Briggs, Raymond, The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman, Little Brown & Co 1985 Amazon customer review: 'The book itself was a classic of its kind - an excellent parody of the Falklands War.' A Customer 
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Creutz, Michael , Quarks Gluons and Lattices, Cambridge UP 1983 Jacket: 'This book introduces the lattice approach to quantum field theory. The spectacular successes of this technique include compelling evidence that exchange of gauge gluons can confine the quarks within subnuclear matter. . . . The treatment begins with the lattice definition of the path integral method and ends on Monte Carlo simulation methods.' 
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Feynman, Richard P, and Albert P Hibbs, Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals, McGraw Hill 1965 Preface: 'The fundamental physical and mathematical concepts which underlie the path integral approach were first developed by R P Feynman in the course of his graduate studies at Princeton, ... . These early inquiries were involved with the problem of the infinte self-energy of the electron. In working on that problem, a "least action" principle was discovered [which] could deal succesfully with the infinity arising in the application of classical electrodynamics.' As described in this book. Feynam, inspired by Dirac, went on the develop this insight into a fruitful source of solutions to many quantum mechanical problems.  
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Fodor, Jerry A, The Modularity of Mind, MIT Press 1983 Jacket: 'This monograph synthesizes current information from the various fields of cognitive science in support of a new and exciting theory of mind. Most psychologists study horizontal processes like memory. Fopdor postulates a vertical and modular psychological organisation underlying biologically coherent behaviours. This view of mental architecture is consistent with the historical tradition of faculty psychology while integrating a computational approach to mental processes. One of the most notable aspects of Fodor's work is that it articulates features not only of speculative cognitive architectures but also of current research in artificial intelligence.' Prof. Alvin Liberman, Yale University, 
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Rieke, Fred, and David Warland, Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck and William Bialek, Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code, MIT Press 1997 ' This book is about the way in which the nervous system represents or encodes sensory signals. Our approach to the problem of neural coding is motivated by a desire for quantitative analysis. In partcular we would like to describe the performance of neurons on an absolute scale, msking precise the intuitive notion that these cells are telling the brain something about the sensory world' 
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Rothe, Heinz J., Lattice Gauge Theories (An Introduction), World Scientific 2012 ' This book provides a broad introduction to gauge field theories formulated on a space-time lattice, and in particular of QCD. It serves as a textbook for advanced graduate students, and also provides the reader with the necessary analytical and numerical techniques to carry out research on his own. Although the analytic calculations are sometimes quite demanding and go beyond an introduction, they are discussed in sufficient detail, so that the reader can fill in the missing steps. The book also introduces the reader to interesting problems which are currently under intensive investigation. Whenever possible, the main ideas are exemplified in simple models, before extending them to realistic theories. Special emphasis is placed on numerical results obtained from pioneering work. These are displayed in a great number of figures. Beyond the necessary amendments and slight extensions of some sections in the third edition, the fourth edition includes an expanded section on Calorons -- a subject which has been under intensive investigation during the last twelve years.' 
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4 Non Blondes, What's Up, ' Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say, hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
ooh, ooh ooh
and I try,
oh my god do I try
I try all the time,
in this institution
And I pray,
oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
And I say,
hey hey hey hey
I said hey, what's going on?
Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination.'

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Andrew Pike & Ann McGrath, Message from Mungo, ' "Repatriation is one of the most important social issues of our times for Indigenous communities around the world. Yet, repatriation is too often turned into easy polemics and false caricatures. This beautifully crafted film captures the nuances, complexities, and vital revelations of a real case that transformed an Indigenous community as much as a scientific discipline. I cannot recommend it highly enough." – Chip Colwell, PhD, Curator of Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, USA back

Bruce Nelan, Felix Rohatyn, Wall Sreet wizard ho helped save NYC from bankruptcy, dies at 91, ' As an investment banker, he said, he had “a refugee’s theory of value” — that is, all that really counts “is what you can carry in your head or a toothpaste tube.” . . . “The ultimate power is the absence of desire,” he told People magazine soon after taking over the MAC [Municipal Assistance Corp.] . “I believe the most powerful man is a monk, because he is not corrupted by power.” back

Christian Morgenstern - Wikipedia, Christian Morgenstern - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, back

