text:
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text:
What's also missing, IMHO, is a glossary. Or does it exist already and I didn't find it? It may sound trivial but having things like "stride"* explained in a few words,
might turn out valuable for beginners and non-native speakers of english. I guess this is a rather static thing and mostly new entries need to be added.
[*] Maybe not the perfect example but you might get the idea.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
You knew it was going to be difficult to see any of the women in the "American Idol" Top 4 go home. How could it not be? We've watched them perform for a whole season, running neck and neck (and neck and neck) in the race for top honors, giving their all, growing as individuals and performers and coalescing as a group, especially in these last two weeks together.
Still, I'm not sure I expected such a deep sadness to wash over me as Amber Holcomb learned Thursday night -- in a show that also featured performances by David Cook, will.i.am and Harry Connick Jr. -- that she'd just missed having the heroes' homecomings the other three contenders will enjoy. Although she'd been in tears the previous night, Holcomb initially took the news that she'd be heading home (and not coming back) with a smile, adorable dimples fully on display.
Perhaps none of these women would have been entirely surprised to have been in Holcomb's homebound heels, but the Houston 19-year-old -- who was in the bottom two last week, a vote that factored into this week's results, and who got uneven reviews on Wednesday night -- appeared to have seen her elimination coming a mile away. Certainly, I would have been sadder if any of the other contestants had been cut instead.
It was clear, though, as Holcomb sang her so-long song, "I Believe in You and Me," that even if she hadn't exactly been blindsided, she was taking it hard. She missed notes and seemed in parts to lose her way -- and who could blame her?
The irony was that only by watching Holcomb fail to hit her usual stride did the effort she'd put in to appear perfect all season become apparent. She always made it look so easy to be flawless -- the looks, the sound, the stance -- which may have been part of what did her in. Perfection can seem remote and off-putting, even when it comes with a bright smile, a quick laugh and dimples.
Making her way through the song famously sung by Whitney Houston, to whom she has oft been compared by the "Idol" judges, Holcomb managed to hold it together -- more or less -- until Ryan Seacrest launched her dad onto the stage. Papa Holcomb enveloped his disappointed daughter in a hug. She wept. The judges wept. I got pretty misted up too.
The good news is that Candice Glover, Kree Harrison and Angie Miller are still in there vying for the win. They've also worked hard to get there, and it will be gratifying to see them celebrated in their hometowns in the coming days.
I'm hoping Holcomb's hometown gives her a hero's welcome too. Even if it doesn't, I imagine she'll have many other successes to look forward to. Nicki Minaj is right about this being the beginning, not the end.
Here's toasting you with a frozen shrimp, Amber.
Are you sad to see her go?


text:
Larry Schrof's journey has taken him from a childhood in Geneseo to a computer programming job at one of the most recognizable Internet sites in the world — Facebook, and he's done it all with very limited vision.
Larry Schrof's journey has taken him from a childhood in Geneseo to a computer programming job at one of the most recognizable Internet sites in the world — Facebook, and he's done it all with very limited vision.
The 1993 Geneseo graduate is legally blind. When he was born, Schrof's parents (Connie and the late Larry Schrof of Geneseo) originally thought their son was completely blind before realizing he had limited vision.
"It's called congenital nystagmus, which is basically uncontrolled eye movement," explained Schrof. As a result, Schrof sees multiples of an image juxtaposed close together.
"Small things get very jumbled," he said. "The good news is my sight hasn't deteriorated over the years, which I'm very happy about."
With his father working as an engineer, Schrof had an interest in construction, but realized his limited vision made working with hand tools dangerous.
"Computers filled that void," he said. "Programming was creative and it was a way to build."
Schrof received his first computer, a Commodore 64 as a present when he was "about 4 or 5."
"Computers have been in my blood from very early on," he said. "The very first day I got the computer, I was trying to figure out how to write programs for it. I was 5 when I wrote my first computer game."
At the time, personal computers were "very new" in homes across America.
"Other kids were asking for BMX bikes, but I wanted a Commodore 64 with an extra bit of ram," said Schrof.
While a student in the Geneseo School District, Schrof said his love of computers was encouraged.
"My sixth-grade teacher at Southwest, Cathy Strafford, was super, super supportive. I didn't want to go out to recess. I wanted to stay inside and work with the Apple II computers at school, and she let me do it. She didn't hesitate," he said. "She knew I loved strategy, so she'd play games of checkers and chess with me before school. She was the one who let me know it was OK to totally geek out and learn."
In high school, Schrof said he and classmate Landon Neumann bonded over computer programming.
"If we hit a problem, we'd call each other up and talk about programming for hours over the phone," he explained.
Though he could program software, working with the computer's hardware itself proved difficult for Schrof with his limited vision.
"All of the hardware repair I can do today without looking is because Landon helped me physically learn the hardware," he said.
After graduation, Schrof went to the University of Illinois where he earned a degree in computer science.
Several years ago, Schrof was living in Chicago with his own consulting business when the movie "The Social Network" premiered. "The Social Network" details founder Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook.
"I didn't want to see the movie at first," said Schrof, however, at his wife, Amanda's urging, he viewed the film.
"Within the first five minutes, I had a pit in my stomach. I kept thinking, 'I was doing these things 10 years before (Zuckerberg) even knew what it was,'" said Schrof. "I didn't sleep that entire night. I spent hours just pacing."
Schrof had friends — including his sister and brother-in-law — living and working in California's Silicon Valley, site of Facebook.
"I'd heard how engineers were treated like royalty out there, but I loved the Midwest. I loved walking outside and hearing locust," he said.
Still, Schrof admits he felt he had "stagnated" in terms of his technology growth.
"Facebook is world famous for their very difficult interview process, but I decided I wanted to know if I could work side-by-side with the world's best," said Schrof.
During the multi-month long interview process, Schrof said he felt confident with his performance.
"The interview went much better than I'd thought. I'd brought up a couple of technical details they weren't familiar with, and I really felt like I was able to relate to them. We'd clicked, and I'd had fun," he said.
Still, interviewing for a job at Facebook and actually uprooting his family for a move to California were two entirely different things.
"They offered me a job and suddenly I didn't know what to do. I kept thinking, 'It's Facebook. How do I not go to Facebook?'" he said.
However, the economy had just headed south and Schrof knew he had a house, mortgage and responsibilities in Chicago.
"At that time, it was around my birthday, and I wanted to just sit back and absorb things. Then my wife told me a giant box had just been delivered to our house," said Schrof.
Inside was a Harry and David's fruit basket wishing Schrof a happy birthday "from his friends at Facebook."
"It was the largest fruit basket I'd ever seen," he said.
Shortly after that, Schrof and his wife decided to jointly celebrate his birthday and their anniversary with a weekend at the hotel where they'd married.
"I'd told the Facebook recruiter that I needed time to think about my decision," he explained.
Upon returning to their hotel room after dinner, Schrof's wife noticed the bottle of champagne they'd set on ice had been relocated to the coffee table.
"We thought it was weird the hotel staff would move the bottle. Then we realized it was an entirely new bottle," he said. The card attached was from Facebook.
"I'd not told anyone where we were going to be except my sister, and her husband works at Facebook. Through him, the recruiter was able to track down where we'd be," said Schrof.
"I was flattered. They were really nice about it, and, at that point, it almost felt like it'd be bad karma to say 'no.'"
Schrof accepted the job and moved his family to California.
Schrof works as a production engineer at Facebook. He's been with the company for a year and a half, but adds, "In Facebook time, that's effectively 20 years. I'm one of the veterans."
Company data shows employees how long they've been at the company in comparison to their peers. "When I last checked, I'd been with Facebook longer than 64 percent of the employees. The rate at which they're hiring people is astonishing," said Schrof.
He described the production engineering side of Facebook as "unique, special and fun."
"We have to know the computer networks pretty well. Facebook has one of the largest Linux systems in the world," he said. "One of the things we do is help programmers with scaling. A programmer may be able to write code that works for 1,000 users, but what happens when you scale that for a billion users?
"Every engineer at Facebook has special needs for our servers, and a lot of time those needs can conflict in dangerous ways," explained Schrof.
The small team Schrof belongs to serves "sort of as marshals of the Wild West."
"We help meet the needs and demands of programmers," he said.
Before joining the company, Schrof said he used Facebook but "wasn't a power user."
"A lot of people think of Facebook as something to do, but it's really a new paradigm — a new way of communicating. It allows people to share life and do things with friends. It's a way to have shared experiences," he explained.
"Some people think Facebook is a time waster, but it wasn't like we were on the brink of curing cancer and then Facebook was introduced and we all decided to play (Facebook game) Mafia Wars instead," joked Schrof. "People were always going to waste time. This is just a way to do it with your friends."
Facebook also can connect people in more meaningful ways, he said. "My vision impairment is really rare, but, through Facebook, I've been able to meet others with the same impairment."
His vision impairment has resulted in unique working solutions at Facebook.
"Facebook has an ergonomics team that all employees can use. They'll watch you work and listen to your needs and offer suggestions and solutions," he said.
In addition to utilizing a 30-inch computer monitor, the ergonomics specialist working with Schrof realized he need to be as close to his monitor as possible.
"She pointed out the cords on the back of the mouse and the back of the keyboard added an extra inch between me and the screen, so they removed that inch. She was making changes I'd never even thought of," said Schrof.
An additional Facebook employee perk is free transportation — a benefit Schrof, who doesn't drive, appreciates.
"They pay for train passes and then they time shuttles to be at the station when the train arrives to pick you up and take you to the office door," he said.
"Facebook also has a great work-life balance," he said.
Schrof and his wife have two children, Eli, 2, and Zoe, eight months. "I'm able to work from home one day a week and they also offer four months of paid parental leave. They also give money toward day care."
Working at Facebook, Schrof said he feels like he's "working with some of the smartest people on the planet."
"Everyone's super energetic and super positive. The work we do makes people's lives better, all over the world," he said. "We feel a bit like Columbus in learning what's out there and what we can bring back from this new world (of computer technology).
"I like a challenge of trying to figure out a problem. It's an addictive rush when you figure something out. It's like a puzzle, you're always trying to solve the next piece," said Schrof.
He feels computer programming shares core similarities with music, his other passion.
"I tell people music is surprisingly logical and ordered and computers are surprisingly creative," he said.
Schrof first started playing music after echoing his sister's performances on the piano.
He was in band his entire four years of high school.
"I had just started playing guitar and was noodling around with it, when (Geneseo band director) Vic Bianchetta mentioned I should try out to play guitar in jazz band," said Schrof.
He approached his private lesson teacher, Paul DePauw of Geneseo, and started learning jazz music.
In college, Schrof saw computers as "the practical part of my life" but continued his love of music, spending as much time in music classes as he could.
"When I graduated high school, my parents said, 'Do computers now, you can always do music later,'" he noted.
In 2003, after several years in the professional world, Schrof decided to do just that and enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass, and earned a degree in guitar performance.
"Computers and music have a lot of similarities. In music, there can be a very small elegant phrase or hook, while in computers, it can be a small algorithm that you stack together to get a larger and larger piece of art," he said.
Though he doesn't get to play his guitar as often as he'd like, Schrof said Facebook recently completed a music studio and he hopes to get a band together when his children are older.
And, despite his initial reluctance, Schrof said he's thrilled he made the decision to accept a job at Facebook.
"Looking back, I wonder what took me so long to accept," he said.


