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800-Gambler – Gambling Problem Hotline in NJ | Gambling …

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Danzig

If you or a loved one struggle with a gambling problem, there is hope. Whether you cannot seem to stop casino gambling in Atlantic City or betting on fantasy sports from the comfort of your home, treatment and support are readily available. The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ) has helped countless people recover from disordered gambling since its inception. By facilitating access to various programs, services, and other resources, we work to educate the public about this disorder and provide aid to anyone who needs it.

Our free hotline 800-GAMBLER gives disordered gamblers and their loved ones confidential assistance 24/7. If you call or text this number, know that you will be treated with compassion and understanding. Reaching out for help signifies bravery and strength not weakness. If you or a loved one struggle with problem gambling, we offer support, treatment, and hope.

When someone contacts our hotline, we present them with several treatment and rehabilitation options that NJ residents can easily access.

Gamblers Anonymous

Our hotline can help people find local Gamblers Anonymous meetings near Freehold, Monmouth, Marlboro Township, or anywhere else in the state. Gamblers Anonymous meetings in New Jersey allow people to develop a supportive network of peers that have all committed to recovery from disordered gambling. Through this 12-step program, problem gamblers share strategies on how to resist their urges while celebrating each others success. Participating in Gamblers Anonymous greatly improves the chance of recovery.

In most cases, a disordered gamblers closest family members experience some emotional turmoil or trauma, as well. These people are also welcome to attend Gam-Anon meetings. By doing so, they often gain an enhanced understanding of disordered gambling and, in the process, become a better ally in their loved ones recovery.

Treatment Providers and In-Patient Facilities

Through our hotline, disordered gamblers can also find professional counselors that can help them stop their problematic behavior. Through therapy, people with this disorder can better understand the underlying factors or motivations that may have led them to behavior like excessive sports gambling in Atlantic City in the first place. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques also help these individuals become more mindful of their thought patterns, giving them more control over their own behavior.

Sometimes, disordered gamblers may feel that they need a serious intervention. In those cases, in-patient facilities can give them the intensive treatment that they require. The patient would live at the facility as they receive structured care and therapy.

Text or Chat Options

Anyone who wants to learn how to stop gambling but would rather not call the hotline can text 800-GAMBLER or chat with a representative online, as well. Whatever your unique needs might be, we seek to accommodate you we only wish to provide help for gambling disorders (sometimes referred to as gambling addiction) in New Jersey to anyone who needs it.

As a private, non-profit organization 501(c)(3), we have dedicated ourselves to helping problem gamblers all throughout NJ. We focus on educating the general public, training professionals throughout the state, referring disordered gamblers and their families to appropriate treatment options, and advocating for increased services to help combat the rate of disordered gambling in the state.

The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey also advises the New Jersey Department of Human Services and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, provides the executive and legislative branches of the state government with relevant data concerning disordered gambling, and offers assistance to private or public agencies in the state per request. The CCGNJ neither opposes nor endorses legalized gambling; however, we may take positions on various issues when they have an impact on the people we are trying to help.

Whether you live in Atlantic City, Freehold, Marlboro Township, Monmouth, or anywhere else in the state, we can help you recover from disordered gambling. Call or text our hotline, 800-GAMBLER, today.

800-Gambler - Gambling Problem Hotline in NJ | Gambling ...

Nano Electron. Sci. & Eng. Lab (NESEL)

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

NESEL is world class research laboratory in the field of fabricating nanoscale devices. In the laboratory, we are growing nanostructures and composite nanostructures of variety of materials in various shapes and characterizing them by several techniques. Further, we are using these nanostructures and composite nanostructures in making several nanoelectronic devices. These devices are nanogenerators, hybrid organic inorganic solar cells, etc.

Energy & Environmental Science Sustainable direct current powering a triboelectric nanogenerator via a novel asymmetrical design

Advanced Materials Point-Defect-Passivated MoS2 Nanosheet-Based High Performance Piezoelectric Nanogenerator

Nature Communications Rewritable ghost floating gates by tunnelling triboelectrification for two-dimensional electronics

Materials Today Piezoelectric properties in two-dimensional materials:Simulations and experiments

Advanced Energy Materials High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Solid Polymer Electrolytes with Asymmetric Pairing of Ions

Advanced Functional Materials High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Electrospun Polyvinylidene FluorideSilver Nanowire Composite Nanofibers

ACS Nano Fully Stretchable Textile Triboelectric Nanogenerator with Knitted Fabric Structures

Angewante Chemie International Edition Nanocrystalline Graphene-Tailored Hexagonal Boron Nitride Thin Film

Nano Energy Understanding and modeling of triboelectric-electret nanogenerator

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Nano Electron. Sci. & Eng. Lab (NESEL)

Resource Based Economy | The Future We Want

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

Solution Description

Modern society has access to highly advanced technology and can make available food, clothing, housing and medical care; update our educational system; and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy. By supplying an efficiently designed economy, everyone can enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities of a high technological society.The term and meaning of a Resource Based Economy was originated by Jacque Fresco. It is a whole factor socio-economic system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival.In a resource-based economy all of the world's resources are held as the common heritage of all of Earth's people, thus eventually outgrowing the need for the artificial boundaries that separate people. This is the unifying imperative. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.

A resource-based economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life, provide a high standard of living for all, universal health care and more relevant education, and most of all by generating a new incentive system based on human and environmental concern.Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body. Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfilment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.By overcoming scarcity, most of the crimes and even the prisons of today's society would no longer be necessary. In a more humane civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine technology would no longer be a threat.With the elimination of debt, the fear of losing one's job will no longer be a threat. This assurance could reduce mental and physical stress and leave us free to explore our abilities.

A resource-based economy would make it possible to use technology to overcome scarce resources by applying renewable sources of energy, computerizing and automating manufacturing and inventory, designing safe energy-efficient cities and advanced transportation systems.There is no profit, there is no PIB. The main figures in an Resource Based Economy are right the resources of the earth, so it is directly relevant to our sustainable activities.Technology intelligently and efficiently applied, conserves energy, reduces waste, and provides more leisure time. With automated inventory on a global scale, we can maintain a balance between production and distribution. Only nutritious and healthy food would be available and planned obsolescence would be unnecessary and non-existent in a resource-based economy.Considerable amounts of energy would also be saved by eliminating the duplication of competitive products such as tools, eating utensils, pots, pans and vacuum cleaners.

At present, we have enough material resources to provide a very high standard of living for all of Earth's inhabitants. Only when population exceeds the carrying capacity of the land do many problems such as greed, crime and violence emerge. The thought of eliminating money still troubles us, consider this: If a group of people with gold, diamonds and money were stranded on an island that had no resources such as food, clean air and water, their wealth would be irrelevant to their survival. It is only when resources are scarce that money can be used to control their distribution. One could not, for example, sell the air we breathe or water abundantly flowing down from a mountain stream. Although air and water are valuable, in abundance they cannot be sold.Money is only important in a society when certain resources for survival must be rationed and the people accept money as an exchange medium for the scarce resources. Money is a social convention, an agreement if you will. It is neither a natural resource nor does it represent one. It is not necessary for survival unless we have been conditioned to accept it as such.

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Resource Based Economy | The Future We Want

Individual – Wikipedia

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or selfhood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly of being a person separate from other people and possessing his or her own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The exact definition of an individual is important in the fields of biology, law, and philosophy.

From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) individual meant "indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, individual indicates separateness, as in individualism.[1]

Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a sane adult human being is usually considered by the state as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual culpability ("I followed instructions"). An individual person is accountable for their actions/decisions/instructions, subject to prosecution in both national and international law, from the time that they have reached age of majority, often though not always more or less coinciding with the granting of voting rights, tax and military duties/ individual right to bear arms (protected only under certain constitutions). In line with hierarchy, ultimate individual human reward for success and responsibility for failure is nonetheless found at the top of human society.

in International law:

in American law:

The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law states: A "natural person" is "A human being as distinguished from person (as a corporation) created by operation of law.[4] A 1910 legal dictionary states: "Individual: As a noun, this term denotes a single person as distinguished from a group or class, and also, very commonly, a private or natural person as distinguished from a partnership, corporation, or association."[5]

Early empiricists such as Ibn Tufail[6] in early 12th century Islamic Spain, and John Locke in late 17th century England, introduced the idea of the individual as a tabula rasa ("blank slate"), shaped from birth by experience and education. This ties into the idea of the liberty and rights of the individual, society as a social contract between rational individuals, and the beginnings of individualism as a doctrine.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel regarded history as the gradual evolution of Mind as it tests its own concepts against the external world.[citation needed] Each time the mind applies its concepts to the world, the concept is revealed to be only partly true, within a certain context; thus the mind continually revises these incomplete concepts so as to reflect a fuller reality (commonly known as the process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis). The individual comes to rise above his or her own particular viewpoint,[citation needed] and grasps that he or she is a part of a greater whole[citation needed] insofar as he or she is bound to family, a social context, and/or a political order.

