text:
Following the independence referendums in Iraqi Kurdistan and Catalonia, the right of nations to self-determination has become a popular debate. Here are some of the claims and facts about this right:
Claim 1. Defending the right of nations to self-determination ignites separatism
The right of self-determination is a way of respecting a nation's right to live the way it chooses to. Lenin states that this right applied even to the most 'extreme' options, including the 'right to secession'. For this reason, the right of nations to self-determination forms the 'right to establish a separate state'. This means that even if a majority of a nation now calls to 'break off from', i.e. 'secession', this right must be recognised. However, Lenin did not want this right because he wanted a separation, but because he wanted to advocate a genuine fraternity and unity among peoples. According to the programme of the Bolsheviks, the solution to the national question was to recognise the right of self-determination, and through this, removing all national privileges under a single state framework as a voluntary union based on equal rights. In order for the peoples to live together, the 'right to secession' must be recognised. Prohibition of this right encourages separation. For example, the more the demand of Turkey's Kurds to have autonomous life is repressed, the more the Kurdish people gain a sense of need for 'separation'. Therefore, the right of nations to self-determination does not mean to advocate separation but to defend the removal of national privileges and the conditions of voluntary unity.
2. The national question has already been resolved in Iraq. Language, cultural freedoms and autonomy have been provided. The Kurds are no longer an oppressed nation. The referendum serves the interests of Barzani, the President of Kurdistan Regional Government.
It is true that the recent independence referendum is linked with Barzani's political interests. However, reducing the national question to the issue of language and culture is a liberal approach. For example, why has the national question in Catalonia not been resolved? They have their language, culture, local government and own parliament, but the national question still was not resolved. There is a similar situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdish question in Turkey. Even if we assume that language and cultural equality were to be provided, the Kurdish question would not be resolved without the demands of the Kurds for autonomy being met. The national question cannot only be seen as a cultural rights issue. The problem will continue as long as the Kurds request for autonomy is interfered with and prevented from the outside. In the final analysis, the national question is the rejection of the right of a nation to self-determination. In some cases, this will include matters such as language, culture and so on (just like the situation in Turkey for instance) and not in others (Catalonia and Iraqi Kurdistan). And so the national question can not be solved without the recognition of the right to self-determination. For this reason, Turkey's left's refusal of this right in 'good faith' opens the way to the nationalism of the oppressor nation.
3. To defend the right to a referendum that will clearly lead to separation is to support separatism through the rhetoric of 'principles' and 'rights'.
A socialist from Turkey cannot handle this issue abstractly without taking into consideration the historical context as if they were living in Australia. In Turkey, the nationalism of the oppressor nation is institutionalised and is highly effective among the working people. This nationalism is based on anti-Kurdishness and therefore there is a hysterical hostility to a possible Kurdish state. Establishing a state is seen as a privilege that the Turks hold and therefore a Kurdish state is not deemed appropriate. This is why socialists of Turkey firstly have the duty to help the working people gain an internationalist consciousness and to oppose all national privileges.
The question is as follows: How will an equal friendship-fraternity relationship be established between the Turkish workers and the Kurdish workers? How will the common struggle be achieved? If socialists of Turkey will not respect the will of the Kurds demanding independence in Iraqi Kurdistan, can equality and fraternity even be considerable? The only way to establish trust, fraternity and equality between the nations in the medium term so that a common way of fighting is achieved is through the recognition of the right to self-determination.
4. Those who support the right to self-determination do not care about the common struggle of the peoples.
For the common struggles and fraternity of peoples and show to them that we are brothers, it is necessary to respect their preferences in order to break the prejudices of a people who have been massacred for centuries. This is the foundation of voluntary unity. The right to self-determination is not only a defence of an abstract principal but also a compulsory principle to provide for the fraternity, common struggle and voluntary unity of the peoples. As Lenin says "Humanity ... can only achieve the inevitable union of nations by going through a transition period when all oppressed nations are liberated, i.e. when they have the freedom of secession from the oppressor nation."
5. Kurdish parties did not support the referendum. Therefore, the referendum does not reflect the will of the Kurdish nation.
It is true that there are differences between the Kurds and their parties. However, the objection of Kurdish parties is not to the referendum itself, but to Barzani's desire to make the referendum an instrument to serve his own political future. Nearly all Kurdish parties criticized this and called for a 'yes' vote the day before the referendum. There will always be division and political infighting within a national movement; their existence does not invalidate the right of people to self-determination; especially for the socialist of another country.
6. In the age of imperialism, the right of people to self-determination is invalid. It is not possible. Small countries get annexed to imperialism.
This is exactly the content of Lenin's polemics with Luxemburg on the right of people to self-determination. Lenin naturally defends the right of people to self-determination as the solution to the national question. As the right of people to self-determination does not solve patriarchy, press freedom or lowered wages problems, nor does it solve the problem of imperialist economic hegemony.
In his polemic with Luxemburg, Lenin argued this democratic principle not as a solution to all the problems in the world but as an idea to put an end to the national oppression in a multinational country. Of course, this country will be united with the struggle against imperialism and its stance under revolutionary conditions, i.e. progressive or socialist party leadership of the nation. This is the call of the III International and we defend it. Unfortunately, this is not what is happening in the case of Iraqi Kurdistan.
7. While the concept of the right of people to self-determination is the revolutionary concept of yesterday, this question cannot be discussed 'idealistically' unless the concept of imperialism in others dependent on itself is seen today.
Imperialism wants to use the right of people to self-determination to serve its own interests. This was done in Yugoslavia. This, however, requires the socialist not to reject the right of people to self-determination, but the perspective to struggle against and combat imperialism. Big monopolies may suggest control of unregistered employment, in part due to the fact that it is an element of "unfair competition". As seen in WTO meetings, some representatives of imperialist countries may oppose low pay in countries like Bangladesh, in fear of competition. Imperialist countries such as the USA and Russia may fight against ISIS. All this does not require socialists to give up on these claims and defend ISIS. However, it requires one to struggle and act in a revolutionary context. Therefore, apparent defence of this principle by imperialists in some cases cannot be an excuse for socialists to give up. As Lenin expressed in the then current circumstances, "Just as in the example of Latin countries, conditions, where people were lied to with republican slogans and these were used by financial oligarchy for financial pillage cannot be a reason for social-democrats to give up on republicanism; in the same way, in the fight for freedom against the imperialist state, the condition that this could be used by another 'bigger' imperialist state for imperialist intentions of same order, cannot be a reason for social-democrats to reject the right of people to self-determination".
8. If the national movement is collaborationist or bourgeois-led, the right of people to self-determination cannot be defended.
If a national movement was not led by the bourgeoisie, there would be no debate on the right of people to self-determination. The reason for the debate is the bourgeois nature of national movements. Thus, the right of people to self-determination is valid under conditions of bourgeois-led national movements; or even co-operation with imperialism. Socialists recognize it but fight against the nationalist exercise of this right. For example, some in the Turkish left opposition to the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan openly reject the right of people to self-determination. The referendum is to be respected. The fact that the referendum was brought about by Barzani for various reasons is an internal problem for the people of Kurdistan. When these internal problems are dealt with, there will be no such thing as the right of people to self-determination. Excuses such as "Talabani is a compromiser", "Goran is a nationalist", "PKK is nationalist" etc. to deny the right of people to self-determination will never cease to exist. Because an immaculate national movement in human history can never be found. Therefore, it is not the referendum that we should oppose. What we should criticise is Kurdish support for Barzani. And our friendly call to Kurdish workers and labourers is thus: "Do not support Barzani, the representative of the Kurdish co-conspirator bourgeoisie, take your fate into your own hands, do your own politics. Do not let independent Kurdistan become a toy for imperialism." This call is a sign of our friendly, revolutionary support and solidarity, not a "lecture". The right of people to self-determination and support for Barzani are two separate things. This is what separates internationalists from Kurdish nationalism.
9. For Lenin, the right of people to self-determination was not a principle but a tactic.
It was beyond a dilemma of whether it was tactics, principles or strategy. It was all of them; tactical principle and strategic principle. Along with being a democratic principle, it was the only way to safeguard the unity of the working class. From this point of view, it had an unbreakable connection with socialist goals. By his statement; "Wherever we see ties relating to international oppression – without preaching for the need to separate – we will vigorously defend the right to self-determination and the right to separation for each nation. To defend, recognise and side with this right means: to defend equal rights between nations; to resist oppression; to fight against national privileges of any nation; and hence, to develop the class struggle between workers of every individual country".
10. Independent Kurdistan will be a second Israel in the region.
The basis of this thesis is clearly the traditional bourgeois-nationalist sensitivity to an independent Kurdish state. If it remains in Barzani's leadership, Kurdistan will indeed be an important figure in US imperialism, and therefore Israel's anti-Iran strategy. It will be a co-conspirator state. However, it will not be a second Israel because there is no Palestine in Kurdistan, there is no Zionism. As a co-conspirator administration to imperialism, it will look more like Turkey than Israel. However, with its size, population and economic dependency it will probably be a weaker partner than Turkey.
11. Kurdistan will be an advanced outpost of imperialism.
It seems likely to be so under the collaborator Barzani administration. At the referendum, the decision was for independence. It must be implemented in accordance with the right of people to self-determination. However, there is great opposition amongst Kurds too. Perception of an independent Kurdistan as an "unchanging, collaborator country" is also linked to the nationalist hysteria of hate against the Kurds. Barzani can be overthrown, independent Kurdistan can advance in a popular, anti-imperialist and democratic line. This popular option is not blocked by independence. In other words, Kurdistan does not have to be an imperialist outpost just because it is Kurdistan. Kurdish people harbour a vigorous vein of opposition in their collective historical memory that advocates the opposite.
12. Independent Kurdistan will trigger a war in the region.
Independent Kurdistan is not a disaster. In fact, Kurdish autonomous region operates like an independent country already. The administration is now a collaborator of imperialism. For that reason, unless war originates from hostility to Kurds; it should be seen as a disaster for the region. Disaster can only happen when politics of Kurdish hate leads to a war, started by reactionary countries in the region. In that case, it is not the Kurds demanding independence, but the reactionary states of the region that should be blamed and fought against.
13. 'Socialists' on Turkish left that reject the right of the people to self-determination are fascists.
Of course, rejection of the right of people to self-determination is a step in support of oppressor state nationalism. However, some parties that reject this right on a theoretical level defend recognition of the results of the referendum and oppose military action or oppression against Kurdistan. These parties and movements cannot be accused of fascism. What we see is the result of being influenced by a deviation to the right and oppressor state nationalism.
14. Lenin defended the right of revolution to self-determine, not right of people to self-determination.
Lenin's perspective was undoubtedly revolutionary. He addressed the solution of every problem with a revolutionary perspective. For this reason, he unfalteringly defended the right of people to self-determination. He did not point to a tautology of "right of revolution to self-determine" because revolution cannot be expressed in terms of a right; it is a matter of power. When sufficient power is gained, neither counter-revolution nor revolutionary forces will be trapped in an abstract notion of right. Revolution does not take place by rights but by the force. However, the right of people to self-determination is defensible and defended as a right and principle.
15. Independence of Iraqi Kurdistan will also open Turkey's borders to debate.
It is a pity that this argument came from the 'left'. Of course, the struggle cannot be carried out without considering existing borders. However, today's borders were drawn by imperialists on the basis of oppression and division of Kurdish peoples. It is the duty of socialists to defend their unity on the basis of equal rights and not act as "border guards" in a geography where peoples are oppressed and massacred, and in order to do this unfailingly, they must recognize the right of people to self-determination.
16. The father of the right of people to self-determination is US President Wilson. Lenin quickly adopted this principle to gain the support of colonial peoples against Wilson.
This principle entered socialist agenda long before Wilson expressed it. This principle was included in the decisions of the Second International Congress held in London in 1896. It has been in the program of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) since its first Congress.
17. Lenin defended this principle not in the era of imperialism but in the era of socialist revolutions.
The right of people to self-determination was the subject of a further four comprehensive discussions for Lenin and the Bolsheviks after being re-admitted into the 1903 program. First; In 1913, the right of people to self-determination was defended against the Austrian national-socialist Otto Bauer's "national cultural autonomy" formulation and its reflections in Russia. In 1914, Lenin defended the right of people to self-determination in the Bolshevik Party against rising national movements, and in opposition to those who claimed it will inflame apartheid. In 1916, Lenin again explained in detail the right of people to self-determination against the Bukharin and Kievsky thesis that "the right of people to self-determination cannot be realized in the era of imperialism" and that "it will serve imperialism"; he described their opposition as "Marxism's cartoon" and "imperialist economics". Finally, it was proposed by Lenin in the Third International, expanding the scope of the formulation of the struggle against the imperialism of the colonial countries.
Click here to return to the April 2018 index.


