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I ride my bike maybe once a week at most. I need to add air to the tires every time to bring it up to the right pressure. (I ride a mountain bike and I put about 45 - 50 PSI's into the tires.) Is this normal?
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If you're putting in 5 or maybe even 10 PSI every week, that's not too much out of line; it's normal for tires to lose a little bit of pressure over time.
If your tires are sinking down to much more than that, you may have slow leaks. If both tires are decreasing by the same amount, perhaps you have older tubes that need replacing. If one tire is doing this but not the other, you may have a very slow leak. Try replacing the tube and see if that fixes the problem.
Latex tubes?
The posh 'extra comfy', low-rolling resistance 'latex' tubes that cost twice that of normal tubes can deflate quicker than is desirable.
Valves can also be a problem, typically from getting chalk dust particles inside the valve innards. This can be the case with both valve types, however, with Presta you can mitigate against this by ensuring the valves are done up tight.
Remember that rubber perishes when in contact with the elements, to minimise the chance of this make sure the valve caps are present.
As noted, if one tyre deflates quicker than the other then it is likely that you have a slow puncture. This puncture may not necessarily be visible to the naked eye, holes can be a 'normal' part of the manufacturing process or they can be introduced around the valve seat.
Different tyres deflate over time at different rates. This is proportional to the tyre volume, e.g. a 20" x 1.5" tyre will deflate quicker than a 26" x 2.3" tyre. 5-10 PSI is borderline acceptable, even if accounting for air lost connecting up your track pump. You should only need to attend to tyre pressure every fortnight.
High-pressure,low-volume tires like typical roadster tires often need to be checked daily.
They might only need a few pounds pressure to bring up to normal, but it's best to check.
Lower-pressure higher-volume tires like typical MTB tires seem more forgiving, but in maintaining our department fleet of 25 patrol bikes, I find a minimum of weekly checking is necessary. It's next to impossible to tell without actually putting a gauge on the tire; the thing may feel quite firm and still be 20 pounds under pressure.


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I hope this is serious enough. It is a well-known fact that $\pi_1(SO(3)) = \mathbb{Z}/(2)$, so $SO(3)$ admits precisely one non trivial covering, which is 2-sheeted.
Another well known fact is that you can hold a dish on your hand and perform two turns (one over the elbow, one below) in the same direction and come back in the original position.
These facts are known to be related, and I more or less can guess why. Some configuration of the system (hand + dish) must draw a path in $Spin(3)$ whose projection in $SO(3)$ is the closed non trivial loop pointed at the identity.
The problem is that I cannot make this precise, since it is not clear to me which is the variety which parametrizes the position of the elbow and the hand. Is there a clean way to see how $Spin(3)$ comes into play?

