some of us also feel that the ranking for a hit in titles and the header is too high. Currently it boosts the overall rank by a factor of 5. But for now, I didn't try changing that. I'd be curious if others try this and see how their searching and ranking improve. Be sure that you DO use "IgnoreTotalWordCountWhenRanking yes" !!! (which you probably had before, but now it does what you wanted ;-) Try -H 9 -- you can see the raw ranking numbers this way. Try it before and after this change! Bill P.S. If you try this, and think it helps your searches, let us know!Received on Mon Apr 30 18:11:46 2001


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If $f:X \to Y$ is a flat and proper surjective morphism between smooth schemes over an algebraically closed field, and $f$ has connected fibers, does it imply that $$f`_*\mathcal O_X = \mathcal O_Y?$$
Is the direct image of the structure sheaf on X isomorphic to the structure sheaf on Y when X->Y is flat and proper with connected fibers between smooth schemes over an algebraically closed field?
This follows from Zariski's main theorem if the characteristic is zero and it is false in positive characteristics: consider the the morphism $\mathbb{A}^1 \to \mathbb{A}^1$ given by $x \mapsto x^p$ where $p$ is the characteristic. The statement would also be true in char p if you assume that the general fibre is reduced.
(Note that it suffices to assume that X is integral and Y is normal. $f$ should of course also be surjective.)
If $X$ is smooth over $K$ and if $K$ is of characteristic $p>0$, then the relative Frobenius $F:X\rightarrow X\times_{F_X} K=:X'$ is faithfully flat $K$-morphism and finite, hence proper. Moreover it's a homeomorphism, so the fibers are connected. But it's not hard to see that $F_*\mathcal{O}_{X}$ is locally free of rank $p^n$, if $X$ is of dimension $n$.
Over $\mathbb{C}$, I would reason as follows.
For any $V$ open in $Y$, $\mathcal{O}_Y(V) \cong \mathcal{O}_X(U)$, where $U:=f^{-1}(V)$, via the pullback
$f^*:\mathcal{O}_Y (V) \rightarrow \mathcal{O}_X (U)$
$f^*:h \mapsto h \circ f$, thinking of $h$ as a morphism $h:Y \rightarrow \mathbb{A}^1$.
The above pullback is in general injective, but in this case it's even surjective because every regular function $g$ on $X$ has constant value on the fibers (by base change, in this case the (reduction of the) fibers are connected proper varieties), hence is the pullback of a function $h$ on $Y$.
Since $f : X \to Y$ is a projective morphism, we can use Stein factorization and write $f = h \circ g$ with
Since $f$ has connected fiber and surjective, $h$ then must be surjective and has degree 1. It follows that $h$ is an isomorphism. Hence, $f_*\mathcal{O}_X = \mathcal{O}_Y$.
I think we only need to assume that $X$ and $Y$ are noetherian, normal and over $\mathbb{C}$.


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Recipes for a Crowd (Slide 8)
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Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken
Here chicken thighs cook in a simple herb-infused tomato-and-wine sauce. The bone-in thighs give it …View slide
Slow-Cooked Brisket in Onio…
This brisket is cooked with beef broth and loads of onions that melt down into a luscious gravy. Ser…View slide
Chili Cornbread Casserole
Here's a fun way to serve chili and cornbread together. Don't let the ingredient list intimidate…View slide
Pulled Pork with Caramelize…
Traditional pulled pork is barbecued, which gives it a smoky flavor. But the slow cooker happens to …View slide
Seafood Chowder Casserole
New England seafood chowder inspired the flavors here, but we've enhanced them further with Gruyè…View slide
Spaghetti with Quick Meat S…
Instead of opening a jar of sauce, try this easy spaghetti with meat sauce on a weeknight. Serve wit…View slide
Eggplant & Chickpea Stew
This tasty vegetarian stew, studded with plenty of eggplant and protein-rich chickpeas, is reminisce…View slide
Curried Chicken Thighs with…
These saucy curried chicken thighs makes a great dish for a big easy family supper. There's plenty…View slide
Cheese Enchiladas with Red …
Intense, earthy and absolutely addictive, New Mexico's cheese enchiladas showcase red chile sauce …View slide
Ragout of Pork & Prunes
Pork shoulder is an inexpensive and juicy cut that lends itself to roasting, grilling and braising. …View slide
Asian-Inspired Chicken Soup
What is so obliging about this hearty chicken soup is that you can add any vegetables that suit your…View slide
Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hot…
This easy casserole, full of ground beef, roasted broccoli and topped with hash browns, was inspired…View slide
Crab Bisque with Avocado, T…
Our light version of classic crab bisque gets its creaminess from a combination of low-fat milk plus…View slide
Sweet Potato, Red Onion & F…
Try this roasted-vegetable free-form tart as an appetizer or side dish for a special dinner or as a …View slide
Iberian-Style Sausage & Chi…
This hearty sausage and chicken ragu was inspired by a fabulous stew Bruce Aidells enjoyed when he w…View slide
Crispy Phyllo Spinach Tartlets
Frilly layers of phyllo dough surround the festive spinach and sun-dried tomato filling in a dressed…View slide
Neapolitan Meatballs
A touch of cinnamon distinguishes these delicious tomato-sauced meatballs. Adding whole-grain bulgur…View slide
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
We took the classic flavors of Buffalo wings—hot sauce, blue cheese, carrots and celery—and crea…View slide
Slow-Cooker Black Bean-Mush…
Black beans, earthy mushrooms and tangy tomatillos combine with a variety of spices and smoky chipot…View slide
Agustine's Beer & Tequila…
These pork carnitas have a little more flair and much less fat than the traditional deep-fried versi…View slide
Cioppino is a fish stew traditionally made by Italian fishermen who settled in the North Beach/Fishe…View slide
Singapore-Style Chicken & N…
In this healthy curry laksa, a popular Southeast Asian noodle soup, chicken, coconut milk, tomatoes …View slide
Slow-Cooker Spanish Chickpe…
This easy soup recipe is inspired by cocido, the hearty stew of assorted meats, chickpeas and vegeta…View slide