text:
Guarding Your Heart in Your Marriage – Part 3
Author: Cheryl Scruggs
Category: Uncategorized
An Affair: 'The Beginning of the End' The fatal blow to any marriage is an adulterous affair where one or both spouses think they "finally found his/her soul mate." by Cheryl Scruggs
The fatal blow to any marriage is an adulterous affair where one or both spouses think they "finally found his/her soul mate." Once convinced that he/she married the wrong person or that God put someone new in his/her life, the idea of divorce can take root and grow. Blinded by the
deception of the affair, most people have no idea how they got there. How does an affair start? Many of us who have fallen prey to an adulterous affair did not see it coming. We were blindsided, and – before we knew it – were involved emotionally, physically or both, with a person other than our spouse. Many times the other person is a complete stranger, but the sudden emotional or physical connection deceived us into thinking we had known them all of our life.
This new "love" was the missing puzzle piece to our happiness – or so we thought. In most cases, no one intentionally seeks after an affair that could potentially destroy their marriage. Forming such a connection to someone else may seem unlikely, but may be easier than you realize. All it takes is one conversation, one innocent flirtation or one look. If you are vulnerable, the ball is rolling. How do we succumb to an affair? Easily! Like me, most of us never dream we are capable of such sin. Unfortunately, we are both capable and susceptible. I gave in because I was not guarding my heart. It never crossed my mind to be cautious about my relationships with other men because I never realized I could be so vulnerable. I started having an "innocent" conversation with an acquaintance of mine. I felt compelled to share with him the unfulfilled state of my marriage. Yet that evening was the beginning of the end of my marriage. I quickly developed a deep emotional connection with a man I barely knew! I falsely sensed that I was falling in love with a stranger. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I craved his voice. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I was duped and falling fast. Within a matter of days, the negative feelings I had long been having for Jeff reached a heightened level. I somehow "knew" I didn't love him and told him so. Jeff was flabbergasted and caught completely off guard! What could have gone so terribly wrong overnight? In truth, I was completely deceived and I could not see it. When Jeff asked if there was someone else, I denied it.
The truth is that I'd allowed my heart to be stolen. When do the symptoms start? The warning signs often appear long before the actual fall into adultery: when our thoughts begin to derail; when we fail to take negative thoughts captive, constructively deal with them, and face the issues in our marriage. The emotional and physical disconnect is subtle and sometimes goes unnoticed until we find ourselves in the arms of another person. What are some of the symptoms? Symptoms are not easily pinpointed, but once you become aware, they are easy to recognize. Here are a few: Unexplained discontent with your spouse Feelings of being trapped in your marriage An overwhelming sense that your needs are not being met A desire to be away from your spouse A reluctance to spend time at home Fantasies about being married to someone else Comparing your marriage to other marriages Attraction to someone of the opposite sex A constant preoccupation with someone else An unhealthy attachment to a coworker, friend or acquaintance of the opposite sex
How do you combat the temptation of an affair? Once the temptation of an affair presents itself, many people focus on getting out of their marriage. They choose to stop working on their existing relationship and focus, instead, on this new and exciting relationship. God gives us every opportunity to walk away from temptation, but many of us choose to walk toward it instead. God also offers us guidance and direction when we are tempted to have an affair. Most important, He reminds us that adultery is a sin. We must not ignore this fact, rationalizing why we deserve to have an affair or why we think it is right. Bottom line: We do not deserve it, and it is wrong! Period. To guard against this, two important things are necessary. First, submit to God's Word instead of to the temptation. Ask God to show you the truth and what is right in His eyes. Second, share your struggles with a trustworthy friend, pastor or counselor! When a secret is brought into the light, the excitement of it lessens. I regret not having told someone. It may have saved my marriage. © 2010 Cheryl Scruggs. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Posted on August 9, 2011

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Terrell Owens -- MASSIVE Break in Child Support Cases
Terrell Owens MASSIVE Break in Child Support Cases
Terrell Owens just scored the biggest deal of his career since he signed with the 49ers -- successfully lowering his exorbitantly expensive monthly child support payments to FOUR different baby mamas.
Sources close to T.O. tell TMZ, the former NFL star was able to convince the judges in each of his child support cases to "drastically decrease the amount he was paying."
T.O. had originally been ordered to pay between $5,000 and $20,000 per child per month -- and with no new football contract, he was seriously struggling to make ends meet.
But now, we're told the new payment plans -- the details of which are sealed -- are way more affordable ... and "accurately reflect the amount of money [Terrell] is making."
It gets even better -- we're told T.O. was also able to establish visitation in some cases, something he had never asked for before.
Sources tell us, Terrell "is in a good place and this was the best way to start off the new year."


text:
How Do Touchscreens Work?
By Matt Soniak
It depends on the device and the type of touchscreen you're using. There are two different kinds used in most consumer electronics:
Resistive touchscreens - which are used on some Samsung, HTC and LG phones, and are typical of ATMs, supermarket checkout stations and the electronic signature doodad the UPS guy carries - have a glass panel that's covered with conductive and resistive metallic layers. These two layers are held apart by spacers, and an electrical current runs through them when the screen is operational. When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact in that spot. The change in the electrical field is noted and the device coordinates the point of contact so a device driver can translate user touches and movements into something that the OS can understand.
Capacitive touchscreens - used on the iPhone, Droid Eris and Blackberry Storm, among other smartphones - have a glass screen covered by a transparent conductor layer that stores an electrical charge. When a user touches a finger (which is also conductive) to the screen, the electrical field distorts and the device uses that to figure out where the screen was touched and relays the info to the driver.
The big drawback of capacitative screens is that they don't work well, or at all, when the user's fingers are covered by electrically insulating material, like gloves. If the choice between cold hands and using your phone is a hard one, you can get around the issue by buying gloves that have conductive threads woven into the fingertips, or by making your own.


