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Walter Hart
From 1960s fashion technology pioneer to Export Commendation award winner; from stonewashed denim flares to occasionwear and back again - iconic New Zealand label Vamp's founder has quite a rag trade story to tell.
Walter Patrick Hart was born in 1939 in Wellington - the eldest son of five children. His father was a barrister and solicitor at the New Zealand Treasury. His mother was what Walter describes as an 'haute couture' designer/dressmaker, very well known through the Wellington region - whose work intrigued her young son.
Walter wanted to be a panelbeater, but a colleague of his father's - a government vocational minister - suggested he study what was then called 'clothing'. He accordingly studied at Wellington Technical College, nights and Saturdays - no weekday course in clothing was available at that time.
Initially entering the fashion industry as an apprentice cutter/tailor at tailoring and manufacturing company Theo Wilson, Walter completed the requisite 10,000 hours over five years. He is at pains to point out that at that time, within the 10,000 hours apprentices were taught tailoring, sewing, cutting and pressing. You were a clothing manufacturing apprentice and you learnt the lot."
At the end of the apprenticeship Walter was instructed to leave the garment industry by the surgeon at Wellington Hospital, as dust fibres and dye released in the manufacturing process were problematic for his health - his nose having been thrice-broken playing rugby. "If you break your nose one more time I will refuse to fix it," said the surgeon. He made a living working from home for a while, stovepiping jeans for his friends and cropping them a little to show the new Bodgie-style fluro socks and big shoes.
In 1963 Walter joined fashion manufacturing company Fashions Limited as a cutter. He was sent to Fashions Limited's New Plymouth plant - with 180 staff plus three external factories - on the proviso that if he put in two years, he would be then be sent to London for specialised training. Fashions Limited were tired of bringing English tailors out to New Plymouth, only to find the imports didn't like the quiet town and left before the investment in them had been realised.
At 25 Walter was duly send to London to study pattern making, the new technology of fusible interfacing and computerisation - just at its beginnings in the fashion industry - for a year. He worked at a massive factory in Luton employing many Italian and West Indian immigrants, who helped to manufacture the likes of sophisticated, beautiful coats and Goray skirts (the factory exported 11,000 per week to Europe).
On Walter's return in 1966 he was tasked with applying the methods to the New Plymouth factory at Fashions Limited's plant - not an easy job given that many of the people he was training were tailors of decades' experience and seniority, fearful of losing their jobs. The tailors' fears were never realised because the new processes required their experience - fusible interfacing or not, you still had to know how to put a garment together.
With the plant operating smoothly and the new technology in place, Walter had just returned to Wellington when Fashions Limited offered him a role in Auckland at their renamed company, Classic Fashions. They had purchased the Sportscraft label from Ross & Glendining and acquired Classic Fashions and wanted Walter to help with management of the new ventures.
In 1971, after three years working at Classic Fashions in Auckland, Walter left to manage the new Fotheringay Boutique. He worked with "clever, flamboyant" Sharman Maich to design, produce and manage Fotheringay's collections. Fotheringay had been set up by Colin Kay, owner of the House of Flackson, as a boutique above his Karangahape Road shop. "It was the first real boutique shop in New Zealand," recalls Walter.
The boutique and label were named after a Scottish heavy metal band with which Sharman had previously been touring in England. The shop's decor was bohemian - heavy velvet drapes, dim lighting, black painted floors. Sharman played Jim Morrison and heavy metal bands on rotation and Fotheringay soon became the 'in' boutique.
Walter formed a small workroom on the premises to work on design, cut patterns and produce garments - floor length velvet coats and big full circle wool skirts in big checks.
The boutique was immediately successful, and four more Fotheringay boutiques were established in the Flacksons stores. To cope with the increased volume Walter set up a factory in Upper Queen Street and employed more staff. Sharman left to open a boutique in Victoria Street, called The Case is Altered, with Penny Maich. She was replaced as designer by Brigid Brock and later, Elisabeth Findlay.
At this time there were only a few boutiques in the country; notable were Elle Boutique in Hamilton, and Tigermoth and Hullabaloo in Auckland. Retailers all around the country wanted to stock Fotheringay, but Flackson wanted to retain the brand exclusively. To meet the demand, with input from the Fotheringay designers as well as Walter's own design team, the Vamp label was established in 1973. Its logo - a woman penned in black sporting heavy makeup - was inspired by Sharman, who had beeen described by a label artist working with Walter as "She's just a vamp, that girl!"
Magazine advertisement for Vamp, 1970s.
Vamp quickly established itself, its styling virtually the same as Fotheringay, but with a twist. The demand from stores around the country was so great that consignments were shipped sight unseen, and no garment was ever returned. "We were pretty famous in those days!" says Walter. He also launched a menswear label, SuperStud.
Vamp's range of denim was a key part of their offering. Walter had seen stonewash starting to appear overseas and he worked with a small laundry, C&F, to develop a stonewashed jean range which was an immediate success. The C&F owners drove to Taupo to source trailer-loads of pumice integral to the process.
Advertising photograph for Vamp jeans.
Around this time, Walter partnered with Derek Hall - the owner of denim garment manufacturer Hall Manufacturing in Rotorua - to propose to Jag that they become the Jag franchise holder for New Zealand. Jag agreed - the first time anywhere in the world they did a franchise deal - a stipulation being that Walter must build a flagship store to a very detailed and luxurious Victoriana specification. He borrowed money from his father and three months later opened in the Victoria Arcade in Victoria Street in central Auckland.
The opening was fashion dynamite. With fitting rooms full, women changed clothes (the likes of washed-down, super tight denim with deep gold stitch detail, applique, tapestry and overdye) in the arcade itself. The store had to close within five days of its opening so that Walter could replenish the stock. He paid his father back shortly after Jag opened.
Ad for Jag, 1976.
After two successful years, Walter sold his share of the Jag business back to Derek Hall and his wife Wendy Ganley. Jag were moving up market into the Adele Palmer arena and the shift pitted the merchandise directly against Walter's own Vamp label.
Walter's business continued to grow so his brother Tony moved from Wellington to Auckland to assist. The brothers formed a separate company, Harbro, and using the Vamp model started supplying price-pointed garments to Woolworths and Shanton. This expanded into swimwear, and in 1981 Moontide was born. The new label shifted into its own premises, and under Tony's management, it grew to be a global brand.
Meantime Walter differentiated his jeanswear from the dressier end of his production, forming new sportswear label VSSP. He moved the business to new Newmarket premises, where Barry Wadman joined with the Rage and Vertice menswear labels. Barry had been left with a lot of factory space when menswear label Barkers went vertical and started manufacturing offshore - one of Rage's factories had been supplying 42,000 shirts to Barkers each year.
When Vamp sales manager Wayne Brown left in 1990 to start his own label, Susie Walker joined the company as sales and marketing manager. Walter quickly noticed Susie's "wonderful creative talent". Susie had been CEO of swimwear label Expozay in the USA and Australia. Walter decided to launch in Australia in 1993 but there was one glitch - a dubious lingerie manufacturer already had the Vamp brand there. Walter declined to accept the brand holder's exorbitant offer and rebranded Vamp with a label he already had acquired from Barry - Vertice.
Vamp show in the 1993/1994 Corbans Fashion Collections.
In 1996 when competitor label Hero joined Dress for Less and went vertical, Hart Manufacturing developed the label Epic to fill the gap in the market. Epic was closed down when Dress for Less closed and Hero's founders launched new Vamp competitor Verge.
In 1997, Walter reached one of the pinnacles of his career - a New Zealand Department of Trade and Industry export commendation award for achieving AUD$4.2m in exports. Walter says that it was a thrill for his staff and admits that he was proud to be recognised for his achievements by the business community. On hearing the fashion side of the industry described as a 'twilight industry', he joined with Jack Cooper and Paul Blomfield (adding financial support alongside fellow industry heavyweights) and started the Fashion Industry New Zealand - not-for-profit organisation to provide representation and support for the industry.
At its largest in 2004, Hart Manufacturing employed 65 staff (110 others indirectly at external factories), sold into 230 stores in Australasia and 100 in New Zealand, produced 160,000 garments in New Zealand annually, and exported 50% of its production to Australia. Two additional labels had been successfully added to the stable: ART-TEASE (an art-based embellished t-shirt collection) and LUXE, a special occasion brand that evolved from the company's participation in New Zealand Fashion Week.
In 2006 Susie Walker left the company to take up a position as USA export manager for streetwear label Huffer. "Susie could foresee that all the big international retailers were going to enter Australia, and online shopping was on the rise. We anticipated that smaller boutiques would go into demise," Walter recalls. He describes his own realisation that the market in Australia was dropping off rapidly, and that he was going to have to pull the business back when it had hitherto always gone forwards, as a low point.
In 2012 a dear friend of Walter's was diagnosed with cancer. He decided then, at 70 years old, that he wouldn't do another range. "I had reached a point in my life where I was looking for a bit more freedom, I wanted to be semi-retired."
Ah-hah! moment aside, this was a typically calculated business decision. "We thought it out really careful and decided that there was no real future for a New Zealand manufacturing company of the size of ours - we were still 50% made in New Zealand at that point."
The labels were put on the market and have subsequently been retailed at Farmers by Ben Nathan. Walter quietly wound down the business. He waited for a year to do so, until all his staff had jobs to go to - it's a point of pride that the Hart Manufacturing reputation meant they were quick to be re-employed. He gave the machinists their machines and many of them now have home-based businesses.
Walter's desired retirement was only partial - four of his staff have stayed on as part of the reconfigured importing and distribution business that he started. He finds the new incarnation of his business genuinely interesting. In this instance, you can't take the man out of the rag trade.
Text by Julie Roulston. Banner image of Walter Hart and models, 1970s. Image © Walter Hart.
Last published February 2016.
Velvet vest & long crimplene skirt
Long black velvet coat
Nile blue dress with pineapple motif
Button-through dress with lip print
Fashions Ltd