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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Wednesday granted Ormet Corp.'s request for lower electricity costs, from $60 to $50 per megawatt-hour.
Now, the decision for Minnesota-based Wayzata, the company seeking to purchase Ormet, will be if the rate is low enough for Ormet to be profitable, as the company had been seeking an average fixed-rate cost of $45.89 per megawatt-hour.
Following Wednesday's ruling, Ormet employees also wondered if the lower rate would help them keep their jobs.
"It's all up to Wayzata now," said Tom Byers, president of United Steelworkers Local 5724. Wayzata agreed to buy the aluminum producer out of bankruptcy for $221 million earlier this year, pending Ormet's ability to lower its electricity bills from American Electric Power.
If Wayzata chooses to not purchase Ormet, it could mean the end of the aluminum producer and the 1,000 jobs it provides.
Wayzata officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday. Ormet President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Tanchuk also could not be reached for comment.
"People need to be able to know what is going to happen. Now, we just need an answer from Wayzata to see if this is going to be enough for them to follow through on their end," Byers said.
"The ball is truly in (Wayzata's) court now," USW Staff Representative John Puskar added.
Emphasizing that Ormet has many employees who live in West Virginia, PUCO commissioners questioned the long-term viability of one of the Upper Ohio Valley's largest employers - and wondered why Ohio electricity customers should support people who live in another state.
"Ohio continues to take the lead on providing support that benefits all of the company's workers," said PUCO Chairman Todd Snitchler. "It's my hope, however, that at some point there is a recognition from other states of the extraordinary support that Ohio and Ohio ratepayers have provided to these other states' citizens."
The commission said it recognized Ormet's economic importance to the region, but wanted to balance those interests with the concerns of local ratepayers, who would be subsidizing part of Ormet's power costs with increases to their own bills.
Officials with AEP and the Ohio Consumers' Counsel have said granting Ormet additional power discounts could result in higher rates for about 1.4 million Ohio customers, many of whom live hundreds of miles away from the Hannibal facility.
"I sign today's order not because of any confidence in Ormet's management, but because of the potential devastating impact of the region's largest employer closing," added Commissioner Steven Lesser.
Snitchler said the commission has approved $346 million in financial support for Ormet over the past four years, calling this "extraordinary."
The commission also modified Ormet's discounts so that AEP Ohio ratepayers would receive a refund if benchmark aluminum prices exceed Ormet's break-even level of $2,200 per ton. If aluminum rises above $2,500 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, Ormet will pay Ohio ratepayers at 108 percent of the rate.