subset: commoncrawl


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Lumen Fidei and Taking the Right Stand
If you do not take a stand, you will not understand. Understanding requires standing. These are the culminating themes of the account of the concept of faith in Joseph Ratzinger's 1968 Introduction to Christianity, in which faith is named as "taking up a position" and "to take one's stand on something." Ratzinger is trying to identify faith with a certain type of stance toward reality, rather than with any formulae, claiming that faith is the prerequisite of all real human understanding. Without faith, he suggests, all understanding eventually is reduced to "making" – that is, not to standing somewhere, but to remaking the world in one's own image. (By "faith" here, I hasten to add that Ratzinger is speaking more broadly that about "the Faith" – he's showing that understanding is really only possible if there is acknowledgment of meaning in the world that is PRIOR TO my own definitions, and to acknowledge such meaning is to trust, have faith.
Chapter 2 of Lumen Fidei quotes Isaiah 7:9, "Unless you believe, you will not understand," the very verse on which Ratzinger bases his reflection in his 1968.
The hand of Benedict is very much present here, weaving a complex reflection on how love, the senses, and reason all work together in fruitful concert when grounded in faith, a faith that itself must be embodied in the community of the Church (chapter 3) and in service to the common good (chapter 4).
The overall outline of the document suggests its central concern, set out in the initial paragraph, to counter the idea that religious faith is in fact a form of "darkness." Rather, faith means standing somewhere, taking a stand, one that illuminates rather than darkens. In the first chapter, the existential or dynamic (rather than propositional or doctrinal) aspect of what faith means is vividly described, in particular using Abraham. The first chapter is filled with an exploration of these dynamic experiences – call, response, promise, love – and all of this oriented toward the salvific communion with God and others that is the Church. The second, third, and fourth chapters then extend this experience of faith into the areas of intellect (chapter 2), ecclesial community (chapter 3), and social community (chapter 4).
Elsewhere, at catholicmoraltheology.com, I've posted some of the insights that jump out of the encyclical, but here I want to mention the "affirmative orthodoxy" that John Allen highlights as a distinctive continuity between Benedict and Francis. I have always thought that there is no necessary conflict between a strongly Christocentric conception of faith and a conception that appreciates the broad experience of non-Christians. Ultimately, this is a false dichotomy that leads to a real dead end for both Christians and non-Christians. We need to figure out ways of speaking, and more especially acting, in which "taking a stand" does not somehow mean "standing against" - and in particular, standing against those who really do live out a dedication to love, service, and beauty. The encyclical nicely weaves these affirmations:
"The more Christians immerse themselves in the circle of Christ's light, the more capable they become of understanding and accompanying the path of every man and woman towards God."
It insists that maintaining the distinctive faith in Jesus in fact allows recognition of the content of those who are not "believers."
"Because faith is a way, it also has to do with the lives of those men and women who, though not believers, nonetheless desire to believe and continue to seek. To the extent that they are sincerely open to love and set out with whatever light they can find, they are already, even without knowing it, on the path leading to faith. They strive to act as if God existed, at times because they realize how important he is for finding a sure compass for our life in common or because they experience a desire for light amid darkness, but also because in perceiving life's grandeur and beauty they intuit that the presence of God would make it all the more beautiful. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons tells how Abraham, before hearing God's voice, had already sought him "in the ardent desire of his heart" and "went throughout the whole world, asking himself where God was to be found", until "God had pity on him who, all alone, had sought him in silence." Any-one who sets off on the path of doing good to others is already drawing near to God, is already sustained by his help, for it is characteristic of the divine light to brighten our eyes whenever we walk towards the fullness of love." (35)
On the one hand, we can only "take a stand" on love, beauty, and peace insofar as we recognize that it is Christ who manifests this content. We can only know that the "object of faith" is not an object, but a subject, because we have encountered God in the face of Christ. On the other hand, it is unfortunate that Christocentrism often expresses itself in exclusivist ways. What Christocentrism should make clear is the anti-deistic claim that we encounter God as love because God acts in history:
Our culture has lost its sense of God's tangible presence and activity in our world. We think that God is to be found in the beyond, on another level of reality, far removed from our everyday relationships. But if this were the case, if God could not act in the world, his love would not be truly powerful, truly real, and thus not even true, a love capable of delivering the bliss that it promises. It would make no difference at all whether we believed in him or not. Christians, on the contrary, profess their faith in God's tangible and powerful love which really does act in history and determines its final destiny. (17)
The claim that "God acts in history" has been misused, by Christians and by other religions alike. But the response – to remove God from history – is not an answer. Rather, the key argument must be how we recognize God acting in history. For this, it seems to me, we must always place our trust in Jesus as the revelation of the nature and intent of God's activity. To focus on Jesus is, I think, to be able to have a trustworthy standard for where and how God is acting, in all people. The "Christian difference," such as it is, might be captured in this notion of "radical openness":
"Faith's new way of seeing things is centered on Christ. Faith in Christ brings salvation because in him our lives become radically open to a love that precedes us, a love that transforms us from within, acting in us and through us." (20)
While this openness to all that precedes us is seen in the broad human experiences of wonder, love, and commitment, Christians are called to radicalize this openness. Do we manifest this? Do we allow this love to be active in and through us? The encyclical suggests that, if and when we do, we are indeed the light of the world. But if not, perhaps we contribute to the darkness.
About the Author
David Cloutier is associate professor of theology at Mount St. Mary's University and editor of catholicmoraltheology.com. He is the author of The Vice of Luxury (2015), Walking God's Earth: The Environment and Christian Ethics (2014), and Love, Reason, and God's Story: An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics (2008). In fall 2016, he is starting a position at the Catholic University of America.
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thanks for the post. I want to echo a point you make at the catholic moral theology blog: Lumen fidei offers "a remarkably rich foundation for theological work and spirituality."
Over at the America site, I speak of it as deserving to be "pondered and prayed."
Real good synopsis. I hope to take some time to ponder and pray, as Fr. Imbelli suggests, very soon. Certainly summer reflection.
This quote:
Our culture has lost its sense of God's tangible presence and activity in our
world. We think that God is to be found in the beyond, on another level of reality, far removed from our everyday
put me in mind of one of my favourite quips of Emily Dickinson
"They say that God is everywhere and yet we always think of him as somewhat of a recluse."
The most mysterious aspect of conscience is the involuntary message we receive from time to time. Where and how does it come to us when we have not summoned it or been deliberating?
I've only skimmed the encyclical, but one thing stands out to me as new: the idea that faith (n some sense of the word) sometimes communicates something personal to the hearer. in such cases it isn't a grasp of what all the faithful can see. It is an illumination of what an individual needs to know at some point in his or her life. In other words, faith is not only what the community needs to know for the common good (what is codified in dogmatic statements) -- it also illuminates what an individual needs to know in particular circumstances in order to live his or her own particular holy life.
I don't think the encyclical clarifies any theological vocabulary, but there is a surprising bow to what Wittgenstein said about the value of love in seeking certainty. Let's hope that this is a sign that Benedict is starting to take Witt. seriously. Witt. has so much to teach the theologians, I think, about the many sorts of "language" and the many ways that language is actually used in different contexts. Such analysis, I think, could assist in the development of liturgy as well as in theology. How great it would be if Benedict turned into a theological linguistic analyst in his very old age:-)
These are no doubt unwelcome words to some --
36. Theology also shares in the ecclesial form of faith; its light is the light of the believing subject which is the Church. . . . because it draws its life from faith, theology cannot consider the magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him as something extrinsic, a limitation of its freedom, but rather as one of its internal, constitutive dimensions, for the magisterium ensures our contact with the primordial source and thus provides the certainty of attaining to the word of Christ in all its integrity.
A beautiful letter from Francis. I urge everyone to read it in its entirety.
But is it really FROM Francis? He may have signed it but how much of it is Benedict?
The first few pages at least are very recognizably from pope (emeritus) Benedict. Lost of logical connectors, tight reasonings, lists that make sense, no redundancies, and a few favorite turns of phrase such as "I think first and foremost of...".
Does it contain instances of what I thought were Benedict's least likeable features, namely, occasional drifts into rants against the secular world with lists full of negatives not balanced by anything comparable on the positive side?
I must say that I am not yet familiar with pope Francis's style, aside from his inimitable expressions: are there any of those in there?
On the other hand: is it so important to know who wrote what? I believe the style can betray the author, but Pope Francis subscribes to everything written in there, to the point of attaching his own name to it. Is it anything other than an idle amusement to look for stylistic clues?
you mean he had his fingers crossed when he signed?
If encyclicals are supposed to speak what the whole Church already believes, at least implicitly, how appropriate is it for popes to use the first person singular in them?
Maybe there should be a new papal genre, one containing very-serious-epistles-from-the-pope which in form would be essays for the Church to consider seriously rather than dogmatic statements which include the form "I think that".
Tina Beattie, of the Digby Stuart Research Centre for Religion, Society and Human Flourishing at the University of Roehampton, had this reaction in The (London)Tablet, entitled "Francis' first encyclical? It's really Benedict's last testament" http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/611/17
Fr. I: Francis did say that it was an encyclical from four hands, but he didn't say how weighted was the input from each pair of hands.
As Beattie said:
"Only in one short section which comes about half way through its 88 pages does it acknowledge the possibility that faith might be found outside the doctrines, magisterial authority and sacramental unity of the Catholic Church. This section, titled 'Faith and the search for God', is so different in tone that it leads me to suspect that here we detect the influence of a quieter, more pastorally sensitive authorial voice, and a hint of a different vision which is about to emerge."
Here's is what I wrote on the "America" website (beating Ms Beattie by 24 hours):
"we are witnesses to an extraordinary collaboration that might equally be called the Testament of Benedict and the Inaugural Address of Francis."
I certainly second her assessment that the encyclical is "Pope Benedict's last and perhaps greatest encyclical." My point above is that Francis appropriated and endorsed his Predecessor's Christ-centered vision of faith.
As for her suggestion that Section 35, "Faith and the Search for God," is "different in tone" and represents "a quieter, more pastorally sensitive authorial voice," may I politely say: humbug!
Anyone who has heard Benedict preach of the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany, anyone who has followed his pastoral initiative in sponsoring "The Courtyard of the Gentiles," will recognize his pastoral voice here. Moreover, when the Section speaks of seekers who "strive to act as if God existed," it employs a classic Benedict term -- and all this without mentioning that the Section's two footnote references are to St. Irenaeus and "Dominus Iesus!"
For a much more informed and, to my mind, accurate, exegesis of authorship, see Luigi Accatolli here.
But the decisive point is that "Lumen fidei" is signed "Franciscus" and bears the authority of the present Bishop of Rome.
Francis signed Lumen Fidei signifying that he is in agreement with both the letter and the spirit of the encyclical.
Meanwhile, I wonder how Benedict is doing? I read that he and Pope Francis were together on Friday morning for the release of the encyclical, and looked for pictures, but have not found any.
What is the word for "faith' in the original Greek versions of the Bible? I found that in, for instance, 2 Corinthians 1:24 "faith" is used to translate the word"piste", and my online dictionary says that "piste" means "belief without proof'.
However, Benedict and Francis give the word "faith" many more meanings than "belief without proof", for instance, it's said to be a kind of illumination, trust, a kind of gift (grace). Yet faith is "not a private matter": It's also a kind of truth "meant to find expression", and, further "the ecclesial Magisterium is … one of its constitutive elements". (Now there's a huge claim!) And those are just some of the things BenFran say it is in the first two chapters.
While there are some valuable insights in the text (when you can settle on one of the various meanings of the word "faith"), I find that it's a very muddy text because "faith" is said to be so many different things. If faith were viewed as a process with many different parts it might be more comprehensible.
(Does Scripture talk about a distinct virtue called "faith" as in "faith, hope, and charity"? Does it simply mean "belief without proof" in that phrase? Where does that phrase come from?)
Ann Olivier: You might want to take a look at James L. Kinneavy's book GREEK RHETORICAL ORIGINS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH: AN INQUIRY (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Pres, 1987). Kinneavy comes from a Roman Catholic background. I believe that he was at one time in the Jesuits.
Claire, the two Popes were together for the dedication of a new statue to St Michael in the Vatican Gardens. The Encyclical was presented by Ouellet, Fisichella and Müller, probably at the same time. You should be able to find pictures of Francis and Benedict in the garden next to the angel defeating a serpent...
Pistis, faith, is everywhere in the NT. St Paul has major commentaries in Romans and Galatians, but comments on it in every letter I think. Faith hope and love are the three things that last according to 1 Cor 13. Faith is the substance of things hoped for in Heb 11. While "belief without proof" is adequate for a dictionary, the encyclical builds on that to present a glimpse of the word's rich meaning in Scripture. Many books have been written on faith's significances, undoubtedly including some that describe it as a multipart process.
Thomas F. --
Thanks for the recommendation. Must be a very good book -- it's out of print already! I can get a copy for $256 from England, and there's one other used.
JIm McK. --
I was hoping there was some particular, non-everyday Greek word that has been translated into English as "faith", a Greek word that might have been used to convey a core meaning that goes beyond "belief without proof". The meanings of "faith' (the English word) that I remember from Scripture and that BenFran use are so very varied that it loses its meaning for me -- one doesn't know which meaning is intended.
