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**B Grade** Styx Classic - Gold Micro ATX Case
- RAIJINTEK's new aluminium Micro ATX case
- has a remarkably elegant appearance and expansive compatibility with your PC system.
Stock Code: BG-030-RT
Manufacturer: Raijintek
+44 (0)1782 44 44 55
**B Grade** Styx Classic - Gold Micro ATX Case
B Grade items may have been used, have damaged packaging, missing accessories or a combination of these (Motherboards may be missing I/O shields).
Some items may have scuff marks or slight scratches but should otherwise be an operable product.
STYX also provides a great cooling solution, with a 120mm fan pre-installed at rear, optional 2*120mm fan on top /side, optional 120mm fan at bottom and max. 240mm radiator cooling on top/side. Moreover, STYX offers a drive bay for Slim DVD on the side of the case.
With an entirely black coating inside and attractive aluminium colour hair-silk anodized appearance, the STYX satisfies not only your requirement for an elegant chassis, but also offers plenty of features and expandability too!
Features- Aluminium colour hair-silk anodized appearance design
- Internal coated black throughout
- Compatible with ATX POWER SUPPLY
- Compatible with max. 280mm VGA card
- Supports up to max. 180mm height CPU cooler
- 2* USB3.0 ports
- Anti-vibration rubber for HDD installation
- Supports 3* 3.5"HDD +2*2.5"HDD/ 1* 3.5"HDD +4*2.5"HDD
- 120 mm performance fan pre-installed at rear
- Option to install 240mm radiator on the top/side and 120mm fan at bottom
- Large zone of ventilated holes for airflow on side panel
Specification- Colour: Gold - Hair-silk anodized
- internal color: Matt Black
- Dimension (D/W/H): 360mm*210mm*335mm
- Weight (N.W.): 3.8kg
- Weight (G.W.): 5.2kg
- Material: Alu. 1.5mm (external), SPCC 0.5mm (Internal)
- M/B Type: MICRO ATX/Mini ITX
- Power Supply: PS-2
- Power Supply Integration: ATX PSU; Vertically at bottom
- 5.25" Drive Bays: Slim DVD*1
- 3.5" Hidden: 1+2 (exchanged 2.5")
- 2.5" Device: 2
- I/O Panel: USB3.0 * 2; HD Audio x 1
- PCI Slot: 5
- CPU Cooler Height: 180mm max
- Graphic Card Length: 280mm
- Side Panel Style: Vented
- Cable Management: Regular
- Front Cooling Fan: n/a, Rear Cooling Fan: 120mm*1 (pre-installed) , Left Side Cooling Fan: 120MM*2 or 240mm radiator (option) , Top Cooling Fan: 120MM*2 or 240mm radiator (option), Bottom Cooling Fan: 120mm*1 (option)
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These Number Talks are designed to reinforce the DOUBLES strategy when adding and subtracting. They also promote higher level mathematical thinking by providing students with the opportunity to solve problems using multiple strategies and, for some problems, find more than one possible answer. They specifically support the common core standard 1.OA.C.6.
50 number talks and two poster sets
* 25 targeting Doubles within 10
* 25 targeting Doubles within 20
* Silent Signal Posters
* Number Talk Response Posters
Eight different activities are included to maintain student interest and engagement
* Ten Frame Count (5)
* Double Ten Frame Count (5)
* Dicey Dots (10)
* What's My Number (5)
* Let's Shop (5)
* True Equation? (10)
* Yes or No (5)
* Make It Equal (5)
All you need to do is copy the materials (or display them on your interactive whiteboard) and get your students engaged in amazing mathematical student-to-student interaction! Our students have LOVED this daily routine, and math has become a favorite part of their day.
These Number Talks will get your students engaged in mathematical conversations that will help solidify their understanding of using doubles facts to add and subtract.
A few years ago we were asked to implement number talks in our daily math instruction. After engaging our students in a few of these activities, we were hooked. One of our goals then became to create standard specific number talks. We needed to be able to grab number talks that addressed specific math standards we were working on in our math program (such as using doubles facts to increase computational fluency). As a result, this product and other target specific number talk products were created.
. -Busy First Grade Teachers
-Substitute Teachers
-Special Education Teachers
-Whole Group Math Instruction
-Small Group Math Instruction
-Math Intervention
-Kindergarten Teachers with Advanced Students
-Second Grade Teachers Whose Students Need Practice with Doubles Facts
How long do number talks take?
It is best if Number Talks are done daily for between 5 and 15 minutes.
Can these number talks be displayed on an interactive whiteboard?
Yes! In fact, a digital version is included that allows you to write right on the slide using PowerPoint (directions, if needed, are included).
Do I have to print out number talk materials for each student each day?
NO! This is a whole group activity. Just display the number talk for everyone to see. We have included both a printable version and a DIGITAL version.
Wishing you joyful engagement in your primary classroom!

subset: commoncrawl


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About Just Honeymoons
Our Durban Team
More than simply a group of enthusiastic travel experts, Just Honeymoons boasts a charming team of passionate, fairy-tale-believing, sentimental-dreaming, hopeless romantics eager to share their very own taste for adventure, knowledge and impeccable service.
With our wealth of experience, we bring together the world's most fascinating destinations, finest hotels and imaginative tours...
Start your adventure on a Caribbean Cruise and tour the Americas or discover a fated African love; from the kaleidoscopic reefs off the unspoilt East Coast to the majestic wonder of Victoria Falls, the roar of the African bush at night to the peaceful whispering of an indigenous forest. From the exquisite Indian Ocean Islands of the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles to rustic and untamed Madagascar, from the never-ending getaway opportunities in a trip to Zanzibar to the idyllic waters of Bali and Thailand, our dependable group of honeymoon planners, having experienced many of the getaways themselves, will develop a deep understanding of your interests to tailor the perfect itinerary.
Explore our polished combination of services, special packages, tailor-made getaways and a ceaseless commitment to attention to detail, and take your first step together on a journey of a lifetime with us.
Cape Town
Bronwyn Scheepers is our honeymoon specialist, eager to assist you with making your dream honeymoon a reality. Not only has Bronwyn travelled to most of our romantic destinations and experienced the resorts first hand, but she will make your first holiday as a married couple one to remember forever, as she overflows with passion and experience!


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The iKidsworld Talent show is for the age group of 4 to 13 years.
Shoot a two minute video and upload it.
Airtel Digital TV will select 50 videos in two categories of 4-8 years and 9-13 years on a first come, first basis and showcase them on the iKidsworld interactive service.
Last date 7 December 2013


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Sherpa's has been delivering meals to hungry expats and locals across Shanghai, Beijing, and Suzhou since 1999. We provide an excellent platform to connect with customers looking for their next great dining experience. Sherpa's is one of China's most experienced, friendly, and reliable food delivery services! Until now we've got more than 800 restaurants on Sherpa's menu, all of which are carefully selected, international, top-quality restaurants from 87 cuisines across the world.
Our detailed menu helps people to order fast and ef ciently. Sherpa's hires native English speakers who are experienced in the food & beverage industry. We have developed our own internal processes to enable Sherpa's regular customers understand the menus from different restaurant in a quick way.
Sherpa's call center is the key department that connects customers to our couriers and restaurants. Our phone operators are uent in English and ready to help.
Importantly, we keep our customer's private information 100% confidential. The order receipt only shows the general address and the customer's name, so any questions related to the order from both the restaurant and customer need to go through our bilingual call center staff. The service staff can then reach the customer in a professional way.


