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Software Providers Earnings Highlight the Value of Cloud Capabilities – Barron’s

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

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Software provider Open Text beat earnings estimates Thursday evening. It is another strong result from the Canadian-based software maker specializing in digitizing text. Results show that the trend of taking data into the cloud is alive and well, despite Covid-19. Thats good news for Open Text stockholders as well as all software investors.

Open Text (ticker: OTEX) reported 80 cents in per-share earnings from $827 million in sales for its fiscal fourth quarter, which corresponds to the second calendar quarter.

Wall Street expected 60 cents from $805 million in sales. Analysts estimates for the second quarter came down coming into the earnings reportas they did for many other companiesbecause the pandemic has had an impact everywhere. When the year began, analysts expected the company to earn about 75 cents in per-share earnings in the calendar second quarter. Open Texts earnings actually beat prepandemic levels.

Open Text stock was up more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Fiscal 2020 was a pivotal year for Open Text, highlighting that digital technologies are the key to business resilience, CEO Mark Barrenechea said in the companys news release. Businesses that build digital capabilities will recover faster and emerge stronger from this pandemic.

Recurring revenue came in at $658 million, up 18% year over year, growing faster than overall sales. Subscription-type sales have been another powerful trend in the software industryas, or even more, important than cloud computing-trends. Subscriptions for software are replacing the regular upgrade cycle that once made software company sales more cyclical.

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Barrons wrote positively about Open Text in 2019, believing it was an undervalued software play. Since that story was published, Open Text stock is up more than 20%, better than returns of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same span. Software components of the S&P 500, however, are up more than 60%. Open Text valuation remains below its software peers.

Year to date, Open Text stock is up about 4%. Again, that is a little better than major U.S. stock indexes, but lagging behind larger software peers in the S&P 500, which are up about 34%. The largest software component of the S&P 500 is Microsoft (MSFT). Its stock is up about 37% in 2020.

Wall Street likes Open Text shares, too. Almost 80% of analysts covering the company rate shares the equivalent of Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average is about 55%. Whats more, the average Buy-rating ratio for software stocks in the S&P 500 is about 60%better than average, but not as high as Open Text ratings.

The average analyst price target is about $48, a little higher than where shares ended regular trading on Thursday.

Open Text management was conducting an earnings conference call that began at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

Software Providers Earnings Highlight the Value of Cloud Capabilities - Barron's

With the Integration of Amarello into eSource Capital, Two Premier Google Partners Create the Number One Provider of Google Cloud Solutions in Latin…

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eSource Capital, a pioneer in Cloud computing founded in 2007, with coverage in 20 countries, continues its expansion process by integrating Amarello, a Premier Google Cloud Partner, into its business offering.

This union creates a talent pool of +200 employees, a portfolio of more than 2,500 clients and 150 Cloud certifications. Together the group offers Data Analytics Infrastructure, Work Transformation, Google Maps Platform, Security, Disaster Response, and migrations aimed at attending to the growing demand for Cloud Computing services.

The mobility restrictions resulting from the pandemic have generated a new way of managing the technological resources of organizations. According to a survey carried out by Atento in Latin America, six out of ten companies have had to modify their digital strategy due to the COVID situation.

Financial and retail sectors, among others, require the efficiency and flexibility of Cloud Computing to support the new market realities. According to IDC, nearly 40% of organizations recognize the value of the digital transformation of the financial sector due to the global health contingency. Similarly, retail and e-commerce sites increased have seen double digit increases during this juncture. For this reason, many e-commerce platforms providers have sought to partner with public Cloud providers.

Since the pandemic began, browsing time on e-commerce sites have increased sharply. For this reason, many e-commerce platforms providers have sought to partner with public Cloud providers.

This transaction with Amarello, as well as other initiatives that we are implementing, are aimed at strengthening our capability to meet the needs of the market, says Enrique Camacho, CEO of eSource Capital group.

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About the Companies

eSource Capital is a US-based company with offices and operations in Latin America, the United States and Europe. Founded in 2007, they are experts in Cloud Computing solutions with services aimed at the implementation, adoption, and support for Software as Service (SaaS), Platform as Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as Service (IaaS).

Amarello is a Mexican technology service provider specializing in solutions data-driven decision-making, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. It is also specialized in facilitating the path to hybrid cloud and application modernization in a secure and reliable environment with Google technologies.

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With the Integration of Amarello into eSource Capital, Two Premier Google Partners Create the Number One Provider of Google Cloud Solutions in Latin...

Edge to Dethrone Cloud for AI Chipset Revenues with US$12 Billion in 2025 – PRNewswire

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

SINGAPORE, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The edge artificial intelligence (AI) chipset market is expected to exceed the cloud AI chipset market for the first time in 2025, propelled by the increasing focus on low latency, data privacy, and the availability of low-cost and ultra-power-efficient AI chipsets. According to global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, the edge AI chipset market will reach US$12.2 billion in revenues, outpacing the cloud AI chipset market, which will reach US$11.9 billion in 2025.

At present, the cloud is the center of AI. Most AI training and inference workloads happen in the public and private clouds. Traditionally, the centralization of these workloads in the cloud brings the benefits of flexibility and scalability. However, the industry has witnessed a shift in the AI paradigm. Driven by the need for privacy, cybersecurity, and low latency, there is an emergence of performing AI training and inference workloads on gateways, devices, and sensors. Recent advancements in key domains, including connectivity to cloud computing, new AI learning architecture, and high-performance computational chipsets, have played a critical role in this shift.

"As enterprises start to look for AI solutions in the areas of image and object recognition, autonomous material handling, predictive maintenance, and human-machine interface for end devices, they need to resolve concerns around data privacy, power efficiency, low latency, and strong on-device computing performance," explains Lian Jye Su, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. "Edge AI will be the answer to this. By integrating an AI chipset designed to perform high-speed inference and quantized federated learning or collaborative learning models, edge AI brings task automation and augmentation to device and sensor levels across various sectors. So much that it will grow and surpass the cloud AI chipset market in 2025."

This is a prime opportunity for chipset vendors with a diverse range of product offerings to capitalize and shine, instead of relying solely on a particular niche. Intel is a prime example. In 2019, the chipset conglomerate witnessed strong growth in Mobileye, its ADAS chipset subsidiary, and overtook NVIDIA as the leading-edge AI vendor. Intel is expected to continue to see high demands for its cloud AI chipset and experience strong demand for its Mobileye, Movidius and FPGA product solutions.

In the consumer market, COVID-19 has disrupted the demand for many smart devices, notably smartphones, smart home, and wearables, which has impacted the deployment of AI accelerators targeting these devices. At the same time, implementation in industrial manufacturing, retail, and other verticals have been postponed or put on hold.

"Nonetheless, ABI Research expects the market to rebound in 2022. It is important to note that the impact on the chipset supply chain has been relatively minimal since fabrication factories in Singapore and Taiwan remained operational during the outbreak," Su points out. Vendors of key connectivity technologies such as 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and autonomous solutions such as autonomous vehicles see minimal impact to their product roadmaps. They are continuing with their trials and deployments, foretelling a quick rebound in demand for edge AI chipset beyond 2022. "Catalyzing many other emerging technologies, edge AI will pave the way for a variety of new business opportunities in the consumer and enterprise segments," Su concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research's Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learningmarket data report.This report is part of the company's Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learningresearch service, which includes research, data, and analyst insights. Market Dataspreadsheets are composed of in-depth data, market share analysis, and highly segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight where opportunities lie.

About ABI Research ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research's global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors.

ABI Research1990

For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visitwww.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info:GlobalDeborah PetraraTel: +1.516.624.2558[emailprotected]

SOURCE ABI Research

http://www.abiresearch.com

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Edge to Dethrone Cloud for AI Chipset Revenues with US$12 Billion in 2025 - PRNewswire

6 Public Companies Navigating the Pandemic Like Pros – WTOP

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Take note of these strong performers. As the pandemic has worn on and the economy tries to recover from the

Take note of these strong performers.

As the pandemic has worn on and the economy tries to recover from the downturn, the stock market has managed to gain back most of its spring losses as the Federal Reserve and Congress have pumped trillions of dollars of stimulus into the economy. There are even some companies whose shares have managed to exceed their pre-pandemic levels as demand for their products or services has ratcheted up with people spending more time at home. It also seems that these companies could do well for the longer-term as they are part of ongoing trends that the pandemic has just accelerated like home delivery of food and cloud computing. Here are six standout companies to watch.

