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Redheads | Cracked.com

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Danzig

Redheads: The Ghosts Who Walk

WHAT CAUSES RED HAIR? A low incidence of the pigment eumelanin coupled the presence of the pigment McGinlemin, which is also responsible for me eyeballing your redheaded daughter at the neighborhood Christmas party.

Secondary causes of your child's red hair are conceiving in an upside down position, being a witch, and the fact that your mailman is Irish.

WHAT ARE SOME EPITHETS FOR A REDHEAD? Carrot Top, Copper Top, Strigoi Vii, Burning Bush, Firecrotch, and other milquetoast observations.

They're still really defensive about it, though.

If you're an art history major, you might call red hair "Titian." But if you're an art history major, why are you reading Cracked? Go swirl some brandy, ya literate fuck.

The English use the term "Gingers" because they don't understand their own language. When people with strawberry-red hair are called Gingers and people with ginger-colored hair are Strawberry Blondes, someone needs to get beaten with an Oxford English Dictionary.

WHY DO SO MANY ENGLISH PEOPLE HATE REDHEADS?

When you're as pale as England, you take any opportunity to mock someone so white they're transparent.

ARE REDHEADS DISAPPEARING?

That's just a Procter & Gamble guerilla marketing virus. In reality, redheads can write their own genetic ticket after an entire generation sexually imprinted on Jessica Rabbit.

IS IT TRUE REDHEADS DON'T HAVE SOULS?

The question isn't what makes you doubt redheads have souls; it's what makes you think anyone does? Except dogs, obviously; dogs are great. Not little dogs, though. Any dog under 15 lbs is officially a cat until it proves it can do cool dog stuff other than yap a lot. No fucking way does a cat have a soul unless it stole one from the baby it suffocated. Unless that baby was redheaded.

Boudica - If you're wondering where redheads get their reputation for a fiery temper, ask a citizen of Londinium. Oh wait, you can't because Brythonic queen Boudica burned it off the map with her hair after mutilating more people than a SoCal plastic surgeon.

But be fair - Rome had flogged her, raped her daughters, and enslaved her tribe. That's not a hot temper; that's the plot of a Mel Gibson film.

Everyone is bastards

CORE VALUES REACHED: Highly aggressive

Elizabeth I - Not being English or oppressed by the English, the only thing I know about this woman is she's Cate Blanchett. But watch me fake it: she hated Spaniards, betrayed her promises to the Irish and persecuted Catholics. Also, I think she used to fistfight Shakespeare when she was drunk.

Is the Prince Consort of England title worth marrying a woman without eyebrows? It's a dilemma.

CORE VALUES REACHED: Possible alien hybrid

Thomas Jefferson - He's pretty well-respected for someone who kept slaves. These days if you imprison your wife's sister and impregnate her several times, you're going to end up in prison, or worse, reality TV.

Oh, Jefferson! You're always enslaving your own children.

CORE VALUES REACHED: Lying/Hypocrisy

Winston Churchill -

He was not only the first bulldog to be elected Prime Minister of Britain, he was a redhead posing as a bald man. There are no color pictures, so I'm counting on the resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman to convince you.

Cripes! Is that his mom or did he pick up gorgeous women by telling them he'd be Prime Minister one day?

CORE VALUES REACHED: Utter Do Not Fuck Withery

Here are some of the common images of the redhead in popular woman-objectifying culture.

THE WILLFUL FIREBRAND

As played by: Maureen O'Hara

McLintock was the only man who could tell her no.

In all the best John Wayne movies O'Hara played the woman who dares to have her own opinion until The Duke drags her across town in her underwear. It turns out she's still alive. I'm thrilled for her continued vitality, but it's going to make this line I crafted when I thought she was dead awkward: she's so hot I'd ogle her corpse if it were still warm. If I could time travel back to 1939 for only a few hours, World War II would still happen because I'd be too busy trying to divert her first marriage.

Honorable dye job: Rita Hayworth

CORE VALUES REACHED: Nearly indomitable spirit, Extreme Irishness

THE SMARTEST WOMAN IN THE ROOM

As played by: Gillian Anderson

You have beautiful brains.

No one's sure how to stereotype a redhead, so they just assume they're brunette-smart even if they're playing blonde-dumb. Dana Scully was a well-rounded character who called everyone on their bullshit, but if you only knew X-Files from magazine covers, you'd think it was a show about a scantily-clad Gillian Anderson licking things. You have to admit it would have improved the drag-ass episodes written by Chris Carter.

Honorable dye job: Christina Hendricks

CORE VALUES REACHED: Actually did have a hybrid alien baby

THE CARTOON SEXBOMB

As played by: Swing Shift Cinderella

Every time an old person whines from their cage about Hollywood corrupting today's youth, remind them they grew up watching this How-To Guide to Sexism. This cartoon is responsible for more first erections than puberty and corduroy pants combined.

THE LUNATIC IN BED

As played by: Julianne Moore

Revlon's Token Redhead is a versatile actress, charitable activist, and extinction-level MILF. She has a lot of freckles even for a redhead, probably because every time she steps outside God brings the sun out to get a better look. Her sex scenes have gotten so taboo they're no longer even erotic. I fully expect her next film to feature a bewildered Liam Neeson trying to make love to her as she claps two rocks down on an unsuspecting jar of apricot preserves.

She also wrote a children's book called Freckleface Strawberry. This is her being kid-friendly:

Honorable natural redhead: Isla Fisher

This is the only redhead women are hot for:

A sense of humor will get you everywhere.

CORE VALUES REACHED: Sharp wit, seducing an entire gender

Though your mom might like:

YEEAAAAAHHH

CORE VALUES REACHED: Surviving in Miami

And one for your brother who writes slash-fiction:

Suddenly, it's a metaphor.

CORE VALUES REACHED: Extremely vulnerable to peril

Brendan McGinley is a lucky fella. You'll want to read the comic he writes.

Check out Brendan's look at Dating Older Women, his internet famous look at Women's Magazine's and their Advice About Relationships, or his look at The Typical Glenn Beck Broadcast.

Or if you're in the mood to read and be scared of your computer, check out 5 Terrifying Ways Your Own Gadgets Can Be Used to Spy On You.

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Redheads | Cracked.com

Redhead: Waterfowl ID

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Danzig

Breeding

Redheads breed in the northern prairies of the United States and Canada and the intermountain marshes of the west. They prefer non-forested environments with water areas sufficiently deep to provide permanent and fairly dense emergent vegetation for nesting. Of the diving ducks, redheads are the most common breeders in the United States. Female redheads lay an average of 7-10 eggs and are notorious for parasitizing canvasback nests.

Latin: Aythya americana

Average length: M 20", F 19"

Average weight: M 2.4 lbs., F 2.1 lbs.

Male redheads have a reddish head and upper neck with a black lower neck, foreback and breast. The remaining back is a dark grayish color. The hind back and tail are brownish-black. A broad band of light gray extends across the dusky gray wing and out onto the primaries, which helps distinguish it from scaup. The legs and feet are gray, and the bill is light blue-gray with a whitish band behind a relatively wide black tip. Female redheads have a reddish-brown head, neck and breast, with a buff white chin and throat and an indistinct eye ring and stripe behind the eye. The flanks are warm brown, contrasting little with the breast, but with buffer fringes. The upper parts are darker and duller brown, with the upper-wing-coverts browner than on the male; otherwise the wing is similar to that of the male. The bill is duller than the male's, but similar in pattern.

Redheads dive to feed on seeds, rhizomes, tubers of pondweeds, wild celery, water lilies, grasses and wild rice. They also feed on mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fish.

Redhead populations have remained relatively steady since 1955, hovering in the 400,000 to 800,000 range. As of the 2009 survey, there were more than 1 million redheads, a plateau that was reached in 2007 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2009).

A significant migration corridor extends from southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Idaho to the Gulf Coast. In addition, some redheads migrate eastward from the northern prairies to the Great Lakes, and then onward to the Chesapeake Bay and Florida. It is estimated that 80 percent of the North American redhead population winters in the Laguna Madre of Texas and Mexico. Smaller numbers of redheads winter in Apalachee Bay, Fla., along the Chandeleur Islands, Yucatan Peninsula and the Atlantic coast from Rhode Island to Florida.

Enjoy a spectacular photo essay featuring the Redhead.

Redhead: Waterfowl ID

Infographics – Futurism

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Danzig

Humans dreams bigand, better yet, we make those dreams a reality. It's enabled us to tame nature, build new nations, defeat disease, defy gravity and even reach the Moon. And we're not done yetnot by a long shot. From the quantum internet to terraforming Mars, here are some of mankind's most ambitious future moonshots.

Visionary, polymath, scientist, artist, engineerLeonardo da Vinci was the quintessential "Renaissance Man." Whether it was flying machines, diving suits, automatons or advanced weaponry, da Vinci envisioned the future and set about designing it. Here's a look at Leonardo da Vinci's most futuristic contraptions.

There's a new aerospace technology on the horizonusing plasma, the superheated "fourth state of matter," to enhance the aerodynamic performance of aircraft. Here, we break down the mechanics and the uses of this exciting new technology that has the aeronautics and aerospace industries all abuzz.

On September 27, Elon Musk unveiled his most ambitious project yetcalled the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), it's nothing less than his long-awaited plan for, not only putting humans on Mars, but colonizing the Red Planet as well. In this handy infographic, we've distilled the ITS architecture into seven easy steps.

In 1968, "father of computer graphics" Ivan E. Sutherland built the world's first head-mounted virtual reality displaycomplete with real time head tracking. Here's how he did it.

The face of warfare is rapidly changing. Numerous advances in recent decades have made possible military technology that was formerly the stuff of science fiction. Hypersonic missiles, next-gen choppers, carrier-based drones, electromagnetic railguns, and even laser weapons. This isn't Star Wars, folksit's the future of the US military.

By 2050, the world's population will swell to 10 billion people, and nearly 2/3 of them will be living in cities. To feed everyone, we're going to have to drastically modify global farming practices. The solution? Vertical farming.

Long before Siri, Alexa, and Cortana, there was Eliza, Parry, and Jabberwacky. Chatbots turn 50 this year, and to celebrate, we've curated some of the most notable "artificial conversational entities" from the history of computing. Thanks for the memories, SmarterChild.

You can do a lot of weird stuff with cryogenics. You can (we hope) someday use it to preserve space voyagers on immense journeys. You can use it for power transmission. You can even chop someone's head off and cryopreserve it against the possibility of a future resurrectionwhich, when you think about it, really isn't weird at all.

All Hallows' Eve is upon usa night when we abandon the rigidly scientific, and embrace the irrationally supernatural. We sophisticated products of modern civilization put off our thin veil of rationalism, and permit ourselves a shudder or two at the things "that go bump in the night." Doesn't mean we can't debunk that whole ridiculous zombie thing.

Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt identified a pressing world need, andwith characteristic self-sacrificehe set out to fill it. The result is the Schmidt Sting Pain Index (SPI), a painfully-researched ranking of the world's most painful stings meted out by the notoriously sting-happy Hymenoptera. Hint: avoid bullet ants at all costs!

Technology leaders like Elon Musk have already sounded the alarm about the potential danger of AI. To prevent a robot takeover, experts are writing a brand new rulebook. Here are the laws Isaac Asimov, Google, and Microsoft developed to keep them on our side.

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Infographics - Futurism

Gambling Addiction and Problem Gambling: Learn How to Stop …

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Learn How to Stop Gambling and Regain Control of Your Finances and Relationships

Whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, or slotsin a casino, at the track, or onlineproblem gambling can strain relationships, interfere with work, and lead to financial catastrophe. You may even do things you never thought you would, like stealing money to gamble or pay debts. You may think you cant stop, but with the right help, you can overcome a gambling problem or addiction and regain control of your life.

Gambling addiction, also known ascompulsive gambling or gambling disorder, is an impulse-control disorder. Compulsive gamblers cant control the impulse to gamble, even when its hurting themselves or their loved ones.

Compulsive gamblers keep gambling no matter the consequences, even when they know the odds are against them or they cant afford to lose.

People with gambling addiction often have other behavior or mood disorders. Many abuse substances, have ADD/ADHD, or mood disorders such as depression.

The Internet has made gambling far more accessible and harder for recovering addicts to avoid relapse. Online casinos and bookmakers are open all day, every day for anyone with a smartphone.

Gamblers can have a problem without being totally out of control.Problem gamblingis any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If youre preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, or gambling despite serious consequences, you have a gambling problem.

Myth: You have to gamble every day to be a problem gambler.

Fact: A problem gambler may gamble frequently or infrequently. Gambling is a problem if it causes problems.

Myth: Problem gambling is not really a problem if the gambler can afford it.

Fact: Problems caused by excessive gambling are not just financial. Too much time spent on gambling can also lead to relationship and legal problems, job loss, mental health problems including depression and anxiety, and even suicide.

Myth: Everybody has the symptoms of ADHD, and anyone with adequate intelligence can overcome these difficulties.

Fact: ADHD affects people of all levels of intelligence. And although everyone sometimes has symptoms of ADHD, only those with chronic impairments from these symptoms warrant an ADHD diagnosis.

Myth: Partners of problem gamblers often drive problem gamblers to gamble.

