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Mediocrity Will Not Be Tolerated
Jurgen Klinsmann Is Demanding Much More From U.S. Soccer; Even You, Clint Dempsey
Carson, Calif.
Jurgen Klinsmann, the former German star who now coaches the U.S. men's national soccer team, has spent the past 18 months taking his sword to the game's sacred cows in the U.S., determined to point out the shortcomings of a culture that he sees as having largely accepted mediocrity.
For players still patting themselves on the back for making the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, Klinsmann had this to say during a rare in-depth interview last week: "Just because you won a game in the World Cup in the knockout stage, you haven't won anything."
In Klinsmann's eyes, nearly all of his players are below the level he demands. Even Clint Dempsey, who scored 23 goals for English Premier League Club Fulham last year, will have to work harder to truly impress his national coach, a former international star who won a World Cup for Germany in 1990.
"[Dempsey] hasn't made s---. You play for Fulham? Yeah, so? Show me you can play for a Champions League team, and then you start on a Champions League team," Klinsmann says. "There is always another level. If you one day reach the highest level then you've got to confirm it, every year."
Then there's Landon Donovan. Long considered this country's greatest player, he is currently an afterthought. Donovan is on another lengthy vacation following the Major League Soccer season, a concept Klinsmann seems to find baffling.
Klinsmann recently told Donovan he didn't want him at the U.S. team's January camp or at the match against Honduras in a couple of weeks. "It will be defined over the next year what his role with the national team is. But the ultimate call is mine on whether he fits into my plans or doesn't fit into my plans."
And it isn't just the team's stars who are hearing a new message. "Some players are walking around waiting for something to happen, but Jurgen's message is that it's up to you which type of professional you want to be," says Kyle Beckerman, a midfielder who has made 23 appearances with the national team.
Soccer remains the last great puzzle in American sports. It's the only widely played sport that the U.S. hasn't come close to conquering. Forget about producing a team that can compete at the highest international level—something the U.S. has managed in nonendemic sports like hockey, archery and rowing—this vast, wealthy, sports-obsessed nation has never even produced a genuine superstar.
No one knows why exactly. To Klinsmann, who has an American wife and has lived here for 15 years, it's because the culture has never demanded it. American players begin to feel as though they have made it when they get a college scholarship, or an MLS contract, at 18 or 19. While the rest of the world plays 11 months a year, Americans grow up seeing professional athletes play a seven-month season and taking the rest of the year off.
"We don't have the environment telling them nicely, 'OK you had a good week, but next week has to be better, and the next week again,'" he says. "Here it's: 'Oh, take a week off.' No, don't take a week off. If you take a week off as a programmer at Apple, you missed the train, you lost the job. You can't afford it."
Dempsey is apparently listening. He joined Tottenham, a more prestigious English side, this season and scored his fifth goal Sunday. "Jurgen is trying to raise the bar for U.S. Soccer, but Clint has met the challenge at every level," said Lyle Yorks, Dempsey's agent.
Richard Motzkin, Donovan's agent, said he, too, is taking Klinsmann at his word and knows he will have to earn back a spot on the national team after he rejoins his club, the Los Angeles Galaxy, at some still to-be-determined time later this year.
For all involved, Klinsmann has been something of a rude awakening in a country where quasi-anonymous national players can drink in night clubs until 3 a.m. without any repercussions. Play in Italy or Germany, Klinsmann says, "You drink more than two glasses of wine, you get the looks from people."
Likewise, early exits from the World Cup don't cause a lot of people in the U.S. to get too hot and bothered. A mere trip to the knockout round has become a cause for celebration.
By contrast, Germany's early exit at the 2004 European Championship created a national debate within the government and the media about the direction of the country's development program. It allowed Klinsmann, who was named the national coach at the time, to alter Germany's style from defensive and organized to a more freewheeling, proactive approach that he felt reflected how the country wanted to be seen.
"We said the only way was we got to attack, we got to go forward," he says. "Maybe it's in our DNA. Maybe it was wrongfully in our DNA in two world wars. Who knows that? I don't know, I was not even born yet. But I just said we Germans, we can't take just defending."
Back then, Klinsmann's work drew an international spotlight. One morning last week, the man who once starred at Bayern Munich and Inter Milan trudged alone across an empty parking lot at the Home Depot Center near Los Angeles, lugging a backpack and a shoulder bag to lead practice for his team's second-tier players. The best ones, like the players on every other top national team, were busy with their club teams in the European leagues that play through the winter. Two hours later, he stalked the center of the penalty area, badgering his players during a crossing-and-shooting drill. "Hungry, hungry…Time it, time it…Nice, but no goal. Got to be better."
As the U.S. prepares to embark on the final phase of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Klinsmann is aiming beyond a decent showing and sees the U.S. as a country that needs to be dictating the action. But its national team has never played that way because, in his view, no one ever demanded it. As a result, the players weren't physically or mentally conditioned to press opponents with the relentlessness of the best teams in the world. Long a believer in the constant monitoring of players, Klinsmann has instilled a system of regularly testing the team's strength and fitness and proscribing specific training regimens so each player can mitigate his deficiencies.
Results have been mixed so far. The U.S. team matched its best-ever winning percentage in 2012, but struggled with consistency on the road during World Cup qualifying. "This team needs to measure itself with the best out there in order to get better," Klinsmann says before rushing off to another practice. "That's what we are trying to do."
Write to Matthew Futterman at firstname.lastname@example.com


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ANDERSON, S.C. – Coming off a 1-2 record at the Virginia Duals to open its 2014 schedule, Anderson University wrestling prepares for back-to-back regional duals beginning with a trip to Belmont Abbey on Wednesday. First bout is slated for 7 p.m.
The Trojans
AU grabbed its first win of the 2013-14 season in the seventh-place match over Central Florida, 30-22, after suffering setbacks to Stevens Tech and Apprentice School at the Virginia Duals on Friday. Regional opponent, UNC Pembroke, went on to claim the American College Tournament championship over Stevens Tech, 22-15.
Leading the way for the Trojans was sophomore Zak Hale (141) who totaled three wins for the afternoon, increasing his winning streak to 10 straight bouts. Hale is now 10-3 for the season with just one his victories coming by decision. The sophomore is responsible for 49 points for the Trojans this season.
Joining Hale with three wins on the day was junior Sean Turner at 149 with two pins and a technical fall to add to his record. Ranked No. 7 in the latest Basford Rankings, Turner is now 6-1 for the season and carries a six-bout winning streak with two pins and two technical falls in the span.
Graduate student Zane Newton moved out of his normal 157 weight class twice on Friday, dropping both bouts. At 157 against Apprentice School, Newton claimed his lone win on the day with a 12-7 decision over Brian Beatson. On the year, Newton currently ranks second on the team in wins with nine.
The Crusaders
Belmont Abbey has also seen hard times, holding just two victories on the season. The Crusaders posted wins over St. Andrews in an outdoor match (23-8) and against Brewton Parker (30-12). Most recently, BAC came away with three straight setbacks in Ashland, Ohio to Gannon (27-12), Ashland (37-10) and Shippensburg (38-6).
Just two Crusaders enter Wednesday's dual with winning records, as sophomore heavyweight Kelly Baker holds a 9-8 record, while redshirt senior Joseph Maumoynier (174) is 6-3 overall. Redshirt junior Patrick Mestrez has struggled this season after a successful 2012-13 campaign, posting a 5-10 overall record.
The Series
The Anderson and Belmont Abbey matchup has been close over the last four seasons, as AU has a slim advantage over the Crusaders, posting a 3-1 record over the last four matchups. BAC stopped Anderson's winning streak last season with a narrow 23-22 win at the Abney Athletic Center.

subset: commoncrawl


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In Pedersen's Analysis Now, for example, you learn that a bounded operator on Hilbert space $T: \mathcal{H} \to \mathcal{H}$ is compact if and only if the image $T(B)$ of the unit ball is compact. It is pretty easy to see therefore that any bounded operator which carries the unit sphere to a compact set is compact. Does the converse hold, that is, if $T: \mathcal{H} \to \mathcal{H}$ is compact, is $T(S)$ compact, where $S$ is the unit sphere in $\mathcal{H}$?
With apologies if this is extremely obvious.


text:
Pac-Man Moleskine 2012 Limited Edition Daily Planner for $12.89 + free shipping
If you love Moleskin... and Pac-Man... this is for you. Limited edition. These were a little tough to come by for a while.
4 Comments add a comment
why use paper organizers? ever hear of ipad?
@kromo: $12.89 vs $499...
@kromo: If my moleskine gets wet, dropped from a height, run over, etc, etc, it can be easily salvaged. Where as an iPad could not, cost another $500, and everything would be gone.
@kromo: You never have to worry about your analog notes crashing, or forgetting your password.