Microsoft Corp. (ticker: MSFT)

In recent weeks, investors wanting to be in the stock market but also seeking to reduce risk with stable companies have turned to mega-cap tech names in droves. In the year through Mondays close, the information technology sector of the S&P 500 has led the index with a whopping 43.6% gain. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently hit a record high of more than $217 per share, well ahead of its pre-pandemic peak of around $185. In its most recent quarterly report, Microsoft beat analyst expectations on both revenue and earnings as cloud computing and gaming benefited from increased demand with consumers increasingly working, playing and learning from home. Although Microsofts Azure cloud services business is playing second fiddle to Amazon Web Services, Azure recently reached 20% market share for the first time, according to research from Canalys.

Amazon.com (AMZN)

In the second quarter, worldwide cloud infrastructure spending grew 31% to $34.6 billion, according to Canalys data. As the biggest provider of cloud services, Amazon is primed to take advantage of this acceleration. In the second quarter, year-over-year sales growth for Amazon Web Services fell to 29% from 37% in the comparable quarter last year but the business still racked up more than $10 billion in net sales. Amazon said it was actively trying to help businesses save money on cloud services, which didnt help revenue in the short term but could translate into customer loyalty going forward. Amazon is also seeing plans for migration to the cloud accelerate not something that can happen overnight but also part of a longer-term trend. Plus, while there has been growth in cloud computing needs for videoconferencing, gaming, remote learning and entertainment, other industries like hospitality and travel have been more challenged, CFO Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call.

Apple (AAPL)

Apple is another tech stock that beat earnings and revenue expectations for its most recent quarter. Sales for its products, which most notably includes the iPhone, as well as its services increased year over year, despite the pandemics continued weight on the economy. The company reported nearly $60 billion in revenue, a record for its June quarter. IPhone sales surpassed $26.4 billion, up from roughly $26 billion a year ago helped by a strong iPhone SE launch. Thats before the companys expected release of iPhone 12 models later this year. The company also announced a stock split that makes its shares more available to a wider range of investors.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)

Nvidia, which makes computer chips, was well-positioned to ride the growing wave of demand for internet-based services even before the pandemic. Now, as the pandemic has increased demand for gaming and data center usage, the companys shares have been soaring well above their pre-pandemic levels. In its most recent quarter, Nvidias gaming-related revenue jumped by 27% year over year, and its data center sales skyrocketed a whopping 80% from the same quarter in the prior year amid a surge in people gaming, working and learning from home. In April, Nvidia also completed the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, a buy that makes Nvidia a bigger player in data centers and cloud computing.

Shopify (SHOP)

Its not just Amazon that is benefiting from the surge of people wanting to shop at home. Canadian e-commerce company Shopify has also been reaping the benefits of lockdowns as companies have flocked to its online retail platform. In the second quarter, new stores created on the platform grew by more than 70% from the previous quarter amid the pandemic-accelerated shift to online shopping as well as the companys extension of a free trial period for standard plans. Shopify expects users that created stores in April and May to continue converting into paid merchants through the end of this month. The companys revenue in the second quarter was also up an impressive 97% year over year.

DocuSign (DOCU)

With travel and in-person meetings curtailed sharply during the pandemic, businesses have increasingly been turning to DocuSigns technology that allows for electronic signatures on business agreements. The companys CEO Dan Springer said on a conference call that he expects the surge in people looking for ways to sign documents electronically will translate into expanded business for the companys Agreement Cloud, which is a suite of products and integrations for digitally transforming how organizations prepare, sign, act on and manage agreements. Even when the COVID-19 situation is behind us, we dont anticipate customers returning to paper or manual-based processes, Springer said. In its most recent quarter, the company reported $287 million in total revenue a 39% increase year over year.

Six public companies outperforming in tough times:

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

Amazon.com (AMZN)

Apple (AAPL)

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)

Shopify (SHOP)

DocuSign (DOCU)

Sandy Backs the Blue, Andrew Duncomb assert no association with Proud Boys – Pamplin Media Group

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

City reaffirms commitment to 'advance values of equality and justice' in response to community concerns

Since the Sandy Backs the Blue flag wave on Aug. 4, more information has come to light about those in attendance and the group's alleged connection with the Proud Boys.

Backs the Blue co-organizer Dixie Bailey says that neither she nor the group invited either Alan Swinney or Andrew Duncomb to their events, but the men came of their own accord to a previous flag wave event after hearing about the Sandy effort.

According to a message sent to Bailey, Duncomb has also asserted that he is not a member of the Proud Boys, which he was linked to in earlier reporting.

It is unknown if Duncomb ever personally associated with the group but a post on the group's website dated May 10, 2017, portrayed him as the "Proud Boy of the Week."

Many in the community have shared concerns about any link between the Sandy Backs the Blue group and the Proud Boys, which is a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League as a "hate group."

Duncomb claims this association with the group is what contributed to him "being targeted and eventually stabbed in Portland on (July 25)."

Since the first rumblings of people associated with the Proud Boys surfaced in Sandy, the city and Sandy Police Department have been receiving calls and emails from concerned community members.

These communications led the city to release this statement on Aug. 5:

"The Sandy City Council has heard the concerns raised in our community about the recent presence of individuals who may be associated with groups espousing hatred, bigotry, and violence," the statement read. "Let there be no confusion on where the City stands: as stated in Council Resolution 2020-19, the City of Sandy condemns racism unequivocally, and supports building a community 'connected by a shared commitment to mutual respect, understanding, and dignity.' While everyone has the right to express themselves freely, we stated in our resolution that fighting racism is 'a responsibility incumbent upon all Americans.' That means we each have a duty to speak out and actively work to advance the values of equality and justice. We have done so, and we will continue to do so."

The post also included a copy of its recent resolution.

You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts.Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.

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Sandy Backs the Blue, Andrew Duncomb assert no association with Proud Boys - Pamplin Media Group

Navy vet beaten at protest testifies to Congress – Pamplin Media Group

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Christopher David said protests were peaceful before federal officers beat him and attacked other protesters.

The U.S. Navy veteran who was beaten by federal officers with batons during demonstrations outside the U.S. Courthouse and Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland testified before members of Congress on Tuesday morning.

During a nationally televised Aug. 4 hearing before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee subcomittee, Christopher David spoke on his experience during the 51st night of Portland protests. David was struck repeatedly by federal enforcement officers outside the courthouse building after approaching the officers, saying he simply wanted to speak with them.

Video of the beating was shot by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling.

During his opening statement, David testified that what he witnessed was "a shocking attack by our own government on peaceful citizens expressing their support for Black Lives Matter and police reform." He said his experience is permanently shaped by his own service to this country.

He then expressed his disappointment in the actions of federal officers.

"I had always believed that when taking the oath of office, everyone else believed as we did when we took ours. That was my hope. My lodestar. That was how the United States of America continued to strive and make itself better," he said. "But I was wrong. Very wrong.

"Having watched the early days of July turn what were predominantly peaceful protests into violence in a small area in downtown Portland, I came to understand that for some people, the oath is just a set of words, not a calling."

David further condemned the unmarked officers seen pulling protesters into minivans, as shown on video widely circulated on social media. These acts, he said, were appalling to see.

"If the U.S. government could do this to our fellow citizens, where would it end? Anybody can buy surplus military uniforms and rent a minivan. How do we now know that these really are the Feds when it happens again? What if it's really the Proud Boys? Or the Boogaloos?" David asked, referring to right-wing groups. "This was a slippery slope with massive implications for all our freedoms, not just the freedom of speech."

When David first came downtown, he said he was stunned to see how little of the city was actually affected.

"Four square city blocks! That was it. From what the administration had been telling us, all of downtown Portland was in flames with uncontrolled and widespread looting everywhere," he said. "Nope. Just four, square city blocks."

David compared the air of the protests to almost festival-like when he first arrived. People were excited by their cause but that changed later in the night as demonstrators began anticipating the arrival of federal authorities.

"When the federal officers emerged from the courthouse, I saw them rush at the peaceful protesters in the southwest intersection, plowing into them and knocking them down," David said. "I watched this happen in shock."

It was then, David said, that the officers turned their attention to him.

"The first one leveled his weapon at me as he approached then lowered it. A second officer then plowed into me and knocked me back several feet. I then squared up, stood my ground, still stunned by what was happening," he explained. "A smaller officer then proceeded to hit me with a baton five times as other officers sprayed a chemical irritant into my face from very short range. Blinded and with a broken hand, I offered the officers a disgusted farewell salute and then started back toward the park and into a giant cloud of teargas."

David said he sat on a park bench and a field medic named Tav came to his rescue and guided him to someone's car as he attempted to see through the teargas stinging and clouding his eyes. David said although he saw it as an amazing act of courage by Tav, it was just another night of selfless bravery by him and the others out in the field.