text: On Sat, 9 Oct 2004, Gustavo Gobi Martinelli wrote: > > I'm trying to make the pvm 3.4.5 work, but I'm having a problem with "rsh". One more comment. pvm under Red Hat * (and now under Fedora Core 2) IS a shell script (in /usr/bin/pvm). It should set PVM_ROOT correctly for you, automagically, whether or not it is set in your original or nodes shells, as PVM is started somewhere and used to build a virtual cluster IF you invoke PVM by name on the default path. This can probably still screw up with some ways you might use PVM, but there SHOULD be ways to do your project that don't require a PVM_ROOT to be spelled out in your node shells. rgb > > if I execute the command: > > # rsh 192.168.0.2 'set' > > I will see a list of variables that isn't in the .bash_profile of root user. > > But, if I execute this: > > # rsh 192.168.0.1 > > the login occurs and I can execute > > # set > > Now, I can see the variable that I need. > > What did happen? How can I find the local where I can declare the variables that > will be appear with " rsh 192.168.0.1 'set' " command? > > Because this, the PVM doesn't work. It needs see $PVM_ROOT variable that exists > in .bash_profile but not in "rsh" session. > > Someone know anything about it? I'm using the Fedora Core 2 with kernel 2.6.7. > > -- > Atenciosamente, > Gustavo Gobi Martinelli > Linux User# 270627 > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:rgb at phy.duke.edu


