Maryland stormed back from 15 down, but the best part of the game was the final 30 seconds, which featured no timeouts and three back-to-back-to-back huge shots, with the final being a buzzer beater that propelled Michigan State into the Sweet Sixteen.

Last month, Arundhati Roy decided to visit the forbidding and forbidden precincts of Central India's Dandakaranya Forests, home to a melange of tribal people many of whom have taken up arms to protect themselves against state-backed marauders and exploiters. She recorded in considerable detail her face-to-face encounter with armed guerillas, their families and comrades.

A state appeals court ruled this week that online threats, specifically in comments posted on the web, do not constitute protected free speech....

On ABC's This Week, Karl Rove pushed the anonymously sourced allegation that the White House tried to intimidate Democrats into voting for the health care bill by sending "unsolicited emails to federal employees." However, White House officials have stated that the emails were sent out to everyone on a voluntary White House mailing list and are not specifically targeted at federal employees.

Rove: "We do know" White House sent "unsolicited" health care emails

On the March 21 edition of ABC's This Week:

ROVE: Republicans have offered a positive alternative in health care, and you didn't bother to have one meeting between March 5 of 2009 and February 25 of 2010 to discuss how the White House could involve some of those Republican ideas in the bill. Don't give us that bunk. That is another one of those false arguments offered by the White House.

In fact, you know what? The way that you have sold this bill to Democrats by threatening them. You cannot tell me that the White House didn't sanction some of these groups like MoveOn.org and others to make these kind of threats against Democrats. We do know that the White House sent out unsolicited emails to federal employees asking them to contact their legislators about this bill. I think that's not only a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act on emails, I think it's a violation, more importantly, of the anti-lobbying statutes. And that's the kind of techniques that you've been using on this bill: threats, hardball politics, and, if need be, withholding federal -- the support of the president of the United States from Democrats.

Rove's baseless claim echoes Newsmax contributor who said health care reform would encourage "slacking"

Grenell: WH "has been feverishly sending out unsolicited email messages to federal employees." The allegation was previously touted by Richard Grenell, "spokesman for the last four U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations," in a CBSNews.com "opinion" column, in which he wrote that "White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle has been feverishly sending out unsolicited email messages to federal employees in an effort to build support for President Barack Obama's health reform package over the last several weeks." Grenell continued:

DeParle's unsolicited emails have been regularly coming to some federal employees' official government email inboxes for weeks without permission or request, causing some federal employees to feel threatened by the overt political language.

The Department of State employees, who receive hundreds of official government emails every day, have complained about the annoying and partisan emails but are nervous to go public for fear of retribution. The emails are addressed to the federal employees by name and use the official .gov address.

The unsolicited emails also request that the federal employees take action in order to ensure that Obama's health reform package is passed and the federal budget isn't at risk for bankruptcy. One federal employee was so concerned about DeParle's language in one email that he questioned whether his department's budget would be cut or eliminated without passage of Obama's bill. DeParle uses scare tactics that some assume are meant as threats.

Grenell: Extending health coverage of dependents means youths "will be enticed to continue slacking." In a March 14 Newsmax column, Grenell wrote that a provision in the health care reform legislation that would allow parents to cover dependents up to age 26 would mean that "Generation Y will be enticed to continue slacking, without a job, well past college graduation." Grenell added:

One could understand extending another entitlement program through age 26 in countries where the average workweek is 30 hours per week and vacation time is guaranteed at 8-10 weeks per year. But is this new proposal anti-American? We aren't supposed to reward people who don't work hard and make sacrifices to get ahead. And we aren't supposed to guarantee anything in America but a fair shot. America is a place where you prove your commitment to your family and your community through hard work and sacrifice. It is this ethic that we call American values.

Fox Nation trumpets Grenell's fabrication: "WH Caught Sending Health Care Propaganda to Federal Employees?" On March 19, Fox Nation promoted the allegations on its front page, using this headline:

White House: Grenell's assertions are "inaccurate"

WH spokeswoman: "No one is sent unsolicited emails." An "Editor's note" added to Grenell's CBSNews.com column on March 20 stated that the "White House is disputing" the claim "that e-mails are being sent to people who don't want them." CBSNews.com also posted the following statement from Linda Douglass, the communications director for the Office of Health Reform:

Emailed updates about health insurance reform legislation are sent periodically to members of the public who sign up to receive them. No one is sent unsolicited emails. Mr. Grenell would have learned this if he had called the White House to ask who receives the emails, but he did not contact us before writing. The assertions made in his column are inaccurate.

Do fashionistas really wear a pant or a spectacle? And why do designers ignore the rules about colour?

Why do fashion gurus singularise plurals: a pant (possibly even an underpant?), a trouser, a jean, and – worst of all – a tight? Who uses one pant?

Nurn Duffy, Galway

Fashion people do, Nurn. They also like "to work" a shoe, a sleeve, even a spectacle (but not "a sunglass". That would be just silly). This is known as the Fashion Singular. How did this fashion singular come into existence? To quote this column's favourite film about international relations, Team America, "We're gonna need a montage!" American fashion stylists . . . all talk like Californian teenagers . . . they started using the fashion singular on notes given out at fashion shows . . . fashion journalists noticed this and perceived it as a form of Botox for the voice as it freezes one into a permanently teenage state . . . it started appearing in fashion magazines . . . lo, the fashion singular . . . always fade out in a montage . . . If you fade out it seems like more time has passed in a montage. What? That was a lazy method to explain a very complex semantic evolution? Hey, "even Rocky had a montage".

To demonstrate your true mastery of this lingo, deploy it only in positive circumstances, eg, "Ooh, I do love a kitten heel." But when you're being negative, it's: "I'm so not feeling wedges any more." You see? The difference is subtle but crucial, like fashion itself.

Years ago, I had my colours done at House of Colour and my life was transformed. Having been a reticent shopper beforehand I became a reticent shopper who knew at least what didn't suit. How come the designers, from Armani to Marks & Spencer, just don't seem to have heard of the rules and so, for example, persist in using gold buckles on black bags, when everyone knows this is just wrong.

Cathy, by email

Oh Cathy, you break my heart! On the one hand, I want to love you, you and your done colours. And on a similar part of that hand (perhaps the heel of the palm, or maybe a finger tip), I am pleased that you no longer have the Fashion Fear and can now shop, confidently if reticently, armed with your little book of rules.

And yet, the other hand is still waiting to be dealt with, and that hand is wagging its finger ever so warningly. You see, Cathy, this sort of fashion rubric is excellent for jump-starting a fashionphobe out of a paralysing fear. Heaven knows there is a surfeit of choice out there and that can feel a little overwhelming, so it helps to have that choice reduced. But to rely on it so wholly, and to believe that these judgments are the Only Way and that anyone who isn't following them is going straight to hell, well, Cathy, you haven't had your colours done – you've joined a cult and I'm afraid that you've written to an atheist.

True, I don't like to claim a common ground of any sort with Christopher Hitchens, but I don't mind sharing a soapbox with Dashing Richard Dawkins. And, like Dashing Richard Dawkins, I am wary of anything that arms one with certain rules, allegedly to enhance one's life but actually only to circumscribe it. To whit, you say gold buckles on black bags are wrong. Pourquoi, mon amie? I love a gold buckle on a black bag (see previous letter for discussion of the fashion singular). It looks so 70s glam, so louchely Studio 54-esque. Oh dear, your brain is shortcircuiting, isn't it? I can hear the fizzes all the way over here as your entire belief system is shown to be built on quicksand.

Look, I'm not (entirely) dismissing your done colours. You just need to think of them as a leaping-off point, not even for what they say, but what they give you, ie, confidence. Come along, woman. Do you really think that something named House of Colour knows what looks better on you than you do? You're clearly an intelligent woman (you read this column, after all). There are rainbows out there, Cathy. Don't miss them because you're encamped in the House of Colour.

· Post your questions to Hadley Freeman, Ask Hadley, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Email ask.hadley@guardian.co.uk

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Korie Lucious hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap a frantic finish and give injury-depleted Michigan State an 85-83 victory over Maryland on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Evan Turner rebounded from one of the worst shooting nights of his career with 24 points, and second-seeded Ohio State outlasted foul- and turnover-plagued Georgia Tech for a 75-66 victory Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Tur8infan

Is Rome the True Church? - a consideration of the Roman Catholic claim, by Norman Geisler and Joshua Bettancourt, explores a series of questions related to Rome's exclusive claim to be the true church. The book explores this topic by taking out several links in the chain of alleged authority. First, the book addresses the alleged primacy of the Apostle Peter. Next, the book addresses the alleged infallibility of Peter. Finally, the book examines the idea of Apostolic Succession or inheritance of the supposed primacy and infallibility of Peter. In the following review I've attempted to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of the work, as well as to supply some errata, in case a second edition of the book is printed.A Fundamental Flaw - The Gospel and Christian Orthodoxy

The introduction of the book ends on an encouraging note: "In fact, after seriously considering the relevant evidence, perhaps they will choose just to remain evangelical, if they desire to be truly 'catholic.'" This promising beginning, however, is not fully realized. Indeed, at pages 187-88, we find the following: "Kreeft was exposed to the typical Calvinist anti-Catholicism, which holds that Catholics believe 'another gospel.'"