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Programmers are known as early adopters, and since Stack Overflow is so successful, I think a general question and answer website open to the whole public will be extremely successful. Plus, I think that being built on a Microsoft stack, it would be bought by Microsoft in less than a year.
What is meta?
- Any Stack Exchange user can ask a question
- The community provides support, votes on ideas, and reports bugs
- Your voice helps shape the way Stack Exchange operates
closed as not constructive by Rosinante, jonsca, Toon Krijthe, Martijn Pieters, John Sep 28 '12 at 2:10
As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
I can just imagine Joel and Jeff responding to a general q&a question:
xxxHotChixxxx: So like, I love my boyfriend sooooo much. I wan to get married and have 7 kids, but he says no. The other day he was lookin at my BFF Jillian, an he stared at her jus waayyyy too long. I think hes cheatin on me, but I want all those kids! What can I do!?!?!
BTW Im 13.
Joel: Well, now. In your circumstance, you should apply what I like to call "The Joel Test for Relationships". You need to rank this boyfriend of yours according to the results from this test, and compare it to offers from other "opportunities".
It sounds to me he fails point #12. Dump him.
Jeff: I'd give it another 6-8 weeks.
They have developed the StackExchange engine which would allow for people to create whatever kind of StackOverflow-like site they wish. I do not think they have any intention of making a Yahoo Answers killer because in all likelihood it would end up just as bad. The entire idea of having a single site for absolutely everything brings far too much noise and not enough signal.
You can make one yourself this september.
Typical questions would include "How is babby formed?"
I still think that this would be much better than the alternative of asking on Yahoo answers!


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Dramatically set in magnificent scenery directly beneath the towering north face of the Eiger,Grindlewald enjoys fantastic views over the Jungfrau mountain range. Take the famous train up from the village and travel right through the notorious North Face up to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site of Jungfraujoch for breath-taking views. Grindelwald is also home to the longest toboggan run in the Alps, running more than 15km in total.
With a total of 213km of pistes over three areas, there is something for everyone. Beginners will enjoy the wide blues in the First area just above Grindelwald where there is also a piste reserved especially for slower skiers. Intermediates will find great reds in all three areas, while Experts can test their skills on the famous Lauberhorn piste where the World Cup Downhill is held. The White Elements Snowpark a t First and the Funpark "Im Rad" at Murren means freestyle skiers and boarders can perfect their tricks on a variety of kickers, boxes and slides. Cross country skiers can explore the 30km of trails in the area, and walkers have 100km of winter footpaths to enjoy.
One of the best kept secrets of the Alps, the town of Grindelwald sits on a sunny plateau at the bottom of the E... read full
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text:
Home > Brabus > BRABUS Mercedes CL Class 2011
Below you will find the high resolution car wallpapers for BRABUS Mercedes CL Class 2011. You may use the car wallpapers for any of the following widescreen screen resolutions:
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BRABUS Mercedes CL Class 2011
BRABUS offers not just engine tuning but a complete customization program for the 2011 facelift generation of the Mercedes CL-Class. It includes a sporty-elegant aerodynamic-enhancement kit that fits all latest versions of the coupe not equipped ex-factory with AMG body styling. The BRABUS front spoiler attaches to the underside of the production bumper and gives the CL an even more energetic front end. The spoiler's sophisticated shape was fine-tuned in the wind tunnel and reduces lift on the front axle at high speeds.