Fact: Problem gamblers often rationalize their behavior. Blaming others is one way to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, including what is needed to overcome the problem.

Myth: If a problem gambler builds up a debt, you should help them take care of it.

Fact: Quick fix solutions may appear to be the right thing to do. However, bailing the gambler out of debt may actually make matters worse by enabling gambling problems to continue.

Gambling addiction is sometimes referred to as a "hidden illness" because there are no obvious physical signs or symptoms like there are in drug or alcohol addiction. You may have a gambling problem if you:

Feel the need to be secretive about your gambling.You might gamble in secret or lie about how much you gamble, feeling others wont understand or that you will surprise them with a big win.

Have trouble controlling your gambling.Once you start gambling, can you walk away? Or are you compelled to gamble until youve spent your last dollar, upping your bets in a bid to win lost money back?

Gamble even when you dont have the money. You may gamble until youve spent your last dollar, and then move on to money you dont havemoney to pay bills, credit cards, or things for your children. You may feel pushed to borrow, sell, or even steal things for gambling money.

Have family and friends worried about you.Denial keeps problem gambling going. If friends and family are worried, listen to them carefully. Its not a sign of weakness to ask for help. Many older gamblers are reluctant to reach out to their adult children if they've gambled away their inheritance, but it's never too late to make changes for the better.

Take this test to find out.

In the last 12-months, have you:

1. Needed to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement??

2. Felt restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling?

3. Made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling?

4. Often been preoccupied with gambling, such as reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble?

5. Gambled when feeling distressed in some way, such as anxious, stressed, lonely, guilty, or depressed?

6. After losing money gambling, returned another day to get even or chase your losses?

7. Lied to conceal your gambling?

8. Jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or school or career opportunity because of gambling?

9. Relied on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling?

Please answer all the questions

Interpreting the score:

4 to 5: Indicates a MILD gambling problem

6 to 7: Indicates a MODERATE gambling problem

8 to 9: Indicates a SEVERE gambling problem

This questionnaire is not intended to replace professional diagnosis.

Adapted from: DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria: Gambling Disorder

The biggest step to overcoming a gambling addiction is realizing that you have a problem. It takes tremendous strength and courage to own up to this, especially if you have lost a lot of money and strained or broken relationships along the way. But many others have been in your shoes and have been able to break the habit. You can to.

Seek help for underlying mood disorders. Depression,stress, substance abuse, oranxiety can both trigger gambling problems and be made worse by compulsive gambling. Even when gambling is no longer a part of your life, these problems will still remain, so its important to address them.

Learn to relieve unpleasant feelings in healthier ways. Do you gamble when youre lonely or bored? Or after a stressful day at work or school? Gambling may be a way to self-soothe unpleasant emotions. But there are healthier and more effective ways of managing your moods, such as practicing relaxation techniques.

Strengthen your support network.Its tough to battle any addiction without support, so reach out to friends and family. If your support network is limited, there are ways to make new friends without relying on visiting casinos or gambling online.Try reaching out to colleagues at work, joining a sports team or book club, enrolling in an education class, or volunteering for a good cause.

Join a support group. Gamblers Anonymous, for example, is a twelve-step recovery program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. A key part of the program is finding a sponsor, a former gambler who has experience remaining free from addiction and can provide invaluable guidance and support.

Staying in recoverymaking a permanent commitment to stop gamblingis possible if you:

One way to stop gambling is to remove the elements necessary for gambling to occur in your life and replace them with healthier choices. The four elements needed for gambling to continue are:

A decision:For gambling to happen, you need to make the decision to gamble. If you have an urge:stopwhat you are doing and call someone,thinkabout the consequences to your actions,tellyourself to stop thinking about gambling, andfindsomething else to do immediately.

Money:Gambling cannot occur without money. Get rid of your credit cards, let someone else be in charge of your money, have the bank make automatic payments for you, close online betting accounts, and keep only a limited amount of cash on you.

Time:Even online gambling cannot occur if you dont have the time. Schedule enjoyable recreational time for yourself that has nothing to do with gambling. If youre gambling on your smartphone, find other ways to fill the quiet moments during your day.

A game:Without a game or activity to bet on there is no opportunity to gamble. Dont put yourself in tempting environments. Tell gambling establishments you frequent that you have a gambling problem and ask them to restrict you from entering. Remove gambling apps and block gambling sites on your smartphone and computer.

Maintaining recovery from gambling addiction or problem gambling depends a lot on finding alternative behaviors you can substitute for gambling. Some examples include:

To provide excitement, get a rush of adrenaline

Sport or a challenging hobby, such as mountain biking, rock climbing, or Go Kart racing

To be more social, overcome shyness or isolation

Counseling, enroll in a public speaking class, join a social group, connect with family and friends, volunteer, find new friends

To numb unpleasant feelings, not think about problems

Therapy, consult Helpguides Emotional Intelligence toolkit

Boredom or loneliness

Find something youre passionate about such as art, music, sports, or books and then find others with the same interests

To relax after a stressful day

As little as 15 minutes of daily exercise can relieve stress. Or deep breathing, meditation, or massage

To solve money problems

The odds are always stacked against you so its far better to seek help with debts from a credit counselor

Feeling the urge to gamble is normal, but as you build healthier choices and a strong support network, resisting cravings will become easier. When a gambling craving strikes:

Avoid isolation.Call a trusted family member, meet a friend for coffee, or go to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting.

Distract yourself with another activity, such as going to the gym or watching a movie.

Postpone gambling.Tell yourself that youll wait 5 minutes, fifteen minutes, or an hour. As you wait, the urge to gamble may pass or become weak enough to resist.

Visualize what will happen if you give in to the urge to gamble. Think about how youll feel after all your money is gone and youve disappointed yourself and your family again.

If you arent able to resist the gambling craving, dont be too hard on yourself or use it as an excuse to give up. Overcoming a gambling addiction is a tough process. You may slip from time to time; the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and continue working towards recovery.

Seeking professional help or seeing a therapist does not mean you are weak or cant handle your problems. Therapy can give you tools and support for coping with your addiction that will last a lifetime. Problem gambling can sometimes be a symptom of bipolar disorder, so your doctor or therapist may need to rule out this disorder before making a diagnosis.

Inpatient treatment programs are an option for those with severe gambling addiction who are unable to avoid gambling without round-the-clock support.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy(CBT) for gambling addiction focuses on changing unhealthy gambling behaviors and thoughts, such as rationalizations and false beliefs. It can also teach you how to fight gambling urges and solve financial, work, and relationship problems caused by problem gambling.

The Four Steps Program is a variation of CBT aimed at changing your thoughts and beliefs about gambling in four steps: re-label, reattribute, refocus, and revalue. See Resources and References below.

Marriage and credit counseling can help you work through specific issues created by problem gambling.

While compulsive gamblers need the support of their family and friends to stop gambling, its common for loved ones to have conflicting emotions. You may have tried to cover up for the gambler or spent a lot of time trying to keep him or her from gambling. At the same time, you might be furious at your loved one for gambling again and tired of trying to keep up the charade.

When gamblers feel hopeless, the risk of suicide is high. Its very important to take any thoughts or talk of suicide seriously. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or for a suicide helpline outside the U.S., visit Befrienders Worldwide.

Seek the support of others with similar problems; attend a self-help group for families such as Gam-Anon

Explain problem gambling to the children

Recognize your partners good qualities

Remain calm when speaking to your partner about his or her gambling and its consequences

Let your partner know that you are seeking help for your own sake because of the way gambling affects you and the children

Understand the need for treatment of problem gambling despite the time it may involve

Take control of family finances; review bank and credit card statements

Preach, lecture, or allow yourself to lose control of your anger

Make threats or issue ultimatums unless you intend to carry them out

Exclude the gambler from family life and activities

Expect immediate recovery, or that all problems will be resolved when the gambling stops

Bail out the gambler

Cover-up or deny the existence of the problem to yourself, the family, or others

Source: Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services

Euthanasia | Define Euthanasia at Dictionary.com

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Historical Examples

Illstarred heresiarch' In a Greek watercloset he breathed his last: euthanasia.

When I am too old to work and ready for euthanasia I shall have you come and talk me to death.

In August, 1900, came the euthanasia for which he had longed.

People did not deplore the dead warrior, but admired his euthanasia.

It was here that one enthusiast achieved a fisherman's euthanasia, for he dropped dead suddenly in the very act of playing a fish.

British Dictionary definitions for euthanasia Expand

the act of killing someone painlessly, esp to relieve suffering from an incurable illness Also called mercy killing

Word Origin

C17: via New Latin from Greek: easy death, from eu- + thanatos death

Word Origin and History for euthanasia Expand

c.1600, from Greek euthanasia "an easy or happy death," from eu- "good" (see eu-) + thanatos "death" (see thanatology). Sense of "legally sanctioned mercy killing" is first recorded in English 1869.

euthanasia in Medicine Expand

euthanasia euthanasia (y'th-n'zh, -zh-) n.

The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment.

A quiet, painless death.

euthanasia in Science Expand

euthanasia in Culture Expand

Painlessly putting someone to death usually someone with an incurable and painful disease; mercy killing.

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Euthanasia | Define Euthanasia at Dictionary.com

Atlas Shrugged – cliffsnotes.com

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

The story of Atlas Shrugged takes place in the United States at an unspecified future time. Dagny Taggart, vice president in charge of operations for Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, seeks to rebuild the crumbling track of the Rio Norte Line that serves Ellis Wyatt's oil fields and the booming industrial areas of Colorado. The country is in a downward economic spiral with businesses closing and men out of work. Other countries in the world have become socialist Peoples' States and are destitute. Colorado, based on Wyatt's innovative method of extracting oil from shale, is the last great industrial center on earth. Dagny intends to provide Colorado the train service it requires, but her brother James Taggart, president of Taggart Transcontinental, tries to block her from getting new rails from Rearden Steel, the last reliable steel manufacturer. James wants to do business with the inefficient Associated Steel, which is run by his friend Orren Boyle. Dagny wants the new rail to be made of Rearden Metal, a new alloy that Hank Rearden developed after ten years of experiment. Because the metal has never been tried and has been denounced by metallurgists, James won't accept responsibility for using it. Dagny, who studied engineering in college, has seen the results of Rearden's tests. She accepts the responsibility and orders the rails made of Rearden Metal.

Worsening the economic depression in the U.S. is the unexplained phenomenon of talented men retiring and disappearing. For example, Owen Kellogg, a bright young Taggart employee for whom Dagny had great hopes, tells her that he is leaving the railroad. McNamara, a contractor who was supposed to rebuild the Rio Norte Line, retires unexpectedly. As more great men disappear, the American people become increasingly pessimistic. Dagny dislikes the new phrase that has crept into the language and signifies people's sense of futility and despair. Nobody knows the origin or exact meaning of the question "Who is John Galt?," but people use the unanswerable question to express their sense of hopelessness. Dagny rejects the widespread pessimism and finds a new contractor for the Rio Norte Line.

The crisis for Taggart Transcontinental worsens when the railroad's San Sebastian Line proves to be worthless and is nationalized by the Mexican government. The line, which cost millions of dollars, was supposed to provide freight service for the San Sebastian Mines, a new venture by Francisco d'Anconia, the wealthiest copper industrialist in the world. Francisco was Dagny's childhood friend and her former lover, but she now regards him as a worthless playboy. In this latest venture, d'Anconia has steered investors completely wrong, causing huge financial losses and a general sense of unrest.

James Taggart, in an attempt to recover the railroad's losses on the San Sebastian Line, uses his political friendships to influence the vote of the National Alliance of Railroads. The Alliance passes what's known as the "Anti-dog-eat-dog rule," prohibiting "cutthroat" competition. The rule puts the superb Phoenix-Durango Railroad, Taggart Transcontinental's competitor for the Colorado freight traffic, out of business. With the Phoenix-Durango line gone, Dagny must rebuild the Rio Norte Line quickly.

Dagny asks Francisco, who is in New York, what his purpose was in building the worthless Mexican mines. He tells her that it was to damage d'Anconia Copper and Taggart Transcontinental, as well as to cause secondary destructive consequences. Dagny is dumbfounded, unable to reconcile such a destructive purpose from the brilliant, productive industrialist Francisco was just ten years earlier. Not long after this conversation, Francisco appears at a celebration for Hank Rearden's wedding anniversary. Rearden's wife Lillian, his mother, and his brother are nonproductive freeloaders who believe that the strong are morally obliged to support the weak. Rearden no longer loves and cannot respect them, but he pities their weakness and carries them on his back. Francisco meets Rearden for the first time and warns him that the freeloaders have a weapon that they are using against him. Rearden questions why Francisco has come to the party, but Francisco says that he merely wished to become acquainted with Rearden. He won't explain his presence any further.

Although public opinion and an incompetent contractor are working against them, Dagny and Rearden build the Rio Norte Line. Rearden designs an innovative bridge for the line that takes advantage of the properties that his new metal possesses. The State Science Institute, a government research organization, tries to bribe and threaten Rearden to keep his metal off the market, but he won't give in. The Institute then issues a statement devoid of factual evidence that alleges possible weaknesses in the structure of Rearden Metal. Taggart stock crashes, the contractor quits, and the railroad union forbids its employees to work on the Rio Norte Line. When Dr. Robert Stadler, a brilliant theoretical scientist in whose name the State Science Institute was founded, refuses to publicly defend Rearden Metal even though he knows its value, Dagny makes a decision. She tells her brother that she will take a leave of absence, form her own company, and build the Rio Norte Line on her own. She signs a contract saying that when the line is successfully completed, she'll turn it back over to Taggart Transcontinental. Dagny chooses to name it the John Galt Line in defiance of the general pessimism that surrounds her.

