 that will cycle through pairs. How can I automatically import and update data in Excel?

Hello Everyone,   I am a systematic trend-following trader usingforeign exchange pairs. All of my systems development work is in Excel. 5 and import it into Excel and I would like this to be an automaticprocess. Hi, I am having hard time creating a panel with the control libraries on mt4, this is the first time i am using them.

I created a rectangle lbl as background and a normal combo box to switch between buy and sell orders, i have tried a lot of ways to pull this off, but seems to have a problem. Hi, is it possible to run my own indicators and template in the webtrader? And other question: Is it possible to integrate other indicators or template in the mobile mt version? 5 decimal after dot , but  when i run Close  return me only 3  is possible  increase decimal after dot ?

I’m trying to copy a temporary . The problem is that I’m trying to find this . I tried anything but the platform does not do anything. W1 timeframes instead of the M1 timeframe which pretty much every Renko EA uses?

I’ve searched everywhere and can’t seem to find one. Hey guys, I try to optimize my indicators a little bit by implementing new MQL4 code. I have some general questions about data types. When I need a high or low of a bar, I used the data type double. But now I see that float uses only 4 bytes instead of 8 bytes used by double.<|endoftext|>The Full Wiki

Diaeresis: Wikis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In linguistics, diaeresis, or dieresis, is the pronunciation of two adjacent vowels in two separate syllables rather than as a diphthong or vowel digraph, and also the name of the diacritic mark ( ¨ ) used to prompt the reader to pronounce adjacent vowels in this manner.

For example the first two vowels in the word cooperate can be spelt co-operate or, using the diæresis, coöperate.

The word diæresis itself comes from the Greek noun διαίρεσις (diaíresis: ‘taking apart’ or ’division’), which derives from the verb διαιρεῖν (diaireîn). The spelling is now normally simplified by replacing the grapheme æ with the digraph ae (in British English), or with the letter e in North American English.

The opposite phenomenon is known as synæresis.

The diæresis is a diacritic mark ( ¨ ) used in English to indicate that two adjacent vowels are to be pronounced separately[1] as in Boötes, Noël and naïve, the names Zoë and Chloë and words like reënter and coöperate. An identical diacritic is used in German and several related languages to represent the umlaut, and this name is sometimes used to refer to the diæresis mark as well.

Despite its long history in English, the diæresis is now increasingly rarely used, with The New Yorker[2] and MIT's Technology Review being prominent exceptions.

Use in other languages

Dutch uses the same mark in a similar way, (for example coëfficiënt), but for compound words there is now a preference for hyphenation - so zeeëend (seaduck) is now spelled zee-eend.[3]

In French the diæresis is still in common usage, where it is called tréma, and the English examples Noël and naïve in fact derive from the French. It is usually written on the second of the two adjacent vowels – although since a spelling reform in 1990, it may been written on the u in -güe- and -güi-, as in Spanish. Additionally, in some French words, the diæresis indicates that an otherwise unpronounced syllable is pronounced: aigüe or aiguë; cigüe or ciguë.

In German, it is called an umlaut and is used over a, o or u to indicate fronting of the affected vowel. In direct German-English translations, it is represented by an e after the vowel with the umlaut. For instance, Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen is spelt in its English translation as Berlin Schoenefeld Aiport

In Welsh, where the diæresis appears, it is usually on the stressed vowel, and this is most often on the first of the two adjacent vowels; a typical example is copïo [kɔ.'pi.ɔ] (to copy), cf. mopio ['mɔ.pjɔ] (to mop).

Other languages indicate phonological diæresis with different diacritics, such as the acute accent in Spanish and Portuguese. For example, the Portuguese words saia [ˈsai̯ɐ] "skirt" and saía [saˈiɐ] "I used to leave" (Brazilian pronunciation) differ in that the sequence /ai/ forms a diphthong in the former (synæresis), but is a hiatus in the latter (diæresis).

In prosody, diæresis means the division made in a line or a verse when the end of a foot coincides with the end of a word.

See also

  1. ^ Bringhurst, p 306.
  2. ^ Diaeresis at the Word of Day
  3. ^ Translation Services USA

  • Bringhurst, Robert (1992 [2004]). The elements of typographic style, version 3.0. Vancouver: Hartley & Marks. ISBN 0-88179-133-4.

Got something to say? Make a comment.
Your name
Your email address<|endoftext|>Question: What is G. Karunakara Reddy's occupation?
Answer: politician<|endoftext|>British (Bristol) Cash Snatching Burglar Used Money for Bookies

British (Bristol) Cash Snatching Burglar Used Money for Bookies

Most people who gamble get their money for gambling the old-fashioned way—they earn it at a job. There are some people however, who like to skip ahead. While there have been stories in the past about people committing crimes in order to feed their gambling addiction, David Broad is unique. The man, who lives in Bristol in the United Kingdom, has been caught stealing from donation buckets and charity shops all over the city and surrounding areas in order to gamble at bookmakers. His game of choice? Fixed odds betting terminals.

What Are Charity Shops?

charity shopCharity shops, sometimes called thrift stores or resale stores in the United States, are retail stores that are run by a charitable organization in order to raise money for a particular charity. The type of merchandise sold in charity shops varies throughout the US and the UK. Some charity shops specialize in everything from furniture to clothing and toys, while others have a specialty. For example, one shop in London to benefit a children’s hospital specializes in couture clothing for resale.

Charity shops often use all of the money for the charity, other than expenses. Property owners are able to donate space for the charity shops if they want to. One of the earliest charity shops was designed to sell goods that blind people made, and that benefitted the society for the blind. It is estimated that there are thousands of charity shops in the UK, with 700 belonging to Oxfam, a charity that helps people in poverty.

The Crimes

the crimeDavid Broad, by his own admission, has been hitting donation buckets and charity shops for a while. He has been arrested, charged, and convicted of thefts for the last five years that involved either donation buckets or charity shops. Many charity shops, as well as other businesses have a bucket near the checkout counter to collect donations for another cause, such as a child with cancer.

David Broad found ways to either grab cash out of a donation bucket or from a charity shop quickly, or run out of the shop before he could be caught. His first stop? The closest bookmaker. While there were times he bet on a sportsbook, his favorite thing to do was to blow all of the money he had just stolen was to put it all in fixed-odds gambling machines.

Broad stole an undisclosed amount of money from the Save the Children Charity Shop. He also managed to snatch nearly $1800 dollars from a social club charity’s treasurer, an elderly man who was at a local post office to exchange the money into a money order. Broad has stolen or snatched money from charity shops all over Bristol. He pleaded guilty to 38 charges in all. There were also 35 additional offenses Broad could have been charged with that were dropped.

The Penalties

Broad will be jailed for two years at a minimum. The judge called Broad a societal parasite, and told the defendant, he is not sure that he believes his argument that he took from charities because of his addiction. In fact, the judge said he is not sure Broad is even addicted at all. The judge observed that perhaps Broad stole money from charities because he could. By his own admission, Broad saw the money as “free,” since he did not have to work to earn it.

The defendant stated he was hopeful for a spot in a gambling rehabilitation location after he had served his time for the theft convictions. He also wanted to be sure that the judge knew that none of his crimes resulted in injury.

m am looking for a script that will cycle through pairs. How can I automatically import and update data in Excel?

Hello Everyone,   I am a systematic trend-following trader usingforeign exchange pairs. All of my systems development work is in Excel. 5 and import it into Excel and I would like this to be an automaticprocess. Hi, I am having hard time creating a panel with the control libraries on mt4, this is the first time i am using them.

I created a rectangle lbl as background and a normal combo box to switch between buy and sell orders, i have tried a lot of ways to pull this off, but seems to have a problem. Hi, is it possible to run my own indicators and template in the webtrader? And other question: Is it possible to integrate other indicators or template in the mobile mt version? 5 decimal after dot , but  when i run Close  return me only 3  is possible  increase decimal after dot ?

I’m trying to copy a temporary . The problem is that I’m trying to find this . I tried anything but the platform does not do anything. W1 timeframes instead of the M1 timeframe which pretty much every Renko EA uses?

I’ve searched everywhere and can’t seem to find one. Hey guys, I try to optimize my indicators a little bit by implementing new MQL4 code. I have some general questions about data types. When I need a high or low of a bar, I used the data type double. But now I see that float uses only 4 bytes instead of 8 bytes used by double.<|endoftext|>The Full Wiki

Diaeresis: Wikis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In linguistics, diaeresis, or dieresis, is the pronunciation of two adjacent vowels in two separate syllables rather than as a diphthong or vowel digraph, and also the name of the diacritic mark ( ¨ ) used to prompt the reader to pronounce adjacent vowels in this manner.

For example the first two vowels in the word cooperate can be spelt co-operate or, using the diæresis, coöperate.

The word diæresis itself comes from the Greek noun διαίρεσις (diaíresis: ‘taking apart’ or ’division’), which derives from the verb διαιρεῖν (diaireîn). The spelling is now normally simplified by replacing the grapheme æ with the digraph ae (in British English), or with the letter e in North American English.

The opposite phenomenon is known as synæresis.