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Saturday, October 28, 2006
Can There Be An Objective Basis For Subjective Knowledge?
Ms. Rand also stressed that contradictions cannot exist in reality. Where we find a contradiction, she advised, check your premises. At least one of them will be incorrect.
The positivism expressed by David Aronson's fine book Evidence-Base Technical Analysis yields just such a contradiction. Before I launch into the contradiction and a possible resolution, allow me to mention (on an unsolicited basis!) that Aronson's book is a substantial contribution to the literature on technical analysis. One need not agree with his strident formulation that the discretionary application of technical analysis does not draw upon "a legitimate body of knowledge but a collection of folklore resting on a flimsy foundation of anecdote and intuition" (p. 261) to benefit from the reading of his work.
Specifically, Aronson has accomplished four worthy ends:
1) He clearly explains the importance of testing trading ideas and illustrates how that is done;
2) He describes both the strengths and potential weaknesses of data mining approaches;
3) He tests specific technical trading patterns and demonstrates how difficult it is to obtain statistically significant findings (and how easy it is to generate illusory ones);
4) He reviews major theories and research findings in behavioral finance to help traders begin the process of finding more promising patterns.
For a book that deals with technical themes of logic and mathematics, his work is eminently readable and understandable. I would rate it alongside Kenneth Grant's "Trading Risk" as a must read for developing traders.
That having been said, I believe Aronson's positivist roots--leading him to equate knowledge with declarative statements known to be true--create a Randian contradiction. If all knowledge consists of verifiable statements about observables, then Wittgenstein is correct in his formulation: Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must be silent. Subjective knowledge must be an oxymoron.
But here is the contradiction: It is common--certainly in my visits to proprietary trading firms, hedge funds, and investment banks--to find discretionary traders who have achieved a high level of trading success year after year, trading actively. Indeed, I wrote about just such an individual in my new book on trader performance. These are not mere anonymous figures on bulletin boards puffing up their performance stats. These are traders who have account statements and risk managers able to verify their superior performance. And yet they cannot verbalize specific rules or systems for their trading.
In short, they have knowledge, but it is not of the verbal, declarative kind.
The existence of such implicit learning has been known in cognitive neuroscience circles for decades. Philosopher Michael Polanyi offered an influential treatise on tacit forms of knowledge, and Arthur Reber began his groundbreaking studies in the 1960s, culminating in his 1993 text "Implicit Learning and Tacit Knowledge". More recently, Timothy Curran, in the "Handbook of Implicit Learning" summarized research that found different brain mechanisms mediating implicit learning and explicit, verbal knowing.
How does implicit learning occur? Through intensive repetition, in which individuals become sensitive to complex and noisy patterns. This is how young children learn to speak grammatical English before they can verbalize the rules of English grammar. It's also how we can identify a face that we could never adequately describe in words, and it's how we know when such a face is starting to display anger or sadness. Serial reaction time experiments show that subjects can learn complex statistical probabilities in sequences of data with enough repetition and feedback. Interestingly, they can anticipate events in those sequences, but cannot verbalize the complex patterns that they have internalized. (The research of Axel Cleeremans is particularly eloquent on this point).
Such subjective knowledge is not "devoid of information" as positivist philosophy would have it. There are, of course, intutions that prove to be invalid, but reducing all knowledge to testable hypotheses would probably eliminate most of the knowledge and understanding that lies behind great art, as well as most performance fields such as athletics. The deep knowing of musicians, chess players, and fighter pilots can hardly be reduced to sets of explicit propositions.
If we admit the possibility of such subjective knowledge, then it follows that the development of algorithmic systems with fully backtested rules is not the only way to achieve trading success. It may be possible to generate success by accelerating processes of implicit learning through the use of simulation/replay and intensive feedback. Ironically, the weakness of much technical analysis is not that it is subjective, but that it pretends to an objectivity that it cannot support.
Can there ever be an objective basis for subjective knowledge? I believe so. A trader's track record of profit/loss can be compared to random entries/exits (as well as buy and hold) to objectively determine whether or not that trader--over time--exhibits significant skill. Imagine a Monte Carlo simulation in which we create random entries and exits each day that a trader trades, with identical trading frequency and holding times. Suppose that such a simulation is conducted 10,000 times by computer. The resulting distribution of P/L would display the likelihood of achieving a given level of profitability by chance alone. If a trader's subjective trading methods consistently produce results at the very upper tail of that distribution, we can objectively infer that the subjective trader is skilled.
In other words, by treating each trader as a trading system, we can evaluate that trader's level of knowledge, regardless of whether the knowledge is subjective or objective. In the absence of such score-keeping, discretionary traders have no basis for a belief that they possess a true edge in the marketplace. One need not resort to positivism--or system-based trading--to be rigorously scientific. It is precisely because intuitions are fallible and human senses are so easily deceived that we need to distinguish truly superior outcomes from merely random ones.
9 comments:
- Brandon Wilhite said...
Nice post! I couldn't agree more. There is so much we know that does not fit neatly into the reductionistic, and cartesian, framework of knowledge. It works really well for physics (to a point), but not well at all for many other valid areas of human endeavor. You give a good example of how we could argue this empirically.
- Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. said...
Thanks for the note. Much of these discussions become polarized as pro-technical analysis vs. anti-TA. What I've seen in working with successful traders is that their (stated) methods are very, very different. It makes me think that what they are doing and how they are conceptualizing what they're doing are two different things. That's certainly the case among psychotherapists: what they do that works actually has little to do with their adopted theories.