I have real trouble with "faith is the substance of things hoped for". Taken literally it would seem to refer to God Himself (the object hoped for), but that would identify acts of faith with God, which would be heresy. So what does that "definition" mean?
I also have trouble with the meaning of "hope". In 1 Corinthians Paul distinguishes it from faith and love, but sometimes "hope" seems to be an element in the meaning of "faith", as in "I have faith that Christ will return". There it means both "I believe and hope He will return".
Are faith, hope and charity words which signify the parts of a process, a sequence which proceeds from believing a proposition, to hoping that it will be satisfied, to finally seeing-and-loving the truth that is Love?
When two authors collaborate, and especially when one has written the first draft of a piece, and the other speaks modestly of having added a few touches, it might be rash to assume that they agree on all the details of the final project. It might at least be wise to wait until we have a more extensive body of work on which to base an assessment of exactly where Francis stands on some of the topics Benedict addresses in Lumen Dei. Given the situation, it was the gracious thing for Francis to do to allow Benedict to complete his set of Encyclicals, and to add no more than a few touches himself. To find out what he thinks, I think we must look to what he says for himslelf.
I would be very hesitant in getting into the game of speculating about "who is speaking" in an encyclical. George Weigel infamously tried to separate a supposed "authentic voice of Benedict" from supposed interlopers from the Office of Justice and Peace - the effect, unfortunately, was to suggest much more about Weigel's views than about any author. Similarly, it seems to me that Lumen Fidei doesn't suggest any "contrast" between Benedict and Francis. There is little evidence that these two men have "different visions" - that they have different styles is certainly true, and that matters, but I think any sense that they have different stands on significant Church teachings is quite unlikely. I wouldn't want to drive a wedge between them, any more than I would want to drive a wedge between John Paul II and John XXIII. On Ann O's question: the whole concept would be difficult to boil down to a dictionary definition, but certainly Heb 11 is the classic locus (e.g. Aquinas uses it as the basis of his articles on the virtue of faith). It has always helped me to keep in mind a few things. First, much of our "knowledge" is in fact based on "faith" - that is, we trust in authorities and such, even when we expect good reasons and have some basis (not proof) for having such trust. Second, faith involves both subjective trust and objective content - we always "believe in" something or someone, but the act of belief is not simply saying yes to content, but involves a deeper sense of trust and commitment. Third, the fundamental model of faith, Abraham, is usually used to suggest that ultimately faith is in God's promise for the future. It is an unfortunately effect of the Enlightenment that we draw a strong, almost absolute contrast between "proven facts" and "opinion" or "faith" - as if one is completely settled, and the other is just a complete shot in the dark. There are moments of faith that feel like shots in the dark, but when we believe in someone's promises (i.e. the heart of Christian faith, but also what we do in marriage, in friendships, in good business relationships, etc.), while we can't "know" the future, we can normally point to reasons why it makes sense to trust in their promises.
Whoops. Sorry. Lumen Fidei of course, and " himself," in my comment above.
Ann Olivier: Wow! That's a pricey used book.
OK, let's start with something you know. Here's a well-known syllogism:
Major premise: All men are mortal.
Minor premise: Socrates is a man.
Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
According to Aristotle, the conclusion of properly worked out syllogism like this one is a certainty.
However, not all reasoning lends itself to syllogistic reasoning, so not all reasoning lends itself to establishing conclusions with certainty. Pistis is going to be a catch-all term for all manner of reasoning that cannot produce certainty. But we have to make decisions based on reasoning that often involves few or no certainties. In such circumstances, we are persuaded by a number of considerations. In his treatise on civic rhetoric, Aristotle refers to appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos. In principle, appeals to logos could perhaps at times include using syllogistic reasoning. But more often than not include carefully worked out examples of syllogistic reasoning.
So is religious faith in the canonical New Testament texts portrayed as the conclusion of syllogistic reasoning? Do people use syllogistic reasoning to conclude that they should have faith? No,not quite. In the NT, faith is more like pistis -- something that people come to feel persuaded by.
Does it follow that the various NT writers knew Aristotle's treatises in formal logic and his treatise about civic rhetoric? No.
But it does appear that the NT writers knew an ancient Greek term that Aristotle understood.
"On Ann O's question: the whole concept would be difficult to boil down to a dictionary definition, but certainly Heb 11 is the classic locus (e.g. Aquinas uses it as the basis of his articles on the virtue of faith). It has always helped me to keep in mind a few things."
David C. --
I don't think that simply boiling down the meanings to one meaning is what is needed. We need a whole palette of words and phrasesof which whose varied meanings include all the insights that so far go by the one word "pistes" or "faith". In other words, the word "pistis/faith" is trying to do too many things at once, so we need to widen the vocabulary to maintain the various insights. If the theologians settled on just one symbol plus one relatively simple meaning that would sacrifice a lot of important insight.
In order to retain some continuity with the old uses, maybe there should be the recognition that "faith" is a family resemblance term -- there is no one meaning that all the uses share in common, but no matter which meaning you choose it will be like least some one other meaning (but not all of them). Maybe we should use complex words, like faith-as-action and faith-as-knowledge.
Different meanings of "faith" can lead to fundamentally different theological positions about crucial matters. For instance, if you think that the word "faith" means *only* a kind of knowing or knowledge, then you must reject the notion that faith *commands* good works, for merely to know is not to command.
You also say:
"… faith involves both subjective trust and objective content - we always "believe in" something or someone, but the act of belief is not simply saying yes to content, but involves a deeper sense of trust and commitment."
It seems to me that the last word here (commitment) gets at that notion of faith as including command. Because it commands, we must commit to certain actions demanded by the commands (and I'd say these includes good works).
Maybe a semantic compromise would be to describe/define "faith" as a process including a complex number of steps, beginning with understanding, then going on to believing, followed by commitment, and then action, and probably some little steps in between. Then the clever theologians could go on to invent some nice new words for those elemental steps.
P. S. And a definition/description of the faith process should also include the grace of God which pushes us towards belief and the grace-strength accompanying the other steps which enables us to keep us firm in our commitment. That is the faith-strength that, I think, Heb 11 is talking about, and the faith-strength of the martyrs which we call their "strong faith".
Ann Olivier wrote: What is the word for "faith' in the original Greek versions of the Bible? I found that in, for instance, 2 Corinthians 1:24 "faith" is used to translate the word"piste", and my online dictionary says that "piste" means "belief without proof'.
Pistis (in its various forms) appears 244 times in the NT books included in the King James bible. 239 times it is translated by the one word "faith "
Here is a page with links to the verses in which it is used and summarizes different meanings proposed by scholars. None suggest "belief without proof"
John H, --
Thanks for the Bible Study Tools site. it seems ot reduce "pistis" to a conviction of one sort or another about one thing or another. But it seems to me that that's too narrow for what Benedict and Francis -- and St. Paul -- are talking about.
Faith, first as the Greek pistis and then as the Englsh faith, has survived for 2000 years. It has been subjected to all kinds of analysis, including the dissection you propose. Most attempts to clarify meaning tend in the opposite direction, specifying a meaning when the word should be more open to a variety of meanings.
We have an inspired text that is our starting point. We can specify components of faith, modalities, etc. but we have to remain true to the inspiration that used a single word. It raises some big questions; does merely knowing sometimes command? St James addresses that question in his letter, as does St Paul in a more nuanced fashion. The language has to be able to question us, to spur us to insights, or it has no claim to being inspired. Using a single word 'faith' is truer to the text than a more nuanced proliferation of terminology that may seem more comprehensive and more comprehensible. It is more important to be faithful to the text.
The voice is Joseph's voice but the hands are the hands of Francis.
Assuming that there was a posting glitch on my part rather than a deliberate erasure by someone, I'll repeat what I thought that I posted a couple of days back: I call myself Jim because I prefer to be called Jim. I have never liked the name James and my parents knew that early on in my life.
Interesting article by Drew Christianson over at America:
Pope Francis's first encyclical Lumen Fidei concluded that faith is ultimate grounded in love's knowledge of God in Christ. Faith belongs to the order of interpersonal knowledge because God is personal....
If you were puzzled, as I was, at how Pope Francis could move from Benedict's truths of the faith to the truth revealed by love in the latest encyclical, it was the pioneering work of Pierre Rousselot, with the mediation of his disciple Henri De Lubac, that made it possible.
Worth reading, I think
Interesting article by Drew Christianson over at America:
Pope Francis's first encyclical Lumen Fidei concluded that faith is ultimate grounded in love's knowledge of God in Christ. Faith belongs to the order of interpersonal knowledge because God is personal....
If you were puzzled, as I was, at how Pope Francis could move from Benedict's truths of the faith to the truth revealed by love in the latest encyclical, it was the pioneering work of Pierre Rousselot, with the mediation of his disciple Henri De Lubac, that made it possible.
Worth reading, I think
That reminded me of this quote from one of Francis's homilies back in May
The faith of the People of God – observes the Pope - is a simple faith, a faith that is perhaps without much theology, but it has an inward theology that is not wrong, because the Spirit is behind it." The Pope mentions Vatican I and Vatican II, where it is said that "the holy people of God ... cannot err in matters of belief" (Lumen Gentium). And to explain this theological formulation he adds: "If you want to know who Mary is go to the theologian and he will tell you exactly who Mary is. But if you want to know how to love Mary go to the People of God who teach it better. " The people of God - continued the Pope - "are always asking for something closer to Jesus, they are sometimes a bit 'insistent in this. But it is the insistence of those who believe
Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/25/pope:_open_the_door_to_faith/...
of the Vatican Radio website
I don't remember ever seeing Esquire linked here, but this is an article by a self-identified atheist on why "Pope Francis is Awesome"
'"We have an inspired text that is our starting point. We can specify components of faith, modalities, etc. but we have to remain true to the inspiration that used a single word."
Jim McK. --
Forgive me for getting somewhat technical, but sometimes the technical can help with riddles.
We have *many* inspired texts which use the "one word", and there's the problem I'm talking about: "one word" can mean either 1) a groups of of marks that you see on an actual page such as --> w o r d, or 2) it can mean all of the groups of marks that look like that group of marks I just pointed to with that arrow, or 3) it can mean each of those similar groups of marks with each of their respective different meanings. When you have many such groups of marks with many meanings you have a semantic problem.
But, as you say, Scripture does include "one word' (a set of similar groups of marks in the original SS texts).
I assume, because Scripture uses one word in the third sense (many similar groups of marks with somewhat different meanings) that the author intends some kind of unity of meaning. And ISTM thst the only way to have any sort of *unity of different meanings* is to interpret "faith" in its fullest sense as a complex process whose parts include the varied meanings found in Scripture. The big question then becomes: how are those parts related in real life?
John H. --
Thanks for that quotatioin about the faith of the people of God. Could Francis be suggesting to the trads that he is considering reviewing that the Vatican's teaching on contraception?
reviewing that the Vatican's teaching on contraception?
Lets hope not...
Back in 2005, liberal historian Stephanie Coontz observed that the deconstruction of traditional marriage (and the growing acceptance of same-sex marriage) was a predictable consequence of the separation of sex and procreation.
Heterosexuals were the upstarts who turned marriage into a voluntary love relationship rather than a mandatory economic and political institution. Heterosexuals were the ones who made procreation voluntary, so that some couples could choose childlessness, and who adopted assisted reproduction so that even couples who could not conceive could become parents. And heterosexuals subverted the long-standing rule that every marriage had to have a husband who played one role in the family and a wife who played a completely different one. Gays and lesbians simply looked at the revolution heterosexuals had wrought and noticed that with its new norms, marriage could work for them, too.
Bruce, to Coontz's insights we could add two wrinkles: The hetero trashing of marriage continues apace. They live together, and when they book a church for their marriage production it's only because granny is getting close to the end and she always wanted to see Mimsy in a bridal dress. (Most of the blushing young couples signing up for premarriage counseling in our part of the world list the same address.)
Meanwhile, those of the officially disordered inclinations march in the streets, picket, pack legislative chambers and file lawsuits to win the right to be married. From which one might infer that if marriage is to be saved, it is the LGBT community (sic) which will save it.
Although I completely agree that the word faith has multiple meanings and nuances of meaning, I don't see why you would only be concerned to obtain the Greek word and its associations as key to the Christian understanding. Why not Hebrew as well? Indeed, many of the subtle and not so subtle differences in meaning of the term faith in the Christian tradition might be said to derive from the fact that the amalgamation of contexts in which the word appears in BOTH the Old and New Testaments requires Christian believers to take into account a very rich palatte of colors from which our understanding is drawn.
So, to regard faith as trust, as something "I can pound my tent peg into" savors of the nomadic past of father Abraham, and offers a concrete analogy of the function of faith in human life understood as journey and temporality. Faith and right worship are inextricable in the prophetic literature, because of the question of the object of faith or to whom one pledges one's trust. To say "Amen" means belief and trust at the same time. When Jesus praises the faith of certain of the people he encounters, readers of the New Testament are not so much given a distillation of abstract meaning but rather myriad examples of the orientation toward God that proves fruitful in welcoming God's reign in Jesus. And so it goes. My point here is that the narrative theology embodied in the Scriptures is really essential to understanding faith as the many-layered concept that it is.
Rita --
I strongly agree that interpretation of Scripture must include Scripture as written in the Hebrew language, and also in the Aramaic one that Jesus spoke. This, of course, complicates interpretation even more. But when asked how many meanings does Scripture have, Aquinas answer that it has as many meanings as it has true interpretations! (Sorry, I read that many years ago and have forgotten where he is supposed to have said it.)