The diæresis is a diacritic mark ( ¨ ) used in English to indicate that two adjacent vowels are to be pronounced separately[1] as in Boötes, Noël and naïve, the names Zoë and Chloë and words like reënter and coöperate. An identical diacritic is used in German and several related languages to represent the umlaut, and this name is sometimes used to refer to the diæresis mark as well.

Despite its long history in English, the diæresis is now increasingly rarely used, with The New Yorker[2] and MIT's Technology Review being prominent exceptions.

Use in other languages

Dutch uses the same mark in a similar way, (for example coëfficiënt), but for compound words there is now a preference for hyphenation - so zeeëend (seaduck) is now spelled zee-eend.[3]

In French the diæresis is still in common usage, where it is called tréma, and the English examples Noël and naïve in fact derive from the French. It is usually written on the second of the two adjacent vowels – although since a spelling reform in 1990, it may been written on the u in -güe- and -güi-, as in Spanish. Additionally, in some French words, the diæresis indicates that an otherwise unpronounced syllable is pronounced: aigüe or aiguë; cigüe or ciguë.

In German, it is called an umlaut and is used over a, o or u to indicate fronting of the affected vowel. In direct German-English translations, it is represented by an e after the vowel with the umlaut. For instance, Berlin Schönefeld Flughafen is spelt in its English translation as Berlin Schoenefeld Aiport

In Welsh, where the diæresis appears, it is usually on the stressed vowel, and this is most often on the first of the two adjacent vowels; a typical example is copïo [kɔ.'pi.ɔ] (to copy), cf. mopio ['mɔ.pjɔ] (to mop).

Other languages indicate phonological diæresis with different diacritics, such as the acute accent in Spanish and Portuguese. For example, the Portuguese words saia [ˈsai̯ɐ] "skirt" and saía [saˈiɐ] "I used to leave" (Brazilian pronunciation) differ in that the sequence /ai/ forms a diphthong in the former (synæresis), but is a hiatus in the latter (diæresis).

In prosody, diæresis means the division made in a line or a verse when the end of a foot coincides with the end of a word.

See also

  1. ^ Bringhurst, p 306.
  2. ^ Diaeresis at the Word of Day
  3. ^ Translation Services USA

  • Bringhurst, Robert (1992 [2004]). The elements of typographic style, version 3.0. Vancouver: Hartley & Marks. ISBN 0-88179-133-4.

Got something to say? Make a comment.
Your name
Your email address<|endoftext|>British (Bristol) Cash Snatching Burglar Used Money for Bookies

British (Bristol) Cash Snatching Burglar Used Money for Bookies

Most people who gamble get their money for gambling the old-fashioned way—they earn it at a job. There are some people however, who like to skip ahead. While there have been stories in the past about people committing crimes in order to feed their gambling addiction, David Broad is unique. The man, who lives in Bristol in the United Kingdom, has been caught stealing from donation buckets and charity shops all over the city and surrounding areas in order to gamble at bookmakers. His game of choice? Fixed odds betting terminals.

What Are Charity Shops?

charity shopCharity shops, sometimes called thrift stores or resale stores in the United States, are retail stores that are run by a charitable organization in order to raise money for a particular charity. The type of merchandise sold in charity shops varies throughout the US and the UK. Some charity shops specialize in everything from furniture to clothing and toys, while others have a specialty. For example, one shop in London to benefit a children’s hospital specializes in couture clothing for resale.

Charity shops often use all of the money for the charity, other than expenses. Property owners are able to donate space for the charity shops if they want to. One of the earliest charity shops was designed to sell goods that blind people made, and that benefitted the society for the blind. It is estimated that there are thousands of charity shops in the UK, with 700 belonging to Oxfam, a charity that helps people in poverty.

The Crimes

the crimeDavid Broad, by his own admission, has been hitting donation buckets and charity shops for a while. He has been arrested, charged, and convicted of thefts for the last five years that involved either donation buckets or charity shops. Many charity shops, as well as other businesses have a bucket near the checkout counter to collect donations for another cause, such as a child with cancer.

David Broad found ways to either grab cash out of a donation bucket or from a charity shop quickly, or run out of the shop before he could be caught. His first stop? The closest bookmaker. While there were times he bet on a sportsbook, his favorite thing to do was to blow all of the money he had just stolen was to put it all in fixed-odds gambling machines.

Broad stole an undisclosed amount of money from the Save the Children Charity Shop. He also managed to snatch nearly $1800 dollars from a social club charity’s treasurer, an elderly man who was at a local post office to exchange the money into a money order. Broad has stolen or snatched money from charity shops all over Bristol. He pleaded guilty to 38 charges in all. There were also 35 additional offenses Broad could have been charged with that were dropped.

The Penalties

Broad will be jailed for two years at a minimum. The judge called Broad a societal parasite, and told the defendant, he is not sure that he believes his argument that he took from charities because of his addiction. In fact, the judge said he is not sure Broad is even addicted at all. The judge observed that perhaps Broad stole money from charities because he could. By his own admission, Broad saw the money as “free,” since he did not have to work to earn it.

The defendant stated he was hopeful for a spot in a gambling rehabilitation location after he had served his time for the theft convictions. He also wanted to be sure that the judge knew that none of his crimes resulted in injury. The judge however pointed out that the charities themselves were injured because of the


 they weren't able to say theirs. I knew they loved me and that was all that I needed.

I spoke with the police wanting to know more about what happened. What they told me was that there was a fire in the early hours of the morning. They would have to wait to hear more from the investigators but it was possible that arson may be involved. When they asked if my parents had any enemies, I said no. When they asked if I had any enemies, I also said no. What would be the point? The BlackHatter has gone to great lengths to keep himself off the grid. I could tell the police the truth but I had nothing to back up my claims.

I couldn't bear to be at the hospital anymore and I had no home to go to. So Melissa said that I could come with her to her parents. She would explain the situation and figured that it would be okay, at least for a little while. She figured once I got ahold of my out of state relatives, I could move in with them but for now I could stay nearby. I was actually quite grateful for that.

Melissa's parents weren't home when we arrived and that was when she remembered they would be out of town for a wedding. Given everything that happened, she completely forgot. I said it was probably a good thing that they were gone. It was bad enough to worry about us, let alone other victims of this madman. When we arrived I left my bag in the living room and followed Melissa up to her room. I was absolutely exhausted and only wanted to sleep. My family would be on their way so I was certain I would be inundated with people over the next few hours. All I remember was my head hitting her pillow and then nothing.

I woke up several hours later. The sun had set and all I could see was darkness. I felt exhausted, almost as if I wasn't even asleep, only shut down. I called for Melissa but either she didn't hear me or was asleep as well. My sluggish brain was slowly winding into action, memories coming back with horrific clarity. My parents were dying, my best friend was dead and there was a madman stalking me; check, check and check. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I saw that there was a lamp next to the bed. Reaching out I clicked it on, temporarily blinded by the CFL bulb as burst to life. Turning away from it I saw that I wasn't alone in bed. I instantly thought that Melissa must have taken a nap with me and for the first time a smile curled my lips all day. That joy I felt disintegrated immediately as I saw that Melissa was in fact in bed with me, but she was dead.

I jumped to my feet, my body trembling from utter fear. She did not look peaceful or happy. Instead a horrific expression of pain and fear remained frozen on her face. The thick handle of butcher's knife rose from her bloodstained chest. Around the grip were bloody smudges almost like a hand. In fact they weren’t smudges at all. They were fingerprints. And by the stains that were on my fingers, they were my fingerprints. I didn’t know what to think or what to do. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t process any of this. My emotions had reached a boiling point that I just couldn’t express what I was feeling. I was absolutely heartbroken, tears wanting to pour from me but I couldn’t. I was in complete shock. Everyone I loved was gone. My life was over. It was as I stared down at Melissa, I heard my phone chime.

Ignoring the blood that covered my clothes and hands, I pulled out my phone and instantly a video started to play. It was once more a POV shot as a person moved around the interior of a house. The home looked familiar and when I saw my bag I knew exactly where the man was. He was inside of Melissa's house. The man looked up to the second floor and then ascended the stairs with all of the stealth of a cat. Swiftly and quietly he moved onto the second floor and stepping to his left, he approached a bedroom. Slowly opening the door, I could see myself sleeping soundly on the bed. Next to me Melissa lay, asleep as well. Creeping in, never making a sound, he approached us. Removing a small hypodermic needle, already filled with some substance he carefully, pressed the steel into a freckle on my neck and depressed the plunger. I immediately touched my neck and felt only the slightest bump as a small clot of blood had formed.

Replacing the needle he then stepped over to Melissa. Moving his hand, a large butcher's knife came into view. As I watched all of this I wanted to scream at Melissa to wake up and run, but it wouldn’t change anything. The man placed the tip of the knife against her chest and with a momentary pause; he slammed the blade into Melissa’s chest. Instantly she awoke but by then it was too late. Blood gushed from the wound before she could even fight back. Within seconds, her body went limp and she was gone.

