Whether you are running a small business or a large, established one, if you have an offshore presence, you would in all likelihood have to deal with the effort of bilingual communication. It becomes critical to your business success to locate and hire a reliable translation service provider if you are looking to stabilize and expand your business on foreign shores. There have been many instances in the world of business and politics where an ineffective translation service has put a spoke in the proceedings.
On one occasion, the negotiation process between U.S. and British counterparts came to a standstill when the American company suggested that they would proceed to "table" certain key points. To the Americans, the phrase "tabling a motion" signifies that no discussion is warranted, while the British use the same phrase: "bring it to the table for discussion" when they wish to specifically discuss the very points!
In the above example, the same phrase used in the same language, viz., English, conveys the exact opposite meaning, because the cultural usages of the same phrase are at variance. When such is the case, imagine the high possibility of errors arising when sentences or phrases are translated to a different language! This is where the right choice of translator or translation services agency plays its part. It is imperative that you select a company that offers the expertise of a well trained team of professional translators who have industry exposure in addition to language skills and certification. The time and money spent in the exercise are well spent, when you consider the possible tribulations that you may have to contend with if there were to be one or more mis-translations in an important official document or contract.
The following are some useful tips that can help you identify a reliable professional translation service provider for translating your documents, manuals, website, advertisement content or other important written communications.
Most service providers/firms in the translation business have membership of a recognized professional translation association such as American Translation Association (ATA).
The translator/team must be qualified, certified professionals and should ideally be native speakers of the target language.
The team of translators must be qualified and experienced in rendering translation services in the target language/s, but must also possess subject matter expertise if they are to be really effective.
The translation agency must accept responsibility for proof reading the final translated document before it is delivered. In many cases, reliable translation service firms have a second, and sometimes even a third translator, all of whom are fully competent to proof-read the translated text and perhaps perform a back translation wherever it is warranted.
If your document runs into a number of pages and where the deadlines are close, reliable translation service firms will press into action more than one professional translator to complete your work to your complete satisfaction.
If you happen to directly hire a translator to do the job for you, it would be advisable to check for any references he can provide in respect of past projects completed to the satisfaction of clients.
It may be worthwhile to compare prices of different translation service firms to get an idea of the current pricing structure. While cheap is not necessarily the best, price may sometimes be a deciding factor when all other things are equal.
Meeting deadlines is a very important aspect of the service, but this may become known only when the agency delivers its first completed project.


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Why Churches and Religious Organizations Need Church Apps
posted by Natalia K. | January 17, 2014 11:17 | iBuildApp News
Are you a religious leader or consistent visitor and need your church app?
Are you wondering how you can increase current member interaction and find new followers for your religious organization?
It's an interesting reality that religions are being forced to turn to technology in order to maintain members and reach out to new followers. Even the the Pope has turned to Twitter in order to reach Catholics throughout the world within seconds.
Fundraisers, missionaries and traditional marketing techniques still have their place in the world, but the immediacy of mobile apps provide instant communications when people are on the train going to work, eating lunch or while in class. Share your religious beliefs with the world by creating your church app.
How can tapping into phones expand your reach and improve your church's view to the world?
Share the Beauty in your religious apps
A church or religious organization provides a spiritual place to connect with people and a higher power. One of the best parts about going to church or another service is seeing the beauty of the architecture and the happiness of people in the building. Share inspiring pictures of priests or other church leaders interacting with parishioners. Create a gallery to give people a preview of the exterior and interior of the building.
People are more likely to choose a church if they can connect with the type of facilities included. Maybe your religious organization is directly affiliated with a school? Connect with parents who want to find a place of worship and also send their kids to school by displaying photos of classrooms and the religious building.
Display Mission in your religious mobile apps
A church or religious organization is only as good as its mission. Why should someone commit to your church over the one down the street? It's human nature to look for more meaning in life. Share how you connect with followers and what you have to offer to those who may feel lost. Is your organization simply trying to make people more spiritual or do you have a strong commitment to the surrounding community?
Your mission is your selling point, and giving people the chance to read about your mission through their smartphone gets them one step closer to committing to your religious organization.
Keep People Updated on Current Events in your religious mobile application
Is your church or religious organization holding an upcoming fundraiser or retreat? Does it have a weekly service schedule? Think about how people learn about these upcoming events. Do they have to go to your website or pass by the building to view schedules on a sign?
Mobile apps send push notifications whenever you create or update an event. So the next time you hold a soup kitchen or community fair everyone will immediately be able to push that event to their own calendar.
Fundraising in your religious apps
Many churches and religious organizations only collect funds when they hold events. This means that people have to actually come into the religious building to sign up for automatic payments or place a check into the collection basket.
What if someone could simply sign up for a payment through their mobile phone? Not everyone can come to a service every week, making it difficult for them to make a donation. Send reminders for fundraising, and give people the freedom to contribute to their religion from wherever they want.
Keep in Contact in your religious mobile application
Let's say someone just moved to your community and one of their friends sent them your mobile app. If the app doesn't tell them the location of your religious building, how can you expect them to show up for a service?
Every religious organization needs an app that displays contact information. A Contact page includes items such as phone numbers, email addresses, locations and websites. All of these communication and distribution outlets are important to keep people interested and active in your religious community.
Share the Word in your holy bible apps
Many churches and religious organizations pass out bulletins or other pieces of literature after a service. What if someone was traveling or they couldn't make it to the service one week? There's bound to be a large portion of followers who are sick or bedridden. Give them access to church literature directly from their phones. This not only distributes the literature to everyone, but it cuts down on the footprint and cost created by paper pamphlets.
A mobile app also lets you post videos of sermons, presentations or important messages from leaders of your organization. Does your organization have a podcast or radio broadcast? Let people listen to it from their phones. It's also nice to include sharing buttons on your mobile app. This gives people a way to immediately email, text or share your app on social sites. What better way to get the word out about your church or religious organization than through some simple clicks from current followers?
Now it's your turn. Let us know in the comments how your church or religious organization can benefit from a mobile app. Do you have any experience or words of wisdom to share with other pastors who run churches?
Get started spreading the word about your religious organization with iBuildApp, the top mobile application builder. Find customizable mobile app templates for churches and religious organizations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Commish For a Day: The Sensible and the Absurd
If you were commissioner for a day, what would you do?
By Marina Mangiaracina@MarinaWTLC Aug 8, 2013, 7:30am CDT
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No more! Send him to the Senior NBA!
Over the summer, the SB Nation NBA network bands together every week to do "theme days". Basically, all 30 team blogs write about a certain topic, and compare results. This week's topic is, "Commissioner for a Day."
This is the question that I asked all the guys and gals that write for Welcome to Loud City. Here's some of the responses they came up with, along with a little bit of my own commentary. The responses are separated into three categories: The Sensible, The Not Sensible, and the Absurd. Sensible ideas are easy and could be implemented immediately. Not Sensible ideas are still good ideas, but they would take a long time to implement and would come with their own share of controversy. Absurd ideas are just silly.
The Sensible:
"Flopping is a huge pet peeve of mine and I'd want the fines for that to be huge so players would stop." -Sarah Rogers
"What if you also count them like techs and after so many you suspend a player for a game?" -Ramona H
This idea is basically an extension of a rule that's already in place. The rule fines players for absolutely blatant flops, and even publicly shames them by putting video up on the net for everybody to see. Sarah and Ramona want to take this a step further, and make it so that flopping is a strict no-no. Not that many flops were called out last year, so I don't think this would effect too many players. Still, it would go a long way to make games more physical and entertaining, because offensive players would get more gutsy, and defensive players would focus on actual defense rather than exploiting the rules.
"I would make a rule that does not allow the NBPA President to be an active player and void his existing contract." -Dara Mirzaie
If you were the Commish, what would YOU do?
SB Nation's writers all weigh in on how to improve the NBA
Obviously, this reasoning has nothing to do with a recent signing of a certain point guard. But seriously, this rule has merit. I would take it even further, mandating that all teams should pick a former roster player to represent them in negotiations. Too often the players are screwed over when negotiating with the owners because of infighting and incompetent management. As long as the players would mandate that the representatives were former players, I think that it would go a long way towards slicing a fair deal and avoiding lockouts.
"You must play college ball for 2 seasons before you enter the draft." -Sarah Rogers
This rule would increase the appeal of college basketball, and decrease the appeal of the D-League. How much you want this to happen depends on your perspective. If you're a huge college basketball fan and want it to have some meaning beyond March Madness, then this rule makes a lot of sense. Or, maybe if you who want the NBA Draft to have more of an immediate impact, this rule makes a lot of sense. But there's also a case to be made against it, since a lot of small market teams depend on D-League development. The rule would also cause a lot of bigger names to head to Europe for a couple of years, so they could grab an immediate paycheck. Personally, I think the college basketball requirement should be abolished altogether, since players should be paid for their talents as soon as possible, but I'll agree to disagree on this one.
"The oldest player on the USA team would be 27. The older guys bring with them experience, but with the injuries, the egos and their age, I don't think they show enthusiasm as say the younger players would. For me, the younger guys would care about winning as a team whereas for example Kobe sees it as another paycheck." -Sarah Rogers
This rule is almost already in place on a defacto basis. LeBron James won't play in the 2014 World Championsip, and other older stars are likely to drop out as well. Putting in a rule would make it more official, but why? Kobe Bryant delivered valuable minutes for the team last year, and if a guy really wants to go for it at an older age, I don't think some rule should be in place to stop him. Still, Sarah's sentiment is in the right place, because we all remember the disastrous early 2000s. Older players would still play like it was an All-Star game and were defeated by inferior teams on four separate occasions.
"Set a mandate that there can be ZERO advertisements on the court itself and on team jerseys. Also, there can be no moving video ads visible on the TV broadcast of the arena." -Me
This might not seem like something that makes sense financially at first. But it accomplishes a lot. First of all, it protects the brand of the team. Teams can get a lot of money for selling jersey or floor space, but fans more passionately identify with teams that don't have a connection to a certain product. They're also more likely to buy jerseys without ads on them. Furthermore, banning ads from the court itself keeps the game much less distracting. Watching European basketball almost overloads your senses sometimes, because there's 3D logos on the freethrow lines, moving video ads in the background, and ads on the jerseys. It's harder for the viewer to pay attention to the game, and makes them more likely to turn off the TV and stop watching. Furthermore, ads on the court are sometimes stickered on, and that could be a potential danger to the players. At the end of the day, if ads become too invasive, the NBA only becomes a feeder for other brands that buy advertising space. It ceases to become a brand itself, and fans are less likely to buy jerseys, tickets, TV packages, and et cetera.
The Not Sensible:
"I would implement a relegation style league and subsequent expansion to make it feasible. It would put an end to tanking in the draft." -William Bennett Berry
I like this idea, because it would eliminate the joke known as college basketball, and it would give fans in places like Bismarck or Cheyenne a reason to cheer. There would also be a great deal of intrigue at the bottom of the standings, and give fans more of a reason to show up. Sadly, this would never happen in reality. TV Deals are a huge part of the NBA's financial structure, and if the South Dakota Mount Rushmores and the Idaho Potatoes were promoted into the NBA while the Lakers and Knicks were relegated, it would represent a tremendous financial hit. It would also be a mess in terms of stadiums, especially when bad former NBA teams are playing in lower leagues and have tons of empty seats. Furthermore, teams from the lower division would find it hard to stay competitive, because bigger teams would have a huge financial edge. The system works in smaller European countries, but I think the scale of the USA is too grand. Alas, for the next few decades, the most we can hope for is a more competitive D-League.
"If a ref or a team of refs are continuing to make bad calls (the number of ball calls would have to be established), a designated head Ref could replace that ref or refs right there in the on-going game with standbys. Horrible refs would be in jeopardy of being suspended for a stretch of games also." -Ramona H
This rule is interesting, but I think that in order to establish it, NBA rules would have to be very clearly defined. As the rulebook stands, the refs are given a pretty wide berth as to what the right call is. Thus, what's perceived as good or bad officiating really depends on who you ask. Personally, I know that different referees call it in different ways, so I'm satisfied as long as the calls are consistent throughout the game. But I really wouldn't mind Ramona's change, because even if it had little effect or was rarely used, it would probably put the minds of a lot of fans at ease. It would also give people grounds to complain when a call wasn't judged correctly.
"Archive all historic games and make them purchasable on an individual basis for private viewing." -Me
This idea would take a lot of work, archiving, and uploading to implement. But, still. Why the heck not? What right does the NBA have to hide all of the games in a vault somewhere? Why are they hiding all of the games in a vault somewhere? Who has the keys to that vault? As it stands, fans can only get current games on TV, and recent games via a League Pass service. Broadcasts of old games on NBATV or ESPN Classic are selective and rare. Even if you wanted to get older games through shady means on the internet, the likelihood that someone has a game that you want on YouTube or a torrenting site is very low.
In fact, just about the only legal way to own a copy of an old game is to have recorded it at the time, find somebody who has an old DVD or VHS of the game and trade with them, or scour your local Goodwill for unmarked VHS tapes and hope they contain come classic sports gold. Really, the NBA is gaining nothing by keeping these games from the general public. Just put them online, let someone purchase a lifetime viewing pass at 3 dollars per game, or pay a subscription, and the NBA has instantly made millions. (By the way, they did something similar with google a few years ago, though I think it was only for the 2007 season.)
"Create a international "champions league" where the four teams that reach the conference finals face various champions from other countries. Give the players and coaches extra incentive to win." -Me
This is a pipe dream of mine that I hope will be accomplished at some point in my lifetime. I know, there's a whole slew of arguments you could make against this. Some might say that NBA players have enough wear on their bodies. Others would call it pointless, because NBA teams are way better than their international counterparts. The above two reasons are valid, but I would argue that the game is becoming more global as time goes on, and this is a perfect way to spark interest in other countries and take steps towards a more competitive atmopshere.
Also, I will note that this has been done before, during a 90's experiment called the McDonald's Championship. The NBA team won every tournament that has ever been held, BUT it did get really close on two occasions. Furthermore, the tournament is returning this year as the Intercontinental Cup. Currently it only features the European and South American champions, but previous reports claimed that the NBA Champion could be invited within a few years. I know that the prospect doesn't sound too exciting to the average NBA fan, but it does give fans worldwide a shot at beating the best of the best. Any YouTube search of the McDonald's Championship will find tons of videos in different languages, all with spirited discussion. After all, your team can't be a world champion until they defeat the world, can they?
The Absurd:
"I would demand that every game JaVale McGee plays in to be on national TV and have a camera crew follow him around 24/7 for a new show on NBA TV." -Craig Brenner
Not much to say about this one, but can Hasheem Thabeet be in it too?
"I would create a Senior NBA. kinda like golf. Once you hit 40 you can no longer play in the Nba and must enter the Senior NBA draft. Imagine watching Bird and Jordan going out it at age 60 in the Senior NBA finals." -Dara Mirzaie
As crazy as it sounds, I really like this idea. I doubt a lot of players would desire to continue the 82 game grind, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of them would like to play in a short league over the Summer. Of course, you'll have to come into it with the knowledge that the game will look rather ugly. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the NBA held a game called the "Legends Classic" during half-time of the All-Star game. The game was interesting, to say the least, but it got discontinued due to frequent injuries (according to Wikipedia). Nowadays, the closest thing we have are the few legends let into the Celebrity All-Star Game and Haier Shooting Stars challenge. Honestly, it might be better just to contain this kind of thing to All-Star Weekend, but in all seriousness, something similar to the Legends Classic needs to make a comeback.
"Schedule a "late night" game for each team, to be played from Midnight to 2AM local time. During this game, key players would be miced up and encouraged to trash talk. Nothing would be censored." -Me
I know that the NBA is all about being politically correct and maintaining a good public image. But, just for one time a year, I'd love to see a real game. One where we get to see the sheer competitiveness and drive of players in action. I shudder to think of some of the things that Kevin Garnett might say, but it would be really entertaining to watch.
"Mandate that "Roundball Rock" must be played as intro music for all NBA games on national TV." -Me
I really hate the boring music that they play on ABC/ESPN, and the bad licensed music that they play on TNT. Just bring it back to the upbeat classic already, and let me feel the intensity!
Is there anything that you would do if you were commissioner for a day? What do you think of our rule changes? Let us know in the comments!