The point taken by the authors seems to be summarized at page 184: "We have seen that the Roman Catholic claim to be the true church is false. The biblical, theological, and historical arguments against it are strong. Indeed, on either standard of orthodoxy Rome falls short, and on the Reformation standard of orthodoxy Roman Catholicism is a false church with significant truth in it." Indeed, the authors even go so far as to say, "This is not to say that the Roman Catholic church has no true believers in it, nor that it has no essentially true beliefs. It has both. It is only to say that no only is its central claim to infallibility false, but so is its plan of salvation." (p. 184)

How the authors propose to differentiate between Rome's false plan of salvation and Rome believing in something other than "another gospel" is not at all clear.

Indeed, while the authors seem to view Rome's plan of salvation as "false," the authors appear to affirm Rome's orthodoxy: "In fact, all orthodox Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics, agree with the basic doctrines affirmed in the earlier so-called ecumenical councils, such as the Trinity, virgin birth, deity of Christ, and Christ's hypostatic union of two natures in one person." (p. 52) However the authors then turn around and suggest that the "main concern of orthodox Christians is with attributing any divine or even ecclesiastical authority to creedal and conciliar pronouncements," which would seem to suggest that only what the authors call the "Free Church" or Anabaptistic view is truly orthodox. Yet at still other places, the authors provide a very broad ecumenism, listing among the churches that "confess historic biblical Christianity" "Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, and others." (p.49)

When posed with the direct question: "Is Rome a False Church?" the authors respond "This must be answered in parts and with qualifications." (p. 180) The authors proceed to provide a mixed answer that Rome "makes some major false claims" and "If judged by the standards of the Protestant Reformation ... Rome is a false church with significant truth," even while affirming that on alternative grounds for judgment "Rome is a true church with significant error" even going so far as to assert that "Rome has 'practical heresy,' if not both practical and material heresy." (pp. 180-81)

This seems like a fundamental flaw in the book, in that the book attempts to answer the question, "Is Rome the True Church?"

Depiction of Roman Catholic Theology

It is clear that the authors attempted to portray Rome's position fairly. The book relies on a variety of Roman Catholic sources from serious sources like Ludwig Ott to popular sources like Steve Ray. The presentation of Rome's position attempted to suggest a large amount of continuity between post-Vatican II and pre-Vatican II Rome. For example, regarding Vatican II's statement: Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.the authors seek to suggest that this is "nothing more than a restatement of baptism by intention in early Catholic proclamations." (p. 16) This seems excessively generous. Baptism by intention, also called "baptism of desire," has traditionally had reference to Christ and to baptism. As the phrase may suggest, it has a primary reference to those who want to be baptized by are hindered by some extraordinary obstacle.

Roman Catholic priest, Dwight Longenecker, writes that "The baptism of desire refers to those individuals with faith in Christ who would be baptized if they had the opportunity and if they truly understood what baptism means. It applies to those who, due to extraordinary circumstances, do not have access to water for baptism." (source) Longenecker then goes on to explain that baptism of desire "may" apply to those who lack Christian faith, or who think baptism is unnecessary. Longenecker, however, is quick to note: "Even in these cases, however, it should be understood that the Church teaches that such individuals 'may' be saved, not that they are saved."

Instead of being nothing more than a much older view of baptism by desire or intention, Vatican II's comments should be viewed as the latest development or mutation of that doctrine. Vatican II's definition appears at odds with more traditional explanations, such as that of Robert Bellarmine:Perfect conversion and penitence is rightly called baptism of desire, and in necessity at least, it supplies for the baptism of water. It is to be noted that any conversion whatsoever cannot be called baptism of desire; but only perfect conversion, which includes true contrition and charity, and at the same time a desire or vowed intention of baptism. - Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621), On the Sacrament of Baptism, Book 1, Chapter 6

An even older version is found in Bernard of Clairvaux, who appealed to Augustine and Ambrose as precedent for his view of salvation by faith alone: Believe me, it will be difficult to separate me from these two pillars, by which I refer to Augustine and Ambrose. I confess that with them I am either right or wrong in believing that people can be saved by faith alone and the desire to receive the sacrament, even if untimely death or some insuperable force keep them from fulfilling their pious desire - Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), Letter 77, section 8.

But I digress. The authors of the book go to great lengths to make sure that they are providing the Roman Catholic argument before they rebut, including qualifiers that Rome's apologists are normally quick to provide (for example, the caveat that "Not all papal statements are deemed infallible; only those made ex cathedra of doctrine or morals." p. 94)

One place at which one might level a charge of unfairness was in a personal anecdote that Dr. Geisler provides: I personally had a Roman Catholic teacher at a Jesuit institution I attended who was an atheist. When I asked how he could be a Catholic and an atheist, he replied: "You do not have to believe in God to be a Catholic. You just have to keep the rules of the Church." (p. 135)

This anecdote may accurately reflect Geisler's experience, but it is not an official position of Roman Catholicism. Nevertheless, despite a few minor points such as an excessive willingness to treat Vatican II as continuous with previous positions and reliance on anecdotal evidence, the authors seem to have provided an accurate representation of the mainstream Roman Catholic position.

Patristic Considerations

The authors have also sought to bring in the testimony of the fathers. For example, the authors cite Cyprian of Carthage as writing, "Hence it is in vain that some who are overcome by reason oppose to us custom, as if custom were greater than truth;" (Letter 72, Section 13) and "custom without truth is the antiquity of error." (Letter 73, Section 9) Also, in Appendix I, beginning at p. 199, the authors explore Irenaeus and the alleged authority of the church. At p. 220, the authors provide another appendix related to Irenaeus, Appendix 5: "Irenaeus on Scripture and Tradition." While the authors appear to rely heavily on J.N.D. Kelley's important work, Early Christian Doctrine (1960) (for example, the authors at p. 230 quote Kelly for the proposition that "Irenaeus believed that 'Scripture and the church's unwritten tradition are identical in content.'"), the authors occasionally provide some of their own insights into the patristic literature. For example, Other than a few scant references in early Fathers to the oral words of apostles confirming what is in their written word, which alone is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16; cf. 2 Pet. 1:20-21; 3:15-16), the Bible is not only the primary source of divine authority cited; it is the only source. Hence, it is not simply a matter of the primacy of Scripture but the exclusivity of Scripture as the sole written, God-breathed authority from God. Indeed, Irenaeus criticizes heretics because "they gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures." Likewise, he condemns them because they "adduce an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings." In this sense, Irenaeus held to sola Scriptura (the Bible alone) - one of the great principles of the later Reformation. (p. 224, footnotes omitted)

These appendices are worth reading for those interested in the patristic debate, in that the authors conclude: Taken in the total context of his writing, Irenaeus favored the non-Catholic position on almost all the major areas of concern. First, he held to the Protestant canon, rejecting the Apocrypha canonized by the Catholic Council of Trent (1546). Second, he believed in sola Scriptura (see Appendix 4), the Protestant sense of both material and formal sufficiency. Third, this means Irenaeus held to the perspicuity of Scripture. Fourth, Irenaeus did not hold the Roman Catholic views of tradition as a second source of revelation. Nor did he believe tradition was divinely authoritative. Fifth, he has written nothing that supports the primacy of Peter, let alone any alleged infallibility. (p. 231)

Medieval Connection

Likewise, the authors brought to bear medieval testimony, especially the testimony of Aquinas (at p. 198, Geisler points out his familial and educational connections with Roman Catholicism and states: "I am a follower of the great Catholic thinker Thomas Aquinas.") One interesting quotation that the authors repeatedly reference (e.g. pp. 57 and 83) is Aquinas' comment that "We believe the prophets and apostles because the Lord has been their witness by performing miracles. . . . And we believe the successors of the apostles only in so far as they tell us those things which the apostles and prophets have left in their writings," (Thomas Aquinas, On Truth, 14.10-11) which suggests a primacy of Scripture incompatible with contemporary Roman Catholicism's claims.

Likewise, the authors provide some interesting discussion of Aquinas from Roman Catholic scholar Yves Congar: However, even given the authority of the pope, noted Roman Catholic authority Yves Congar admitted, "It is a fact that St. Thomas has not spoken of the infallibility of the papal magisterium. Moreover, he was unaware of the use of magisterium in its modern sense." He goes on to say that it is not certain that Aquinas would even have said that the pope is without error "in his role of supreme interpreter of Christ's teaching."
Congar cites several texts in support of this conclusion (see On Truth 14.10-11). One reads, "The simple have implicit faith in the faith of their teachers only to the degree that these hold fast to God's teaching. . . . Thus the knowledge of men is not the rule of faith but God's truthfulness." Further, Congar refers to this text: "Note, however, that where there is real danger to the faith, subjects must rebuke their superiors even publicly. On this account Paul, who was subject to Peter, publicly rebuked him when there was imminent danger of scandal in a matter of faith." (p. 57, footnotes omitted)

Good Arguments

There are some good arguments presented in the book in response to Rome's claims. For example, against the claim that Christ appointed Peter to be the head apostle in Matthew 16:18, the authors provide an argument from George Salmon: "If our Lord meant all this [concerning Peter], we may ask, why did he not say it? Who found out that He meant it? The Apostles did not find out at the time; for up to the night before [Jesus'] death the dispute went on, which should be the greatest." (Salmon, The Infallibility of the Church, 334)(That excellent work may be downloaded or read at this link.)

