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Politics/Law/Government
Afghanistan: Obama at the crossroads
By Lex on October 27, 2009 • ( 2 Comments )
Election fiascos and strategy deliberations continue, while Pakistan's army is laying waste to South Waziristan. The deliberations are of the utmost importance; more important and more pressing than health care reform. This is Obama's second strategy review in nine months. He cannot, politically or strategically, continue on such a pace. That means that the decisions made can be expected to indicate overall policy for the rest of his term, if not longer in the way that policy develops a momentum of its own.
There's no question that the election was rigged, but the low voter turnout is more dangerous to government legitimacy than the fraud. Just five years ago Afghanistan held an election that defied expectations: women voted in large numbers, old men cried after voting for the first time in their lives, polls had to stay open late so that all who wanted to vote could, and it was peaceful. In effect, we've been moving backwards.
Karzai appears to be the odd man out, or at least a convenient scapegoat. The failure that characterizes the mission to date is less about Karzai's imperfection than about what passed for strategy during the Bush administration. Obama administration spokespeople are promoting the meme that we need a strong central government in Kabul for the mission to be successful. That's true, and i'm glad to see that everyone read COIN for Dummies, but we're leaving out significant issues that need to be considered and addressed. The Pentagon only discovered counter-insurgency a few years ago. It certainly wasn't practiced in the early stages of the Afghan conflict. Our counter-insurgency strategy then went by the name of, publicly i might add, "The Warlord Strategy".
Karzai's government is weak and ineffectual because we spent those heady days leaving him to molder in Kabul while the CIA handed attaché cases full of cash to the warlords whose power we now bemoan. Reconstruction has been woefully underfunded. Plans have been mired in indecision and bureaucracies working at cross-purposes. Much of the money spent found its way back to donor countries through consultancies and contracting. It's a functioning society that gives government legitimacy. Would you give a rip what the President says if you only had electricity every few days?
You can't change history. You also can't pretend that it didn't happen. And you certainly can't make it go away by chanting, "Bush's fault, Bush's fault." We do, however, have to deal with the effects of that sordid history. The Afghan insurgency—religious, nationalist or tribal—is strong and gaining strength; that's what insurgencies do in the vacuum created by weak government. It's victory by default, because while a person may find Taliban justice horrifying, it is at least justice. When a weak government obviously leans on its foreign patron, the insurgency wins again. It is able to portray an already weak government as a puppet of the occupier. The deck is stacked against a foreign power occupying territory with an indigenous insurgency. If the insurgency has outside support or safe haven, then the game is rigged. This insurgency has both, which is why Pakistan is leveling South Waziristan. Whether Pakistan is genuinely attempting to address the insurgency issues on its side of the not-really-an-international-border border or not remains to be seen. It has a long history of playing multiple sides of the game, even when Pakistan is endangered.
The Obama administration made Hamid Karzai lose whatever honor he had left when it forced him to announce the run off. I believe in the sanctity of democracy, and i'm disgusted by the fraud. On the other hand, Afghanistan after more than 30 years of ceaseless conflict is no place to play political-science Pollyanna. Our chances of finding a leader who's untouched by corruption and also powerful enough to demand loyalty in the present circumstances are roughly the same as there being a leprechaun guarding that leader at the end of a rainbow.
That leaves us with a short list of possible resolutions to the election issue. We can assume that turnout will be dismally low, and we can assume that there will be more fraud. In which case we can A. hide it; B. declare the election fraudulent and let Karzai rule without a constitutional mandate through (at least) the winter, which will surely be a boon to the perception of legitimacy; C. depose Karzai and put an unelected leader in his place; or D. scrap the Afghan-written constitution and put together something we think will work better. I don't see a good one in the lot.
Galbraith's noble whistle-blowing put the administration in a difficult position. That it made political hay out of the situation by publicly lecturing on democracy, subtly blaming the mission's failure on Karzai's weak government and not-so-subtly displaying the true power relationship in the Kabul election fraud press conference was its own decision. It didn't have to do any of those things. The left is divided on Afghanistan in the first place, and it isn't even paying attention. Now the administration is in a corner of its own painting in the midst of deciding how to proceed.
This is not the time to give the Pentagon a chance to prove that it really could have won in Vietnam. Doing this by the DoD's book will require hundreds of thousands of troops and uncountable sums of money over a very long time span, and even with all that, failure is a real possibility. McChrystal's 40,000 minimum is unlikely to turn the tide of this conflict, and the idea that the Afghan National Army will make up the bulk of the hundreds of thousands of troops necessary is, at present and in the near-term, laughable. A piece-meal escalation of 15,000 here and 40,000 there might be easier to accomplish from a domestic politics perspective, but it won't help—and may in fact hinder—the mission. Biden's plan for a limited, counter-terrorism presence sounds good politically: protect the national security flank while mostly withdrawing from Afghanistan. But it will amount to the US being just one more militia on the Afghan landscape during a civil war.
Obama is in a difficult position. He's been clear about his intent to stay in Afghanistan, so withdrawal means the dreaded flip-flop, a political opening for the Republican Party and having to stand up to his generals. The last is particularly problematic because he appointed them. Withdrawal has its consequences. The USGS found significant resources in Afghan territory: oil, gas and minerals. The Chinese have already developed a copper mine. These considerations may not make the front page, but rest assured that they're being discussed behind closed doors.
There are no "good" or incredibly feasible solutions here. The US could drop its pretenses and behave like a real empire, but that's unlikely and probably wouldn't be successful anyhow. It can withdraw and leave the area to fester, which will be a massive victory for our supposed enemies and a loss of national honor that few politicians would be willing to risk. Or it can continue muddling through and leave the inevitable for future leaders at the cost of blood, treasure and regional stability.
The best option is, unfortunately, the least realistic. A massive international effort in peacekeeping, disarming Afghanistan and reconstruction combined with grand diplomacy that addresses regional issues is the only realistic possibility for accomplishing our purported goals in the region. There is no template for such an action. There may not be enough international trust to bring it to fruition. And Obama confronting the military to the degree necessary is unlikely, but more likely than him being able to commit the US to such a long-term project.
We can't know if the deliberations are considering the long-term implications of policy direction. Given the nature of the US, there's a good chance that decisions will be based more on institutional and political positioning for the short-term. Those long-term implications, however, are real and very dangerous. Remember that Gorbachev chose to escalate the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan when he became General Secretary; he was forced to withdraw later. His situation is instructive, as there are plenty of parallels between his USSR and the United States today. Wisdom is learning from other people's experience. Should we choose to ignore history and follow Franklin's maxim that experience is a dear school but a fool will learn in no other, we are likely to fulfill the "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires" prophecy. Afghanistan is not the graveyard of empires because of any characteristics inherent in the nation. It just happens to be where falling empires go to die.
Categories: Politics/Law/Government, War/Security, World
Tagged as: Afghan election fraud, Afghan elections, Afghan escalation, Afghanistan, AfPak, AfPak strategy, CIA, Civil War, COIN, counter-insurgency, DoD, empire, foreign policy, Galbraith, Gen McChrystal, Gorbachev, Hamid Karzai, insurgency, Joe Biden, military, military industrial complex, Pakistan, Pentagon, South Waziristan, Taliban, USSR, Vietnam, Warlord Strategy
ArtsWeek: Nevermore
The Glowing Orange Pumpkin of Doom
This got posted at The Agonist today, and it speaks to many of the issues i though about while writing the above post…things that i would have liked to discuss but deleted from an already too-long-for-a-blog article.
http://agonist.org/brian_downing/20091026/elections_and_real_politics_in_afghanistan
It's also worth your time to spend 18 minutes watching this interview with Daniel Ellsburg (The Pentagon Papers):
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealNews#p/u/2/MGVHUMhWdpE
http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2009/10/china-russia-india-send-signal-to-us-on-afghanistan.html#comments
This changes the game significantly….


