2039 AD BRIEFING, PART I
Zeta Reticuli is a planetary system including two stars both of which are about 1 billion years older than the Earth’s sun (Adams, 2024). Zeti Reticuli is 39.2 light years from Earth and Zeta I is approximately one-eight of a light year from Zeta II (Njatcha, 2018).
The Zetan Founders evolved on a planet orbiting Zeta I Reticuli and populated a Zeta II Reticulan planet with a genetically altered version – to accommodate different environmental conditions – of their species (Zetapedia, 2039). Subsequently, on Earth the Founders attempted to genetically modify a native species of simians to approximate the Founders’ appearance and abilities in the context of yet another divergent environment (Meek, 2025). As represented in many artistic representations as well as written and oral traditions, Humanity has a long record of punctuated periods of involvement with the Founders (Von Daniken, 1970). Yet, consistent with Human behavior, all such involvement was officially denied and actively concealed by Human authorities (Wagner, 2029).
During the summer of 1947, two Zeta Reticulan I Ovoid-Class extraterrestrial lenticular-shaped aerodyne craft collided while on an observance-only mission over the atomic testing grounds in the State of New Mexico, USA, Earth (Green, 2017). Radar film and tower logs from American Holloman Air Force Base reflected the merger of three objects prior to collision and subsequent crashes with the third object believed to be an unrecovered test balloon (Majestic Twelve, 1952). The two Ovoid-Class craft experienced non-planned ground contact at two dispersed sites in New Mexico. Four Zeta Reticulan I bodies were recovered, two of which were unevacuated in a damaged escape cylinder and two of which were found several yards from a second albeit evacuated cylinder (Majestic Twelve, 1952). One of the four – an evacuated body -- was nonmetabolic and badly decomposed as a result of exposure and assumed predatory action. A second – the second evacuated body – became nonmetabolic within the first hour of the American Army Air Force recovery operation (“Briefing Document,” 1952). The two unevacuated bodies became nonmetabolic due to undetermined causes (Hetrick, 2025). All of the bodies were inadvertently cremated prior to autopsies (Cardene, 2025).
Years of intensive Human study of the retrieved components of the two Ovoid-Class craft seeded numerous Human technological advances. Within decades of the recovery, the reverse engineering of recovered components led to the fruition, as examples, of fiber optics, integrated circuits, lasers, Kevlar and accelerated particle beam devices (Corso, 1997).
In 2021, Human scientists at the Furey Institute, , Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, fully replicated a functioning Ovoid-Class power source (Jefferson, 2022). The Noorbaksh reactor was fueled with Element 114 in a closed system. Fueling was the initial step in the provision of amplified Gravity-S waves and Magnetic-S waves allowing Villonian travel (a.k.a. “accelerated light” travel) (Umar, 2027).
The Noorbaksh reactor bombarded Element 114 with hydrogen protons using a microparticle accelerator. The hydrogen protons fused into the Element 114 nucleus creating the misnamed “radioactive” form of Element 115 (“R-115”). The almost simultaneous decay of R-115 produced one particle of a type of anti-matter known as Sigma-Hydrogen as well as a large number of tachyons. The flux of newly produced Sigma-Hydrogen particles and tachyons were channeled through an evacuated tuned tube and further contained within a flowing stream of higgs-boson particles where they were reacted with condensed dark matter in a Cannonian Annihilation Reaction (Ibric, 2022).
The generation of the Subquarkian-Gravity-S-Magnetic-S Waves theoretically allowed the craft to “fall” through space and time to its targeted (a.k.a. “attracted”) position at velocities of up to 1,000 times the speed of light (“1000-c”). However, the inefficiencies of the Human constructed “Model H.U. 23” restricted Villonian travel to speeds of under 12-c.
With the Human National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s first successful interplanetary flight in the Schiavelli Program (the first manned extra-Earth program after the suspension of the Apollo Program), overt and nonconcealable Zeta Reticulan contact was initiated in compliance with Zeta Reticulan Containment Policy: Earth (Pyramid 0099742.7760.04, 2039).
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
References
Adams, N. (2024). Look it up yourself! Harrisburg University: Yet Another Project
Press.
Bates, H. (1940, October), Farewell to the master. Astounding Science Fiction
Magazine.
Benigni, S. (2020). The unending book of unending homework problems.
Beijing: AndyouthoughtIwasaniceguyPress.