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Become a UN Volunteer
Volunteer in your country
Engage a UN Volunteer
UNV and the private sector
About UNV
Our mission: Mobilize volunteers
Hazte Voluntario/a ONU
Voluntariado en el extranjero
Voluntariado en tu país
Voluntariado en línea
Áreas prioritarias para un despliegue rápido
Colabore con un voluntario
Solicitar Solicitar voluntarios
Acoja a un voluntario
Financiar el programa VNU
Financiar a Voluntarios/as ONU
El programa VNU y el sector privado
Acerca del programa VNU
Nuestro mandato: movilizar voluntarios
Nuestro mandato: promover el voluntariado
Adquisiciones y contratos
El voluntariado y los Objetivos Mundiales
Nuestro mandato
Movilizar voluntarios
Promover el voluntariado
Sitios web regionales del programa VNU
El programa VNU trabaja en 150 países y territorios, desplegando Voluntarios de las Naciones Unidas para promover el desarrollo sostenible a nivel de base. Explore nuestro trabajo en las diferentes regiones del mundo.
África Oriental y Meridional
África Occidental y Central
Estados Arabes
Europa y la CEI
Asia y el Pacifico
Advocating for human rights and access to justice for communities in Guinea
Firmin Sindaye, international UN Volunteer Human Rights and Protection Officer with OHCHR in Guinea during a training session on monitoring and reporting cases of human rights violations.
(UNV 2018)
UNV partnering with OHCHR
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In West and Central Africa, much progress is being made in the promotion and defense of human rights. UN Volunteers are a driving force behind this improvement. In Guinea, for example, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recognizes the commitment, capacities and contribution of UN Volunteers to ensuring that people's rights are respected.
For Firmin Sindaye, a native of Burundi, his motivation to serve as a UN Volunteer was fuelled by his desire to serve the cause of human rights wherever he is. Holder of a Master's Degree in international and European human rights, Firmin has 15 years of national and international experience with local human rights organizations and the United Nations in the area of human rights protection, reporting and advocacy.
Serving as a UN volunteer offers me more practical experience, confidence in my work and more willingness to continue working for the promotion and protection of human rights. --Firmin Sindaye (Burundi), UN Volunteer Human Rights Rights and Protection Officer, OHCHR
Assigned to the office of OHCHR in Guinea as UN Volunteer Human Rights and Protection Officer, Firmin is particularly active in the planning of activities for the defense of human rights, the monitoring of detention centres and cases of human rights violations, awareness-raising and capacity-building on human rights in the country.
In a context marked by high political tensions, with repeated resort to illegal and prolonged detention, the excessive use of force, street protests and strikes, Firmin is very much involved with communities and authorities to facilitate access to justice and to protect lives.
Firmin's work has a direct impact on local communities. Through his intervention, for example, he has managed to secure the release from prison of people who were arbitrarily and illegally arrested. He was also able to help others to recover their property, which was confiscated unfairly.
The UN Volunteer gives an example: "An old man who had been forced by the police to pay US $150 to get back his bike was given back both his money and means of transport. After recovering his money, he came to the office to thank me and my colleague for our assistance."
Andrea Ori, OHCHR Regional Representative for West Africa and former UN Volunteer himself, recognizes and welcomes the remarkable contribution of UN Volunteers towards the mandate of his agency to protect and promote human rights in the region. He declares:
With UN Volunteers, victims of injustice of all kinds find a sympathetic ear and a helping hand, ready to accompany them in the recovery of their rights and their dignity. This year, thanks to their support, the OHCHR could protect and evacuate to Europe 25 young homosexuals of Gambian and Senegalese origin, persecuted for their sexual orientation. OHCHR is very pleased with the support provided by UNV in its priorities and looks forward to mobilizing more volunteers in future projects. --Andrea Ori, OHCHR Regional Representative for West Africa
As for Chanel Kavabushi from Rwanda, also an international UN Volunteer Human Rights officer with OHCHR in Guinea, his main motivation is to serve populations living in precarious conditions through awareness-raising activities on their rights.
With 11 years of experience in the promotion and protection of human rights, Chanel lists the main challenges in her work: "We need to ensure better protection of human rights, including a weak enforcement of laws, violence against women, corruption, youth migration and illiteracy".
Concretely, Chanel is working on establishing the link between human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals in Guinea. She is targetting raising the awareness of students at high school and university, to enable them to support their communities in defining a vision for development and promoting youth initiatives.
In a post-Ebola context, my work requires taking initiatives to build community resilience. I need to be involved in developing joint programmes for effective response to multiple community solicitations, of which human rights issues are a priority. I encourage the denunciation of cases of gender-based violence, and ensure a good framework for dialogue between the legal actors. --Chanel Kavabushi (Rwanda), UN Volunteer Human Rights Officer, OHCHR
As a result, thanks to the implementation of local development plans, a change in behavior is taking place progressively, Chanel observes. For Chanel, being a UN Volunteer is a means to strengthen her experience in coordinating development initiatives linked to the promotion of human rights and working in emergency situations.
Social mobilization session on the participation of women and youth in the management of their community in Guinea.
Nuestro impacto en el mundo
Human Rights ACNUDH #ResilientCommunities Burundi Rwanda
Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible
ODS 10: Reducción de las desigualdades ODS 16: Paz, justicia e instituciones sólidas ODS 17: Alianzas para lograr los objetivos
Mi Perfil VNU
UNV eCampus
Este sitio web cuenta con el apoyo continuo del servicio Voluntariado en Línea del programa VNU.
El programa VNU está administrado por el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD).
Política sobre divulgación de información