Our Mush Push: Valentine's Giveaway!
Since it's almost Valentine's Day and I have an extra copy of Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, I thought that would make a perfect giveaway moment.
All you have to do is tell me your favorite love story movie. Which movie just melts your heart? Pretty simple.
And if you mention my giveaway on your blog, you can get an extra entry. Just make sure you come back and make another comment.
This giveaway will be open until Monday (Feb 15) at 9:00am ET.
Winner will be posted this evening. Thanks everyone.
OOOooo, I've always wanted the Pioneer Woman's cookbook!!
Wow, tough choice for favorite love movie, I'm sure I'll think of another later, but because it is close to my husband and my story, I'll go with When Harry Met Sally. Met dated, didn't date, friends, dated, married. We could be a vignette story in that one.
Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for visiting my blog!
And it's on my blog!
I love the Pioneer Woman. I think the Love story that I love is Beauty and the Beast. Sure it is a animated love, but it has lots of heart. He turns away kindness because it wasn't from someone of beauty. He is then curse to be turned into a hideous beast where all others will flee. The spell won't be broken till he can find someone to love him for who he is. Along comes Belle, and despite his unfortunate looks and attitude, Belle starts to see something good deep down inside him. She learns to love him. The spell is broken, they live happily ever after.
I love this story because it teaches us not to judge by looks and that love will come in unexpected places.
I love Kate & Leopold (with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman) because it spans time.
I also love Prctical Magic (Sandra Bullock and Aiden Quinn). The magicl element has captured even my husband with this one. When it on he must sit and watch it even though we know most of the lines.
Well, two of my favorites have been mentioned. I only own 4 movies and those two are in my collection along with The Story of Us which is a complicated love story but for some reason I just love it.
omg. THis is so much pressure b/c there are so many out there! I may disqualify myself by naming more than one. But in the spirit of v-day, I will. Off the top of my head, I will always love Pretty in Pink. True Romance (with Christian Slater) was a really good one. Of course, Romeo and Juliet is always perfect. oh. I got it. If I had to name ONE (at this moment), I would pick Titanic. I cried like a baby during that movie. I would also be in the shower or whatever and think of the movie and just sob. Everytime that Celine Dion song came on (and it did A LOT), I'd tear up. Of course, I was pregnant at the time, but hormones aside, I think it was really moving.
oh, btw, I really enjoyed Julie/Julia! It was really positive, inspiring, and balanced the horrendously depressing (but still amazing) The Wrestler from the night before....but then I did some real life research on Julie Powell. Wow. Then I got depressed again. Have you checked her (the real person) out? I mean I know the movie was just a representation on the person/life, and that no one's life is always rosy and lighthearted and played by a cute little actress, but still. I should have just left the movie at that. Sorry if I've just ruined it for you!
My favorite love story...Has to be my own. The day I met my husband was the day I met my best friend and soul mate. There isn't a time he doesn't walk into a room and my heart doesn't leap. I know this is kind of corny but I truly am in love with the greatest man!
Movie that melts my heart...OMG there are so many, but I have to say my favorite will have to be Cinderella...a rags to riches. I can watch this tale done in any fashion - Disney, modern day style or any other version.
Since it is Valentine's Day, I thought I would go down memory lane and blog about the person who means the most to me in the world. She has stuck by me through thick and thin (figuratively and figure-tively). She is my encourager, my comforter, my confronter, my partner in crime and sometimes my Royal PITA (typed with a tender loving smile)!
Diana and I met while we were in high school in 1970. (ahem! I was 3 years old and she was 2!) We were in a musical production together, singing songs from HAIR and dressed as hippy freaks. Though a friendship started to develop rather quickly, it wasn't love at first sight as I was already dating someone who I thought would be the one for me forever. After rehearsals a group of us would go to a local restaurant for afternoon snacks, and it was during those times that I got to know Diana personally. At some point I knew that my feelings for her were growing but this was more of a conflict for me because I was already going steady. After the production, we rarely saw each other. Though we went to the same High School, I was in a higher grade than she, and had a different circle of friends.
About mid-way into my senior year in '71, I had broken up with the 'one for me forever'…oh well, back then a year WAS forever, wasn't' it? A friend of mine said that she had a friend who wanted to meet me and asked if I would be willing to go on a date with her. What followed was kind of like a scene out of "You've Got Mail". Standing on the other side of a wall, listening in on the conversation with my friend was Diana. As soon as I said 'Sure I will.' Diana walked out from behind the wall. I must have been nervous or something, I don't know… My first words were "Oh! It's YOU from the musical last year!" I could not have been less romantic, huh? Even a simple "Nice to see you again" would have been better!
It is now 2010, 2 kids and 6 grandchildren later, Diana (Dyface) and I will be celebrating 37 years of marriage in May. I would be lying if I said it has all been rosy! And I have to admit, that most of our battles were because of me…please don't tell her I said that! I can be so dang headstrong and stubborn at times, but you wouldn't know that, right???
To say that she has put up with a lot from me would be an understatement. And her willingness to go along with some of my crazy antics should win her some kind of Nobel Prize or something! Like the time I convinced her to accompany me in our pajamas to the local Chinese restaurant. We were the only two on the dance floor that night, and the chicken fingers belonging to some guy at a neighboring table sure tasted good! Then there was the time that we drove backwards through a McDonald's Drive-thru and ordered pizza! Oh, and the year we did the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day…and almost died of pneumonia (we were NOT prepared!). So many stories over so many years!
Our hearts don't always flutter when we see each other anymore; we cherish the times that they do, and accept the times they don't. We don't have to spend every waking moment together either and in fact, sometimes look forward to those times that we can have separate alone time. But she is the love of my life, and I am the love of hers; we are faithful to each other and each day we choose to be each other's partner.
My Valentine's gift from her today is a new frying pan and a can of deodorant. She doesn't know this yet, but I got her an edible bouquet of fruit, and chocolate covered strawberries arranged as a dozen roses. I think I'll fry them up for her in my new pan! I'll be sure that my underarms are 'safe'. We are going all out this year!
Just thought I would share this….Happy Valentine's Day, you guys!!!
Philadelphia Story -one of the best love stories ever. Kathrine Hepburn and Cary Grant. What more do you need. Bringing Up Baby is a close 2nd. So Suave so sophisticated, just love them.
Linda - Anonymous is a fellow Weight Watcher's friend of mine LOL..hard to be apart of a drawing if you don't leave your name!
I'm late to the game, but the love story movie that comes to mind is Bridges of Madison County and I dearly luved the soundtrack for that movie. Luved it. Luved it.