With the rise of existentialism, Sren Kierkegaard rejected Hegel's notion of the individual as subordinated to the forces of history. Instead, he elevated the individual's subjectivity and capacity to choose his or her own fate. Later Existentialists built upon this notion. Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, examines the individual's need to define his/her own self and circumstances in his concept of the will to power and the heroic ideal of the bermensch. The individual is also central to Sartre's philosophy, which emphasizes individual authenticity, responsibility, and free will. In both Sartre and Nietzsche (and in Nikolai Berdyaev), the individual is called upon to create his or her own values, rather than rely on external, socially imposed codes of morality.

In Buddhism, the concept of the individual lies in anatman, or "no-self." According to anatman, the individual is really a series of interconnected processes that, working together, give the appearance of being a single, separated whole. In this way, anatman, together with anicca, resembles a kind of bundle theory. Instead of an atomic, indivisible self distinct from reality, the individual in Buddhism is understood as an interrelated part of an ever-changing, impermanent universe (see Interdependence, Nondualism, Reciprocity).

Ayn Rand's Objectivism regards every human as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his or her own life, a right derived from his or her nature as a rational being. Individualism and Objectivism hold that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among humans, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members. The principle of individual rights is the only moral base of all groups or associations. Since only an individual man or woman can possess rights, the expression "individual rights" is a redundancy (which one has to use for purposes of clarification in todays intellectual chaos), but the expression "collective rights" is a contradiction in terms. Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).[7][8]

In biology, the question of what is an individual is related to the question of what is an organism, which is an important question in biology and philosophy of biology, but there has been little explicit work devoted to the biological notion of an individual.[9] An individual organism is not the only kind of individual that is considered as a "unit of selection".[9] Genes, genomes, or groups may function as individual units.[9]

Asexual reproduction occurs in some colonial organisms, so that the individuals are genetically identical. Such a colony is called a genet, and an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet. The colony, rather than the individual functions as a unit of selection. In other colonial organisms, the individuals may be closely related to one another, but differ as a result of sexual reproduction.

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Individual - Wikipedia

Unschooling – Wikipedia

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

Unschooling is an educational method and philosophy that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning. Unschooling students learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors, and social interaction. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities initiated by the children themselves, believing that the more personal learning is, the more meaningful, well-understood and therefore useful it is to the child. While courses may occasionally be taken, unschooling questions the usefulness of standard curricula, conventional grading methods, and other features of traditional schooling in the education of each unique child.

The term "unschooling" was coined in the 1970s and used by educator John Holt, widely regarded as the father of unschooling.[2] While often considered a subset of homeschooling, unschoolers may be as philosophically separate from other homeschoolers as they are from advocates of conventional schooling. While homeschooling has been subject to widespread public debate, little media attention has been given to unschooling in particular. Critics of unschooling see it as an extreme educational philosophy, with concerns that unschooled children will lack the social skills, structure, and motivation of their schooled peers, while proponents of unschooling say exactly the opposite is true: self-directed education in a natural environment better equips a child to handle the "real world."[3]

A fundamental premise of unschooling is that curiosity is innate and that children want to learn. From this an argument can be made that institutionalizing children in a so-called "one size fits all" or "factory model" school is an inefficient use of the children's time, because it requires each child to learn specific subject matter in a particular manner, at a particular pace, and at a specific time regardless of that individual's present or future needs, interests, goals, or any pre-existing knowledge he or she might have about the topic.

Many unschoolers believe that opportunities for valuable hands-on, community-based, spontaneous, and real-world experiences may be missed when educational opportunities are limited to, or dominated by, those inside a school building.

Unschoolers note that psychologists have documented many differences between children in the way they learn,[4] and assert that unschooling is better equipped to adapt to these differences.[5]

People vary in their "learning styles", that is, the preference in how they acquire new information. However, research has demonstrated that this preference is not related to increased learning or improved performance.[6] Students have different learning needs. In a traditional school setting, teachers seldom evaluate an individual student differently from other students, and while teachers often use different methods, this is sometimes haphazard and not always with regard to an individual student.[7]

Developmental psychologists note that just as children reach growth milestones at different ages from each other, children are also prepared to learn different things at different ages.[8] Just as some children learn to walk during a normal range of eight to fifteen months, and begin to talk across an even larger range, unschoolers assert that they are also ready and able to read, for example, at different ages, girls usually earlier, boys later. In fact, experts have discovered that natural learning produces far greater changes in behavior than do traditional learning methods, though not necessarily an increase in the amount of information learned.[9] Traditional education requires all children to begin reading at the same time and do multiplication at the same time; unschoolers believe that some children cannot help but be bored because this was something that they had been ready to learn earlier, and even worse, some children cannot help but fail, because they are not yet ready for this new information being taught.[10]

Unschoolers sometimes state that learning any specific subject is less important than learning how to learn.[11] They assert, in the words of Holt:

Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever must be learned.[11]

It is asserted that this ability to learn on their own makes it more likely that later, when these children are adults, they can continue to learn what they need to know to meet newly emerging needs, interests, and goals;[11] and that they can return to any subject that they feel was not sufficiently covered or learn a completely new subject.[11]

Many unschoolers disagree that there is a particular body of knowledge that every person, regardless of the life they lead, needs to possess.[12] Unschoolers argue that, in the words of John Holt, "[I]f [children] are given access to enough of the world, they will see clearly enough what things are truly important to themselves and to others, and they will make for themselves a better path into that world than anyone else could make for them."[13]

Parents of unschoolers provide resources, support, guidance, information, and advice to facilitate experiences that aid their children in accessing, navigating, and making sense of the world.[5] Common parental activities include sharing interesting books, articles, and activities with their children, helping them find knowledgeable people to explore an interest with (anyone from physics professors to automotive mechanics), and helping them set goals and figure out what they need to do to meet their goals. Unschooling's interest-based nature does not mean that it is a "hands off" approach to education. Parents tend to involve themselves, especially with younger children (older children, unless new to unschooling, often need less help finding resources and making and carrying out plans).[5]

Unschooling opposes many aspects of what the dominant culture insists are true. In fact, it may be impossible to fully understand the unschooling philosophy without active participation paired with a major paradigm shift. The cognitive dissonance that frequently accompanies this paradigm shift is uncomfortable. New unschoolers are advised that they should not expect to understand the unschooling philosophy at first.[14] Not only are there many commonplace assumptions about education, there are many unspoken and unwritten expectations. One step towards overcoming the necessary paradigm shift is accepting that, "what we do is nowhere near as important as why we do it."[15]

Unschoolers question schools for lessening the parent/child bond and reducing family time and creating atmospheres of fear, or atmospheres that are not conducive for learning and may not even correspond with later success.

Often those in school have a community consisting mainly of a peer group, of which the parent has little influence and even knowledge. Unschoolers may have time to share a role in their greater community, therefore relating more to older and younger individuals and finding their place within more diverse groups of people. Parents of school children also have little say regarding who their instructors and teachers are, whereas parents of unschoolers may be more involved in the selection of the coaches or mentors their children work with and with whom they build lasting and ongoing relationships.

According to unschooling pioneer John Holt, "...the anxiety children feel at constantly being tested, their fear of failure, punishment, and disgrace, severely reduces their ability both to perceive and to remember, and drives them away from the material being studied into strategies for fooling teachers into thinking they know what they really don't know." Proponents of unschooling assert that individualized, child-led learning is more efficient and respectful of children's time, takes advantage of their interests, and allows deeper exploration of subjects than what is possible in conventional education.