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About ErinF
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The trouble with diagnosing
ErinF posted a topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Wow, it's been a long while since I've been on the board. A few years ago, after experiencing a year of weird symptoms (a few random episodes of Raynaud's, whole body pain, and fatigue), I was given a tentative diagnosis of systemic sclero. I had high ANA, and tested positive for SCL-70, repeatedly. I was eventually referred up to a rheumatologist in Madison, WI, who declared that I did NOT have sclero, but DID have Ankylosing Spondylitis and Sjogren's Syndrome. (I also have Hashimoto's--I just love how these stupid autoimmune disease cluster together. Everyone I know thinks I'm a crazy hypochondriac). I have since tested positive for the HLA-B27 gene marker, and my ANA varies--sometimes it's positive, sometimes it's not. After repeated positives for SCL-70, I finally tested negative and haven't tested positive again--not once, in almost 3 years. I was relieved--AS isn't great, but it's not as debilitating as sclero and not as frightening. I remember the early days after being told I might have sclero--I cried and cried and cried and cried. Thanks to the support of people on this board I made it through. Just recently, I switched to a rheumatologist closer to where I live, and although all my records were transferred from Madison, he wanted to run all new tests and take new x-rays. Understandable. My blood tests came back pretty good--not a whole lot of inflammation, negative ANA and negative SCL-70. Good news! But my x-rays were disappointing. My left sacroiliac joint is almost completely sclerosed and fused, and my right is starting. Okay, that's expected with AS. However, what shocked him AND ME was my chest x-ray. Lung fibrosis. Incredibly rare in AS, even rarer in someone as young as me (39) without super severe symptoms of the disease. And the fibrosis is very obvious on the x-ray. My rheumatologist was incredibly positive about the whole thing, telling me that there is a new drug called Simponi that is showing great success with arresting AS (I've been on Indomethacin, which frankly, stinks). But I can't help it...the fear about sclero is creeping back. Maybe I do have it after all? Maybe all those positive ANA and SCL-70 tests came when the disease was just starting? That's what my original general practitioner thought--she was convinced that I was in the earliest possible stages, but the expert up in Madison said Nope. I finally felt like the fear of sclero had gone away and that I no longer worried about symptoms suddenly coming on fast and strong, but with my history and now this fibrosis in my lungs, I can't help but wonder if perhaps I have it, it's just "mild." Is that even possible?
ErinF posted a topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted and I've missed everyone! Hope you all are doing well. I've had a really busy last 2 months and have hardly had time to breath! Anyway, after getting some fabulous test results from the rheumatologist in Madison back in June, I just had another round done to see where I'm going and it's sort of back downhill. My ANA went up to 1:640 from 1:320, and my pattern has evolved from homogenous to speckled. The rheumatologist had hoped that the Synthroid (for the Hashimoto's) would lower the ANA but instead it's gone up, as has the number of the thyroid peroxidase antibodies. No explanation for the change in the pattern as of right now. They're going to run all the follow up ANA stuff---check again for the SCL-70 and see if that's back. At this point we're hoping it's just the Sjogren's causing the changes in the ANA. It really stinks to be feeling so positive and thinking that everything was a fluke just to have it come back with a vengeance. For a while I wasn't having any tingling in my fingers but that's back now too, and some minor swelling in a couple of fingers that comes and goes. I was on Indomethacin for the Ankylosing Spondylitis but had a bad reaction to it so now I'm on Piroxicam, which doesn't do a thing I have to say. I see the rheumatologist again on Sept. 10th but my regular doctor is foaming at the mouth at this point--she's absolutely still convinced that I'm in the early stages of a more serious connective tissue disease (you'll remember that she wanted me on Plaquenil immediately) and thinks the rheumatologist is too cautious. I think I may go with her on this one and do the Plaquenil for a few months and see what happens. Oh, the merry-go-round is so fun, isn't it? ErinF
ErinF started following Repeat Blood Testing, Update and Update!
ErinF replied to ErinF's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)AS can be diagnosed with X-rays and a blood test, although the rheumatologist told me that it's mostly a diagnosis based on clinical symptoms--low back and hip pain (like deep inside the buttock) that tends to be one sided (although it can alternate), gets worse with inactivity, person feels the need to stoop to control the pain, eye inflammation (feeling of sand being thrown in the eyes), and fatigue. The inflammation can spread to the joints of the knees and fingers as well. Sounds like your typical autoimmune disease, doesn't it? :P AS tends to run in families, and I'm surprised that I wasn't considered for this years ago because it is in my family. We're just one giant cornucopia of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases on my dad's side of the family. I'm beginning to think we should stop reproducing! ErinF
ErinF posted a topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Hi everyone! I went back up to Madison today for the follow up with the rheumatologist, and got the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. I'm starting the drug indomethacin, 3 times per day. He said that AS is what is causing my aches and pains, fatigue, etc. (probably even the sleep problems) and that the indomethacin should kick in about a week or so after starting it. If that doesn't help, we'll petition the insurance company for coverage for something like Enbrel or Remicaid, which he said costs about $20,000 a year (or more) and so most insurances really balk at paying it. I'm relieved to finally get a real, solid diagnosis so that I know what I'm dealing with. He said that I have two things that are good--I'm a woman and 36 years old. The younger you are when you're diagnosed (like childhood or teens) usually means a worse prognosis and men tend to get the worst cases. The only thing I have to be on the lookout for apparently is leaky heart valves, whatever that means. I have to get checked out by a cardiologist once a year for the rest of my life, but that doesn't seem so bad to me. Thanks everyone for such terrific support over these last two months. You are all an amazing group of people!!!! Hoping everyone is well, ErinF
ErinF replied to LoriAnn's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)I too have horrible insomnia; have had it for years. I have always believed it to be related to whatever wacky autoimmune thing I have going on, but it's been very hard to convince doctors of it until the one I got in February (who finally ran all the ANA tests). I used to take Ambien, until one morning my husband asked how long it took me to get our daughter back to sleep after I gave her the ibuprofen, and I had no memory of this event at all. Scared me to death. But the ambien, while putting me to sleep, didn't help me feel any better--it's like the quality of my sleep was still very poor. My new doctor prescribed Lunesta, but it barely touches the insomnia. I've tried everything, and sometimes I feel like the sleeplessness is the absolute worst thing about autoimmune problems. I wake up multiple times per night and I also have absolutely horrendous night sweats. I know my spinal arthritis is much, much worse during those times when my sleep is at its worst, and like WestCoast said, I wake up feeling as if a truck hit me. My husband, who sleeps like a log wherever and whenever and wakes up feeling refreshed, just has no concept. He gets mad at me because I'm not raring to go in the morning. ErinF
Repeat Blood Testing
ErinF posted a topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Fantastic news!!! I had my first repeat blood testing after the ones in February that came back positive. My Scl 70 and Ku were negative!!!! My thyroid peroxidase had gone up even just since February so it looks like I'll be starting Synthroid...but I'm so thrilled about the other two I could just cry. The CT scan showed inflammatory arthritis of the spine and hips so I find out on June 4th what the "treatment plan" (doc's words!) will be. I'm so relieved and also think it's so fortuitous that being told I might have SSc is what led to someone finally figuring out what's causing all my back and hip pain. It's such a relief to know that I'm not crazy or lazy or just massively out of shape. We're still going to keep a close eye on everything and now that I'm under the care of a rheumatologist, I feel like whatever else comes down the pike will be caught early and treated well. What a terrific way to start a Monday! ErinF
Autoantibody Patterns
ErinF replied to Clementine's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Hi Jennifer, I had an ANA pattern of 1:320 homogenous and an SCL 70 of 2.18 (anything over 1.0 considered positive according to this test). The lab paperwork reads, "SCL 70 antibodies are specific for progressive systemic sclerosis and indicate a worse progress, including advanced forms of interstitial lung disease." I am also anti-ku positive, although only weakly. My rheumatologist says I am essentially "nothing" at this point, because I only have aches and pains, although I did have a rash and weird purple eyelid skin that is indicative of dermatomyositis (but the tests were negative for that) and as of yet no Raynaud's or anything else. He also said the ANA pattern being homogenous is "better" than having it speckled nucleolar, as that is really indicative of full-blown SSc. He contemplated giving me the diagnosis of UCTD but he said he's not even comfortable with that. The resident said if it's anything, at this point it's indicating a very mild course because I developed dry eyes over 10 years ago and he said that I should have progressed much further by now if I were going to. So basically even though I have SCL 70, whatever I have is mild right now and may stay that way (thankfully!). He also reminded me that antibodies, while helpful, cannot be used reliably because they can be all over the place and never actually mean anything. I hope he's right!!! :unsure: ErinF
Coumadin Therapy For Life
ErinF replied to jlf's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)I have APS (was diagnosed when undergoing fertility treatments several years ago). I was put on heparin shots. I felt great on them and never had a side effect except for the bruising on my belly. Shortly after my daughter was born my doctor gave me another med, because I was clotting really bad after the delivery. But everything turned out fine. The only symptoms of APS I've ever had is the miscarriages and I used to get awful headaches as a teenager. They disappeared for a while in my 20's and then came roaring back for a while. I'm now just on 325 mg. asprin per day and it seems to be working fine for me. My uncle, who developed gangrene from his Raynaud's, died of a blood clot in the hospital after removal of his hands. I really believe he had undiagnosed APS. I should add, though, that as of right now I don't have sclero--I'm in an undifferentiated, wait and see pattern. ErinF
Jessica--I think putting pressure on your elbow puts pressure on the ulnar nerve, which can cause tingling in your pinky. I'm not a doctor or a health professional so obviously I could be wrong... Carpal tunnel generally doesn't affect your pinky. ErinF
This is so interesting! My rheumatologist spent a lot of time looking at my nails when I went in for the possible SSc. My nailfold was normal and for him, this meant a lot. However, over the last 2 years I have been having problems with my fingernails themselves--very thin and splitting. I probably should have mentioned this to him. I see him again on June 4th so I think I will. Thanks for posting this!!! ErinF
Hi everybody, Like Erin, I get sort of a light tingly feeling in my hands when I'm stressed. In fact, that's often how I finally acknowledge that I'm anxious about something. If it gets really bad, I take a Xanax and it disappears, so I definitely know it's an anxiety thing--which I think is really weird. My rheumatologist said it's not Raynaud's so not to worry about it. But I still think it's rather weird. For me, I'm probably tensing my shoulders and neck and it's compressing on a nerve. ErinF
Can't Eat Popcorn Anymore!
ErinF replied to susie54's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)I also don't seem to have as much "umph" in my swallowing in the morning as I do later in the day. Also, I can't "swallow on demand" if you know what I mean. Taking pills has always been a bit of a problem. Over the years, my dentist has made sure that all my appts. are in the later afternoon so that my throat has loosened and therefore swallowing when he tells me to is a bit easier...but he's always told me that lots of people are like this so I'm not connecting it to the connective tissue disease. I would be so sad to lose my ability to eat popcorn. Like another confessor here, I soak my popcorn in butter and salt and munch away... :P Erin
Teeth And Healing
ErinF replied to Clementine's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Hi Nan, Nope, I'm not on any meds. As of right now, I'm not "bad" enough to justify them...and I'm not complaining. I'm glad I'm not terribly sick! I go back to the dentist on the 17th of May, and we're supposed to talk more about what kinds of things I can do over the counter. Right now I use a dry mouth toothpaste and rinse. ErinF
Saw The Dr. To Review My Results.
ErinF replied to Jessica's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)I think Jessica's case shows how different rheumatologists can be. My ANA is 1:320 homogeneous and my Scl 70 is 2.18; both much higher than Jessica's but the rheumatologist I saw said no meds...Jessica is put on plaquenil. My primary care physician says it's all about whether or not the doctor practices "evidence based medicine" (in terms of using meds) and to what extent he/she trusts and uses antibodies. You wind up wondering which doctor is right, and maybe sometimes you just never know and have to take a chance. I sure wish, though, there was some sense of uniformity. It's not like you want to chase doctors until one agrees with you (like you actually WANT a diagnosis), but you can't help but feel that either they think that or that maybe you really are suffering from a somatic illness. I'm glad, Jessica, that you getting some meds to slow down whatever is going on inside your body! Take care! ErinF
Okay, I'm Waaaay Confused
ErinF replied to ErinF's topic in Sclero Forums (MAIN)Shelley--It's interesting that you said the primary care physician knows me better, because today I was feeling pretty good other than just some allergy stuff and I told her that, and therefore maybe this really isn't anything I should worry about...and she replied, "Um, yeah, and the next time you have one of your "flares" what should I say? You forget what you're like on your bad days. And my preference is not to keep prescribing Medrol packs every time it happens." And she was right. Her "gut" feeling, she says, is try Plaquenil at the lowest level for a while and see if it helps with the joint and muscle pain and fatigue. She said she's "this close" to just prescribing it, but she would really like a rheumatologist on board. I think I probably will just bite the bullet and get the second opinion. No sense in taking a chance; I owe it to my daughter to make sure I'm as healthy as I can be. On average, how long does it take to get in to see a scleroderma expert? I'm imagining several months. There's another scleroderma researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, but she's not at a large sclero center, so maybe I should just wait. My primary care physician really wants me to see a female doctor; she think they listen better to female patients. ErinF


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"I have seen landscapes…which, under a particular light, made me feel that at any moment a fairy might flutter over the next flower. Nature has that in her which compels us see fairies: and only fairies will do."
We do not ask you to see something that is not as you want it to be and pretend that it is. What we ask you to do is practice moving your gaze.
Joy, gratitude, whimsy, appreciation of nature, being in the moment —
This is what it is about.