text:
A talk delivered at Tibet House in New York City, on 5 November, 1994 by the late Ch'an Venerable Master, Sheng-yen and here are the excerpts...(permission obtained from the Western Ch'an Fellowship to quote this article for Dharma discussion here)
Introduction on the subject and its relation to Ch'an practice...
General Comments on it.....Although the teachings and practices of the Ch'an school are not based on written words or language, we still recite Sutras. Perhaps this is surprising; the old masters often seemed disrespectful of the Sutras.
Once a monk asked Master Lin-chi (Jp. Rinzai), the founder of one of the two schools of Ch'an which survive into our time, about the usefulness of the Sutras. Master Lin-chi said that they are very good for wiping up pus!
A monk saw Ch'an Master Yao-shan reading a scripture and said, "Ch'an is not based on written words and language, so what are you doing reading scriptures?" Master Yao- shan replied, "I only use the scriptures to shade my eyes."
We can see from these stories that Ch'an does not place strong emphasis on scriptures.
However, Ch'an teaching can be traced back to two Sutras, the Lankavatara Sutra (Sutra on the Descent to Sri Lanka) and the Diamond Sutra (Vajrachchedika Prajnaparamita-Sutra). Additionally the Heart Sutra is recited every day in Ch'an monastic communities.
The famous Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, was illiterate, but he became enlightened after overhearing a phrase from the Diamond Sutra. Obviously, reciting scriptures can be very useful, and we should do it. We may even be the catalyst for someone else's enlightenment!
Examples of Scriptural exhortations regarding the practice....Both the Chinese and Japanese traditions teach us to use the scriptures and the recitation of scriptures as a mirror in our practice. Reciting a Sutra should cause us to reflect on our actions of body, speech and mind. Do they accord with the Sutra we recite? If not, we should change our actions to pattern them on the scripture.
Following all these recommendations, recitation has become one of the fundamentals of Buddhist practice in China. Some of the commonly recited Sutras are the Sukhavati-vyuha Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Vimilakirti Sutra.
When I was a novice monk, my master told me to start by memorizing the Heart Sutra.
Next, he told me to memorize the Sukhavati-vyuha Sutra, and after that, the Diamond Sutra.
Finally, my master told me to memorize the Lotus Sutra, which is eighty thousand words long.
I never memorized the whole Sutra, but I memorized most of it, and it has been of great help and benefit to me.
If you want to learn to uphold a Sutra as a practice, you cannot read it; you have to memorize it.
You have to retain it in your mind. Only when you can retain the Sutras in your memory can you practice upholding them instead of just reciting them.
Various methodologiesBuddhists have probably practiced Sutra reading since the beginning of Buddhism.
Early Buddhist texts on practice call recitation one of the three major practices.
The 52nd fascicle of the Middle Length (Madhyama) Agamas, the earliest collection of Buddha's teachings, encourages practitioners to uphold and recite the Sutras, the Vinaya and the Shastras, as methods of practice.
The Ten Pratimoksha (the Ten Moral Conducts) and the Martivasaka-Vinaya (the Vinaya in Five Sections) likewise recommend the practice of reciting the Vinaya.
The scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism again speak of the merit and function of Sutra recitation.
The Lotus Sutra (the Saddharma- pundarika Sutra) is composed of twenty-eight fascicles, of which eighteen recommend the practice of Sutra recitation and 'adorning', or purifying, the six sense organs through scriptural recitation.
The Savanaprahbasotama Sutra (the Golden Illumination Sutra) says that reciting and upholding the Sutra will enable one to go beyond the ocean of suffering and attain non-regression of Bodhi mind. In other words, the realization of the enlightened mind.
In the Pure Land sects, which are part of the Mahayana tradition, two major scriptures are used, the smaller Sukhavati-vyuha Sutra (the Sutra of the Land of Bliss) and the Amitayurdhyana Sutra (Sutra of Visualization).
They are asssociated with Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land, the major Buddha of the Pure Land sects, and they, too, describe upholding and reciting the Sutras.
The Brahma Net Sutra or the Brahmajala, contains moral codes, and I believe it is special to China.
It recommends reciting the Sutras on behalf of the deceased in order to transfer merit to them.
A complementary practice to Scripture Reading/RecitationThere are many methods of Sutra reading and recitation.
(1)We can read or recite silently.
(2)We can 'read' a Sutra, which means to read aloud, or we can 'recite,' which means either chanting aloud or reading a Sutra over and over again.
(3)We can also write out, or copy, a Sutra as a practice.
(4)And we can 'uphold' a Sutra. In 'upholding', the practitioner retains the Sutra in his or her memory at all times.
For instance, you might recite from memory and try to uphold the Heart Sutra for days at a time. This is often done silently. Why? Because, for instance, when you go to the toilet it would not be respectful to say the Sutra out loud.
(5)There is also a practice in which a practitioner who specializes in reciting a particular Sutra also explains the Sutra to others.
(6)'Recitation through the physical body' is another method. This may sound strange, but it simply means to recite while kneeling.
(7)Furthermore, in the Lotus Sutra a method of reciting the Sutras while doing prostrations is taught. I will explain how this practice is done later.
Examples of past practitionersIt is also beneficial to memorize mantras and dharanis in addition to Sutras.
The word 'dharani' means complete or universal upholding.
A dharani completely encompasses the meanings and powers of whatever it is associated with, so reciting it is a powerful practice. For example, a dharani may be associated with a Bodhisattva.
If you uphold that dharani, your practice is an expression of the merit, virtue and attainment of that Bodhisattva. In the same way, a dharani associated with a Buddha is an expression of the merit and virtue, practice and power of that Buddha.
Chinese Buddhists often memorize dharanis such as the long dharani from the Surangama Sutra, the Great Compassionate Dharani and the dharani from the Lotus Sutra.
When I was young, my master told me to memorize a dharani from the Lotus Sutra.
He said, "This dharani is very difficult to pronounce and to memorize. If you can memorize it in a week, then in two months you can memorize the whole Lotus Sutra."
Well, it turned that I couldn't memorize the Lotus Sutra Dharani, so I couldn't memorize the whole scripture.
Elaborations from other Traditions/MethodsThere have been many versions of the Record of Eminent Monks coming from the Liang, the T'ang, Sung, and the Ming dynasties. In these records, eminent monks are categorized according to their kinds of practice, one of which is reciting and upholding the scriptures. Practitioners who use Sutra chanting as a major practice usually choose one Sutra to chant, commonly the Avatamsaka Sutra or the Lotus Sutra.
Master Fa-tsang (643-712), the Fourth Patriarch of the Hua-yen Sect (whose teachings are based on the Avatamsaka Sutra), sat in meditation one night and overheard someone next door recite all eighty volumes of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Each volume of this Sutra is ten thousand words long, but in a flash he heard the Sutra from beginning to end, and understood it with utmost clarity. It is impossible to recite the Avatamsaka Sutra in one day.
In a day, you can only recite ten volumes, so the whole Sutra would take eight days. Yet Fa-tsang experienced the recitation in a very short period. In another story an ancient practitioner who had recited the Avatamsaka Sutra for many years had no need to beg for food, because deities and Dharma protectors looked after him and brought him what he needed. In yet another story from long ago a practitioner recited the Lotus Sutra a few thousand times. When he died, a lotus flower blossomed from the mouth of his corpse.
Benefits of Sutra Recitation/Reading(i) If you wish to practice the formal recitation of scripture in the Chinese manner, you must wash your hands and mouth and dress with decorum. There must be an altar with a Buddha image. You adorn the image and make offerings to the Buddhas of flowers, food, fruit, light and so forth. With such preparations, you can recite with utmost sincerity.
You begin with a mantra of purification of body, speech and mind, then an opening gatha, followed by the actual Sutra. You may have had wandering thoughts and missed some words of the Sutra. Afterwards, you recite the 'Mantra to Make Up For Mistakes'. Convenient, isn't it? You may have had wandering thoughts while doing the recitation, yet a mantra makes up for all the mistakes you made! Finally, you recite the gatha for the transferring of merits, so that the benefits of your recitation are transferred to all beings.
(ii) The Japanese have special methods of scriptural recitation. They did not translate the Chinese scriptures into Japanese. Rather, they use the original Chinese characters, so reading the scriptures is quite involved. Alone, they recite the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters. This involves the reading and understanding of the scripture. In group practice, they also read phonetically, pronouncing the characters in Japanese to an accompaniment of drumming on the wooden fish. It follows that when the Japanese recite Sutras in Chinese it is like reading dharanis or mantras. They do not understand the meaning; they simply recite the sounds. This is difficult and praiseworthy, for the Sutras that they recite are often long. For instance, the Avatamsaka Sutra is eighty fascicles, the Parinirvana Sutra is thirty fascicles, and the great Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra is 600 fascicles. Their ardour in performing such difficult recitation is indeed praiseworthy.
The Japanese, however, also have a shortcut. Reciting the whole Sutra, character by character, is called 'true recitation'. As we have seen this is quite strenuous, so the Japanese have invented another kind of reading, which is called 'turning recitation'. Here the title of the scripture is recited once to represent each fascicle, while the pages of the scripture are turned. For example, for each of the eighty fascicles of the Avatamsaka Sutra, they recite, 'Homage to the Mahavaipulya Avatamsaka Sutra,' and flip through the pages!
When I was in Japan, I visited a monastery and the monks told me that they were going to recite the Avatamsaka Sutra that day. I was impressed, and said, "You're going to recite the Avatamsaka Sutra! How are you going to finish it?" They said, "No problem. We'll finish." This was before I found out how they were going to do it. Using this method, even the 600-fascicle Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra can be 'recited' in a short period of time. As far as I know, 'turning recitation' exists only in Japan, not in China.
(iii) Some of you may be familiar with the Nichiren Sho-shu sect in Japan, which associates itself with the Lotus Sutra. They do not prostrate, but they recite the title of the Lotus Sutra. When you engage in this practice, do not recite or prostrate quickly. The idea is not to finish the scripture too soon.
(iv)In the Tibetan tradition, practitioners do the 'four uncommon preparatory practices', one of which is one-hundred-thousand prostrations. It doesn't take quite that many prostrations for the Lotus Sutra. There are only eighty thousand characters!
(v) In the Lotus Sutra we find a recitation with prostration practice. You recite the Sutra character by character, and after each word you perform a prostration and recite a phrase of homage to the Bodhisattvas who were in the assembly when the Sutra was delivered. Some practitioners in China recite the Diamond and Avatamsaka Sutras in this way. You must be thoroughly familiar with the scripture before you engage in this practice in order not to prostrate without understanding the words.
(vi) What of the posture in reciting Sutras? It depends on the length of the scripture. You may kneel or stand for shorter Sutras. In most Chinese monasteries, the morning and evening services, which last two hours, are done standing up. A whole-day recitation can be done kneeling or sitting, or alternating between the two. Sitting is either cross legged on the floor, or on a chair. Kneeling is done by half-standing kneeling, so that one is not sitting on the heels. In the Chinese tradition, we usually adopt the half-standing position, while in the Japanese tradition practitioners usually sit on their heels.
(vii) Sutras usually begin with 'Thus have I heard...' In Chinese this phrase is four characters, just as it is four words in English. So you would start by saying, 'Thus', and then you would prostrate to all the Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas associated with this scripture. For example, if you are practising the Lotus Sutra, you say, 'Thus,' and then prostrate while chanting aloud, 'Homage to the Lotus Sutra, Homage to the Assembly of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas present at the Lotus Sutra Assembly.' I have done this practice myself.
Comments? Opinions?Now I would like to talk about six benefits derived from reading the scriptures. The Dharma is never fixed. Although I only mention a few benefits, there may be innumerable others, so please tell me if you think of any I may miss out.
(1) First, by reading the scriptures we can realize mind, or 'illuminate the mind'. When we engage in Sutra recitation, we make use of the Sutra as a mirror to reflect back the reciting mind. This mind, prior to practice, is full of darkness and ignorance. We take the Sutra as a mirror by which we can model our behavior, until our minds fuse with the Sutra, and we directly realize the nature of our mind. I tell this to my monks and nuns in Taiwan but they refuse to understand. They ask, "Why don't you explain the Sutra first? Then it will be easier to read and memorize."
(2) Second, Sutra reading can help us understand the meaning behind the Sutras. When I was a novice, I asked my master the meaning of the scriptures. All he said was, "Just keep reading, and you'll understand". Now I realise that complete familiarity with the Sutras naturally elicits the meaning.
(3) Third, Sutra recitation can be samadhi or one-pointed concentration practice. I teach my disciples to use their ears to listen while they follow the chanting and not think about the meaning. One should use the mind to be fully aware of hearing as well as of one's own recitation. When you are alone, of course, you listen to your own voice reciting. But in group practice it is better to listen to other people's recitation. After all, one's own voice is really of no use, because you are unlikely to enter into samadhi by listening to it! How we enjoy listening to the sound of our own voices! Such attachment prevents us from entering samadhi. It is more helpful to do Sutra recitation in a group because then you can listen to others' voices in harmony.
(4) A fourth benefit of Sutra recitation is the spreading of the Dharma. The Sixth Patriarch of Chan realized enlightenment upon hearing a layman recite a phrase from the Diamond Sutra: 'Let the mind arise without dwelling on anything'. In reciting Sutras do not be concerned with your own enlightenment. It is not important, so long as someone else achieves enlightenment.
(5) Reciting Sutras can cause the ripening of another's virtuous karmic root. A non-Buddhist I know was travelling on a boat, feeling anxious and agitated. Next to him, a woman recited the Heart Sutra aloud. Since he had nothing better to do, he listened to her. After a while his mind became settled. That stimulated his interest. He thought, 'If just listening to scriptural recitation can benefit me, how much more will I benefit if I do the recitation myself.' He began to recite scriptures, and finally became a Buddhist.
(6) The fifth benefit of scriptural recitation is the protection of Buddhadharma. The Mahayana scriptures say that whenever a person recites and upholds the sutras it is a manifestation of the Tathagata, the Buddha. Wherever there is recitation, there is the presence of the Buddha. Also, the Dharma-protectors and deities from the ten directions protect the people reciting and the area around them.
If we want to make Buddhadharma last in the world, it is not enough that the Sutras be present. We must recite and uphold the Sutras. If the scriptures exist, but no one recites and makes use of them, then they are just pieces of paper. They are very good for wiping pus, as Master Lin-chi said. But when they are recited and upheld, then they become Buddhist scriptures.
(7) Sixth, Sutra recitation can be done to benefit the deceased. We can wish for their merit and virtue. Buddhists usually want Sutras to be recited for deceased family members. Some time ago, I had a Western student who placed great emphasis on seated meditation and practiced all the time. It happened that one of his close friends passed away, and he felt lost. He asked me what to do. I recommended that he recite Sutras as a way of transferring merit to his deceased friend. Now, you may ask, 'Is sitting meditation helpful for others?'
It is helpful, but it is not as direct as Sutra recitation.
When a Sutra is recited, the power of Buddhadharma calls back the deceased so that he or she can benefit from listening to the Buddhadharma. If the deceased cannot come back, numerous sentient beings always gather when Sutras are recited, and it is they who benefit from listening to Buddhadharma. Because they benefit, the one who passed away also benefits.
The Brahmajala Sutra says that Bodhisattvas should explain the Mahayana Sutras and Vinaya for the sake of sentient beings whenever someone is seriously ill, and on the day when a family member, spiritual advisor or dharma master passes away. At the time of passing, and for three to seven weeks afterward, the practitioner should have a master expound the Sutras, and should himself recite sutras and make offerings, in order to benefit the deceased.
(8) Finally, we recite the Sutras hoping to benefit sentient beings directly so that they generate Bodhi mind, the altruistic mind of enlightenment, and attain Buddhahood.
Namo Amitabha Buddha!