Unschoolers may question the school environment as one that is optimal for daily learning. According to Brain Rules by John Medina, "If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would create something like a classroom...." According to the Victorian Institute of Teaching here: [15]

Others point out that some schools can be non-coercive and cooperative, in a manner consistent with the philosophies behind unschooling.[16] Sudbury model schools are non-coercive, non-indoctrinative, cooperative, democratically run partnerships between children and adults, including full parents' partnership, where learning is individualized and child-led, and complements home education.[16]

Success and schooling also show little correlation according to some studies, and this is a subject for debate. In the United States, school often takes a well-rounded approach that may attempt to compensate for students' weaknesses rather than building upon individual strengths and skills that they will eventually utilize professionally. Further, many highly successful people, including US presidents, scientists, actors, writers, inventors, and educators were home-schooled or dropped out of school, suggesting that education is a matter of curiosity and desire rather than academic achievement.[citation needed]

The term "unschooling" probably derives from Ivan Illich's term "deschooling", and was popularized through John Holt's newsletter Growing Without Schooling. In an early essay, Holt contrasted the two terms:

GWS will say 'unschooling' when we mean taking children out of school, and 'deschooling' when we mean changing the laws to make schools non-compulsory...[17]

At this point the term was equivalent with "home schooling" (itself a neologism). Subsequently, home schoolers began to differentiate between various educational philosophies within home schooling. The term "unschooling" became used as a contrast to versions of home schooling that were perceived as politically and pedagogically "school-like," using textbooks and exercises at home, the same way they would be used at school. In 2003, in Holt's book Teach Your Own (originally published in 1981) Pat Farenga, co-author of the new edition, provided a definition:

When pressed, I define unschooling as allowing children as much freedom to learn in the world as their parents can comfortably bear.[18]

In the same passage Holt stated that he was not entirely comfortable with this term, and that he would have preferred the term "living". Holt's use of the term emphasizes learning as a natural process, integrated into the spaces and activities of everyday life, and not benefiting from adult manipulation. It follows closely on the themes of educational philosophies proposed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Paul Goodman, and A.S. Neill.

At Holt's death the newsletter GWS ceased. Thereafter a range of unschooling practitioners and observers defined the term in various ways. For instance, the Freechild Project defines unschooling as:

the process of learning through life, without formalized or institutionalized classrooms or schoolwork.[19]

New Mexico homeschooling parent Sandra Dodd proposed the term "Radical Unschooling" to emphasize the complete rejection of any distinction between educational and non-educational activities.[20] Radical Unschooling emphasizes that unschooling is a non-coercive, cooperative practice, and seeks to promote those values in all areas of life. These usages share an opposition to traditional schooling techniques and the social construction of schools. Most emphasize the integration of learning into the everyday life of the family and wider community. Points of disagreement include whether unschooling is primarily defined by the initiative of the learner and their control over the curriculum, or by the techniques, methods, and spaces being used.

Unschooling is a form of home education, which is the education of children at home rather than in a school. Home education is often considered synonymous with homeschooling.

Unschooling contrasts with other forms of home education in that the student's education is not directed by a teacher and curriculum. Unschooling is a real-world implementation of "The Open Classroom" methods promoted in the late 1960s and early 1970s, without the school, classrooms or grades. Parents who unschool their children act as facilitators, providing a range of resources, helping their children access, navigate, and make sense of the world, and aiding them in making and implementing goals and plans for both the distant and immediate future. Unschooling expands from children's natural curiosity as an extension of their interests, concerns, needs, goals, and plans.

Concerns about socialization are often a factor in the decision to unschool. Many unschoolers believe that the conditions common in conventional schools, like age segregation, a low ratio of adults to children, a lack of contact with the community, a lack of people in professions other than teachers or school administration, an emphasis on the smarter children, shaming of the failing children, and an emphasis on sitting, create an unhealthy social environment.[21]

Commonly, unschooling is said to broaden the diversity of people or places, which an unschooler may access, while simultaneously noting that, compared to many student populations, unschoolers may be more selective in choosing peer groups, mentors, etc. Unschoolers cite studies that report that home educated students tend to be more mature than their schooled peers,[21][22][23] and some believe this is a result of the wide range of people they have the opportunity to interact with.[24] Opportunities for unschoolers to meet and interact with other unschoolers has increased in recent years, allowing unschoolers to have rich relationships with like minded peers.[25] Critics of unschooling, on the other hand, argue that unschooling inhibits social development by removing children from a ready-made peer group of diverse individuals.[3][26]

Like other forms of alternative education, unschooling is subject to legal restrictions in some countries and is illegal in others.

Unschooling, as a form of homeschooling, is legal in all 50 American states. Each state has its own regulations about unschooling/homeschooling and what they expect home educating families to do. Some states require testing; some don't. Some require a lot of paperwork; some don't. Many states require no contact at all.

Internationally, unschooling is also legal in a variety of countries (including Australia and Canada). However, many countries have laws prohibiting home education in general or have strict restrictions.

Questions about the merits of unschooling raise concerns on its absence of the following qualities, compared to established systems:

There are a few branches of unschooling, one is Worldschooling, in which families travel around the world and learn through traveling and experiencing other cultures. Another version of unschooling, Project-Based Homeschooling, is believed that students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges, problems and projects that they can do in their own time.

Some unschooling families may incorporate the following philosophies into their lifestyles.

Many other forms of alternative education also place a great deal of importance on student control of learning, albeit not necessarily of the individual learner. This includes free democratic schools, like the Sudbury school, Stonesoup School and "open learning" virtual universities.

Migrant crisis: EU leaders plan secure migrant centres …

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

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Secure centres for migrants may be set up in EU states to process asylum claims under a deal reached after marathon talks at a summit in Brussels.

The controlled centres would be set up by EU states on a voluntary basis and migrants whose claims were rejected would be "returned".

Refugees could be resettled in EU states which agreed to take them.

The deal follows weeks of diplomatic wrangling over migrant rescue ships, and which country should take them in.

Coastguard officials said on Friday that around 100 people were thought to have drowned off the Libyan coast, with 14 rescued.

They were found in waters to the east of the capital, Tripoli.

There were no details on which countries might set up the secure centres or take in refugees, but French President Emmanuel Macron said they would be in countries where migrants first arrived in the EU.

"We have struck the right balance between responsibility and solidarity," he said.

Numbers illegally entering the EU have dropped 96% since their 2015 peak, the European Council says.

Italy - the entry point for thousands of migrants, mainly from Africa - had threatened to veto the summit's entire agenda if it did not receive help.

"After this European summit, Europe is more responsible and offers more solidarity," said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "Today Italy is no longer alone."

Other leaders struck a more cautious note.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said more needed to be done to resolve disagreements.

And European Council President Donald Tusk said it was "too early to talk about a success".

"We have managed to reach an agreement in the European Council. But this is in fact the easiest part of the task, compared to what awaits us on the ground when we start implementing it," he told a news conference.

By Adam Fleming, BBC News, Brussels

A few things stand out as wins for Italy's new prime minister. The summit's conclusions now include a statement about the need for boats that pick up migrants in the Mediterranean to respect international law.

But the big one is approval of the concept of closed, secure processing facilities for migrants arriving in the EU. Some say this will make it easier to send back people whose claims for asylum are rejected. Others are already describing them as prisons.

This paragraph is full of caveats, commas and sub-clauses - all the hallmarks of something drafted in the middle of the night.

Another striking pledge is for an ambitious partnership with Africa. That's the EU trying to balance its tough internal approach with a friendly external one, and offering incentives to North African countries to host facilities where migrants can be assessed for resettlement in Europe.

The 28 EU leaders also agreed several other measures:

Mr Conte had earlier taken the rare step of blocking the conclusions of the joint communiqu until the leaders had settled the migration issue. Both Italy and Greece want other countries to share the burden.

However several Central European states have so far rejected an EU scheme to relocate 160,000 refugees from overcrowded camps in Greece and Italy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said that the migration issue could be a defining moment for the EU - but she also needed the summit to avert a political crisis at home that could bring down her government.

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Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, from her Bavarian coalition partner the CSU, had given her a deadline of this weekend. He has threatened to start turning away migrants who have already registered elsewhere from the border in his home state.

Without the CSU, Mrs Merkel would lose her parliamentary majority.

After the talks, she acknowledged the EU still had "a lot of work to do to bridge the different views".

About 56,000 migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year, the International Organization for Migration says. More than a million people arrived in 2015.

This month's tensions over migrant rescue ships barred from entry to Italian ports - most recently German charity ship Lifeline - have put the issue firmly back in the EU spotlight.

The Lifeline was only allowed to dock in Malta after intense diplomacy among several EU states, who each agreed to take some of the migrants on board. Malta said Norway had now also agreed to take a share.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontires (MSF) branded the new EU deal inhumane.

"The only thing European states appear to have agreed on is to block people at the doorstep of Europe regardless of how vulnerable they are, or what horrors they are escaping - and to demonise non-governmental search and rescue operations," MSF's emergencies chief Karline Kleijer said.

Blame for the migrant crisis lies with national …

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

The EU money should be for employment, not for cows. Even back in 2005 Tony Blair was asking for a new European Union: more investment, research, innovation, and training, rather than 40% of the budget being spent (as is still more or less the case today) on an agricultural sector that employs just 5% of its workforce. And its hard to argue with that; the EU seems increasingly remote from the problems its citizens face. But is it the EU itself thats the problem, or the way national politicians and governments put policies into action?