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'We value what a Catholic education can do for our kids.'
NCR's Tom Fox has an exclusive interview with the lesbian couple whose children are no longer welcome in the Archdiocese of Denver's Catholic schools.What happened? It all began two weeks ago:
I went in to turn in our daughters kindergarten application and was called into the principals office. Thats when, she said, she got blind sided.
She sat me down and told me we were no longer accepted here any more. She said it was not going to be a good fit for our child and that she would encourage us to look elsewhere, Martha went on, explaining the principal said she was worried there could be confusion when the teachers teach about the family unit.
Her main point was she was concerned about our child, about her well-being. She never came out and said we were not welcomed to stay. But she pretty much told us it was time for us to move on.
That evening the women discussed what was said adding they were upset and so they decided they wanted clarification because the principal had stopped short of saying their daughter could not enroll, just that it would not be wise to do so.
Mary said she called the principal and asked for clarification. She recalls asking: Are you just worried about how this is going to be for my child because of the churchs stance on homosexuality? She said she told the principal that if that was the case the women could handle it. I told her we did not expect any accommodations for our children based on our family situation. She then asked directly: Are you telling us we are not allowed?
At that point, Mary said, the principal replied that she needed to call the archdiocese. The next day, with the principal and the pastor of Sacred Heart parish, Fr. William Breslin, on the line, the women were told that their daughters could stay one more year in school and after that they would be out.
That came as a shock because for the past three years the nature of their relationship had never been an issue. "When we first enrolled our daughter in pre-school we told the school administrators our daughter had two moms. We asked if this was going to be a problem. We said that if it was going to be a problem we could go else where. We were very open and they said it would not be a problem.
Who went to the press? Apparently a Sacred Heart teacher. "It didn't come from us."
Are they on a mission to change the church's teaching on marriage and homosexuality? No. "We did not feel then and we still dont feel now that pushing the church to change its mind would be in our childrens best interests." They don't consider themselves gay activists: "You have never seen us at protests or marching in parades. We never intended to pave the way for gays in the Catholic church. We just wanted to be a normal family."
Why would a lesbian couple want to send their kids to a Catholic school? They're Catholic. They were raised Catholic. One of them attended Catholic schools from preschool through high school. The other is a Domer. One of them has a mother who taught in Catholic school for twenty-five years. The other's aunt was a Catholic-school teacher for decades. We have a lot of history with the Catholic school system. It is what we are familiar with. It is what we are comfortable with. We value what a Catholic education can do for our kids.
Why Sacred Heart? They're Mass-going parishioners. They value the moral foundation provided by a Sacred Heart education. "We want our kids to learn about religion. We feel religion is really important. And they love it. They love God. They love their school. They love their friends. They love their teachers."
The children were baptized Catholic. They go to Sunday school and Mass. And a local priest suggested they raise the kids Episcopalian. We are trying to live up to the promises we make to raise our kids as Catholics and now the church we made the promise to is sort of undermining our attempts to do so.
Their pastor explained that the family could remain in the parish and that the children could still attend CCD. Tom Fox writes: 'Isnt the doctrine the same?' they asked. They felt Breslin was not able to provide an understandable answer."
And so they will find another school for their kids. A non-Catholic one. But they worry what their children will lose as a result of Archbishop Chaput's decision:
Last week they were driving home from school having just picked up their children in the car. Recalled Martha: In the car, our older daughter was helping our younger daughter with words from the Our Father. They were both trying to get the words right. Then they began the Hail Mary and we listened we had tears in our eyes.
Read all of Tom Fox's report right here.
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Not OK to sit with other kids in parochial school religion class.But perfectly OK to sit with other kids in parish CCD class.Um, I can't see the logic here.Maybe His Excellency Chaput can educate us on the difference?(Really, folks, you can't make this stuff up:)
It's interesting to note that every conjecture about the lesbian couple made by those defending the decision of the Archdiocese of Denver turns out to be false. Why would they enroll children in a Catholic school? It had to be a "publicity stunt" so they could bring a "frivolous lawsuit." They must have precipitated the dismissal of their children by complaining to the school about it curriculum on homosexuality -- for preschoolers! They must have alerted the press. They're just out to embarrass the Church. Their same-sex marriage is a public statement in contempt of the Church (except there is no same-sex marriage in Colorado and they are not in fact legally married).
From Tom Foxs article about the Denver couple:Each of the children was baptized by local priests, one who is in a neighboring parish and another who has been reassigned outside the area. The baptisms followed by months the publication of a 2006 statement issued by the U.S. bishops offering guidelines to ministers and parents of gay and lesbian children. The outlines suggest baptism for children of gays and lesbians, the women say, as long as there is a reasonable assumption that the children will be raised as Catholics. They asked if we would raise our children in the Catholic faith and we said we would and we have really tried to live up to that commitment, Martha said. We take them to church every week. We switched to the Sacred Hear parish when our kids starting going to the school. We signed up and our money goes into the basket every week. Our kids go to Sunday school. We are making the effort. The Church is not living-up to its promise, the promise made at the children's baptism. The promise I have made many times during the baptism of children in my parish.
"We value our privacy.Yes, that's why they expressed no anger at those who leaked it to the TV news--in fact, they had nothing but praise for the teachers at the school. That's why, instead of letting the spectacle die a natural death, they decided to keep the fanfare alive by agreeing in to be interviewed in the national press. That's why, get this, they're now working on a press statement.Really, you can't make this stuff up!BTW, what's a Domer?
"BTW, whats a Domer?"A Catholic who understands irony.
Mark, what is your problem with publicity? Why aren't you happy the Church is getting a chance to put gays in their place? Why aren't you crowing that this is an example of the Church triumphant validating its doctrine? I mean that seriously: why do you care whether it is public or not? How does it matter?
BarbaraYou raise a valid question. I had actually replied but the response was buried at the bottom of an earlier thread, so I repeat it here:The publicity is a negative thing because of the disruption it is causing in the lives of the children. Children change schools all the time, so citing the change in school as the source of the disruption misses the point. The disruption is due to the childrens privacy having been violated by the news being plastered all over the newspapers. And the blame for that, based on the citation several comments above, rests at the feet of the parents who were miffed by the pastors decision, and leaked this private information to the press. It would be nice if the children could seek legal action against the leakers, but thats probably a long shot. Based on the recent response to Grants helpful request, its clear that the archdiocese was quite respectful of privacy concerns.
Are their names Martha and Mary?
She sat me down and told me we were no longer accepted here any more."That line speaks volumes to me.This is the message that the church seems intent on giving its gay and lesbian members over and over at this point in history.No longer accepted here any more.
Booting two baptized, mass-attending children out of Catholic school seems weird and not Catholic.
A Domer, dear girls and boys, is a grad of that hotbed of heterodoxy, Notre Dame.Ergo, that person is doomed to perdition and understandably exerting execrable influence on the poor deluded children who actually have the termerity of thinking her to be one of their moms.10 years in Opus Dei are the minimum necessary to ensure that these children have properly formed Catholic consciences.
Oh dear. Have you read the latest epistle from the pastor of Sacred Heart?He has taken to proof-texting to justify his decision:"Actually Jesus did turn people away. In Mark 5 Jesus healed the demoniac, and after the healing the man wanted to become a disciple. Jesus said, No, go back to your own people and tell them all that the Lord in His mercy has done for you. And when the rich young man wanted to follow Jesus, He told him, Go first and sell what you have and give it to the poor and then come follow me."No word yet on whether the other parents in the school will be required to sell all their possessions...
The passage Eric quotes above ends with "He [Jesus] did not soften His message so as to win them back." But Jesus did not turn back the tax collectors and the sinners while not softening His message. The Archdiocese could try doing the same!
The Church, "expert in humanity" (John Paul II9, sure knows how to handle children. Cardinal Brady still does not see the inhumanity of forcing a raped girl to promise silence under pain of excommunication. The clericalist mindset runs deep. The same Cardinal proclaims that civil partnership legislation undercuts the sacredness of marriage. The episcopal caste are incapable of conversion, for it would demand a systemic reflection that would undercut the values on which their lives have been built. My new-found hero the multiply excommunicated Ernesto Buonaiuti urged a century ago that the Church must recover its nature as a movement of people (la vita associata) inspired by a message and a spirit going against the cold calculations of the world. His memory and writings haunted John XXIII who prayed for him every day and was reading him on the eve of the Council.We need another council in which the many sterling Catholic voices scattered throughout the world are allowed to come together and reposition the Church and its message as the last council tried to in Gaudium et Spes. Those sterling voices include hardly any bishops -- because of the way bishops are appointed -- in a process that has never before in history been so Rome-centralizes -- in starkest contradiction to Vatican II.
Since the women were up front about their situation from the start, the children should have been allowed to continue on in the school. Any change in admissions policy should apply only to new students going forward. This family has been badly treated on so many levels.
So let's see now. Divorced and remarried cannot have the sacraments. Lesbians and gays cannot either. Yet a convicted abuser of children can celebrate Mass for the rest of his life. And be allowed to minister to Children to boot. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/world/europe/16church.html?th&emc=th
Unbelievable. Embarrassing. Ridiculous.
One of the points in the story that I find troubling is that the Church has sanctioned the baptism of children of homosexual couples if the priest believes there is a likelihood of the children being raised Catholic.If it is likely that these children will be raised Catholic, then the Church must assume they will receive instruction in Church teaching and somewhere along the line homosexual behavior will come up. So why can't the children hear about it in a school where they are known, loved and can be reassured that whatever the Church thinks of their parents, they themselves are accepted as innocent children of God?I suppose I identify with the gay parents here. My own life has not squared with Church teaching, and I voluntarily removed myself from the communion line some time ago. People in a small town tend to notice and ask why. I explained (it was a birth control issue). The priest knows I'm not going to push the communion issue, or interfere with my son's being raised a Catholic. People are somewhat distant but courteous to the sinner in their midst.This Sunday I attended my kid's Confirmation. With joy and hope that he will be a better Catholic than I have been. During his instruction in the faith, he came to understand where my life doesn't square with Church teaching and why I am not in the communion line. Yes, it was somewhat embarrassing and painful. But it was also something of a relief to have it on the table.I hope he appreciates that I respect the sacraments enough not to be a hypocrite about receiving. I'm pretty sure he doesn't judge me. It has not affected his obligation to abide by my house rules, which includes limitations on his computer and video game time, compulsory homework completion, and regular Mass attendance.
It would be interesting to know if this new class of people created by the Archdiocese of Denver -- that is, those who may be baptized but may not obtain a Catholic education -- is marked for life, or if the restrictions apply only to preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school. Are they barred from Catholic high schools and colleges, too?
I'm glad that this became a thread after a number of posters tried to blame the victims as publicity seekers and manipulaters - and continue to do so here.The defenders of Chapu tare the defenders of the loyalty syndrome which we've talked about a lot lately and continues to hurt those who think the Church should first and foremost try to emulate Christlike behavior and worry less about its (presumed) doctrinal authority.
Watching this tragedy unfold I have been finding myself being led by the Holy Spirit to think about the nature of sin; its source and its effects. Sin begins as human judgment. It begins as a purity code established to ensure control and power. If the sin (the judgment) is ugly enough it will feed on itself consuming more and more victims. The evil one uses your sin to require that you find innocent victims, in this case two little girls.If you begin with the judgment that human adult, consensual, lifetime love can be disordered then you are forced into certain decisions and actions. You must use Church money to politically destroy established relationships, you must banish people from the community, and you must set neighbor against neighbor. Its inevitable, because if you dont then you are left with the nagging feeling that The Holy Spirit is calling you to a conversion that will set you - yourself alone and apart from the community that you seek to control. And for this reason conversion, real conversion can be frightening.But what if we stop for moment and sacrifice our need to see easy answers in every human question? What if we say for a second that maybe we havent seen everything that we need to see to fully understand what God is revealing to us?I would like to hear from someone who thinks that homosexuality is disordered who actually has a long, close, and deep relationship with someone who is gay. If you have ever loved someone who is gay then you cant help but realize the absolute tragedy and absurdity of our Churchs position on homosexuality. If you have been blessed to enjoy this kind of relationship then you know the conversion that must happen in you. You move through stages: ickiness, fear, inquiry, tolerance, acceptance, affirmation and, finally, love. As a Christian I am called to be patient. I know how many years that it took me to work through the stages so I have sympathy for those of you who are struggling with these steps and may be still stuck on the first one. I was there for a long time and I realize that it may very well take my Church more than my lifetime to get there. I accept that with humility and love, but I worry about how many more victims our judgments will hurt along the way.
