Guitar-lele ~ Classical Guitar Strings

For my Guitar-lele, I just found out that I can actually buy strings meant for the '3/4 Size Classical Guitar' like this one shown here. And it's cheaper too... the one for the normal Classical Guitar cost $10+ but this one only cost $8 because the strings are shorter. I got mine from the Yamaha Shop in Thomson Plaza, Singapore.

$10+ is the cost of a full set of Strings for the Normal Classical Guitar.
$8 is the cost of a full set of Strings for the 3/4 Size Classical Guitar (my Guitar-lele is so much smaller).

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EJ27N 3/4 Guitar Student Classics Normal Tension

http://store.daddario.com/category/395307/EJ27N_34_Guitar_Student_Classics_Normal_Tension

This set is optimized for 3/4 Size classical guitars. 

J27 classical guitar strings are great for beginners and students. 

The set contains 3 clear nylon trebles and 3 silverplated copper wound on nylon basses for warm, long lasting tone. 

		Diameter		Tension
Item#	Note	inches	mm	lbs	kg
SNYL029	E	.029	0.74	14.6	6.65
SNYL033	B	.033	0.86	10.8	4.92
SNYL042	G	.042	1.05	10.6	4.81
J4404	D	.030	0.76	13.7	6.23
J4505	A	.035	0.89	12.6	5.74
J4606	E	.044	1.12	12.2	5.55

===.

Having A "Strike" In The Family Is Not Good ~ by PGA

===.
I've learnt that...
it is very important for The Family to be united 
in LOVE, even in times of conflict so that outside 
forces will not take advantage of this situation.
~ 49 years old

===.
Having A "Strike" In The Family Is Not Good ~ by PGA
.
This appeared in the front page of today's Australian Newspaper (see below).

.

I find this article interesting in relation to a pet topic of mine... The Family.

When this family (Qantas Airlines) has a problem... outsiders (Other Airlines) may take advantage of this situation and benefit from it. Qantas is losing lots of money in this strike. Now... it is possible for the other Airlines to come in to meet the needs of the stranded passengers and make that exact money that Qantas is losing.

The Family has to stay united even in times of conflict and dialog with lots of LOVE to reach a consensus of mutual benefit without letting any outsider come in and take control.

For example... A child is in dispute with his parents and is "on strike" by not being on talking terms with his parents. The School has an agenda to sack this child because they find him a big trouble-maker in school. When the child fails an exam, the school takes this opportunity to sack the child. Parents are distracted and finds out late that there's a useful loop-hole to keep the child in school by going to MOE (Ministry Of Education) who has the child's best interest at heart. On finding out this useful loop-hole, the parents tries to speak to the child that it is possible to remain in school... but the parent-child relationship now has a wall that makes communication impossible. Outside forces (the School) has triumphed and able to achieve their objective of getting rid of the child... the family has lost by not being united even while in conflict.

I've learnt that... it is very important for The Family to be united in LOVE, even in times of conflict so that outside forces will not take advantage of this situation.

Here's the full news article below...

===.

News Article:

31 Oct 2011

The Australian

by STEVE CREEDY & EWIN HANNAN

Cost of Qantas crisis hits $250m a day and rising

TENS OF THOUSANDS STRANDED GOVERNMENT TURNS ON AIRLINE

'I believe it is well within the capacity for people to resolve this dispute without Qantas locking out its customers' BILL SHORTEN ASSISTANT TREASURER

TENS OF thousands of passengers remained stranded across Australia and the world last night as the bitter dispute between Qantas and its unions dragged on at a cost to the national economy of more than $250 million a day. Last night, 108 planes were parked in ports around the world, more than 24 hours after the airline ordered the grounding of its entire global fleet. Almost 70,000 passengers have been affected so far by the cancellation of 447 Qantas flights. Qantas said last night the earliest its planes could return to the skies would be midday today. 

A marathon hearing before Fair Work Australia stretched late into last night, with government lawyers warning that the drawnout proceedings were increasing the damage to the economy. The federal government estimated the daily cost to the tourism industry at $256m in the consumption of goods and services, and $93m a day in gross domestic product. 

Tourism and Transport Forum boss John Lee warned of the damage the no-fly edict would have on tomorrow's Melbourne Cup. ''There are no winners in this — we need Qantas to fly,'' he said. 

Qantas forced the government to make an emergency application to Fair Work Australia on Saturday night after its extraordinary announcement that it would ground its international and domestic fleet ahead of a move to lock out workers from three unions from 8pm today. The decision did not affect lowcost subsidiary Jetstar or regional carrier Qantaslink. Qantas last night directly warned Fair Work Australia that it could keep its fleet grounded unless the tribunal terminated the bargaining period with unions. 

As the tribunal hearing entered it's ninth hour, Qantas used its final submission to reiterate its opposition to the union bid to have the bargaining period suspended rather than terminated. The decision caused a political brawl as Tony Abbott accused Julia Gillard of falling asleep at the wheel and taking too long to act on the dispute. Speaking in Perth as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting wrapped up, the Prime Minister defended her actions and argued that it offered the best solution to provide a lasting resolution to the dispute and return air services to normal. ''We took this action when the dispute escalated,'' she said. ''We did it because we were concerned about damage to the national economy . . . I believe Australians want to see this dispute settled.'' 

But the Opposition Leader accused Ms Gillard of a failure of leadership, insisting she should have used her legislative powers to order unions back to work rather than leaving the issue at the discretion of Fair Work Australia. Warning the dispute was damaging the economy, Mr Abbott said: ''The government has the powers in the existing act to resolve this dispute. The Prime Minister should use them, and she should get the planes back in the skies safely as soon as possible.'' 

Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten muscled up to Qantas outside the Fair Work Australia hearing in Melbourne, describing the carrier's actions as over the top. ''The government doesn't want to play the blame game, but wants to see the dispute between Qantas and the unions resolved,'' said Mr Shorten, a former Australian Workers Union national secretary who was prominent during the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster. ''I certainly believe it is well within the capacity for people to resolve this dispute without Qantas locking out its customers. ''We think that if any party had taken this sort of strike action against the customers of this scale and this dimension, we think that's over the top.'' Since taking on the junior Treasury role, Mr Shorten has worked on building his links with business. 

Qantas last night told Fair Work Australia it would not concede to the union claims and suspension would allow unions to continue to undermine the airline. It said there was a ''real and serious prospect'' the airline would not resume flying if the tribunal only granted a suspension. In its final submission, the Gillard government backed termination, a position immediately opposed by the ACTU. The government said termination would be a circuit-breaker to the dispute, as suspension could lead to another lockout by Qantas. Unions are seeking an order that suspends industrial action for 90 and 120 days. They said Qantas was attempting to remove the unions' bargaining power by pushing for a ban on industrial action. The tribunal's full bench is hearing union submissions and is then expected to adjourn to consider its verdict. The timing of a decision remains unclear. Unions yesterday pointed out documents tabled at Saturday's hearing that showed Qantas management discussed locking out its workforce and grounding its fleet before October 20. A confidential risk assessment prepared for Qantas operations chief Lyell Strambi set out risks resulting from ''extreme industrial action scenarios'', including those associated with the company locking out employees and immediately grounding the fleet. The document, prepared by the head of Qantas Airlines Safety, Susan D'ath Weston, analyses three recovery scenarios, and concludes that a return to flying while under binding arbitration is the best option available. The favoured option set out in the document was followed by Qantas, prompting union claims the lockout was premeditated. 

Union lawyers spent part of the hearing cross-examining Qantas management about the strategy leading up to the lockout, including when the airline decided to embark on the action. At the hearing, the government urged the unions and the company to focus on the issue of whether the bargaining period should be terminated or suspended. After six hours of hearings, the government told the tribunal last night its preferred course would be for the bargaining period to be terminated, a position consistent with Qantas management's. It said if the tribunal elected not to terminate the bargaining period, industrial action should be suspended for no less than 120 days. The commonwealth position was backed by Queensland, NSW and Victoria but opposed by unions, who urged a suspension. ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons told the full bench the government's position should be rejected and the most sensible outcome would be to suspend action for between 90 and 120 days. Qantas wants unions prevented from taking any further industrial action, claiming suspension will not return certainty and confidence. Unions oppose termination of the bargaining period and instead want industrial action suspended for 120 days. Under the union plan, Qantas and the unions would report back to the tribunal after four weeks of negotiations. If there was no prospect of resolution at that time, the unions said it would be open to the government to apply to terminate or further suspend the action. 

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce agreed yesterday that the airline had been planning for a potential lockout for several weeks but insisted a decision on the issue was not made until Saturday morning. Mr Joyce said the airline had decided to ground the airline on Saturday after a risk assessment raised potential safety problems such as pilots getting distracted. He cited worries about leaks and their impact on safety for the short notice given to the government. Mr Joyce again defended the move as a response to union threats to escalate action and continue long-term campaigns despite overwhelming support for management in voting in last week's annual meeting. ''The long process of a death by 1000 cuts — the slow bake as (union official) Steve Purvinas called it — would have killed morale, it would have killed jobs, it would have killed our customer loyalty,'' Mr Joyce said yesterday. ''It would have caused more disruptions to the customers and at the end of the day that wasn't a viable option.'' 

