text:
I recently submitted my contribution to an anthology on the survival of the soul, edited by Michael Martin and Keith Augustine. It's titled The Myth of the Afterlife: Essays on the Case Against Life After Death, and it will be coming out on McFarland Press next year. Here's a piece of my introductory chapter in it:
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Dead as a Doornail: Souls, Brains, and Survival
40 comments:
- Paul Rinzler said...
Wouldn't the current state of scientific knowledge about the brain and mind as you describe it also account for the situation in which the mind or soul is related to the brain in the same way that a radio transmission (from station to the radio) is related to a radio?
Changes in the condition of the radio (slight mis-tunings, dirty knobs that produce static, even a broken knob that makes the radio tuned to a single station, etc.) produce changes in how well the transmission is received, but the transmission is separate from, and is not produced by, the radio.
That seems to be one metaphor or analogy that accounts for scientific knowledge but does not equate mind with brain. In this analogy, the mind is at the transmission station, and the brain is the radio. Changes in the hardware produce changes in behavior, but the mind/transmitter is separate from the hardware.
One might argue against this metaphor as a good description of reality because we don't need the signal from the transmitter to the radio to explain what we know, so it may be superfluous. - July 7, 2011 at 9:00 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
Take another look at what Capgras syndrome, or Fregoli Delusion and see if they can be made consistent with your remote operator notion. Those are deep, conceptual capacities that are lost. There's no indication that some immaterial mind is alive and well with no problems.
Second, if you're really serious, then provide some real evidence for thinking that this sort of situation is actual. Even if the scenario is a possibility, or consistent with the brain damage evidence (it isn't), you need some real reasons to think it's true. - July 7, 2011 at 11:06 PM
- Paul Rinzler said...
"Take another look at what Capgras syndrome, or Fregoli Delusion and see if they can be made consistent with your remote operator notion."
I see nothing inconsistent. Care to point it out?
"Those are deep, conceptual capacities that are lost."
Perhaps you're trying to extent the radio analogy too far. Any analogy breaks down at some point, it's only meant to go so far.
"There's no indication that some immaterial mind is alive and well with no problems. "
I agree completely. We have no evidence of an immaterial mind. I only meant to critique the idea that scientific knowledge about the brain is inconsistent with an immaterial mind (which is very different from saying that we have evidence that there is an immaterial mind).
We can't use the mere structure of our current scientific knowledge about the brain to say that it is inconsistent with an immaterial mind.
I've heard Sam Harris say that we're expected to believe that damage and more damage to the brain results in more and more changes to the mind, and yet, when the brain is completely destroyed, we're expected to believe that the mind is still intact in the afterlife. That scenario is possible given the radio transmission analogy. - July 8, 2011 at 7:31 AM
- Matt McCormick said...
Thanks Paul. But I must say I'm tired of this response. In what sense do you mean "inconsistent"? Is an immaterial mind LOGICALLY consistent with the empirical facts? Of course. But that's because physical laws themselves like consciousness are contingent. There's nothing logically necessary about mind or the speed of light. It is logically possible that the speed of light is 30 miles per hour? Sure. Is it true? No. Invisible elves who have magical powers for controlling human bodies are logically consistent with all of the physical facts if you engineer your elves to fit with all the empirical data. But that trivial fact doesn't give us the slightest reason for accepting the truth of the claim. So what non-trivial, interesting point are you making?
- July 8, 2011 at 3:47 PM
- Paul Rinzler said...
Hi Matt:
I'm not saying what is inconsistent; I'm saying what is consistent.
What is consistent with the scientific knowledge that the functions of the mind degrade when material structures in the brain degrade are two ideas:
1. we are material, solely
2. we are material and the mind has an immaterial component.
Note that I am not claiming that the mind has an immaterial component. I'm merely saying that that is consistent with the scientific knowledge that the mind degrades when the brain degrades.
Furthermore, I will reiterate - I hope you grasp this, I've already said it - that there is no evidence for an immaterial brain. But that is a distinct proposition from the idea that the idea of the mind degrading when the brain does leads to materialism.
Whether this is trivial or interesting, I will leave to you, and thank you either way. - July 8, 2011 at 5:50 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
For two claims to be consistent means that they are not inconsistent.
Right, these positions are all consistent with the neuroscientific findings about the brain:
1. we are material, solely
2. we are material and the mind has an immaterial component.
3. We are material, and there are invisible undetectable elves who are a component in cognition.
4. We are material, and Bigfoot, with his undetectable psychic powers from his hidden base also influences all of our thoughts.
5. We are material, and there is the absolute purple universal spirit who infuses all of us with his love.
And innumerable list of ridiculous hypotheses are consistent, in this trivial sense of "consistent," with the scientific facts. So bringing one up isn't interesting unless there are actually some real reasons for thinking it is true. So why are you bringing it up?
All of the empirical indicators point to the conclusion that all of what the mind is arises from what the brain does. That hypothesis gives us verifiable predictions, it fits with all of the data, it successfully models the structures we understand in the brain, and it has reliably guided our investigation into the structures that we don't understand so well.
To retreat to the "consistency" of all of the empirical data with the immaterial mind hypothesis amounts to conceding that there is no evidence that supports it.
So what point, if any, are you disagreeing with in the argument I have presented? - July 8, 2011 at 7:04 PM
- Paul Rinzler said...
OK, I think I have one:
" if consciousness persists without the brain, then we would expect to find some exceptions to the close, direct correlations between the electro-chemical events in the brain and mental states, cognitive capacities, and conscious experience. "
If consciousness persists without the brain, and the radio transmitter/receive analogy holds, then we would not necessarily expect to find exceptions to the correlations . . . .
If the radio malfunctions, our reception of the signal malfunctions even though the transmitted signal is not damaged. - July 8, 2011 at 9:53 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
That's not an objection, Paul. You're saying the same thing I am. If there is a remote, immaterial mind that is unaffected by damage to the brain, then you'd have a violation of the correlation. You could have a situation where the brain is damaged, but the mental functions continue (off in this mysterious other realm, or whatever) without a hitch. That would be an interruption of the correlation. But we never see that. When people have serious damage like Fregoli delusion, there's not an independent mind that isn't having the problem. Same for stroke victims, and car wrecks survivors. When the brain is damaged, the mental ability vanishes--it doesn't just keep on going unhindered.
MM - July 8, 2011 at 10:08 PM
- Matt said...
In your analogy, the action of sending out the radio waves is what would be equivalent to the mind. Not the waves themselves. So if the brain (transmitter) were destroyed, so is the mind (signal). Just as the signal ceases, so does the mind. The previously emitted radio waves are only analogous to the PAST concept of mind.
Also, your analogy is extremely weak, if not blatantly inconsistent. Radio waves are detectable, minds are not. Radio waves interact with the physical universe (electro-magnetic), minds are not. There really is no comparison except in the extremely gross, vague, large-scale concept. - July 8, 2011 at 10:20 PM
- Paul Rinzler said...
"If there is a remote, immaterial mind that is unaffected by damage to the brain, then you'd have a violation of the correlation. You could have a situation where the brain is damaged, but the mental functions continue (off in this mysterious other realm, or whatever) without a hitch. "
The correlation that you're speaking of is not measured in that other realm where the mind is (wherever that is and however we might measure it). The correlations are always measured in this world, where damage to the brain we always see as damage to the operation of the mind. The realm where the mind is is not accessible, apparently.
In the radio analogy, we should also always see changes in the function of the radio (mistuned stations, silences dropping in and out, whatever -- when the hardware misfunctions, but the radio signal itself is not affected.
I'd say the analogy is shallow, but that's never a critique of an analogy. No analogy is perfectly deep. - July 9, 2011 at 6:51 AM
- Matt McCormick said...
This is getting tiresome. If we're talking about events in your mind--thoughts, feelings, emotions, conscious states, then you access them, and you are able to correlate them to physical events, simply by introspecting them. You know they are going on because you can sense them. I drink a physical cup of coffee, and my (allegedly immaterial) mind has racing thoughts. I drop LSD, a physical chemical, and then my (allegedly spooky immaterial) mind has all sorts of bizarre hallucinations.
You are now suggesting that I have an immaterial mind that is utterly undetectable, even by me trying to access my own thoughts. On what basis would you say that such a mysterious entity has any relationship even to the mind that I can access through introspection? Do I have two minds now and a physical body? There's the mind that I am aware of in self-awareness, there is my body, and then there's this third entity that no one sees, hears, senses, detects, or can measure in any way, and that is completely causally ineffective in the physical world.
Once again, what evidence do we have to taking such a suggestion seriously at all? Are there any grounds to think it is real? Or are we just making up silly possibilities at random? - July 9, 2011 at 7:32 AM
- Paul Rinzler said...
Matt, If this post doesn't help clarify things, then you don't have to reply, we can just end it there if you wish and I'm sorry to have taken up your time.
I could be wrong, as interpreting tone and perspective via blog posts is fraught with error, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me like you pegged me as a theist or an immaterialist from the beginning and you're interpreting everything else I've said in that light. I am an atheist and I lean strongly toward materialism.
Forgive me if I don't respond to the specific points in your last post, as I think they are motivated more from frustration with an theist or immaterialist, and I hope to cut through that misperception by laying it out one more time.
A. Mind/brain studies are consistent with materialism. Results of these studies do not require immaterialism in any way.
B. Mind/brain studies are consistent with immaterialism, through the radio analogy.
C. The consistency in B. above doesn't prove immaterialism, it only removes one possible refutation.
D. There's no particular evidence for immaterialism, but it is not refuted by mind/brain studies. As a hypothesis, it is still consistent with mind/brain studies through the radio analogy. - July 10, 2011 at 9:42 AM
- Eric Sotnak said...
