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In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul begins, "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first..." (ESV empahsis mine). Is there any indication - whether in this book or other Pauline or early Christian writings - as to who is rebelling and against what? Is this a rebellion against God? Against the church? Within the church? Or what?
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The context of the rebellion of II Thessalonians chapter two is much debated. I will attempt to provide a solid biblical based answer.
The context of II Thessalonians 2:3 is the Second Coming of Christ. I'd like to briefly make mention of two different Bible versions, and their rendering of verse two of this chapter. I'd also like to explain why I feel the KJV translation provides the correct rendering. First, King James Version (The ASV is similar in wording):
The English Standard Version (Very similar to NIV wording):
As we see, the ESV gives a rendering that seems to imply the Thessalonian church feared they'd missed the Lord's return. The Greek word [enistemi] is used here in relation to the Day of the Lord's proximity. So it could be either rendered soon or impending, i.e. at hand, or it could also be rendered already present or has come. But a very strong case can be made for the use of at hand (soon) in this verse. This would be consistent with Paul telling them, in verse two, not to shaken in mind, or troubled by word or letter, because the rebellion/apostasy would precede the Second Coming. From Paul's tone in verse two it sounds as though he is responding to epistles addressed to the church falsely attributed to him-- "nor by letter as from us,". Clearly, false teachers were trying to alter Paul's message concerning his previous exhortations and teachings concerning the day of the Lord (I Thess 5:5), but it was not by stating it had already past. Why would a Christian church be shaken by the thought of the Lord's coming? Because of reverential fear of standing in the immediate presence of Almighty God. The amount of bogus information they'd received may have lead them to question Paul's consistency and their own standing in the faith. So Paul appears delicate with this young church, exhorting them with kind words of correction.
In summary, Paul is comforting this congregation because they were shaken by false teachings concerning the day of the Lord. This chapter has nothing to do with the Hymenaeus and Philetus heresy, or AD. 70 and the Temple destruction as some claim. The term "day of the Lord" in this context deals stickily with God's wrath poured out on rebellious man at His coming.
The Rebellion
Paul briefly mentioned the rebellion in I Tim 4.
Paul's mention of "the Latter times", I Tim 4:1, is of the same subject matter of II Thess 2. The "departing from the faith" is not Christian backsliding as some presume, but wolves in sheep's clothing that cloak themselves within the Church (the Temple of God mentioned in II Thess 2:4) and promote unlawfulness and unrighteousness. These are those who will depart from the apostolic teachings and promote their own false doctrines. Paul warns them in verse 15:
Those involved in the rebellion, later collectively called "man of sin", are so wicked in their deception they are said to "sit in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."(Notice Paul's usage of "the wicked" in verse 8, then as "them" in verse 10, implying many wicked ones KJV).
Paul's readers knew the only Temple of God could only mean the Body of Jesus Christ, this fact best expressed in Ephesians 2:20. Herod's Temple that stood then was no longer God's Holy Temple since God's glory had since departed. Paul used the expression "sitteth in the Temple" to allude to the level of conceit these men would have, this considering the fact the physical Temple had no chairs for rest. Paul's message here is stark. The rebellion will be deep within the ranks of the Church, and those who do not heed to the Truth will be swept up in all of its deception and will perish. The only thing restraining the full unleashing of Satan's apostasy, the deception of the nations, is the binding applied to Satan as a result of Christ's victory on the Cross; which restraint Paul's says will be "taken out of the way" vs 7, (cf Matt 12:29 & Rev 20:2,3). Scripture does not give any details as to how the rebellion is initiated, but Paul writes the mystery of iniquity was already at work then. So we know once it comes to a head it will be hideous considering the present wickedness.
Examining the earthly ministry of Jesus gives insight to this particular deception. Judas is called "The son of perdition" by the Lord Jesus in John 17:12 "...those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." And Paul draws the parallel to another deceiver in II Thess 2:3 "...except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" Judas as we know is one whose deception lead to the betrayal of the Lord. He stood with the twelve, but he was not really one of them. He was wicked and greedy, betraying the Lord of Glory with a kiss for a stack of silver. Likewise, the "man of sin" will stand with the Church of Christ, but will speak only lies.
"Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." Psalms 41:9
*I am not a KJV only advocate. I do feel the more literal versions (KJV, ASV, NASB) are more helpful for study.
Ref: http://www.studylight.org/com/cal/view.cgi?bk=52&ch=2
The Baker Bible Commentary
The Bible and the Future: Anthony Hoekema
I think we need to take another look at the Greek word
Firstly, we need to understand that its usage is not exclusive to a departure from anything specific. It is only used twice in the New Testament (Acts 21:21; 2 Thess 2:3), but other forms (derivations) of the word appear in places such as Luke 4:13, Luke 1:8, etc.
It was also used in secular works, such as by Olympiodorus (c. 495 – 570) in his Commentary on Aristotle's Meteorology (Εἰς τὸ πρῶτον τῶν Μετεωρολογικῶν Ἀριστοτέλους σχόλια), 320.2, to refer to a physical disappearance.
Diodorus Siculus in I BC used
So, both before and after the New Testament was written,
Clearly, the context of the use of
This is an
However, the context of its use in 2 Thess 2:3 is entirely different. Let us examine the context, using the surrounding verses:
We can make a simple, intellectual connection from A to A, and from B to B: There is a departure, and there is a revelation. Context connects the departure of Verse 3 with the "departure" of Verse 7, simultaneously connecting the revelation in Verse 3 with the revelation in Verse 8.
Therefore, to answer your question, there is no "rebellion" mentioned in Verse 3. Now, we know there will be rebellion in the last days (2 Tim 3:2-5), and we know that after the man of sin is revealed, God will send a strong delusion (cannot be contemporary with the events of Verse 3, since one is before the advent of the man of sin, and one is after), but Verse 3 is not about a rebellion, but rather about "he who lets" being "taken out of the way", e.g, "departing".
On a note unrelated to the question, but interesting nonetheless, since the departure is passive ("taken out of the way"), I believe we can connect this verse with the
See Lidell-Scott-Jones' entry on
This is where there is a divergence of the translation of the Greek word 'apostasia'. I am not a linguist but it is translated "from stand(ing)" or I believe the KJV is more accurate "falling away". I believe a right understanding of the text is when we use 'apostasion' or divorce; it denotes separation in which there is no further attempt at 're-union'. Therefore, the text can be best understood "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away(divorce) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
Most expositors concur that the 'man of sin' is the Antichrist, and that it is 'a' particular individual; the 'son of perdition', used in John 17:12 by Jesus refers to Judas, the one who was 'lost' that Scripture might be fulfilled. Therefore, if we 'literally' interpret 2 Thess. 2:3 a simular 'Judas' will emerge on the world scene, and lead all nations to perdition.
But if we follow Revelations, and equate 'the beast that rises out of the sea'(Rev. 13:1) with the Antichrist, we see in Rev. 17:8 that this 'Beast' was, is not(during the time of John), and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition'. This is not capable by a mere mortal human being, so we must understand this context figuratively. If we look at the 'composite' beast of Rev. 13:1, we see that it has 7 Heads and 10 Horns, with crowns on the Horns. Since the crowns were on the Heads(Rev.12:3) during the time of the man-child who was born and carried up to the throne of God-signifying Christ, which happened during the time of John, the 'Heads' are the ancient nations which preceded the Horn nations, one of which was Rome which was in power during the time of Christ.
Going back to 2 Thess. 2:3, this 'Beast/Antichrist' does not "rise up out of the sea", until the "apostasy/divorce". This happened in the 16th Century, when Protestanism came into being. This was brought on by the 'Church' falling in love with the Renaisannce, and abandoning it's union with Christ in favor of a 'union' with a Greek Ideal. The result was 'apostasy', but rather than meaning 'back-sliding', which the church had gone through numerous times and had been brought back by reformers working within the church, this time reformers(The Reformation) worked outside of the church, and Christ's body was divided, contrary to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21.
The result was that the 'restraint' was removed from goverments who were held in check by the church. By the 18th Century a new type of government appeared, one that deliberately held no fealty to the church, in fact, church was to have no place in the affairs of government. The 'people' ruled of their own volition, and that's why the 'Beast' rises up out of the sea-which are "peoples, multitudes, nations, tongues"(Rev. 17:15). They express their will on election day through a Greek Ideal called 'democracy', which has warred against the church and it's influence. In the countries which adopt 'The People's Democracy' it has driven the church underground and killed it's members, uniting it's 'enlightened' citizens through 're-education' against the 'un-informed, intransient' believers.
I know this was much more than you asked for; I brought it out to further explain the passage in context with the word 'apostasea' which was translated 'rebellion' by the ESV. I don't count the 'Protestant Reformation' as 'rebellion'; rather it was a 'divorce' which has never been reconciled, brought on by the Church's involvement with Humanism/the Greek Ideal.