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'All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy.' – Oscar Wilde
It was fairly unsurprising to me that bringing a small person into the world made me more of a mum-type. Small people demand a particular kind of attention, and lead to experiences that tend to be had by primary carers; a quick search of hashtags like #mumlife or the less gender-specific #parenting will give you a rapid insight into what those experiences might be. A lot of them have to do with being woken up, interrogated by tiny inquisitors, physically abused and covered in sick, all before 7am. If you can achieve six impossible things before breakfast, you're probably doing it with a child in one hand, the child being the reason these things are impossible in the first place.
The slightly more surprising thing is how much I'm turning into my own mother. Now, my mum would be the first to admit that she's done a fine job of raising an independent woman who has always trodden her own path, which in many instances has looked startlingly dissimilar to hers. My mum is a scientist by training; I'm as artsy as they come. My mum married youngish; I left it fashionably late. My Welsh is as terrible as my mum's Hindi is poor. I can't knit or play the piano, but I can manage complex budgets while literally standing on my head. You get the picture. We're different people, and that's as it's meant to be. At least, we used to be. Now I'm a mum, I'm kind of my mum.
It starts with little phrases I hear myself using, that were never part of my vocabulary before. There are the general all-purpose words that you never have reason to use before you have a baby or toddler: not just the practical terms, like "colic" and "teething", but words like "fractious" and "cranky" and "oh my god why won't you go to sleep?" Then there are the inherited phrases, the nonsensical ones familiar from your youth that you never thought would come out of your own mouth but here they are: "You'll turn into a carrot/baked bean/breadstick/raisin if you eat any more carrots/baked beans/breadsticks/raisins"; "If the wind changes your face will stick like that"; [to myself] "We need to get the wear out of this jacket/cardigan/onesie/summer dress before the weather changes and she grows another six feet and we can NEVER WEAR THE [whatever it is] EVER AGAIN #tragedy". None of these made any sense to me as a child, and if I'm completely honest they make no sense to me as an adult either, but it's all in the maternal DNA or something (please ask my mother for details, she's the scientist).
It won't be long, I'm sure, before I'm lying to Scarlett about the effects of swallowed chewing gum (my mum swore to me that it would wrap itself around your heart, which is not only impossible in itself but also seriously warped my understanding of human anatomy for a few years), or asking her if she would jump off a bridge if everyone else did, or – lordy, I will feel so bad the day this happens – answering the fiftieth "why?" with "because I said so". I've worked with under-5s for over a decade, I know how persistent the little buggers can be. I think when we become mothers, we all turn into each other's mothers, because personal models are a strong and persistent thing and hey, what else are you going to do?
But you know, maybe it's not such a bad thing. After all, my mum's mothering worked out alright. I didn't turn into a HobNob, I got the wear out of a succession of summer dresses and winter boots, my face remains mobile and I never suffered a chewing gum-related tragedy. So I think these are good traditions to pass on. I think we'll be OK.
Do all women become like their mothers? Does no man become like his? What weird phrases from your childhood do you find falling out of your mouth on a daily basis? Answers on the back of a fractious toddler, or in the comments below.


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TOAM is a DHB funded Community Stop Smoking Service, that is engaged to reduce smoking rates in the mid-central region to 5% by 2025. TOAM works in collaboration with its partner, THINK Hauora to run Stop Smoking Clinics in General Practices and with the DHB to provide services at hospital clinics, as well as in communities.
TOAM have a dedicated team of stop smoking coaches covering Dannevirke to Pahiatua and Eketahuna in the east, to Palmerston North, Levin, Shannon, Foxton and Otaki and out to Feilding and Apiti in the west.
Matanga (Coaches) provide a culturally responsive service to groups and all individuals, Maori, Pasifika and hapu mama – pregnant women are a particular focus as smoking rates are highest in these groups of people.
Clients are supported through a 4-week programme to quit smoking, using a combination of NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) and personal coaching, and also "Vape to quit" programmes for those using e-cigarettes to stop smoking.
It is sad and thought provoking to note that NZ buries 5,000 people per year from smoking related illnesses, more than car crashes…and Maori woman have the World Record for dying from lung cancer. TOAM is passionate about reversing these statistics; in adding 10-15 years to your life the day you quit!
Ask your General Practice team for a referral or call TOAM direct on 0800 40 50 11


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I won't say this gives more pleasure than just munching away, indeed it can be difficult to sort out all those flavors and sensations.
But it is a kind of mindful eating, if a surprisingly cerebral one, that has increased my appreciation of apples. If you do this enough it will train your palate and perhaps your brain in some unexpected ways.
First step, though, is cleaning. Apples should be stored unwashed, so clean them when you are ready to eat. Waxed apples are washed after harvest, but subsequent handling can put dirt and germs on the surface of the fruit.
Do not neglect the stem well, which can trap dirt and pesticides. I usually just rinse and rub with warm water, but there are vegetable soaps available.
Ready to eat? No so fast. Take a minute to hold and look at your prize. You might regard its basic shape (round, conical, oblate, irregular), size, ribbing if any (and how much, and are there "chins" at the base).
Notice the color and appearance both of the blush and/or russet, if any, and the underlying unblushed flesh. A blush can be solid or faint or streaky, and the surface of the apple can be glossy or dull, and may not always be smooth.
Blush and russetting or other blemishes—in terms of appearance and location—often tell a story about how the apple grew.
Apples blush in the sun; the circular shadows of neighboring fruit cast gaps. Hail leaves marks. Often russet is concentrated in the stem well where water collected as the fruit's gathering weight made it hang upright.
Note the appearance of the apple's lenticels, which are its pores. Are they numerous, large, regular in size and/or distribution? What color are they? How do they look in the blush as opposed to the unblushed skin?
How does the fruit feel in your hand? Is it firm? Heavy? How does it smell (e.g., cider, pear, sweet, berries, grass, yeast, cheese)? Flip it over and examine the calyx. If it's open, can you see the stamens from your fruit's past life as a flower?
If you are still with me after that, I salute you. Now bite your apple.
What color is the flesh? Any there highlights or streaks of color? Is it fine-grained or coarse? How much juice? How's the crunch--crisp, mealy, tender? Does it break off in chunks or do you have to tear it off with your teeth?
And, how does it taste?
For me this is the most challenging part, where I grope for words and sensation. One place to start is with the tension, if any, between sweet and tart. Most modern apples are sweet, in which case the presence of any tartness and acidity can enliven the flavor.
A well-balanced apple often has the most interesting flavors, sometimes serially, sometimes all at once.
Such flavors might be floral (lilac, daffodil, etc.), spicy (ginger, pepper, cinnamon), vinous, grain (corn, barley), nuts (hazelnut, chestnut, cocoa), vanilla (including cream soda and vanilla caramel) and also other fruits: pineapple, banana, berries (strawberries, blackberries), melon, coconut, mango, tangerine, peach, lemon, pear, and others.
Sweetness may be specific, such as honey, caramel, or brown or cane sugar. There may also be acid, pine, wood, and tobacco.
Try hunting for some of these flavors as you savor a mouthful. No doubt I've missed some!
Once you have the savory lay of the land, you might try to see whether you get the same flavors at the start, middle, and end of each bite. Do these flavors follow each other in a regular way? Do the juice and flavor taper off while you are still chewing pulp and peel?
Do you notice the peel, and at what point? Is there a finish? Any astringency? How do your mouth and throat feel afterwards?
Do you note any differences based on the part of the apple from which your bite came? In my experience, an apple ripens, and overripens, from the equator to the poles, so a stored apple may have truer flavors and better texture at the top and bottom if it is a little past its prime. Sometimes the flavor and texture changes towards the core, too.
One reader finds qualitative differences between the top and the bottom, which makes sense though my palate is not fine enough to taste it.
You might also notice that some apples oxidize (turn brown) quickly when broken while others only turn color a little bit or slowly.
These are some of the dimensions of appearance, taste, and texture that I try to experience and describe when I am reviewing an apple variety. It's fun, but also can be hard work!
Sometimes I'm very happy to just enjoy an apple without such a deliberate effort of concentration, and I hope that you are too.