- John Wheatcroft said...
Great post – some thoughts neither well thought out nor well articulated but for what it they are worth.
Isn't - implicit learning through the use of simulation/replay and intensive feedback – the same as the development of algorithmic systems with fully backtested rules?
If not – why isn't it – I "learned" the process long before I "described" the process through simulation/replay and intensive feedback – i.e. I tried to do the same thing over and over again until I found out which "same thing" led to success. Then I wrote it down or, actually, completed development of an algorithmic system with fully backtested rules.
The weakness of all technical analysis is that it reports "last weeks news" as if it is fresh and current. But as a result of observation over a period of time we know that price – once in an apparent pattern of rise or fall remains in that pattern for a period of time within certain parameters of certainty. While I don't use MACD, ROC, SAR, Bollinger Bands or any other "technical indicator" in my trading I can, as a result of study and prior experience, generally predict what they would show even though they aren't on my screens. Is that "implicit"?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the "mechanics" of selection become unnecessary for most successful traders after awhile and indeed sometimes become impediments. For example if someone insists that just because a certain technical indicator has been in an oversold configuration for weeks and weeks that the market can't continue to go higher yet it does and breaks records in the process – are they a good trader or bad trader?
I'd posit that perhaps they were a good or successful trader if they continued to trade and make profits during the period in question but a bad trader if they sat on the sidelines and waited for their definition of "inevitable" to occur.
Or we could say that they are they merely managing their risk during a spate of uncertainty and thus, because of their "implicit" learning, they have preserved their capital? Once more a question answered with the fateful two words – "it depends."
Bottom line – I believe that your test would fail because looking at P&L sometimes (many times?) only exhibits the result of luck, both good and bad. We simply can't "know" what a trader sees in his/her mind's eye.
- Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. said...
Thanks John. Ideally, a test of trader skill would first identify traders with superior P/L and then track their performance in real time over a considerable period. This would be like in-sample and out-of-sample testing of trading systems. If the trader's fresh performance still lies at the upper extreme of a distribution that you'd obtain with random entries and exits, then you'd have a very solid basis for inferring skill. If the fresh performance fell sharply and rested firmly in the middle of the distribution of random outcomes, you'd be more likely to think that luck was a factor in the trader's initial success. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.
- Brandon Wilhite said...
What I would like to know is whether or not you have done any such studies? ...I would find such results very interesting from a philosophical standpoint as it would help to verify a certain thought expirement I constructed.
I think that there would be some overlap between implicit learning in a discretionary trading method and algorithmic trading, but they are not the same. I think that the main difference would be that a human discretionary trader would be able to learn much more quickly than an algorithm. The human trader also encapsulates much more information than an algorithm ever can. I trade with algorithms, but I don't change them or override them (even though I "know" sometimes that the signal is bad). Although as I think about it, I believe that the algorithms themselves are also "training" me as a result of this whole process. Anyone who's really interested in the posts you've given on this topic so far should go read Michael Polanyi...he's really an easy read.
- Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. said...
Thanks for the note. Such an experiment would indeed be interesting, to compare how machines and people learn. I have not performed such research myself; nor am I aware that anyone has tackled the area.
Thanks for the Polanyi recommendation. His books on the Tacit Dimension and on Personal Knowledge are very worthwhile reading.
- Globetrader said...
I'm a discretionary trader. Meaning I'm not able to mechanize my trade selection and trade entry and exit rules. I really tried, but failed miserably in real trading, even if backtesting looked so promising.
But for a long time my %-Win, %-Breakeven and %-Loss trades remained relatively static.
So this June instead of defining hard trade entry and exit rules, I decided to trust myself to be able to achive about the same statistic results next month again.
It was a very difficult process for me, as that meant giving up control and relying on my intuition to provide me with a feeling that a certain setup seen on the screen would fit my tade selection criterias, even if I'm not able to verbalize them all.
It was exactly what I had to do to become a profitable trader.
It's nothing to be recommended to a novice trader, as you need a lot of screentime to train your intuition. For me it took 5 years looking at charts, which today still have features I had on my charts 5 years ago.
If you can compile statistical data about your trading over a long time and you see consistencies, you don't need to come up with a objective trade rule, you can replace it with a trust in yourself to achieve this result again. And you can then build on it and try identifying the areas in your trading which need improvement.
For me it was bringing down the average $-Loss / Trade proving market lore again right: Take care of your losses, the profits take care of themself.
- Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. said...
Hello Globetrader,
Thank you very much for the very insightful post. Your point about how statistical data on your trading reveals consistencies that are your own, internal trading rules is excellent. Congratulations on your development as a trader. You'd make a fine coach and mentor for others.
- Sophokles said...
Hi! Thanks for a great read!
Globetrader said, "If you can compile statistical data about your trading over a long time and you see consistencies, you don't need to come up with a objective trade rule, you can replace it with a trust in yourself to achieve this result again. And you can then build on it and try identifying the areas in your trading which need improvement."
If we, let's say, compare this knowledge above with the strathegic thinking of a chessplayer. Would the reason for thinking mechanical be based on lack of experience or logic thinking? Since it's very unlikly that the same situation would accour in the exact same way again?
So, in order to get the experience required I would need to make mistakes? Even though some of those mistakes could be prevented by mechanical thinking.
Hope you follow my thoughts here.
From a swedish student of economics...