text: I have setup up ISPconfig using Debian 3.1 and the erfect Setup" tutorial. Everything went fine and I would now like to add a test domain and users. For now this server will only handle email for our business. I have read the manuals and have gotten myself confused in the terminology of resellers clients etc. How do I create a domain and add user email accounts to this? Most of my experience in this area is using MS Exchange systems. Many thank for the help.


text:
Source: University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST, Date: October 2012:
Summary: Scientists have observed a decrease in the frequency of northeast trade winds and an increase in eastern trade winds over the past nearly four decades, according to a recent study.
Scientists at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) have observed a decrease in the frequency of northeast trade winds and an increase in eastern trade winds over the past nearly four decades, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. For example, northeast trade wind days, which occurred 291 days per year 37 years ago at the Honolulu International Airport, now only occur 210 days per year.
Jessica Garza, a Meteorology Graduate Assistant at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at UHM; Pao-Shin Chu, Meteorology Professor and Head of the Hawaii State Climate Office; Chase Norton; and Thomas Schroeder analyzed 37 years of wind speed and direction, and sea level pressure data from land-based weather stations, buoys and reanalysis data.
Persistent northeast trade winds are important to the Hawaiian Islands because they affect wave height, cloud formation, and precipitation over specific areas of the region. When trades fail to develop the air can become dormant and unpleasant weather can develop.
Furthermore, Chu explained that the trades are the primary source of moisture for rain, and that a dramatic reduction could fundamentally change Hawai'i's overall climate. "We have seen more frequent drought in the Hawaiian Islands over the last 30 years," he noted. "Precipitation associated with the moisture-laden northeasterly trades along the windward slopes of the islands contributes much of the overall rainfall in Hawaii."
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center's State Drought Monitor, nearly 50% of land in Hawaii has experienced some degree of drought during the past year. While previous research has focused primarily on changes in trade wind intensities, this work, along with Chu's 2010 study, is among the first to show changes in trade wind frequencies.
"In 2010, we only studied the trade wind changes at four major airports in Hawaii (Honolulu, Kahului, Hilo, and Lihue). In the current paper, we expanded our study to include four ocean buoys in the vicinity of Hawaii and a large portion of the North Pacific," Chu commented. In the future, these scientists will be using model simulated data to further understand the dynamics of rainfall and trade winds, and estimate future patterns.
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
- Jessica A. Garza, Pao-Shin Chu, Chase W. Norton, Thomas A. Schroeder. Changes of the prevailing trade winds over the islands of Hawaii and the North Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2012; 117 (D11) DOI: 10.1029/2011JD016888


text:
Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Eaters Of The Dead
Chapter Analysis of Eaters Of The Dead
Click on a plot link to find similar books!
Plot & ThemesComposition of Book Descript. of chases or violence 30%planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 10%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 20%Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places 40% Tone of book - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear) FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Horror story? - Yes Horror plotlets - the monster chased me!
Main CharacterIdentity: - Male Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler - explorer Age: - 20's-30's
SettingTerrain - Mountains - Forests Earth setting: - general past Takes place on Earth? - Yes
Writing StyleAccounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed Sex in book? - Yes What kind of sex: - orgies - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of sex How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog - little dialog
Books with storylines, themes & endings like Eaters Of The Dead
|On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
|The Taking by Dean Koontz
|The House of Gaian by Anne Bishop
|His Father's Son by Nigel Bennett and P.N. Elrod
|Little, Big by John Crowley


text:
- HD Server
Pacific Rim
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed-up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
Views: 2581
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Actors: Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Larry Joe Campbell, Max Martini, Rinko Kikuchi, Robert Kazinsky, Robert Maillet, Ron Perlman
Duration: 131
Release: 2013


text:
"Memories of Last Christmas" – Holidays, New Year and Christmas
sentimentality background music. Gentle, family, a bit nostalgic
piano melody combined with Christmas ringing bells gives this song a cozy,
quiet, pleasant, peaceful and a kind mood. Merry Christmas!
The file includes:
- Main song full length – 0:48 min. (Memoirs_of_last_Christmas.wav)
- Nothing else =(
Where you can use it
- Adventure film or video
- Commercials
- TV advertisement
- Children projects
- Christmas projects
- New Year videos
- And "whatever you want" projects
Thanks a lot for buying my music, I am really appreciate this.
Similar music
- Christmas Is Coming – Transparent Christmas tunes featuring classic orchestral bells and shiny harmony.
- Christmas musical box – Simple Christmas musical box with jingle bells..
Check my other Christmas music
- Check my other Christmas music here
- Check my first CHRISTMAS MUSIC PACK – Buy and save! 4 Christmas melodies only at 16$!
- Check my second CHRISTMAS MUSIC PACK – Buy and save! 4 Christmas melodies only at 20$!
- Check up my Christmas music bestseller – CHRISTMAS INTRO


text:
So Tiger Woods' wife got p-o'd and made a hole in one of his cars with one of his own golf clubs!
Seems that millionaire golfing fella got into a fight with his supermodel wife on the weekend and then he had some crazy car accident while he was trying to get away from her.
The supermarket papers say he was having a fling with some floozy after showing her "a good golf grip". So that's what the kids are calling it these days!
Tiger Woods is married to one of those Swedish models, so why would he fool around behind her back? Hell, married to her, he should be too tuckered out to golf, let alone fool around!
Folks are making jokes right now about balls and holes and swinging and birdies but I can't figure them because I never cared much for golf. It's more like figure skating than a real sport, complete with bright colored outfits.
There's no fighting or sweating or swearing and none of the players seem to be on crazy drugs.
When you win the big prize, it's just a stupid green jacket like you'd see at J.C. Penny's!
Plus they let ladies play golf, so that proves it must be stupid.
Compared to other athletes, even Tiger Woods' "crime" is pretty crappy. All he did was crash a car a few feet from his house. Hell, I'm pretty sure half the county's college football players would call that a typical Saturday night.
So man up, golf guys! Next time, don't even bother unless you're gonna kill your wife then get away with it!
So Tiger Woods' wife got p-o'd and made a hole in one of his cars with one of his own golf clubs!


text:
Funemployed Couple Who Visited Disneyland Every Day for a Year Rewarded with Trip to Disneyland
A hero can be anyone. It can be a fireman who runs back into a burning home to save a beloved childhood pet (toad). It can be a teacher who stays after school to help a student struggling with math. It can be a long Italian-style sandwich filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, and seasonings.
A hero can even be two unemployed people who make it their mission to go to Disneyland every day even though some days you just don't feel like going to Disneyland.
Two such heroes were recognized recently in Anaheim for their brave commitment to doing whatever.
Tonya Mickesh, 45, explained to the OC Register that she and Jeff Reitz, 40, first came up with the idea of visiting Disneyland every single day for a year "as a way to keep ourselves occupied because we didn't have jobs" – an interesting strategy when one is looking for work.
Armed with the annual passes they had received as gifts, the couple set out to prove that it really is a small world after all, particularly when your entire world is contained within the boundaries of the Disneyland theme park.
While the intrepid explorers started off strong, coordinating visits eventually became tricky. Mickesh landed a full-time second-shift job in April, which meant she could only go in the mornings. Reitz found work in September, further limiting their availability. Yet every day, come 80 degree weather, or 65 degree weather, light breeze, or mild breeze, they went.
Over the course of their yearlong journey, the duo learned many of the park's most intriguing secrets, like:
- the bathroom behind Big Thunder Ranch BBQ has hot water
- the cream-cheese pretzels sold out of carts are a good snack
On the couple's 366th straight day of Disney wonder, they were made honorary citizens of the Free Republic of Disneyland (this can technically happen to any visitor; you get a little gift certificate and a pin) and rewarded with a free night in the park's Dream Suite, located above the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in a fake version of New Orleans.
All told, the price of admission per day for the couple worked out to $1.77 per person, thanks to their annual passes.
The couple kicked off 2013 with a visit to the Disneyland theme park, a place they had never been.