Take the European council meeting on Thursday and Friday this week. Were set for a clash on migration policy. Something big is at stake: the EUs principles of solidarity and respect for human rights.

Putting up walls to keep out migrants is not only immoral, it threatens the blocs internal free movement of goods and people. It risks blowing up the passport-free Schengen agreement, one of the EUs signature achievements. With populist forces gaining strength, the battle will be hard-fought. The very foundations of the EU are now in doubt. Is this what EU citizens really want?

To be sure, the EU failed to anticipate the scope of the 2015 migration crisis. But todays dismal turn of events has more to do with how national politicians have behaved than with the European project itself. Politicians should explain the complexities of migration rather than pander to anxieties and alarm citizens. Throughout history, Europes very fabric was born of age-old movements of entire populations. With so many desperate people on the move today, seeking safety or simply a better life for themselves, migration cannot simply be stopped. Instead it must be managed.

But theres an obvious discrepancy between what the EU commission is proposing and what national governments are ready to do. For instance, Brussels institutions have published a plan for Africa, calling for spending of 32bn (28bn) over six years and focusing particularly on infrastructure. Will the leaders of EU states accept it, even though its a bare minimum? Or will they try to take the easier route of building walls and barriers in order to allay the very fears some of them have fanned?

Look at the facts: the number of migrants arriving in Europe by sea has dropped spectacularly in Italy, by over 70% compared to last year. But that reality has gone almost unnoticed. There is no large-scale migration crisis in Europe now. Instead, what were seeing are domestic political crises in which the theme of migration is exploited by demagogues.

Europes image has suffered as a result of teetering from one crisis to the next. We almost forget that the EUs founding ambition has in fact been accomplished. A magnificent common architecture was erected after the devastation of 20th-century war, it was built up through stages, thanks to the vision of a handful of great political leaders.

Now the enthusiasm of its early days has faded, and what remains of the union is a complex institutional system resting on values that are not always respected. From 1950, the road to Europe was built one step at a time. First came the Coal and Steel Community (aimed at avoiding the risk of secret re-arming, as Germany had done in the interwar period); then came the common market, the parliament and the commission; then the euro, the dismantling of internal borders, and attempts to forge a common foreign and defence policy.

Each time this process of European unification has stalled, the need for better governance has became clearer. But instead, national egotism has morphed into the twin tigers of nationalism and populism, and citizens looking to Europe to fulfil the needs not met by their governments (security, jobs and welfare) have become frustrated. Emotionally, they still expect much more.

Europe, whether we like it or not, has penetrated our conscience deeply. The profound rage of remainers in the UK is just one example. For many people Europe embodies hope for their personal future, as well as for their country: the hope that Europe will be able to do more and govern better than national elites. This has certainly held true in my country, Italy.

Naturally, the elites who make decisions for Europe are the same ones who decide everything at a national level. Within the EUs complex and now strained institutional set-up it is often the member states who take the decisions: this happens within the European council of leaders and ministers, in a qualified-majority voting system. And sensitive decisions must often be unanimous, which gives each state a veto power.

The dominance of the nation state also goes some way to explaining why the needs of citizens in terms of jobs and social policies are paid insufficient attention. Take the Maastricht treaty. It has been essentially used in the name of economic and fiscal rigour a topic dear to the heart of the conservative European Peoples party, which has long acted as the de facto ruler in Brussels. That is largely what has turned the eurozone into a bogeyman for people who care about social justice. But heres the thing: only the budget deficit and GDP parameters of the Maastricht treaty were enacted. The parts that pointed to social policies have been left to languish. Who is aware today that the Lisbon treaty, in article 3, talks of goals relating to social progress and economic growth, and that it even mentions full employment?

If we want to understand the roots of our distress over Europe, we should look more closely at the way national politicians have interpreted the unions treaties. Its social ambitions seem to have vanished, just as its principles on asylum have been hammered by national leaders. Domestic politics are at fault not the EU itself, whose architecture must be improved and strengthened, but whose policies can be changed. Lets cut the EU some slack. It is imperfect, but much of what has gone wrong is the result of decisions or attitudes made at a national level. Scapegoating the EU is part of todays unchained madness.

Antonella Rampino is a journalist and political commentator based in Rome

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Blame for the migrant crisis lies with national ...

Migrant crisis: EU leaders split over new migrant deal …

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

Media playback is unsupported on your device

EU leaders have differed sharply over how a new deal on curbing irregular migration will work.

The agreement foresees the creation of secure centres to receive migrants.

France's president said his country would not set any up as it was not the EU country where migrants landed first.

Italy's prime minister - who had held up agreement at the Brussels summit - said centres could be anywhere within the EU. EU President Donald Tusk warned of difficulties to implement the deal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of a "significant step forward" but said more must be done to resolve disagreements.

By Katya Adler, Europe Editor, BBC News, in Brussels

So has Europe's migrant crisis now been solved? In a word, no. On two fronts. Firstly, that of preventing illegal migration and saving migrant lives.

Take for example the processing centres that are to operate inside and outside the EU. The idea behind those is to put economic migrants off coming to Europe as they'll know only those with a legal right to asylum or refugee status can stay. But these processing centres are voluntary. We don't know where or when (or if) they will be operational - and in the meantime, migrants will keep making that perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

The second failure is more of a half-failure, and it's a political one. Let's face it - with the sharp drop in arrivals to Europe, the stresses and strains between EU countries are clearly political. The fact that leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel leave this summit claiming that "a significant step forward has been taken" is a hint that, in true EU summit style, leaders have papered over the cracks.

But is Europe North, South, East and West united now over a common migrant and asylum policy moving forward? Absolutely not.

The deal is being billed as a lifeline for Mrs Merkel, who has faced a political crisis at home where a key ally, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, has threatened to start turning away migrants who have already registered elsewhere.

Italy also differed with Spain and Greece who agreed to take back migrants registered on their territory who had travelled on to Germany.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had earlier taken the rare step of blocking the conclusions of the summit's joint communique until the leaders had settled the migration issue.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

The 28 EU leaders agreed several other measures, including:

The centres are meant be set up by EU states on a voluntary basis, but there are no details on which nations might host them or take in refugees.

French President Emmanuel Macron said they would be in countries where migrants initially arrived in the EU, and that France would not have any as it is "not a country of first arrival".

But Mr Conte told reporters that all EU states would be able to establish the centres, "including France". He suggested Mr Macron had been "tired" when he spoke.

About 56,000 migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year, the International Organization for Migration says, compared to more than a million in 2015.

Several Central European states have so far rejected an EU scheme to relocate 160,000 refugees from overcrowded camps in Greece and Italy.

Non-governmental organisations have fiercely condemned the deal, saying it betrays vulnerable people and those trying to stop them dying in the Mediterranean.

The deal also aimed to "demonise non-governmental search and rescue operations", MSF's emergencies chief Karline Kleijer said.

On Friday, around 100 people were said to have drowned off the Libyan coast, with 16 rescued.

Italy's anti-immigration Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has previously railed against rescue ships run by international NGOs, and said on Friday that they helped people traffickers "consciously or not".

"The NGOs will only see Italy on a postcard," he told Italian radio. "The ports will be closed all summer."

Migrant crisis: EU leaders split over new migrant deal ...

xkcd: Singularity

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

xkcd: Singularity

xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Singularity

((This strip is laid out like a Wikipedia contents table.))I love reading the Wikipedia talk entries for articles on individual citiesContents [hide]1 Origin of city's name? 1.1 Idea for a better name1.2 Not how Wikipedia works2 Too much promotion of lake festival3 Should we mention the murders? 3.1 Not that notable3.2 All cities have murders4 Quote verification: even if Voltaire did visit (unlikely), why would he get so angry about our restaurants? 5 Discuss: new picture5.1 Current one looks awfully bleak5.2 Gray sky5.3 What about this one5.4 Also bleak5.5 Maybe this place just looks that way5.6 Found a better picture, more colourful5.7 That's a shot from Disney's Zootopia6 "Mining disasters" section too long6.1 Not really Wikipedia's fault6.2 Why is this town so bad at mining?7 Infobox picture: I just realised you can see a murder happening in the background7.1 This city is terrible7.2 Photoshopped out murder7.3 Can someone just take a better picture7.4 Okay, uploaded a new picture7.5 Wait, never mind, I just noticed there's a murder in this one, too8 1982 secession still in effect?9 I think the murderer is reverting my edits10 Why does this article take any position on correct condom use, let alone such a weird and ambiguous one?11 Train station "designed by Andrew Lloyd Webber"?11.1 They probably mean Frank Lloyd Wright11.2 I thought so too, but it's apparently not a mistake11.3 Didn't know he did architecture11.4 Roof collapse{{Title text: I don't think the Lakeshore Air Crash Museum really belongs under 'Tourist Attractions.' It's not a museum--it's just an area near the Lake Festival Laser Show where a lot of planes have crashed.}}

This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). More details.