"This is the country that we have now become. Selfless, volunteer civilian combat medics are needed to rescue their fellow citizen from the depredations of the federal government. There is one thing that gives me hope, however, and that is the many people from different backgrounds who are raising their voices against this outrage," David said.

To end his testimony, David stated two final things first, that Black lives matter. Secondly, he said he is not "fake news," that he is real and that the actions he was subjected to did happen in Portland at the hand of federal officers.

KOIN 6 News is a news partner of the Portland Tribune. Their story with video can be found here.

You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts.Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.

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Navy vet beaten at protest testifies to Congress - Pamplin Media Group

Just One Of The Boys | Atlantic | swiowanewssource.com – The Audubon County Advocate Journal

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

MARNE When Elleen Wheatley was growing up, she always wanted to do the things that the boys were doing. So she modeled herself after one her twin brother.

I had my hair cut like a boy, she said. I had boots like a boy.

I was always with my brother, and we were always working- like carrying corn cobs, she said.

So its not a surprise that, at the age of 25, she would continue on that path and follow in her brothers footsteps and join the Marines.

Wheatley now has the distinction of being the oldest living female Marine, set to turn 103 years old on Aug. 26 and said it was all part of the job.

I didnt do anything outstanding, she said. I just did my work.

She served during World War II, and was sent off in 1942 to boot camp in North Carolina. When she got there, it was a bit of a rude awakening.

I got on the train in Des Moines, she said. It was a troop train. It was all girls. When we got there, they let us off in (an area) like a corn field.

While Wheatley was surprised to be dropped off in a corn field, she took it as a sign that she could tackle any challenge that was presented to her.

I made up my mind that if some of the girls could take it, I could too, she said. And I did.

Boot camp consisted of lots of school and also lots of marching, but she said, it was all worth it in the end just to see all those women marching together with matching uniforms.

And when we graduated, it was a beautiful thing, she said. All the Marine Corp girls in that parade. We were all dressed alike.

After boot camp, she was stationed in California, working on an air base there. While she loved airplanes, and had previous experience working at a munitions plant in Burlington, she wasnt working on planes, instead she was in the office working as a secretary.

We had nice quarters, she said. They were air conditioned. There were about 250 girls there.

She said women were not sent overseas, but they could be sent to Hawaii. She worried that if she were transferred there she would be away from her husband.

I was afraid that if he got sick, and they sent him home, Id have to (be in Hawaii instead of taking care of him), she said.

She spent six months at boot camp, two years in California, and eventually came back to Marne where she and her husband raised cattle and hogs. She still lives on the farm, today, but instead of cattle and hogs, she has a cat to keep her company.

Shes surprised shes almost made it to 103, and said her secret to living long is trying to do what she thinks would have made her dad proud.

I always tried to do things that my dad would be proud of, she said. I wanted my dad to be proud of me. He died when I was 16, (I think serving in the military) was the nicest thing I could have done (for him and me). I got so many benefits and I met a lot of nice girls in the service.

Anyone wanting to send Wheatley well wishes for her birthday can drop her a card at Elleen Wheatley, 2609 200th Street, Marne, Iowa 51552.

Here’s Everything New Coming To Netflix This Week, August 6 – BuzzFeed

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Alta Mar / High Seas: Season 3 Netflix OriginalWhen the Brbara de Braganza sets sail from Argentina to Mexico, Eva joins a mission to root out a scientist harboring a fatal virus on board.

Berlin, Berlin Netflix FilmIn this cinematic sequel to the hit TV series, Lolle has moved on from Sven and is about to marry her friend Hart until Sven disrupts her plans.

The Magic School Bus Rides Again Kids In Space Netflix FamilyThe Magic School Bus kids blast into space and onto the International Space Station, only to find themselves on the run from a giant tardigrade!

Nailed It! Mxico: Season 2 Netflix OriginalThe fondant flows and frosting fiascos abound as home bakers try to recreate cakes shaped like armadillos, aliens and Elvis for a tasty cash prize.

The New Legends of Monkey: Season 2 Netflix FamilyThe quest for sacred scrolls continues for the Monkey King and friends. But in a world of demons, gods and magic, everything comes at a cost.

Selling Sunset: Season 3 Netflix OriginalBig changes come to The Oppenheim Group as a major sale closes, the agents consider career moves, and one broker faces a very public breakup.

Sing On! Germany Netflix OriginalIn this karaoke competition hosted by Palina Rojinski, contestants must hit the right note for a chance to win up to 30,000 euros.

Tiny Creatures Netflix OriginalLittle animals embark on big adventures across the U.S. in a dramatic nature series that explores their hidden worlds and epic survival stories. Narrated by Mike Colter.

Wizards: Tales of Arcadia Netflix FamilyMerlins young apprentice mixes with characters from Trollhunters and 3Below in the final chapter of Guillermo del Toros Tales of Arcadia trilogy.

Word Party Songs Netflix FamilyTurn up the music, put on your dancing shoes! Bailey, Franny, Kip, Lulu and Tilly want you to sing along to this colorful collection of music videos.

Work It Netflix FilmWhen Quinn Ackermanns admission to the college of her dreams depends on her performance at a dance competition, she forms a ragtag group of dancers to take on the best squad in school...now she just needs to learn how to dance.

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Here's Everything New Coming To Netflix This Week, August 6 - BuzzFeed

Where are Tropical Weather Forecasts Made? – The Maritime Executive

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Illustration courtesy TAFB

By The Maritime Executive 08-05-2020 02:03:36

The National Hurricane Center plays a prominent role in keeping the maritime community safe in the hurricane season, but it also plays a key role year-round. The NHC's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) generates marine weather forecasts for the tropical waters of the Eastern Pacific, the Caribbean and the North Atlantic.

The TAFB is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with at least three meteorologists working at all times. It performs forecasting, outreach, and support functions for the National Hurricane Center. TAFB's staff also engage in writing articles and other publications about marine forecasting and tropical weather.

TAFB's forecast coverage spans an area covering 14,000,000 square nautical miles, and it produces more than 100 products per day. Its products include high seas forecasts, offshore waters forecasts, tropical weather discussions and surface weather analyses. These products reach mariners over upper side-band radiofax, using Coast Guard transmission towers located in New Orleans, Point Reyes and Honolulu.

For more info, TAFB has released a briefing video for mariners on the center's function within NHC:

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Where are Tropical Weather Forecasts Made? - The Maritime Executive

Whats new on Netflix in August 2020 all the shows and movies coming soon – RadioTimes

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

During the coronavirus pandemic Netflix has been something of a saviour for households around the country and with the continued delays to releases of major blockbusters the reliance for new films and TV shows on the streaming platform looks likely to continue for some time yet.

And while there will surely come a point where Netflix struggles to find new material to release given the ongoing disruption to production on new shows, that point has not come yet there are several exciting new releases coming to the service in the next month.

August sees the return of the cult favourite series Lucifer for the first part of its fifth season, while hit original reality TV show Selling Sunset is back for a third run after a hugely successful second outing earlier this year.

There are also several new documentaries, including one that focuses on the career and controversial legacy of former France international striker Nicolas Anelka, and another about a manwho spent his life trying to find aliens.

On the movie front there is no doubting the headline news Netflix is adding another big-budget blockbuster to its ranks, this time an action film called Project Power starring Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

If youre still on the hunt forNetflixs July releases,we have the schedule.

Read on for our pick of the August list.

