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09 Jun Response to Peter Danchin's "Suspect Symbols: Value Pluralism as a Theory of Religious Freedom in International Law
I am grateful for the opportunity to read and comment on Peter Danchin's "Suspect Symbols: Value Pluralism as a Theory of Religious Freedom in International Law." The tolerance that it advocates reflects a generally healthy human rights impulse. Hence, I wish that I could write a positive response to the article into which a great deal of thought and work has obviously gone. Unfortunately, while it is well-written and literate, I disagree with a number of its ideas – and find some of them especially alarming from a women's human rights perspective.
Like much writing in the field of international human rights on freedom of religion, the article is virtually gender blind and fails to seriously take into account the extensive literature in feminist legal theory and in women's human rights on the range of implications of collective rights for women. Indeed, in his account of the Shah Bano case in India – in footnote 214 – Danchin tellingly worries about the potential essentializing of Islamic culture and history that can come from critiques of gender discriminatory practices of Islamic family law in India, but expresses little concern for Muslim women themselves who may be denied post-divorce maintenance under that body of law. Moreover, it may mean very different things for men than for women that his value pluralism "calls into question the exaltation of individual autonomy." Some men can take such autonomy for granted within the collective, many women cannot. Ultimately, Danchin only centers inter-group dynamics, not intra-group dynamics. He does not seriously question who speaks for a community nor does he interrogate who defines the claims of a group in a group rights framework.
While his theory of value pluralism is articulately argued, it is unclear what it actually means in the real world of conflicts over human rights, especially for women. He suggests that his aim is to "satisfy and mediate" both the "demand for substantive equality between religious and cultural groups in a theory of toleration and differential treatment by the state and the demand for substantive equality in terms of the treatment by the religious minority of the autonomy of its own members." However, something has to give in resolving such claims when they conflict – and in the real world it is usually women's human rights that are surrendered to the particular, to the communal, and to religious justifications for sex discrimination. Human rights law offers insufficient guidance on resolving such conflicts between the right to religious freedom and the right to gender equality. While Danchin suggests contestation as remedy (in footnote 220), he makes no suggestion of what such a process could or should produce – or how it is to be mediated – or how women can be empowered within it.
As to the issue of religious symbols, I will focus only on his discussion of headscarves worn by Muslim women, a topic on which I have written. (For a full exposition of my own views, please see Secularism and Human Rights: A Contextual Analysis of Headscarves, Religious Expression and Women's Equality Under International Law, 45 Colum. J. Transnat'l. L. 367 (2007). This article is cited in Danchin's footnote 18. However, the point in Danchin's text to which the footnote attaches fails to convey the complex, contextual point I was trying to make, and the specific quote in the text is not attributable to me.) Other than my article, Danchin cites almost exclusively literature on his side of the debate on this question. The many critical views of headscarves and their meanings for women written by people of Muslim heritage, like Chahrdott Djavann's, BAS LES VOILES ! (2003) or Ghais Jasser's The Twin Evils of the Veil, 5 Soc. Identities 31 (1999), or Malika Zouba's Voile et dépendance, 59 Confluences Méditerranée 33 (Fall 2006), to name but a few, are omitted.
Danchin refers to religious fundamentalist movements as a "perceived threat" on page 6. In fact, women's human rights experts like Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin have argued that religious fundamentalisms represent one of the greatest contemporary threats to the human rights of women. Yet, this topic remains largely overlooked in much of the human rights literature outside of the specialized field of women's human rights. International human rights scholarship and critique has often portrayed a range of complex socio-political questions as simple matters of difference and individual rights to freedom of religion. No topic has more thoroughly manifested these shortcomings than the commentary on the regulation of headscarves in French public schools.
In the polarizing post-September 11 environment, many international human rights advocates and other critical voices have understandably been concerned with not appearing to be discriminatory against Muslims. To avoid this pitfall, such voices have often responded with a thin anti-racist account of the headscarf controversy in France, an account simply pitting a racist French state against headscarved Muslim girls who are being hampered from expressing their individual religious beliefs. In this narrative, as in Danchin's article, all of the internal politics and debate among Muslims and those of Muslim, North African, and Arab heritage on this topic is thereby "disappeared."
I conducted research last summer in the Muslim community in France among those many members of the community who support the ban on religious symbols in public schools as a way to combat pressure on women and girls, and on the secularism that secures their rights, by fundamentalist Muslim organizations. (See The Law of the Republic Versus the "Law of the Brothers": Muslim and North African Voices in Support of the French Law on Religious Symbols in Public Schools, in HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY STORIES (Deena Hurwitz et al. eds., forthcoming 2008)). Some women and girls may wear such garments as a personal religious or other choice (though the latter term needs to be understood in nuanced, contextual ways). However, fundamentalist groups have been strong proponents of headscarves and other "modest" clothing – pushing more and more restrictive garments that often have nothing to do with the local traditions or heritages of the women and girls in question. For example, girls of North African heritage are exhorted to wear the imported Iranian hijab and djilbab – specific garments entirely foreign to North African religious tradition prior to the Iranian revolution. Coercion and violence are sometimes used to impose such "dress codes."
Danchin asserts that "In most religious traditions, the wearing of religious symbols or attire – for example the Jewish yarmulke, the Sikh turban, or the Islamic hijab – is not a simple matter of choice, but a matter of religious duty, ritual and observance. (emphasis added)" With regard to the hijab, this is – to borrow his favored paradigm – highly contested. He is choosing one particular interpretation. Many Islamic feminists, and others, dispute the interpretation of religious tenets that make such covering a religious duty per se. And, in any case, for the most part, such "duties" have largely been interpreted by men.
The most worrying assertion that Danchin makes here is to refer to women who wear the hijab as those who "take [their] religious obligations seriously." (page 6) In this worldview, Muslim women who do not cover become those who do not take their religious obligations seriously – rather than simply having a different interpretation of what it means to be a Muslim woman. Such a view of them can have a range of grave consequences, from ostracization to violence, in the real contexts where women face these dilemmas. It is precisely such implications which have led some feminists of Muslim origin to argue that the wearing of headscarves by some girls in schools, especially schools with a high percentage of Muslim students, can indeed have a negative impact on the human rights of other girls. Thus, some limits on the wearing of headscarves in school in particular contexts may come within exceptions to the right to express religious belief as found, inter alia, in Article 18(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Danchin, like a number of Anglophone human rights critics of the French law, rejects this possibility out of hand.
His attempt to exempt himself from having to deal with the actual context of these problems, by stating in footnote 11 that he will not consider "relations between local ethnic and religious groups and movements in foreign countries, or the political mobilization of different groups and the nature of their demands with the resulting potential for violence or other rights violations" suggests that he is avoiding the very heart of the problem. The failure of liberal and human rights forces to comprehend and respond forcefully to the menace of religious fundamentalisms, in this particular manifestation to Muslim fundamentalist pressure on women and girls to cover, needs to be addressed.