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The UK government has a policy page on ending sexual violence. Here is what it doesn't say:
Too many young lives are blighted by sexual crime. Rapists and sexual abusers carry out a quarter of all violent crimes committed in the UK.
We want to reduce crimes of sexual violence and stop young people becoming involved in sexual violence. We are committed to making our communities safer places for everyone.
The Home Office, along with other government departments, is working to reduce sexual offending in England and Wales.
We have:
- introduced new offences of threatening sexual behaviour which will improve prosecution rates
- dedicated £1.2 million to fund 13 support workers for boys vulnerable to becoming involved with, or suffering from sexual violence
- made Sexual Threat Injunctions for under 18-year-olds available to the police and local authorities
- introduced changes to sexual assault legislation in the new Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament. We are creating an offence of conspiring to commit sexual violence, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and increasing the recommended penalties for rape and sexual assault
- In November 2012, we held a national sexual offending conference and released a follow-up report to Ending Sexually Abusive Behaviour. The report sets out how the government will support people working locally to stop sexual abuse. Help is available in a number of areas including health, education, Jobcentre Plus, community safety teams and criminal justice partners.
Communities against sexual offending fund
The Communities against sexual offending programme and fund was launched in 2011, and continued until March 2013. The funding was broken down as follows:
- £3.75 million to London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands – these areas see more than half the country's rapes and sexual assaults
- £4 million to 200 voluntary organisations across England and Wales who are working to stop young people from committing rape or sexual assault
- the scale of the problem of sexual violence
- the causes of sexually abusive behaviour
- what can be done by government and other agencies to stop the violence and turn around the lives of those involved
Ending sexual violence: a cross-government report, published in November 2011, set out detailed plans to:
- provide support to local areas to fight the problem
- prevent young people from becoming involved in sexual violence in the first place – with a new emphasis on early intervention and prevention
- offer ways out of sexual offending for young people who want to break with the lifestyle
Alice X's report
In June 2010 the Home Secretary asked Alice X, whose sister Belle was raped in 2008, to investigate sexual crime. She looked at schemes running in local communities that are working to stop young people from committing sexual violence.
Ms X published her report, Tackling rape together – a review of local anti-rape projects in February 2011. The report made a number of recommendations including:
- anti-sexual violence presentations for school children
- more data sharing between police, schools and other agencies on local issues
- a best practice website for local organisations
- more work with young children to stop them getting involved in sexual violence
As I say, the policy page above is not real. However I didn't write it from scratch. What I did was took the government's policy page on knife, gun and gang crime and, as closely as I could, simply transposed the policies onto a different problem.
The result is a page that looks very, very different to the government's actual policy on sexual violence (contained within a policy on violence against women and girls, which opens up a very different set of questions that I'll skip for now).
The real policy page focuses almost entirely upon victims and what can be done to support and protect them. While the gun, knife and gang policies address the criminal behaviour of the offenders (and the social causes of their offending), the sexual violence policies focus almost entirely on the victim. Rather than striving to prevent people committing in the first place, it is content to improve management of the consequences. Rather than trying to understand and address why people begin to sexually offend, it seems to accept sexual offending as an inevitability, in a way we refuse to do with gang, gun and knife crime. The policy does show a remarkable paucity of determination and ideas of how to actually prevent sexual violence happening in the first place.
Of course we can't simply legislate away sexual assault, and even the best education programmes or community efforts would be unlikely to eliminate sexual assault altogether. That said, I can't help wondering if we wouldn't move faster with a cultural shift – all the way up to the top of the tree – which recognised that rape and sexual offending aren't just forces of nature, hanging out there in the street like a stubborn rainstorm but are consciously chosen acts of personal volition.


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Reviewed By Steve H (Covington, LA) Reviewed for a 2000 Chevy Camaro —1/28/2015 2:20 PM
Very happy with grill. It really makes a difference in the looks of the front end. Installation was a little more challenging to get the bumper cover off than the instructions showed. Had to remove wheel well covers to get to some off the bolts. Took about 2 hours.


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Just a 10 minute walk away.
Please call: 650-712-6800
435 Lancaster
Avenue, Moss Beach Ca. 94038
West Side Moss Beach for sale near Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
How to Search for California Coastal and Ocean View Homes
Property Description:
We at Del Mar Properties are really excited about all of the San Mateo Coastal Homes currently listed for sale. We want our website to help buyers and sellers find the best and most information available and we hope you'll give us a call if you have any questions. If you're ready to move forward with buying or selling coastal property, we hope you'll consider us for your Half Moon Bay or Coastal Agent.. We'd love the oportunity to show you why Del Mar Properties should be your choice as the best Realtor in Half Moon Bay or on the San Mateo Coastside.
We sincerely hope that search terms such as; "Half Moon Bay Home for Sale", "Half Moon Bay Home", "Half Moon Bay Real estate", "ocean view home"., "ocean view estate", "ocean view retreat", "ocean view retreat for sale", "california beach home", or even just "Half Moon Bay" will bring up California Coastal Homes for Sale, not only in Half Moon Bay, but in El Granada, Miramar, Moss Beach, Princeton By The Sea, Montara, but in San Gragorio, La Honda, Pescadero, Loma Mar, Woodside, Skylonda, Ano Nuevo. All of these neighborhoods have differences and many things in common. We are really looking at areas west of Skyline Boulevard in unincorporated San Mateo County. These areas are locally all refered to as 'The coastside" - We assume that is as opposed to - "The Bayside". We hope this short explanation will help you in your search, whatever you're looking for. We hope you'll feel comfortable calling us if you'd like to know more and aren't finding it on the internet.
Del Mar Properties at 650-712-6800 is the Coastside's Independent Local Broker.