I don't think the radio analogy is sustainable. In the radio case, there is a pairing of two events, one at the point of origination, and one at the point of reception. Strictly speaking, what goes on at the point of reception is inessential. The real action is at the point of origin. So if your radio is on the fritz, the broadcast event at the station goes on just as it otherwise would, unaffected by your misbehaving radio.
But now consider a case where Smith has a stroke and at that time is unable to think of his own name. If the rado analogy were apt, we would expect that if he recovers from the stroke, he would say something like this: "Wow, when I was having my stroke I knew my name but somehow couldn't make my body say it or voice it to myself. It was really frustrating because I just couldn't get my body to accept the signal I was trying to send it, even though it was clearly thee in my non-physical mind the whole time." But that is not what we get. People who have suffered such episodes say that while having the stroke they weren't merely unable to manifest their thoughts in bodily behaviors, they say that they didn't or even couldn't have such thoughts at all. It seems clear that there is no mental point of origin operating independently of the brain/body such that what is inhibited is merely the manifestation of the signal at the point of reception. - July 10, 2011 at 9:59 AM
- Matt McCormick said...
Thanks Eric. You put this more clearly than I have, I think. This is correct. What we find with these various cases of brain damage and pathology is that the mental capacity is GONE. The subject loses a sophisticated conceptual capacity, or ceases to be able to recognize some category of object. It's not that his mind (on the radio analogy) is completely fine with his making the conceptual distinction or exhibiting the capacity off in this immaterial realm, but it's just his body that won't cooperate. The subject has lost the ability altogether. If the conceptual ability ceases altogether with the damage to the brain, then we have strong evidence for thinking that there is no brain-autonomous mind that is functioning independently.
- July 10, 2011 at 1:47 PM
- Karl said...
Excellent article. I would take it a step further. Given that thoughts or ideas are the result of synaptic activity in the brain I would also assert that the entire concept of self, or more specifically the idea of "free will", is no more than an illusion. If our thoughts are the result of synaptic activity rather than the cause of it, there is no mechanism of control...it only appears that we are controlling our thoughts. Similar to watching a player piano play the notes on the piece of paper.
Questions4Christians.wordpress.com - July 10, 2011 at 6:30 PM
- Paul Rinzler said...
Actually, Eric's response brings up a larger issue of how unconsciousness could be integrated into the radio analogy.
The radio analogy might be defeated just on that. I'll do some nosing around and if I come up with anything, I'll be back. - July 11, 2011 at 9:50 AM
- Reginald Selkirk said...
Matt: Also, your analogy is extremely weak, if not blatantly inconsistent. Radio waves are detectable, minds are not. Radio waves interact with the physical universe (electro-magnetic), minds are not.
That is not a tenable hypothesis. The body & brain are part of the physical universe, so this alleged radio-mind interacts with the physical universe. - July 14, 2011 at 12:26 PM
"the entire personality may change."
Yes. I am a different person since being mis-diagnosed and prescribed abilify. I am crueler, much like Phineas Gage after his head injury. I wish this were not so. I have aspergers, and it was mistaken for schizophrenia; we are already biologically predisposed to lacking empathy. I am not happy about this. I am currently doing what I can to repair the damage, and have for years. I do not think much of my safety as a side-effect of the brain damage. This was not the case before I was forced to take a mood stabilizer; horrifyingly--as I suffered brain damage--I told a number of doctors that I was experiencing hallucinations and loss of motor control, and was instructed each time to remain on the drugs without them checking the side-effects, which dictate immediate cessation if hallucinations are experienced. Each told me that I was imagining things, but did nothing more. I've spent the past few years undergoing physical therapy to re-learn how to hold objects and not twitch or run into walls. I suffered from tardive dyskenesia and have since recovered. Thankfully I do not have the desire to act hatefully toward my friends. I believe this is because my emotional attachments were strong enough to survive the chemicals--much like hearing a loved one while in a coma can bring a person to consciousness. However, I do not much go into public anymore because I cannot tolerate rudeness whatsoever. While I am just as good at philosophy and have re-gained my co-ordination I now crave conflict rather than avoid it. This disturbs me. Usually people back down, but, for example, I hit a cop that pulled his weapon on me, and assaulted a sherrif while in jail for assaulting the lead singer of OPM for being a pederast. They dropped the charges each time, but I was not concerned for my life. Instead, my focus was to make them suffer. I am not bothered by this, which is why I am seeking psychological assistance. I should not enjoy the suffering of others. The brain is extremely delicate, and should not be subjected to diagnostic rubrics. Only an expert should identify and treat disorders, not interns with a vested interest in having a clean professional record. - July 19, 2011 at 4:45 PM
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- July 19, 2011 at 4:54 PM
I am not the same person now. While I still care for my friends, they find my lack of self preservation disturbing. I have come to accept that there is a part of me that has died. I have no illusions concerning the non-existence of a soul now. That is the only part of my experience that I am thankful for.
- July 19, 2011 at 4:57 PM
To fix an apparent contradiction in my earlier posts, the only reason I am seeking help is because my friends want me to. But I do not think it will do any good.
- July 19, 2011 at 5:15 PM
- July 19, 2011 at 5:21 PM
- Darren C. said...
Thank you for the thought-provoking post. A few comments:
Firstly, concerning your premise #1, "Human cognitive abilities, memories, personalities, thoughts, emotions, conscious awareness, and self-awareness (in short, the features we attribute to the personal soul) are dependent upon the brain to occur/exist." I would extend this premise statement to include "in the physical world" as all of your supporting evidence relates to the mind and its intersection with our present physical reality.
This may not have final bearing on the state of one's mind without a physical connection or outside of a physical reality.
Secondly, there are numerous documented cases of non-physical connections as it relates to the mind in this physical reality.
Thirdly, there are also numerous documented, clinical cases where functions of the mind existed without a functioning brain being present.
A thorough discussion/proof would have to take these cases into account as well.
Kind regards. - July 25, 2011 at 11:09 AM
- FACoolBreeze said...
I would direct readers of this article to read the book "Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century".
From Amazon.com's Product Description, "Current mainstream opinion in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind holds that all aspects of human mind and consciousness are generated by physical processes occurring in brains. Views of this sort have dominated recent scholarly publication. The present volume, however, demonstrates_empirically_that this reductive materialism is not only incomplete but false. The authors systematically marshal evidence for a variety of psychological phenomena that are extremely difficult, and in some cases clearly impossible, to account for in conventional physicalist terms. Topics addressed include phenomena of extreme psychophysical influence, memory, psychological automatisms and secondary personality, near-death experiences and allied phenomena, genius-level creativity, and 'mystical' states of consciousness both spontaneous and drug-induced. The authors further show that these rogue phenomena are more readily accommodated by an alternative 'transmission' or 'filter' theory of mind/brain relations advanced over a century ago by a largely forgotten genius, F. W. H. Myers, and developed further by his friend and colleague William James. This theory, moreover, ratifies the commonsense conception of human beings as causally effective conscious agents, and is fully compatible with leading-edge physics and neuroscience. The book should command the attention of all open-minded persons concerned with the still-unsolved mysteries of the mind." - July 27, 2011 at 7:33 AM
- Matt McCormick said...
Thanks FAC. These sorts of alleged "proofs" of the immaterial soul are common. The problem is that no advocate of the autonomous mind these has managed to get one of these "serious pieces of research" published in an legitimate, peer-reviewed journal in neuroscience, psychology, or philosophy that I know of. Until that happens, there is too much higher quality empirical research and philosophy for us to be studying.
- July 27, 2011 at 9:52 AM
I'm seriously concerned about why you are so passionate about trying to prove there is no soul. I almost sense a morbid sense of fatalism in your post as though it is your sincerest wish that is in fact no soul or afterlife to speak of. Perhaps you are comforted by the notion that you won't have live with yourself once you pass on? Perhaps your Religious upbringing has left you Jaded and defensive towards all things spiritual, when in fact the true enemy was the dogmatic and narrow minded fool who wishes to quantify the divine. Perhaps Scientific Atheist are much the same: Trying to Quantify the Universe to some measurable unit. Sounds to me as though you must have a real problem with control. Unfortunately for you, the universe is far more complex and mysterious than any system of quantification can give you. As for perception, we are constantly evolving our various views and ideas. Science is a good tool to help give our minds context and indeed reveal certain general truths, however making your Science into a religion is an exercise in futility the likes of which places you in the same category as the religious persecutors you so bitterly hate. Until you can explain how Quantum Entanglement operates and its underlying mechanism, please spare us your biased and naive ramblings as to the existence of the soul, consciousness and the underlying mechanisms of existence. Cheers
- July 29, 2011 at 1:40 PM
- heckraiser said...
Haven't you all heard? We are but holographic projections of ourselves. Our entire perception of reality maybe nothing be an conversion of a 2D existence to a 3D perception through quantum entanglement. A atheist myself, I don't feel that the non-existence of God denies the existence of the soul. Could it not be argued that the soul is nothing more than the accumulation of orderly information that decays to chaos upon death. We are but machines to convert matter from one form to another just like the sun or plants. We are all chaos - eventually.
- July 31, 2011 at 4:07 PM
- Ian Wardell said...
"Damaging a part of the brain destroys a part of our thoughts, eliminates a cognitive ability, or alters some personal or emotional capacity. Restoring the electrical, chemical functions of the brain renews the mental function".
This does indeed present powerful evidence to suggest consciousness is somehow wholly a product of the brain. However to claim that this demonstrates that the self simply cannot therefore survive the death of the brain, is a step too far.
There's the inevitable question begging going on here as those who are sympathetic towards some type of materialist metaphysic insist that the self (or strictly speaking the sense of self, since the materialist cannot believe in the existence of a proper substantial self) is simply the sum of various cognitive abilties, emotions, interests, memories etc.
No these do not survive. They largely don't survive from childhood to adulthood either.