In the glory days of American Roman Catholicism my parents enrolled me in Catholic elementary school because they thought I would be too soft to survive Evander Childs High School. Many of my classmates were enrolled in Catholic school to sequester them from "the element."Due to the work of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Presentation Sisters, a foundation was laid for an authentic spiritual life. Sometimes to my parents dismay, I went on to practice what was preached. I think that many of my classmates that were sent to Catholic school for social reasons experienced the same phenomenon.I think that every child should have this spiritual opportunity. If the lifestyles of all parents of Catholic schoolchildren were scrutinized for "sin" before admitting the child, enrollment would be nil.
This kind of piece is why I no longer subscribe to NCR. I'm sorry to keep harping on this, so I'll just say it one more time and then disappear from the discussion. It is the nature of the women's relationship that is the issue here. Not a word about it in the NCR piece - and it is the core issue!These women, who seem like wonderful people, are involved in a relationship that, by its very nature, constitutes public witness against what the church teaches about marriage. Why doesn't NCR right an article about that?I'm glad to hear that the children have been baptized. After all, "the Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude." But infant baptism places a grave responsibility on the parents - it presupposes that the parents will pass the faith along to the children as they grow and mature. Yet the parents, by virtue of the nature of their relationship, are contradicting an important tenet of that faith. Their life is saying the opposite of their words. Please don't think I am vilifying these women or their children in any way. As I say, they seem very likeable - I'd love to have them as neighbors and friends. But their public witness is what it is, and it should not surprise us that there may be consequences to it.
Jim, do you think NCR's readers need to be reminded that the church is against sex outside of marriage? I don't understand your objection. Also: define public witness. It's being bandied about as though we all agree on its definition. I don't think we do.
Jean--Thoughtful and thought-provoking, thanks for sharing.
Id love to have them as neighbors and friends.Jim,You'd love to have them as neighbors and friends, but you wouldn't let their kids go to school with your kids. What kind of neighbor and friend would you be? Yet the parents, by virtue of the nature of their relationship, are contradicting an important tenet of that faith.Yes, but they are trying to raise their baptized daughters as Catholics, and no matter what their behavior says about their own personal beliefs, they were sending their kids to Catholic school with the full expectation that the school would teach what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality. Also, what are the important tenets of the faith. What about parents who don't go to church every Sunday? What about parents who are divorced and remarried? What about parents who use birth control? (The public may not know that a woman takes the pill, but it is not necessarily a secret from the children.) And it seems to me that by so vociferously defending the policies of the Archdiocese of Denver, you are basically calling for them to be standard operating procedure for all Catholic schools. Let the purge begin now.It seems to me that Catholics who are gay and who are trying to work things out should be treated with at least as much patience and understanding as divorced and remarried Catholics. It seems to me that Archbishop Chaput is not approaching this pastorally but politically. The parish priest said the lesbian mothers are being treated differently from divorced and remarried Catholics because there are no pro-divorce parades. So these two lesbian mothers and their children are being punished because there are gay pride parades and gay rights advocates. It is not really because of what they have done. It's because of what they are and the movement they have been associated with. Of course, as I have already argued, there are no pro-divorce parades because you don't have to march for something you already have. Please dont think I am vilifying these women or their children in any way.Why in the world would anyone think that? They're just "public witnesses" against what the church teaches about marriage. What do you want them to do? Live in a cave in Afghanistan? It seems to me these women should be embraced by Catholics for not giving up on a Church that wants to give up on them.
I don't understand Jim's comment either I thought it cast light on some terrible decision making - I guess it's part of that loyalty to "magisterial authority" and what comes down that drives behavior.I'm still thinking about the Rigali comment to Weakland I noted in another thread -that absolute loyalty is what matters and is to be inculcated.This kind of "Philadelphia catholicism" (curial Catholicism), I submit, is an infection in Catholic behavior and practice whether notions about gay relationships, divorced and remarriecd Catholics or other putative sinners.While I deeply respect Jean's honesty and wanting to play by the rules, it's the by the book Catholicism that creates the issues she raises and I think should not be reinforced.And, on "public witness", whatever that means, the folks in Chicago should look at CNN's last night's depiction of how leadership handled and is handling a startling molestation matter.For the average gay couple or divorced remarriec couple, I guess I'd judge their witness by how well they conduct their lives towards others, if I was asked. By there is only one just Judge....In short, proclamation by enforcement of codes seems rather pharasaical.
What we are witnessing is nothing short of doctrine "in the making", i.e., doctrinal development.Even canon law --- 212, 749, 750 --- acknowledges (in so many words) the sense of the faithful.If anything, recent times remind us that the official teachers can learn from us as much as we can learn from them.Catholic doctrine about homosexuality is changing for the better, and all the little Chaputs in the world are not going to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
The text of the parents press release/letter can be found here:http://www.9news.com/pdfs/StatementfromtheParents.pdfIt is worth a good read.
I think the lesbian couple are giving good witness to the values of love, sex and marriage, certainly better witness than Benedict XVI has ever given. Benedict has made a mess of every job he ever held -- Tubingen, Regensburg, Munich, the CDF -- yet he touted himself as the best man for his current job. Where does he run to now? He is much the same kind of mediocrity as Cardinal Law. And of course it is totally absurd that divorcees are turned away from the communion table when the distributor of the communion may be a known rapist of children.
Best quote from the press release . . . .
When we were allowed to have our children baptized (as recommended by the 2006 document Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care), we made a promise to raise our children in the Catholic faith. We now feel like our attempts at fulfilling this promise are being undermined by the Church itself.
The Catholic Church currently has its poorest episcopal personnel in centuries. This is because they are chosen by Rome on the basis of such criteria as whether they have given sermons defending Humanae Vitae. They are Yes-men. They look meekly to Rome for help and Rome leaves them floundering. Time for a Council, for the Church as communion, not dysfunctional hierarchy.
"Youd love to have them as neighbors and friends, but you wouldnt let their kids go to school with your kids. What kind of neighbor and friend would you be? "Inasmuch as my children now go to public schools, I wouldn't have any say in the matter. But if I did have a say, I would have no objection to the children being in school with my children. (For that matter, if I were the principal of the Catholic school, my sympathy would most likely be with the two parents and the teachers. That might be a sign that I'd be a bad principal. Leaders have to be able to rise above their sympathies to do the right thing - otherwise, the result is arbitrariness and cronyism).And if I can't say what I think - especially about truly important things - to my friends, then what kind of friend would I be?
Jim,I can see defending the right of the Archdiocese of Denver to set its own policy. But your defense of the policy itself is so vigorous, it appears you would endorse it throughout all of Catholic education. How would you answer the lesbian couple's remark that in order to have their children baptized, they promised to raise them as Catholic, and yet now they are being told their children can't attend Catholic school and they should go find some other school for the children that accepts same-sex marriage?How do you tell people on the one hand to raise their children Catholic, and on the other hand tell them the children are ineligible to go to Catholic school? How is that not a contradiction? Why would it not be a scandal for you -- feeling as you do -- to be seen to be friendly with a same-sex couple who "by virtue of the nature of their relationship, are contradicting an important tenet of that faith"? Would you only visit with them furtively? Or would you somehow broadcast to anyone who might know of your friendship that it did not imply in any way that you approved of their immoral behavior? I am not trying to be sarcastic here. Obviously if, say, a priest and a rabbi become good friends, it would not be considered reasonable to to accuse the priest of causing scandal by fraternizing with someone who denied the divinity of Christ. Mary Matalin and James Carville are married, and neither is considered a traitor to their respective political parties. I am just trying to figure out what the unstated rules are for associating with same-sex couples. If Catholic schools are not supposed to accept their children, how are faithful Catholics supposed to treat them as individuals? And if I cant say what I think especially about truly important things to my friends, then what kind of friend would I be?I think many, many families agree to avoid areas of major conflict, including religious beliefs, in order for family gatherings to go smoothly.
David and Grant, forgive me if I don't answer all your questions, at least not immediately, as I'm extremely busy with real life right now. I'll do my best to answer all of them at some point, albeit in the spirit of not rehashing the hundreds of previous comments on this topic."Why would it not be a scandal for you feeling as you do to be seen to be friendly with a same-sex couple who by virtue of the nature of their relationship, are contradicting an important tenet of that faith "Because I don't live in a Catholic bubble, and should be able to be on an amicable basis with all sorts of people who don't see everything the way I do. As a matter of fact, I (and the rest of us) give a sort of public witness to Catholicism when we do that, although hopefully we're not continually conscious of that fact - I know I'm not, anyway.
"Jim, do you think NCRs readers need to be reminded that the church is against sex outside of marriage? "No, but wouldn't it have fleshed out the story a little bit? Readers are left wondering why it is that the archdiocese would possibly keep this nice family out of its schools."Also: define public witness. Its being bandied about as though we all agree on its definition. I dont think we do."I gave my thoughts previously on thiis - in this case, it's intrinsic to married and family life. There is a social dimension to both. By living in this quasi-married relationship, the two women are "saying" something about marriage to the community in which they live.
Yes, Virginia, there IS a God:http://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-oreilly-defends-lesbian-couples-chil...
I agree with this ..."Yes, but they are trying to raise their baptized daughters as Catholics, and no matter what their behavior says about their own personal beliefs, they were sending their kids to Catholic school with the full expectation that the school would teach what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality. "... and this ..."It seems to me that Catholics who are gay and who are trying to work things out should be treated with at least as much patience and understanding as divorced and remarried Catholics"
"I think many, many families agree to avoid areas of major conflict, including religious beliefs, in order for family gatherings to go smoothly."Yes; I'm sure our extended families do this, too. At some point, though, families need to figure out a healthy way to talk seriously and respectfully about these potential divisions in their midst. Otherwise, it spills out eventually in dysfunctional behavior - that's been my observation, anyway.
Jim, with all due respect, this action is directed at children, even if the adults are the catalyst. My father was an apostate of the first order and would tell anyone what he thought of the Church. I was informed routinely by my friends that he would be going to Hell. The Church I remember from that time WANTED kids like me in Catholic school so that it might do whatever it could to save us from our reprobate parents. I guess things have changed.
The issue is not that the parents are in a relationship the church does not accept. It is that the behaviour of the parents is made a criterion for the not admitting the children. I don't see how this can be defended at all. As mentioned by Barbara, it would keep a lot of other children out of this school.Would I be right in assuming that the Obama children would not be welcome in this school?
I'd like to note that NCR is continuing coverage of this story - today an interview with Fr. Breslin.He argues about the "secularization" of things that must be fought - a kind of easy argument to my mind, but he must defend the action.NCR will folow up by some parents who disagree and see their school threatened.It continues to strike me that the curren tapproach of some, like Chaput, to proclaimingb the gospel continues to tear the Church apart.
"Would I be right in assuming that the Obama children would not be welcome in this school?"Sunil - why would that be? Is there something "irregular" about the Obama's marriage?
An authoritarian pope made bunches of little authoritarian bishops.And institutional Catholicism seems to be on a one-way track to hell, and most pew sitters don't even bother looking out the windows."And Jesus wept."
Jim: Abp Chaput writes: "These students are always welcome so long as their parents support the Catholic mission of the school and do not offer a serious counter-witness to that mission in their actions."I suspect that this rules out pro-choice politicians as well as the people who publicly support them.
"Sunil why would that be? Is there something irregular about the Obamas marriage?"Not with his marriage. From what I've heard, he is pro choice and favours gay rights. Isn't that being openly against the Church teachings?
tom Fox at nCr has yet more interviews beside the couple. The pastor and a parent who's been involved but in a "bad marriage" is at their site.It's too bad this thread died but it shows the tension between the magistrio/canonical and pastoral approach in real life!
... [Trackback] ... [...] Read More: commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=7278 [...] ...


