The Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA) has, by means of a new decision published today (No. 19/2016) imposed an ISK 480m administrative fine on Mjólkursamsalan ehf. (MS Iceland Dairies, hereinafter referred to as MS) due to serious violations of the Competition Act. MS abused its dominant market position by selling its competitors basic raw material for the production of dairy products at an abnormally high price, while at the same time, MS and associated parties were sold the same raw material at a much lower price, and, additionally, below cost of production. This meant that MS and associated parties were given a significant market advantage over their competitors. In doing so, the ability of the competitors to compete with MS and associated companies was significantly reduced and the interests of consumers and farmers harmed. It is clear that MS provided the ICA with incorrect information and neglected to inform the Authority about important data. This has delayed the resolution of the case and has been detrimental to competition.
The Authority's earlier decision (No. 26/2014) was annulled by the Competition Appeals Committee. The Appeals Committee recommended that the ICA re-examine the case, as MS had submitted new data to the Committee which was not provided to the Authority when the case was first examined. With the decision published today by the ICA, the ICA has completed the investigation recommended by the Committee.
Non-pasteurised milk (raw milk) is a basic raw material in the production of all forms of dairy products. The pricing of and access to such raw material, therefore, is extremely important for all companies that produce and sell dairy products.
Mjólkursamsalan (MS) is the only company in Iceland that sells raw milk wholesale to other dairy goods producers, as well as using it for its own production.
MS is in a significantly strong position in the Icelandic dairy market and receives approximately 90% of the raw milk produced by farmers. In addition, MS is closely associated with the second largest company in the dairy market, Kaupfélag Skagfirðinga (KS). Together, these companies very nearly monopolise milk transactions in Iceland.
Mjólka (hereinafter referred to as Mjólka I) was a competitor of MS and KS until the end of 2009 when KS took over the company. Since then, it has continued to operate under the same name as a subsidiary of KS (hereinafter referred to as Mjólka II). In 2010, the founder of Mjólka I began, together with others, the operation of a new company in the dairy market, Mjólkurbúið Kú ehf. (Mjólkurbúið).
At the end of 2012, Mjólkurbúið became aware that the company had to pay a considerably higher price for raw milk than its competitor, Mjólka II. Mjólkurbúið realised this fact when MS, by mistake, sent the company an invoice for the purchase of raw milk that was intended for Mjólka II. The consequence of this was that Mjólkurbúið lodged a complaint with the ICA at the beginning of 2013 and the investigation of the case began. The matter under investigation was whether MS had, in the period from 2008 to 2013, abused its dominant position with respect to Mjólka I on the one hand and Mjólkurbúið on the other hand.
On 22 September 2014, the ICA issued its decision in the case and found that MS had abused its dominant position and disrupted competition during this period. The investigation revealed that Mjólka I and subsequently Mjólkurbúið had had to pay up to 17% more for the raw milk than the price that KS and Mjólka II paid. The price difference was up to 21% as regards the price paid by the production department of MS for the raw milk.
The ICA considered it appropriate to fine MS ISK 370m for these violations.
MS appealed the ICA's decision to the Competition Appeals Committee, which pronounced its ruling in the case on 16 December 2014. MS submitted, for the first time, a particular document to the Committee, i.e. an agreement with KS from 15 July 2008. MS was of the opinion that this document was of great importance and that it showed that the actions of the company were legitimate.
During the ICA's investigations, however, MS had never referred to or disclosed this agreement, despite repeated ICA requests for explanations and documentation from MS as regards the pricing of the raw milk.
The Competition Appeals Committee asked MS to explain why the agreement had not been submitted to the ICA. The conclusion of the Committee was that MS had not submitted any "tenable explanations" for the company's failure to do so. The Committee was of the opinion that MS had furthermore not provided any real explanation as to why "fundamental data" on the implementation of the agreement and settlement had not been submitted during the Committee's processing of the case.
The ICA's new investigation began on 19 December 2014. Once the collection of evidence was completed, the ICA on 22 October 2015 sent to MS a statement of objections setting out its preliminary findings. Comments to the statement of objections from MS were received by the ICA on 12 January 2016. Further data and opinions were subsequently collected. A decision has now been reached.
In the new decision, published today, the ICA again takes a position as regards the actions of MS after having further investigated the matter in accordance with the instructions of the Competition Appeals Committee. The conclusion, in a nutshell, is that the new evidence shows that MS's violations of the Competition Act are even more serious than was considered to be the case in the previous decision. In addition, MS has been shown to provide the ICA with incorrect information and neglected to inform the Authority about important data.
The new decision confirms the above price difference of raw milk to, on the one hand, Mjólka I (i.e. while the company was an independent competitor of MS and KS) and Mjólkurbúið and, on the other hand, to MS itself, KS and Mjólka II (i.e. under the ownership of KS). In addition, it is clear that differences in cost or other objective grounds could not justify this price difference. It has been shown that MS, in fact, sold raw milk to KS and Mjólka II at a price that did not cover MS's cost of the transaction. If KS and Mjólka II had had to pay the same price as their competitors for raw milk from MS, then their raw material cost would have been around ISK 239m greater than was the case in the period from 2008 to 2013.
In support of the contention that the actions of MS did not distort competition, the company has repeatedly maintained that Mjólka I was very poorly managed and that this was the reason why the owners of the company sold it to KS in 2009. The decision of the ICA, however, shows that if the production department of MS had had to pay the same raw material price as Mjólka I, this part of MS's operation would have been run at a considerable loss.
New data shows that the sale of raw milk at the low price to KS was an action intended to weaken Mjólka I as a competitor or to force the company to exit the market. Mjólka I had achieved some success in selling grated cheese and had provided some competition in this respect. MS and KS decided that KS should focus on the production of grated cheese in competition with Mjólka I and that the company would obtain the raw milk at the low price. When MS subsequently significantly increased the price of raw milk to Mjólka I in mid-2009 (the price to KS and MS itself remained the same), Mjólka I was forced out of the market and KS took over the company. Once the competition restraints from Mjólka I had been removed, MS organised an increase in the price of grated cheese. The profits of this increase were divided between MS and KS.
The explanations that MS has provided for the difference in the price of raw milk to KS and Mjólka II on the one hand and to Mjólka I and Mjólkurbúið on the other hand have been both inconsistent and wrong.
Initially, MS incorrectly explained that the price of raw milk to the other unrelated parties was in accordance with the wholesale price decided by the Agricultural Goods Pricing Committee. The Agricultural Goods Pricing Committee, however, informed the ICA that it had not, during the period under investigation, decided the wholesale price of raw milk. The price on which MS chose to base its pricing of raw milk was the wholesale price of processed dairy products, i.e. pasteurised whole milk, as decided by the Committee. In other words, MS sold the unrelated competitors the important raw material at a price that was based on the price of processed goods. In this manner, the unrelated competitors were forced to pay twice for the same cost items in the primary processing of the milk, which clearly had a detrimental effect on their ability to compete.
MS explained that the sale of raw milk to KS and Mjólka II at the lower price was a price transference permitted by the Act on the Production, Pricing and Sale of Agricultural Products. MS later claimed that a price transference had not been involved.
The basic view of MS in support of the legality of its actions has been based on Article 71 of the Act on the Production, Pricing and Sale of Agricultural Products and the aforementioned agreement with KS from 2008. The Act on the Production, Pricing and Sale of Agricultural Products grants processing plants in the dairy industry authorisation to divide tasks among themselves in the interests of efficiency. MS has repeatedly maintained that this collaboration with KS meant that the production of high profit-margin products had been transferred from KS to MS and that KS had concentrated on the production of low profit-margin products. In order for this division of tasks to be realistic, KS had to be compensated for the loss of profit margin this involved and that this had been done by selling the raw milk to KS at such a low price. Such sale was, according to MS, "an integral part" of their division of tasks which the legislature had permitted.
The investigation carried out by the ICA, however, has shown that this is in all respects incorrect. Data from KS, for instance, show that the opposite occurred. KS ceased the production of goods with a low profit-margin and increased the production of goods with a high profit-margin (including grated cheese). When account is taken of the overall effects, this reveals that the profit margin of KS was considerably higher than that of MS during the period investigated. There was no need to compensate KS for loss of profit margin. The main reasoning provided by MS for its actions, therefore, is based on incorrect assertions as regards the facts of the case.
By means of Act No. 69/1998, the legislature amended the Act on the Production, Pricing and Sale of Agricultural Products towards greater freedom. This amendment provided that instead of a fixed price, the Agricultural Goods Pricing Committee was to determine the minimum price of raw milk to farmers. The assumption was that competition between processing plants would improve terms for farmers and that they would be paid a higher price than the minimum price. The ICA's investigation, however, revealed that MS reached an agreement with KS where such competition was prevented. It has been shown that when there was competition from Mjólka I, this had the effect of raising prices to farmers and lowering prices to consumers.
With the amendment to the Act on the Production, Pricing and Sale of Agricultural Products in 2004, the provisions of the Competition Act which were to combat competition-restrictive mergers and collusion were set aside in the dairy market. Prior to the amendment, there were five dairy production plants operating in Iceland. However, following the law amendment, mergers have taken place where it has been possible to intervene on the basis of the Competition Act. As a result, MS and related companies in the processing and wholesale distribution of dairy products have gained a position that is close to a monopoly. Consequently, the competitive position of the competitors of MS is extremely difficult and sensitive. Under those circumstances, MS, as a dominant company in the relevant market, has a particularly strict obligation by law to refrain from any action that could restrict any competition that can exist in the dairy market.
The conclusion of the ICA is that MS seriously violated the Competition Act. The competitors of MS had to accept having to purchase basic raw material at abnormally high prices as well as MS itself and related parties obtaining the same raw material at much lower prices. Not only did KS and Mjólka II get the raw milk at much lower prices than their competitors, it was also priced by MS below cost price. This had the effect of granting them a significant competitive edge over their competitors. This was also the object of the actions carried out by MS. In this manner, the ability of the competitors to compete with MS and related parties was seriously diminished and the dominant position of MS protected. This has the final consequence of harming the interests of consumers and farmers. It has been shown that MS provided the ICA with incorrect information in the earlier case and neglected to inform the Authority about important data. This has delayed the resolution of the case and has been detrimental to competition.
The ICA considered that it would be appropriate to fine MS a total of ISK 480m.