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Harry Targ : Diplomatic Rejection at Cartagena Summit Reflects U.S. Decline
Posted on April 17, 2012 by Thorne Dreyer
Is U.S. image fading? President Obama on giant screen at Americas Summit in Cartagena, April 14, 2012. Photo by John Vizcaino / Reuters.
Occupy Latin America:
Changing relations in the hemisphere
Latin America's rejection of U.S. diplomatic dominance at the Cartagena, Colombia, summit signifies the decline of U.S. power in the region.
By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | April 17, 2012
The 2012 Summit of the Americas ended Sunday, April 15, without a closing statement as is traditional. In fact, it ended with acrimony.
Countries with political regimes as varied as Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia condemned the refusal of the United States to formally recognize Cuba, thus allowing that country to attend. Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador, did not even attend the summit to protest Cuba's exclusion. By the end of the meeting, Evo Morales, Bolivian President, made it clear that no future summits would occur if Cuba were not included.
Along with political conflict between the United States and Canada and the rest of the Hemisphere countries over Cuba, most rejected the decades-long violent and destructive "war on drugs" launched by the United States in the twentieth century to maintain a rationale for a pervasive military presence in the region.
Also, President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina left the meeting early to protest the lack of U.S. support for her country's claims on the Malvinas Islands.
The Summit of the Americas was launched in 1994 by President Clinton to advance Hemisphere diplomacy beyond the traditional regional organization, the Organization of American States. Clinton and George Bush used the summits to lobby for a Hemisphere-wide free trade agreement, a North America Free Trade Agreement, writ large.
In 2003, the former Brazilian President, Luiz Inacion Lula da Silva, demanded that the United States end farm subsidies for U.S. products before Brazil would consider a trade agreement. Subsequently Brazil joined forces with Russia, India, and China (the BRICs) to challenge the hegemony of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan in the global economy.
While visible global political/military contests in the twenty-first century centered in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, significant changes have been occurring in Latin America. A continent pillaged by Spain, Britain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands for hundreds of years has been doggedly moving towards political autonomy and economic independence.
Colonialism came to an end with the Spanish/Cuban/American war in 1898. In its place, the United States established neocolonial control over the politics and economics of virtually every country in the Hemisphere. At first, from 1898 until 1933, the U.S. maintained control through repeated military interventions (over 30 in 35 years with long marine military occupations of Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua).
From the 1930s until the 1980s, U.S. control was maintained by putting in place and supporting military dictatorships in such countries as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. During the time Reagan, Bush senior and Clinton were in office, control was enhanced by so-called "neoliberal" economic policies. These demanded of countries, increasingly tied to international banks by crippling debt, the creation of open markets, foreign economic penetration, and reduced domestic spending for its own citizens.
During the years of dictatorship and neoliberalism, the primary example of resistance to U.S. economic imperialism and militarism was Cuba. For that reason, the United States put in place a policy of diplomatic isolation, an economic blockade, and a 50-year campaign to subvert and overthrow the revolutionary government.
As the 2012 election season approaches, presidential candidate Barack Obama, apparently felt he could not buck the declining but still influential counterrevolutionary Cuban Americans of South Florida, despite what Latin America thinks.
Latin America's rejection of U.S. diplomatic dominance at the Cartagena, Colombia, summit signifies the decline of U.S. power in the region. The power of the newly formed Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), an organization promoting economic and political cooperation in the region constitutes one kind of challenge to the United States. Another is the trade regime, Common Southern Market or Mercosur, which has a membership of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay (with membership of Venezuela in process, and associate membership status for Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
More important, economic populist (some say 21st century socialist) regimes are in power now in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and, of course, Cuba. In addition center/left regimes rule in Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Peru.
Hal Weitzman documents in Latin Lessons: How South America Stopped Listening to the United States and Started Prospering (Wiley, 2012) Latin America's growing relationships with China and to a lesser extent Europe. He identifies a troubling contradiction in the U.S. regional relationship:
The longer-term trend is clear: while Latin America becomes an increasingly more important trade partner for the United States with every passing year, the United States is becoming less and less important to Latin America.
And finally, in advance of electoral shifts to the Left in the region, mass organizations all around the Hemisphere have emerged based on class, gender, and race. Also indigenous people struggling to keep their land in the face of expropriation by multinational corporations have risen up, even against what they regard as oppressive policies of populist regimes.
The World Social Forum, launched as a dialogue among the poor and oppressed in Porte Alegre, Brazil, in 2001, was a forerunner of the Occupy movements of our own day.
In short, the rejection of United States policies at the summit signifies the fundamental transformation of U.S/Latin American relations. The winds of change are becoming gusts.
[Harry Targ is a professor of political science at Purdue University who lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. He blogs at Diary of a Heartland Radical — and that's also the name of his new book which can be found at Lulu.com. Read more of Harry Targ's articles on The Rag Blog.]
This entry was posted in Rag Bloggers and tagged Cartegena, Cuban Embargo, Drug War, Foreign Policy, Harry Targ, Latin America, Neocolonialism, Summit of Americas, Western Hemisphere. Bookmark the permalink.


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Equipping Your GURPS Character
October 29, 2015 Mook GURPS, New to GURPS, RPGs 3
Mmm, Thursday — breathe in the GURPSy goodness! Today's original "New to GURPS" topic was on recovering from injury and wounds, but I'm bumping that until next time so we can take a look at something I've received a few questions about recently: the role of gear/equipment, and how it affects your character.
GURPS loves gear. Loves it. Beyond the basic Equipment chapter in the Basic Set (pp. 264-289), there are entire volumes devoted to nothing but page after page after page of new and varied equipment, weapons, and armor so you can outfit your character exactly the way you want to. The main ones are:
Bio-Tech: stuff to fix, augment, and replace your body and its parts… Body stuff!
High-Tech: Present stuff!
Low-Tech: Past stuff!
Ultra-Tech: Future stuff!
Just those alone are nearly 1,000 pages, discussing and describing tools, medicines, weapons, armor, and general gear and technology, from the distant past to the farthest future. Some of the smaller books include gems like the various Loadouts (pre-made packages of items useful together) and the Spaceship series (for creating spaceships, or providing examples).
Point being — there are a ton of options out there for what you can equip your character with. For a lot of people, the broad and generic items from the Basic Set are plenty. Me? I completely love that I can choose from a score of different arms and armor, and that there is an actual mechanical difference between, say, an S&W Model 10 M&P .38 Special and an S&W Model 36 .38 Special (High-Tech, p. 94).
A few things to keep in mind about equipment:
Some skills assume you have proper equipment. Having the proper gear — lockpicks for Lockpicking, tools for Mechanic, etc. — avoids penalties for having to improvise (p. 345).
Weapons and armor are the great equalizers. GURPS equipment, particularly firearms and beyond, can level the playing field between characters of disparate power levels. A 25-point punk with a .357 magnum pistol can take out a 200-point martial arts master with a single lucky shot. (Some players will hate that. Others will read it and think, "This is as it should be. So say I.")
Characters can use cash to offset areas where they are weak. Melee fighters lacking in strength can buy fine or very fine weapons to do more damage. Ranged fighters can add scopes, stabilizers, special ammo and more to boost their skills even higher. Fighters with fewer Hit Points can use armor with high Damage Resistance to stay alive. Which means…
Levels of the Wealth advantage are worth taking. Every piece of gear has a "dollar" value attached to it, so the more Wealth a character has access to, the more cool stuff he can buy. Which also means…
High Strength is worth taking at all Tech Levels. Every piece of gear also has a specific weight, and if you are tracking Encumbrance in your game, the stronger you are, the more you can carry without become bogged down.
Hit Locations become even more important. A knight with armor on his torso, arms, and legs but no helmet is just begging for a head shot.
With all that in mind, when it comes time to select your weapons and armor, you basically want to select the items you can afford with your starting wealth (p. 27) that also do the most damage and offer the most protection without slowing you down too much.
When I created Kerna for the intermediate series of posts, I cheated a bit because she's not a "real" character, to be played, but rather meant to illustrate certain aspects of the game. So, the only gear on her sheet is weapons and armor… no rope, mirror, food, tools, books, maps, or anything not directly relevant to the examples at hand.
I also had the militia she is a member of subsidize her equipment — she is carrying about $1,800 worth of armor and weapons, but her starting wealth at TL3 would normally only be $1,000 (that would probably make them a Patron, pp. 72-74, if I wanted to charge points for it). I really wanted her to have some beefy armor, and a shield, because Rex, our example fighter from the basic posts, wore no armor at all.
Had I been sticking to budget, she would be wearing leather (DR 2) and mail (DR 4/2) instead of scale (DR 4) armor, and wielding a shortsword (1d imp/2d-1 cut) instead of a thrusting broadsword (1d+2 imp/2d cut).
Even if money is no issue, always remember the "without slowing you down too much" part of the equation. The more weight you carry relative to your ST, the more encumbered you become, which lowers your movement and your Dodge (p. 17). A ST 10 character wearing lots of steel and heavy plate armor, wielding a broadsword and shield, will be well-protected behind piles of DR… but may only be able to move 1 or 2 hexes per turn, and have a hard time dodging incoming attacks.
It's important to find the balance between cost, protection, and encumbrance for each character. It was fine for Rex to have no armor, because in an Old West setting almost no one has any kind of armor, so he's not at a disadvantage. A heavily-armored soldier, fighting alongside others in formation against similarly slow-moving enemies, won't have as much issue with a low Dodge and slow movement as will a skirmisher tasked with hit-and-fade attacks against the enemy's flanks.
Like most things with GURPS… the choice is yours.
Did I miss anything equipment-related you're curious about? Forget anything that should be front and center? Let me know!
If you enjoyed this post and others like it, might you consider the Game Geekery Patreon?
Also in New to GURPS – Intermediate
Extending the "New to GURPS" discussion beyond GURPS Lite to the Basic Set (Characters and Campaigns).
Intermediate Melee Combat
Intermediate Ranged Combat
Intermediate Recovery
Intermediate Scene
View the entire series
Your First Character
GURPS Quick-Start Character Sheet
GURPS Quick-Start Character Creation
Intermediate Character – Kerna Dallon
Your First Skill Checks
Your First Skill Contests
Ezram
One alternative to the "Wealth" Advantage for players who want their characters to have access to spiffy gear is the "Patron" Advantage.
Such a benefactor need not be a grand corporation or government! An affluent parent in charge of a booming family business is a Patron, as is a retired adventurer sitting on a fortune, or a head of a research institute funding expeditions to isolated corners of the globe. All that matters is that the Patron has considerable resources of their own and is willing to dole out equipment to player characters that require it.
I once again feel that what I currently have in mind is an Advanced rule, but I will, yet again, mention it here just in case.
Equipment can also be damaged, broken down, or even completely destroyed…and this need not necessarily occur via the rigors of battle. Failing to keep certain equipment covered up, clean, lubricated, etc, can do it in just as well as a stray bullet or swing of a kusari.
Page 483 of the Campaigns book has rules for those that wish to add a degree of frailty to (or perhaps show off the ruggedness of) their PCs' possessions.
Excellent points, Ezram! Your comments add great value to the posts, they're like little appendices 🙂
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
-- Crowfoot