But unions accused airline management of a bizarre overreaction and failing to tell shareholders about the plans. Australian and International Pilots Association vice-president Richard Woodward disputed the claims that reaction to the lockout would raise safety issues. Captain Woodward said Qantas sent messages to aircraft that were still airborne saying they would be grounded on arrival. ''I've tried to make the point to the media that the pilots are professionals and that safety above all else is their first priority and they're not likely to do anything stupid,'' he said. Other airlines moved yesterday to step into the gap left by Qantas with special fares and by putting on extra capacity. Virgin Australia and partner Etihad Airways reached a deal to allow the Australian carrier to use an Etihad Airbus A340 and crew between Melbourne and Sydney for several days next week. 

Virgin was also working on plans to use a Singapore Airlines aircraft on key domestic routes and for Air New Zealand to take up Virgin trans-tasman routes in order to release Australian Boeing 737s for domestic use. Virgin said it had already carried more than 20,000 Qantas passengers on special discounted fares available to Qantas passengers over the next four days. Chief executive John Borghetti said the airline operated close to 100 per cent full yesterday, with punctuality in the mid-90 per cent range. He said the airline still had about 60,000 seats available for passengers this week.

===.
Qantas spokeswoman discusses strikes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdq8V3B-85w

===.

Right Ticks and Wrong Crosses (to Copy & Paste)

Very useful. I found these symbols...
'☐, ☑, ✔, ☒, & ✘'...
that I had wanted to use here.
They're known as check box, ballot box, check mark, ballot X... etc.

✔ ✘ 

===.

Useful ASCII Code ~ To Copy & Paste

 ~ by http://www.edlazorvfx.com/ysu/html/ascii.html

HTML & XHTML Special Characters

These symbols should display in files using charsets ISO 8859-1 or UTF-8.

===.

[ " ] quotation mark [name: "] [number: "]
[ & ] ampersand [name: &] [number: &]
[ < ] less than [name: &lt;] [number: &#60;]
[ > ] greater than [name: &gt;] [number: &#62;]
[ ] non-breaking space [name: &nbsp;] [number: &#160;]
[ ¡ ] inverted exclamation mark [name: &iexcl;] [number: &#161;]
[ ¢ ] cent [name: &cent; ] [number: &#162;]
[ £ ] pound [name: &pound;] [number: &#163;]
[ ¤ ] currency [name: &curren;] [number: &#164;]
[ ¥ ] yen [name: &yen;] [number: &#165;]
[ € ] euro sign [name: &euro;] [number: &#8364;]
[ ¦ ] broken vertical bar [name: &brvbar;] [number: &#166;]
[ § ] section [name: &sect;] [number: &#167;]
[ ¨ ] spacing dieresis [name: &uml;] [number: &#168;]
[ © ] copyright [name: &copy;] [number: &#169;]
[ ª ] feminine ordinal indicator [name: &ordf;] [number: &#170;]
[ « ] left angle quotation mark [name: &laquo;] [number: &#171;]
[ ¬ ] negation [number: &not;] [number: &#172;]
[­] soft hyphen [name: &shy;] [number: &#173;]
[ ® ] registered trademark [name: &reg;] [number: &#174;]
[ ™ ] trademark [name: &trade;] [number: &#8482;
[ ¯ ] spacing macron [name: &macr;] [number: &#175;]
[ ° ] degree - e.g. 45° [name: &deg;] [number: &#176;]
[ ± ] plus-or-minus [name: &plusmn;] [number: &#177;]
[ ² ] superscript 2 [name: &sup2;] [number: &#178;]
[ ³ ] superscript 3 [name: &sup3;] [number: &#179;]
[ ´ ] spacing acute [name: &acute;] [number: &#180;]
[ µ ] micro [name: &micro;] [number: &#181;]
[ ¶ ] paragraph [name: &para;] [number: &#182;]
[ · ] middle dot [name: &middot;] [number: &#183;]
[ ¸ ] spacing cedilla [name: &cedil;] [number: &#184;]
[ ¹ ] superscript 1 [name: &sup1;] [number: &#185;]
[ º ] masculine ordinal indicator [name: &ordm;] [number: &#186;]
[ » ] right angle quotation mark [name: &raquo;] [number: &#187;]
[ ¼ ] fraction 1/4 [name: &frac14;] [number: &#188;]
[ ½ ] fraction 1/2 [name: &frac12;] [number: &#189;]
[ ¾ ] fraction 3/4 [name: &frac34;] [number: &#190;]
[ ¿ ] inverted question mark [name: &iquest;] [number: &#191;]
[ × ] multiplication [name: &times;] [number: &#215;]
[ ÷ ] division [name: &divide;] [number: &#247;]
[ À ] capital a, grave accent [name: &Agrave;] [number: &#192;]
[ Á ] capital a, acute accent [name: &Aacute;] [number: &#193;]
[ Â ] capital a, circumflex accent [name: &Acirc;] [number: &#194;]
[ Ã ] capital a, tilde [name: &Atilde;] [number: &#195;]
[ Ä ] capital a, umlaut mark [name: &Auml;] [number: &#196;]
[ Å ] capital a, ring [name: &Aring;] [number: &#197;]
[ Æ ] capital ae [name: &AElig;] [number: &#198;]
[ Ç ] capital c, cedilla [name: &Ccedil;] [number: &#199;]
[ È ] capital e, grave accent [name: &Egrave;] [number: &#200;]
[ É ] capital e, acute accent [name: &Eacute;] [number: &#201;]
[ Ê ] capital e, circumflex accent [name: &Ecirc;] [number: &#202;]
[ Ë ] capital e, umlaut mark [name: &Euml;] [number: &#203;]
[ Ì ] capital i, grave accent [name: &Igrave;] [number: &#204;]
[ Í ] capital i, acute accent [name: &Iacute;] [number: &#205;]
[ Î ] capital i, circumflex accent [name: &Icirc;] [number: &#206;]
[ Ï ] capital i, umlaut mark [name: &Iuml;] [number: &#207;]
[ Ð ] capital eth, Icelandic [name: &ETH;] [number: &#208;]
[ Ñ ] capital n, tilde [name: &Ntilde;] [number: &#209;]
[ Ò ] capital o, grave accent [name: &Ograve;] [number: &#210;]
[ Ó ] capital o, acute accent [name: &Oacute;] [number: &#211;]
[ Ô ] capital o, circumflex accent [name: &Ocirc;] [number: &#212;]
[ Õ ] capital o, tilde [name: &Otilde;] [number: &#213;]
[ Ö ] capital o, umlaut mark [name: &Ouml;] [number: &#214;]
[ Ø ] capital o, slash [name: &Oslash;] [number: &#216;]
[ Ù ] capital u, grave accent [name: &Ugrave;] [number: &#217;]
[ Ú ] capital u, acute accent [name: &Uacute;] [number: &#218;]
[ Û ] capital u, circumflex accent [name: &Ucirc;] [number: &#219;]
[ Ü ] capital u, umlaut mark [name: &Uuml;] [number: &#220;]
[ Ý ] capital y, acute accent [name: &Yacute;] [number: &#221;]
[ Þ ] capital THORN, Icelandic [name: &THORN;] [number: &#222;]
[ ß ] small sharp s, German [name: &szlig;] [number: &#223;]
[ à ] small a, grave accent [name: &agrave;] [number: &#224;]
[ á ] small a, acute accent [name: &aacute;] [number: &#225;]
[ â ] small a, circumflex accent [name: &acirc;] [number: &#226;]
[ ã ] small a, tilde [name: &atilde;] [number: &#227;]
[ ä ] small a, umlaut mark [name: &auml;] [number: &#228;]
[ å ] small a, ring [name: &aring;] [number: &#229;]
[ æ ] small ae [name: &aelig;] [number: &#230;]
[ ç ] small c, cedilla [name: &ccedil;] [number: &#231;]
[ è ] small e, grave accent [name: &egrave;] [number: &#232;]
[ é ] small e, acute accent [name: &eacute;] [number: &#233;]
[ ê ] small e, circumflex accent [name: &ecirc;] [number: &#234;]
[ ë ] small e, umlaut mark [name: &euml;] [number: &#235;]
[ ì ] small i, grave accent [name: &igrave;] [number: &#236;]
[ í ] small i, acute accent [name: &iacute;] [number: &#237;]
[ î ] small i, circumflex accent [name: &icirc;] [number: &#238;]
[ ï ] small i, umlaut mark [name: &iuml;] [number: &#239;]
[ ð ] small eth, Icelandic [name: &eth;] [number: &#240;]
[ ñ ] small n, tilde [name: &ntilde;] [number: &#241;]
[ ò ] small o, grave accent [name: &ograve;] [number: &#242;]
[ ó ] small o, acute accent [name: &oacute;] [number: &#243;]
[ ô ] small o, circumflex accent [name: &ocirc;] [number: &#244;]
[ õ ] small o, tilde [name: &otilde;] [number: &#245;]
[ ö ] small o, umlaut mark [name: &ouml;] [number: &#246;]
[ ø ] small o, slash [name: &oslash;] [number: &#248;]
[ ù ] small u, grave accent [name: &ugrave;] [number: &#249;]
[ ú ] small u, acute accent [name: &uacute;] [number: &#250;]
[ û ] small u, circumflex accent [name: &ucirc;] [number: &#251;]
[ ü ] small u, umlaut mark [name: &uuml;] [number: &#252;]
[ ý ] small y, acute accent [name: &yacute;] [number: &#253;]
[ þ ] small thorn, Icelandic [name: &thorn;] [number: &#254;]
[ ÿ ] small y, umlaut mark [name: &yuml;] [number: &#255;]
[ Π] Latin capital ligature [name: &OElig;] [number: &#338;]
[ œ ] Latin small ligature [name: &oelig;] [number: &#339;]
[ Š ] Latin capital letter S with caron [name: &Scaron;] [number: &#352;]
[ š ] Latin small letter s with caron [name: &scaron;] [number: &#353;]
[ Ÿ ] Latin capital letter Y with diaeresis [name: &Yuml;] [number: &#376;]
[ ˆ ] modifier letter circumflex accent [name: &circ;] [number: &#710;]
[ ˜ ] small tilde [name: &tilde] [number: &#732;]