But for me at any rate complexity and ambiguity is not necessarily a fault, though many people crave the quick, easy certainty of simple speech. Sadly, many people will tolerate only simple speech.
Would you or anybody else know which were the Hebrew and Aramaic words that are used in Scripture and what their connotations were? Should be very interesting.
(N. B.: "Scripture" itself is a collective noun signifying all the original texts and their approved translations!)
Here's an interesting article in today's NYT about some experiments testing one benefit of mindfulness meditation: The experiments show that mindfulness meditation increases compassionate feelings and action.
It has long been established that *all* kinds of meditation have many mental and physical benefits as well as valuable spiritual benefits in many cases. "Meditation" is usually defined these days as the mental state in which the brain produces alpha-waves, at least predominantly, and this includes many religious practices (see Centering Prayer and the Jesus Prayer). In most cases meditation involves withdrawing one's attention from the external world and concentrating on something mental or focusing attention on sensations of one's own body. For instance, one classical Hindu method concentrate on one's breathing, while other methods focus on the mental acts flowing through consciousness. However, some techniques concentrate on some one simple thing in the world, e.b., a brick or a paper clip would serve.
Centering Prayer and the Jesus Prayer (and many other Christian, Jewish and Muslim practices) are similar to mindfulness meditation in that they withdraw attention from the external world, but also from the body, and in the case of Centering Prayer consciousness focuses only on the presence of God within one's soul. it is one of the simplest methods, and difficult because of that simplicity -- it is terribly easy to become distracted! But practice makes perfect, or, rather, makes it sometimes suggessful :-)
Mindfulness meditation usually is not a religious sort of meditation. It is used by Buddhists as a preliminary to their more advanced methods. But certain mindfulness techniques can be used in preparation for religious meditation of various sorts. It's sort of like stretching before running.
I should add that many, many people achieve a meditative state when concentrating on the meanings in the Rosary. So probably there are people on this blog who have already experiences this sort of altered state of consciousness. Pace, Mother Angelica.
From which one might infer that if marriage is to be saved, it is the LGBT community (sic) which will save it.
Unforntunately Tom, you cant save an institution by destroying it. The LGBT push for marriage 'rights' is nothing if not destructive.
Thanks for your comment at 1:03 pm, July 9. After our exchange, I was moved to look around on my shelves for more about biblical vocabulary for faith. Here's what I found. (Those better educated in Scripture than I am may want to say more.)
Jean Duplacy writes in Xavier Leon-Dufour's Dictionary of Biblical Theology that there exists a great variety of Hebrew vocabulary for faith.
Two roots are, however, dominant: aman (cf. amen) suggests solidity and sureness: batah, security and confidence.
He goes on to discuss the Greek vocabulary:
The Greek vocabulary is still more diverse. Greek religion, in fact, hardly allows any place to faith. The LXX not having at their disposal, therefore, appropriate words for rendering the Hebrew, have groped. To the root batah correspond especially: elpis, elpizo, pepoitha (Vulg. spes, sperare, confido); to the root aman: pistis, pisteo, alatheia (Vulg. fides, credere, veritas). In the NT later Greek words relative to the domain of knowledge become clearly predominant. Study of the vocabulary already reveals that faith, according to the Bible, has two poles: the confidence that is directed to a "faithful" person and involves the whole man; and, on the other hand, a movement of the intelligence to which a word or signs permit access to realities that are not seen (He 11,1).
(I apologize that I cannot put diacritical marks on the Hebrew words. The new Commonweal comment box does a lot better than the old one, but it too has limits.)
Duplacy did not discuss Aramaic vocabulary.
Rita --
Thanks for looking all that up! Curiouser and curiouser. Interesting to see how the later words became more and more specific -- the people didn't invent new words for their more specific meanings, they seem to just use the word with the closest meaning to theirs. I guess "Good enough" is a criterion of language use -- we just don't care all that much about accuracy, or maybe we just don't need to be all that accurate, not always anyway.
On the other hand, it seems to me that the poets *do* seem to care about exact use of words -- that's how they get to write the most effective poetry. So I'm wondering how those words for faith are used in, say the Psalms and Isaiah and Jeremiah. Hmmm. Must look them up when my copy of Leon-Dufour comes in. (Just ordered it.)
Rita --
I just read half of Isaiah looking for "faith". In that half "faith" appears once referring to "the righteous nation that keeps faith", but the word there doesn't seem to mean "faith" in the sense of acceptance of religious truths. "Faithful" appears a couple of times, but only with the usual sense of remaining constant when challenged. "Trust" appears several times, I assume with our ordinary sense of the term, i.e., something we do relative to someone else rather than something which we believe.
What I found most interesting was that *other* words are used which apparently refer to the Jews' beliefs about God. The text does not include equivalent words for "belief" or "revelation', but they do include "wisdom" and "knowledge" of the Lord, and in one place it says that the Lord "teaches" them, which does imply something to be be believed. Plus in another place it says that certain grumblers will "accept instruction". So there does seem to be some body of knowledge involved in the faith of the Jews.
We oppose belief and doubt, and the text I read can easily be interpreted in spots as being about belief. However, the text doesn't include a correlative word for our word "doubt" nor even suggest any doubts, except, perhaps, for the grumblers. I wonder if the ancient Jews ever doubted the prophets and/or their teachings, They ignored the prophets, certainly, but I wonder if they ever doubted them. And if they didn't, was it perhaps because they had no word for doubt? (Some languages have no word for "blue" and the people don't seem aware of that color.) Which takes us far from Lumen Fidei, but not too far from the Courts of the Gentiles.
Complexity, etc.
Ann, much of what you seem to be seeking is covered in Lumen Fidei, for example:
"It might seem that the Greek version of the Bible, by translating "be established" as "understand", profoundly altered the meaning of the text by moving away from the biblical notion of trust in God towards a Greek notion of intellectual understanding. Yet this translation, while certainly reflecting a dialogue with Hellenistic culture, is not alien to the underlying spirit of the Hebrew text."
The passage from Isaiah 7:9 being discussed uses two related Hebrew words to underline the connection between believing and being established. Clearly the Greek translation was adopting and augmenting the concept of faith. It was not substituting a different term with a different meaning, but layering new understanding on an important basic concept.
'Ann, much of what you seem to be seeking is covered in Lumen Fidei, for example:
'It might seem that the Greek version of the Bible, by translating "be established" as "understand", profoundly altered the meaning of the text by moving away from the biblical notion of trust in God towards a Greek notion of intellectual understanding. Yet this translation, while certainly reflecting a dialogue with Hellenistic culture, is not alien to the underlying spirit of the Hebrew text.'
"The passage from Isaiah 7:9 being discussed uses two related Hebrew words to underline the connection between believing and being established. Clearly the Greek translation was adopting and augmenting the concept of faith. It was not substituting a different term with a different meaning, but layering new understanding on an important basic concep"
Jim McK.==
My main problem with LG is that it doesn't do *enough* detailed analysis of how the different instances of the word "faith" and related words express new and valuable understandings of the original revelations. But, three cheers!, he does say that individuals' faiths can differ in some ways without the individuals' being heretical, and I'd say that's a step towards a fuller theology of "faith".
Unfortunately, he seems to make an old-fashioned Platonic assumption about what the singular noun "faith" means. The way he uses the term (at least at the beginnings of sentences when he says "Faith is…"), he seems to be assuming that its referent is one constant eternal reality that all believers are somehow plugged into. However, his point that "it" can have new meanings added to it is, I think, a step towards a fuller understanding of what constitutes "faith" in its many different instantiations. (I really, really wish he would get more into Wittgenstein and the other analysts.) But to think of this as "layering" a term doesn't help. If you assign a new layer (i.e. meaning) to the old term, then next time you use the term (unless the context makes it clear) your reader won't know which use you're intending -- the original term or the layered term.
My other big problem with the text is that he doesn't explain what sort of unity the various elements in a person's faith can have, nor does he explain how we can speak of *the* Catholic faith of many individuals without turning Platonist.
I say there are as many Catholic faiths as there are believers. Just as our individual faiths change from childhood to old age, so different individuals start out with at least slightly different faiths and also end up with somewhat different faiths. So to be accurate, we should be more careful about how we speak about one singular "it".
Yes, I'm a nominalist of some sort, but nominalism has the advantage of encouraging us to seek out differences while at the same time looking at the ways somewhat different faiths can still be said to be "one faith". The old Platonic presupposition of the single eternally unchanging referent named "Faith" leads too often to the trads accusing others of being "unfaithful" or downright heretical.
I am excited that you ordered Leon-Dufour! You are going to love it. I refer to mine all the time. It doesn't tell you everything in the world, and it certainly doesn't rival Kittel's monumental multi-volume Dictionary of the New Testament, but for a one-volume work in tune with Catholic theological concerns it's very helpful. There is the problem that it's translated from the French, and occasionally an ambiguity results, I think, but that is a minor cavil.
I find this question of yours fascinating:
I wonder if the ancient Jews ever doubted the prophets and/or their teachings, They ignored the prophets, certainly, but I wonder if they ever doubted them. And if they didn't, was it perhaps because they had no word for doubt?
You may be on to something. How would one test this question? Is it that doubt is a psychological state, and such conditions are not described in the Old Testament, or that this specific one is omitted? If faith is trust, is the act of will betokened by putting one's faith in a false prophet or in princes in effect a manifestation of doubt without using the word? My concordance has no word that is translated as doubt in the Old Testament. I wonder how one would go about exploring the texts in a more nuanced way, to see if analogous concepts and other vocabulary serve the same function however.
In the OT even Job, in spite of his troubles, still believes that God exists. And that most cynical of men, the author of Ecclesiastes, still believes that God exists. If a writer was an agnostic or atheist his work would not get to be included in the OT, but in a book not written by a skeptic there might be stories about people who stopped thinking that God exists, though I can't think of any (which means nothing -- I don't know the Bible!). "Doubting Thomas" denied only that Jesus had resurrected, not that God didn't exist.
"he seems to be assuming that its referent is one constant eternal reality that all believers are somehow plugged into."
OK. Is there something wrong with that? Are you questioning whether all believers believe? What can be wrong with asserting that the faithful have faith in common? If you are going to follow that line, and assert the absence of commonality in people's faith, you create an unmanageable morass.
Lumen Fidei takes a different approach, uncovering what Scripture says about faith. He uncovers faith in the story of Abraham, probably because St Paul et alia praise Abraham for his faith. He explores the concept in Moses and Isaiah. He expamines these "instantiations" to discover what is common, what is useful for people of faith. If he acts as if faith is "one constant eternal reality", it probably is because faith is, with love and hope, something that lasts, (1 Cor 13), according to another giant of faith.
You probably would appreciate Avery Dulles' book on models of faith. It describes different ways that people see faith, from intellectual assent to loving trust. Lumen Fidei is probably better read as developing a single vision of faith than as a comprehensive analysis like Dulles, pulling together disparate elements to propose a helpful understanding to the faithful.
the question in Job is whether he has faith, but the question to the reader is whether his friends have faith. Very complex book.
Hosea is a rich exploration of faith and infidelity, which touches on doubt even if it does not name it.
Jonah explores fidelity and doubt, not to mention all the cows.
Jeremiah has times of uncertainty, and faces people who do not believe him. "You duped me Lord, and I let myself be duped."
Doubt appears in the Torah, in the people who would have stayed in Egypt, in those who cast a bronze calf, in Lot's wife and even in Sarah's laughter.
the Wisdom literature contrasts the faithful and others. There probably is not much of an examination of intellectual doubt, since wisdom, even when it is portrayed as the object of study, is described like a spouse.
My impression is that doubters do not look very good in the Hebrew books, but there are probably exceptions.
"Are you questioning whether all believers believe?"
Jim McK. --
Not at all. I'm just asking an extremely simple question about the referent of the term "faith" in the sentences which begin with "Faith is...". It's a purely semantic question. I think the answer is that the author is making a very Platonic assumption about the meaning of common nouns -- that they refer to some objective, unchanging reality which exists imperfectly in things in this world.
YOu also say: " If you are going to follow that line, and assert the absence of commonality in people's faith, you create an unmanageable morass."
I reply, in fact i do think that the question of the faiths of Christians has historically been a morass. And that helps to explain how Christians can go to war with each other over the meanings of revelation.
I"m familiar with the Dulles. But he doesn't get into the metaphysics and semantics. He is very enlightening about some things, but his concern is the metaphorical.
Jim McK. --
I think that the word "doubter" is ambiguous. It can mean either someone who wonders whether or not something is real but suspects that it might not be (see the agnostics), or it can mean someone who definitely thinks that something which others think is real is not real (see the atheists). We have some very refined terminology for the types. What I have been wondering is whether the ancient Hebrews had a word or words which clearly meant "doubt" in either the weak or strong sense.
The referent of the term "faith" is pretty clear in lumen Fidei, starting from the first sentence: "The lighTof faiTh: this is how the Church's tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus." "Those who believe, see..." I think he is making the point that faith is what makes the faithful, faith is what believers do. He examines those who are upheld as exemplars of faith to gain understanding of and to explain the implications of faith.
i don't see the platonizing trend at al, not that there is anything wrong with that. "Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives." While eternal, faith is clearly part of individual relationships, not an abstract quality. The experiences and remarks about faith described in Scripture and encountered in those who believe are the basis for his explorations.
If you can use ther term "believers", you have grasped the meaning and referent of faith. This encyclical is meant to specify and illuminate the qualities and working of faith. I cannot grasp the problem you have with that task.
Jim McK. ==
Your understanding of "referent" and of "Platonist" are apparently so different from mine understadings of the terms that i don't think we'll ever have a meeting of minds about what "faith" means.