The scene was not over yet. The man removed the blade and then gingerly took my hand and dipped into the warm blood. He then wrapped my fingers around the handle for a moment before returning the blade into Melissa's chest. Then he dipped his gloved fingers into the pooling blood and proceeded to flick droplets of blood carefully against my face and clothes. I instantly understood what he was doing. Blood Spatter. While it may eventually fall apart in court, he was planting evidence to ensure that the fingers were all pointing at me. That was when the phone cut out and I heard the sirens.

The story is pretty straightforward from here. I ran from the cops. What could I say? I slept through my girlfriend's murder, my parent’s happened to die from arson, and I just happen to not be in my dorm when there was a Carbon Monoxide leak. While it was all circumstantial, it did not paint me in a fair light. Before I left I did my best at wiping down the knife but my prints were in other places in the house and blood was all over my clothes. The leap from her death to me was a short one.

I spent the next two days hiding in abandoned buildings, cleaning myself up using runoff and puddles. I ditched my old clothes, burning them in a trashcan and then just started moving place to place. I rarely buy burner phones but when I do they don't last long. About a month or so after I get it, I start getting texts and phone calls from an unknown caller. The messages range from heavy breathing to threats of harm or even death. After that I ditch the phone and stay off the grid for about a month.

It has been almost a year since I started running. I've changed my appearance as much as possible to conceal who I am from both the police and the BlackHatter. But in the end it won’t matter. At this point it's simply a race of attrition. Who will find me first? I am positive that my fate lies in the hands of one or the other and I'm afraid that it won’t be the police.<|endoftext|>Question: What genre is Before Midnight?
Answer: detective fiction<|endoftext|>Stupid question - is it possible to use up all the oxygen in your room?

  1. I have a stupid question to ask you all.

    Let's just say that you shut your door, and then shut all your windows so there isn't any ventilation and stayed in your room for several days. Could you end up breathing until you've reduced the oxygen to dangerous levels?
  2. jcsd
  3. If it's completely sealed and there's no other source of oxygen, then sure.
  4. And how long would it take to run out of oxygen?

    I often wonder if there's a tiny little gap of say, 1 square cm to the outside world, would you rate of oxygen consumption beat the inflow of oxygen?
  5. Stupid question, you bet you!
    Not so stupid answer though:
    Go study partial differential equations, and determine for yourself the air flow given the size of the hole, temperature, etc.... after factoring in all these variables then determine how big the hole has to be. Btw, in a room built out of wood, the oxygen would still get through, so this needs to be a room of plastic; why don't you tell us how big the whole has to be to substain life? Go now, study :p
  6. russ_watters

    Staff: Mentor

    The short answer is that you'd need a ridiculously well sealed building to create such a problem. I once ran across a building that used to be a FEMA office and it was designed pretty air tight, so it required continuous ventilation to keep the air quality acceptable.

    Note, though, that you can't "use up all the oxygen" in a room: It isn't lack of oxygen that would kill you, it is too much CO2.
  7. If you use completely compartmentalized room then yes. But When the O2 level decrease to certain level the partial pressure of O2 is so low that haemoglobin would not combine with oxygen, then you are just going to die before it is completely used up. So It's never going to "use up" literally.

Have something to add?<|endoftext|>Welcome! ( or ) Español

Y'all love your birth control, and we can't blame you

Happy Thanks, Birth Control week!

 goodbyes, though they weren't able to say theirs. I knew they loved me and that was all that I needed.

I spoke with the police wanting to know more about what happened. What they told me was that there was a fire in the early hours of the morning. They would have to wait to hear more from the investigators but it was possible that arson may be involved. When they asked if my parents had any enemies, I said no. When they asked if I had any enemies, I also said no. What would be the point? The BlackHatter has gone to great lengths to keep himself off the grid. I could tell the police the truth but I had nothing to back up my claims.

I couldn't bear to be at the hospital anymore and I had no home to go to. So Melissa said that I could come with her to her parents. She would explain the situation and figured that it would be okay, at least for a little while. She figured once I got ahold of my out of state relatives, I could move in with them but for now I could stay nearby. I was actually quite grateful for that.

Melissa's parents weren't home when we arrived and that was when she remembered they would be out of town for a wedding. Given everything that happened, she completely forgot. I said it was probably a good thing that they were gone. It was bad enough to worry about us, let alone other victims of this madman. When we arrived I left my bag in the living room and followed Melissa up to her room. I was absolutely exhausted and only wanted to sleep. My family would be on their way so I was certain I would be inundated with people over the next few hours. All I remember was my head hitting her pillow and then nothing.

I woke up several hours later. The sun had set and all I could see was darkness. I felt exhausted, almost as if I wasn't even asleep, only shut down. I called for Melissa but either she didn't hear me or was asleep as well. My sluggish brain was slowly winding into action, memories coming back with horrific clarity. My parents were dying, my best friend was dead and there was a madman stalking me; check, check and check. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I saw that there was a lamp next to the bed. Reaching out I clicked it on, temporarily blinded by the CFL bulb as burst to life. Turning away from it I saw that I wasn't alone in bed. I instantly thought that Melissa must have taken a nap with me and for the first time a smile curled my lips all day. That joy I felt disintegrated immediately as I saw that Melissa was in fact in bed with me, but she was dead.

I jumped to my feet, my body trembling from utter fear. She did not look peaceful or happy. Instead a horrific expression of pain and fear remained frozen on her face. The thick handle of butcher's knife rose from her bloodstained chest. Around the grip were bloody smudges almost like a hand. In fact they weren’t smudges at all. They were fingerprints. And by the stains that were on my fingers, they were my fingerprints. I didn’t know what to think or what to do. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t process any of this. My emotions had reached a boiling point that I just couldn’t express what I was feeling. I was absolutely heartbroken, tears wanting to pour from me but I couldn’t. I was in complete shock. Everyone I loved was gone. My life was over. It was as I stared down at Melissa, I heard my phone chime.

Ignoring the blood that covered my clothes and hands, I pulled out my phone and instantly a video started to play. It was once more a POV shot as a person moved around the interior of a house. The home looked familiar and when I saw my bag I knew exactly where the man was. He was inside of Melissa's house. The man looked up to the second floor and then ascended the stairs with all of the stealth of a cat. Swiftly and quietly he moved onto the second floor and stepping to his left, he approached a bedroom. Slowly opening the door, I could see myself sleeping soundly on the bed. Next to me Melissa lay, asleep as well. Creeping in, never making a sound, he approached us. Removing a small hypodermic needle, already filled with some substance he carefully, pressed the steel into a freckle on my neck and depressed the plunger. I immediately touched my neck and felt only the slightest bump as a small clot of blood had formed.

Replacing the needle he then stepped over to Melissa. Moving his hand, a large butcher's knife came into view. As I watched all of this I wanted to scream at Melissa to wake up and run, but it wouldn’t change anything. The man placed the tip of the knife against her chest and with a momentary pause; he slammed the blade into Melissa’s chest. Instantly she awoke but by then it was too late. Blood gushed from the wound before she could even fight back. Within seconds, her body went limp and she was gone.

The scene was not over yet. The man removed the blade and then gingerly took my hand and dipped into the warm blood. He then wrapped my fingers around the handle for a moment before returning the blade into Melissa's chest. Then he dipped his gloved fingers into the pooling blood and proceeded to flick droplets of blood carefully against my face and clothes. I instantly understood what he was doing. Blood Spatter. While it may eventually fall apart in court, he was planting evidence to ensure that the fingers were all pointing at me. That was when the phone cut out and I heard the sirens.

The story is pretty straightforward from here. I ran from the cops. What could I say? I slept through my girlfriend's murder, my parent’s happened to die from arson, and I just happen to not be in my dorm when there was a Carbon Monoxide leak. While it was all circumstantial, it did not paint me in a fair light. Before I left I did my best at wiping down the knife but my prints were in other places in the house and blood was all over my clothes. The leap from her death to me was a short one.

I spent the next two days hiding in abandoned buildings, cleaning myself up using runoff and puddles. I ditched my old clothes, burning them in a trashcan and then just started moving place to place. I rarely buy burner phones but when I do they don't last long. About a month or so after I get it, I start getting texts and phone calls from an unknown caller. The messages range from heavy breathing to threats of harm or even death. After that I ditch the phone and stay off the grid for about a month.

It has been almost a year since I started running. I've changed my appearance as much as possible to conceal who I am from both the police and the BlackHatter. But in the end it won’t matter. At this point it's simply a race of attrition. Who will find me first? I am positive that my fate lies in the hands of one or the other and I'm afraid that it won’t be the police.<|endoftext|>Stupid question - is it possible to use up all the oxygen in your room?

  1. I have a stupid question to ask you all.

    Let's just say that you shut your door, and then shut all your windows so there isn't any ventilation and stayed in your room for several days. Could you end up breathing until you've reduced the oxygen to dangerous levels?
  2. jcsd
  3. If it's completely sealed and there's no other source of oxygen, then sure.
  4. And how long would it take to run out of oxygen?