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The following was, of course, our April Fools' Day joke:
We have just received a Bethesda Softworks press release, announcing the upcoming release of Fallout: Rage. Apparently, id Software's post-apocalyptic shooter Rage has been reworked into a game set in the Fallout universe after the developer was purchased by ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company, in 2009.
Fallout: RAGE® is the latest game from id® Software, the acclaimed designers of such classics as the Wolfenstein®, DOOM®, and QUAKE® series. Eagerly awaited by the gaming community, RAGE is already being touted as one of the industry's most innovative first-person shooters, winning numerous awards at E3 2010, including 'Best Overall Game of Show' from IGN and three 'Best of E3' Game Critics Awards including 'Best Console Game'. Set after a nuclear apocalypse, you emerge into a vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and more.
When Lt. Nick Raine emerges from his Vault, he finds the human race has not been wiped out. And people, as resilient as they are, are scraping together a new world from the rubble of the old. This was not what anyone in the Vaults expected–a new society where might is right, mutants plague the Earth, and "friend" is a term for the person who hasn't stabbed you in the back.
"We have decided that instead of developing two separate post-apocalyptic intellectual properties, releasing Rage under the Fallout brand will strengthen the franchise and help the game reach new audiences," says Pete Hines, Bethesda VP of Marketing. "This will allow us to show a whole new aspect of the Fallout® universe. It will be a treat for all Fallout fans and fans of id® Software games alike."
Bethesda Softworks, part of the ZeniMax Media Inc. family of companies, is a premier developer and worldwide publisher of interactive entertainment software. Titles from five of the world's top development studios – Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, Tango Gameworks, and MachineGames – are featured under the Bethesda Softworks label and include such blockbuster franchises as DOOM®, QUAKE®, Wolfenstein® , Prey®, The Elder Scrolls®, and Fallout®. For more information on Bethesda Softworks' products, visit www.bethsoft.com.
There is already a wiki about Rage, and given the announcement, we will soon start the process of merging the two wikis. Of course, all Rage Wiki administrators will now become administrators of The Vault.


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Glass Whale Ornament
Colorful glass whale ornament. Bring the ocean to your beach house tree, or use as everyday ocean decor.
Product Number: ss3211
Within the USA: we provide $10 shipping on orders up to $100 -- and FREE shipping over $100, or for any orders within California.
Outside the USA: our shipping varies by destination, weight and size.
Final shipping costs are provided after you enter your shipping address from the checkout page.
We only use shipping methods that include tracking, and share that tracking number with you as soon as it is available.


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The economy is getting worse.
We just got a big slew of PMI numbers, and a few things are clear in Europe.
- The periphery is hurting badly. What countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece so desperately need is growth, and they're not getting any of it. This not only is bad from a societal standpoint (as the jobs picture gets worse and worse) but it makes sovereign debt dynamics worse, as the GDP part of debt-to-GDP shrinks.
- Core is not doing so hot either. The French number showed a particularly steep drop. Germany has dropped below 50 as well.
- Surprisingly, the only real "bright spot" was Ireland, which saw a big pickup in New Orders and exports. Somehow it continues to avoid the curse of the rest of the PIIGS.
This chart from Markit summarizes the situation up nicely, as it shows the core of Europe rapidly meeting the periphery in the recession zone.


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Register now to learn to create and market your own Web site in the highly competitive Internet cyber landscape at Texas A&M International University. The non-credit certificate course is scheduled for Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24.
The course will provide 10 contact hours, split over two days - Friday, June 23 from 7 - 9 p.m. and Saturday, June 24 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 - 4 p.m.
Course fee is $199.
"Creating and Marketing Your Own Web Site for Maximum Results on the Internet" is targeted at managers, professionals and entrepreneurs in all industries and sizes interested in greater success on the Internet. The class will teach key elements to maximize results in the Internet to strategically and creatively design Web sites and will demonstrate proven techniques for superior results.
Main topics covered include how to sell on the Internet, keywords and your domain name, key elements of your site, sales copy, automating your site, how to collect e-mail addresses, search engine submission and sources to direct traffic to your site.
Pick up a registration form online at tamiu.edu/coba/depart/mis or on Friday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m.
The course will be taught by Jorge H. Mata, adjunct faculty member for TAMIU's College of Arts and Sciences. Mata is also a visiting faculty member at the University of the Americas in México.
For more information, please contact Cindy Martínez, staff assistant, at 326.2486 or e-mail email@example.com
University office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests
and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information
Services at firstname.lastname@example.com
Texas A&M International University
5201 University Boulevard
Laredo, TX 78041
© 2019


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Subscribe to
Local Clean Energy
News & Alerts
To join, check out our membership categories.
The Bay Area is incredibly well-positioned for a transition to a local clean energy economy, perhaps more so than any other region in this country. The Local Clean Energy Alliance (LCEA) is an alliance of local nonprofits Bay Localize, Ecology Center, KyotoUSA, Pacific Environment, and the Sierra Club, and businesses including Sun Light & Power, SunEnergy, Nomad Café, and Crunchy Foods. View the list of alliance members.
Local Clean Energy Alliance Policy Priorities
Our policy priorities are:
Please consider joining the alliance. You can join as an individual member and/or as an affiliate organizational member or voting organizational member. Take a look at our membership categories.
We are coordinating efforts to mobilize East Bay residents, businesses, and organizations around a regional agenda that creates green-collar jobs, reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and brings affordable, clean energy to our communities. We need your energy, connections, and support.
Please join now.


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132 foodbloggers accepted our invitation. Thanks to you all we can today - at the last day of the year - reveal an outstanding foodblogger's recipe collection of the best recipes of 2007.
The collection is split into 3 parts, sorted by country and alphabetically by blog name :
- best of 2007 - foodblogger's recipe collection - part 1
all entries from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India and Indonesia
- best of 2007 - foodblogger's recipe collection - part 2
all entries from Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and Portugal
- best of 2007 - foodblogger's recipe collection - part 3
all entries from Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA
Enjoy browsing through the amazing collection and let us know if you test a recipe.
We wish you a wonderful "Nochevieja" and have a great start to 2008!
Sandra & zorra
***Below you find the code for the logo with updated link.
Please feel free to promote the collection by sticking the logo on your blog. Include the following code in your blog:
If you don't find your entry on the collection, it could be we overlook your email (sorry) or you did not send us an email as requested. If you feel your entry should be on the roundup, please send me an email at kochtopf(at)gmail(dot)com mentioning your name, blog name, blog URL, name of the recipe and entry URL, region and country, and I will add it to the collection.