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Is it possible to share the clipboard of my local machine and a remote machine automatically when using OS X's built-in Screen Sharing utility? The whole Edit -> Send Clipboard, Edit -> Get Clipboard routine starts to feel a little cumbersome if you're doing any regular copy and paste work between your local desktop and a remote session.
This feature seems to now exist in Apple Screen Sharing Version 1.5 (481.1)
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the clipboard can be shared automatically. However, instead of going Edit->Send Clipboard and Edit->Get Clipboard, you can use the get/send clipboard buttons:
They're usually hidden by default, but you can get them to appear by clicking this button in the upper right hand corner of the window: or going View->Show Toolbar
Maybe you might want to switch to JollysFastVNC, which supports pasteboard sync out of the box: http://www.jinx.de/JollysFastVNC.html
Note that it is not free of charge. You can also get it in the Mac App Store, where the home version (up to 7 computers) costs US-$ 9.99.


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How many earth-sized planets have been discovered outside our solar system? Is there a combined registry of them anywhere? Where might I look for more information?
There are a couple of resources for you to look over the list of CONFIRMED extra-solar planets.
Wikipedia is always a nice starting point. Here is a list of the currently 53 known planetary SYSTEMS. And from that page, you can check out numerous other exoplanet details.
This article from August 2010 Space.com lists 5 candidates.
The definitive site though is http://exoplanet.eu/, which is touted as The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia (The Interactive Catalog probably has the data you are looking for.). I would say that there are other sites as well, but this one is public and interactive. Many other sites require membership in the IAU for instance, and others don't seem to have been updated in a while. EDIT: Just found a nice table by The Planetary Society.
Since our ability to detect earthlike planets hasn't been that great until Kepler, and the results from Kepler are preliminary, maybe checking out the Released Kepler Planetary Candidates would be of value.
In perusing both of those sets of planets (555 confirmed, and the thousands of Kepler planets), I ran into quite a few that are earth SIZED although many of the tables are still sorted using Jupiter Mass as 1.0 (so you need to find planets near 0.00315 Mj).
Notice that I really stressed the word "confirmed" at the start. Right now we are still sifting through the data. And since we have a new method of reliably finding them (Kepler using the transit method), we have a lot of verification to still go through. Some specific exoplanets of interest as an answer to your question are listed on this Planetary Society Page. (Although I feel that The Planetary Society may be overstating some of the information about each of the planets.)
Although, if you look at The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia for COROT-Exo-7, you find points of data that don't fully support the statements by the Planetary Society. i.e. the mass of the planet is not known with certainty yet, ranging anywhere from 2.8 ± 1.4 MEarth to 6.9 ± 1.4 MEarth. So the following statements by the Planetary Society may be a bit more self serving, but still exciting.
Overall, I would suggest The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia as the more impartial source.
EDIT TO ADD: On the 20th of December (2011), NASA announced that there are more earth sized planets out there with the discovery of Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f. Keep in mind, as we start figuring out more and more about the universe, we'll be getting these type of announcements more frequently. I suggest you keep an eye on the Kepler Mission page as opposed to this answer, since they are more likely to be up to date. Note that this discovery adds a criteria to the significance of the planets. That is, they are earth sized AND they orbit a sun-like star. Hence the excitement about them.