Dominicans, Dominicans: Order of Preachers, 'WWW.OP.ORG is the official international Web site of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). The branches of the Dominican family are multiple: brothers, contemplative nuns, congregations of contemplative and apostolic sisters, lay persons in fraternities or secular institutes, secular priests in fraternities. "Each one has its own character, its autonomy. However by taking part in the charism of saint Dominic, they share between them a single vocation to be preachers in the Church (Chapter of Mexico, 1992)."' back

Emre Peker, U. N. Climate Talks End Without Meeting Goals, ' The EU, the world’s third-largest emitter, pushed at the U.N. summit for rules on international carbon markets. In the end, European negotiators refused demands from countries including Brazil, India and Australia they thought would weaken efforts to reduce emissions. The Brazil-led efforts, European negotiators and climate activists say, would lead to double-counting of emission reductions and usher in a trove of carbon credits granted under the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris accord’s predecessor. Those would contribute to watering down the climate pact and amount to cosmetic emissions cuts without arresting rising temperatures, these people said.' back

Erin Wilson, Reason, Reflection, Resistance, Revolution? Experiments with the Post-Secular Part I, ' The Religion Factor is self-consciously a post-secular blog. But what exactly is post-secular? In our first two installments, we explore this relatively new idea as both a description of and a response to the conditions of 21st century society. . . . The emergence of the post-secular means that traditional binary oppositions such as secular/religious, public/private, history/progress, reason/emotion are beginning to break down. We are recognizing that perhaps it is not so easy to neatly and clearly separate domains of human existence that are so intimately connected, and also perhaps that it is not entirely necessary to do so. Instead of being faced with an either/or choice – something is either religious or secular, public or private, rational or emotional, and cannot ever be both – it is now possible to see elements of life, society and politics as both religious and secular, without any seeming contradiction. It may even be possible to have public debate that incorporates both secular and religious arguments.' back

Erin Wilson, Experiments with the Post-Secular Part II, ' Jurgen Habermas offers us perhaps the most comprehensive outline of the post-secular as a prescription. His main objective, it seems to me, is to move us beyond secular assumptions about political participation that exclude religious reasoning and argumentation from public debate. He posits two main reasons for this. Firstly, contrary to expectations, religion has not died out and is in fact stronger than ever. Rather than bothering with questions of whether religion should be part of public life or not, Habermas instead accepts that it is, that it will likely remain so and our politics and public life should reflect that reality. Secondly, Habermas is responding to the growing challenges to human existence in the 21st century. Increasing inequality, multiple moral and ethical dilemmas and mounting social and environmental crises all highlight that something is desperately wrong with politics as usual. For Habermas, then, the post-secular also offers a way of resisting dominant neoliberal, secular rationalist modes of thinking, offering the potential for alternatives and transformation.' back

Georgina Wilkins, Independent expert to investigate CommSec over pooling client's money, 'An independent expert will investigate Commonwealth Bank's online broker, CommSec, after the financial regulator found it pooled clients' money and withdrew funds from client accounts for years without authorisation. It comes as the regulator releases its final submission to a Senate inquiry into a separate scandal at the bank's financial planning arm. The CommSec review will be conducted by an expert of the group's choosing and will investigate the mishandling of client funds between 2005 and 2013.' Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/independent-expert-to-investigate-commsec-over-pooling-clients-money-20131217-2zj8y.html#ixzz2nj3XxtXK back

Hiroko Tabuchi, A Methane Leak, Seen From Space, Proves to Be Far Larger Than Thought, ' The first satellite designed to continuously monitor the planet for methane leaks made a startling discovery last year: A little known gas-well accident at an Ohio fracking site was in fact one of the largest methane leaks ever recorded in the United States. The findings by a Dutch-American team of scientists, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mark a step forward in using space technology to detect leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, from oil and gas sites worldwide.' back

Jon C. Day, Attention United Nations: don't be fooled by Australia's latest report on the Great Barrier Reef, ' In 2017 UNESCO, the United Nations body that granted the reef world heritage status, asked Australia to report back on how the reef was faring. Australia this month submitted its latest report. It provides a wealth of information on many threats to the reef, such as water quality and crown-of-thorns starfish. But the report’s overall message is that the reef’s world heritage values are fine and the threats are in hand, when the reality is far different.' back