But I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. I explain all in my essay at the following link:
Another thing to bear in mind is that whilst the self operates through the brain, then a brain which is functionally impaired will result in impaired mental states. But after death the self doesn't operate through the brain so cannot be subject to any impairment. So it doesn't seem the author of this blog fully understands the filter hypothesis of the brain here.
Nevertheless, to reiterate my point, I do agree that mind/brain correlations in and of themselves provide powerful evidence that consciousness is ontologically dependent on the brain.
However, at the end of the day, I think this evidence has to be outweighed by other considerations eg the fact we would have to relinquish the common-sense notion of the self which is more counter-intuitive than anything could possibly be (see my essay). Also there is a huge amount of evidence which points to survival. - August 1, 2011 at 6:57 PM
- MickyD said...
First of all, great article Matt. You make the point on the strength and persistence of the brain / mind correlation. There are, however, instances when this relationship falters. Firstly, there are lucid, well constructed NDE accounts during periods of flatline EEG's, in which it is difficult to imagine a materialist explanation. Also, there are several hundred cases of average to high functioning individuals with up to 95% of their cerebrums missing, as a result of hydroencephaly. Obviously there is high dependence of mind on brain, but there are enough examples that indicate an extra cerebral source to mind.
- August 2, 2011 at 9:58 AM
- Matt McCormick said...
Thanks MickeyD. Three comments. 1. We don't have evidence of people having experiences during the flatlined period. We might have some cases of someone claiming to have had the experience after they have recovered. But that's not sufficient to show that that's when it happened. 2. A flat EEG is not an indicator of no brain activity. It's an indicator that some very macro measurements don't detect anything. We'd need proof of experience during a period of complete cessation of all brain activity. But no one has ever come back from that. 3. You're just misinformed here. There are no "high functioning" humans with 95 percent of their brains gone. There are some in vegetative states with the majority gone perhaps.
- August 2, 2011 at 1:42 PM
- MickyD said...
Hi Matt, my Ph.D is in chemical engineering, so I will bow to your expertise in this area, however for point 1: I know of several well attested cases of veridical OBE reports under a flat EEG (for example Pam Reynolds, a famous case from the early nineties).
Point 2: Agreed an EEG is a macro measurement, and we don't know about deep brain activity in flatline cases, but it is hard to imagine coherent well structured lucid experiences emerging from people with severely compromised neurological function as the result of anoxia.
Point 3: see here: an article published in Science :
http://www.ecognosis.org/show_news.php?n=7410 - August 2, 2011 at 3:46 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
Thanks MickeyD. I don't think you're understanding my point in 1. Suppose that someone has a flat EEG from 10:00 to 10:05. Then they are revived and come back to consciousness at, say, 11:30. Then they report, "I had a feeling of floating up a tunnel, I saw God, or. . . " or whatever. Now how do we establish that the experience they are describing occurred between 10:00 and 10:05? Did he check his angel watch and it read 10:03 when he was floating? Why trust his assertion? He doesn't know when he was flatlining. Why not think it was produced during the recovery period from 10:05 to 11:30? Why not think that hedging, fabrication, exaggeration, revisions, editing, and a lack of double blind testing led to a mistake? I can cite hundreds of cases where that's what happened? We can't just assume that if someone says they had an experience that it must have happened during the flat line period. In fact, we have a mountain of evidence that suggests that not when it happened.
On 2. I don't know the details of this case, but anecdotal reports from enthusiastic patients or paranormal enthusiast doctors are a non-starter. Show me a double blind, peer reviewed study with some semblance of scientific scrutiny and skepticism applied to it and I'll listen.
On 3, I don't see a "95% of brain missing with no compromise in function" claim here. And same as for 2. Instead of breathless anecdotes, let's see a real peer reviewed study or a serious critical analysis. The capacity of the human mind for self-deception for the things we want to believe is staggering, and many a doctor and scientist has fallen under the hypnotic spell of the pseudo science and paranormalism. Then when someone sober looks at it, the so called evidence--the hundreds or thousands of cases--evaporate. - August 2, 2011 at 4:39 PM
- MickyD said...
Thanks again:
Okay here goes:
"Now how do we establish that the experience they are describing occurred between 10:00 and 10:05? Did he check his angel watch and it read 10:03 when he was floating?" I'm not sure about Angels but there are veridical accounts in which events are known to have occurred at a time when the person was flatlining and later corroborated. Pim van Lommels prospective 2001 study in the Lancet and more recently Penny Sartori from Southampton hospital in the UK. Additionally there are several well attested cases such as the "Dentures case" that show numerous recalled events during flat EEG.
" I don't see a "95% of brain missing with no compromise in function" claim here." Lorber's own estimate is between 50 - 150g for the most extreme cases. This is 90% to 97% of missing brain matter (1500kg). - August 2, 2011 at 5:25 PM
- MickyD said...
oooops, that should be 1500g.
- August 2, 2011 at 5:27 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
Hi MickeyD. Thanks for thinking about this question with me so closely. Let me take a different approach because I don't think you really believe the claim you are making and I don't think you really think that the evidence you are citing supports it either. Here's the test. Your claim appears to be that brains are not necessary or needed for thinking or having a mind. So go to your local neurology department and tell them that you'd like to have your brain removed. Show them the evidence you are showing me, and tell them that this evidence clearly shows that brains are unnecessary for thinking. Just look at this guy in the study--he's getting by just fine without 90% of his. Tell them you'd like to drop the weight, or you'd like to keep your keys or wallet up there, or something. If this evidence is compelling evidence for your thesis, then just like your appendix is unnecessary and your tonsils, there should be no harm done by getting it removed, right? Do you think they will be convinced? Do you even think that Penny Sartori, or van Lommels, or John Lorber would agree that this is the implied conclusion? Maybe Dr. Lorber would be willing to perform the elective surgery on you, right?
Now, seriously, do you think that brains are not required for mental functions? Do you really think that the cases you are citing are compelling enough counter evidence to the mountains of evidence that clearly and directly tie mental function to specific neural structure function? - August 2, 2011 at 9:18 PM
- Kristofer said...
This is from the Lorber Study- http://www.rifters.com/real/articles/Science_No-Brain.pdf
Lorber divides the subjects into four categories: those with minimally enlarged ventricles; those whose ventricles fill 50 to 70 percent of the cranium; those in which the ventricles fill between 70 and 90 percent of the intracranial space; and the
most severe group, in which ventricle expansion fills 95 percent of the cranium.
Many of the individuals in this last group, which forms just less than 10 percent of the total sample, are severely disabled, but half of them have IQ's greater
than 100. This group provides some of the most dramatic examples of apparently normal function against all odds.
So Matt is mistaken about his claim no one missing 95% of his brain has a normal IQ.
Of course with NDEs we have the famous case of Pam Reynolds who was flatlined , and she heard and described the details of her surgery correctly. This is pretty impressive considered she was unconscious, under general anesthesia, had earplugs in her ear beeping at a constant 98 decibels and her eyes were tapped shut. Do not forget to mention she was flatlined.
Dr Woerlee tried to make some feeble objections to this case, but I crushed him in November-
http://tinyurl.com/3fslyn6 - August 2, 2011 at 9:28 PM
- Kristofer said...
Matt no has proven that the brain produces the mind, at best we have proven that the mind and the brain interact. That is all the data shows period. I will challenge you for one observation that cannot also be used by the transmission theory. Many a lab rat and lizard has had large parts of it's brains removed in an attempt the isolate the part of the brain which stores memory. It has not been found.
However, I do 100% think cases from the Lorber study do falsify the production view. If missing 95% of the brain is not enough to falsify the view that the mind is produced by the brain then what is enough to falsify it?
If someone holds to the production view after acknowledging the Lorber study then they are engaging in a faith based enterprise. It is absurd to believe the brain produces consciousness when we have 100s of literally brainless people with normal minds. If not, why not?
So yes I think things such as NDEs, and the Lorber study effectively disprove the production view of consciousness. - August 2, 2011 at 9:41 PM
- Matt McCormick said...
Notice that Lorber does not agree with the conclusion you guys are drawing. He thinks that it is the remaining functioning brain tissue that is responsible for the patient's capacities. He does not infer that minds don't need brain: The scans of the functioning brain tissue are unclear--"I can't say whether the mathematics student has a brain weighing 50 or 150 grams, but it's clear that it is nowhere near the normal 1.5 kilograms," asserts Lorber, "and much of the brain he does have is in the more primitive deep structures that are relatively spared in hydrocephalus." . . . "there must be a tremendous amount of redundancy or spare capacity in the brain. . . "
As for hearing things when you are unconscious, phenomena like blindsight have made it quite clear that our brains detect lots of sensory input that does not make it to the conscious awareness level.
You guys need to get clear on the different indicators of death and what can be inferred about them.
Cardio pulmonary death occurs when no heart beat or respiration are detectable. But no detectable heartbeat does not equal no heartbeat, as many mistakes in the hospital have shown. Dreaming, hallucinations, and lots of other experiences that the fabrications of brain function can happen during CP death. Neural cells continue to metabolize and function with oxygen in the system.
Brain death is declared with no reflex responses, no breathing, and no detectable brain stem activity. But same problem: failure to detect brain activity with crude, macro EEGs does not equal no brain activity. There are billions of cells in the brain and their electrical/chemical activities are far below the level that an EEG can detect.
McCormick Death: the point at which all metabolic activity in all neural cells ceases.
Some sort of controlled and confirmed evidence of subjective, conscious experience during a period of McCormick death would be valuable evidence for mind independence from brains. We don't have any evidence like that because brains don't recover from that.
I haven't read the Pam Reynolds case, but I'm skeptical. Anecdotal reports from patients, doctors, and nurses are very often exaggerated, details are rearranged, there are embellishments, and so on. I can give you all an extensive bibliography on the double-blind, peer reviewed research about the unreliability of human memory if you want. - August 2, 2011 at 11:40 PM
- Kristofer said...