What are the strategic business drivers for adopting gpi? Which internal stakeholders do you need to get on your side? Are there any infrastructure impacts you should plan for? And what operational and financial aspects do you need to consider? In this 30 minute session, a gpi member bank will share insights and best practices on how to sell gpi within your organisation.


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Public Policy/Government
Plex Expands Leadership Team
TROY, Mich.--Plex Systems, the leader in cloud ERP for manufacturing, today announced the appointments of Elisa Lee as chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary, and Todd Weeks as vice president, cloud operations. Both Elisa and Todd will serve as members of Plex's executive leadership team.
Elisa Lee Joins as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
As chief legal officer, Elisa Lee oversees all legal, intellectual property, corporate governance and compliance operations for Plex.
She brings Plex a background that includes leadership roles in cloud software and manufacturing organizations, as well as extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and corporate and securities law. Most recently she served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at SaaS mortgage solutions provider Ellie Mae, and prior to that as senior counsel roles at The Cooper Companies and its medical device manufacturing subsidiary, CooperVision. She started her career as a corporate lawyer specializing in capital markets and company representation at Latham & Watkins LLP, one of the largest global law firms.
Elisa holds a juris doctor degree from New York University School of Law and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Todd Weeks Joins as VP of Cloud Operations
As vice president, cloud operations, Todd Weeks is responsible for architecture and deployment of Plex infrastructure to support customers' global operations.
Todd brings extensive experience in architecting and managing large-scale, global technology platforms. He joins Plex from Sears Holdings Corp., where he was responsible for the operation of multiple data center facilities, infrastructure and platforms supporting all of Sears online properties. This included Sears' online marketplace, which contains more than 200 million products.
Prior to Sears, Todd held the dual role of global head of enterprise platform services and global head of hosting, client computing, security, and networking at Novartis. He also served at Microsoft for more than 10 years, most recently as senior director of cloud engineering solutions.
Todd holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the Microsoft Business and Organizational Leadership Program at the Wharton School.
"Elisa's experience in cloud, manufacturing and corporate law, along with Todd's extensive background in building out global technology platforms, will be incredibly valuable as we continue to extend Plex's industry leadership," said Jason Blessing, Plex Systems CEO. "I'm incredibly excited to welcome them both to the Plex team."
"Plex combines the innovative spirit of manufacturing with cloud technology, putting us in an ideal position to help transform some of the most important industries in the world," Lee said. "I couldn't be more excited to join such a great team at an important time in the company's history."
"The cloud is transforming global business, helping manufacturers improve efficiency, while achieving new levels of quality and innovation," Weeks said. "Today, Plex has more than 450 customers operating nearly 1,500 manufacturing facilities across 22 countries. We're just getting started, and I look forward to working with the team to continue to design and scale our operations as we grow to support thousands more organizations around the world."
About Plex
Plex is the Manufacturing Cloud, delivering industry-leading ERP and manufacturing automation to more than 450 companies across process and discrete industries. Plex pioneered Cloud solutions for the shop floor, connecting suppliers, machines, people, systems and customers with capabilities that are easy to configure, deliver continuous innovation and reduce IT costs. With insight that starts on the production line, Plex helps companies see and understand every aspect of their business ecosystems, enabling them to lead in an ever-changing market. Learn more at www.plex.com.
Updated daily, mfrtech.com includes featured articles and manufacturing news, product releases, business expansions, acquisitions and business forecasts submitted by our visitors or authored by editorial staff.
Phone: 844-295-TECH (844-295-8324)
Email: sales@mfrtech.com
1890 Starshoot Parkway 170-316
© Copyright 2019 by MFRTech

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Frustrated GOP health staffers jump ship (4)
Lord British Returns With His 'Ultima' Successor 'Shroud of the Avatar' (0)
Republicans Are Furious at Obama for Prosecuting an Alleged Terrorist
GOP: determined to undermine public's trust in Obama to prosecute the war on terror
Politics • 3/09/13 3:25:37 am • Views: 790
On Thursday, Suleiman Abu Gaith, identified by US officials as Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and a spokesperson for Al Qaeda, was indicted in federal court in New York City on charges of conspiracy after reportedly being handed over to the US by Jordanian authorities. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) promptly went ballistic, saying military detention was imperative. "By processing terrorists like Sulaiman Abu Ghayth through civilian courts, the Administration risks missing important opportunities to gather intelligence to prevent future attacks and save lives." They added that Obama's "lack of a war-time detention policy for foreign members of Al Qaeda, as well as its refusal to detain and interrogate these individuals at Guantanamo, makes our nation less safe."
But Graham and Ayotte have their history wrong. During the Bush administration, hundreds of people were convicted in civilian courts on terrorism charges, many affiliated with Al Qaeda, without complaint from Republicans. There's nothing about military detention that magically compels terror suspects to open up—for example, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, one of two people apprehended in the US who spent several years in military detention during the Bush administration, did not begin talking until he was put back into the criminal justice system. Gaith isn't being charged with involvement in a specific attack but rather for being a part of Al Qaeda's conspiracy to kill Americans, and that means that he may not even by prosecutable by military commissions, which have a far worse track record than federal courts when it comes to terrorism.
What Graham and Ayotte really want is to force Obama to completely abandon his promise to close Gitmo by sending new detainees there—not least because Congress has already made the transfer of Gitmo detainees to the US for trial all but impossible. Two years ago Republicans tried unsuccessfully to force the administration to funnel anyone suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda into military detention, even if they were arrested in the United States. They have not yet managed to block the administration from bringing foreign terror suspects into the country for trial in federal court.
More: Republicans Are Furious at Obama for Prosecuting an Alleged Terrorist
Alleged Terrorist Al Qaeda Al Qaeda Gaith Isn'T Terrorism Charges Terrorists War-Time Detention Policy Criminal Justice Republicans Suleiman Abu Gaith
Bill and Opus for 2016! Mar 9, 2013 • 9:11:01am
Don't forget about that other aspect of military detention that wasn't mentioned in this report, and I'm betting the one that Graham and Ayotte were really hoping for.
Skip Intro Mar 9, 2013 • 10:28:14am
They still haven't forgiven him for having bin Laden killed.
StephenMeansMe Mar 9, 2013 • 12:20:26pm
There's a certain line of thinking (probably not shared by Graham and Ayotte, but definitely present in the blogosphere) that sees hypocrisy in a supposed "kill American terrorists, prosecute foreign terrorists" policy:
Turkey and Jordan was able to hand over al-Qaeda leader Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, to Obama and pals and what did they do? They wisked him off to New York where now instead of being interrogated for intelligence as he would of been at Gitmo he is enjoying his own defense lawyer and all the perks the Bill of Rights gives him.
Of course, the implication is that we should just kill all suspected terrorists, and giving them any (perceived) leniency just means you're a terrorist loving sekrit Muslim.
At least those who categorically oppose drone strikes against anyone are somewhat reasonable.