Linda Perry - Wikipedia, Linda Perry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965)[1] is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for several other artists. They include: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera; "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani; and "Get the Party Started" by P!nk. Perry has also contributed to albums by Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love, as well as signing and distributing James Blunt[2] in the United States. Perry was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.' back

Logos (Christianity) - Wikipedia, Logos (Christianity) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In Christology, the concept that the Christ is the Logos (Greek: Λόγος for "word", "discourse" or "reason") has been important in establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ and his position as God the Son in the Trinity as set forth in the Chalcedonian Creed. The concept derives from the opening of the Gospel of John, is often simply translated into English as: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the translations, "Word" is used for Logos (λόγος), but in theological discourse, this is often left untranslated.' back

Luke Zaphir, Knowledge is a process of discovery: how constructivism changed education, ' Constructivism is an educational philosophy that deems experience as the best way to acquire knowledge. We truly understand something – according to a constructivist – when we filter it through our senses and interactions. We can only understand the idea of “blue” if we have vision (and if we aren’t colour blind). Constructivism is an education philosophy, not a learning method. So while it encourages students to take more ownership of their own learning, it doesn’t specify how that should be done. It is still being adapted to teaching practice. The philosophy underpins the inquiry-based method of teaching where the teacher facilitates a learning environment in which students discover answers for themselves. back

Matthew Sharpe, Guide to the classics: Plato's Republic, ' Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato, the old saying goes. And The Republic (c. 375 BCE), featuring Plato’s teacher Socrates in dialogue with several friends, is unquestionably central to Plato’s thought. There are few subjects that Plato’s masterpiece does not touch or play on: political theory, education, myth, psychology, ethics, epistemology, cultural criticism, drama and comedy. ' back

Minister (Christianity) - Wikipedia, Minister (Christianity) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' In Christianity, a minister is a person authorized by a church, or other religious organization, to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister ("servant", "attendant"), which itself was derived from minus ("less").' back

Oliver Milman, Message from Mungo: mother of all battles to bring Aboriginal ancestors home, 'For the Aboriginal people of the area, however, the story was far from over, as is documented in a painstaking documentary Message from Mungo, made over eight years and to be screened on Tuesday 18 August. Lake Mungo’s three tribal groups – Mutthi Mutthi, Paakantji and Ngyiampaa – finally managed to ensure Mungo Lady’s remains were returned to them in 1992. Mungo Man remains in Canberra, adrift from his homeland. What was an archeological triumph for scientists was an emotional, often traumatic, spiritual loss for traditional owners.' back

Parasite (2019 film) - Wikipedia, Parasite (2019 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Parasite . . . is a 2019 South Korean tragicomedy drama thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, who also wrote the film's story and co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won. The film stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam, and follows the members of a poor household scheming to become the employees of a much wealthier family by posing as unrelated, highly-qualified individuals.' back

Parmenides - Wikipedia, Parmenides - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Parmenides of Elea (early 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, his only known work is a poem which has survived only in fragmentary form. In it, Parmenides describes two views of reality. In the Way of Truth, he explained how reality is one; change is impossible; and existence is timeless, uniform, and unchanging. In the Way of Opinion, he explained the world of appearances, which is false and deceitful. These thoughts strongly influenced Plato, and through him, the whole of western philosophy.' back

President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies: Richard A Clarke, Michael J Morell, Geoffrey R Stone, Cass R Sunstein and Peter Swire, Liberty and Security in a Changing World, 'Dear Mr. President: We are honored to present you with the Final Report of the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies. Consistent with your memorandum of August 27, 2013, our recommendations are designed to protect our national security and advance our foreign policy while also respecting our longstanding commitment to privacy and civil liberties, recognizing our need to maintain the public trust (including the trust of our friends and allies abroad), and reducing the risk of unauthorized disclosures.' back

Rolf Landauer, Information is a Physical Entity, 'Abstract: This paper, associated with a broader conference talk on the fundamental physical limits of information handling, emphasizes the aspects still least appreciated. Information is not an abstract entity but exists only through a physical representation, thus tying it to all the restrictions and possibilities of our real physical universe. The mathematician's vision of an unlimited sequence of totally reliable operations is unlikely to be implementable in this real universe. Speculative remarks about the possible impact of that on the ultimate nature of the laws of physics are included.' back