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Month: February, 2016
TWO RINGS
Last Wednesday, 17 February 2016, I married Elaine Knight. We've known each other for something like 25 years. We've been partners for nearly 11 years, living together for over 7 of them. Elaine is still Elaine Knight – she's not changing her name. We will continue to have large spheres of autonomy as well as togetherness. Yet we agree that our simple ceremony and the exchange of rings has made a significant difference. Just looking at mine, or touching it, inspires feelings of peace, joy, love and gratitude – towards Elaine, and in the wider what-is.
There's a possibly related process running in my formal spirituality, which for around a decade has been predominantly though not exclusively under the aegis of OBOD Druidry. In recent months I've sensed a reduction in intensity. The flavour now seems to be one of consolidating and easing into a new normal, a spirituality, alive as an ever-present background influence and less compelling as a foreground pre-occupation. I intend to continue my service roles – OBOD mentoring, and the offer of contemplative spaces with Elaine and other companions – whilst finding that I feel more relaxed about them. That's probably good for my performance of the roles.
In the meantime Elaine and I will be spending time together and with close relatives in York and Edinburgh over the next 10 days and I won't be writing another blog post until my return.
POEM: VISITING A HERMIT AND NOT FINDING HIM
Where the dogs bark
By roaring waters,
Whose spray darkens
The petals' colours,
Deer at times are seen;
The valley noon:
One can hear no bell.
But wild bamboos
Cut across bright clouds,
Flying cascades
Hang from jasper peaks;
No one here knows
Which way you have gone:
Two, now three pines
I have lent against.
Li Po (701-62)
'Visiting a Hermit and Not Finding Him' is a common theme in Chinese poetry. The full title for the particular poem above is: 'On Visiting a Taoist Master in the Tai T'ien Mountains and Not Finding Him'. Li Po is regarded as one of China's greatest poets and wrote it between the ages of 17 and 19.
According to translator Arthur Cooper, such a poem is more than a 'nature poem' but "relates in its thought to the 'spirit journeys' of which Li Po himself was particularly fond and which are to be found in early Chinese poetry". In such poems the wise hermit 'teaches without telling', by letting the poet wait and not even meet him. Awakening to the landscape (external or internal) carries more spiritual meaning than speculation about the whereabouts of the hermit.
Another approach to the same theme is offered in a famous poem by Chia Tao (777-841):
Under a pine,
I asked his pupil
Who said, "Master's
Gone gathering balm
Only somewhere
About the mountain:
The cloud's so thick
That I don't know where.
Li Po and Tu Fu Poems Selected and translated with an introduction and notes by Arthur Cooper. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973
AWE, HEALTH & MINDFULNESS
Good news for Druids, I think, and for all followers of life-affirming paths. A study from the University of California, Berkeley, published in the journal Emotion (1) suggests that "the feeling of awe we may experience during encounters with art, nature and spirituality has an anti-inflammatory effect, protecting the body from chronic disease". The researchers found a correlation between feelings of awe and lower levels of cytokines, markers that put the immune system on high alert by triggering a defensive reaction known as inflammation. While inflammation is essential to fighting infection and disease when the body is presented with a specific threat, chronically high levels of cytokines have been linked to a number of health problems, including heart disease, Alzheimer's, depression and autoimmune conditions.
Dacher Keltner, a member of the research team, defines 'awe as' being "in the upper reaches of pleasure, on the border of fear". She says the finding that "awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions -– a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art – have a direct influence upon health and life expectancy" (2).
Meanwhile other studies have shed light on the relationship between awe and mindfulness, seen as two of the core elements of many spiritual traditions. Here, awe is defined as a "feeling of fascination and amazement invoked by an encounter with something larger than ourselves that is beyond our ordinary frameworks of understanding". In one experiment the researchers recruited 64 undergraduate participants to view and respond to a number of images. All of participants were shown two sets of images: one set of images was used to inspire awe (the Grand Canyon, majestic mountains, a view of the Earth from space) while the others were meant to inspire feelings of positivity (kittens, flowers, baby chicks), and asked to rate their awe and positivity responses on a scale of 1 to 7. Prior to viewing the images, half of the participants listened to a 10-minute mindfulness audio tape, while the other half listened to non-mindfulness control audio. The participants who took part in the brief mindfulness exercise experienced a greater awe reaction than the control group in response to the awe-provoking images.
University of Groningen psychologist Dr. Brian Ostafin , quoted in Huffpost Science (3), theorises quite generously from this limited data that "you can't digest [the object of awe] with your cognitive structures — it's too big for you. So there's a need for accommodation, to change your mental structures to understand what that is. This is the key element of the spiritual experience in a number of different religions. … And mindfulness is a little bit about that too, because you're paying attention and exercising non-conceptual awareness, so you should be more open to the immensity that's there. You step out of the small frame that you have and this small idea of what the world is… You're not stuck in your own story … When we practice mindfulness (the cultivation of a focused, non-judgmental awareness on the present moment), we're more able to open our mind to make sense of new experiences".
This research is indicative rather than conclusive, especially it seems to me in the case of the Groningen study. The research design there seems to me to be based on the offer of rather modest doses of mindfulness and somewhat modest opportunities for awe. Yet there was a real difference in the reported experiences of the mindfulness participants and the control group – so something at least is being suggested about states of attention and experienced quality of response. I find it heartening that this kind of research is going on and intend to keep an eye on it as part of my inquiry.
(1) Stellar, Jennifer E. (et al) Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discreet positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines Emotion Vol 15 (2), April 2015, 129-133
(2) Caroline Gregoire Experiences of Art, Nature, and Spirituality May Help Prevent Disease, Study Finds Huffpost Science, 5 Feb 2015, updated 2 April.
(3) Caroline Gregoire How Meditation Primes the Mind for Spiritual Experiences Huffpost Science 3 January 2015, updated 1 March 2015
CONFERENCE: THE HEART OF SILENCE
OBOD member Siobhan McGee has just alerted me to The Heart of Silence conference on 16-19 April 2016 at Regent's University London – see www.theheartofsilence.co.uk
The full title is Exploring the Place of Silence in Psychotherapy, Society and our World and the conference is dedicated to the proposition that:
Through Silence we are able to deeply listen to ourselves, one another and our Planet, and from this place we can act.
The organizers are the Association of Core Process Psychotherapists, and the event is open to anyone wanting to explore and experience the value of silence. The organizers say:
In Silence we can connect with the heart and during this Conference there will be the opportunity to experience and embody Silence together.
The speakers and plenaries will focus attention on two central questions:
What is the nature and role of Silence in relationship?
How can Silence unify us, in the midst of life today?
The keynote speaker is Brian Keenan, who, more than most, has had to confront the reality of enforced silence during his four and a half year incarceration as a hostage in Beirut.
The other speakers are:
Maura Sills, Founder of the Karuna Institute and one of the original mindfulness based psychotherapies, has been teaching mindfulness and silence practices to psychotherapists for more than 30 years.
Rebecca Crane is Director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University.
Matthew Adams and David Harley are researchers of silence at the University of Brighton.
Catherine McGee is an International Meditation teacher who brings an interest in the silent heart.
Mac Macartney, an author and founder of Embercombe, asks if, through silence, we can remember our humanity.
The workshop leaders are Amaranatho, an ex-Buddhist Monk and Alastair McNeilage, a Core Process Psychotherapist and writer.
The two day conference is fully catered.
POEM: A WITHERED TREE
Not a twig or leaf on the old tree,
Wind and frost harm it no more.
A man could pas through a hole in its belly,
Ants crawl searching under its peeling bark.
Its only lodger, the toadstool which dies in a morning,
The birds no longer visit in the twilight.
But its wood can still spark tinder.
It does not care yet to be only the void at its heart.
By Han Yü (768-824)
From: Poems of the Late T'ang translated from the Chinese with an introduction by A.C. Graham Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965
Han Yü was primarily an essayist and polemicist, and initiated an ultimately successful Confucian revival at a time of Buddhist cultural dominance. When writing verse, he adopted devices traditionally confined to prose and to fu (prose poems) and sought to attend to the social and human content of poetry.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Siberian Cat: Where Did This Popular Breed Come From
What is a Siberian Cat
There are two different breeds of cats, domesticated and wild. A domesticated cat is usually smaller than the wild cat and it has been bred over several centuries to mimic the traits of a house cat. The Siberian or Russian blue is one such breed Siberian – (noun) A "wild" breed of domestic cat that has been bred to resemble its wild ancestor, the European blue-eyed white-haired "wildcat."
The Siberian originated from a cross between wild cats brought from Russia by 19th century settlers and domestic cats brought from Europe by 19th century settlers. In Russia, these feral cats were thought of as wild animals and were hunted for their fur. In America, Siberians were imported as pets in 1908 by Anna Sew Siberian Cat is a breed of cat that hails from Russia. The breed has been around for hundreds of years and was originally used as a hunting feline. Siberian Cats have now become household pets all over the world.
Where Did Siberian Cat Originate from?
It is estimated that Siberian cat originated from Russia and China.
Russia:
The history of the Russian cats seems to date back to the era of Peter the Great who had a cat called "Masha" which was brought from Turkey. The house's most valuable possession was always his black cat, Sinegor which he loved more than any human. And eventually, she gave birth to a single blue and white kitten in 1734 and this kitten would become the first Siberian cat.
Some scientists believe that it may have originated from China as domestic cats were brought by Chinese soldiers during their invasion of Russia back in 1639. It is also believed that some domesticated cats may have been taken as souvenirs by Russian fur traders who were trading with China before they return home
How The History of Siberian Cat
The Siberian cat came from Siberia, which is a geographical region in Russia. They are found throughout the world. These cats are also called Russian Blue cats, because their coats are blue-gray with white markings. Some have blue eyes, while others have green or yellow eyes. The Siberian cat originated about 100 years ago when European settlers living in Siberia bred them to take on the traits of wild animals that lived there before the settlers arrived. The breed was originally used for hunting and protecting flocks of sheep from predators like wolves and foxes. While this breed has long been popular as a pet, it's now gaining more attention as an alternative to purebreds because it doesn't carry genetic defects like many other breeds do.
What Are The Facts About Siberian Cats?
Siberian cats are medium-sized cats that have a soft, silky fur. They are also known for their beautiful blue eyes. The Siberian cat is the second largest breed of domestic cat. They are one of the oldest breeds in existence. The domestication of this breed can be traced to Siberia, which is now part of Russia. Siberian cats are very flexible and adapt well to different environments.
The Siberian cats have a long history dating back to about 4000 BC when they were discovered by humans in Siberia, which is now part of Russia. These cats were then domesticated by humans and later spread to Europe during the 1700s. Today, they can be found all over the world with their fur color varying from snowy white to brownish black or grayish black hair with blue eyes.
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Jim Kelly, the martial artist who was a last minute addition to one of the greatest martial arts films ever, Enter the Dragon, has died. He was 67 years old.
Born in Paris Kentucky, he was a natural athlete who starred in multiple sports in high school. He entered the University of Kentucky but withdrew during his first year to study karate. After winning a major international tournament in Long Beach, he opened his own dojo.
Production was about to start in Hong Kong on Enter the Dragon when one of the main cast members backed out. Producer Fred Weintraub was aware of Kelly's karate school in L.A.'s Crenshaw area and went to see him. He liked what he saw and Kelly was cast in the film. The movie's original script called for Kelly's character to be the one to survive their trip to Han's Island, while the "Roper" character portrayed by John Saxon was to be the one to die. Saxon's agent objected to this and managed to have the script changed so his client's character survived and Kelly's character would die.
Enter the Dragon made Kelly a minor star. He went on to do "Blaxploitation" films with a martial-arts theme like Black Belt Jones and Three the Hard Way. After One Down, Two to Go in 1982 he stopped pursuing acting roles and would appear in only a few more movies until his death. If you look in the deleted scenes on the DVD of Undercover Brother you can find him in a cameo shot with the film's star Eddie Griffin. His last film was the direct-to-video Afro Ninja in 2009.
He moved back into the sports world after leaving movies behind, becoming a tennis instructor and player on the senior tennis circuit. He did shoot a commercial for Nike where he and LeBron James did a spoof of Bruce Lee's final film, Game of Death.
Jim Kelly was married briefly in the late 1960s. Cause of his death is not yet known, but there are rumors floating around that he was suffering from cancer.


