Which OR for the Ore

Which OR for the Ore


A story from the NYT:Under the proposed six-month deal that six major powers are negotiating with Iran in Geneva, Iran would eliminate its current stock of uranium enriched to 20 percent by diluting it or turning it into fuel rods or oxide powder, forms that are unusable for weapons, senior Western officials said Friday.
Hmmm, given that Boolean choice of "OR's" (dilution, or conversion to fuel rods or oxide) which one neutralizes its weapons potential? Which one merely stores it, a few simple chemical steps away from weaponizing it?

From the article:Israel and Saudi Arabia have expressed concern that if Iran produced only oxide powder from the 20 percent enriched uranium, and not fuel rods or plates, the oxide could be reconverted into 20 percent enriched uranium. But the Western officials say that such a reversal is difficult, and that Iran does not now seem to have the ability.
The Israelis and Saudis are correct is what I'm saying.

I never used to doubt the technical prowess of fellow Americans until I saw that The Obama Administration relied on so-called experts to make decisions in Syria. Technical experts like Elizabeth O'Bagy. The level of incompetence is contagious.

Also, look at the level of technical expertise deployed for the ObamaCare website. These are concrete signs of a nation in decline with respect to science and technology. It's not for lack of talent either. There seems to be a deliberate choice at the top to use and deploy second-rate talent.

The Jewish Community in a multicultural Turkey Background and Prospects

The Jewish Community in a multicultural Turkey Background and Prospects


The article is published at the 9th Edition of the Middle East Mediterranean Report, ELIAMEP (21.11.2013)Το άρθρο δημοσιεύθηκε στο 9ο Τεύχος της επιθεώρησης Middle East Mediterranean Report, ΕΛΙΑΜΕΠ (21.11.2013)