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Joe Rogan is Dead: How the Pandemic Killed the World's Best Podcaster
James Di Fiore News Jan 14, 2022
There was a time, not too long ago, when I considered Joe Rogan to be the best podcaster alive.
Let's keep it real for a second, shall we? Rogan was the best podcaster alive, and for several years. He grew an audience organically, and he did it by not placating to political ideologues. You couldn't pin him down to any discernable ideology, and in an era where echo chambers are built with the specific goal of guaranteeing a core audience, Rogan was just himself, conversing with guests from all walks of life, and making people gravitate towards long-form content.
Put bluntly, for many of us, Rogan was our Joeprah, only without a hysterical studio audience screaming because he gave them sweaters or free vacations. Rogan found a way to squeeze through the middle during a time when not taking sides meant not being heard. He was the exemption to the unwritten rules of polarization, and us listeners were happy to tune in.
Then came Rogan's 100-million-dollar contract with Spotify, a monstrous deal that was finalized in 2020 when this pandemic was still in its early stages, and a noticeable change in Rogan's apolitical personality started to emerge.
To be honest, I really do not know if Rogan's recent outbursts about vaccines is the first time we have seen him cling to information that is clearly uninformed, or if it is part of some bizarre strategy to retain what is looking like his new core audience – the MAGA-ish, Trumpian, anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist. I know, and trust me I held out as long as I could, but Rogan has changed for the worse, and he isn't the first to come to the conclusion that the loyalty shown by MAGA folks is twofold; they are a massive demographic, and their loyalty is fleeting. Moreover, Rogan hangs out with a slew of media personalities who have all made the pivot at one time or another towards this group, and it usually ends up costing them the eclectic fan base that helped build their brands.
Take the easiest example of the kind of grifter Rogan seems to be following; conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones used to be a product of the far left, using the 911 attacks to fatten his pockets as he bloviated endlessly about George Bush and Dick Cheney orchestrating the attacks to secure oil in the Middle East. His relentless shtick was like shooting fish in a barrel as he surrounded himself with young go-getters who would ambush old politicians and accuse them of being part of the new world order. Make no mistake, Jones' target audience were mostly left-wing, and he had 8 years to master his grift. But when Obama was elected, Jones sharply pivoted all the way back to the far right, profiting immensely by convincing low IQ civilians that Obama was planning to take away their guns, and paying lip service to Jesus before hocking homeopathic snake oil like colloidal silver.
Former Occupy Wall Street journalist Tim Pool is another Rogan ally, and another grifter to realize that his audience exploded when he rightly began to criticize progressives. MAGA audiences love it when progressives eat their own, and so the first half of their two main behaviours gave Pool the numbers to be considered a journalist to reckon with. Savvy enough to see the writing on the wall, Pool understood that if he did not align more heavily with the MAGA crowd, all his gains would have evaporated. So he did what any fake journalist, emerging grifter would do – he went all in and became as MAGA as he wanted to be, and so his audience remained loyal.
Rogan's departure from being the apolitical everyman to a right-wing conspiracy theorist is a little more complex than Jones and Pool, and a lot more disappointing. Most, if not all, of his transition has centered around the debate over vaccines. At first, Rogan seemed to know about as much as the rest of us, which is to say nearly nothing. I can easily recall perfectly normal people asking reasonable questions about the safety of the vaccines, the quick turnaround in developing the vaccines, and even entertaining the idea of waiting to take it just to see if there are an alarming amount of adverse reactions. But after the first few months, as more data became available and it was clear the vaccines were safe, most rational people came around to the evidence.
Instead of staying informed, Rogan decided to not just double down on vaccine conspiracies, but cling to them as if his livelihood depended on them. And maybe it does.
He began to dismiss vaccines outright, encouraging younger listeners to avoid taking them, especially if they already took care of their immune systems. At first, he would walk back these milder statements halfway, saying that it was a personal choice for everyone. Much of his credibility at this time was still intact, and he used his insistence that podcast guests be tested before coming on to his show as a way to demonstrate his adherence to safety protocols.
Eventually, after some political missteps from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Gavin Newsome, missteps resulting in widespread civil unrest, violence, and a sharp increase in homelessness, the lockdowns became Rogan's favourite target. He began to embrace an neo-libertarian take on what the restriction of movement meant to liberty and freedom. By the time the vaccine debate was in full swing, Rogan and his family left California and settled in Austin, Texas, and his off-hand remarks about freedom of movement increased, despite not being offset with actual data on how this virus was spreading.
And then Joe Rogan got COVID, went to IKEA to find a kitchen sink to throw at himself, and when he regained consciousness he was found rocking back and forth while muttering the word Ivermectin over and over. Ok fine, he did not mutter. Rather, and this is still mystifying to me and I suspect many former listeners, he refused to call the human medication that contains Ivermectin by its branded name, Mectizan. You know, like how we don't call Viagra sildenafil citrate, and even though it technically isn't fair to say Rogan was using horse medication, the fact that he lacks the savvy to understand that at least a few of his 11 million listeners would have been far better served if he had not engaged in that kind of public spat was telling. Christ, his favourite piece of advice to people like Sam Harris is to not bother reading negative comments on Twitter, but then he goes off and starts trashing Dr. Sanjay Gupta for not being a true JOEBRONI, or something. Rogan had built his brand on his ability to have an intriguing, non-combative conversations with virtually anyone, and now he was risking his ambidextrous appeal for the approval of millions of loyal, low-information listeners.
@joerogan calling out @cnn lies that Dr. Sanjay Gupta allegedly spreads
pic.twitter.com/tUMxQx3Hvj
— 😇DSingh💎 (@zPopzz) January 11, 2022
What a hill to die on after a sit-com, a show where he made people eat animal testicles, calling countless UFC matches, and doing some of the most boring stand-up comedy I've ever witnessed in all my 45 years. There, I said it. Joe Rogan is a shitty comedian. He always has been. He shrieks too much and telegraphs his jokes and I think other comedians are afraid to really tell him.
We probably won't see Josh Zepps on Rogan's podcast for a while 😂 pic.twitter.com/Eyff4FJn6p
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) January 13, 2022
One after another, a parade of famous anti-vaxxers have made their way to Rogan's podcast, denying science and with it Rogan's undisputed status as podcast Guru. Recently, he had University of Technology Sydney's Josh Szeps as a guest who pointed out that young people were 8x more likely to develop myocarditis after contracting COVID than they were after taking the Pfizer vaccine, and Rogan was left with nothing but a narrative to feed, and so he flailed and backpedaled and tried to tell this rational guest that there must be something wrong with the stat. After all, it did not prop up the opinion most acceptable to Rogan's new core of listeners, and we can't have that now, can we?
I won't be going back to Rogan once this pandemic is over. I just can't. When critics would label him alt-right for having Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson on the show, I doubled down and even told those critics that having guests that the left declared problematic was the precise reason I liked him. And it was. He talked to everyone, and it was inside that stubborn image that most of us felt like we knew him.
Could Rogan bounce back? It's entirely possible, as he would say. But this image reboot has become my new Joe Rogan experience. He's just another grifter now, caught up in the numbers instead of cultivating loyalty down to the letter.
James Di Fiore Veteran Freelance Journalist
Meet veteran freelance journalist, James Di Fiore. Founder of Blackball Media. A while back, James was blacklisted after spotlighting controversial stories involving some of Canada's most prolific media personalities, editors and journalists. He started Blackball Media so that editors could no longer treat freelancers like sources. Legacy media is broken, and he's here to pick up the pieces. James is a Montreal native living in Toronto, a published children's author, political pundit (those are often interchangeable), and freelance scribe. He is also an award winning documentary film producer and a happy stay-at-home daddy. We're proud to have him, James will fit in well around here.
10 Replies to "Joe Rogan is Dead: How the Pandemic Killed the World's Best Podcaster"
Brad Johnson says:
Get a copy editor.
There are so many run on sentences in this piece with unfinished incoherent thoughts I had to read it out loud to myself several times to keep from going insane.
This paragraph is a good example of your incoherent writing style.
"Eventually, after some political missteps from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Gavin Newsome, missteps resulting in widespread civil unrest, violence, and a sharp increase in homelessness, the lockdowns became Rogan's favourite target. He began to embrace an (sic) neo-libertarian take on what the restriction of movement meant to liberty and freedom. By the time the vaccine debate was in full swing, Rogan and his family left California and settled in Austin, Texas, and his off-hand remarks about freedom of movement increased, despite not being offset with actual data on how this virus was spreading. "
You start out saying Newsome and Garcetti make missteps, missteps that cause civil unrest, violence and homelessness. Call me crazy but those sound like bad things, bad things it would be valid for Joe to criticize, but then a few sentences later it's bad for Joe to criticize those things but you never explain why.
The only scintilla of an explanation you give for this 180 degree shift in thinking is the last line at the end that Joe should include more context about "actual data on how this virus was spreading."
Like that justifies civil unrest, violence and a sharp increase in homelessness.
Poofy says:
I have always found Rogan appealing precisely because he never claimed to be a know-it-all. He often asked guests questions that I kind of thought most people already knew, but it was part of his charm. While I always perceived him as being more to the right, he wasn't irrational. I even recall a podcast where he challenged Congressman Crenshaw about the meaning of socialism, pointing out that services like law enforcement and the fire department are essentially socialist since communities pay for them collectively. Crenshaw had no good response to that. But I agree that Covid has brought out a dumb side of Rogan. I'm not going to stop listening to his podcasts, but I view him with much more skepticism.
Arron Banks says:
Joe Rogan used to be like "here's having a conversation with an interesting person fuel by curiosity" and yes he's kinda fallen away from that. Even in his interviews with Peterson and Shapiro, he challenged them, it wasn't like he was nodding/agreeing with everything they said. Russell Brand and Jimmy Dore would also fall into this category as well and what's crazy is there's no right-wing equivalent to progressives critiquing progressives/liberals. Those right wingers/conservatives who critique the same are all establishment figures (think The Lincoln Project, Liz Cheney, Adam Kintzinger, Mitt Romney, etc.) and so conservatives/right wingers who don't listen to mainstream/establishment conservative voices get the (false) perception that it's only the left wing/progressives and their establishment screwing things up. These dudes hide behind being anti-establishment first and foremost (which provides cover to their unwillingness to critique the right by relying on false equivalency). Bill Maher is probably the only notable self-described left winger who critiques the left who never forgets to critique the right and make clear he still things the left has the moral/ethical supremacy they're just dogged by stupidity lol
Joe Rogan is a trash sandwich
Dean Blundell is a hunk of shit
So the Dean Blundell thing likes using Joe rogan for clicks. Pathetic
Spelling Bastard says:
Minor typo, colloidal silver.
Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners.
Is that why Joe is focusing on CNN? And Gupta? Cause he is a loser focusing on the winners?
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All troops croaked or captured.
With the defenses of Transylvito weakened by devoting resources to Faq Carpool has been able to conquer more territory. They captured Chocula from Transylvito at some point. Caesar Borgata was sent with a small force to retake the city.
Previously, Carpool had taken Carport and then filled it with air defenses and croaked two of Transylvito's warlords when they came to retake it, expecting little opposition. Caesar suspected they might try the same trick in Chocula and decided to bring the only two battle bears who could reach. He avoided an air battle and led the two battle bears himself in an assault on the gate. Broadway Tony led the goyles, firebirds, thunderbirds and Doombats in an assault on the wall defenders to cover Caesar's attack. Broadway Tony was croaked as well as most of his air assault.
Caesar was nearly croaked in the battle but he stayed on the ground and avoided the air defenses. Carpool had built up a murderous number of archers and their Shockmancer had added spells to the tower that would have certainly croaked any airborne troops. Only by staying grounded was Caesar able to survive the battle and even then it was a very close call.
After the battle, Caesar seriously suspected that he had been set up. The small forces he had been sent with and the murderous defenses he had to deal with should have croaked him, if not for his strategy and combat prowess. He bitterly resents the sacrifice of good soldiers like Broadway Tony when they will be so badly needed in the future.
This page was last edited on 4 July 2016, at 11:51.