Briefing Document. (1952). Operation majestic 12 prepared for president-elect
dwight d. eisenhower. (Project Operations Group, White House.)
Washington, DC: White House.
Cardene, L. (2025). But couldn’t you do it another way? Antarctica: HeadachePress.
Coleman, N. (2027). Ganja. Scranton: Inyourface Publishing.
Corso, P. (1997). The day after roswell. New York: Pocket Books.
Element 115. (n.d.). Bob lazar. Retrieved April 23, 2039, from
http://www.boblazar.com
Green, A. (2017). Oh my god! Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Greys (2039). Retrieved April 24, 2039, from
http://zeta.en.zetapedia.org/wiki/greys
Hetrick, G. (2025). I’ll get back to you. Las Vegas: Onthegopress.
Ibric, P. (2022). And then we …. Kansas: Talktalktalktalk Press.
Island of Stability. (September, 2006). Nova scienceNOW. Retrieved April 24, 2039,
from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/02.html
Jefferson, J. (2022). One quick question. Bawlamer Publications: Maryland.
Majestic Twelve. (1952). First annual report. (Project Operations Group,
White House.) Washington, DC: White House.
Massengale, R. (2026). The lone star. Chicago: Playboy Press.
Meek, P. (2025). The point is: was cartman right? Tahiti: South Park Press.
Njatcha, C. (2018). Flying saucers and science. New Jersey: New Page Books.
Pyramid 0099742.7760.04. (2039). Containment policy: Earth ( J. Turner, Trans.)
Akenhaten: Central Office of Records. (Original work published 18,496 BCE)
Pyramid 3301003.0020.54. (2039). Graduate student restrictions ( J. Turner, Trans.)
Akenhaten: Central Office of Records. (Original work published 1947.)
Radioactive Decay. (April 24, 2039.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 24, 2039, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay
Umar, A. (2027.) Success! Success! Retrieved April 23, 2039 from
http://www.boblazar.com.
Vaideeswaran, P. (2021). !!!!!. Mumbai: ModernCity-Dog Billionaire Press.
Von Daniken, E. (1970). Chariots of the gods? New York: Bantam Books, Inc.
Wagner, J. (2029). Piece it together. Kalamazoo: Paperwork Press.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Saved at: BRIEFINGI.docx
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Chapter 1
I think I’ll take the approach of noting some quotes from the book and then adding a few comments. Given its introductory nature, it is possible that Chapter 1 will have more quotes of interest to me than might subsequent chapters.
Chapter 1
1. “ … changing the face of journalism and media as we know it.” (Page 4.)
A few years ago I had a discussion with a journalist friend of mine who mentioned that while the economy as a whole might be undergoing a recession, the journalism profession was experiencing a depression, or worse.
2. “ … many CEOs are beginning to catch on to blogging as well.” (Page 5.)
I wonder how vapid these may or may not be? If vapid, I can see such blogs creating cynicism among the rank-and-file.
3. “These technologies make more of our lives transparent to others in ways that many find unsettling.” (Page 5.)
Our lives are now probably much more transparent than we realize. Here is a recent article from the New York Times:
June 20, 2011
Upending Anonymity, These Days the Web Unmasks Everyone
By BRIAN STELTER
Not too long ago, theorists fretted that the Internet was a place where anonymity thrived.
Now, it seems, it is the place where anonymity dies.
A commuter in the New York area who verbally tangled with a conductor last Tuesday — and defended herself by asking “Do you know what schools I’ve been to and how well-educated I am?” — was publicly identified after a fellow rider posted a cellphone video of the encounter on YouTube. The woman, who had gone to N.Y.U., was ridiculed by a cadre of bloggers, one of whom termed it the latest episode of “Name and Shame on the Web.”
Women who were online pen pals of former Representative Anthony D. Weiner similarly learned how quickly Internet users can sniff out all the details of a person’s online life. So did the men who set fire to cars and looted stores in the wake of Vancouver’s Stanley Cup defeat last week when they were identified, tagged by acquaintances online.
The collective intelligence of the Internet’s two billion users, and the digital fingerprints that so many users leave on Web sites, combine to make it more and more likely that every embarrassing video, every intimate photo, and every indelicate e-mail is attributed to its source, whether that source wants it to be or not. This intelligence makes the public sphere more public than ever before and sometimes forces personal lives into public view.
To some, this could conjure up comparisons to the agents of repressive governments in the Middle East who monitor online protests and exact retribution offline. But the positive effects can be numerous: criminality can be ferreted out, falsehoods can be disproved and individuals can become Internet icons.