text:
Where are Mexico's Independent, Innovative Filmmakers? At the Morelia Film Festival
The Morelia International Film Festival celebrates 10 years.
MANUEL RUEDA
Nov. 9, 2012— -- The Morelia International Film Festival, which takes place from November 3 - 11, is not very well known in the United States. But every year, it serves as a crucial meeting point for dozens of young Mexican filmmakers who share their work, discuss new projects, and look at some of the best films and documentaries that are being produced around the world.
In Mexico, and increasingly in Europe, the Morelia lnternational Film Festival has become synonymous with independent, innovative film, drawing the likes of Werner Herzog and Quentin Tarantino and also attracting prominent figures such as Guillermo del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones, and Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal, who attends the festival every year.
During the festival, which ends Sunday, the cafes lining the small city's plazas fill up with cinephiles. Producers, actors and distributors stroll around Morelia's 17th century cobblestone streets, chatting away about the next hot project, or reflecting on the film that they just saw.
Morelia is just a four-hour drive from our Mexico City office. So we couldn't help but go there to check out the festival for ourselves. Here are some interesting films that we learned about during our brief stay in Morelia.
You may see some of these reaching U.S. theaters. Others you may never see. But this list provides an interesting insight into what Mexican filmmakers are up to these days.
Most films are shown at the Cinepolis, in Morelia's 17th century downtown district.
This is the most crowded category in the Morelia Film Festival, partly due to the fact that shorts are cheaper to make than features films.
One short that stands out is Ciudad Juarez, an animated film about a flea who is attempting to convince his peers that they live on a round head. "This story relates to both modern Mexico and to the country [as it was] 500 years ago," the official description reads.
Equally as philosophical but more musically focused is a short called Tintico's Afternoons. Its plot? Under the beautiful Quebrada cliff in Acapulco, a group of mosquitoes addicted to tropical music desperately tries to bring happiness back into a rumba director's life.
Otilia Portillo, 32, is the proud director of Diario a Tres Voces, a film that shows how love is experienced at different stages of life.
While at the festival we had the chance to watch Diario a Tres Voces [Three Voices] a one hour, beautifully shot doc in which three women of different generations, including a 90-year-old, a 50-year-old and a teenager, describe how they fell in love, how they became disillusioned, and how they keep on going with their lives.
"I wanted to develop stories about things that affect us every day," said director Otilia Portillo. "Love is one of those universal things that is often explored in fiction, but not often developed through documentaries," added the 32-year-old, who has a regular job as an architect in Mexico City, but somehow finds the time to produce documentaries.
A bit less elaborate but still interesting is Todo Se Vale, or All is Possible, a short documentary about a woman in the state of Zacatecas, who finds a sense of purpose in life, through the sport of ultimate fighting.
"I identify with the main character," said 30-year-old filmmaker Edin Martinez. "Like many young people, she has a void that she wants to fill, and she is looking for that thing that motivates her."
Political docs are also making their mark on the film fest. Among them, El Ingeniero [The Engineer] a film that gets up close and personal with Mexican Presidential candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas as he makes a third –unsuccesful- run for office.
Morelia's 17th century cathedral is one of the landmarks that surrounds this film festival.
One film that might make some news is El Alcalde which follows the controversial Mayor of Mexico's richest municipality, [located right next to Monterrey] and discusses the "polemic" tactics that he has used to keep drug cartels out of his turf.
Day of the Dead figures greet festival goers in downtown Morelia.
The Mexican features on offer this year seem like they will do justice to the country's rich film tradition. It's difficult to know if any of them will be as big as Babel, Pan's Labyrinth or Amores Perros. But here are some good candidates:
Tau talks about a biologist studying rare species of plants, who is forced to fight for his life –and goes on a spiritual journey—after he is assaulted in the remote Wirikuta desert. It was directed by 29-year-old Daniel Castro. No Quiero Dormir Sola [I don't want to sleep alone] tells the story of a woman who takes on many lovers because she suffers from insomnia if she has to sleep alone at night. Her life changes drastically when she is forced to nurse her ailing, alcoholic grandmother.
Aqui y Alla [Here and There] is about a Mexican immigrant who returns to his home village after spending many years in the U.S. He finds that he has lost his bond with his daughters, and that his friends are obsessed with heading up north. This film is part of a special "critic's selection," promoted by the Cannes Film Festival.
The Morelia Festival also shows a big selection of thoughtful international films.
A Monkey on My Shoulder, a French production starring Juliette Binoche, sounds like something that would play at independent theaters in the U.S. It talks about a couple, both of whom are surgeons, who descends into chaos after Juliette's character gets pregnant.
Another film screening at Morelia and opening in the U.S. this month is Anna Karenina by British Filmmaker Joe Wright, with Keira Knightley in the titular role. This is a cinematic version of the 19th century Russian literature classic.
And finally there's NO, which opened the Morelia festival and is Chile's official entry into the 2013 Oscars. In this highly anticipated historical drama, Gael Garcia Bernal plays a publicist who must convince millions of Chileans to vote against the continuation of the Pinochet dictatorship, in a crucial, and tumultuous, referendum. NO will open in the United States in February.
Nov 09, 7:43 AM


These fruity and sweet banana chocolate pancakes are a perfect family breakfast pleaser.
Fold chocolate chips and banana pieces into the prepared pancake batter.
Grease or spray cooking spray on a medium skillet or griddle.
Using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, cook pancakes over medium-high heat until they are light golden brown on each side.
Top with additional chocolate chips and serve with butter and syrup.


Please give generously whatever you can afford in memory of Matt, who died at the age of 29, on the 19th Februaury 2010.
Greatly loved and sorely missed.
Added by: Diana Garretts on 26 February 2010.
Appreciation by Grand & Grandpa Garretts.
Appreciation by Amos And Shira Nachmani, Israel..
If you would like to add a tribute to Matthew Hadfield, please use the link below and follow the instructions provided.


Making the decision on whether or not a patient has cancer usually involves trained professionals meticulously scanning tissue samples over weeks and months.But an artificial intelligence (AI) program owned by Alphabet, Google's parent company, may be able to do it much, much faster.
Another step to the Tricorder.
We readily acknowledge that hi res cameras and computers can see things on satellite images that are not readily seen by the human eye. It is not much of a leap from basic photography to diagnostic images. In fact looking for hidden patterns or repetitions is one of the things that computers are really good at.
For now the system is designed to detect cancer. Human pathologists are still needed to look for other anomalies or occult pathology. And as usual the money and interest is focused on medical uses. Nevertheless dental applications are sure to follow.


text:
\section{Introduction\label{Intr}}

In recent years, most theoretical physicists as well as
cosmologists, have been convinced that there should be a deep
relation between the gravitational field equations and the laws of
thermodynamics. It was pointed out by Jacobson  for the first time
in $1995$, that the hyperbolic second order partial differential
Einstein equation has a predisposition to the first law of
thermodynamics \cite{Jac}. Indeed, Jacobson derived the Einstein
field equations of general relativity, in its tensorial form, by
applying the Clausius relation, $\delta Q=T\delta S$,
on the horizon of spacetime, here $\delta S$ is the change in the entropy and
\delta Q$ and $T$ are the energy flux across the horizon and the
Unruh temperature seen by an accelerating observer just inside the
horizon. Also, by applying the Clauius relation to the apparent
horizon of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe, the
corresponding Friedmann equations can be derived in Einstein,
Gauss-Bonnet and more general Lovelock gravity \cite{CaiKim}.
Following these investigations, a lot of attempts have been done
to reveal the connection between thermodynamics and gravity in
different setups
\cite{Par,Pad,Cai0,Cai1,Cai2,Cai3,Cai4,Shey1,Shey2,ShHL}. For
example, in Ref. \cite{CaiHL} the relationship between the first
law of thermodynamics and the gravitational field equation of a
static, spherically symmetric black hole in Horava-Lifshitz
gravity has been explored. It was shown that, the gravitational
field equations of static, spherically symmetric black holes in
Horava-Lifshitz theory can be expressed as the first law of
thermodynamics on the event horizon \cite{CaiHL}. This approach
can lead to extract expressions for the entropy and mass of
Horava-Lifshitz black holes which are consistent with those
obtained from other approaches \cite{CaiHL}. These results further
support the idea that gravitation on a macroscopic scale is a
manifestation of thermodynamics.

It is well known that the natural generalization of the
Einstein-Hilbert action to higher dimensional spacetime, and
higher order gravity with second order equation of motion, is the
Lovelock action \cite{Lov}. However, because of the topological
origin of the Lovelock terms, the second term of the Lovelock
action (the Gauss-Bonnet term) does not have any dynamical effect
in four dimensions. Similarly, the cubic interaction only
contributes to the equations of motion when the bulk dimension is
seven or greater. Recently, a modification of third order Lovelock
gravity was proposed by \cite{Olive1,Myer1} which contains cubic
terms of Riemann tensor and contribute to the equation of motions
in five dimensions. This new theory, which is called
``quasi-topological" gravity, was also extended to include the
quartic terms of Riemann tensor \cite{MHD2}. Quasi-topological
gravity provides a useful toy model to study a broader class of
four (and higher)
dimensional CFT's, involving three or more independent parameters \cit
{Myer2}. Black hole spacetimes in higher order quasi-topological gravity
which have at most second order derivatives of the metric in the field
equations, have been explored and their thermodynamics have been
investigated \cite{MHD1,MHD3,MHD4,QT}.

In this paper we turn to investigate the connection between the
gravitational field equations and the first law of thermodynamics in
quasi-topological gravity. For a static topological black hole spacetime
with constant horizon curvature, we will show that the gravitational field
equations can be transformed to the first law of thermodynamics, $TdS-dE=PdV
, on the black hole horizon. This allows us to extract the entropy
expression in terms of the horizon radius, which is useful in
studying thermodynamics of these kind of black holes.

The structure of this paper is as follow. In the next section, we
show that the gravitational field equations in Einstein and
Gauss-Bonnet gravity can be recast as the first law of
thermodynamics on the black hole horizon. In section III, we
briefly review the action of the quasi-topological gravity. In
section IV, we apply the method to cubic quasi-topological theory.
In section V, we will generalize our approach to the quartic and
higher order quasi-topological gravity and extract the entropy and
energy expressions of these theories. We finish our paper with
conclusions in section VI.