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Hall REO Contractors Soar As Burned Foreclosure Buyers Get Wise...
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REO Contractors Atlanta Gwinnett Buckhead Cumming
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Purchasers of foreclosed homes are winding up losing their investments, ending up in bankruptcy courts, moving back in with relatives, living in hotels or worse. These disheartened individuals and families are asking themselves "What went wrong?"
At a time when our economy seems to be in a state of recovery, as many are returning to work and many more seem to be getting close to being back on their feet again - why are so many finding themselves back where they were not so long ago?
It turns out that the foreclosure homes they purchased at what looked like incredible discounts at the time - turned out to be not so great a deal today. Unless these foreclosure homes went through "REO Companies," then the homes never went through a legitimate process of being refurbished or repared the correct way. These homes were originally built with all builder's grade materials, they were sloppily thrown together in a rush by unskilled, undocumented labor during an overly extended housing boom. They were then neglected by first time homeowners who never legitimately qualified for their mortgage to begin with. These homes were then occupied for a couple of more years by abusive, resentful individuals who knew they were soon losing the home through foreclosure. The houses then sat empty for a year or two more, waiting to be off loaded onto unsuspecting homebuyers looking for a good deal on a foreclosure property.
When the foreclosure purchasers bought them, the houses were only discounted from their original sales price which only covered the recent devaluation in real estate values. In fact, the houses continue to dive in value by significant amounts and are expected do so for quite some time. The extremely costly repairs were never performed which are vital to the home's habitability and the new home buyers are finding that out the hard way.
Included in these deficiencies are roofs that need to be replaced, mold issues, defective siding and window issues, worn out or missing HVAC units, pest infestations, diving neighborhood conditions and many more conditions. The costs of these repairs more often than not far exceed a total price of over $50,000. Adding insult to injury are the facts that most of these problems must be remedied immediately before the property is occupied, plus the fact that these problems were NEVER budgeted in the buyers' purchase price of the house..
So, what exactly did go wrong and how can it be prevented? The answer is quite simple and extremely safe as well. If those seeking great savings in their purchasing of a home by targeting foreclosures, these buyers simply need to learn as much as they can about the "REO" companies in their desired area and select their next purchase from homes that have been inspected, repaired, and documented by an well established REO company with a solid reputation.
It's important to keep in mind that ANY company can claim to be an REO company and anyone selling a property can claim that a house has been inspected and repaired by an REO company - but that's simply not good enough. Home buyers MUST do their homework in finding an REO company they can trust, and internet search engines are a great place to start. It's vitally important for those looking to buy a home to select ONLY homes that have been repaired or renovated correctly by reputable REO companies. Homebuyers may try to request something from the REO company stating that the home is in decent working condition. It's not imperative that the REO company provide a warranty or extended warranty. A simple written statement on their company letterhead that the home is in working condition. In fact, having they REO company do a professional written inspection on the property might be the safest way to go. You have to have the home inspected anyway, so why not have the company that made the repairs do the inspection. Imagine the recouse leverage that will exist at that point.
In short, if home buyers would have purchased only through reputable REO companies - these home buyers would not be in the trouble they're in today!
Tips for Buying Distressed or Foreclosed Homes
Buyers Of Foreclosures In Atlanta, North Georgia Need To Check For These Common Problems Before Purchasing:
To many unknowledgeable home buyers and investors, the Atlanta bank foreclosures may seem like a steal. Sure, they may be fixer-uppers but they are selling for thousands of dollars below other homes in the neighborhood. Brion Grant, past president of the American Society of Home Inspectors, in a recent interview stated some of these foreclosed homes may conceal some rather unpleasant surprises from leaky pipes in the walls to wild animals taking up refuge in the attic.
Remember, foreclosed homes in Atlanta are sold as is!
These microscopic organisms thrive on moisture. In muggy Southern climates, mold can inhabit any home. But in a vacant, uncared for home, it can spread like wildfire. In some cases, a slow drip of water inside a wall can cause a massive mold infestation and damage will be unseen by the untrained eye. Thats why home inspectors are so careful to check for leaks, small holes and possible water seepage. In Atlanta foreclosures, mold is the number one issue.
A vacant foreclosure in Atlanta, GA is an invitation for vandals to help themselves to things such as air conditioner units, appliances, even faucets and light fixtures. Copper piping and electrical wiring are desirable commodities. Anything that can be resold is up for grabs.
Property damage is often visible.
Sometimes the previous homeowner has destroyed the home in anger and frustration. Other times, neighborhood kids will have smashed in windows or used the home for parties. Most Atlanta foreclosures have had their utilities shut off, thus the alarm system is inoperable. Vagrants will take up residence to get out of the weather.
A rarity is the homeowner who has left the home in pristine condition, even vacuuming the floors on their way out. If an Atlanta bank foreclosure stays on the market long, more than likely it wont remain that way.
Homeowners going through foreclosure are strapped for cash. Often times, they have removed anything of value. Any upgrades added to the property will now be gone. In many cases, so will appliances, ceiling fans, window dressings, even laminate wood or tile flooring and sound systems have been known to disappear before the key is handed over to the bank. The mentality of the person being foreclosed on is that they paid for them, why should they leave it all for someone else?
Home inspectors report toilets, spa tubs and kitchen cabinets have been ripped out of Atlanta foreclosures. The former owner may also leave behind trash and junk they didnt want. Beat up furniture, rusty grills, car parts, and smelly garbage in the pantry can greet the first potential buyer or inspector. The new buyer will have to pick up the costs of removal and replacement.
Vagrants are not the only ones who seek shelter. A home void of human smells and sounds can be a beacon to snakes, raccoons, rats and even large mammals such as panthers, wild boars or feral cats. The American Society of Home Inspectors have heard every horror story imaginable. It is quite normal to find hives of bees or swarms of bats in the attic. Skunks can inhabit the ventilation system and squirrels the air ducts.
Insects infestation is the most common. Fleas nestle in the carpet in such great numbers that they can turn your legs black when you walk across the room. Fire ants and termites may be rampant. Cockroaches may have taken over in the kitchen and bath looking for water sources. Moths can eat any drapes, carpeting, or even wall paper.
If a home owner is struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments they are not likely to shell out money on HVAC maintenance, or roof repair or replacement. More often than not, repairs of any type stopped months before the payments did. Even simple things such as changing HVAC filters go by the wayside. Gutters have not been cleaned and debris has not been cleared off the roof. It is possible such neglect will mean thousands of dollars in needed repairs.
It is possible the lending institution has already made some clean-up and repairs, but many do not have the time or the crew to do so. The Atlanta home foreclosure market is growing steadily and banks may have dozens foreclosures on their hands. The best option for the potential metro Atlanta foreclosure buyer is to invest in a professional home inspector who will thoroughly examine every nook and cranny of the home. A professional home inspection may not eliminate every surprise, but it can give the Atlanta home foreclosure buyer a better idea of how much money they will need to set aside for repairs and clean-up.
The key to determining whether the foreclosure in Atlanta, GA your considering purchasing is a money pit or a real steal is a quality home inspection.
Dont settle for a cheap inspector when buying a foreclosure in Atlanta, GA or your biggest purchase could turn into your worst nightmare.