General Punctuation

[ ] en space [name: &ensp;] [number: &#8194;]
[ ] em space [name: &emsp;] [number: &#8195;]
[ ] thin space [name: &thinsp] [number: &#8201;]
[ ‌ ] zero width non-joiner [name: &zwnj;] [number: &8204;]
[ ‍ ] zero width joiner [name: &zwj;] [number: &#8205;]
[ ‎ ] left-to-right mark [name: &lrm;] [number: &#8206;]
[ ‏ ] right-to-left mark [name: &rlm;] [number: &#8207;]
[ – ] en dash [name: &ndash;] [number: &#8211;]
[ — ] em dash [name: &mdash;] [number: &#8212;]
[ ' ] left single quotation mark [name: &lsquo;] [number: &#8216;]
[ ' ] right single quotation mark [name: &rsquo;] [number: &#8217;]
[ ‚ ] single low-9 quotation mark [name: &sbquo;] [number: &#8218;]
[ " ] left double quotation mark [name: &ldquo;] [number: &#8220;]
[ " ] right double quotation mark [name: &rdquo;] [number: &#8221;]
[ „ ] double low-9 quotation mark [name: &bdquo;] [number: &#8222;]
[ † ] dagger [name: &dagger;] [number: &#8224;]
[ ‡ ] double dagger [name: &Dagger;] [number: &#8225;]
[ ‰ ] per mille sign [name: &permil;] [number: &#8240;]
[ ‹ ] single left-pointing angle quotation mark [name: &lsaquo;] [number: &#8249;]
[ › ] single right-pointing angle quotation mark [name: &rsaquo;] [number: &#8250;]
[ ƒ ] Latin small f with hook [name: &fnof;] [number: &#402;]
[ • ] bullet = black small circle [name: &bull;] [number: &#8226;]
[ … ] horizontal ellipsis = three dot leader [name: &hellip;] [number: &#8230;]
[ ′ ] prime = minutes = feet [name: &prime;] [number: &#8242;]
[ ″ ] double prime = seconds = inches [name: &Prime;] [number: &#8243;]
[ ‾ ] overline = spacing overscore [name: &oline;] [number: &#8254;]
[ ⁄ ] fraction slash [name: &frasl;] [number: &#8260;]
[ ℘ ] script capital P = power set = Weierstrass p [name: &weierp;] [number: &#8472;]
[ ℑ ] black-letter capital I = imaginary part [name: &image;] [number: &#8465;]
[ ℜ ] black-letter capital R = real part symbol [name: &real;] [number: &#8476;]
[ ℵ ] aleph symbol = first transfinite cardinal [name: &alefsym;] [number: &#8501;]
[ ← ] leftwards arrow [name: &larr;] [number: &#8592;]
[ ↑ ] upwards arrow [name: &uarr;] [number: &#8593;]
[ → ] rightwards arrow [name: &rarr;] [number: &#8594;]
[ ↓ ] downwards arrow [name: &darr;] [number: &#8495;]
[ ↔ ] left right arrow [name: &harr;] [number: &#8596;]
[ ↵ ] down arrow - corner leftwards = carriage return [name: &crarr;] [number: &#8629;]
[ ⇐ ] leftwards double arrow [name: &lArr;] [number: &#8656;]
[ ⇑ ] upwards double arrow [name: &uArr;] [number: &#8657;]
[ ⇒ ] rightwards double arrow [name: &rArr;] [number: &#8658;]
[ ⇓ ] downwards double arrow [name: &dArr;] [number: &#8659;]
[ ⇔ ] left right double arrow [name: &hArr;] [number: &#8660;]

Mathematical Operators

[ ∀ ] for all [name: &forall;] [number: &#8704;]
[ ∂ ] partial differential [name: &part;] [number: &#8706;]
[ ∃ ] there exists [name: &exist;] [number: &#8707;]
[ ∅ ] empty set = null set = diameter [name: &empty;] [number: &#8709;]
[ ∇ ] nabla = backward difference [name: &nabla;] [number: &#8711;]
[ ∈ ] element of [name: &isin;] [number: &#8712;]
[ ∉ ] not an element of [name: &notin;] [number: &#8713;]
[ ∋ ] contains as member [name: &ni;] [number: &#8715;]
[ ∏ ] n-array product = product sign [name: &prod;] [number: &#8719;]
[ ∑ ] n-array summation [name: &sum;] [number: &#8721;]
[ − ] minus sign [name: &minus;] [number: &#8722;]
[ ∗ ] asterisk operator [name: &lowast;] [number: &#8727;]
[ √ ] square root [name: &radic;] [number: &#8730;]
[ ∝ ] proportional to [name: &prop;] [number: &#8733;]
[ ∞ ] infinity [name: &infin;] [number: &#8734;]
[ ∠ ] angle [name: &ang;] [number: &#8736;]
[ ∧ ] logical and = wedge [name: &and;] [number: &#8743;]
[ ∨ ] logical or = vee [name: &or;] [number: &#8744;]
[ ∩ ] intersection = cap [name: &cap;] [number: &#8745;]
[ ∪ ] union = cup [name: &cup;] [number: &#8746;]
[ ∫ ] integral [name: &int;] [number: &#8747;]
[ ∴ ] therefore [name: &there4;] [number: &#8756;]
[ ∼ ] tilde operator = varies with = similar to [name: &sim;] [number: &#8764;]
[ ≅ ] approximately equal to [name: &cong;] [number: &#8773;]
[ ≈ ] almost equal to = asymptotic to [name: &asymp;] [number: &#8776;]
[ ≠ ] not equal to [name: &ne;] [number: &#8800;]
[ ≡ ] identical to [name: &equiv;] [number: &#8801;]
[ ≤ ] less-than or equal to [name: &le;] [number: &#8804;]
[ ≥ ] greater-than or equal to [name: &ge;] [number: &#8805;]
[ ⊂ ] subset of [name: &sub;] [number: &#8834;]
[ ⊃ ] superset of [name: &sup;] [number: &#8835;]
[ ⊄ ] not a subset of [name: &nsub;] [number: &#8836;]
[ ⊆ ] subset of or equal to [name: &sube;] [number: &#8838;]
[ ⊇ ] superset of or equal to [name: &supe;] [number: &#8839;]
[ ⊕ ] circled plus = direct sum [name: &oplus;] [number: &#8853;]
[ ⊗ ] circled times = vector product [name: &otimes;] [number: &#8855;]
[ ⊥ ] up tack = orthogonal to = perpendicular [name: &perp;] [number: &#8869;]
[ ⋅ ] dot operator [name: &sdot;] [number: &#8901;]

Miscellaneous Technical

[ ⌈ ] left ceiling = apl upstile [name: &lceil;] [number: &#8968;]
[ ⌉ ] right ceiling [name: &rceil;] [number: &#8969;]
[ ⌊ ] left floor = apl downstile [name: &lfloor;] [number: &#8970;]
[ ⌋ ] right floor [name: &rfloor;] [number: &#8971;]
[ 〈 ] left-pointing angle bracket = bra [name: &lang;] [number: &#9001;]
[ 〉 ] right-pointing angle bracket = ket [name: &rang;] [number: &#9002;]