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In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_algebra, Lie bracket operation is defined as having bilinearity: $[ax+by,z] = a[x,z]+b[y,z], [z,ax+by] = a[z,x]+b[z,y]$.
But in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_bracket_of_vector_fields, it is said as the following: "for functions f and g, $[fX,gY] = fg[X,Y] + fX(g)Y-gY(f)X$." ($X,Y$ vector fields.)
My question is, the later description seems to violate bilinearity - function would anyway be evaluated at $p$ of smooth manifold $M$ which would make situation basically similar to the first description. Am I wrong here?

subset: commoncrawl


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Last week I was attending a communications training program. The trainer said that the term 'come again' has sexual meaning in American English. I was surprised as I have seen many Americans using the term in movies and meetings. Is there any such negative sense to the phrase?
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Sure, this phrase has sexual connotations, inasmuch as the word come has sexual connotations. But only someone being intentionally perverted would think of sex when hearing the phrase "come again", or another phrase with come in it, in day-to-day situations.
In US English, it certainly doesn't have a sexual meaning, as other answerers have noted; it's a common idiom.
However, in UK English, it's much more likely to be heard/used a double entendre. It's a much less common phrase in the UK, and since its idiomatic meaning is not terribly transparent, someone unfamiliar with it and trying to parse it literally will almost certainly at least consider the sexual meaning (since most other meanings of come require an implied indirect object, whereas in come again it appears to be completely intransitive).
Certainly the double meaning was a common source of jokes among my student friends in the UK about 10 years ago!
"Come again" is slang, shorthand for "say again" or "can you say that again", of a longer form and more polite, "Can you please repeat what you just said?"
People that do not know American slang very will say things like, "Can you come again, please". Which is wrong, because you are mixing formal politeness with a curt, abrupt slang or say again.
Foreigners should just ask, "say again" or be formal and say "Can you please repeat that for me please".
So when you hear someone say ""Can you come again, please", it sounds so awkward, that one's first thing in one's mind is that they are intending something possibly lurid from the comments, or they would not have added please in the phrase with the word come".
BTW the vulgar or common word is spelled with a u and does not end with an e....
I think this expression inherited a sexual connotation after it was used by Sebastian (character) in the movie Cruel Intentions. Otherwise it doesn't carry a questionable meaning.
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I vaguely remember seeing a paper studying the concept of a totally multiplicity-one representation of a finite group, which concept, I recall, had a particular name, which I forget. What is this name, and is there a reference paper (for example, the one I might have been reading) where I can find out what is known about these representations?
As others have commented, the most likely answer to the question in the header is Gelfand model, though you are apparently looking further for related literature. Probably the notion developed in the 1970s and 1980s in a series of papers by I.M. Gelfand and his collaborators. These are in Russian, but mostly published also in English translation journals and latter reprinted in the multi-volume collected works.
It's clear that the ideal notion of "model" of representations for a given group is a representation containing each irreducible representation exactly once as a constituent. But in some situations this is weakened to require only that "most" representations occur and/or that "most" of them have multiplicity just one. The groups studied usually are of Lie type (finite, compact, etc.) or perhaps closely related (symmetric groups, for example). And the results are varied, some more computable or usable than others. Finding a model for a specific group is a natural goal but difficult to reach.
MathSciNet and other databases provide good references and sometimes reviews. As a sample, here is a concise author summary which illustrates some of the typical motivation:
Gel′fand, I. M.; Zelevinski ̆ı, A. V. [Zelevinsky, Andrei], Models of representations of classical groups and their hidden symmetries. Akad. Nauk SSSR Inst. Prikl. Mat. Preprint 1984, no. 71, 26 pp.
Authors' summary: "For all complex classical groups G we construct new realizations of the representation model of G, i.e., the direct sum of all irreducible algebraic finite-dimensional representations of G occurring with multiplicity one. These realizations have hidden symmetry: the action of the Lie algebra of G on them extends naturally to the action of a larger Lie (super-) algebra. The construction of hidden symmetries is based on a geometrical construction, similar to a twistor construction of Penrose."
Another paper is part of a series in Russian by Bernstein-Gelfand-Gelfand:
Models of representations of compact Lie groups. (Russian) Funkcional. Anal. i Prilozˇen. 9 (1975), no. 4, 61–62.
[ADDED] Maybe I should emphasize that constructing an abstract model of representations for a group isn't by itself the goal, since it may be too big to provide further insight. As Junkie indicates (with reference to a paper that is also on the arXiv), symmetric groups and other finite Coxeter groups have been studied in this framework with partial success. For finite groups of Lie type, the ideas of Gelfand-Graev led to a simple construction which is "almost" a model of the ordinary characters but doesn't capture all of them. This is developed by Carter in his 1985 book Finite Groups of Lie Type, Chapter 8, and less completely by Digne-Michel in their 1991 text Representations of Finite Groups of Lie Type. Starting with any "regular" character of a maximal unipotent subgroup (the choices here don't matter), induction to the whole finite group yields a multiplicity-free character of large degree which has most other characters as constituents. Taken in isolation this is not so helpful, but combined with Deligne-Lusztig theory it leads to interesting results.
An underlying theme for groups of Lie type is that's it's fairly easy to construct big representations by induction from nice subgroups, but then it's not so easy to extract information about the irreducibles or multiplicities.


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In my post of Tombstone Tuesday - February 10 I wrote a little bit about the grave of an unknown child. Day before yesterday I made another trip to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Tolar in Hood County and looked closer at that little plot that is surrounded by a rock fence which is only about 8 or 10 inches high.
I took the time to clear away some of the weeds that hid the bottom of the headstone and took more pictures. When I downloaded them and enlarged the photos I was able to identify the child.
Above is the photo in the original post that I took first and below are the new pictures taken on Wednesday. Now I know the identity of this beloved child.
Dau. of
J. F. & L. B. Stevens
Born Oct. 27, 1897
Died Dec. 13, 1897
J. F. Stevens does not appear in the 1900 Hood County census, however. Maybe the family decided to move from the area after the death of their 2-month old baby. If you have information on this family, I would love to hear from you.
Photographs taken by Judith Richards Shubert 2009 (c)


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So mages at low levels are pretty pathetic but they grow up to be pretty dangerous. Most Fighter classes are pretty balanced from bottom to top.
So my question is what is the hardest class to play as from square one up to a high level campaign?
Edit: Due to interesting answers I will define 'Hardest' as either most complex character to play as, or hardest to keep alive (which was my original meaning.)


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Scania UK in brief
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To the Editor:
I've been a property owner in Fraser and lived in the Valley for more than 40 years. During that time, I've occasionally asked a neighbor for help and plenty of times I've helped a neighbor who needed it. For me, Fraser and Grand County have always been that sort of neighborly place.
The developer of Byer's Peak Ranch, who has proven he is no neighbor anyone would want, has come to Fraser for a handout. Like a bum with a cardboard sign, he stands there with empty hands, bringing nothing that will make Fraser a better place to live. Instead of considering the age and condition of the existing water supply and helping upgrade it to meet his needs, he's asking for free water taps. Free water taps? How on earth is that going to help us fix the school's water supply? You probably remember the one that froze up recently.
Some folks might not know much about Fraser's water supply. I've kept a piece of it that I dug up out of Mill Avenue a few years back and honestly, it looks like something you would expect to find in a street ripped up in the Haitian hurricane. Unfortunately, it's typical of a lot of the old Fraser pipe that hasn't been dug up yet. I ask everyone to think long and hard before anyone gives away a single tap, let alone the thousand he wants.
I am convinced this is no deal for Fraser. Why should we reach into our pocket to make Fraser a better place for this developer? All he wants is to take from us. He wants to take away the view of Byers Peak. In exchange, he's offered to turn Saint Louis Creek into a 6-acre cesspool and clog our roads with his Denver contractors for the next 35 years.
This is no deal for Fraser; this is no deal for Grand County; this is no deal for any sane community.
Jay Clough