the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul
While other Jewish Communities in Europe have suffered the
results of the Holocaust, the Ottoman liberal policy towards the Jewish
population as well as Ankara's neutrality during World War II turned Turkey to
be a 'safe haven' for the Jews. Despite the fact that Kemalist secularism
regulated reservations over religious teaching and imposed higher taxation, the
Jewish Community of the country managed to remain alive during the 30s' and
40s'. With the Proclamation of Israel's Independence
in 1948, a
great percentage of Turkish Jews emigrated to Israel. According to the World
Jewish Congress[1]
and the Turkish Jewish Community[2] official figures, between the years 1948 and 1951, 37,000 out of a total of
75,000 Turkish Jews emigrated to Israel
("Big Turkish Aliya"). Since 1948 a total of 61,221 Turkish Jews have
emigrated to Israel, while today a small population of 26,000 Jews are living
in the country, most of them in Istanbul and
fewer in other Turkish cities such as Izmir
(est. 2,300)[3],
Ankara, Bursa, Adana,
Kirklareli, Iskenderun and a tiny Arab-speaking
Jewish Community of 10 families in Antakya[4].Compared to other Muslim countries where Jewish Communities
still exist, the Jewish Community in Turkey
did not become a reason of any political or cultural conflict whatsoever
between Ankara and Tel Aviv. Throughout the decades, both Turkish and Israeli
government officials and entrepreneurs managed to keep away this delicate
'religion variable' from the flourishing Turkish-Israeli strategic and
financial relations during the 80s' and the 90s'. Anti-Semitic sentiments
within the Turkish society caused by the continuous Arab-Israeli conflict did
not succeed to influence the mainly secular and affiliated to the Turkish upper
middle-class Jewish Community. The gradual pro-Arab steps of the AKP administration combined
with the new Turkish doctrine towards the Middle East
and the Arab world have dramatically influenced the Turkish-Israeli relations.
The Mavi Marmara incident on May 31, 2010 was the catalyst and anti-Jewish
sentiments have been expressed by a great part of the Turkish society,
regardless of the degree of religiosity. The Jewish
Community of Turkey suddenly found itself under extraordinary circumstances,
given that for the first time Turkish citizens have become victims of the
Israeli armed forces. The first –and last- declaration made by the Chief
Rabbinate of Istanbul on the Mavi Marmara
incident has been very careful : "We are
distressed to learn of the military intervention carried out against the ship
Mavi Marmara which was heading toward Gaza.
The fact that, according to the first reports we have received, there have been
dead and wounded in the intervention, has increased our sorrow all the more. We
fully share our countrys reaction generated by the stopping of the
aforementioned (humanitarian relief) effort in this manner and our sorrow is
the same as that of the general public." It was obvious to the Jewish
official bodies of Turkey
that keeping a low-profile would ensure the traditionally centuries-old good
relations with the 99,8% Muslim majority of the Turkish society. Despite the political and social adversities that the
Jewish Community of Turkey has faced since the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010[5] and although the Israeli
authorities were getting prepared to accept an increased number of Turkish Jews
due to the political developments that followed[6], the official figures
provided by the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption prove that the average
Turkish citizen of Jewish origin is still not willing to expatriate. According to the official Israeli statistics, the Turkish
"Olim Hadashim" (New Jewish Immigrants to Israel) in 2009[7], a year before the Mavi
Marmara incident, were 150. This tendency remained stable in 2010[8] (155 migrants), while the
following years the Jewish migration from Turkey
was decreasing : 111 Turkish Jews migrated to Israel in 2011[9], 73 in 2012[10] and during the first 8
months of 2013[11]
the total number of Turkish 'Olim' was only 47. Explanations vary about Turkish Jewry's remarkable
reluctance to abandon their motherland. Despite the recent difficulties Turkish
Jews were facing after the Mavi Marmara incident due to anti-Semitic anti-Israeli
sentiments expressed by the local media and government officials, the remaining members of their Community seem
not losing their confidence that a peaceful coexistence and religious diversity
within the framework of a Turkish multicultural sociological status quo are
still possible.Turkish Jewry's intuition seems to be confirmed and despite
AKP's political incentives, aiming to promote a neo-Islamist social agenda and
restructuring the country's regional foreign policy priorities, in an encouraging move made by the Turkish
administration, a public discussion about the new Constitution has started
within the framework of which the government showed that religious diversity
might be a factor of social reconciliation rather than a tool of foreign policy
adversity. An encouraging sign of this
conception was clear : In late 2011 the Jewish Community, the Greek Ecumenical
Patriarchate, the Armenian and the Syriac Orthodox Churches –as well as the
Alevi Community- have all been invited to convey their remarks and suggestions
to the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission (AUK)[12], which is entitled to form the draft of the
new Turkish Constitution, aiming to regulate minority rights. Ishak Ibrahimzadeh, the newly elected Chairman of the
Jewish Community of Turkey expressed his optimism while emphasizing the basic
guidelines that AUK should take into consideration[13] : "We
welcomed the democratization act announced by our Prime Minister. We fully
believe that all these acts will contribute more to the unity, integrity and
democracy of our Turkey. As we see that a lot of necessary reforms are going to
be done, we believe in the requirement of pursuing them while they are
implemented by the executives which should be in a way of uniting and embracing
the public. We
expect the hatred expressions being evaluated as crime and that the commuters
of this crime be legally identified by the relevant institutions of our state
in order to protect the rights of the offended and that the necessary punitive
sanctions are applied.Under
the light of all these we hope that our government, our State and all society
individuals altogether fulfill their own responsibilities with sincerity, and
we wish success to all on this path".The new Constitution of the Republic of Turkey
must ensure the de-marginalization of the non-Muslim Turkish citizens and the
constitutional protection of their basic rights of freedom of belief, religious
practices, minority education and cultural growth. As for the religious and ethnic minorities within the
Turkish society, it is obvious that constitutional guarantees of their basic
rights are the ultimum refugium as well as a sound basis of a tolerant,
democratic and multicultural social environment as a whole, qualities that
should continue to be promoted and protected within the framework of the
Turkish political system, regardless of Ankara's current foreign policy doctrine,
which might as well change its orientation in the future.

[1] World Jewish Congress official data on the Jewish
Community of Turkey :http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/communities/show/id/55

[2]
Jewish Community of Turkey, official
website, http://www.turkyahudileri.com/content/view/246/273/lang,en/

[3] Ghiuzeli, Haim "The Jewish Community of
Izmir", Beit Hatfutsot – Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48211

[4] Bar'El, Tzvi "Head of tiny Jewish community in Turkey : There
is no love between Israeli citizens", HaAretz newspaper, 12.08.2013 http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.541055


[5]
Bali, Rifat "The Slow Disappearance of
Turkey's Jewish Community" , Jerusalem
Center for Public Affairs, No.63, Jerusalem, 2011 http://jcpa.org/article/the-slow-disappearance-of-turkeys-jewish-community/