Ray Dalio, the founder of the hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates, on Tuesday argued on behalf of his firm's unusual workplace culture, where meetings and internal debates are recorded.
Speaking at a conference sponsored by The New York Times in Half Moon Bay, Calif., the 67-year-old billionaire likened that culture — which he calls "radical transparency" — to going to a nudist camp for the first time.
The culture at Bridgewater, which manages more than $150 billion for large investors like pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, has been the focus of a number of articles in The Times and The Wall Street Journal over the last year.
An article in The Times on Monday detailed interviews with dozens of former Bridgewater employees who described a workplace where the emphasis on challenging others can lead to humiliation, at times reaching the upper echelons of the firm.
The Times reported two episodes that occurred five years ago. In one instance a top executive, Eileen Murray, was accused of lying on a video that everyone watched and analyzed. In another, at least one employee was fired in a group email by Mr. Dalio, who later said the firing was not to be taken seriously.
At the conference, Mr. Dalio took issue with the article.
Bridgewater has undergone turmoil at the top in recent years as Mr. Dalio has struggled to find a successor. Last week, Mr. Dalio announced that he would be stepping down from the firm's day-to-day operation, handing the reins to two longtime deputies on his management committee.
One of those executives is Ms. Murray, a co-chief executive who was at the center of the "Eileen Lies" episode reported in The Times article.
The other executive was David McCormick, who was promoted from president to co-chief executive, a title he had held in the past.
Last week's shake-up included the departure of Jon Rubinstein, a former senior Apple executive and deputy to Steve Jobs, who left after just 10 months on the job. Bridgewater said Mr. Rubinstein was not "a cultural fit." Mr. Rubinstein was brought in to take over from Greg Jensen, a former heir apparent to Mr. Dalio, who sparred with Mr. Dalio and was stripped of his role last year.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. Dalio defended his firm's policy of holding employees' feet to the fire and exposing contradictions publicly within the firm.


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Cricket International
Root assures Archer of big role as England leave out pacer of playing XI for Ashes opener
Press Association Sport 18:14 31/07/2019
Archer (r) will have to wait for his Ashes debut.
Joe Root insists he has confidence in the side England have named for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston and believes Jofra Archer will have a part to play in the series.
The Barbados-born paceman received his maiden call-up for the series opener following his crucial role in England's World Cup win but must wait for his chance.
He joins all-rounder Sam Curran and fellow quick Olly Stone in missing out, with senior seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad joined by Chris Woakes in the XI.
The top seven had already been settled, with the news that captain Root had asked for a return to the problematic number-three slot also removing any questions over the batting order.
That means the decision to delay Archer's introduction to the red-ball format will garner most of the attention. The side injury he picked up in the World Cup was originally expected to keep him sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, but he made a sooner-than-expected return for Sussex last week.
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"I wouldn't have named it if I wasn't confident. We are very excited as a group," Root said of the lineup.
"We have a good record here as a team. It's very important that we are very focused and very clear on how we want to approach this series and that first day in particular. We feel confident this group of players is more than capable of winning this Test match.
"Jofra is coming back from quite a serious injury. We looked at conditions and made a decision on what we thought would best take 20 wickets here.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
We have named our team for the first #Ashes Test!
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2019
"It also gives him time to get absolutely ready and fit to make sure he has his workloads up and ready to go for later in the series if he needs to make an impact. (His fitness) will be monitored throughout the week. It's important that he's ready to go to offer something different."
In the end, England have treated Archer with caution, retaining the Broad and Woakes axis which skittled Ireland for just 38 in the previous Test and adding in record wicket-taker Anderson, who turned 37 on Tuesday.
Root's decision to move up to number three in the order means Joe Denly drops to number four, with Jason Roy and Rory Burns set to open. It is a top order, Root aside, that is inexperienced at Test level and one which was blown away by Ireland last week
"It's important to spread the experience out and it gives me an opportunity to lead from the front as well," Root said.
"I also feel now that I'm in a place where I have got my head around dealing with the captaincy and batting – being able to separate the two. It's an opportunity to make an impact up the order.
"No, I'm not (concerned about the top order). I think it's a very exciting top order. Jason (Roy), I want him to go out and play in his own way and his own manner.
"He has the ability to go out and put any bowler under pressure at any given time. That's very exciting."
Root also rejected suggestions that there is less pressure on him and England to win the Ashes following their World Cup success.
"I think you speak to anyone that has captained England on the verge of an Ashes series, to say that it doesn't mean as much as another event, I don't think any of them would agree," Root said.
"It's huge. It's a great opportunity. Cricket in this country is probably at an all-time high. It has interest it has not had for a long, long time. We have the opportunity as a team to make this summer a very memorable one.
"That's exciting and it's a great motivator for the whole squad. Ultimately it comes down to how we can break down Australia and how we are going to win enough games to win the series."
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text:
Home Press Releases Press Release – Public Talk on "The Pakistan-US Relationship in Jeopardy-Way Forward"
Press Release – Public Talk on "The Pakistan-US Relationship in Jeopardy-Way Forward"
The Pakistan-US Relationship in Jeopardy-Way Forward
Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad
"The Pakistan-US relationship is a terrible marriage where divorce should not be considered because the costs of breaking up are too high". This was stated by Associate Vice President of the Asia Centre at the United States Institute of Peace, Dr. Moeed Yusuf at his Public Talk on "The Pakistan-US Relationship in Jeopardy-Way Forward", organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) today under its Distinguished Lecture Series.
Dr. Yusuf stated that the strategic divergence between US and Pakistan is very real. Not only are both sides accusing each other of undermining their respective security interests, each side is also desperately trying to convince the other to agree with their point of view. He went on to say that the global alliance structure has become fairly complex – the more India and US work together, the more Pakistan and China relationship is converging. He pointed out that the increasing strand of conversation in Islamabad, that the US has no significance because of Pakistan's relationship with China, is particularly worrisome.
Speaking about peace in Afghanistan, Dr. Yusuf stated that though both Pakistan and US want peace in Afghanistan, the peace that suits US in Afghanistan may not neatly overlap with the kind of peace that suits Pakistan. The US has a new strategy and the view from Washington is that the Pakistan part of the puzzle must be fixed in order for Afghanistan strategy to go through. Simultaneously, it is improbable that that Pakistan will agree to do anything that brings the war in Afghanistan onto Pakistani soil. Added to this is the increasing presence of Daesh in Afghanistan – a non-state actor, which benefits from problems in Pakistan-US relationship.
Dr. Yusuf said that even though neither side wants a rupture, however, there are chances of things becoming worse. He said that the Trump phenomenon – whether good or bad – is real. Hence, the chances of things going to the brink and pulling back cannot be guaranteed anymore. He added that the champions of US-Pakistan relationship – people within US government who used to argue that Pakistan is crucial for US – no longer exist. For the way forward he said, that probably the best that can be done is to avoid a rupture. Mistrust must be overcome. Every decision that is taken in terms of tactical cooperation should be verified, both sides should agree not to keep changing goal posts, and benchmarks should be disconnected from the security situation in Afghanistan. It is highly crucial for both sides to keep their expectations realistic and limited.
Earlier, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman ISSI, in his welcome remarks talked about the Trump Administration's South Asia policy, which was followed by the Security Strategy in December 2017, the infamous tweet and most recently the National Defense Strategy. He said that whereas Pakistan and the United States were the most allied of nations, their relationship has now hit an all time low. Currently, terrorism has taken a secondary position and inter-state strategic competition has taken precedence – primarily the competition with China and Russia – in the Trump Administration's policy towards South Asia.
Later, in his concluding remarks, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood stated that it is the overall geostrategic alignments which are more important. Pakistan should try to avoid rupture and try to find common ground and overcome the deep mistrust that exists between the two countries. He also said that there is a lack of interlocutors between the two countries, and the relationship cannot move forward unless there are people who are willing to talk on either side. This, he concluded, needs to rectified.