Dont Tell the Bride season 1 Series in which grooms take sole charge of organising their weddings

Extreme Cake Makers season 1 Documentary series following elite bakers and sugar-craft specialists

Extreme Chocolate Makers season 1 Chocolatiers from around the UK design and make amazing chocolate on commission

The Fall All three series of the hit crime drama starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan are coming on Netflix

Friday Night Dinner season 5 The fifth and second most recent series of the popular sitcom has been added

The Governor Nigerian political series gets its debut a month after originally planned

Meet the Parents season 1Reality game show hosted by Alex Zane

Nagi-Asu: a Lull in the Sea season 1 The first series of the coming-of-age anime series about five friends who have looked after Manaka since they were children

The Next Step season 6Drama series following young dancers at the Next Step Dance Studio

Operation Ouch! Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken hosts the CBBC medical series for children

Super Monsters: the New Class Animated kids show about a group of preschool kids, whose parents are the worlds most famousmonsters

Toradora! season 1 Slice-of-life anime series

Plus older films arriving on, or returning to, the platform:

American History X (1998)American Pie Presents Band Camp (2008)Blade: Trinity (2004)Breaking Dawn Part One (2011)Breaking Dawn Part Two (2012)Breaking the Bank (2014)Brick Mansions (2014)Bulletproof (1996)The Call (2013)Childs Play 2 (1990)The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)Deep Impact (1998)Duplicity (2009)Eclipse (2010)Flipped (2010)George A Romeros Land of the Dead (2005)Gringo (2018)The Guys (2002)How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)The Imitation Game (2014)Jackass Number Two (2006)jackass presents: Bad Grandpa .5 (2014)Jackass 3.5 (2011)jackass 2.5 (2007)Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)The Judge (2014)The Mask (1994)New Moon (2009)The Nightingale (2018)Open Season (2006)Out of Sight (1998)Pee-wees Big Adventure (1985)Rise of the Legend (2018)Rumor Has It (2005)The Saint (1997)Seed of Chucky (2004)Sex and the City 2 (2010)Tammy (2014)Twilight (2008)Wheres the Money (2017)

ConnectedNew documentary series in which science journalist Latif Nasser investigates the ways in which we are connected to each other, the world and the universe

Immigration Nation Limited series taking a look at US immigration

Malibu Rescue: the Next WaveFamily comedy in which Team Flounder takes to the beach to host and unexpectedly compete in the International Beachmaster Competition

The Peanut Butter Falcon Film starring Shia LaBeouf about a man who runs away from a residential nursing home to pursue his dream of becoming a pro wrestler

A Toot-Toot Cory Carson Summer Camp Animated kids special

Mystery Lab Felipe Castanhari explores science, history, mysteries and marvels, and uncovers amazing facts

Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning New stand-up special from the comedian and Saturday Night Live writer

Anelka: Misunderstood Documentary about the career and controversial legacy of the former France international striker

Worlds Most Wanted season 1 New documentary series profiling criminals who have evaded capture

Danger Close: the Battle of Long Tan Australian war movie about the eponymous battle that took place during the Vietnam War

Nasha Natasha Documentary about Natalia Oreiro, a Uruguayan singer and actress

The Rain season 3 The third and final season of the Danish post-apocalyptic series

The Seven Deadly Sins season 4 The fourth run of the popular anime, which has a different studio behind it than previously

Action Point Comedy film starring Johnny Knoxville as the owner of an amusement park with dangerous rides and no safety measures

Berlin, Berlin: Lolle on the Run German film sequel to a hit TV series of the same name

High Seas season 3 The third run of the Spanish period mystery drama about unexplained deaths on a luxurious ship in 1940

The Magic School Bus Rides Again Kids in Space The Magic School Bus children blast into orbit and onto the International Space Station

Nailed It! Mexico season 2The return of the baking competition from the Latin American country

The New Legends of Monkey season 2 Second run of the Australian/New Zealand series based on the 70s Japanese production Monkey

Selling Sunset season 3 Third season of the hit reality series about estate agents selling glamorous houses in the Hollywood Hills

Superfly 2018 reboot of the 70s film of the same name

Tiny Creatures season 1 Nature series in which little animals embark on big adventures across the US

Upgrade Horror film based around a technophobe who suffers paralysis and loses his wife during an attack

Wizards: Tales of ArcadiaLimited series, focusing on modern wizards who find themselves thrust into the world of Camelot

Work It Original comedy film about a brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into her late fathers alma mater by transforming herself and a misfit squad into dance champions

Word Party Songs season 1 Childrens music series

Serial Killer with Piers Morgan The journalist and broadcaster interviews some of the most dangerous convicts in America (ITV series)

Game On: a Comedy Crossover EventSpecial event featuring faces from series The Big Show Show, Family Reunion, Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love and Mr Iglesias

Rob Schneider: Asian Momma, Mexican KidsStand-up special from the former Saturday Night Live star

Green Leaf season 5 Fifth outing for the drama series about the Greenleaf family, which runs the sprawling Memphis megachurch Calvary Fellowship World Ministries

(Un)Well season 1 Docuseries investigating the lucrative wellness industry

Dirty John season 2 Second instalment of the true crime anthology series that explores the theme of love gone wrong

Fe@rlessAnimated family comedy movie about a teen gamer forced into becoming a babysitter

The Great Heist (El Robo Del Siglo) season 1 Series based on the 1994 robbery of US$33 million from Colombias central bank

Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun Feature-length special from the popular CBeebies series

Project Power Original blockbuster starring Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon Levitt about a world where it is possible to take a pill that gives the user them super powers for five minutes

Teenage Bounty Hunters season 1 Twin-sister college students lead double lives as bounty hunters in this teen crime drama series

3% season 4Fourth outing for the futuristic thriller series in which the elite inhabit an island paradise far from the crowded slums, and people get one chance to join the 3% saved from squalor

Jackass: the Movie (2002) Johnny Knoxville heads a crew of stuntmen, skateboarders and all-around lunatics as they prank, embarrass and torture each other in the name of fun

Ojos in dHouse season 1 The popular Nigerian sitcom arrives on Netflix

Rita season 5 Fifth run for the Danish comedy drama

Takki season 1 Saudi Arabian drama about themonarchy and strictWahabbism of the country

Glitch Techs season 2 Second run for the Nickelodeon series in which two teens who work at a video game store also hunt video game monsters

High Score Science and nature documentary limited series

Great Pretender season 1 Japanese anime comedy crime caper

John Was Trying to Contact Aliens Documentary film about John Shepherd, a man who spent more than three decades attempting to get in touch with aliens

Alien TV season 1 Goofy kids comedy

Lucifer season 5A Hugely popular series about the eponymous demon who returns from hell to reside in Los Angeles and run a club

Rust Valley Restorers season 3Return of the Canadian documentary series in which retro cars are revamped, in search of a profit

The SleepoverComedy film in whichtwo siblings learn their overprotective mom is a highly trained former thief abducted for one last job and only they can save her

Trinkets season 2 Second series of the teen drama about a grieving teenager who finds an unexpected connection with two classmates at her new high school

Rising Phoenix Documenting the origins of the Paralympic Games

Aggretusko season 3 Third outing for the Japanese anime musical comedy

Cobra Kai The first two seasons of the martial arts series

Unknown Origins Spanish language sci-fi film about two cops who team up with comic book nerds to hunt down a killer

Check out our lists of the best TV shows on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide

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Whats new on Netflix in August 2020 all the shows and movies coming soon - RadioTimes

San Antonio Vies to Be Home of New U.S. Space Command – GovTech

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

(TNS) San Antonio is in the hunt to be the new home of U.S. Space Command.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Wednesday the city has survived the initial cut as the Air Force seeks a headquarters for the command, which is now in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Governors from 26 states nominated cities to host the command, which is part of U.S. Space Force.

Nirenberg, who said he learned of the development last weekend, didnt know how many cities were originally in the contest or how many had made the cut, but he said Houston and Fort Worth also had been nominated by Gov. Greg Abbott.

He said San Antonio was a natural fit for the command because of its quality of life, highly skilled work force that includes military personnel transitioning to civilian life, large veterans community, and specialists who work in space-related fields.

We have the largest presence of cyber and intelligence capabilities outside of the national capital region, Nirenberg said. And we have a public-private military and civilian infrastructure thats required, including medical and military support networks, housing, transportation and veteran services, as well as electric, water, gas and telecommunications that are all critically important. And not to mention the proximity to our key allies in North America and the presence of significant private space flight technology thats underway.

Space Force was established in December and is the space warfare branch of the armed forces. One of eight uniformed services, it was created with the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and will be stood up over the next 18 months.

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Wednesday a release announcing criteria for cities seeking to host Space Command was sent out May 15. She said the Air Force had entered the evaluation phase of the selection process and that it would select candidates in mid- to late- November.

A decision is expected in January.

We expect to select the preferred location in January 2021, Stefanek said. Colorado Springs, Colorado, remains the location for the provisional headquarters for U.S. Space Command headquarters until a permanent headquarters location is selected and facilities are ready in approximately six years.

Space Force headquarters is in the Pentagon, as is the case for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, with Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs serving as the provisional home of the command as the search continues.

San Antonio is already home to several major commands. They include the Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, and Army North, Army South, and the Armys Installation Management Command, all at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.