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It's not easy being ringed. A newly released image from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, shows the Cartwheel Galaxy still reeling from a run-in with a smaller galaxy 400 million years ago.
The Cartwheel Galaxy, so called because of its bright inner ring and colorful outer ring, lies about 500 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers think it used to be a large spiral like the Milky Way, until a smaller galaxy smashed through it. In earlier observations with other telescopes, the space between the rings appeared shrouded in dust.
Now, JWST's infrared cameras have peered through the dust and found previously unseen stars and structure (SN: 7/11/22). The new image shows sites of intense star formation throughout the galaxy that were triggered by the collision's aftereffects. Some of those new stars are forming in spokelike patterns between the central ring and the outer ring, a process that is not well understood.
When the Hubble Space Telescope observed the Cartwheel Galaxy in visible light (left), the spokes between the galaxy's bright rings were barely visible wisps. JWST's infrared eyes brought them into vivid focus (right). Near-infrared light (blue, orange and yellow) traces newly forming stars; mid-infrared light (red) highlights the galaxy's chemistry.Left: Hubble/NASA and ESA; Right: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI and Webb ERO Production Team
Ring galaxies are rare, and galaxies with two rings are even more unusual. That strange shape means that the long-ago collision set up multiple waves of gas rippling back and forth in the galaxy left behind. It's like if you drop a pebble in the bathtub, says JWST project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "First you get this ring, then it hits the walls of your bathtub and reflects back, and you get a more complicated structure."
The effect probably means that the Cartwheel Galaxy has a long road to recovery ahead — and astronomers don't know what it will look like in the end.
As for the smaller galaxy that caused all this mayhem, it didn't stick around to get its picture taken. "It's gone off on its merry way," Pontoppidan says.
from Science News https://ift.tt/9c3NuQR


Pork belly traditionally smoked in the "tuyé".
The pigs used are the regional "Porc de Franche-Comté" breed. After being cured, the pork bellies are smoked over pine, spruce and juniper for a period of two to three weeks, making it the French equivalent to Italian pancetta.
This product is a recognised PGI (Protected geographical indication).


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ALMA and Interferometry
Artist's impression of ALMA's array of antennas on Chajnantor
Why do we refer to ALMA as a single telescope, when there are many separate dishes dotting the Chajnantor plateau? These dishes make up the array of antennas mentioned in the name Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The advanced design of ALMA allows the dishes to work together as a single telescope, more powerful than any single dish could be. Indeed, without this technological feat, ALMA's ambitious scientific goals would be unattainable. This is due to a fundamental limit placed on any telescope with a single main dish or mirror, which governs the achievable sharpness of its vision. It is a limit that particularly affects observations at relatively long wavelengths, such as the millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths at which ALMA operates.
The resolution (or degree of detail in the image) of a single telescope depends both on the wavelength it operates at and on the diameter of the main dish or mirror. The longer the wavelength, the worse the resolution, and the larger the diameter, the better the resolution. Consequently, a long-wavelength radio telescope has worse resolution than an optical- or infrared-wavelength telescope of the same size.
ESO's optical and infrared Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal has Unit Telescopes with mirror diameters of 8.2 metres. At infrared wavelengths of about 2 micrometres, it has a maximum resolution — using adaptive optics — of about 50 milliarcseconds (a little over ten millionths of a degree). The ALMA dishes have a diameter that is, at 12 metres, about 50% greater than the VLT mirrors. However, ALMA observes at wavelengths that are in the millimetre range, up to a thousand times longer than infrared light. This far outweighs the slight size advantage that the ALMA dishes have over the VLT mirrors and so a single ALMA antenna would have a resolution, at millimetre wavelengths, of about 20 arcseconds.
In fact, to have a comparable resolution to the VLT, a single ALMA dish would therefore need a reflecting surface with a diameter of several kilometres — clearly not a feasible construction proposition. This is why ALMA consists of an array of many individual antennas spread out over a very large area, working together in what is known as an interferometer.
The Technical Building on the Array Operations Site houses the ALMA correlator
The resolution of an interferometer depends not on the diameter of individual dishes, but on the maximum separation between the antennas. Moving the antennas further apart increases the resolution. The signals from the antennas are brought together and processed by a specialised supercomputer — the ALMA correlator — to mimic the effect of a single telescope. In other words, an interferometer acts like a single telescope that is as large as the whole array.
Increasing the maximum distance between the antennas increases the resolving power of the interferometer, allowing it to detect smaller details. The ability to link antennas over baselines of many kilometres is crucial to obtaining extremely good resolution and a high degree of detail in the images.
ALMA's main array has fifty 12-metre antennas, arranged in configurations spread over distances from 150 metres to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Four antennas for ALMA's Atacama Compact Array, three of diameter 12 metres, and one of diameter 7 metres.
Four additional 12-metre antennas and twelve 7-metre antennas form the Atacama Compact Array. The smaller 7-metre antennas can be clustered more closely together without bumping into each other, and, because of the way interferometers behave, this compact arrangement allows them to see the broader structure or "big picture" of the astronomical objects that are observed. In addition, the four 12-metre antennas of the Atacama Compact Array are used separately to measure the absolute brightness of the objects observed — a quantity that cannot be measured with an interferometer.
The different configurations of the telescope allow astronomers to probe both the broad structure of an astronomical source and its very finest details. However, to switch between compact and wide configurations of the array, the antennas must be physically moved. This is done with two custom-built transporters, designed to lift the antennas, which each weigh over 100 tonnes, move them kilometres across the desert, and position them on concrete docking pads with millimetre precision.
Thanks to the technique of interferometry, ALMA's many antennas work together as a unified science machine, letting astronomers make observations that would be impossible with a single dish. This is why we can think of ALMA as not just many antennas, but as one, revolutionary telescope.
For more technical details of ALMA as an interferometer, see the article "How Will ALMA Make Images?" from issue 5 of the ALMA Newsletter.