A similarly good argument is presented (at p. 162) based on the fact that Peter and John were sent on a mission to Samaria by the other apostles at Jerusalem, as explained in Acts 8:14-17. If Peter were organizationally the chief of the apostles, it would be strange for him to be sent by them, rather than simply going and taking John with him.

Another interesting argument is a response to the argument that Peter's primacy is established from the fact that he is the first of the apostles to see the resurrected Christ. The authors point out, however, "but the Gospels tell us that the women saw Jesus before Peter. Why then would not Rome take that as proof of the primacy of women over men?" (p. 82) The answer to their rhetorical question, of course, is that Rome's apologists are using 1 Corinthians 15:5 as a pretext.

Another argument that was used with some success was what the authors called "The Argument from Death by Qualifications." As the authors pointed out, "In actual practice, the attempt to keep infallibility alive by qualifying it is in effect killing it both in principle and in practice." (p. 178) The authors explain that in principle the infallible statements have to meet very rigid criteria, resulting in very few such statements. As a practical result, such statements provide "no ongoing practical value in the life of the church." (p. 178) To rephrase it, "by the time one adds up the non-infallible list of qualifications of what constitutes infallible statements, the doctrine of infallibility proves to be just as fallible as non-infallible statements made by opposing groups in Christendom." (p. 148)

On the topic of apostolic succession, the authors presented an argument regarding the fact of laying on of hands. As they explain, ... one of the deacons (Philip) on whom they laid hands had the gift of both evangelism and healing (Acts 8:6), but his converts did not receive the [extraordinary gifts of the] Holy Spirit through him. Philip had to call for the apostles this act directly (Acts 8:15-18). So, "laying on of the apostles' hands did not grant Philip any powers of apostolic succession. (p. 151)

While the argument may suffer from not dealing directly with the issue of authority, the underlying principle that the apostles' ability to transfer special abilities to people by the laying on of hands is shown to be non-transferable.

The authors actually go so far as to suggest that Hebrews 2 indicates that the extraordinary gifts were passing during the lifetime of the apostles.

Hebrews 2:3-4
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? The apparent rationale in the argument is that "at the first" refers to a prior time, and "confirmed unto us" is phrased in a past (technically aorist) tense. This might be taken to suggest that the time of confirmation was already passing or already gone, as the authors assert at p. 160.

In addition to some of the valuable arguments set forth in the book, the book provides, in appendix 4, an interesting definition of Sola Scriptura. The definition is this: Sola Scriptura in the formal sense means that the Bible alone is sufficiently clear so that no infallible magisterium of the church is necessary to interpret it. (p. 218)

This definition is interesting in that it does not necessarily rule out an infallible magisterium, it just renders one unnecessary. Many of the Roman Catholic arguments against Sola Scriptura seem to be focused on demanding that the advocates of Sola Scriptura disprove the existence of an infallible magisterium, whereas this definition leaves such proof or disproof for a separate argument.

Weak Arguments

There are also some weak arguments presented. Regarding the "keys" mentioned in Matthew 16, and the alleged (by the Roman Catholics) link to Isaiah 22, the authors write: In Isaiah 22:22, the "key" refers to the stewardship of the house of David that would be placed in the hands of Eliakim. It has nothing to do with Peter or the New Testament church. (p. 81 and p. 127, exactly the same words)

This argument is weak in two ways. First, this response ignores the typology argument that Roman Catholics typically make, and which is even presented to the reader as the Roman Catholic argument at pp. 65, 67, 95, and 98. Second, this response omits the strong Biblical counter argument from the fact that the type of Eliakim is connected Scripturally with the ante-type of Jesus (not Peter), as can be seen from Revelation.

Revelation 3:7-8
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Since Revelation is still a part of the New Testament, and since the Scriptures of the New Testament are undoubtedly for the New Testament church, the argument that the verse "has nothing to do with Peter or the New Testament church" seems to be only partially true. The verse does have nothing to do with Peter, but it does have to do with Jesus and with the New Testament church in consequence of its connection with Jesus.

This facile dismissal of the argument from Isaiah 22:22 is sadly reflective of the practical canon of the authors. As can be seen from Scripture index, at p. 233 and following, while most of the New Testament receives some treatment (1-2 Thessalonians are curiously omitted, and Jude is also omitted from the index), there is a dearth of references to the Old Testament Scriptures: the references consist of references to three passages from Exodus, two from Isaiah (including the one mentioned above), and general references to the books of Jeremiah and Daniel. The seeming reason is a failure to appreciate that not only the New Testament but also the Old Testament Scriptures are for the New Testament church, although the emphasis of the Roman Catholic arguments from New Testament Scriptures is also undoubtedly a factor in the relatively high amount of New Testament usage. Contrast this, however, with Irenaeus who "cites freely from every major section of the Old Testament and from most of the books," as the authors report at p. 227.

Another argument that could have been improved is the argument related to the Roman Catholic allegation that "Christ changed Peter's name from Simon to Cephas" (p. 94, discussion continued to p. 95). I've discussed this at greater length (link), but the short answer is that Cephas or Peter was not a substitute for Simon, it was a surname. Thus, we find the expression "Simon Peter" twenty times in the Authorized Version (once in Matthew, once in Luke, once in 2 Peter, and the remainder of the times in John).

With that in mind, Origen's argument makes much more sense than the Roman Catholic argument: But if you suppose that upon that one Peter only the whole church is built by God, what would you say about John the son of thunder or each one of the Apostles? Shall we otherwise dare to say, that against Peter in particular the gates of Hades shall not prevail, but that they shall prevail against the other Apostles and the perfect? Does not the saying previously made, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," [Matthew 16:18] hold in regard to all and in the case of each of them? And also the saying, "Upon this rock I will build My church"? [Matthew 16:18] Are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given by the Lord to Peter only, and will no other of the blessed receive them? But if this promise, "I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," [Matthew 16:19] be common to the others, how shall not all the things previously spoken of, and the things which are subjoined as having been addressed to Peter, be common to them? For in this place these words seem to be addressed as to Peter only, "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," [Matthew 16:19] etc.; but in the Gospel of John the Saviour having given the Holy Spirit unto the disciples by breathing upon them said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," [John 20:22] etc. Many then will say to the Saviour, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God;" but not all who say this will say it to Him, as not at all having learned it by the revelation of flesh and blood but by the Father in heaven Himself taking away the veil that lay upon their heart, in order that after this "with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord" [2 Corinthians 3:18] they may speak through the Spirit of God saying concerning Him, "Lord Jesus," and to Him, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [Matthew 16:16] And if any one says this to Him, not by flesh and blood revealing it unto Him but through the Father in heaven, he will obtain the things that were spoken according to the letter of the Gospel to that Peter, but, as the spirit of the Gospel teaches, to every one who becomes such as that Peter was. For all bear the surname of "rock" who are the imitators of Christ, that is, of the spiritual rock which followed those who are being saved, [1 Corinthians 10:4] that they may drink from it the spiritual draught. But these bear the surname of the rock just as Christ does. But also as members of Christ deriving their surname from Him they are called Christians, and from the rock, Peters. And taking occasion from these things you will say that the righteous bear the surname of Christ who is Righteousness, and the wise of Christ who is Wisdom. [1 Corinthians 1:30] And so in regard to all His other names, you will apply them by way of surname to the saints; and to all such the saying of the Saviour might be spoken, "You are Peter," etc., down to the words, "prevail against it." - Origen (circa A.D. 185–254), Commentary on Matthew, Book XII, Chapter 11

In responding to a Roman Catholic argument alleging that denials of ecclesiastical infallibility are self-defeating, the authors provided several good arguments, but one argument that seems to be mostly an argument that would be accepted by "Protestants." (pp. 138-39) The good arguments are first that the Roman Catholic argument confuses the issues of determination and discovery. God, as author, determines the meaning of Scripture. Man, as reader, merely discovers the meaning of Scripture. This argument connects with an intuitive argument that correct discovery of God's meaning in Scripture does not require infallibility any more than discovering the speed limit requires infallibility. Another argument, however, is one that I can not highly recommend: Indeed, all other major sections of Christendom have come to the same basic understanding on the essential doctines of the faith they all hold in common. If all these essentials of the faith - including the Trinity, virgin birth, deity of Christ, his atoning death, bodily resurrection, bodily ascension, and second coming - can be be known by non-Catholics without an infallible magisterium, then it is proof positive that an infallible magisterium is not needed to come to a sufficient and saving knowledge of the common essentials of the Christian faith.(p. 139)

However, Roman Catholicism doesn't recognize those things as more essential than Purgatory, the Bodily Assumption of Mary, and Papal Infallibity, at least not in any official way. While Vatican II indicates that those "separated brethren" outside the walls of Rome may be saved, it also indicates that even Muslims (who deny the Trinity, the deity of Christ, his atoning death, and bodily resurrection) may be saved. The "mere Christianity" position that the authors are advocating is, then, more a matter of their own "Protestant" view of what constitutes the essentials of the faith, rather than the Roman Catholic position, which makes many more things essential.