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Kids will love learning their colors in this striking, colorful board book!
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Marianna Oklejak is a graphic designer and illustrator from Warsaw, Poland.


When a relative is living in a care home, or they are in a hospital, you expect them to be well looked after. You do not expect carers or other patients to take advantage of them or to treat them badly, but elderly abuse happens more than is often realized. It is not always professional people that abuse the elderly. It could be a friend or relative and happen in their own home.
The success in medical advances means that a higher proportion than ever of the US population is over 65. This in turn, has put an extra strain on the institutions that care for them, and more people are being encouraged to care for the elderly in their own homes.
As people get older, they can start to become frail and confused. This can be particularly bad if they are starting to suffer from Alzheimer's disease or dementia. The carers can become very frustrated with them, and whether they are professionally trained or not, this can lead to negligence or abuse.
There are signs that other people can watch for such as the elderly person's behavior changing, if they appear to be frightened, physical marks like bruising or abrasions, or the carer's refusal to allow visitors. If anything at all concerns you about the condition of the elderly person you care about, you should talk to an elderly abuse attorney at Garcia Law.
Why Contact an Elderly Abuse Attorney?
If you suspect that an elderly person is being abused, contacting an elderly abuse attorney can lead to an investigation. This can put an immediate stop to the abuse, and make sure the perpetrator is held accountable for their actions. No one should get away with treating someone else badly.
• Injuries – This could be burns, fractures, or maybe bowel and bladder injuries. The point is that the elderly person should be properly cared for, injuries should not happen.
• Neglect – Bedsores are a result of neglect, and so is malnutrition and dehydration. Untreated infections can cause the elderly person to become very ill when it possibly could have been quite simple to cure at the start.
• Restraints – Restraints should only be used in extreme circumstances. They can easily induce fear in the elderly and should not be in use daily. Whether they are physical or chemical restraints, they should be a last resort for the patient's safety.
• Financial Abuse– A confused elderly person is very vulnerable to financial fraud. It could be their own money that is fraudulently taken from them, or it could be that they are charged more than they should be for procedures and medication. It could even be that they are charged for treatment they have never received.
These, and all other forms of elder abuse can only be stopped if someone does something to prevent them, and that is where an elderly abuse attorney can help.


Nothing But Freebies: Vintage papers re-uploaded!
I just wanted to apologize for the defect zip file for the Vintage Papers in my last post and thank Kelly for informing me about it. I have now re-uploaded the zip to all storages and changed the links in the post.
Go HERE and re-download your papers if you have a version where paper 5 is defect.
Thank you so much for the wonderful papers and overlays. You are so creative ~ so talented and SO GENEROUS!!!!
Remember to take the time you need for yourself so that you can stay as healthy as you can.


1) Preheat the oven to 175 C or 350 F.
2) Place eggs in a medium bowl and beat well using a fork or a beater.
3) Add sugar, butter, and corn syrup to it and beat well again.
4) Add chocolate pieces and pecan to it.
5) Cover the edges of the pie with an aluminum foil in order to prevent it from over-browning.
6) Pour the filling in a pie shell and place the shell on top of the oven rack.
7) Bake it for about 25 minutes.
8) Remove the aluminum foil and boil for another 25 minutes. Make sure a knife inserted in the pie comes out clean.
9) Chill the pie before serving.
You may serve this delicious Chocolate Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream or heavy whipping cream.


Lovable Jackie Underwire Bra in Black. Jackie Underwire Bra in Black. This bra features a super soft modal fabric and gorgeous floral crochet lace along the top cup edge. Fully moulded cup with a subtle pad for a fuller shape.


HOME > PRESS RELEASE > Congratulations, Novak!
To see Novak Djokovic holding the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday with Seiko Astron GPS Solar chronograph on his wrist was a very special moment. When Novak selected Seiko as his watch partner at the start of 2014, he went on to have a remarkable year, winning no fewer than seven titles, including, of course, Wimbledon. Could Novak be as successful in 2015? With half the season to go, Novak already has six titles, including two Grand Slams, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
By winning Wimbledon for the second year in a row, Novak joins a very select group of tennis legends, Laver, Newcombe, Borg, McEnroe, Becker, Sampras and Federer, who are the only others to have achieved this feat in the open era. Novak's recent record at Wimbledon is truly special. In the last six years, he has won three times, been runner-up once and a semi-finalist twice.
Seiko is proud and delighted to be part of Novak's team and we wish him every success in the tournaments that are to come. Could 2015 be his best ever year?


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occurs when the median nerve in the wrist is compressed due to trauma, arthritis or inflammation of wrist tendons, resulting in numbness, weakness and tingling in the hand and arm.
Patients with mild symptoms are typically given nonsurgical treatments such as bracing or steroid injections, while those with severe symptoms are often offered minimally invasive surgery called carpal tunnel release, which relieves pressure on the median nerve by cutting the carpal ligament.
"However, for patients with moderate symptoms, it's not as obvious whether a nonsurgical or surgical approach is best," said study senior author Dr. Duretti Fufa, a hand and upper extremity surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
The researchers reviewed the records of 949 patients treated for carpal tunnel syndrome at the hospital and grouped them according to disease severity.
Among the 141 women and 90 men with moderate symptoms, women were 23% less likely than men to be offered surgery, and Hispanic and Black women were four times less likely than men in their racial groups to be offered surgery.
While the trends were strong, they were not statistically significant due to the size of the study, the researchers noted.
The results were presented Tuesday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting, in Chicago. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
"Overall, our findings suggest that increased utilization by males was largely explained by the fact that men were more likely to present with more severe carpal tunnel syndrome," Fufa said in a hospital news release.
"I suspect that with larger numbers of patients to study, differences based on gender and race may prove to be significant. In the meantime, we hope our findings increase awareness of potential biases to ensure we are providing equitable care to all patients," she said.
This is especially important "for patients with moderate disease symptoms where the decision to pursue surgery is more subjective," Fufa added.
There's more on carpal tunnel syndrome at the American College of Rheumatology.
SOURCE: Hospital for Special Surgery, news release, March 22, 2022
Burns: Symptom Management
Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery
Brain Tumors: Surgery
Brain Tumors: Treatment Introduction
1 in 10 People Have Gastro Issues After a Meal
1 in 3 Americans With Arthritis Say Pain, Symptoms Persist
Carpal Tunnel Quiz
Pain Quiz
Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome


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Allegiant Auto Logistics have a carefully vetted team. They also have good connections and are able to ship to any destination. They were very helpful when I was relocating, all my transportation needs were met and I had a seamless move.


text:
Q: How can I search for (escape) a dollar sign using ack? I want to ack for the literal string: "$$" in a code base, but escaping the dollar sign like this:
ack \$\$

doesn't work.

A: You are getting confused by shell quoting.  When you type:
ack "\\\$\\\$\("

the shell interpolates the double quoted string so that \\ is translated to \, \$ is translated to $ and \( is translated to \( and ack gets the string \$\$\( as its argument.  It is much simpler to avoid the shell interpolation by using single quotes and invoke:
ack '\$\$\('

Replace ack with echo to explore how the shell is expanding the strings.  Note that
ack "\\$\\$\("

will also work, but for slightly different reasons.  Here, the first two \ are treated as a single (escaped) \, then the $ is translated as a $ because it is followed by a character that is not a valid character in a variable name.  \( expands to \( instead of simply ( because ( is not subject to interpolation and therefore does not need to be escaped.  But note that outside of double quotes, \( is converted to (.
Shell quoting rules get confusing sometimes!