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Let $A$ and $B$ be closed sets (subsets of $\mathbb{R}^m$ and $\mathbb{R}^n$, say), and let $f : A \times B \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function.
Consider the function $g : A \rightarrow B$ defined by
$g(x) = \underset{y \in B}{\operatorname{arg}\max} f(x,y)$
assuming some tie-breaking strategy for $f(x,y_1) = f(x,y_2)$. Clearly, $g$ may have discontinuities (but perhaps only countably many?).
If $A$ and $B$ are intervals of $\mathbb{R}$, $g$ corresponds to looking down the $y$-axis at the 3D graph of $f$, and marking the points on the "skyline".
Does this correspond to some known operation that has a established name?
My motivation is merely that I'm thinking about using this for a fun side project, so I'd like to know if it has a name and any known interesting properties beyond piecewise continuity(?). I've tagged this recreational accordingly; if it's an inappropriate question for MathOverflow, I apologize.


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27 Dec 2012 11:30 PM #1
Unanswered: more than one instances of Controller
I have created a custom component which takes a json and creates a view.that component is a controller which I export and import as a behavior in toolbox.
I want to use that Custom component more than once in my view but controller is a singleton class then is there any way to create multiple instances of my view?
31 Dec 2012 7:07 AM #2
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You just need to rethink how you are doing it. A controller can only be created once but views can be created multiple times.Mitchell Simoens @LikelyMitch
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8 Jan 2013 11:23 PM #3
I know I can create my custom component as view but there are some more things which I want to do while creating a comp like I want to create store and model dynamically for that view which I can achieve using controller.


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Italians are renowned for being a warm and welcoming people. You'll find that the majority of Florentines, especially shop keepers and restaurant workers have some English language ability and it is not hard to navigate the city with limited Italian language skills. While they may not expect visitors to speak Italian, locals will warm to you quickly if you try to engage them in their own tongue, and if you aren't shy about fumbling your way through a few phrases in Italian they will be eager to help you hone your skills.
When out and about you may notice a few unwritten rules of etiquette that come in handy to any visitor to Italy. Greetings, even when meeting someone for the first time, are warm and friendly. Though smoking has recently been prohibited in bars, it is still an acceptable habit and it is not considered offensive to non-smokers in the same way that it might be in the United States.
When dining out, coperto, or a cover charge, is customarily added to the check. Tipping a specific percentage above the final bill is not the norm, though it is always a considered a polite gesture to round the check up and leave a few extra euros after the meal.
Something that is important to know about Italy is that despite their reputation for being open and friendly, Italians are a very political people. Italy has had over 60 types of governments since World War II. The political environment is both fragile and steeped in controversy. In a country such as this, the Italian people find staying abreast of their leaders and the decisions they make extremely important. This interest is fueled by years of corruption and unrest. You are likely to learn a lot about current politics once you arrive, though there is nothing lost in doing a little research beforehand.
Language passage
These are some useful phrases for getting around the city!
Mi scusi - Excuse me
Buongiorno - Good day
Dov'è il bagno? - Where is the bathroom?
Grazie - Thank you
Non parlo l'italiano I don't speak Italian


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Let $V$ be the Banach space of bounded sequences of reals with the sup norm. Does there exists a subset $B$ of $V$ such that
- Linear Independence: For all functions $c$ in $\mathbb{R}^B$, if $\sum_{b \in B} c(b) \cdot b = 0$, then $c$ is identically zero.
- Spanning Set: For all vectors $v$ in $V$, there exists a function $c$ in $\mathbb{R}^B$ such that $\sum_{b \in B} c(b) \cdot b = v$.
If so, is an explicit such $B$ known?


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In XCrawl, you can grandstand to the crowd or mug for the camera during a dungeon crawl. There are a lot of rules around that - Perform skills, etc - but it seems like the only effect I can find is a long term Fame bonus if you make 5 successful checks. Does it have some other effect, Mojo bonuses or the like?
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The bonus of fame IS the bonus. It is added to various non-performance rolls outside the dungeon-arena. Fame also affects one's appearance fees. (P.122)
So the whole point of grandstanding is to get your fame up by making the crowd like you. Which, by the way, makes it easier to please the next crowd.