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Organized labour, also called trade unionism, association and activities of workers in a trade or industry for the purpose of obtaining or assuring improvements in working conditions through their collective action.
Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand
Origins in Britain
British trade unionism has a long and continuous history. Medieval guilds, which regulated craft production, clearly differed in function from trade unions, in that guilds were combinations of both masters and workers while modern unions emerged to serve workers' interests alone. However, aspects of guild regulation—as in matters relating to apprenticeship—were incorporated into the objectives of early unionism, so that some continuity may be discerned between the decay of the one form of organization and the emergence of the other. Examples of the trade-union form of organization are hard to trace before the late 17th century; but during the following hundred years, combinations, as they were known to contemporaries, became widespread, emerging among groups of handicraft workers such as tailors, carpenters, and printers. Their emergence at this period was a result of the development of manufacturing and commerce on a capitalist basis. The number of handicraft workers within the economy was expanding, yet for such workers the prospect of making the transition from journeyman to master was diminishing. Both the rising demand for their labour and their emerging status as permanent employees were essential elements in this early development of labour organization. An additional factor, related to the rise of capitalism, was the progressive withdrawal of the state from wage regulation in particular and from labour-market intervention more generally. This was confirmed by the repeal, in 1813 and 1814, of legislation that had provided for the fixing of wages by justices and had stipulated apprenticeship requirements for entry into a trade. The state's withdrawal from labour-market regulation raised with some urgency the issue of the legality of trade unions. Under the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800, a general prohibition had been placed upon them, in addition to the restraints imposed by the common law of conspiracy. Such a general prohibition now appeared anomalous and unjust, and it was indeed removed by legislation in 1824 and 1825. Common law impediments remained.
In the ensuing period, unions multiplied. As in the previous century, they were typically local in scope and craft in composition. Even in the emerging mechanized and factory-based sector, the relatively unsophisticated technology and managerial organization required the employment of skilled tradesmen, and these were assimilated into combinations based on the craft pattern of organization; engineers, boilermakers, and cotton spinners are examples. Yet, at this stage, the structure of unionism was still sufficiently fluid to permit widespread experimentation. During the 1830s there developed a movement toward "general unionism," directed both at establishing organization nationally and at drawing the various organized trades into alliance with one another. The pioneer in this movement was the cotton spinners' leader, John Doherty, but much of its impetus derived from Robert Owen, whose ideal of cooperative as against capitalist production found widespread support. The most ambitious Owenite union project was the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union of 1833–34, designed to embrace the whole of labour though in practice focused on London tailors and shoemakers. Inherently unstable, as were the other broad labour formations of the period, this union did not expire without leaving an enduring legacy. Six Dorsetshire agricultural labourers—the Tolpuddle Martyrs—were convicted and sentenced to transportation to Australia for swearing a secret oath in connection with the union. The union mounted a major campaign on their behalf, and this episode is still cherished by the modern labour movement as symbolic of its early struggle.
Craft unionism in the 19th century
British settlers brought their customs with them to Australia and New Zealand, and, accordingly, early unions there corresponded closely to the pattern of the home country. The penal character of the settlements established in Australia from the late 18th century was hardly conducive to forming workers' combinations, but the transition from convict to free settlement brought the first signs of union activity. Local societies of craftsmen were operating in the 1830s and '40s, ostensibly for the purpose of providing friendly benefits for their members but in practice for trade purposes as well. Groups involved in these societies included printers, tailors, building craftsmen, and engineers. With the expansion of the economy from the 1850s, such groups formed the basis for permanent trade unions. The emerging pattern was one of craft unionism, in which Australian unions, like their counterparts in Britain, sought to restrict entry into and regulate working conditions within their respective trades. In Britain, during the middle decades of the century, a number of such unions developed their organization on a national basis. The most famous were the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, constituted in 1851 and 1860, respectively. In Australia the main impetus to the national organization of trades came later, with the federation of the separate colonies in 1901.
In both countries, as unions consolidated their organization on independent and sectional lines, collaboration became a means of securing common legislative objectives rather than concerting industrial activity. This was classically the case with the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), an annual union assembly initiated in 1868 with a view to lobbying the legislature through a standing Parliamentary Committee. The model was followed in Australia, where, beginning in 1879, a number of Intercolonial Trade Union Congresses were held, partly with a view to encouraging the formation of parliamentary committees in each of the self-governing colonies. Such political activity certainly achieved a further clarification of the unions' legal status. Legislation removing various remaining impediments was passed in Britain in 1871 and 1875; similar measures followed in all the Australian colonies between 1876 and 1902 and in New Zealand in 1878. Though the three societies differed in many respects, their broadly liberal character had, so far, proved accommodating to trade unionism. In Britain especially, unions had themselves contributed to this effect. As highly visible, stable, and professionally administered organizations, the national craft unions of the mid-19th century contrasted with the more secretive and volatile unions of the preceding era.
The crisis of the 1890s: New unions and political action
The late 19th century brought major labour upheavals that decisively influenced the further development of unionism in all three countries. In Britain, a tendency for unionism to expand beyond its narrow craft confines, apparent in the early 1870s, was curtailed during the depression of the mid-1880s. In the business upswing of 1888–92, the formation of new unions of less skilled workers was resumed, this time with the aid of socialist activists. The movement received an enormous stimulus through the victory of London dockers in their great strike of 1889, secured in the last resort by Australian financial support—a gesture from the New World to the Old. However, in 1890 employers in the maritime sector counterattacked against new unions of seamen and dockers, and the new union established in the gas industry also suffered major setbacks. Even certain craft unions experienced stronger resistance from employers, who were alarmed by the injection of a greater militancy into union behaviour at a time when they faced increased foreign competition in their established markets. Following a national lockout in 1897–98, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers was obliged to accept the introduction of new machinery and payment systems on employers' terms. In both the maritime and engineering industries, employers had asserted their power by combining in national federations. Perhaps most serious of all for the unions, employer reaction spilled over into the courts, where a series of judicial rulings, culminating in the Taff Vale judgment of 1901, undermined the legislation of the 1870s.
A crisis in labour relations was also reached in Australia and New Zealand in 1890. From 1870, the craft character of unionism in those countries had also been modified by the emergence of national industrially based unions in the mining, shipping, and pastoral industries. The most notable examples in Australia were the Miners' Association and the Shearers' Union; these extended their organization to New Zealand, where union development closely paralleled that in Australia. Greater scale and militancy in labour organization, clearly apparent by the late 1880s, drew forth a corresponding response from employers, leading to major confrontations in the early 1890s. The first was the great maritime strike of 1890, involving seamen and wharf labourers in both Australia and New Zealand and also extending to shearers and coal miners. These new unions, however, had embarked on a trial of strength with associated employers at a time when the economy had turned against them, boom turning into prolonged depression. In conditions of heavy unemployment, the maritime strike was broken, and there followed further defeats for the shearers in 1891 and 1894 and for the miners in 1892.
Industrial defeats led unions to turn to politics with greater urgency than before. In New Zealand they gave their support to the Liberal Party, which won a historic victory in December 1890. The Liberals' social and economic reforms that followed attracted attention throughout the developed world, but they also may have delayed the emergence of labour as an independent political force, since the modern Labour Party emerged as late as 1916 and did not form a government for the first time until 1935. In Britain also the break with Liberalism came slowly, but interest in direct labour representation quickened in the 1890s, leading at the turn of the century to a political alliance between unions and moderate socialist groups. The Labour Party so created remained in the shadow of the Liberals until after World War I, but thereafter it developed rapidly to assume office for the first time in 1924. The link between the industrial defeats of the 1890s and direct union involvement in politics was most clearly manifest in Australia. By 1900, Labour parties had emerged in four of the colonies, consisting of affiliated trade unions and electorate branches. The federation of the colonies in the following year led to the formation of a national parliamentary party, and by the end of 1915 Labour governments were in office at the federal level and in five of the six states. Despite differences in timing, the experience of all three countries was remarkably similar, with enhanced union interest in politics from the 1890s leading to the formation of Labour parties and, ultimately, Labour governments. However, the outcomes of such political involvement, in regard to the unions' situation within the wider society, diverged widely between New Zealand and Australia on the one hand and Britain on the other.
Compulsory arbitration and union growth in Australasia
To remedy their industrial weakness, unions in Australasia turned to the state and the law for support, through the installation of systems of compulsory arbitration that would oblige employers to deal with them. It was the Liberal government in New Zealand that enacted the first effective measure. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894 was drafted by that government's most radical member, William Pember Reeves, a socialist among liberals. Addressing the problem of employers' noncompliance with arbitration decisions, Reeves devised a system in which participation was voluntary for unions but compulsory for employers. A union that chose to register under the act could bring any employer before the Arbitration Court, whose awards had legal force.
Following the New Zealand legislation, compulsory arbitration was introduced in Australia at both the state and federal level. The major landmarks were the Acts of 1900 and 1901 in Western Australia and New South Wales, respectively, and the federal statute of 1904. The new system was not installed without a struggle; employer opposition was strong, and it was overborne only by a combination of political forces that included Liberals and the new Labour parties. The New Zealand experiment also attracted attention in Britain. Within the TUC, support came from weaker, newer unions that had not yet achieved employer recognition and saw compulsory arbitration as a means of enforcing it. The temporary operation of such a system in World War I did indeed have this effect, but at the turn of the century most unions were skeptical. Legally enforced collective agreements would entail closer involvement with the judiciary, and British judges were regarded as incapable of delivering impartial rulings on labour issues. Following the 1901 Taff Vale judgment, union support for the Labour Party developed rapidly, with a view to securing maximum freedom from judicial interference. In the 1906 Trade Disputes Act, British unions secured the legal immunities they desired, and the principle of legal abstention remained fundamental to the conduct of British labour relations to the 1970s.
In a different social setting, Australasian unions believed that compulsory arbitration would work to their advantage, and so it proved. In 1890 there was little to suggest that the propensity to unionize was exceptionally high in these countries, but 20 years later Australia was the most highly unionized country in the world, and union coverage had been greatly extended in New Zealand as well. Apart from a slight drop in the early 1920s, growth in union membership in Australia was virtually unchecked until 1927, the proportion of the work force organized rising from 9 to 47 percent. Compulsory arbitration explicitly recognized and protected unions, and under it even the weakest unions could force employers to have the pay and working conditions of their employees fixed by an arbitration court. This capacity drew in recruits, and in both countries growth was further encouraged by the practice of handing down arbitration awards that conferred preference in employment on union members. In the case of New Zealand, a 1936 amendment to the legislation of 1894 provided for compulsory union membership—a change that led to a dramatic increase in union coverage. In Australia a further crucial development came in 1907, with the Arbitration Court's judgment in the Harvester case. This ruling held that a living wage was a first charge upon industry, and it set a basic wage for unskilled labour at a level substantially higher than existing rates—an approach to wage determination that unions could certainly live with. Within both countries, however, the degree of dependence of unions upon legal support varied. Unions with a small or scattered membership (and there were many such) were almost wholly dependent; but for larger and more concentrated organizations, a real alternative existed in the shape of direct bargaining and strike action.
In the years immediately before and after World War I, that alternative found increasing support in unions of miners, railway men, and wharf workers, where, as in Britain, the syndicalist ideology of direct action had acquired some influence. Syndicalist rejection of parliamentary politics, and hostility to the state in all its forms, was given particular edge in the context of compulsory arbitration. In New Zealand a militant Federation of Labour developed in opposition to the arbitration system, and in 1912–13 a violent confrontation occurred in ports and mining towns, but the strikes were broken by employers (now mobilized in defense of arbitration), farmers, and the government. It was significant that the majority of unions valued their registration under the Arbitration Act too highly to affiliate with the Federation of Labour. In Australia, compulsory arbitration also survived an increased advocacy and practice of strike action. During and after the war the idea of the "One Big Union," which would unify existing organizations and maximize striking power, gained a certain currency. It seems to have delayed the emergence of an Australian counterpart to the TUC, toward which the intercolonial congresses of the previous century had been moving. Eventually hopes of realizing the grander plan faded, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) was formed in 1927. Though some of the impetus behind the ACTU's emergence came from those who saw it as an instrument for the coordination of strike activity, in practice its survival owed much to the function it performed within the federal arbitration system in representing unions in basic wage and other national test cases.
Union expansion under a voluntary system
In Britain the broadening of unionism's membership base was underpinned by the spread of employer recognition and voluntary collective bargaining procedures, and it was the union leaders' faith in this process that encouraged them to believe that they could dispense with political and legal support. The engineers' defeat in 1898 did not lead to a withdrawal of employer recognition, and by this stage collective bargaining had spread beyond the crafts into coal mining and cotton manufacturing. However, unlike the craft, coal, and cotton unions, those of more recent origin still faced an uphill struggle. In the maritime, railway, and gas industries recognition was commonly denied, but the willingness of the new unions to recruit across occupational boundaries contributed to their survival. During the years after 1910 it was the unions constituted on a general or multioccupational basis that grew most rapidly. Of the three largest unions of the second half of the 20th century, two—the Transport and General Workers Union and the General and Municipal Workers Union—were direct descendants of new unions of 1889.
Though union membership growth was a marked feature of the early 20th century in Britain, as in Australasia, its upward course was less steady and more vulnerable to shifts in the economic cycle. In the full-employment years of 1910–20 it was explosive, accompanied by an escalation of industrial militancy in mining, railways, docks, and elsewhere. As in the former colonies, such militancy was tinged with syndicalism. But growth was halted abruptly in 1920, with membership at 45 percent of the work force, and in conditions of heavy unemployment there followed a long decline into the early 1930s. Though unemployment checked growth in the other countries as well, the contraction in British union coverage, to 22.6 percent, was particularly severe. Despite the shrinking membership, industrial conflict took time to abate, as employers' efforts to force down wages were met with determined resistance. In 1921, with the creation of a General Council, the TUC had equipped itself to coordinate industrial action, and this power was put to the test in 1926 when a general strike was called in support of the Miners Federation. Conflict on this scale inevitably pitted unions against state, and it was this wider aspect of the dispute that in the end caused the TUC, committed as it was to constitutional modes of action, to call the strike off. Government, for its part, having established what it regarded as the boundaries of legitimate action and having confirmed them in legislation in 1927, was not inclined to intervene further to restrict union activity. Nor did employers move to de-recognize unions.
Trade unionism after World War II: An erosion of strength
In conditions of full employment and inflation following World War II, the respective industrial relations systems of both Britain and Australasia came under strain. In the case of compulsory arbitration, unions that had once clung to the system when they were weak now chafed at its restrictions when their strength was recovered. At an early stage there were confrontations involving traditionally militant mining and wharf unions. With the Cold War then at its height, Communist influence within such unions called forth drastic countermeasures by governments, and the 1949 coal strike and 1951 wharf strike, in Australia and New Zealand, respectively, were decisively defeated. As in the past, however, the majority of unions were not drawn into open opposition to arbitration. Nonetheless, though the "adventurist" phase of Communist-inspired militancy was over, more general tendencies toward direct bargaining and strike activity persisted in both countries. Established as an alternative to industrial conflict, compulsory arbitration always faced in practice the problem of how to deal with strikes. A crisis was reached in Australia in the 1960s, when unions were fined for strikes with increasing frequency. The imprisonment of a union official in 1969, in an attempt to recover payment, led to a wave of protest and to the tacit abandonment of penal sanctions. The episode was revealing. It was the system's flexibility, its capacity to adapt to variations in the balance of industrial power over time and between different industries, that had contained the unions within it. Indeed, flexibility (and complexity) became such marked characteristics of the system that doubt grew as to its continued usefulness. In the 1980s the Australian government commissioned a complete review, yet the Hancock Report that emerged recommended no fundamental modification. Compulsory arbitration had been woven deeply into the fabric of national life in both countries, and in the process unions had been integrated more completely than in other democracies.
In postwar Britain, enhanced union power was widely blamed for inflation and for overmanning and disruption in industry. Between 1945 and 1951, when the Labour Party was in government and the wartime ban on strikes continued, integration between state and unions was unusually close. Government acted to break a series of dock strikes, without general union opposition, in a situation that closely paralleled that in Australasia. Through the 1950s and '60s, however, unions and government drifted into opposition. The wartime experiment in compulsory arbitration had struck no deep roots and was abandoned, while the return to purely voluntary bargaining was increasingly perceived as damaging in its economic consequences. Under full employment, shop steward organization spread rapidly through industry and was associated with a growing tendency toward unofficial, or "wildcat," strike activity. The voluntary institutions of British industrial relations appeared to be breaking down, and they were subjected to searching review by a Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations appointed in 1965. The largely voluntary remedies proposed by the commission did not satisfy governments, which were intent on urgent action. In 1969 a Labour government proposed legal restraints on unofficial strikers, enforceable by fines—a development even less welcome to British unions than to those in Australia. The proposals were withdrawn, but the successor Conservative government introduced a new legal code in the Industrial Relations Act of 1971, which included laws on unfair industrial practices and on legally binding agreements. These and various other provisions were to be enforced by a special Industrial Relations Court—in effect reversing the entire British tradition of legal abstention. Even then, unions refused to be contained within the tight legal framework that had been created, and this government was besieged by a renewed industrial militancy that not only rendered its legislation inoperable but also brought it to electoral defeat on the issue of the enforcement of statutory controls on wage bargaining.
In all three countries, profound shifts in the structure of the employed population during the later 20th century eroded the traditional membership base of unions. In following these shifts toward white-collar, female, and service-sector employment, unions endeavoured to match strides with the rapidly changing composition of the work force—just as, earlier in the century, they had broken through the divide separating skilled from unskilled manual labour. However, though their composition was modified profoundly, with greatly increased representation of white-collar and female employees, they could not keep pace. Union coverage of the work force in Britain recovered to its 1920 level in 1948, then surged forward in the 1970s to pass 50 percent for the first time. From a peak in 1979, however, it fell away. Closer integration with the state may have afforded Australasian unions better protection against the adverse consequences of structural change, but this is uncertain. Australian union coverage peaked at 60 percent in 1954; subsequent decline was checked in the early 1970s, but by the late 1980s coverage may have been as low as 42 percent. Higher levels of unemployment from the 1970s reinforced the trend, associated as they were with a rapid contraction of employment in union strongholds in manufacturing, mining, and the docks. In Britain this contraction was accelerated by a series of union defeats, the most drastic of which was inflicted upon the National Union of Mineworkers in the great strike of 1984–85. Legal restrictions on British unions, attempted in the 1970s, were reintroduced in the following decade. But if the political and industrial climate had turned more sharply against British than Australasian unions, the problem of adaptation to change remained a common one.John Christopher Lovell
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
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More About Organized labour100 references found in Britannica articles
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- origins
cultural and social aspects
- anarchism
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- George Bernard Shaw on socialism
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- role in British Labour Party
- In Labour Party