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The 5 Worst Deals In the History of Handshakes
It is the way of the modern world that when one man prospers another is getting a nice length of shaft instead. Perfectly fair deals are few and far between, and while it's tempting to think that short-pour on your martini is the single biggest rip-off ever, you would be tragically mistaken. History is full of true stories of people who got the absolute shortest end of the stick... presumably somewhere in the "butt" region.
#5. The Manhattan Deal (Is Not What You Think It Is)
We all heard the story while growing up: Back in the day, the Dutch settlers bought Manhattan island for $24 worth of trinkets from gullible injuns who had no concept of property rights. But that's not quite the whole story. See, the Native Americans knew damn well what property rights were, and had known for centuries before the Dutch showed up. Also, the Dutch bought the island from the wrong people. And finally, the purchase price was actually 60 guilders which works out to an even $1,000 in today's money.
Wait, what was that middle thing again?
Yes, it turns out that the Dutch expedition led by Peter Minuit actually purchased Manhattan from the Canarsie Indians, who were based out of Long Island. They only used the island of Manhattan as a convenient place to get shitfaced, and were by no means the rightful owners (that would be the Manhattoes). So when a bunch of surly Dutch traders showed up and offered to buy the place, the drunken Canarsies readily accepted. Basically it was an old-school version of the "Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge?" scam--except this one actually worked.
So the whole situation is less like a crafty white guy buying a gold mine for a pittance from some poor, suffering widow, than it is a quasi-retarded white guy wandering by a bar and offering to buy it--cash in advance of course--from the first drunk he sees passed out in the gutter out front. On the down side, this was still a shitty deal for the Manhattoes, who presumably came by the next day and wondered who the dickheads moving into their houses were. But on the upside, it was a pretty fantastic night for the Canarsies, who got history-altering wasted and somehow came out of the whole thing a grand richer.
Well, until white people murdered them too. Then it was pretty much all square.
#4. Portugal Gives Away the World
You wouldn't know it now to look at them, but at one point Spain and Portugal were the biggest superpowers in the world. So when the New World was discovered, you best believe that they were all over that shit like filth on a hobo. Unfortunately, property law of the day was pretty much limited to shouting, "But I was here first!" and then taking all plaintiffs to the High Court of Abdomen Stabbing.
So the land-grab turned into a big ol' funny hat-wearing slap-fight until eventually, both governments were fed up and sat down to negotiate terms peacefully. The solution they came up with, which they called the Treaty of Tordesillas, was based on logic straight out of a Three's Company episode: They simply pulled out a map of the New World, drew a line down the center, and let the Spanish have everything to the West while the Portuguese got all the stuff to the East.
Which seems fair enough... until you look at that same line on a modern-day map:
See, the problem with 15th century maps is that they just slapped down as much as they knew, colored the rest in with dragons and called it a day. So Portugal wound up with a tiny chunk of uninhabitable rainforest, while Spain ended up with pretty much all of South and Central America. Eventually Portugal figured out the terrible trick that Fate had played on it and desperately tried to expand its borders, but the Spanish had already settled in around them and blocked all their efforts. After a while, the Spanish felt sorry for the Portuguese and allowed them to expand to the current-day borders of Brazil, which netted them even more uninhabitable rainforest.
Just look at this uninhabitable hellhole!
To add insult to injury, just as the Portuguese had finished developing Brazil into something worthwhile, the ungrateful natives rebelled against them and took back the country (this may have had something to do with centuries of oppression, but mostly it was just plain old bad manners). With its only colony of any importance gone, Portugal's power faded into obscurity. Spain, on the other hand, enjoyed superpower status for several hundred years, proving that all any country needs to be great is a shitty cartographer and a stroke of luck.
#3. MikeRoweSoft Takes On Microsoft, Wins
Back in August of 2003, a 17-year-old Canadian by the name of Mike Rowe decided to set up a website for his part-time web-design business. The name he chose was MikeRoweSoft.com, and the more observant of our readers will have noted that this bears a striking similarity to a certain software mega-corporation. So it's not exactly surprising that the humorless executives from Microsoft found out about Mike's site and immediately asked him to take it down due to trademark infringement.
When Rowe asked for some sort of compensation, they offered him the kingly sum of $10. No, we're not missing a few zeroes there: One of the wealthiest companies in the entire world decided they couldn't afford to spend more money on Rowe than they would on a plate of Fajita Bely-Blasters at Applebee's. Oddly enough, Rowe declined this generous offer and was served with a 25-page cease-and-desist order instead of delicious, flavored-fired quesadillettes.
But as the gears in the mighty Microsoft war machine began rumbling towards court, Mike Rowe did an unexpected thing: He talked to the press. As the media started having a field day with the news, somewhere deep in the Microsoft hive mind, someone finally realized that they were taking a freaking teenager to court over a sophomoric pun and that this just might possibly not be the best PR for a company already one Death Star short of villain-status in the public eye. With the amount of backpedaling that followed, Lance Armstrong could have ridden the entire Tour de France in reverse.
To start off, they paid all of Rowe's legal fees as well as the cost of shifting his website to a better service provider (on account of the massive traffic boost he was experiencing) leaving him with a tasty $6,000 extra. They also sent him a brand-new Xbox and a full library of games, gave him and his parents an all-expense paid trip to a tech festival at Microsoft's Washington HQ and paid for a Microsoft certification course and a subscription to Microsoft's Developer Forum. In short, they set up his entire career for him and gave him some sweet things to do in his off time.
Oh, and that 25-page cease-and-desist thing? Mike Rowe auctioned it off on eBay for $1,000. And though it's pure speculation on our part, this just might be the thing that made Bill Gates rage-quit the tech industry for good.


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An Affair to Remember
THE PARTY The island's socialites came out en masse for the magnificent fete that was the showstopping wedding of Fasi, son of the late Honolulu mayor, and Dar, former KITV presenter. THE PLAYERS Marivic and Ather Dar, Joyce Fasi, Crystal Pancipanci, Donne Dawson, Jojo Watumull, Lan Chung, Lindsey Higa, Chris Dawson THE SCENE Glamour was the word du jour at this luxury event that took over Waikīkī's legendary Pink Palace. As Dar's father is originally from Pakistan, South Asian flourishes wove their way throughout the celebration, from the traditional ceremony (oceanside, of course) to the bridal party's meticulously sewed dresses to the festive dancing. Mahealani Richardson, KITV presenter and Dar's former colleague, graciously served as the evening's mistress of ceremonies. BEST IN SHOW Guests oohed and aahed over the beautiful mehndi (henna tattoos) that were exquisitely painted onto Dar's hands and feet. -Travis Okimoto


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Hi guys,
Since a longer time I liked to proof the Wind Stability of the M Series.
I did a first test with 2 beaufort but wanted to go beyond this speed. So I took an industrial ventilator with 16800m3/h, 78cm diameter, 24kg which brought me up to 4. My knowledge form sailing and gliding ended in placing a conical tube in front of it and I managed to speed up to 34.7km/h which is in the middle range of 5 beaufort.
I tested with my D3 and 300mm/f2.8 with the air blowing directly to the camera lens combination on M2 RD8II placed on a Feisol 3372LV.
I took pictures of a ISO 12233 test chart.I used different shutter speeds: 2, 2.5, 4, 6, 8, 10 sec.
The pics were taken with ISO 200, f8.
Because M1 and M2 use the same rails I dare to say M1 would get the same results.
I will try to get to a higher speed if possible to see when M Series begins to trill.
I think this is a proof of a well and stable designed panohead series. Many thanks to Nick.
Another test I did with the laser with and without the camera lens combination: http://ge.tt/3LyRo7Q


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Baratza Encore GrinderBaratza's Encore Grinder for coffee or espresso is an entry-level burr grinder that improved upon the features of the previous Maestro Plus generation. The upgraded gear box provides improved durability and decreased noisiness. Unlike its predecessors, the Baratza Encore can effectively be used with traditional espresso machines and not just pressurized systems. This is an easy to use, easy to adjust grinder that offers a consistent grind at a good price. Learn More$129.00
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Regular Price: $120.00


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Men's Jordan Jumpman Classic Jacket
Buy Online & Pick Up In-Store
Classic styling and iconic details make the Jordan Jumpman Classic Jacket a must-have for Jordan fans. Made of a lightweight polyester and cotton blend, this cozy jacket is the perfect addition to your wardrobe.
Featuring a full-zip and mock neck, this Jordan jacket helps to block out the cold on chilly days. The classic Jordan Jumpman logo and contrast piping add just enough style, while the rib cuffs and hem ensure an ideal fit.
Whether you wear this as a top layer during warm-ups and cool downs, or as your everyday jacket on blustery days, this Jordan topper is sure to turn some heads while also keeping you cozy.