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Faculty Profile (Back to Menu)
Chrystin Ondersma
Associate Professor of Law
Professor Ondersma joined the faculty in Spring 2010. Her scholarship focuses on Bankruptcy and Commercial Law. She received her J.D. magna cum laude in 2007 from Harvard Law School where she was the recipient of a Goldsmith Academic Fellowship and an executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. From 2007 to 2008 she clerked for the Honorable Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty, she was an associate in the Business Finance and Restructuring Department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York.
"A Human Rights Approach to Consumer Credit," Tulane Law Review (forthcoming)
"A Human Rights Framework for Debt Relief," 36 U. Pa. J. Int'l L. 269 (2015)
"Shadow Banking and Financial Distress: The Treatment of 'Money-Claims' in Bankruptcy," 2013 Columbia Business Law Review 79
"Undocumented Debtors,"45 Mich. J.L. Reform 517-560 (2012)
"Are Debtors Rational Actors? An Experiment," 13 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 279 (2009)
"Employment Patterns in Relation to Bankruptcy," 83 Am. Bankr. L.J. 237 (2009)


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Monday, 5 November 2012
You think your first name is rarer than other people do
Kulig asked 153 female students and 94 male students to rate how common their first name was on a scale from 0 to 100. The scale featured nine "anchor" names placed at the appropriate places as a guide, based on actual name frequencies obtained from the university's registrar.
For comparison, a control group of the same number of men and women each provided an estimate of the popularity of one of the names from the first group (women rated a female name, and men rated one of the male names).
Participants consistently rated their own first name as rarer than the estimates provided by participants in the control group (and as rarer than they really were, although this wasn't tested statistically). This was the case for names that were common and rare, according to university records, although slightly exaggerated for rare names. "People are motivated to be different from others," Kulig said. The phenomenon wasn't explained by the fact that some people spell their names in unusual ways.
A follow-up study was similar with 86 women and 57 men rating the frequency of their own first names, and a control group of men and women rating the names that belonged to that first group. As before, the participants estimated their names to be rarer than members of the control group did.
A clue as to the cause of the effect came from the fact that participants with (genuinely) rarer names tended to be happier with their names, consistent with Kulig's idea that we have a subconscious motivation to feel special. Also, of those who'd contemplated changing their names, the most popular reason was to obtain a rarer name. Finally, participants seemed completely unaware of "the name uniqueness effect". When participants were asked to estimate how rare other people would rate their (i.e. the participant's) name, they guessed that other people would come up with just the same rating as they had.
The new results complement a study from 2004, in which Danny Oppenheimer found that people underestimate the frequency of their own and famous people's last names. He put this down to a "discounting heuristic". Usually we overestimate the frequency of phenomena that we're familiar with (known as the availability heuristic), but Oppenheimer thinks we cancel out this bias when we're aware of a single, obvious cause of the familiarity, as we are with our own names or famous names. It's over-compensation by this process that he suggested leads us to an underestimation of the frequency of our last names.
The way we overestimate the prevalence of our names actually represents an anomaly when considered against findings showing that we tend to assume other people indulge in behaviours with a similar frequency as we do - known as "the false consensus effect." Kulig said more research is needed to find out if the "name uniqueness effect is itself a unique finding."
More generally, these new findings add to a growing literature on the psychology of our names. For example, past research has shown that we have a bias towards liking our own name and initials, and related to that, there's evidence for "nominative determinism", whereby our names influence our life opportunities and choices. A study published earlier this year, for example, claimed that people with unpopular names suffer life-long prejudice.
Kulig, J. (2012). What's in a name? Our false uniqueness! British Journal of Social Psychology DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12001
Post written by Christian Jarrett for the BPS Research Digest.
6 comments:
"You think your first name is rarer than other people do"ReplyDelete
False. As someone that grew up with a first name that was very popular at that time and place, I have a heightened sense of how common my name is - in fact, with about four kids named "Josh" out of the ~50 in my first grade class, I overestimated it for quite a while. As Anonymous points out, you're over-generalizing.Replies
I have this problem, too! My first name, Lindsay, apparently peaked in popularity right around the time I was born. I went to elementary school (in a small town, pop. 5000) with a quartet of other Lindsays/Lindseys in my grade!Delete
I've always disliked my name, in a large part because of how common in was. I craved a unique name when I was younger. Now I'm resigned to it ... almost thirty years of being called something makes you think of yourself as that thing, even if you don't particularly like it, LOL.
"...you PROBABLY think this post is about you. And MAYBE it is, IF you too succumb to... 'name uniqueness effect'"ReplyDelete
Inductive reasoning has its limits, but "everyone" knows that.
- Cameron Magrath10:37 pm
In terms of first names I certainly underestimated the popularity of mine, which would fit in with Kulig's theory. On the contrary, I'd say I hugely overestimated the frequency of my surname, having since found that our family is, so far as census and other records can determine, one of two that shares the name "Magrath" in the UK, which would contradict the Oppenheimer study entirely.ReplyDelete
Certainly this area requires more research before any firm theories can be produced, though I would question the useful applications of such theories.


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With the twelfth Siyum HaShas behind us, I was wondering what is the best way for a person to maintain their Daf Yomi schedule on Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Sundays. Is it best to learn at a different time on these days, or perhaps do a double Shiur on Sundays? I am looking for ideas that have worked for others.
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My local (USA) Young Israel synagogue has daf yomi classes Sunday mornings after shacharis, Monday through Thursday evenings, and Shabas afternoons before mincha. (That's six days of the week; I guess they cram seven days' worth into six days as best they can.)
In an Agudath Israel synagogue I used to pray in (in the USA also), daf yomi was before shacharis every day of the week, and, since they tended to cover less than a daf a day, also sometimes after shacharis on Sundays.
Our Shul has two times: Sunday through Friday mornings at 6:00 and Sunday through Thursday nights at 8:45. The Friday night shiur is given Shabbos morning before Shacharis, and Shabbos afternoon's shiur is both groups combined. Basically Shabbos day you could have a shiur before or after any davening, or, if you specifically need electronic resources, just do it after Shabbos.


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Hello. First post. Kinda nervous.
I have NN3 mkII with RD8, purchased when RD8 was first available. Used with great satisfaction, except...
When I loosen upper arm pivot for to set up for new row of images in a matrix set, the pivot binds. I must torsion the upper arm to get it to release. This is just opposite from the problem described in a recent post here.
I considered putting a spot of grease on the bearing surfaces, but have hesitated to try it. Any wise suggestions?
BTW, I am using Olympus E-500 with 50mm (100 mm equiv) f2 macro lens for high resolution panos. NN is set up with pair of Manfrotto RC2 QR plates for quick setup/breakdown. Like I said, rig produces images that give me "great satisfaction."


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Narrow your search
Although only intended for customers who can no longer activate their software, with the price of entry being signing up for an Adobe ID, the internet has interpreted the move as "free software".
More on removing "Legal" folder(s) for Photoshop CS2 and other CS2 apps not launching, Disk Repair not working
Photoshop CS2 and other CS2 applications not launching, Disk Repair does not work: Remove "Legal" folder(s)
Adobe releases new versions of InDesign (CS2 4.0.1) and InCopy (CS2 4.0.1)
InDesign CS2 speeds the creation of complex pages, further challenging market leader QuarkXPress. Translating a print page design directly to a Web format is always problematic, but InDesign CS2 can get you close.
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Vector graphics buffs will find this Illustrator upgrade worthwhile, especially to work with SVG-t art for mobile devices.
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Also used as the interface for the new Adobe Stock Photo service, we like Adobe Bridge's ability to quickly identify stored graphics files on our hard drive.
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If you're a professional or ambitious amateur digital artist, we highly recommend Adobe Photoshop CS2.
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GoLive CS2 may not win over converts from market leader Macromedia Dreamweaver, but this upgrade plays up its strengths, namely integration with other Adobe software.
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Perhaps the worst QuickTime update ever