Rearden and the leading businessmen of Colorado invest in the John Galt Line. Rearden feels a strong sexual attraction to Dagny but, because he regards sex as a demeaning impulse, doesn't act on his attraction. The government passes the Equalization of Opportunity Bill that prevents an individual from owning companies in different fields. The bill prohibits Rearden from owning the mines that supply him with the raw materials he needs to make Rearden Metal. However, Rearden creates a new design for the John Galt Line's Rearden Metal Bridge, realizing that if he combines a truss with an arch, it will enable him to maximize the best qualities of the new metal.

Dagny completes construction of the Line ahead of schedule. She and Rearden ride in the engine cab on the Line's first train run, which is a resounding success. Rearden and Dagny have dinner at Ellis Wyatt's home to celebrate. After dinner, Dagny and Rearden make love for the first time. The next day, Rearden is contemptuous of them both for what he considers their low urges, but Dagny is radiantly happy. She rejects Rearden's estimate, knowing that their sexual attraction is based on mutual admiration for each other's noblest qualities.

Dagny and Rearden go on vacation together, driving around the country looking at abandoned factories. At the ruins of the Twentieth Century Motor Company's factory in Wisconsin, they find the remnant of a motor with the potential to change the world. The motor was able to draw static electricity from the atmosphere and convert it to usable energy, but now it is destroyed.

Realizing how much the motor would benefit the transportation industry, Dagny vows to find the inventor. At the same time, she must fight against new proposed legislation. Various economic pressure groups, seeking to cash in on the industrial success of Colorado, want the government to force the successful companies to share their profits. Dagny knows that the legislation would put Wyatt Oil and the other Colorado companies out of business, destroy the Rio Norte Line, and remove the profit she needs to rebuild the rest of the transcontinental rail system, but she's powerless to prevent the legislation.

Dagny continues her nationwide quest to find the inventor of the motor, and she finally finds the widow of the engineer who ran the automobile company's research department. The widow tells Dagny that a young scientist working for her husband invented the motor. She doesn't know his name, but she provides a clue that leads Dagny to a cook in an isolated Wyoming diner. The cook tells Dagny to forget the inventor of the motor because he won't be found until he chooses. Dagny is shocked to discover that the cook is Hugh Akston, the world's greatest living philosopher. She goes to Cheyenne and discovers that Wesley Mouch, the new economic coordinator of the country, has issued a series of directives that will result in the strangling of Colorado's industrial success. Dagny rushes to Colorado but arrives too late. Ellis Wyatt, in defiance of the government's edict, set fire to his oil wells and retired.

Months later, the situation in Colorado continues to deteriorate. With the Wyatt oil wells out of business, the economy struggles. Several of the other major industrialists have retired and disappeared; nobody knows where they've gone. Dagny is forced to cut trains on the Colorado schedule. The one bright spot of her work is her continued search for the inventor of the motor. She speaks to Robert Stadler who recommends a young scientist, Quentin Daniels of the Utah Institute of Technology, as a man capable of undertaking the motor's reconstruction.

The State Science Institute orders 10,000 tons of Rearden Metal for a top-secret project, but Rearden refuses to sell it to them. Rearden sells to Ken Danagger, the country's best producer of coal, an amount of Rearden Metal that the law deems illegal. Meanwhile, at the reception for James Taggart's wedding, Francisco d'Anconia publicly defends the morality of producing wealth. Rearden overhears what Francisco says and finds himself increasingly drawn to this supposedly worthless playboy. The day following the reception, Rearden's wife discovers that he's having an affair, but she doesn't know with whom. A manipulator who seeks control over her husband, Lillian uses guilt as a weapon against him.

Dr. Ferris of the State Science Institute tells Rearden that he knows of the illegal sale to Ken Danagger and will take Rearden to trial if he refuses to sell the Institute the metal it needs. Rearden refuses, and the government brings charges against himself and Danagger. Dagny, in the meantime, has become convinced that a destroyer is loose in the world some evil creature that is deliberately luring away the brains of the world for a purpose she cannot understand. Her diligent assistant, Eddie Willers, knows that Dagny's fears are justified. He eats his meals in the workers' cafeteria, where he has befriended a nameless worker. Eddie tells the worker about Dagny's fear that Danagger is next in line for the destroyer that he'll be the next to retire and disappear. Dagny races to Pittsburgh to meet with Danagger to convince him to stay, but she's too late. Someone has already met with Danagger and convinced him to retire. In a mood of joyous serenity, Danagger tells Dagny that nothing could convince him to remain. The next day, he disappears.

Francisco visits Rearden and empathizes with the pain he has endured because of the invention of Rearden Metal. Francisco begins to ask Rearden what could make such suffering worthwhile when an accident strikes one of Rearden's furnaces. Francisco and Rearden race to the scene and work arduously to make the necessary repairs. Afterward, when Rearden asks him to finish his question, Francisco says that he knows the answer and departs.

At his trial, Rearden states that he doesn't recognize his deal with Danagger as a criminal action and, consequently, doesn't recognize the court's right to try him. He says that a man has the right to own the product of his effort and to trade it voluntarily with others. The government has no moral basis for outlawing the voluntary exchange of goods and services. The government, he says, has the power to seize his metal by force, and they have the power to compel him at the point of a gun. But he won't cooperate with their demands, and he won't pretend that the process is civil. If the government wishes to deal with men by compulsion, it must do so openly. Rearden states that he won't help the government pretend that his trial is anything but the initiation of a forced seizure of his metal. He says that he's proud of his metal, he's proud of his mills, he's proud of every penny that he's earned by his own hard work, and he'll not cooperate by voluntarily yielding one cent that is his. Rearden says that the government will have to seize his money and products by force, just like the robber it is. At this point, the crowd bursts into applause. The judges recognize the truth of what Rearden says and refuse to stand before the American people as open thieves. In the end, they fine Rearden and suspend the sentence.

Because of the new economic restrictions, the major Colorado industrialists have all retired and disappeared. Freight traffic has dwindled, and Taggart Transcontinental has been forced to shut down the Rio Norte Line. The railroad is in terrible condition: It is losing money, the government has convinced James Taggart to grant wage raises, and there is ominous talk that the railroad will be forced to cut shipping rates. At the same time, Wesley Mouch is desperate for Rearden to cooperate with the increasingly dictatorial government. Because Rearden came to Taggart's wedding celebration, Mouch believes that Taggart can influence Rearden. Mouch implies that a trade is possible: If Taggart can convince Rearden to cooperate, Mouch will prevent the government from forcing a cut in shipping rates. Taggart appeals to Lillian for help, and Lillian discovers that Dagny Taggart is her husband's lover.

In response to devastating economic conditions, the government passes the radical Directive 10-289, which requires that all workers stay at their current jobs, all businesses remain open, and all patents and inventions be voluntarily turned over to the government. When she hears the news, Dagny resigns from the railroad. Rearden doesn't resign from Rearden Steel, however, because he has two weeks to sign the certificate turning his metal over to the government, and he wants to be there to refuse when the time is up. Dr. Floyd Ferris of the State Science Institute comes to Rearden and says that the government has evidence of his affair with Dagny Taggart and will make it public dragging Dagny's name through the gutter if he refuses to sign over his metal. Rearden now knows that his desire for Dagny is the highest virtue he possesses and is free of all guilt regarding it, but he's a man who pays his own way. He knows that he should have divorced Lillian long ago and openly declared his love for Dagny. His guilt and error gave his enemies this weapon. He must pay for his own error and not allow Dagny to suffer, so he signs.

Dagny has retreated to a hunting lodge in the mountains that she inherited from her father. She's trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life when word reaches her that a train wreck of enormous proportions has destroyed the famed Taggart Tunnel through the heart of the Rockies, making all transcontinental traffic impossible on the main track. She rushes back to New York to resume her duties, and she reroutes all transcontinental traffic. She receives a letter from Quentin Daniels telling her that, because of Directive 10-289, he's quitting. Dagny plans to go west to inspect the track and to talk to Daniels.

On the train ride west, Dagny rescues a hobo who is riding the rails. He used to work for the Twentieth Century Motor Company. He tells her that the company put into practice the communist slogan, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," a scheme that resulted in enslaving the able to the unable. The first man to quit was a young engineer, who walked out of a mass meeting saying that he would put an end to this once and for all by "stopping the motor of the world." The bum tells her that as the years passed and they saw factories close, production drop, and great minds retire and disappear, they began to wonder if the young engineer, whose name was John Galt, succeeded.

On her trip west, Dagny's train is stalled when the crew abandons it. She finds an airplane and continues on to Utah to find Daniels, but she learns at the airport that Daniels left with a visitor in a beautiful plane. Realizing that the visitor is the "destroyer," she gives chase, flying among the most inaccessible peaks of the Rockies. Her plane crashes.

Dagny finds herself in Atlantis, the hidden valley to which the great minds have gone to escape the persecution of a dictatorial government. She finds that John Galt does exist and that he's the man she's been seeking in two ways: He is both the inventor of the motor and the "destroyer," the man draining the brains of the world. All the great men she admires are here inventors, industrialists, philosophers, scientists, and artists. Dagny learns that the brains are on strike. They refuse to think, create, and work in a world that forces them to sacrifice themselves to society. They're on strike against the creed of self-sacrifice, in favor of a man's right to his own life.

Dagny falls in love with Galt, who has loved and watched her for years. But Dagny is a scab, the most dangerous enemy of the strike, and Galt won't touch her yet. Dagny has the choice to join the strike and remain in the valley or go back to her railroad and the collapsing outside world. She is torn, but she refuses to give up the railroad and returns. Although Galt's friends don't want him to expose himself to the danger, he returns as well, so he can be near at hand when Dagny decides she's had enough.

When she returns, Dagny finds that the government has nationalized the railroad industry and controls it under a Railroad Unification Plan. Dagny can no longer make business decisions based on matters of production and profit; she is subject to the arbitrary whims of the dictators. The government wants Dagny to make a reassuring speech to the public on the radio and threatens her with the revelation of her affair with Rearden. On the air, Dagny proudly states that she was Rearden's lover and that he signed his metal over to the government only because of a blackmail threat. Before being cut off the air, Dagny succeeds in warning the American people about the ruthless dictatorship that the United States government is becoming.

Because of the government's socialist policies, the collapse of the U. S. economy is imminent. Francisco d'Anconia destroys his holdings and disappears because his properties worldwide are about to be nationalized. He leaves the "looters" the parasites who feed off the producers nothing, wiping out millions of dollars belonging to corrupt American investors like James Taggart. Meanwhile, politicians use their economic power to create their own personal empires. In one such scheme, the Taggart freight cars needed to haul the Minnesota wheat harvest to market are diverted to a project run by the relatives of powerful politicians. The wheat rots at the Taggart stations, the farmers riot, farms shut down (as do many of the companies providing them with equipment), people lose their jobs, and severe food shortages result.

During an emergency breakdown at the Taggart Terminal in New York City, Dagny finds that John Galt is one of the railroad's unskilled laborers. She sees him in the crowd of men ready to carry out her commands. After completing her task, Dagny walks into the abandoned tunnels, knowing that Galt will follow. They make love for the first time, and he then returns to his mindless labor.

The government smuggles its men into Rearden's mills, pretending that they're steelworkers. The union of steelworkers asks for a raise, but the government refuses, making it sound as if the refusal comes from Rearden. When Rearden rejects the Steel Unification Plan the government wants to spring on him, they use the thugs they've slipped into his mills to start a riot. The pretense of protecting Rearden is the government's excuse for taking over his mills. But Francisco d'Anconia, under an assumed name, has taken a job at Rearden's mills. He organizes the workers, and they successfully defend the mills against the government's thugs. Afterward, Francisco tells Rearden the rest of the things he wants him to know. Rearden retires, disappears, and joins the strike.

Mr. Thompson, the head of state, is set to address the nation regarding its dire economic conditions. But before he begins to speak, he is preempted, cut off the air by a motor of incalculable power. John Galt addresses the nation instead. Galt informs citizens that the men of the mind are on strike, that they require freedom of thought and action, and that they refuse to work under the dictatorship in power. The thinkers won't return, Galt says, until human society recognizes an individual's right to live his own life. Only when the moral code of self-sacrifice is rejected will the thinkers be free to create, and only then will they return.

The government rulers are desperate. Frantically, they seek John Galt. They want him to become economic dictator of the country so the men of the mind will come back and save the government, but Galt refuses. Realizing that Dagny thinks the same way that Galt does, the government has her followed. Mr. Thompson makes clear to Dagny that certain members of the government fear and hate Galt, and that if they find him first, they may kill him. Terrified, Dagny goes to Galt's apartment to see if he's still alive. The government's men follow her and take Galt into custody, and the rulers attempt to convince Galt to take charge of the country's economy. He refuses. They torture him, yet still he refuses. In the end, the strikers come to his rescue. Francisco and Rearden, joined now by Dagny, assault the grounds of the State Science Institute where Galt is held captive. They kill some guards and incapacitate others, release Galt, and return to the valley. Dagny and Galt are united. Shortly after, the final collapse of the looters' regime occurs, and the men of the mind are free to return to the world.