Expanded Character Entity List: Miscellaneous Symbols

[ ℠ ] Service Mark [number: &#8480]
[ ℃ ] Celsius [number: &#8451;]
[ ℅ ] care of [number: &#8453;]
[ ◊ ] diamond [name: &loz;] [number: &#9674;]
[ ℉ ] Fahrenheit [number: &#8457;]
[ № ] numero symbol - number sign [number: &#8470;]
[ ℗ ] Sound Recording Copyright [number: &#8471;]
[ ℞ ] Prescription Take pharmaceutical symbol [number: &#8478;]
[ Ω ] Ohm [number: &#8486;]
[ ℧ ] Inverted Ohm [number: &#8487;]
[ ☀ ] sunshine - sun [ number: &#9728;]
[ ☁ ] cloudy - cloud [ number: &#9729;]
[ ☂ ] raining - rain [ number: &#9730;]
[ ☃ ] snow - snowman [ number: &#9731;]
[ ☄ ] comet [ number: &#9732;]
[ ★ ] star solid [ number: &#9733;]
[ ☆ ] star outline [ number: &#9734;]
[ ☇ ] lightning [ number: &#9735;]
[ ☈ ] thunderstorm [ number: &#9736;]
[ ☉ ] sun [ number: &#9737;]
[ ☊ ] ascending node [ number: &#9738;]
[ ☋ ] descending node [ number: &#9739;]
[ ☌ ] conjunction [ number: &#9740;]
[ ☍ ] opposition [ number: &#9741;]
[ ☎ ] phone number - phone service [ number: &#9742;]
[ ☏ ] phone symbol outline [ number: &#9743;]
[ ☐ ] check box - ballot box [ number: &#9744;]
[ ☑ ] ballot box check mark [ number: &#9745;]
[ ☒ ] ballot box with X [ number: &#9746;]
[ ☓ ] Saltire - St. Andrew's Cross [ number: &#9747;]
[ ☚ ] left-pointing index finger [number: &#9754;]
[ ☛ ] right-pointing index finger [number: &#9755;]
[ ☜ ] left-pointing index finger [number: &#9756;]
[ ☝ ] upwards pointing index finger [number: &#9757;]
[ ☞ ] right pointing index finger [number: &#9758;]
[ ☟ ] downwards pointing index finger [number: &#9759;]
[ ☠ ] skull & crossbones [number: &#9760;]
[ ☡ ] caution sign [ number: &#9761;]
[ ☢ ] radioactive sign [number: &#9762;]
[ ☣ ] biohazard sign [number: &#9763;]
[ ☤ ] Caduceus or "Kerykeion" [number: &#9764;]
[ ☥ ] Ankh [number: &#9765;]
[ ☦ ] Eastern Christian Cross [number: &#9766;]
[ ☧ ] Chi Rho Cross [number: &#9767;]
[ ☨ ] Patriarchal Cross [number: &#9768;]
[ ☩ ] Greek Cross [number: &#9769;]
[ ☪ ] Crescent Moon & Star [ number: &#9770;]
[ ☫ ] Farsi symbol [ number: &#9771;]
[ ☬ ] Adi Shakti [ number: &#9772;]
[ ☭ ] hammer & sickle [ number: &#9773;]
[ ☮ ] peace sign [ number: &#9774;]
[ ☯ ] yin & yang [ number: &#9775;]
[ ☰ ] trigram Heaven [ number: &#9776;]
[ ☱ ] trigram Lake [ number: &#9777;]
[ ☲ ] trigram Fire [ number: &#9778;]
[ ☳ ] trigram Thunder [ number: &#9779;]
[ ☴ ] trigram Wind [ number: &#9780;]
[ ☵ ] trigram Water [ number: &#9781;]
[ ☶ ] trigram Mountain [ number: &#9782;]
[ ☷ ] trigram Heaven [ number: &#9783;]
[ ☸ ] Dharma Wheel [number: &#9784;]
[ ☹ ] frowning face [number: &#9785;]
[ ☺ ] smiley face [number: &#9786;]
[ ☻ ] black smiley face [number: &#9787;]
[ ☽ ] waxing crescent moon [number: &#9789;]
[ ☾ ] waning crescent moon [number: &#9790;]
[ ☿ ] Mercury [number: &#9791;]
[ ♀ ] Venus - Female symbol [number: &#9792;]
[ ♁ ] Earth symbol [number: &#9793;]
[ ♂ ] Mars - Male symbol [number: &#9794;]
[ ♃ ] Jupiter [number: &#9795;]
[ ♄ ] Saturn [number: &#9796;]
[ ♅ ] Uranus [number: &#9797;]
[ ♆ ] Neptune [number: &#9798;]
[ ♇ ] Pluto [number: &#9799;]
[ ♈ ] Aries [number: &#9800;]
[ ♉ ] Taurus [number: &#9801;]
[ ♊ ] Gemini [number: &#9802;]
[ ♋ ] Cancer [number: &#9803;]
[ ♌ ] Leo [number: &#9804;]
[ ♍ ] Virgo [number: &#9805;]
[ ♎ ] Libra [number: &#9806;]
[ ♏ ] Scorpio [number: &#9807;]
[ ♐ ] Sagittarius [number: &#9808;]
[ ♑ ] Capricorn [number: &#9809;]
[ ♒ ] Aquarius [number: &#9810;]
[ ♓ ] Pisces [number: &#9811;]
[ ♔ ] White King [number: &#9812;]
[ ♕ ] White Queen [number: &#9813;]
[ ♖ ] White Rook [number: &#9814;]
[ ♗ ] White Bishop [number: &#9815;]
[ ♘ ] White Knight [number: &#9816;]
[ ♙ ] White Pawn [number: &#9817;]
[ ♚ ] Black King [number: &#9818;]
[ ♛ ] Black Queen [number: &#9819;]
[ ♜ ] Black Rook [number: &#9820;]
[ ♝ ] Black Bishop [number: &#9821;]
[ ♞ ] Black Knight [number: &#9822;]
[ ♟ ] Black Pawn [number: &#9823;]
[ ♠ ] black spade suit [name: &spades;] [number: &#9824;]
[ ♡ ] red heart suit [number: &#9825;]
[ ♢ ] red diamond suit [number: &#9826;]
[ ♣ ] black club suit = shamrock [name: &clubs;] [number: &#9827;]
[ ♤ ] red spade suit [number: &#9828;]
[ ♥ ] black heart suit = valentine [name: &hearts;] [number: &#9829;]
[ ♦ ] black diamond suit [name: &diams;] [number: &#9830;]
[ ♧ ] red club suit [number: &#9831;]
[ ♨ ] hot springs [number: &#9832;]
[ ♩ ] musical quarter note [number: &#9833;]
[ ♪ ] musical eighth note [number: &#9834;]
[ ♫ ] musical single bar note [number: &#9835;]
[ ♬ ] musical double bar note [number: &#9836;]
[ ♭ ] flat note [number: &#9837;]
[ ♮ ] natural note [number: &#9838;]
[ ♯ ] sharp note [number: &#9839;]
[ ✁ ] cut above [number: &#9985;]
[ ✂ ] cut here [number: &#9986;]
[ ✃ ] cut below [number: &#9987;]
[ ✄ ] scissors [number: &#9988;]
[ ✆ ] public pay phone [number: &#9990;]
[ ✇ ] film reel - tape spool [number: &#9991;]
[ ✈ ] airport jet airplane [number: &#9992;]
[ ✉ ] envelope mail email [number: &#9993;]
[ ✌ ] victory sign [number: &#9996;]
[ ✍ ] signature - sign here [number: &#9997;]
[ ✎ ] pencil diagonal down [number: &#9998;]
[ ✏ ] pencil [number: &#9999;]
[ ✐ ] pencil diagonal up [number: &#1000;]
[ ✓ ] check mark [number: &#10003;]
[ ✔ ] heavy check mark [number: &#10004;]
[ ✕ ] multiplication sign X [number: &#100005;]
[ ✖ ] heavy multiplication sign X [number: &#10006;]
[ ✗ ] ballot X [number: &#10007;]
[ ✘ ] heavy ballot X [number: &#10008;]
[ ✝ ] Latin Roman Cross [number: &#10013;]
[ ✞ ] Latin Cross 3D shadow [number: &#10014;]
[ ✟ ] Latin Cross outline [number: &#10015;]
[ ✠ ] Maltese Cross [number: &#10016;]
[ ✡ ] Star of David [number: &#10017;]
[ ❛ ] quotation mark single turned comma [number: &#10075;]
[ ❜ ] quotation mark single comma [number: &#10076;]
[ ❝ ] quotation mark double turned comma [number: &#10077;]
[ ❞ ] quotation mark double comma [number: &#10078;]