When a freelance photographer, Rich Lam, digested his pictures of the riots in Vancouver, he spotted several shots of a man and a woman, surrounded by police officers in riot gear, in the middle of a like-nobody’s-watching kiss. When the photos were published, a worldwide dragnet of sorts ensued to identify the “kissing couple.” Within a day, the couple’s relatives had tipped off news Web sites to their identities, and there they were, Monday, on the “Today” show: Scott Jones and Alex Thomas, the latest proof that thanks to the Internet, every day could be a day that will be remembered around the world.
“It’s kind of amazing that there was someone there to take a photo,” Ms. Thomas said on “Today.”
The “kissing couple” will most likely enjoy just a tweet’s worth of fame, but it is noteworthy that they were tracked down at all.
This erosion of anonymity is a product of pervasive social media services, cheap cellphone cameras, free photo and video Web hosts, and perhaps most important of all, a change in people’s views about what ought to be public and what ought to be private. Experts say that Web sites like Facebook, which require real identities and encourage the sharing of photographs and videos, have hastened this change.
“Humans want nothing more than to connect, and the companies that are connecting us electronically want to know who’s saying what, where,” said Susan Crawford, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. “As a result, we’re more known than ever before.”
This growing “publicness,” as it is sometimes called, comes with significant consequences for commerce, for political speech and for ordinary people’s right to privacy. There are efforts by governments and corporations to set up online identity systems. Technology will play an even greater role in the identification of once-anonymous individuals: Facebook, for instance, is already using facial recognition technology in ways that are alarming to European regulators.
After the riots in Vancouver, locals needed no such facial recognition technology — they simply combed through social media sites to try to identify some of the people involved, like Nathan Kotylak, 17, a star on Canada’s junior water polo team.
On Facebook, Mr. Kotylak apologized for the damage he had caused. The finger-pointing affected not only him, it affected his family: local news media reported that his father, a doctor, had seen his ranking on a medical practice review site, RateMDs.com, drop after people posted comments about his son’s involvement in the riots. Other people subsequently went to the Web site to defend the doctor and improve his ranking.
Predictably, there was a backlash to the Internet-assisted identification of the people involved in the alcohol-fueled riot. Camille Cacnio, a student in Vancouver who was photographed during the riot and who admitted to theft, wrote on her blog that the “21st-century witch hunt” on the Internet was “another form of mobbing.”
In the New York area, the commuter who was the subject of online scorn last week shut down both her Twitter and LinkedIn accounts once her name bubbled up on blogs. Though the person who originally posted the cellphone video took it down, other people quickly reposted it, giving the story new life. The original video poster remains anonymous because his or her YouTube account has been shut down.
Half a world away, in Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Syria, activists have sometimes succeeded in identifying victims of dictatorial violence through anonymously uploaded YouTube videos.
They have also succeeded in identifying fakes: In a widely publicized case this month, a blogger who claimed to be a Syrian-American lesbian and called herself “A Gay Girl in Damascus” was revealed to be an American man, Tom MacMaster.
The sleuthing was led by Andy Carvin, a strategist for NPR who has exhaustively covered the Middle Eastern protests on Twitter. When sources of his said they were skeptical of the blogger’s identity, “I just started asking questions on Twitter and Facebook,” Mr. Carvin recalled on CNN. “Have any of you met her in person? Do you know her at all? The more I asked, the less I learned, because no one had met her, not even the reporters who had supposedly interviewed her in person.”
Mr. Carvin, his online followers and others used photos and server log data to connect the blog to Mr. MacMaster’s wife.
“Publicity” — something normally associated with celebrities — “is no longer scarce,” Dave Morgan, the chief executive of Simulmedia, wrote in an essay this month.
He posited that because the Internet “can’t be made to forget” images and moments from the past, like an outburst on a train or a kiss during a riot, “the reality of an inescapable public world is an issue we are all going to hear a lot more about.”
4. “By and large, they are ‘out there’ using a wide variety of technologies that they are told they can’t use when they come to school.” (Page 6.)
I assume this is generally perceived as hypocrisy and simply creates frustration and cynicism.
5. “ … as presenting a risk instead of a solution for a system whose students continue to struggle to stay apace of their international peers.” (Page 6.)
I have a vague understanding that students from a number of foreign countries perform better, on average, than do American students. But here the author should have provided -- at least for me -- some specifics to be more convincing as to the correctness of his general assertion.