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Urban Dictionary : liberal

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

A liberal, in the American sense, is one who falls to the left in the political spectrum; In other parts of the world, however, liberalism is the belief in laissez-faire capitalism and free-market systems - hence the recently coined term, neoliberalism.

Although I do not like to generalize, for the purposes of a (somewhat) concise dictionary definition, here is the very basic liberal (American sense) ideology:

Politics: The federal government exists to protect and serve the people, and therefore, should be given sufficient power to fulfill its role successfully. Ways in which this can be accomplished include giving the federal government more power than local governments and having the government provide programs designed to protect the interests of the people (these include welfare, Medicare, and social security). Overall, these programs have helped extensively in aiding the poor and unfortunate, as well as the elderly and middle class. To make sure that the interests of the people are served, it was liberals (or so they were considered in their time) that devised the idea of a direct democracy, a republic, and modern democracy. This way, it is ensured that the federal government represents the interests of the people, and the extensive power that it is given is not used to further unpopular goals. Liberals do not concentrate on military power (though that is not to say they ignore it), but rather focus on funding towards education, improving wages, protecting the environment, etc. Many propose the dismantling of heavy-cost programs such as the Star Wars program (no, not the film series), in order to use the money to fund more practical needs.

Social Ideology: As one travels further left on the political spectrum, it is noticed that tolerance, acceptance, and general compassion for all people steadily increases (in theory at least). Liberals are typically concerned with the rights of the oppressed and unfortunate this, of course, does not mean that they ignore the rights of others (liberals represent the best interests of the middle-class in America). This has led many liberals to lobby for the rights of homosexuals, women, minorities, single-mothers, etc. Many fundamentalists see this is immoral; however, it is, in reality, the most mature, and progressive way in which to deal with social differences. Liberals are identified with fighting for equal rights, such as those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who fought hard for a woman's reproductive right (see Abortion). Liberals have also often fought for ecological integrity, protecting the environment, diversity of species, as well as indigenous populations rights. Almost all social betterment programs are funded by liberal institutions, and government funded social programs on education improvement, childrens rights, womens rights, etc. are all supported by liberals. Basically, social liberalism is the mature, understanding way in which to embrace individual differences, not according to ancient dogma or religious prejudice, but according to the ideals of humanity that have been cultivated by our experiences throughout history, summed up in that famous American maxim: with liberty and justice for all.

Economics: Using the term liberal when speaking of economics is very confusing, as liberal in America is completely opposite to the rest of the world. Therefore, here, as I have been doing, I will concentrate on the American definition of liberal concerning economics. Liberals believe that the rights of the people, of the majority, are to be valued much more sincerely than those of corporations, and therefore have frequently proposed the weakening of corporate power through heavier taxation (of corporations), environmental regulations, and the formation of unions. Liberals often propose the heavier taxation of WEALTHY individuals, while alleviating taxes on the middle class, and especially the poor. Liberals (American sense) do not support laissez-faire economics because, to put it simply, multinational corporations take advantage of developing countries and encourage exploitation and child labor (multinational corporations are spawned from laissez-faire policies). Instead, many propose the nationalization of several industries, which would make sure that wealth and power is not concentrated in a few hands, but is in the hands of the people (represented by elected officials in government). I am not going to go into the extreme intricacies of the economic implications of privatization of resources, etc., but will say that privatization and globalization have greatly damaged the economies of Latin America, namely Argentina and Mexico (see NAFTA).

This summation of the leftist ideology may not be 100% correct in all situations, as there are many variations on several issues and I may have depicted the current definition of liberal as too far to the left than it is generally accepted. On that note, many leftists are critical of the political situation in America, claiming that the left is now in the center, as the general populace has been conditioned by institutions such as Fox News to consider everything left of Hitler (as one clever person put it) as radical liberalism. I, myself, have observed that, in America, there are two basic types of liberals: those who concern themselves only with liberal policies on the domestic front, and either ignore international affairs or remain patriotic and dedicated to the American way (Al Franken, Bill Clinton, etc.) And then there are those, despite the criticism they face from many fellow liberals (classified under the former definition), who are highly critical of US foreign policy, addressing such issues as Iran-Contra, the Sandanistas, Pinochet, Vietnam, NATOs intervention in Kosovo, our trade embargo on Cuba, etc, etc. (such as Noam Chomsky, William Blumm, etc.) Unfortunately, it seems that adolescent rage has run rampant on this particular word, and most definitions are either incoherent jumbles of insults and generalizations or deliberate spewing of misinformation (see the definition that describes the situation in Iraq, without addressing our suppression of popular revolts in Iraq, our pre-war sanctions on Iraq that have caused the death of some 5 million children, and our support for Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war, and even our post-war sale of biological elements usable in weapons to Saddams regime).

Urban Dictionary : liberal

List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Oceania …

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Oceania. Although it is mostly ocean and spans many continental plates, Oceania is often listed with the continents.

This list follows the boundaries of geopolitical Oceania, which includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The main continental landmass of Oceania is Australia.[1]

The boundary between Asia and Oceania is not clearly defined. For political reasons, the United Nations considers the boundary between the two regions to be the IndonesianPapua New Guineaian border.[2] Papua New Guinea is occasionally considered Asian as it neighbours Indonesia, but this is rare, and it is generally accepted to be part of Oceania. Geographically, Papua and West Papua provinces are part of Oceania.

This section includes all sovereign states located in Oceania that are members of the United Nations.[3] All are full members of the Pacific Islands Forum.[4]

Commonwealth of Australia

English: Canberra

English: Palikir

Republic of Fiji

Fijian: Viti Matanitu ko Viti

Fiji Hindi /Fiji - / Ripablik ph Phj

English: Suva

Fijian: Suva

Fiji Hindi: Suva

Republic of Kiribati

Gilbertese: Kiribati Ribaberiki Kiribati

English: Tarawa

English: Bairiki

Republic of the Marshall Islands

Marshallese: Aeln in Maje - Aolepn Aorkin Maje

English: Majuro

Republic of Nauru

Nauruan: Naoero - Repubrikin Naoero

Mori: Aotearoa

English: Wellington

Republic of Palau

Palauan: Belau Beluu er a Belau

English: Ngerulmud

Palauan: Ngerulmud

Independent State of Papua New Guinea

Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini

English: Port Moresby

Independent State of Samoa

Samoan: Samoa Malo Saoloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa

English: Apia

Samoan: Apia

English: Honiara

Kingdom of Tonga

Tongan: Tonga Pule'anga Tonga

English: Nuku'alofa

Tongan: Nuku'alofa

Tuvaluan: Tuvalu

English: Funafuti

Republic of Vanuatu

English: Vanuatu Republic of Vanuatu

French: Vanuatu Rpublique de Vanuatu

Bislama: Port Vila

English: Port Vila

French: Port-Vila

The two entries in this section (Cook Islands and Niue) are states in free association with New Zealand. While maintaining a close constitutional and political relationship with New Zealand, both states are members of several United Nations specialized agencies with full treaty-making capacity, and have independently engaged in diplomatic relations with sovereign states under their own name. Both are also full members of the Pacific Islands Forum. Because of these features, they are sometimes considered to have de facto status as sovereign states.[12]

The following are entities considered to be within Oceania which are either:

1. Federal territories of sovereign states located outside these states' mainland.

2. Territories that constitute integral parts of sovereign states in some form other than a federal relationship, where a significant part of the sovereign state's landmass is located outside Oceania or the territory is located outside the sovereign state's mainland. Many of these territories are often described as dependencies or autonomous areas.

3. Dependent territories of sovereign states.

Two of these territories (French Polynesia and New Caledonia) are associate members of the Pacific Islands Forum, while five others (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Tokelau and Wallis and Futuna) hold observer status within the organization.

Territory of American Samoa[7]

Samoan: Amerika Smoa

Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Coral Sea Islands Territory

Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui

Overseas Lands of French Polynesia[7]

Territory of Guam

Chamorro: Guahan[5]

State of Hawaii

Hawaiian: Hawaii Mokuina o Hawaii

Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies

Territory of Norfolk Island[7]

Norfuk: Teratri of Norf'k Ailen

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands[7]

Chamorro: Islas Marinas Sankattan Siha Na Islas Marinas

Pitcairn Group of Islands

Pitkern: Pitkern Ailen

English: Tokelau

Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands

West Papua Province

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Australia/Oceania – WorldAtlas.com

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Australia & Oceania Description

Oceania, the planet's smallest continent, is without doubt one of the most diverse and fascinating areas on the planet. A large percentage of geography experts now consider the long-established continent of Australia to be more accurately defined as Australia/Oceania.

Collectively it then combines all of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, as well as the thousands of coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific Ocean, including the Melanesia and Polynesia groups.

Oceania also includes Micronesia, a widely scattered group of islands that run along the northern and southern edges of the Equator.

Note: All Australia/Oceania recognized countries are labeled in red on the map; dependencies and territories are labeled in black.

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Home – Oceania

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Welcome to Oceania Cruises

Your World. Your Way.

Filled with a spectacular array of diverse and exotic destinations, your world awaits your discovery. There is simply no better way to explore it than aboard the elegant ships of Oceania Cruises. Our unique itineraries are handcrafted, featuring the most fascinating destinations throughout the world. As Regatta, Insignia, Nautica, Sirena, Marina and Riviera are all comfortably mid-size, each ship calls on the worlds most desirable ports, from historic cities and modern meccas to charming seaside villages and faraway islands. On a voyage with Oceania Cruises, each day offers the rewarding opportunity to experience the history, culture and cuisine of a wondrous new destination.

Relax on board our luxurious ships and savor exquisite cuisine that not only is renowned as the finest at sea, but also rivals the best restaurants ashore. Inspired by Master Chef Jacques Ppin, these culinary delights have always been a hallmark that distinguishes the Oceania Cruises experience from any other. Considering the uncompromising quality, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of an Oceania Cruises voyage is its incredible value. Lavish complimentary amenities abound, and there are never supplemental charges in any of the onboard restaurants. Value packages ensure that sipping a glass of vintage wine, surfing the Internet or enjoying a shore excursion is both convenient and affordable.

As the leader in destination cruising, Oceania Cruises sails to more than 330 ports around the globe. Itineraries are unique in that they call on the perfect mix of must-see marquee and boutique, off-the-beaten-path ports. Multiple overnight calls afford an in-depth, enriching destination experience and allow travelers to immerse themselves in the cuisine, culture and history of the ports we visit.

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Caribbean – Lonely Planet

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Caribbean Cooking Experience in Dominica

Gain a little insight into Dominican culture with a Caribbean cooking experience in Roseau! At a local home up in the hills, youll cook traditional Caribbean dishes and learn about the native fruits, vegetables and herbs used in Caribbean cuisine. Then sip some rum punch and enjoy your creations with your fellow food lovers! Morning and afternoon classes are available, and round-trip transport from the port in Roseau is included. Meet your guide at the Roseau Bayfront before traveling by bus to the site of your cooking class, set amid the tropical rainforest. During the 20-minute drive, admire views the lush, colorful landscape out the window.When you arrive, meet your hostess, who will introduce you to the herbs and fresh organic produce that will go into your dishes. Then take your place in the open-air kitchen and begin your cooking lesson! Create traditional Caribbean dishes such as Creole fish, rice and peas in coconut milk, and fresh garden salad and learn a bit about their significance in Dominican culture. Then enjoy a little time to stroll around the property, admiring the panoramic views of the mountains and Caribbean Sea. Finish your experience by sitting down to dine on your creations, accompanied by dessert, fruit and rum punch. Your class ends with the drive back to the Roseau Bayfront.

Snorkel in the worlds third largest reef within a protected marine park of Grand Turk! Your boat captain takes you to a shallow reef to practice before snorkeling down the wall into the abyss! Learn safe snorkeling techniques from basic levels up to free diving and spot many species of tropical fish amid the healthy coral. In one of Turks and Caicos premiere natural attractions, youll find plentiful marine life at your fingertips. You can enjoy this snorkel tour from land or from your cruise ship!Grand Turks reputation as one of the worlds top diving destinations means it boasts some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean as well. Explore the beauty of Turks and Caicos underwater world at two great snorkel sites. After pickup from your hotel in the morning or afternoon (depending on your choice), hop aboard a boat for a short ride over crystal-clear waters. Your first destination is a shallow reef where your boat captain-guide teaches basic snorkeling techniques before you stop to snorkel on the wall -- a spot where the sea floor suddenly drops in depth. Glide over coral gardens in the protected marine park, and come face to face with a variety of colorful tropical fish or even stroke a stingray in this sanctuary of natural beauty and diversity. Your guide, trained to identify species of fish and invertebrates, will focus on your comfort and safety at all times. Then, take a peek into the abyss while snorkeling the wall, where youll get a chance to try free diving with your guide. Hover where the water, just 15 feet (5 meters) deep, quickly descends to 7,000 feet (2,133 meters)! Marvel as scuba divers from all over the world disappear into the breathtaking, mysterious depths. Youll be amazed by the pristine surroundings of this unforgettable underwater world, After you discover the abundance of marine life inhabiting the Caribbean Sea, your captain will return you to shore, where you'll be dropped off at your hotel.