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As per title, what is or should be the average time length in real time of one combat encounter in each tier of a DnD 4E game? I've noticed between heroic and paragon tier combat length starts to increase a lot. I have not reached epic tier with any group but am curious about it's length as well. I'm not sure if this is just our group taking a longer time or if it's something else so figured I'd try to get a gauge of what should be normal combat time.
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This really depends on the pacing of your group. Our heroic tier group of 6 PCs usually gets through 2-3 encounters per session (about 3 hours). However, our combats are usually fairly quick affairs rarely lasting more than 2-3 rounds. We have experimented with a 2 minute turn timer but it hasn't had much effect on play speed, we usually do without it as we rarely had to call players on their turns.
I can't speak to paragon and epic tier combats, but I can imagine that they would take longer (both time and rounds) as monster HP seems to scale up quite a bit faster than player damage does, thus requiring more rounds per combat making combats longer.
In our latest campaign, we started out in Paragon tier. We have three players, one DM, and the DM runs a cleric to help out. Most combats are - to put it bluntly - excruciatingly slow. We tend to make it through two, maybe three combats in a six-hour session, and in our last session we made it through one (admittedly large) combat that occupied a good five hours.
For us, there are 4e reasons and group reasons.
A good answer for this isn't time in real time, but in how many rounds it should take. A typical combat should take about 6 rounds of combat. This is calculated because of action points, monster HP, player tactics, ect. If you go over six rounds of combat, the battle is either too hard or the dice are just being majorly unfair to the PC's and monsters. One side or the other should be giving way by turn 4 and should be running or killed by turn 6.
However, if you estimate how much time it takes each player to take a turn at about 3 to 4 minutes, a typical 5 person table should take an hour and a half of player time to get through. Assuming the DM knows what they're doing, they can get their stuff done in about 30 minutes of game time, so you're looking at an encounter being under 2 hours.
Of course, this is all variable, but that's a good baseline I've run with for my home games. Constructed games, like Living Forgotten Realms, should be played in a much more timely fashion, about one encounter an hour, because of it being a 4 hour game that's run in conventions. Judge for yourself how fast your players are taking to get their turns done, and I mean all of it from Minor/Move/Standard to rolling the dice. I have characters that take their turns in 30 seconds, including mental math. Then I have one player that takes a good 5 to 10 minutes. Controllers will bog your game down, fighters and strikers will speed it up. The more dice you roll and the more tactical you have to be to be effective, the more time it'll take you.
Unfortunately I have to give the weasel answer of "it depends." But I would like to share the factors I have used when considering this question:
1. Consider the Session:
2. Ask your Players: Shameless plug, but I use www.surveymonkey.com to take polls. As I shape up an upcoming Dark Sun game, I asked everyone the following questions:
The results aren't scientific, since a six person sample size is difficult from which to extrapolate but I don't care—I care about my players and what they think. I'd be happy to share the results if you want them, but that is getting off topic.
"Long combats" can be a sign of unfamiliarity. One of the results of moving into the paragon tier is the proliferation of new options; with Paragon Paths and retrained powers, this may be the result of a great deal of new information and tactics to process. (New sourcebooks also contribute — by the time you've played through 10 character levels, you're committed enough to the game that buying more of the Power books might seem like a good idea.)


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Home > BMW > BMW Zagato Roadster 2013
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BMW Zagato Roadster 2013
As you may remember if you've followed us during the past few months, earlier this year we had the chance to see the one-off BMW Zagato Coupe Concept at the 2012 Concorso dÉleganza Villa d-Este in northern Italy. Now it appears that BMW has managed to create another Zagato spin-off, this time based on the BMW Z4 convertible. That being said, the BMW Zagato Roadster 2013 has been created and showcased at the Concours d'Elegance held last weekend at Pebble Beach CA.