\section{Horizon thermodynamics in Einstein and Gauss-Bonnet
gravity} Let us start with Einstein-Hilbert and Gauss-Bonnet cases
to set the stage and to see how the method works \cite{Par}. One
can derive the equations of motion for gravitational theory by
either, varying the action of the theory with respect to $g_{\mu
\nu}$, without specifying the form of the spacetime metric, or by
specifying the spacetime metric, then inserting the metric in the
action, and finally varying the resulting action with respect to
the metric functions. In both cases one arrives at the field
equations. To see how the two approaches leads to the same result,
in this section, we use both the field equations as well as
variation method, for transforming the equations of motion to the
first law of thermodynamics at the black hole horizon.
\subsection{The Einstein-Hilbert Case}
The Einstein field equations is ($c=1$)
\begin{equation}\label{eins22}
R_{ab}-\frac{1}{2} R g_{ab}=8 \pi G T_{ab}.
\end{equation}
We consider a four-dimensional static, spherically symmetric
spacetime with a horizon, which is described by the metric
\begin{equation}\label{met2}
ds^{2}=-f(r)dt^{2}+\frac{dr^{2}}{f(r)}+r^{2}d\Omega^{2}.
\end{equation
Inserting metric (\ref{met2}) in Eq. (\ref{eins22}), the $(rr)$
component of the Einstein equations can be written
 \begin{equation}\label{eins23}
\frac{1}{r^2}\left[r f^{\prime}(r) -1+f(r)\right]=8 \pi G P,
\end{equation}
where $P=T^r_{r}$ is the radial pressure of matter at the horizon
\cite{CaiHL}. Here prime denotes derivative with respect to $r$.
We assume that the spacetime has a  horizon at $r = r_{+}$ which
is the simple root of $f(r_{+})=0$. We also propose at $r = r_{+}$
the surface gravity $\kappa= f^{\prime}(r_{+})/2$ has non zero
value which implies a finite non zero temperature
$T={f^{\prime}(r_{+})}/{4\pi}$ at the horizon. Evaluating  the
field equation (\ref{eins23}) at the horizon where $f(r_{+})=0$,
we find
\begin{equation}\label{eins24}
\frac{1}{G}\left(\frac{r_{+} f^{\prime}(r_{+})}{2}
-\frac{1}{2}\right)=4\pi r_{+}^2 P .
\end{equation}
Multiplying both sides of Eq. (\ref{eins24}) by $dr_{+}$, we
arrive at
\begin{equation}\label{eins25}
\underbrace{\frac{f^{\prime}(r_{+})}{4 \pi}}_\text{T}
\underbrace{\frac{1}{G}d\left(\frac{4 \pi
r_{+}^2}{4}\right)}_\text{dS}
\underbrace{-\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{dr_{+}}{G}\right)}_\text{-dE}=
\underbrace{P d\left(\frac{4\pi r_{+}^3}{3}\right)}_\text{P d V}.
\end{equation}
If we invoke the expressions for the entropy and energy (mass) of
the black hole,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{ent26}
S&=&\frac{A}{4G}, \\
E&=&\frac{r_{+}}{2G}, \label{enrg27}
\end{eqnarray}
where $A=4\pi r_{+}^2$ is the area of the horizon, we find that
Eq. (\ref{eins25}) is nothing but the first law of thermodynamics,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{Einfirstlaw}
dE=TdS-PdV.
\end{eqnarray}
\subsection{The Gauss-Bonnet Gravity}
We shall now turn our attention to the more general case, namely
the Gauss-Bonnet gravity. In an effective action approach to the
string theory, the Gauss-Bonnet term corresponds to the leading
order quantum corrections to gravity, and its presence guarantees
a ghost-free action\cite{zwiebach}. This theory contains a special
combination of curvature-squared term, added to the
Einstein-Hilbert action. The Gauss-Bonnet term does not have any
dynamical effect in four dimensions since it is just a topological
term in four dimensions. Static black hole solutions of
Gauss-Bonnet gravity have been found and their thermodynamics have
been investigated in ample details \cite{Caigb}. The action of the
Einstein- Hilbert in the presence of the Gauss-Bonnet correction
term, in $(n+1)$-dimensions, is given by
\begin{equation}\label{actg1}
I=\frac{1}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\int
{d^{n+1}x\sqrt{-g}\left(-2\Lambda+R+\alpha\mathcal{L}_{GB}
\right)}+\int d^{n+1}x\mathcal{L}_{M},
\end{equation
where $\alpha $ is the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient with dimension $($length
)^{2} $, and $\mathcal{L}_{GB}$ is the Gauss-Bonnet Lagrangian
which has the form,
\begin{equation}\label{actg1}
\mathcal{L}_{GB}=R_{abcd}R^{abcd}-4R_{ab}R^{ab}+R^{2}.
\end{equation
The field equations can be obtained by varying the above action
with respect to the metric $g_{ab}$. We find
\begin{equation}\label{gbfeq}
G_{ab}+\Lambda g_{ab}+2\alpha H_{ab}=8 \pi G_{n+1} T_{ab},
\end{equation}
where,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{eqeins}
&&G_{ab}=R_{ab}-\frac{1}{2} R g_{ab},\\
&&H_{ab}=RR_{ab}-2R_a{}^cR_{bc}-2R^{cd}R_{acbd}+R_a{}^{cde}R_{bcde}-\textstyle{1\over4}g_{ab}{\cal
L}_{GB},\label{eqgb1}
\end{eqnarray}
are the Einstein and the second-order Lovelock tensor,
respectively. Consider again a static spherically symmetric
solution of the form
\begin{equation}\label{met3}
ds^{2}=-f(r)dt^{2}+\frac{dr^{2}}{f(r)}+r^{2}d\Omega_{n-1}^{2}.
\end{equation
Substituting metric (\ref{met3}) in Eq. (\ref{gbfeq}), the $(rr)$
component of the field equations reduces to
\begin{equation}\label{eqmo2}
\frac{1}{2}\frac{(n-1)}{r^2}
\Big{\{}rf^{\prime}-\left(n-2\right)\left(1-f\right)+\frac{\tilde{\alpha}}{r^2}\left(1-f\right)\left[2r
f^{\prime}-\left(n-4\right)\left(1-f\right)\right]-\frac{nr^2}{l^2}\Big{\}}=8
\pi G_{n+1} P.
\end{equation}
where again $P=T^r_{r}$ is the radial pressure of matter at the
horizon, and we have defined $\tilde{\alpha}=(n-2)(n-3)\alpha$.

On the other hand, by substituting the metric (\ref{met3}) in
action (\ref{actg1}), and varying the action (\ref{actg1}) with
respect to $g^{rr}$, after multiplying both sides in
$(-g)^{-1/2}g^{rr}$, we get
\begin{equation}\label{Pressure2}
\frac{(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\frac{1}{r^{2}}\Bigg{\{}\left( r+\frac{2\tilde
\alpha}}{r}-\frac{2\tilde{\alpha}f}{r}\right) f^{\prime }-\left(
n-2\right) \left(1-f\right) -\frac{\tilde{\alpha}}{r^2}\left(
n-4\right) (1-f)^2-\frac{nr^2}{l^2} \Bigg{\}
=P.
\end{equation
where $P$ is defined as,
\begin{equation}\label{P}
 P=T_{r}^{r}=g^{rr}T_{rr}=g^{rr}\left\{\frac{2}{\sqrt{-g}}\frac{\delta
\mathcal{L}_{M}}{\delta g^{rr}}\right\}.
\end{equation
As one can see, the resulting equation derived by variational
principle in (\ref{Pressure2}) is \textit{precisely} the same as
one obtained in (\ref{eqmo2}) directly from the field equations
(\ref{gbfeq}). As we mentioned already, we have two approaches for
deriving the components of the field equations; varying the action
with respect to $g_{\mu \nu}$, and then inserting metric in the
field equations, or by substituting the metric in the action, and
varying the resulting action with respect to the metric functions.

The variational method leads to (\ref{Pressure2}), can also be
applied to the more general metric
\begin{equation}\label{met1}
ds^{2}=-N^{2}(r)f(r)dt^{2}+\frac{dr^{2}}{f(r)}+r^{2}d\Sigma
_{k,n-1}^{2},
\end{equation
where $d\Sigma _{k,n-1}^{2}$ represents the line elements of an
$(n-1)$-dimensional constant curvature hypersurface with unit
radius. Without loss of the generality, one may take $k=1,-1,$ and
$0$, corresponding to spherical, hyperbolic and planar
hypersurface. Inserting metric (\ref{met1}) in action
(\ref{actg1}), after variation with respect to $g^{rr}$, we arrive
at
 \begin{eqnarray}\label{Pressure3}
&&\frac{(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\frac{1}{Nr^{3}}\Bigg{\{}\left( r^{2}+2k\tilde
\alpha}-2\tilde{\alpha}f\right) \left( N^{2}f\right) ^{\prime
}+N^{2}\left[ r\left( n-2\right) \left( f-k\right)
-\frac{\tilde{\alpha}}{r}\left( n-4\right)
(k^{2}-2kf+f^{2})-\frac{nr^{3}}{l^{2}}\right] \Bigg{\}}  \notag \\
&&=T_{r}^{r}=P,
\end{eqnarray
where again the radial pressure is given by (\ref{P}). We also
assume the function $f(r)$ has a simple zero at $r=r_{+}$ with
$f(r=r_{+})=0$ and non-vanishing surface gravity $\kappa
=Nf^{\prime }(r_{+})/2$. The temperature
associated with the horizon is now defined as $T={\kappa }/{2\pi }={Nf^{\prime }(r_{+})}/
4\pi }$. Evaluating Eq. (\ref{Pressure3}) at $r=r_{+}$, we obtain
\begin{equation}\label{var022}
\frac{N(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}r_{+}^{2}}\left[ f^{\prime }(r_{+})\left( r_{+}
\tilde{\alpha}\frac{2k}{r_{+}}\right) -k\left( n-2\right) -\frac{\tilde
\alpha}}{r_{+}^{2}}k^{2}\left( n-4\right)
-\frac{nr_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\right] =P.
\end{equation}
Consider two equilibrium states of the system with an
infinitesimal different in the extensive variables entropy,
energy, and volume $dS$, $dE$ and $dV$, respectively, while the
values of the intensive quantities of the system are the
temperature $T$ and pressure $P$. Our aim is to introduce in Eq.
(\ref{var022}) a factor $dV$ and see whether we can rewrite it in
the form $TdS-dE=PdV$. Multiplying both sides of Eq.
(\ref{var022}) by the factor $\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-3}dr_{+}$, where
$\Sigma _{k}$ is the area of a unit $(n-1)$-dimensional constant
hypersurface with volume $V=\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}/n$, we arrive at
\begin{equation}\label{var011}
\frac{\kappa }{2\pi }d\left[ \frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1
\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{2k\tilde{\alpha}}{r_{+}^{2}}\right)
\right] -d\left[
\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-2}}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\left( k+\frac{\tilde{\alph
}k^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+\frac{r_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\right) \right] =P\Sigma
_{k}r_{+}^{n-1}dr_{+}=PdV.
\end{equation
The first term in the left hand side is in the form $TdS$ and our
analysis allows us to read off the expression of entropy $S$ for
the horizon as,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{flt07}
S&=&\frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1+\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{
\tilde{\alpha}k}{r_{+}^{2}}\right).
\end{eqnarray}
In addition, the second term in (\ref{var011}) can be interpreted
as $dE$, where the energy of the system is given by
\begin{eqnarray}
E&=&\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-2}}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\left( k+\frac{\tilde
\alpha}k^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+\frac{r_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\right).
\label{flt08}
\end{eqnarray
Thus, we have transformed the field equations in Guass-Bonnet
gravity to the first law of thermodynamics, $TdS-dE=PdV$, on the
black hole horizon. The obtained expressions for the entropy and
energy in (\ref{flt07}) and (\ref{flt08}), coincide with the
expressions of entropy and energy for Gauss-Bonnet black holes in
AdS spaces derived by solving the field equations \cite{Caigb}.