As to Danchin's attempt to opt out of the debate between universality and cultural relativism by offering the additional alternative of value pluralism – this alternative has a whiff of relativism itself. He notes that "there is a plurality of ways of thinking not just about the good, but also about the right." In some ways this is a healthy reminder to avoid hegemonic constructs of universality. On the other hand, for women in particular contexts, such equivocation can be perilous. Danchin posits that "(h)uman rights are not immutable truths[,]" but rather "conventions, whose contents vary as circumstances and human interests vary". In some ways this is again a helpful warning against Western liberal human rights imperialism. But for those on the frontlines of the struggles against movements that seek to deny women's equality, and to justify grave and pervasive forms of sex discrimination in the name of religion and culture, such language can represent a damaging capitulation. This approach risks deconstructing the tools they need most.
While I believe the motivation of this article is to advance the laudable goal of preventing religious discrimination in a time of prejudice, because of Danchin's failure to contextualize, he ends up arguing the very theoretical "view from nowhere" that he critiques. As he is an obviously erudite human rights theorist, I urge him to re-think his approach to these crucial questions.


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HAZLEHURST, Miss. — When the state took control of the Hazlehurst City school district in 2008, the small rural district was in chaos and suffering from abysmal academic performance. Student folders had gaps where grades and attendance records should have been. District personnel reports listed one employee as holding five different positions, including assistant superintendent, transportation director, and athletic director. The state received complaints of nepotism, favoritism and harassment.
Nearly six years later, the district is one of three in Mississippi returning to local control. Hazlehurst has shown some academic improvements. Last year, the pass rate on the high school algebra exam was 77 percent, up from only 14% before the takeover. More than 75 percent of eighth graders scored proficient or advanced on the math exam, a big change from just 9% in 2008.
But some scores still linger far below the state average. Only about 21 percent of fifth-grade students scored proficient or advanced on math in 2013. A third of sixth graders passed the reading exam. A 2011 judicial brief described out-of-control classrooms, incidents where students engaged in sexual activity on campus, and student violence toward teachers.
Hazlehurst's inconsistent and often lackluster results throw a spotlight on how difficult it is for a state to take over far-flung school districts. They also raise the question of whether it is even worthwhile, particularly in rural districts where resources are limited and plans are ill defined. In Mississippi, and nationwide, the results clearly are mixed over whether takeovers work.
In fact, some states, like Tennessee and Louisiana, are putting failing schools in a separate statewide district and handing them over to charter school operators or outside organizations. Andy Smarick, a partner at Bellwether Education Partners, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that focuses on education reform research, said this gives schools more autonomy to make drastic changes. "There are states now that are saying, 'Hey, maybe the fundamental problem is the district structure itself,'" Smarick said.
Mississippi District Takeovers
- North Panola, 1996-1997
- Tunica, 1997-2002
- Oktibbeha County, 1997-2002
- North Bolivar, 2005-2006
- Holmes County, 2006-2007
- Jefferson Davis County, 2007-2009
- North Panola, 2008- Present*
- Hazlehurst, 2008-Present
- Indianola 2009- Present
- Tate County 2009-Present
- Sunflower County 2010-Present
- Okolona School District 2010-12
- Aberdeen 2012-Present
- Oktibbeha County, 2012-Present
- Leflore County, 2013 – Present
- Claiborne County, 2013- Present
- Scott County, 2014- Present
A 2004 report from the Education Commission of the States found that nationally, takeovers tend to improve administrative and financial practices but have less of an effect on classroom instruction. Academic performance when a district is under state control is usually mixed, the report concluded, with increases in some areas, and decreases in others. "The bottom line is that state takeovers, for the most part, have yet to produce dramatic and consistent increases in student performance, as is necessary in many of the school districts that are taken over," the report concluded.
A decade later, Mississippi is one of many states struggling to understand when the state should intervene — and when to pull out.
For years, Mississippi has ranked below all other states in standardized test performance. Last year, only 26 percent of fourth-grade students were proficient in math, compared to the national average of 41 percent. In the 2010-11 school year, only 63 percent of Mississippi's students graduated from high school in four years, compared to 78 percent nationwide.
The state has tried to improve its lowest-performing districts, but in the past six years Mississippi has underfunded schools by more than $1 billion and there is no extra money set aside to help conservatorship districts.
Still, since 1996 Mississippi has taken over 15 districts for various reasons, including financial mismanagement and poor academic performance, and it is set to take over more schools this year.
Consider the mixed results:
Two districts that the state took over in the 1990's and then released back to local control — North Panola and Oktibbeha County — are once again under state control for poor academic performance.
Other districts have been returned to local control after making little academic progress. The Okolona Separate School District, about 20 miles south of Tupelo, was under state control from 2010-12 after years of low test scores and numerous accreditation violations. The district was returned to local control in 2012, even though only 14 percent of the district's third graders scored proficient or advanced on the state reading test that year.
In a 2012 press release, Tom Burnham, who was then state superintendent, said "This is why we have this tool in place, to improve the school district and return it back to the community in better shape." The release cited Okolona's progress: the district met all but three state accreditation standards and every senior at Okolona High School was set to graduate that month.
But one year after the state left, 73 percent of students in the district graduated, and less than 50 percent of high school students passed the state English exam. Only 15 percent of fourth graders scored proficient on the state math test.
"It's really hard to find many examples of state takeovers that have led to dramatically different performance," said Michael Petrilli, vice president of the Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.
Five of the districts currently under state control in Mississippi have had several years to show academic growth, but that growth has been relatively varied, and in some districts, mediocre. A Hechinger Report analysis of school data found that all of the districts have seen at least slight improvement in their overall score from the state on a 300-point scale, which is based on student test scores. But in several districts those gains have been erratic year to year.
Some of the five districts have struggled to show steady growth in individual grade levels or subject areas, and have seen test scores rise one year, only to drop the next year. In third-grade math, all five districts showed overall gains since their takeovers. But only two districts saw growth each year in high school algebra pass rates. All five districts showed year-to-year ups and downs in eighth-grade language arts scores from the time the state took over until 2013. Two additional districts that were taken over in 2012 registered a decline in third-grade math scores right after the state took over.
And these mixed results come at a time when the state may expand takeovers. A 2010 Mississippi law permits the state to take over individual schools rather than entire districts. At least 50 schools will be eligible to be taken over this fall due to years of low academic performance
Across the country, more than half of all states have laws that allow the state to take over failing districts. Several states have struggled to improve failing districts even after decades of control. In New Jersey, the Newark school district has been under state control since 1995 but still registers low test scores and graduation rates. Pennsylvania took over Philadelphia's public schools in 2001, and test scores have dropped while the district wrestles with the debt it incurred from pension obligations and funding new charter schools. Last year, district officials had to borrow $50 million to avoid delaying the beginning of the new school year.