Here is a good start to the Pam Reynold's case then and NDEs in general-
You can also read my discussion with Dr Woerlee on this case. I will be blunt Dr Woerlee is one of the few people who remotely attempts to explain the case with the dying brain. Keith Augustine has conceded he cannot explain this case and I have seem him quibble at break neck speed before.
For a more in depth discussion on this case you can read the following:
Light and Death by Michael Sabom
Journal of Near Death Studies Volume 25, Number, Summer of 2007
I can give you more sources if you so wish.
I am seriously going to recommend you research this case before you comment more on it. It is not anecdotal at all. We know who the surgeon is, he has been interviewed many times, we have all the medical records. Until recently we could interview Pam Reynold's too. ( she died recently)
You misunderstand the issue of hearing while unconscious. First Pam was under general anesthesia. Secondly she had earplugs in her ear constantly beeping at 98 decibels in order to monitor her brain activity. 98 decibels is the equivalent of a subway train 200 feet away from a person.
Here is Sabom's description
"The BAEP's (brain-stem auditory evoked potentials) are recorded by far-field techniques following broad-band click stimuli (100 usec rectangular pulse monophasic square waves) delivered via molded ear speakers (Fig. 2). Clicks of alternating polarity are used at stimulus levels of 90 to 100 dB (sound pressure level) at rates of 11 to 33/sec. The contralateral ear is masked to prevent bone-conducted acoustic crossover.
Here is a brief description of it
"Further, Steven Cordova, Neuroscience Manager at the Barrow Neurological Institute, who was the intraoperative technologist responsible for inserting small molded speakers into Robert Spetzler's patients in the early 1990s when Reynolds's surgery was performed, told me that after these speakers were molded into each external auditory canal, they were further affixed with 'mounds of tape and gauze to seal securely the ear piece into the ear canal' (S. C. Cordova, personal communication, October, 10, 2006). This 'tape and gauze' would 'cover the whole ear pinnae' making it extremely unlikely that Reynolds could have physically overheard operating room conversation one hour and twenty five minutes after anesthesia had been induced (p. 259).".
Here own surgeon, Dr Spetzler says hearing should have been impossible during the surgery. As the man is a brain surgeon I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt with this issue .
Lorber's explanation is obviously wrong for the following reason.
Mathematically at a minimum a 95% brain loss must reduce neuron cells by at least 50 percent. Neuron cells are identified by production theory as making consciousness, therefore if production theory is to have any meaning we would expect a reduction in consciousness and ability by at least 50%. However as Lorber documented we have over 100 individuals known to have normal IQs who for all purpose brainless. While I cannot explain the data, it is quite obvious something else besides the brain is causing consciousness in those individuals. So for them production theory must be false. If a theory cannot count for all the facts, then the theory must be false.
NDEs are hard to fit into the production theory because she should not happen at all when a brain is barely conscious ( and certainly barely conscious is being charitable, these people appear to be quite dead most of the times). Production theory would suggest when you remove all or almost of the traits necessary for consciousness consciousness would end, not become super consciousness as reported by NDers. Again, if a theory cannot count for all the facts, then the theory must be false. - August 3, 2011 at 12:22 AM
- Gerald Woerlee said...
I was trawling the internet to see if I could get a glimpse of some prelminary versions / chapters of the book to which you are apparently a contributor. The small snippet on this blog together with your discussion with (devil's advocate?), Paul Rinzler, was interesting but all too short.
The approach of saying that inconsistencies in the physical evidence will prove William James transmission theory of mind will certainly be lauded as valid by those who believe in the literal reality of near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences. To these people, these experiences are this inexplicable inconsistency, and proof of this alternative transmission theory of William James.
I await any further discussions with interest. - September 8, 2011 at 1:09 PM


text:
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This offer is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Latest Gear Live Videos
Yahoo! Weather for iPhone quick review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Weather, Reviews, Free Apps,
Yahoo! Weather was released this morning for iOS, and we've gotta say, it's gorgeous. The company has brilliantly tapped it's Flickr community for imagery that's used in the app, along with nice, lightweight typography.
The app pulls in your location after you give it permission to do so, and combining that with the time and weather conditions, it will then select images to show in the background of your location that nearly match all those parameters. If it is nighttime and snowy, you'll likely get an image of a place somewhere near you taken in similar conditions. Pull up on the display, and you get an hourly forecast for the day, as well as a five-day forecast, and other details like wind level, humidity, visibility, weather map, and even sunrise/sunset details. It all looks really good.
Click to continue reading Yahoo! Weather for iPhone quick review
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text:
Instant cups of soup — the kind that often come in a Styrofoam cup full of noodles — send children to the hospital every day.
"I don't have them in my house," says Dr. Warren Garner, director of the burn unit at University of Southern California's County Hospital in Los Angeles. "I would say that we see at least two to three patients a week who've been injured by these products."
These soups are dangerous because of the way the cups are designed. The cups are tall, lightweight, and have an unstable base that makes them tip over easily. At Garner's unit, the most common cases are small children, often toddlers, accidentally tipping the cup over on to themselves.
"It pulls down on top of them," Garner says. "The hot liquid then burns their chest, arms, torso, sometimes their privates, occasionally their legs." He says there's no other injury that he sees as regularly that can be so directly attributed to a product's design, and calls these soups "uniquely troublesome."
Through calls to a dozen burn units at hospitals across the country, we learned that this is a common phenomenon, with children being the most frequent victims. Eight of the 12 hospitals said they see the injury several times a week. One hospital located in Washington D.C. says they regularly see 5-6 patients a week with the injury, especially during the colder months.
Noodle soup is strangely perfect for delivering a serious burn. The sticky noodles cling to the skin, which leads to deeper, more severe burns, according to a study published in 2007. The study showed that hospital stays for upper body noodle-soup burns are more than twice as long as scalds from hot liquids alone. Garner says that about one in five children he sees with the burns end up needing surgery, and these patients can face permanent scarring and limited mobility in their joints.
But not all noodle soup cups are equally dangerous. To illustrate this point, I visited an Asian grocery store with Dr. David Greenhalgh, Chief of Burns at Shriner's Hospital for Children in Northern California, and the author of a study entitled "Instant Cup of Soup: Design Flaws Increase Risk of Burns." He swats at eight brands, and describes how some containers tip more easily than others.
"Seems like we get a scald burn and [we'd say], 'Well, what's this from? Oh, another cup of noodles soup,'" says Greenhalgh, describing his experience at Shriner's. "It just came to me. It was like, 'Wow, it's a very simple test. Can you knock over one kind of cup more than another?'"
That was the study's question. To test it, the study authors went to they grocery store and bought 11 brands of soup manufactured all over the world and calculated the angle at which the soup tipped over and spilled. Not surprisingly, tall cups with a narrow bottom tip over about three times more easily than short, squat containers with a wide, stable base. (Here's the study.)
Cup Noodles by Nissin is one of the most prone-to-tip brands in Greenhalgh's study. It is also one of the cheapest and most popular. Nissin invented the product forty years ago, and has sold more than 25 billion worldwide. Cup Noodles spills at 22 degrees. Compare that to the best performer, a brand called Nicecook, which has a shallow, squat container. You need to turn Nicecook almost vertical-- 64 degrees-- before it tips over.
Greenhalgh says this problem might have an elegant and potentially low-cost solution. Imagine a Yoplait yogurt container-- skinny on top and wide on the bottom. In other words, just invert the design of the cup.
"All you have to do is flip it over," says Greenhalgh. "It would seem to be a very easy thing to do and think I could get some of my team members to go to one of the companies and say, 'Here why don't you try this?'"
I reached out to Nissin and manufacturers of some of the other "tippiest" cups in Greenhalgh's study. Every company declined to comment or failed to get back to me. Greenhalgh calculates that his simple change-- inverting the design of the cup-- would make Cup Noodles almost three times less likely to tip, comparable to the safest brand in his study.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
"The Warren Zevon of food blogs."
"It's like a dirty magazine for foodies."
I'm participating in
Tell Me If You Think This Needs More Salt
thehappysorceress at gmail dot com100 Things About Me
Previous Posts
- Stars in her eyes
- In the Pink: Pink Chocolate-Covered Caramels
- EoMEoTE#11---The Mother and Child Reunion
- Sausage Biscuits
- When does she sleep?
- Skip to the loo, my darling
- For a Good Cause
- I Don't Wanna Cook Chicken
- Sweet, Not Scary
- Blogging by Mail#2...Gifts from the Big Apple
my 'read' shelf:
Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies-New!Pad Parties: The Guide to Ultra-Entertaining-New!
Martha Stewart's Hors D'oeuvres Handbook-New!
The Ultimate Cookie Book-New!
The Natural Foods Cookbook
Simply Natural Baby Food
The Natural Health Cookbook
Vegi-Mex: Vegetarian Mexican Recipes
The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook
Indian Vegetarian Cookbook
The Spice Box: An Indian Vegetarian Cookbook
Real Vegetarian Thai
Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian
Earthly Delights: Everyday Vegetarian Cooking
Linda McCartney On Tour
The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook
Simply Vegetarian!