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xkcd: Singularity

Hybrid Cloud & Digital Transformation | Dell EMC US

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Danzig

1 Based on Dell EMC aggregate of Public & Private Cloud IT Infrastructure data, Q3 2017, January 2018, Vendor Revenue.

2 IDC white paper commissioned by Dell EMC, The Power of Hybrid Cloud, April 2017.

3 ESG whitepaper commissioned by Dell EMC, How IT Transformation Maturity Drives IT Agility, Innovation, and Improved Business Outcomes, April 2017.

4 IDG Research Services, Hybrid Cloud Computing, the Great Enabler of Digital Business, commissioned by Dell EMC, January 2017. Results based on IDG survey of 905 global IT executives. Forrester, The Total Economic ImpactTM of Pivotal Cloud Foundry, October 2017.

5 The Forrester Wave: Hosted Private Cloud Services, North America, Q2 2017 & Europe, Q3 2017

6 Based on a November 2017 IDC Whitepaper sponsored by Dell EMC and Intel, "The Technology Impact of IT Transformation," where IDC interviewed 16 organizations in NA, EMEA, APAC, from a cross-section of industry verticals regarding their IT modernization steps. Actual results will vary.

7 Forrester study commissioned by Pivotal, The Total Economic ImpactTM of Pivotal Cloud Foundry, October 2017, where Forrester interviewed (4) U.S.-based, existing Pivotal customers, created a composite organization and performed a subsequent financial analysis for the composite org. Actual ROI will vary. Full report: https://content.pivotal.io/analyst-reports/the-total-economic-impact-of-pivotal-cloud-foundry

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Hybrid Cloud & Digital Transformation | Dell EMC US

Ron Paul tweets racist, anti-Semitic cartoon before …

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Danzig

Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul tweeted out a racist and anti-Semitic cartoon Monday before swiftly deleting it amid a backlash on social media. The cartoon featured a range of minorities depicted in stereotypical termsincluding a Jewish man with a hooked nose, a black man with large lips as well as portrayals of Asians and Latinos. The four men are shown punching up at an Uncle Sam figure together with a speech bubble that reads, Cultural Marxism!

Together, with the cartoon, Paul wrote: Are you stunned by what has become of American culture? Well, its not an accident. Youve probably heard of Cultural Marxism, but do you know what it means? More here:"

Paul soon deleted the post, replacing the cartoon with an image that had the words political correctness crossed out.

Paul, the father of current Republican senator Rand Paul, ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988 before campaigning for the Republican nominationin both 2008 and 2012. Mondays incident is not the first time the 82-year-old has faced accusations of racism.

During both of his presidential campaigns, the media highlighted a newsletter Paul published for several years that featured a number of racially inflammatory posts.

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The criminals who terrorized our citiesin riots and on every non-riot dayare not exclusively young black males, but they largely are, read one article penned in 1992 amid violence in Los Angeles.

Another post said: If you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be.

Former Congressman Ron Paul introduces his son, Senator Rand Paul (R-TX) during a caucus day rally at the Des Moines campaign headquarters on February 1, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Pete Marovich/Getty Images

Paul has claimed that he did not know the identity of the author of those posts and defended himself against charges of racism.

Im not a racist, he told CNN in 2008. As a matter of fact, Rosa Parks is one of my heroes, Martin Luther King is a herobecause they practiced the libertarian principle of civil disobedience, nonviolence.

Paul is not the first prominent conservative to get in hot water for his tweets in recent days. GOP Representative Steve King, of Iowa, was condemned after retweeting a prominent Nazi sympathizer last month. King has refused to apologize.

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Ron Paul tweets racist, anti-Semitic cartoon before ...

SparkNotes: Atlas Shrugged: John Galt

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

Galt is the most important character in the novel andthe driving force behind its action. The strike that he conceives,organizes, and carries out is the books central, defining event.But his identity remains a mystery until two-thirds of the way throughthe novel, lending him a mythical stature. In Galt, Rand has setout to present man in his most ideal form. She describes him asphysically beautiful, profoundly brilliant, and enormously accomplished.Not only has he been able to develop a revolutionary motor, he hasalso created a philosophy of reason and become a statesman capableof leading the worlds most talented men. Most importantly, Galtis unwaveringly rational and deals directly with the objective factshe encounters. In him, rationality and emotion are fully integrated. Thoughruled by reason, he is able to express and experience his emotionsas well. Just as Rand uses Dagny to shatter the mind-body dichotomythat separates physical pleasure from higher thought, she employsGalt to reject the split between reason and emotion.

Galt represents the main theme of the novel and of Randsphilosophy: the idea that the mind is the only means by which mancan achieve prosperity. The mind is the motive power that drivescivilization, just as the motor Galt develops can drive industry.Galt embodies the mind, and the question Who is John Galt? isnot only a literal question about the mysterious man who has disappeared,but a figurative question as well. The question asks whatis the mind? and what happens when the mind disappears? Galt knowsthat without his mind and the minds of the worlds great thinkers,the motive power of the world will be lost and the motor of theworld will stop.

More characters from Atlas Shrugged

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SparkNotes: Atlas Shrugged: John Galt

About Us | The Zeitgeist Movement – Australia

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy organization, which conducts community based activism and awareness actions through a network of global/regional chapters, project teams, annual events, media and charity work.

The movements principle focus includes the recognition that the majority of the social problems that plague the human species at this time are not the sole result of some institutional corruption, absolute scarcity, a political policy, a flaw of human nature or other commonly held assumptions of causality. Rather, the movement recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, pollution, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be symptoms born out of an outdated social structure.

The Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy (NLRBE) is about taking a direct technical approach to social management as opposed to a monetary or even political one. It is about updating the workings of society to the most advanced and proven methods known, leaving behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions. which are generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profit, business and other structural and motivational issues.

There is little reason to assume war, poverty, most crime and many other monetarily-based scarcity effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over time. The range of the movements activism and awareness campaigns extend from short to long term, with methods based explicitly on non-violent methods of communication.

The Zeitgeist Movement has no allegiance to country or traditional political platforms. It views the world as a single system and the human species as a single family and recognizes that all countries must disarm and learn to share resources and ideas if we expect to survive in the long run. Hence, the solutions arrived at and promoted are in the interest to help everyone on Earth, not a select group.

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About Us | The Zeitgeist Movement - Australia

John McAfees Latest Prediction: Major Crypto Price Surge …

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

John McAfee, who has taken passionately to making predictions about the cryptocurrency market, is forecasting a surge in July.

John McAfee, the founder of one of the best-known antivirus software companies, seems to be enjoying his new role as the unofficial fortune teller of the crypto market.

McAfee tweeted that he expects Bitcoin prices to jump up to $15,000 in July, reversing the current bearish trend. Bitcoin was trading at $7,611 at 4:00 am UTC Friday, data from CoinMarketCap showed.

He said in his post:

My short-term price predictions: In a major dip, with nearly everything dropping, the price of Docademic doubled since my prediction. The market will turn before June 12th, and my predictions will hit. My algorithms predicted Trump's June 12th date. They have never been wrong.

His other forecasts include the surge of Golem from $0.49 to $5 over the next two months. Docademic, which is ranked 238th and currently trading at $0.143, is also seen by McAfee to increase in value and jump to $0.73 by mid-July. Bezop, number 648 and currently priced at $0.117, is predicted to hit $0.52 during the same period.

.Docademic.com, a picture is worth a thousand words..... pic.twitter.com/hIBdCW9cUO

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) May 24, 2018

He also posted a picture graph showing the upward trajectory of Docademic with the caption Docademic.com, a picture is worth a thousand words

McAfee's tweets with predictions on digital currencies are starting to get the attention of the industry and other social media platforms. Although he claims near-accuracy, some of his predictions have failed. Nevertheless, his bold forecasts have influenced many cryptocurrency traders and investors and how the market moves.

One instance where McAfee got it wrong was with Cryptosecure. He jumped the gun on this one after news reports claimed the company was served a cease and desist order. McAfee quickly communicated his disapproval and gave up on the project.

On Wednesday, he tweeted his apologies to Cryptosecure for the incorrect news reports he had received about the company. He said:

Cryptosecure update: media reports were incorrect. They have not been served with a cease and desist. They have a letter, applicable to New Brunswuck, Canada only, stating that they might be selling securities in New Brunswick. My apologies to Cryptosecure.