The problem, Petrilli said, is that widespread change is often the key factor leading to improvement. "What typically will happen is the state will simply replace the superintendent with someone they choose," he said. "If nothing else changes — the central office stays the same, all of the systems, curriculum, all of those reasons that the system is failing in the first place — … then [the superintendent] doesn't necessarily make the radical changes you would need to see for radically different performance."
It's unclear what a successful takeover would look like in Mississippi. In some states, like Tennessee, clear growth goals and a timeline are set for schools or districts that are taken over. Tennessee's Achievement School District includes the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state, all of which have the goal of moving to the top 25 percent within five years. Since the achievement district's inception in 2012, the state has closely monitored its progress. In the 2012-13 school year, the district's schools posted drops in reading scores, and modest growth in math and science. In Mississippi, the state identifies administrative and financial areas to fix through annual audits of school accreditation standards, which look at such measures as finances and school board practices. Districts can also be taken over if they are rated as failing by the state for two consecutive school years or if there is a pattern of "poor student performance." When a district is taken over, the audit becomes the district's "action plan," which provides steps the district must take to fix accreditation violations. But the state does not set academic criteria for the district's exit from a takeover, or a timeline for improvement. "Initially, [the goal] is to try to get out of the failing status," said Larry Drawdy, Mississippi's deputy state superintendent of school improvement, oversight, recovery and conservatorship. The takeover process in Mississippi is quick. After the governor declares a state of emergency in a district due to finances, poor academic performance, or concerns for student safety, the superintendent and the school board are immediately removed.
This story is part of our ongoing in-depth coverage of the state of education in Mississippi. Dig into the entire series of stories or choose from some highlights below.
An experienced superintendent is usually hired by the state as a conservator, and takes control of the district. The conservator can make immediate changes, which can include firing teachers and hiring new business managers or administrators. The position is paid for by the district, unless, Drawdy said, the district is in debt and can't afford it. In those cases, the state will front the bill. Some districts, like Tate County, have had the same conservator for the entirety of the takeover. In other districts, like Hazlehurst and North Panola, several conservators have cycled through. After a district returns to local control and a new superintendent is hired, conservators may move to another takeover district. While salaries vary, most conservators make about the same or slightly more than a superintendent. According to state contracts, conservators make $850 each day, regardless of how long they stay in the district. One of Hazlehurst's conservators made nearly $46,000 for a 54-day contract. Another made $140,000 for a nine-month contract, and had an additional $24,500 available to spend on travel. A conservator for the North Panola School District made $170,000 for an 11-month contract, and had a $24,000 travel allowance. Superintendent salaries in the state also vary, but range from below $100,000 to more than $180,000 each year. Drawdy said once districts show they have fixed violations in the annual audit, they're cleared by the Mississippi Department of Education and return to local control. There is no limit on how long a takeover can last. Some Mississippi districts have returned to local control after one year while others remain under state control after six years. In a July 2013 press release, Drawdy, then the interim state superintendent, defended the efficacy of the state takeovers of Hazlehurst, Tate County, and North Panola. "Overall, conservators have done a good job of getting these districts back on track," Drawdy said. The state education department denied a public records request by The Hechinger Report for the most recent accreditation audits of Hazlehurst, Tate County, and North Panola — all districts that are exiting takeovers this year. A state official wrote that the Mississippi Department of Education "does not have any documents responsive to your request," (The state did provide earlier audits.) Based on publicly available records, Tate County appears to be one of the most academically successful takeovers in Mississippi. The district's overall state score has grown 34 points, the second-greatest improvement after North Panola. Last year, about 66 percent of Tate's sixth-grade students were proficient or advanced on the end-of-grade reading exam, a 22 percentage point increase since the beginning of the takeover four years earlier. The percentage of students passing the state algebra exam has increased dramatically, to nearly 90 percent last year from 45 percent in 2009. Nevertheless, critics say the state has stayed in Tate County for too long without clear exit goals. "I'm somewhat frustrated that it's taken almost six years," said state Senator Steve Hale, D-Senatobia, where Tate County and North Panola are located. This year, Hale proposed legislation for the second year in a row that would have set criteria for academic growth, and a cap on the amount of time a conservator could stay in the district. "There needs to be a structure there," Hale said. "There should be a better understanding of what's taking place, what it's going to take to correct it, and how long it's going to take." But his legislation died after it was not brought up for discussion before the deadline to move bills out of committee this session. Larry Drawdy says a timeline would be difficult since the state often takes over a district and then finds the situation is much more complicated than it first appeared. "I would hate to put any time length on a part of conservatorship, because some districts we might be able to move into and we can correct the problem within maybe a two-year process, another one might take five years" Drawdy said. "Conservatorships are similar, but they're all different. Each one of them has their own peculiarities." Use the box on the right to select districts to compare
Help for Hazlehurst
The experience of the Hazlehurst School District illustrates both the benefits and problems brought on by a state takeover.
Few people deny that the district needed help when the state intervened in 2008. Hazlehurst serves more than 1,500 students about 35 miles south of Jackson, and has posted poor scores on state tests for years. Ninety percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In recent years, dozens of the district's vacant teaching positions have been filled by first-year teachers from Teach For America, who tend to leave after two years.
In the spring of 2008, a state audit found the district was in full compliance with only two of 37 accreditation standards. Members of the community members and the staff told state officials that they "perceive that a system of nepotism and favoritism exists." School board members randomly appeared at schools, in what district employees called attempts to "harass and/or intimidate."
The administration was unstable as well. According to a 2011 judicial brief, there were six different principals at Hazlehurst Middle School during the 2008-09 school year.
In the years after the state took control, the district has continued to struggle with turnover. In the past six years, the district has had at least five different conservators.
Conservatorship is the "loneliest job in the state of Mississippi," said Larry Drawdy — and one of the hardest positions to fill. "Basically, [conservators] have to pick up and move to a community that they're not familiar with, where they don't know anybody there," Drawdy added. "They don't know who they can trust."
But conservators also bring an outside perspective and the singular authority to make tough decisions. They can replace office staff, dismiss teachers, and make swift changes. "They are the total voice for the school district," Drawdy said. "It's really not the checks and balances you would have with the superintendent and the board."
In Hazlehurst, where the school board was in violation of several accreditation standards — including failure to provide notice of public meetings and to take minutes during the meetings — the state takeover allowed conservators to make immediate changes. To address the academic gaps, a more intractable problem, the district added a block of time during the school day to work with struggling students on basic skills, and created an after-school program open to all students. Consultants were brought in to help train teachers on using data and creating strong lesson plans. Henry Dorsey, the current conservator of Hazlehurst, says the goal for the district was "to move our kids from proficient to advanced, and to move those that were basic to proficient." Clearly, the performance data has been mixed.
Andy Smarick said sometimes a state doesn't have the staff or capacity to make dramatic progress in a district, but takes control because of a "sense of moral obligation" after a district hits "rock bottom."