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User:Reverend Mik
Reverend Mik (Talk | contribs)
m (→The Foundation for the Preservation of a Dissociative Society)
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Occasionally on IRC.
Occasionally on IRC.
Revision as of 16:53, 6 February 2013
Ordained minister (not preacher), worldbuilder, hacking social issues
Occasionally on IRC.
Number of Days Without Workplace Violence
The Foundation for the Preservation of a Dissociative Society
By Reverend Mitchel "Mik" McAllister
Jessica knows she's beautiful
As she puts paper flowers in her hair
And waves to the paparazzi
Walking past on the red carpet sidewalk
Michael knows he's famous
As he sings in the bus stop concert hall
And thanks the Academy
For another whiskey bottle Oscar
Ashley knows she's an artist
As she paints the air with strokes of her hands
And basks in the silent accolades
Of the blind critics who walk right through
Christopher knows he's a genius
Taking apart the broken abandoned radio
And builds a time machine
For the bored investors getting off the train
Brittany knows she's a philosopher
On the cusp of quantifying the soul
And discourses with a hundred Prousts Sartes Descartes
Incapable of speaking the same language
Matthew knows he's a pundit
Updating his Friends on Facebook
And propounds on the state of the world
As they click to the next page about kittens
The passers-by think they're important
Each a queen a president a general a celebrity
And ignore the invisible voiceless creatures
Sleeping on the sidewalks doorways benches lawns
Everyone thinks they are human
And each one is the only one
© 2012 by Mitchel "Mik" McAllister and LunaText Publications. Permission to copy and distribute is granted, as long as the whole work is distributed, and only for purposes devoid of self-aggrandizement.


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15 Nov 2012 8:32 PM #1
Unanswered: NavigationView, Double click ,push twice
Hi, all , http://docs.sencha.com/touch/2-1/#!/...avigation_view in this example,I double click on button, it will push twice.How to prevent it?
The same as Ext.dataview.List ,when double click or more on the item, Event of itemtap itemsingletap itemdoubletap, can push twice.
But when I check this: http://dev.sencha.com/deploy/touch/examples/production/navigationview/index.html
It is OK,why?
Please help , I need push only once.Thanks.
19 Nov 2012 6:26 AM #2
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You can use singletap or doubletap events but if you double tap then the singletap won't fire.
I usually disable the button while an action is taking place.Mitchell Simoens @LikelyMitch
Sencha Inc, Senior Software Engineer
Check out my GitHub, lots of nice things for Ext JS 4 and Sencha Touch 2
Think my support is good? Get more personalized support via a support subscription. https://www.sencha.com/store/
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19 Nov 2012 7:01 AM #3


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7 Ways to Be an Everyday Advocate for Your Child with Autism
5 of 8
Principle 5 Document: Be Prepared
Martin's Advice: Keeping your documents organized from your child's initial diagnosis to his multiple evaluations every year will simplify your life and empower you as an advocate. Keep a file of all important paperwork, and take notes during in-person meetings and even during phone conversations requesting services or insurance coverage.
Also consider keeping a journal for you and your child to record his experiences his strengths and challenges, artwork and summer camp certificates, and so on so that you can share it with new teachers, babysitters, and even relatives to help give a glimpse of your child's life.
Source: The Everyday Advocate: Standing Up for Your Child with Autism
More on: Autism


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Perhaps its just me, but as a current CS student I have already come across many questions on this site and elsewhere about not just "Which language should I use for x?" but also "Does anyone still use language Y?" My first CS class was taught in Scheme, which, if I'm not mistaken, isn't used widely (at least in comparison to languages like Java, PHP, Python, etc). Many of my classmates balked at the idea of having to learn a language they would never have to use again, but I don't quite understand where so much of this fear of learning less popular languages comes from. No, I may not use Scheme in any job I get, but I certainly don't regret having learned to use it (albeit in a very beginner, not very in-depth manner in that one semester). I am taking a search engines class this semester, which is done in Perl and again I am seeing classmates complaining about the language choice. I can understand having a favorite language and disliking others but why do some get worked up over learning it in the first place? Can you really learn the "wrong" language? Isn't learning something like Scheme or Haskell good mental exercise if nothing else, and useful at least to exposure to different ways of solving problems?
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closed as not a real question by Aaronaught, Walter, Mark Trapp Jul 2 '11 at 8:21
It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, visit the help center.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
The point of a CS degree is not to teach you C# and Java, you can learn those on your own. Its to teach you about programming and computation. The language is just a detail. Over the course of a career in programming you will use many languages. Today it may be Java or C# but 10 or 15 years from now it could be Erlang or something that has not even been invented yet. Learning different programming styles and different ways to attack a problem is much more important than learning any one language.
Because your first language will shape how you think, until you learn otherwise.
If you are computationally illiterate (first time programmer), and the first language you learn is too "basic", you may not know of higher order concepts like object orientation, multiple dispatch, inheritance, first class functions, meta programming, etc.
The first language you learn is usually tied to your first foray into computational thinking. If someone tells you, Jimmy, the world before you consists of A, B, and C symbols, all of your thinking will be in terms of A, B and C. Until one day, a fancy nerd scoffs at you for not knowing X, Y, and Z concepts. There's no way you would have known this knowing only ABC.
The people who are most concerned about someone's first language are probably enlightened programmers who have fought through the darkness. Oh, now I know what a first class function is. Man, I wish I knew about inheritance and dependency injection two years ago!
Your first language isn't as important as your attitude with regards to subsequent languages. If you can see far ahead of you to know that there is a world beyond BASIC/C/Perl/PHP/etc, then you're far ahead of the game. This is why many people are fanatics for functional languages since many actively developed languages are converging towards them.
Yes, learning functional languages like Scheme and Haskell is good as an introduction to functional programming. As far as your classmates complaining about Perl, while Perl isn't as popular as it once was, it is certainly still a widely used language in business.
I can understand your classmates wanting to learn practical languages used in the real world, but I think they miss the point that once you are an experienced programmer and have been exposed to several programming paradigms, learning new languages is mostly just a matter of picking up the new syntax. Thus, as long as you have exposure to the concepts, you can "specialize" in whatever language your eventual employer favors without much difficulty.
When I was in college, I knew a lot of people who decided to major in economics not because it was something they were particularly interested in or passionate about, but because they thought it would get them a good job.
I majored in East Asian Studies because the classes I took as a side effect of my initial interest in Literature hooked me. I went to Germany because I wanted to do an exchange program, where I spent most of my time in Japanology and Sinology programs. I studied what I was most interested in. I decided not to use college to study computer-related things, since I had already hacked around a fair amount during my childhood, but I spent time programming and understanding the internet, and eventually, perhaps improbably, I got a good job that managed to combine all of those interests.
The difference is between the Careerist, and someone who learns for the sake of learning. The Careerist is worried that they will have studied The Wrong Thing, and that they will regret it because it won't be The Right Thing To Land Me A Job. The person who learns for the sake of learning realizes that they have 4 years to spend time exploring all sorts of fields with relatively manageable pressures; the careerist thinks that the job of the school is to teach them something. The Learner figures things out when they hit unfamiliar territory, and has a better chance of finding just the right job for them. The Careerist ends up a second rate accountant at a third tier firm, pays the bills, and resents their boss.
Yes, these are archetypes, and everyone has to balance pragmatism with their passions, but that's the essential difference. Granted, someone with the programmer aesthetic may also ask the question, but more in the context of "which one will be the least wasteful use of my time." But my guess is that it's the careerist impulse asking that question, because the Careerist is far more fearful about making a mistake than the Learner, and the Learner generally makes a better programmer because the Learner does not fear mistakes. The Learner, like the Programmer, embraces failure in the pursuit of skill.
Perhaps because people have been influenced by statements such as Edsger Dijkstra's classic piece of trolling, "It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration." (link)
It leads to fear of suffering permanent brain damage if you learn the "wrong" language. Your Perl example is unsurprising, since Perl is one of those languages that often invokes criticisms like this from its detractors.
Your first language should focus on concepts, not syntax or idioms. Using that as a guideline:
Ask your classmates how they know a language is "wrong" if they have not used it. You can only figure out what you like by using a wide variety of languages.
Without knowing them I cannot say with certainty why they would feel this way. Maybe they're lazy. Maybe they have used the language before and didn't like it. Perhaps they are afraid to try another language. Who knows. What I do know is that as a CS student, researcher, and having worked in industry, knowing a variety of languages, well, is a huge asset and you never know what you are going to use or not. Example: When I was first learning C my teacher introduced us to shell scripting and command-line utilities like
Perl is very powerful and if you know how to use it, it can make your life a lot easier. It's also similar to Python and Python is heavily used at one of the top recruiters of CS students: Google. Your classmates should be eating this up. FWIW, I know perl and python to a intermediate level (not a beginner but not an expert).
Young and vain? I was that way, too. But my "annoyance" was more in the realm of math. So from that experience I'd wager that they are worked up about it because they do not enjoy learning new things or that new languages are difficult to learn for them. (But then, anything worth knowing isn't going to just fall into your lap, I say)
To the first sentence: No, but you can definitely learn languages you would prefer not to have +cough+ Lisp +cough+ =)
To the rest: Yes! You should learn as many languages as possible to find out what you like and to expand your horizons. There is no requirement to master them all, but having a working knowledge is always helpful. You never know when a language you thought would be a waste of time to learn comes in handy.
Because hiring programmers is such an arbitrary, capricious process, the simple fact is that if you choose the wrong technology, you might find yourself going the way of the dodo
On the front page at any given time, you will see near religious fervor on such beliefs as:
The one constant through it all is that 99% of companies out there want you to have X years of experience with Y technology... And since a person only has so many cycles available, what they spend those cycles on matters a great deal.
I think the fear in choosing the "wrong" language to learn is mainly due lack of information and lack of guidance, such as:
We're exposed to more opinions.
Compared to how things may have been done in the past, there is more second-guessing regarding how we're spending our time because we're exposed to more opinions - everyone has their thoughts on what the first programming language should be and since it's such a finicky subject, anyone can justify anything.
Due to our fast-moving lifestyle, everyone has an innate fear of wasting their time. The accentuated fear of learning the wrong language is simply a result of people being easily exposed to a multitude of opinions.
Its the general dislike of learning something that has questionable usefulness. I can see the sting here being even worse since this is the class that people want to take and their still learning something they think is useless. I know that if I was going to collage I would want to learn something that I can use in the real world.
The only part where I could disagree with those other people is when a language is heavily in use and they just don't want to go outside of their bubble to learn it. Only then does the complaining not make sense.
Why is it 'fear'. I would call it animosity of have been force fed something you do not want or do not feel it is important. No language is wrong but we have limited time to focus on things. I had to do my CS classes with Java and was not happy about it. Not because I feared Java to be the wrong language, but that was not where my career focus was.
Now Java is useful right? LOL Everyone learns Java. That is what you do not want to compete in. Your resume will be in a stack of 1000's with the heading Recent CS Graduate that Knows Java. Your actually probably better off employability wise learning Schema as that is the secret sign that you went to an elite university and not some dinky community college.
I would also say this sort animosity is much wider than CS in general, but indicative of higher education in general. I'm sure the instructor picked Perl because he knows Perl, and can grade it easily, and fears learning newer languages that the students would rather learn. I think its your own education and you should be able to map out the technologies you feel are necessary for your own success.
(P.S. MIT gave up on Schema and switched to Python)
Time is the rarest commodity of all, once you get out into the real world - and no-one wants to waste time on skills that won't give them any real benefit.
That being said, I don't think there's a 'wrong' language to learn - but I wish I had've discovered Ruby years ago instead of struggling with doing advanced things in PHP...