2020 the San Antonio Express-News, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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San Antonio Vies to Be Home of New U.S. Space Command - GovTech

Even though your heart may grow haughty – The Jewish Star

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

By Rabbi David Etengoff

The Torah is an incredibly rich work of interwoven thoughts and ideas. While this is true in general, I believe it is particularly the case regarding Sefer Devarim. Our parasha, Eikev, contains a telling example of this interconnectedness in the four pasukim juxtaposed to the mitzvah of Birkat Hamazon:

Heshamer lecha pen tishkach et Hashem Elokecha (be careful that you do not forget G-d your L-rd), not keeping His commandments, decrees, and laws, which I am prescribing to you today; you may then eat and be satisfied, building fine houses and living in them; your herds and flocks may increase, and you may amass much silver and gold, everything you own may increase. Vrahm lvavecha vshachachta et Hashem Elokecha (but your heart may then grow haughty, and you may forget G-d your L-rd), the One who brought you out of the slave house that was Egypt. (Devarim 8:11-14)

This passage presents us with a key exegetical question, namely, what is the nature of the phrase, vrahm lvavecha vshachachta et Hashem Elokecha? Is it a straightforward description of a possible, or even probable, result of Hashem bestowing His largesse upon us, or is it something more?

We are fortunate that the Babylonian sage, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, addresses this question in Talmud Bavli, Sotah 5a: From where [in the Torah] do we find the azhara (warning against arrogant behavior)? Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said, From here: vrahm lvavecha vshachachta. Moreover, it is written, Heshamer lecha pen tishkach et Hashem Elokecha (be careful that you do not forget G-d your L-rd). [We must interpret this expression] in accordance with Rabbi Elai, for Rabbi Abin said in the name of Rabbi Elai: Every instance wherein the Torah states heshamer, pen and al must always be interpreted as a negative Torah prohibition.

Acareful reading of Rav Nachman bar Yitzchaks statement in conjunction with his advocacy of Rav Elais position yields the following conclusion: Since vrahm lvavecha vshachachta et Hashem Elo-kecha is preceded by heshamer lecha pen tishkach et Hashem Elokecha, the phrase, but your heart may then grow haughty, is, in reality, a mitzvat lo taaseh, a negative prohibition of the Torah. As such, vrahm lvavecha is far more than a narration of the potential outcome of our becoming wealthy; rather, it is a lav, an action forbidden by the Torah.

We are now in a strong position to understand Chazals powerful denunciation of this negative behavioral attribute:

R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: Every man in whom there is haughtiness of spirit is as though ovede avodat kokavim (he worships idols). R. Johanan himself said: He is as though kafar bikar (he has denied the fundamental principle) [of Hashems very existence]. R. Hama b. Hanina said: He is as though he has broken all the laws of forbidden intimacy. Ulla said: He is as though he has erected an idolatrous altar. Talmud Bavli Sotah 4b.

n his Mishneh Torah, the Rambam follows Rav Nachman bar Yitzchaks view in his discussion of behavioral and halachic issues surrounding vrahm lvavecha:

There are behavioral traits regarding which a man is forbidden to follow the middle path. He should move away from one extreme and adopt the other. Among these is arrogance. Our Sages directed: Hold oneself very, very lowly. Also, they declared: Whoever is arrogant is as if he denied G-ds presence, as it states in the Torah: And your heart will be haughty and you will forget G-d, your L-rd. Furthermore, they said: Whoever is arrogant should be placed under a ban of ostracism. This applies even if he is only somewhat arrogant. (Hilchot Deot, II, 3.

Beyond a doubt, we should reject behaviors associated with the prohibition of vrahm lvavecha and, as the Rambam says, move away from one extreme and adopt the other, that is, anavah (humility).

We are fortunate that the Ramban, in his celebrated Iggeret HaRamban, gives us ready guidance as to how to undertake this process: Therefore, I will now explain to you how to always behave humbly. Speak gently at all times with your heart focusing on Hashem. In all your actions, words and thoughts, always regard yourself as standing before Hashem, with His Schechinah above you, for His glory fills the whole world. Speak with fear and awe, as a servant standing before his master. Act with restraint in front of everyone. When someone calls you, dont answer loudly, but gently and softly, as one who stands before his master.

Two salient points emerge in this section of the Iggeret HaRamban that can guide us in our efforts to acquire anavah: Our encounters with others should reflect respect, and our minds and hearts should be focused upon Hashem with the conscious recognition that we ever stand before His Divine Presence.

With the Almightys help and our fervent desire, as we follow the Rambans guidance and act with anavah, may we simultaneously fulfill the verse, And you shall do what is proper and good in the eyes of the L-rd. (Devarim 6:18)

Shabbat Shalom, and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and from all the nations of the world. Vchane yihi ratzon.

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Even though your heart may grow haughty - The Jewish Star

Tyranny, loss and leadership: What’s on MIFF’s menu – The Age

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

DAU. NATASHA

The breadth, ambition and sheer hubris of the Dau project is mind-boggling. Originally conceived as a conventional biopic of Nobel Prize-winning Soviet scientist Lev Landau by director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, it eventually sprawled to become a round-the-clock immersive drama project that continued for two years in a purpose-built replica Soviet restricted-access scientific institute in the Ukraine. Most of the performers are non-actors, although visitors famous in their own fields of art or science or infamous, in the case of the Russian white supremacist who plays a Nazi or the ex-KGB interrogator who reprises his old job in one of DAU. Natashas most disturbing scenes provide discussions of string theory, experimental weapons and the Talmud. So far, the project has yielded a dozen feature-length films, a TV series and a high-volume debate about its ethics and Khrzhanovskiys supposed cult of personality. DAU. Natasha, which centres on the two women working in The Institutes canteen, certainly runs close to the bone with its unsimulated sex scenes and endless, equally unsimulated drinking sessions. That said, Natalia Berezhnaya a market trader in real life is riveting as her namesake, the poignantly ageing title character, while The Institute is sinister as only real-life tyranny can be. SB

THIS IS NOT A BURIAL, ITS A RESURRECTION

The 40-year-old Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese may be the first significant filmmaker to hail from Lesotho, an enclaved country within the borders of South Africa, or at least the first to make an impact on the international scene. Based in Berlin, he returned home to shoot this experimental feature about an aged widow (Mary Twala Mhlongo) whose son is killed in a mining accident and who then must grapple with a second blow the forced relocation of her mountain village to make way for a proposed dam. How do I account for my distrust of this highly accomplished film? Perhaps its simply that it contains everything a sophisticated festival audience might be looking for: magic realism, anti-capitalist politics, folk spirituality, modern disjunctures, striking landscapes, rich colours, careful sound design, bursts of ethereal or abrasive music, tableau compositions in a square aspect ratio, and a simulation of 16-millimetre film grain which is persuasive at least on the small screen. Mosese knows the score, and if you want to see what todays model of cutting-edge cinema looks like, you could do far worse. JW

Tyranny, loss and leadership: What's on MIFF's menu - The Age

Our community together apart – The Australian Jewish News

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

I HAVE been davening from an empty building since March. Day in, day out, as I walk through our cavernous main sanctuary, the silence never fails to shock me gone are the congregants greeting each other, the sounds of excited children and quiet prayers as individuals wrap themselves in their tallits.

Yet while I am leading services facing an empty room, I know that in reality I am facing hundreds of participants as they beam our bimah into their living rooms. While we may not be able to hear one another, to kiss the Torah or to tear and pass around the challah, we are still together.

When the first lockdown began, TBI pulled our resources together to honour the Warsaw ghettos Rabbi Isaac Nissenbaums idea of Kiddush Ha-Hayyim, doing everything we can to ensure we live full Jewish lives. Rabbi Nissenbaum wrote: In the past our enemies demanded our soul and the Jew sacrificed his body in sanctifying Gods name. Now the enemy demands the body of the Jew. That makes it imperative for the Jew to defend it and protect it.

While missing out on attending services in person is not easy, we need to do all that we can to not only safeguard life pikuach nefesh but to make sure that our people and our tradition thrive.

To honour Kiddush Ha-Hayyim, TBI moved our classes online and established for the first time in 90 years a daily Maariv service. We created a phone tree to regularly check in on our most vulnerable congregants and accelerated our take them a meal home cooking delivery program. We had already been broadcasting our services to the world wide web for several years. To these, we added a Torah cam, which allows people watching to see the scroll as it is being leyned, and a digital Siddur for those who dont have a prayerbook at home.

We have continued to mark simchas physically distanced brit milah and virtual baby namings. With our existing Pop Up Shabbat infrastructure, we have been able to bring Torah to Bnei Mitzvah families homes with our portable Ark. We have had grandparents Zoom in for aliyot, and family members as far away as London able to lead the Prayer for Israel during the service.

Daniel Jenshel wrote in The AJN recently that shules really should be referred to as community centres. While I cannot see TBIs community from the bimah anymore, COVID-19 has simply revealed to us what was already there a thriving community of care. We are not just those who enter the bricks and mortar, we are congregants who call each other to offer support, who meet for weekly conversations about Talmud, who sing with our Cantor, who recite Mi Sheiberach together, and who rally to support the vulnerable. We still greet each other Shabbat Shalom or Gut Shabbes, but this is through YouTube and Facebook as people interact with our video broadcasts.