The melody of horns floating through the air, classic cars parked in colonial squares, revolutionary statuesget over the resort wall and discover the real Cuba! Travel east to Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa and encounter the birthplace of Cuban rhythms and revolutionary fervour. Soak in Spanish heritage while exploring churches, forts and cobblestoned streets. Overnight in homestays for an immersive Cuban experience few travellers get to enjoy. Don't just walk down the road less travelleddance down it. Viva la Revolucin!

Immerse yourself in Guatemalas fascinating history and beautiful scenery on this 8-day tour. See some of Guatemalas best-known destinations as you take a city sightseeing tour around Antigua, enjoy a boat ride on Lake Atitlan, visit the Mayan ruins of Yaxha and Tikal, hike up Pacaya Volcano and more. This all-inclusive tour includes transportation and overnight accommodation, making it a convenient way to get the most out of your trip to Guatemala!

Experience Semana Santa (Holy Week), one of the most vibrant celebrations in Central America, on this remarkable 10-day adventure based in Antigua, Guatemala. Line the parade route along cobblestoned streets decorated in flower petals, explore the famous Chichicastenango Market, and venture with a local guide to meet local Mayan villagers amidst the volcanic scenery of Lake Atitln. Be part of an exceptional time in an exceptional place.

Becoming an SSI Open Water Diver is the best way to start your scuba adventure due to worldwide recognition! With personalized training and attention, your guides make sure you are truly comfortable underwater with the skills and equipment you will use. In general, an Open Water Diver course consists of 3 parts: Academics, Confined and Open Water Sessions.

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Caribbean - Lonely Planet

Bahamas: Maps, History, Geography, Government, Culture …

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Dame Marguerite Pindling (2014)

Prime Minister: Perry Christie (2012)

Land area: 3,888 sq mi (10,070 sq km); total area: 5,382 sq mi 13,940 sq km)

Population (2014 est.): 321,834 (growth rate: 0.87%); birth rate: 15.65/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.5/1000; life expectancy: 71.93

Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Nassau, 254,000

Monetary unit: Bahamian dollar

More Facts & Figures

The Bahamas are an archipelago of about 700 islands and 2,400 uninhabited islets and cays lying 50 mi off the east coast of Florida. They extend for about 760 mi (1,223 km). Only about 30 of the islands are inhabited; the most important is New Providence (80 sq mi; 207 sq km), on which the capital, Nassau, is situated. Other islands include Grand Bahama, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros, Cat Island, and San Salvador (or Watling's Island).

Parliamentary democracy.

The Arawak Indians were the first inhabitants of the Bahamas. Columbus's first encounter with the New World was on Oct. 12, 1492, when he landed on the Bahamian island of San Salvador. The British first built settlements on the islands in the 17th century. In the early 18th century, the Bahamas were a favorite pirate haunt.

The Bahamas were a Crown colony from 1717 until they were granted internal self-government in 1964. The islands moved toward greater autonomy in 1968 after the overwhelming victory in general elections of the Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Lynden O. Pindling, over the predominantly white United Bahamians Party. With its new mandate from the black population (85% of Bahamians), Pindling's government negotiated a new constitution with Britain under which the colony became the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands in 1969. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became an independent nation.

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Bahamas: Maps, History, Geography, Government, Culture ...

Gore Lied

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Apr 10

The April 10, 2012 dead-tree edition of The Oregonian lead with a big dose of global warming realism.

This is what I was greeted with when I trotted out to fetch my dead-tree edition of The Oregonian this morning: Global warming without warming above the fold! Id seen the on-line version of this story last night with its own headline Global warming hiatus in recent years helps spur skepticism but to see it lead the dead-tree edition was even more satisfying.

To his credit, reporter Scott Learn points out some facts that Joe Romm would characterize as long-debunked denier talking points. And yet, The Oregonian is nobodys idea of a global warming denier :

For people who want more action on global warming, an inconvenient truth has arisen over the last decade: Annual average temperatures stayed relatively flat globally and dropped in the United States and Oregon despite mankinds growing release of greenhouse gases.

The hiatus in temperature increases may be contributing to higher public skepticism about warming, particularly in the United States.

Computer climate models didnt predict the hiatus, notes Portland meteorologist Chuck Wiese.

Climatologists, and climate models, are overestimating the impact of greenhouse gases on warming relative to natural climate cycles, they say, and arent being held accountable when warming projections dont pan out.

They just keep moving the goalposts to where you can never get a satisfactory answer, Wiese says.

Kudos to The Oregonian for having the guts to report the truth, rather than just regurgitating the blathering coming from the consensus.

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Mar 30

Climate models? Nah. In this case its models predicting when Japanese earthquake debris starts washing up on the West Coast of the US, which only serves as further evidence that nearly all computer models cannot be relied upon.

NOAA originally predicted debris from the tsunami triggered by the 9.0 earthquake in Tohoku, Japan, in March of 2011 would begin washing up on shores in the Pacific Northwest in 2013. Those were rough estimates based on forecasted ocean conditions and reports of debris from fishing and commercial vessels.

But, The Oregonian now reports:

Perhaps the largest piece of debris resulting from last year's tsunami in Japan is this fishing boat. It was sighted March 20, drifiting 150 miles off the coast of British Columbia. Photo via Canadian Department of National Defence

Debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami will likely wash ashore sooner than originally thought.Thats a prediction the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says was confirmed by the sighting of a Japanese fishing vessel lost in the tsunami and spotted last week in Canadian waters off the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Faced with the facts, NOAA responds:

Were working on updating the model, said Dianna Parker, NOAA spokeswoman. We expect results will show some of the debris that rides a little higher will arrive ahead of schedule. The bulkier debris, sitting lower in the water, will take longer.

Whether it be global warming climate models, or earthquake debris models, or a fill-in-the-blank model, its garbage in, garbage out.

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Mar 13

When you get right down to it, S. Matthew Liaos crazy neo-eugenics idea boils down to:

Small people = small carbon footprints

Perhaps we were warned many years ago in this song:

Its a world of laughter, a world or tears Its a world of hopes, its a world of fear Theres so much that we share That its time were aware Its a small world after all

CHORUS: Its a small world after all Its a small world after all Its a small world after all Its a small, small world

There is just one moon and one golden sun And a smile means friendship to everyone. Though the mountains divide And the oceans are wide Its a small small world

(chorus)

World of tears? World of fears? Share? Its time were aware? Oceans are wide? Hmmmmmm.

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Mar 08

Automotive News reports:

DETROIT (Reuters) A $100,000-plus Fisker Automotive luxury car died during Consumer Reports speed testing for reasons that are still unknown, leaving the struggling electric car startup with another blow to its image.

It is a little disconcerting that you pay that amount of money for a car and it lasts basically 180 miles before going wrong, David Champion, senior director for the magazines automotive test center, told Reuters.

Fisker has benefited from the publicity generated when actor Leonardo DiCaprio was handed the first Karma last summer and pop idol Justin Bieber received one as a gift this month.

The breakdown of the Consumer Reports car is more bad news for a company that already recalled some Karmas. Fisker also has changed its CEO and halted production over the past month as it seeks to renegotiate the terms of a $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

One of Fisker Automotives primary financial backers is venture captital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, of which Al Gore is a partner. Fisker also received a $528.7 million conditional loan from the Department of Energys Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Thats a LOT of money to produce only 200-300 cars thus far, some of which seem to be lemons.

This is the same company that last year caught flak because after it secured the US government financing, started assembling their cars in Finland.

By the looks of things, Fisker Automotive seems headed for the same fate as Solyndra.

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Mar 05

This video is from December 21, 2009 at COP15 just about a month after Climategate 1.0 hit so its not exactly fresh, but I just discovered it on YouTube, and DeSmogblogger Chris Mooney makes a very frank admission about the skeptic blogosphere that I believe went unnoticed back in 09, but is relevant even 2+ years later:

Mooney:

You have the rise of the blogosphere, where global warming denial is actually running rampant, and I think its totally got us whupped, in terms of pro-climate bloggers versus anti-climate bloggers.

One explanation of why the alarmists were, and are continuing to get whupped, was noted by Ross McKitrick recently, and was featured on WUWT as last weeks quote of the week. McKitrick:

The problem the alarmists had, was that there was never anything substantial to hit back at. They had the equivalents of the big guns and the massive air support but there never was a skeptic HQ to be pounded, no big central organization, no massed ranks of skeptic soldiers or even any third-partybacking the resistance.

Every one of the skeptics was a lone volunteer guerrilla fighter, who needed absolutely no logistical support of any kind to continue the fight indefinitely. The alarmists never understood this, preferring to think that there simply had to be some massive hidden organization orchestrating the resistance. While they wasted time and effort attacking targets that only existed in their head, each of the guerrillas chewed on them mercilessly in their own particular way.

The entire Mooney video is here.

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Mar 02

The Al Gore /AIT Index returns!

The index is calculated from Dr. Roy Spencers UAH Globally Averaged Satellite-Based Tropospheric Temperatures that are released each month. The GORE LIED graphics department simply whips out a magenta crayon, and marks up Dr. Spencers graph to show the temperature change since Al Gore released his fantasy/sci-fi movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

Through February, 2012 globally averaged temperatures have plunged .56F (.31C) since An Inconvenient Truth was released at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2006 truly an inconvenient truth.

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Feb 27

An Inconvenient Video from COP-15 (2009) featuring DeSmog Blogs Brendan Demelle. This video was deemed soooo compelling by viewers that in the two years its been posted it had a whopping nine views when I scrounged it up from the YouTube dustbin. An excerpt from Demelle discussing the state of journalism, and the rise of bloggers:

with the struggling economy which is hurting newsrooms there just arent as many resources to devote to deep investigative journalism than there used to be, and I think thats why you see a rise in citizen journalism, people taking it upon themselves to go and try to figure out what the facts are and to report the facts. Also, you know, one of the things that Danny mentioned is that journalists are, you know, taught to be objective and not to have a view. Id just say that youre also taught to report facts, and not lies and misdeeds.

He may say that, and yet I get the feeling that Brendan will only part with that fake 2012 Heartland Climate Strategy memo when we pry it from his proverbial cold, dead fingers.

Heres the whole video. DeMelle appears at 8:00

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Originally posted here:

Gore Lied

[Release] GTA:O Ultimatum Hack – unknowncheats.me

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Here's my latest hack of GTA:O. The hack is internal so you'll need any injector to inject into the game the hack, I use Xtreme Injector WITH manual mapping.

I heard R* is checking the module list so probably that's the problem and some people is using manual map already that's why they aren't banned, if you didn't use the hack and you'll use it, use manual map instead.

The features are the following: Main Stuff: -GUI made from the scratch in DX11. -YAML settings file to save all the data of the hack. -5 differents tabs in the GUI which each one contains specific features.

Main Tab Features: -Full God Mode: This is the classic godmode, totally invincible. -ASM God Mode: This godmode is "safest" while R* doesn't add any integrity checks. Only invincible against bullets. -Invisible Player: This works more or less since R* patched it online. You'll flash for milliseconds. Also hides you from the map. -Fast Swim and Sprint: Changes your velocity of sprinting and swimming. -Never Wanted: Never wanted by the police. Watch out with this if you are on the military base since the game will add you stars and the hack removes it so you'll start to earn fast RP. -Always Wanted: You'll get always 5 stars. -Super Jump -Explosive Melee -Fire Ammo -Explosive Ammo -Damage Modifier: From 0.72 to 10, this factor will modify the damage you do to peds and players. -Button to refill HP and armor to the max values -Vehicle Impulse: Aka SET_VEHICLE_FORWARD_SPEED, from -100 to 100 you can press a key and impulse your vehicle. (*) -Melee Damage: Mostly for funny stuff, when you hit a vehicle it'll fly away depending on what value you have in this option. -Ped Amount / Density: Putting this in 0 will result in 0 peds around you except when someone else is in your zone. You have to be the only one streamer in the zone. -Vehicle Amount / Density: Same as Ped Amount. -Vehicle Deformation: Do you want realistic deformation? Here you are. Only clientside.

Weapons Tab Features: -Fast Reload: Almost no animation of reloading. -Super Impulse: Apply impulse to peds and vehicles. Usually with vehicles you have to hit them in the front part. -Ultra Penetration: Change the penetration of the bullet to huge value so you can kill more than 1 ped / player with the same bullet. -No Spread -No Recoil -Aiming FOV: This is applied to every weapon and as it's name says you can change the FOV when aiming. -This Tab also includes a function to give ANY weapons to ANY player, just choose the weapon in the drop down menu, the player and press "Give" button. Also there is a "Give all" button to give all weapons to specified player (if there's no player specified, you'll receive the weapons).

Teleport Tab Features: -Simple Teleporting: Teleport to any of the places predefined in the hack or add your own teleport in the YAML file. -Teleport to any player: Choose the player and click the "GO!" button. -Teleport to waypoint

ESP Tab Features: -Enable / Disable ESP -3D Boxes -Show Peds: This shows animals too. -Show Players -ESP Max Distance

Customization Tab Features: Here can edit the keys of the following features -Vehicle Impulse Key -Vehicle Instant Stop Key -Menu Key -Kill All Peds: Only working when you are alone in a zone with peds. This works perfectly in survival missions. -Customizable Menu Color

To open the menu press "END" button which is under the "HOME" one. Press F8 to close the hack.