But then, Smarick said, officials often don't know what to do with the district. "[States] realize 'we were not set up to take over a district, much less run schools from the capital when the district might be 50, 200, 300 miles away,'" Smarick said.
Despite some persistently low scores in Hazlehurst, Drawdy, the deputy state superintendent, said "there's a point where we have to decide that it's time now to give it back." Districts in conservatorship find it difficult to attract teachers and principals, he said.
Henry Dorsey, the current superintendent of Hazlehurst, said improved test scores have made it easier to attract teachers.
And in some districts, Larry Drawdy said the state can only do so much. "We can significantly go in and change and bring that school district up to what it needs to be accreditation wise, financial wise, and in many cases test score wise…because we can control the school," Drawdy said. "We cannot control the community because we have not changed the culture in the community."
Use the box on the right to select districts to compare
Lessons from Tate County Although the results of state takeovers have been relatively mediocre overall, Tate County is a rare example of academic success. When the state took control of the Tate County School District in 2009, the rural district that serves about 3,000 students was more than $1 million in debt. Supplies and technology were grossly insufficient: A 2009 audit of the district found that computers for a vocational program were running Windows 3.0, a system released in 1990. The district, just 30 miles south of the Tennessee border, was also struggling academically. In 2009, only 40 percent of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced on the end-of-grade English language arts exam. Only 45 percent of students passed the state algebra exam. Teachers were "just sort of floating around on their own little island," said James Malone, a former high school principal and district superintendent, who was appointed by the state as the district's conservator in 2009. When he took control, Malone rolled out a district-wide curriculum so teachers at each school were teaching the same material. Teachers began to use frequent assessments to track student progress, and consultants were brought in to observe and coach teachers. At the same time, Malone had to make cuts to whittle down the $1 million deficit. In the 2009-10 school year, Tate County cut all of its assistant teachers, and most new teachers. He was able to hire back some staff members, but had to increase class sizes to do so. "When you cut personnel and you're still trying to improve test scores…that's difficult," Malone said. On a recent morning at Tate's Strayhorn High School in the small rural town of Sarah, Miss., veteran math teacher Molly Berry was teaching parabolas to 10 students who were riveted by a picture of a Ferrari sports car displayed on a screen in the front of the room. "Where's the parabola in this picture?" Berry asked. "The hood!" one student offered. "The steering wheel?" another guessed. Berry pointed to the front of the car. "The headlights," she said. "I said that!" two students chorused. The algebra scores at this rural high school have grown dramatically since the state takeover. In 2009, only 41 percent of its students passed the state algebra exam. Last year, more students took the exam, and nearly 90 percent passed. "We have worked really hard," Berry said, referring to teachers in the district. She said that the expectations for students and teachers have grown since the state took control. It's also helped, she added, that teachers have access to consultants and coaches. Unlike Hazlehurst, leadership in Tate County has remained consistent. "The same leadership — and good leadership — sets a certain expectation for the school," Berry said. Use the box on the right to select districts to compare
A new model
As the state considers whether to take control of dozens of schools this year, experts question whether Mississippi should be thinking along the lines of Memphis or New Orleans, where the state has plucked failing schools out of the traditional system, and then handed many of them over to charter school operators.
Test scores for students in Louisiana's state-run Recovery School District, a network of low-performing schools in New Orleans and several other cities in Louisiana, have grown faster than any other public school district in the state. This September, the Recovery School District in New Orleans will become the nation's first ever all-charter school district.
The reception to charter schools has been more hostile in Mississippi. Last year, the state passed a law that allows up to 15 charter schools to open in underperforming districts each year. But it is unlikely that they would take on a role similar to those in New Orleans and Memphis because this spring, two pieces of legislation that would have created a statewide takeover district in Mississippi, similar to Louisiana's and Tennessee's, failed to make it out of the House and Senate.
Andy Smarick said that it can be harder for rural areas with fewer people, a smaller workforce, and less ability to attract charter school operators, to make the changes seen in large cities. "You're left without a lot of really good options," he said. "The set of solutions you can apply in urban areas, those things, in some sense, go out the window when you're talking about a sparsely populated area."
In Tate County, conservator James Malone is a believer in the potential of the current model of state takeovers. He says that the academic growth in the district is evidence that Tate County is ready to return to local control this year.
"It's been a long haul," Malone said. "But we feel that we got the job done."
Sarah Butrymowicz contributed to this report.


text: When Alison Scott is promoted in E! Television, she goes to a night-club to celebrate with her older married sister Debbie. Alison meets the pothead reckless Ben Stone and while having a small talk with Ben, Debbie's husband Pete calls her to tell that their daughter has chicken pox. Debbie leaves the place but Allison stays with Ben, drinking and dancing along all night; completely wasted, they end up having a one night stand. Ben does not use condom and eight weeks later, Allison discovers that she is pregnant. She calls Ben and they decide to try to stay together and have the baby. However, Ben needs to grow-up first to raise a family of his own


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Applications are now available for the City's third Civic Leadership Academy (CLA), a free 10-week course designed to educate residents about local government in the City of Pittsburgh.
Beginning September 14, and ending November 16, participants will attend weekly sessions focusing on different City departments and the services they provide to make for a safer, more livable City. City directors will develop their sessions with tours, hands-on demonstrations, and fun activities to provide an up-close and personal view of how their department helps to operate the City.
The program consists of 10 consecutive sessions on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Session topics include city organization and vision; budgeting processes; city planning and economic development; public works and parks services; the protection of water and rivers; public safety efforts, and more. At the conclusion of the course, the Mayor will lead a graduation ceremony where participants will be awarded certificates.
Students are expected to participate in a group, participant-led service project at the conclusion of the course. This project will build on the knowledge gained in the sessions, address a need in the City of Pittsburgh, and be completed within six months of the graduation ceremony. Past service projects have included planting native plants at the Larimer Community Garden and launching a recycling awareness campaign at community festivals across the City.
This is the third CLA program. The first program took place in Fall 2010, and the second in Spring 2011. The Mayor recently expanded the CLA program to include a summer program for high-school aged youths as part of his servePGH initiative. That course is currently underway and students are expected to graduate on August 10.
Applicants to the program must be at least 18-years-old and live within Pittsburgh City limits and/or be a business owner who operates a business within Pittsburgh City limits. Applications are due by 5 p.m., August 3. For more information and to apply for the Civic Leadership Academy visit cla.pittsburghpa.gov.


text:
The last picture has been submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook" (for more information on future hosting and roundup, click here).
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The last picture has been submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook" (for more information on future hosting and roundup, click here).
39 comments:
Rosa your photography is truly inspirational. Your work belongs in an art gallery. Thanks for sharing it with us.ReplyDelete
Your black and white Wednesdays always put me in a better mood. Gorgeous.ReplyDelete
Every week I am looking forward to wednesday because of your stunning black and white clicks.ReplyDelete
Lovely and an inspiration, as always!