6. “‘ This online life has become an entire strategy for how to live, survive, and thrive in the twenty-first century …’” (Page 7.)
Ever more true. Today, people often find dates and mates online! People shop on-line, etc.
7. “ … the Web browser is only 15 years old ….” (Page 8.)
We’ve heard this type of thing a number of times now, but it still is amazing to think about.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Chapter 1
1. “ … changing the face of journalism and media as we know it.” (Page 4.)
A few years ago I had a discussion with a journalist friend of mine who mentioned that while the economy as a whole might be undergoing a recession, the journalism profession was experiencing a depression, or worse.
2. “ … many CEOs are beginning to catch on to blogging as well.” (Page 5.)
I wonder how vapid these may or may not be? If vapid, I can see such blogs creating cynicism among the rank-and-file.
3. “These technologies make more of our lives transparent to others in ways that many find unsettling.” (Page 5.)
Our lives are now probably much more transparent than we realize. Here is a recent article from the New York Times:
June 20, 2011
Upending Anonymity, These Days the Web Unmasks Everyone
By BRIAN STELTER
Not too long ago, theorists fretted that the Internet was a place where anonymity thrived.
Now, it seems, it is the place where anonymity dies.
A commuter in the New York area who verbally tangled with a conductor last Tuesday — and defended herself by asking “Do you know what schools I’ve been to and how well-educated I am?” — was publicly identified after a fellow rider posted a cellphone video of the encounter on YouTube. The woman, who had gone to N.Y.U., was ridiculed by a cadre of bloggers, one of whom termed it the latest episode of “Name and Shame on the Web.”
Women who were online pen pals of former Representative Anthony D. Weiner similarly learned how quickly Internet users can sniff out all the details of a person’s online life. So did the men who set fire to cars and looted stores in the wake of Vancouver’s Stanley Cup defeat last week when they were identified, tagged by acquaintances online.
The collective intelligence of the Internet’s two billion users, and the digital fingerprints that so many users leave on Web sites, combine to make it more and more likely that every embarrassing video, every intimate photo, and every indelicate e-mail is attributed to its source, whether that source wants it to be or not. This intelligence makes the public sphere more public than ever before and sometimes forces personal lives into public view.
To some, this could conjure up comparisons to the agents of repressive governments in the Middle East who monitor online protests and exact retribution offline. But the positive effects can be numerous: criminality can be ferreted out, falsehoods can be disproved and individuals can become Internet icons.
When a freelance photographer, Rich Lam, digested his pictures of the riots in Vancouver, he spotted several shots of a man and a woman, surrounded by police officers in riot gear, in the middle of a like-nobody’s-watching kiss. When the photos were published, a worldwide dragnet of sorts ensued to identify the “kissing couple.” Within a day, the couple’s relatives had tipped off news Web sites to their identities, and there they were, Monday, on the “Today” show: Scott Jones and Alex Thomas, the latest proof that thanks to the Internet, every day could be a day that will be remembered around the world.
“It’s kind of amazing that there was someone there to take a photo,” Ms. Thomas said on “Today.”
The “kissing couple” will most likely enjoy just a tweet’s worth of fame, but it is noteworthy that they were tracked down at all.
This erosion of anonymity is a product of pervasive social media services, cheap cellphone cameras, free photo and video Web hosts, and perhaps most important of all, a change in people’s views about what ought to be public and what ought to be private. Experts say that Web sites like Facebook, which require real identities and encourage the sharing of photographs and videos, have hastened this change.
“Humans want nothing more than to connect, and the companies that are connecting us electronically want to know who’s saying what, where,” said Susan Crawford, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. “As a result, we’re more known than ever before.”
This growing “publicness,” as it is sometimes called, comes with significant consequences for commerce, for political speech and for ordinary people’s right to privacy. There are efforts by governments and corporations to set up online identity systems. Technology will play an even greater role in the identification of once-anonymous individuals: Facebook, for instance, is already using facial recognition technology in ways that are alarming to European regulators.
After the riots in Vancouver, locals needed no such facial recognition technology — they simply combed through social media sites to try to identify some of the people involved, like Nathan Kotylak, 17, a star on Canada’s junior water polo team.