YAML Settings File

Code:

Use F11 to copy into the clipboard your actual position so you can save it your teleport bookmark in the yaml file.

Known Issues: -The drop down menus sometimes don't close/open completely so they start bugging. If this happens and it's totally needed close the hack and inject it again. -Some features are missing and I'll add them soon. -If you have problems or crashes AND YOU DID READ THE WHOLE THREAD, then post the problem here.

Tested in W7 and W10 64 bits.

IMPORTANT NOTES (*): -Open GTA:V as administrator. -When you inject the hack you should press the key "END" to enable the hack. -Game should be fullscreen windowed or windowed. -ONLY WORKING FOR SOCIAL CLUB VERSION FOR NOW. -Watch out with vehicle impulse key, it can crashes your game if you keep the key pressed and don't use it with air vehicles. -Some features are missing and I'll add them soon. -THIS IS NOT A FREAKING MENU, IT'S A HACK. THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE. You ALMOST can't be banned using this UNLESS you rage with it OR if R* adds a new detection method and I doubt it... And I say "almost" because no one knows when R* will add a server side check for godmode or any features of the hack. If you really get banned post in this thread everything about your ban.

Credits: - @DarkLinuxz, @Janck7 and @JackD to post several offset and pointer which are very useful. - @Extropian very helpful guy which helped me mostly with sigs etc. - @kickbar for posting the NPC list. - @stevemk14ebr because I'm using his PolyHook library which I highly recommend. - @evolution536 for his great thread about Universal DX11 Hooking. - Others GTA Community members to help me.

Change Log (21/06/2016) -RP Multiplier: Change the RP Multiplier between 1 and 2. -Steam compatible now

DOWNLOAD Social Club Version (20/06/2016): CLICK DOWNLOAD Social Club Version (21/06/2016): CLICK DOWNLOAD Steam Version (21/06/2016): CLICK DOWNLOAD Steam and Social Club Version (16/07/2016): CLICK DOWNLOAD Social Club Version for 1.36 (06/10/2016): CLICK DOWNLOAD Steam Version for 1.36 (07/10/2016): CLICK

Go here to see the original:

[Release] GTA:O Ultimatum Hack - unknowncheats.me

FS Book Company – Marijuana Books

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

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FS Book Company - Marijuana Books

Brain Center – Research News and brain Supplement Reviews

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

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Naturally occurring nootropics arent just a popular substance for...

ADHD is classified as a learning disability or even ...

Getting the proper amount of rest will give you more energy and make you a more productive person. But what are some other ways to boost...

There are a number of online resources on which...

Most people would rather take a natural supplement...

All types of people want to try nootropics, and each person has a variety of reasons why they wish to do so. Some people want to get ahead in business, while others...

Brain Center - Research News and brain Supplement Reviews

Political Correctness Watch

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Geert Wilders convicted of inciting discrimination

DUTCH anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders was found guilty Friday of insulting and inciting discrimination against Moroccans, a conviction he immediately slammed as a shameful attack on free speech and an attempt to neutralise him.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court would not impose a sentence because the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected politician.

Wilders was not in court for the verdict that came just over three months before national elections. His Party for Freedom is narrowly leading a nationwide poll of polls and has risen in popularity during the trial.

Wilders quickly released a video message, in English and Dutch, slamming the judgment and vowing to appeal.

Today, I was convicted in a political trial which, shortly before the elections, attempts to neutralise the leader of the largest and most popular opposition party, Wilders said. They will not succeed.

The politically charged prosecution centred on comments Wilders made before and after the Dutch municipal elections in 2014. At one meeting in a Hague cafe, he asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of Fewer! Fewer! Fewer! to which he replied, well take care of it.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, speaking after the verdict, underscored that he and his Liberal Party would not consider forming a coalition with the Party for Freedom unless Wilders retracts the comments. That is our stance and it remains our stance, Rutte said at his weekly press conference.

Prosecutors say that Wilders, who in 2011 was acquitted at another hate speech trial for his outspoken criticism of Islam, overstepped the limits of free speech by specifically targeting Moroccans.

He had insisted he was performing his duty as a political leader by pointing out a problem in society.

On Friday, he was convicted for the interaction with the crowd of supporters in the Hague cafe, which judges said was carefully orchestrated and broadcast on national television. He was acquitted for similar comments he made in a radio interview a week earlier, which the judges said did not amount to inciting hatred.

Steenhuis stressed that freedom of expression was not on trial. Freedom of speech is one of the foundations of our democratic society, the judge said. But he added: Freedom of speech can be limited, for example to protect the rights and freedoms of others, and that is what this case is about.

Abdou Menebhi, president of the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Migration and Development, welcomed the judgment. For us, its a very important verdict, he told The Associated Press. This gives the Moroccans who felt like victims a renewed belief in a democratic society.

He said it also sent a message to Wilders supporters. This man is not looking for solutions for you, Menebhi said. His is an ideology of smearing Europe, migrants, Muslims, without offering alternatives.

SOURCE

When did brown sauce and Union Jack knickers become racist?

The owner of a novelty gift shop called Really British says he has been smeared as a RAY-CIST! by a bunch of bigoted, brain-dead Guardianistas. Chris Ostwald claims to be the target of an online campaign aimed at forcing him to change the shops name.

Hes accused of being pro-Brexit, as if thats on a par with paedophilia, and has been hit with a boycott.

The store only opened at the end of November, but Chris has already lost one member of staff who resigned after her first day because she was fed up with the abuse. And shes Spanish.

People have been walking in to the shop, on Muswell Hill Broadway, in North London, simply to complain about its alleged racism. Hes been warned that the place will be picketed to deter potential customers.

From the furious reaction on anti-social media, youd think Chris was selling National Front T-shirts, BNP baseball caps and signs reading No blacks, no dogs, no Irish.

All hes doing is flogging quintessentially British nick-nacks and souvenirs, such as brown sauce, London Underground tea-towels, Union Jack knickers, Prince Charless favourite socks and models of the Queen.

Mind you, the mere sight of our national flag is enough to give these Left-wing mentalists an attack of the screaming ab-dabs. Chris says he was forced to take down two Union flags for fear of reprisals. How long before some self-appointed social justice warrior decides to lob a brick through the window?

A Facebook page called Muswell Hill and Friends provides a forum for this confected anti-racist rubbish. Some of the protests are hilarious.

One nutter wrote: Like many people I live in London because of its international nature, and for me having a big sign saying Really British makes me feel youre implying that other businesses in the area are therefore somehow not really British.

Some will no doubt say Im over-sensitive but I cant help thinking that given the recent divisive referendum and the current political climate you might have chosen a more inclusive name in 2016.

Nurse!

OK, so this could be a publicity stunt designed to get some free advertising for Chriss new venture. He certainly seems to be enjoying the attention. But I have no doubt the rabid reaction he describes is genuine.

We lived down the hill from the Broadway for 12 years, so Im familiar with the area. Its where the Davies brothers Ray and Dave mainstays of the Kinks, that most English and proudly working class of pop groups, grew up. Chris even sells Muswell Hillbillies mugs, after the bands 1971 album of the same name.

Muswell Hill has always had pretensions, though. Its one of the posher parts of the London Borough of Haringey, which voted 75 per cent to Remain in June.

Like its near neighbour Crouch End, its home to people who cant afford to live in super-affluent, artsy-fartsy Hampstead and Highgate. Consequently, house prices have gone through the roof. A bog-standard semi will set you back over 1 million.

These days its been colonised by Guardian-reading middle-class professionals, who can afford the mortgage payments. And they are precisely the kind of folk who find any hint of patriotism not only racist but borderline Nazi.

I just wish they were a little more inventive with their invective. Their knee-jerk inclination is to scream RAY-CIST! at anyone who offends their sensibilities. Its the all-purpose insult intended to silence those who disagree with their political agenda.

You voted Leave?

RAY-CIST!

Think immigration is too high?

RAY-CIST!

Dont believe in climate change?

Er, RAY-CIST!

The whole racism slur is so tiresome and predictable that it has become utterly meaningless.

But its not difficult to imagine them going out of their tiny Chinese minds to borrow an expression from the late Denis Healey over a shop called Really British in the heart of Remain country.

Its a daily reminder, as they trek to the health food cafe for their quinoa-infused soya wheatgrass wossnames, that they LOST.

Boo-hoo.

How on earth, otherwise, can anyone get outraged about a suburban novelty shop, six miles from the centre of our capital city, selling British bric-a-brac, memorabilia and models of the Queen and flying the Union flag? Its deranged.

In the normal course of events, I wouldnt take much notice of social media storms. But this one is directed at defaming a small businessman and destroying his livelihood unless he falls into line and changes the name of his shop.

And it is also an illustration of the post-Brexit vote pantomime in microcosm. The Remoaners dont really have any convincing reasons to stay in the sclerotic, corrupt and currently imploding European Union.

In fact, the noisy attempts to derail Brexit have almost nothing to do with the benefits or otherwise of being a member of the EU.

No, its all about them.

Ranting and raving about Leave voters being racist, ignorant and gullible scum of the earth is simply another way of reinforcing their own inflated opinion of themselves as morally superior beings. Its why Chris Ostwalds shop has been singled out for self-righteous abuse, too.

By smearing him as a RAY-CIST! these potty, po-faced protesters are burnishing their right-on credentials. They may be Muswell Hillbillies but unlike those ghastly Little Englanders who wave the Union flag and voted for Brexit they want everyone to know that first and foremost they are caring, compassionate citizens of the world.

To adapt Ray Davies, from the title track of that 1971 Kinks album:

Im a Muswell Hillbilly boy,

But my heart lies in old West Somalia.

Makes you proud to be British.

SOURCE

The Spectator: Big Parts of Rock n Roll Are Quietly Right-Wing

Writing in Britains magazine The Spectator, Rod Liddle argues that there are, and have always been, right-wing rock musicians.

Liddle makes his argument after popular rock musician Kate Bush expressed admiration for British Prime Minister Theresa May. May is the leader of Britain's Conservative Party.

Talking to Maclean's recently, Bush said, We have a female prime minister here in the UK. I actually really like her and think shes wonderful. I think its the best thing thats happened to us in a long time. Shes a very intelligent woman but I dont see much to fear. I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country. Shes very sensible and I think thats a good thing at this point in time.

Bush received criticism on social media for the comments. According to Liddle, there are more conservatives in rock and roll than is widely thought:

Bush comes from a prog-rock background, a rather pompous genre which was never known for its revolutionary fervour...Over the Atlantic, the Canadian prog-metal band Rush were dedicated followers of Ayn Rand. That other blue-collar blind alley of rock music, heavy metal, had plenty of conservatives here and in the United States, insofar as anyone involved cared about politics at all. Even the few metal bands considered cool by the left-wing music press were right of centre. In the 1970s Iggy Pop (James Newell Osterberg from Muskegon, Michigan) released a magnificent, howling opus called Im a Conservative. Brilliant, brilliant satire, the liberal music press agreed, clapping their hands. Until Iggy said: Uh, no, I actually am a conservative. So was Ted Nugent, and so were a whole bunch of others. Liddle also notes that Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker was a Republican Tea Party supporter, and that Leonard Cohen defended Israel. He also argues that there was a pro-capitalist element to punk rock:

The independent record labels which sprang up in the wake of punk were not anti-capitalist far from it they were just anti the in-effectual and conservative capitalism which pertained among the likes of EMI and CBS. Punk was also a reaction to the sopping wet liberalism of the hippies; and the poster boy for the post-punk movement, Ian Curtis of Joy Division, was a fervent Thatcherite. Or at least he was before he killed himself. Liddle concludes: Rock music is an intrinsically conservative medium, no matter how much its proponents and champions in the music press might try to pretend otherwise.

SOURCE

10 Things We Should Learn From the Ohio State Attack

by Shireen Qudosi, a Muslim writer based in California.

Americans returned from Thanksgiving to news of the latest jihadi attack waged by a Somali Muslim, Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Declaring that he had reached a "boiling point," the 18-year-old Ohio State University student drove a car into a crowded area on the Columbus campus. He then exited the vehicle and attacked the crowd with a knife. Artan injured 11 students before being killed by a university police officer.

Artan was a legal resident who came to the US through Pakistan in 2014. He arrived with his family, securing a refugee status after having escaped from Somalia.

Ohio State University President Michael V. Drake, along with Ohio State Governor John Kasich, shied away from identifying the cause of the attack. This despite Artan's last Facebook post embracing a chilling message that in part read, "By Allah, we will not let you sleep unless you give peace to the Muslims..."

Terrorism expert Walid Phares is clear about the motive. In private correspondence, Dr. Phares shares his belief that the Ohio State attack is "Another case of urban Jihadism. At this point the issue isn't even a link or not to ISIS or al Qaeda, but a link to the specific ideology called Jihadism. This is the generator of terror."