Hugs, Sandy
I was just outside..it's bleak out..and saw the dried echinaceas..I thought the same as you.ReplyDelete
Lovely Rosa.
I was looking forward to seeing your B&W on rice - the photo is beautiful!! But at the end I really like the top picture. Simple yet so dramatic!!ReplyDelete
I couldn't see the first shot because my Internet connection drops while uploading, but the second shot is absolutely amazing! Simply inspirational!ReplyDelete
Have a nice evening Rosa.
love your pictures Rosa!ReplyDelete
look beautiful!
I love sculptural forms and you've captured the teasel so well in monochrome.ReplyDelete
J'adore cette photo des grains de riz!ReplyDelete
Beautiful photos and thought.ReplyDelete
Your pictures inspire me. I see how amazingly you couch details and I want to take pictures all the time.ReplyDelete
I love the grains of rice!ReplyDelete
Les grains de riz, bien sûr mais le chardon aussi profond et menaçant, très réussi.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous12:33 AM, October 04, 2012
Lovely photos, both. I love rice.ReplyDelete
I can't decide which one I like better! Once again, your B&W work is so strong - thanks for sharing.ReplyDelete
How amazing is nature. You have captured this so perfectly with the shot of that thistle. InspiringReplyDelete
Beautiful photos Rosa! Nice eye and great job of shooting the last photo.ReplyDelete
Wow, rice has never looked so artsy before. ;)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous3:23 AM, October 04, 2012
The thistle is such a gorgeous shot!ReplyDelete
I find thistles incredibly beautiful and so I love the first picture. Simply beautiful RosaReplyDelete
schöne Gegenüberstellung zweier so gegensätzlicher Aufnahmen.ReplyDelete
These photographs are truly a work of art!! Loved every detail. Thanks for sharing these with us RosaReplyDelete
Beautiful monochrome! Pinning it now!ReplyDelete
Lovely as always Rosa. I especially like the white grains of rice.ReplyDelete
Très belles photos black&white Rosa.ReplyDelete
Beautiful - taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary!ReplyDelete
Stunning as ever, Rosa!ReplyDelete
These are lovely. The detail of the dried thistle is exquisite!ReplyDelete
Ces photos toutes simples sont tellement belles à voir. Merci pour ces sublimes partages. Pour info, je serais absente pendant un bon moment suite à des imprévus. En attendant je te souhaite une belle fin de semaine :)ReplyDelete
The rice is simple and beautiful! :DReplyDelete
Oh YES, lots of value, totally!!!ReplyDelete
Cheers and hope you have a fantastic weekend,
I'm at a loss of words! Your pictures are beyond amazing!ReplyDelete
Miracle of miracles - you made me covet a thistle! I'll have to rethink the next time I pull one (which I frequently do). Love both photos but amazed at the first.ReplyDelete
J'aime les deux, mais le chardon solitaire est tres beau, son titre lui va tres bien aussi.ReplyDelete
Bonne fin de semaine Rosa. Bises.
superb shot.ReplyDelete
Your photography is sooo mesmerizing! xoReplyDelete
Beautiful B + W's Rosa!ReplyDelete
Oh Rosa, your clicks are so impressive!ReplyDelete
I will ask you someday about your camera and lenses :-)
Thanks for your picture, the gallery is up:
enjoy and see you next week! :-)
Superbes images...ReplyDelete


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text: After having setup Ubuntu 5.10 using the ISP-Server Setup guide, I have ISPConfig 2.1.2 up and running. I've added Clients and Sites with no problem at all. I just want to know if there is such a guide (step by step) to fully test the functionalities of ISPConfig before connecting it to the internet. I need a way to find out that I can send and receive email, access the user default website (and FTP), and be able to use the recommended webmail application which is UebiMiau. On my current setup, the server is hooked up to an existing LAN and is using DHCP assigned IP address. The only way I can reach the ISPConfig website is by typing https://<assigned IP Address>:81/. After I have created a client and site; an account web1_test has been created for www.test.co.nz. I tried to access the default user website by typing http://www.test.co.nz/users/web1_test but it came back with an error: Object not found! The requested URL was not found on this server. If you entered the URL manually please check your spelling and try again. If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster. Error 404 10.0.1.135 Wed Jan 18 10:00:56 2006 Apache/2.0.54 (Ubuntu) PHP/4.4.0-3ubuntu1 mod_ssl/2.0.54 OpenSSL/0.9.7g I also tried http://<assigned IP Address/users/web1_test, I also get the same error. Then moving on to the webmail by typing https://<assigned IP Address>:81/webmail/. I got the login page and then entered the username: web1_test and the password: it came back with: You cannot login with the username and password entered. Please check your username and password and try again. The only thing that is accessible for web1_test user is the FTP site. By typing ftp://<assigned IP Address>/, then username: web1_test and password, it went straight to showing the FTP folders. I have tried setting up ISPConfig before on a Fedora Core 3 (again following the ISP server Set-up). All installed well with no problem but I had the same user access problem with the Ubuntu set-up. What I need is a recommeded network setup so I can initially test ISPConfig, like for example, a static IP is recommended, etc. So, anyone who can shed some light, please, I really want to get this system up and running. Cheers


text:
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text:
BleachBit 0.8.0 released and ubuntu installation instructions included
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BleachBit has many useful features designed to help you easily clean your computer to free space and maintain privacy.
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* CleanerML allows anyone to write a new cleaner using XML
* Frequent software updates with new features
The following changes have been made since 0.7.4:
* Add whitelisting feature, so certain files and folders are not modified. Setup your whitelist in the preferences dialog. The whitelist feature supports all the standard operations including delete, shred, truncate, and vacuum, but it doesn't affect files deleted by third-party software (yum and apt). Files that are whitelisted are clearly marked in the BleachBit log.
* Specific to Linux
o Delete recent documents in GNOME 2.28 -- 2.30 (e.g., Ubuntu Karmic Kaola, Lucid Lynx, Fedora 13).
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Install BleachBit 0.8.0 in ubuntu
Download .deb package from here once you have .deb package install this by doublr clicking on it or by using the following command from your terminal
sudo dpkg -i bleachbit_0.8.0-1_all_ubuntu1004.deb


text:
13 Sep The 'Osama Spring' must become the 'Obama Autumn'
While some still refer to the revolution that swept through the Middle East as the "Arab Spring," many others, particularly Muslims throughout the Middle East, refer to it more properly as the "Islamic Awakening." As history will forever testify, President Barack Obama's role in the unfolding of the Islamic Awakening was to support or assist in the overthrow of two leaders (so far), resulting in two new Islamist governments in Egypt and Libya. Allāhu Akbar!