A: Use ack's -Q to do your escaping.
ack -Q '$$'

A: You can escape the dollar sign character with three backslashes, like this:
ack "\\\$\\\$"

or use single quotes, where you only have to escape it once:
ack '\$\$'

A: You can use printf to take care of the quoting for you by using the %q format specifier.
$ printf %q '$$('
\$\$\(

help print has the following to say (I'm assuming bash here)`
 %q quote the argument in a way that can be reused as shell input

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Europ Assistance – Europ Assistance is recognised as a leading European insurance company offering a variety of health related services such as 24-hour emergency services, medical resources, trauma counselling and general health support within its policies. HRG Uganda – Intek Travel is the recognised ground handling agent for Uganda and the eastern region of the DRC for Europ Assistance global network, upon request by Europ Assistance emergency operations.
Medevac Assistance – HRG Uganda – Intek Travel also provides assistance in medical emergencies either by road transportation or Air Ambulance within Uganda and the eastern sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In that context, Intek Travel has established agreements and contracts with several road and air ambulance services providers across Uganda as well as recognised medical facilities in Kampala, that allow us to initiate Medevac procedures and general medical treatment requirements on a short notice.
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text:
Res. Plant Dis > Volume 25(2); 2019 > Article
Lee, Lee, and Choi: New Downy Mildew Disease Caused by Hyaloperonospora brassicae on Pak choi (Brassica rapa) in Korea
Research in Plant Disease 2019;25(2):98-101.
Published online: June 30, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5423/RPD.2019.25.2.98
New Downy Mildew Disease Caused by Hyaloperonospora brassicae on Pak choi (Brassica rapa) in Korea
Hyun Ju Lee1, Jae Sung Lee2, Young-Joon Choi2,*
1 Gyeonggido Agricultural Research & Extension Services, Hwaseong 18388, Korea
2 Department of Biology, Kunsan National University, Gunsan 54150, Korea
Tel: +82-63-469-4582 Fax: +82-63-469-7421 E-mail: yjchoi@kunsan.ac.kr
Received June 14, 2019 Accepted June 18, 2019
Copyright: © The Korean Society of Plant Pathology
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Pak choi (or a Bok choy; Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is a popular brassicaceous vegetable worldwide. In January 2019, a downy mildew symptom on pak choi was found at a farm located in Yongin, Korea. Based on morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic inference, the pathogenic oomycete was identified as Hyaloperonospora brassicae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of downy mildew disease occurring on pak choi in Korea. Considering the increasing demand for this crop, this pathogen would be a potentially new threat to the cultivation of pak choi in Korea.
Keywords: Brassica, downy mildew, Oomycota, Pak choi, Phylogeny
Downy mildew disease is caused by members of the family Peronosporaceae, the largest obligate pathogenic group of the phylum Oomycota. They infect a high number of flowering plants, ranging monoto dicotyledonous plants (Thines and Choi, 2016). Among twenty genera of this family, Hyaloperonospora consists of approximately 50 species, most of which were specialized to a particular host genus or species of the Brassicaceae and allied families (Choi et al., 2011, 2018; Göker et al., 2004, 2009; Lee et al., 2017; Voglmayr and Göker, 2011; Voglmayr et al., 2014). An infamous species Hyaloperonospora brassicae causes destructive damages on Brassica, Raphanus, and Sinapis species, including many economically relevant crops such as broccoli, cabbage, radish, rape, tatsoi, and wasabi (Channon, 1981; Dickinson and Greenhalgh, 1977; Thines and Choi, 2016; Yerkes and Shaw, 1959).
Pak choi (or Bok choy; Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) has been cultivated as an economically important vegetable since the fifth century in Asia (Fahey, 2003). There has been an increase in the production of this crop in Korea, because it is tasty, versatile, and nutritious but also can be easily grown. In January 2019, symptoms of downy mildew disease were found on pak choi at a plastic house located in Yongin-si in Korea (37°21'15.0″N 127°14'18.3″E) (Fig. 1A). A representative herbarium specimen was preserved in the Kunsan National University Herbarium (KSNUH378). To identify the causal pathogen, morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed.
Downy mildew disease caused by Hyaloperonospora brassicae on pak choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis). (A, B) Downy mildew occurrence in a plastic farm. (C, D) Initial symptom with yellowish leaf spots. (E) Vein-limited spots on the upper leaf surface. (F) Whitish oomycete matrix on the lower surface. (G) Conidiophore. (H, I) Ultimate branchlets. (J, K) Conidia. Source: KSNUH378
For morphological identification, conidiophores and conidia protruding from the stomata of the infected leaves were placed on a drop of distilled water on a slide glass and covered with a cover slip. The preparate was examined under a DIC-light microscope BX53F (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) and photographed with a DigiRetina 16M digital camera (Tucsen, Fuzhou, China). Initial downy mildew symptoms on the pak choi appeared as yellowish to green-yellowish spots on the upper surface of leaves (Fig. 1E), while conidiophores and conidia occurred densely on the corresponding lower surface (Fig. 1F). Disease incidence ranged from 20 to 30%. Conidiophores (n=50) were hyaline, 200-450 µm in length, monopodially branched in 3-5 orders, while trunks were straight to slightly curved, 100-300 µm in length, with slightly swollen basal end of 8-15 µm wide (Fig. 1G). Ultimate branchlets (n=50) were mostly inpairs, curvedsigmoid, 10-30 µm long, and displayed obtuse subtruncate tips (Fig. 1H, I). Conidia (n= 100) were broadly subglobose, whitish, and measured 21.0-28.5×20.0-25.5 µm (av. 25.2×22.86 µm) with a ratio of length to width of 1.01-1.21 (av. 1.10) (Fig. 1J, K). All morphological characteristics closely matched those of H. brassicae known on Brassica species (Choi et al., 2012; Gäumann, 1923; Hong et al., 2008).
To confirm the morphological identification, two barcode markers of oomycetes, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA and cytochrome oxidase II (cox2) mtDNA were compared with the sequences of other Hyaloperonospora species. DNA was extracted from an infected leaf of KSNUH378, using the MagListo 5M Plant Genomic DNA Extraction Kit (Bioneer, Daejeon, Korea). PCR amplifications of ITS rDNA and cox2 mtDNA were performed as using procedures outlined by Choi et al. (2015). The amplicons were purified using an AccuPrep PCR Purification Kit (Bioneer, Daejeon, Korea) and sequenced by a DNA sequencing service (Macrogen, Seoul, Korea), with the same primers used for amplification. The resulting sequences were edited with the DNASTAR software package version 5.05 (DNASTAR, Madison, WI, USA) and deposited in GenBank (accession nos. MN065156 for ITS rDNA, MN072364 for cox2 mtDNA). In addition to the reference sequences of Hyaloperonospora species available in NCBI GenBank, they were aligned by MAFFT 7 (Katoh and Standley, 2013). In order to infer their phylogenetic relationship, minimum evolution (ME) analysis was performed in MEGA7 (Kumar et al., 2016) with the default settings, except for replacement with the Tamura-Nei model. Robustness of each tree was evaluated with 1,000 bootstrap replicates. BLASTn search revealed that the ITS sequence of the downy mildew pathogen of the pak choi is identical with those of Hyaloperonospora brassica on Brassica spp. (EU137726, JX401551, MF784705) in NCBI GenBank. Similarly, the cox2 sequence corresponds with H. brassicae on B. campestris (MF784667, MF784665, MF784666). In the phylogenetic trees for ITS rDNA (Fig. 2A) and cox2 mtDNA (Fig. 2B), the present pathogen was grouped with the sequences of H. brassicae of Brassica spp. with a high supporting value of 100 %, proving its identity as H. brassicae.
Minimum evolution trees based on the internal transcribed spacer rDNA and cytochrome oxidase II mtDNA sequences. Bootstrapping values higher than 70% are given above the branches. Downy mildew pathogen of pak choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is shown in bold. The scale bar equals the number of nucleotide substitutions per site.
Over the last 100 years, H. brassicae (formerly, Peronospora parasitica) was one of the most destructive pathogens in cultivations of Brassica plants in the world (Channon, 1981; Kluczewski and Lucas, 1983; Monot et al., 2010; Sherriff and Lucas, 1990). In Korea, this pathogen has been attributed the downy mildew diseases occurring on brown mustard, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, broccoli, and tatsoi (Choi et al., 2012; Hong et al., 2008; Shin and Choi, 2006; The Korean Society of Plant Pathology, 2004). On pak choi, the disease has been previously recorded in China, Fiji, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (Farr and Rossman, 2019), and Japan (Chu, 1935). This is the first record of H. brassicae on pak choi in Korea. Considering the increasing demand for this crop, this disease may cause a serious risk to the cultivation of pak choi.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2019R1C1C1002791), Republic of Korea.
A. G., Channon 1981. Downy mildew of brassicas. In: The Downy Mildews, eds. by D. M. Spencer, pp. 321-339. Academic Press, London, UK.
Choi, Y. J., Shin, H. D. and Voglmayr, H. 2011. Reclassification of two Peronospora species parasitic on Draba in Hyaloperonospora based on morphological molecular and phylogenetic data. Mycopathologia. 171: 151-159.
Choi, Y. J., Kim, J. Y., Park, J. H. and Shin, H. D. 2012. First report of tatsoi downy mildew caused by Hyaloperonospora brassicae in Korea. Plant Dis. 96: 1703
Choi, Y. J., Beakes, G., Glockling, S., Kruse, J., Nam, B., Nigrelli, L. and et al. 2015. Towards a universal barcode of oomycetes - a comparison of the cox1 and cox2 loci. Mol. Ecol. Resour. 15: 1275-1288.
Choi, Y.-J., Kruse, J. and Thines, M. 2018. Hyaloperonospora erucae sp. nov. (Peronosporaceae;Oomycota), the downy mildew pathogen of arugula (Eruca sativa). Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 151: 549-555.
Chu, H. 1935 Notes on the penetration phenomena and haustorium formation in Peronospora brassicae Gäum. Jpn. J. Phytopathol. 5: 150-157. (in Japanese).
Dickinson, C. H. and Greenhalgh, J. R. 1977. Host range and taxonomy of Peronospora on Crucifers. Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc. 69: 111116
Fahey, J Caballero B., Trugo L. C. and Finglas P. M. 2003. Brassicas. Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition. 606615Academic Press; London, UK.
Farr, D. F.Rossman, A. Y. 2019 Fungal databases, systematic mycology and microbiology laboratory. URL https://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/. [11 June 2019].
Gäumann, E. A. 1923 Contributions toward a monograph of the genus Peronospora corda. Beitrage zur Kryptogamenflora der Schweiz. 5: 1-360. (in German).
Göker, M., Riethmüller, A., Voglmayr, H., Weiss, M. and Oberwinkler, F. 2004. Phylogeny of Hyaloperonospora based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequences. Mycol. Prog. 3: 8394
Göker, M., Voglmayr, H., Blázquez, G. G. and Oberwinkler, F. 2009. Species delimitation in downy mildews: the case of Hyaloperonospora in the light of nuclear ribosomal ITS and LSU sequences. Mycol. Res. 113: 308-325.
Hong, S. Y., Jee, H. J., Choi, Y. J. and Shin, H. D. 2008. First confirmed report of downy mildew caused by Hyaloperonospora parasitica on broccoli in Korea. Plant Pathol. 57: 777
Katoh, K. and Standley, D. M. 2013. MAFFT Multiple sequence alignment software version 7:Improvements in performance and usability. Mol. Biol. Evol. 30: 772-780.
Kluczewski, S. M. and Lucas, J. A. 1983. Host infection and oospore formation by Peronospora parasitica in agricultural and horticultural Brassica species. Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc. 81: 591-596.
Kumar, S., Stecher, G. and Tamura, K. 2016. MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Mol. Biol. Evol. 33: 1870-1874.
Lee, J. S., Lee, H. B., Shin, H.-D. and Choi, Y.-J. 2017. Diversity, phylogeny, and host-specialization of Hyaloperonospora species in Korea. Mycobiology. 45: 139-149.
Monot, C., Penguilly, D. and Silué, D. 2010. First confirmed report of downy mildew caused by Hyaloperonospora parasitica on broccoli, cauliflower and Romanesco-type cauliflower heads in France. Plant Pathol. 59: 1165
Sherriff, C. and Lucas, J. A. 1990. The host range of isolates of downy mildew Peronospora parasitica from Brassica crop species. Plant Pathol. 39: 77-91.
Shin, H. DChoi, Y. J 2006. Peronosporaceae of Korea. National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Suwon, Korea. p. 166.
The Korean Society of Plant Pathology. 2004. List of Plant Diseases in Korea. 4th ed. The Korean Society of Plant Pathology, Suwon, Korea. p. 779.
Thines, M. and Choi, Y. J. 2016. Evolution, diversity, and taxonomy of the Peronosporaceae, with focus on the genus Peronospora. Phytopathology. 106: 6-18.
Voglmayr, H. and Göker, M. 2011. Morphology and phylogeny of Hyaloperonospora erophilae and H. praecox sp. nov, two downy mildew species co-occurring on Draba verna sensu lato. Mycol. Prog. 10: 283-292.
Voglmayr, H., Choi, Y.-J. and Shin, H.-D. 2014. Multigene phylogeny, taxonomy and reclassification of Hyaloperonospora on Cardamine. Mycol. Prog. 13: 131-144.
Yerkes, W. D. and Shaw, C. G. 1959. Taxonomy of the Peronospora species on Cruciferae and Chenopodiaceae. Phytopathology. 49: 499-507.
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Jared Leto To Star In Bob Ross Biopic
Posted on May 6, 2014 by Brian DiMaio
Jared Leto is Bob Ross in The Joy Of Painting With Bob Ross.
Hollywood—Sony Pictures announced yesterday that they were beginning production next month on a biographical film about famed painting instructor and PBS stalwart Bob Ross, which will star recent Academy Award winner Jared Leto.
"We have long wanted to get this movie made, and now that Jared is on board, we're just thrilled," said producer Toby Emmerich. Emmerich, best known as a producer of the "Final Destination" series, has also written the screenplay.
Leto's publicist released a statement saying, in part, "Jared literally could not be happier to take on this new role. He is quite certain that he would have gotten along with Bob Ross famously. As many of you know, Jared is himself an accomplished artist, dabbling in many media, and is very, very excited to tackle this challenging role and be able to show off his own artistic talent. And rest assured his recent winning of a much-deserved Oscar will not in any way diminish the work and effort he will put forth in doing this role. Namaste."
The role of Ross' second wife, Jane, will be played by Clare Bowen of TV's "Nashville." Bowen will also have a number of songs on the film's soundtrack.
Kevin Dunn has been cast as a gruff, unlikeable PBS executive who Ross has to win over with his painting style and general low-key demeanor.
Denzel Washington has signed on to portray Ross' Army sergent while stationed in Alaska during the 1960s and 70s, where he often said he honed his quick, unique style of painting.
"A lot of people think this cat was just a great painter and this really down-to-earth, mellow dude," Emmerich said. "But in truth, he was a very complex, moody, typical genius artist. Not unlike Kanye West. It's gonna be a fun ride. A really fun ride."
Filming is set to begin in Atlanta, which will double as Alaska and Muncie, Indiana, where Ross filmed the majority of the episodes of his painting program, "The Joy of Painting."
This entry was posted in Entertainment and tagged "Final Destination", "The Joy of Painting", Bob Ross, Clare Bowen, Denzel Washington, Jared Leto, Kevin Dunn, Toby Emmerich by Brian DiMaio. Bookmark the permalink.
2 thoughts on "Jared Leto To Star In Bob Ross Biopic"
Earl Monroe on May 8, 2014 at 3:40 PM said:
Long overdue for this epic to come to the big screen, kudo's to this group for having the vision , much like Bob himself.
Brian DiMaio on May 14, 2014 at 10:13 PM said:
Thank you for your comment. We literally, LITERALLY couldn't agree more.