As this lockdown extends into September, TBI have developed a comprehensive High Holy Day plan with the theme yachad, together heart to heart. Through the developments we have made to our online services, congregants will be able to receive honours and participate through Zoom. We will host services for Tots and young families, are collaborating with other congregations to ensure our program is as exciting as possible, and we will have sermons available separately from service for anyone who wants to listen. This program will allow us to welcome 5781 together while staying apart connecting heart to heart!

Our way of life has been turned on its head. Yet in this mess, our community has emerged clearer and stronger than before. From hundreds of homes, across Australia, we are tuned in together, learning, sharing, praying and belonging.

Truly this is a blessing amongst this crisis.

Rabbi Gersh Lazarow is senior rabbi of Temple Beth Israel.

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Our community together apart - The Australian Jewish News

First lesbian woman to be appointed to Tel Aviv’s religious council – The Jerusalem Post

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

A religious lesbian woman is set to be appointed to Tel Aviv's religious council next week, marking the first time that a lesbian has sat on the council, Yedidot Ahronot reported.

Abigail Sperber, 47, a mother of two and founder of the LGBT religious women's organization Bat Kol, is expected to be appointed next week to Tel Aviv's religious council pending a vote at a meeting set for Monday.

The religious council is responsible on behalf of the municipality for providing religious services, such as marriage, overseeing the kosher food industry, mikvas, Shabbat, synagogues, Jewish cultural events and more.

By being appointed, Sperber intends to close the gap between religious and LGBT identities, and help LGBT people who, regardless of their level of observance, are still Jewish and have religious needs.

"I would love to be there and I believe that they approached me because I am religious and feel the need to represent the religious needs of LGBT people. I'm sure that even in the religious council, they will understand that LGBT people also have religious needs and are not against the religious, but rather the opposite," she told Yedidot Ahronot.

She added that by closing the gap, she also hopes to be there for LGBT people who may not be particularly observant but still have religious needs as well, such as "converting children born in surrogacy or adoption abroad."

When Sperber told her family about her upcoming appointment, they reminded her that her grandfather was a member of the Council of Torah Scholars. "Everything is connected and I continue on the path that he created," she said.

City Council member Itai Pinkas-Arad (Meretz) is responsible for bringing forth Sperber's name to the council.

"Abigail is part of the Orthodox community in Israel and her joining the council is very exciting for us. The religious LGBT community has a voice and is an integral part of the religious community. I am sure she will have a positive effect on religious services in Tel Aviv, regardless of the LGBT issue," he added.

First lesbian woman to be appointed to Tel Aviv's religious council - The Jerusalem Post

Parashat Ekev: A different kind of theology – The Jerusalem Post

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

This weeks Torah portion, Ekev, is part of Mosess long speech given before the nation only days before he parted from them. In this speech, Moses transitions from a historical survey of their 40 years of wandering through the desert to directives and guidance on how the people should build their national and private lives in the land they are about to enter, the Promised Land, the Land of Israel.Here are his words: Behold, to the Lord your God belong the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, the earth and all that is on it.... For the Lord your God is God of gods and the Lord of the lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, Who will show no favor, nor will He take a bribe. He executes the judgment of the orphan and widow, and He loves the stranger, to give him bread and clothing. You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Deuteronomy 10:14-19).At first reading, it looks like Moses is jumping from one topic to another. First, he talks about the infinite and inconceivable power of God, and then he moves on to talk about God acting in accordance with moral values that obligate us the Jewish nation as well.The Talmudic sage Rabbi Yohanan discerned the connection between these two topics. Rabbi Yohanan said: Wherever you find a reference in the Bible to the might of the Holy One, blessed be He, you also find a reference to His humility. Evidence of this is written in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, and stated a third time in the Writings. It is written in the Torah: For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, and it is written immediately afterward: He executes the judgment of the fatherless and widow (Megillah 31).Rabbi Yohanan sees this principle as a phenomenon that repeats itself. Gods strength and power are inextricably connected to His humility, and to the moral values of compassion, justice, and benefiting others.This principle reflects a theological concept that characterizes Jewish faith: Reality is not happenstance; occurrences are not coincidental, neither the global ones nor the national or personal ones. What happens in the world is for a reason, and the reason is good. The power that runs reality is not apathetic to moral issues. Goodness rules, and no control is given to any purpose other than justice.We can see a beautiful expression of this concept in the prayer Nishmat kol hai (The soul of every living thing), which is recited during the Shacharit service on Shabbat. In this prayer, we express amazement about Gods power and greatness. Who is like You, O God? And here, a person is likely to ask himself: What amazes me? What excites my spirit?Lets look at the way the prayer is phrased: Who is like You, O God, Who delivers the poor from one that is too strong for him, the poor and the defenseless from one who would rob him. And again the cry of wonder: Who is like You, who is equal to You, and who can be compared to You, O great, strong and awesome God, God Most High, the Owner of heaven and earth?!Two connected exclamations. One exclaims wonder about morality and compassion, and the other about Gods power. Judaism believes that these two exclamations go together: Goodness rules the world.The practical implication of this theological perspective is far-reaching. Firstly, the understanding that power and control should not be disconnected from morality. Secondly, the belief that reality is striving for, and marching toward, moral goodness, and is providing man with hope and trust in good deeds. Indeed, justice does have a chance of winning!Judaism believes that theology is not research of the divine, but a message that is directed to humanity. Faith calls upon us to act in a certain way. Love the stranger, Love your fellow as yourself these are the implications of the commandment And you shall love God, your God.!The writer is rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites.

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Parashat Ekev: A different kind of theology - The Jerusalem Post

Remembering The Wall (Part II) – The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Last week, we discussed two words for wall: chomah and kir. This week, we discuss four more: shur, cheil, chayitz, and kotel.

Shur in the sense of wall only appears in a handful of places in the Bible (Genesis 49:22, II Samuel 22:30, Psalms 18:30, and possibly Jeremiah 5:10 and Job 24:11).

Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814) traces this word to the two-letter shin-reish, which means focal point. Thus shar/sharer (umbilical cord), the focal point that connects a fetus to its mother; shor (ox) whose main strength lies in its torso, thus placing a focus on its navel area; shoresh (root), the focal point of a plants growth; yashar (straight), a straight line being the fastest and shortest way to reach a specific focal point; and shir (song), a poetic composition that centers around one specific point.

Rabbi Pappenheim writes that shur in the sense of seeing (see Numbers 23:8 and Job 35:5) is also derived from the root shin-reish because, unlike the other senses, the sense of sight can focus on a specific point and is not forced to take in everything at once.

Related words are teshurah (tribute), a special gift given to somebody who greets (i.e., sees) a dignitary, nesher (eagle), a bird that can see far distances, and sheirut (service), the duty of one who oversees his masters needs. (Alternatively, sheirut is called thus because a servant straightens out household affairs or remains straightforward and steadfast to his bosss wishes.)

Rabbi Pappenheim suggests two ways of connecting shur in the sense of wall to the primary meaning of shin-reish:

1) It is related to yashar and refers specifically to a straight wall (as opposed to a chomah, which encircles a city).

2) It is related to shur (seeing) and refers to a tall wall that is used as a lookout post.

Another word for wall is cheil. Rabbi Pappenheim writes that this word derives from the biliteral root chet-lammed, which denotes circular movement and the empty space within a circumscribed circle. Accordingly, he believes cheil means a short wall that surrounds a taller wall. The cheil thus creates an empty space between the two walls that serves as a sort of no-mans-land.

Rabbi Pappenheim supports this explanation by citing the Mishnah (Middos 2:3), which refers to the space between the walls of the Temple Mount and the actual Temple building (i.e., the Womens Courtyard) as the cheil.

The Talmud (Pesachim 86a) characterizes a chomah and a cheil as a shura and a barshura (a wall and the son of a wall), respectively. According to Rashi, a chomah is an exterior wall while a cheil is a shorter wall within the chomah (thus resembling a small son overshadowed by his bigger father).

The Radak seems unsure whether a cheil is a wall outside a chomah or inside a chomah. He suggests that cheil perhaps doesnt mean wall altogether and denotes instead a moat on the outskirts of a chomah.

Another word for wall, chayitz, is a hapax legomenon because it appears only once in the entire Bible (Ezekiel 13:10). Ibn Janach writes that the yud is in place of an additional tzadi, so its root is really chet-tzadi-tzadi, which means to partition. Rabbi Pappenheim understands chayitz to be an offshoot of the root chet-tzadi, which means dividing or splitting something into two parts.