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Tag: religion
"Trading one superstition for another"
by David Summerhays
My first thought on reading The Theology of Consensus by L. A. Kauffman—which recently appeared in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology, and then reached a wider audience in Jacobin Magazine—is that I have rarely read an article so important, thoughtful, and well-researched that nonetheless does little more than trade one superstition for another. The concerns she raises are critical and seldom discussed yet the author seemingly fails a test of basic critical thinking: she never asks if the problem she deftly analyzes might be pandemic. That is the fatal flaw of Kauffman's well-researched article.
Kauffman's article begins by tracing the origins of consensus decision-making within activist circles to two Quakers in the 1970s who adapted the practice from Quaker tradition.
Kauffman describes consensus decision-making as "a process in which groups come to agreement without voting… [G]roups that make decisions by consensus work to refine the plan until everyone finds it acceptable." She adds that it "has been a central feature of direct action movements for nearly 40 years."
The first crucial and thoughtful concern the author raises is the danger of moving practices from the religious realm to the secular realm. Kauffman points out that when this occurs such practices can become superstitious, a sort of magical technique, rather than the contemplative practice or symbol they were intended to be. I could not agree more with the author: taking religious material (e.g. myth) as a blueprint for practical action is a recipe for disaster. She writes: "Consensus can easily be derailed by those acting in bad faith. But it's also a process that is ill-equipped to deal with disagreements that arise from competing interests rather than simple differences of opinion. The rosy idea embedded in the process that unity and agreement can always be found if a group is willing to discuss and modify a proposal sufficiently is magical thinking, divorced from the real-world rough-and-tumble of political negotiation."
Indeed, Quakers do await a kind of "unity" to appear among us, but that unity is inseparable from the presence of the divine, so to speak. In other words, unity should be seen as a miracle. We could say symbolically that we have some control but not final say over unity happening. Unity is not literal, in the same way Christians should not read the Bible literally; nor should we expect unity to necessarily fully arise in reality, just as it would be unwise for a Christian such as my brother to hold his breath until Christ returns.
Any "faith" in consensus necessarily arising is indeed misplaced and would create quasi-magical expectations for consensus practice and occult its limitations. Like any superstition, this would lead to a lack of realism and therefore ineffective action that poorly serves the cause of justice. Rituals and prayer cannot replace thoughtful action. Nor can a superstitious view of consensus sustain hope and courage in the long-term. As superstitions are exposed, the only options are apathy, cynicism, or fanaticism.
Just as we must protest when an organized religion discourages us from acting on urgent social problems, Kauffman is right to call us to be just as critical and suspicious of superstition with regards to consensus. The symbolism concealed in these superstitions may provide necessary meaning and direction to our lives, and that is worth celebrating, but superstition as a plan for action does not ultimately serve the oppressed. Kauffman convincingly shows that superstitious understandings of consensus do exist within activist circles and do cause problems, even if she perhaps exaggerates how widespread the problem is.
The second concern the author raises is even more important: consensus process is an expression of middle-class, white culture and can be alienating to others. I could hardly agree more when Kauffman notes:
"[The consensus] tradition has been imbued with whiteness. The Clamshell Alliance was, after all, an overwhelmingly white organization, bringing together white residents of the New Hampshire seacoast with white Quakers and an array of mostly white radicals from Boston and beyond for action in a white rural region…
"Time and again, activists of color found the use of consensus in majority-white direct action circles to be alienating and off-putting, and white activists' reverent insistence on the necessity and superiority of the process has exacerbated difficulties in multiracial collaboration and alliance-building."
When white activists insist on decision-making practices that are a profound expression of white, middle-class culture, a kind of white supremacy results—a white supremacy that endlessly claims to stand for racial justice while viewing its own culture as universally valid and therefore refusing to negotiate its customs. This leads to strained relationships and low motivation for cooperation.
Kauffman's critique of consensus correctly states, moreover, that this practice does not remove all lines of privilege. It favours people with the time, energy, and patience to deal with a consensus process. Particularly if these processes are poorly facilitated, they can be lengthy and draining.
Nonetheless, as a Quaker and environmental organizer, there are some less impressive parts of this article.
Source: Beyond the Choir
Something akin to consensus is a frequent practice in many North American aboriginal cultures (cf. the Iroquois Confederation). Even as a Quaker, I learned about consensus in a restorative justice training, heavily inspired by aboriginal cultures. It seems overwhelmingly likely that the development of consensus in activist culture was influenced by a few centuries of cohabiting North America with aboriginal peoples. Moreover, anarchists have been inspired by Quakers since the 19th century, so although I have not analyzed the author's source material, it seems unlikely that consensus was helicoptered in—out of nowhere—by two Quakers in the 1970s as Kauffman claims.
The author also doesn't mention that consensus seems to have been a reaction against relatively top-heavy organizing of the 1960s that, of course, also favoured people with privilege. The assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King reminded activists that charismatic organizing can be stopped cold by lopping off the heads of leaders and offending organizations. The challenges involved in organizing for justice in our world are immense. So although it is important to know the limitations of consensus, Kauffman's article would have been much stronger if it included any reason to believe that the difficulties many experience when practicing consensus are inherent to consensus rather than inherent in the difficult nature of the problems activists seek to solve through consensus.
The author also claims that "better practices" than consensus exist but did not give any examples—which was unfair and I thought suspicious. She accuses consensus of magical thinking, but it would be magical thinking on her part if she believes that any quick-fix replacement for consensus will magically generate an egalitarian, multi-cultural revolution, or even necessarily get us one step closer. It is impossible to evaluate her claim that better practices exist without an example. This omission is fundamental, diminishing the value of her article, which is excellent in so many ways.
The activists I work with know that consensus isn't magic. Nor have I been to many consensus sessions (or Quaker meetings) that lasted 4-8 hours… this concern does not seem entirely insurmountable and it is obvious that consensus benefits from training and reflection.
In addition, while her exposition of superstition inherent in consensus is excellent, her rejection of consensus-process generally seems exaggerated and polemical. It is quite possible to have a successful and efficient consensus process that has zero expectations of "unity" arising by magic. As Kauffman notes, consensus would be ill-advised when parties have differing material interests or a power imbalance (e.g. divorce proceedings in cases of domestic violence). But consensus is used every day, quite frequently to everyone's satisfaction. My experience is that usually it works just fine, particularly in situations of relatively low diversity of opinion or when well-facilitated.
Nor have I met many people who seemed to have the dogmatic attachment to consensus the author seems to think is widespread. The activists I work with know that consensus isn't magic. Nor have I been to many consensus sessions (or Quaker meetings) that lasted 4-8 hours. The long ones I can think of were, not surprisingly, poorly facilitated. Kauffman is correct that "consensus-specialists" can become arcane to outsiders, but this concern does not seem insurmountable and it is obvious that consensus benefits from training and reflection.
But let us move on to far larger problems.
The Ugly
Despite the misgivings above, I find the author makes a very interesting and plausible link between consensus and Quaker theology, but this raises the entire problem with the article: Kauffman is implying that every other activist practice besides consensus emanates from entirely secular and rational sources, having no religious roots and certainly no superstitions. She implies that it's easy or even possible to find an activist practice that is free from the kinds of superstition and white culture brilliantly illustrated in her article. This assumption is fundamental to her article, for otherwise, if she was aware that activist practice was rife with superstition and almost inextricable from white culture, her article would simply be a baffling call for us to exchange one superstitious expression of white culture for another. Her implicit assumption is necessary for her article and it is wrong.
Kauffman has therefore put her finger on a whale of a problem: Enlightenment superstitions underlie a vast majority of leftist thought and activity. Enlightenment culture, the tragic bedrock of the radical left, is inextricable from white culture, and even white supremacist, cis-hetero-patriarchy.
We know that modern culture and activist culture in particular is filled with superstition and is a profound expression of white culture, and perhaps even white supremacy. Many historians, political scientists, and philosophers have already explored the problematic ways that ideals of democracy, freedom, equality, and even the modern project of "rationally remaking the world" are rooted in Christian myths, superstitious, and inextricable from those superstitions (cf. Hegel, Nietzsche, Weber, Schopenhauer, Paul Tillich, Charles Taylor, Adorno, etc.). They are equally inseparable from white culture. This work may not be well known and its implications for activist practice may be very little explored, but it is a solid and respected body of literature.
Kauffman has therefore put her finger on a whale of a problem: Enlightenment superstitions underlie a vast majority of leftist thought and activity. Enlightenment culture, the bedrock of the radical left, is inextricable from white culture, from superstition, and from white supremacist, cis-hetero-patriarchy.
To understand this, let's take, for example, the Christian myth of the "end times," the mythical events "after" the Last Judgment under the reign of Christ. In Christian theology, the mythical "end-times" remove the possibility for human reason to err and to sin but rather human reason is reunited with the ability to perfectly discern truth, justice, and love. Within this state of ecstasy, humanity could leave behind all symbol, ritual, and myth, freely discarding all its traditions, for they would no longer be necessary when God is "transparent" (symbolically speaking) to all through every bit of creation. Humanity would arrive at a fully Rational culture that is rich, inexhaustible, and totally liberated. A culture that is Rational would be universally valid, rather than particular and relative.
Although they did not say so explicitly, the thinkers of the Enlightenment, the intellectual founders of modern society, were in effect claiming that these "end-times" are nigh. The Enlightenment, with its optimism about the power of real-life reason to overcome error and selfishness, began a project of "rethinking everything," a universal application of Reason. This is the modern project. They predicted that we have the power today to bring about the Kingdom of God. The coming of Reason would mean that the world's cultures were unnecessary and could be discarded as part of a global (colonial) effort that was at first missionary before it was educative and liberatory. The European Christian traditions of white supremacist, cis-hetero-partriarchy were called Rational and universal; everything else was seen as inferior and irrational. "Liberation" and "education" has always meant some genuine liberation and genuine edification mixed with oppression and the undermining and destruction of traditions throughout the world. That is why the victims of this Enlightenment superstition have always primarily been the oppressed, be it through colonialism that sought to educate away other cultures or through a "liberation" that in fact ensures the domination of European tradition, e.g., the European economy or cultural norms.
It is therefore not easy to find any political ideal that is not drenched in this founding superstition of the Enlightenment, the confusion of Reason with reason.
For instance, the Enlightenment ideal of maximizing freedom (liberalism) makes no sense without the confusion of Reason with reason. When different actors are liberated to compete, freedom without Reason can just as easily lead to oppression and destruction as it can to harmony. Economic liberalism (commonly known as the ideal of capitalism) cannot be maintained without a faith that Reason will prevail once liberated. The same goes for social liberalism and even utopian anarchism: they depend on a faith in Harmony-through-freedom.
Many, when rejecting liberalism then turn to the Enlightenment ideal of a progressively more Rational state governed by "the People." But meritocracy, linked to the ideals of democracy, equality, education, technology, objective science, and Rational policy, suffers the same problem: a faith in Progress as Reason begets greater Reason.
The problem of consensus is simply a subset of the superstition of Harmony arriving through the respectful and free competition of ideas, aided by Progressively more skillful facilitation and participation. Kauffman's article seeks to "liberate" us from the hidden oppression of consensus or help us Progress to an improved practice. In other words, she trades one superstition for another. She correctly exposes one superstition but with seemingly zero awareness of how giant the problem is.
Kauffman's article seeks to "liberate" us from the hidden oppression of consensus or help us Progress to an improved practice. In other words, she trades one superstition for another. She correctly exposes one superstition but with seemingly zero awareness of how giant the problem is.
It is as if she discovered dead the canary in a coal mine and suggested we replace the canary. In fact, we need to evacuate the mine before the fumes that killed the canary kill us. Certain understandings of consensus contain superstition, to be sure, but consensus-superstitions are only a tiny subset of Enlightenment superstition.
This leads us to Kauffman's other point—that consensus contained white practices that were alienating to other races. We could make the exact same argument about the Enlightenment—that it took white supremacist, cis-hetero-patriarchal values and called them "Rational," and therefore transcultural and universal. Any Enlightenment political ideal (freedom, democracy, Rational policy) contains some element of white supremacist, cis-hetero-patriarchy.
Dropping Enlightenment superstitions would be a gargantuan task for anyone and discarding one's own culture is quite unlikely. The entirety of modern culture needs a radical reevaluation that keeps its truth but scraps its superstitions and supremacy, which is an enormously complex task.
The radical left needs a radical transformation. For the past century it has criticized liberalism but replaced it with the ideal of democracy (economic or political), which is inseparable from the superstition of Progress. But then it criticizes totalitarianism but replaces it with the ideal of liberalism, which is also inseparable from the superstition of Harmony-through-freedom.
In short, the radical left has been exchanging superstition for superstition for the past century but now we are stuck: socialism is widely viewed as an ideal that "doesn't work" but liberalism is also an obvious failure. Now, nobody cares to listen to the radical left, and for good reason. This leads to articles such as Kauffman's which correctly criticize current practice but are utterly unable to propose something free of superstition that is also equal to the massive problems of modernity.
What might this shift in the radical left look like? Although it would be out of the scope of this article to describe it in detail, we can look at how it would impact consensus. First of all, the shift needed would look nothing like what Kauffman proposes. Kauffman's approach to consensus is typical of the Enlightenment: for her, practices involving superstitions are to be entirely dropped, since no symbol, myth, or ritual will be necessary in the Rational end-times, which apparently are nigh. Consensus for her is something to be entirely discarded. Certainly I agree with Kauffman that superstitions make a poor blueprint for practical action but superstitions do make excellent myths, symbols, and rituals—the type of meaning-making activity that gives order and direction to our lives and has the power to comfort us in difficult times in ways that literal language struggles to do. In the "meantime" we humans need myths, symbols, and rituals and so do activists. Communities, after all, are built on them. And a community of resistance, at least in my opinion, is precisely what we need.
The real solution to consensus, and for the radical left generally, is to explicitly transform superstitions into explicit rituals and symbols—rituals and symbols that express the ideals of white, middle-class culture. We must then affirm that many people need these symbols and defend them while firmly rejecting a purely literal understanding of them. We must equally reject white supremacy by affirming white symbols, ideals, and rituals as important to those who are moved by them but denying their universal validity.
Consensus needs to be finally recognized as having ritual elements, with its symbolic meanings expressed. Doing so clarifies that it is not only a blueprint for rational action but linked to meaning-making cultural activity through ritual and symbol. Saying it has ritual elements does not to deny that it also includes practical and technical function, in the same way that saying it has symbolic and metaphorical elements does not deny that it has literal elements. For instance, sitting in a circle symbolically expresses the white, Enlightenment ideal of equality but also practically arranges people so that they can hear and see each other. Seeking everyone's opinion is a symbol for the kind of justice we seek to create within a world where billions simply don't count, but also as practical within the goal of building power.
The superstitions that Kauffman mentions about consensus—that expecting Harmony to arise through "non-hierarchical space"—can be seen as a symbol for our shared ideals of liberation and caring for all of creation that we feel called to fight for. Although it would be utopian to expect such a world to ever come to pass, we are called in this moment to seize the opportunities around us to move toward such a world. Understanding the symbols and ritual involved in consensus is inextricable from rejecting any superstitious expectations about its results. No matter how perfect the world consensus symbolizes, consensus-practice will always be messy as a blueprint for rational action in the "meantime."
Consensus needs to be affirmed as a beautiful and effective ritual of white culture, its history as appropriated from indigenous people must be recognized and thanks given. By recognizing consensus as an expression of white culture (and it is white culture now, even if the form was inspired by other cultures), a genuine negotiation of practices can happen when doing interracial or intercultural work. The intuitive appeal of consensus to white people—rooted in ritual and symbol—can finally be expressed humbly and without implicit white supremacy. Consensus would no longer be seen as Rational but rather white.
It's a very worthwhile task to perform a religious analysis of modern culture and activist culture in particular. I'm glad to see the author doing it but she stopped about a light year short of finishing the job. I have rarely found an article that raises such important problems with such well-researched points that was so completely inadequate to the task of even beginning to resolve them. Yet I must say I am grateful for her very fruitful effort.
David Summerhays is a Quaker and environmental organizer who organizes community conversations and teaches piano.
Posted in Essay, StrategiesTagged consensus, jacobin, quaker, religion, superstitionLeave a Comment on "Trading one superstition for another"