    I often wonder if there's a tiny little gap of say, 1 square cm to the outside world, would you rate of oxygen consumption beat the inflow of oxygen?
  5. Stupid question, you bet you!
    Not so stupid answer though:
    Go study partial differential equations, and determine for yourself the air flow given the size of the hole, temperature, etc.... after factoring in all these variables then determine how big the hole has to be. Btw, in a room built out of wood, the oxygen would still get through, so this needs to be a room of plastic; why don't you tell us how big the whole has to be to substain life? Go now, study :p
  6. russ_watters

    Staff: Mentor

    The short answer is that you'd need a ridiculously well sealed building to create such a problem. I once ran across a building that used to be a FEMA office and it was designed pretty air tight, so it required continuous ventilation to keep the air quality acceptable.

    Note, though, that you can't "use up all the oxygen" in a room: It isn't lack of oxygen that would kill you, it is too much CO2.
  7. If you use completely compartmentalized room then yes. But When the O2 level decrease to certain level the partial pressure of O2 is so low that haemoglobin would not combine with oxygen, then you are just going to die before it is completely used up. So It's never going to "use up" literally.

Have something to add?<|endoftext|>Welcome! ( or ) Español

Y'all love your birth control, and we can't blame you

Happy Thanks, Birth Control week!

This week, we celebrated Thanks, Birth Control


.

In the meantime, read this white paper for seven powerful ways to begin evolving your accounting processes.<|endoftext|>

Obama Gets Tough With Netanyahu, for Gaza And/or Kerry

Remember: nothing riles the White House more than the appearance that Israel is supplying ammo to Obama’s political enemies, as it did on Sunday.

Barack Obama may have stopped short of reading the riot act to Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, but the White House version of the two leaders’ phone...<|endoftext|>Market Access is Dead

Oct 01, 2013

PAAS Special Section

PAAS 2014 emblem graphic SPOTLIGHT EVENT
Patient Adherence
and Access Summit

June 17–18, 2014
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Download Brochure

- Changing the DNA of Pharma Patient Adherence Programs
- Why Patient Adherence is a Policy Issue
- The First and Last Word on Medication Adherence: Keep Trying
More in Patient
Adherence & Access

Paradigms change when questions emerge that the old paradigm can no longer answer. Market access has become a buzz word, as access to markets is as significant a hurdle to product uptake as registration itself. Initially a topic for pharmaceutical companies concerned about sales volume, it now affects all aspects of healthcare. The current understanding of market access will undergo a fundamental shift in perspective, away from a company-centered toward a patient-centric view of the problem. This column identifies several forces that challenge the current understanding of market access and lobbies for a comprehensive approach that aims to address the needs of all stakeholders, with a primary focus on what creates value for patients.

What killed market access?

There are four reasons why the current approach to market access is doomed to fail:

The term "market access" itself says a lot about the self-centered mindset, which is one of the reasons for the paradigm change. Healthcare companies want access to markets, revenues, and profits, and market access aims to persuade those that control access to let them in. But the market access framework often does not address the needs and goals of all the parties involved. Market access looks at the world from the perspective of healthcare companies with the ultimate goal of gaining access to markets for their products and most of their attention is focused on convincing a few payers of the value of their products.

Market access is considered a remedy to address the pricing pressures the healthcare industry is facing—a result of a marketing model that basically ignored the fourth P every marketer learns about in business school: Price. As policy-makers and payers search for ways to control cost without compromising care, the failure to communicate a convincing value proposition to these stakeholders results in our being forced to compete on price. The increased use of tenders as a means of cost containment should be interpreted as a failure to communicate the value of a medication.

Tailor it

Market access is based on a one-size-fits-all, product-driven marketing model. However, while patients have similar needs, the healthcare systems they live in go about pursuing the same common goal—improving public health—differently. A one-size-fits-all approach is not effective at addressing the different needs in each market, yet to manage market-by-market is not realistic. A practical approach is to define market archetypes and address the needs of each archetype effectively while leveraging limited resources efficiently.

Traditional marketers tend to focus on lagging metrics such as number of patients diagnosed and number of patients receiving treatment (often illustrated as a waterfall chart), but they fail to understand and appreciate the patient and payer journey: Why does the market look the way it does? What are the incentives and success metrics? Marketers need to focus on understanding the why instead of the what.

Learn more about topics like this one at

The most compelling and comprehensive
marketing meeting for life sciences professionals.

Click here for details

It is all about the patients

We suggest focusing on patient access as a remedy for a marketing model that was for a long time geared towards addressing the needs of a single stakeholder—the professional writing the prescription. Patient access is a mindset that focuses on providing patients with access to the medicines they need at acceptable prices. Providing patients with access is the one common goal all stakeholders can agree on. While each healthcare system differs in how its patients, providers, professionals, payers, and policymakers go about improving public health, a patient access mindset helps to develop a compelling value proposition aimed at addressing the needs of the various stakeholder groups, tailored to the needs of the local market, yet based on a well-understood positioning. Most importantly, patient access provides a unified focus for healthcare systems and companies.

What are the changes a healthcare company has to make as it moves from a market access to a patient access mindset?

» Drop 'market access.' Words matter. It requires organizations be aligned on researching, developing, and delivering the products that improves people's lives. A company has to recognize that its goal is to demonstrate the value proposition.

» It is a uniting focus of all stakeholders in a healthcare system, since it is everyone's goal to achieve improved patient outcomes.

» Patient access focuses on actual product usage. Market access is oftentimes tasked with obtaining strong pricing and favorable reimbursement status, but this mindset ignores real product uptake.

» Breaking the traditional development paradigm: Registration is all that matters. Market access today is often just paid lip service to as a commercial function, as opposed to patient access—aligning internal stakeholders from research to representatives toward a new principle: A product only matters when a patient uses it. The journey from R&D to sales becomes smoother as all the internal stakeholders are aligning towards a common goal.

» Patient access re-orients marketing analysis from looking beyond patient flows from diagnosis to treatment adherence toward a comprehensive understanding of the payer flow: Where actually the costs incurred? Who stands to gain or lose financially? A patient access mindset aims to understand the patient and provider pathways, with the ultimate objective to ensure access for those patients who can optimally benefit from a product.

Six steps to reset the clock

Instead of a win/lose mindset at the core of market access, patient access tries to create win/win/win solutions that lead to value for patients, companies, and the healthcare system at large.

The first step is a change of mindset. What is the objective? Get products to those patients who can benefit from it. Educating the internal and external stakeholders is a key. Beyond that, here are some suggestions to consider:

» Embed patient access as a guiding principle across all functions. Clarify how each function impacts patient access.

» Develop a deep understanding of the goals and key performance indicators of all stakeholders. Map the complete patient journey. Understand the payer flow. Ask yourself: What is the healthcare system trying to achieve? How is the healthcare system funded? How does this intervention help? Could this intervention create concerns? Make sure your plans address these issues.

» Develop a clear and compelling value proposition for each stakeholder group.

» Create a formal framework for understanding the impact of decisions on patient access. Get payer input and advice early on.

Look for metrics that matter to all stakeholders, for example: percentage of people using the product for the designed use or percentage of physicians freely choosing the product for a certain therapy.

Putting it all together

"The future has already happened, it's just unequally distributed," the famous quote from the acclaimed science fiction author William Gibson, helps to explain the various pathways healthcare companies are exploring as they struggle to come to terms with the end of the blockbuster era. Almost every healthcare company has created a market access function. Many have started to look at the competencies required to communicate the value of their products in a language payers and policy-makers understand. But to be truly successful, healthcare companies are well advised to consider patient access as the overall objective and adopt a multi-stakeholder approach that aims to meet the needs of all the critical decision-makers. It is not about "we used to look at physicians, now we look at payers." Patient access uses a system view with the patient at the center.

John Glasspool is Global Head of Emerging Therapies and Market Development at Baxter Healthcare Corporation. He is based in Chicago and can be reached at<|endoftext|>Question: What sport does Hanworth Villa F.C. play?
Answer: association football<|endoftext|>Reasons for Rejection of Trademark Application

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the number of Trademark applications being filed every year; and why not? Constant innovation and cut-throat competition have turned intellectual property registration into a brand-building investment for businesses. Coming up with the perfect name for a business or getting that logo design just right is not sufficient anymore. Protecting the name and the logo from piracy is vital, especially in this era of internet where everything is accessible and available just a click away. Trademark registration for a brand name or logo is extremely important to prevent piracy and infringement. However, registration of a trademark is not a matter of right and there exist certain grounds for refusal that could stop a mark from getting registered.

It is important to know these grounds for refusal so that a mark is saved from potential rejection.

The Trademark law in India establishes two categories under which registration of Trademark can be refused.

Absolute Grounds

These grounds forbid the registration of a trademark under all circumstances.

1. No Distinctive Character:

If the Trademark is not capable of creating a distinctive mark that can distinguish one good from another, its registration will be refused under this ground. The trademark needs

to-end solutions.

In the meantime, read this white paper for seven powerful ways to begin evolving your accounting processes.<|endoftext|>

Obama Gets Tough With Netanyahu, for Gaza And/or Kerry

Remember: nothing riles the White House more than the appearance that Israel is supplying ammo to Obama’s political enemies, as it did on Sunday.