[6]
Adino Ababa, Dani "Immigrating out of
Fear", Yedioth Aharonot newspaper website, 30.08.2010 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3945604,00.html

[7]
Official Statistics about the Distribution of
Immigrants by Countries and Continents for the year 2009, Israel Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, Jerusalem,
January 2010http://www.moia.gov.il/Hebrew/InformationAndAdvertising/Statistics/Documents/2009/OLIM1A.htm

[8]Official Statistics about the Distribution of Immigrants
by Countries and Continents for the year 2010, Israel Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, Jerusalem,
January 2011http://www.moia.gov.il/Hebrew/InformationAndAdvertising/Statistics/Documents/2010/OLIM1A.htm

[9] Official Statistics about the Distribution of
Immigrants by Countries and Continents for the year 2011, Israel Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, Jerusalem,
January 2012http://www.moia.gov.il/Hebrew/InformationAndAdvertising/Statistics/Documents/2011/OLIM1A.htm

[10]
Official Statistics about the Distribution of
Immigrants by Countries and Continents for the year 2012, Israel Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, Jerusalem,
January 2013http://www.moia.gov.il/Hebrew/InformationAndAdvertising/Statistics/Documents/2012/OLIM1A.htm

[11]Official Statistics about the Distribution of
Immigrants by Countries and Continents for the year 2013, Israel Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, Jerusalem,
September 2013http://www.moia.gov.il/Hebrew/InformationAndAdvertising/Statistics/Documents/2013/OLIM1A.htm

[12]
Cengiz, Orhan Kemal "Religious
Minorities and new Constitution", Sunday's Zaman, 08.12.2011http://www.todayszaman.com/columnists-265188-religious-minorities-and-new-constitution.html

[13]
Mr. Ishak
Ibrahimzadeh, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Turkey has been interviewed
by the author on October 4, 2013.

Research May Indicate a Strong Connection Between Diminished Intelligence and Firearms

Research May Indicate a Strong Connection Between Diminished Intelligence and Firearms

Breaking News: From Us to You|by Samael Lightbringer


Scientists have long argued that states that have higher levels of religiosity also have subpar education systems. The overall belief has always been that the more religious a group, the less likely they will be to seek any knowledge that could possibly counter their beliefs. Thus, states which consider themselves strongly affiliated with a particular religion are more likely to have poorly educated citizens.
But, watch out Ted Nugent - new research from the University of California at Berkeley has uncovered what they claim is "the definitive causal factor of both diminished intelligence and religious fanaticism" - guns. Or more specifically, the trace lead elements found in gun ammunition.

This data is the result of a breakthrough research study performed by Dr. Alan Richtenboch, a professor of Sociology at Berkeley. Dr. Richtenboch along with Dr. Walter von Bass, a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas, performed a 15-year study covering 12 states. They examined rural and metropolitan areas in six states that have very liberal gun laws: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Arizona and six states/districts that have more restrictive gun laws: New York, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.
The study, in part, measured the air quality of multiple areas within each state or, as was the case in the District of Columbia, it measured the air throughout the city. What they found is a scientific breakthrough by most standards: the air in areas with heavy gun ownership and use had higher than normal traces of lead in the atmosphere. The study also examined the soil and water quality for these areas and similar results - more lead in the ground and water in those areas where guns are worshipped!

"This is a major scientific breakthrough," claims Dr. von Bass. He went onto say that lead can have serious side effects when introduced into the human body.
"This exposure can be via inhalation, ingestion, and in rare cases and usually involving organic lead via skin contact," Dr. von Bass continued.
Signs and symptoms of lead poisoning can include: mild stomach problems such as diarrhea or cramps, depression, short-term memory loss, to full on hallucinations and delirium. Prolonged and heavy exposure can cause death.