text:
A New York para-athlete has become the first American woman handcyclist to complete the Ironman World Championship — defeating a Chicago woman competing for the same honor.
In the 17-hour triathlon Saturday in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Susan Katz, a Chicago para-athlete, missed the bike cutoff by 6 minutes, 30 seconds, while Minda Dentler, of New York, the only other American woman competing, finished the race and nabbed a slot in the history books.
"I am so proud of her and the amazing, history-making day she had," Katz said about Dentler's finish, adding she was disappointed in her own performance.
"It just wasn't enough," she said.
For her part, Dentler said she and Katz were neck-and-neck for most of the race. While Katz barely missed the biking cutoff, Dentler made it by a mere 3 minutes.
"It was so awesome to have (Katz) on the course. We were cheering for each other."
The Ironman was founded in 1978 to find out whether swimmers, bikers or runners were the best athletes. It includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Each segment has a strict cutoff time that if missed disqualifies participants from finishing. Just a few handcyclists qualify for the World Championship each year. This was Katz's third time competing and Dentler's second.
Upon completing the swim, Katz and Dentler propelled themselves on handcycles. After Dentler made the cycling cutoff, she pushed herself in a manual racing wheelchair for the running segment.
Katz, a Streeterville resident, was born with spina bifida, an incomplete fusion of the spinal cord. She began using a wheelchair when she was 10, after surgery to relieve pressure in her back left her partially paralyzed.
Soon after, her mom introduced her to wheelchair basketball. She pursued the sport through college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, making the national team in 1998. Among other accomplishments, she went to the Paralympics in 2004, where the U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team won a gold medal.
Dentler contracted polio as a baby in India, resulting in paralysis of her legs. She's done more than a dozen triathlons and was a member of the 2010 USA Paratriathlon National Team, among other sporting achievements.
Katz, who sometimes trained for the triathlon on the Chicago lakeshore, said she's a "never say never" kind of person, but she won't be visiting the Kona Ironman next year.
"It's been a long four years chasing this dream and it's time for me to take a break and focus on other things in my life for a little bit," Katz said. "There's a chance Kona hasn't seen the last of me, but it will be a while before I return."


text:
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., won't be washing cars again — unless they're his own.
The soulful vocalist who once supported himself by washing cars at an auto dealership sang his way to victory on Wednesday on "America's Got Talent."
"Thank you so much for just believing in me," he said upon hearing his name announced at the end of the NBC talent competition.
"It's been a long, hard journey," he went on, barely holding back his tears as the audience roared, "ever since I was a kid. And it's finally paying off."
Murphy, a native of Logan, W.Va., wins $1 million and a Las Vegas headlining contract.
With his rich voice and mild-mannered persona, Murphy had been a favorite of the judges and the audience all season. He beat three other finalists on the season-ending telecast. They included The Silhouettes, a troupe of youngsters from Arvada, Colo., who use shadow dancing to illustrate music. This enormous group, more than three dozen strong ranging in age from 3 to 19 years old, had charmed the audience with its visual effects.
Moments earlier, the other two acts had been cut. They were teenage rock band PopLyfe from Oakland, Calif., as well as Team iLuminate, whose dancing performers equip themselves with wearable wireless lighting systems.
Viewers had cast their votes after Tuesday's performance show, when Murphy sang Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
On Wednesday's broadcast, Murphy performed "You're All I Need to Get By" in a duet with Patti LaBelle.
He will headline in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace next month, with the other three finalists also on the bill.
NBC is controlled by Comcast Corp.


text:
Product Details
6" x 12" standard automotive aluminum metal novelty license plate with 4 holes for easy mounting. Use this novelty license plate to personalize the front of your vehicle or embellish with ribbon or string and instantly turn it into a sign. US Route 66 Take The Journey Novelty Vanity Metal License Plate Tag Tags auto vehicle car front.
- Fun Fact: Did You Know that only 10% of novelty license plates are actually placed on vehicles. Most of them are used as signs. Hang them on the wall of your man cave, bedroom, den, college dorm, home office or theater. The possibilities are absolutely endless.
- Each item is individually shrink wrapped and complete with 4 mounting holes for easy mounting.
- We carry only the highest quality aluminum metal and embossed aluminum license plates.
- All License Plates are standard size 6" x 12" to accommodate any and all vehicles.
- Lightweight and Durable - Have Fun and Express Yourself.


text:
I'm here in balmy Madison, Wisconsin presenting today at SQL Saturday #118 presenting on High Availability and DR options in SQL Server 2012. Jes Borland (b|t) and the outstanding crew have done a fantastic job with this event.
Anyway, I wanted to slides and some resources.
Slides are here.
Books online for AlwaysOn Availability Groups are here:
The version of this presentation I gave at the 24 Hours of PASS is here (requires PASS login):


text:
- This event has passed.
Moses: Virtue for Women in Kahana Ridge
October 12, 2019 @ 8:45 am - 10:45 am
An event every week that begins at 8:45 am on Saturday, repeating until May 16, 2020
Water Fire Stone: The Life and Times of Moses
We know Moses, the great hero of history, but who was the man behind the legend? He was born in poverty, raised in a palace, but the wilderness became his home. He was an outlaw, a loner, and a Lawgiver. Reluctant to lead but determined to follow God. At times he could be impulsive, impatient, explosive. He was idolized and criticized yet remained humble and forgiving. How did this man with so many complexities become a world-changer? Is the secret to his friendship with God something we can tap into? With Moses' life and times as our script, we will explore why God chooses unlikely heroes—flaws, failures, and all—to accomplish His perfect plan.
Harvest Study Groups: Virtue for Women; October 2019 thru May 2020; Semester 1 from October to December 2019; Semester 2 from January to May 2020; Location: 171 Kahana Ridge Road, Kahana Ridge; Leader: Marlene Bayly
Contact the church office to join the group. email@example.com or 808-669-6905


text:
Trader Productions specializes in creating unique, original templates. We will work closely with you to develop a logo and identity for your company.
We follow tried and true technologies that comply with today's modern web standards, assuring easy access for our clients. We use the highest level of technology to make your website user friendly.
Trader Productions recognizes that you have room to grow, so why shouldn't your website? Our websites are built with the ability to expand and change. We don't believe in outdated methods of web development that make every change tedious and difficult. We'll work hard to show you just how fun your website can be!


text:
World Council/CUNA Discuss Basel III Capital Requirements with Basel Committee Representatives
Branch, Edwards and Hampel meet with international standard setters in Switzerland
BASEL, Switzerland — World Council of Credit Unions and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), World Council's member organization in the United States, met with representatives from the secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the Bank for International Settlements on Dec. 5 to discuss the implications of Basel III capital requirements for credit unions.
In December 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued "Basel III," a set of international capital and liquidity standards for financial institutions that are applied at the national level. Jurisdictions such as Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, several Canadian provinces and Ecuador have previously enacted capital rules for credit unions based on Basel II and are likely to implement Basel III for credit unions as well.
"How mutual financial capital instruments fit into the Basel III framework is a common and pressing issue for many credit union systems around the world today," said Brian Branch, World Council president and CEO.
Basel III recognizes that cooperative institutions such as credit unions can issue Basel III-compliant capital instruments, including shares or subordinated debt, provided those instruments are considered "equivalent" in most respects with joint-stock company capital instruments such as common stock. World Council issued a white paper in August regarding when credit union shares and similar capital instruments should qualify as regulatory capital under Basel III. The paper endorsed the European Union's approach to Basel III implementation.
Bill Hampel, CUNA senior vice president of research and policy analysis and chief economist, joined Branch and Michael Edwards, World Council chief counsel and vice president for advocacy and government affairs, for the meeting with Basel Committee Deputy Secretary General Karl Cordewener and Secretariat Member Noel Reynolds.
The credit union and Basel Committee representatives discussed issues such as when credit union shares have terms and conditions that make them equivalent to joint-stock company common shares; impairment of cooperative capital instrument due to losses; share redemptions when members leave a credit union's membership; and secondary capital at U.S. credit unions. The group also discussed concerns the Basel Committee raised in an October report regarding the European Union's approach to capital share redemptions under national laws and how the credit union movement could best address those concerns.
"Even though the United States does not apply Basel capital standards to credit unions, the position the secretariat takes on what constitutes capital for cooperative financial institutions could have a significant impact on the debate in Congress about supplemental capital for U.S. credit unions," Hampel said. "Crafting forms of supplemental capital that are consistent with the Basel approach should go a long way to securing congressional approval."
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is an international committee established by the Bank for International Settlements to formulate policy on prudential standards and best practices among financial regulators. The Basel Committee updated the Basel Accord in 2004 with Basel II and again in 2011 with Basel III. World Council advocates on behalf of credit union interests before the Basel Committee regarding international safety and soundness standards and other matters affecting credit unions that are within the Basel Committee's jurisdiction.
Download World Council's August 2012 position paper, Credit Union Shares as Regulatory Capital Under Basel III, at www.woccu.org/positionpapers.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 51,000 credit unions in 100 countries serve 196 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.


text:
Exenatide Bests Insulin Detemir in Head-to-Head Test
Sooner or later most type 2s face the choice of whether they should begin using insulin. As the effectiveness of metformin or sulfonylureas fades, physicians often look to insulin as the safest, most effective means of asserting control over blood sugar levels.
However, a British study shows that patients may want to consider using exenatide (brand names Byetta and Bydureon) instead.
Researchers at the University of Leicester tracked 216 type 2 patients whom they divided into two groups. Over a 26-week period, 111 patients injected exenatide once a week while 106 patients injected themselves twice daily with insulin detemir, a long-lasting insulin analog.
By the end of the study, 44.1 percent of the patients using exenatide had dropped their A1c's to 7% or less compared with 11.4 percent of the insulin-injecting patients. The exenatide group reduced its average A1c by 1.3% while the insulin group reduced its average by .88%.
Weight loss between the two groups was also significantly different. The exenatide-taking group lost an average of about 6 pound while the insulin-taking group gained an average of 1.8 pounds.
Both groups had fairly low percentages of hypoglycemic episodes: 6 percent of the exenatide group; 7 percent of the insulin detemir users.
Although the performance differences were notable, exenatide's drawbacks included more reports of gastrointestinal distress and injection site problems.
Researchers concluded that exenatide is a viable alternative to insulin detemir when a type 2 patient reaches the point where metformin no longer offers adequate blood sugar control.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Byetta, the twice-daily form of exenatide, and Bydureon, the once-weekly form tested by the researchers, sponsored the study. An abstract is available online.