And now history will also testify that it was precisely these two nations that used the anniversary of 9/11 to thank President Obama and the American people by attacking two U.S. embassies, violating and burning the American flag, replacing it with the black flag of the Islamic caliphate, and murdering U.S. diplomats, all the while shouting the taunting slogan: "Obama, we are all Osama!" How ungrateful are these people, anyway? Surely, Obama hasn't explained himself to these people thoroughly enough. Perhaps, if he is given four more years, the Islamists will finally come to understand his good intentions.
And where was the Egyptian military as the "protesters" were desecrating the American flag and penetrating the embassy walls? One would think that perhaps a small portion of the $1.3 billion in aid the United States gives to Egypt annually might be used to help safeguard our embassy. Well, such may have been the case in the age of Bush and Mubarak, but no more. "Change has come" to Egypt, and as Obama jubilantly declared on the day Mubarak was ousted, "The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard. And Egypt will never be the same … but this is not the end of Egypt's transition. It's the beginning." This is no longer the age of Bush and Mubarak; this is the age of Mursi and Obama. Takbir!
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the contrast in responses and the leadership displayed by the Romney campaign and the Obama administration was vividly crisp.
The Obama administration, as it has typically been the past four years in virtually every important foreign-policy decision, was schizophrenic. First, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued an apology. If you haven't read the official grovel, here it is in its original form:
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. … Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."
But after Mitt Romney condemned this shameful response, the White House quickly threw the Embassy under the bus, repudiating the statement.
The Embassy immediately deleted five Tweets.
But then, after walking back the apology, Obama walked back yet again. In his official statement concerning the murders in Libya, he simply couldn't condemn the attacks without tempering his words with a sympathetic hat tip to the murderous Islamist children who believe that throwing violent hissy fit will cause the United States to quickly bow:
"While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants."
Whatever the heck ever happened to cultural confidence? Let's be clear; when any religion forbids freedom and liberty, demanding our "submission," then, heck yeah, we will denigrate those beliefs. And we make no apologies for it!
On the other hand, Romney's senior foreign policy adviser, Rich Williamson, had a very American response, stating in clear terms that the attacks can be directly blamed on "the loss of American leadership and prestige throughout the Middle East because of the Obama administration's failed policies in that region." And other than a few cultishly loyal followers of Obama like Chris Matthews, and Obama himself, who can honestly deny this with a straight face?
Williamson went on to say:
"The events in Egypt and Libya show the failure of the Egyptian and Libyan governments to uphold their obligations to keep our diplomatic missions safe and secure and the regard in which the United States is held under President Obama in these two countries… It's all part of a broader scheme of the president's failure to be an effective leader for U.S. interests in the Middle East."
Williamson is absolutely correct. These attacks were not about a poorly made movie about Muhammad. The attacks in Egypt and Libya were staged, coordinated and well planned events, the specific purpose of which was to insult America and push for the implementation of Islamic Shariah law, which forbids any criticism or insults of Muhammad. The attacks were planned, sponsored and instigated by the al-Nour party in Egypt, which received roughly 38 percent of the Egyptian vote in the last elections.
But while Obama has fallen for the ploy that this is all about offended religious sensibilities, the reality is that this was about celebrating the Islamic victory of 9/11. This was about celebrating "al-Qaida day." Yet Obama still grovels.
Of course, none of this comes as a surprise. For many of us who understand what the biblical prophets warned of, we have long understood that President Obama's abominable foreign policy blunders throughout the Islamic world would only facilitate and empower the rise of the Mideast Beast, or the Islamic caliphate. What Bush warned of, and the liberal media mocked, Obama is helping to create. God forbid if he has four more years.
While far too many Americans seem to have been forgiving of the president for having assisted in the creation of at least two new America-hating Islamist governments, we will not forgive him for his tepid and un-American response to yesterday's attacks and murders.
The emerging "Osama Spring" must become the Autumn of Obama.


text:
Pan Gestures vs touchesMoved and convertPointFromView
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The Body of Christ - In Touch - January 5
- Sign Up for Email?
- 2023 Jan 05
January 5
The Body of Christ
As we saw yesterday, all the people who gather to worship in churches around the world form one body—the body of Christ. Jesus is the head. Paul described Him as "the beginning, the first-born from the dead" (Col. 1:18). He takes priority in the church and in the lives of every believer.
At salvation, you become a part of the body, no matter what your local church's membership rules may be. By receiving the Savior, a person is made one with Jesus. Therefore, if you're a believer, you are a breathing and active part of Christ, who is at work on earth through His followers. The church is Jesus' feet to carry the gospel message, His arms to care for those in need of love, and His hands to uphold the weak.
Christ's physical body underwent terrible pain and persecution. His church body cannot expect a cozy, easy existence either. Being Jesus to the world means making sacrifices, accepting ridicule, and loving our enemies (Heb. 13:16, Matt. 5:44). God called us to spread the gospel, but that doesn't mean people always like what we have to say. Sin and accountability aren't popular messages. Yet being trendy and well liked is not the point. We're here to carry out the work and mission of God, even when doing so is uncomfortable.
The spiritual makeup of the church is linked to its mission. The gospel cannot be spread except through the strength and wisdom of Jesus Christ, the head. The body of believers is united with Him through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit. He reaches the world through His church and its members.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
And Listen to Dr. Charles Stanley at OnePlace.com!
Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2019 All Rights Reserved.


text:
The Air Force Cross consists of a bronze cross with an oxidized satin finish. Centered on the obverse of the cross is a gold-plated American bald eagle, wings displayed against a cloud formation, (as used on the seal of the Air Force). This design is encircled by a laurel wreath in green enamel, edged in gold. The reverse of the cross is blank and suitable for engraving.
The Ribbon has a very wide center stripe of Brittany blue with narrow stripes of white and red at the edges. Almost identical to the Distinguished Service Cross, except for the lighter blue center stripe, indicating the close connection of these awards.
The Air Force Cross is the second highest decoration awarded by the Air Force and is given for extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor. It may be awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S Air Force, distinguishes himself by extraordinary heroism (1) in action against an enemy of the United States; (2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or, (3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. Like the Distinguished Service Cross, the Air Force Cross is presented in the name of the President, although the Air Force itself actually controls this award.
The effective date of the Air Force Cross is July 6, 1960; however, awards based on earlier actions may be made after that date if the recommendations for them have not been acted on or have been lost.
Three awards were belated presentations. Major Urban L. Drew was nominated for the DSC during World War II, and it was denied. Decades later when new information was uncovered, his nomination for the DSC was revived and, since the Air Force now had its own award equal to the DSC, he received the Air Force Cross. Similar circumstances led to a similar award to William J. Sloan on or near the year 2000. Not until 2008 it was to be awarded to a WW2 action for the third time, this time to Charles L. Brown.
The Air Force Cross is worn after the Medal of Honor and before all other decorations.