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Hamlet and Julius Caesar Shakespeare Readings for fun by all levels (Tucson)
Reply to: email@example.com [?]
Date: 2008-12-15, 4:58PM MST
Would like to get together with some people who would be interested in reading some Shakespeare out loud. Am a professional actor and have done this before and it has been a fun time. Again, this is for people of all skill and knowledge levels.
- Location: Tucson
- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Tucson Theatre Announcements List
Archive and subscription information on http://tucsonstage.com


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Julian Tugaut (University of Bielefeld)
Exit problem of McKean-Vlasov diffusions in convex landscapes
The exit time and the exit location of a non-Markovian diffusion is analyzed. More particularly, we focus on the so-called self-stabilizing process. The question has been studied by Herrmann, Imkeller and Peithmann (in 2008) with results similar to those by Freidlin and Wentzell. We aim to provide the same results by a more intuitive approach and without reconstructing the proofs of Freidlin and Wentzell. Our arguments are as follows. In one hand, we establish a strong version of the propagation of chaos which allows to link the exit time of the McKean-Vlasov diffusion and the one of a particle in a mean-field system. In the other hand, we apply the Freidlin-Wentzell theory to the associated mean field system, which is a Markovian diffusion.
Full Text: Download PDF | View PDF online (requires PDF plugin)
Pages: 1-26
Publication Date: September 12, 2012
DOI: 10.1214/EJP.v17-1914
- Benachour, S.; Roynette, B.; Talay, D.; Vallois, P. Nonlinear self-stabilizing processes. I. Existence, invariant probability, propagation of chaos. Stochastic Process. Appl. 75 (1998), no. 2, 173--201. MR1632193
- Benachour, S.; Roynette, B.; Vallois, P. Nonlinear self-stabilizing processes. II. Convergence to invariant probability. Stochastic Process. Appl. 75 (1998), no. 2, 203--224. MR1632197
- Cattiaux, P.; Guillin, A.; Malrieu, F. Probabilistic approach for granular media equations in the non-uniformly convex case. Probab. Theory Related Fields 140 (2008), no. 1-2, 19--40. MR2357669
- Dembo, Amir; Zeitouni, Ofer. Large deviations techniques and applications. Corrected reprint of the second (1998) edition. Stochastic Modelling and Applied Probability, 38. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2010. xvi+396 pp. ISBN: 978-3-642-03310-0 MR2571413
- Freidlin, M. I.; Wentzell, A. D. Random perturbations of dynamical systems. Translated from the 1979 Russian original by Joseph Szücs. Second edition. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften [Fundamental Principles of Mathematical Sciences], 260. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1998. xii+430 pp. ISBN: 0-387-98362-7 MR1652127
- Herrmann, Samuel; Imkeller, Peter; Peithmann, Dierk. Large deviations and a Kramers' type law for self-stabilizing diffusions. Ann. Appl. Probab. 18 (2008), no. 4, 1379--1423. MR2434175
- Herrmann, S.; Tugaut, J. Non-uniqueness of stationary measures for self-stabilizing processes. Stochastic Process. Appl. 120 (2010), no. 7, 1215--1246. MR2639745
- Herrmann, S.; Tugaut, J. Stationary measures for self-stabilizing processes: asymptotic analysis in the small noise limit. Electron. J. Probab. 15 (2010), no. 69, 2087--2116. MR2745727
- S. Herrmann and J. Tugaut: Self-stabilizing processes: uniqueness problem for stationary measures and convergence rate in the small noise limit. To appear in ESAIM Probability and statistics, 2012.
- Imkeller, Peter; Pavlyukevich, Ilya; Stauch, Michael. First exit times of non-linear dynamical systems in $\Bbb R^ d$ perturbed by multifractal Lévy noise. J. Stat. Phys. 141 (2010), no. 1, 94--119. MR2720045
- Imkeller, Peter; Pavlyukevich, Ilya; Wetzel, Torsten. First exit times for Lévy-driven diffusions with exponentially light jumps. Ann. Probab. 37 (2009), no. 2, 530--564. MR2510016
- Malrieu, F. Logarithmic Sobolev inequalities for some nonlinear PDE's. Stochastic Process. Appl. 95 (2001), no. 1, 109--132. MR1847094
- Malrieu, Florent. Convergence to equilibrium for granular media equations and their Euler schemes. Ann. Appl. Probab. 13 (2003), no. 2, 540--560. MR1970276
- McKean, H. P., Jr. Propagation of chaos for a class of non-linear parabolic equations. 1967 Stochastic Differential Equations (Lecture Series in Differential Equations, Session 7, Catholic Univ., 1967) pp. 41--57 Air Force Office Sci. Res., Arlington, Va. MR0233437
- Sznitman, Alain-Sol. Topics in propagation of chaos. École d'Été de Probabilités de Saint-Flour XIX—1989, 165--251, Lecture Notes in Math., 1464, Springer, Berlin, 1991. MR1108185
- J. Tugaut: Convergence to the equilibria for self-stabilizing processes in double well landscape. To appear in The Annals of Probability, 2010.
- Tugaut, J.: Self-stabilizing processes in multi-wells landscape in mathbbR^d - Invariant probabilities. To appear in Journal of Theoretical Probability, 2011.
- J. Tugaut: Self-stabilizing processes in multi-wells landscape in mathbbR^d - Convergence. available on http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00628086/fr/, 2011
- J. Tugaut: Captivity of mean-field systems. available on http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00573047/fr/, 2011.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.


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Tribeca Film Festival 2009 – The Latest (and the Underappreciated) From Woody Allen
Woody Allen is not only one of America's most iconic filmmakers, he's also one of its most prolific. You can count on Woody to deliver a movie every year, along with the occasional play, book and jazz concert. This year, his new movie Whatever Works opens up the Tribeca Film Festival thereby marking his 44th flick as director. (Anyone remember What's Up, Tiger Lily? from 1966?)
Everyone loves Curse of the Jade Scorpion — but how do you feel about the movies that fall in between? Rank your favorites — or leave suggestions in the comments section below — from ten underrated masterpieces. Manhattan Murder Mystery fans, unite!
For more on this year's festival, tune in to the AMC News Special on Fri., May 1 @ 11PM | 10C.
- Festival TicketsYour online box office for screenings, industry panels and other festival events
- Movie TrailersGet a sneak peek at what films are screening at this year's festival
- Photo GalleryMovie stills of this year's lineup from Whatever Works to The Girlfriend Experience
- Video InterviewsAMC News Correspondent Jacob Soboroff gets up close with the stars
- Woody Allen PollHere's a chance to show your support of the director's most underrated movies
Read More


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EXPERIENCE Johannesburg
1 Capricorn Drive, Lonehill, Johannesburg
Showing all 13 results
Monday - Sunday: 07:30 to 17:30
Public Holidays: Closed
Located within the Jaguar Land Rover Experience Centre. The cafe offers beautiful menu and harvest tables for groups. Open for private bookings.
For everything you need to know about the COVID-19 lockdown, visit the Government's Online Resource & News Portal. sacoronavirus.co.za


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Author Archives: anne fairbrother
We are looking for people who can make a fab cup of coffee, but also share our values, and are keen to know more about local produce (Honey, preserves, local beer, London Gin) and build a relationship with some of … Continue reading
Our Cafe & Local Larder Re-Launch
Come and join us on Saturday 10th June from 9.30am to celebrate the re-launch of our lovely newly refurbished Local larder and Coffee shop! It's almost 8 years since we first had the idea for a local food store in … Continue reading
September Menu
Our resident chef @bluejaybrixton has created a fabulous September menu of early autum flavours & warming dishes. Book through email@example.com
'Homegrown' woodworkers in residence at Cornercopia Homestore – September 24-27th
20 years we ago bought a 'minature silver birch tree from Brixton Woolworths for £2.25 and planted it very close to the kitchen window so we could see it's leaves dance in the wind. 20 years on it was huge … Continue reading
An English Summer Feast in our Secret Garden – Sunday 2nd August
Sunday 2nd August is the second event in a series of feasts we are hosing at home in our 'Secret Garden' (or inside if the weather insists) A very English affair with poached salmon, pork pie & picalilli, coronation Chicken, … Continue reading
Sunday 26 July – the first secret garden pop up
Feast on Greek style hospitality in Brixton, austerity on hold … Just a few tickets remaining.
Come and eat in our 'secret garden – tickets now on sale!
Take a secluded urban green space, sow and grow a host of vegetables, herbs and flowers. Fire up a wood-burning stove or two , gently smoke something tasty overnight, open a bottle of something special…Welcome to our secret garden. We … Continue reading


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The two conditions, being pregnant and having fibromyalgia each on its own have plenty of discomforts, aches and pains when you combine these two conditions in one woman's body and you are just asking for trouble. Fibromyalgia can have serious affects on the health of women and there is no greater time when stress is put upon the female body than when she is growing and nurturing another life inside her body. The physical demands put upon her body are great. When these demands are put upon a body already suffering symptoms of intense pain and fatigue and you are asking a lot of a woman.
Thankfully there are many resources available to women who have fibromyalgia and who wish to bear children. Studies show that women who are pregnant and have fibromyalgia will experience a worsening of the symptoms associated with the condition during the pregnancy especially in the third trimester when the physical demands of the pregnancy are greatest.
Preparing for Pain
If you have fibromyalgia and are just considering becoming pregnant now is the time to ask questions of your doctor and to prepare yourself for the rigors ahead by making sure that your body is in the best shape possible before becoming pregnant.
During pregnancy a woman with fibromyalgia may experience an increase in pain level, in the amount of fatigue she experiences, and an increase in depression. These symptoms and the intensities will vary depending on the age of the woman, her general physical condition, her sleep patterns, the medications she is taking, her education and her marital status. Research conducted in Norway and the United States show that women with fibromyalgia typically have an increase in fibromyalgia symptoms during pregnancy.
There are typical pregnancy symptoms that are related to the hormone fluctuations of pregnancy including morning sickness (nausea and vomiting), headaches, fatigue, dizziness and general aches and pains; these symptoms tend to increase because they are also fibromyalgia symptoms and may already be present before the hormonal fluctuations of pregnancy begin.
Discontinue Medications
Because no medication has been found to be completely safe during pregnancy many doctors recommend that women who suffer from fibromyalgia should discontinue medications before they become pregnant and definitely during pregnancy for the safety of the fetus.
There are other methods of controlling the symptoms of fibromyalgia besides through the use of medications. Other methods of symptom management include exercising, massage therapy, meditation, getting plenty of rest and being able to relax muscles.
The woman with fibromyalgia during pregnancy should also rely upon other safe treatments for her symptoms such as stretching, heat therapy like taking a warm bath not to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the use of electric heating pads and blankets should not be used while pregnant.
It is also important that women who have fibromyalgia should do all that is possible to avoid using alcohol, or tobacco products during pregnancy. Certain exercises are useful for helping to ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia during pregnancy including aquatic exercise (water therapy), Pilates, stretching exercises especially back stretching, massage therapy and yoga.