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Regularly throughout the year, Le Cube organises exhibitions, talks & discussions, screenings, concerts, performances, conferences and special events, aimed at promoting digital art in all its diversity.
Programme of events
Here, you can browse through the full programme of artistic events organised by Le Cube, listed in order of date.
Le Cube's exhibitions cover an eclectic range of themes, bring together renowned artists and new talent and focus on the various digital media: interactive, generative and behavioural installations and devices, digital photographs, screenings, videos, etc. Le Cube also operates as a springboard for young artists to launch their careers by organising their first solo shows in France.
Digital stage
Le Cube's "Digital Stage" is a programme of convivial events open to all. Every type of digital creation is represented via multimedia theatre and dance shows, concerts, performances, A/V mixes and other performative forms. As always, Le Cube's programming policy mixes various art forms, ranging from electronic music to jazz, from literature to poetry, from the graphic arts to design, not forgetting experimental cinema, video art, short films, 2D/3D animation,...
Talks & discussions / conferences
Le Cube is constantly reflecting on and discussing developments in the digital society and in the field of creation. It contributes to the elaboration of a critical-thinking approach and to the dissemination of knowledge on tools and skills. The talks & discussions programme is organised around courses of seminars, workshops, conferences and roundtables.
Special events
In addition to its regular programme of artistic events, Le Cube also holds special events that are open to all and take place, throughout the year, at Le Cube or other locations.


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Browse by Medical Category
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Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Service.
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Milena Weinstein, MD, joined the division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2008 after completion of fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. She completed medical school and Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Weinstein evaluates and treat patients with a complex pelvic floor disorders including urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which can include uterine prolapse, vaginal vault prolapse, anterior vaginal wall prolapse (cystocele) and posterior vaginal wall prolapse (rectocele). She also sees patients with mesh-related complications (mesh erosion, mesh exposure), urogenital fistula and other pelvic floor issues.She is a member of the Mass General Pelvic Floor Disorders Service, a multidisciplinary group comprised of pelvic reconstructive surgeons, colorectal surgeons, urologists, gastroenterologists and physical therapists. The service provides surgical and nonsurgical treatment options, including minimally-invasive surgeries such as vaginal, laparoscopic and/or robotic assisted surgeries. The service holds regular multidisciplinary conferences to discuss discuss and coordinate the care of patients with complex and combined pelvic floor disordersDr. Weinstein has served on multiple national committees at American Urogynecolgic Society (AUGS). She also has been trained in three-dimensional pelvic floor ultrasound. She teaches on pelvic floor ultrasound nationally and uses pelvic floor ultrasound for research and to assist with diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Weinstein sees patients at Mass General West in Waltham and at Mass General Boston, in Suite 4E in the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care. Dr. Weinstein performs surgery at the Mass General Boston and Danvers facilities.
Milena Weinstein, MD, urogynecologist at the Mass General Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology says urinary incontinence or vaginal bulge can be related to pelvic floor disorders, which affect one out of three women. Learn more about the treatments available for pelvic floor disorders, from exercise to support devices to surgery.
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During a week devoted to recognizing corrections employees, officials at the Lansing Correctional Facility paused Thursday to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Officials remembered the seven LCF employees who were killed in the line of duty over the course of the prison's history. Family members of some of the fallen employees also were on hand for Thursday's memorial service, which is an annual event at the prison.
Acting Warden Rex Pryor said the event helps remind people of "the reality of this type of business."
"It definitely brings it home," he said after the ceremony.
The memorial service was held during the prison's observance of Corrections Employee Week. Pryor said the weeklong observance has included an all-employee picnic and employee of the year presentations.
Thursday's ceremony was held at the site of a brick memorial on the LCF grounds that includes the names of the seven people who were killed in the line of duty.
The names of the fallen employees were read during the ceremony. And a moment of silence was called for over the prison's radio system.
Family members of the fallen employees and prison officials placed flowers at the base of the memorial. Most placed roses, but Berenice Johnson placed potted daisy chrysanthemums at the base of the memorial. Johnson is the widow of a Corrections Officer Donald Martin, who was killed in August 1978.
"He loved daisies," she said.
Location, ST | website.com


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Is there a good place to find out about designer board games that have been converted to the Android platform? I know about the standard popular ones like Catan and Carcassonne, but it seems like you have to perform the leg work of looking through BGG lists/internet searches way more for Android than iOS to find anything.
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Boardgamegeek.com has several geeklists with android versions listed.
Android Games with Asynchronous Multiplayer
Android versions of actual boardgames
These are not the only ones, just the ones that stood out in the search results.