Vegetarian Cooking for Children
The Now and Zen Epicure
Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe
New Recipes from the Moosewood Collective
Moosewood Restaurant New Classics
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates
The Moosewood Cookbook
Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special
Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook
The Ultimate Ice Cream Book
Gale Gand's Just a Bite
In the Sweet Kitchen
Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts
Cookies Unlimited
Irresistable Biscuits, Cookies and Shortbreads
Tempting Teatime Treats
Taste of Home's Cookies for Christmas
Grandma's Christmas Cookies
Christmas Cookies
Dessert Circus at Home
Chocolate Cake
Perfect Cakes
The Cake Mix Doctor
Country Cooking's Prize Winning Pies
The Best American Recipes 2001-2002
Taste of Home's Make-Ahead Main Dishes
Taste of Home's Salads and Side Dishes
The Joy of Cooking
Local Flavors
How to Repair Food
Good Food Fast
Nigel Slater's Real Food
The Nero Wolfe Cookbook
The Professional Chef (CIA)
The CIA's Gourmet Meals in Minutes
The New Basics Cookbook
Sushi Made Easy
Smoked Salmon
Chez Panisse Fruit
Sin-Free Chocolate Smoothies
The Ultimate Liquor-Free Drink Guide
Potatoes: From Pancakes to Pommes Frites
Irish Potato Recipes
Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews and One-Pot Meals
The Fondue Cookbook
Fresh Ways with Breakfast and Brunch
The Tassajara Bread Book
The Complete Book of Breads
Beard On Bread
Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 5
Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 6
Taste of Home's Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook 2003
Gooseberry Patch Celebrates the Seasons
Simply Homemade Food Gifts
Finger Food: Bite-Size Food for Cocktail Parties
Barefoot Contessa Parties!
Cocktail Food: 50 Finger Foods with Attitude
Celebrations: A Menu Cookbook for Informal Entertaining
Taste of Home's Favorite Brand Name Recipes 2003
Taste of Home's Favorite Brand Name Recipes 2004
Even More Recipes from the Back of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars
Even More Top Secret Recipes
Cooking with Fire and Smoke
The Pampered Chef Recipes from the Heart
Chocolate: A Book of Recipes
Fresh Ways with Appetizers
Frightfully Fun Halloween Recipes
Cocolat: Extraordinary Desserts
Holiday: 50 Recipes from the Chicago Tribune
Festive Fare: Lite Menus for Playful Days
The Pepper Garden
A Lenten Cookbook for Orthodox Christians
The Art of Mexican Cooking
Taste of Home's The Best of Country Cooking 2002
Twelve Months of Monastery Salads
Hershey's 100th Anniversary 100 Years of Hershey's Favorites
Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen
Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia
Chinese Appetizers and Garnishes
Dim Sum Appetizers and Light Meals: Quick and Easy
Great Taste a Guide to Chinese Cuisine and Drink
Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook
An Invitation to Indian Cooking
Feast of India
The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean
The Essential Mediterranean
Mediterranean Grains and Greens
Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook
The Italian Country Table
Claudia Roden's the Food of Italy
The Splendid Table
Rome at Home: The Spirit of La Cuchina Romana in Your Own Kitchen
In a Roman Kitchen: Timeless Recipes from the Eternal City
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Made in Marseille
The Moro Cookbook
Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco
Step by Step Irish Cooking
The Irish Heritage Cookbook
The New Irish Table
LA Comida Del Barrio: Latin-American Cooking in the U.S.A.
Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook: Fine Old Recipes
Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking: A Mennonite Community Cookbook
Enduring Harvest
Soul and Spice: African Cooking in the Americas
The Best of Country Cooking 2003
The Complete Guide to Country Cooking
At the Japanese Table
The Star Trek Cookbook
The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking
Cool graphics courtesy of Shannanigan


text:
Service is where it all begins, as demonstrated when Caltrain's Baby Bullet started operating in 2004. Because the Bullet increased speed and convenience, ridership soon grew by a third, and Caltrain was featured on the cover of industry journals. But the Baby Bullet was just a baby step compared to what might soon be possible, and Caltrain can't afford to rest on its laurels.
The only three things that will really matter for the future of Caltrain are service, service and service.
Constructing the Ideal Caltrain Timetable
Timetables are admittedly boring, but they are a compact and efficient way to describe a transit service. Improvements to the service are best understood through their effect on the timetable. Caltrain passengers stand to benefit from several future service improvements that can be sorted into two categories: (a) service improvements that come "for free" as a result of electrification and swift new EMU trains, and perhaps more importantly (b) service improvements that require a little bit of planning, creativity, intelligence, and effort to pull off.
Caltrain is relentlessly focused on (a) and appears distressingly oblivious to (b).
Type (a) service improvements that can basically be taken for granted are:
- Quicker start-to-stop times, since EMUs are more powerful and lighter than today's anemic and heavy diesel trains. The time savings from faster acceleration and braking really accrue when a train makes many stops.
- Shorter station dwell times, since EMUs will have more doors and level-boarding for rapid passenger loading and unloading.
- Faster top speeds, since the peninsula corridor will be grade-separated and use a modern signalling system shared with HSR. While acceleration is far more important than top speed, improving from today's 79 mph speed limit to about 100 mph does yield marginal benefits.
- Clockface scheduling, known in german-speaking countries as Taktverkehr (literally, "traffic to a beat"). In a clockface schedule, every train runs on a periodic timetable with a regular stopping pattern that repeats at some fraction or multiple of an hour (e.g. every 15, 30 or 60 minutes). In Switzerland, the entire country runs on a regular beat. Clockface scheduling eliminates annoying Caltrain questions such as "When is the next train coming?" or "Does it stop where I'm going?" A clockface schedule takes all the guesswork out of taking the train by allowing simple memorization of the timetable (e.g. :07 past the hour, every 15 minutes) Clockface scheduling is also a key enabler of intermodal connections. Connecting feeder services, whether bus, employee shuttle, light rail, HSR, etc. can be synchronized to the "beat" for quick, hassle-free transfers.
- Zero-wait transfers between local and express trains, so customers at smaller station stops can benefit from fast express service to the destination of their choice. Zero-wait transfers extend the benefit of express service to a much wider selection of origin and destination pairs. A zero-wait transfer means that an express train overtakes a local at zero speed, on the opposite side of the same platform. Passengers simply walk across the platform to switch to a faster or slower train, as suits their destination. Overtaking at zero-speed enables such transfers in the first place; if one were to wait for the express, the time savings from the express would evaporate before they could provide any benefit.
- Two, or maximum three, station stopping patterns, for simplicity. Customers no longer fret whether any given train will stop at their destination; no more agonizing Caltrain questions like "Should I get on this train or the next?" or "Does this train serve the stop where I'm going?," no more squinting at the timetable. Caltrain conductors would no longer make long-winded and repetitive announcements about upcoming stops and which stations will or won't be skipped.
String Theory
To think about timetables without having to stare at big tables of numbers, it helps to use a graphical representation of rail traffic known as a string graph (also known as a stringline diagram). Traffic is displayed as a time-distance graph with time along one axis and stations (distance) along the other. The movement of each train is represented by a string that connects each station according to the time intervals required to move from one station to the next. In effect, a string graph is the visual equivalent of a timetable. For example, the weekday morning Caltrain timetable is shown in the string graph at right. There are many kinds of strings, each corresponding to a different stopping pattern; the irregular pattern makes it difficult to memorize the timetable between any two stations. The red strings represent Baby Bullet express traffic, and the blue strings represent slower trains. When the lines cross (as circled on the diagram), one train overtakes the other. Today this can only happen in Sunnyvale or Brisbane, where Caltrain already has four tracks.
Going back to our list of ideal timetable features, we can construct a string graph that includes them all. In the real world of operations planning, this is done using sophisticated simulation software, and needs to take into account detailed train performance, speed limits, curves, signal block lengths, off-nominal conditions, and knitting together with the HSR timetable (itself a complicated mess; see pages 16-24).
To first order, it can be done with a spreadsheet. Download a Caltrain string graph (385 kB Excel spreadsheet) to play with it.
The resulting Caltrain timetable is shown in the string graph at right, screen-grabbed directly from the spreadsheet. This string graph shows an example timetable, at a relatively sparse 6 trains per hour, with the following features:
- 15-minute local interval
- 30-minute express interval
- Fast acceleration using 90 mph EMUs
- 45-second platform dwell times
- Zero-speed cross-platform overtake at Redwood City
The Service Improvement Table
The best way to convey an improvement plan in a way that the average person understands is to publish a service improvement table, an example of which is shown at right. (This example table does not show every station pair; for brevity, it shows a sampling of 10 stations.) This table is built by simply comparing the old and new string graphs. For each station pair along the peninsula, the improvement table shows how many more trains per hour connect the station pair, and how much quicker they are than today. This table is constructed by comparing the string graph of today's timetable with the string graph we constructed above.
The table is a quantitative, objective measure of the degree to which service is improved. All capital improvements on the peninsula corridor should be evaluated and prioritized by their effect on the service improvement table.
Marketing 101
Memo to Caltrain: nobody really cares about "growth" or "advanced technology" or "flexible equipment" or "power facilities", or even "less pollution" as trumpeted in the latest electrification update. Those are entirely the wrong selling points. What customers most care about is getting quickly and conveniently from point A to point B.
Damn the pantographs, what you need to sell and deliver is a service plan.
When people ask "what's in it for me", show them the service improvement table for where they live and work. When people worry about the disruption from the peninsula HSR project, they can see that some benefits actually trickle down meaningfully and measurably to each and every city along the Caltrain corridor. Put this table in front of city council members up and down the peninsula. Publish it in local newspapers. Make brochures. Drop leaflets. When Burlingame gets worked up about grade separations, explain to them that service at Broadway will go from none at all to a train every 15 minutes. When Palo Alto frets about community division, show them how California Avenue will see a quadrupling of service, and will be 9 minutes closer to Millbrae.
A Litmus Test
The dirty little secret is that all the service improvements described above could have been realized without HSR, requiring only a few miles of strategically placed track amplification to enable a mid-peninsula overtake, and using capital improvement funds in a targeted fashion that measurably improves service. (Instead, Caltrain is plowing $300 million into the San Bruno grade separation, which provides zero service improvement, while claiming it is fiscally doomed without HSR).