Barack Obama may have stopped short of reading the riot act to Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, but the White House version of the two leaders’ phone...<|endoftext|>Market Access is Dead

Oct 01, 2013

PAAS Special Section

PAAS 2014 emblem graphic SPOTLIGHT EVENT
Patient Adherence
and Access Summit

June 17–18, 2014
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Download Brochure

- Changing the DNA of Pharma Patient Adherence Programs
- Why Patient Adherence is a Policy Issue
- The First and Last Word on Medication Adherence: Keep Trying
More in Patient
Adherence & Access

Paradigms change when questions emerge that the old paradigm can no longer answer. Market access has become a buzz word, as access to markets is as significant a hurdle to product uptake as registration itself. Initially a topic for pharmaceutical companies concerned about sales volume, it now affects all aspects of healthcare. The current understanding of market access will undergo a fundamental shift in perspective, away from a company-centered toward a patient-centric view of the problem. This column identifies several forces that challenge the current understanding of market access and lobbies for a comprehensive approach that aims to address the needs of all stakeholders, with a primary focus on what creates value for patients.

What killed market access?

There are four reasons why the current approach to market access is doomed to fail:

The term "market access" itself says a lot about the self-centered mindset, which is one of the reasons for the paradigm change. Healthcare companies want access to markets, revenues, and profits, and market access aims to persuade those that control access to let them in. But the market access framework often does not address the needs and goals of all the parties involved. Market access looks at the world from the perspective of healthcare companies with the ultimate goal of gaining access to markets for their products and most of their attention is focused on convincing a few payers of the value of their products.

Market access is considered a remedy to address the pricing pressures the healthcare industry is facing—a result of a marketing model that basically ignored the fourth P every marketer learns about in business school: Price. As policy-makers and payers search for ways to control cost without compromising care, the failure to communicate a convincing value proposition to these stakeholders results in our being forced to compete on price. The increased use of tenders as a means of cost containment should be interpreted as a failure to communicate the value of a medication.

Tailor it

Market access is based on a one-size-fits-all, product-driven marketing model. However, while patients have similar needs, the healthcare systems they live in go about pursuing the same common goal—improving public health—differently. A one-size-fits-all approach is not effective at addressing the different needs in each market, yet to manage market-by-market is not realistic. A practical approach is to define market archetypes and address the needs of each archetype effectively while leveraging limited resources efficiently.

Traditional marketers tend to focus on lagging metrics such as number of patients diagnosed and number of patients receiving treatment (often illustrated as a waterfall chart), but they fail to understand and appreciate the patient and payer journey: Why does the market look the way it does? What are the incentives and success metrics? Marketers need to focus on understanding the why instead of the what.

Learn more about topics like this one at

The most compelling and comprehensive
marketing meeting for life sciences professionals.

Click here for details

It is all about the patients

We suggest focusing on patient access as a remedy for a marketing model that was for a long time geared towards addressing the needs of a single stakeholder—the professional writing the prescription. Patient access is a mindset that focuses on providing patients with access to the medicines they need at acceptable prices. Providing patients with access is the one common goal all stakeholders can agree on. While each healthcare system differs in how its patients, providers, professionals, payers, and policymakers go about improving public health, a patient access mindset helps to develop a compelling value proposition aimed at addressing the needs of the various stakeholder groups, tailored to the needs of the local market, yet based on a well-understood positioning. Most importantly, patient access provides a unified focus for healthcare systems and companies.

What are the changes a healthcare company has to make as it moves from a market access to a patient access mindset?

» Drop 'market access.' Words matter. It requires organizations be aligned on researching, developing, and delivering the products that improves people's lives. A company has to recognize that its goal is to demonstrate the value proposition.

» It is a uniting focus of all stakeholders in a healthcare system, since it is everyone's goal to achieve improved patient outcomes.

» Patient access focuses on actual product usage. Market access is oftentimes tasked with obtaining strong pricing and favorable reimbursement status, but this mindset ignores real product uptake.

» Breaking the traditional development paradigm: Registration is all that matters. Market access today is often just paid lip service to as a commercial function, as opposed to patient access—aligning internal stakeholders from research to representatives toward a new principle: A product only matters when a patient uses it. The journey from R&D to sales becomes smoother as all the internal stakeholders are aligning towards a common goal.

» Patient access re-orients marketing analysis from looking beyond patient flows from diagnosis to treatment adherence toward a comprehensive understanding of the payer flow: Where actually the costs incurred? Who stands to gain or lose financially? A patient access mindset aims to understand the patient and provider pathways, with the ultimate objective to ensure access for those patients who can optimally benefit from a product.

Six steps to reset the clock

Instead of a win/lose mindset at the core of market access, patient access tries to create win/win/win solutions that lead to value for patients, companies, and the healthcare system at large.

The first step is a change of mindset. What is the objective? Get products to those patients who can benefit from it. Educating the internal and external stakeholders is a key. Beyond that, here are some suggestions to consider:

» Embed patient access as a guiding principle across all functions. Clarify how each function impacts patient access.

» Develop a deep understanding of the goals and key performance indicators of all stakeholders. Map the complete patient journey. Understand the payer flow. Ask yourself: What is the healthcare system trying to achieve? How is the healthcare system funded? How does this intervention help? Could this intervention create concerns? Make sure your plans address these issues.

» Develop a clear and compelling value proposition for each stakeholder group.

» Create a formal framework for understanding the impact of decisions on patient access. Get payer input and advice early on.

Look for metrics that matter to all stakeholders, for example: percentage of people using the product for the designed use or percentage of physicians freely choosing the product for a certain therapy.

Putting it all together

"The future has already happened, it's just unequally distributed," the famous quote from the acclaimed science fiction author William Gibson, helps to explain the various pathways healthcare companies are exploring as they struggle to come to terms with the end of the blockbuster era. Almost every healthcare company has created a market access function. Many have started to look at the competencies required to communicate the value of their products in a language payers and policy-makers understand. But to be truly successful, healthcare companies are well advised to consider patient access as the overall objective and adopt a multi-stakeholder approach that aims to meet the needs of all the critical decision-makers. It is not about "we used to look at physicians, now we look at payers." Patient access uses a system view with the patient at the center.

John Glasspool is Global Head of Emerging Therapies and Market Development at Baxter Healthcare Corporation. He is based in Chicago and can be reached at<|endoftext|>Reasons for Rejection of Trademark Application

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the number of Trademark applications being filed every year; and why not? Constant innovation and cut-throat competition have turned intellectual property registration into a brand-building investment for businesses. Coming up with the perfect name for a business or getting that logo design just right is not sufficient anymore. Protecting the name and the logo from piracy is vital, especially in this era of internet where everything is accessible and available just a click away. Trademark registration for a brand name or logo is extremely important to prevent piracy and infringement. However, registration of a trademark is not a matter of right and there exist certain grounds for refusal that could stop a mark from getting registered.

It is important to know these grounds for refusal so that a mark is saved from potential rejection.

The Trademark law in India establishes two categories under which registration of Trademark can be refused.

Absolute Grounds

These grounds forbid the registration of a trademark under all circumstances.

1. No Distinctive Character:

If the Trademark is not capable of creating a distinctive mark that can distinguish one good from another, its registration will be refused under this ground. The trademark needs to possess a quality that differentiates goods of the applicant from other goods belonging to


Question: Who was the screenwriter for Distance?
Answer: Hirokazu Koreeda<|endoftext|>ars his wicked head, Quill suddenly doffs his morally dubious coat and acts with enormous courage and self-discipline. This act continues until he selflessly sacrifices himself for the lives of others. After this he reassumes his criminal self and flies around the galaxy having learned something about friendship but little else. While both of their actions end up commendable, I cannot help but scratch my head at how they got there. After displaying a rampant lack of discipline in life I would expect and restar-lord-actor-chris-pratt-settles-super-bowl-bet_fsf5.1920ality would demand that Stark or Quill would be nowhere near capable of the discipline required to put their own necks on the chopping block. Stalwart and righteous people have faced great difficulty conquering themselves enough to make the sacrifice that these protagonists somehow stumble into. Stark and Quill’s sacrifices are the most unbelievable parts of the Marvel universe, a universe sporting a talking raccoon.

The anti-hero has been a part of literature for a long time. Characters displaying characteristics not heroic or admirable can create good stories, but these stories will fail to portray truth if vices do not act as vices. In what seems to be an attempt to make characters seem more “real,” writers have created strange combinations of cowardice and heroism, lust and honor, discipline and addiction. They have created righteous heroes without the moral strength of a righteous hero. Marvel doesn’t have a monopoly on these inconsistent anti-heroes. Films, particularly ones sporting strong male leads, tell the stories of protagonists living lives of immorality and vice in all matters except for matters of great sacrifice.

Bond_-_Sean_Connery_-_ProfileThe unrepentant anti-hero is often billed as “real”; a hero with vices and virtues like a normal human. But when these vices in no way affect the character, (Peter Quill’s womanizing is shockingly irrelevant to the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy) they become an embarrassing example of wish fulfillment played out in a massively budgeted way. James Bond is cynical, disrespectful, has all of the sex he desires, and butchers the people he comes in contact with all while being heroic, brave, and disciplined. He isn’t a character; he is the daydream of an adolescent boy longing for sex, power, and heroism while maintaining his reputation. We need to ask more of our characters. Wicked actions have wicked results. While crude quips and anti-social behavior can be pleasurable momentarily, they will have consequences on how you act and are treated. Righteousness takes work. Characters who instantly become righteous after a life of iniquity are portraying a faulty understanding of morality.