text:
The Lowest Spot on Dry Land
The lowest spot on dry land, the Dead Sea depression sinks 400 meters (1,300 feet) below sea level. River beds known in the region as wadis drain into the small sea occasionally when it rains, but it is principally fed by the Jordan River, which flows in from the north. The extremely dry climate, diversion of tributaries for various human uses, and massive salt evaporation projects in the southern part of the sea have led to dramatic drops in the sea's level. Today, the Lisan Peninsula (bottom center) forms a land bridge through the Dead Sea; the southern part of the basin is cut off from the north, and it is used exclusively for evaporating salt and minerals from the water.
The Dead Sea occurs in a rift zone, where the Arabian tectonic plate (east side) is pulling northward, away from the Africa tectonic plate (west side). Highlands and plateaus on either side of the rift end in escarpments at the seashore. The greenish cast of the landscape on the eastern side of the sea suggests rainfall is more plentiful there than on the West Bank, which is an arid tan.
In Jordan (east of the Dead Sea), the rift valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south is called the Ghor Zone. The Ghor Zone is one of the country's most significant agricultural regions because of the availability of irrigation water, reports the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Vegetables, citrus fruits and bananas are the most common crops. The irrigated agricultural areas show up as dark blue squares along the eastern and southeastern shores of the Dead Sea in this image.
Live Science newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.
Most Popular
By Emily Cooke
By Harry Baker
By Harry Baker


text:
Advanced Search
While it may sound too good to be true, Microsoft's new app model for Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013, introduced back in July, promises to let workers run third-party vendor apps without bogging down Microsoft's software. In the past, apps designed to work with Office or SharePoint could cause performance problems when run on the same server. Under the new app model, these applications run separately, either via the Internet cloud or on the customer's premises.
The new apps for Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 have a few differences vs. traditional Web apps. An app can act within a document, for instance, and it can "travel" with that document to be accessed by other users, provided they assent to use it. These apps appear to the end user to be running within Office or within a SharePoint site, although they're running outside those applications on a separate server. The apps may be as simple as a Bing Maps app that works with an Excel spreadsheet, for instance. An app gets permissions to run if it is installed by a Web site administrator, a tenant administrator or an end user who provides consent, according to an MSDN library article.
New App Model
One of the controls that facilitates this model is the "Office Store," which has a user-driven app rating system and a vetting process maintained by Microsoft for third-party software vendors. Users get access to the Office Store by default and can install their own applications. However, IT pros still have ultimate control because they can shut down access using Active Directory.
"The old model is still there on premise," said Mike Fitzmaurice, vice president of product technology at Nintex, a Bellevue, Wash.-based maker of SharePoint workflow extension products, in a phone interview. "If someone still wants to do things they've gotten very comfortable doing, they can still do it perfectly fine."
Applications now can be built for Office or SharePoint that do not expose those programs to risk. Developers can build those apps without having to know a lot about SharePoint, Fitzmaurice added, which wasn't the case with the 2010 version. Microsoft previously enforced security on apps via specific sandbox restrictions, but the new model avoids those complications. It builds trust between applications instead. Moreover, the Office Store requires that Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communications be used by the application host platform.
"The sandbox was actually how they [Microsoft] did it prior to [SharePoint] 2013," Fitzmaurice explained. "They allowed sandboxed code to run but they put very severe limitations on what kind of code could run in the sandbox. And this effectively meant that very few people built any serious extensions for SharePoint that would run in the cloud. In the new era, we can run our apps right next door to SharePoint and talk back and forth to it in a very secure fashion. The user thinks it's all one system, and IT can delight in the fact that we aren't actually sitting inside SharePoint and exposing it to risk."
Apps that crash won't affect Office because they run in "a separate, isolated process," according to Brian Jones, principal group program manager for the Office Solutions Framework team, in an August 6 "Office Next" blog post. The new approach allows multiple Office apps to run side-by-side without conflict, he adds. IT pros can monitor the performance of apps and add-ins using a new feature called "Office Telemetry." It automatically delivers information about the CPU use, performance and loading times of apps and add-ins via a dashboard. It will work with earlier versions of Office (back to Office 2003) via an agent.
What Are Office Apps?
"Apps are just web applications, developed with client-side and server-side code and interacting with Office and SharePoint thanks to a new JavaScript API for Office, the new OAuth support, REST end points, and expanded JavaScript CSOM for SharePoint," Hauduc explained in a July 17 "Apps for Office" blog post. "Apps are not tightly-coupled to Office and SharePoint. They run off-box, in the cloud, giving developers and IT administrators the flexibility that they need to respectively develop and maintain apps, or manage Office and SharePoint products life cycles and version upgrades. Apps have minimal footprint on the desktops or the servers."
Hauduc claimed that IT pros won't lose compatibility with previous add-ins and code that worked with earlier versions of Office and SharePoint. IT pros have the ability to test that premise using the customer preview releases, which Microsoft released for download in July.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.
Microsoft this week announced that the new Outlook for Windows 11 is now at the "general availability" release stage for personal account users, but it's also arriving for organizations as a so-called "enterprise ready" release.
Microsoft on Thursday unveiled four new Surface devices for businesses.
Cisco is acquiring security and IT solutions provider Splunk for about "$28 billion in equity value," per a Thursday announcement.
Copilot for Windows 11 will be available on Sept. 26.
Jump the line by becoming a Windows Insider in just a few clicks.
Subscribe on YouTube
More Summits
More Webcasts
More Tech Library


text:
One of the things I learned at the greatest events this year—the Writer's Digest Conference—was to immerse myself more in the community. You. The readers. The writers. This is not something I'm good at, as I like to sit down, write a tad, close up shop and join Batman on the couch to end the day in someone else's creativity. The Big Bang is always a favorite of mine. I've recently started watching Kevin from Work and—if I'm to be honest—binge watching The Walking Dead to get ready for tomorrows premier of Fear the Walking Dead.
*giggles in excitement*
Anyway, out of all the amazing things I took away from the conference, the biggest was to join the community more. To be more of a… presence online. Like, you know, posting more than once a month. And actually communicating with other writers, which I thought I was doing, but apparently I'm not. SO I'm trying to get out of this introverted cage I've lived in and actually –gasp!—talk to other people. I'm glad to say I've done my first beta-read. Yup. That's right. Only one. I've been writing all this time and have only recently completed a first full-length beta read by a very talented writer who in my opinion, is ready for bookshelves. For all you non-writers, beta-reading is exactly what it sounds like—a sort of test or 'pre-read' for books so readers can identify plot holes, weak character development, anything that might need a fix before the book goes out to a wider audience. Have I had my books beta-read this whole time? Of course not. That would require me to do things in the logical, correct format and that never seems to be my strong suit. (Breaking a window to get into the house before using a neighbor's phone? You get the point.)
But I'm trying. Making the effort. Really jumping outside this circle of safety that has kept me secure, but bored these last 29 years. I've also asked people to beta-read my work—double gasp. Because, then people would, like, actually read it and stuff. But I'm doing it! Drink in hand, by God I'm doing it! So hurray for little achievements and big achievements and achievements of all sizes and colors and shapes and smells and all that good stuff.
Lastly—and I think this is the most exciting part—I'm excited about the whole writing thing in general and where I've decided to take it. Which is everywhere. For those of you who know about the three books in my planned five-book series, Arizal Wars, (and have possibly read them) you'll notice the hiatus I've taken as I said I'd have the fourth one out this year. It may still happen… may not. All depends if the money fairy makes a visit. And that bitch has been on a long holiday. But (and please be advised, I am still working on it) I'm also experimenting a little more. Trying my hand at horror and YA and paranormal and pretty much everything I can think of. Even fanfic. And believe me, no one thought this was more out of the realm of possibility than I did. Because, why write scenes from other people's stories when you can write your own? But it's apparently a big thing now and since I'm in the mindset of 'and why shouldn't I?' I'm giving it a go. It's Peter Pan fanfic and I'm putting it on wattpad like my other stuff. If it gets no bites, so be it. I think this is more for me than for you, but if you like it and want to read it, go for it. I won't stop you 🙂
So, with all that said in this long-ass blog, any writers out there looking for beta swaps, I'm all in. For the rest of you, happy Saturday, enjoy today and I love you. Not in a 'remember that time we were so wasted—thanks for holding my hair,' kind of way. But in a person to person way. I love you. Believe in yourself. Love yourself. And the rest will follow.
***P.S. I'm going to start reviewing books. There are just *so* many good (and bad) ones out there and I can't help but think I'm not doing my part in singing their praises. You want a great book to read and that author deserves recognition. It's a win-win.
Stay tuned.