Ross Gittins, Your antidote to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's mid-year budget spin, ' “While other major developed economies like Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Singapore have experienced negative economic growth, the Australian economy is in its 29th consecutive year of economic growth.” . . . In a breathtaking case of Orwell’s Newspeak, Frydenberg claimed “growth has been broad-based with household consumption, public final demand and net exports all contributing to GDP growth”. This is the very opposite of the truth. Since growth in consumer spending was a negligible 0.1 per cent during the quarter, the vast private sector of the economy actually went backwards, with what little growth we got coming from the much smaller (and despised) public sector and from net exports.' back

Ruth Schuster, 5,700-year-old 'Chewing Gum" Reveals Danish Woman Had Dark Skin, Blue Eyes and STDs, ' The entire genome of a female who lived in Denmark 5,700 years ago has been sequenced, from a piece of prehistoric “chewing gum.” It’s impossible to know whether she was a girl or full-grown woman, but like other early Europeans, as we know now, she likely had dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes, Theis Jensen of the University of Copenhagen and a host of co-authors reported Tuesday in Nature Communications. The international team also managed to elucidate from the masticated bit of birch pitch found at Syltholm, on the island of Lolland, that the prehistoric lady seems to have hosted the herpes species known as Epstein-Barr, as well as the bacteria that causes gonorrhea. She may have suffered the ravages of gum disease as well, say the scientists based on analyzing nonhuman DNA in the birch tar, which is indicative of her oral microbiome (the bacteria living in her mouth).' back

Somini Sengupta, U.N. Climate Talks End With Big Polluters Blocking Stronger Action, ' The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, offered an unusually blunt assessment of the 25th annual climate negotiations, formally known as the Conference of Parties. “I am disappointed with the results of #COP25,” he said on Twitter. “The international community lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation & finance to tackle the climate crisis.” ' back

Stephen Chen, Why one of China's poorest places has highest 'material footprint' per person, ' Scientists have found a surprising pattern in China’s “material footprint” that may shed new light on its economic boom. Material footprint is an indicator that accounts for the raw materials – fossil fuels, biomass, metals and other substances such as sand and gravel sourced from China and overseas – that are used to satisfy domestic consumption and capital investment. . . . In a paper that appeared on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), they said that in northwestern Qinghai province, the estimated 2010 material footprint of 36 tonnes per person was the same as the United States average.' back

University of Gronigen, The Religion Factor Blog, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies back

Walter Russell Mead, The End of History Ends, 'Call the challengers the Central Powers; they hate and fear one another as much as they loathe the current geopolitical order, but they are joined at the hip by the belief that the order favored by the United States and its chief allies is more than an inconvenience. The big three challengers — Russia, China and Iran — all hate, fear and resent the current state of Eurasia. The balance of power it enshrines thwarts their ambitions; the norms and values it promotes pose deadly threats to their current regimes. Until recently there wasn’t much they could do but resent the world order; now, increasingly, they think they have found a way to challenge and ultimately to change the way global politics work.' back

William J. Mann, In 1973 Marlon Brando asked Apache Sacheen Littlefeather to accept his Best Actor Oscar for 'The Godfather'. But Hollywood didn't want to hear his message about racism. , ' In 1973, Marlon Brando turned down an Oscar, and the whole world turned on him, calling him an ingrate, a dilettante, a publicity hound, a traitor. But for Brando—as William J. Mann writes in his biography, The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando (HarperCollins)—the country under Richard Nixon was in a constitutional crisis, and systemic racism was undercutting the American dream. Under these conditions, he believed, business as usual would be complicit with the problem. Forty-six years later, can we understand his reasons better? ' back

Xinhua News Agency - Wikipedia, Xinhua News Agency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Xinhua News Agency or New China News Agency is the official state-run press agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua is the biggest and most influential media organization in China, as well as the largest news agency in the world in terms of correspondents worldwide. Xinhua is a ministry-level institution subordinate to the Chinese central government, and is the highest ranking state media organ in the country alongside the People's Daily. Its president is a member of the Central Committee of China's Communist Party. back