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Ciao! In Italian today Senora told us about the Italian puppet play that's coming to our school next week. It's called 'Puss In Boots'. It sounds really good. Mrs L added movements to our music story in class Music today. It was fun when we had to try and copy what she did!
In Mental Maths we learnt that a numeral is a number and, in Handwriting, we practised our downward strokes using uppercase and lowercase 'i'. Mrs M says we are getting better at remembering to put spaces between our words.
Some of the class went to choir with Mrs L. Then after lunch we had Mrs M's mum and dad come to visit us. They live in Narrogin, WA.
Today's Daily Writing topic was "Describe a small animal." We decided to write them like "Who am I?" riddles. Here is some of our work.
I have two fins on each side.
I have one gill on each side.
I have one tail.
What am I?
(I'm a fish!)
By Matthew
I have fluffy ears.
I have four legs.
I have a little tail.
I am different colours.
What am I?
(I'm a puppy!)
By Caitlin
I have two pointy ears.
I have a long, furry tail.
I have three whiskers on each side.
I have paws.
What am I?
(I'm a cat!)
By Ella
Love from the Smarties and Mrs M.


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PDFXporter + Polymorphical Project Diary :: Rapid Project Development :: Day #13
January 15, 2011 1 Comment
Read the Disclaimers and Warranties and download the Pre-Alpha now
Day #13 – Billable Hours #1 -6
Application Prototype in a Single Day !
This is the first big real-world test for the concepts published in this article series. Someone needed a complete Application rather quickly and since this is something near and dear to my own heart I chose to step-up and provide the prototype in just about 6 hours or effort.
Polymorphical is born !
By using the exact same code model from the PDFXporter Project I was able to build-out a completely functional Prototype for Polymorphical in just 6 hours of work.
These are the only two Requirements, there are no others.
- Scan a bunch of JavaScript files and determine the Class Hierarchy for all these JavaScript files such that a Tree can be displayed.
- Cache the Class Hierarchy based on the timestamps of all the files that describe nodes in the Class Hierarchy so that users can display the information quickly without having to scan each time.
Why use the PDFXporter Project as the template for Polymorphical ?
The answer is simple.
Because I can !
Because the new Application should inherit 100% of the functionality of the former !
Because doing this is just cool !
And because the guy for whom this work is being done might just be a little bit impressed and that might work wonders for my career.
Day #13 – Billable Hours #6 -8
Rework the Model so both Projects share more code !
Now that there are two different Projects sharing the underlying Framework the time has come to allow many more Projects to be spawned from this Framework by building a common upper-level Framework; the lower-level or Core code is already 100% reusable.
Project Recap so far…
During the previous 12 days of development the following has been accomplished by one single individual contributor:
Reusable Cloud-based versioned API has been created, tested, validated and placed online with live code.
The Cloud-based API can easily be reused for ANY project or product that requires License Management.
If one Product can be produced then ANY number of Products can also be produced with minimal effort.
- Two (2) different Projects have been built so far using very little time and effort.
- ALL Projects that stem from the original share the very same Cloud-based Back-end now this saves time and money like there is no tomorrow.
- Two (2) different Projects have been built so far using very little time and effort.
The License Management System can be easily extended to require Pay-Per-Use or Pay-Per-User or any other viable model.
- The Payment processing System could be any usable provider such as PayPal or Google Checkout.
- License Management System also supports Freeware.
License Management System does not use OpenID nor does it require Users to have Google Accounts.
- OpenID or Google Account Authentication could be used going forward as options.
- FaceBook Authentication is also an option going forward.
- Terms and Conditions have been installed in the product.
- Auto-Updater has been coded but needs to be tested using a real-world scenario.
- Badge Installer for the Personal Version has been completed and is online.
- Version 0.1.1.0 has been deployed and is online.
Reusable Adobe AIR 2.5 Framework has been created, tested, validated and placed online with live code.
- Adobe AIR 2.5 also means there could easily be an Android App using much of the same code as is used by the Desktop App.
- Native Installer means Native Process Support is automatic – this allows the Desktop versions to be augmented by some rather powerful client-side code, should this become a requirement.
- Adobe AIR 2.5 also means the Desktop version could run in Windows, Mac and Linux however for now the pre-Alpha version is Windows only.
PDFXporter Project Diary :: Rapid Project Start-Up :: Day #1


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After the disbanding of their Gainesville, Fla.-based prog-rock group Emperor Moth, multi-instrumentalist brothers Joshua and Mishco Makay moved to Athens, Ga., where they formed Macha. The shift from one thriving college town to another — and a backpacking trip through Southeast Asia — changed their music forever. Their guitars, keyboards and drum kits were now surrounded by zithers, hammer dulcimers and enough gongs to fill a few temples in the rain forest.
Read the full review at The Japan Times Online.


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I have made an observation in my life that I wish to share with you. Somewhere in the last 2 television seasons 30 Rock has become much funnier than The Office. There it is. Drink it in and prepare your rebuttal.
I was a latecomer to the U.S. version of The Office (which is ironic since I worked at the studio that produced it and had access to it before it was even on the air) mostly because I felt devoted to the British version and didn't want to sully the memory of that great show with what must be the inferior American version. However, beginning in the 2nd season of The Office I found myself watching it with my roommates and became hooked. I realized that Greg Daniels, the exec. producer, had cleverly created an entirely different world then the British version, and wasn't in fact copying it down the line (though they certainly did in the pilot). Michael Scott wasn't impersonating David Brent, they were different characters… and it was hilarious. Who wouldn't love "Michael Scarn", or Pam and Jim's flirtation, or lines like:
You cheated on me? When I specifically asked you not to?
And then, right about the time I was falling for The Office, along came a show by Tina Fey called 30 Rock, which I had previously known and read as "The Untitled Tina Fey Project" – a very funny script, but also one that had been pushed back to a later development cycle, and which was also getting a little less publicity than it's drama doppelganger "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". I watched from time to time and thought it had funny moments, in between the million barbs aimed at republicans, but it didn't have my undivided attention.
Well the tables have turned. 30 Rock is the funniest show on television right now. Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon would eat Michael Scott and Jim Halpert up and spit them out if they crossed paths. Lemon's sarcastic self-loathing and Donaghy's self-righteous narcissism are a duo that can't be beat. Maybe once Fey realized that a democrat was going to be in office she toned down the bashing of conservatives, or maybe the writers have just gotten into a rhythm… like Seinfeld after a few seasons. Whatever the case, every time I see a teaser for 30 Rock all I can think is – "I want to go to there."
What do you think? Take our poll.


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Soft4Boost DVD Creator 18.104.22.1689
oft4Boost DVD Creator is an easy-to-use disc authoring and burning software that lets you do more with digital media. It has been designed to help you organize your video footage into a professional and good-looking DVD project. Create DVD discs with personalized menus Enhance them with titles, music and effects. Choose from a set of handy and professionally created presets. Burn the project to DVD and share with friends and family.
Soft4Boost DVD Creator is a part of SorentioApps.com package. Register once at sorentioapps.com and work with all tools from the SorentioApps.com package. Subscribe for $24.95/year or $39.95/lifetime.


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Hillview Apartments is a Freehold Apartment located at District 23, Bukit Batok, West Region. It has a total of 40 units and was completed in 1998 by HILLVIEW MANSION PTE LTD. The nearest station is Hillview MRT (885m) while the nearest school is Ocean Ambassador Dive Center Pte. Ltd. (215m).
Buyer & Seller Insights
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Sale Transactions
Cumulative Sale Profit/Loss
Nearby Sales Listings
There are currently 358 listings, ranging from $759 psf (1,305 sqf) to $2,051 psf (948 sqf).Show More
Past Sales in Nearby Projects
In the past 12 months, the highest transacted price was MONT BOTANIK RESIDENCE - $1,805 psf (775 sqf) and the lowest transacted price was THE PETALS - $697 psf (1,905 sqf).Show More
Comparison with Nearby Projects
Over the last 12 months, MONT BOTANIK RESIDENCE recorded the highest average sales price at $1,667 psf while HILLTOP GROVE recorded the lowest average sales price at $773 psf.Show More
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Current Rental Listings
There are currently 3 listings, ranging from $2,500 (3-bedroom) to $2,600 (3-bedroom).Show More
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There are currently 266 listings, ranging from $800 (1-bedroom) to $8,300 (4-bedroom).Show More
Past Rentals
In the past 12 months, monthly rentals range from $2,150 (3-bedroom) to $2,300 (3-bedroom).Show More
Past Rentals in Nearby Projects
In the past 12 months, monthly rentals range from THE AMSTON - $1,600 (1-bedroom) to SUMMERHILL - $5,500 (4-bedroom).Show More
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Project Details
Project Size: 40 units
Completed: 1998
Tenure: Freehold
Developer: HILLVIEW MANSION PTE LTD
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China's trade surplus rose to $31.99 billion in October from $27.67 billion in September, data from China's General Administration of Customs showed on November 10th.
It was the second straight month of surprisingly strong export data, and will likely reinforce market confidence that the Chinese economy is now recovering from a prolonged slowdown.
China's October exports rose 11.6% from a year earlier, faster than September's 9.9% rise and higher than economist expectations for a 10.0% expansion.
Imports, however, rose a lackluster 2.4% from a year earlier, unchanged from September's rise and short of economist expectations for a 4.0% rise.
Analysts said imports of raw materials such as iron ore could have been affected by a longer-than-usual October holiday, which meant factories were open for fewer days than last year.
China's imports from Japan fell 10.1% from a year earlier in October, and were down 6.8% in the first 10 months of the year.
China's exports to Japan were less affected. They were up 1.0% in October from a year earlier, and up 4.1% in the first 10 months.
Exports to Europe fell 8.0% from a year earlier in October, showing that economic weakness there continues to weigh on demand for Chinese goods. Exports to the U.S., on the other hand, were up 9.1%.