With applications in for round two of the Race to the Top competition, states must now turn their attention to the challenging future they face, whether or not they win federal dollars for the reform plans they've outlined. Unless states choose to overhaul the antiquated cost structures and operating models that undergird most schools systems, any new investment they make will fall short of hoped-for transformation.
Few states have embraced an approach that creates sustainable systems for the information age. This focus on creating school systems, instead of collections of individually good schools, is critical if we care about educating all students and continuing to improve outcomes.
If states want to promote school systems that succeed at scale, they must get in the game of restructuring the use of existing resources for systemwide transformation—not simply adding resources on top. Even the innovative compensation structures that most states propose add performance-based incentive pay on top of the industrial-age and bank-breaking district compensation systems that prevail nationwide.
Overly prescriptive graduation requirements lock high schools into old ways of organizing time, instructional routines that don't necessarily lead to students' mastery of knowledge and skills.
Based on our partnership with district leaders and an analysis of district budgets across the country and over time, our nonprofit organization, Education Resource Strategies, has developed the following checklist of actions states should consider.
• Revise funding systems to promote equity and flexibility. Funding systems vary across states, but most of them do not ensure that students with the same need receive the same level of resources, no matter which district or type of school (charter or traditional) they attend. Before adding temporary dollars on top to help low-performing schools, states need to ensure that schools with needier students get the same additional resources to work with on an ongoing basis. In addition, some states have so many fragmented sources of funding that districts and schools waste dollars on loosely connected, subscale programs, and on complying with accounting rules. If states gave districts the flexibility to pool and integrate funding streams, they might find that they got immediate bang for the buck, without increasing spending at all.
• Revamp teacher compensation, including benefits and pensions, to increase rewards for teachers who have the best results and contribute the most to improving student performance. The prevailing structure of teacher-salary schedules awards the vast amount of career increase to teachers based on the number of years they have taught and the number of course credits they have earned. The public does not realize that in most districts, teacher salaries rise by 1 percent to 3 percent before cost-of-living adjustments. Benefits in some districts now total nearly 30 percent of the compensation package, far exceeding private-sector averages.
The ever-increasing growth in benefits-and-compensation spending virtually ensures that districts will have to make annual staff cuts just to pay teachers for staying on one more year. Unlike in private-sector jobs, teachers who earn more dollars are not expected to take on more responsibility or leverage their knowledge and experience in any way. Now that states are investing in ways to accurately evaluate teaching performance, they will need to free up significant dollars from these old structures, so that they can reward and retain the best and highest-contributing teachers.
• Revamp regulations that strictly define specific staff positions and the use of school time. Helping all students reach higher standards will require varying amounts of time and individual attention to respond to student needs, as well as changing the mix of time to devote more of it to certain subjects. Time-use and staffing requirements can create unintended consequences when they are played out on a school level. For example, we frequently find high schools spending as much per pupil to provide physical education courses as they do for English and math, even when these same students may participate in athletics for hours a day after school.
• Redesign graduation requirements linked to taking specific courses to put greater emphasis on demonstrating skills and knowledge. Overly prescriptive graduation requirements lock high schools into old ways of organizing time, instructional routines that don't necessarily lead to students' mastery of knowledge and skills. Graduation based on course credits, without options for acceleration or demonstration of mastery, means that students and teachers are guaranteed to be spending time on material and subjects they have already learned, and that the system will be incapable of improving productivity.
• Create new models of accountability and support for special education students and English-language learners that redirect resources to more-integrated early-intervention efforts. While tough times have placed huge pressure on general education programs, a host of regulations and court rulings have made spending on special education, and sometimes English-language programs, immune to cost-containment and the pressure of accountability. Often, districts must staff at required levels for these students, but not for regular education students, and they are forbidden to reduce spending from one year to the next, even if they have found a more cost-effective way to serve these students. Worse, since in most states districts and schools get more money if they classify students as requiring special education, the number of students labeled as "special education" has and likely will continue to increase. This diverts resources from the teaching of content in differentiated ways in general education settings, a practice that may serve all students more effectively.
• Design turnaround strategies that restructure existing resources and attend to the challenge of displaced teachers. Turnaround strategies that add dollars on top of existing resources guarantee failure and continued inequity. We often find that schools with similar populations of students receive dramatically different dollar and teaching resources. We also find that many lower-performing schools have not organized talent, time, and technology to match student priorities. Turnaround strategies that transfer ineffective teachers from one school to the next, without evaluation and support, simply push the problem to other schools that may be the lowest-performing in their districts.
• Invest to build and support strong school leaders, including providing more and better information tools. Despite the increased attention being given to teaching effectiveness, most educators know that strong leadership creates the conditions for that effectiveness. Most school districts don't have the scale or the expertise to invest the significant resources required to develop leadership over a career. Most invest many times more per teacher in new teacher-induction and professional development than they do for those in leadership positions.
• Remove barriers to the creative provision of education and support services through untraditional providers. In many districts, state law and union contracts prohibit schools from contracting out services or instruction, even when the district can demonstrate lower cost and higher quality. This goes for noninstructional areas such as food services, as well as instructional areas in which districts must use certified teachers paid on the same salary schedule as regular staff members to teach subjects including physical education, art, music, and others.
• Promote the use of technology as a productivity-improvement tool in education and school-support services. Many districts and states have used federal stimulus funding to invest in much-needed technology. But unlike in most industries, such technology has not led to more-efficient deployment of human resources. In many central offices, the number of clerical and nonprofessional positions remains static or is increasing. On the instructional side, we are only beginning to see school districts use technology to leverage teaching time or staff duties by raising pupil-teacher ratios or changing the amount of time students spend directly supervised by a teacher.
• Report useful comparative data on school and district resource use that includes information on spending by student, as well as on the use and organization of resources. As states invest to improve their data on student outcomes, they must also invest to understand how schools and districts are organizing time and people to achieve these outcomes.
Only with the information that connects resource use to outcome can we truly begin to understand what levels and types of investment it will take to reach the ambitious goals of helping all students reach new and higher goals for learning.
Karen Hawley Miles is the president and executive director of the nonprofit organization Education Resource Strategies, based in Watertown, Mass. Karen Baroody is ERS' managing director.
"Commentary: Using Stimulus Funds to Build a Bridge to Better Practice," February 23, 2009.
"Commentary: Learning From the Mavericks: Lessons for Districts From Small Urban High Schools," August 4, 2008.


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Prince Exhibit Coming to Seattle's MoPOP Museum
A new exhibit dedicated to Prince is opening at Seattle's MoPOP museum on April 6, the museum announced Friday (Feb. 15).
Prince speaks onstage at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on March 4, 2011 in Los Angeles. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards
A new exhibit dedicated to Prince is opening at Seattle's MoPOP museum on April 6, the museum announced Friday (Feb. 15).
Prince Estate Releasing Rare Videos From 1995-2010 Era
Prince from Minneapolis will be part of the museum's general admission and will feature work from four photographers —Allen Beaulieu, Nancy Bundt, Terry Gydesen and Robert Whitman, all of whom shot the late icon in his early career. The exhibit will display almost 50 artifacts, including photos, artwork, a Prince guitar and outfits from the Purple Rain Tour and film.
Back in November, the Prince Estate and Sony Music Entertainment began releasing of a series of rare music videos from the archive, including clips from 1995's The Gold Experience and 1996's Chaos and Disorder.


text:
#TGW: Smart Snacking
By Matt Winkeljohn
D.J. White and Adam Gotsis have had a little more time this week to grab a bite, but there are plenty of times when Georgia Tech's football players and all student-athletes find it difficult to squeeze in time for nutrition. It's easier now.
Until recently, NCAA guidelines on when athletic programs could feed student-athletes and even what they could feed them, made meals a hit-or-miss deal: Student-athletes made it to dining hall(s) on time, or went without – unless they paid to feed themselves.
The concept of snacking between meals – which is important for young people burning more calories than the average Jack or Jill – was problematic.
Any food that might fall outside the meal plans of student-athletes was, generally, off limits – unless the student-athlete provided it for himself/herself.
A new "snack bar," or nutrition station, on the ground floor of the Edge Building offers more opportunities, and relaxed NCAA guidelines opened the door. Until changes this summer, it was make-it-to-mealtime or bust for many student-athletes.
"Most of the time, I'm able to eat lunch between 11-12, but sometimes you have a group project or something and other times, you're just hungry," said White, a junior cornerback for the Yellow Jackets. "I often go before practice."
Gotsis, a junior defensive tackle, agrees.
"That thing's awesome, especially when you get done with class at 1:30 or 1:45 and meetings start at 2:15," he said. "By the time you get dressed, you can quickly run down there and grab a bar or a protein bar or something, a milk or a yogurt, and just come up to the meeting room and eat real quick."
NCAA officials agreed in April to relax nutrition guidelines for student-athletes, roughly one week after UConn guard Shabazz Napier garnered attention after guiding the Huskies to a national title when he spoke of "hungry nights."
Asked about the evergreen topic of compensation for student-athletes, his answer stood out.
"We're definitely blessed to get scholarships to our universities, but at the end of the day that doesn't cover everything," he said. "I don't think student-athletes should get hundreds of thousands of dollars, but . . . there are hungry nights that I go to bed starving."
Soon thereafter, NCAA officials relaxed nutrition guidelines. Phase-in began late in the summer.
Tech, like many schools, is making changes and studying what's happening even while rolling out adaptations.
There were and remain "refueling stations" in Tech's primary weight room and at the Zelnak Basketball practice facility, where athletes from several sports in addition to basketball work out.
Recovery foods and drinks were the norm there, and remain so although some snack options also now exist at those "satellite" stations.
Leah Thomas, Tech's Director of Nutrition and Director of Total Person Support Services in the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, is overseeing this growth in eating options. While there is work to be done, she's pleased by progress.
"Up until August of this year, we could not provide student-athletes a meal outside of their scholarship meal plans except occasionally, and those would have to be approved by compliance," she said. "We have had the resources to provide recovery products, weight-gain products out of our weight rooms historically.
"It could never be food; it had to be classified as a supplement, like vitamins or minerals, energy bars, recovery shakes. Even within those rules, no one product could have more than 30 percent of its calories come from proteins . . . I couldn't give them a peanut butter sandwich, but I could give them a Power Bar."
Now, in a generous space outside the main training room in The Edge, it is common at almost any hour of day to see student-athletes in the new snack bar.
"I think the [NCAA's] intent was, 'incidental to participation,' for when they would miss meals because of practice or class," Thomas explained. "We're allowed to provide food and snacks. I've been here 12 years, and never seen that room utilized. It's perfect. We invaded it, and built some stuff to incorporate new NCAA legislation.
"We have flavored milk, bagels and peanut butter, yogurt, home-made trail mix, walnuts, almonds. We have a new blender and a Smoothie machine coming. We have student-athletes in and out all day. There is a TV, [phone] charging station, couches. We have waves starting first thing in the morning, after weight-lifting."
Thomas is not at the snack bar all day as she has plenty of other responsibilities in the GTAA. Some student-athletes volunteer to help staff it, however, and in the event none are there, members of the training staff have access to the room.
The snack bar and additions to the nutrition areas in the weight room and at Zelnak are not finished products. Tech officials are studying the patterns of student-athletes, and budget amendments are likely as the concept has quickly become popular and oft-utilized.
Enhancements are practically certain to come, and will likely be piggy-backed with pending improvements to the student-athletes' academic counseling area on the third floor, and the training room.
No study is required to be certain that the new snack bar is a hit.
It is common for student-athletes to swing by after receiving treatment or tape in the training room.
"It's a great thing," White said. "Sometimes you're on the go, and you don't have a lot of time to eat. It's great to get something nutritious before practice."
January 9, 2021 VIDEO: Chaunté Lowe Joins All-ACC
Georgia Tech alumnae, four-time Olympian and 2021 NCAA Inspiration Award honoree joins All-ACC
VIDEO: Chaunté Lowe Joins All-ACC
January 6, 2021 Chaunté Lowe Named 2021 NCAA Inspiration Award Recipient
Georgia Tech alumnae and four-time Olympian honored with prestigious award
Chaunté Lowe Named 2021 NCAA Inspiration Award Recipient