The unrepentant anti-hero has clear exceptions in film. One contemporary example is Interstellar’s Cooper. This character demonstrates a consistent and hard-won care for humanity, particularly his daughter. His care is a firm theme in the film and figures significantly in the development and exposition of Cooper’s character. His righteousness is upheld as hard-won and proven. It is this very love that ends up saving humanity. I do not want to see virtue that comes from the general innate goodness of undisciplined humanity. Show me virtue weathered from experience, rising out of countless trials and hardships.

LawrenceHeroes like Cooper do not sport the flaws of the anti-hero, but there are well developed and created heroes who exhibit deep flaws. What separates these characters from the unrepentant anti-hero is that the flaws act as flaws. They either deeply harm and torture the hero or give the hero an internal villain. Overcoming flaws requires the flaws to be recognized as vices. In perhaps one of the greatest films ever made, Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence relentlessly battles his sadism, a difficult prospect when in the middle of a warzone. His internal struggle creates conflict that is impactful and meaningful. His sadism is by no means brushed aside or regarded simply as a part of his character, but is a demon he must fight. Dorian Gray’s carnal lusts lead him to horrid ends in The Picture of Dorian Gray, presenting a real and raw picture of the danger of uncontrolled vice. Han Solo must learn to overcome his desire for money and freedom in order to properly protect and support his friends. There are many heroes who overcome or are overcome by vices in good literature, but in these examples vices are realistically portrayed as inhibiting, tempting, and painful.

People overcome by their carnal lusts, the fleshly Quills, Bonds, and Starks of the world, do not rise up and sacrifice themselves for humanity. Untested morality, corroded by vice and lack of discipline, creates not a stalwart hero but a flaky wretch. The true anti-hero is vividly seen in Tuco (or, “the Ugly”) from The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Tuco holds the same licentious, drunkardly, cowardly traits that plague our contemporary macho-men, but these vices manifest themselves more realistically. When the time comes to act honorably, the unweathered morality of Tuco gives way to his looming desire to satisfy his own appetites. Tuco is a mess. Tuco is what every unrepentant anti-hero is.Tuco

But why do we suffer this kind of character? Where does our unrepentant anti-hero spring from? Perhaps we create this hero because we have recognized our own vice and lack of discipline, and want to reassure ourselves that when push comes to shove, we will be good. Maybe we have looked down into our soul and been terrified by the prospect that the coward we see peering back at us will assume control when great things are on the line. Perhaps we do not make these characters because we find them attractive, but because we are afraid. But these characters will not change the reality that vice begets vice. Our addictions and lack of discipline will torment and tear at our moral fabric. Art is formative, and art that caters to moral cowardice allows us to rationalize our flaws as we sink away from the righteous and into the animal. When the hour of decision comes and we are faced with a great sacrifice, will we be able to look at our art and see moral strength or weakness? Will our heroes stand with us in moral discipline and courage? Or will they run away, dragging us after the carnal?

A Treatise on Storytelling, II: Cowardly Stories

“You’ve got to go into the scrap heap” Theodor Kittelsen 1880

By the end of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, the titular character is a pitiful figure. Whenever he is given the chance to be someone, whether good or evil, he runs away, leaving sorrowful lovers, unruled kingdoms, and abandoned fortunes behind him. While Peer lives a wild life following every desire that comes to his mind, his life is worthless. As an old man, he is finally faced with the messenger of death who has come to take his soul. Peer is horrified to find that rather than a messenger of God to take him to heaven or the devil to take him to hell, he is met with a simple looking man who refers to himself as the “button moulder.” He informs Peer that Peer will be melted back down into a pool of souls, and reused as someone who will hopefully amount to something on the second time around. “You were meant to be a gleaming button on the world’s waistcoat, but your loop was missing; so you’ve got to go into the scrap-heap, to be merged into the mass”¹ For the rest of the play Peer relentlessly tries to prove that he is good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell. He will do anything to escape the oblivion that he would meet in the casting ladle of the button moulder. Peer’s cowardice in life caused his life to mean nothing at death. Like Peer, the stories that we tell often run from hefty moral decisions and end up without definition, fit only to be melted down and reused.

Every story is a matter of right and wrong. It is impossible to create conflict without establishing a way things ought to be. When the evil king locks up the plucky hero’s family because he wants to secure his throne, the story is telling us that there is something wrong with desiring to hold on to power at all costs, and that locking up an innocent family is problematic. When the chaos of a rioting crowd is portrayed as terrifying and wild, the story is telling the audience that this kind of passion is dangerous. Because we are dealing with reality, there is no way to tell a successful story and avoid telling something about right and wrong.

Speaking about right and wrong is dangerous. Making bold moral statements alienates and frightens audiences. But stories are the moral heart of a society. The stories we tell and the heroes we love shape and change us dramatically. There is no getting around the fact that the art we consume changes us in ways that are fundamental. If storytellers avoid tackling important issues, not only will their conflicts be sapped of life, boring and inconsequential, but the stories will be unable to sufficiently shape the audience in positive ways, creating a cowardly audience that flees from moral decisions. There are many examples of cowardly storytellers that pervade our culture’s stories, resulting in several symptoms of cowardly storytellers. Here are a few that have been bothering

ars his wicked head, Quill suddenly doffs his morally dubious coat and acts with enormous courage and self-discipline. This act continues until he selflessly sacrifices himself for the lives of others. After this he reassumes his criminal self and flies around the galaxy having learned something about friendship but little else. While both of their actions end up commendable, I cannot help but scratch my head at how they got there. After displaying a rampant lack of discipline in life I would expect and restar-lord-actor-chris-pratt-settles-super-bowl-bet_fsf5.1920ality would demand that Stark or Quill would be nowhere near capable of the discipline required to put their own necks on the chopping block. Stalwart and righteous people have faced great difficulty conquering themselves enough to make the sacrifice that these protagonists somehow stumble into. Stark and Quill’s sacrifices are the most unbelievable parts of the Marvel universe, a universe sporting a talking raccoon.

The anti-hero has been a part of literature for a long time. Characters displaying characteristics not heroic or admirable can create good stories, but these stories will fail to portray truth if vices do not act as vices. In what seems to be an attempt to make characters seem more “real,” writers have created strange combinations of cowardice and heroism, lust and honor, discipline and addiction. They have created righteous heroes without the moral strength of a righteous hero. Marvel doesn’t have a monopoly on these inconsistent anti-heroes. Films, particularly ones sporting strong male leads, tell the stories of protagonists living lives of immorality and vice in all matters except for matters of great sacrifice.

Bond_-_Sean_Connery_-_ProfileThe unrepentant anti-hero is often billed as “real”; a hero with vices and virtues like a normal human. But when these vices in no way affect the character, (Peter Quill’s womanizing is shockingly irrelevant to the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy) they become an embarrassing example of wish fulfillment played out in a massively budgeted way. James Bond is cynical, disrespectful, has all of the sex he desires, and butchers the people he comes in contact with all while being heroic, brave, and disciplined. He isn’t a character; he is the daydream of an adolescent boy longing for sex, power, and heroism while maintaining his reputation. We need to ask more of our characters. Wicked actions have wicked results. While crude quips and anti-social behavior can be pleasurable momentarily, they will have consequences on how you act and are treated. Righteousness takes work. Characters who instantly become righteous after a life of iniquity are portraying a faulty understanding of morality.

The unrepentant anti-hero has clear exceptions in film. One contemporary example is Interstellar’s Cooper. This character demonstrates a consistent and hard-won care for humanity, particularly his daughter. His care is a firm theme in the film and figures significantly in the development and exposition of Cooper’s character. His righteousness is upheld as hard-won and proven. It is this very love that ends up saving humanity. I do not want to see virtue that comes from the general innate goodness of undisciplined humanity. Show me virtue weathered from experience, rising out of countless trials and hardships.

LawrenceHeroes like Cooper do not sport the flaws of the anti-hero, but there are well developed and created heroes who exhibit deep flaws. What separates these characters from the unrepentant anti-hero is that the flaws act as flaws. They either deeply harm and torture the hero or give the hero an internal villain. Overcoming flaws requires the flaws to be recognized as vices. In perhaps one of the greatest films ever made, Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence relentlessly battles his sadism, a difficult prospect when in the middle of a warzone. His internal struggle creates conflict that is impactful and meaningful. His sadism is by no means brushed aside or regarded simply as a part of his character, but is a demon he must fight. Dorian Gray’s carnal lusts lead him to horrid ends in The Picture of Dorian Gray, presenting a real and raw picture of the danger of uncontrolled vice. Han Solo must learn to overcome his desire for money and freedom in order to properly protect and support his friends. There are many heroes who overcome or are overcome by vices in good literature, but in these examples vices are realistically portrayed as inhibiting, tempting, and painful.