Greek Letters & Symbols Character Entity Reference

[ Α ] Greek capital letter alpha [name: &Alpha;] [number: &#913;]
[ Β ] Greek capital letter beta [name: &Beta;] [number: &#914;]
[ Γ ] Greek capital letter gamma [name: &Gamma;] [number: &#915;]
[ Δ ] Greek capital letter delta [name: &Delta;] [number: &#916;]
[ Ε ] Greek capital letter epsilon [name: &Epsilon;] [number: &#917;]
[ Ζ ] Greek capital letter zeta [name: &Zeta;] [number: &#918;]
[ Η ] Greek capital letter eta [name: &Eta;] [number: &#919;]
[ Θ ] Greek capital letter theta [name: &Theta;] [number: &#920;]
[ Ι ] Greek capital letter iota [name: &Iota;] [number: &#921;]
[ Κ ] Greek capital letter kappa [name: &Kappa;] [number: &#922;]
[ Λ ] Greek capital letter lambda [name: &Lambda;] [number: &#923;]
[ Μ ] Greek capital letter mu [name: &Mu;] [number: &#924;]
[ Ν ] Greek capital letter nu [name: &Nu;] [number: &#925;]
[ Ξ ] Greek capital letter xi [name: &Xi;] [number: &#926;]
[ Ο ] Greek capital letter omicron [name: &Omicron;] [number: &#927;]
[ Π ] Greek capital letter pi [name: &Pi;] [number: &#928;]
[ Ρ ] Greek capital letter rho [name: &Rho;] [number: &#929;]
[ Σ ] Greek capital letter sigma [name: &Sigma;] [number: &#931;]
[ Τ ] Greek capital letter tau [name: &Tau;] [number: &#932;]
[ Υ ] Greek capital letter upsilon [name: &Upsilon;] [number: &#933;]
[ Φ ] Greek capital letter phi [name: &Phi;] [number: &#934;]
[ Χ ] Greek capital letter chi [name: &Chi;] [number: &#935;]
[ Ψ ] Greek capital letter psi [name: &Psi;] [number: &#936;]
[ Ω ] Greek capital letter omega [name: &Omega;] [number: &#937;]
[ α ] Greek small letter alpha [name: &alpha;] [number: &#945;]
[ β ] Greek small letter beta [name: &beta;] [number: &#946;]
[ γ ] Greek small letter gamma [name: &gamma;] [number: &#947;]
[ δ ] Greek small letter delta [name: &delta;] [number: &#948;]
[ ε ] Greek small letter epsilon [name: &epsilon;] [number: &#949;]
[ ζ ] Greek small letter zeta [name: &zeta;] [number: &#950;]
[ η ] Greek small letter eta [name: &eta;] [number: &#951;]
[ θ ] Greek small letter theta [name: &theta;] [number: &#952;]
[ ι ] Greek small letter iota [name: &iota;] [number: &#953;]
[ κ ] Greek small letter kappa [name: &kappa;] [number: &#954;]
[ λ ] Greek small letter lambda [name: &lambda;] [number: &#955;]
[ μ ] Greek small letter mu [name: &mu;] [number: &#956;]
[ ν ] Greek small letter nu [name: &nu;] [number: &#957;]
[ ξ ] Greek small letter xi [name: &xi;] [number: &#958;]
[ ο ] Greek small letter omicron [name: &omicron;] [number: &#959;]
[ π ] Greek small letter pi [name: &pi;] [number: &#960;]
[ ρ ] Greek small letter rho [name: &rho;] [number: &#961;]
[ ς ] Greek small letter final sigma [name: &sigmaf;] [number: &#962;]
[ σ ] Greek small letter sigma [name: &sigma;] [number: &#963;]
[ τ ] Greek small letter tau [name: &tau;] [number: &#964;]
[ υ ] Greek small letter upsilon [name: &upsilon;] [number: &#965;]
[ φ ] Greek small letter phi [name: &phi;] [number: &#966;]
[ χ ] Greek small letter chi [name: &chi;] [number: &#967;]
[ ψ ] Greek small letter psi [name: &psi;] [number: &#968;]
[ ω ] Greek small letter omega [name: &omega;] [number: &#969;]
[ ϑ ] Greek small letter theta symbol [name: &thetasym;] [number: &#977;]
[ ϒ ] Greek upsilon with hook symbol [name: &upsih;] [number: &#978;]
[ ϖ ] Greek pi symbol [name: &piv;] [number: &#982;]

===.

Colon Cancer Check List ~ by TTSH

This 'Colon Cancer Check List' was found in the toilet of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Singapore).

===.

Colon Cancer Check List ~ by TTSH

Colon Cancer is one of the commonest cancers in Singapore.

Time for a check.

☐ ☑ ✔ ☒ ✘

1 ~ Change in Bowel Habit like...

☐ Change in frequency of bowel motion e.g. constipation and/or diarrhea

☐ Feeling of incomplete defecation

☐ Reduction in diameter of stool

2 ~ Change in Appearance of Stool...

☐ Stool with blood

☐ Stool with mucus

3 ~ ☐ Position Stool Occult Blood Test

4 ~ ☐ Family History of Colon Cancer

5 ~ ☐ You are 50years old and above

If you answer 'Yes' to any of the above, 

you should consult your doctor... 

or call this number... 

8-126-3522 

... for an appointment.

Opening hours: 

Mon - Fri (8am to 5:30pm)

Sat (8am to 1230pm)

Sun & PH (Closed)

===.

News ~ Julia Gillard ~ Barracking for US, berating Europe: Gillard picks her side of economic divide

When one "expert" comments on the inadequacies  of other "experts"... you begin to wonder... does anybody actually know what they're talking about? For those of us who know that we (the common people) are definitely "not experts"... it is a no-brain-er fact that one or more of these so called "experts" are definitely wrong. 
.
Julia Gillard says that "... stories of American decline are exaggerated..." and that "... European countries are living beyond their means in an economic framework where there is one currency, and consequently the automatic stabilisers that would normally kick in to get you moving have not been there... that means the 'living beyond the means' deepens and deepens and deepens. There have been very half-hearted attempts to address that, a lot of game-playing, all these audits; the EU has been sending people to Greece to tuttut about fiscal circumstances for a long period of time, but with no real action to follow it up.'"

.

Anyway... for what it's worth... I don't agree with her comments on America, but on her comments on Europe... there may be some truths... but then again... I'm no expert. Good luck to us all. The following is the full news report.

.
===.

News ~ Julia Gillard ~ Barracking for US, berating Europe: Gillard picks her side of economic divide

by PAUL KELLY, EDITOR AT LARGE, 24 Oct 2011, The Australian

.

Picture Caption:

Julia Gillard, in the rear courtyard at The Lodge yesterday, has outlined a sweeping vision of Australia's place in world affairs

.

ON the eve of a series of global economic talks, Julia Gillard says Barack Obama has ''the right strategy'' but that Europe has been ''living beyond its means'' and its leaders must fix their fiscal crisis. Interviewed by The Australian at The Lodge yesterday, the Prime Minister shifted on Asia policy, saying the new East Asian Summit was now the optimal regional institution, not the Australian-initiated Asia-pacific Economic Community. Ms Gillard said she would campaign for offshore processing of asylum-seekers and the Malaysian exchange deal ''at the ALP national conference, at the next election, and anywhere else it needs to be supported''. She warned that an Australian republic was some time away and was unsympathetic on the death of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, quoting her mother that: ''You live by the sword, you die by the sword.'' 

.

The contrast in Ms Gillard's views towards the US and Europe was sharp and revealing. With the US President visiting Australia next month, she said: ''I think stories of American decline are exaggerated. These predictions haven't been true in the past, and I don't think they'll be proven true now. The American economy, at base, is adaptable and resilient. I believe it will work its way through this challenge. ''I believe President Obama is pursuing the right strategy. I believe he is somebody of great strength and endurance and overwhelming calm, and he will continue to work his way through.'' 
.
With her attendance at the Group of 20 leaders meeting in Cannes a fortnight away, the PM came down hard on Europe. ''For the sake of the global economy they need to get this fixed,'' she said of the EU's financial crisis. ''What the fix looks like is in the first instance a matter for them. But it must be fixed. ''I'm very concerned that European leaders have been on what appears to be a never-ending journey of just seeking to muddle through. That's not going to cut it any more. Just muddling through on a wish and a prayer, and hoping they can jawbone markets into a better analysis of the European position, is clearly not enough.'' 
.
Pressed on Europe's core problem, Ms Gillard was emphatic. ''I'd say European countries are living beyond their means in an economic framework where there is one currency, and consequently the automatic stabilisers that would normally kick in to get you moving have not been there,'' she said. ''That means the 'living beyond the means' deepens and deepens and deepens. There have been very half-hearted attempts to address that, a lot of game-playing, all these audits; the EU has been sending people to Greece to tuttut about fiscal circumstances for a long period of time, but with no real action to follow it up.'' 

.

Her comments come amid talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try to settle a deal over how to leverage the European Financial Stability Facility to contain the crisis. With her attendance at the East Asian Summit in Bali three weeks away, Ms Gillard said that under Mr Obama the US was reorientating towards the Pacific and East Asia. ''The US understands this is the region being remade by economic growth,'' she said. ''That the US is joining the East Asian Summit is an indication of the depth of that engagement.'' 
.
Ms Gillard said APEC would ''continue to play its traditional role'' in trade liberalisation. But with the US and Russia now joining the EAS it had ''the right membership, the right mandate at the right time''. She expected the EAS to address issues such as maritime security and the Korean peninsula, but said: ''We will have to walk before we can run.'' The task for the EAS was to ''make the journey to realise its promise''. Her message is that the two pivotal institutions for Australia in future are the G20 and the EAS covering Asia and the Pacific as the inclusive body Australia has sought since Kevin Rudd was prime minister. Ms Gillard wants her own stamp on Asian policy through the white paper she commissioned by former Treasury chief Ken Henry. She said the old debates about engagement with Asia were ''resolved long ago'', and she seeks new analysis for ''a maturer phase of our relations with the region''. 
.
Ms Gillard dismissed pessimists who say Australia cannot reconcile its US alliance and its economic partnership with China. Such analysts, she said, underestimated ''our status in the region where we live, work and trade''. ''I think we can do both, and I am an optimist on that,'' she said. The Prime Minister said her aim was to ''renovate and renew'' the US alliance for a new age. How did she rate its future importance? ''I think the alliance is going to be of the same continuing important to us,'' she said. ''I don't think the language of 'more' really makes much sense. It is absolutely pivotal to our foreign policy and strategic outlook.'' 
.
Asked whether the eurozone should stay intact or undergo surgery, Ms Gillard said: ''I think that is a question for the Europeans, but they've got to get it done. They have to make the decisions about what is sustainable.''