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- Home
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Self-Confessed Taphophile Sticker
Publisher: Gould Genealogy
Product Description
Media: STATIONERY
Year: 2018
Publisher: Gould Genealogy
Taphophile (otherwise known as a tombstone tourist, cemetery enthusiast, cemetery tourist, grave hunter, graver), describes an individual who has a passion for cemeteries, epitaphs, and gravestones.
We know you love cemeteries. And your family knows it too. And you're not afraid to admit that you too are a TAPHOPHILE!


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Firstly I want to say Happy Valentine's Day! I sure hope you are all having a day filled with love and chocolate!
My in house taste tester and I never really "do" Valentine's Day, but I am going to make him homemade pizza for dinner. Oh the romance‼
My favourite thing this week is my grapefruit knife. I love this thing! I have been eating half a grapefruit for breakfast every morning for the last month or so. This knife makes quick work of prepping it.
You use one end to cut around the outside edge, then the other end to cut between the sections. It is so simple, but watch it the knife is super sharp.
I got mine at Crate and Barrel a year or so ago.
If you eat a lot of grapefruit I would suggest you go find one. It is so much easier than using a regular knife.
Have a fabulous weekend!


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Both the prosecutor and the judge provided incorrect information to a defendant, on at least two occasions, regarding the mandatory minimum sentence associated with a guilty plea. When the court imposed a higher sentence in accordance with the actual language of the statute, the defendant objected and later appealed. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in United States v. Davis, ___ F.3d ___ (4th Cir. 2012), affirmed the trial court's sentence, holding that the government did not breach its plea agreement by incorrectly advising the defendant of the mandatory minimum sentence. It declined to enforce the defendant's waiver of appeal, but denied his other points of appeal. In a concurring opinion, one justice concluded that the government did in fact breach the plea agreement, but concurred that the sentence should be affirmed.
The government charged William Davis with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years when a defendant has three prior felony convictions at the state level. The government, concluding that Davis met the ACCA standard, advised him in a plea agreement that the ACCA had a mandatory minimum of ten, not fifteen, years. The court additionally misinformed Davis of a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence twice during his plea hearing. The presentence report, issued after the court accepted Davis' guilty plea, included a recommendation of a fifteen-year sentence.
Davis objected to the fifteen-year sentence at his sentencing hearing, arguing that his prior convictions did not qualify under the ACCA. He did not raise a claim for breach of the plea agreement at this time. The court sentenced him to 180 months in prison. Davis later filed a pro se petition to challenge the sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 2255 and obtained the right to appeal. He reiterated his ACCA objections in his appeal and added a claim that the government breached its plea agreement by misinforming him about the mandatory minimum sentence.
Because Davis only raised the issue of the plea agreement for the first time in his appeal, the Fourth Circuit could only review it for "plain error." The court found that, under contract law, the government was only bound "by the promises it actually made to induce the defendant's plea." Davis, the court concluded, voluntarily signed a plea agreement in which the prosecution, on paper, made no guarantee of a specific sentence, indicating that the judge would have final discretion. Despite repeated statements by both the prosecutor and the judge in open court, the Fourth Circuit held that it could only bind the government to its written agreement. Incredibly, the court also held that the ACCA allows no discretion as to the mandatory minimum, so it would lack the authority to reduce Davis' sentence below fifteen years regardless of the plea agreement.
In a concurring opinion, Senior District Judge Jackson Kiser, while agreeing with the court's ultimate dismissal of Davis' appeal, concluded that the government did breach the plea agreement. By making incorrect statements as to the mandatory minimum sentence, the prosecution failed to "disclose all material terms of the plea agreement" and triggered the defendant's detrimental reliance on their mistake. Despite this, Judge Kiser agreed with the majority in denying Davis' other grounds for appeal.
Michael J. Brown, a board-certified Texas criminal defense attorney, fights for the rights of defendants to complete and accurate information about their case and the law that governs it. Full knowledge and disclosure is essential to making an informed decision, and we are committed to making certain that the government and the court provide honest and accurate information. To learn more about how we can assist you in your legal matter, contact us online, or call (432) 687-5157 today.
More Blogs:
Recent U.S. Supreme Court Holding Affects a Defendant's Right to Cross-Examine Scientific Experts in Texas, Nationwide, Texas Criminal Lawyer Blog, June 26, 2012
Houston Grandmother Given a Life Sentence For Allegedly Conspiring to Smuggle Drugs, Texas Criminal Lawyer Blog, May 14, 2011
Texas Death Row Inmate Denied DNA Testing, Texas Criminal Lawyer Blog, May 13, 2011