In our analysis, we have supposed that both $l^2=-n(n-1)/{\Lambda}$
and $\tilde{\alpha}$ are fixed. Recently, there were a lot of interest
in denoting $\Lambda$ as a thermodynamical variable proportional to the pressure \cite{PVcrit}.
In this case the last term in the left-hand side of Eq. (\ref{var011}), $n(n-1)/(16\pi G_{n+1}l^2)dV$, may be
moved to the right-hand side as $P_{\Lambda}dV$. One should note that
the authors of Ref. \cite{PVcrit} have considered the solutions of Einstein field equations,
and therefore only the term $P_{\Lambda}dV$ will be appeared in the right-hand side of Eq. (\ref{var011}) for the
solutions of Einstein equation. Also, one may note that $P_{\Lambda}$ is the $T^r_r$-component of energy momentum tensor
of cosmological constant term, if one denotes the $\Lambda$-term as energy term in the right-hand side of Einstein equation.
Also, if one denotes $\tilde{\alpha}$ as a thermodynamical variable, then a term $\tilde{\alpha}dA$
will appear in the right hand side of Eq. (\ref{var011}), where $A$ is the conjugate quantity
to the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient \cite{CaiPV}. In this case, since the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient has
not the dimensions of pressure in geometric units, its conjugate quantity has not the dimensions of volume.

Here, before going to the case of quasi-topological gravity, we
pause to give a comment on the expressions for energy density
$\rho $ and pressure $P$. In general, these quantities are not the
same for a general perfect fluid. Indeed $P$ is given in Eq.
(\ref{Pressure3}), while $\rho $ can be calculated by varying the
action (\ref{actg1}) with respect to $g_{tt}$ and
multiplying both sides in $(-g)^{-1/2}g_{tt}$ a
\begin{equation}\label{rho}
\frac{(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\frac{N}{r^{3}}\Bigg{\{}\left( r^{2}+2k\tilde
\alpha}-2\tilde{\alpha}f\right) f^{\prime }+ r\left( n-2\right)
\left( f-k\right) -\frac{\tilde{\alpha}}{r}\left( n-4\right)
\left[
k^{2}-2kf+f^{2}\right] -\frac{nr^{3}}{l^{2}} \Bigg{\}
=-T_{t}^{t}=\rho.
\end{equation
Of course, one may note that the pressure and energy density are
the same on the horizon as one may see by calculating $\rho $ on
the horizon.
\section{Quasi-Topological Gravity\label{Quasi1}}
The action of the quasi-topological theory in $(n+1)$-dimensions
is given by
\begin{equation}\label{Act1}
I=\int d^{n+1}x\left( \mathcal{L}_{G}+\mathcal{L}_{M}\right) ,
\end{equation
where $\mathcal{L}_{M}$ is the Lagrangian of the matter and
\begin{equation}\label{act02}
\mathcal{L}_{G}=\frac{\sqrt{-g}}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\left( -2\Lambda +{\mu }_{1
\mathcal{L}_{1}+{\mu }_{2}\mathcal{L}_{2}+{\mu }_{3}\mathcal{X}_{3}+{\mu
_{4}\mathcal{X}_{4}+...\right) .
\end{equation
In the above equation $\Lambda =-(n-2)(n-3)/2l^{2}$ is the
cosmological
constant, $\mathcal{L}_{1}=R$ is the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian, $\mathcal{
}_{2}=R_{abcd}{R}^{abcd}-4{R}_{ab}{R}^{ab}+{R}^{2}$ is the second
order Lovelock (Gauss-Bonnet) Lagrangian, $\mathcal{X}_{3}$\ is
the curvature-cubed Lagrangian given by \cite{Myer1}
\begin{eqnarray}\label{X3}
\mathcal{X}_{3} &=&R_{ab}^{cd}R_{cd}^{\,\,e\,\,\,f}R_{e\,\,f}^{\,\,a\,\,\,b}
\frac{1}{(2n-1)(n-3)}\left(
\frac{3(3n-5)}{8}R_{abcd}R^{abcd}R\right.  \notag
\\
&&-3(n-1)R_{abcd}R^{abc}{}_{e}R^{de}+3(n+1)R_{abcd}R^{ac}R^{bd}  \notag \\
&&\left. +\,6(n-1)R_{a}{}^{b}R_{b}{}^{c}R_{c}{}^{a}-\frac{3(3n-1)}{2
R_{a}^{\,\,b}R_{b}^{\,\,a}R+\frac{3(n+1)}{8}R^{3}\right),
\end{eqnarray
and $\mathcal{X}_{4}$ is the fourth order term of
quasi-topological gravity \cite{MHD2}
\begin{eqnarray}\label{X4}
\mathcal{X}_{4}\hspace{-0.2cm} &=&\hspace{-0.2cm}c_{1}R_{abcd}R^{cdef}R_
\phantom{hg}{ef
}^{hg}R_{hg}{}^{ab}+c_{2}R_{abcd}R^{abcd}R_{ef}R^{ef}+c_{3}RR_{ab}R^{ac}R_{c}{}^{b}+c_{4}(R_{abcd}R^{abcd})^{2}
\notag \\
&&\hspace{-0.1cm
+c_{5}R_{ab}R^{ac}R_{cd}R^{db}+c_{6}RR_{abcd}R^{ac}R^{db}+c_{7}R_{abcd}R^{ac}R^{be}R_
\phantom{d}{e}}^{d}+c_{8}R_{abcd}R^{acef}R_{\phantom{b}{e}}^{b}R_
\phantom{d}{f}}^{d}  \notag \\
&&\hspace{-0.1cm
+c_{9}R_{abcd}R^{ac}R_{ef}R^{bedf}+c_{10}R^{4}+c_{11}R^{2}R_{abcd}R^{abcd}+c_{12}R^{2}R_{ab}R^{ab}
\notag \\
&&\hspace{-0.1cm
+c_{13}R_{abcd}R^{abef}R_{ef}{}_{g}^{c}R^{dg}+c_{14}R_{abcd}R^{aecf}R_{gehf}R^{gbhd},
\end{eqnarray
where the coefficients $c_{i}$ are given by \cite{MHD2}
\begin{eqnarray*}
c_{1} &=&-\left( n-1\right) \left( {n}^{7}-3\,{n}^{6}-29\,{n}^{5}+170\,{n
^{4}-349\,{n}^{3}+348\,{n}^{2}-180\,n+36\right) , \\
c_{2} &=&-4\,\left( n-3\right) \left( 2\,{n}^{6}-20\,{n}^{5}+65\,{n}^{4}-81\
{n}^{3}+13\,{n}^{2}+45\,n-18\right) , \\
c_{3} &=&-64\,\left( n-1\right) \left( 3\,{n}^{2}-8\,n+3\right) \left( {n
^{2}-3\,n+3\right) , \\
c_{4} &=&-{(n}^{8}-6\,{n}^{7}+12\,{n}^{6}-22\,{n}^{5}+114\,{n}^{4}-345\,{n
^{3}+468\,{n}^{2}-270\,n+54), \\
c_{5} &=&16\,\left( n-1\right) \left( 10\,{n}^{4}-51\,{n}^{3}+93\,{n
^{2}-72\,n+18\right) , \\
c_{6} &=&--32\,\left( n-1\right) ^{2}\left( n-3\right) ^{2}\left( 3\,{n
^{2}-8\,n+3\right) , \\
c_{7} &=&64\,\left( n-2\right) \left( n-1\right) ^{2}\left( 4\,{n}^{3}-18\,{
}^{2}+27\,n-9\right) , \\
c_{8} &=&-96\,\left( n-1\right) \left( n-2\right) \left( 2\,{n}^{4}-7\,{n
^{3}+4\,{n}^{2}+6\,n-3\right) , \\
c_{9} &=&16\left( n-1\right) ^{3}\left( 2\,{n}^{4}-26\,{n}^{3}+93\,{n
^{2}-117\,n+36\right) , \\
c_{10} &=&{n}^{5}-31\,{n}^{4}+168\,{n}^{3}-360\,{n}^{2}+330\,n-90, \\
c_{11} &=&2\,(6\,{n}^{6}-67\,{n}^{5}+311\,{n}^{4}-742\,{n}^{3}+936\,{n
^{2}-576\,n+126), \\
c_{12} &=&8\,{(}7\,{n}^{5}-47\,{n}^{4}+121\,{n}^{3}-141\,{n}^{2}+63\,n-9), \\
c_{13} &=&16\,n\left( n-1\right) \left( n-2\right) \left(
n-3\right) \left(
3\,{n}^{2}-8\,n+3\right) , \\
c_{14} &=&8\,\left( n-1\right) \left( {n}^{7}-4\,{n}^{6}-15\,{n}^{5}+122\,{n
^{4}-287\,{n}^{3}+297\,{n}^{2}-126\,n+18\right) .
\end{eqnarray*
For spherically symmetric metric, the action (\ref{Act1}) yields
second-order equations of motion in $(n+1)$-dimensional spacetimes
except in $n=2m-1$, where $m$ is the order of quasi-topological
theory \cite{MHD2}. In the remaining part of this paper, we will
show that the gravitational field equations describing by the
spacetime metric (\ref{met1}) can be recast in the form of the
first law of thermodynamics at the black hole horizon.
\section{Horizon Thermodynamics in cubic quasi-topological gravity}
In section II, we showed that the field equations of static black
hole spacetimes, with constant horizon curvature, in Einstein and
Gauss-Bonnet gravities can be reexpressed as the first law of
thermodynamics, $dE=TdS-PdV$, on the horizon. Here, we want to see
whether the above procedure works or not in other gravity theories
such as quasi-topological gravity. As we discussed, and explicitly
showed, for the Gauss-Bonnet case, one can use both the field
equations as well as the variational principle, instead of using
the field equations, and transform the equations of motion to the
first law at the spacetime horizon. However, since the field
equations for cubic \cite{Myer1} and quartic \cite{DV}
quasi-topological gravity are very long, in this section and also
the next one, we present the resulting equations from variational
principle for economic reason, which are clearly the components of
the field equations.