.

===.

Stick Man ~ White On Black

Stick Man. "White on Black"... as opposed to "Black on White".

I found this Stick Man GIF Animation online. It's white so I had to find a way to darken the background. Enjoy it while it's still there for I have no control over it's existence.

===.

Stick Man ~ White On Black

http://www.artofeurope.com/blake/bla3.htm

http://www.artofeurope.com/groovin.gif

..........

===.

Like A Tree Planted By The Water

Very poetic... even if it does not rhyme.

===.

Bible Quote

Jeremiah 17:8

He will be like a tree planted by the water 

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; 

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a ear of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.

===.

Can Flood Areas Help Drought Areas?

Just watching the the news and seeing the recent floods in Thailand and reading about the drought in the Southern Plains of the United States... I can't help but wonder...

===.

Can Flood Areas Help Drought Areas? 
And vice versa?

===.

Agnosticism ~ by Kevin Knight (2009)

I find this an interesting read... especially the part on "The will to believe... The Catholic conception of faith..."

===.

Agnosticism ~ by Kevin Knight (2009)

Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01215c.htm

A philosophical theory of the limitations of knowledge, professing doubt of or disbelief in some or all of the powers of knowing possessed by the human mind.

Exposition

(1) The word Agnostic (Greek a, privative + gnostikós "knowing") was coined by Professor Huxley in 1869 to describe the mental attitude of one who regarded as futile all attempts to know the reality corresponding to our ultimate scientific, philosophic, and religious ideas. As first employed by Huxley, the new term suggested the contrast between his own unpretentious ignorance and the vain knowledge which the Gnostics of the second and third century claimed to possess. This antithesis served to discredit the conclusions of natural theology, or theistic reasoning, by classing them with the idle vapourings of Gnosticism. The classification was unfair, the attempted antithesis overdrawn. It is rather the Gnostic and the Agnostic who are the real extremists; the former extending the bounds of knowledge, and the latter narrowing them, unduly. Natural theology, or theism, occupies the middle ground between these extremes, and should have been disassociatedboth from the Gnostic position, that the mind can know everything, and from the Agnostic position, that it can know nothing concerning the truths of religion. (See GNOSTICISM.)
(2) Agnosticism, as a general term in philosophy, is frequently employed to express any conscious attitude of doubt, denial, or disbelief, towards some, or even all, of man's powers of knowing or objects of knowledge. The meaning of the term may accordingly vary, like that of the other word "Scepticism", which it has largely replaced, from partial to complete Agnosticism; it may be ourknowledge of the world, of the self, or of God, that is questioned; or it may be the knowableness of all three, and the validity of any knowledge, whether of sense or intellect, science orphilosophy, history, ethics, religion. The variable element in the term is the group of objects, or propositions, to which it refers; the invariable element, the attitude of learned ignorance it always implies towards the possibility of acquiring knowledge.
(3) Agnosticism, as a term of modern philosophy, is used to describe those theories of the limitations of human knowledge which deny the constitutional ability of the mind to know reality and conclude with the recognition of an intrinsically Unknowable. The existence of "absolute reality" is usually affirmed while, at the same time, its knowableness is denied. Kant, Hamilton, Mansel, and Spencer make this affirmation an integral part of their philosophic systems. The Phenomenalists, however, deny the assertion outright, while the Positivists, Comte and Mill, suspend judgmentconcerning the existence of "something beyond phenomena". (See POSITIVISM.)
(4) Modern Agnosticism differs from its ancient prototype. Its genesis is not due to a reactionary spirit of protest, and a collection of sceptical arguments, against "dogmatic systems" of philosophyin vogue, so much as to an adverse criticism of man's knowing-powers in answer to the fundamental question: What can we know? Kant, who was the first to raise this question, in his memorable reply to Hume, answered it by a distinction between "knowable phenomena" and "unknowable things-in-themselves". Hamilton soon followed with his doctrine that "we know only the relations of things". Modern Agnosticism is thus closely associated with Kant's distinction and Hamilton's principle of relativity. It asserts our inability to know the reality corresponding to our ultimate scientific,philosophic, or religious ideas.
(5) Agnosticism, with special reference to theology, is a name for any theory which denies that it is possible for man to acquire knowledge of God. It may assume either a religious or an anti-religious form, according as it is confined to a criticism of rational knowledge or extended to a criticism of belief. De Bonald (1754-1840), in his theory that language is of divine origin, containing, preserving, and transmitting the primitive revelation of Good to man; De Lammenais (1782-1854), in his theory that individual reason is powerless, and social reason alone competent; Bonetty(1798-1879), in his advocacy of faith in God, the Scriptures, and the Church, afford instances of Catholic theologians attempting to combine belief in moral and religious truths with the denial that valid knowledge of the same is attainable by reason apart from revelation and tradition. To these systems of Fideism and Traditionalism should be added the theory of Mansel (1820-71), which Spencer regarded as a confession of Agnosticism, that the very inability of reason to know the being and attributes of God proves that revelation is necessary to supplement the mind'sshortcomings. This attitude of criticising knowledge, but not faith, was also a feature of Sir William Hamilton's philosophy. (See FIDEISM and TRADITIONALISM.)
(6) The extreme view that knowledge of God is impossible, even with the aid of revelation, is the latest form of religious Agnosticism. The new theory regards religion and science as two distinct and separate accounts of experience, and seeks to combine an agnostic intellect with a believing heart. It has been aptly called "mental book-keeping by double entry". Ritschl, reviving Kant'sseparatist distinction of theoretical from practical reason, proclaims that the idea of God contains not so much as a grain of reasoned knowledge; it is merely "an attractive ideal", having moral andreligious, but no objective, scientific, value for the believer who accepts it. Harnack locates the essence of Christianity in a filial relation felt towards an unknowable God the Father. Sabatier considers the words God, Father, as symbols which register the feelings of the human heart towards the Great Unknowable of the intellect.
(7) Recent Agnosticism is also to a great extent anti-religious, criticizing adversely not only the knowledge we have of God, but the grounds of belief in Him as well. A combination of Agnosticism with Atheism, rather than with sentimental irrational belief, is the course adopted by many. The idea of God is eliminated both from the systematic and personal view which is taken of the world and of life. The attitude of "solemnly suspended judgment" shades off first into indifference towards religion, as an inscrutable affair at best, and next into disbelief. The Agnostic does not always merely abstain from either affirming or denying the existence of God, but crosses over to the old position of theoretic Atheism and, on the plea of insufficient evidence, ceases even to believe thatGod exists. While, therefore, not to be identified with Atheism, Agnosticism is often found in combination with it. (See ATHEISM.)

Total agnosticism self-refuting

Total or complete Agnosticism--see (2)--is self-refuting. The fact of its ever having existed, even in the formula of Arcesilaos, "I know nothing, not even that I know nothing", is questioned. It is impossible to construct theoretically a self-consistent scheme of total nescience, doubt, unbelief. The mind which undertook to prove its own utter incompetence would have to assume, while so doing, that it was competent to perform the allotted task. Besides, it would be Impossible to apply such a theory practically; and a theory wholly subversive of reason, contradictory toconscience, and inapplicable to conduct is a philosophy of unreason out of place in a world of law. It is the systems of partial Agnosticism, therefore, which merit examination. These do not aim at constructing a complete philosophy of the Unknowable, but at excluding special kinds of truth, notably religious, from the domain of knowledge They are buildings designedly left unfinished.

Kant's distinction between appearance and reality examined

Kant's idea of "a world of things apart from the world we know" furnished the starting-point of the modern movement towards constructing a philosophy of the Unknowable. With the laudableintention of silencing the sceptic Hume, he showed that the latter's analysis of human experience into particular sense-impressions was faulty and incomplete, inasmuch as it failed to recognize theuniversal and necessary elements present in human thought. Kant accordingly proceeded to construct a theory of knowledge which should emphasize the features of human thought neglected by Hume. He assumed that universality, necessity, causality, space, and time were merely the mind's constitutional way of looking at things, and in no sense derived from experience. The result was that he had to admit the mind's incapacity for knowing the reality of the world, the soul, or God, and was forced to take refuge against Hume's scepticism in the categorical imperative "Thou shalt" of the "moral reason". He had made "pure reason" powerless by his transfer of causality and necessity from the objects of thought to the thinking subject.
To discredit this idea of a "reality" inaccessibly hidden behind "appearances", it is sufficient to point out the gratuitous assumptions on which it is based. Kant's radical mistake was, to prejudge, instead of investigating, the conditions under which the acquisition of knowledge becomes possible. No proof was offered of the arbitrary assumption that the categories are wholly subjective;proof is not even possible. "The fact that a category lives subjectively in the act of knowing is no proof that the category does not at the same time truly express the nature of the reality known", [Seth, "Two Lectures on Theism" (New York, 1897) p. 19.] The harmony of the mind's function with the objects it perceives and the relations it discovers shows that the ability of the mind to reach reality is involved in our very acts of perception. Yet Kant, substituting theory for fact, would disqualify the mind for its task of knowing the actual world we live in, and invent a hinterland of things-in-themselves never known as they are, but only as they appear to be. This use of a purely speculative principle to criticize the actual contents of human experience, is unjustifiable.Knowledge is a living process to be concretely investigated, not a mechanical affair for abstract reason to play with by introducing artificial severances of thought from object, and of reality from appearance. Once knowledge is regarded as a synthetic act of a self-active subject, the gap artificially created between subject and object, reality and appearance, closes of itself. (See KANT, PHILOSOPHY OF.)