On Facebook, Mr. Kotylak apologized for the damage he had caused. The finger-pointing affected not only him, it affected his family: local news media reported that his father, a doctor, had seen his ranking on a medical practice review site, RateMDs.com, drop after people posted comments about his son’s involvement in the riots. Other people subsequently went to the Web site to defend the doctor and improve his ranking.
Predictably, there was a backlash to the Internet-assisted identification of the people involved in the alcohol-fueled riot. Camille Cacnio, a student in Vancouver who was photographed during the riot and who admitted to theft, wrote on her blog that the “21st-century witch hunt” on the Internet was “another form of mobbing.”
In the New York area, the commuter who was the subject of online scorn last week shut down both her Twitter and LinkedIn accounts once her name bubbled up on blogs. Though the person who originally posted the cellphone video took it down, other people quickly reposted it, giving the story new life. The original video poster remains anonymous because his or her YouTube account has been shut down.
Half a world away, in Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Syria, activists have sometimes succeeded in identifying victims of dictatorial violence through anonymously uploaded YouTube videos.
They have also succeeded in identifying fakes: In a widely publicized case this month, a blogger who claimed to be a Syrian-American lesbian and called herself “A Gay Girl in Damascus” was revealed to be an American man, Tom MacMaster.
The sleuthing was led by Andy Carvin, a strategist for NPR who has exhaustively covered the Middle Eastern protests on Twitter. When sources of his said they were skeptical of the blogger’s identity, “I just started asking questions on Twitter and Facebook,” Mr. Carvin recalled on CNN. “Have any of you met her in person? Do you know her at all? The more I asked, the less I learned, because no one had met her, not even the reporters who had supposedly interviewed her in person.”
Mr. Carvin, his online followers and others used photos and server log data to connect the blog to Mr. MacMaster’s wife.
“Publicity” — something normally associated with celebrities — “is no longer scarce,” Dave Morgan, the chief executive of Simulmedia, wrote in an essay this month.
He posited that because the Internet “can’t be made to forget” images and moments from the past, like an outburst on a train or a kiss during a riot, “the reality of an inescapable public world is an issue we are all going to hear a lot more about.”
4. “By and large, they are ‘out there’ using a wide variety of technologies that they are told they can’t use when they come to school.” (Page 6.)
I assume this is generally perceived as hypocrisy and simply creates frustration and cynicism.
5. “ … as presenting a risk instead of a solution for a system whose students continue to struggle to stay apace of their international peers.” (Page 6.)
I have a vague understanding that students from a number of foreign countries perform better, on average, than do American students. But here the author should have provided -- at least for me -- some specifics to be more convincing as to the correctness of his general assertion.
6. “‘ This online life has become an entire strategy for how to live, survive, and thrive in the twenty-first century …’” (Page 7.)
Ever more true. Today, people often find dates and mates online! People shop on-line, etc.
7. “ … the Web browser is only 15 years old ….” (Page 8.)
We’ve heard this type of thing a number of times now, but it still is amazing to think about.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Sunday, August 29, 2010
additional 499.add.9 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
When Nero was in doubt how the ingenious varieties of his nightly revels became notorious, Silia came into his mind, who, as a senator's wife, was a conspicuous person, and who had been his chosen associate in all his profligacy and was very intimate with Petronius. She was banished for not having, as was suspected, kept secret what she had seen and endured, a sacrifice to his personal resentment. Minucius Thermus, an ex-praetor, he surrendered to the hate of Tigellinus, because a freedman of Thermus had brought criminal charges against Tigellinus, such that the man had to atone for them himself by the torture of the rack, his patron by an undeserved death.
Nero after having butchered so many illustrious men, at last aspired to extirpate virtue itself by murdering Thrasea Paetus and Barea Soranus. Both men he had hated of old, Thrasea on additional grounds, because he had walked out of the Senate when Agrippina's case was under discussion, as I have already related, and had not given the Juvenile games any conspicuous encouragement. Nero's displeasure at this was the deeper, since this same Thrasea had sung in a tragedian's dress at Patavium, his birth-place, in some games instituted by the Trojan Antenor. On the day, too, on which the praetor Antistius was being sentenced to death for libels on Nero, Thrasea proposed and carried a more merciful decision. Again, when divine honours were decreed to Poppaea, he was purposely absent and did not attend her funeral. All this Capito Cossutianus would not allow to be forgotten. He had a heart eager for the worst wickedness, and he also bore ill-will to Thrasea, the weight of whose influence had crushed him, while envoys from Cilicia, supported by Thrasea's advocacy, were accusing him of extortion.