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Marcos Emilio Perez
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington and Lee University
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Washington and Lee University. Previously I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Colby College. I received my PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, where I was a Graduate Fellow in the Urban Ethnography Lab. My main areas of interest are political sociology, social movements, urban sociology, social inequality, and qualitative methods. I have done research on the experiences of grassroots organizers in both the United States and Latin America.
My first book, Proletarian Lives. Routines, Identity and Culture in Contentious Politics, explores the ways in which people become activists. Based on life history interviews with current and former participants in the Unemployed Workers' Movement in Argentina, as well as participant observation of the daily routines in their organizations, I seek to understand why some people sustain their involvement, while others in a similar situation leave. My findings suggest the need for a more nuanced and complex theory of political participation, one that focuses not only on the worldviews of activists but also on their practices, paying attention to their experiences inside and outside the movement, and incorporating insights from other areas of sociology.
Findings from my research in Argentina have been published in articles at the Latin American Research Review, Mobilization, Qualitative Sociology, Sociedad, Conflicto Social, Argumentos, Bulletin of Latin American Research, Latin American Perspectives, and Entramados y Perspectivas.
I have also conducted research on the lives and struggles of undocumented students in the United States. Insights from that work have been published in the book Invisible in Austin (University of Texas Press), coauthored with other members of the Urban Ethnography Lab at UT.
My research has been supported by various scholarships and awards from the University of Texas, as well as a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation. I have also received awards from different sections of the American Sociological Association and the Latin American Studies Association.


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KinUnch 08-06-82
What a new generation really thinks about Christianity…and why it matters
David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
Baker Books, 2008, 255 pp., ISBN 978-0-8010-1300-3
David Kinnaman is president of The Barna Research Group and Gabe Lyons is founder of the Fermi Project, a network of social entrepreneurs working to make positive contributions to culture. In addition to the results of extensive research on the perspectives of 'outsiders' born between 1984 and 2002 (the youngest Busters and the oldest Mosaics), the book includes the reactions from more than two dozen Christian leaders. It explores six broad themes of objections raised by 'outsiders.' Reflection on this information can help us see ourselves and our faith more clearly.
1. The Backstory - Seeing Christianity from the outside
"Christianity has an image problem." (11) "What people think becomes their reality…." (13) "Yes, the issues are complex. No, it is not always 'our' fault. However, if we do not deal with our part of the problem, we will fail to connect with anew generation." "Often Christianity's negative image reflects real problems, issues that Christians need to own and be accountable to change." (14)
UnChristian "reflects outsiders' most common reaction to the faith: they think Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind, that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be." (15)
Christianity has enormous influence in America and that is partly why people agitate against it. (19)
2. Discovering Unchristian Faith
Young people are different from previous generations. They are skeptical and challenge the rules, irreverent and blunt. For them there is a "growing tide of hostility and resentment toward Christianity." (24)
Most outsiders are familiar with Christianity, have been in church, have heard the message of Christ, and are familiar with the story. (26)
"We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for." (26) "We are known for having an us-versus-them mentality. Outsiders believe Christians do not like them…." "The three most common perceptions of present-day Christianity are antihomosexual (91%), judgmental (87%), and hypocritical (85%). (27)
The six common negative perceptions are hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. (29-30)
Perceptions have been formed by a huge amount of firsthand experience with Christians and the church, by a wide range of inputs from various sources, by the secular media (but less than you would think), and by painful encounters and hurtful experiences with Christianity. (31-2)
They see an undercurrent of arrogance, Christians more concerned about proving themselves right than listening. (33) Even many young churchgoers express similar frustrations. (34-35)
Should we care? Well, what if they are right about us? "If we have been unChristian, then we bear responsibility for the problem--and the solution." (37)
3. Hypocritical
"Perception: Christians say one thing but live something entirely different." (41)
Although those studied see Christians as hypocritical, it doesn't bother them a lot. They don't care. They expect to be disappointed. (43) They are hyper-individualistic and are adept at shaping their own version of reality. (43) Their top priorities are wealth and fame and hypocrisy is just a simple reality of life. (44)
Remember, it was the most religious people that Jesus labeled hypocrites! (45) Like them, our lives don't match our beliefs. "In many ways our lifestyles and perspectives are no different from those of anyone around us." (46) They measure us by our own standards. To them the primary way of being Christian is "being good." (49)
"Outsiders think of our moralizing, our condemnations, and our attempts to draw boundaries around everything. Even if these standards are accurate and biblical, they seem to be all we have to offer. And our lives are a poor advertisement for these standards." (52)
"In our studies we discovered young Christians currently embrace the acceptability of many behaviors older believers staunchly reject. For example, a majority of born-again adults in their twenties and thirties currently believe that gambling, cohabitation, and sexual fantasies are morally acceptable. There are also huge gaps between young believers and older Christians when it comes to the acceptability of sex outside of marriage, profanity, drunkenness, pornography, homosexual sex, and illegal drug use." (53) "Young people--even in churches--are reshaping moral and sexual rules." (54)
4. Get Saved!
"Perception: Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others." (67)
Young Christians are reluctant to be pushy or share their faith.
"Only one-third of young outsiders believe that Christians genuinely care about them." "Showing genuine interest in someone is hard to fake." (69) More than 80% think Christianity teaches pretty much the same ideas as other religions. (69) "We heard no favorable comments about so-called street witnessing…" (69)
"The most effective efforts to share faith are interpersonal and relationship based." (70) Most people are not logical thinkers and do not become Christians based on logical evidence. The most important factor is whether it "feels right" to them. (72)
"The opportunities that outsiders have to hear about Christ and know Christians are nothing short of astounding." "The vast majority of teenagers nationwide will spend a significant amount of their teen years participating in a Christian congregation." "The vast majority of outsiders in this country, particularly among young generations, are actually de-churched individuals." Two-thirds say they made a commitment to Jesus Christ at some point in their life. (74)
"Out of ninety-five million Americans who are ages eighteen to forty-one, about sixty million say they have already made a commitment to Jesus that is still important; however, only about three million of them have a biblical worldview." (75)
Even among those who have never made a commitment to Christ, nearly half (45 percent) said they have considered becoming a Christian before…" (77)
"Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ." (82)
5. Antihomosexual
"Perception: Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians." (91)
"…the perception that Christians are 'against' gays and lesbians--not only objecting to their lifestyles but also harboring irrational fear and unmerited scorn toward them--has reached critical mass. The gay issue has become the 'big one'…." (92)
"When you introduce yourself as a Christian to a friend, neighbor, or business associate who is an outsider, you might as well have it tattooed on your arm: antihomosexual, gay-hater, homophobic. …that's what outsiders think of you." (93) "When most of us engage homosexuals, we come across as arrogant, self-righteous, and uncaring--the opposite of how Jesus engaged outsiders." (93)
"It's true that sexual sins are particularly destructive in people's lives, but this is true of all sexual sin. And frankly, when we recognize the complexity and significance of sin and sexual sin, it should engage our concern and compassion on the issue of homosexuality even more." But it is unChristian "to let your disagreement with their behavior spill out in your feelings and words toward them as people." (96)
"A new generation of adults has significantly shifted its view and now accepts homosexuality as a legitimate way of life." (99) "Now most young adults endorse the idea of same-sex marriage, and a majority favor the legal rights of gays and lesbians to adopt children. Also they generally believe that laws should be changed to provide more rights and protections to homosexuals. Most older adults soundly reject these alternatives." (100)
"Mosaics and Busters are intensely loyal to their 'tribe,' which is their network of relationships. …their peers become a filter for decision making. … To their way of thinking, illegally downloading music is just peer-to-peer 'sharing.' Giving away products or services to friends, even if that would technically be stealing from their place of employment, is simply labeled 'hooking up' their pals with free stuff. Being more accepting of gays and lesbians is the same thing as being loyal to the people they know best." (103)
"Mosaics and Busters really work at putting acceptance of people and lifestyles into practice. And they are very attuned to people's hearts and motivations." (103)
"If we don't work at developing meaningful relationships with our co-workers, whether gay or straight, how can we expect them to respect us and our beliefs?" (105)
"Nothing that we despise in the other man is entirely absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don't do, and more in light of what they suffer." (107, quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
6. Sheltered
"Perception: Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality." (121)
Christianity is perceived as separated from real spiritual vitality and mystery. It seems like rules and standards disconnected from the supernatural world, a social club. (123) Christians are not thinkers. They live in their own world, not speaking the same language as everyone else. (123)
Young adults thrive on diversity, friendships, passions, media, and the internet. They have been extremely protected and now they are experimenting with everything. They live in a relativistic world and are therefore comfortable with ambiguity, less rigid about perspectives, and resistant to simple answers. (125)
"Their world is coming unglued and Christianity does not seem up to the challenge." (126) One third were born to unmarried mothers. Forty percent admit to viewing pornography in a typical month. Substance abuse is more frequent. (127) "Their interpersonal skills are also unusually prickly." "Young adults have significant needs, and they push the boundaries of conventional lifestyles." (128)
"Busters and Mosaics need help." (129) "…our choices to live a sheltered life often leave us unable or unwilling to help people who need Jesus." (130) "Christ calls his followers to be active missionaries to the culture. This culture is offensive, but we cannot take offense." (132)
"Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don't hold up both truths in tension, you invariably become useless and separated from the world God loves. For example, if you only practice purity apart from proximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatist, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from fallen culture and useless in God's kingdom." (133, quoting Mike Metzger)
7. Too Political
"Perception: Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics." (153)
"Christians have made a concerted and coordinated effort to engage the political process in recent decades, their activity in the political realm can be hard to miss."
"We must realize that our political activism, if expressed in an unchristian manner, prevents a new generation from seeing Christ." This reputation "affects their ability to connect with new generations who are innately skeptical of people who appear to use political power to protect their interests and viewpoints." (156-57)
Being politically engaged is more important than ever. We should be "known as engaged, informed, and on the leading edge, offering a sophisticated response to issues." (157) "Political involvement…is an important avenue of influence within our community, nation, and world." (158)
Explanation of how evangelicals are classified by Barna Association, p. 159
Among the evangelical segment only a slight majority (59%) are registered as Republicans. (160)
When we talk about "warfare" we are usually thinking of a cosmic struggle, as in Ephesians 6, but outsiders may hear alarming militaristic talk. (161) The things we say end up in the internet world of blogging. We must be careful how we talk and engage in self examination, humility, and appropriate engagement. (162)
8 Judgmental
"Perception: Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others." (181)
"To be judgmental is to point out something that is wrong in someone else's life, making the person feel put down, excluded, and marginalized." "Being judgmental is fueled by self-righteousness…." 90% of outsiders say Christians are judgmental. (182)
"Judgmental attitudes come across as overly simplified, old-fashioned, and out of step with their diverse world." (183)
"Are we more concerned with the unrighteousness of others than our own self-righteousness?" (184)
"A critical distinction for Christians is the difference between condemning people (i.e., being judgmental) and helping them become soft-hearted--aware of, and sensitized to God's standards." (184)
Four forms of judgmentalism surfaced: wrong verdict, wrong timing, wrong motivation, and playing favorites. (187)
"Pride fuels judgmental attitudes. Arrogance is perhaps the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today." (191)
"Human beings are attracted to acceptance and genuine respect; they are repelled by rejection and an air of superiority." (194)
Guidelines suggested by outsiders:
· Listen to me.
· Don't label me.
· Don't be so smart and pretend to have all the answers.
· Put yourself in my place.
· Be genuine.
· Be my friend with no other motives. (194-95)
9 From UnChristian to Christian
How will we respond? (205) Four suggestions:
· Respond with the right perspective (like Jesus. He considered the below-the-surface issues.)
· Connect with people. Jesus influenced people through relationships and friendships.
· Be creative. Jesus attracted people in creative ways and connected with the heart. Look for new stories, parables and ways of communicating.
· Serve people. Cultivate deep concern and sensitivity to outsiders. Learn to listen.
· Life a lifestyle of compassion.
"Putting the needs of others above your own, loving your neighbor, doing good to those who would do evil to you, exercising humility, suffering with those less fortunate, and doing it all with a pure heart is nearly impossible. But it is Jesus's model and call." (225)
"The perceptions of outsiders will change only when Christians strive to represent the heart of God in every relationship and situation." (226)
Your comments and book recommendations are welcome.
To discontinue receiving book notes, hit Reply and put Discontinue in the text.