Hamilton's doctrine of relativity examined

Sir William Hamilton contributed the philosophical principle on which modern Agnosticism rests, in his doctrine that "all knowledge is relative". To know is to condition; to know the Unconditioned (Absolute, or Infinite) is therefore, impossible, our best efforts resulting in "mere negations of thought". This doctrine of relativity contains two serious equivocations which, when pointed out,reveal the basic difference between the philosophies of Agnosticism and of Theism. The first is in the word "relativity". The statement that knowledge is "relative" may mean simply that to knowanything, whether the world or God, we must know it as manifesting itself to us under the laws and relations of our own consciousness; apart from which relations of self-manifestation it would be for us an isolated, unknowable blank. Thus understood, the doctrine of relativity states the actual human method of knowing the world, the soul, the self, God, grace and the supernatural. Who would hold that we know God, naturally, in any other way than through the manifestations He makes of Himself in mind and nature?
But Hamilton understood the principle of relativity to mean that "we know only the relations of things"; only the Relative, never the Absolute. A negative conclusion, fixing a limit to what we canknow, was thus drawn from a principle which of itself merely affirms the method, but settles nothing as to the limits, of our knowledge. This arbitrary interpretation of a method as a limitation is the centre of the Agnostic position against Theism. An ideally perfect possible knowledge is contrasted with the unperfect yet none the less true, knowledge which we actually possess. By thus assuming "ideal comprehension" as a standard by which to criticize "real apprehension", the Agnostic invalidates, apparently, the little that we do know, as at present constituted, by the more we might know if our mental constitution were other than it is. The Theist, however, recognizing that the limits of human knowledge are to be determined by fact, not by speculation, refuses to prejudge the issue, and proceeds to investigate what we can legitimately know of God through His effects or manifestations.
The second serious equivocation is in the terms "Absolute", "Infinite", "Unconditioned". The Agnostic has in mind, when he uses these terms, that vague general idea of being which our mindreaches by emptying concrete reality of all its particular contents. The result of this emptying process is the Indefinite of abstract, as compared with the Definite of concrete, thought. It is thisIndefinite which the Agnostic exhibits as the utterly Unrelated, Unconditioned. But this is not the Absolute in question. Our inability to know such an Absolute, being simply our inability to definethe indefinite, to condition the unconditioned, is an irrelevant truism. The absolute in question with Theists is the real, not the logical; the Infinite in question is the actual Infinite of realizedperfection, not the Indefinite of thought. The All-perfect is the idea of God, not the All-imperfect, two polar opposites frequently mistaken for each other by Pantheists and Materialists from the days of the Ionians to our own. The Agnostic, therefore, displaces the whole Theistic problem when he substitutes a logical Absolute, defined as "that which excludes all relations outer and inner", for the real. Examination of our experience shows that the only relation which the Absolute essentially excludes is the relation of real dependence upon anything else. We have no right in reason todefine it as the non-related. In fact, it manifests itself as the causal, sustaining ground of all relations. Whether our knowledge of this real Absolute, or God, deserves to be characterized as wholly negative, is consequently a distinct problem (see VI).

Spencer's doctrine of the unknowable examined

According to Herbert Spencer, the doctrine that all knowledge is relative cannot be intelligibly stated Without postulating the existence of the Absolute. The momentum of thought inevitably carries us beyond conditioned existence (definite consciousness) to unconditioned existence (indefinite consciousness). The existence of Absolute Reality must therefore be affirmed. Spencer thus made a distinct advance upon the philosophy of Comte and Mill, which maintained a non-committal attitude on the question of any absolute existence. Hamilton and Mansel admitted the existenceof the Infinite on faith, denying only man's ability to form a positive conception of it. Mansel's test for a valid conception of anything is an exhaustive grasp of its positive contents--a test so ideal as to invalidate knowledge of the finite and infinite alike. Spencer's test is "inability to conceive the opposite". But since he understood "to conceive" as meaning "to construct a mental image", the consequence was that the highest conceptions of science and religion--matter, space, time, the Infinite--failed to correspond to his assumed standard, and were declared to be "mere symbols of the real, not actual cognitions of it at all". He was thus led to seek the basis and reconciliation of science, philosophy, and religion in the common recognition of Unknowable Reality as the object ofman's constant pursuit and worship. The non-existence of the Absolute is unthinkable; all efforts to know positively what the Absolute is result in contradictions.
Spencer's adverse criticism of all knowledge and belief, as affording no insight into the ultimate nature of reality, rests on glaring assumptions. The assumption that every idea is "symbolic" which cannot be vividly realized in thought is arbitrary as to be decisive against his entire system; it is a pre-judgment, not a valid canon of inductive criticism, which he constantly employs. From the fact that we can form no conception of infinity, as we picture an object or recall a scene, it does not follow that we have no apprehension of the Infinite. We constantly apprehend things of which we can distinctly frame no mental image. Spencer merely contrasts our picturesque with our unpicturable forms of thought, using the former to criticize the latter adversely. The contradictions which he discovers are all reducible to this contrast of definite with indefinite thoughts and disappear when we have in mind a real Infinite of perfection, not a logical Absolute. Spencer's attempt to stop finally at the mere affirmation that the Absolute exists he himself proved to be impossible. He frequently describes the Unknowable as the "Power manifesting itself in phenomena". This physical description is a surrender of his own position and a virtual acceptance of the principle of Theism, that the Absolute is known through, not apart from, its manifestations. If the Absolutecan be known as physical power, surely it can be known as Intelligent Personal Power, by taking not the lowest, but the highest, manifestations of power known to us as the basis for a less inadequate conception. Blank existence is no final stopping-place for human thought. The only rational course is to conceive God under the highest manifestations of Himself and to remember while so doing that we are describing, not defining, His abysmal nature. It is not a question of degrading God to our level, but of not conceiving Him below that level as unconscious energy. Spencer'sfurther attempt to empty religion and science of their respective rational contents, so as to leave only a blank abstraction or symbol for the final object of both, is a gross confusion, again, of the indefinite of thought with the infinite of reality. A religion wholly cut off from belief, worship, and conduct never existed. Religion must know its object to some extent or be mere irrational emotion. All religion recognizes mystery; truth and reality imperfectly known, not wholly unknowable. The distinction of "knowable phenomena from unknowable reality behind phenomena" breaks down at every turn; and Spencer well illustrates how easy it is to mistake simplified thoughts for the original simplicities of things. His category of the Unknowable is a convenient receptacle for anything one may choose to put into it, because no rational statement concerning its contents is possible. In fact, Spencer calmly affirms the identity of the two "unknowables" of Religion and Science, without appearing to realize that neither in reason nor according to his own principles is there any foundation for this most dogmatic of statements.