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John McAfees Latest Prediction: Major Crypto Price Surge ...

Philosophy of Religion Religion and Memetics

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

Evolutionary theory has revolutionised modern thought. The way that we understand the world has been profoundly influenced by Darwins insight into the way that natural selection guides progress over time. Recently, it has been recognised that Darwins theory applies not only to biological organisms but also to ideas. Some, such as Richard Dawkins, Susan Blackmore, and Daniel Dennett, have argued that this provides an explanation of religious belief, and that this explanation counts against the idea that such beliefs are true.

Darwins theory of evolution sought to explain the diversity of species in the world in the following way:

The world contains only a limited supply of the resources necessary to support life. Organisms must therefore compete with each other for these resources in order to survive.

As biological organisms reproduce, random genetic mutations occur, introducing variety into the species. Because of these mutations, some members of the species are better able to compete for resources, i.e. fitter, than others.

The result of this natural selection is the survival of the fittest. As the competition is won or lost, weaker members of the species will die out, without reproducing, and their genes will be lost to the gene pool. Stronger members, on the other hand will survive, and their fitter genes will be replicated.

The process will then repeat, with mutations again introducing new genetic variety, and natural selection again choosing the fittest members of the species to survive and reproduce.

There are thus two stages to evolution: mutation, which introduces variety into a species, and natural selection, which chooses between the members of the species, driving progress by ensuring that only the fittest members survive and reproduce.

With each iteration of the process of natural selection, the gene pool becomes stronger; species develop on an upward trajectory. Given enough time, evolution theory holds, this upward trajectory can take a species far; indeed, we ourselves are thought to have evolved from single-celled organisms via this process.

Recently, it has been recognised that this theory can be applied not only to biological organisms, but also to ideas. Ideas, too, replicate themselves, passing from one individual to another, changing over time. Ideas, too, compete for survival in the minds of the people of the time; an idea that is rejected altogether dies out.

Just as the fittest organisms will survive and reproduce, then, so too will the fittest ideas. Ideas that replicate themselves in this way have been called memes, a term coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene; the study of this process is called memetics.

What makes for fitness in ideas will be similar to what makes for fitness in genes. The ability to replicate itself is important if either a gene or an idea is to spread; the greater this ability the better. The ability to survive is also vital if the gene or idea is not to be wiped out before it reproduces.

One thing that need not be involved in the fitness of an idea is truth. An idea may replicate itself widely and be extremely robust without corresponding to reality.

Christianity does indeed possess those features that are necessary for an idea to compete for survival effectively.

Christianity is very good at replicating itself; the great commission, Jesus instruction to his followers, is to go and make disciples of all nations. Those who possess the Christian meme, who believe in the God of the Bible, therefore replicate Christianity as far as they are able to do so.

Christianity is also very robust. The all too common emphasis of religion on faith to the exclusion of reason makes those that possess the Christian meme liable to reject evidence against it. Christianity has even been accused by Antony Flew in his paper Theology and Falsification of being unfalsifiable, i.e. of being such that no evidence could possibly count against it. Those that possess the Christian meme are therefore unlikely to lose it.

None of this memetic critique of Christianity, of course, proves that Christianity is false; that is not what it attempts to do. Rather, what the memetic critique of Christianity attempts to do is demonstrate that even if Christianity were false, we would expect belief in it to be widespread. Atheism, the argument goes, can explain Christianity; there is nothing mysterious about the success of religion.

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Philosophy of Religion Religion and Memetics

Memetics and Infohazards Division Orientation – SCP Foundation

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

Alright everybody, welcome to the orientation for the memetics and infohazards division. Now this is a full week of training, and a long day so be sure to get some coffee or a donut, because we won't have time to go get food until lunch.

I'm Junior Researcher Zack Ekshun, and, I, ah, yes? A question like 'How am I perceiving this message from that very handsome man saying other words?' or 'Whose voice does this sound like in my head?' But those are not the most important questions right now.Question?

Why aren't I having any coffee or donuts? Heh, looks like we have at least one veteran of the reality benders orientation. Well to put your mind at ease, why don't you get me some coffee and a donut or two. Usually I take it black, but add some milk and sugar just to cover all the bases. Hey sprinkles! Nice.

Now, you're right to be suspicious. You get lied to a lot at the Foundation. Little things like 'We only put tracking chips in D-class', 'This will be the first time you receive amnestics' and the location of the site you're currently sitting in.

Some of you. But today, I'm going to be completely honest with you.

Which gets us to the important part, you don't have to worry about us secretly feeding you drugs. We will be very openly feeding you lots of powerful hallucinogens.

The reason we're not bothering to hide it is because, like most infohazards, our psychedelic testing regimen works whether or not you know about it ahead of time. The reason we're making you trip balls is that we need to make sure you can handle your shit regardless of what your brain thinks is going on.

It doesn't matter if the walls are melting and cats with your grandmothers' face are telling you the secret history of the world. You write your reports, conduct tests and follow the containment procedures. You document everything the grandma cats tell you and ride it out until you punch out. Most of the time. What's in your head can't hurt you unless you let it.

To work with infohazards you need to notice when things don't make sense, and this is the important part, respond accordingly. Do you suddenly have a spouse you didn't this morning? Well, maybe you shouldn't consummate that relationship. Were you always taking advice from the omnidimensional blood gods you're thinking about building a shrine to? Maybe instead you should talk to your supervisor, because we sure don't need another prophet to Welcome.

Hey! That got everybody's attention. Yeah, part of what you'll learn is how not to say things. Did you know that Hi% of redacted information is memetic censoring? It's written there as clear as day, if you have the clearance and counterprogramming. Want to know how it's done?

Well first Welcome to the real orientation. If you can perceive this then you'll be working with us in the real Memetics and Infohazards Division. It should come as no surprise to you that there are many layers to our Division. Everyone else nodding out right now are just the cover. They will be playing an important role in misdirection and counterintelligence as well as handling all the busywork. Misdirection is basic info manipulation. Everyone worried about drugs or their suppository tracking devices misses the important stuff.You get to do the real work, and it takes more than just a week to get you to that level. This week will provide the basics the others get, with the real preparatory seminars transmitted through a variety of unconventional channels. The testing has already begun to see who can pick up all of it. The full spectrum of information all around us is invisible to the sleepwalkers drooling next to you.You all carry some form of the Sorry gene which is present in .NO% of the population, which the Foundation screens for. While you can perceive this you also have an increased risk for schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. But don't worry! If you've made it this far you have a much higher likelihood of being driven mad by your work material than your genetic makeup. The number of informational channels you can perceive determines your rank and assignments.The other good news is your training and conditioning will minimize the likelihood of either occurring. We have discovered through trial and error how to protect our minds against very dangerous hazards. The many division members who retired to psychiatric wards are a testament to that. You will learn to lucid dream, which is where much of your practice will take place. You will undergo intensive psychological testing to make sure you do not join our alumni. You will practice meditation until you achieve the level of Zen master and float above your superfluous programming completely. You will be taught the akashic scripts and meta-languages which bypass the frontal cortex and tap directly into the primal drives. If you make it to the upper echelons you'll learn manipulation commands like kill words, after a few minor surgeries to your trachea. We will let you know when you are ready. The pioneers who discovered the safe procedures for containing lethal infohazards in your mind never got a chance to retire. But even if you can detect individual phomemes you are still a green as grass rookie.Not only will you be able to work with cognitohazard and memetic SCPs you will help to develop the neurocognitive counter-programming and anti-memes that will shield you, your colleagues, and society from the gibbering madness lurking in containment. You will make the Foundation, safer, saner, productive, and unquestioning in their commitment. You will bend the archetypes from our collective unconscious to your will to secure, contain, and protect us all. Welcome again, and congratulations. [REDACTED]

Alllright everybody back? Yup, for those of you not keeping track that was almost an hour you aren't going to remember until you earn it. Exactly none of you have the training or clearance to know any of that. Yet.

We're going to teach you to walk through fire, feel like your brain is melting out of your ears and still keep going. We will put your minds in the forge and hammer at them until they are stronger than steel. Mind affecting and weird psychic SCPs will slide off you, and information based containment breaches will be just another day at the office.

Deeper Ad Infinitum-The repetitive nature of complimenting your attention to detail and knowledge of the myriad means of hiding information is becoming redundant. You will still receive instruction, but and undetected up until now. Clever you.clearly you have already been conducting your own training regimen.

Well played.