"It is a common fact that people in areas where there are looser gun laws, also suffer from higher incidences of depression and anxiety. Before this study, we assumed that the correlation was spurious" [meaning not connected]; "however, now that we see the increase of lead in the drinking water, the soil upon which these people grow their food that they then eat, and the very air they breathe, we can deduce that the correlation is connected, just not in a way that we previously could have imagined," Dr. Richtenboch explained.
The social scientist went on to explain that initial findings also indicate that diminished intelligence can be linked to a loss of short-term memory because the person would be unable to shift memories from short-term to long-term which diminishes their overall ability to retain information.
Both scientists agree that if a person is exposed to these trace amounts of the course of years, and then had children, it is possible to pass a damaged genetic trait to their progeny that decreases their ability to learn and retain information.
Not everyone agrees that there is a connection. Jethro Michaels claims that he "sleeps wit my guns and I's holds 'em and they ain't never done me no wrong ever." Mr. Michaels runs a small radio show on 1182 AM that deals with aliens and NSA assassinations.
"I'll tell yew what der damned problem is," Michaels explains, "Our damned govment is trying to take away our guns cuz they know we can take this place by force if they just left things as they is."
When asked, Mr. Michaels claimed that he couldn't tell us what has changed, just that it "ain't the damned same, and it's them damned liberals fault for takin my lovely guns away."
(Editors note, "Mr. Michaels lost his right to gun ownership due to opening fire at a passing school bus because he thought it was a military convoy coming to stop him from spreading the truth.")

"Just think of it, after years of evolution, we could be reaching a stage where we de-evolve back to mindless animals who take what they want sheerly by force with no consideration of anyone else's rights or claims," proclaims an excitable Richtenboch. "Come to think of it, it would be hard to really tell a difference between modern man and those descendants"
It will take years of further study to determine how much gun usage is necessary to pollute an environment to the point that it is too toxic to support human life, but for now they will present their findings in the Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Sociology.

Mosaic Monday Iphoneography

Mosaic Monday Iphoneography













When I was casting around for a subject for today's Mosaic Monday, I came across all the iPhone photos that I had saved on my computer's hard drive when I thought that my camera phone was no longer working. I thought I might share a few of them here today.

They say that the best camera a photographer can have is the one she has with her. More often than not, that will be the camera on your phone. My husband and I try to walk most mornings before he leaves for work, and I love to capture my favorite subjects -- sunrise or fog -- with my iPhone. Here are a few from earlier in the year.

Editing photos on your phone is easy and fun. There are a few photo apps that I find myself coming back to again and again -- Snapseed,Camera+ and VSCOcam are some of my absolute favorites. If you enjoy working with textures, check out DistressedFX and Mextures. For typography fans, Typic+ is a fabulous app, as well as Over.

If you'd like to check out my iphoneography, follow me on Instagramor check out my VSCO grid. If you are on Instagram, I'd love to follow you -- just leave your IG name in the comments. :)
Here are the instructions to join today's post:1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.5. Click on "Enter."6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.net
And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Jesus first talks of his second coming.

Jesus first talks of his second coming.



The first suggestion of a second coming—the idea Jesus isnt gonna take possession of his Kingdom during his first coming—appears in the Olivet Discourse, the bit in Mark 13, Matthew 24-25, and Luke 21, where Jesus answers his students question about the End. In each gospels version of the Discourse, Jesus brought up the tribulation, his followers great and terrible time of suffering. Christians would be persecuted and killed; a horrible outrage would take place which his people need to flee from; and fake Messiahs and prophets will try to lead them astray.Wheres Jesus during this time of tribulation? Apparently not here. None of his statements about whats to come, are phrased to indicate hes gonna be physically among his followers when the tribulation hits them. Or should I say us? Well, that depends on when and where the tribulation takes place. Dispensationalists say it takes place in the future, after all the Christians have been raptured—despite how Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, specifically describes Christians undergoing tribulation, and warns us to get ready. Most Protestants figure tribulation happens, or happens at its greatest intensity, just before Jesus returns, like in the decade (or seven years) before. And most Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians figure its happening right now—and has been happening all throughout Christian history. Although, if youre paying any attention to the state of the world, you might notice at this point in history, in many countries where Christianity is banned outright or is the minority religion, millions of Christians are being persecuted. Far more Christians are suffering for their faith today, than have ever been.(Where do I hang my hat? With the idea were in the tribulation now. And that certain countries, mine included, are oases from it—though often rendered impotent by our creature comforts. There are no unfulfilled prophecies getting in the way of Jesuss return. Only disobedient Christians who are too busy setting up our own little fiefdoms instead of the Kingdom.)
After tribulation, Jesus returns.But I digress. My point is to point to what Jesus says will happen right after the tribulation:
But in those days after the tribulation,
the sun will go dark.
The moon wont give its light.
The stars will be falling from the sky.
The heavenly powers will be shaken.
Then theyll see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power and glory.
Then hell send out angels to gather his chosen
from the four winds,
from the earths farthest parts
to heavens farthest parts.
—Jesus, vF('Mark 13.24-27','g')The Son of Man, Jesuss favorite title for himself, is described as “coming with the clouds” in Daniel, in much the same way as Jesus describes. v('Da 7.13-14') By this point Jesus had referred to himself as the Son of Man so often, theyd know precisely who he meant—even if they werent familiar with the Daniel vision. But they were. And in that vision,
Look, someone like a Son of Man
was coming with the clouds of the heavens.
He approached the Ancient of Days
and came near to him.
He gave him authority, honor, and the Kingdom,
and every people, nation, and language.
They will bow to his authority.
His authority is permanent:
It will never pass away.
His Kingdom will never be destroyed.
—Daniel, vF('Daniel 7.13-14','h')When the Son of Man appears in the clouds, its to take over the world.So at some point, Jesus is gonna leave; but he was gonna return. With authority and honor. With power. Probably with a billion ass-kicking angels. And of course, several billion Christians and followers of God, from the beginning of history to now, freshly resurrected and ready to escort our Lord into place.
How Jesuss students understood this.Now, back to Jesuss students. It was likely news to them that their Master would be going away for a time. And from the sound of the tribulation idea, it wasnt gonna be that brief a time: It might be years. (Turns out centuries.) It was gonna be a lot longer than they expected before their Master took his throne.What did that mean for them in the meanwhile? It meant they were to do the job Jesus was currently preparing them to do: Follow him. Be his apostles. Do as he did, teach as he taught, act like representatives of the Kingdom of God until the Kingdom arrives in completion. And were to do likewise.What about tribulation? Well, Jesus didnt sugar-coat things:I told all of you these things so you can have peace in me. In the world, youll have tribulation. But cheer up! Ive conquered the world.
—Jesus, vF('John 16.33','g')Death is defeated, and sin is atoned for. All that needs happen next is for Jesus to return. So lets get our act together.