People overcome by their carnal lusts, the fleshly Quills, Bonds, and Starks of the world, do not rise up and sacrifice themselves for humanity. Untested morality, corroded by vice and lack of discipline, creates not a stalwart hero but a flaky wretch. The true anti-hero is vividly seen in Tuco (or, “the Ugly”) from The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Tuco holds the same licentious, drunkardly, cowardly traits that plague our contemporary macho-men, but these vices manifest themselves more realistically. When the time comes to act honorably, the unweathered morality of Tuco gives way to his looming desire to satisfy his own appetites. Tuco is a mess. Tuco is what every unrepentant anti-hero is.Tuco

But why do we suffer this kind of character? Where does our unrepentant anti-hero spring from? Perhaps we create this hero because we have recognized our own vice and lack of discipline, and want to reassure ourselves that when push comes to shove, we will be good. Maybe we have looked down into our soul and been terrified by the prospect that the coward we see peering back at us will assume control when great things are on the line. Perhaps we do not make these characters because we find them attractive, but because we are afraid. But these characters will not change the reality that vice begets vice. Our addictions and lack of discipline will torment and tear at our moral fabric. Art is formative, and art that caters to moral cowardice allows us to rationalize our flaws as we sink away from the righteous and into the animal. When the hour of decision comes and we are faced with a great sacrifice, will we be able to look at our art and see moral strength or weakness? Will our heroes stand with us in moral discipline and courage? Or will they run away, dragging us after the carnal?

A Treatise on Storytelling, II: Cowardly Stories

“You’ve got to go into the scrap heap” Theodor Kittelsen 1880

By the end of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, the titular character is a pitiful figure. Whenever he is given the chance to be someone, whether good or evil, he runs away, leaving sorrowful lovers, unruled kingdoms, and abandoned fortunes behind him. While Peer lives a wild life following every desire that comes to his mind, his life is worthless. As an old man, he is finally faced with the messenger of death who has come to take his soul. Peer is horrified to find that rather than a messenger of God to take him to heaven or the devil to take him to hell, he is met with a simple looking man who refers to himself as the “button moulder.” He informs Peer that Peer will be melted back down into a pool of souls, and reused as someone who will hopefully amount to something on the second time around. “You were meant to be a gleaming button on the world’s waistcoat, but your loop was missing; so you’ve got to go into the scrap-heap, to be merged into the mass”¹ For the rest of the play Peer relentlessly tries to prove that he is good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell. He will do anything to escape the oblivion that he would meet in the casting ladle of the button moulder. Peer’s cowardice in life caused his life to mean nothing at death. Like Peer, the stories that we tell often run from hefty moral decisions and end up without definition, fit only to be melted down and reused.

Every story is a matter of right and wrong. It is impossible to create conflict without establishing a way things ought to be. When the evil king locks up the plucky hero’s family because he wants to secure his throne, the story is telling us that there is something wrong with desiring to hold on to power at all costs, and that locking up an innocent family is problematic. When the chaos of a rioting crowd is portrayed as terrifying and wild, the story is telling the audience that this kind of passion is dangerous. Because we are dealing with reality, there is no way to tell a successful story and avoid telling something about right and wrong.

Speaking about right and wrong is dangerous. Making bold moral statements alienates and frightens audiences. But stories are the moral heart of a society. The stories we tell and the heroes we love shape and change us dramatically. There is no getting around the fact that the art we consume changes us in ways that are fundamental. If storytellers avoid tackling important issues, not only will their conflicts be sapped of life, boring and inconsequential, but the stories will be unable to sufficiently shape the audience in positive ways, creating a cowardly audience that flees from moral decisions. There are many examples of cowardly storytellers that pervade our culture’s stories, resulting in several symptoms of cowardly storytellers. Here are a few that have been bothering me.

I don't know Marvel, is he evil enough?
I don’


Question: What sport does Josh Vanlandingham play?
Answer: basketball<|endoftext|> meat that is tough, as well as letting all of the seasoning, fats, meats, garlic, etc meld and infuse together to create an in-depth tasting food.

Similar to skimming a book or homework, the same process holds true here.  It means removing the fat or skin that forms on the surface of a stock or sauce.

To slice something, means making a cut down (usually a forward motion (to score it) followed by a backwards motion of the knife). Can be thick or thin.  Think of sliced cheese, onions, carrots, bread.

Slicing an onion into half-moons:

  • Start by peeling the onion.
  • Then cut in half length-wise (top to bottom)
  • Place cut side down, and using the natural “rib” marks of the onion, slice down to create 1/2 moons.  These are great cuts for caramelized onions.  If you want thinner, then make them thinner.

To steam an item is similar to blanching, yet the food does not touch the liquid.  Take a deep sauce pan, but about 2 – 3 inches of liquid (usually water) in the pan. Bring to a boil.  Put the items to be steamed into a steam basket, strainer, or bamboo steam baskets.  You want something with holes so the steam can penetrate the food.  Covering is ideal as it will trap the steam so the food is cooked from above and below.

Other benefits to steaming is no oil , salt is needed keeping the food healthier.  The vitamins are kept within the food and not drained into the water. Cooking without breaking the casing (like dumplings, or items wrapped in rice paper).

Tea.  Or more general – placing items in a sachet, coffee filter or cheese cloth then immersing in a hot or lightly simmering liquid to release and infuse the flavors.  The vessel can then be removed, leaving the flavors behind without the need to strain to remove the particles.

Stewing is a lot like simmering. Basically it is cooking a protein in a liquid (usually slightly thick) over a long period of time.  The use of crock-pots, ovens, dutch ovens, or on the stove top with a lid on the pan/pot are typically used.  The time can range from 2 hours to over night.   This process tenderizes meats or items that are tough.  You would not want to use with an item like scallops or an expensive cut of meat like Chicken Breast, Fillet or Porterhouse. This has the direct opposite effect on leaner meats, than stew meats, poultry or seafood.

Much like sauteing, stir-fry is cooking quickly over high heat with oil.  A Wok is best as it allows for an easier tossing of ingredients to allow all to come in contact with the surface and oil and prevent from burning.

But stir fry is very active.  Constant attention is required. It is also important to toss/stir the ingredients often.

Most Chinese type cooking is performed in this way. Sauces are created in the same pan once the items are just about cooked to perfection. Vegetables should still be vibrant with a crunch, meat should be tender. Remove from heat source as soon as possible.

Blanching is great for this style of cooking as well as cooking items in batches – ie: cook the meat first, then veggies, then get the sauce going and add all back for a final infusion and coating.

I need to do more of this and start using all of the exercise stuff I have…  I think we all know what it means to sweat, exercise included or now.  We are releasing water. that is as far as my medical definition will go.

To sweat a food item, like onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, means to release the moisture.  You are not looking to brown it, but wilt it.

A sauce or soup that is thick coats the back of your spoon as well as coating “sticking” to your food – such as pasta, meat, seafood.  It allows you to add so much flavor to a food item that may not have as much flavor as you would like.  It is also good for spooning over rice.

If you have a sauce in the works that is too thin – meaning it slides off, piles up at the bottom of the plate or makes your rice mushy, you need to thicken it.

There are many ways:

  • Without adding anything, bring to a rolling boil to evaporate the water and reduce the liquid, thus thickening and strengthening the flavors (careful if it is already salty, this will make it more salty
  • Dijon mustard, prepared horseradish,
  • Add dairy – milk, cream, butter, cheese, sour cream – all will thicken especially if you continue to simmer for a few minutes.
  • Add a slurry – flour or cornstarch are the most popular.  To make a slurry, add a tablespoon or so of flour or corn starch to a cup or jar with a lid. Add 2 tablespoons or so of COLD (warm or hot now is bad as it will cause the flour/starch to expand too soon) water or milk to the mixture.  Shake or whisk to remove the lumps.  If to thick, add more liquid.   It should be slightly runny, like a creamy soup.  Slowly pour (stream) about a TBS of the liquid into the simmering dish, whisking the entire time.  Add a little more if after a minute it is still too thin, repeat if needed.
  • Add soft silky smooth tofu. About a 1/4 cup at a time.  Blend with an emersion blender, food processor or blender.
  • Add bread, rice, potatoes (potato water) or another starch.  Start with a 1/4 cup at a time. Simmer until you reach desired consistency.

Opposite of the above (thickening). If you have a sauce or soup or syrup that is too thin, the easiest way to bring it back is to add water.  Start with a table spoon at a time and continue stirring until the liquid is incorporated. Add more if needed.  Make sure you attend it before it burns and reduce the heat.

You can also use stock – vegetable, chicken, beef, or whatever.  However, that will add more flavor so you need to be careful depending on the flavor you want.

Water is safe to add, as water is what escaped to make it thick.  Flavors stay.

Depending on how hot it is, ice cubes also work. They reduce the temperature quickly and add water to bring back your dish.

Toss that ball over here.  A light mix of ingredients. Put a lid on it, and shake lightly to toss the ingredients.  Use your hands to lightly toss the ingredients. This is a method used to not bruise or damage fragile ingredients (like fresh pasta, avocado, delicate lettuce and fruit slices).  It lightly coats the ingredients in a dressing or sauce. If you use utensils, used over sized and maintain a light grip and easy pressure.