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Are we at 'peak Pope'?
Maybe it's not a crisis of continued supply -- just the opposite, in fact -- but the unregulated flow of Francis coverage in the mainstream media suggests some decline in production is inevitable. Doesn't it?
Andrew Sullivan has been writing with the unrestrained giddiness he's reserved mainly for Barack Obama -- and now there's his inaugural "long-form" piece on the pontiff for the Deep Dish spin-off of his daily blog. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo ("I am not a Catholic but there's something about this pope...") is running a multi-part report with reader contributions. This is on top of reports about Francis celebrating his seventy-seventh birthday with four homeless people; the news about his stint as a bouncer at a Buenos Aeries nightclub; and of course his selection by Time as its person of the year, which really should have been the pinnacle but then here came The Advocate to second the honor. Which itself was followed this week by approving stories on changes to the influential Congregation for Bishops and mostly glowing coverage of the pope's apparent comfort with public breastfeeding—a development meriting both an email blast from my parish priest and a dotCommonweal post from Mollie Wilson O'Reilly. (Then there are posts like the one you're reading, which in covering the coverage add to the flow without necessarily getting any closer to its subject.)
James Carroll's feature on Francis in the current New Yorker (its tagline "a radical pope's first year" blurring the fact that it's really only been about nine months) is both an example and a partial examination of the phenomenon. (It's currently sitting atop the most popular list at the magazine's website.) Carroll covers some by-now familiar ground (the interviews and off-the-cuff remarks of last summer; Jorge Bergoglio's actions during Argentina's dirty war) and wanders down some thoroughly trod paths in an obligatory-feeling section on the sexual abuse scandal. But Carroll also gives proper due to the resonant field-hospital metaphor from the Spadaro interview, and he introduces a new (to me) detail from the Bergoglio biography about his "extraordinary" boss at a Buenos Aires laboratory, a "great woman" to whom Francis has said he owes "a huge amount" and who for helping victims of the junta was later dropped from a helicopter into the sea. "I loved her very much," Francis is quoted as saying. And through an interview with former president of Ireland Mary McAleese—whom some have said Francis is considering for appointment to the College of Cardinals—Carroll gets, if briefly, into "the prospects for women under the new Pope" and curial reform.
If all of this makes the story seem a typically wide-ranging magazine feature intended for a general readership – well, it is. But then there's the fact that it appears at all. Why, Carroll asks, has
the response to the Pope been so outsized? Catholic enthusiasm is understandable, but the globe's? … The press is obsessed with him… . Francis is clearly a world figure, but a figure of what? Does Francis's explicitly Christian message of a loving, merciful God survive, even in the secular age, as an inchoate symbol of the human being longing for transcendence?
The questions aren't explicitly answered, of course, but a personal anecdote in the first part of Carroll's long story, about a memorable audience with Pope John XXIII, is suggestive: "Lately," Carroll writes, "the fact that I once sought transcendence in the presence of a Pope has stopped seeming naïve."
You can read Carroll's full article here; you can hear him talk about it on NPR's Fresh Air here. And to bring this item full circle: Does the New Yorker cover depicting a (cartoon) Francis making a snow angel say anything more about the media response?
About the Author
Dominic Preziosi is Commonweal's digital editor.
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Lovely that Pope Francis is receiving so much media coverage. It will bring people to an understanding of issues they may not have been aware of before. (E.g., the practice of dropping people into the ocean from helicopters. North Americans who don't know about this -- who did it, who supported it, who gave absoultion to the perpetrators, etc., -- will now become better known.)
I don't think a "decline in production is inevitable." Examining the New York Times archives shows the coverage of past popes was constant. It's interesting, imho, to see how details of the lives, opinions, chest colds, relatives, etc., etc., of Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, etc. were covered. Not only were there frequent articles, there were also many pictures -- two-page spreads at times.
The popes' views of various fads, like harem pants, got a lot of publicity. Here's a link to NYT articles from 1911-1914 about Pius X's condemnation of the tango.
(Pope Francis loves the tango.)
A great roundup. I keep thinking the Pope media train will come into the station, but the ride continues. I have good intel that more Pope coverage to come in LA Times and on cable news talk shows over the weekend too.
Ooh, I'd like to answer that last one. I rarely admire Barry Blitt's work in the New Yorker, but I love this "Snow Angel" cover -- I think it strikes precisely the right note, or rather chord, especially for a Christmas issue. And I think it does capture how Pope Francis has been received. Think about how different it would be if the cover showed Pope Benedict in the same pose -- it'd be satirical, highlighting what a stiff he was (or maybe how foolish the papacy in general is) by showing him doing something improbably lighthearted. He'd certainly have his mitre on, too -- as he does here. The joke being, "Imagine, the pope in a bathing suit! Imagine, the pope in a hammock! It is to laugh!"
But the most improbable thing about the current cover image is the snow -- they don't often get that much in Vatican City. Otherwise the image seems to express Francis's personality quite well, and there's no attempt (in my opinion) to make him a target -- it has the feeling of a happy embrace. I think what's been so startling and compelling about Francis to the media, and to ordinary Catholics and non-Catholics, is that we'd all come to think of the pope as this alien creature who knows not the ways of mortals. And here comes Francis, who seems like an ordinary human being, someone who could actually be familiar with this silly earth custom of "snow angels." And he seems like a man who enjoys himself and doesn't shy away from the spontaneous. I don't think the Onion could republish this story about Francis, and nine months ago I'd have said it was a perennial.
Maybe the journalists, who are professional critics if not cynics, are just delighted to find that saints are possible after all.
Ann, I think you nailed it.
James Carroll says, "Francis is clearly a world figure, but a figure of what?"
This is an excellent question to ask.
I suspect that many people are going to continue watching Francis to see what answer(s) to this question might emerge.
I don't think media coverage of him has peaked.
I tell ya, I don't care that Andrew Sullivan, The New Yorker and Time think highly of the guy—I still like him, dammit!
The media keeps writing about him, because the rest of us keep wanting to hear about him. I find myself googling most days to see if there is news about Francis no matter how minor (and unnewsworthy). I never did that about any other churchmen, Popes included.
Good to see the favorable attention given Francis in The New Yorker, since their distaste for Benedict was palpable both on the cover and inside the magazine.
Of course, after all these years one knows the slant that Carroll will bring: the re-cycling of the teenage meeting with John XXIII, the animus against the "reactionary" nature of subsequent papacies, the constant presence of the Major General Father, the inchoate longing for some undefined "transcendence."
Two items caught my attention in the article. First, Carroll's quote from Father Lombardi who, alluding to the dark days pre-Francis, reportedly said: "We experienced for years ... that the Church said, 'No! This is not the right way." Whereas now: "I am at the service of a message ... of love and mercy."
Apparently, Father Lombardi took an espresso-break when Pope Benedict was preaching his homilies. Or somehow missed his encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est and Spe Salvi. One also wonders with what care Francis' Evangelii Gaudium has been read? It seems replete with "This is not the right way!" observations (with which I for one am in basic accord.)
A second item caught my attention. Carroll remarks upon Bergoglio's being named a bishop and says how this is "unusual for a Jesuit" since the Society "discourages its members from holding ecclesiastical office." He then goes on to mention Bergoglio's being named a Cardinal in 2001, dwelling on the "simplcitiy of style" that "set him apart from other prelates."
No mention, however, concerning the identity of the Pope who named the little known Jesuit both a bishop and a Cardinal, since it would not quite fit the Carolingian narrative.
The New Yorker also informs that Carroll will have a book coming out next year: Christ Actually: The Son of God for a Secular Age. But no need to wait; the slant is already clear.
Father Imbelli- Even if he's biased, do you think he's wrong? Don't you think there truly was a very different tone during the last papacy? Am I mistaken in thinking there was encouragement in Rome for Church leaders to liberally censure and condemn Catholics, including clergy and religious, whose thoughts and actions were perceived as off the mark? It seemed like there was an awful lot of that going on here in the US for some years; maybe it had nothing to do with the Pope, but I feel like its relaxed some with our new one.
Loved the article. Love James Carroll.
My favorite part was this:
A member of the press corps in Rome told me that during the Benedict years Father Lombardi, when addressing reporters, was bothered by a persistent nervous cough. The cough is no longer in evidence.
I was born in the 1950s, into a world where people called each other "Mr. Smith" and "Miss Jones", sometimes even people they saw every day at work. In the 80's, I had a job with one of the world's largest computer companies, and when the CEO visited our lab he shook my lowly hand and said, "call me John." (Nowdays, the only people I call "Mr." and "Miss." are by kid's elementary school teachers, and it feels like I'm being ironic even then.) We're profoundly uncomfortable with hierarchy and with just about any of the distance and formality of hierarchy. Wait'll you see the New Yorker cover if the next pope goes back, even a little bit, in the direction of the previous ones!
Quite remarkable that Francis has hired Mckinsey and Co to help with Vatican PR. Ditto for the banker, Bruelhart, who was hired to fix Vatican finances. Shows that Francis who shows the simplicity of doves knows how to be shrewd as a serpen.
Revealing indeed is the constant animus Bob Imbelli exhibits towards James Carroll.
'Revealing indeed is the constant animus Bob Imbelli exhibits towards James Carroll."
Wondered the same - is it because they both live and work in Boston?; is it because Carroll is a former priest? Will be the first to acknowledge that Carroll can by hyperbolic but, then, there have been moments when many of us have been hyperbolic, exaggerated, frustrated, etc.; including Fr. Imbelli.
In reply to Carroll's quoting Lombardi and the snarky reply about an expresso break and then listing Benedict's books, from a recent talk by Richard Gaillardetz: Francis: Pope of the Council:
- ".....what's significant is that Francis has received, or carried forward, elements of Vatican II's teaching that tended to be neglected by his predecessors. They brought forward certain things that are quite significant. Francis has been bringing forward other elements of the Council's teaching that were not so significant. So it is important to think about the context in which each of these popes received the Council's teaching. For John Paul II, of course, the context was communist Poland; and his reception of Vatican II's teaching was very much mired in all of the political dynamics around countries behind the Iron Curtain, and religious freedom, and so on. Benedict was receiving the Council's teaching from within the heart of Western Europe and the crises of faith that was going on, and is continuing to go on, in many parts of Western Europe. Francis' reception of the Council is quite distinctive, because it is marked by three characteristic features: He is a Latin American - an important element of his reception of Vatican II's teaching is that he read the Council through the lens of CELAM,1/ the very influential Episcopal Conference for Latin America that gave us the Medellin documents and Puebla; and Aparecida, where Francis played a major role, helped shape, in decisive ways, how Pope Francis has thought about the teaching of Vatican II.
Second, he was the longest serving bishop since Pius X (with one exception - JPII at 14 yrs) and was the president of a bishops' conference.