Additional awards of the Air Force Cross are denoted by Oak Leaf Clusters.


text: In case you were hopeful that Obama winning a second term was some kind of indication that racism doesn't really exist anymore, check out Twitter. The amount of hate speech, referring to the president as a "nigger," a "monkey," calling for violence and for the south to "rise again" was depressing—and eye-opening. Here is incontrovertible proof (as if we needed it) that racism isn't just some imaginary talking point invented by liberals, but an actual problem. What's sadder is that many of these Tweeters seem to be in high school, who don't have the flimsy excuse of being raised in "another time." If you believe the children are our future, then our future is fucked.


text:
University of Michigan
Runs his own tutoring company
Carl taught upper-level math in several schools and currently runs his own tutoring company. He bets that no one can beat his love for intensive outdoor activities!
To unlock all 5,300 videos, start your free trial.
University of Michigan
Runs his own tutoring company
Carl taught upper-level math in several schools and currently runs his own tutoring company. He bets that no one can beat his love for intensive outdoor activities!
Graphing a transformed hyperbola combines the skills of graphing hyperbolas and graphing transformations. With hyperbola graphs, we use the formula a^2 + b^2 = c^2 to determine the foci and y= + or - (a/b)x to determine the asymptotes. When transforming hyperbola graphs, we find the center of the graph and then graph accordingly.
Graphing a transformed hyperbola basically puts together everything that we know about transformations and hyperbolas okay? So the first thing we want to look at is how these minuses affect the curve and just like with a circle or just like with an ellipse what we're looking for is it's always x minus the x coordinate of the center y minus the y coordinate of the center either way you can think about it is what value can we put in that will give us 0 and that will be the coordinate for the center, so looking here x-3 tells us that 3 is our x coordinate for our center y+1 y minus -1 that tells us -1 is our y coordinate so we end up with 3, -1 as our center okay?
From there, all we have to do is view our center as the origin okay so just before we did everything off of the origin over made our silly box all that stuff we're doing the same exact thing now but instead of going off of the origin we're just going to go off of this point okay? So what this tells me is the x is first which tells us it's a horizontal hyperbola and the x the term underneath the x is 4 which tells us that this is 2 squared so our sort of x radius our x dimension is going to be 2 in each direction so all I need to do is draw out 2 in either direction and that marks my "x radius" in this case it's going to be the transverse axis because this is the direction of the hyperbola okay? Doing the same I think for not for the y term 9, 9 is 3 squared so this tells us we're going to go up 3 and down 3 from the center so from the center up 3, from the center down 3 we were at 1 so that takes us to -4 and from here we are able to draw our box okay?
So we basically oh! The first we want to do is connect where these points would actually meet up so we take these two points and take this one over take this one straight up that gives us a point another point third point and a fourth point so that makes up our box if we were to draw. You can either connect the dots if you want to or the main reason we do all this is to find our asymptotes okay? so basically all we want to do is connect the opposite corners of our rectangle, and that line is horribly off I apologize, hopefully you at least get the idea of what's going on.
And now we just want to figure out where the graph goes okay? So the endpoints of our transverse axis are actually the turning points for a graph where that graph turns from coming one way to go in the other so I know that the x is first so this is why I want my vertices, this point is on the graph as is this point over here and then just filling in the blanks we know that the graph has to get close to these asymptotes and go through this point, so we have that one half over here and the other half ends up over here.
It's not perfection obviously but I hopefully you got a good idea of how to graph a hyperbola that has transformed. Basically find the center and then do everything you did when it was centered around the origin but just off of that new center point.


text:
S3 Texture Compression
|EXT extension
S3 Texture Compression or S3TC is a compression scheme for three or four color channel textures. This functionality is exposed by the ubiquitous extension EXT_texture_compression_s3tc. There are 3 forms of S3TC allowed by OpenGL.
Compression Format
S3TC is a technique for compressing images for use as textures. Standard image compression techniques like JPEG and PNG can achieve greater compression ratios than S3TC. However, S3TC is designed to be implemented in high-performance hardware. JPEG and PNG decompress images all-at-once, while S3TC allows specific sections of the image to be decompressed independently.
S3TC is a block-based format. The image is broken up into 4x4 blocks. For non-power-of-two images that aren't a multiple of 4 in size, the other colors of the 4x4 block are taken to be black. Each 4x4 block is independent of any other, so it can be decompressed independently.
There are 3 forms of S3TC accepted by OpenGL. These forms are named after the old Direct3D names for these formats: DXT1, DXT3 and DXT.
DXT1 Format
A DXT1-compressed image is an RGB image format. As such, the alpha of any color is assumed to be 1. Each 4x4 block takes up 64-bits of data, so compared to a 24-bit RGB format, it provides 6:1 compression. You can get a DXT1 image by using the GL_COMPRESSED_RGB_S3TC_DXT1_EXT as the internal format of the image.
Each 4x4 block stores color data as follows. There are 2 16-bit color values, color0 followed by color1. Following this is a 32-bit unsigned integer containing values that describe how the two colors are combined to determine the color for a given pixel.
The 2 16-bit color values are stored in little-endian format, so the low byte of the 16-bit color comes first in each case. The color values are stored in RGB order (from high bit to low bit) in 5_6_5 bits.
The 32-bit unsigned integer is also stored in little-endian format. Every 2 bits of the integer represent a pixel; the 2 bits are a code that defines how to combine color0 and color1 to produce the color of that pixel. In order from highest bit to lowest bit (after the little-endian conversion), the pixels are stored in row-major order. Every 8 bits, 4 2-bit codes, is a single row of the image.
Here is a diagram of the setup:
63 55 47 39 31 23 15 7 0 | c0-low | c0-hi | c1-low | c1-hi | codes0 | codes1 | codes2 | codes3 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------
c0-low is the low byte of the 16-bit color 0; similarly, c0-hi is the high byte of color 0. To reconstitute color 0, simply do this: ((bytes[1] << 8) + bytes[0]), where bytes is the an array containing the above sequence of bytes. Color 1 would come from ((bytes[3] << 8) + bytes[2]).
Similarly, the codes are the bytes that make up the 32-bit integer bitcodes. They have to be rebuilt in reverse order, so codes3 is the left-most byte.
Once rebuilt into their proper order, you can get the individual 2-bit values like this. The The pixel values are in cXY form, where Y goes bottom to top as is standard for OpenGL:
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | c00 | c10 | c20 | c30 | c01 | c11 | c21 | c31 | c02 | c12 | c22 | c32 | c03 | c13 | c23 | c33 | codes3 | codes2 | codes1 | codes0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The interpretation of the 2-bit values depends on how color0 and color1 compare to each other. If the integer value of color0 is greater than color1, then the 2-bit values mean something different than if color0 is less than or equal to color1. The meaning of the 2-bit values is as follows:
|color0 > color1
|color0 <= color1
|(2*color0 + color1) / 3
|(color0 + color1) / 2
|(color0 + 2*color1) / 3
The arithmetic operations are done per-component, not on the integer value of the colors. And the value "Black" is simply R=G=B=0.