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It just seems to me that as an out-lander with dual pistols I get more shots off clicking then I do holding the mouse down for regular shots. Can anyone prove or disprove this statement?
I really wanted to disprove your statement as it was hard for me to accept that a human could be doing things faster than how it was implemented in the game, however, you're right.
To test this, I did something relatively easy. I've gotten myself a level 1 Outlander, dualwielded the pistols you start with (they fire every
Since Outlanders get charge and this charge gives them higher Attack Speed, I used the console to always have full charge. This gives us a 10% higher attack speed and our guns should thus fire every
Then I did 2 tests.
With the console command
When holding the mouse to attack, there were 58 attacks in 30 seconds. This means an attack every
Now, when using the autoclicker, there are 62 attacks in 30 seconds! So we can achieve more attacks if we click ourselves (although really, really fast).
So your statement is most definitely true.
So even if it's technically possible to perform better by just clicking the mouse, I really doubt any of us can truly achieve the same amount of attacks as when just holding the mouse.
This doesn't make a while lot of sense since slow weapon has this number > 1 and faster weapon has this number < 1, thus if slow can get more than 1 shot per sec and fast get less than 1 shot per sec?
I believe the other way is correct.


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Surely group theory is a very handy tool in the problems dealing with symmetry. But is there any application for ring theory in physics? If not, what's this that makes rings not applicable in physics problems?
This really comes down to the question of how broadly you define ring theory. Special types of rings appear all over the place in physics, but often their focused study is given a more specialized name. The term "ring theory" is sometimes used to indicate the specific study of rings as a general class, and under that interpretation, the discipline seems to be closer to logic and set theory than questions of current physical relevance.
In any case, rings show up in the following contexts (this list is not comprehensive):
I don't know any important applications of rings in undergraduate level physics, but there are plenty of applications in the study of supersymmetric field theories. For example, take an $N=2$ supersymmetric $\sigma$-model with whose target space is a Kahler manifold $X$. One can define a set of twisted supercharges $Q$ (the exact form depends on the twisting) and there is a ring structure on the cohomology of $Q$. Classically this is the same as the cohomology ring of $X$, but quantum mechanically there are corrections from instantons. The chiral ring of the Q's is often called the quantum cohomology of $X$. The chiral ring structure also played an important role in the discovery of mirror symmetry. The lectures by E. Witten in "Quantum fields and strings: a course for mathematicians, Volume 2" are a good reference on this for the mathematically inclined. If there are some more down to earth examples where rings are important in physics I'd also be interested to hear about them.
In geometry, spaces are often characterized by their ring of continuous (or smooth) R or C valued functions. This is the basic philosophy of algebraic geometry, noncommutative geometry, and deformation theory, which all have applications to physics (the latter two being almost exclusively motivated by quantum mechanics). For example any compact Hausdorff space can be constructed just from its ring of continuous functions so one could say that a space is a ring. This ring is always commutative since we multiply pointwise and R and C are commutative. The viewpoint of noncommutative geometry is to study noncommutative rings as if they were the ring of continuous functions of some "noncommutative" space. This is motivated by quantum mechanics where the algebra of observables is noncommutative.