Third, he is a Jesuit which gives him a distinctive charism, approach to ministry, and a preferential option for the poor and mission."
R. Gaillardetz ends by contrasting the *ultramontane papacies* vs. *papacy of persuasion*. He explicates:
"JPII was the quintessential post-modern pope in his use of image to teach effectively. But you see the ambiguity, don't you? On the one hand, he's still trying to keep forward the pope as expositor and policer of doctrine (centralization of an ultramontane papacy); on the other hand, he's sympathetic to John XXIII's persuasive papacy. There's an ambivalence there."
"Benedict continues the one; he fails miserably at the second. If JPII was a master of the symbolic gesture, Benedict was not. He thought an important symbolic gesture was to rescind the excommunication of four Lefebvrite bishops, but didn't bother to check that one of them was a holocaust deniert? He didn't get how to use the papacy symbolically.
And indeed, this is part of my argument that I don't think Benedict was suited to the demands of a modern papacy, to be honest with you; and I think he wisely, at some point, stepped down so that he could do what his real passion was: theology, writing, teaching.
Francis, I think, marks the culmination of this trajectory. So, where Paul VI, JPII and Benedict are caught between two worlds: sometimes they're the pope as policemen; sometimes they're the pope as the one encouraging persuasion and dialogue. Francis, I think, has largely put to bed the pope as policeman. I'm not saying he's not going to pronounce on Church doctrine, and he's certainly affirmed Church teaching, but there's none of the policeman's feel to it. This is a pope who believes he teaches best by persuading.
He ends with:
"We have long been comfortable being a teaching Church; Pope Francis wants us first to be a humble listening Church."
So, instead of nitpicking Carroll or the snarkiness (*Of course, after all these years one knows the slant that Carroll will bring: the re-cycling of the teenage meeting with John XXIII, the animus against the "reactionary" nature of subsequent papacies, the constant presence of the Major General Father, the inchoate longing for some undefined "transcendence."*); we might want to pause and actually try to listen to Carroll's (in all his human weaknesses) context, attitudes, and emotions. And it appears that others (R. Gaillardetz, president of CTSA and head of BC's systematic theology) have also noticed that Francis' substance is different from Benedict, et alii. (other writers also use youthful stories; others can calmly describe JPII and Benedict's styles as well meaning but wrong-headed; others may like to quote from the Major General Father (do you really get tired of reading from Pedro Arrupe; and Imbelli lives with the Jesuits and teaches at BC?); and don't we all really have an *inchoate longing for some transcendence that we can't quite define?
Mr. deHaas,
to paraphrase Bill Clinton, it all depends what you mean by "constant." I have criticized James Carroll on this blog over the years, but "constant?" I've posted much more about Francis (mostly appreciative) than about James -- and we've only had Francis for nine months, whereas it seems we've had Carroll "in saecula saeculorum."
Which leads me to your long (very long) quotes from my colleague Richard Gaillardetz. I don't know that I have much substantive disagreement with him, though I would seek to nuance what appears to me to be too strong a contrast between papacy as "expositor of doctrine" and "persuasive papacy." It risks dichotomizing "dogmatic" and "pastoral" in a way Vatican II does not endorse.
I would not dream of suggesting that Benedict and Francis are cut from the same clerical cloth. There are such obvious differences. And I agree that "style" has substantive significance. What I object to is the praise of Francis to the denigration of Benedict -- which is much more than expressing civil disagreement and is spiritually corrosive (hence my quote from "Evangelii Gaudium" in our previous exchange on this blog).
Since you raise it, may I correct a misconception. You say: "Imbelli lives with the Jesuits" (why does that have overtones of "swims with the fishes?"). In my now twenty-eighth year of happy association with Boston College, I have always lived and continue to live in Sacred Heart Parish, Newton Centre, staffed by diocesan priests.
Finally, one hopes that "an inchoate longing for some transcendence that we cannot define" is a mark of man and woman created "in the image and likeness of God," (though it can certainly be muffled by the sort of consumerist and unregulated capitalism that Francis deprecates -- persuasively?). But IF that is all that Christian faith consists in (I highlight "IF" in case the Catholic League is monitoring this thread), then, with Flannery O'Connor, I say: "the hell with it!"
For some further takes on Carroll's of Christmas past: here and here.
Hmmm, maybe these Paul Baumann and Tom Baker characters aren't so bad after all. Thanks for singing a few Christmas Carrolls, gentlemen.
Thank you, Fr, Imbelli - guess I was surprised by your Carroll remarks especially given this post from you on December 16th:
Mr. deHaas,
You seem to have been gifted with insight into Father Barron's heart. May I suggest that we might profit from Pope Francis' insight in Evangelii Gaudium:
"98. How many wars take place within the people of God and in our different communities! In our neighbourhoods and in the workplace, how many wars are caused by envy and jealousy, even among Christians! Spiritual worldliness leads some Christians to war with other Christians who stand in the way of their quest for power, prestige, pleasure and economic security. Some are even no longer content to live as part of the greater Church community but stoke a spirit of exclusivity, creating an "inner circle". Instead of belonging to the whole Church in all its rich variety, they belong to this or that group which thinks itself different or special."
Let me just end with you also considering this quote from Francis since you *have been gifted with insight into James Carroll's heart*.
Mr. deHaas,
I was not presuming to read Carroll's heart -- only his writings.
However, I will try to take my quote from Evangelii Gaudium to heart.
Indeed, it may make a good New Year's resolution for us all.
To be honest I don't agree with everything James Carroll writes. He does at times throw out the baby with the bath water as Tom Baker points out. Though I would not consider Nicea (one of the first 7 councils called by the emperor) the last word. Nor Chalcedon. It is just that you hardly acknowledge any of Carroll's legitimate criticisms. And appear extra vicious towards him. Contrast this with the rather idolatrous posts that you have laid upon us with reference to John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Each of them had serious flaws which should not be ignored. Francis does seem more on point with the anointing of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. But even with Francis one should not lose critical thinking where everything he says is considered gospel truth.
Looking at Paul his letters are full of attempts at persuasion. His anathema is only for those who deny the Good News and then he leaves them to be prayed for. In the light of the church of dogma we can use more persuasion.
Other than that we can all take your quote from Evangelium Gaudium to heart.
^ Oh, ouch...
(Btw, the only reason Francis got the cover of Time was because Queen Bey's album didn't drop for another week.)
Thanks to a kind and good friend - need to add a clarification that Fr. Imbelli probably was nice enought to skip over:
James Carroll references his major general father - I attributed to the former Jesuit superior general, Arupe, but forgetting Carroll's book, An American Requeim. This is about Carroll, his military father, and the Vietnam War coming betweeen them.
Surprised at the "animus" James Carroll arouses in various blogger priests -- Robert Imbelli, "Z," Martin Fox. It seems out of proportion.
His biography from his web site:
Yep, you know something is amiss when your opinions match Fr. Z - that should be a call to stop and reconsider. Resigned priests are still *persona non grata* especially if they dare speak about the church (altho they are still baptized faith filled members in most cases). Clericalism and *omerta* reigns - even if subtlely.
A family friend (who who had been in the seminary with my father) was a really capable and much beloved priest. At the time of Vatican II he was head of a major order and became one of the non-voting members of Vatican II. He speech to the assembled bishops helped persuade them to adopt the document on religious freedom, a tremendous change in Catholic teaching.
I asked him later if he was in favor of women priests, a radical notion at the time. He liked women, so I wasn't surprised when he answered Yes. But he quickly added very emphatically that he was against married male priests. It was an over-reaction, I thought, especially considering his usual openness. But apparently he thought that priests who were laicized were traitors. Sad.
he thought that priests who were laicized were traitors
I once attended an Episcopalian church for a while. It was closest to my home and, as my children were very young, convenience was primary. I learned that the pastor had been a Catholic priest - that was reassuring, comfortably familiar. Then he had fallen in love, got laicized and married. That seemed natural. Then he had become an Episcopalian priest - why not? Ministry was his vocation and training, and that seemed a bit surprising but not unreasonable. But it turned out that at that point I had reached the limits of my understanding. After I had been going to that church for a few months, one day he announced that he was getting divorced, because he and his wife had fallen out of love. Thereupon I decided that the Catholic parish was worth the inconvenience after all.
You have to admit that it's not a plus, when someone makes a solemn promise and then rescinds it, even if there can be legitimate reasons, and even though, when it is done in doubt rather than with arrogance, it might transform them into better Christians (wounded healers).
But requiring a promise that is beyond many or most people's ability is just asking for trouble. Shouldn't the dislike of broken promises, of "traitors", turn one against mandatory celibacy for priests?
"You have to admit . . ."
"Who am I to judge?"
Gerelyn, I realize I don't know much about the subject, but I imagine it as similar to a divorce: It's a wound, not a plus (except in its transformative potential). Do you think that it is less serious for a priest to leave the priesthood than for a married man to get divorced? If so, then I'd have to rethink my statements.
Sometimes it seems to me that people in our society are too quick to say that there is nothing wrong with broken promises, and give a blanket, too-quick approval.
Is it not possible to disapprove of mandatory celibacy but to also disapprove of broken promises of celibacy, while recognizing their possible, even frequent, legitimacy in practice? Do you think that is not consistent?
I asked him later if he was in favor of women priests, a radical notion at the time. He liked women, so I wasn't surprised when he answered Yes.
That's priceless.
Why priceless, Mark? As I see it priests who are against women priests are those who fear and dislike women to start with. If a priest likes women, if he doesn't have the hang-ups some priests have, he's more likely to be open to the possibility.
I dined yesterday at Papà Francesco restaurant across the road from La Scala (where I then hear Diana Damrau singing Violetta). The honeymoon continues on Italian tv, and I predict his popularity will last as long as John Paul II's which was immense and unbroken for a long time.
The only problem is that we are getting diet of Francis, Francis, Francis and nother else. Are there no other inspiring voices in the immense Catholic world?
corr. "and nothing else"
As I see it priests who are against women priests are those who fear and dislike women to start with.
I'm surpised to read something so facile from someone like you. (And I only use the gentle, "facile," because you are a woman and I like you. ;-))
In fact quite a few women are against women priests.
And quite a few women and quite a few men are against priests at all.
See, e.g., Why Priests? by Garry Wills.
Yes, some Catholic priests and bishops have failed us terribly lately, but let's not throw the oysters out with the shells, or something like that :-) Seriously, having communal offering rituals presided over a priest is so common in mankind I wonder if it could even be founded on a genetic inclination. There are also priestesses, and Rome should take a look at that pattern of human behavior.
I correct my reference to Papà Francesco restaurant -- it is named after its owner, since 1980, but the Pope's popularity has given it a boost.
Mrs McAleese's remark that even "kick the pope" unionists love Pope Francis is heartening -- but it's still not very clear what all this popularity means. Never forget that John Paul II was very, very popular as well.