If using your hands, make sure they are washed and / or use plastic disposable gloves.

The most basic vinaigrette is an oil (extra virgin olive oil is best) and vinegar solution. 1 part vinegar (or acid like lemon juice) and 3 parts oil (1 TBS vinegar and 3 TBS oil).  That’s it.. or is it?  You can take this simple formula and add so many different flavors to it – fresh or dried herbs, garlic, shallots, onions, salt, pepper, mustards, wasabi, ginger, horseradish.. or substitute vinegar (lots of available vinegars) for rice wine vinegar and/or soy sauce for an asian flair.  Reduce the olive oil by a bit and add sesame oil.

Water/Ice Bath

No this is not a retreat or something you do as part of the Polar Bear club.  This is method to cool foods quickly.  Typically to stop the cooking process and retain a crispness and/or natural color of an ingredient such as vegetables or shrimp for shrimp cocktail.

In 2 quart bowl (resize depending on bowl and/or amount of ingredients), add about 2 cups of ice, 1 TBS of salt and fill with cold water until about 2 – 3 inches from the top.

Prepare it just before of blanching or Steaming an item.  These methods of cooking do not take long and when done, you want it ready.

Once you feel the food is properly blanched/steamed, strain it through a slotted spoon or strainer, and put in into the ice water bath.  This stops the cooking and preserves the vibrant color.  When completely cool – remove from the ice / water bath, drain and proceed to the next steps in the recipe – or serve as is.

If you do not have enough ice, you can transfer the food to a strainer and place under cold running water.  It takes a little bit longer to cool down the item (which means it will cook longer), but still has similar effects and can be used in a crunch.

Beat the heck out of a liquid.  If you have an electric mixer (stand or handheld) it means put it on high ( of course after starting on slow and then increase to high

 meat that is tough, as well as letting all of the seasoning, fats, meats, garlic, etc meld and infuse together to create an in-depth tasting food.

Similar to skimming a book or homework, the same process holds true here.  It means removing the fat or skin that forms on the surface of a stock or sauce.

To slice something, means making a cut down (usually a forward motion (to score it) followed by a backwards motion of the knife). Can be thick or thin.  Think of sliced cheese, onions, carrots, bread.

Slicing an onion into half-moons:

  • Start by peeling the onion.
  • Then cut in half length-wise (top to bottom)
  • Place cut side down, and using the natural “rib” marks of the onion, slice down to create 1/2 moons.  These are great cuts for caramelized onions.  If you want thinner, then make them thinner.

To steam an item is similar to blanching, yet the food does not touch the liquid.  Take a deep sauce pan, but about 2 – 3 inches of liquid (usually water) in the pan. Bring to a boil.  Put the items to be steamed into a steam basket, strainer, or bamboo steam baskets.  You want something with holes so the steam can penetrate the food.  Covering is ideal as it will trap the steam so the food is cooked from above and below.

Other benefits to steaming is no oil , salt is needed keeping the food healthier.  The vitamins are kept within the food and not drained into the water. Cooking without breaking the casing (like dumplings, or items wrapped in rice paper).

Tea.  Or more general – placing items in a sachet, coffee filter or cheese cloth then immersing in a hot or lightly simmering liquid to release and infuse the flavors.  The vessel can then be removed, leaving the flavors behind without the need to strain to remove the particles.

Stewing is a lot like simmering. Basically it is cooking a protein in a liquid (usually slightly thick) over a long period of time.  The use of crock-pots, ovens, dutch ovens, or on the stove top with a lid on the pan/pot are typically used.  The time can range from 2 hours to over night.   This process tenderizes meats or items that are tough.  You would not want to use with an item like scallops or an expensive cut of meat like Chicken Breast, Fillet or Porterhouse. This has the direct opposite effect on leaner meats, than stew meats, poultry or seafood.

Much like sauteing, stir-fry is cooking quickly over high heat with oil.  A Wok is best as it allows for an easier tossing of ingredients to allow all to come in contact with the surface and oil and prevent from burning.

But stir fry is very active.  Constant attention is required. It is also important to toss/stir the ingredients often.

Most Chinese type cooking is performed in this way. Sauces are created in the same pan once the items are just about cooked to perfection. Vegetables should still be vibrant with a crunch, meat should be tender. Remove from heat source as soon as possible.

Blanching is great for this style of cooking as well as cooking items in batches – ie: cook the meat first, then veggies, then get the sauce going and add all back for a final infusion and coating.

I need to do more of this and start using all of the exercise stuff I have…  I think we all know what it means to sweat, exercise included or now.  We are releasing water. that is as far as my medical definition will go.

To sweat a food item, like onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, means to release the moisture.  You are not looking to brown it, but wilt it.

A sauce or soup that is thick coats the back of your spoon as well as coating “sticking” to your food – such as pasta, meat, seafood.  It allows you to add so much flavor to a food item that may not have as much flavor as you would like.  It is also good for spooning over rice.

If you have a sauce in the works that is too thin – meaning it slides off, piles up at the bottom of the plate or makes your rice mushy, you need to thicken it.

There are many ways:

  • Without adding anything, bring to a rolling boil to evaporate the water and reduce the liquid, thus thickening and strengthening the flavors (careful if it is already salty, this will make it more salty
  • Dijon mustard, prepared horseradish,
  • Add dairy – milk, cream, butter, cheese, sour cream – all will thicken especially if you continue to simmer for a few minutes.
  • Add a slurry – flour or cornstarch are the most popular.  To make a slurry, add a tablespoon or so of flour or corn starch to a cup or jar with a lid. Add 2 tablespoons or so of COLD (warm or hot now is bad as it will cause the flour/starch to expand too soon) water or milk to the mixture.  Shake or whisk to remove the lumps.  If to thick, add more liquid.   It should be slightly runny, like a creamy soup.  Slowly pour (stream) about a TBS of the liquid into the simmering dish, whisking the entire time.  Add a little more if after a minute it is still too thin, repeat if needed.
  • Add soft silky smooth tofu. About a 1/4 cup at a time.  Blend with an emersion blender, food processor or blender.
  • Add bread, rice, potatoes (potato water) or another starch.  Start with a 1/4 cup at a time. Simmer until you reach desired consistency.

Opposite of the above (thickening). If you have a sauce or soup or syrup that is too thin, the easiest way to bring it back is to add water.  Start with a table spoon at a time and continue stirring until the liquid is incorporated. Add more if needed.  Make sure you attend it before it burns and reduce the heat.

You can also use stock – vegetable, chicken, beef, or whatever.  However, that will add more flavor so you need to be careful depending on the flavor you want.

Water is safe to add, as water is what escaped to make it thick.  Flavors stay.

Depending on how hot it is, ice cubes also work. They reduce the temperature quickly and add water to bring back your dish.

Toss that ball over here.  A light mix of ingredients. Put a lid on it, and shake lightly to toss the ingredients.  Use your hands to lightly toss the ingredients. This is a method used to not bruise or damage fragile ingredients (like fresh pasta, avocado, delicate lettuce and fruit slices).  It lightly coats the ingredients in a dressing or sauce. If you use utensils, used over sized and maintain a light grip and easy pressure.

If using your hands, make sure they are washed and / or use plastic disposable gloves.

The most basic vinaigrette is an oil (extra virgin olive oil is best) and vinegar solution. 1 part vinegar (or acid like lemon juice) and 3 parts oil (1 TBS vinegar and 3 TBS oil).  That’s it.. or is it?  You can take this simple formula and add so many different flavors to it – fresh or dried herbs, garlic, shallots, onions, salt, pepper, mustards, wasabi, ginger, horseradish.. or substitute vinegar (lots of available vinegars) for rice wine vinegar and/or soy sauce for an asian flair.  Reduce the olive oil by a bit and add sesame oil.

Water/Ice Bath

No this is not a retreat or something you do as part of the Polar Bear club.  This is method to cool foods quickly.  Typically to stop the cooking process and retain a crispness and/or natural color of an ingredient such as vegetables or shrimp for shrimp cocktail.

In 2 quart bowl (resize depending on bowl and/or amount of ingredients), add about 2 cups of ice, 1 TBS of salt and fill with cold water until about 2 – 3 inches from the top.

Prepare it just before of blanching or Steaming an item.  These methods of cooking do not take long and when done, you want it ready.

Once you feel the food is properly blanched/steamed, strain it through a slotted spoon or strainer, and put in into the ice water bath.  This stops the cooking and preserves the vibrant color.  When completely cool – remove from the ice / water bath, drain and proceed to the next steps in the recipe – or serve as is.

If you do not have enough ice, you can transfer the food to a strainer and place under cold running water.  It takes a little bit longer to cool down the item (which means it will cook longer), but still has similar effects and can be used in a crunch.

Beat the heck out of a liquid.  If you have an electric mixer (stand or handheld) it means put it on high ( of course after starting on slow and then increase to high so the liquid does not splatter all over ) until the liquid is now opaque