text:
Part I
Professor Raig was a renowned astronomer of his time. He lived in England, but in 1908 was visiting India as part of his world tour during which he gave lectures on astronomy to very large audiences. In May 1908, he stayed in Lahore for a short period. There he gave a lecture which was well attended, especially by many highly placed English people. Hazrat Mufti Mohammad Sadiq was also present and he met the professor after the lecture. He briefly explained to Professor Raig the proofs and arguments put forward by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) in support of his claim to be the Promised Messiah of his time. Upon hearing these the Professor wished to meet Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) straight away. Mufti Sahib sought first to arrange a time with Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) who gave his permission; the meeting took place after Zuhr prayers on 12th May 1908. Mufti Mohammad Sadiq acted as the interpreter and the conversation was originally recorded in Urdu. The following is a translation of that Urdu transcript which is to be found in Malfoozat Vol. 10, p.353.
Prof. Raig: I am a man of science and I see that the earth on which we live is very small. In comparison to thousands and millions of other kinds of God's creation, the earth melts into insignificance. Why then has God's blessing been limited to this earth or to any one religion or nation?
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: Actually this is not correct, neither is it our belief that God reveals himself through a particular nation or sect. God does not have a special relationship or love for any one particular nation. What is correct is this, that God is the God of the entire universe and he has created the means of physical nourishment and development for all creation without any distinction and according to our principle he is 'Rabbul Alameen' i.e. the nourisher and sustainer of all the worlds. He has created grains, air, water, light, etc. for all creation. Likewise, in every age and in every nation he has, from time to time, sent reformers for the reformation of people in those nations. As it is stated in the Holy Quran (Surah Fatir, verse 25) Allah the Almighty is God of all the worlds. He has no special relationship with any nation. In fact the different heavenly books which have come from time to time do not contradict each other. This is because a reformer is needed when the world inclines more towards evil deeds and bad practices, such as lies, theft, quarrels and general immorality, so that people become distanced from purity and virtue, and are overwhelmed by selfish desires and emotions. So much so that they, in their belief, also abandon the worship of one God and incline towards idol worship. God is the nourisher of man's physical as well as spiritual being. His pride demands that at such times of spiritual darkness he should appoint a person for reform, and the concept of such a reformer does not fall outside the bounds of laws of nature. Just as the actual wheat that grew in the times of Adam and other prophets cannot be a source of nourishment for us, and just as the water which existed in previous times cannot quench our thirst, so we need fresh spiritual food as well as water.
It is the tradition of Allah that just as He nourishes and provides for the development of the physical process, where previous nourishment is not sufficient for the present, so is the case with the system of spiritual development, and the two systems, the physical and the spiritual, go side by side. For the person who denies the existence of God, this discussion would take a different line. But a person who believes in the existence of God should keep the two systems in mind and benefit from their comparison. He who has created the physical system has also created the spiritual system. Just as he nourishes the physical system with fresh sustenance, so he nourishes the spiritual system with fresh sustenance. Just as the physical state is dependent upon fresh water, so the spiritual state is also dependent upon fresh, heavenly revelation. Just as the physical body dies if it does not receive nourishment, so the soul too dies without spiritual nourishment. If in spiritual matters only past and ancient references are available, then what would be the conclusion other than that the spiritual system is in a state of death. What else could it be?
God Almighty, as is his nature, always wishes to be recognised. For proof of his existence and identification he always provides true, clear and fresh signs and these are not too difficult to understand. It is this system which has always been in existence and which continues. Thousands upon thousands of prophets came and provided such proofs through their own actions and deeds, thus completing the argument in favour of the existence of God.
Now, how can a person stating that he is a scientist or a philosopher break this proven continuum of witnessed signs? What is needed in such a case is that, just as the holy people provided a practical example with their lives and validated their claims, so should the negation of it be offered in the same way. Such people, however, would be justified in asking, why they are presented with old stories and fables, why not give a living proof or a living example, and for this I am available.
An astronomer cannot provide a definite proof of the existence of God merely by observing the solar system which may, at the very most, lead to a view that there should be a God. The fact that there is a God and that he most certainly exists has always been proven with the principles put forward by the prophets. If people like myself did not appear in this world there could never be in the world any real and complete proof of God. At the very most, if someone was of a just disposition and also possessed a virtuous character, then from the well ordered heavenly bodies and from the solar system, etc. he could conclude that there ought to be a God. Other than that, the fact that God exists and he is the Master, the Ruler and the moving force behind all creation, all this it is not possible for people to know without the guidance of those who are from God. It is such people who enable others to witness the existence of God and, by providing fresh evidence and signs, it is as if they are able to 'show' God to others.
Prof. Raig: It is written that there was one Adam and one Eve. Eve was a weak woman. She ate one apple. Now, the punishment of her having eaten an apple will continue forever. This I don't understand. Also, that this earth with which we are related, is but one among many thousands and millions of other systems which God has created then why would God's (qudrat) and blessings be limited to this earth?
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: This is not our belief. We don't propose that there is no system other than our earth and the sky. Rather, our God says that He is 'Rabbul Alameen' , that is, He is the sustainer of all the universes and that wherever there has been an inhabitation there he has sent His messengers. Lack of knowledge does not make something non-existent. God created such a vast system of provision for this small earth, why would he not have created provision for all other habitations?
As for saying that all human sorrow and hardship were caused by Eve's having eaten an apple, this is not a belief held by Islam. We are taught that:
'No burdened soul can bear the burden of another; and if a heavily laden soul call another to bear its load, naught of it shall be carried by the other, even though he be a kinsman…..' (Surah Fatir verse 19)
One person's punishment cannot be meted out to another, nor can there be imagined any benefit in this. Eve's having eaten of an apple is not the cause of any sorrow, difficulty or punishment, the reasons for these things are given in the Quran but are totally different.
Prof. Raig: There are two things I wish to find out – one is, what is sin? A person in one country may consider some act to be a sin while the same act may not be considered sinful in another country. Man progressed from a small insect to a human being and then he learned to discern between truth and falsehood, he distinguishes truth from lies, good from bad, gained knowledge of sin and goodness and after all this there is the difference – what is sin for one person is not sin for another who indulges in it?
The other thing I wish to find out is about Satan. What is Satan? How is it that God being the master and having power over such knowledge, Satan got to have so much sway that God had to come to this world himself to reform the world. What is meant by this?
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: I usually speak having in mind people who believe in the existence of God. God's being is a source of eternal happiness and pleasure for man's life. Whoever separates from Him or leaves Him in one way or another, about such a state of a person it is said that he has sinned. Furthermore, keeping in view the nature of man, God has further defined as 'sin' those acts which through their finer implications, prove to be harmful for man himself, even though a person sometimes may not be able to appreciate such harmfulness. For example, theft and harming others by taking away their rights, harms the purity of ones own life. An adulterer's act of adultery and his taking what may belong to someone else, destroys his own piety and engulfs him in various physical and spiritual difficulties. Similarly, those acts which are against the nature of man's purity and piety are also referred to as 'sin', as are all the related acts, whether related closely or distantly – these are also considered as types of sin.
God Almighty is greater than all else, He has the most knowledge, He is the true creator of man and every particle which exists. It is he who is also the creator of their nature and He is wise. If, with his complete wisdom and complete knowledge, he suggests that something is harmful for you, that indulging in it would not benefit you at all, rather it is totally harmful then it is not the action of a wholesome person to go against this. We see that when a doctor advises a patient to abstain from something, the patient acts on that advice without any argument. Why does he act in this way? He does this because he considers the doctor as being in possession of much greater knowledge than himself. Similarly, there are some things which are harmful for man's body or spirit whether man himself understands that or not. There are some things which would he harmful even if God had not given a ruling about them. In medicine also there are some things which are considered 'sins' and lack of medical knowledge is no excuse for the person who goes against the medical principles. If someone does not believe this they can check with doctors and physicians .
The point to remember is simply this that the root of sin is those actions which lead man far away from purity and righteousness. The true love of God and union with Him is the true pleasure and real comfort. Thus moving away from God and being distant from Him is also sin and is the source of pain, sorrow and difficulty. Those things which God dislikes due to His own sanctity, that is sin. There are some matters on which people may not agree but, on the other hand, the greater part of the world is jointly agreed that lying, stealing, adultery and cruelty are such acts that all nations and religions jointly consider them to be sins. But remember that the root of sin is precisely those acts which distance man from God, which are against His sanctity, against His wishes and against man's nature – it is such acts which constitute sin.
Every person senses sin. If someone slaps an innocent person and knows that he had no right to do so, he will at some later time, when he looks at his action with a cool head, himself feel ashamed and will sense that he has done a bad deed. Conversely, if someone feeds a hungry person, gives a drink of water to a thirsty person, and clothes someone lacking clothes, such a person will have an inner sense of having been good, and having done a blessed deed. a person's heart and conscience and the light of belief remind him whether his various actions were a good act or a sinful act.
With regard to Satan, it should be remembered that in man's nature and composition there have been included two forces and they are both opposed to each other and it is so in order for a person to be tried and tested and, with a successful outcome, to become deserving of God 's nearness . Of the two forces, one pulls man towards goodness and the other invites man towards evil. The force that pulls towards goodness is called 'malk' or 'angel' and the force which invites towards evil is called 'Satan'. In other words, you can understand it like this, that there are two forces which work on a person, one calls towards good (dc'i khair) , and the other towards bad (dc'i shar) . Someone may not like the use of the terms 'angel ' and 'Satan', but he wouldn't be able to deny the existence of these two types of forces within man. God never intended any evil. God only does what is good.
You see, if sin did not exist in the world there would be no goodness. Goodness develops from sin. The concept of goodness is formed by the concept of sin. If someone has the opportunity to commit adultery and he possesses the ability to do so but then he abstains from this sin, this action is called goodness. If someone has the opportunity to steel, or to be cruel, and he is capable of doing these acts, but he does not do so and positively abstains from them, then he is doing a good deed. To have the opportunity and capability of sinning and then not indulging in sin, that is a good and blessed deed.
Prof. Raig: In the world there are two forces at work – the positive and the negative. If we always use the positive force and never use the negative, one day the negative will gather force and could erupt at any time and destroy the world. The same is true of good and evil. If the whole world did only good and never did any bad deeds then similarly evil would gather force and destroy the world.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad: You see, if a person is not capable of shouting, his speaking softly will not be considered a behaviour of high esteem. If a person always remained in one state and was not capable of any change, then goodness could not remain as goodness. It is the existence of the two extremes which creates goodness. If the state was unchangeable and man was not given any other abilities to change his state so that he was always forced to do good, and he was never given the ability to do evil, then what would there be that we could call 'obedience' or 'goodness'? God has, to an extent, given human beings control – they can change their state. They have the power to do good and have the ability to do evil. However a person will act, he will find his reward accordingly.
You see, if there were no evil behaviour then what kind of behaviour would be called 'good behaviour'. Only when there exist bad characteristics can have good characteristics. A person can think of something bad, and having a picture of it in his mind, he can censure it. Similarly, he refers to some special deeds as 'goodness' and praises these. If there was no picture in ones mind of anything bad then there would be no such thing as 'noble characteristics'. It is always through evil that we can distinguish goodness. If only one aspect was created then there certainly would not be any reward nor any pleasure (of God). Sorrow and joy, discomfort and comfort, darkness and light, bitter and sweet, poison and antidote, bad and good and sin and goodness, all come into being by the existence of its opposite. If such opposites were not created, life itself would have been very dull. If only one state was created, that would be already in our nature, why then any reward and why any recompense? How could this be a source of gaining God's pleasure when all the deeds were acts of compulsion, a person having no power to do otherwise.
It must be remembered that man has been given control. He has the power to do good or bad, to be kind or cruel, to be benevolent or miserly. It is always by keeping in mind the two aspects of possible behaviour that we can form an opinion about a particular person being good or bad. Indeed, the essential defining element of the term 'deeds' is that a person has the capability of doing the reverse. A person, having the capacity to take revenge but does not do so, has performed an act of good deed. But a person who does not possess a limb with which to retaliate against someone who hits him, would not be in a position to say that he has done a good deed by not retaliating:
Qad aflaha man zakkaha wa qad khaba man dassaha– (Surah Al-Shams 10-11)
i.e. He indeed truly prospers who purifies it, and he who corrupts it is ruined.
It is clear from this Holy verse that the existence of goodness and good qualities has its basis on the two capabilities (of doing good or bad). He who is endowed with only one capability and has never been given the other, such a person would be like an image which cannot be erased.
He who denies the existence of Angels and Satan is in effect denying self-evident truths, and going against that which can be easily sensed or witnessed. We see everyday that people do good deeds and also that in the world around us many bad acts are committed and that the two forces are equally at work. This cannot be denied by any person. Who is there who does not within himself find some sense and influence of both? Here, no philosophy or logic can rule otherwise since the two forces are present and each is working in its place.
To turn to your question that if people only do good deeds and no bad acts are committed then eventually evil will gather force and destroy the world. About this, all I can say is that I am not concerned with statements of the type "if this happens then that will happen and if that happens this will happen". We see this much, that human nature has been created, prepared for good actions as well as for bad actions. I do not go beyond this.