Nero after having butchered so many illustrious men, at last aspired to extirpate virtue itself by murdering Thrasea Paetus and Barea Soranus. Both men he had hated of old, Thrasea on additional grounds, because he had walked out of the Senate when Agrippina's case was under discussion, as I have already related, and had not given the Juvenile games any conspicuous encouragement. Nero's displeasure at this was the deeper, since this same Thrasea had sung in a tragedian's dress at Patavium, his birth-place, in some games instituted by the Trojan Antenor. On the day, too, on which the praetor Antistius was being sentenced to death for libels on Nero, Thrasea proposed and carried a more merciful decision. Again, when divine honours were decreed to Poppaea, he was purposely absent and did not attend her funeral. All this Capito Cossutianus would not allow to be forgotten. He had a heart eager for the worst wickedness, and he also bore ill-will to Thrasea, the weight of whose influence had crushed him, while envoys from Cilicia, supported by Thrasea's advocacy, were accusing him of extortion.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
rebellion 81.reb.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Silius had a wife, Sosia Galla, whose love of Agrippina made her hateful to the emperor. The two, it was decided, were to be attacked, but Sabinus was to be put off for a time. Varro, the consul, was let loose on them, who, under colour of a hereditary feud, humoured the malignity of Sejanus to his own disgrace. The accused begged a brief respite, until the prosecutor's consulship expired, but the emperor opposed the request. "It was usual," he argued, "for magistrates to bring a private citizen to trial, and a consul's authority ought not to be impaired, seeing that it rested with his vigilance to guard the commonwealth from loss." It was characteristic of Tiberius to veil new devices in wickedness under ancient names. And so, with a solemn appeal, he summoned the Senate, as if there were any laws by which Silius was being tried, as if Varro were a real consul, or Rome a commonwealth. The accused either said nothing, or, if he attempted to defend himself, hinted, not obscurely, at the person whose resentment was crushing him. A long concealed complicity in Sacrovir's rebellion, a rapacity which sullied his victory, and his wife Sosia's conduct, were alleged against him. Unquestionably, they could not extricate themselves from the charge of extortion. The whole affair however was conducted as a trial for treason, and Silius forestalled impending doom by a self-inflicted death.
Yet there was a merciless confiscation of his property, though not to refund their money to the provincials, none of whom pressed any demand. But Augustus's bounty was wrested from him, and the claims of the imperial exchequer were computed in detail. This was the first instance on Tiberius's part of sharp dealing with the wealth of others. Sosia was banished on the motion of Asinius Gallus, who had proposed that half her estate should be confiscated, half left to the children. Marcus Lepidus, on the contrary, was for giving a fourth to the prosecutors, as the law required, and the remainder to the children.
Yet there was a merciless confiscation of his property, though not to refund their money to the provincials, none of whom pressed any demand. But Augustus's bounty was wrested from him, and the claims of the imperial exchequer were computed in detail. This was the first instance on Tiberius's part of sharp dealing with the wealth of others. Sosia was banished on the motion of Asinius Gallus, who had proposed that half her estate should be confiscated, half left to the children. Marcus Lepidus, on the contrary, was for giving a fourth to the prosecutors, as the law required, and the remainder to the children.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Pliny the Younger 0.pty.992 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
C. Pliny the Younger
Of greater importance is the letter of Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan (about A.D. 61-115), in which the Governor of Bithynia consults his imperial majesty as to how to deal with the Christians living within his jurisdiction. On the one hand, their lives were confessedly innocent; no crime could be proved against them excepting their Christian belief, which appeared to the Roman as an extravagant and perverse superstition. On the other hand, the Christians could not be shaken in their allegiance to Christ, Whom they celebrated as their God in their early morning meetings (Ep., X, 97, 98). Christianity here appears no longer as a religion of criminals, as it does in the texts of Tacitus and Suetonius; Pliny acknowledges the high moral principles of the Christians, admires their constancy in the Faith (pervicacia et inflexibilis obstinatio), which he appears to trace back to their worship of Christ (carmenque Christo, quasi Deo, dicere).