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DGG Bethany at Vodka Vodka DGG Bethany, posing with official "Vodka Vodka" gear, courtesy of Metro Times. (credit: Bethany Alferink)
Bethany at the Absolut booth She may be Detroit's Gossip Girl, but DGG Bethany couldn't help but sample Absolut Miami! (credit: Bethany Alferink)
Absolut at Vodka Vodka Absolut Miami and Absolut Grapevine were showcased at the Absolut Booth. (credit: Bethany Alferink)
Hard Luck Candy Vodka Who could resist flavors like Swedish Fish and Root Beer? (credit: Bethany Alferink)
DGG Bethany at the Skyy booth Blood Orange flavored Skyy? Lots of great new flavors were showcased at this year's Vodka Vodka. (credit: Bethany Alferink)
Three Olives girls and DGG Bethany The girls from Three Olives Vodka were all dressed up...and handing out crowns! Looks like our Queen "B" is officially royalty! (credit: Bethany Alferink)
CW50's own Queen "B" at Vodka Vodka (credit: Bethany Alferink)
High Liquors at Vodka Vodka The High Liquors booth was ultra-"cool"...and it didn't hurt that it was right next to Peteet's Cheesecake - they were recently featured on First Forecast Mornings! (credit: Bethany Alferink)
Little Black Dress at Vodka Vodka Every fashionista needs a little black dress...(credit: Bethany Alferink)
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Consider almost any song in a church hymn book. Either at the top just above the ledger lines or at the bottom near the credits is a series of numbers usually a set of four to six numbers such as 87 87 87 or 10 10 10 10 10 or 88 88 88. They are not necessarily all the same number. What do those numbers mean? What part of music theory discusses them?
The numbers you are referring to are most likely hymn meters. No, not a scale of how well the hymn was received, or how loud it should be, but actually an indication of the meter of the hymn. (Wikipedia has a good article on hymn meters.) The numbers themselves refer to the meter (number of syllables) of each line.
Thus, 87.87.87 would mean the first line has a phrase of 8 syllables followed by a line of seven syllables. The second and third lines would be the same.
In theory, one could mix and match the words and musics from all hymns with the same numbers. Thus, (using the 87.87.87 example), one could sing the words from "Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation" (Latin/Percell, Methodist hymn #559) to the melody from "Angel from the Realms of Glory" (Montgomery/Smart, Hymn #220).
The 10 10 10 10 example is interesting as the 10 stands for 10 syllables, not 1 syllable followed by a strange non-syllabic utterance. In this case, the meter is 4 lines of 10 syllables each.
BTW, many hymnals actually include an index of Meters (Metrical Index) which lists the meters and gives the hymns that use them. The index also shows the Hymn Tune (note progressions) that are used. (For instance, "Angels from the Realms of Glory" and "Easter People, Raise Your Voices" both use 87.87.87 and the Regent Square.)


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After a brief transition period, Chevron will assume operatorship of the LNG plant and the pipeline. Apache Canada increased its ownership in the LNG plant and pipeline from 40% and will operate the upstream assets. Encana and EOG Resources sold their interests and exited the venture.
Apache has completed its previously-announced transaction with
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Chevron and Apache each have become a 50% owners of the
Kitimat LNG plant, the Pacific Trail Pipelines and 644,000
gross undeveloped acres in the Horn River and Liard basins, the
companies said on Monday.
After a brief transition period, Chevron will assume
operatorship of the LNG plant and the pipeline. Apache Canada
increased its ownership in the LNG plant and pipeline from 40%
and will operate the upstream assets.
Apache's net proceeds from the transaction were $405
"With Chevron's LNG experience and Apache's upstream track
record, this team is ideally suited to move this project forward toward delivering
the tremendous resources at Liard and Horn River to meet Asia's
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Liard and Horn River are two of the most prolific shale gas
plays in North America, the companies said, with more than 50
trillion cubic feet of resource potential on the Apache-Chevron
Encana and EOG Resources -- formerly 30% non-operating
owners in Kitimat LNG and Pacific Trail Pipelines -- sold their
interests and exited the venture.
Kitimat LNG, at Bish Cove on the northern British Columbia
coast approximately 400 miles (650 km) north of Vancouver, is
currently completing front-end engineering and design, and
early site work is under way.
Current plans call for two liquefaction trains, each with
expected capacity of 5 million tpy of LNG (about 750 million
cubic feet of gas per day).
Kitimat LNG has received all significant environmental approvals and a
20-year export license from the Canadian federal
The 290-mile (463-km) Pacific Trail Pipelines will provide a
direct connection between the Spectra Energy Transmission
pipeline system and the Kitimat LNG terminal.
The project has strong support from many
of the First Nations along the route, according to the
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Engineers and designers are highly skilled individuals. Forcing them to enter design changes using tables, forms and spreadsheets is unproductive and uneconomical, and it increases the likelihood of human error—this is the way that most instrumentation software systems currently work. For too long, software vendors have denied engineers and designers the simple practicality of a graphical visual engineering interface with "drag and drop" capability and inbuilt intelligence, ensuring changes are automatically replicated into all the associated data and databases.
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