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A two-vehicle accident Friday afternoon claimed one life.Donald Walker, 52, died when the Buick he was driving collided with a pick-up driven by Bruce Jolliff, 53.According to the Harvey County Sheriff's Dept., Jolliff's vehicle hit Walker's vehicle at the intersection of Cow Palace Road and SW 24th.Newton FIre/WMS arrived on the scene and extricated walker from his car. Walker was taken to Via Christi-St. Francis of Wichita where he was later pronounced dead.Both drivers were Harvey County residents.Assisting with the accident investigation were the Newton Police Department and Kansas Highway Patrol. The investigation is ongoing.
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Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission submitted and received two grants in 2012 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Community Development Assistance (CDAP) grant funds for the City of Mount Carmel and the Village of Crossville.
The City of Mount Carmel will receive $360,482 to replace storm sewers in the Fifth Street area. The total project cost is $476,473.
The Village of Crossville will receive $238,922 in grant funds for water system improvements. The total project cost is $321,352.
The GWRPC mission is to serve the Greater Wabash District by providing local, regional, and comprehensive planning, facilitating knowledge enhancement, securing and administering funds and promoting cooperative solutions to regional issues. The seven counties in the GWRPC Economic Development District include: Crawford, Edwards, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne and White. For more information, visit the Website at gwrpc.com.
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Hostess warns striking workers of liquidation
Hostess Brands Inc. said Thursday it likely won't make an announcement until this morning on whether it will move to liquidate its business, after it had set a Thursday deadline for striking employees to return to work.
The maker of Twinkies, Sno Balls and Wonder Bread warned employees Thursday it would file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to close and sell off assets if plant operations didn't return to normal levels by 5 p.m. EST. That could result in the loss of about 18,000 jobs, including 200 in Connecticut.
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Hi, I'm Eric. I'm a young, supple (just kidding) programmer in high school. I'm dabbling around in a few languages. Mostly I use PHP for various server-side things. I'm working on learning roughly four languages: C++, Java, Python, and CLisp.
Ah, nevermind. I see DaWei is an active member here, don't even bother welcoming me.
Ahh you did not see me as active. I guess I need to post more. By the way welcome to the forum.
The above one was post No 2999 and so you know this is 3...