At least four species of New Zealand snipes (Coenocorypha) became extinct following the introduction of predatory mammals, and another two species suffered massive range reductions. To investigate species limits and population differentiation in six of the seven remaining offshore populations, we assayed variation in nine microsatellite loci and 1,980 base pairs of four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes. Genetic diversity in all populations except the largest one on Adams Island in the Auckland Islands was very low in both genomes. Alleles were fixed at many microsatellite loci and for single mtDNA haplotypes, particularly in the populations in the Chathams, Snares, Antipodes and Campbell Islands. Strong population structure has developed, and Chathams and Snares Islands populations are effectively genetically isolated from one another and from the more southern island populations. Based on reciprocal monophyly of lineages and their morphological distinctiveness we recommend that three phylogenetic species should be recognized, C. pusilla in the Chatham Islands, C. huegeli in the Snares Islands and C. aucklandica in the southern islands. The populations of C. aucklandica in the Auckland Islands, Antipodes Island and Campbell Island may warrant recognition as subspecies, and all should be managed as separate conservation units.
We thank BDG Synthesis, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant A 200 to AJB), and the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) for financial support for fieldwork and labwork. Snipe blood and feather samples were collected with the assistance of Dave Barker, Karen Barlow, Jeremy Carroll, Graeme Elliott, James Fraser, Sheryl Hamilton, Christine Reed, Kath Walker, Murray Willans, and Al Wiltshire. Access to nature reserves and collection of samples was authorised by the DOC Southland and Wellington Conservancies. Figure 1 was prepared by Chris Edkins, DOC.


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05 / 2019 article
Bridgepoint Education Supports the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego at Gingerbread City Gala
Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI), a provider of post-secondary education services focused on providing higher access to higher education, rang in the holidays early this year by sponsoring the Gingerbread City 2009 gala and helping to raise $80,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego. The annual event, held on Dec. 1 at the elegant Grand Del Mar hotel, is the largest fundraiser of the year for the non-profit organization.
Gingerbread City 2009 brought together many of Southern California's top chefs for the largest nationally recognized gingerbread design competition on the West Coast. Each of the elaborate structures was based on popular fairytales or works of literature, such as Alice in Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk, to reflect the event's theme of "The Greatest Stories Ever Told." At the end of the gala, all of the gingerbread creations were auctioned off to benefit the Epilepsy Foundation.
The evening also featured a silent auction, wine and champagne from Thornton Wineries, and delicious food prepared by San Diego's best restaurants.
Andrew Clark, Bridgepoint Education's chief executive officer, served as the Honorary Chairman of Gingerbread City 2009. In addition, he helped raise $24,250 in donations for the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego while also contributing another $55,750 from Bridgepoint Education.
"We were pleased to be given the opportunity for Bridgepoint to sponsor the Gingerbread City gala and to support such a worthy organization as the Epilepsy Foundation," Clark said. "The Foundation provides so much in the way of free counseling, education, and services to all those affected by epilepsy in San Diego County. I was more than happy to serve as the Honorary Chairman of this wonderful San Diego tradition and to help further the Epilepsy Foundation's important mission."
About Bridgepoint Education
Bridgepoint Education's postsecondary education services focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in such disciplines as business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Bridgepoint Education's regionally accredited academic institutions – Ashford University and University of the Rockies – deliver their programs online as well as at traditional campuses located in Clinton, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information about Bridgepoint Education, visit www.bridgepointeducation.com or call Shari Rodriguez, director of Public Relations at 858.668.2580.
About the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego
The Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County is the only private non-profit health agency providing services to the estimated 30,000 people in San Diego County who have seizure disorders. The Foundation is dedicated to the prevention and control of epilepsy and its consequences and to development of an optimal quality of life for people living with this disorder. Serving San Diego continuously since 1954, the Epilepsy Foundation seeks to accomplish its mission through education, research and service. For more information about the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego, visit www.epilepsysandiego.org, send an email to [email protected] or call 619.296.0161.
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Welcome to our Oily Adventures Blog! We are so excited to share with you more about Young Living Essential Oils including the latest buzz, inspirational tips, and ideas to infuse these amazing oils in every aspect of your life. Yes, they are that versatile!
I used to be an essential oil skeptic, but two years ago I tried this blend from Young Living called Peace & Calming. It was one of the first few oils that radically worked for me, including my fur baby, Zoë.
Are you ready to have your mind blown? Young Living will be celebrating the next 12 hours with 12 AMAZING flash sale items -- This post has all the details.
Let's talk about LOYALTY GIFTS!! This post is for those of you who are on ESSENTIAL REWARDS or are interested in learning more about it. If FREEBIES are your thing, keep reading!