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The first of President Barack Obama's three controversial nominees to what is widely considered the nation's second most powerful court could face a final confirmation vote in the Senate today.
Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., and 16 other senators - including West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller - moved earlier this week to cut off debate on the nomination of Virginia attorney and former Solicitor General Patricia Millett as judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. If at least 60 senators agree today to do so, her confirmation will proceed to the floor for a vote.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is considered by many to be the nation's second most important court because it often has the final word on rules handed down by federal administrative agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and Environmental Protection Agency. As currently composed, its eight judges are split - four appointed by Republican presidents, four appointed by Democrats.
Opponents of Obama's picks for the court - including Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio - argue that even with three vacancies, the D.C. circuit has the lightest workload among the 13 intermediate federal appeals courts and doesn't need new judges. Portman and GOP leaders suggest the nominations are calculated to tilt the court in favor of an aggressive regulatory agenda rather than fill a need.
Both Democrats and Republicans are accusing each other of playing politics, however.
"Refusing to vote on qualified nominees for judicial vacancies delays justice. The president has a constitutional responsibility to nominate federal judges, and the Senate has a constitutional responsibility to fairly and thoughtfully consider those nominees on their merits," Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Wednesday. "That's how our democracy is supposed to work, and we do great disservice to the nation if we let politics get in the way."
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, hasn't made up his mind on Millett but rejects the notion Obama's appointments are politically motivated, according to spokesman Yianni Varonis.
"Sen. Brown believes that the president has appointed each of his judicial nominees based on their qualifications and ability to make impartial rulings based solely on the law. Sen. Brown looks forward to learning more about Ms. Millett and will base his decision on that same criteria," he said.
A spokesman for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he had yet to be briefed on the Millett nomination and couldn't comment on it until today.
Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network - a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals - testified Tuesday before the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Following her testimony, she said her experience as a clerk in the D.C. Circuit from 2004-05 seemed "relaxed" compared to that of her friends working in other circuits.
"I felt like I had a pretty cushy gig ... ," Severino said. "There is a concerted effort to make the D.C. Circuit into a glide path for the exact kind of regulatory overreach that Sen. Manchin is fighting."
Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, refuted claims the D.C. Circuit is underworked, testifying before the committee that the court has 1,479 pending cases - nearly 500 more than it did a decade ago. But Severino said that figure is misleading, noting the number fluctuates yearly.
A better gauge, she said, involves looking at the number of cases actually decided - particularly those that require oral arguments and consume the most time. By those metrics, she said, the D.C. Circuit ranks dead last.
"What we're seeing in the D.C. Circuit is that they're canceling hearings because there's not enough hearings to have oral arguments," Severino said.
Obama's other two picks for the court - Georgetown law professor Cornelia Pillard and Robert Wilkins - also await confirmation. Pillard's nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee along strict party lines, while Wilkins is expected to have his hearing before the committee this week.


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Adult Drawing Club
Location:St. Helena Branch
Date & Time:Saturday, September 21, 2013 - 10:00am – 12:00pm
Do you like to draw? Would you like to gain instruction and become a better artist? Join SCAD graduate Melanie Florencio in a basic drawing session where techniques such as shapes, line, and shadow will be discussed. Open to adults ages 18+, no registration required.


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Let $M$ and $N$ be "nice" model categories. I'm happy to have "nice" mean combinatorial model category. Consider a Quillen pair $$ L: M\rightleftarrows N: R.$$ I want the following result:
There exists a set of maps $S$ in $M$, such that $L$ and $R$ descend to a Quillen pair $$ L: S^{-1}M \rightleftarrows N: R,$$ with the property that a map $f:X\to Y$ between cofibrant objects in $M$ is a weak equivalence in $S^{-1}M$ if and only if $L(f)$ is a weak equivalence in $N$.
Here $S^{-1}M$ denotes the model category with the same underlying category $M$ obtained by localizing $M$ with respect to the set of maps $S$.
This result seems to encode a standard technique; in fact, the very first example of a localized model category (Bousfield's localization of spaces with respect to a homology theory) can be viewed (in retrospect) of a special case of this.
I think I could prove this result if I need to. But I would rather have a reference. I've looked in the usual places, but I can't seem to find anything exactly like it. I expected to find something like this in one of Dugger's papers on presentable model categories, but I don't find it there; he proves that under an additional condition, you can get a Quillen equivalence $S^{-1}M\rightleftarrows N$, but his construction of the set $S$ does not apply in my case.


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Home > BMW > BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
Below you will find the high resolution car pictures for BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept. You may use the car pictures for any of the following widescreen screen resolutions:
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BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept
The new concept uses a a three-cylinder turbodiesel and two electric motors and the total output is 262 kW/356 hp, maximum torque 800 Newton-metres/590 lb-ft. All-wheel drive featuring an electric motor on both the front and rear axle. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h is made in just 4.8 seconds while the top speed achieved is limited at 250 km/h (155 mph). Fuel consumption is impressive: 3.76 litres/100 km (equal to 75.1 mph imp), CO2 emissions 99 grams/kilometre.


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Meet Our People: Anna
Anna, an analyst in our Global Compliance Division in Salt Lake City, discusses the importance of her mentor to career development. Here are some excerpts from her full profile in Our People:
"Having a mentor has been instrumental in developing my career at Goldman Sachs. The mentor/mentee relationship provides me with a forum where I feel comfortable asking questions and seeking career advice. It's reassuring to have someone at the firm who can share her experiences and provide advice."
"I am part of the Salt Lake City Women's Network and the People Development Committee Junior Advisory Board. Being part of these groups has given me the opportunity to meet and work with individuals of all backgrounds and roles within the firm."


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Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) is a leading global provider of vehicle rental services, both through its Avis and Budget brands, which have more than 10,000 rental locations in approximately 175 countries around the world, and through its Zipcar brand, which is the world's leading car sharing network, with more than 870,000 members. Avis Budget Group operates most of its car rental offices in North America, Europe and Australia directly, and operates primarily through licensees in other parts of the world. Avis Budget Group has approximately 29,000 employees and is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at www.avisbudgetgroup.com.
Avis Car Rental operates one of the world's best-known car rental brands with approximately 5,750 locations in more than 165 countries. Avis has a long history of innovation in the car rental industry and is one of the world's top brands for customer loyalty. Avis is owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), which operates and licenses the brand throughout the world. For more information, visit www.avis.com.
Budget Car Rental is one of the world's best-known car rental brands with approximately 3,350 locations in more than 120 countries. Budget is an industry leader in providing vehicle rental services to value-conscious travelers and also operates the second-largest truck rental business in the United States, through a network of approximately 1,650 locations. Budget is owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), which operates and licenses the brand throughout the world. For further information, visit www.budget.com.
Avis Prestige
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Avis Preferred is our way of saying a huge thank you for renting with us. Join our priority member service to unlock a raft of real benefits spanning free weekend car hire, fast-track priority services, complimentary upgrades, free second driver and much else besides. Membership of Avis Preferred is completely free of charge, there's no fuss or forms, and the more you hire with us the more we give you back for being such a loyal customer.
For more information please visit www.avis.de/assets/pdf/Preferred_Benefits-Table_DE-EN.pdf
Mobility for handicapped people
Thanks to the unique co-operation in Germany between Avis and PARAVAN, the leading manufacturer of vehicles for handicapped people. People with restricted mobility all over Germany can effective immediately book a rental car that is specially adapted to their needs even more easily. Avis has built up a pool of vehicles currently consisting of VW Caddy Maxi vans equipped with features for handicapped people. The new Avis rental cars are suitable for active users (active drivers with a walking disability) as well as for passive users (passengers with any type of disability).
For more information please visit: www.avis.de/Paravan-VWCaddy
Avis Budget Autovermietung GmbH & Co. KG
Zimmersmühlenweg 21
61437 Oberursel
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National Systems Contractors Association
Last Updated: Before 2011
If any of the information listed on this page is incorrect please have a school representative fill out this form.
625 1st St. SE Suite 420
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
United States
Tel: (319) 366-6722
Fax: (319) 366-4164
Internet: http://www.nsca.org
Type 1 Courses - Course not normally in an accredited qualification or certificate or resulting in an in-house certificate/diploma (e.g. privately-run, non-accredited training courses; product courses)
Fall Business Conference
Qualification Awarded on Completion: none
Facilities: Offered annually in various locations
Exact Duration: 2 days
Emphasis: Fall Business Conference - executive level training for commercial electronics contractors
Fee: $745 for members
Contact Person: Lauralie DeWulf
NSCA Expo
Qualification Awarded on Completion: none. Can earn NSCA Learning Units
Facilities: Annual conference in various locations throughout the U.S.
Exact Duration: 5 day conference, 3 day exhibits
Emphasis: Over 150 courses geared towards commercial electronics contractors
Fee: Cost varies by course
Contact Person: Chad Sowers
Project Management of Systems Projects
Qualification Awarded on Completion: NSCA Certificate of Completion
Facilities: Regionally throughout the U.S.
Exact Duration: 2 days
Emphasis: Project Management of Systems Projects
Fee: $650
Contact Person: Chad Sowers
Type 2 Courses - Course resulting in an accredited vocational qualification or certificate
Electronic Systems Technician (EST) Certification
Qualification Awarded on Completion: C-SI or C-EST certifications
Facilities: Regionally throughout the U.S.
Exact Duration: 4 and 8 week online reviews, 2-day on-site reviews, plus hands-on and written exams
Emphasis: C-SI certification and C-EST certification
Fee: varies due to exam taken and review courses chosen
Contact Person: Norah Hammond
EST Training Series
Qualification Awarded on Completion: Available as an Apprenticeship program
Facilities: At your own site
Exact Duration: 4 levels of training, each 1 year in length
Emphasis: EST Levels 1 through 4
Fee: Varies due to level taken
Internship/Work Placement: Assessment exams are give and learning recommendation provided
Contact Person: Norah Hammond


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Top Summer Games and Activities for Kids
Summertime fun comes in all shapes and sizes. Whether at home or at the beach, try these games and activities to make a summer day special.
1 of 11
Beach Obstacle Course
All you need is a stick and a shovel to make a fun beach activity for your child. Read the instructions for the Beach Obstacle Course.
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