This same view is reflected in a few other arguments in the book, such as: [responding to the charge that Sola Scriptura undermines pastoral authority and discipline] ... even with its claim of an infallible pope, Rome is guilty of the very thing it is claiming about Protestants. Orthodox Protestants, all of whom hold to all the essentials of the faith, were not in charge when Rome's allegedly infallible pope could not stop the greatest schism in the history of the church, that between the Eastern and Western churches (AD 1054).(p. 147)

It's important to note that while many Evangelicals may believe that the essential doctrines of the faith are captured in the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed, the Roman Catholic church requires assent of the faithful to a much larger group of doctrines.

Formal and Personal Considerations

The book seems to get a little tedious at points. The reason for the tedium is that there seems to be a significant amount of repetition. For example, one finds substantial repetition at pages 79, 126, and 163, including a pair of longer than average footnotes. While the repetition may serve some sort of legitimate purpose (perhaps it allows the book to be divided into a number of smaller self-contained books at a later date), it seems mostly to serve to puff up the length of the book without adding any depth.

As well, one notices a significant fraction of the footnotes are to Geisler's own previous work, especially his book with Ralph E. MacKenzie, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences (it may be noted that the single blurb on the reverse cover of the book is from MacKenzie). It may be, in view of the significant apparent amount of overlap that one would be better served by simply reading the early work by Geisler.

One additional personal note exists with respect to this book. Apparently shortly after the publication of the work, Geisler's co-author, Joshua M. Betancourt, announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism. It is not clear what prompted Mr. Betancourt's move. Considering that the book is so wishy-washy on Rome's status as orthodox Christianity (or not) and whether or not Rome's gospel is the gospel of Christ or another gospel, this sort of move (while sad) cannot be said to be shocking.

Errata

At page 84, there is a very unfortunate typo in which "Ott says clearly" should be "Tertullian says clearly" for a matter that Ott omits.

At page 111, term 4 of the argument states "But we do not know the truth of Scripture" although it ought to state "But we do know the truth of Scripture."

At page 152, due to a misplaced quotation mark, the text as written has Clement calling himself "The disciple of the Apostles, St. Clement of Rome" - the quotation mark before "The disciple" should be moved to just before "In countries and towns ... ."

At page 154, I'm not sure whether this is properly a typographic error, but the claim that Justin Martyr "was not a contemporary to anyone who was contemporary with the apostles," seems like an unlikely claim. It is believed that the apostle John lived into the 90's A.D., that he was a disciple of John and that he died around A.D. 155, only a decade before Justin Martyr's death. A better claim is that Justin Martyr was not a contemporary with any of the apostles.

Conclusion

Is Rome the True Church? may be asking the wrong question, but nevertheless answers the question in a systematic negative way. Many of the arguments employed against Rome's exclusive claim are valid arguments that ought to persuade the reader that Rome's claims are in error. There are a few weak arguments in the book, some of which can be bolstered by reference to further arguments. While the book may not excel other available responses to Roman Catholicism, it may at least provide the beginning of a discussion on Rome's claims and the flaws, both(...)

Socialists and allies scoop 54% of vote, say pollsters, but left fails to pull off 'grand slam' in regional elections

Nicolas Sarkozy's beleaguered rightwing party suffered widespread defeat at the ballot box today but managed to stave off a total annihilation by a reinvigorated Socialist party, exit polls indicated tonight.

According to initial projections by OpinonWay, the ruling UMP party garnered just 36% of votes nationwide and was comprehensively trounced by an alliance of socialists, ecologists and the far left that won 54%.

However, contrary to the hopes of Socialist party leader Martine Aubry, they did not appear to have pulled off a grand slam in the second and final round of the regional elections.

Tonight critics of Sarkozy, who as head of state was not officially involved in the election but whose unpopularity has been blamed for his party's dismal performance, lost no time in pointing the finger at a president whose approval ratings are at record lows. Aubry declared it an "unprecedented victory".

The result, said Jean-Pierre Grand, a member of the UMP but an ally of Sarkozy's arch foe Dominique de Villepin, was a "message of the French people ... to the president of the republic and to him alone".

A Socialist MP, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, said the result indicated that Sarkozy needed "to change everything - style and approach. This result, as well as a success for the left, reflects a desire for that to change," he said.

The elections, held over two rounds, the first of which gave a resounding victory last Sunday to the Socialists and confirmed the green coalition Europe Ecologie as France's third political force, are the means by which French voters choose the councils and presidents governing the 26 regions, four of which are overseas.

However, they come at a time when confidence in Sarkozy's much-touted reformist agenda is at rock bottom following a big rise in unemployment and a bruising recession, and have been viewed by commentators as something of a referendum on his leadership. They are also the last major electoral indicator before the next presidential elections, due in 2012.

UMP chiefs have attempted to gloss over the party's defeat by insisting that low voter turnout makes drawing any conclusion from the poll impossible.

But critics – even those within the party, such as former prime minister Alain Juppé ‑ have said the right must not bury its head in the sand. In an interview with Le Figaro magazine before the first round, Sarkozy admitted for the first time that "a pause" in the blizzard of reforms might be necessary by 2011.

This week the president will have to decide what measures – if any – should be taken in the wake of the regionals defeat.

Speculation of a government reshuffle has been building for months, with much of it focusing on the fate of François Fillon, the prime minister whose consistently high approval ratings have embarrassed Sarkozy. A statement from the Élysée palace said that Fillon had been summoned by the president in the morning. However, although many observers predicted the prime minister would offer his resignation, such a move is almost certain to be rejected by Sarkozy.

Instead, according to comments over the weekend by the president's adviser Claude Gueant, "small changes" will be made to the line-up of the government. Speculation was mounting that Bernard Kouchner, the Socialist foreign minister, could be the highest profile head to roll.

• France
• Nicolas Sarkozy

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Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace falsely claimed that deals for "one bank in North Dakota" and "more water supplies for farmers in central California" were "special deals" to ensure passage of health care reform legislation. In fact, the water allocations are a Department of the Interior decision based on heavier winter rainfall, and a provision that would have benefited the Bank of North Dakota was removed from the bill.

Wallace claims water allocations, bank provision are "special deals" in health care bill

Wallace cites "special deals" that are "still in the bill." On the March 21 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), "[D]idn't Speaker Pelosi end up using a lot of taxpayer money to buy votes for this bill?" Wallace listed what he claimed were "special deals" that would ensure passage of the health care reform bill, citing as examples "the one deal for the one bank in North Dakota" and "more water supplies for farmers in central California."

Will brings water-allocation conspiracy theory to ABC. Appearing on This Week, Washington Post columnist George Will stated, "Now, I understand politics is a transactional business, but some of the transactions in this -- are you a little all embarrassed about water suddenly being released to the California valley because of health care?"

Provision benefiting Bank of North Dakota is not "in the bill"

Manager's amendment removed state-owned bank provision. A proposal that would have exempted state-owned banks from a provision to eliminate federal subsidies for private lenders -- originally contained on Page 145 of the reconciliation bill -- was removed from the reconciliation bill that will be voted on by the House. From the manager's amendment:

Page 145, beginning on line 18, strike section 2213 (and redesignate the succeeding section accordingly).

Politics Daily: "Special Provision for North Dakota Bank Removed From Health Bill." A March 18 Politics Daily article reported that "Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) Thursday sought the removal of a special provision he had written into the package of fixes to the Senate health care bill that would have applied only to the Bank of North Dakota. The provision would have allowed the Bank of North Dakota to continue to originate and service student loans even though a pending overhaul says that all such loans will originate through the U.S. Department of Education, beginning July 1."

NPR: "OUT: A student-loan provision for North Dakota, from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)." A March 19 National Public Radio article provided examples of "what's in, what's out and why" and reported that the "student-loan provision for North Dakota" is "out." According to the article, "when the exemption became controversial, Conrad asked the House to remove it."

Increased water allocation is not "in the bill": DOI announced it as a result of increased winter rain and improved storage in California

DOI: "Interior Announces Increased Water Supply Allocations in California." A decision to increase water allocation for farmers in California's Central Valley is not "in the bill," as Wallace claimed. The U.S. Interior Department announced increased water supply allocations, citing "additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir." From a March 16 Department of the Interior press release:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Bureau of Reclamation's 2010 Central Valley Project Water Supply allocations have increased throughout the valley as a result of additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir. As forecast by Reclamation on February 26, California is having a near-average water year following three years of drought.

The Department is deeply committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges -- both short term and long term -- facing water users throughout the Central Valley," said Secretary Salazar, who was joined on the teleconference by Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor. "In this case, we accelerated our reporting of updated allocations, hoping to get the best available information to agricultural water service contractors as quickly as possible. This allocation update shows improvements from the previous allocation -- just as we hoped in our recent announcement.