Of greater importance is the letter of Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan (about A.D. 61-115), in which the Governor of Bithynia consults his imperial majesty as to how to deal with the Christians living within his jurisdiction. On the one hand, their lives were confessedly innocent; no crime could be proved against them excepting their Christian belief, which appeared to the Roman as an extravagant and perverse superstition. On the other hand, the Christians could not be shaken in their allegiance to Christ, Whom they celebrated as their God in their early morning meetings (Ep., X, 97, 98). Christianity here appears no longer as a religion of criminals, as it does in the texts of Tacitus and Suetonius; Pliny acknowledges the high moral principles of the Christians, admires their constancy in the Faith (pervicacia et inflexibilis obstinatio), which he appears to trace back to their worship of Christ (carmenque Christo, quasi Deo, dicere).
Saturday, June 26, 2010
relative 399.rel.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Here we provide recommendations to improve predictions and support continued growth of this industry.
(Ng, Murray, and Venter, 2009). My thinking was that the industry-friendly bias affords reduced skepticism of the article’s criticisms of the industry. Additionally, the Ng et al. (2009) article references a “ … statement of conflicting interests … “ which adds to its persuasiveness. The bottom-line?
Agreement on risk predictions by DTC [direct to consumer] companies does not necessarily imply that the predictions are accurate or meaningful, and at this point in time [October 2009], we cannot determine who has the ‘best’ predictions. To effectively assess the clinical validity of these genetic tests the community needs more prospective studies with tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals that measure the predictive value of known markers. [Footnotes omitted.] Such studies are useful because they consider risk markers simultaneously, measure the interaction between different markers and do not assume a risk model. It may be practical to prioritize common diseases with significant health impact because of the large numbers of individuals and the expense associated with prospective studies.
(Ng et al., 2009). Apparently, then, the connection between the DTC predictions and expected realty is -- hopefully – an educated guess. Tellingly, when Ng et al. (2009) submitted the DNA of five people to two of the largest DTC companies, at best
… only two-thirds of relative risk predictions qualitatively agree between 23andMe and Navigenics.
Ethically, then, how does one assess handling this level of results’ ‘meaning’? In a nutshell, one of Wright and Keoese’s (2010) conclusions is:
However, to offer such tests to interested citizens who wish to investigate their own genomes or participate directly in the research process, is appropriate so long as providers are transparent about the evidence base for the test and offer appropriate levels of support.
(Ng, Murray, and Venter, 2009). My thinking was that the industry-friendly bias affords reduced skepticism of the article’s criticisms of the industry. Additionally, the Ng et al. (2009) article references a “ … statement of conflicting interests … “ which adds to its persuasiveness. The bottom-line?
Agreement on risk predictions by DTC [direct to consumer] companies does not necessarily imply that the predictions are accurate or meaningful, and at this point in time [October 2009], we cannot determine who has the ‘best’ predictions. To effectively assess the clinical validity of these genetic tests the community needs more prospective studies with tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals that measure the predictive value of known markers. [Footnotes omitted.] Such studies are useful because they consider risk markers simultaneously, measure the interaction between different markers and do not assume a risk model. It may be practical to prioritize common diseases with significant health impact because of the large numbers of individuals and the expense associated with prospective studies.
(Ng et al., 2009). Apparently, then, the connection between the DTC predictions and expected realty is -- hopefully – an educated guess. Tellingly, when Ng et al. (2009) submitted the DNA of five people to two of the largest DTC companies, at best
… only two-thirds of relative risk predictions qualitatively agree between 23andMe and Navigenics.
Ethically, then, how does one assess handling this level of results’ ‘meaning’? In a nutshell, one of Wright and Keoese’s (2010) conclusions is:
However, to offer such tests to interested citizens who wish to investigate their own genomes or participate directly in the research process, is appropriate so long as providers are transparent about the evidence base for the test and offer appropriate levels of support.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Hope 551.Hop.992 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Dolores and Bob Hope have been married over fifty years, and throughout those memorable years she has shared the joy of giving to the world. Her dedication to home, family, the Roman Catholic Church and her many charitable endeavors for the unfortunate of the world notes Dolores Hope as one of the world's great humanitarians.
One of her most active philanthropies is her service to the Eisenhower Medical Center at Palm Desert, California. From 1968 to 1976, much of the hospital's early achievements are credited to the efforts of Dolores Hope. She presently is Chairman of the Board for the hospital, serves on the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and gives unstinting support to her husband's many humanitarian works.
One of her most active philanthropies is her service to the Eisenhower Medical Center at Palm Desert, California. From 1968 to 1976, much of the hospital's early achievements are credited to the efforts of Dolores Hope. She presently is Chairman of the Board for the hospital, serves on the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and gives unstinting support to her husband's many humanitarian works.
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