text:
At last, Green River Killer caught?
It finally seems the Green River Killer has been caught. Probably no big news across the country, but it's probably the biggest law enforcement victory in the NW. Here's the local news:
Green River Killer
Niteshift
When I worked up there in the late 80's, the task force was really desperate.
It was my understanding that the killings had stopped for a while, leading them to believe the guy either moved, died or was in jail.
I also recall Bundy was a suspect in a few and he did offer to tell info about the case before FL executed him, indicating that he was either involved or knew who was doing it.
Jim Burnes
Bundy was too smart for his own good. He operated in that area, but if he had known who the killer was he would have rolled over on 'em for a better deal. That's Bundy.
There were even two searches conducted on Travis AFB and one on Fort Ord, which is mighty far from the murder sites; with zero results of course.
It's good to have this DNA on tap now.
Bundy knew stuff. He was feeding it to them little bits at a time. He admitted to several unsolveds and the facts backed him up.
The "problem" was that there was NO WAY IN HELL Florida was going to let him live after what he did here. He tried dragging it out, letting them have little bits, prolonging his life.
The decision was made that enough was enough. He was pretty much told, you die tomorrow, tell us what you want, but you still die tomorrow. And they put an end to it. He had more info.
That's right. It's odd to see how some crimes that where fresh "then" wind up now. There are others too, I can recall from that time period that remain unsolved. Only dogged police work will bring them to conclusion for the the victims.
Bundy was truly pathetic. I'm glad they didn't fall for that "I will give you more info" ruse he tried. He was a coward to the end.
MPD3P59
My Lt. gave Bundy a traffic ticket in that VW way back when he was a patrol officer.
He tried to kidnap a woman in our city but she got away. I'm told that she was the only surviving victim of ole' Ted.
LBomb
Center City Bike Cop
There' a book titled "The Riverman-Ted Bundy And I Hunt for the Green River Killer" by Robert D.Keppel. Whilr reading it, you can see how manipulative Bundy was. It makes for some interesting reading
"The streets of Philadelphia are safe...it's the people that make them unsafe"---Frank Rizzo
http://hometown.aol.com/ppd9886/PhillyCopSpot.html
"I'm told that she was the only surviving victim of ole' Ted."
I'm a little rusty on my Bundyology...but if I recall, one of the girls in the sorority down here survived.
Nite, you might be correct but it gives the old-timers in my Dept something to feel warm and fuzzy about.
Does she still live in the area? Does she have a sort of dark celebrity status from it?
There are actually 3, counting the one you just talked about but one was not assaulted. One was a young lady in a seperate home that survived, albeit it with neurological disorders that stopped her dancing career. The other as not a young woman he assaulted but she was a sorority sister who hid and saw Bundy as he left the sorority house.
If there were any others, I don't know about them. There was a young woman at a lake he tried to talk into "helping" him (his arm was in a sling) but her radar was up and she wouldn't fall for it.
If the currently incarcerated guy is really the GRK, & he killed 49+ women in a two year span, then what has he been doing in the 17 years since? I can't believe he stopped.
Millions of dollars will be spent by multiple jurisdictions & states, to see if any other cases can be tied to him. A one-man killing machine with a serious hatred for women.
And the neighbors said he seemed so normal.... (That has become a cliche')
We have a long way to go to solve the "serial killer" syndrome.
NO serial killer goes 17 years without killing unless he was in jail somewhere. They can't help themselves.
King County adds $12 million in property taxes to investigate GRK case!


text:
package client;

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import java.io.DataOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.HashMap;

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 */
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    extends Object
{
    String[] request;
    String content;
    String response;
    boolean ok = false;

    public BindSession(CreateSession create){
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                "POST /lightstreamer/bind_session.js HTTP/1.1\r\n",
                "Host: push1.jsc.nasa.gov\r\n",
                "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n",
                "Connection: keep-alive\r\n",
                "Content-Length: "+content.length()+"\r\n",
                "\r\n",
                content
            };