Other words derived from this root include chatzi (half), chazot (midday or midnight), chutz (outside/exterior), and cheitz (arrow). Rabbi Pappenheim theorizes that chayitz specifically refers to a wall that divides one area/domain into two and is thus synonymous with the Mishnaic mechitzah (see Bava Basra 1:1). However, Rabbi Moshe Zacuto (1625-1697) in Kol HaRamaz (to Sheviis 3:8) writes that chayitz specifically denotes a flimsy partition, while mechitzah can apply to any sort of partition or divider.

Finally, we arrive at the word kotel. This word only appears three times in the Bible: once in Hebrew in Song of Songs (2:9) and twice as the Aramaic cognate ktal (Daniel 5:5 and Ezra 5:8). It more commonly appears in the Targumim as an Aramaic translation of kir (see, for example, the Targum to Leviticus 1:15 and Joshua 2:15).

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Remembering The Wall (Part II) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Tales Told to Tevye – The New Yorker

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

This is the fifth story in this summers online Flash Fiction series. You can read the entire series, and our Flash Fiction stories from previous years, here.

In memoriam Rabbi Aharon Eliezer Ceitlin, 1953-2015

Reb Lev told the story on Purim, when you are supposed to get so drunk that you cant distinguish the hero from the villain in the Book of Esther.

Prayer, he said, is the sweetness of life, and to be able to pray, even when they arrest you with only clothes on your back and put you in dungeon in old Soviet Union near Minsk, is a miracle.

In prison were hoodlums, the worst scum, Jews among them who had renounced study of Torah and strayed from path of the righteous. In a corner apart I stood. It was Yom Kippur, most sacred of days. From memory I prayed the Kol Nidre in the evening and Shacharis in the morning but stumbled in the Musaf prayer that says all men are true believers. I looked around and thought, These hoodlums and crooks, surely they are not true believers.

From there they sent us to Vorkutlag concentration camp a hundred miles above Arctic Circle in East. I stood in my prayer shawl, closed my eyes, and shook gently back and forth, davening, when a strange man, a giant Uzbek with a big mustache and rugged face, came over to me and said, Reb Lev, you are praying, are you not? How did he know I was praying? But he knew, and he knew my name was Lev. Who was he?

Reb Lev, he said, I am also a Jewnamed after our patriarch Avrahambut raised in Communist state, and I do not know Hebrew except what my grandfather taught me: the Modeh Ani. And here is Yom Kippur and I must fast. May I pray with you?

Here he paused to take a sip of Covenant Neshama Proprietary Red (OU Kosher) 2015 ruby-red wine, while others of us drank the Barkan Pinot Noir or the same winerys Chardonnay.

You want to know how he prayed? He prayed by saying the Modeh Ani once and then twice and then again in a constant murmur.

And there, among the crooks, the hoodlums, the gangsters, I prayed, and understood for first time the Musaf prayer. All men are true believers, women, too, and worthy of the blessings of the Lord.

And therefore every morning, upon waking, I think of that blessed Uzbek oaf when I say the Modeh Ani and offer thanks to the living and eternal King, who has mercifully restored my soul within me.

The three rabbis were asked to sum up Judaism in a single sentence or Biblical verse.

Rabbi Baruch chose the first sentence of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And the people thought, Yes, that must be right. God is the creator of all things. To recognize Hashem is the first commandment.

The illustrious Ben Zoma chose the ShmaHear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is Onebecause that is what the martyrs uttered at the last moment. It was what Rabbi Akiva said when they tortured him. It was said by Jacob upon meeting his son Joseph after many years.

And the people thought, Surely, that is the correct answer. And consider the precedents that Ben Zoma wisely cited.

Then it was the Vilna Gaons turn. He said the others had spoken well but the true answer was this: the command to bring to the temple two lambs each day as an offering to the Lord, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The effect of this statement was immediate. The other two rabbis stood on their feet and declared that the Vilna Gaon was right and had won the competition. The unanimous decision was applauded by all in attendance.

Rabbi Biegeleisen explained that to summarize Judaism in a single sentence or verse was nonsense. It was, he said, like supposing you could master the Talmud while standing on one foot. It was an act of chutzpah, of disrespect.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Biegeleisen said, the Vilna Gaon treated the questioner seriously. To such a questioner, lacking in tact or seriousness, or maybe just too young to know better, the affirmation of God as the creator, the sole Lord of Israel, was not sufficient. It was the easy part. The command to bring to the temple two lambs each day as an offering to the Lord, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, indicates what is required. A sacrifice, every day, twice a day.

Rabbi Biegeleisen was the most revered of all the rebbes in Vysotsk. Though loath to interrupt his daily schedule, which was as famously rigid as Immanuel Kants, he left for Odessa when word reached him of the uprising against the new rabbi there, Rabbi Simcha, who was considered too strict in demanding observance of all the major festivals and fast days.

When Rabbi Biegeleisen spoke at the Odessa synagogue, the people in attendance were skeptical, but he won them over. He argued that Rabbi Simchas policies were indeed strictpossibly too strict. After all, he told the congregants, look at all the other obligations in your life. How could you be expected to break the day into three parts, for morning and afternoon and evening prayers? The congregants liked what they heard.

Then he said he had to end his talk for the day but would speak again on the morrow.

This time, every seat in the synagogue was taken. There was even a line to get in. And it was now that Rabbi Biegeleisen reversed himself, repudiated all that he had implied on the previous day, and said that our sages should not be doubted. And even though Rabbi Simcha had white hair and a white beard so that he looked like a man of seventy when he was only thirty-nine years old, yet he was a sage! A sage! He had sacrificed two sheep to the Lord each day of the year. When he said the Modeh Ani, he saved the millions for whom he spoke.

This happened in the month of Elul, just weeks before Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Biegeleisen produced a shofar. Why, he thundered, is the shofar crooked? No one said a word. To teach us humility, said Rabbi Biegeleisen.

Not an eye in the house was dry by the time he finished. The congregants left the temple and walked to the house where Rabbi Simcha lived. From the window he saw them coming and wondered whether they had come to lynch him.

Please forgive us, said the self-appointed spokesman for the group. And Rabbi Simcha forgave them. And months went by before the next popular rebellion.

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Tales Told to Tevye - The New Yorker

Beyond: Dilhan Eryurt and the Formation of the Sun – Astrobites

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

When Dilhan Ezer Eryurt (1926 2012) arrived at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 1961, she became the first Turkish astronomer to work at NASA and the only woman at the center. In a decade filled with the scientific and technical build-up to putting men on the moon, Eryurt was hardly the only woman whose story was drowned out. Even today, it is difficult to find more than a biographical sketch about the woman whose contributions to heliophysics were monumental and who garnered a status as an international astronomy ambassador.

In her seven years at Goddard, Eryurt changed the understanding of pre-main sequence stellar evolution. A particularly powerful paper of hers was published in 1963 and is summarized below as part of todays Beyond post. By providing more accurate models of the early Sun, Eryurt helped NASA scientists predict the conditions of the lunar surface more accurately, earning her the prestigious Apollo Achievement Award in 1969.

Eryurts contributions to science hardly ended when she left Goddard. Upon returning to Turkey, she was a leading voice in convincing the Turkish government to establish a national observatory. She organized the first National Astronomy Congress in 1968. She founded the Astrophysics division at Middle East Technical University in 1973, later becoming Chair of the Physics Department and Dean of the Faculty. In time, she gained the reputation mother of Astronomy in Turkey.

On July 20, she was celebrated with a Google Doodle on the 51st anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Title: The Early Evolution of the Sun

Authors: Dilhan Ezer [Eryurt] and A. G. W. Cameron

First Authors Institution: Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA

Status: Published in Icarus (1963), closed access

One of the first coherent theories on how gravitationally contracting protostars evolve was proposed in a 1955 paper by Louis Henyey. The simplified model assumed that the protostar is in radiative equilibrium as it collapses, meaning that the gravitational potential energy liberated by contraction is all converted into heat and light. As contraction continues (shown in Figure 1), the Henyey model found that the protostar would increase luminosity until the core becomes dense enough to ignite nuclear fusion. At that point the star joins the main sequence.

In 1961, Chushiro Hayashi published two papers calling into question the Henyey result, because a star in pure radiative equilibrium is not fully stable and would create convection. What Henyey didnt account for, is how heat is trapped by the outer envelope of a star, causing the temperature gradient to get steeper and steeper. At a certain point, the outer layer becomes too unstable and the hot inner regions literally bubble up from below, causing turbulence. The result is a convective layer.