WSJ: Salazar said, "Winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir." In a March 17 article, The Wall Street Journal noted that California's Central Valley had been experiencing severe drought and that the "increase is made possible, Mr. Salazar said, in part because winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir, Lake Shasta, which now stands at 81% of capacity, compared with 55% a year ago." Salazar also "said he moved up the announcement by a week or so 'because people on the ground and farming need to have certainty.' " The Journal reported that Salazar's announcement "further eas[ed] drought concerns in a state where El Niño rains have raised the mountain snowpack after three severely dry years."

AP: "Interior secretary: Recent storms mean California farmers, cities will get more water." In a March 17 article, the Associated Press wrote, "A series of drenching storms have replenished many of California's reservoirs, freeing up more water for parched farms and cities throughout the state, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday."

Chancellor insists budget measures will be 'sensible and workmanlike' rather than pre-election giveaway

Alastair Darling will use the proceeds from the state sell-off of the Channel Tunnel rail link to pay for a £2bn green infrastructure fund, in a budget designed to help business and tackle Britain's emerging energy crisis, Treasury sources said tonight.

The chancellor, who insisted today that Wednesday's package of measures would be "sensible and workmanlike" rather than a pre-election giveaway, plans to earmark the first tranche of cash from the privatisation of High Speed 1 for seedcorn capital for low-carbon energy projects.

The projects likely to benefit from the fund will include low-carbon cars, wind energy, green waste projects and a new generation of nuclear power stations. Darling will claim that the fund will create 400,000 low-carbon jobs by 2015.

Without the investment, Britain would struggle to meet its targets for the next decade of cutting CO2 emissions by 34% and producing 15% of its energy from renewable sources.

Darling will also announce that Britain's banks will contribute £250m to a £500m growth capital fund, designed to ease the financial pressures on the small and medium-sized companies most affected by the credit crunch.

"A little bit of government help can unlock a lot of private sector investment, and that is going to be the focus this week," Darling said in a BBC interview.

He picked out the creative industries and the pharmaceutical sector as two industries warranting extra government help.

The overall aim of the budget is to set out a pathway for growth, and to give fresh details on the deficit reduction plans outlined in December.

The chancellor ruled out rises in VAT and indicated he would dedicate any windfall from lower than expected borrowing figures and unemployment to investments in the future, rather than extra departmental spending.

"If a politician offered Christmas trees the voters would roll their eyes and say, 'Oh well, you know you've clearly lost touch'," he argued.

Darling is expected to provide fresh detail on how government departments are meeting efficiency targets, deemed to be essential to plans to halve the deficit by 2013-14.

He also insisted there would not be an emergency budget after the election, and said he hoped the 50p income tax rate on those earning £150,000 or more would be a temporary feature of the tax landscape.

The government is expected to announce fresh measures to reduce youth unemployment, as well as some extra cash for defence.

Overall, the budget will represent a shift to a more European interventionist industrial policy. Darling and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, believe the case for a more hands-on approach has been made by the success of limited state support for Nissan in Sunderland, which last week announced plans for a new electric car, and for Sheffield Forgemasters, one of only two plants in the world capable of making reactor vessels for the nuclear industry.

The High Speed 1 rail link was taken into public ownership last year, and Darling intends to use £1bn from the sell-off to attract a further £1bn from the private sector for a fund to be set up in 2011.

Other state assets earmarked for sale include the Dartford crossing and the Tote.

Treasury sources said Britain needed to spend £165bn over the next 15 years to replace 40% of its energy infrastructure, and public money had to be found – even in tough financial times – to attract private finance for new and unproven technologies. Mandelson's business department are also looking at using more active industrial policies – such as government procurement policies and small-scale loans – to help business recover from the deepest and longest recession since the second world war.

The budget is likely to set a target for the percentage of government business that should go to SMEs and propose an updated form of 3i, set up after the war to provide venture capital for start-up companies. "The fund is needed to deal with the problem of barriers to entry for private sector investment in technologies perceived to be high risk", a Treasury source said.

• Budget
• Alistair Darling
• Economic policy
• Green politics

Larry ElliottPatrick Wintourguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

A State of Mind - Wax Tailor - Le Fil

"Wax Tailor passe a Saint-Etienne le 11 mars !". Il semblerait que tout le monde se soit donne le mot puisque la salle du Fil etait des 20h deja bien remplie. Cependant, il est vrai que depuis la sortie de son nouvel opus, In the mood for life en septembre, nous attendions avec impatience sa prochaine tournee. (...)

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

The state of the news media is this: Gossip and rumors are rapidly replacing factual reporting -- in large part driven by the Google economy. No company is benefitting more than Apple, and most recently with the launch of iPad. But rumors are no surefire way to sales success. Big hype will energize early iPad sales, but can it sustain them? I wonder, and perhaps you have the answer. I'm not looking for a scientific answer, just your story to tell -- more on that in at the end of this post.

The Mac-obsessed blogosphere, news media and social crowd is a frightening but  exhilarating phenomenon. Marketers and public relations companies across the globe are watching the Apple-hype phenomenon and trying to guess how they can imitate it. They can't. There is inherit bias in the products bloggers, journalists and socialwebites are using, or the companies that they invest in.

The pattern follows Microsoft in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when so much tech reporting was one-sided in favor of the company cofounded by Bill Gates. I remember when Corel released its first major WordPerfect suite (late May 1996) after buying the product from Novell. Microsoft countered (two weeks later) with a press preview of Office 1997, which release was at least six months away. The hype about Office 1997 overshadowed WordPerfect 7 Suite for Windows 95. Microsoft hype had marketing might. Anything new from Microsoft could overshadow any existing competing product.

How similar the situation is with Apple today. The hype is in part driven by the large number of bloggers and journalists using Macs -- the same kind of inherent bias (from Windows users) benefitting Microsoft a computing generation ago. In the 2000s, many high-profile journalism schools recommend -- or even require -- students to use Mac laptops. Reason: Content creation is supposedly easier on a Mac because of iLife. Microsoft should have released an iLife-equivalent product long ago. Sorry, Microsoft defenders, but Windows Live isn't it. If not using a Mac, who doesn't have an iPod?

Back to inherent bias: There are the investors and Wall Street analysts who recognize how much rumors can lift (or collapse) Apple's share price. In December I asserted that the sudden and large number of Apple tablet rumors were meant to drive up the share price. Hype has share-price might, too. Something else: Like Microsoft in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there is enough reader interest in Apple -- huge chunks of it investor driven, I presume -- for bloggers, journalists and socialwebite gossips to scramble to post anything first; rumors are just fine. Being first with news (gossip or rumor) means higher Google News ranking, more pageviews and so more ad revenue.

If the iPad preorder numbers were truly good, Apple would tout them. Apple loves to use sales numbers for marketing advantage. Thanks to rumors or gossip, Apple gains some marketing punch without revealing how good -- or even bad -- are early iPad preorders.

Just five years ago, Apple frowned on rumors and aggressively discouraged them. Am I the only person who remembers Apple suing several rumor sites, which resulted in the closure of ThinkSecret? Apple worked hard to quash rumor sites. No more. There are too many, and they are too beneficial. Apple-obsessed bloggers and journalists amplify Steve Jobs' "reality distortion field."

Some of the gossiping seems oh-so factually based. There was the Apple 2.0Bblog's first-day iPad sales analysis of 124,596 iPads sold. This huge number, which was picked up and re-reported seemingly everywhere, was "based on a sampling of 99 orders (for 110 iPads) over 19.5 hours, and not counting units that were reserved but not ordered, the Sanity team estimates." Say, what? Ninety-nine iPads preordered is basis for estimating unit sales into the hundreds of thousands?

The news media next went wild over another sales estimate -- with some good math, I might add -- from Daniel Tello. To boost his credibility, many blogs and news sites referred to Tello as a "blogger-analyst." To his credit, Tello clearly discloses: "Long AAPL shares." The Apple Blog's March 15 headline about Tello's post was typically misleading: "Analyst Estimate: 150,000 iPads Pre-Ordered Already." Tello actually did a good analysis, which quality wasn't reflected in most of the blog posts or news stories citing the data. They hyped the sales number, which is hugely uncertain.

Apple hype is simply out of control. I could write another post on the ridiculous conclusions made last week about Apple's market capitalization exceeding Walmart's. Missing: Share valuation is Wall Street's measure of public company valuation. Inherent value based on real world fundamentals is something else. Walmart is an inherently more valuable company (based on reach, real estate assets, infrastructure, distribution, number of employees, local tax contribution, etc. etc.) than Apple.

The same can be said of Microsoft, which software is widely used by businesses, governments and non-government organizations across the globe. I laughed at Silicon Alley Insider's March 14 Chart of the Week: "Only a Matter of Time Until Apple's Market Cap is Bigger Than Microsoft." There's still plenty of spread between the valuations to make such an assertion, which also ignores inherent value by other more meaningful measurements.

I want to end by conducting an informal survey, asking simply: Did you buy an iPad?

If you preodered an iPad, please explain why. Were you wowed by the iPad's aspirational marketing or Steve Jobs' product introduction? Do you perhaps feel like you might be left out -- "hey, everyone else I know wants one" -- if you didn't order? Maybe there is some must-have feature that your dumb phone, smartphone, ebook reader or laptop can't do? Perhaps the reason is something else. Given the amount of hype, non-buyers' reasons are just as important. The decision not to buy is more conscious than it might be for some other products. Please leave responses in comments.