We shall now continue the previous procedure for the cubic term of
quasi-topological gravity. The total action of the cubic
quasi-topological gravity in $(n+1)$ dimensions can be written as
\begin{equation}\label{Act2}
I=\frac{1}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\int d^{n+1}x\sqrt{-g}[-2\Lambda +{\mu }_{1
\mathcal{L}_{1}+{\mu }_{2}\mathcal{L}_{2}+{\mu
}_{3}\mathcal{X}_{3}]+\int d^{n+1}x\mathcal{L}_{M}.
\end{equation
Varying the action (\ref{Act2}) with respect to $g^{rr}$ and
multiplying both sides in $(-g)^{-1/2}g^{rr}$, one obtains
\begin{eqnarray}\label{varr}
&&\frac{(n-1)}{16\pi
G_{n+1}}\frac{1}{Nr^{5}}\Bigg{\{}\frac{d}{dr}\left(
N^{2}f\right) \left( r^{4}+2kr^{2}\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}-2r^{2}\hat{\mu
_{2}l^{2}f+3k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}-6k\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}f+3k\hat{\mu
_{3}l^{4}f^{2}\right)   \notag \\
&&+N^{2}\left[ r^{3}\left( n-2\right) \left( f-k\right) -\hat{\mu
_{2}l^{2}r\left( n-4\right) \left( k^{2}-2kf+f^{2}\right) -\frac{\hat{\mu
_{3}}{r}l^{4}\left( n-6\right) \left( -k+3k^{2}f-3kf^{2}+f^{3}\right) -\frac
nr^{5}}{l^{2}}\right] \Bigg{\}}=T^r_r, \nonumber \\
\end{eqnarray
where $T^r_r$ is given by (\ref{P}), and
\begin{equation*}
\hat{\mu}_{1}=1,\text{ \ \ }\hat{\mu}_{2}=\frac{(n-2)(n-3)}{l^{2}}\mu _{2}
\text{ \ \ }\hat{\mu}_{3}=\frac{(n-2)(n-5)(3n^{2}-9n+4)}{8(2n-1)l^{4}}\mu
_{3}.
\end{equation*
Next, we evaluate Eq. (\ref{varr}) at $r=r_{+}$ and using the fact that
f(r_{+})=0$, to obtain
\begin{eqnarray}\label{var33}
&&\frac{N(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\Bigg{\{}f^{\prime }(r_{+})\left( r_{+}+\frac
2k}{r_{+}}\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}+\frac{3k^{2}}{r_{+}^{3}}\hat{\mu
_{3}l^{4}\right) -k\left( n-2\right)   \notag   \\
&&-\frac{\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}k^{2}\left( n-4\right) -\frac{\hat{\m
}_{3}l^{4}k}{r_{+}^{4}}\left( n-6\right) -\frac{nr_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\Bigg{\}
=r_{+}^{2}P.
\end{eqnarray
Multiplying both sides of the above equation by the factor $\Sigma
_{k}r_{+}^{n-3}dr_{+}$, and setting $f^{\prime }(r_{+})=2\kappa $, we have
\begin{eqnarray}
&&\frac{\kappa }{2\pi }d\left[ \frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left(
1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu
_{3}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-5)}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}\right) \right]   \notag \\
&&-d\left[ \frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-2}}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\left( k+\frac
k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+\frac{k^{3}\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}
+\frac{r_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\right) \right] =P\Sigma _{k}r{+}^{n-1}dr_{+}.
\end{eqnarray
We can rewrite this equation in the form,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{flt22}
&&Td\left[ \frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2
\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}\frac{(n-1)}
(n-5)}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}\right) \right]   \notag \\
&&-d\left[ \frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left( 1+
\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+k^{3}\hat
\mu}_{3}\frac{l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}\right) \right] =PdV.
\end{eqnarray
The first term in the left hand side of the above equation is in the form
TdS$, and so one may recognize the entropy expression for the horizon in
cubic quasi-topological gravity as,
\begin{equation}\label{S3}
S=\frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{(n-1
}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-5)}\frac
l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}\right).
\end{equation
According to the first low of thermodynamics, we can interpret the second
term in the left hand side of (\ref{flt22}) as the energy of the system,
\begin{equation}\label{E3}
E=\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left( 1+k\frac{l^{2}}
r_{+}^{2}}+k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+k^{3}\hat{\mu}_{3}\frac
l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}\right) .
\end{equation
These expressions for entropy and energy of the black holes
coincide exactly with those obtained in quasi-topological gravity
by solving the field equations and using the Wald's method
\cite{Myer1}. Here we arrived at the same result by transforming
the field equations to the form of the first law on the black hole
horizon. This indicates that the approach presented here is enough
powerful and further reveals the deep connection between the
gravitational field equations and the first law of thermodynamics
on the horizon of the black hole. Again, one can show that
although $P$ and $\rho $ are different in general but they are the
same at the horizon.
\section{Horizon Thermodynamics of Quasi-topological Gravity}
In this section, we would like to extend the above study to the case of $m
-th order quasi-topological gravity. First, we consider the
quartic quasi-topological gravity. Varying the action (\ref{Act1})
with respect to $g^{rr}$ and multiplying both sides in
$(-g)^{-1/2}g^{rr}$, we obtain
\begin{eqnarray}\label{Var4}
&&\frac{(n-1)}{16\pi
G_{n+1}}\frac{1}{Nr^{7}}\Bigg{\{}\frac{d}{dr}\left(
N^{2}f\right) \left( r^{6}+2kr^{4}\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}-2r^{4}\hat{\mu
_{2}l^{2}f+3k^{2}r^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}-6kr^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}f+3r^{2
\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}f^{2}\right)   \notag \\
&&+N^{2}[f^{\prime }\left( 4k\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}-12k^{2}\hat{\mu
_{4}l^{6}f+12k\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}f^{2}-4\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}f^{3}\right)
+r^{5}\left( n-2\right) \left( f-k\right) +\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}r^{3}\left(
n-4\right) \left( 2kf-k^{2}-f^{2}\right)  \nonumber\\
&& -\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}r\left( n-6\right) \left( k-3k^{2}f+3kf^{2}-f^{3}\right)
\frac{\hat{\mu}_{4}}{r}l^{6}\left( n-8\right) \left(
-k^{2}+4kf-6k^{2}f^{2}+4kf^{3}-f^{4}\right)
-\frac{nr^{7}}{l^{2}}]\Bigg{\}} =T_{r}^{r},
\end{eqnarray
where
\begin{equation*}
\hat{\mu}_{4}=\frac
n(n-1)(n-2)^{2}(n-3)(n-7)(n^{5}-15n^{4}+72n^{3}-156n^{2}+150n-42)}{l^{6}}\mu
_{4}.
\end{equation*
Evaluating Eq. (\ref{Var4}) at $r=r_{+}$ and setting $f(r_{+})=0$, we
arrive at
\begin{eqnarray}\label{fltq4}
&&\frac{N(n-1)}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\Bigg{\{}f^{\prime }\left( r_{+}+\frac{2k}
r_{+}}\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}+\frac{3k^{2}}{r_{+}^{3}}\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}+\frac{4
}{r_{+}^{5}}\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}\right) -k\left( n-2\right)   \notag \\
&&-\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{k^{2}l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}\left( n-4\right) -\hat{\mu}_{3
\frac{kl^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}\left( n-6\right) -\frac{\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}k^{2}}
r_{+}^{6}}\left( n-8\right)
-\frac{nr_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\Bigg{\}}=Pr_{+}^{2},
\end{eqnarray
Multiplying both sides of the above equation by the factor $\Sigma
_{k}r_{+}^{n-3}dr_{+}$ and setting $f^{\prime }(r_{+})=2\kappa $, we get
\begin{eqnarray}\label{fltq5}
&&\frac{\kappa }{2\pi }d\left[ \frac{\Sigma
_{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left(
1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu
_{3}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-5)}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+4k^{3}\hat{\mu}_{4}\frac{(n-1
}{(n-7)}\frac{l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}\right) \right]   \notag \\
&&-d\left[ \frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-2}}{16\pi G_{n+1}}\left( k+\frac
\hat{\mu}_{2}l^{2}k^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+\frac{\hat{\mu}_{3}l^{4}k^{3}}{r_{+}^{4}
+\frac{\hat{\mu}_{4}l^{6}k^{4}}{r_{+}^{6}}+\frac{r_{+}^{2}}{l^{2}}\right)
\right] =P\Sigma _{k}r{+}^{n-1}dr_{+}
\end{eqnarray
Using the definition $T=\kappa /2\pi $, the above equation can be rewritten
in the form
\begin{eqnarray}\label{fltq6}
&&Td\left[ \frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2
\frac{(n-1)}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}\frac{(n-1)}
(n-5)}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+4k^{3}\hat{\mu}_{4}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-7)}\frac
l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}\right) \right]   \notag \\
&&-d\left[ \frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left( 1+
\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+\hat{\mu}_{2}k^{2}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+\hat{\mu
_{3}k^{3}\frac{l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}+\hat{\mu}_{4}k^{4}\frac{l^{8}}{r_{+}^{8}
\right) \right] =PdV.
\end{eqnarray
Equation (\ref{fltq6}) is nothing, but the first law of
thermodynamics on the horizon, $TdS-dE=PdV$. We can define the
entropy expression as
\begin{equation}\label{SS1}
S=\frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\left( 1+2k\hat{\mu}_{2}\frac{(n-1
}{(n-3)}\frac{l^{2}}{r_{+}^{2}}+3k^{2}\hat{\mu}_{3}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-5)}\frac
l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+4k^{3}\hat{\mu}_{4}\frac{(n-1)}{(n-7)}\frac{l^{6}}
r_{+}^{6}}\right) ,
\end{equation
and the total energy (mass) of the black hole as
\begin{equation}\label{E4th}
E=\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left( 1+k\frac{l^{2}}
r_{+}^{2}}+\hat{\mu}_{2}k^{2}\frac{l^{4}}{r_{+}^{4}}+\hat{\mu}_{3}k^{3}\frac
l^{6}}{r_{+}^{6}}+\hat{\mu}_{4}k^{4}\frac{l^{8}}{r_{+}^{8}}\right)
.
\end{equation
The obtained expressions for entropy and energy are precisely the
expressions calculated by other authors for topological black holes in
quartic quasi-topological gravity \cite{MHD2}. In this way we show that the
field equations of quartic quasi-topological gravity can be transformed to
the form of the first law of thermodynamics on the event horizon of $(n+1)
-dimensional topological black holes.

Having the results for the cubic and quartic cases at hand, one may
conjecture that there exists similar connection for $m$-th order
quasi-topological gravity in $n\neq 2m-1$ dimensions. For the topological
black holes with metric (\ref{met1}), one may conjecture that the gravity
part of the action (\ref{Act1}) is given by \cite{MHD2}
\begin{equation}\label{ActKol}
I_{G}=\int dtdrN(r)\left( r^{n}\sum_{i=0}^{m}\hat{\mu}_{i}\left[
l^{2}r^{-2}(k-f)\right] ^{i}\right) ^{\prime },
\end{equation
where $\hat{\mu}_{i}$ are coefficients of the $i$-th powered curvature term
with $\hat{\mu}_{1}=1$. The corresponding field equations evaluated on the
horizon may be rewritten as
\begin{equation}\label{Varmor}
Td\left[ \frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\sum_{i=1}^{m}i\frac{(n-1)}
(n+1-2i)}\frac{\hat{\mu}_{i}k^{i-1}l^{2i-2}}{r_{+}^{2i-2}}\right] -d\left[
\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left( 1+\sum_{i=1}^{m
\hat{\mu}_{i}k^{i}\frac{l^{2i}}{r_{+}^{2i}}\right) \right] =PdV.
\end{equation}
Equation (\ref{Varmor}) is the first law of thermodynamics provided we define
\begin{eqnarray}\label{Sg}
S &=&\frac{\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n-1}}{4G_{n+1}}\sum_{i=1}^{m}i\frac{(n-1)}
(n+1-2i)}\frac{\hat{\mu}_{i}k^{i-1}l^{2i-2}}{r_{+}^{2i-2}},  \label{Eg} \\
E &=&\frac{(n-1)\Sigma _{k}r_{+}^{n}}{16\pi G_{n+1}l^{2}}\left(
1+\sum_{i=1}^{m}\hat{\mu}_{i}k^{i}\frac{l^{2i}}{r_{+}^{2i}}\right)
.
\end{eqnarray
These are the most general expressions for entropy and energy of static
black hole spacetimes with spherical, hyperbolic or planar horizon topology
in the most general quasi-topological theory of gravity. We expect to
confirm our general results (\ref{Eg}) and (\ref{Sg}) in the future by
solving explicitly the field equations. Again, one can show that although $P$
and $\rho $ are different in general but they are the same at the horizon.
\section{CONCLUSIONS\label{con}}
According to the black hole thermodynamics, a black hole can be
regarded as a thermodynamic system which has entropy and
temperature associated with its horizon. Since the discovery of
black hole thermodynamics in $1970$'s physicists have been
speculating that there should be some deep connection between
thermodynamics and gravity. This is due to the fact that
thermodynamic quantities of black holes such as temperature and
entropy are closely related to their geometrical quantities such
as surface gravity and horizon area. In this paper, we have
investigated the thermodynamics of topological black holes, with
spherical, hyperbolic or planar horizon topology, in
quasi-topological theory of gravity. We showed that one can always
rewrite the field equations of quasi-topological gravity in the
form of the first law of thermodynamics, $dE=TdS-PdV$, at the
black hole horizon. This procedure allows us to obtain the entropy
and the mass expressions in terms of the radius of black hole
horizon, which are exactly the same as those resulting from the
Wald's method for black hole entropy and the Hamiltonian approach
for black hole mass. The novelty and advantages of the present
study is that in the process of deriving the entropy and the mass
of black holes, we have not solved the field equation of the
quasi-topological theory and we had no difficulties of Wald's
method for calculating entropy. This completely differs from the
previous works in the literature \cite{Myer1,MHD2}.