Once a protostar has a convective layer, its luminosity, temperature, and evolution become different than Henyeys theory predicts. Though Hayashis theory was well-received, it still had not been modeled sufficiently for the Sun. This is where Eryurt comes in.

In this paper, Eryurt created a model of protostar gravitational contraction. In fact, it isnt the first time she had built a star model. Her model starts with three equations of stellar structure for mass, pressure, and luminosity. The fourth structure equation, for temperature, depends on whether radiative equilibrium or convective equilibrium applies. The model works with radiative equilibrium and looks for where it is broken, there applying convective equilibrium. Adding in the possibility for deep convection throughout the star was a major improvement over other models.

Another significant improvement as the handling of boundary conditions. The entire calculation of stellar interior can change based on what is assumed at the photosphere (stellar atmosphere). To reproduce conditions in the photosphere, Eryurts model considered many types of particle interactions, as well as radiation absorption, and ionization. Collectively these factors determine solar opacity and improve the reliability of the overall model findings.

Eryurt ran 27 models representing different possible starting conditions for the proto-Sun. Each of these starting conditions is essentially a snapshot in time of an evolving young Sun, so they can be plotted on the Herzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram and connected to form a path. Figure 2 shows the temperature and luminosity of the Sun as it contracted.

The significance of Figure 2 should not be understated: this was the first stellar model that showed that protostars (including the Sun) are significantly more luminous during contraction than when on the main sequence. As they contract, they decrease in luminosity dramatically and only slightly increase in temperature.

This path downward in the H-R diagram is today referred to as the Hayashi track, but it might as well have been named for Eryurt, whose work demonstrated it.

Notice on Figure 2 the few points toward the bottom of the track that turn off the vertical path and move left toward higher temperature. Eryurt was quick to admit that the last two points are likely unphysical but the first two represent something meaningful. At the end of the Hayashi track, a protostar isnt quite ready to begin hydrogen fusion and join the main sequence. It has to get hotter first.

It turns out that Henyey wasnt completely wrong when he proposed that protostars increase in luminosity as they form; that is, the last portion of the Figure 2 track aligns with the tracks in Figure 1. Today we call that the Henyey track, but again, Eryurt was the one whose accurate stellar model rescued the misguided predictions put forth by Henyey.

Though her major discoveries do not bear her name, Dilhan Eryurt made contributions to stellar astrophysics that are prominent in textbooks and the backbone of much of todays work on star formation. Hopefully, we will evolve to better appreciate her contributions toward astronomy (and the contributions of many other women) in addition to her lifes work as an ambassador for science.

About Will SaundersI am a second year Ph.D. student at Boston University, where I study planetary atmospheres. I work with Prof. Paul Withers at BU and Dr. Mike Person at MIT using stellar occultations to measure waves and climatic changes in the atmosphere of Mars. I received my Bachelors in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania. I am also excited about co-hosting the new podcast astro[sound]bites. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Soundcloud, and Spotify. In my free time I enjoy traveling, visiting museums, and tasting new wines.

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Beyond: Dilhan Eryurt and the Formation of the Sun - Astrobites

Whats The Loudest Sound In The Universe? – Gizmodo Australia

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Danzig

The human tolerance for sound is, on a galactic level, puny. Volcano eruptions, jackhammer-intensive construction work, My Bloody Valentine concerts these tinnitus-inducing phenomena are barely whispers besides the majestic, roiling bursts and collisions going on in outer space.

Of course, much of this activity is technically soundlessspaces atmosphere lacks the material that make sound waves possible. So, for Giz Asks, we asked experts in astronomy and astrophysics what the loudest sound would be, if sound as we understand it existed up there. As it turns out, it sometimes does and when it doesnt, we can sometimes convert the relevant emissions to a sound tolerable to our tiny, earthbound ears.

This article was originally published in January 2019.

National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Barbara

As far as Im aware, the Perseus galaxy cluster is the current record holder for the loudest sound discovered in the Universe. Generating sound requires two conditions. First, there must be a medium that the sound waves can travel through, like air or some other gas. Indeed, there is very hot gas that pervades the space between the thousands of galaxies that make up the Perseus galaxy cluster.

This gas shines as X-ray light that we can observe with X-ray telescopes in space, like the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The second condition for sound is a source to actually produce the sound waves. A powerful black hole is at the center of one of these galaxies that make up the Perseus galaxy cluster. Periodically, this black hole ejects an enormous amount of energy into the hot surrounding gas, which transports the energy as sound waves travelling out through the cluster like expanding bubbles.

What makes the sound loud is the ability of the gas to efficiently carry away the energy released by the black hole, which amounts to an energy comparable to 100 million exploding stars! Although this sound from the Perseus galaxy cluster is very loud that is, the amplitude of the sound waves is huge we couldnt actually hear it with our own ears. Thats because the sound corresponds to a B-flat some 57 octaves below middle-C on a piano.

That means it takes about 10 million years for one sound wave to pass by, which is quite a bit longer than youre likely to live even if you exercise regularly and eat healthy.

Astronomer and Professor at the UCO/Lick Observatory at the University of California Santa Cruz

Sound is really a form of energy transmittal, its vibration. The problem is the transmittal of that energy in the form of sound there is no sound in space. But energy gets transmitted in other ways a blast wave from an explosion, for instance. Gamma ray bursts are considered to be the most energetic events in the universetheyre not fully understood, but theyre almost certainly explosions of stars, and they release more energy in 10 seconds than the sun will in its entire ten billion year lifetime.

Professor, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, whose research is focused on Solar, space and plasma physics, MHD waves, linear and non-linear waves

Sound cannot really travel. For sound you need some mediumlike gas, for instance, in the Earths atmosphere and in space that material is very, very rare maybe one atom per cubic kilometer, or less. But that doesnt mean that a big explosion couldnt generate acoustic waves.

Space is filled by plasma, which is the fourth state of matter, the others being (according to our current knowledge) the solid, the liquid and the gas. The universe itself is 99.9% in a plasma state. Its only on Earth that we havent got so much plasma.

In space, there is a magnetic field everywhere. The same is true of Earth, but we dont really feel it. In space, if the magnetic field is not very strong, and there is plasma under these circumstances, sound could propagate.

Stars are continuously bubbling, you could say, through a process called convection. That type of disturbance in the plasma state generates a lot of acoustic waves sound waves. The sun itself does this. Sometimes these acoustic periods can last for hours, sometimes just a few seconds. You could interpret these kinds of acoustic waves as very loud sounds.

The energies involved in the generation of these acoustic waves are billions of billions of billions of times the power of an atomic bomb. The explosions that produce these sounds are absolutely massive you cannot imagine.

Assistant Professor, Theoretical Astrophysics, Caltech

The loudest sound in the universe definitely comes from black hole mergers. In this case the sound comes out in gravitational waves and not ordinary sound waves. As long as the black holes are in the range of roughly 1-100 solar masses (which is the case for black hole mergers recently detected LIGO), the sound is indeed in the human hearing range! These mergers output something like 10^52 Watts of power.

Thats about a billion billion times the energy output of the Sun. If translated to the decibel Watt scale, that equates to something like 520 decibels. That doesnt sound too large but remember the decibel scale is logarithmic, so an increase by 10 decibels is a factor of ten in volume.

Donald Gurnett

Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, whose research is focused on experimental space plasma physics

This isnt a sound, its a radio emissionbut you could convert it to sound.

The signal came back to us as a waveform, and then on the ground we converted it to a sound that you can listen to, and it is very, very loud.

It is something called a heliospheric radio emission. There is a very special radio receiver on the Voyager that covers the frequency range from about 10 kilohertz to 50 kilohertz a very low frequency, well below a car radio, for instance. We detected an intense radio emission, produced out at the boundary between the solar wind (the wind that comes out from the sun, and flows at about a million miles per hour, expanding outward almost to infinity) and the interstellar plasma (called the heliopause) which eventually stops the solar wind.

So there were an intense series of explosions on the sunoften called solar flares in 1991. These sent a shockwave out through the solar system. We detected this shockwave with four spacecraft: Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2. We also detected it when it went by the Earth. It was moving at 600-800 km per second several million miles an hour. I postulated that this radio emission was produced when the shockwave finally reached the the heliopause and ran into the interstellar plasma.

I think this is the most powerful radio emission weve ever detected. In 1995 I quoted the radiated power as 10^13 watts. As far as emissions detected anywhere near our solar system go, it is clearly one of the most intense.

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Whats The Loudest Sound In The Universe? - Gizmodo Australia

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