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

China's state media accuses Google of "intricate ties" with the US government and trying to change Chinese society.

China's state media accuses Google of "intricate ties" with the US government and trying to change Chinese society.

Scottly Smith recently moved his blog to the Gospel Coalition web site. I've long regarded his site as a bit of a hidden treasure but I suppose it's now less so having moved to a more public location. Nevertheless, his most recent prayer caught my eye as, through it, he reflects on a simple question. This is a worthwhile prayer for any of us, I think.

Dear Lord Jesus, driving into my home state recently, I came upon a billboard that pushed some buttons before it raised my palms. Just through the mountains of North Carolina, there is was, bold and in big red letters, Are You Saved? I’ll be honest, my first response was, “What an un-cool, cost-ineffective, out-of-date, impersonal way to do evangelism.” Then I ruminated, “People that put up highway signs like that are clueless about the gospel. They’re usually legalists and moralists, and have no idea about a theology of imputed righteousness. They’re culturally out-of-touch and don’t realize what a turn-off that kind of signage is.”

But after my momentary-arrogance and billboard-pontification, your Spirit gently disrupted my “cool” with this thought, “You completely avoided the question, Are You Saved?”

I continued driving, but that’s when one palm went up anyway, for indeed, I am saved, Jesus, unabashedly and unashamedly so. And there’s only one reason and there’s only one basis... I have come to God through you. You are the permanent priest who offered the perfect sacrifice for me, once and for all. You completed your work on the cross and you will complete your work in me. You live forever and you forever live to thoroughly save me, and your whole pan-national trans-generational Bride. You were my substitute by your life and your death, and now you’re my righteousness and intercessor before the Father. Am I saved? Most definitely and most delightfully!

I don’t have to like highway billboards, but may I never ever tire of responding to the question, Are You Saved?, for there’s no question more humbling to me and honoring of you. So very Amen, I pray, Jesus, in your merciful and mighty-to-save name.

Liz Carpenter, Texas humorist, women's rights crusader and aide to Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, dies at 89
Co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, she was a descendant of five generations of Texans, including a 17-year-old relative who died at the Battle of the Alamo. A great-great uncle wrote and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Carpenter scribbled the 58 words that Lyndon Johnson delivered to the nation when he returned to Washington from Dallas after the assassination of President Kennedy: "This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's."

Ann Richards once said, "(Liz is) the tilt-a-whirl at the State Fair with all the lights on and the music. The only difference between Liz and a tilt-a-whirl is that, with Liz, the ride never comes to an end."

Farewell to the "Foot-Washing, Psalm-Singing, Total Immersion Texan"

Court of appeals backs Houston jury that said J Howard Marshall was mentally fit when he wrote will leaving nearly all his state to his son and nothing to Smith

The Texan billionaire who married Anna Nicole Smith in the last year of his life never intended to leave her any part of his fortune, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The ninth US circuit court of appeals backed a Houston jury that said J Howard Marshall was mentally fit and under no undue pressure when he wrote a will leaving nearly all his $1.6bn (£1bn) estate to his son, E Pierce Marshall, and nothing to Smith.

Friday's ruling was the latest development in a 15-year battle. Smith, who died in 2008, claimed Marshall had promised her more than $300m

The battle between Smith and Marshall started in a Houston probate court and continued to the US supreme court, outliving the two combatants. It may reach the high court again.

Kent Richland, a lawyer for Smith's estate vowed to appeal against the latest ruling, possibly to the supreme court, on different issues than those it first considered.

"It really is a unique decision," Richland said. "We have to take it farther."

The younger Marshall's widow and two sons said they hoped the legal battle was close to ending. "Our only wish would be that Pierce were here to see his vindication," the family said in a statement.

The decision – if it is upheld – is bad news for Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead and their three-year-old daughter, Dannielynn.

The child was named Smith's heir in 2008 after she died at the age of 39 of a drug overdose at a Florida hotel.

Birkhead and lawyer Howard K Stern were placed in charge of Smith's estate. Neither returned calls seeking comment.

• Anna Nicole Smith
• United States

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State after state in a ruinous fiscal meltdown  A story that is not getting nearly enough attention is the ruinous fiscal meltdown occurring in state after state, all across the country. Taxes are being raised. Draconian cuts in services are being made. Public employees are being fired. The tissue-thin national economic recovery is being undermined. And in [...]

Sunday, March 21, 2010

People living in the area are being evacuated. Police have closed the roads into the area and a state of emergency has been declared. The eruption is expected to result in flooding if it is under the glacier, but fortunately it appears to between Eyjafjallajökull and another glacier, Mýrdalsjökull, reducing the danger of flooding. It is reported that the eruption can be seen as far away as from Vestmannaeyjar. So far the lava flow is viscous and thick.

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On 21 March 1960 the South African police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters who were part of political campaign organized by the Pan African Congress (PAC) against pass laws. It is estimated that 69 people were killed on that day in the township of Sharpeville. This horrific event is commonly known as Sharpeville Massacre .

Sharpeville massacre was the turning point in the history of political resistance to Apartheid in South Africa. Since 1994, 21 March is Human Rights Day in South Africa. March 21 is also the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in memory of the massacre.

Every March 21st, Rethabile posts his own poem to remember Sharpeville massacre. His Sharpeville poem for this year is posted on Black Looks:

the day king walked
from selma to montgomery,
the tops of trees shook
as in a forest, and shivered
for this man who had crossed a line
of centuries in the south, but
even more south, we worried for our lot,
resolved as we were to break you,
but you to put us with our ancestors.
of course there have never been questions:
why shoot them in the back? why shoot them?
why shoot? why? but our name got its shrine
where the children now gather,
for sixty-nine of us lay on the street
on that day in march sixty. as others
filled hospitals and covered cell-floors
with clenched bodies, dachau
was completed, stowe published her book,
alcatraz was shut down for good, and
we moved from non-whites
to non-carriers of passbooks.
© Rethabile Masilo

He also posts a poem by South African political activist and poet Dennis Brutus. It is titled, “A Poem About Sharpeville”:

What is important
about Sharpeville
is not that seventy died:
nor even that they were shot in the back
retreating, unarmed, defenseless
and certainly not
the heavy caliber slug
that tore through a mother’s back
and ripped through the child in her arms
killing it
Remember Sharpeville
bullet-in-the-back day
Because it epitomized oppression
and the nature of society
more clearly than anything else;
it was the classic event
Nowhere is racial dominance
more clearly defined
nowhere the will to oppress
more clearly demonstrated
what the world whispers
apartheid with snarling guns
the blood lust after
South Africa spills in the dust
Remember Sharpeville
Remember bullet-in-the-back day
And remember the unquenchable will for freedom
Remember the dead
and be glad.
© Dennis Brutus

Travel Blog Portfolio wishes all South Africans a safe and peaceful Human Rights day and ask them to learn more about Sharpeville Day.

How could such atrocities happen and no one is punished?, asks Sokari Ekine:

It’s been a long time coming, but change is gonna come, sang Sam Cooke about America. He could have been singing about South Africa, or the world, even. For what is baffling is how Sharpeville 1960, Soweto 1976, King’s and X’s murders, the Civil Rights movement, Mandela’s 27 years in jail, not to mention the thousands tortured and killed in South Africa, and tortured and lynched in America, what is baffling is how these have not entered the minds of all and instructed them on the evils of discrimination and segregation in all its forms. That is truly baffling to me.

It is also amazingly stunning that all these things happened and almost no one got punished for it, no international hunt for the wrong-doers, no motivation to see them “brought to justice,” as George Bush the son would say about so many who had committed so less. Today is a day to remember and to know why it should be remembered

Alpha Christian discusses the link between Good Friday, Human Rights Day and Sharpeville Day:

In a recent column in the Beeld, Nico Botha, deals with this anomaly where the Good Friday falls on the same date as the Human Rights Day, or, even better, the commemoration of Sharpeville Day. For many the debate was whether we will loose a public holiday as workers.

Where are we to find the key to link Good Friday to the significance of today, Human Rights day, Sharpeville day ?
I believe the little dialogue between Jesus and Pilate helps us to start to understand this link.

Michael Trapido remembers this day in his post on Thought Leader titled Sharpeville Redux and a Bit More:

On that fateful day a group of between 5 000 and 7 000 people converged on the local police station in the township of Sharpeville, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their pass books.

As the large crowd gathered the atmosphere was peaceful and festive with less than 20 police officers in the station at the start of the protest. Police and military tried using low-flying jet fighters in an attempt disperse the crowd without success.

As a result the police set up Saracen armoured vehicles in a line facing the protesters and, at 13:15, incredibly, opened fire on the crowd.

He continues:

The official casualties were 69 people killed, including 8 women and 10 children, with more than 180 injured.

To date the worst case of police insanity in the history of this country.

As a result there followed a spontaneous uprising among black South Africans with demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots taking place throughout the country.

This led to the government declaring a state of emergency on March 30 1960, which saw more than 18 000 people detained.

Texas In Africa notes that Sharpeville was the first major turning point in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and that the massacre led to the militarisation of the anti-apartheid movement:

The rest of the world started to question the regime's racist policies much more openly; South Africa left the commonwealth a year later.