text:
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Replacing Mia Hamm as the all-time leading goal scorer for the United States women's soccer team can't happen soon enough for Abby Wambach.
Thursday against South Korea at Red Bull Arena would be just fine for the 33-year-old Rochester, N.Y., native. Anything to get the record out of the way.
While she might be the most recognized and honored player on the current roster, Wambach would rather live outside the spotlight. That's been fairly impossible this year with most U.S. soccer fans watching her assault on Hamm's record of 158 tallies for the national team.
"When I think back to when I first got on this team and how many goals I've scored, it's crazy," said Wambach, who moved to within two of tying the record with a goal in Saturday's 4-1 win over South Korea in Foxborough, Mass. "It's a crazy number of goals. But I've had so much fun and scored goals in all kinds of way. The truth is the sooner I can get over with this, and move and look toward 2015, the better."
Wambach said that's the same way Hamm feels. The two spoke about a month ago about the record and Hamm, who retired in 2004, told her to break it.
"She is for helping the game grow and me breaking the record means the game has grown, even in the time that she has not been playing," Wambach said. "Ultimately, and I know her very well, she would say that is more important than the record. She knows she almost single-handedly put female sports on the map.
"She was the face — and still is in large part — in terms of women's sports. I couldn't be more honored than to be in this position to break a record that she set so long ago and that no one thought would be broken."
Defender Christie Rampone said Wambach is tough to guard, and it goes beyond her being 5-foot-11 and stronger than most players. The 37-year-old — the oldest player on the U.S. roster — said Wambach is not only faster than most think, she is smart and makes players around her better.
Wambach also knows how to seize the moment, Rampone said. She recalled her 120th minute tally against Brazil on a header in the semifinals of the last World Cup that allowed the U.S. to tie the game and win on penalty kicks.
"The timing," Rampone said. "She only had so much space, the pressure at the end of the game. That's just Abby. That's who she is. She comes up in big times, big situations.
"She loves the pressure. She is a gamer."
Midfielder Carli Lloyd said Wambach is a winner, who will throw her body in every direction, risk having stitches or getting kicked just to win or get a ball back.
"When she is in peak form, there is no stopping her," Lloyd said. "She is stronger than anybody. She can hold off anybody. She is one of the best in the world in heading, but she also scores some great goals with her foot as well. I know that she wants nothing more than to win."
Alex Morgan, who is the heir apparent to Wambach on the scoring front, said people never notice how much attention Wambach gets from opponents.
"She takes a beating the whole game," said Morgan, who shares the team lead with six goals this year, two more than Wambach. "More people are kicking at her heels, her ankles and taking her down, and half of those times she doesn't get the calls, calls that I would get. I respect her so much for being prepared every game to being taken down and know she isn't going to get a call."
Wambach would rather talk about her teammates.
"I have just been lucky," she said. "I've only had a few injuries and my teammates have put me in positions to score goals. On every single one of my goals I am sure there is an assist or something happened that led into the goal that I had nothing to do with. It says a lot about how good the teams are that I played on."
Goaltender Hope Solo said Wambach deserves the attention she is getting.
"All of us as athletes, whether we want to admit it or not, like to break records," Solo said. "We want to leave our mark on the game. When we retire, we want to be remembered. I don't care what anybody says, that's what we all want. Records are meant to be broken. I think Abby will break it and I think she should be gunning for it.
"As the years have gone on, Abby has gotten, better and better and better."
Wambach had an interesting thought about the record.
"I'm sure we'll be having the same conversation in 10 years," she said, "about Alex Morgan."
Her time will come. For now, the focus is on Wambach.
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Replacing Mia Hamm as the all-time leading goal scorer for the United States women's soccer team can't happen soon enough for Abby Wambach.