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My role playing groups have been, almost exclusively, male. What are some ideas/options for making the group and the experience more likely to attract, and retain, female players?
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I think it boils down mainly to the winning two step formula of
Step one should be fairly self explanatory, but for some reason many people worrying about this topic skip it. Try it, it works. My roommate was talking to a manager lady at work about an unexpectedly shared interest in Babylon 5, and said "Hey, we roleplay, if you want to give it a try come over one Sunday," and, despite never having gamed before, she became the most avid member of the group for a five year long campaign. We didn't do anything else complicated to attract her, we just invited her and she decided it/we were fun and thus kept coming back. Many people, female or not, feel reticent about inviting themselves along to something, so reach out.
Step two should also be self explanatory but my experience says it's not, so I'll elaborate. Here's your rule of thumb. If you act towards a new female player in any way that, if they were a large muscular male player, you would reasonably expect them to beat your ass in the parking lot after the game as a result, then you are behaving inappropriately. This includes overt hostility like character rape, continued references to sexual characteristics of the player or player's character, being overly pushy with someone else's character, being domineering and condescending, telling jokes at their expense, continually interrupting them, etc. No really, it works. Are you saying the equivalent of "Hey man, does your character have a big dong? Huh huh huh! No, don't do that - he doesn't cast that, he attacks with his dagger instead! There you go, now you're getting it, little buddy!" Obviously you know you'd be formally requesting a beat down were you to act like that to a guy. Women tend to take that kind of thing more quietly just because they get it so much that it becomes sadly routine, but in their minds they are giving you a beat down too.
Everything else people generally say on this topic ends up being false as much as it is true. People will say "Oh don't just focus on combat, have loads of role-playing," or "don't have use games with all those rules and math and stuff," or "make sure things are clean," but there are women that are hack monsters and rules wonks and slobs too - making gender generalizations is unhelpful and you should tune your game to the individuals involved regardless of race, gender, age, etc. I have yet to see any game preference or irritating personal habit not shared by members of both genders.
Female gamer geek, checking in with 2 cents...
I don't think you should change anything about the game itself. You just need to invite female players and make sure they feel comfortable. If they show up and spend more time brushing off unwanted advances than rolling dice, they're not going to have fun and they're going to leave. Even if they think you're inviting them to the game just because they're female they may get creeped out.
It has been my experience, in many mixed groups over many years, that the one concrete step that has had the greatest usefulness in retaining women players is stifling the male geek urge to talk over people. (This is a common tendency both of men and of geeks in general, so male geeks tend to do it more often than most.) In many male-dominated groups, it's the loudest and the most aggressive players who get heard and whose suggestions get implemented. Put a halt to that — make sure that everyone gets to put their ideas forward, even if they don't necessarily seize the spotlight. Pay attention to how you, well, pay attention.
Before all this, note that what I'm going to say doesn't necessarily include the person who asked the question.
I'm going to borrow some stuff from "Howto encourage women in Linux", because I do think programming geeks and RPG geeks overlap (I am one).
I will add "don't change your campaign to "cater to women"". If you have no idea on what "feminine" means to the actual players, and how to represent it in-game, you'll fail. If people don't like the idea of impersonating magical beings that fight monsters, it's probably not due to gender. Point them to something else. Just two days ago, I was explaining what DnD was to a friend. She said that she didn't find fantasy heros and monsters appealing or fun. I pointed out that not all RPGs were like DnD, and used Fiasco as an example (whether the idea of representing con men and deluxe whores is more appealing or not depends on your friends, I guess).
Here's the original "Do's and Don'ts list, lightly adapted:
Before you dismiss this nonsense, how many times have you heard or referred to someone as the "DM's girlfriend", with the obvious connotations? Have you thought if the place and time you meet for roleplaying are viable for someone who might have to return home to care for children or the like? It is very easy to think "I don't do this". It is much harder to actually think about the inadvertent comments or condescension, or the time you stayed up until 3 in the morning playing because "hey, the game!".
I do believe all answers in this thread basically boil down to "don't be a troglodyte", "don't be a dick" and "think before you act". This is basic advice, true. This is not only applicable to women, true. But the fact that this question is even asked painfully points out that some people need help with this.
Yes, this list of stuff should not be necessary. I don't know about RPGs, I'm a newcomer, but in programming I've met the full gamut of men that were kind and considerate, through people only guilty of "minor" variations of these sins, to many men that simply hadn't a clue and were sexist as hell. How many of them do you think saw themselves as sexists? I don't even know if I'm normally doing half of this stuff (except the condescension: I know that I do get pissy if I think people are being dour. It's a flaw of mine). The very Howto I linked to points out that many women see entering a community of programmers as something of an uphill battle, so think about it before saying that the problem isn't there.
Fundamentally, I don't buy into traditional gender stereotypes between what men and women like in a RPG. I've seen female players that have thrilled at gory fight scenes and horror scenarios as often as I've seen male players buy into romance plotlines.
I'd apply my general approach to getting new players into roleplaying:
As for retaining female players I'd try and engage them as I would all players making sure you collaborate as a group and play the games you all enjoy playing. It think it goes without saying that sexist attitudes are not cool.
Here's what's worked for me:
Invite couples play. Serious couples, Married couples, casual couples, whatever. Allow and encourage them playing characters that have an existing relationship (even if antagonistic!)
This has had a few benefits - more diverse play, longer sessions, and better attendance. Also, the males in couples tend to be more sensitive to gender-related communications skills mentioned in other posts, and can model it for the single males in the group.
Note: This may only work with an all adult playing group, as in these cases, adult-themed situations almost always come up in games.
College Libraries. Or Gaming center where others play possibly female, start playing there more, and then you have just jumped your chances of getting new gamers female, and male alike. Many places are always willing to get new DMs.
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Let $\phi,\psi\in\Pi_1^0$ be independent of PA. Is the disjunction $\phi\vee\psi$ independent of PA?
The answer is no, and here is a counterexample. The proof relies on the double fixed point lemma, a generalization of the usual Goedel fixed point lemma producing two statements forming a fixed point with respect to a system, and I provide a proof below. Using it, we may produce two distinct sentences $\phi$ and $\psi$ such that
In this case, each of these statements has complexity $\Pi^0_1$. Let me argue that they are independent.
First, observe that both $\phi$ and $\psi$ must be true in $\mathbb{N}$. If $\phi$ were false, then there would be a standard proof of $\phi$, having no smaller standard proof of $\psi$. In particular, $\phi$ would be a provable, false statement, contradicting $\mathbb{N}\models$PA. A symmetric argument applies to $\psi$.
Second, observe that neither is provable (meaning provable in PA throughout). If $\phi$ were provable, then there would be a standard proof of $\phi$, and thus there would have to be a smaller standard proof of $\psi$, and so $\psi$ would be true, and so there would be an even smaller standard proof of $\phi$. Thus, there could be no smallest proof of $\phi$, a contradiction. And the same for $\psi$.
Thus, both the sentences are true unprovable assertions, and hence independent.
Finally, observe that the disjunction $\phi\vee\psi$ is provable. If both $\phi$ and $\psi$ fail in a model of PA, then that model would have proofs of both $\phi$ and $\psi$, but neither statement could have the smallest proof, for if it did, then the other statement would be true, contrary to assumption. This contradicts PA, since the smallest proof of one of them must be smaller than any proof of the other.
Thus, we have independent $\Pi^0_1$ statements $\phi$ and $\psi$, such that $\phi\vee\psi$ is provable.
Here is the double fixed point lemma, which I believe is due to Smullyan, connected with his double recursion theorem. I use $[\phi]$ here to denote the Goedel code of $\phi$.
Double Fixed Point Lemma. Suppose that $A(x,y)$ and $B(x,y)$ are two formulas, then there are sentences $\phi$ and $\psi$ such that
Proof. Let $\text{Sub}$ be the substitution operator, the primitive recursive function such that $\text{Sub}([\eta(x,y)],n,m)=[\eta(n,m)]$. Let $\theta_1(x,y)=A(\text{Sub}(x,x,y),\text{Sub}(y,x,y))$ and $\theta_2(x,y)=B(\text{Sub}(x,x,y),\text{Sub}(y,x,y))$. Let $n=[\theta_1(x,y)]$ and $m=[\theta_2(x,y)]$. Finally, let $\phi=\theta_1(n,m)$ and $\psi=\theta_2(n,m)$.
Observe that $\phi\iff \theta_1(n,m)\iff A(\text{Sub}(n,n,m),\text{Sub}(m,n,m))$ $\iff A([\theta_1(n,m)],[\theta_2(n,m)])\iff A([\phi],[\psi])$.
Also observe $\psi\iff \theta_2(n,m)\iff B(\text{Sub}(n,n,m),\text{Sub}(m,n,m))$ $\iff B([\theta_1(n,m)],[\theta_2(n,m)])\iff B([\phi],[\psi])$, as desired. QED
Note that we can arrange that $\phi$ and $\psi$ are distinct simply by ensuring that $\theta_1(n,m)$ and $\theta_2(n,m)$ are not syntactically the same sentence, such as by replacing $\theta_1(x,y)$ with its conjunction, but ensuring that $\theta_2(x,y)$ does not have such a form.
The lemma easily generalizes to any size system and indeed, to infinite systems of fixed points.
One can in fact prove a bit more than Joel did. For example:
In particular, we can take $\psi$ to be provable and $X$ to be the set of theorems of PA, and we get a counterexample to the question.
This result is due to Per Lindström, and can be found in Chapter 7 of his beautiful and very recommended book, "Aspects of Incompleteness". The proof is an elaboration of the argument with Rosser sentences. It is a basic technical lemma used in the study of the interpretability degrees of consistent r.e. extensions of PA. (The degree of $T$ is the collection of all $T'$ that are bi-interpretable with $T$.)
For example, Lindström uses it to show that the degrees are dense, i.e., if $a\lt b$ then there is a $c$ with $a\lt c\lt b$.
By the way, the double fixed point lemma in Joel's answer is proved in Chapter 1 of Lindström's book. The reference given there is to "Theories Incomparable with Respect to Relative Interpretability", by Richard Montague, The Journal of Symbolic Logic, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Jun., 1962), pp. 195-211. As far as I can see, Smullyan does not prove this version in his "Theory of formal systems", Annals of Mathematics Studies, No. 47, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1961. The modern presentation of Rosser sentences comes from Smullyan's book, though. The review by Kreisel in Math Reviews even called the book "the most elegant exposition of the theory of recursively enumerable (r.e.) sets in existence."
I think Carl's answer has the same error I originally made--it doesn't address that both formulas have to be $\Pi_1^0$. The negation of a $\Pi_1^0$ formula is $\Sigma_1^0$.
I think the actual answer is "yes" but several edit attempts haven't got the proof right, so I'll see if I can fix it offline instead of keeping on repeatedly editing.
This is not actually an answer but rather a comment to Joel's answer. I am not very good in models, so here is an idea how to do without them. There is a theorem of Kreisel: if a $\Pi_1^0$ statement is provable in $T+\neg Con(T)$, then it is provable in $T$. In $PA+\neg Con(PA)$ we may prove that there exists the smallest code of a proof of $\phi$ and the smallest code of a proof of $\psi$. Denote them by $n_{\phi},n_{\psi}$. Then $\phi$ asserts that $n_{\psi}<n_{\phi}$ while $\psi$ asserts that $n_{\phi}<n_{\psi}$. Then $\phi\vee\psi$ means $n_{\phi}\neq n_{\psi}$ which is provalbe if $\phi$ and $\psi$ are syntactically different. By Kreisel, $\phi\vee\psi$ is provalbe in $PA$. (Note that the numbers $n_{\phi},n_{\psi}$ do not really exist).