It also provoked the militarization of the anti-apartheid movement. The ANC's militant wing, MK (Umkhonto wa Sizwe) and Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, both formed soon after the massacre. The next thirty years were marked with horrific acts of violence before - to almost everyone's surprise - the evil of apartheid ended peacefully.

Five years later to the day, American civil rights protesters led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began marching from Selma to Montgomery. The attempt by 600 marchers to do the same thing three weeks earlier culminated in Bloody Sunday, an attack by local and state law enforcement officials. With a protective order from a federal judge, five times as many marchers turned out for the March 21 walk. A few months later, LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act, which effectively ended the last vestiges of legal discrimination in the south.

My students (whom, you will remember, are almost all black men) sometimes debate the question: “Are you a Malcolm or a Martin?” What they mean by this is, “Is social change best achieved through peaceful means (as MLK carried out his work) or violent means (as Malcolm X advocated)?”

I cannot even begin to claim to be qualified to answer this question. If we look at political history, it's clear that MLK's nonviolent methods worked to restore voting rights and some degree of social equality for American minorities, and they worked relatively quickly. MK and Poqo's violent methods certainly also had an effect on the apartheid regime, although the struggle was very long and ultimately did not end because of violence but rather because of economic turmoil and Mandela's willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement with de Klerk. But nothing approaching true equality of economic opportunity has happened for the vast majority of blacks in either country.

Abioye discusses the international dimension of Sharpeville Day:

In 1966 the General Assembly of the UN proclaimed March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The UN called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. The Canadian government and various institutions in Canada including Carleton University and the University of Toronto, colluded with the white supremacist apartheid government of South Africa by refusing to
divest and continuing to trade with the government and South African companies.

South Africa Good News has posted a statement from Nelson Mandela Foundation:

March 21, 2010, marks 50 years since 69 unarmed protestors were killed by South African police outside a police station in Sharpeville, south of Johannesburg.

Nelson Mandela burning his pass on March 28, 1960, in protest to the atrocities at SharpevilleWhen commemorating Human Rights day, during his presidency, Nelson Mandela said: “21 March is South African Human Rights Day. It is a day which, more than many others, captures the essence of the struggle of the South African people and the soul of our non-racial democracy. March 21 is the day on which we remember and sing praises to those who perished in the name of democracy and human dignity. It is also a day on which we reflect and assess the progress we are making in enshrining basic human rights and values.”

The last week has seen some interesting progress for the n900. Firstly it was great to see phototranslator finally being availiable in extras-devel. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about having lost patience waiting and played with OCR myself. However phototranslator has put it together in a slick package and combines with google translate api to provide a pretty cool application.
Obviously it is of most use if you are travelling to a foriegn country, translating signs and menus as you go, but it is still interesting to play with and just show off the capabilities of the device (without having to drop to a terminal).

Perhaps the major new item this week is sygic’s mobile maps being released for sale. There was much rumour that they had been waiting to release via Nokia’s ovi store. However, they have made it aviliable for sale via their own site.

I purchased it on Friday after some of the initial rush had died down, and sygic had some chance to get their servers working properly. Some of the first off the mark reported painfully slow downloads which dropped and they had to use resuming downloaders to get all the way through. At 1.8gb I didn’t really want to deal with download problems. Given that the program requires activation via their site, it’s not clear why they didn’t just torrent the file and save their servers a lot of problems.
Nonetheless when I came to make my purchase I got about 200kb/sec and it downloaded in about 90mins.

I had read the maemo forums and seen people had trouble with segfaults if the data folders weren’t in the right place. So I copied to the /home/user/MyDocs folder as instructed. What I didn’t do was unplug my usb cable, just unmounted the n900 and left it charging only. I got a segfault running the application
I rebooted the phone, unplugged the cable and then it ran fine to the point of product activation. Where I selected ‘automatic’ and entered my product code. Only to find it sat doing nothing for a minute then segfaulted….

At this point I was a little concerned about the quality of the app. It’s response to the unexpected seems to be to segfault, which doesn’t seem like good code to me.
However, after actually reading some instructions I realised I should go through manual activation, and that product code != Activation code. I went via their site and got my activation code and at last I was up and running.

Once going, I’ve had no further problems. It’s a fast application and seems very good. I’ve only used it to route me home from work, but it did so well. The thing I noticed was how fast it recalculated when I intentionally deviated from the route. No sooner than I made the turn than I looked down to see new route laid out. To be fair I’m comparing to a now pretty old tomtom, but it’s recalculation always took a few seconds of processing.

The other thing I noticed was that the map has a housing estate in my town that was built perhaps 5 years ago, but does not have some mini roundabouts on my route home from years before that.
I also note that it doesn’t seem to care about traffic lights. By which I mean it gives no indication that it would consider them as a factor in routing decisions. I don’t know if any do, but I hold out hope one day to get routing that knows that 9am on a weekday could mean several extra minutes going through traffic lights.

The maemo forums where quickly full of interesting tips/hacks to enable fullscreen operation & open up more menu options. This allows for portrait operation and more controls. I don’t know why sygic didn’t have these enabled by default, perhaps they are not fully tested so have been left in an implicit ‘unsupported’ state, but easy to switch on.

Some think it’s crazy to pay €59 for something nokia might do for free in ovi maps. However given nokias track record so far I’m not at all convinced they are going to give away anything even close to as good as sygics offering. In terms of price, I paid more for just the France maps addition on my old tomtom, so €59 for the whole of europe seems very good value to me. Now I just need my brodit active holder to ship…

Rumours have increased that firmware release 1.2 is imminent. Based on some wishful thinking and the fact that the UK has finally gotten the 1.1.1 release that the rest of the world got weeks ago. Along with a number of bugs being marked explicitly as in pr 1.2. Neither of these things need have any baring on the release of the next update, but wishful thinking is hard to put down .

I also became aware this week of TweeGo, a new twitter client. This one written with c++/qt and looking very nice. A much slicker ui than my own witter. I am really glad to see more options being actively developed, bringing more choice to n900 users.

Perhaps more significantly than the other things this week… I wrote the code to add avatar support to witter. Though as yet it’s not ready to release, it should be reasonably shortly. (Perhaps this should really be something for next week rather than last)
For a long time I pretty much refused to consider avatar support. I figured it would do nothing but take up memory, use up screen space, and slow things down. And it would cost time in coding I was unwilling to spend. However, this week I came accross a thread on maemo forums with some good examples of what I would need. So I had a play and found it didn’t take too long to get basic support working. Although it must make the memory footprint bigger, it doesn’t appear to hurt performance. So at somepoint soon witter will look something like this:

To have a few new things arriving for the n900 in a short space of time really gave me the feeling that it is gathering momentum. Getting better and better all the time.
This momentum enourages more development, and hopefully more good information such as the thread I found, which in turn leads to more, better applications.

With a cool new technology demo in phototranslator, a great pay-for gps option from sygic and a slick new twitter client in TweeGo, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about the future for the N900 after a week like this.

Filed under: maemo, Thoughts Tagged: maemo, mobile maps, N900, ocr, performance, Phototranslator, Python, sygic, tesseract, tweego, witter 0 0

Wally 2.3.2
(KDE Other Utility)
Wally is a Qt4 wallpaper changer, using multiple sources like files, folders, FTP remote folders, Flickr, Yahoo!, Panoramio, Pikeo, Ipernity, Photobucket, Buzznet, Picasa, Smugmug and Bing images. It runs under Linux, Win32, and MacOSX, and it's available in many languages.

Supported Window Managers:
- Win32
- MacOSX (using OSA scripts)
- KDE3
- KDE4 (using WallyPlugin)
- Gnome
- XFCE4
- Fluxbox
- Blackbox
- FVWM (unstable)
- WindowMaker

If you are upgrading KDE4 to 4.4, you must rebuild from sources, cause WallyPlugin can crash Plasma. DEB files will be available when 4.4 will be available as "stable" with Ubuntu.