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Q: Error "TypeError: Cannot read property 'seconds' of null" when commit Firestore batch I got the following error when trying to batch delete a collection:

TypeError: Cannot read property 'seconds' of null
at Function.fromProto (..\node_modules\@google-cloud\firestore\build\src\timestamp.js:91:47)

The code is plain simple (written in TypeScript):
var admin = require('firebase-admin');
...
var batch: FirebaseFirestore.WriteBatch = admin.firestore().batch();
return generic.application.admin.firestore().collection(name)
    .get()
    .then((docs: FirebaseFirestore.QuerySnapshot) => {
        docs.docs.forEach((doc:any) => {
            batch.delete(doc.ref);
        });
    })
    .then(() => {
        return batch.commit();
    });

Happens when the collection is emtpy;

A: I solved by adding a counter so i can avoid commit when the collection is empty.
The issue was found firebase admin sdk version 5.13.0 but still present on version 5.13.1. More information can be found here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


65 seconds of pure bliss as the prelude, Filling up the musical valley within the heart with the raindrops in the form of accordion, violins, flute, xylophone & madal sounds … Totally overwhelming on every listen.
Remembering a song that originally was not part of the script, but was destined to be conceived & produced, and later to be cherished for ever.
A complete magic show within a song, where Pancham chipped-in, with not one but Two Primary Accordions to come up with a scintillating effect. The accordion vibes here create beautiful ripples in the heart and gels so well with the flow of the Rain & the TRain … The magic makes me to dream to board the train immediately.
One of my very favorite songs from the 80s is from Vijeta (1982), a soothing Ahir Bhairav that is quite popular. After watching the movie, the song lingered in my mind for years until I managed to listen to it again sometime early in the last decade. The movie was quite engaging too. Ajit Verman teaming up with Vasant Dev had another couple of songs in the film.
Yogeshji originally hailed from Lucknow. His father, Mr. Than Singh Gaud, was an engineer. After his father's demise, a 17 year old Yogeshji, an only son out of three children, moved to Bombay in 1961 in search of employment along with his childhood friend, Mr. Satyaprakash. He had a deep-rooted interest in poetry writing but had not thought of making it his vocation at all. His cousin, Mr. Brajendra Gaud, was already in Bombay and was fairly well established as a writer in the industry. Yogeshji was not very well-received by his cousin and his pride was hurt. On the insistence of his friend, he decided to establish himself independently in film line. He had no background, training, experience or even any exposure at all in any discipline of film-making. He started expressing his thoughts and feelings in poems while looking to fulfill his goal of establishing himself in films. He was then introduced to Mr. Robin Banerjee working with whom he learnt that the tune for a film song is composed first and then the words are written to fit the same meter. So he wrote a few songs based on Robin Banerjee's tunes and gave them to Mr. Banerjee. It is thus not incorrect to state that time and circumstances turned Yogeshji into a lyricist but his ultimate goal of success in films was far from realization at this point.
In 1962, six of his songs written on Robin Banerjee's tunes were used for a movie called "Sakhi Robin". Of these, one song "Tum jo aao to pyaar aa jaaye" became fairly popular. For next 7-8 years, he wrote some lovely songs for small budget stunt films where neither the films nor soundtracks gained any traction. These B & C grade movies included "Junglee Raja", "Rocket Tarzen" ('63), "Krishnaavtaar", "Marvel Man", "Tarzen and Delilah" ('64), "Adventures of Robinhood" ('65), "Husn Ka Ghulam", "Rustom Kaun", "Spy in Goa", "Tarzen Ki Mahbooba" ('66), "Ek Raat" ('67), "Lutera aur Jaadugar" ('68), and "S.O.S. Jasoos 007" ('69). Robin Banerjee was the Music Director for many of these ventures. The 1967 release "Ek Raat" also featured a song sung by Sh. Mohammed Rafi sahib, "Sau baar banaa kar maalik ne sau baar mitaaya hoge" that gained some popularity but on the whole, success still eluded him.
Yogeshji's fortune took a distinct turn for the better when he came in contact with the renowned Music Director, Sh. Salil Chowdhury, via Ms. Sabita Banerjee (who later became Mrs. Salil Chowdhury). In 1968-69, Salil Da recoded a couple of songs penned by Yogeshji but as the misfortune would have it, the films got canned on some pre-text or the other. Finally, in 1970, Salil Da gave Yogeshji a chance to write songs for a big banner film – "Anand".
Yogeshji also lived up to the expectations and demonstrated his abilities as a lyricist by writing meaningful and beautiful sounding lyrics of two immortal numbers – "Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haay…" and "Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye…" (*). Both the songs became extremely popular and the rest, as they say, is history. "Anand" marked the beginning of the most successful phase of Yogeshji's career as a lyricist.
It also was the start of the most significant and fruitful partnership of this lyricist's career that spanned well over a decade and produced lovely, melodious and popular songs for films like "Anand "('70), "Annadaata", "Anokha Daan", "Mere Bhaiya" ('72), "Rajnigandha" ('74), "Chhoti Si Baat" ('75), "Anandmahal", "Minoo" ('77), "Jeena Yahan" ('79), "Chemmeen Lehren", "Naani Maa", "Room No. 203" ('80), "Agni Pareeksha" ('81) et. The last film for this successful partnership was "Akhiri Badla" in 1988. The fact that as soon as one thinks of Yogeshji, the first few songs that come to mind are all by this partnership, is a testimony to their success and the mark that they made together.
The seventies indeed proved to be a golden decade for Yogeshji. The other most noteworthy music directors that collaborated a lot with Yogeshji during this period were the Burmans – both father and son. He did mere two films with SDB – "Mili" and "Us Paar", but the listeners still remember the songs very readily. With RD Burman, his association was about eight movies long amongst which soundtracks of "Chala Murari Hero Banane" ('77), "Hamare-Tumhare", "Manzil" ('79) are considered more successful. In this decade, he also produced some really beautiful songs in partnership with Usha Khanna and Rajesh Roshan. Some of the other music-directors that he worked with are Suresh Kumar, Surinder Kohli, Vijay Raghav Rao, Bhappi Lahiri, Vasant Desai, Bhupinder Soni, Meena Mangeshkar, Shyamal Mitra, Vanraj Bhatia, Kalyanji-Anandji, etc.
As a lyricist, Yogeshji has remained active till as late as 2009, though he had a quiet period from 1998 – 2002 with no releases at all during that time. During his illustrious career, he also got the opportunity to write words to the tunes of the greats like Hemant Da ("Do Ladke, donon kadke" '78), Mr. C. Ramachandra ("Toofani Takkar" '78) and Mr. Madan Mohan ("Chaalbaaz", '80). Amongst the newer Music directors, he has worked with Nikhil-Vinay, Annu Malik, Aadesh Srivaastav, and Dilip Sen- Sameer Sen, etc. Sanjoy Chowdhury, son of Sh. Salil Chowdhury, is the MD of "Suno Na", Yogeshji's last film, to date, as a lyricist. Chowdhury family's non-film presentation, "Generations", also features songs by Yogeshji.
Two film-directors who have undoubtedly contributed non-trivially to Yogeshji's success are Mr. Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Mr. Basu Chatterjee. While he penned soul-stirring numbers for Hrishi Da in outstanding films like "Anand", "Mili", Rang-Birangi" etc, his output with Basu Da is no less impressive and includes euphonious songs from movies like "Rajnigandha", "Chhoti si Baat", "Baaton Baaton mein", "Priyatamaa", "Dillagi", "Shauqeen", "Manzil", etc. Infact, for most part, Yogeshji's most remarkable, memorable and inspired creations belong to the films of these two directors. So it is completely fair to state that these two men brought out the best in Yogeshji.
So far, Yogeshji has written about 350 songs for about 100 odd films. Other than film and non-film songs, he is also credited with penning title songs for a variety of T.V. serials as well as jingles for Ad Films.
So far we have talked about basic facts and figures without which no profile or career sketch can be considered complete. Lets now explore a little more about Yogeshji's mastery over his craft and his unique lyric-writing style, which actually is the crux of this whole discussion. As soon as I hear his name, a number of songs inevitably rush to my mind immediately. Afterall, I have spent my formative childhood period during his golden era and have heard his creations endlessly on radio and Doordarshan (think Chitrahaar). When I first thought about writing about Yogeshji, and spent a couple of moments reflecting on his writing style and its distinctiveness, a couple of thoughts instantaneously flashed through my mind. His defining trait is Simplicity – both in terms of language and for most part the thoughts as well. Add to that, the ability to present perplexing subjects dealing with emotional predicaments in seemingly effortless and lucid fashion. And these attributes are apparent in many of his songs.
Let us consider language first. In an era dominated by Urdu words in lyrics, this lyricist chose to write songs in simple, chaste and beautiful Hindi. His expressions were not difficult but the word selection did tend to favor more refined or pure words. He used elegant, meaningful yet easily understandable imagery in his expressions with enviable spontaneity and eloquence. "Anuraagi man", Man ki seemarekha", "Madhur geet gaate dharti-gagan", "avgun aur durgunon ka dekha jaana", "bojhal saansen", "ghanii uljhan", "raat ke gahre sannaate", "sapnon kaa darpan", "din suhaanaa, mausam salonaa", "albelaa geet", "bandhan ka sukh" और "Saajan ka adhikaar", are some Yogeshji's very graceful expressions that are instantly recognizable and which most of us can readily associate with the correct songs that they are drawn from. Here, it is appropriate to mention that Yogeshji gives credit for his very poetic lyric-writing style to his association with Salil Da. According to him, Salil Da himself was such an accomplished poet that using lose lyrics/words for his compositions was an absolute No-no. The words had to measure up to a certain standard. Over time, these songs became so popular that this writing style became Yogeshji's recognized trademark and became a general expectation from him.