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Creationism, geology, and a scientist's soul
Posted by metaphorical on 14 February 2007
At first, I thought Marcus Ross was an idiot and the University of Rhode Island was wrong to grant his Ph.D. in geosciences. But then I started to think about my mathematical logic professor, Andrzej Mostowski, and I'm not entirely sure.
As described the other day in a NY Times article ("A creationist takes a place in the world of fossils," reprinted in the International Herald Tribune here):
Ross is hardly a conventional paleontologist. He is a "young-Earth creationist." He believes that the Bible is a literally true account of the creation of the universe and that the Earth is at most 10,000 years old.
For him, Ross said, the methods and theories of paleontology are one "paradigm" for studying the past, and Scripture is another. In the paleontological paradigm, he said, the dates in his dissertation are entirely appropriate. The fact that as a young-Earth creationist he has a different view just means, he said, "that I am separating the different paradigms."
A friend of mine believes this to be possible to do, comparing it to believing "both Euclidian and non-Euclidean geometries as valid in their own contexts."
Of course, on the face of it the paradigm talk is absurd, and the comparison to geometry inapt. Plenty of people, such as another friend, a retired geology professor in Connecticut, believe the Bible and contemporary ideas of evolution and geologic history to be true, but they believe the Bible to be allegorically true, or true in principle, but not literally. To say you are a "young-Earth creationist" and the Earth is at most 10,000 years old is to believe that the Bible is literally true. And if the Bible is literally true, it's not just one of several paradigms in the sense of alternate geometries, it's true, as in a-man-is-on-trial-for-murder-and-you-as-a-witness-have-to-tell-the-truth true.
So really, for Ross only the paleontological paradigm is a paradigm, something that can be supposed for the sake of argument to be true, in the same way that when Hilbert came along with non-Euclidean geometries at the turn of the 20th century, everyone still believed Euclidean geometry to be true-true, while Hilbert spaces were "interesting" and "valid," meaning self-consistent and internally coherent.
And so I thought the paradigm talk to be bullshit, and a smokescreen, and the university to be complicit and culpable.
But then I remembered Mostowski. When I met him, it was the summer of 1973, between my freshman and sophomore years of college. For some reason I had got it into my head to spend the summer at Berkeley. Mostowski was teaching a math logic class, which I was utterly unprepared for, even more than I knew beforehand. I also signed up for an epistemology class, which I wasn't worried about it, but the math class had me terrified as well as excited.
I knew that set theory, or "abstract algebra" as it was called at my school, was absolutely required for the class, but in my program it was taken in the first semester of the sophmore year; I was already enrolled in it for the following fall semester. Nevertheless I bought the textbook that was used in that spring and read it in the weeks before Berkeley's summer term began, hoping for the best. 1973 was still, culturally, the summer of love, for me at least. The day before seeing California for the first time it occurred to me that everyone at Berkeley would have a pony tail and I told my stepmother to cut mine off.
The first day, I figured out I was the lone freshman in the whole class, and when Mostowski asked if any in the class hadn't had topology, only a few of us raised our hands. I went to see him in his office. He listened patiently and then told me that he would explain all the topology concepts as he used them, and topology wasn't very hard anyway. I realized almost instantly that he was one of the kindest, clearest men I would ever meet, and I was suddenly filled with confidence that he would make those explanations and I would understand them. I also realized, somehow, without seeing the numbers on his arm, that he had been in a Nazi concentration camp. It didn't surprise me, even though I knew little of his background.
Mostowski was the youngest of the great Polish logicians, the greatest school of mathematicians of the early 20th century. As a group they took the unfinished science of mathematical logic, as formed by Frege and Russell and Whitehead and Hilbert and others, and turned it into a mature branch of mathematics. One of their number, Tarski, came up with a functional definition of truth that's still used today. He also worked with von Neumann on applications of these math subjects to physics. The Polish logicians broadened the connections between logic and algebra to include geometry and topology, which was another branch they contributed to greatly. Tarski's mentor, Stanislaw Lesniewski, invented probability logics, about which I had written a term paper in the spring—which is how I first discovered the Polish logicians.
As it turned out, in 1944 Mostowski was deported, assigned to a concentration camp, and had a number tattooed on his arm, but two nurses helped him escape back to Poland, where he hid till the end of the war.
Rather than hardening his heart, Mostowski's was as open as an angel's wings.
Early on in our class, he started talking about the Intuitionists. This was a school of mathematicians that believed in unbounded sets but didn't, strictly speaking, believe in infinities. Intuitionism is a form of constructivism, in which a mathematical entity can be said to exist only if it can be constructed, so among other things, intuitionists don't believe in negative proofs. (A negative proof is one in which a theorem can be proven by first supposing it is false and then deriving a contradiction.)
Mostowski wasn't himself an intuitionist but he was extremely concerned that some of his students might be—even if they didn't know that about themselves yet. So he carefully distinguished all proofs as being ones that intuitionists couldn't accept from ones that everyone could. He would sketch out alternative, constructivist proofs, whenever possible. He tried at all times not to, as he put it, crush the intuitionist student's soul. I will always think of him as a kind of mathematical bodhisattva.
When I think of Mostowski, the Euclidian vs. nonEuclidean comparison to Marcus Ross doesn't seem so inapt. Mostowski wasn't an intuitionist and yet was prepared to accept it as true for his students, and not merely as some abstruse theory bearing no relation to reality. Indeed, the intuitionists rather aggressively make existence claims for the entities their theorems describe; they feel entitled to do so by their constructivist methodology.
In the end, I still think very little of Marcus Ross. I don't trust his motives—I think he will take his degree and wield it as a credential in the creationist war against science, and, indirectly, the university that awarded it to him in good faith. I also think any Bible literalist wanders dangerously on sad and shaky ground, lost to himself intellectually and ethically, because fundamental beliefs about science, reality, and morality are too important to be grounded in the circular logic of believing the Bible is the word of God because God, in the Bible, says it is.
In the end, though, I have only sympathy for the University of Rhode Island. Withholding a degree from someone it accepted into a program, even when the person has fulfilled all the requirements of the program, would be troubling. Perhaps it hopes that Ross will wake up one day and be freed of promises he made to his evangelical family when he was, surely, too young to know any better. Perhaps it took pity on a soul that must be, intellectually, in torment, and decided, like Mostowski, not to be the one to crush it.
34 Responses to "Creationism, geology, and a scientist's soul"
14 February 2007 at 11:18 pm
Augustrose, what are you saying the bible shows the earth to be over 10,000 years old? The bible shows the earth to be closer to 6000 than 10,000 – 10,000 is the upper limit that could be deduced by the biblical chronologies.
And metaphorical, it would be nice if you'd explain why evolution is 'science' and creationism not. They both are based on unprovable, and in evolutions' case, improbable hypotheses.
14 February 2007 at 11:29 pm
What I was saying was that though I do use the bible as my basis for belief and interpret the evidence accordingly, there is much evidence to substantiate my belief.
The evolutionary geologist does the same, he believes the earth to be millions of years old and twists the evidence to fit. Some evidence does appear to fit this paradigm but to me it just doesn't appear to fit very well.
14 February 2007 at 11:46 pm
Metephorical, you were being insulting as well as false by indicating that only people using a long age paradigm were being rational in their beliefs.
My comments were not, whatever you say 'tired generic debates' and were directly related to your blog.
However, if you are upset about my comments, I can only assume that you
cannot answer them, and will, due to your request, not post on this blog any longer.
Best regards, frederic.
15 February 2007 at 9:25 am
And for how many years dinosaurs were lizards and now they were chickens?
*running around the room in muddy shoes cackling hysterically*
16 February 2007 at 12:13 am
at issue here are two diametrically opposed systems of viewing our world. we all know these two opponents, and we all come to the table with a reasonable view of each side of the story.
there is room for both to be heard, for both viewpoints to be expressed. is it essential for us to "take sides"? no. we should learn from the example of Mostowski in this piece. while he may have favoured his own interpretations of his chosen field of expertise, he honoured himself and others too, those who held seemingly conflicting views of their worlds. he accomplished this equilibrium by not being owned by his own convictions. it requires true adherence, true core authenticity to love all knowledge, and be true to one's own values in a balance of embodying power without yielding to one's own force.
this post's message – i think – is a simple lesson in higher wisdom; a wisdom which supersedes all other reactions to blind faith in any discipline no matter the root.
17 February 2007 at 3:53 pm
[…] Creationism, geology, and a scientist's soul […]
19 February 2007 at 11:03 pm
Re: granting the degree:
My undergraduate institution faced the same problem with a fundamentalist MA candidate in biology who didn't out herself as a nutter until she'd almost finished the degree, then announced she didn't "believe in" evolution. Many of the faculty were very reluctant to grant the degree, but agreed she'd met the legal requirements. Some felt it was their fault for setting the requirements for the degree in such a way that a nutter could meet them, but, as was apparently the case with Ross, it would always be possible for somebody to simply fake it until they got the degree and then renounce their own studies. I don't think there's a requirement that you believe your own thesis or dissertation (though one could make an argument that submitting one you don't believe in is a form of academic dishonesty).
Re: Mostowski's tolerance:
I think there are several things going on here that are important, and make the case of your logic class very different from that of a nutjob religious rockhound.
First, as I suggest above, while one can admire the rigor of logical theories, that is not the same as agreeing they reflect physical reality. So one can acknowledge theoretical standpoints on purely logical issues that would not be rational for observation-based empirical descriptions of the world. Second, both of the alternative viewpoints Mostowski highlighted existed within the realm of an ongoing debate within the professional community that was conducted under standards of reasoned professional discourse; neither position claimed non-rational access to special knowledge that is incompatible with rational thought. (If the Intuitionists had claimed they could just "intuit" proofs, or that certain theorems should be accepted because they "just knew" they were true, or "God said so", I'm sure Mostowski would never have countenanced their bullshit.) Third, Mostowski was in a pedagogical role, not simply acting as a professional in his field; he therefore had at least some obligation to accommodate respectable alternative beliefs within his field. I presume he did not express open-mindedness about proof methods in his own published works, but in the classroom he, properly, did not shut out students who might be inclined to hold (rationally-defensible) beliefs he did not share. Fourth, as Mostowski noted, the students themselves were in an unformed state regarding their understanding of the field and its controversies. To insist upon only one resolution of such controversies would be indoctrination, not teaching. Although he may feel strongly that one particular answer to such a controversy is correct, his perception that the controversy is a live one in the field – that rational and knowledgeable persons are not in consensus regarding it – should raise for him an obligation to maintain the students' intellectual "equipoise" on the subject until they are ready to come to their own informed opinions. Finally, and not insignificantly, the "alternative" beliefs Ross endorses are empirically testable and factually false even on the grounds its supporters claim make them true – they can only be held consistently by invoking nonsensical special pleading (such as that God made fossils and distributed them as they are specifically to fool us); the theory of logic Mostowski opposes at least has the advantage of resting on assumptions that are not observably in conflict with the way the world actually is.
For all these reasons, there is justification for Mostowski's behaving in the classroom, with regard to a theory he does not endorse, that does not apply to Ross either inside or outside the classroom.
Re: Ross's "paradigms":
As an academic philosopher, I'm certainly sympathetic to the belief that philosophical and logical proofs are (in many cases) at least as reliable as scientific ones, often more so. I'm even willing to grant the realist position about the subjects of those proofs, though I'm still vague as to exactly what it means to say numbers "exist". But that does not mean that just any internally consistent (and let's skip even that question in regard to the Bible) description of how the world might be is an equally valid description of how the world actually is.
Scientific descriptions of physical reality beat carefully crafted Just So Stories all hollow. The logic used to structure both is the same, but only one insists on points of contact between the theory and the actual, physical world, and objective (i.e., not easily misinterpretable) demonstrations of the truth of the claims the theory makes at those points of contact. And I take Quine's point that we can resolve contradictions in any theory by making the necessary "adjustments to the web" of facts and beliefs, but even he was forced to add that that adjustment could in some cases require "pleading hallucination" about our observations. Logically, he's right, but I think we are entitled to be skeptical of theories that require us to plead hallucination about otherwise obvious physical facts, and even more skeptical (to the point of dismissal) of ones that exist only on the evidence that God spoke to you. The lunatics' world is just as real to them as our world is to us, but that doesn't mean there aren't lunatics, and if your scientific theory involves supernatural beings telling you things secretly then you're one of them.
Finally, I'll note that Ross's use of the term "paradigm" (as with so many others who have picked up on it) is at odds with the meaning intended by Kuhn, who introduced it in that context. For Kuhn, "paradigm shifts" occurred because of unresolvable tensions within a given theory, forced both by the accumulation of new data and its perception by younger, differently-socialized scientists. They were a mechanism by which theories were upgraded and improved – but fundamental to that is the traditional picture of science as upgrading and improving its theories.
Kuhn never meant – and there is no reason to believe – that scientific theories did not become more accurate over time, or that some theories were not better than others. He was merely describing the process by which theories are compared and accepted/rejected. And if, during that process, both theories are endorsed by knowledgeable persons during some given period, that too is merely part of the process (during which the consensus will shift to one or the other theory and the less-supportable one will be dropped). He did not mean that one particular person could endorse both of them, or that there was no question of truth involved as to which one you endorsed.