Following Rules

Following Rules


The filmmaker Errol Morris: "I've my own personal definition of art, which is: Set up a series of arbitrary rules and then follow them slavishly." (Source.)



As a lifelong player of games (cards, mostly, poker in particular, but I've been enjoying the current chess championships as an observer (never having been the least bit good at playing the game, I did go through an Edgar Rice Burroughs and Martin Gardner-inspired adolescent phase of designing chess variants — boards with alternative geometries, pieces with alternative moves, more than two players in teams and alliances, uneven distributions of pieces and real estate, alternating moves in patterns other than black-white-black-white etc.)), I am fascinated both with the consequences of playing according to a fixed set of rules and with the possible consequences when even the slightest variations in those rules comes into play. There is a real thrill here at the possibility of a single grain of sand moved slightly giving rise to completely different universes. This thrill is aesthetic, and I find it in every piece of music that thrills me.



It used to be the case, in composing, that I would set up my rules in advance of composition and then keep strictly to them. Nowadays, although I believe that I work just as strictly in my pieces, I don't always begin with all the rules laid out in advance. Instead, I let them emerge as problems and possibilities arise and then, deciding on a rule, stick with it. This strikes me as more in line with the way that social and political worlds actually work. Even if you start out with some formal constitutional arrangement, whether minimal or maximal in scope and detail, something is either left out, or gotten completely wrong, or some unforeseen or even completely unimagined configuration arises demanding substantial decisions on the spot. And that process of dynamic decision making, requiring the near-spontaneous articulation or clarification of the problems and possibilities can be a compelling activity in its own right. The presence of a set of rules won't guarantee that a piece (and they certainly don't make a society) will work automatically, indeed at all — and indeed, the most immediate thing a rule may define is often only its violation, not its successful implementation —, but they can create structures and opportunities to make it work with far less anxiety than operating from brute force.


This past year has been one spent more with experimentation, and rule-based experimentation at that, than with producing musical scores with the shiny veneer of the well-finished. For example, I've made a number of small pieces — amateur pieces for friends, most of them not for publication — for solo instruments based on the rhythmic and sonic patterns and structures of poetic forms (sonnets, sapphics, rondeaus, limericks etc.) which have introduced some musically potent new ideas about local and global rules into my music. And yes, the play of composing (as Lou Harrison put it) is very much here as well.

Conjunction!

Conjunction!


Not much of a photo, I'm afraid, but the conjunction last night between Jupiter and the gibbous moon was pretty neat:






According to my Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar the two celestial objects were 1.3º apart.