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Why did India end up tilting" to the Soviet pole during the Cold Wars, while Pakistan was pro- US pole? And to what degree was India pro Soviet?
closed as off-topic by Lennart Regebro, Eugene Seidel, knut, Steven Drennon♦ Aug 17 '13 at 14:26
India never joined the Soviet pole or the Soviet bloc though India and the Soviet Union (USSR) enjoyed a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship.
After independence both India and Pakistan were backward and needed support from stronger nations. Pakistan joined the Western bloc by signing SEATO and CENTO. India developed closed ties with Soviet but remained Non-Aligned in the Cold War.
The reasons for strong Indo-Soviet ties despite NAM:
India and USSR signed The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation on 9 August 1971.
This treaty was for peaceful co-existence and mutual co-operation between India and USSR unlike NATO pact, Warsaw pact, SEATO and CENTO which were primarily of military in nature.
The only 'military' related clauses in The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation treaty are:
Both of these clauses ultimately relates to peace and non-aggression against each other.
In some of the incidents, India had also shared good relations not only with the USSR but also with United States during the Cold War.
In initial years of independence, due to poor harvest, India asked for free food from US. US made the donations and from 1947–1959 the U.S. provided $1.7 billion in gifts, including $931 million in food.
During the Chinese invasion of 1962, even in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, United States was willing to help India. There were plans to send the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier to the Bay of Bengal to support India.
UPDATE 17th August '13 :
Very recently declassified CIA files shows that Pundit Nehru gave permission to the US to use Indian airbase Charbatia in Orrisa state to spy on China after 1962 conflict. US was also going to use this base for spying on USSR. From today's (17th August '13)The Indian Express
So, India did not actually join the Soviet Bloc or US Bloc. As also there was no formal agreement like NATO, CENTO, SEATO or Warsaw signed by India unlike what the Pakistan did. India was just pursing its national interests, without compromising its Non-Alignment principles, with more inclinations towards Soviets than the US.
India didn't "officially" join the Soviet bloc in the sense of being a signatory to the Warsaw Pact in Eastern Europe.
India DID unofficially "align" with the Soviet Union in Asia.
This was to create a counterweight to the Chinese-Pakistani "understanding" that originated in 1962 over the Kashmir (China invaded India on Pakistan's behalf). The need for some sort of "understanding" with the Soviet Union grew further as a result of the U.S. rapprochements with Pakistan, and with China, in 1972.
India was "socialist" and therefore somewhat ideologically compatible with the Soviet Union. But mainly it was a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." They actually had few interests in common to be truly "allied."


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This webinar reviews some content available in the eBook Portfolio Optimization with R/Rmetrics, and part of the open source software can be found in the R/Rmetrics package fPortfolio. The most recent developments presented in this webinar will become part in a forthcoming second edition of the eBook and in updates of the Rmetrics software packages. In-depth coverage of these materials is available in courses, tutorials and workshops on portfolio analytics provided by the Rmetrics Association.
In Part I we introduce Rmetrics and summarize the business requirements of portfolio managers from the recent EDHEC Report. [Felix Goltz, A long Road Ahead for Portfolio Construction: Practicioners' Views of an EDHEC Survey, EDHEC 2009]
In Part II we present the implementation of methods and algorithms as part of the Rmetrics software environment and discuss the supported portfolio objectives, the general quanti¬fication of risk, the interface to the solver factory, and possible constraints settings. A few examples are presented including Markowitz portfolio optimization, factor models, robust covariance estimation, shortfall risk optimization, and covariance and Copulae tail risk budget constraints.
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At the end of the webinar we add references and links for further studies.
This webinar is a joint presentation from Revolution Analytics, Finance Online and NeuralTechSoft.