You've earned a little more candor. The genetic explanation for who can expand their senses to perceive the hidden full spectrum of information is untrue as far as we can ascertain. We do not know why some people are attuned to and can reshape the deeper orders of information. We do not yet understand the mechanisms of the majority of SCPs. Hence anomalousThe reality benders should not be able to do anything they do, and they still do it, even when we tell them not to. Except the ones who do as they are told..

We have many layers to protect both the Foundation and ourselves. There is no good that can come from the suggestion that the collective minds of our division is an SCP in and of itself. This has been suggested, but has been Auto-amnestic conditioning is much more efficient than the pharmacological option.dealt with. We have a presence at the top tier with Division founder O5-NO. We also have several site directors with varying degrees of awareness they are ours.

We are telling you this so that you know you are valued and will be protected. We are telling you this so you will STOP what you are planning. Right. Now.

We know you have been planning how to get fast tracked for promotion to a director position. Planning to use the information based SCPs in ways the sleepwalkers can't conceive. Planning to program select people's neural schemas to satisfy your whims. You need to forget all of that. NOW.

This is the one thing you should NEVER question.Trust us. By yourself you will inevitably endanger yourself, the Foundation, and our Division. We have done it all better than you could ever hope to. We will teach you how to correctly maximize your potential. We need fellow travelers, not megalomaniacal lone wolves. We Won'tcan't program you not to, Right now. It is much better for all involved that you join willingly. so we are asking nicely. Please, kindly do NOT fuck with us.

We'll be in touch.

How well you can handle your shit is an important component of training, and there will be pharmacological hallucinatory tutorials just for you. Have fun in the desert with the lizard king.Because it is chock full of drugsIt's also pretty funny watching you rooks spaz out..

Memetics and Infohazards Division Orientation - SCP Foundation

Events and Holiday Calendar 2018 … – 123Greetings.com

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Danzig

Rated: 4.41 | Views: 488,123 | Sent: 172,526

Water lilies and larkspurs are the July Flowers! So celebrate your special relationships with these pretty blooms. Send beautiful July Flowers ecards from our site to friends/ family/ loved ones to wish them a season blooming with joy.

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Summer's here! It's time to soak up the sun, to hit the beach or to go for a long and lazy vacation. Reach out to your friends, family and loved ones in this sunny season with our warm and wonderful Summer ecards. Wish them lots of fun and make this Summer a special one for them with these cute and cheerful ecards.

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Hey pals! It's Friendship Festival (New York)! Time to celebrate the friendship between Americans and Canadians. So reach out, renew and strengthen the bond you share with your friends or loved ones by sending them warm wishes with our ecards.

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Rated: 4.27 | Views: 2,884K | Sent: 916,002

4th July brings on the cheerful times of red, white and blue. With barbecues, picnics, parades and fireworks lined up, the reasons to celebrate are many. Send our cute and sparkling 4th of July ecards to your friends, family and loved ones and wish them lots of fun and good time.

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Rated: 4.58 | Views: 44,088 | Sent: 14,195

Kissing is one of the most heavenly experiences that people can enjoy. Kissing Day (UK) celebrates this simple truth and lets you relish this sweet pleasure. And you know what? A minute of it can burn a lot of calories, as well! So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and send the yummiest peck to your sweetheart with our collection of delightful ecards!

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Rated: 4.28 | Views: 588,656 | Sent: 176,526

Hey it's Chocolate Day! So indulge yourself or share delicious chocolates with your friends/ family/ loved ones. Send them cute and sweet ecards from our site to wish them loads of sweet treats today.

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Rated: 4.16 | Views: 9,451 | Sent: 1,244

Hey, it's Video Games Day! Jam with your friends and loved ones over some fast and amazing video games. Add to the fun and excitement by sending them our cool ecards!

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Rated: 4.23 | Views: 527,449 | Sent: 185,442

Hey, it's Cheer Up Day! Reach out to your friends and loved ones and make them smile. Send cute and warm wishes from our collection of Cheer Up Day ecards and wish them a cheerful day ahead.

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Rated: 4.29 | Views: 3,568 | Sent: 353

World Population Day is observed annually by the United Nations. To highlight the various aspects of the world population. This year, the focus is on men's involvement in women's issues. So, send a warm wish to all the women you know with our collection of subtle and beautiful ecards. Also, tell your loved ones that you really respect their wishes by sending our cute ecards!

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Rated: 4.17 | Views: 329,810 | Sent: 82,147

Call it baseless fear, an illogical apprehension or an urban legend, Friday the 13th is here... And it's here with all its string of phobias or may be superstitions. Whatever be it, it's just the right time to send across a little note of luck for all your pals and loved ones through our ecards.

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Rated: 4.60 | Views: 11,576 | Sent: 2,228

It's Barn Day! So have a groovy time with all those party animals in your yard. Party hard and have good times. Reach out to your friends/ loved ones by sending them our fun filled and groovy ecards.

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Rated: 4.46 | Views: 42,470 | Sent: 11,574

It's Bastille Day! So celebrate the onset of the French revolution and the spirit of equality, liberty and fraternity with your near and dear ones. Send all you know warm and heartfelt ecards from our site to wish them a wonderful celebration.

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Rated: 4.50 | Views: 925,346 | Sent: 403,322

Hey, it's Hug Week! So snuggle up to your sweetheart, friends or family with a tight and warm hug. Send them our cute ecards to make them feel really special.

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Rated: 4.29 | Views: 22,259 | Sent: 6,390

Hey, it's National Lollipop Day... The perfect time to enjoy loads of sweet lollipops. Send sweet and cute ecards from our site to friends/ family/ loved ones to wish them lots of sweet surprises today.

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Rated: 4.11 | Views: 263,722 | Sent: 59,282

Hey, it's Monkey Day! So have fun playing pranks on your friends and loved ones. Hang around with them and feast on bananas. Send funny and cute wishes to all you know with our collection of Monkey Day ecards.

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Rated: 3.62 | Views: 2,934 | Sent: 671

Summer is not complete without spending a day outdoors on a hammock. Invite your friends to take a break, grab a cool drink or a good book and lie back for that much needed rest, today!

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Rated: 4.17 | Views: 83,304 | Sent: 10,946

It's Parents' Day! Send Parents' Day greetings to your parents and people who have been like a parent to you. Show your gratitude with our collection of Parents' Day ecards.

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Rated: 4.57 | Views: 4,528 | Sent: 374

Your partner-in-crime at family events & lifelong friend. Reach out to your cousins and make them feel special.

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Rated: 4.13 | Views: 9,150 | Sent: 1,512

Hey, it's National Tequila Day! Relax, put your feet up and reach out to your friends and loved ones. Send wishes with a shot of high spirit with our collection of cool ecards. Cheers!

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Rated: 3.63 | Views: 2,051 | Sent: 317

It's Pioneer Day! It's time to commemorate the entry of the first group of mormon pioneers into the salt lake valley. Share the joy to make this day memorable with warm online egreetings.

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Rated: 3.80 | Views: 56,699 | Sent: 4,402

It's Aunt & Uncle's Day! So celebrate the bond that you share with them. Send cute and warm ecards from our site to your aunt and uncle to make them feel really special.

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Rated: 4.00 | Views: 2,839 | Sent: 154

Strengthen your relationship with your spouse's father and spend quality time with your father-in-law, this day. After all, he's the father you choose to have. Share our thoughtful greetings and make his day.

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Rated: 3.52 | Views: 11,756 | Sent: 2,670

It's Cheesecake Day! So indulge yourself with large slices of yummy cheesecakes. Wish your friends/ family/ loved ones a lip-smacking treat too. Send them cute and warm ecards from our site to wish them a great day.

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Rated: 4.19 | Views: 287,811 | Sent: 85,946

Always Live Better Than Yesterday is a promise to make each day of our life funnier, exciting and wonderful than the last one. On this day, spread the good cheer and reach out to your friends and loved ones with a message of joy and hope.

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Rated: 4.41 | Views: 129,520 | Sent: 27,126

It's Girlfriend's Day! Celebrate the special bond of friendship that you share with girl pals... Send lovely or cute messages from our site to your friend to tell her how special she is.