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Jahmaal Flyffe, (Tottenham, Inglaterra, 26 de Novembro de 1990) conhecido pelo seu nome artístico, Chipmunk é um cantor e compositor de hip hop e música grime. Tinha decidido adoptar Mr. Munk, mas o seu nome artístico acabou por ficar registado como Chipmunk. Ganhou no MOBO Awards na categoria de "Best UK Newcomer", em 2008. Na mesma cerimónia, mas no ano seguinte, também venceu na categoria "Best Hip-Hop Act", competindo com outros rappers como, Jay-Z, Kanye West e Eminem.

Carreira artística

2009 - presente:I Am Chipmunk
Chipmunk lançou o seu álbum de estreia, I Am Chipmunk a 12 de Outubro de 2009. Inclui a reedição dos singles "Beast", "Chip Diddy Chip", "Diamond Rings" e "Oopsy Daisy". Esta última, estreou na primeira posição da UK Singles Chart e UK R&B Chart, um dia depois do lançamento do álbum. Atingiu ainda a segunda posição na tabela musical oficial, UK Album Charts.

Discografia

Álbuns
 League Of My Own (2007)
 I Am Chipmunk (2009)

Singles
 "Beast" (2008)
 "Chip Diddy Chip" (2009)
 "Diamond Rings" (2009)
 "Oopsy Daisy" (2009)

"Look For Me", foi escolhido como próximo single de I Am Chipmunk, a ser lançado a 28 de Dezembro de 2009.

Cantores do Reino Unido
Cantores de hip hop
Músicos de grime
Naturais de Londres

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Who owns Mayer Electric Supply?
How much is Mayer Electric worth?
How many electrical wholesalers are there in the UK?
Is Rexel a French company?
Who bought gexpro services?
Who bought Lawson Products?
How many employees does Mayer Motors have?
Weil re-purchased the company, which remained Mayer Electric Supply. Mayer rapidly expanded in the 1970's – growth that began simply with new branches in nearby cities and today has resulted in a footprint across 12 states and more than 65 locations. In 2018, Mayer Electric Supply announced a corporate brand evolution.
How many employees does Mayer Electric have?
Company Growth (employees)
Employees (est.) (Jun 2022)
Website Visits (Feb 2022) 15.1 k
Cybersecurity rating A
Rexel Agrees to Acquire Mayer Electric for $456 Million.
Who is the biggest electrical wholesaler in the UK?
Medlock Electrical Distributors | Largest UK Electrical Wholesaler.
Our unique, continuously updated analysis simplifies the complexity of financial data and a subscription gives you a clear insight into the health, value and prospects of the 725 leading UK Electrical Wholesalers companies , and how they sit in the overall market.
Who is the biggest electrical wholesaler?
International Electric Supply Corp.
Electrical employees
1 International Electric Supply Corp. (IESC/Gexpro/Rexel)* 8,818
2 WESCO Distribution Inc.* 6,300
3 Graybar Electric Co. Inc.* 8,100
4 Anixter Inc. (Anixter International) 8,645**
Rexel is a French company specializing in the distribution of electrical, heating, lighting and plumbing equipment, but also in renewable energies and energy efficiency products and services. Founded in 1967, Rexel has broadened its scope of activity over the years.
What was Rexel before?
CDME
In June 1993, CDME merged with Groupelec Distribution (Number 3 on the French market) and changed its name to Rexel.
LKCM Headwater
PARIS, Dec 31 (Reuters) – French electrical products and energy services company Rexel said on Tuesday that it had agreed to sell its Gexpro Services unit, a business with sales of around $260 million, to private investment company LKCM Headwater.
What is electrical distribution box?
The distribution box serves as the load centre and distributor of electrical power. A distribution box ensures that electrical supply is distributed in the building, also known as a distribution board, panel board, breaker panel, or electric panel. It is the central electrical supply system of any building or property.
CHICAGO — Lawson Products Inc. on Friday announced the completion of its strategic combination with TestEquity and Gexpro Services in all-stock merger transactions creating a specialty distribution platform under a holding company structure.
Where is Mayer Electric Supply Company located?
Find company research, competitor information, contact details & financial data for Mayer Electric Supply Company, Inc. of Birmingham, AL. Get the latest business insights from Dun & Bradstreet. skip to main content We use cookies for marketing and advertising purposes, and to provide the best experience on our website.
Founded in 1930, it manages a staff of more than 895 employees and has annual sales over $680 million. The company operates a division, Mayer Automation Group, which offers a range of production control systems.
Where is Mayer automation located?
It operates offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Founded in 1930, it manages a staff of more than 895 employees and has annual sales over $680 million. The company operates a division, Mayer Automation Group, which offers a range of production control systems.


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Progress on Asean open skies good: Lui Tuck Yew
A Singapore Airlines plane taking off from Changi Airport. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said that progress on an open skies regime has been good. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
Feb 11, 2014, 8:25 am SGT
http://str.sg/jrS
EU transport official says Europe experience positive
Airlines from Asean member countries still cannot fly freely within the region but progress on an open skies regime has been good, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.
He told The Straits Times: "We don't know whether a full open skies will be achieved because that's in 2015. But certainly what we have today ... is much better than what we had five years ago."
Asean transport ministers are committed to liberalisation, added Mr Lui, who was speaking on the sidelines of a gathering of aviation executives and government officials.
"Obviously, a lot more still needs to be done before (an open skies regime) fully materialises. We are all realistic. We know some of the constraints and difficulties that some countries may be facing."
Industry players said governments sometimes meet resistance from national carriers worried that they cannot complete with stronger airlines from neighbouring nations.
An open skies system would allow Singapore Airlines, for example, to fly from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and then to Bangkok without having to seek permission from the various authorities.
In a speech earlier in the day at the opening of the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, Mr Lui urged governments to consider the wider benefits of an open skies regime. He said: "This is not to say that it is painless to pursue liberal aviation policies", noting that uncompetitive airlines are likely to face severe pressures but ultimately, the benefits would far outweigh any downside.
Mr Sim Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission and its Transport Commissioner, said the experience in Europe has been positive.
"The opening of the Europe market and regional cooperation have created tremendous growth and have been very productive for Europe. I think it can bring benefits for Asean as well," he noted.
Both groups should also consider closer cooperation, added Mr Kallas.
The proposal will be discussed at the inaugural EU-Asean Aviation Summit today.
In September 2012, the European Commission identified Asean as a region that could offer good opportunities, including in aviation. It noted in a recent memo that Asean transport ministers have expressed interest to pursue aviation cooperation.
"This would generate significant benefits for both sides not only in terms of market liberalisation, but also in ensuring regulatory convergence, fair competition, and more trade and investment," the commission said.
A potential hitch looms in the form of the European Union's insistence on pushing ahead with unilateral plans to impose an emissions charge on carriers flying to Europe.
There is much resistance to this from other countries, with many saying the lead should be taken by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the United Nations agency that oversees civil aviation.
Mr Lui told The Straits Times: "In our conversations with the EU, they are adopting a more flexible position. We will certainly allow Mr Kallas to share some of that new thinking and position..."
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told the opening dinner of Singapore Airshow 2014 last night that aviation plays a key role in connecting Singapore to the world and enhancing its position as a global city. The air show opens today.