The peninsula HSR project, which continues to be engineered for extremely high levels of service (despite lowered ridership estimates), will consume precious resources that currently belong to Caltrain--in particular, key portions of its corridor. Constructing HSR in a manner that precludes the above schedule, or something similar to it (i.e. clockface schedules with mid-line overtakes) from being reliably operated will forever stunt the future of the peninsula commute. That can rightly be considered totally unacceptable.
The timetabling criteria outlined in this article form an objective litmus test for an important question that should linger in the minds of peninsula residents: MOU notwithstanding, is Caltrain getting screwed over by the HSR project? Armed with this knowledge, you can be the judge.


text:
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text:
- UK Information
- Ilkley Information Online
- Ilkley Recreation & Leisure
Ilkley Recreation & Leisure
Local Events
Local Cinemas
Check out films showing around Ilkley using our cinema listing to find movies to watch locally.
Local Theatres
Find theatre performances around Ilkley using our theatres listing.
Transport and Directions
If you are looking for information on how to get around, use these links to help you find where you are going:


text:
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Features/JRuby 1.7
JRuby is an alternative Ruby implementation with fast growing user base due to its great performance in parallel tasks. Although JRuby 1.6.7 is already in Fedora, this feature brings in new minor version and better Fedora integration.
- Name: Bohuslav Kabrda
- Email: <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora 19
- Last updated: 2013-02-27
- Percentage of completion: 100%
Detailed Description
Transition to JRuby 1.7 will consist of 3 basic steps:
- Updating packages
- Most of the packages that JRuby depends on are in Fedora just because of JRuby, so they can be safely updated.
- Some dependencies are shared with other packages, so they will have to be discussed with their owners (see #Scope).
- Integration with Fedora
- Normally, each Ruby implementations ships with its own copy of RubyGems library. This is wrong because a) it's bundling, b) there is no reason why multiple Ruby implementations wouldn't be able to share one RubyGems library. There used to be some differencies in JRuby's copy of RubyGems, but the JRuby upstream has been very cooperative and managed to get them all merged into upstream RubyGems.
- The integration will require changing Fedora's operating_system.rb (place for distro-specific defaults for RubyGems). This change will result into all Gems with binary extensions having to be recompiled, as the binary extension placement will change. See [1] for current operating_system.rb look and its changes from F18.
- What should "/usr/bin/ruby" point to? During standard Gem packaging process, the executable files in Gems get shebangs according to the binary that they are packaged with (Ruby => "/usr/bin/ruby"; JRuby => "/usr/bin/jruby"). Therefore executing a Ruby "binary" runs the interpreter that was used for building (or the hardcoded one, which is usually Ruby). Using alternatives for "/usr/bin/ruby" doesn't seem to be a very good option, because Ruby and JRuby are not in fact full alternatives, as they for example cannot use same extension Gems (but it still makes sense to allow executing same binaries with them). Also, alternatives are only switchable on admin level (we want every developer with non-root privileges to be able to choose the interpreter). Therefore Ruby-SIG has come up with solution of having "/usr/bin/ruby" as a bash script (currently called rubypick) [2], that allows user to choose the interpreter as first argument on invocation (_mri_ or _jruby_), if such a parameter is present. Otherwise it falls back to a default. For example invoking "ruby_binary _jruby_ --foo=bar" in fact invokes "/usr/bin/jruby ruby_binary --foo=bar". This bash script will be in a separate package and both Ruby and JRuby will depend on it.
- Ruby-SIG knows that this feature might be controversial and we wouldn't want it to stop us from bringing JRuby's power to Fedora (if met with a heavy resistance). So if anyone will suggest a more suitable solution, we'll go with it instead of this one.
- EDIT [Jan 24 2013] Rubypick now also supports choosing runtime using environment variable RUBYPICK (values are also _mri_ or _jruby_ to keep them consistent).
- Changes in packaging
- None yet. JRuby will be able to use pure Ruby Gems packaged into RPM out of the box, but packaging of Gems with JRuby extensions is turning out to be very complicated, so the guidelines for it will be postponed to next release (as well as the actual packaging). Users will be still able to install Gems with JRuby extensions, both system-wide (into /usr/local/) and into their home directories.
[1] https://github.com/bkabrda/jruby.spec/blob/master/rubygems/operating_system.rb
[2] https://github.com/bkabrda/rubypick
Benefit to Fedora
JRuby is starting to get very popular among Rubyists, mainly because of its excelent performance in tasks using concurrency (leveraging power of JVM). Because of this, JRuby is mainly used for running web (mostly Ruby on Rails) applications under great stress. Having up-to-date and sanely packaged JRuby is a must for Ruby development and deployment platform.
The changes only affect Ruby packages in Fedora. Few updated Java packages (jansi, jcodings, jline2, snakeyaml; also some jnr-* dependencies of gradle) may also affect some dependent Java packages - this will have to be discussed with their owners.
New Packaging Guidelines
Some alterations were made to Ruby Packaging Guidelines. These will prevent breakage by the future introduction of JRuby-specific guidelines. The new draft can be seen at [1]. The draft has been proposed to FPC [2].
[1] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackagingDrafts/Ruby [2] https://fedorahosted.org/fpc/ticket/242
How To Test
1) There is a testing repo at http://bkabrda.fedorapeople.org/jruby/jruby.repo, which can be used to test. Do not install this on your system, due to the changes mentioned above, it would break your standard Ruby installation. This repo is meant to be tested in fedora-19-x86_64 mock chroot, where it can do no harm.
2) The repo also contains Ruby and basic set of Gems rebuilt with mentioned modifications (adoption to changes in Fedora-Ruby integration).
User Experience
JRuby will be up-to-date, usable and will be able to use Fedora's RPM-packaged pure Ruby Gems.
As mentioned, few Java packages, that are dependencies of some other packages, will have to be updated (see #Scope). Also, all the RubyGems packages with binary extensions will have to be rebuilt:
rubygem-atk rubygem-bcrypt-ruby rubygem-bson_ext rubygem-cairo rubygem-curb rubygem-eventmachine rubygem-ferret rubygem-ffi rubygem-gdk_pixbuf2 rubygem-gherkin rubygem-gio2 rubygem-glib2 rubygem-goocanvas rubygem-gstreamer rubygem-gtk2 rubygem-gtksourceview2 rubygem-hpricot rubygem-idn rubygem-json rubygem-kgio rubygem-krb5-auth rubygem-linecache19 rubygem-nokogiri rubygem-pam rubygem-pango rubygem-passenger rubygem-pg rubygem-poppler rubygem-qpid rubygem-qpid_messaging rubygem-raindrops rubygem-rdiscount rubygem-redcarpet rubygem-RedCloth rubygem-rsvg2 rubygem-ruby-debug-base19 rubygem-ruby-libvirt rubygem-ruby-opengl rubygem-sqlite3 rubygem-therubyracer rubygem-thin rubygem-typhoeus rubygem-vte rubygem-xmlparser rubygem-zoom
Contingency Plan
Reverting to the previous behaviour will always be doable very easily, no harm will be done.
EDIT [Jan 24 2013] Upgrade of JRuby itself is just a normal package upgrade, the Fedora integration bits are the things that might need reverting. These would be reverted by adjusting JRuby spec and rebuilding, so that JRuby would behave just the way it now does.
- https://github.com/bkabrda/jruby.spec
- Discussions on Fedora's ruby-sig mailing list for last few months (http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/ruby-sig/).
Release Notes
- Upstream release notes at http://jruby.org/2012/10/22/jruby-1-7-0.html


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Declaring "our journey is not complete," President Barack Obama took the oath of office for his second term before a crowd of hundreds of thousands Monday, urging the nation to set an unwavering course toward prosperity and freedom for all its citizens and protect the social safety net that has sheltered the poor, elderly and needy.
"Our country cannot succeed when shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it," Obama said in a relatively brief, 18-minute address. "We believe that America's prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class," he added, echoing his calls from the presidential campaign that catapulted him to re-election.
The president declared a decade of war is ending, as is the economic recession that consumed much of his first term.
He previewed an ambitious second-term agenda, he devoted several sentences to the threat of global climate change and said that failure to confront it "would betray out children and future generations." Obama's focus on climate change was notable given that he barely dealt with the issue in his first term.
In an era of looming budget cuts, Obama said the nation has a commitment to costly programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. "These things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us," he said.
Sandwiched between the bruising presidential campaign and continuing fiscal fights, Monday's inaugural celebrations marked a brief respite from the partisan gridlock that has consumed the past two years.
Standing in front of the flag-bedecked Capitol, he implored Washington to find common ground over his next four years. And seeking to build on the public support that catapulted him to the White House twice, the president said the public has "the obligation to shape the debates of our time."
"Not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals," Obama said.
Moments earlier, Obama placed his hand on two Bibles - one used by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the other used by Abraham Lincoln - and recited the brief oath of office. Michelle Obama held the Bibles, one on top of the other, as daughters Malia and Sasha looked on.
Vice President Joe Biden was also sworn in for his second term as the nation's second in command.
Monday's oats were purely ceremonial. The Constitution stipulates that presidents begin their new term at noon on Jan. 20, and in keeping with that requirement, Obama was sworn in Sunday in a small ceremony at the White House.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Copyright NECNMIGR - NECN


text:
UPDATE : It looks like ABC got rid of the Nightline interviews with Floyd Landis which were on their website upto this afternoon. They suddenly disappeared. We obtained another full copy of the show from Hulu.
I recorded almost 15 minutes of it, but missed out the last 2 minutes of the ending sequence with Betsy Andreu, who came across as a very bold, confident woman not afraid to face the cameras. The whole interview as televised was short, much to my chagrin, in spite of ABC claiming they had over 90 minutes of talk time with Floyd.