If Ross thinks you can just "switch paradigms" without switching your beliefs, he understands science in general even less than he understands geology. Saying he can work in the scientific "paradigm" in some contexts (when he's trying to winkle a degree out of a real science program) and the supernatural "paradigm" in other contexts (when he's using his scientific credentials to undermine science with irrationality) is just nonsense. The point to the notion of paradigms is that they are all-encompassing: they invoke a general worldview that makes it difficult to shift one's beliefs, and from which embracing the new theory requires a radical revision of one's sense of how large parts of the world really work. That is, paradigms exist, and there is tension between competing paradigms, because they rest on a firm belief in the actual truth of the theory one holds.
Ross seems to suggest (and I can't believe a fundamentalist could mean this honestly) that you can endorse both incompatible "paradigms" simultaneously. That makes no sense, and also flies in the face of the sincere conviction that makes a theoretical standpoint a "paradigm" in the first place.
It may be unfair to say so without being more familiar with his actual work, but from what you say above, I'd go with "idiot".
20 February 2007 at 4:07 pm
[KTK:] "paradigms exist . . . because they rest on a firm belief in the actual truth of the theory one holds."
I think this is a psychological and not a philosophical statement.
Exactly – or, more precisely, it is a sociological statement. Kuhn was describing the phenomenology of "paradigm shifting" – the process whereby the scientific community as a whole abandons a once-favored theory and adopts a new one. He was not describing the truth or falsity of any given theory, or how one can prove a theory true or false. (He was mostly pointing out that the mythological view of science, whereby scientists simply confront one another with facts and then everyone immediately sees the logical implications and adopts the new beliefs automatically, is false. There is a sociological complexity to a group-wide shift in allegiance to scientific beliefs just as much as there is to a shift in religious beliefs, political parties, or what have you. But that does not mean the successful theories are not more true than their rivals, only that truth does not guarantee success, either immediately or at all.) The process depends upon human psychology and sociology as much as it does facts and logic.
The fact that it is difficult for any particular individual to make succh a shift should not be taken itself as evidence that it is difficult for any other individual to do so without some very clear evidence.
"Making the shift" is not the problem here. Precisely because people react somewhat differently to challenges to theories they hold, the "shift" does not occur instantly and simultaneously for all; this was Kuhn's major observation, and it is hardly surprising. (Indeed, some never manage to embrace the new, with important examples including Agassiz on evolution and Einstein on quantum mechanics.) Because the "shift" takes place over an extended period throughout the larger scientific community, there is a period – possibly generations in length – during which both competing theories may be supported by (different groups of) knowledgeable people. Gradually, individuals may switch camps (usually mostly in one direction, as one theory supplants the other) as their personal convictions change; that process may be delayed but is usually relatively quick in completion for each individual, and usually irreversible. Thus, many individuals wind up supporting both theories at different times, but nobody should be supporting both theories simultaneously – nor should they switch back and forth frequently or without compulsion by new data.
The problem with Ross is not that he supports one theory that no rational person supports (though you could make a case that way); the problem is that he apparently supports two incompatible theories that no rational person could hold simultaneously, and seems to suggest you can freely switch back and forth between them for the sake of convenience, and not in response to new data. That is nuts.
21 February 2007 at 1:04 pm
Substitute for a moment a phrase like "worldview," and any thoughts of holding one at 1:00 and another at 3:00, and flipping between them as often as a kitchen light quickly becomes a picture of extreme psychological infirmity, or worse.
This is what I had in mind (and what I meant in using the word "worldview" in expressing it).
People can certainly change their minds – one hopes they will. But that change, to be rational, should result from an encounter with new data or a better explanation of existing data, sufficiently compelling to outweigh one's allegiance to the old theory (and one's socialization into having accepted it). One can even, in principle, shift allegiances back and forth between theories, but, again, in each case the shift should be in response to a new construction of the theory that is reasonably perceived as better than the old – and even here, if one is frequently shifting in response to a rapid influx of new data on both sides, it is probably more rational just to regard the issue as undecided until the balance tips definitively. But whatever one does, it should be a response to a change in the perceived evidentiary basis for the competing theories – either the accumulation of new data, the falsification of an existing datum or theoretical point, a better theoretical construction of existing data, or possibly one's internal response to arguments that have been recognized but not fully accepted until some time has passed. In any event, something must happen that influences, in a reasonable way, one's perception of the logical soundness of one argument or the other. That change in perception of the rational grounds for accepting a theory should then reasonably prompt a change in one's willingness to accept theory. That is a rational process.
What one cannot rationally do – whether or not one does in fact make these changes in belief – is shift one's allegiance between theories, one time or repeatedly, at whim or in response to no change in the rational basis for accepting them. To do so is not rational, precisely because it is not prompted by a rational re-evaluation of the factual and logical grounds for the theory. It's not a question whether some people (like, some people named "Ross") are capable of believing 6 impossible things before breakfast; clearly some people are so capable. But they are not rational in doing so. It is also not a question whether they "really believe" what they claim to believe, "really believe" they're entitled to believe contradictory things simultaneously, or in fact "really do believe" contradictory things simultaneously. Clearly many people are capable of doing those things, too. But, again, none of them are rational. And, again, whether they are rational or not is not a subjective question. Such beliefs are not rational because they do not result from rational processes. Changes in one's beliefs that do not result from changes in perception of the rational grounds for a claim are likewise not rational. Claiming you can believe one theory at 1:00pm and a contradictory theory at 3:00pm, to be rational, must imply that something happened between 1:00pm and 3:00pm that changed the rational grounds for accepting or rejecting either theory (and that you were sufficiently insightful to perceive and evaluate that new evidence, and then revise one's understanding of a major scientific issue, in the space of two hours). Changing back at some later time implies a similar development prior to that change back. And so on for every change in position one claims to make as a rational act.
It's not impossible that such changes can occur, or even that they can be evaluated and accepted rationally almost immediately, but that seems unlikely in most scientific situations. It seems vastly unlikely that such changes would be rationally justified on a daily or weekly basis for any current scientific controversy. And it's simply false in the case of evolution – there has been no accumulation of new evidence, or even theoretical explanation, regarding the fact of evolution or its basic mechanisms that would have justified any shift away from the standard position (broadly described) for several lifetimes now. The field is certainly not in such flux that any rational and informed person should shift back and forth between evolution theory and creationism on a daily basis (or at all). And, aside from the lack of rational grounds for doing so, Ross, again, appears to claim he is entitled to do so without rational grounds, which he surely is not as a rational act. He may very well be psychologically capable of changing perspectives, but that does not speak highly of his psychology. And he is legally free to spout whatever nonsense he wants. But he cannot accurately claim to be behaving rationally in doing so, for reasons that have nothing to do with his personal beliefs or inclinations.
21 February 2007 at 2:27 pm
"that change, to be rational, should result from an encounter with new data or a better explanation of existing data, sufficiently compelling to outweigh one's allegiance to the old theory"
And what if the observer finds the evidence for both cases equally compelling? Leaving Ross aside, for the moment. Perhaps you answer that here:
"it is probably more rational just to regard the issue as undecided until the balance tips definitively"
Why? Is this the same sense of "rational"? Could not it be argued that one can better persue a line of thought and investigation by adopting a temporary belief state and taking on the worldview? I use as examples simple beliefs, such as the existence of an external world, continuation of time and the usual skeptical hand basket as examples of how psychologically it is more useful (asuming in some cases the truth of these premises) to believe them in the face of lack of definitive, or even (in my opinion) convincing evidence. If I am willing to (temporarily and tentatively) jump to an assumption of validity on such simple beliefs, why not elsewhere as it serves the purpose of usefulness? I wonder if those of us for whom skepticism is real, and not just an intellectual game, take a different view here…recognizing the need to make "irrational" choices of belief?
"Such beliefs are not rational because they do not result from rational processes."
Could you define rational beliefs without reference to "rational processes"? I wouldn't normally ask anyone to define "rational" (heck, I'm a linguistic pragmatist and this one is way out there), but since you are relying so heavily on it I think it would help.
Actually, as something of an eliminitive materialist this belief state talk is giving me a bit of a headache. I think I really should probably bow out of this one. I'm afraid my faith in both human language and absolute progress of science are too weak to be a true participant in such discussions, and I see no real purpose to be gained in trying to convince others to abandon their faith in these niceties.
[metaphorical…I'm not logged in, so, yes, this is serious cheating on my effort to get off the whole blog scene. But in fairness, this is just continuing a conversation…]
22 February 2007 at 1:07 pm
I, unfortunately, am among those for whom the definition of rational belief was not clear–a large set, at least in my time, though that may have changed.
Just to be overly picky in case anyone might misunderstand, while I work psychologically from something akin to the eliminative materialist "paradigm" ("world view" doesn't work in this sentence), I am not actually a "materialist" in any traditional sense of that term and understand why some would prefer I simply say "eliminitivist", though I do have reasons for not doing so. Just keeping the record straight since I have likely made negative comments about materialists somewhere out in the great void.
22 February 2007 at 3:36 pm
"Rationality" here takes on aspects both of conditions for ascription of belief and of practical reason. One must be rational in granting credence to particular beliefs or scientific theories, and doing so precludes, as it happens, granting credence to unfounded beliefs or to contradictory beliefs simultaneously. One must also conform one's behavior to conditions in the world in rational ways, such that (among other things), one does not behave in keeping with facts or conditions that do not actually obtain. Clearly, the two constraints are mutually interdependent.
As to what it means to believe, or to act, "rationally", I have only a loose sense of that as involving the application of fairly standard and uncontroversial rules of logic to propositions or facts encountered in the world. Which system of logic to use should not be too controversial in arguments over everyday subjects such as basic science; there is a large family of logics whose basic rules of reasoning are the same for most purposes (and whose divergence in abstruse contexts such as quantum phenomena usefully reflects the still-poorly-understood nature of those phenomena). Pranksters who claim to be operating under non-Aristotelian systems of logic or the like can easily be eliminated from the debate by virtue of the fact that their arguments lead to impossibilities when applied to simple situations in real life. (I do not think that a "true" logic can be identified by empirical test – but empirically non-useful ones can be eliminated.) As for facts and propositions, here again there is a broad enough agreement on non-controversial ones to serve as starting point for argumentation, and to which other accepted facts and propositions can be added if they pass the test of empirical grounding and logical compatibility with our existing set of beliefs. (I reiterate that Quine's point – that it is possible to ratify any proposition by arbitrarily falsifying others, "if necessary, by pleading hallucination" – is logically true but not recommended as an empirical strategy.)
So I don't think "rationality" is that much of a problem, or that technical difficulties in defining it precisely preclude us from behaving rationally in everyday contexts, or distinguishing those who do and do not. (You disagree? Fine. Abandon any attempt at rational reflection on your behavior for the next few days – make all your choices without any rational process – and see what happens. If you find that doesn't work, then the conclusion must be that rationality does work – and that there is such a thing as rationality.) To be rational, to oversimplify it, is simply to think and act logically in response to conditions in your world. It requires, among other things, that you should have logical reasons for what you believe, and you can't believe two mutually contradictory things at the same time. That, in turn, implies that if you do rationally believe a thing, it is because you do have logical reason for believing it, and if you rationally change your beliefs it is because something about the grounds for those beliefs has changed. It means as well that if you do hold two contradictory beliefs, you necessarily aren't being rational.


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Ralf Lemster is the owner of Ralf Lemster Financial Translations GmbH, a specialized translation business focusing on complex financial markets texts. Ralf has ten years of investment banking experience with a major German bank. He has been a translator since 1997, having passed the German state examination for English that same year. He is a Vice-President of the German Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators (BDÜ).
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Fall 2019
ENGL257 - Children's Literature
Literature of the nineteenth through the twenty-first century concerned with, and written for, children and young adults. How such narratives speak to themes of changing social, religious, political, and personal identity. Through poetry, novels, graphic novels, and film, explores how children's tales encapsulate and reflect on human existence, while pushing boundaries of what constitutes "children's literature" and what exactly defines the "child." Considers questions of literary classification through investigation of political and religious issues, gender politics, animal rights, social justice, race, war, and what it means to "grow up."