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Published February 16, 2013
A worker puts the final touch to a train near a replica of Big Ben made with lemons and oranges during the 80th Lemon festival in Menton, France. Some 145 metric tons of lemons and oranges are used to make displays during the festival, which is themed 'Around The World In 80 Days', and runs from February 16 through March 6.
A meteorite contrail is seen in this frame grab made from a video, on a highway from Kostanai, Kazakhstan, to Chelyabinsk region, Russia, provided by Nasha Gazeta newspaper. A meteor streaked across the sky of Russia's Ural Mountains, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring more than 1,000 people, including many hurt by broken glass.
Athlete Oscar Pistorius weeps in court in Pretoria, South Africa, at his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Indonesian narcotics police destroy 1.4 tons of seized marijuana from series of raids in Jakarta.
Riot police in a police vehicle look out of window grills in front of the courthouse and the Attorney General's office as demonstrators protest against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood near Tahrir Square in Cairo.
Children walk on the Askia mausoleum, built in 1495 in Gao, northern Mali, one week after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed himself attempting to blow up an army checkpoint at the entrance of the town.
Libyan security forces check the cars on the side of the highway leading to downtown Benghazi.
A woman carries her daughter on her way to fetch water from a nearby tap in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.


text:
I have a very large number (670 billion) of systems of inequalities of the form:
$C_1 - C_2 < C_4 - C_3 \wedge C_3 - C_2 < C_5 - C_3 \wedge ...$
where the $C_i > 0$. Ie. each system of inequalities consists of the comparisons of differences between positive real numbers which must all be true at the same time.
Now I want to find the subset of systems which are consistent, ie. there exists a choice of $C_i$ such that all inequalities are satisfied.
Given the the large number of systems this method would have to be automated. Therefore my question is:
Is there an algorithm to decide whether a system of inequalities of the form described above is consistent?


text:
Research (n.) A Fancy Way Of Saying "I Googled It" T-Shirt for $6.99
I Spent a Whopping .002 Seconds Looking that up for You! Encyclopedia? I think you misspelled Wikipedia.
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2 Comments add a comment
So true.
Sold out.


text:
Danze D510025BNT Brushed Nickel Pressure Balanced Tub and Shower Trim Package with Single Function Shower Head From the Aerial Collection (Less Valve)
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- A swinging temperature dial allows for pin-point volume and temperature control
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- Single function shower head with full-body spray pattern
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- Flow Rate: 2.5 gallons-per-minute
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5 Questions from the Community
The Danze trims are not compatible with Moen valves.
Are the Danze models compatible with Moen valves. I can not get into the wall.
A. The Danze trims are not compatible with Moen valves.
The Danze and Delta product would not have compatible valving. You can call Delta at 800-345-3358 to discuss compatible Delta trims to your current system. With this Danze model you will want to purchase the D11200BT to complete the installation.
Will this kit fit the Delta 600 series value?. I am updating an existing tub and really do not want to get into the wall and valve, etc. Thanks much, KG.
A. The Danze and Delta product would not have compatible valving. You can call Delta at 800-345-3358 to discuss compatible Delta trims to your current system. With this Danze model you will want to purchase the D11200BT to complete the installation.
The Danze D510025 without the "T" comes with the trim, as well as the diverter with stops.
So does the model # ending with out the T come with the trim too?
A. The Danze D510025 without the "T" comes with the trim, as well as the diverter with stops.
The Danze D510025T replacement handle is the A602073.
Is it possible to buy a replacement handle for D510025T?
A. The Danze D510025T replacement handle is the A602073.
Danze models ending in a T will be trim only and require a rough-in valve. The models without the T will have the valve packaged in the price. Both prices end up the same cost.
What's the difference between this model and # D510025?
A. Danze models ending in a T will be trim only and require a rough-in valve. The models without the T will have the valve packaged in the price. Both prices end up the same cost.
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Danze D301525T
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Danze D225525
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Danze D301025
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I'm trying to prove that
$$ \left(1 + \frac{1}{n}\right)^{n+1} > e $$
It seems that the definition of $e$ is going to be important here but I can't work out what to do with the limit in the resulting inequality.
I'm trying to prove that
$$ \left(1 + \frac{1}{n}\right)^{n+1} > e $$
It seems that the definition of $e$ is going to be important here but I can't work out what to do with the limit in the resulting inequality.
Can you show that $a_n = \left ( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right ) ^{n + 1}$ (for $n = 1, 2, 3, ...$) is a decreasing sequence that converges to $e$ ?
$$\left ( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right )^{n + 1} = \left ( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right )^{1} \cdot\left ( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right )^{n} $$
and taking limits (as $n \to \infty$) on both sides gives...
To complete The Chaz' answer:
You just need to show that the sequence $\bigl\{(1+{1\over n})^{n+1}\bigr\}$ is decreasing (one then easily shows its limit is $e$ if you know that $\bigl(1+{1\over n}\bigr)^n$ converges to $e$).
We use Bernoulli's inequality: $$ (1+x)^n>1+nx,\quad \text{for }\ \ x>-1, n\ge 1. $$
We have $$ \eqalign{ {\bigl(1+{1\over n}\bigr)^{n+1}\over \bigl(1+ {1\over n+1}\bigr)^{n+1}} &= \Bigl(1+{1\over n^2+2n}\Bigr)^{n+1}\cr & >1+{n+1\over n^2+2n}\cr & >1+{ 1\over n+1}\cr &={n+2\over n+1}. } $$ Thus $$ \Bigl(1+{1\over n+1}\Bigr)^{n+2} ={n+2\over n+1}\Bigl(1+{1\over n+1}\Bigr)^{n+1} < \Bigl(1+{1\over n}\Bigr)^{n+1}. $$ And so the sequence $\bigl\{(1+{1\over n})^{n+1}\bigr\}$ is decreasing.
Take logarithms of both sides: $(n+1) \log(1+1/n) > 1$. With $t = 1/n$, this becomes $\log(1+t) > 1/(1+1/t) = t/(1+t)$. This is an equality at $t=0$, and the derivative of $\log(1+t) - t/(1+t)$ is $t/(1+t)^2$, which is positive for $t \ge 0$.
The following are lesser known facts, neverthless they are of some interest.
Let us introduce a tuning parameter $\alpha \in [0,\infty[$ and consider the sequence: $$x_\alpha (n):=\left( 1+\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n+\alpha}\; .$$ Then $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to \infty} x_\alpha (n)= e$ for any $\alpha$, but the monotonicity and the position of $x_\alpha (n)$ with respect to $e$ changes with $\alpha$ (i.e., they both can be tuned by varying $\alpha$).
Then the following statements can be proved:
The number $a$ is something like $\ln 4 -1\approx 0.3863$. The proofs of these facts are tedious and lengthy but also elementary, for they rely on Differential Calculus.
Moreover, a simple computation with Taylor series expansion yields that $x_{1/2} (n)$ is the sequence which has the best rate of convergence to $e$ among the $x_\alpha$. In fact, we have: $$\begin{split} x_\alpha (n) -e&= \exp \left( (n+\alpha)\ \ln (1+1/n)\right) -e\\ &= \exp \left((n+\alpha) \left( \frac{1}{n}-\frac{1}{2n^2}+\text{o}(1/n^2)\right) \right) -e\\ &= \exp \left(1 +\frac{2\alpha -1}{2n} +\text{o}(1/n)\right) -e\\ &\approx \frac{e(2\alpha -1)}{2n} \end{split}$$ for $\alpha \neq 1/2$, but: $$\begin{split} x_{1/2} (n) -e&= \exp \left( (n+1/2)\ \ln (1+1/n)\right) -e\\ &= \exp \left((n+1/2) \left( \frac{1}{n}-\frac{1}{2n^2}+ \frac{1}{3n^3}+\text{o}(1/n^3)\right) \right) -e\\ &= \exp \left(1 +\frac{1}{12n^2} +\text{o}(1/n^2)\right) -e\\ &\approx \frac{e}{12n^2} \; . \end{split}$$
$$ e^{-1} = \left(e^{-\frac{1}{n+1}}\right)^{n+1} > \left(1-\frac{1}{n+1}\right)^{n+1} $$
$$ \left(1-\frac{1}{n+1}\right)^{n+1} \cdot \left(1 + \frac{1}{n}\right)^{n+1} = 1 $$
I would like to post a short proof of a stronger claim, namely that:
By switching to logarithms, $(1)$ is equivalent to: $$ \left(n+\frac{1}{2}\right)\int_{-1/2}^{1/2}\frac{dx}{n+\frac{1}{2}+x}\,dx \geq 1 \tag{2}$$ but $g(x)=\frac{1}{x+1}$ is a convex function on $\mathbb{R}^+$, hence $(2)$ trivially follows from the Hermite-Hadamard inequality.