The power to know

The primary fact disclosed in our sense-knowledge is that an external object exists, not that a sensation has been experienced. What we directly perceive is the presence of the object, not themental process. This vital union of subject and object in the very act of knowledge implies that things and minds are harmoniously related to each other in a system of reality. The real is involved in our acts of perception, and any theory which neglects to take this basic fact into account disregards the data of direct experience. Throughout the whole process of our knowing, the mind has reality, fundamentally at least, for its object. The second fact of our knowledge is that things are known according to the nature of the knower. We can know the real object, but the extent of this knowledge will depend on the number and degree of manifestations, as on the actual conditions of our mental and bodily powers. Whatever be the results reached by psychologists or by physicists in their study of the genesis of knowledge or the nature of reality, there can be no doubt of the testimony of consciousness to the existence of a reality "not ourselves". Knowledge is, therefore, proportioned to the manifestations of the object and to the nature and conditions of the knowing subject. Our power to know God is no exception to this general law, the non-observance of which is the weakness of Agnosticism, as the observance of it is the strength of Theism. The pivotal assumption in agnostic systems generally is that we can know the existence of a thing and still remain in complete ignorance of its nature. The process of our knowing is contrasted with the object supposedly known. The result of this contrast is to make knowledge appear not as reporting, but as transforming, reality; and to make the object appear as qualitatively different from the knowledge we have of it, not, therefore, intrinsically unknowable. This assumptionbegs the whole question. No valid reason exists for regarding the physical stimulus of sensation as "reality pure and simple", or as the ultimate object of knowledge. To conceive of knowledge as altering its object is to make it meaningless, and to contradict the testimony of consciousness. We cannot, therefore, know the existence of a thing and remain in complete ignorance of its nature.
The problem of God's knowableness raises four more or less distinct questions: existence, nature, possibility of knowledge, possibility of definition. In treating these, the Agnostic separates the first two, which he should combine, and combines the last two, which he should separate. The first two questions, while distinct, are inseparable in treatment, because we have no direct insight into the nature of anything and must be content to study the nature of God through the indirect manifestations He makes of Himself its creatures. The Agnostic, by treating the question of God's nature apart from the question of God's existence, cuts himself off from the only possible natural means of knowing, and then turns about to convert his fault of method into a philosophy of the Unknowable. It is only by studying the Absolute and the manifestations together that we can round out and fill in the concept of the former by means of the latter. The idea of God cannot beanalyzed wholly apart from the evidences, or "proofs". Deduction needs the companion process of induction to succeed in this instance. Spencer overlooked this fact, which St. Thomas admirably observed in his classic treatment of the problem.
The question of knowing God is not the same as the question of defining Him. The two do not stand or fail together. By identifying the two, the Agnostic confounds "inability to define" with "total inability to know", which are distinct problems to be treated separately, since knowledge may fall short of definition and be knowledge still. Spencer furnishes the typical instance. He admits that inquiry into the nature of things leads inevitably to the concept of Absolute Existence, and here his confusion of knowing with defining compels him to stop. He cannot discover in the isolated concept of the Absolute the three conditions of relation, likeness, and difference, necessary for defining it. He rightly claims that no direct resemblance, no agreement in the possession of the same identical qualities, is possible between the Absolute and the world of created things. The Absolute cannot be defined or classified, in the sense of being brought into relations of specific or generic agreement with any objects we know or any concepts we frame. This was no discovery of Spencer's. The Eastern Fathers of the Church, in their so-called "negative theology", refuted the pretentious knowledge of the Gnostics on this very principle, that the Absolute transcends all our schemes of classification. But Spencer was wrong in neglecting to take into account the considerable amount of positive, though not strictly definable, knowledge contained in the affirmations which he makes in common with the Theist, that God exists. The Absolute, studied in the light of its manifestations, not in the darkness of isolations, discloses itself to our experience as Originating Source. Between the Manifestations and the Source there exists, therefore, somerelationship. It is not a direct resemblance, in the very nature of the case. But there is another kind of resemblance which is wholly indirect, the resemblance of two proportions, or Analogy. The relation of God to His absolute nature must be, proportionally at least, the same as that of creatures to theirs. However infinite the distance and difference between the two, this relation of proportional similarity exists between them, and is sufficient to make some knowledge of the former possible through the latter, because both are proportionally alike, while infinitely diverse in being and attributes. The Originating Source must precontain, in an infinitely surpassing way, the perfections dimly reflected in the mirror of Nature. Of this, the principle of causality, objectively understood, is ample warrant. Spencer's three conditions for knowledge--namely: relation, likeness, and difference--are thus verified in another way, with proportional truth for their basis. The conclusions of natural theology cannot, therefore, be excluded from the domain of the knowable, but only from that of the definable. (See ANALOGY.)
The process of knowing God thus becomes a process of correcting our human concepts. The correction consists in raising to infinite, unlimited significance the objective perfections discernible inmen and things. This is accomplished in turn by denying the limiting modes and imperfect features distinctive of created reality, in order to replace these by the thought of the All-perfect, in the plenitude of whose Being one undivided reality corresponds to our numerous, distinct, partial concepts. In the light of this applied corrective we are enabled to attribute to God the perfectionsmanifested in intelligence, will, power, personality, without making the objective content of our idea of God merely the human magnified, or a bundle of negations. The extreme ofAnthropomorphism, or of defining God in terms of man magnified, is thus avoided, and the opposite extreme of Agnosticism discounted. Necessity compels us to think God under the relative, dependent features of our experience. But no necessity of thought compels us to make the accidental features of our knowledge the very essence of His being. The function of denial, which the Agnostic overlooks, is a corrective, not purely negative, function; and our idea of God, inadequate and solely proportional as it is, is nevertheless positive, true, and valid according to the lawswhich govern all our knowing.

The will to believe

The Catholic conception of faith is a firm assent, on account of the authority of God to revealed truths. It presupposes the philosophical truth that a personal God exists who can neither deceivenor be deceived, and the historical truth of the fact of revelation. The two sources of knowledge--reason and revelation--complete each other. Faith begins where science ends. Revelation adds a new world of truth to the sum of human knowledge. This new world of truth is a world of mystery, but not of contradiction. The fact that none of the truths which we believe on God's authority contradicts the laws of human thought or the certainties of natural knowledge shows that the world of faith is a world of higher reason. Faith is consequently an intellectual assent; a kind of superadded knowledge distinct from, yet continuous with, the knowledge derived from experience.
In contrast with this conception of faith and reason as distinct is the widespread view which urges their absolute separation. The word knowledge is restricted to the results of the exact sciences; the word belief is extended to all that cannot be thus exactly ascertained. The passive attitude of the man of science, who suspends judgment until the evidence forces his assent, is assumedtowards religious truth. The result is that the "will to believe" takes on enormous significance in contrast with the "power to know", and faith sinks to the level of blind belief cut off from all continuity with knowledge.
It is true that the will, the conscience, the heart, and divine grace co-operate in the production of the act of faith, but it is no less true that reason plays an essential part. Faith is an act ofintellect and will; when duly analyzed, it discloses intellectual, moral, and sentimental elements. We are living beings, not pure reasoning machines, and our whole nature cooperates vitally in theacceptance of the divine word. "Man is a being who thinks all his experience and perforce must think his religious experience."--Sterrett, "The Freedom of Authority" (New York, 1905) p. 56.--Where reason does not enter at all, we have but caprice or enthusiasm. Faith is not a persuasion to be duly explained by reference to subconscious will-attitudes alone, nor is distrust of reasonone of its marks.
It is also true that the attitude of the believer, as compared with that of the scientific observer, is strongly personal, and interested in the object of belief. But this contrast of personal with impersonal attitudes affords no justification for regarding belief as wholly blind. It is unfair to generalize these two attitudes into mutually exclusive philosophies. The moral ideal of conscience is different from the cold, impartial ideal of physical science. Truths which nourish the moral life of the soul, and shape conduct, cannot wait for acceptance, like purely scientific truths, until theoretical reason studies the problem thoroughly. They present distinct motives for the conscience to appreciate actively, not for the speculative reason to contemplate passively. Conscienceappreciates the moral value of testimonies, commands their acceptance, and bids the intellect to "ponder them with assent".
It is wrong, therefore, to liken the function of conscience to that of speculative reason, to apply to the solution of moral and religious questions the methods of the exact sciences, to give to the latter the monopoly of all certitude, and to declare the region beyond scientific knowledge a region of nescience and blind belief. On the assumption that the knowledge and the definable are synonymous terms, the "first principles of thought" are transferred from the category of knowledge to that of belief, but the transfer is arbitrary. It is too much to suppose that we know only what we can explain. The mistake is in making a general philosophy out of a particular method of scientific explanation. This criticism applies to all systematic attempts to divide the mind into opposite hemispheres of intellect and will, to divorce faith completely from knowledge. Consciousness is one and continuous. Our distinctions should never amount to separations, nor should the "pragmatic" method now in vogue be raised to the dignity of a universal philosophy. "The soul with its powers does not form an integral whole divided, or divisible, into non-communicating compartments ofintellect and will; it is a potential inter-penetrative whole". (Baillie, "Revue de Philos.", April, 1904, p. 468.) In the solidary interaction of all man's powers the contributions furnished by will andconscience increase and vivify the meagre knowledge of God We are able to acquire by reasoning.

Agnosticism and the doctrine of the Church

The Agnostic denial of the ability of human reason to know God is directly opposed to Catholic Faith. The Council of the Vatican solemnly declares that "God, the beginning and end of all, can, by the natural light of human reason, be known with certainty from the works of creation" (Const. De Fide, II, De Rev.) The intention of the Council was to reassert the historic claim of Christianity to be reasonable, and to condemn Traditionalism together with all views which denied to reason the power to know God with certainty. Religion would be deprived of all foundation in reason, the motives of credibility would become worthless, conduct would be severed from creed, and faith be blind, if the power of knowing God with rational certainty were called in question. The declaration of the Council was based primarily on scripture, not on any of the historic systems of philosophy. The Council simply defined the possibility of man's knowing God with certainty by reason apart from revelation. The possibility of knowing God was not affirmed of any historical individual in particular; the statement was limited to the power of human reason, not extended to the exercise of that power in any given instance of time or person. The definition thus took on the feature of the objective statement: Man can certainly know God by the "physical" power of reason when the latter is rightly developed, even though revelation be "morally" necessary for mankind in the bulk, when the difficulties of reaching a prompt, certain, and correct knowledge of God are taken into account. What conditions were necessary for this right development of reason, how much positive education was required to equip the mind for this task of knowing God and some of His attributeswith certainty, the Council did not profess to determine. Neither did it undertake to decide whether the function of reason in this case is to derive the idea of God wholly from reflection on the data furnished by sense, or merely to bring out into explicit form, by means of such data, an idea already instinctive and innate. The former view, that of Aristotle had the preference; but the latter view, that of Plato, was not condemned. God's indirect manifestations of Himself in the mirror of nature, in the created world of things and persons, were simply declared to be true sources of knowledge distinct from revelation.

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