Solid post, just came across your blog after you gave me a like. In regards to the content regarding free will itself, we technically , on some level, do have control of our subconscious thoughts. You may have learnt about insight learning, the 'aha' phenomenon – when we face a situation or problem which at first seems difficult, after a period of time trying to discover the solution we fail. We then put it aside and suddenly, momentously , make the discovery. We are in that sense controlling these thoughts wouldn't you say – scientists can't exactly monitor such thoughts or the processes through any measuring device, they will not be able to discover the moment you will be that discovery.
I'll take a look at that speech when I catch some more time, if I'm speaking about something completely different to what you were writing about then I'm sorry haha.
You make fair points; I wonder, however, how our moral sense works in relation to the unconscious. I can only say this from the perspective of someone who does believe that we have some free-will, only that it is bounded by our physical/circumstantial constraints; i.e when it comes to us being able to make objective moral choices, certainly, I'd imagine that an fMRI might show the projected outcome, but I feel that in many cases, we are drawn to one particular action but still do something else – much like the above commenter speaks of an 'aha' moment. Of course, it would be hard to test moral decisions if you're in an MRI scanner, but I would contend that there is some part of us that we can hone to make objectively 'moral' decisions. In Islam, Christianity etc, they speak of the 'soul', or the carnal self with its appetites, which is something that adherents are taught to hone, to develop and to try to develop into our 'higher selves' – though that's not empirically verifiable in any naturalistic sense, I think that Harris tends to oversimplify sometimes.
I sometimes feel as if his notions of morality vis a vis free will fall short and are more sentimental than objective.
From the perspective of an empiricist almost, …for example, I'm a caffeine addict – it doesn't matter how I get my fix – so, I might crave a cup of tea for an hour or so whilst working, and when I get the time, I'd get up to make one. Oftentimes I find myself at the last minute changing my mind and getting a coffee – even though for an entire hour all I could do is crave a cup of tea. In a way, I was going to have caffeine regardless, but I ended up deciding on something else. I'm not sure if that is illusion or an actual choice. Now to train my higher self I'd venture I need to try and reduce the amount of caffeine I require – I can still force my biology, through perseverance, to adapt to something else, or to learn to resist the addiction that I have. That again in itself would be a moral choice – that for the betterment of my 'soul' I would work on myself to learn to control this appetite for caffeine, if you follow me… okay, my ramblings are done! It's stupid o'clock in the morning here!
For the idea of developing our "higher selves" I would say that that is completely within the purview of what I've described in my post. If you use Socratic questioning towards this idea of developing your higher self and keep asking, "why do we do that?" it becomes evident why this works with my post. So, let's use the idea of eating fatty foods.
Let's assume a couple things: you love fatty foods and you don't want to be fat. So, there is a balancing act here. We know that there are people who never eat fatty foods and we know that there are people who only eat fatty foods. The question is, why?
If you choose not to eat fatty food, ask yourself, "why did you choose not to do that?" If you never learned that fatty food is bad, you would most likely eat fatty food. So you must have learned this from someone or some situation, probably your parents or your schooling. You also have learned that we need to control our desires to achieve greater goals in the future (short term pain for long term gain). Again, you must have learned this from somewhere. People who didn't learn these things become obese. People who did learn these things may or may not become obese, depending on the strength of their life experiences to prevent or encourage obesity. What I mean by "strength" is that some experiences influence us stronger than others. People who have parents who have died from obesity related diseases often try extremely hard not to be obese. So it's not only being taught things, but it is anything in a person's history that makes the "stronger-willed" or better able to resist temptation. Also, DNA plays a factor in this too, no doubt. But these were the two things I said makes up your decisions: life history and DNA.
As for the caffeine example, in the end, you do choose some kind of caffeine. Why do you choose that caffeine instead of another? Herein lies the real problem of considering free will. This kind of question often cannot be answered fully. We can look back and come up with reasons why, but do we really know that that's why we chose coffee over tea?
For example, think of a famous person. Why did you choose that person instead of another? There is a point where we cannot account for why we do certain things if you keep going backwards into your thought process.
Goodness, you do work fast!
I'll have to have a think about this and respond more later; you a fan of Cartesian logic…doubt everything and such?
I guess the 'higher self' argument isn't solely limited to the body – if the body is sacred, I imagine that it's sacred only insofar as you can use it to attain higher internal ends – so avoiding obesity isn't the end, in and of itself.
But as I said, the fact is that I was biologically determined to have caffeine, and thus I chose one caffeinated drink over another – but I am also free to try to learn not to be a slave to caffeine; in the Islamic tradition we call the 'jihad al-nafs' – 'struggle with the self' – I think the fact that we can learn to overcome much of the biological determinism (which is quite in vogue in the Harris, Dawkins camp) if we struggle hard enough is perhaps the demonstration of the greatest possible free-will that we have; not all people can attain the same ends because of the 'strength' of their subjective experiences, certainly, however that is not to say that they cannot engage themselves in battle with their carnal appetites.
If you look at Buddhist monks, or Sufi mystics etc., the emphasis is on purging the self of material attachments. To become so cognisant of yourself that you can choose whether or not to succomb to your biology. Okay, this argument would need a lot of development (and I'm no philosopher mor scholar of religion…) But that's my understanding of 'free-will' – it's a chance to attain more than what our biology would determine.
I imagine you come from the skeptic's camp on the whole religion vs nature debate?
So, I believe I know where the confusion is coming from. I am not saying that we are unthinking robots wound up from birth and let go. We learn and we adapt to situations. It is the combination of DNA and life history that makes us decide what we decide next. So, the idea of what we would have "instinctively" done isn't really what I'm saying.
I've just thought of a really simply way of looking at it, after you mentioned the jihad al-nafs: This is actually a struggle.
It's a struggle between your DNA (your desire for something that makes your feel good, like fatty foods) and your upbringing and the rest of your life experience. If you are not obese, probably, you had good parenting (whether by your parents or some other guardian) in respect to controlling your desires. That seems like a simpler summation. What do you think?
I like this, and it makes for a great summary – but as you know well, when it comes to religious doctrines it's rather more convoluted. I think this will be my working definition too; alas the only trouble I find is that the battle against your DNA vs. your upbringing, say, is one in which the individual loses his moral agency; jihad al-nafs, as I understand it, is predicated upon there being a soul that is rebellious and needs training, or curtailing, in order for it to flourish. So if the moral choice, or the struggle between the DNA and the upbringing, invokes some sort of deity and accepts that there is a higher purpose for trying to master the soul, I do think that this makes for a great working definition.
Of course, as you'd imagine, there are all sorts of epistemological problems which follow as a result; mystics from the Islamic tradition have dedicated much time and space to this – for me I find the starting point as being – if I can accept that there is a First Cause (I guess in terms of the Cosmological Argument), and then can see the design of love and mercy in the world (a la Ontological Argument – I've taken these in reverse – professional philosophers might have my head for this!)- then it is easier for me to accept that there is a purpose for my existence…if so, what is it and how would I know? If there is a purpose – wouldn't the Agent who set it in motion try to tell me….? …thus I look at contrasting claims of 'Revelation' and the people to whom they were revealed- see what they have in common – what the running theme(s) is/are, what they say about Free Will, how they define Humanity and what properties they ascribe to him…. what it is Man is called to…then it's a matter of picking one system and working hard at it… or that's sort of how I got to my beliefs.
If you're interested further, there are some great books by Perennial philosophers such as Dr Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University (his 'The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity" is a pretty good introduction into explaining the Islamic concept of 'Man'; then there's works by others like Gai Eaton's "Islam and the Destiny of Man" (next on my list to read but I hear it's among the best introductions – a number of my friends converted due to this book – don't worry, I'm not trying to Evangelise you!- but it apparently lays out these esoteric doctrines well).
Thanks for the in depth response. I am reading the Koran currently, so it helps to be able to understand what's going on in it with these little tid bits.
I'm not actually sure I follow why the 'aha' moment goes against free will. Do you think you could break it down for me a little more? I tried rereading but, couldn't figure it out.
And, definitely don't rely on my blog post alone for an explanation of Sam Harris' position. Sam's argument is much more water tight.
Oh dear, perhaps I misunderstood.
I think I meant (and this is me sleep-deprived so don't take my word for my previous wording) that an 'Aha' moment of sorts (or at the point where you make a breakthrough or realisation and do the thing you hadn't planned to do or would have usually instinctively have done) is the argument for free will, not against it.
Unless I misunderstood what our friend said about the 'Aha' moment as well!
Oh no, I was on a stance that the 'aha' phenomenon in particular is supportive of free will. Our brain has a very unique ability to comprehend and analyse information which we have seemingly placed aside – yet scientists who use measuring devices such as the fMRI won't be able to pick this up.
Its pretty complex to try and completely document on insight learning in contrast to free will, a little beyond me at the moment, but it definitely supports the fact that as individuals we have the ability to make discoveries and decisions without any unnecessary influence.
I think it's a combination of number "1" and our life history. That's what I'm asserting.
Robin Claire here. Your friendly neighborhood Christian.
About this "free will" thing.
I don't believe I had free will before I met Christ. But the crucial decision to pick up "that book" rather than "that bottle" was a 50/50 deal I think. It truly felt that way. At that moment it seemed that I could have gone either way. I chose to pick up "the book" – and you know how that turned out. I went from Atheist to Christian that night. I was all alone when it happened, in my bedroom, late at night. You should read "My Testimony" for the full story of this 50/50 deal.
Now that I have JC in my life I feel like I am allowed to make decisions with POWER that I never had before this. JC is POWER for some reason. After I let Him in, I was suddenly able to EASILY stay away from the bottle. Before that I HAD NO CHOICE! I was powerless. I can not really explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it for themselves. It is a new-found POWER to now CHOOSE which way I want to go. And prayers really do help as I'm finding out lately with other bloggers and their friends vehemently praying for me. This may make you want to puke, but I will say it anyway. I will be praying for you like I'm being prayed for.
There is a difference between feeling like you have a choice and the concept of free will. When you are addicted, you feel like you have no choice. This is not evidence for a lack of free will. When you were "saved," you felt like you could choose. This is not evidence for free will.
You know the older I get, the more I am coming to terms that the term "free will" is just an illusion of choice. A good example are office policies. Most would react but given a choice, they'd do the same. People just want to claim freedom.