text:
Isn't the author getting confused here between app notifications being pushed via Apple's properitary notification serer to mimic background processes, and push email which was never "switched off to save battery life"?
Apple is aiming to get off the back foot when it comes to phone features with the forthcoming release of iPhone firmware - hopefully before the Googlephone gets into circulation. Google, along with T-Mobile, made great play of the ability of the G1 - the first handset based on Google's Android platform - to display Street View …
My iPod touch receives push notifications of e-mail when I've got other things running (it 'pings' at me at exactly the same moment my Mac does, give or take half a second, when new mail arrives)
Are you perhaps confusing push e-mail notification with the generic push notifications SDK which was removed during the 2.1 beta timeframe, and is expected to make a return once Apple is damned sure it's got the infrastructure right for running it?
Push email wasn't disabled in 2.1, mine still works happily.
I think you're getting confused with the push service that'll allow app store programs to receive push information without running in the background, for example, IM programs can receive IMs without having to be running.
This feature was supposed to be in 2.1, but was removed from a late beta, so they could focus on fixing all the broken stuff.
Some iPhone users are certainly having problems with pushed e-mail, though others report possible fixes and point to the re-introduction of push notifications coming in version 2.2 as a solution to their problems, as shown in the support thread linked from the piece.
I'm probably guilty of over-simplification, sorry for any confusion.
Why has the Register seemingly lost all vestiges of reporting ability. If you're going to report on something, at least try and get some accuracy into things.
Apple DID NOT remove push e-mail notifications from firmware 2.1 - it still fully supports MobileMe push and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync DirectPush. What was removed was the as yet unreleased application push framework which is completely separate from Email push notifications.
The Register is quickly losing all credibility as a "serious" technical site - when was the last time you actually managed to report something accurately as far as the iPhone is concerned?
>My iPod touch shows me where I am. It doesn't tell me where to go - I make that decision.
>I think a company ought to have more faith in the intelligence of its employees.
Ever tried driving through a strange city trying to find a location you have never heard of before ? I suspect you wouldnt be very popular with the local traffic police when you have to stop every few hundred yards to check the screen on your Pod :)
The point behind turn-by-turn traffic systems (TomTom et al) is that you dont need to look at the screen while driving(spoken instructions) and a little common sense usually means you avoid driving into rivers.
"The point behind turn-by-turn traffic systems (TomTom et al) is that you dont need to look at the screen while driving(spoken instructions) and a little common sense usually means you avoid driving into rivers."
Unfortunately, as El Reg regularly reports, common sense and GPS often rarely go together.
I've always had push email from a Kerio server in 2 and 2.1. Even after a long period of inactivity (overnight) my mails are waiting for me.
Now when it comes to App notifications, it's a shame this has been temporarily removed. As when working properly will be able to notify when someone has continued an IM and you're no longer i the app, when someone calls on a voip line and doesn't leave a message to email etc. Not quite sure what went wrong with this as surely very similar to push email.
"Apple is aiming to get off the back foot"
Why do you think Apple are on the back foot? Because they don't have street view? Is this one of those jokey posts...?
"Google...made great play of the ability of the G1....to display Street View" What does this tell you? Maybe they didn't have much else to show off? I don't know....I mean the phone looked pretty good (for geeks! did you see the differences between screens??!) but I guess google have invested quite some time and money in street view so want to push it out there.
The forum post you mention talks about IMAP. IMAP is not push. The device polls the imap enabled mailserver every 15, 30 60 mins, or never (i..e manually). For the record my iphone works perfectly well. Obviously some users will have problems various features, there are always bugs. This doesn't mean to say apple have removed the fetch functionality used to retrieve email from IMAP servers.
"iPhone, and Android, are forced to use standard protocols over TCP/IP connections"
OK, most stuff works over TCP/IP (or maybe UDP/IP). And anyway, I'm not sure if mobileme uses a standard app level protocol or not but the system does use technology that sends a 'wake-up' packet(s) to the device (over IP) in order to inform it of changes (i.e. new email or contacts update). I doubt this is a standard app level protocol but I don't know for sure.
"owners lording it over their iPhone-touting mates with a cool...feature"
I don't think that the G1 will impact Iphone feel good factor much. I don't really think they attract the same kind of buyer. G1 is much more of a techie device, open; quirky, rough around the edges. It may be able to demonstrate some cool things but then so can an N82. Nokia maps and QIK work on N82. Nothing like nokia maps or QIK on iphone but I don't see the N82 boys lording it over the iPhone crowd. Obviously the G1 is a different kettle of fish to N82 but have you seen the user interface? Someone shows me google streetview? I show them London Cam, and that's before I get started on the user interface, which apple make top priority and with good reason.
How about Apple working on very basic mobile phone features before rolling out stuff like these which, cool as they are to some people, are ultimately not needed by a majority of users. Oh, I don't know, something like SMS FORWARDING MAYBE?!?!?!
Sheesh. Talk about prioritization.
"I'm probably guilty of over-simplification, sorry for any confusion."
Nice try, but no cigar.
While it appears there may be some isolated cases of push email having some issues (which is just as likely to be a fault with the MobileMe service as it is with the iPhone), you stated in the article that "Also waiting for version 2.2 are iPhone users wanting push email to work in the background, a feature that was removed with version 2.1 of the iPhone firmware." The only feature that was pulled from the 2.1 firmware was the push notification for 3rd party app's - and that was simply pulled from the last beta release and so was never released to the general iPhone userbase in the first place. It is not over-simplification to talk about two completely different features as the same thing just because they share a word - it's just inaccurate and plain wrong!
Push email has always worked in the background since it was introduced in firmware 2.0 - that's the whole point of push! Does it work flawlessly? Apparently not (at least not for some) - but that is a million miles away from stating that the feature has been removed. Lrn2Jrn!
"... the push service that'll allow app store programs to receive push information without running in the background, for example, IM programs can receive IMs without having to be running."
So, a service that is basically a cheap hack to solve a nonexistant problem, except Apple decided to ban background apps; which they did for the same reason this "service" is also down.
Anyway ... "push" email is supposed to be server->client, isn't it? Polling the server every 10 minutes isn't push email, that's more like inbox-scraping, which Eudora already did back in 1996. Bleh.


text:
Collagen Supplements are devoured by a great deal of individuals to tone up bones and tendons, while there are others who are taking them to retrieve teen skin. But are they living under a unrealistic mirage that these collagen supplements are doing them any benefit? Let us look at the naked facts of an scary scam going on in the shade of collagen supplements.
The beginning question to inquire is – Do collagen supplements work? We all are conscious of the fact that the Collagen protein plays a essential role in our skin health and maintains our skin healthy, pliant, graceful and flexible. So, does it make any sense in eating collagen supplements for the role of anti aging?
The reply for the previous question is a big – NO.
The grounds that collagen supplements do not function as longed-for by us is that the collagen seen in collagen supplements and collagen pills is unable to absorb itself in the complicated matrix of collagen that is present in our human body.
And when we discuss about collagen in Collagen based skincare creams, the ground is the same. Scientific research has established that the collagen molecule obtained in collagen based skin creams is too large to penetrate the skin. It is prevented from entering the skin right at the upper level of our skin called Epidermis. Thus, what else to say about the lower skin levels!
So, you may end up knocking off lots of your precious time and money on rubbing collagen based skin anti aging creams, but it will end up futile without yielding any good results.
You can reconfirm these hard-core scientific results by looking up a dermatologist or by visiting any esteemed medical site.
So what is the good replacement for collagen supplements? How can you accomplish the young and healthy skin?
After a lot of research of different skincare and anti aging products, I found that the secret to achieving natural youthful skin lies not in taking collagen supplements, but in such organic essences that are clinically established able in aiding the collagen production of my own body.
This way the aim of consuming collagen supplements is attained naturally and the skin is capable to rejuvenate itself on its own revived production of collagen.
It is really a shame to see millions of dollars of hard earned consumer's money reaching into the sacks of unscrouplous collagen supplement producers. All this is happening because the end users did not do their sufficient research on the medical reality of these collagen supplements.
Visit my web site for an comprehensive research on natural substances that have proved themselves very effective in anti aging and which increase the skin youthfulness and vigor by boosting the collagen production of the body naturally.


text:
Washington, D.C.—Astronomers have discovered a new super-Earth in the habitable zone, where liquid water and a stable atmosphere could reside, around the nearby star HD 40307. It is one of three new super-Earths found around the star that has three other low-mass planets orbiting it. See video http://www.astro.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~anglada/HD40307_LowRes.wmv
HD 40307 is a dwarf star that is somewhat smaller and less luminous than the Sun that is about 42 light years away (12.88 parsecs). The previously discovered planets around it are called hot super-Earths because they orbit too close to the star to support life.
The international team, including Carnegie co-author Paul Butler, was led by Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire and Guillem Anglada-Escudé of the University of Göttingen. The researchers used newly developed software that is able to process the signals more thoroughly and thereby reveal the presence of the three additional planets. The team reanalyzed spectra taken with the HARPS spectrograph through the European Southern Observatory public archive.
Butler explained: "With Guillem Anglada-Escudé's new velocity reduction package, we are able to extract more information from the HARPS spectra, and thus make a more precise measurement. This coupled with the innovative Bayesian orbital searching algorithm, primarily written by Mikko Tuomi, allows us to search deeper into the data and to find smaller Earth-sized planets around the nearest stars. This, of course, increases our chances of finding more in that orbital sweet spot that we call the habitable zone—the zone where it is not too cold, nor too hot for liquid water to exist." Anglada-Escudé wrote the velocity reduction package while he was a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie.
The most interesting of the new planets is in the outermost orbit from the star, a distance that is similar to the distance between the Earth and our Sun. Its mass is at least seven times the mass of the Earth. The team said the planet is likely to be rotating on its axis while in orbit, possibly creating a day/night cycle and an Earth-like environment.
"The star HD 40307 is a perfectly quiet old dwarf star, so there is no reason why such a planet could not sustain an Earth-like climate," said Anglada-Escudé. The research will be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics and posted online at arxiv.org/archive/astro-ph.
The coauthors of the paper include R. Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Tuomi, Anglada-Escudé, and Vogt, as well as Eugenio Rivera of UC Santa Cruz, Hugh Jones of the University of Hertfordshire, Enrico Gerlach of the Technical University of Dresden, and Ansgar Reiners of the University of Göttingen. This research was funded in part by RoPACS (Rocky Planets Around Cool Stars), a Marie Curie Initial Training Network funded by the European Commission; the German Ministry of Education and Research; the German Research Foundation (DFG); and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF grant AST-0307493). The researchers acknowledged the significant efforts of the HARPS-ESO team in improving the instrument and its data reduction pipelines and obtaining the observations that made this work possible.