In his book, The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy, Dr. Phares charts irreconcilable views between democracy and the violent ideology of jihadism that promotes a doctrine of death. Writing in The War of Ideas, Dr. Phares shares the insight that seems to escape academia and a former GOP presidential candidate:

"The ushq al mout (love of death) is the backbone of suicide bombing and gives terrorism its most frightening firepower. Indeed, once the fear of death is subtracted from political planning and public concern, there are no limits to the power of Jihadism"

In the case of Ohio State jihadi Abdul Artan, the question is how did a child once fleeing Somalia under the fear of death then embrace death when finally under the protection of the greatest superpower? Further, how did decades of experience as a refugee escaping persecution not deter Artan from the jihadi doctrine of death? Answering these questions requires understanding how violent ideology slips through the slightest cracks in the system.

America is dealing with a crushing rise of jihadi dark web chatter that privatizes radicalization. Indoctrination into a violent political ideology thrives through combination of secret portals and chat rooms like AMAQ on Telegram that provide safe online communities for jihadi talk. Instant radicalization paired with travel to or from red-flag nations, broken immigration vetting and tracking systems, lack of community emphasis on assimilation, and the politicization of mosques as polarizing hotspots, places individuals on a three month fast track to radicalization.

Just three months prior, Artan was featured in Humans of Ohio State' - a profile in the university's student paper - that showed Artan hyper-focused on prayer spaces and identity politics. Three months later, he's pledged allegiance to ISIS in a killing spree. We could conclude that time period of radicalization was just this brief- or we could, far more reasonably, conclude that Artan's use of the left's victimhood narratives dovetail quite comfortably with his jihadi beliefs.

That is the hard reality we're faced with. Instead, talking points have shifted to Islamophobia as a public health crisis for Muslims. And rather than recognizing the victims, mainstream media is humanizing the attacker as a social outcast who "loved America." That real problem is the killing sprees some Muslims are engaging in; it is not the mean words penciled and shoved into the mail slot at the local mosque. The inability of Muslims to recognize a present danger versus fear of a hypothetical threat, only further places all Americans at risk because it prevents us from being able to collectively move forward in dealing with radical Islam.

It also places Muslim Americans at greater risk; the more Muslims deny the causal link between Islam and jihad, deflecting attention to a self-victimizing rhetoric, the more rest of America grows frustrated. It is also worth asking whether Muslim American organizations and communities that obstruct discourse and discovery by misdirecting away from real problems should be included in a broader perimeter of public inquiry. Instead of dealing with the most recent eruption of radical Islam, the issue is swept under the rug and upon it sits the incubus we call Islamophobia.

Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Islamist groups like CAIR, who could not step away from the abacus of Muslim grievances for just one day, continued tallying letters (real or scripted) rather than looking beyond themselves to see that Muslim American communities have a much bigger problem: radicalization.

In fact, across American there were only a handful of outlets and personalities that are pressing for truth in dialogue. This includes Conservative Review's Carly Hoilman, who took to higher ground in a piece titled "Difficult Conversations: Challenging Islam in the Wake of the Ohio State Attack."

It also includes Michelle Malkin who tweeted, "Ohio State University jihad has virtually disappeared from national headlines -except for the p.c. Muslims fear backlash' stories." That pattern was also spotted by the The Foreign Desk, which noted dark web chatter was on the rise with talk hailing the attack and allegiance being shown in the form of profile pics replaced with a photo of Artan.

Being able to move forward means treating thought process behind this attack as a forensic scene that requires precision and analysis. That scene tells that that the only public health crisis an ideological virus with a three month incubation period. This means that the next attacker is set to be radicalized by Inauguration Day.

Studying that virus for actionable intelligence means observing how that strain has formed and how it influences another host. Yet, the Ohio State attack was one of the least exhaustively covered jihadist attack on American soil; due to the uncomfortable questions it raises, the media dropped the issue like a hot potato.

The implications of the attack encompassed key crisis points facing our nation and new administration, including immigration, travel to red-flagged state sponsors of terror, and questions of assimilation. Not only were these though questions glossed over, but the intelligence we could gain from them were missed opportunities, including:

1. Failing to look at the radicalization of the Somali Muslim community and its troubled history in the United States as one of the leading actors of domestic terror.

2. Waiting for ISIS to confirm the attack rather than moving proactively on the facts that jihad comes from the doctrine of war in Islam. That doctrine is not limited to ISIS. It will continue to be a problem long after ISIS is defeated - if it's defeated.

3. Failing to spot that ISIS does not claim every attack; they prefer to take credit posthumously. ISIS didn't claim three radicalized women in France who failed carry out attacks against Notre Dame, but it did claim radicalized women in Kenya. ISIS also didn't claim New Jersey attacker Ahmad Khan Rahami, though the pattern of attack mirrors ISIS.

4. Failing to see that Ohio State attacker Adul Artan self-identified with ISIS in Facebook statement that called for the message being screen-grabbed before it was deleted. This is standard direction under ISIS to individual actors so that ISIS may identify the attack as a pledge. Those directions appear on page 12 of the latest issue of Rumiyah, an ISIS propaganda magazine.

5. Failing to identify the relevance of Artan's pledge to ISIS versus Al-Shabab, a Somalia-linked terror group that, itself, in 2012 pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda. If the most popular Somali terror group is Al-Shabab, and the most popular Pakistani terror group is Al-Qaeda, what does it say that Artan would self-identify with ISIS? This is particularly noteworthy considering Artan's family fled Somalia for Pakistan in 2007 before arriving to the United States in 2014. The desired affiliation with the most popular and coveted terror group on the planet right now - rather than the group associated with national identity - tells us that ISIS has come a long way from being a JV team' and has secured global appeal.

6. Failing to understand that when ISIS claims Artan as a soldier, they're telling us that the face of war has shifted. Artan's last online statement confirms that theirs is ideological war, born in an ideology, bursting kinetically through physical attacks. Their soldiers don't wear uniforms and their war zone is the public space. Their targets are civilians.

7. The media and politicians' premature resurrection of gun control debate in a desperate attempt to politicize the attack along the lines of their preferred policy solutions. Of course, it became that a knife and vehicle were also used as weapons in the attack.

8. Ignoring the correlation between attacks in Europe and Canada with the Ohio State attack, all of which follow the 2014 instructions of then ISIS chief spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani who called for mobilized attacks using any tool available, including weaponizing vehicles.

9. Ignoring those instructions to weaponized vehicles were again detailed as a call to action this past Thanksgiving, also shared in the most recent issue of Rumiyah.

10. Trusting the public face of the Muslim community rather than engaging in investigative journalism to discover the true nature of comments shared by Artan's brother and his network of family and friends. His brother's Facebook page shows almost zero awareness of the gravity of the attack, no denouncement of Artan's actions as being against an Islam Muslims publically claim jihad has nothing to do with, and no sympathy for victims of the Ohio State attack.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.

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Political Correctness Watch

What is Cloning? – Learn Genetics

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Many people first heard of cloning when Dolly the Sheep showed up on the scene in 1997. Artificial cloning technologies have been around for much longer than Dolly, though.

There are two ways to make an exact genetic copy of an organism in a lab: artificial embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Artificial embryo twinning is a relatively low-tech way to make clones. As the name suggests, this technique mimics the natural process that creates identical twins.

In nature, twins form very early in development when the embryo splits in two. Twinning happens in the first days after egg and sperm join, while the embryo is made of just a small number of unspecialized cells. Each half of the embryo continues dividing on its own, ultimately developing into separate, complete individuals. Since they developed from the same fertilized egg, the resulting individuals are genetically identical.

Artificial embryo twinning uses the same approach, but it is carried out in a Petri dish instead of inside the mother. A very early embryo is separated into individual cells, which are allowed to divide and develop for a short time in the Petri dish. The embryos are then placed into a surrogate mother, where they finish developing. Again, since all the embryos came from the same fertilized egg, they are genetically identical.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also called nuclear transfer, uses a different approach than artificial embryo twinning, but it produces the same result: an exact genetic copy, or clone, of an individual. This was the method used to create Dolly the Sheep.

What does SCNT mean? Let's take it apart:

Somatic cell: A somatic cell is any cell in the body other than sperm and egg, the two types of reproductive cells. Reproductive cells are also called germ cells. In mammals, every somatic cell has two complete sets of chromosomes, whereas the germ cells have only one complete set.

Nuclear: The nucleus is a compartment that holds the cell's DNA. The DNA is divided into packages called chromosomes, and it contains all the information needed to form an organism. It's small differences in our DNA that make each of us unique.

Transfer: Moving an object from one place to another. To make Dolly, researchers isolated a somatic cell from an adult female sheep. Next they removed the nucleus and all of its DNA from an egg cell. Then they transferred the nucleus from the somatic cell to the egg cell. After a couple of chemical tweaks, the egg cell, with its new nucleus, was behaving just like a freshly fertilized egg. It developed into an embryo, which was implanted into a surrogate mother and carried to term. (The transfer step is most often done using an electrical current to fuse the membranes of the egg and the somatic cell.)

The lamb, Dolly, was an exact genetic replica of the adult female sheep that donated the somatic cell. She was the first-ever mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell.

Excerpt from:

What is Cloning? - Learn Genetics

Evolution – Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia.

Evolution (Japanese: evolution) is a process in which a Pokmon changes into a different species of Pokmon. This change is not merely physical, however, as Pokmon of a higher evolutionary stage have different (and usually more powerful) base stats than their predecessors, may have different moves that can be learned, and sometimes change their types, though usually at least one of the types of the previous form is preserved. Other statistics, such as Nature and EVs, as well as shininess, are preserved. With respect to real-world phenomena, Pokmon Evolution is more similar to metamorphosis than evolution. Evolution also appears to be a mostly independent phenomena from the aging process for most species, though Baby Pokmon need to evolve to their next stage in order to breed.

Professor Elm and Professor Rowan are the leading experts in Pokmon Evolution. According to the latter's research, over 90% of all Pokmon are connected to at least one other through Evolution (this is true only if Legendary Pokmon are excluded.) Rowan is currently investigating whether Evolution is a form of maturity in Pokmon, and looking at the implications this process has on Legendary Pokmon, which don't evolve.

An evolution family is a group of Pokmon who will all, if bred with Ditto or a Pokmon in the same Egg Group, make a Pokmon Egg that will hatch into the same Pokmon, excluding baby Pokmon. This also means that the most basic form has the potential to become any of the rest of the family, although it will ultimately be able to follow only one evolutionary path.

Pokmon can be divided into different evolutionary stages, based on where they appear in their evolution family. All Pokmon fall into one of four groups: baby Pokmon, unevolved Pokmon, first-evolution Pokmon, and second-evolution Pokmon. These groups are also the basis for the TCG's grouping of Baby Pokmon, Basic Pokmon, Stage 1 Pokmon, and Stage 2 Pokmon, respectively.

Due to the fact that no evolution family contains both a baby Pokmon and a second-evolution Pokmon, many regard baby Pokmon as the most basic form, while moving their evolved counterparts one level higher. For example, originally, Pikachu was regarded as an unevolved Pokmon, however, with the release of Pichu in Generation II, many now consider it to be more on par with Pokmon like Charmeleon, though its TCG classification remains the same.

By far the most common type of evolution family, these families are based in a Pokmon that will only ever evolve once in its development. About one third of all Pokmon that would later get a baby form were part of this kind of evolution family before their baby form was revealed. An example of this type of evolution family is below.

Perhaps the most well-known types of evolution families are those that feature two separate evolutionary events in the Pokmon's development. Indeed, this type of evolution family is what all of the starter Pokmon in the core series are a part of (excluding the starter Pikachu in Pokmon Yellow, as Pichu did not yet exist and it could not be evolved into Raichu; and Eevee, which could only be taken by Blue), as well as all pseudo-legendary Pokmon. An example of this type of evolution family is below.

The least common type of evolution family is that in which no evolutionary event takes place, meaning that it is made up of only one member. Many of the Pokmon that have no evolutionary relatives are Legendary and Mythical Pokmon. However, there are still 75 other Pokmon that do not evolve.

Not belonging to an evolutionary family is not indicative of strength, or a lack thereof. Some Pokmon, such as Heracross and Skarmory, are comparable to fully evolved Pokmon while others, like Delibird and Luvdisc, are more comparable to unevolved Pokmon. Often this indicates a Pokmon's possibility to be eligible for future new evolutions or pre-evolutions.

Several families, while also one- and two-evolution families, are also branch evolution families. What this means is that there is a split in the evolutionary line at some point so that even though two Pokmon of the same species evolve the same amount of times, they can become one of two or more entirely different creatures. Eevee is the best-known example of this, evolving eight different ways depending on the method used. An example of this type of evolution family is below.

A major difference between the final forms of an evolution family with a branch in evolution is in the way that their base stats line up. For example, Kirlia can evolve into both Gardevoir and Gallade, which both have 518 total base stats. However, Gallade's base stat in Attack is 125 and its base stat in Special Attack is 65. The reverse is true for Gardevoir, whose Special Attack is 125 and whose Attack is 65. This is true of many opposing evolutions, with one focusing in one specific stat, the other focusing in a separate stat, and both having the same total stats. This is especially obvious in the Eeveelutions, who each have exactly the same base stats, though organized differently.

A listing of the stat focuses is below.