The following are low quality backups (with sync issues) in case Hulu decides to go zulu on us :


text:
Assange: WikiLeaks film script leaked to WikiLeaks
LONDON (AP) — If you're making a movie about WikiLeaks, this is the kind of thing you probably see coming.
Julian Assange says he has obtained a leaked copy of the script for "The Fifth Estate," a DreamWorks film about the maverick computer expert and his famed secret-busting site. In a speech before the Oxford Union debating society earlier this week, Assange said his unauthorized sneak peek has left him convinced the film is a hit piece.
"It is a mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks, the organization (and) the character of my staff," he said, adding that the movie — the opening scenes of which Assange described as taking place in Tehran and Cairo — also hyped Western fears over the Islamic Republic's disputed atomic energy program.
"It is not just an attack against us, it is an attack against Iran. It fans the flames of an attack against Iran," he said.
A DreamWorks spokeswoman declined to comment on Assange's claims.
In a telephone interview late Friday, Assange said that the film's plot revolves around a fictional mole in Iran's nuclear program who discovers that the country has nearly finished building an atom bomb and will soon be in a position to load it onto ballistic missiles. The film has the informant fleeing to Iraq when WikiLeaks publishes his name among its massive trove of classified material.
Assange says the whole story is "a lie built on a lie," claiming that the U.S. intelligence community generally believes that Iran stopped comprehensive secret work on developing nuclear arms in 2003, and that, in any case, the world had yet to see evidence of a case in which WikiLeaks had exposed a CIA informant.
"They tried to frame Iran as having an active nuclear weapons program. Then they try to frame WikiLeaks as the reason why that's not known to the public now," Assange said, comparing the movie to Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," another film whose artistic liberties with recent history have drawn allegations of political bias.
Assange declined to say where he got the script, although he hinted that he had been supplied with several copies of it over time. He also declined to say whether the script would be posted to the WikiLeaks website, saying only that "we are examining options closely."
"The Fifth Estate" stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange and Daniel Bruhl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg, an early Assange ally who eventually fell out with WikiLeaks.
The film is due for release in November, and in a statement earlier this week director Bill Condon was quoted as saying that those behind the movie want "to explore the complexities and challenges of transparency in the information age" and "enliven and enrich the conversations WikiLeaks has already provoked."
Assange made his comments to the Oxford Union on Wednesday via videolink from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for more than six months in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden as part of a long-running sex crimes case.
Assange's speech before the Oxford Union: http://bit.ly/Vcokdo


text:
sat - 1.12.08 - Okay Mountain - Austin, TX.
Featuring: Michelle Blade, Kelsey Brookes, Alika Cooper, Jeremy Fish, Tara Foley, Matt Furie, Jay Howell, Josh Keyes, Anthony Lister, Hilary Pecis, Kyle Ranson, Andrew Schoultz, and Aiyana Udesen
27 - San Francisco - www.aiyanaville.com
Watching "The People's Court", cocktailing and putting on makeup.
Because I enjoy telling my Grandma where to find my art on the net: on FECAL FACE.
My Mom is half-Texan, I've been to Plano, TX: the teenage black tar heroin overdose capital of the country (where my best friend is from)
Solo show in March 2008 at the Iceberger Gallery in San Francisco, 111 Artists at 111 Minna in January (S.F.), thinkspace gallery in LA: "Fight For Flight" A special benefit for the API in honor of National Bird Day-Opening reception: Fri, Jan. 4th 7-11PM
After party @Scoot Inn with bands Steak Fingaz and Total Abuse. 10-4am
< Prev | Next > |


text:
OECD Communications Outlook 2013
Published every two years, the OECD Communications Outlook provides an extensive range of indicators for the development of different communications networks and compares performance indicators such as revenue, investment, employment and prices for service throughout the OECD area. These indicators are essential for industry and regulators who use benchmarking to evaluate policy performance.
This edition is based on data from the OECD Telecommunications Database 2013, which provides time series of telecommunications and economic indicaors such as network dimension, revenues, investment and employment for OECD countries from 1980 to 2011. The data provided in this report map the second decade of competition for many OECD countries that fully opened their markets to competition in 1998.
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
Click to download PDF - 9.93MBPDF
Click to Read online and shareREAD
Average advertised download and upload speeds, by technology, September 2012
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
Click to download XLSXLS


text:
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Power of Symbols....
The minute I saw the first few images of the newly-minted Rupee symbol, I loved it! Strong, neat, international and assertive, it was just what India needed to give its currency the much required boost. And it's stupid to ask whether the creation of a mere symbol will pump up our economy or image internationally. Symbols are not instant coffee – they take time to register and evolve. But a good symbol has the power to change perceptions and act as a catalyst. Tell me, which Indian won't experience a sense of pride seeing the rupee symbol on the keyboard? Or walking into a money changer's office while traveling abroad, and seeing it up there with the hand picked other currency symbols currently accepted and recognized the world over?Let us greet our new symbol with some respect rather than quibbling over the selection process. D Udaya Kumar who created this inspired and inspiring image holds both a Master's degree and has a Doctorate in industrial design from the prestigious IIT ( Bombay). He is a fierce environmentalist who has planted five fruit bearing trees in the small patch of land outside his hostel and prefers to spend his limited leisure hours playing football with colleagues. Before submitting his design to the national panel for selection, he had field tested it by getting the common man to write it. This was to establish how easy it was to execute and recall. He submitted these video clips to the jury – and won! Why can't those who lost the race accept his win with grace and give him credit for creating a superior design? Why start questioning the selection process which involved a committee of seven studying 3,331 submissions over 17 hours, at this stage? It's a done deal, guys. Deal with it…
We make poor losers in this country, unfortunately. We are always looking for excuses and alibis to justify failure. Whether it's in cricket , Bollywood or politics, we cannot concede defeat with a shrug and a smile, or tell ourselves to try harder. I have my fingers crossed and am holding my breath well in advance of the Commonwealth Games. We should learn from South Africa and FIFA . Even South Africa's harshest critics will agree that the rainbow nation pulled off a major, glitch free coup in the face of countless odds. But here in Delhi, we are readying ourselves for disasters big and small. We think by pre-empting any such unfortunate eventuality, we will be lessening our responsibility. Finger pointing being our favourite national sport, right now, there are a lot of really weary fingers! Everybody is at it – and it's not just about the games alone. Of course, when asli biggies are involved ( Kamal Nath – Montek Singh Ahluwalia), the nation is treated to a cerebral show down. But even lesser beings provide cheap thrills to the aam janata with name calling replacing name dropping. As of now, I am waiting to hear the next salvo from Akshay Kumar who was most miffed about the fuss made over his R.K.Laxman hospital visit. Perhaps, it's time for the Common Man to have the last laugh!
Guys, I tried hard to upload fresh images from Sri Lanka, but there is something weird happening on the internet today. Perhaps servers have crashed after people read about Sachin Tendulkar's 'Bloody' book. In case you don't know what I am talking about, it's titled 'Tendulkar's Opus', and will be published next February. Priced at a 'modest' $75,000, this 852-page book weighing 37kg is unique in more ways than one - it claims it has the iconic cricketer's blood and saliva on the signature page. Are you going - "Ugggggh!" ?????
Please do post candid comments to that googly....
34 comments:
- anamika said...
haha ..yur tendulkar article took away all the rupee attention De..
i think there are some mad horses in our country who wont mind seeing or tatsing that..ugggh.. feeling like vomitting
http://www.wiseshe.com - July 20, 2010 at 1:51 PM
- Manjiri Agnihotri said...
I agree with you...!
I liked our new Rupee Symbol.It's very beautiful.
shakespeare was wrong....
because name & symbol is your own identity...1 - July 20, 2010 at 1:59 PM
- The Panorama said...
The rupee symbol is awesome! I love it!
- July 20, 2010 at 2:35 PM
- sudipa said...
Very Good website. I like the contents. From http://www.germanyflowershop.com.
- July 20, 2010 at 3:47 PM
No selling at signals for sure.
What an idea sirjee.
- reverse paddle shot And four - July 20, 2010 at 3:48 PM
- Unknown said...
This is the most absurd selling tactic one can adopt. Blood and saliva on page ??????? Just can't believe it !!!!!!!!
- July 20, 2010 at 3:54 PM
- sandhya said...
Love the rupee symbol. Great post, as usual.
And yuk! for the Tendulkar book. Give the man a break-appreciate his great cricket and his being a great family man. And leave it at that. Reaaly, the extent to which fans go...! - July 20, 2010 at 4:24 PM
- Nithin RS said...
I wonder if the disgruntlement over the selected symbol is related to north south divide. In any competition, there can only be one winner. At the end of the day, the simplest one won over and its gonna be an iconic symbol for foreseeable future.
Regarding Sachin's opus. It was really agonizing that publishers are ready to go to any extend to sell their prestigious books. I wonder what sort of gimmicks other stars will try out to outwit sachin's book ! I think, SRK can think about his own Opus,soon.Afterall, he is the King of Bollywood. :D - July 20, 2010 at 4:32 PM
- wise donkey said...
the proceeds go to help build a school, you could have atleast mentioned it:)
i think the All Black had earlier done it with posters.. - July 20, 2010 at 5:05 PM
- Delhi Goon said...
Don't want to be a spoil sport, but a similar R symbol is already in use by the Ruchika Theatre Group, which has over 200+ plays to its credit.
Their logo was designed by Ram Rahman (photographer) some 35+ years ago. He did it for free.
BTW shouldn't we be happy that we might get parts of the Little Master, so that we can clone him and get our very own Blaster to play with our kids in the backyard!?
Think of the possibilities!! :D - July 20, 2010 at 5:47 PM
- Delhi Goon said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- July 20, 2010 at 5:50 PM
- Delhi Goon said...
Afterthought - As long as the samples are of Sachin, I dont want to end up cloning a Bhajji or Sreesanth!!