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        else
            throw new IllegalStateException(String.format("Missing session from '%s'",create.body));
    }

    void q(DataOutputStream ot)
        throws IOException
    {
        for (String q : this.request){
            ot.writeBytes(q);
            System.out.print(q);
        }
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        throws IOException
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                break;
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                    ok = linin.startsWith("HTTP/1.1 200 ");
                }
                else {
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                    if (null != header.integer)
                        headers.put(header.name,header.integer);
                    else
                        headers.put(header.name,header.value);
                }
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            }
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
About Chasdei Kaduri
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ABOUT CHASDEI KADURI JEWISH FOOD BANK
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Our clients get online access to our stock of thousands of Kosher items. They shop online and get their personal selections delivered to their door every week, for free.
Based on the Jewish principle of Tikkun Olam ("Repairing the World") and Chesed ("Kindness"), we feel a shared responsibility to help those in need. We aspire to help Jewish families of all denominations put Kosher food on the table every Shabbat and throughout the week.
Chasdei Kaduri is a registered Canadian Charitable Organization 831871389RR0001.
An Affilate Member of
© 2021 · Chasdei Kaduri Jewish Food Bank.


text:
Q: Game Programming - GUIs I've been coding for a while now and would like to start looking into programming games. I know the industry's standard language is C++, for 3D graphics the main choice is between Direct 3D and OpenGL, but what is the most widely used GUI framework? I'm currently on a Mac so if native Windows API is the answer, then what is the cross platform choice?
To be clear, I'm not looking for people's favourites but simply what the common or standard game industry's choice is so that I can learn and familiarize myself with it.
Thanks,
Spencer

A: Scaleform is used in a lot of AAA games. Unfortunately, it comes with a price-tag to match! It basically lets you develop the UI in flash and then import it into your game (since designers are usually quite familiar with Adobe's tools, this makes things pretty easy for them).
For open-source solutions, there are actually quite a few. CEGUI is quite popular (though it tends to suffer from "kitchen sink" syndrome - in that it has everything but the kitchen sink). I've also seen GLO and Awesomium (which is actually pretty interesting).
Other than that, most game engines (e.g. Unity, UDK, etc) have their own built-in GUI frameworks.

A: I don't think there is any framework in particularly wide use. Inside the game application, we tend to roll our own UIs, or use the ones that came with the engine.
Games tend to have lots of custom art and animation which are difficult to implement with general-purpose widgets; and moreover most toolkits don't play nicely with D3D or OpenGL, or have good ports to the Xbox and PS3. So you will see a lot of scratch-built UI implementations that have widgets ultimately making direct draw calls for textured polygons and font glyphs.
Outside of the game in the "glue screens", ie the installer and other non-D3D parts of the app, typically we just use the native API for the operating system in question, ie Cocoa or (ugh) MFC.

A: I'm sorry to say but there isn't one. Every game wants a special looking ui and there are very few public ui frameworks for d3d/ogl to boot (and the ones that are customizable enough are too slow).
Your best bet is to sit down and think a little about your ui, draw every possible ui widget on a piece of paper, try to look at what you can eliminate (you really really really want to keep it as simple as possible) and then start from scratch and implement what you really need from the ui.
When I did this, I tried to make it easily extensible, with resizable dialogs and Swing-like containers that align the controls for you, really cool in theory but it made implementing it a nightmare, took me months to get it right. Stick with the basics and you should be fine!

A: http://librocket.com/ is a really good UI toolkit.  it uses html/css layout verbage to describe your windows and styles, and allows you to do the rendering in whatever system you choose.
We chose it over scaleform because of the flexibility it gave us to allow client ui mods.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Industries BFSI Apollo Global expands digital assets, holds crypto for clients
Apollo Global expands digital assets, holds crypto for clients
The move comes despite a rocky year for the crypto market, with bitcoin, the world's largest digital asset, down more than 50 per cent since the start of 2022
Apollo Global Management Inc., through a partnership with digital asset platform Anchorage Digital, has begun holding crypto-currency on behalf of its clients, in a major push by one of the world's largest asset managers to bring crypto to institutional investors.
As investors have appeared jittery about decades-high inflation across the globe, the move comes despite a rocky year for the crypto market, with bitcoin, the world's largest digital asset, down more than 50 per cent since the start of 2022.
"It's the validation of this incessant drumbeat that [crypto] is here to stay," said Diogo Monica, president of Anchorage Digital, a crypto firm that holds a national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. "This is a very long-term horizon process and technology and for the large institutions, it doesn't really matter that there is volatility short term."
Its relationship with Anchorage dates back to the middle of last year, when the firm first began exploring how best to safeguard its clients' crypto assets, said Apollo, which declined to disclose what types of crypto assets it holds. Later, Apollo participated in Anchorage's Series D funding round, which was finalized in December 2021.
"As we explore creative ways to apply block-chain technology across Apollo's business, we look forward to collaborating with Anchorage for the safekeeping of client assets," said Adam Eling, chief operating officer of Apollo's digital assets team.
Monica said Anchorage is also engaged with discussions about how to potentially further expand its relationship with Apollo in the future.
Former JPMorgan Chase executive Christine Moy was hired by Apollo in April, who will lead digital asset strategy across the business, and play a key role in its investment decisions in crypto, block-chain and Web3, a decentralized version of the internet.
Also read: Keep experimenting with technology
Previous articleRansomware attack targets Australian defence communications platform
Next articleICRA assigns provisional AA- rating to Yotta Infrastructure's proposed non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of NMDC
Xceedance Launches Digital Solutions to Meet the Evolving Needs of Insurance Organizations
Bitget launches crypto custody service
Robert Ptaszynski named as digital and innovation services lead by KPMG


text:
Q: Mosaic plot with variation by color and size in R Here is my dataset
library(dplyr)
df <- data.frame(var_1 = sample(c('A', 'B', 'C'), 1000, replace =TRUE),
                 var_2 = sample(c(0,1), 1000, replace = TRUE))
df <- df %>% group_by(var_1) %>% summarize(count = n(),
                                             avg = mean(var_2))

I would like to create a plot similar to mosaic where size of square would correspond to count variable and color of a square would correspond to avg variable.  Is this possible?

A: What you're looking for is called a "treemap". There is a library to create treemaps in ggplot2, called treemapify:
library(tidyverse)
library(magrittr)
library(treemapify)

df %>% ggplot(aes(area = count, fill = avg)) + geom_treemap()


prefer the inclusive fitness framework, but for humans we believe that both individual and group level approaches are essential. The likely reason for why is that many or most group traits originated in small, hunter-gatherergroups. Cenozoic: The era of geologic time from 65 mya to the present, a time when the modern continents essay on abdul kalam in telugu formed and modern animals and plants evolved. Among other issues, Smith is interested in the role of ecological gradients in speciation and maintaining species diversity. Cell size varies, but most cells are microscopic. Ewald, Paul: Professor of biology at Amherst College, specializing in hummingbird and flower coevolution and the evolution of infectious diseases. On culture and human nature, for perspectives that are of special relevance, see Pinker's paper on our "cognitive niche" i which, not least, deals with the problem of how natural selection came to endow our species with adaptations that enable us to perform cognitive feats. Then I finally went back to Mary Jane West-Eberhard's seminal work on social selection and found what I was looking for. Aperture: Of a camera, the adjustable opening through which light passes to reach the film.
shared intentionality, norms, institutions, punishment, gossip that conclusions appropriate for other animals may not apply. . Also, there is interpretive choice in whether one considers the functional phenotype as "really" existing at the individual level (which it must to initiate the feedback pathway or as "really" existing at the group level (which it must to complete the feedback pathwayeventually, multiplying gene. These are impressive to a human observer, but they are not what selection, literally interpreted, brings about. When it comes to answering the central question originally posed by Darwin, there is no alternative to group selection. This usage is frowned upon by many evolutionary biologists, but is established in much of the molecular literature.) homozygote: An individual having two copies of the same at a genetic. They gave rise to crocodiles, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. Immutability: The ability to withstand change. The first big problem with group selection is that the term itself sows so much confusion. We can thus admit the complex division of labor and altruism in such eusocial species as termites and honeybees, but we must deny altruism in the case of humans, who cooperate widely with non-relatives. one point of agreement between group- and gene-selectionists is (or ought to be) that apart from kin selection, "traits cannot evolve that cause an average net decrease in individual fitness." So are there partitionings of fitness that involve costly self-sacrifice but that do add. The evolution of human behavior: Primate models.