Let us move on to the simplicity of thoughts now and the ability to present simple thoughts in beautiful, heart-warming terms. In this context, the song that first comes to mind is one that was supposedly not even written for the movie that it finally appeared in. It was actually written for a Basu Bhattacharya film that got canned. It was bought by L.B. Lachhman but Hrishi Da liked it so much that Rajesh Khanna , Salil Da and Hrishikesh Mukherjee all repeatedly requested and convinced LB Lachhman to give that song up. The song in questions was finally used in Anand – yes, the reference is to "Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye…".
If we examine the words, the only sentiment expressed in the entire song (with the possible exception of one antaraa) by the hero/singer is that of missing someone. The expressions used to convey this feeling take various forms like "Mere khayaalon ke aangan mein koi sapnon ke deep jalaaye", "Machal ke, pyaar se chal ke chhue koi mujhe par nazar na aaye", and then an imagery of a lost dream is used to say "Ye mere sapne, yahi to hain apne, mujhse judaa na honge inke ye saaye" – the same basic thought but the elucidation is so exquisite that the song takes on almost sublime proportions. The remaining antaraa is cleverly used to reinforce Anand's plight as well as describe his emotional bond with other characters.
Yogeshji states that he penned the above lines in honor of his relationship with his friend Sh. Satyaprakashji.
The second song that I would like to talk about today, also deals with the same emotion – that of missing someone. Though its style of articulation is different, it is no less beautiful or effective. Yes, the song under question is "Na jaane kyun hota hai yun zindagi ke saath" from the movie "Chhoti si Baat". This song describes the heroine's mental state in plain and straight words. Here, she is simply used to meeting the hero every day – its just a habit since he started pursuing her and following her around predictably – neither of them has expressed their love to each other and the lady hasn't even admitted it to herself before this juncture, AFAIR. Now one day, Mr. Hero quietly disappears. At this point, this song is picturized as background song to illustrate our heroine's exploration of her own psyche to figure out the cause of her restlessness and anxiety when he remains missing. Other than the mukhda that plainly states the crux of the issue of missing someone you didn't even think you will miss, the words chosen to bring her emotions to the fore are "Jo anjaan pal, dhal gaye kal, aaj vo rang badal badal, man ko machal machal rahe hain chhal, na jaane kyun vo anjaan pal, saje bina mere nayanon mein toote re sapnon ke mahal". And then in the next antara, she actually has decided what his place in her life is, rest is stating the obvious – "Vahii hai dagar, vahii hai safar, hai nahin paas mere magar, ab mera hamsafar, idhar-udhar dhoondhe nazar, vahi hai dagar, kahan gayiin shaamen madbhari, mere vo din gaye kidhar". I'll leave you to decide if there could be more compelling words than "saje bina mere nayanon mein toote re sapnon ke mahal" to express a love whose first realization comes hand in hand with its supposed loss?
Talking of first expression of love reminds me of another song, this one from the movie "Manzil" – "Rimjhim gire saawan, sulag sulag jaaye man". This song also manages to convey a certain degree of sensuousness without the words ever becoming over-explicit or crossing any bounds of decent expression. The poetic phrases employed to this effect are "Bheege mausam mein lagi agan" , "Bheega aanchal", "Dahkaa saawan", and "Bahkaa mausam" etc. The oft expressed "inability to sleep on a lonely, rainy night" finds Yogeshji whimsically delivering the lines "Jab ghunghruon si bajatii hain boonden, armaan hamaare palken na moonden". And the hesitation that one felt (yes in a different era – not in today's times) in admitting this new-found love in front of family, friends and society in general is beautifully communicated via "Mahfil mein kaise kah den kisee se, dil bandh rahaa hai kis ajnabii se" – is it possible to find more apt or more ingenious words to convey the same? Hopefully, it is obvious that this song is not as simple in meaning and intent as it may appear on casual hearing and the words are actually very well chosen.
Lets explore this third distinctive characteristic of Yogeshji's poetic/lyrical style – ability, to express complex emotional issues simply yet effectively, further. In my opinion, the one song that personifies this trait is "Kai baar yuun bhi dekha hai…" from Rajnigandha. This background song is used to depict the mental state of the heroine, Deepa, who is disconcerted by her simultaneous attraction to two men in her life. If one pays a little attention to the lyrics, the lady's dilemma becomes very apparent. In the opening lines themselves, the lyricist clearly indicates that there is a contention between the heart and mind of the character by use of words "Ye jo man ki seemarekha hai, man todne lagtaa hai" and then "anjaanii aas" and "anjaani pyaas" of the heart that the mind seemingly fails to understand.
The head is perhaps trying to evaluate the heart's desires within the bounds of socially acceptable norms and finding them at odds with what makes sense. In the first stanza, the lyricist has cleverly hinted at the impasse using flowers as symbols when he says "Jeevan ki raahon mein jo khile hain phool phool muskuraake, kaun sa phool churaake, rakh loon man mein sajaa ke" while in the second one, he clearly states the whole predicament as "Uljhan ye, jaanoon na suljhaaoon kaise, kuchh samajh na paaoon, kisko meet banaaoon, kiskii preet bhulaaoon". This single song actually zeroes in on the core issue of the movie with such precision. And that, to me, is the irrefutable evidence of this lyricist's complete command over his craft.
Other than sentimental songs, Yogeshji also has some immortal creations in Philosophical category. The one song that really stands out in this category is "Zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai…" from the movie "Anand". This song brings to fore the fleeting nature of life, its ever changing character and uncertainty after death. The words chosen here are "Zindagi… kaisii hai paheli haaye, kabhi to hansaaye, kabhi ye rulaaye…", "ek din sapnon ka raahii, chalaa jaaye sapnon se aage kahaan…". And the complete last stanza is extremely thought provoking – "Jinhonen sajaaye yahaan mele, such-dukh sang sang jhele, vahii chunkar khaamoshi, yuun chale jaayen akele kahaan". It is rare for me to listen to these words dry-eyed – what bigger accolade can be there for the lyricist than this? Yogeshji told that this was a song that was literally given to him to write due to extreme pressure exerted on Hrishi Da by Lachhmanji. Salil da by mistake asked Yogeshji to write a song for Annadaata on a tune that was already used in Anand. When the situation became clear, Lachhmanji insisted that Yogeshji be given a second song in Anand instead. Initial plan was to have this song play during opening credits but Rajesh Khanna liked it so much that he insisted that it be picturized on him. And as luck would have it, a song that was not even supposed to be written became one of the key songs that are considered prime representation of this lyricist's repertoire.
These distinctive traits of Yogeshji's style are evident in many other songs including "Rajnigandha phool tumhaare…", "Aaye tum yaad mujhe…", "Badi sooni sooni hai…", "Koi roko na deewane ko…", "Guzar jaaye din…", "Kabhi kuchh pal jeevan ke…", "Hum aur tum the saathi…", "Nis din, nis din…", "Nain hamaare, saanjh sakhaare…", "Kahaan tak ye man ko andhere challenge…", "Ye jab se hui hai jiya ki chori…", etc.
Over the last few days, re-listening to all the familiar songs of Yogeshji while paying close attention, revealed some interesting trivia. Its very clear that basically Yogeshji forte is poetry addressing human emotions especially love – that is where most of his songs are focused. He also seems to be fascinated by dreams possibly because of the well accepted correlation between dreams/daydreams and the state of being in love. Whatever the reason, words like "Sapne", "swapn" and "khwaab" find a mention in many a songs penned by him.
Lets look at a few other than "Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye…", "Zindagii kaisi hai paheli haaye…", "Na jaane kyun hota hai…" references in which we have already discussed. We find a "dream" reference as "Jis pal nainon mein sapna tera aaye" in "Aaye tum yaad mujhe…", "Hamaare-tumhaare sapne jo sach hue the, thaamen hain mera haath" in "Hum aur tum the saathi…", "Khwaab mere ho gaye rangeen" in "Guzar jaaye din…", "Umar ke safar mein jise jo yahaan bhaaye, usii ke sapnon mein ye man rang jaaye" in "Koi roko na deewane ko…", "Mainen kahaa sapnon se sajo, to vo muskura ke saj gaye" in "Mainen kahaa phoolon se…", "Tere sang dekhe the jo sapne haseen" in "Man kare yaad vo din…", "Mujhmen aise tum samaaye, mere sapne muskuraaye" in "Man chaahe mehndi rachaa loon…", "Kaise dekhen sapne nayan" in "Rim-jhim gire saawan…", "Nain hamaare saanjh sakhaare, dekhen laakhon sapne" in "Nain hamaare…", "Sapna dekhen mere khoye khoye naina, mitwaa mere, aa tu bhi seekh le sapne dekhnaa" in "Ni sa, ga ma pa ni, sa re ga, aa aa re mitwaa…", "Lagtaa hai honge nahin sapne ye poore mere" in "Raaton ke saaye ghane…", "Har pal meri in aankhon mein, bas rahte hain sapne unke" in "Rajnigandhaa phool tumhaare…" etc. Dreams find a mention even in his non-film presentations, a case in point is "Chubhane lagtaa hai saanson mein bikhare sapnon ka har darpan" in "Kuchh aise bhi pal hote hain…".
By the way, he also tends to use "Man" and "Nayan" fairly frequently. The first 7-8 years of his career saw him using some Urdu words also before he found and settled into his particular style. The last decade has seen a sharp decline in the quality of lyrics all round and public has generally stopped paying much attention to them. This decline is somewhat noticeable in Yogeshji's output as well but sense of decorum is still very visible in his creations. In all honesty, Yogeshji can't be called a very versatile lyricist but he is certainly a master of his niche. In these changing times, his popularity has certainly declined but the songs he penned in seventies still get the appreciation and recognition that they are worthy of.
There are 3-4 films in the pipeline for which Yogeshji is writing the song lyrics. One of these, "Ye Deewanagi" is almost ready while others are work in progress.
On Family front, Yogeshji is a proud father of two daughters and a son. All his children are married and he lives with his son and daughter-in-law in Mumbai. When I first spoke to him, he was excitedly waiting the arrival of a grandchild. When I spoke to him a few days later, he had become a proud baba of a little grand-daughter. We heartily congratulate him and his family and wish their new arrival all the best in life.
Finally, I will only pray for a long and healthy life for Yogeshji and hope that he continues to pen not only film but non-film songs and poems as well.