DXT1 with 1-bit Alpha
There is a form of DXT1 available that provides a simple on/off alpha value. This format therefore uses an RGBA base format. To get this format, use the GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_S3TC_DXT1_EXT internal format.
The format of the data is identical to the above case, which is why this is still DXT1 compression. The interpretation differs slightly. You always get an alpha value of 1 unless the pixel uses the code for Black in the above table. In that case, you get an alpha value of 0.
Note that this means that the RGB colors will also be 0 on any pixel with a 0 alpha. This also means that bilinear filtering between neighboring texels will result in colors combined with black. If you are using premultipled alpha blending, this is what you want. If you aren't, then it almost certainly is not what you want.
When using OpenGL to compress a texture, the GL implementation will assume any pixel with an alpha value < 0.5 should have an alpha of 0. This is another reason to manually compress images.
DXT3 Format
The DXT3 format is an RGBA format. Each 4x4 block takes up 128 bits of data. Thus, compared to a 32-bit RGBA texture, it offers 4:1 compression. You can get this with the GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_S3TC_DXT3_EXT internal format.
Each block of 128 bits is broken into 2 64-bit chunks. The second chunk contains the color information, compressed almost as in the DXT1 case; the difference being that color0 is always assumed to be less than color1 in terms of determining how to use the codes to extract the color value. The first chunk contains the alpha information.
The alpha 64-bit chunk is stored as a little-endian 64-bit unsigned integer. The alpha values are stored as 4-bit-per-pixel alpha values. The alpha values are stored in row-major order, from the highest bit of the 64-bit unsigned integer.
DXT5 Format
The DXT5 format is an alternate RGBA format. As in the DXT3 case, each 4x4 block takes up 128 bits. So it provides the same 4:1 compression as in the DXT3 case. You can get this with the GL_COMPRESSED_RGBA_S3TC_DXT5_EXT format.
Just as for the DXT3 format, there are two 64-bit chunks of data per block: an RGB chunk compressed as for DXT1 (with the same caveat as for DXT3), and an alpha chunk. Again the second chunk is the color chunk; the first is the alpha.
Where DXT3 and DXT5 differ is how the alpha chunk is compressed. DXT5 compresses the alpha using a compression scheme similar to DXT1.
The alpha data is stored as 2 8-bit alpha values, alpha0 and alpha1, followed by a 48-bit unsigned integer that describes how to combine these two reference alpha values to achieve the final alpha value. The 48-bit integer is also stored in little-endian order.
The 48-bit unsigned integer contains 3-bit codes that describe how to compute the final alpha value. These codes are stored in the identical order as the codes in DXT1; they simply are 3 bits in size rather than 2.
Just as in the DXT1 case, the codes have different meanings depending on how alpha0 and alpha1 compare to one another. Here is the table of codes and computations:
|alpha0 > alpha1
|alpha0 <= alpha1
|(6*alpha0 + 1*alpha1)/7
|(4*alpha0 + 1*alpha1)/5
|(5*alpha0 + 2*alpha1)/7
|(3*alpha0 + 2*alpha1)/5
|(4*alpha0 + 3*alpha1)/7
|(2*alpha0 + 3*alpha1)/5
|(3*alpha0 + 4*alpha1)/7
|(1*alpha0 + 4*alpha1)/5
|(2*alpha0 + 5*alpha1)/7
|(1*alpha0 + 6*alpha1)/7
sRGB and S3TC
|EXT extension
Images compressed with S3 texture compression can also be in the sRGB colorspace. This extension does not qualify as a ubiquitous extension, but it is widely supported nevertheless.
As with any sRGB operation, the question arises as to whether the two key colors (which are in the sRGB colorspace) are converted to a linear colorspace before the decompression step or after. While converting before decompression is preferred, the specification allows implementations to do the colorspace conversion afterwards the decompression. Doing so means linearly interpolating the color values, which generally should not be done in a non-linear colorspace like sRGB.
In general, hardware that is incapable of GL 3.0 or above will do the colorspace conversion after decompression, while 3.0 or better hardware (aka: Direct3D 10-capable or better) will do the conversion before decompression.
View textures and S3TC
The glTextureView defines which image formats between source and destination textures are valid. However, because S3TC is not core, their behavior is not defined in the EXT_texture_compression_s3tc extension. It is instead defined by the ARB_texture_view extension, which extends the compatibility table with these entries:
|Internal formats


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Michael Lewis cast his Moneyball lens on basketball in this week's NY Times Magazine. The Billy Beane of the roundball story, more or less, is Shane Battier, a guard for the Houston Rockets. Battier doesn't seem like a great basketball player, but he does a lot of little things that helps his team win.
Battier's game is a weird combination of obvious weaknesses and nearly invisible strengths. When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse — often a lot worse. He may not grab huge numbers of rebounds, but he has an uncanny ability to improve his teammates' rebounding. He doesn't shoot much, but when he does, he takes only the most efficient shots. He also has a knack for getting the ball to teammates who are in a position to do the same, and he commits few turnovers. On defense, although he routinely guards the N.B.A.'s most prolific scorers, he significantly Âreduces their shooting percentages.
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There is a tension, peculiar to basketball, between the interests of the team and the interests of the individual. The game continually tempts the people who play it to do things that are not in the interest of the group. On the baseball field, it would be hard for a player to sacrifice his team's interest for his own. Baseball is an individual sport masquerading as a team one: by doing what's best for himself, the player nearly always also does what is best for his team. "There is no way to selfishly get across home plate," as Morey puts it. "If instead of there being a lineup, I could muscle my way to the plate and hit every single time and damage the efficiency of the team — that would be the analogy. Manny Ramirez can't take at-bats away from David Ortiz. We had a point guard in Boston who refused to pass the ball to a certain guy."
No wonder it's so hard to build a basketball team with the right balance of skills and personalities. Take five guys, put them on a court, let them do whatever they think they need to do to get a larger contract next year, and maybe you get some pretty good results. Now, consider a situation where the plus/minus statistic is the basis for player salaries and all of sudden, players need to figure out how they can make the other four guys on the floor better. And while everyone is making adjustments to each others' games, each player is adjusting to everyone else's game, and the process becomes this fragile and intricate nonlinear dance that results in either beautiful chaos or the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.
PS. The brief author bio at the end of the article continues the recent game of "next book" Whack-A-Mole from Lewis. Since the publication of The Blind Side in 2006, Lewis' next book has been listed in various outlets as being about New Orleans/Katrina, financial panics (which turned out to be an anthology edited by Lewis), his sequel to Liar's Poker about the current financial crisis, and now is listed as "Home Game, a memoir about fatherhood". I give up.


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