- July 20, 2010 at 5:51 PM
- narendra lele said...
i also like the Rupee symbol
this is too much boss about Tendulkar opus - July 20, 2010 at 6:03 PM
- Unknown said...
the rupee has a symbol at last.... better late than never! the sachin's book will sell
even though it is 'modestly' priced.of course,it may not top the chart of best-sellers' list unless it has steamy stories hitherto unknown to the public.yes!the marketing tactics adopted are distasteful.but the psychotic fans of the master blaster wont mind. - July 20, 2010 at 6:28 PM
- Theyoginme said...
Nice article Shobhaa...and your Sri Lanka pictures only re-affirm your charm beauty and intelligence ... you're India's symbol of an elegant and beautiful lady.
- July 20, 2010 at 8:48 PM
- Shobha said...
Hi there!!
Whether rupee has a value or not I am happy that at least it has a symbol of its own now. Not to be surprised over the controversy of the winning bidder. In India we are not only poor loosers, we are poor takers of anything new and potentially good!!
I am at loss to make anything out of Tendulkar's Opus. I love his cricket but love my hard earned money more. Blood and saliva!? Very ugly and unhygienic yaar... - July 20, 2010 at 8:49 PM
- rakith said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- July 20, 2010 at 11:24 PM
- rakith said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- July 20, 2010 at 11:25 PM
- rakith said...
Hey Shobha De,
Why provoke a response? ---- Are you going - "Ugggggh!" ????? -----
If you like it and can afford it go ahead and buy it. Don't like it don't buy it. But please do not pass judgment on one of India's greatest sportsman by picking on trivial and inconsequential matters. You being part of the media should be educating others on respecting others' freedom of expression and being gracious about it, instead of the other way round. Somehow these things are considered(reported??) cool when it happens in the west. Angelina Jolie carrying a vial of her husbands blood apparently adds to her mystique and sex appeal if you media guys are to be believed. So please stop "commenting" and start "reporting". - July 20, 2010 at 11:26 PM
- rakith said...
Oh Shobha De, just one more thing.
How come you conveniently forgot to add one small thing ... "All proceeds from the sale of the books will go to Tendulkar's charitable foundation to help build a school in Mumbai" The entire value of the biography and the noble intent behind it is casually left out. Funny isn't it?
I know what is grossing me out for sure. - July 20, 2010 at 11:40 PM
- UjjwalRaaj said...
A friend of mine is considering suing the government because the new Rupee symbol is very similar to the logo of his production house.....The only reason he's still...'considering' is because he still hasn't figured out which one would take longer- Hiring and paying his lawyer, or the case.
(Disclaimer : I am in now way responsible or liable for the outcome of his decision, and this comment shall and cannot be used in the court of law.)
http://sourcanvas.blogspot.com/ - July 21, 2010 at 12:33 AM
- Divya (Virmani) Chadda said...
So excited to finally have our own symbol. Like you said, not sure if it will help us financially in any way but atleast we will get recognized everyone with our 'symbol'.
As far as Sachin Tendulkar is concerned, his cynical fans out there will be so happy w/ his saliva or blood since he's like the 'Guru' for them. Don't forget that pretty much 95% of our population religiously follows 'Him' and Cirket... :) - July 21, 2010 at 12:56 AM
- Puneet Mathur said...
God - I AM surprised...I would have thought that a book on Sachin Tendulkar could be written and designed in a way that it could fetch $75,000. Obviously a huge price, and I personally woulnd't enjoy ANY book that expensive even if I could afford it.
But to hear about the cricketer's blood and saliva is stretching it a bit too far. I mean, do you really need his bllod and saliva to sell a book?
Now I am also wondering - in case I get to come near the book and am allowed to touch it, which pages to avoid....?? - July 21, 2010 at 9:57 AM
- wise donkey said...
on the new rupee, i am not against it, but i am not going to gush over it.
its easy to lose perspective and focus on topics like this.
instead of concentrating on how much poverty we have, because its boring the media prefers to talk about stuff like this, more.
its like the data more Indians have mobiles than toilet. there might be pride in people's access to technology, but lets not lose focus on basic amenities.
we have to do more, to feel proud about ourselves.
the majority of Indians are going to be more concerned about the money they don't have, rather than the new symbol of money. but when has media been about majority.. - July 21, 2010 at 11:08 AM
- Unknown said...
funny, isnt it? i mean.....sachin isnot a kabaddi or hockey player who has a limited source of income
but the intense desire for charity, is he? anyways, all the best for his SAMAJ SEVA!! - July 21, 2010 at 1:46 PM
- goodluck said...
Thank god. They have stopped without going for other secretions.
Sachin is basically a simple person. Why did he agree to this weird thing from marketing people?
This rupee symbol will not be liked by Tamilnadu people.
Common Wealth Games will add to the wealth of contractors and middlemen exploiting the blood and sweat of the working classes.
Twinkle must be having a hearty laugh. Wives are sometimes like that. - July 21, 2010 at 2:14 PM
- Latha said...
Talking about taking 'failure' sportingly, I remember a Tamil satirist saying, when the 'sportsmen' come back from 'The Olympics' empty handed, the 'n'th time, it is not a smile on their face but 'a loser's grin' that we see. How loooong are we going to call it 'a sportive smile ? Perhaps it is the politicians who are answerable to this.
Rajiv Masand & his ilk think that they can get away with any nonsense. It was heartening to see the BigB coming to Akshay's rescue. Well timed & well done. Only he can spring such surprises. Now it is the Masand who look like a jackass. These people in the media sit on a throne like kings & think they are superior to the rest of the world if they hold a pen or a mike & keep their scores even on personal grudges in the name of reviews & reports. Masand calling Akshay Kumar, 'jackass'! 'twas very good to see a bollywood superstar to come down & visit Laxman on call like an ordinary person amidst his busy schedule. I think others can learn a lesson or two in humility from Akshay. His cheerful smile at Laxman would've been like a thousand pills for Laxman as his family says. Anyway 'twas unintended good publicity for Priyadarshan comedy, 'Khatta Meetha' by our very own jackass Masand. Thanq Masand !
What next in marketing ?Semen in the book ? - July 21, 2010 at 11:19 PM
- iNevitAble said...
The Power of Symbols...
questioning is something easier than acceptance...
have seen responces for symbol by ppl...i think it is something related to Design Awareness in India as well.... - July 22, 2010 at 1:20 PM
- Satish Ashtaputre said...
Hi Mrs.De, enjoyed yr article on Re. symbol & Sachin's book.
Our govt.seems to like day-dreaming hence it's going for Re.symbol as if we have become developed nation.First remove poverty,become superpower then go in for such fancies.As we have a phrase in Marathi: Adhi kalas mag paya.The above phenomenon looks like that. - July 22, 2010 at 3:27 PM
- Satish Ashtaputre said...
Hi Mrs.De, enjoyed yr article on Re. symbol & Sachin's book.
Our govt.seems to like day-dreaming hence it's going for Re.symbol as if we have become developed nation.First remove poverty,become superpower then go in for such fancies.As we have a phrase in Marathi: Adhi kalas mag paya.The above phenomenon looks like that. - July 22, 2010 at 3:29 PM
- Info Master said...
Thanks for sharing vital information regarding how rupee symbol was shortlisted out of 3331 design entries spending only 17 hours ..
Which means only 18 sec per design...Indian officials are super computer now days !!
As you hint about "loosers" i search over net and found down below shocking information,, which you had FORGET to mention in your blog...
1 Non-eligible candidate was shortlisted in top five finalists. As candidate had submitted four designs.
2 One finalist was in contact with Finance Ministry and RBI prior to competition.
3 Design concept or brief was not put in front of jury along with Indian Rupee symbol design.
4 No marks or grades were allotted to selected (2644) candidates design entries, in the process of shortlisting top five finalist design entries.
5 Jury had spends less than 20 seconds on each design entries to analyze it .
6 Three jury member were absent in two days long meeting dated 29th Sept. and 30th Sept. 2009.
7 One jury member from Ministry of Culture was absent on the day of final presentation.
8 All seven jury member had never meet in this whole selection process in any given time.
9 No records are available with Finance Ministry which could indicated, how many total design entries Finance Ministry had received ?
10 Advertisement was only published in English language.While in India only 23% people able to understand ENGLISH.
Being as journalist you should have to investigate the case properly before coming in public.
I can understand you are making your living out of it but stop scripting Rann 2.
I know you can do a better job than this .... - July 23, 2010 at 2:23 PM
- RamaRaksha said...
Again another comparsion between another country & India, guess which country comes out the loser. This woman has made a habit of constantly comparing India or its movies with foreign ones & of course, belittling India.
The British may have left India but some of us like Shobha still behave like slaves to the west, wagging our tails to everything that is west. Hey, they are white, aren't they?
First of all one should never compare. Criticize our game efforts or movies all u want but please stop comparing them. South Africa had its own problems, took its share of criticism also, something the likes of Shobha can't, won't see or hear. - July 27, 2010 at 5:08 PM
- ARIF AKHTAR KAKVI said...
Shobhaa de this is the first time I am reading your Blog , I liked a lot what you have written …I myself do not know how many times i have read the article …. but still my heart wants to read it again and again ….. it feels I have fallen in love with each and every word you have written …do keep writing so we get to read again and again…..
Arif Akhtar. - July 30, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- Sidhusaaheb said...
Much ado about nothing, is my take on this.
How much is the value of the rupee going to climb up, as against other major currencies or how many percentage points is the GDP growth rate going to increase, merely on account of the symbol?
BTW, the currency of the fastest growing economy in the world doesn't have a symbol and is doing fine without it, known simply as CNY. Is that why India's economy is placed behind China's, because we go for style over substance? - August 3, 2010 at 3:49 AM