text:
Judgment Guide by gamepressure.com
Judgment Guide
The main storyline
Chapter 4 Skeletons in the Closet
Chapter 4 Skeletons in the Closet | Judgment Walkthrough Judgment Guide, Walkthrough
Next The main storyline Chapter 5 Days Gone By Prev The main storyline Chapter 3 The Stickup
The next section in the guide to Judgment includes a description of the passage of Chapter 4: Skeletons in the Closet.
After the cut-scenes, go to a law firm and you will witness a mini court case. The cookies from the fridge are gone, and the employees are looking for the culprit - Yagami is included in the search for the criminal. Start the mandatory side quest Justice is Sweet. Search the refrigerator and find a package of dough in the basket. During the conversation reveal the evidence of Empty trash Can, then select Objection! and choose another proof - Saori s Milk Carton and Notice of Power Outage. At the end, select "Nobody" and the investigation will come to an end.
Now go talk to Higashi. In the end, run into the Beef Zone, you will find Honda, a strong miniboss, whom you must defeat in combat. Since then, the game will have a new mechanics of Threat Level. From time to time, the city will have two minibosses, and the threat levle will jump to 100%, which will lead to a significant increase in the number of opponents on the streets. To lower the level, you will need to overcome the minibosses or wait for a while until the strip shrinks itself.
Now go to Gend and warn Shintani of the danger. Go to the specified location and find a lonely girl. Then go back to the Genda Law Office and look at the cut-scene. Get out from the building and run to Love Hotel - find the board on the wall and read its content. Defeat the bandit later and start looking for evidence. Try to pinpoint the faces in the photos, and you will know that the woman in the photo is a substitute.
Go back to Gend and talk to everyone. Select the proof - Torn Envelope and Ticket. This way, you stop a dispute between the married couple and will be able to speak with Shintani. In the evening, go to the Tender bar and talk to the others. Then, go to KJ Art and use the drone to find the gang leader. After the cut-scenes, you will find a rather difficult encounter with enemies on the roof of the building.
During the return to Yagami Detective Agency, you will get a phone and you will have to go to the Tender bar. Inside, you will participate in a debate - what does Marie, one of the regular customers of the restaurant, do for living. You will start the mandatory Side Case - The Socialite's Secret. In search mode, look at the woman and her jewelry. Then, you will find a double sequence of tracking Mari - once the classic style, and once in the suit. In the end, you will catch her in the casino. You will learn that she's a professional gambler, and complete the secondary mission. Go back to the Yagami Detective Agency and see what happened to one of Yagami's friends... the chapter ends here.
Judgment in a nutshell Starting tips Experience and character development Combat and fighting in the streets Apps on your phone Controls Trophies
A detective's work
Conversations, searching for evidence Pursuits
How to earn a lot of experience? How to make a lot of money? What skills are the best? How to unlock side investigations? Can I keep playing after game's end?
A list of all main missions Prologue Chapter 1 Three Blind Mice Chapter 2 Beneath the Surface Chapter 3 The Stickup Chapter 4 Skeletons in the Closet Chapter 5 Days Gone By Chapter 6 Collusion Chapter 7 Limelight Chapter 8 A Broken Bond Chapter 9 The Miracle Drug Chapter 10 Chumming the water Chapter 11 Curtain Call Chapter 12 Behind Closed Doors Finale Dawn Came the Rain
List of side cases Kamurocho Streets Yagami Detective Agency Genda Law Office Bar Tender
Side activities
Dating Mini-games Friends and their missions Yoshida Batting Center courses 6 Free Pass Vouchers Quickstarer projects Darts 5 Fuka Shiranui Paintings Cats meowing
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Hoeve de Pippert is more than 150 years old. It is situated in the Betuwe, one of the Netherlands' loveliest nature areas. Stay here on the banks of the beautiful River Waal.


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We recently read in the media that a technology reporter has finally (after 20 months) won the right to receive access to their metadata as per APP 12. The telco in question was Telstra and the beauty of APP 12 is that it's very clear – when an individual requests their personal information, the organisation must give access to this information held about them.
While the metadata requested pertains to call logs and geo-location based on cell towers used, it cannot provide any further information about the correspondence the individual may have had with others, in order to protect their privacy as well. So why did it take 20 months when APP 12 is so black and white? Most likely Telstra did not want to set a precedence moving forward given that it would have been a costly and timely exercise, due to the fact that such requests have historically only come from law enforcement agencies. While Telstra can fulfil law enforcement requests here and there, if say 10,000 customers requested access to their metadata, the process could get very expensive for Telstra. Telstra has stated that it is now happy to send send some metadata however starting at $25 for basic data or more for more specific requests. Unfortunately APP 12 makes no mention of charging for access to the data, so we do hope that Telstra isn't using fees as a deterrent.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Abbott government is also putting the pressure on telcos as it pushes to pass it's upcoming data retention laws that would see telcos forced to store customer metadata for 2 years so that they could be accessed by law enforcement agencies.
If telcos are forced to invest the hundreds of millions in order to create the systems to retain the metadata should the government request it, then the road just got a lot easier for the customers seeking the very same.
Click here to read the original news story by SMH.