The thermodynamic interpretation of the gravitational field
equations in the most general quasi-topological gravity indicates
that the connection between thermodynamics and gravity is not just
an accident, but something with deep physical meaning. On the
other hand the disclosed relation on the field equations and the
first law of thermodynamics on the black hole horizon also sheds
the light on holography, since the gravitational field equations
persists the information in the bulk and the first law of
thermodynamics on the event horizon contains the information on
the boundary. Our study shows that the approach here is powerful
to find an expression of entropy in term of the horizon radius. It
could help to extract an expression of entropy associated with the
event horizon in quasi-topological gravity, which is useful in
studying the thermodynamical properties of black holes in this
theory.
\acknowledgments{We thank from the Research Council of Shiraz
University. This work has been supported financially by Research
Institute for Astronomy \& Astrophysics of Maragha (RIAAM), Iran.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Founded in 1965, K-Way is just the thing for every unpredictable British season. Perfect for looking good in bad weather, our selection of K-Way packable windbreakers are the best choice for a water resistant, ultra-lightweight and fully packable jacket. Put a spring in your step and enjoy our selection of apparel pac-a-macs this season.


We're also authorized distributors for New Era Caps! So that means you can wear the world's most popular hat on and off the field. We are Instinct Sport Performance, so of course we can custom make your team's hat with a minimum quantity of 18.


We start off in early September with our famous Teal hunts. The action is fast paced and in your face. The funnel for these little Rice Rockets on their migration to Mexico is El Campo, TX and we are right in the middle of it.
You will be driven right up to a comfortable and concealed blind in a Ranger 900 crew. I will set up the Avian X decoys and Mojo's for the morning hunt. Last year on average our hunts lasted 45 minutes to an hour.
Just like early teal season, our hunts are conducted in El Campo, TX. You will be driven up to the blinds and take about 10 steps to your comfortable blind for the day. All decoy spreads will be set up while you and your party get settled in the blind. Your guide will call the shots as most of the ducks and geese will be feet down in the spread. We will not call the hunt until a limit is reached, you've had your fill of fun for the morning, or the birds just quit flying.
We will all arrive at the previously scouted field and begin to set up the decoy spread. Typically we will put out anywhere from 800-1,600 decoys. This is more of a team effort and everyone will be involved in setting out the spread. Some decoys may be set up the night before, but the majority will be set that morning. Our primary targets are Speckle Bellies and Snow Geese.
"One of the hunts I look most forward to every year. Great host, great food, great guides and the best teal hunting in the world." - Mike Morgan, Hall Of Fame outdoorsman and host of Mojo Outdoors.


Video games are a medium that moves forward quickly. While such rapid progress can be a good thing, it also comes with the caveat of many audiences missing out on what came before. Thankfully, video games have gotten to a point where they're taken more seriously and, as a result, the industry is more focused on preserving the classics than it was in the past. Older games are now commonly found as downloadable titles on consoles and PC, while some lucky entries are given the full-on remake treatment, which is a far more appreciated concept in games than in movies, due to the fact that the overall game tends to remain the same, but with a few modernized tweaks.
The video game world sees many such re-releases in this day and age (something that – unlike many people – I don't have a problem with, given the aforementioned reason of preservation). But there can only be one that stands above the others.
I was tempted to give this to the SNES Classic Edition, but decided that option seemed a bit like cheating. So instead, why not crown the best Mario Kart ever made better than ever?
That's exactly what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is. It takes the most polished and refined entry in one of gaming's most beloved multiplayer series, and improves on it by making some small but meaningful tweaks, as well as rectifying the original release's one notable flaw (by means of returning Battle Mode to its roots. If it ain't broke, right?).
Featuring a few additional characters, returning items from old entries, and just a few extra refinements, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a shining example of how to re-release a modern classic (if it just featured more race tracks and removed Pink Gold Peach and Princess Daisy, it would be perfect).
In short, Mario Kart 8 was already the finest entry in one of Nintendo's best series, and its Deluxe version ascends it to being one of the finest games in Nintendo's history.
Wizard Dojo's annual video game awards look to see what the best remake of 2017 was.


text:
Entertainment Hollywood 11 Sep 2020 TIFF Diary: Here at ...
Entertainment, Hollywood
TIFF Diary: Here at last, a film fest you can watch in your pajamas
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | SUPARNA SHARMA
Published Sep 11, 2020, 2:43 pm IST
Updated Sep 11, 2020, 2:46 pm IST
The Toronto International Film Festival gets going with digital screenings and virtual red carpets
A still from Tove, a Swedish-language film about an illustrator's life of tumult in the years after WWII.
The annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which serves as a diving board for big Hollywood and European films eyeing the Oscars, opened Wednesday on thousands of laptops across the world.
This 45th edition is already a first of its kind, a hybrid in the times of corona.
The festival which rolls out the red carpet to about 400 films every September has about 50 this year, split between some physical screenings in cinemas in Toronto, and 'outdoor screenings' at two drive-in venues and an open-air cinema. Film journalists from across the world are attending virtually, with digital screenings, virtual red carpets, press conferences.
"We began planning for the 45th festival much like our previous editions," said TIFF's artistic director Cameron Bailey in a statement posted on the festival website, "but along the way we had to rethink just about everything. This year's lineup reflects that tumult."
The menu this year
The screenings began Thursday with Spike Lee's filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway special American Utopia. And the closing film--or serial if you will--will be a taste of Mira Nair's A Suitable Boy, an adaptation of Vikram Seth's 1993 novel.
TIFF is the most middle brow of the Big 4 international film festivals (in brow order, Cannes, Venice and Berlin), and is also the most inclusive and democratic.
Of all the films to be shown this year, 43 per cent are directed, co-directed or created by women, and 49 per cent by Black, Indigenous, or POCs (people of colour).
There is Regina King's film about a young Muhammad Ali, Halle Berry's directorial debut Bruised, Ricky Staub's Concrete Cowboy starring Idris Elba, and Francis Lee's Ammonite, starring Kate Winslet.
And there's of course a special presentation of the Marathi film The Disciple.
Director Chaitanya Tamhane, whose 2014 Court was India's Oscar entry, has now made a film about lives devoted to the art of Indian classical music which premiered at the Venice film festival and received rave reviews.
Embracing tumult
If there is a god of film festivals, it is serendipity. Because that's what can explain why my very first film at TIFF was the delightful Tove.
A Finnish film written and directed by two women, Eeva Putro and Zaida Bergroth, respectively, Tove tells the story of the Helsinki-based author and illustrator Tove Jansson (played with peppy verve and affecting vulnerability by Alma Poysti).
The Swedish-language film is focused on the years 1944-1956 — a period of devastation, loss and chaos because of World War II, but also of emotional, creative tumult in the young Jansson's life.
The broke "visual artist", who believes that life is a wonderful adventure and "we must experience all its twists and turns", seduces a married, left-wing intellectual and politician Atos (Shanti Roney), only to fall in love with the mayor's daughter. Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen), a Swedish-Finnish theatre director who is credited for popularising avant garde Finnish theatre, is married, but she constantly cheats on Tove with other women. So Tove returns to Atos, only to discover that she can't love a man and returns to what she called "the spook side", a code for homosexuality.
Tove Jansson, who was called "brave" for once drawing a cartoon showing Adolf Hitler as a crying baby in diapers, went on to become the creator of the wildly popular comic strip Moomintroll.
Tumult, perhaps, is what gives birth to something new. Embracing it, then, is the only choice. In films, and in life.
Tags: tiff, toronto international film festival, tove, the disciple
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As a student at Timber Creek High School, I've seen plenty of examples showing religious devotion; students who go out of there way to show their faith, and stand firm in what they believe in. I've witnessed those who meet at the flag pole to worship and pray, and others that pray many times throughout the day. However, there are also examples of students who claim to have a firm faith and yet they choose to remain silent.
As a Christian, I've witnessed this firsthand. In service at church, I hear my pastor preach all the time about the need for us teens, who have the potential to change the world, to go out and tell it about what we believe in; to disregard negative responses, and simply tell all we can about our God. Yet when he says those words, he speaks with the solemn knowledge that many of us will leave the building, and go about our daily lives, with no intention of ever doing so.
So my question is, why? Why are students so compelled to stay silent about what they believe to be true, from Christians, to Buddhists, to Muslims? It is in no form or fashion solely Christians staying silent. With all of the news in the past that has focused solely on Muslim terrorists, some Americans have been lead to believe that because of the actions of certain groups, all people of their faith are terrorists like them; this is not true whatsoever. But because of this, students who share the faith of any extremist group, Christian, Islamic, or otherwise, feel fear because of the backlash that they think they might receive.
However, this is not the only reason students hesitate to share their faith. I speak from experience when I say that we as students are influenced by our peers. We're afraid of losing friends by telling them about what we believe and them not believing the same thing. To say the least, those kinds of people, the ones who judge you because of what you believe in, aren't your friends at all. If they aren't willing to listen to what you have to say, they are not worth your time. Thoughts and opinions are expressed constantly at school through clubs and organizations. Why is religion not one of those things?
Students should know that they have the ability to express their faith in what they believe in (so long as such expression does not cause a disruption). Our beliefs are important and powerful. As a student body, we can all make a difference, religious and non-religious alike.
So stop. Stop staying silent, and not speaking for what you believe. Don't let those around you stop you from speaking. Let go, and show the world who you are. We have a mouth for a reason. Let us use it.


Michael R. Czinkota works in the international marketing field at Birmingham and at Georgetown University. He served in the U.S. government as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and as Head of the U.S. delegation to the OECD industry committee in Paris, and was a partner in a fur trading firm. Aside from more than 100 articles on export management and trade policy, his key books are International Marketing (8th edition) and International Business, (7th edition) and Mastering Global Markets. He is on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science, on the International Board of the American Management Association and on the International Marketing Board of the American Marketing Association. He has been awarded several honorary degrees. Click here to contact Michael Czinkota.