Note for Ubuntu users: if you're using KDE4, please use KDE4 ONLY packages!!!

changelog:
Version 2.3.2
- Double-clicking icon in system tray advances on next photo
- Improved duplicated photo detection
- Added Catalan language
- Added Greek language
- Added disclaimer to be accepted on first start of Wally
- Removed QtScript dependency, JSON parser has been implemented internally (Qt 4.6 compatibility)
- Run-time folder change detection has been removed from "Folders" module, its use is too resource consuming
- BUG FIXED: search issues occurred when using multiple tags/keywords
- BUG FIXED: EXIF information are now showed correctly when non-Latin1 characters in filename path are used
- BUG FIXED: KDE 4.4 SC was not properly detected
- BUG FIXED: Panoramio was working only with "Original" sized images

Version 2.3.1
- Added Chinese language
- Added Polish language
- Active Desktop is now detected, and error is reported
- Photo filename is used when title is not available
- XFCE detection improved
- BUG FIXED: GUI bug in proxy selection form
- BUG FIXED: Panoramio coordinates are checked after input terminates
- BUG FIXED: buggy behaviour in MacOSX, Folders module, when too many files are present in specified directories

Version 2.3.0
- Added French language
- Added Czech language
- Wally can now display wallpapers behind toolbars and docks, using full screen space
- Time period can now be shortened up to 10 seconds
- Automatic border color feature has been added
- BUG FIXED: history data is not stored anymore when Cancel is pressed
- BUG FIXED: HTTP download does not get stuck anymore if HTTP response is wrong
- BUG FIXED: HTTP download in history window does not get stuck anymore at 99%, cause of a QProgressDialog conflict
- BUG FIXED: history viewer misbehaviours have been fixed
- BUG FIXED: Panoramio items save state correctly now
- BUG FIXED: map selection issues in Panoramio items have been fixed
- BUG FIXED: MacOSX Info.plist fixed
- BUG FIXED: regression bug about free disk space check has been fixed

Version 2.2.0
- Added selection on map for Panoramio items configuration
- History window has been improved, more informations for each item and filter by tags have been added
- Added Bing module
- EXIF support improved. Information window has been added, and EXIF is stored in history.
- BUG FIXED: wrong GUI behaviour in HTTP items when setting photos path, now fixed
- BUG FIXED: wrong GUI behaviour on proxy server selection, now fixed
- BUG FIXED: duplicated items are not accepted anymore
- BUG FIXED: now asks HTTP server first if download is recoverable
- BUG FIXED: segfault no longer happens when GIF/PNG/no-EXIF-compatible photo is downloaded
- BUG FIXED: consecutive downloads of the same photo are not allowed anymore
- BUG FIXED: X shortcuts for older WMs weren't updated to current features

Version 2.1.0
- Added system proxy support
- Added History feature
- Modules can be disabled/enabled
- Added Picasa module
- Added Smugmug module
- Added Buzznet module
- HTTP engine can now recover downloads
- More cosmetic changes
- Free disk space threshold can be configured
- Multiple items in HTTP engines can be selected
- BUG FIXED: state in Folders engine is now properly saved
- BUG FIXED: playlist is now reset correctly after wrap

Version 2.0.3
- BUG FIXED: MacOSX script for wallpaper change now works properly
- BUG FIXED: Color button is now showed correctly with all GUI styles
- BUG FIXED: "About" dialog now can be closed under MacOSX
- BUG FIXED: empty "Remote folder" items are now correctly rejected
- BUG FIXED: Wally's single instance in MacOSX is now properly detected
- BUG FIXED: annoying issues with KDE4 WallyPlugin have been solved (at the end!!!)
- Some cosmetic changes

Version 2.0.2
- BUG FIXED: empty items are now discarded
- BUG FIXED: single instance in Linux now is checked using file PID, thus avoiding false positives
- BUG FIXED: only available free space on desktop is used
- BUG FIXED: Pikeo now resets page count search after an empty result
- Free disk space (at least 20 megs) is checked for availability before saving photos
- EXIF tags are analyzed in every plugin, and corrections are applied where needed
- Photobucket has no throttle limit anymore, watermark on photo is applied
- More code restyling
- Fixed plural form in translations
- Added Portuguese (Brazil) translation
- Window manager can be forced at command line (Linux only)
- WallyPlugin: D-BUS is not used anymore
- WallyPlugin: KDE message will appear at end of installation, remembering of KDE4 Plasma restart
- Removed QCA dependency
- Application data folder is now more S.O. "friendly" under Win32 and MacOSX

Version 2.0.1
- WallyPlugin BUG FIXED: plugin is now compiled without debug information
- WallyPlugin BUG FIXED: D-BUS access rights are now setup correctly
- WallyPlugin BUG FIXED: installation paths are now detected properly

You don't need to upgrade to 2.0.1 if you're not using KDE4.

.DEB files now include Wally and WallyPlugin. No need to use sources for KDE4.


Version 2.0.0
- Wally's engine has been totally rewritten, for better stability and better coding structure in plugins' development
- UI partial restyling and improvement
- KDE4 support
- MacOSX support (experimental)
- FTP remote folders support
- Multilanguage support (English, Italian, Spanish and Russian)
- Wally now remembers its last state before termination
- Bugs fixed all around


Version 1.3.2
- Added configurable GUI style
- Flickr search pages count is now hard-limited, to avoid repeated results
- Pikeo plugin is now enabled
- Added "-debug" command line switch for better bugs tracing
- BUG FIXED: pictures in folder mode now change correctly
- BUG FIXED: multiple erroneous picture validations are no longer generated

Version 1.3.1
- BUG FIXED: regression bug about removing rows from configuration has been fixed

Version 1.3.0
- Added Pixeo plugin (still disabled, EXPERIMENTAL)
- Added Riya plugin (still disabled, EXPERIMENTAL)
- About dialog now shows supported images
- BUG FIXED: Gnome detection now should work

Version 1.2.0
- Added Panoramio plugin
- Flickr images are now rotated correctly, if needed
- BUG FIXED: sending quit immediately before background change doesn't generate a segfault now
- BUG FIXED: HTTP timeouts now if a transfer takes too long
- BUG FIXED: internal search is now limited by HTTP result count
- VERY IMPORTANT BUG FIXED: Play/Pause now works correctly

Version 1.1.0
- Added Fluxbox support
- Added Blackbox support
- Added FVWM support (unstable)
- Added WindowMaker support
- BUG FIXED: XFCE4 now works
- BUG FIXED: "Cancel" command now works when HTTP download is in progress

Version 1.0.0
- First release


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A volcano in southern Iceland erupted last night, forcing evacuations and diverting air traffic:

"Shortly before midnight, the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, the island's fifth largest, started to spew smoke and lava from several craters along a rift which is popular with hikers. Police declared a state of emergency and sent rescue teams to evacuate about 500 people living in the thinly populated area near the site. No injuries or damage to property were reported. Three Red Cross care centers were opened in nearby villages to assist the evacuated population."

 Eruptions from Eyjafjallajökull have traditionally been tied to a more powerful neighboring volcano, says one geophysicist:

"Eyjafjallajökull has erupted three times since the settlement of Iceland in the 9th century AD, in 920, 1612 and 1821. All three eruptions were rather small but caused flooding. However, there is a short distance to Katla, Einarsson said, which is a powerful and vicious volcano, ruv.is reports. 'Katla is of a completely different kind [...] but they seem to be connected, because all known eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull were related to Katla eruptions and therefore it seems that they might a prelude to eruptions in Katla,' Einarsson said. 'Eyjafjallajökull might to a certain extent work as a detonator for a dynamite explosion,' the geophysicist added. 'If it goes off it is like Katla can’t resist it and also wants to join in. Those eruptions can be big and cause extensive damage.'

Watch video of the eruption, AFTER THE JUMP...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state media on Sunday accused Google Inc of pushing a political agenda by "groundlessly accusing the Chinese government" of supporting hacker attacks and by trying to export its own culture, values and ideas.

At ShoWest 2010, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., announced it has reduced the price of its reusable 3D glasses. Starting today, Dolby exhibitors can purchase new 3D glasses at a list price of US $17.00, reduced from US $27.50, making them even more affordable and cost-effective.

Dolby is also offering additional cost savings through new, bundled pricing for its standard DolbyÂ@ 3D single projector kit with up to 500 pairs of glasses as well as a Dolby 3D bundle for its large-screen solutions 3D kit with up to 1,000 pairs of glasses.

"Since our market entry just over two years ago, Dolby has shipped more than 3,200 3D systems to over 400 exhibitor partners in 67 countries. This growth in the number of Dolby 3D equipped digital cinemas around the world has enabled us to reduce the price of our glasses further," said John Carey, Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Products, and Services, Dolby Laboratories. "Our eco-friendly glasses are designed to be used repeatedly, bringing per-ticket costs well below disposable single use 3D glasses."

DolbyÂ’s 3D glasses are high-performance, environmentally friendly passive glasses that require no batteries or charging. The state-of-the-art color filter coating technology in the Dolby 3D glasses allows specific wavelengths of light to reach each eye, and delivers audiences vibrant color, startling depth, and amazing clarity bringing 3D movies to life.

In addition, exhibitors aren't required to constantly track and order disposable or one time use 3D glasses to avoid running out of stock.

Publication Date: 2010 Mar 19 PMID: 20300957Authors: Kellems, A. R. - Chaturantabut, S. - Sorensen, D. C. - Cox, S. J.Journal: J Comput NeurosciAccurately simulating neurons with realistic morphological structure and synaptic inputs requires the solution of large systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. We apply model reduction techniques to recover the complete nonlinear voltage dynamics of a neuron using a system of much lower dimension. Using a proper orthogonal decomposition, we build a reduced-order system from salient snapshots of the full system output, thus reducing the number of state variables. A discrete empirical interpolation method is then used to reduce the complexity of the nonlinear term to be proportional to the number of reduced variables. Together these two techniques allow for up to two orders of magnitude dimension reduction without sacrificing the spatially-distributed input structure, with an associated order of magnitude speed-up in simulation time. We demonstrate that both nonlinear spiking behavior and subthreshold response of realistic cells are accurately captured by these low-dimensional models.post to: CiteULike

Controversial South Australian Attorny-General Michael Atkinson (pictured) has resigned from the role in the wake of ongoing public criticism and a voter backlash in his seat of Croydon in this weekend's state election.