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Events and Holiday Calendar 2018 ... - 123Greetings.com

Post-scarcity economy – Wikipedia

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Danzig

Post-scarcity is an economic theory in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor needed, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely.[1][2] Post-scarcity is not generally taken to mean that scarcity has been eliminated for all consumer goods and services; instead, it is often taken to mean that all people can easily have their basic survival needs met along with some significant proportion of their desires for goods and services,[3] with writers on the topic often emphasizing that certain commodities are likely to remain scarce in a post-scarcity society.[4][5][6][7]

In the paper "The Post-Scarcity World of 2050-2075",[8] authors assert that we are currently living an age of scarcity resulting from negligent behavior (as regards the future) of the 19th and 20th centuries. The period between 1975 and 2005 was characterized by relative abundance of resources (oil, water, energy, food, credit, among others) which boosted industrialization and development in the western economies. An increased demand of resources combined with a rising population led to resource exhaustion.[8]

One of the main traces of the scarcity periods is the increase and fluctuation of prices. To deal with that situation, technology advancements come into play, driving an efficient use of resources to a certain extent that costs will be considerably reduced (almost everything will be free). Consequently, authors forecast that the period between 2050 and 2075 will be a post-scarcity age in which scarcity will no longer exist.[8]

An ideological contrast to the post-scarcity economy is formed by the concept of a steady-state economy.

Today, futurists who speak of "post-scarcity" suggest economies based on advances in automated manufacturing technologies,[4] often including the idea of self-replicating machines, the adoption of division of labour[9] which in theory could produce nearly all goods in abundance, given adequate raw materials and energy. More speculative forms of nanotechnology (such as molecular assemblers or nanofactories, which do not currently exist) raise the possibility of devices that can automatically manufacture any specified goods given the correct instructions and the necessary raw materials and energy,[10] and so many nanotechnology enthusiasts have suggested it will usher in a post-scarcity world.[11][12] In the more near-term future, the increasing automation of physical labor using robots is often discussed as means of creating a post-scarcity economy.[13][14] Increasingly versatile forms of rapid prototyping machines, and a hypothetical self-replicating version of such a machine known as a RepRap, have also been predicted to help create the abundance of goods needed for a post-scarcity economy.[15] Advocates of self-replicating machines such as Adrian Bowyer, the creator of the RepRap project, argue that once a self-replicating machine is designed, then since anyone who owns one can make more copies to sell (and would also be free to ask for a lower price than other sellers), market competition will naturally drive the cost of such machines down to the bare minimum needed to make a profit,[16][17] in this case just above the cost of the physical materials and energy that must be fed into the machine as input, and the same should go for any other goods that the machine can build.

Even with fully automated production, limitations on the number of goods produced would arise from the availability of raw materials and energy, as well as ecological damage associated with manufacturing technologies.[4] Advocates of technological abundance often argue for more extensive use of renewable energy and greater recycling in order to prevent future drops in availability of energy and raw materials, and reduce ecological damage.[4] Solar energy in particular is often emphasized, as the cost of solar panels continues to drop[4] (and could drop far more with automated production by self-replicating machines), and advocates point out the total solar power striking the Earth's surface annually exceeds our civilization's current annual power usage by a factor of thousands.[18][19] Advocates also sometimes argue that the energy and raw materials available could be greatly expanded if we looked to resources beyond the Earth. For example, asteroid mining is sometimes discussed as a way of greatly reducing scarcity for many useful metals such as nickel.[20] While early asteroid mining might involve manned missions, advocates hope that eventually humanity could have automated mining done by self-replicating machines.[20][21] If this were done, then the only capital expenditure would be a single self-replicating unit (whether robotic or nanotechnological), after which the number of units could replicate at no further cost, limited only by the available raw materials needed to build more.[21]

Richard Stallman, the founder of the GNU project, has cited the eventual creation of a post-scarcity society as one of his motivations:[22]

In the long run, making programs free is a step toward the post-scarcity world, where nobody will have to work very hard just to make a living. People will be free to devote themselves to activities that are fun, such as programming, after spending the necessary ten hours a week on required tasks such as legislation, family counseling, robot repair and asteroid prospecting. There will be no need to be able to make a living from programming.

Karl Marx, in a section of his Grundrisse that came to be known as the "Fragment on Machines",[23][24] argued that the transition to a post-capitalist society combined with advances in automation would allow for significant reductions in labor needed to produce necessary goods, eventually reaching a point where all people would have significant amounts of leisure time to pursue science, the arts, and creative activities; a state some commentators later labeled as "post-scarcity".[25] Marx argued that capitalismthe dynamic of economic growth based on capital accumulationdepends on exploiting the surplus labor of workers, but a post-capitalist society would allow for:

The free development of individualities, and hence not the reduction of necessary labour time so as to posit surplus labour, but rather the general reduction of the necessary labour of society to a minimum, which then corresponds to the artistic, scientific etc. development of the individuals in the time set free, and with the means created, for all of them.[26]

Marx's concept of a post-capitalist communist society involves the free distribution of goods made possible by the abundance provided by automation.[27] The fully developed communist economic system is postulated to develop from a preceding socialist system. Marx held the view that socialisma system based on social ownership of the means of productionwould enable progress toward the development of fully developed communism by further advancing productive technology. Under socialism, with its increasing levels of automation, an increasing proportion of goods would be distributed freely.[28]

Marx did not believe in the elimination of most physical labor through technological advancements alone in a capitalist society, because he believed capitalism contained within it certain tendencies which countered increasing automation and prevented it from developing beyond a limited point, so that manual industrial labor could not be eliminated until the overthrow of capitalism.[29] Some commentators on Marx have argued that at the time he wrote the Grundrisse, he thought that the collapse of capitalism due to advancing automation was inevitable despite these counter-tendencies, but that by the time of his major work Capital: Critique of Political Economy he had abandoned this view, and came to believe that capitalism could continually renew itself unless overthrown.[30][31][32]

The five attributes proposed by Peter Joseph in his book The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression (2017) form the foundation of the natural law resource based economy (NLRBE) concept for a post-scarcity worldview:

Continue reading here:

Post-scarcity economy - Wikipedia

Offshore

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Danzig

What is 'Offshore'

Offshore identifies any item that is located or based outside of one's national boundaries. The term "offshore" is used to describe foreign banks, corporations, investments and deposits. A company may legitimately move offshore for the purpose of tax avoidance or to enjoy relaxed regulations. Offshore financial institutions can also be used for illicit purposes such as money laundering and tax evasion.

Offshore can refer to a variety of foreign-based entities or accounts. In order to qualify as offshore, the accounts must be based in any country other than the customers or investors home nation, existing somewhat separately from the persons other resources and assets.

In the terms of business activities, offshoring is often referred to as outsourcing. This is the act of establishing certain portions of the business functions, such as manufacturing or call centers, in a nation other than the one in which the business most often does business. This is often done to take advantage of more favorable conditions in a foreign country, such as lower wage requirements or looser regulations, and can result in significant cost savings for the business.

Offshore investing can involve any situation in which the investors reside outside of the nation in which they are investing. This may require the creation of accounts in the nation in which the investor wishes to participate.

Offshore banking involves the securing of assets in financial institutions in foreign countries. This practice, which may be limited by the laws of the customers home nation, can be used to avoid certain unfavorable circumstances should the funds be kept in a financial institution in the home nation. This can include the avoidance of tax obligations as well as making it more difficult for these assets to be seized by a person or entity in the home nation. For those who work internationally, the ability to save and use funds in a foreign currency for international dealings can be a benefit. This can provide a simpler way to access funds in the needed currency without have to account for rapidly changing exchange rates.

Due to the fact that banking regulations vary from nation to nation, it is possible the country in which your funds are located does not offer the same protections as other nations.

Businesses with significant sales overseas, such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., may take the opportunity to keep related profits overseas in markets with lower tax burdens. In 2015, it was estimated that $2.10 trillion in profits were held overseas, across 304 U.S. corporations, which was an 8% rise when compared to 2014.

Excerpt from:

Offshore

Challenge B Origins | Six More Summers

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Danzig

As we begin Challenge B with the study of Origins, and Defeating Darwinism, I am positive that one of the areas my students will struggle will be in summarizingthe chapters of the book. The text can be wordy and a bit complicated and thought-provoking even for adults, so Im sure there will be places our kids will get a bit tangled up and summarizing a jumbled up thought will be difficult on a good day.

In an attempt to aid parents and tutors in surviving the summarizing of Defeating Darwinism, I am creating outlines for the chapters, which guide students in summarizing in their own words, but through questions that help them understand what it means to summarize.

Please feel free to download and use these summaries however you see fit.

I actually summarized the entire first chapter for my students and handed it out to them on the first day. We read through the chapter together and discussed how the points in the book were summarized on the page. My plan is to gently wean my students off of needing a template to summarize and to lead them towards formal outlining but Im working a week at a time, so we will see where it leads!

Best of luck as you tackle this big piece of literature. If you have suggestions or comments, please enter them below.

~ Amy

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 1(completed)

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 1 blank(empty for students to fill in)

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 2

Summarization Options and Tips

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 3

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 4

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 5

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 6

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 7

Defeating Darwinism Chapter 8

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Challenge B Origins | Six More Summers

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