The various triggers for a Pokmon's evolution are almost as varied as the Pokmon themselves, and some Pokmon have a unique evolution method. The most common of them is Evolution by leveling up at or above a certain level. Other methods include the following:

Additionally, holding an Everstone prevents a Pokmon from evolving, as well as surprising a Pokmon via the B Button. The latter method is known as an "Evolution cancel".

Pokmon that get knocked out during a battle will evolve at the end of that battle if its requirements have been met. However, before Generation VI, losing a battle would make Pokmon not evolve even if the conditions have been met.

Pokmon that can evolve into more than one Pokmon will usually have the ways in which the evolution is activated being slightly similar, such as having both being initiated by evolutionary stone or by trading while holding an item. Closely-related Pokmon, such as Nidoran and Nidoran, will also have very similar, if not identical, evolution methods.

Some Pokmon have different evolutions depending on their gender. For example, only female Combee can evolve into Vespiquen; male Combee cannot evolve at all. Meanwhile, all Snorunt can evolve into Glalie, but females ones have the option of evolving into Froslass instead. This instance occurs in a similar way with Kirlia, albeit with males having split evolution instead.

Also, there have been situations in which the current party must be configured in a specific manner for some Pokmon to evolve. So far, only three Pokmon need to have these special requirements. Mantyke will evolve into Mantine if leveled up with a Remoraid in the player's party. Nincada will evolve into Ninjask when it reaches level 20. However, if there happens to be an empty space in the player's party (and a spare Pok Ball in Generation IV onward), a Shedinja will also appear in the party. Pancham evolves into Pangoro if its level is 32 or higher and there is a Dark-type Pokmon in the player's party.

Some Pokmon evolve in other unique ways. If one trades a Karrablast for a Shelmet, they will evolve into Escavalier and Accelgor, respectively, though neither will evolve if one of them holds an Everstone. When Inkay reaches level 30, the player must hold the 3DS upside-down for it to evolve into Malamar. Also introduced was a weather-based evolution: Sliggoo will evolve into Goodra beginning at level 50 only if it is raining in the area that the player is in. Finally, Sylveon can only be obtained by leveling up an Eevee that knows any Fairy-type moves and has at least two hearts of affection in Pokmon-Amie or Pokmon Refresh.

Some missions Hey You, Pikachu! involve Pikachu interacting with other Pokmon in certain ways to cause their evolution. In Caring for Caterpie, the player and Pikachu supervise a group of Caterpie, who will evolve into Metapod and then Butterfree if treated well. In Field Trip, Pikachu can water wild Oddish and Gloom, causing them to evolve into Gloom and Vileplume, respectively.

In Pokmon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, while evolution typically works as normal in the main series, Shadow Pokmon are incapable of evolving until they are purified and return to normal. In Pokmon XD: Gale of Dakrness, the player's Eevee is incapable of evolving into Espeon or Umbreon through normal methods, because the game does not have a Time mechanic. However, early in the game, the player is given their choice of evolution item to evolve it, including the Sun and Moon Shards, Key Items that will evolve Eevee into Espeon or Umbreon respectively after it levels up.

In Pokmon Conquest, because the mechanics of levels, experience, and friendship do not exist, Pokmon typically evolve once they reach a certain link threshold with their partnered Warrior or Warlord. Pokmon that normally evolve via high friendship in the main series games, such as Golbat, instead evolve after reaching a certain link percentage, usually between 60 and 70 percent. Pokmon that normally evolve at a set level instead evolve when a certain stat reaches a specific value. For example, Spheal evolves when its HP has reached a value of 138, which is partially determined by the link with its Warrior. Warriors with Pokmon that require an evolutionary stone to evolve must equip themselves with that item and then perform an action that causes their link to improve, such as completing a battle.

In Pokmon Pinball and Pokmon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, the player can evolve Pokmon they caught in Catch 'Em Mode in a separate mode called Evolution Mode (EVO Mode in Pinball RS). In this mode the player selects an evolution-capable Pokmon in their possession, then guide their ball towards three symbols representative of their method of evolution in the main games, such as EX for Level evolution, or a Link Cable for Trade evolution. If the player collects the three symbols in time, they can bring their ball to the Center Hole to evolve their Pokmon, awarding them with their Pokdex entry and points.

In the Mystery Dungeon series, evolution is restricted until reaching the location where evolution is taking place. Evolution is typically done in a ritual held in several locations across the Pokmon world, including Luminous Cave, the Luminous Spring, or the Tree of Life. However, starting in Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, the player character and their partner may not evolve until they complete an additional scenario. Pokmon who evolve through unusual methods require an additional item to act as a catalyst.

In Pokmon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity forward, enemy Pokmon may evolve after defeating a member of the player's party. In Super Mystery Dungeon, the player character and their partner evolve into their final forms several times throughout the story. In addition, connectable Pokmon that exist as NPCs in this game or previous games will refuse evolution. However, because all Pokmon can be recruited separately though the Connection Orb, the player can still access their respective evolved forms in alternate ways.

In Pokmon Snap, the player can interact with Pokmon in certain ways that will make them evolve.

In Pokmon GO, the player can evolve Pokmon by spending Candy. The Candy cost for evolution varies between Pokmon species, ranging from 12 (to evolve Caterpie into Metapod) to 400 (to evolve Magikarp into Gyarados).

Each evolutionary family has their own kind of Candy. Candy can be obtained by catching or hatching Pokmon of that evolutionary family. The player can also obtain 1 Candy for its evolutionary family by permanently transferring it to Professor Willow.

The form Eevee normally evolves into seems to be random. However, the player can nickname their Eevee after one of the Eevee brothers in order to guarantee what the end result of the evolution will be.

In the anime, Evolution happens in much the same way as it does in the games; though level-based evolutions and trade-based evolutions do not occur using those methods, there are similarities in the way they come about. For example, Misty's Poliwhirl evolved into Politoed because it found Ash's King's Rock and was holding it when Misty sent it out, while in the games it is required that Poliwhirl be traded while holding the King's Rock for the evolution to take place (It should be noted that Poliwhirl had been through a machine in connection with it being healed at the Pokmon Center, while holding the item). When a Beedrill attacked Ash's Metapod, it caused a crack to appear on its shell, which Butterfree came out of.

Additionally, a difference can be seen in the fact that Pokmon evolve during a battle, as opposed to after it. Pokmon may also evolve when they are needed to, for an extra boost of power or gaining new abilities, instead of after a set amount of training, such as when Ash's Charmeleon evolved into Charizard. In addition, Pokmon can sometimes choose not to evolve, even if they evolve by a 'natural' method such as leveling up. This was shown when Ash's Bulbasaur refused to evolve during an evolution festival for all Bulbasaur to evolve in Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden. It appears that Evolution has emotional implications for Pokmon - some Pokmon, such as Team Rocket's Meowth, dislike their evolved forms, while others such as Ash's Pikachu simply want to prove they can be powerful without evolving. Conversely, when Pokmon do evolve, this can often be linked with an experience that causes them to mature emotionally or deal with an emotional issue, such as when the Poochyena in A Bite to Remember evolved, or the Paras in The Problem With Paras. Poochyena, for some reason, had an aversion to using the move Bite, while Paras was extremely timid and weak in battle. Both of them evolved shortly after overcoming these issues.

When a Pokmon begins to evolve, it will be enveloped by a brightly-colored light while slowly changing form; in the Original, Advanced, and Diamond&Pearl series, the light is simply white in color while in the Black and White and XY series, the light is blue in color.

For a list of all evolutions that Pokmon belonging to the main cast have undergone, see List of anime Pokmon by evolution.

Evolution in the Pokmon Trading Card Game is very similar in some aspects to its counterpart in the core series. However, it differs mostly in the fact that there are no different methods needed to evolve a Pokmon, but instead, all Pokmon evolve simply by placing the next stage on top of a Pokmon in play that it evolves into.

Pokmon cannot be evolved on the first turn of the game or on the first turn they come into play. They also cannot be evolved if on the same turn they were previously evolved or devolved.

There are four different stages of evolution in the TCG, Baby Pokmon, Basic Pokmon, Stage 1 Pokmon, and Stage 2 Pokmon. Of these, only Baby and Basic Pokmon may be placed onto the Bench during the setup phase and during play; Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokmon are considered to be evolution cards and therefore unable to be played except on top of their corresponding pre-evolved forms. The stage of evolution is indicated in a conspicuous place on each and every Pokmon card, though the placement differs among the four generations of cards.

Within the deck and discard pile, only Stage 1 and Stage 2 cards are considered to be "evolution cards" for the purpose of a Trainer card or Pokmon Power which allows them to be searched for. In play, a Basic Pokmon card can be considered an evolution card if it is evolved from its Baby stage.

A Baby Pokmon is much the same in the TCG as it is in the core series of games. In fact, as with baby Pokmon released beyond Generation II, it is not even necessary for a Pokmon to even go through this stage of their evolutionary line, as the Pokmon can just start from their basic form. Baby Pokmon are among the weakest in the TCG, most often having 30 HP, as well as one of two special Pok-Bodys: one prevents all damage done to the Baby Pokmon while it is Asleep (Baby Pokmon with this Pok-Body also usually have an attack that changes their status to Asleep), and the other forces a Pokmon attempting to attack the Baby Pokmon to flip a coin, the attack doing nothing if that coin ends up tails.

A Basic Pokmon is the most basic of Pokmon cards, as can be deduced from its name. Commonly basic Pokmon will have low HP, a common rarity, and low damage and Energy costs. These cards can be placed directly into play without another Pokmon card needing to be in play first. Pokmon that evolve from a Pokmon released in a later generation, such as Electabuzz or Pikachu, always are basic Pokmon, despite being the second Pokmon in their own evolutionary lines. Baby Pokmon, Shining Pokmon, Pokmon , Pokemon SP, and Pokmon-EX are always Basic, and the latter four cannot evolve.

A Stage 1 Pokmon are the first kind of evolution card, being able to be evolved from a Basic Pokmon. Stage 1 cards are most commonly uncommon in rarity. Stage 1 Pokmon are also able to be Dark Pokmon and Light Pokmon.

A Stage 2 Pokmon is the highest of evolution cards, commonly rare or holographic in rarity, and can only, in normal conditions, be evolved from a Stage 1 Pokmon. Stage 2 Pokmon are also able to be Dark Pokmon and Light Pokmon.

M Pokmon-EX cards were introduced in XY expansion and introduce the Mega Evolution mechanic featured in Pokmon X and Y. They are identified by a stylized graphic on the card name. M Pokmon-EX can only be played by Mega Evolving from basic Pokmon-EX. Doing so ends a players Turn immediately. Other than this, M Pokmon-EX share the same rules and design as regular Pokmon-EX and evolving Pokmon, with the addition of boosted Hit Points and more powerful Attacks.

A Pokmon card that is in the player's hand must say specifically that it evolves from a Pokmon card that is in play on the player's side. For example, Dark Blastoise states on the card "Evolves from Dark Wartortle". This means that any card named Dark Wartortle may be evolved into Dark Blastoise. However, a card simply named Wartortle cannot. Likewise, Pokmon such as Rhyhorn cannot be evolved into a Pokmon that says on it "Evolves from Team Magma's Rhyhorn".

However, Pokmon cards from different sets may evolve into one another. For example, Dark Crobat can evolve from either Dark Golbat of the Team Rocket set or Dark Golbat of the EX Team Rocket Returns set. So long as the card names match precisely both to (here Dark Crobat) and from (here Dark Golbat), the evolution is legal. This rule, of course, can be circumvented by certain means, such as Pokmon Powers and Trainer cards, however, this is not common.

Evolution in Pokmon, for most species, is more akin to metamorphosis than to actual evolution. This is because real life evolution happens to a population rather than to individuals, and happens over much larger time scales than in the Pokmon world. In the Pokmon Adventures manga, it is mentioned that Pokmon Evolution is an entirely separate phenomenon from the normal process of evolution, and is a mysterious ability exclusive to Pokmon that is still not fully understood. In Pokmon Super Mystery Dungeon, it is described in the health class at the school in Serene Village as when a Pokmon's body rapidly grows larger with many other changes bringing a Pokmon closer to being an adult, being described akin to puberty.

Link:

Evolution - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokmon encyclopedia

Rationalism | Psychology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Danzig

Philosophy Index: Aesthetics Epistemology Ethics Logic Metaphysics Consciousness Philosophy of Language Philosophy of Mind Philosophy of Science Social and Political philosophy Philosophies Philosophers List of lists

Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. Rationalism has some similarities in ideology and intent to humanism and atheism, in that it aims to provide a framework for social and philosophical discourse outside of religious or supernatural beliefs; however, rationalism differs from both of these, in that:

Outside of religious discussion, the discipline of rationalism may be applied more generally, for example to political or social issues. In these cases it is the rejection of emotion, tradition or fashionable belief which is the defining feature of the rationalist perspective.

During the middle of the twentieth century there was a strong tradition of organized rationalism, which was particularly influenced by free thinkers and intellectuals. In the United Kingdom, rationalism is represented by the Rationalist Press Association, founded in 1899.

Modern rationalism has little in common with the historical philosophy of continental rationalism expounded by Ren Descartes, however it has large affinities with the work of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz which influenced the development of empirical rationalism, or logical positivism. Indeed, a reliance on empirical science is often considered a hallmark of modern rationalism, whereas continental rationalism rejected empiricism entirely.

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Rationalism | Psychology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

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