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text:
Born this way: Rats move to beat of Lady Gaga, study says
Tuesday, 29 Nov 2022
12:00 PM MYT
Entertainment 07 Dec 2022
Man who shot Lady Gaga's dog walker in pet theft sentenced to 21 years
Indonesia 13h ago
Entertainment 11 Jan 2023
Tollywood film 'RRR' wins Best Song at Golden Globes
Researchers at the University of Tokyo played Mozart, Queen and Lady Gaga's Born This Way (pic) to rats wearing miniature sensors to detect even the tiniest movements. Photo: Handout
Nodding along to catchy music is not just a human habit, according to Japanese scientists who have discovered that rats also move to the beat of songs by stars like Lady Gaga.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo played Mozart, Queen and Lady Gaga's Born This Way to rats wearing miniature sensors to detect even the tiniest movements.
They found the rodents had an innate ability to synchronise their moves to the beat, previously believed to be a skill unique to people.
"Rats' brains are designed to respond well to music," even though their bodies move only a little, said associate professor Hirokazu Takahashi, part of the team who conducted the study.
"We all believe that music has magical powers, but we don't know anything about its mechanisms," he said.
So "we wanted to find out what kind of sound connections appeal to the brain, without the influence of emotion or memory".
For rats, the "bopping" effect was most pronounced for music in the range of 120-140 beats per minute - the same as humans.
This led the scientists to hypothesise that it could be a reaction that is consistent across different species.
"Music moves the body. It goes beyond the auditory system and affects the motor system ... the power of sound is that great," Takahashi said.
The research mainly focused on Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K.448, played at four different tempos.
But the scientists also tried out Born This Way and the driving rhythm of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust, tracks picked by Takahashi's students.
Unlike other pets such as parrots, which are famous for their uncanny imitations of music and other sounds, it was the first time the rats in the study had listened to music.
The effect of music on rats may have been overlooked until now because previous research was mainly carried out using video footage, not movement sensors, making the animals' tiny movements more difficult to detect, Takahashi said.
The study was published last week in the peer-reviewed Science Advances journal.
In the future, Takahashi said he wants to go beyond rhythm and explore the effects of melody and harmony on the brain.
"If music has an emotional effect, it would be really interesting if we could get to the point where we could see it in animals," he said. – AFP
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Kenya: Fears of Refugee Influx as Famine Strikes Somalia
Sep 7, 2015 by Editor -
A Somali refugee carries his son as he hurries to join a new line outside a registration and food distribution point [Roberto Schmidt/AFP]
The widely publicised repatriation of thousands of Somalia refugees from Kenya is in jeopardy after the United Nations announced a devastating four-year famine in Somalia.
Stakeholders now say this is likely to cause an influx of even more refugees until the humanitarian situation in that country improves.
The UN on Monday announced an extreme scarcity of food in many regions of Somalia, some of which the Kenyan government and aid agencies expect refugees to return.
At least a million Somalis face starvation, according to the UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.
Some refugees now expected to return fled into Kenya following a similar drought in 2010.
"The levels of food insecurity and malnutrition (in Somalia) are critical. Humanitarian actors and donors have prevented the situation being a lot worse than it is, but we all need to do more," UN aid chief for Somalia Peter de Clercq said in a statement.
"The situation among internally displaced people is particularly worrying."
In an agreement signed in November 2013 among Kenya, Somalia and the UNHCR, the slightly less than half a million Somali refugees were expected to go home over a five year period.
The three parties have initially earmarked nine districts in Somalia's South Central regions including Kismayu and Mogadishu for refugees returns, regions that are now said in the grip of famine.
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by Editor - Sep 7, 2015
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Kevin Morby continues to conquer his insecurities
From his embryonic projects such as Woods and The Babies to cementing himself as a premier solo act, Kevin Morby has been a recognizable name around the indie music circuit for some time now. The humility of his masterful songwriting as he recounts stories between dexterous cries from his Fender Coronado continues on Morby's latest two singles — a sign that this vulnerability is here to stay.
In the initial vinyl copies issued for Oh My God (2019), Morby's most far-reaching and distinctive album to date, two additional singles titled "Gift Horse" and "I Was On Time," were included in 7″ vinyl package. Now coming up on a year since that release, the two singles have now been made available for digital download on streaming platforms.
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As Morby mentions, these new singles act as b-side, misfits to the masterpiece that is Oh My God: "Each [song] is a puzzle piece to my soul and though they didn't fit thematically with the rest of Oh My God, I'm glad that they are now finding their way into the digital stratosphere for anyone and everyone who cares to listen to do so."
Originally, Morby says he was trying to lay down "O Behold," the final track on Oh My God but stumbled upon a chord progression and melody which he and producer Sam Cohen really vibed with which ended up forming "Gift Horse." Within an hour or so, they had the backbone of the track set down and recorded it his band a few weeks later.
Pounding drums and a thumping bass line counts listeners into "Gift Horse" beginning with a bang and shriek from the organ keys impossible to miss. This organ comes to a head by a playful tickling of the high keys continuing to weave in and throughout the track eventually into a solo of sorts.
Similar to many of Morby's anthems, his vocals and lyricism are at the forefront which should be considered main highlights of the song. As he sings "time ran away with everyone // it's a crime to be so young and dumb // no one made you act so tough and rough // but still those shaking hands," we can relate to these themes of life's ticking clock and the collective naivety of one's youth.
Something else we have become accustomed to in the Texas-born musician's discography: familiar themes. Throughout Morby's music, we are visited by a cast of characters that appear and remain, others that leave then reappear and some that disappear completely into obscurity. From Morby's inaugural LP Harlem River (2013) to the release of these singles, we grow up with him getting to know the characters of his life embodying names but manifested as emotions, feelings, and nostalgia.
This cinematic storytelling continues on "Gift Horse" as he sings "Iggy's in the back he's getting stoned" and later on "Katie's in the car she's on her phone," referring to Morby's partner Katie Crutchfield who forms part of fellow indie powerhouse, Waxahatchee.
As Morby sticks to these homogenous themes, "I Was On Time" is much of the same in a slightly different light. We saw the Kansas City-based songwriter borrow plentiful lyrics and ideas from his 2016 breakout song, "Beautiful Strangers" to arrange in Oh My God and that remains a constant to begin this track with a seemingly identical opening rhythmic guitar riff as that of "Beautiful Strangers."
As the brushes pitter-patter on drums, Morby sings this song as an ode to the performer: "To being late. To arriving on time. To seeing the beautiful people who have paid to see you play music night after night all across the world. To throwing them roses. To the gift of live performance and the spirit of music."
"I Was On Time" features some sparkling keys sprinkled throughout as Morby does an excellent job of inserting his vocal lines in the appropriate spots that may seem unorthodox to others — which shouldn't be surprising given his cited influences include Lou Reed and the Grateful Dead (shown by a "Box of Rain" tattoo on his right arm).
We hear this aforementioned familiarity as Morby sings "the hours devour us" just as he does in "Piss River," one of Oh My God's finest tracks. As we progress through "I Was On Time," we learn about a dream of Morby arriving at one of his shows and forgetting all the words, eventually winding up naked on stage — a lively display of insecurities. Morby's agenda appears to be squashing all insecurities that plague performers in releasing the most genuine material and emotions that they require to submerge themselves in their projects.
As we look to Morby's album covers through the years, this progression is discernable going from Harlem River (2013) where his face is barely visible, to the zoomed out shot of himself on the cover of Singing Saw (2016), to City Music (2017), where we are teased with a bit more revealing album cover yet he still looks on into a mirror. This culmination came to fruition on Oh My God where Morby is shirtless and looking directly into the camera.
As we look forward to the next chapter of Morby's longwinded tale of friendships lost and gained, check out his Instagram account below where he and Crutchfield have been playing several live performances in their self-isolation.
Connect with Kevin Morby: Twitter | Instagram | Website | Bandcamp
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Built to British Admiralty Troopship specifications and used as a troopship during the 1899 Boer War.
In 1900 transferred to the Union Castle Line and served as a mail ship until she was laid up in 1910.
Requisitioned in 1914 as a troopship, she was used in 1914, and again in 1918 in the Mediterranean. In 1919 she made one voyage to Australia, before again reverting to the mail run.
Laid up in the River Blackwater at Tollesbury in 1926 and broken up.
This page was last edited on 26 May 2017, at 08:52.


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Issue #77, May 4, 2002
"One of Our Admirals did What?"
Some Artistic Militarists
BioFile - August von Willich, �Reddest of the Red �48ers�
"War is the greatest evil a state can experience."
--The Archduke Charles of Austria
In the 525 days between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918, the U.S. Army grew 1,700-percent, from 213.557 to 3,685,458 troops.
Between 1954 and 1999 the number of aircraft in the U.S. Navy destroyed in accidents fell by nearly 98-pecent, from 776 to 22.
The French Line, which operated luxury liners � Normandie, France � on the Atlantic for over a century, was founded in 1862 for the purpose of transporting troops to take part in the French conquest of Mexico
The first woman to attain the rank of lieutenant colonel in any army was Marto Maurogenos, a partisan leader who fought in the Greek War for Independence (1821-1826)
During the Korean War only five American carrier-based aircraft were shot down in air-to-air combat.
By June 30, 1879 the Civil War, plus attendant pensions and the cost of occupying portions of the South until 1877, had cost the federal government $6,187,243,385 and some cents, about three times the estimated cost of human beings held as slaves in the United States in 1860.
During the Gulf War about 85-percent of equipment, arms, and supplies were moved into the theater by sea, and only about 15-percent by air.
By early 1917 German rifle production was peaking at some 250,000 a month, more than the army actually needed.