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Princeton Tec Fuel 4 Headlamp - 70 Lumens
Select style & size:Select options
- Black, One Sizesale $11.98
- Gray/Green, One Sizesale $11.98
Tech Specs
Let there be lightweight headlamps.
Strap your Princeton Tec Fuel 4 70 Lumen Headlamp to your head and comb the campsite for enough firewood to get you through another better-left-untold story and the rest of the whiskey. This bright, versatile light may be small, but it can throw out some serious light from its compact frame.
- 70 lumens reach up to 39 meters so you can see from one end of camp to the other
- Focused wide beam is bright up close but drops enough light on the sides to let you use your peripheral vision
- Tight design means this lamp weighs in at at a very packable 2.75 ounces
- Single-arm asymmetrical arm bracket shines light wherever you need it without having to angle your head
- Oversize power button is easy to find in the dark or with gloves on
- 146 hour burn time (on the low setting) keeps you out of the dark for a long time
- Water-resistant construction means this light won't die if you get caught in the rain
- Reviews
Decent Headlamp
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
I've used this a few times since purchase and it's worked as expected as a headlamp. I haven't (yet? luckily?) had the battery door issues other reviewers have mentioned.
My favorite part was that this COMES WITH the batteries - so you're good to go with one purchase! Nothing worse than getting new equipment and then having to make another visit to the store before you can actually use it!
Excellent headlamp
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
I picked this up on sale and use it regularly, for field purposes it was ultimately replaced when I upgraded to the Princeton Tec Tactical Quad Headlamp. I made the move to the Quad solely for the fact that it had interchangeable filters. Say red for night activity when not wishing to disturb wild life (an excellent choice for truly low impact camping) but also the green filter for reading topo maps at night as yellow or even clear light can obscure contour lines. Back to the light at hand, it's bright and its light. With some replacement batteries the fuel could easily pass as the only light source you'd need on a back country trip. Though it may not be in my pack anymore, it is still what I wear when working in dark corners of the basement or finishing up late night yard work. It has a permanent home in the glove box of my truck.
Let There Be Light
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
This is a decent head lamp for the money...especially when you find it on sale for $20. My wife and I both rock the Fuel and have never had an issue. This is a straight forward light. We have worn them when the rain was pretty heavy with no issue. These things are great to have around the house when the power goes out too because of a storm.
Like some of the reviews here have mentioned. The battery door could break, but for me that has not been an issue, and if it will break I know that P-Tec will take care of me!
Light and Bright...with a few kinks
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
Decent all around camp/backpacking light. Brightness is good enough for me although I wouldn't try to do any serious cave spelunking or anything like that. Battery life is awesome and really saves this lamp from a lower rating. The main flaw is, of course, the dreaded battery door. It broke on me during a camping trip through Utah a couple months ago and really frustrated me. However, princeton tec has amazing customer service (another redeeming feature) and sent me out not one but 10 replacement battery doors! I'll definitely be set for life, but it is a bit of an inconvenience that I now have to carry around a spare battery door in case the inevitable happens.
I think its worth the price (especially if you can pick it up off SAC) but be prepared because the battery door will most likely break on you sometime in the future.
Reilly. Did they send you another functional light and needlenose pliers with the 10 doors to fix your light in the dark? Sending out extra doors isnt warranty and speaks of obviously known design defect. The entire line of Princeton Tec lamps that use this door desigm is worthless if you need to depend on your ewuipment.
Nice little lite
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
A great little light that fits most usage. Girlfriend bought one of these on a deal at the GoPro games this june and they let her make a custom color combo for about 20 bucks! Still has that great princeton tec warranty. Have not tested the weather-ability of this piece yet though.
From the Lab: FUEL Headlamp
FUEL puts out 70 lumens via four 5mm LEDs. This headlamp keeps its stable asymmetrical single arm bracket and easy to find power button. FUEL runs for up to 146 hours on three AAA batteries.
Decent output, poor construction
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
I had one of these for a couple years, and thought it was pretty good most of the time; it had pretty good output, was light and easy to operate; but the battery door was ridiculously hard to open, then it broke off
my battery doorbroke quick too...
Mine broke as well. Called up Princeton Tec and they sent me, free of charge, not one but 10 (yes ten) extra battery doors and pins...a little overkill but I'd say I'm set for life haha.
Good lamp, questionable durability.
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
As a few of the reviews have already stated, this lamp doesn't stand up to much and the battery door has now broken on mine. In addition to that, it now has a short somewhere in the wiring and works intermittently. Haven't had any major drops and was well taken care of during use.
Battery door breaks
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
The door to the battery broke off after using it for 2 months. It's useless now unless I duct-tape it shut. I always knew this would eventually happen, so I wasn't surprised when it did.
Other wise, great light. Used the blinking mode for bicycling. Would like it to have a red mode. Give it 3 stars for breaking.
way too bright
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
If you are searching for something you lost in the forest at night, this is your headlamp. If you are trying to blind your friends at night, this is your headlamp. I can't even point this at the bill of my hat on low and have it be as dim as most other headlamps. There are three brightness settings and all of them are stronger than most headlamps. Just don't buy this if you don't want something ultra powerful.
From the lab: PTec FUEL Headlap
Updated for 2012, putting out 70 lumens via four 5mm LEDs. The stable asymmetrical single arm bracket and easy to find button remain. Runs for up to 146 hours on three AAA batteries.