text:
Times Square Was a Target, Officials Say
As the brothers suspected in the marathon bombings drove around in a stolen car hours before their deadly firefight with police outside Boston, they allegedly discussed using their remaining explosives in an attack on Times Square, officials in New York said Thursday.
At a news conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the new information came from federal officials in Boston following a hospital-room interrogation of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was charged in the April 15 bombings. He was injured during the daylong manhunt touched off by an alleged carjacking and has been communicating with difficulty, officials said.
Details from earlier questioning, disclosed Wednesday by New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, had indicated plans by the brothers to come to New York to "party" following the bombings that killed three and injured more than 200.
The older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a confrontation with police hours after the two "decided spontaneously" to head to New York for an alleged attack, according to Mr. Kelly's remarks at Thursday's briefing.
Mr. Kelly said investigators told him the younger Mr. Tsarnaev was "a lot more lucid" during a second questioning session that began Sunday and extended into Monday. A federal judge moved to advise the surviving suspect of his Miranda rights Monday, a move some Republican lawmakers have called premature—because it ended the interrogation.
The younger Mr. Tsarnaev allegedly told interrogators that he and his brother wanted to detonate up to six more devices in Times Square, Mr. Kelly said, including five pipe bombs and one pressure-cooker bomb similar to the two used in the attack on the marathon.
"They had built those additional explosives, and we know they had the capacity to carry out the attacks," Mr. Bloomberg said at City Hall.
While stressing New York has one of most sophisticated counterterrorism infrastructures in the world, Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged the threat posed by the suspects. "We don't know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists, had they arrived here from Boston," he said. "We're just thankful we didn't have to find out that answer."
Other officials involved in the investigation cautioned that the alleged plan to attack Times Square wasn't close to fruition. A senior law-enforcement official said the plan "was aspirational at best" and "just chatter" between suspects who seemed panicked by the release of surveillance photos from the marathon. "They took no steps to get [to New York] and had done no research," the official said. "They had four days to get to New York. If they really wanted to get there, they would have moved a lot quicker."
The official said the Times Square detail was a small part of the wide-ranging information the younger Mr. Tsarnaev has communicated to investigators over days of questioning that began after his capture in Watertown, Mass. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York said there was "no specific or credible threat to New York at this time."
The chaotic encounter between the Tsarnaevs and police in Massachusetts is still being reconstructed, but Mr. Kelly said the alleged plan to go to New York "fell apart when they realized that the vehicle that they hijacked was low on gas and ordered the driver to stop at a nearby gas station."
"The driver used the opportunity to escape and call the police. That eventually led to the shootout in Watertown where the older brother was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police," the commissioner added.
Mr. Kelly said the information on the potential threat to New York came to his attention on Wednesday, more than two days after authorities learned of it. That delay led to questions at Thursday's news briefing about communications among various law-enforcement agencies.
"There's no reason to think the FBI hides anything," Mr. Bloomberg said.
A second law-enforcement official in New York attributed the delay to investigators in Boston not sharing information "piecemeal," instead compiling a report that was distributed to other jurisdictions.
Mr. Kelly said on Thursday that the younger Mr. Tsarnaev visited New York City last year in April and November, and was photographed with friends in Times Square. Mr. Kelly said the visits and the people with him at the time are now part of an active investigation by the NYPD Intelligence Division.
Mr. Bloomberg said the alleged plan to target the city "shows just how crucial it is for the NYPD to continue to expand its counterterrorism capabilities and intelligence gathering activities." In the past year, the police force has been the subject of criticism over alleged spying in Muslim communities across the region as part of counterterrorism efforts and for expanding the use of surveillance cameras in New York City.
—Devlin Barrett contributed to this article.
Write to Tamer El-Ghobashy at firstname.lastname@example.com


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For example, in a shopping cart, I may buy this purchase for myself ("me" / "myself" icon), as opposed to gifting it to someone else (box with bow-tie icon). What is the ideal icon to represent ME?
closed as not constructive by Benny Skogberg♦, JonW♦ May 19 '12 at 9:41
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I don't think you need two icons. The default action is "buying for myself." "Buying as a gift" is an additional check.
Amazon does this and I think it's much simpler and intuitive.
Steam, a digital download games shop, shows both options on the cart view. The options are "Purchase for myself" and "Purchase as a gift" as buttons. I prefer this over checkboxes in this case as it has a deeper meaning in Steam as you can choose the recipients user account so the game gets added to them directly.
When it comes to a "me" icon not even Facebook has one (they use a text "Profile" link instead), but I think a generic silhouette would work as that's what you're used to represent yourself until you upload a picture on any site.
Since this is about shopping (i.e. money is involved), I would probably spell it out rather than having two different icons. Maybe an icon in a button with the texts "myself" and "gift" would work.
You may just want to consider using text labels instead of icons. Very few icons are universally known - most require a second or two of parsing. Using tags in a smaller lighter text next to product descriptions might be the most practical solution to your quandary.
However, if you absolutely need to use an icon, you could do something clever like take a generic head icon and insert either the recipients initials in it, or just say Mine! in text underneath.
If you have OpenID integration, facebook, or Google log in, you can use their own image from their profile to not represent, but actually show clearly that you are talking about them.
The most intuitive icon of 'me' would be a picture (or an avatar selected by them to represent themselves) of the person. So for example if your sign in was associated with Facebook, you could use their profile picture.
I'm guessing this isn't a practical response though, so I would agree with other responders to say that you're probably better off as leaving it blank/generic (yet distinctive from other images) as a default option and use text as appropriate. For most sites and most shopping behaviours the default of not needing/wanting gift options will be appropriate.