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Is America prepared for Ronald Reagan's Bold Colors Conservatism reboot to save nation?
There are some in the Tea Party who may feel dismayed or even discouraged concerning the election win of Tennessee U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander over Tea Party-backed state Rep. Joe Carr. Yet, this was not so much a loss as it was one of the defining moments in America's still yet to be charted history, where Sen. Alexander, known on Capitol Hill as one of the more moderate members of his party, according to Fox News, has managed to clarify a growing distinction between bold colored conservatism of Ronald Reagan and moderate RINO pastels of a deeply split GOP.
What voters in Tennessee saw on Thursday, and many other conservative voters saw again in Mississippi in the June 24th runoff senate election, is a Republican Party that is not focused on addressing conservatism of Ronald Reagan which works, but preserving a status quo that is preoccupied with retaining an image where it is better to "seem rather than to be."
The comfort, convenience and retention of power by far too many establishment GOP leaders in the nation's capitol have superseded the reality of the needs of heartland Americans. These are the citizens of the heartland who only want power over their lives, and want control over their constitutional protections. They struggle daily for religious freedoms and the certainty of an America that is truly America, and not a neutered '# Press 2 for English' nation.
Bold colors in conservatism is not only a mantra but it remains a battle cry as significant now as it was when Ronald Reagan first said it in 1975 when he first spoke in a video address to members of the Young Americans for Freedom.
When Reagan first gave those noble words as a way of helping to chart a return path to true conservatism, he was vilified and many in the GOP establishment mocked him and many liberal media pundits cast him aside as an accidental governor of 'California because he was a Hollywood actor. What the naysayers did not know or understand was that deep beneath Reagan's cool veneer were a vision and alertness to the call of American destiny. Reagan did not give into the valueless moderate rhetoric RINOs embrace; but declared a renewal which touched upon the heart, soul and spirit of hard working traditional values that Americans were raised with.
Conservatives soon began to understand and reject the pastel colored liberalism of moderate and RINO-type beliefs. These resurgent conservative Americans then as many do now, refused the tranquilizing drink of moderate gradualism which seeps through the veins of the timid RINO elected officials. These are the same establishment officials who only want to find the middle ground and demonize the resoluteness of conservatives like a Sarah Palin, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Mike Lee, Mississippi Chris McDaniel, and yes more recently Tennessee Joe Carr.
Consider what Sen. Alexander said the day after the Tennessee election, when he stated, "If we really want to take the presidency in two years, we're going to have to show the American people they can trust us with the government," reported Fox News.
The real question is if you have a moderate U.S. senator, who voted with Obama 62 percent of the time, and voted with the senate 'Gang of 8' in granting amnesty to illegal aliens is that real conservative leadership? If this is the idea of trust, that embraces holding hands with other moderate GOP senators and democrat liberals, and then what is the difference between them and a democrat, besides the obvious: letter R or letter D?
This cannot be the choice that America is left with. This cannot be the destiny which saddles your kids, yours grandkids and the next generation of Americans with. No, America's conservative voters have gone to the election booth, which is the great bank depository of electoral hope, time and time again. Instead, each time these RINO officials have given conservative voters a bad electoral check, which has been returned clearly stamped: "Insufficient funds!!"
Now is the time to firmly grasp the meaning and the power of Ronald Reagan's 'Bold Colors' Conservatism and understand that 2014 is not the end but the beginning. "Reagan was clear in stating, "I don 't know about you, but I am impatient with those Republicans who after the last election rushed into print saying, 'We must broaden the base of our party' – when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents. ... Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?"
Of course you have seen the pastel colored actions of local Republicans officials from your governors down to your county or local officials. In each and every instance you can feel the crumbling of American traditional values and principles. This has resulted in a Tsunami of millions of illegal aliens invading the nation. The erosion of the nation's biblical principles and heritage combined with a national educational Common Core tyranny that indoctrinates your children is the result of an America of pastels. This has become the new normalcy which lends itself to giving in and giving up to an over reaching Obamanism.
Yet, there is hope as Ronald Reagan had hope for an America that does not say die. There are conservative patriots who understand that Reagan and his philosophy of bold colors was best displayed and delivered through Reaganism Reaganomics. His election over the liberalism of Jimmy Carter painted a new direction for America.
Fitting into that very same conservative mold is conservative patriot Tennessean Melanie Tipton. She has viewed the Alexander pastel colored leadership and has instead chosen the vivid bold colors of Reaganomic conservatism. This is clearly demonstrated in the award winning sportscaster's upcoming major new movie documentary "Melanie's Journey Through Chattanoogaville" that The Conservative Campaign Committee / 1 Million People to Defeat Barack Obama is sponsoring.
Tipton's "Fighting Against Obama's War On Capitalism" documentary promo which has gone viral with over a quarter of a million views, has no pastel colors presented, Instead it shows how Reaganomics can succeed with no excuses and no blame, and just plain old hard work, determination and conservative pro growth private sector enabled policies. This mega reaction reflected a hunger for Reaganism Reaganomics that is transformative and has proven to work! Bold colored conservatism shown through and through!
America has the best opportunity to return to the bold colors of Reagan conservatism and each voter has the ability to exercise that electoral power in their town and right now in 2014. With Reagan's bold colors approach, a conservative can and will show that America is not closed for repairs, but is open for business.
Reagan reminded us, "If we fail to keep our rendezvous with destiny or, as John Winthrop said in 1630, 'Deal falsely with our God,' we shall be made "a story and byword throughout the world." Straighten the current crooked pathway and help to restore it foundation. This must be the nation's destiny. This is your destiny. You are one of us!


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Deutsche Bank Is A Hedge Fund
Scheiße Capital Management is having a rough day.
Jon Shazar
By Nordenfan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
A really, really terrible hedge fund. And one that all the good hedge funds—and everyone else—is ganging up on.
Hedge funds, large and small, are shorting the stock. Long-term institutional investors are dumping their positions. And Wall Street's secretive but influential community of independent research providers has been proclaiming for months that Germany's largest bank does not have enough cash to survive….
This trade is getting a lot more popular — no doubt about it," said Brad H. Lamensdorf, who runs the Ranger Equity Bear E.T.F., an exchange-traded fund that tracks a portfolio of stocks that Mr. Lamensdorf believes are going to sink fast.
"Deutsche Bank is a massive hedge fund with lackadaisical compliance and a lot of leverage. I think it's going to five bucks."
I guess Mr. Lamensdorf hasn't heard about the deal that's going to save the Germans' speck.
Phoenix Group Holdings said it's buying Deutsche Bank AG's U.K. insurance unit Abbey Life Assurance Co. for 935 million pounds ($1.2 billion)….
The German lender said it will book a pretax loss of about 800 million euros ($895 million) from the sale.
Deutsche Bank Is the Darling of the Short-Sellers [DealBook]
Deutsche Bank to Take €800 Million Hit on Abbey Life Sale [Bloomberg]
counterparty tradingDeutsche BankHedge FundsBanksGermany
Deutsche Bank Exec Appears To Be Totally Unaware That Deutsche Bank Is Headquartered In Germany
New rule: The only bank not allowed to bitch about moving to Frankfurt is the one already fucking based there.
Deutsche Bank Longing For Days When Its Biggest Problem Was How Americans Pronounced Its Name
Oh, how they yearn for the glory days of "Douche Bank."
"We Can't Even Afford An $8 Billion Fine Let Alone A $14 Billion One" Deutsche Bank's Best Leverage In DOJ Negotiations
Because, y'know, it's true.
Deutsche Bank To Germans: Is It Too Late Now To Say Sorry?
Cryan knows that he let you down. Is it too late to say entschuldigung now?
Deutsche Bank Considers Doing The Smallest Possible Thing To Turn It Around
What? You try running this place!
First Installment of 'Good News At Deutsche Bank'
John Cryan won't have to spend the bank's final few pfennigs on a class-action mortgage settlement.
Deutsche Bank: It's All Good
Everyone is apparently freaking out over nothing.
Well, Deutsche Bank Had Another Pretty Scheiße Quarter
Cryan be cryin.'