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Be an ace beetle detective. Check your yard, street trees, and neighborhood green spaces for signs of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) and the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle, which have destroyed millions of trees throughout the United States. Since their discovery, infestations of ALB have been reported in four states and infestations of EAB in thirteen states. There could be other undetected infestations in the country as well. The USDA and the Arnold Arboretum are partnering to ask New England residents to participate in the Volunteer Forest Pest Survey. We need your help to determine if either of these damaging beetles have arrived in your community.
You can help us stop the spread of these pests-and the devastation they inflict on our forests, parks and neighborhoods-by searching for signs of both beetles. Just follow these simple steps:
- Review the ALB fact sheet [pdf] and the EAB fact sheet [pdf] to become familiar with the beetles and to recognize signs of damage. Take the fact sheets with you for reference when you search.
- Locate host trees in your search area. The EAB lives in ash trees and the ALB lives in hardwood trees, particularly maple, birch, horsechestnut, willow, and elm. Carefully examine each tree for signs of infestation. Take notes on the following:
- Area searched;
- Types of trees examined;
- Descriptions of any beetles or signs of infestation detected; it is also helpful to take pictures of the insects or damage to your trees.
- Report both positive and negative sightings online at BeetleDetectives.com. Negative sightings help confirm that the beetles were not found in your area.
Thanks for your help in our efforts to control the further spread of these destructive insects in our region.


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Home :: BC 04 CONSTIPATION
Calcarea Fluorica 3x
Kalium Muriaticum 3x
Natrum Muriaticum 3x
Silicea 6x in equal proportion.
Bowel constipated without apparent cause, liver torpid, stools dry, hard and black, dull headache, foul breath, bad taste in mouth, tongue coated.
4 tablets at a time 4 times a day at an interval of 3 hours or as prescribed by the physician.


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This item is noncancelable and nonreturnable.
For a memorable presentation, you can give your Draper 68x68" Cinefold or Truss-Style Cinefold a professional, cinema-like appearance with a striking velour Dress Kit. Stage curtains surround the viewing surface, focus the audience's attention on the screen and frame your visual presentation.
Presentation is half the battle. Draper Dress Kits allow you to put that finishing touch on a show you've worked hard for. The stylish and lightweight kit frames your screen and focuses the viewer's attention on exactly what you want them to see.
Note: This kit does not come with a case. Sold separately
|Packaging Infocvycrqtcdsfycbrfswtbttzzttrbyvuuaxaz
|Package Weight
|50.0 lb
|Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
|58.0 x 16.0 x 13.0"


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Cabinet backplates are all about practical usage, but Notting Hill Hardware is all about beauty. Put them together, and you've got a stunning backplate collection that will service your home for years to come. With a variety of knob backplates to choose from, you can find a style that you really love in no time. Take a look.
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