the fisherman of halicarnassus

there are three branches - executive (president), legislative (senate and house), and judicial (supreme court).

the house has 435 districts, and you vote for one representative for your district. each state gets the number of districts based on its population compared to the country as a whole - some states only have one, and california has the most - around 50. representatives get 2-year terms.

the senate every state gets exactly 2 senators, for 100 total. population doesn't matter. senators get 6-year terms, and each state's senators are elected in different years.

when you vote for the presidency, each state has "electoral votes" equal to the total number of representatives and senators that state has. whoever gets the most votes in your state wins all of the state's electoral votes, and whoever gets the most electoral votes becomes the president. the president gets a 4-year term, and the maximum is two terms.

laws are passed as follows: the house has to pass it, then it goes to the senate. if the senate passes it, it goes to the president. if the senate doesn't pass it, it goes back to the house for changes, until there is something both houses pass.

the senate has an unusual rule called the filibuster, where one or more senators who want to block a bill being discussed can just keep talking and talking and not stop to allow a vote on the bill - it takes 60% of the senate to vote to stop a filibuster. so if you have 41% of the senate opposed to a bill, you can effectively block it - this gives the minority party a lot more power than it would normally have.

once the president gets a bill that has been approved by the house and senate, he can sign it, and it becomes law, or he can veto it, which means that it goes back to the house and senate and it fails unless they both pass it by a 2/3 vote (called "overriding a veto").

even if the house, senate, and president agree to pass a law, the supreme court can strike the law down if the law violates the constitution.

twitter was acquired by elon musk for approximately $44billion, with shares valued at $54.20.

(see: god complex)

until 1966, the referees used to warn the players and the managers verbally without any significant repercussions on the foul they have made.

however, if a foul is too clumsy and a player had to be sent off, the referee must tell the player to leave the field.

this norm had many flaws in it, and it was made pretty evident in a particular game.

the quarter-final between england and argentina was full of drama, fouls, and controversy, all at the same time. one specific incident took place, and the argentinian captain committed an offensive foul on an english player.

this left referee ken aston no option but to send the argentinian captain off.

but since the player was full of anger and agitation, he continued playing the game and said he didn't hear the referee's warning of sending him off earlier.

after such a high-profile game ended in such a controversy, a new solution was needed to make sure the players listen to the referee's warnings and signals.

finding the answer was also given to ken aston, and he got inspiration from traffic lights.

therefore, he suggested that fifa introduce cards into the game.

a yellow card would mean it is just a warning for the foul committed and shouldn't be repeated, whereas the red card told that you have to leave the field as the challenge committed is a major one and could have injured the opposition player.

this move turned out to be a phenomenal one not only on a short-term basis but also in the more extended scheme of things.

the 1970 fifa world cup was the first time this rule was implemented in a major tournament involving countries worldwide.

how erdogan tamed turkey's newsrooms

a person who has taken over the problem. good luck with that.

lockdown mode offers an extreme, optional level of security for the very few users who, because of who they are or what they do, may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from nso group and other private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. turning on lockdown mode in ios 16, ipados 16, and macos ventura further hardens device defenses and strictly limits certain functionalities, sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.

at launch, lockdown mode includes the following protections:
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-web browsing: certain complex web technologies, like just-in-time (jit) javascript compilation, are disabled unless the user excludes a trusted site from lockdown mode.
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-wired connections with a computer or accessory are blocked when iphone is locked.
-configuration profiles cannot be installed, and the device cannot enroll into mobile device management (mdm), while lockdown mode is turned on.
image source

catharsis (meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. in its literal medical sense, it refers to the evacuation of the catamenia—the menstrual fluid or other reproductive material from the patient. but as a metaphor it was originally used by aristotle in the poetics, comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of catharsis on the body.

in psychology, the term is associated with freudian psychoanalysis and specifically relates to the expression of buried trauma, bringing it into consciousness and thereby releasing it permanently. however, there is considerable debate as to its therapeutic usefulness. social catharsis may be regarded as the collective expression of extreme emotion, when groups gather together, such as in large crowds at sporting events.

catharsis in platonism

in platonism, catharsis is part of the soul's progressive ascent to knowledge. it is a means to go beyond the senses and embrace the pure world of the intelligible. specifically for the neoplatonists plotinus and porphyry, catharsis is the elimination of passions. this leads to a clear distinction in the virtues. in the second tractate of the first ennead, plotinus lays out the difference between the civic virtues and the cathartic virtues and explains that the civic, or political, virtues are inferior. they are a principle of order and beauty and concern material existence. although they maintain a trace of the absolute good, they do not lead to the unification of the soul with the divinity. as porphyry makes clear, their function is to moderate individual passions and allow for peaceful coexistence with others. the purificatory, or cathartic, virtues are a condition for assimilation to the divinity. they separate the soul from the sensible, from everything that is not its true self, enabling it to contemplate the mind.

said when two people inadvertently say the same thing at once.

he wants to cut 10% of tesla jobs

(see: #1055)

eugenics is a scientific and social movement, based on charles darwin's theories of human evolution, which was originally defined as the science of racial betterment - its name being based on the greek words for "good" and "born"*. eugenics is related to social darwinism, which focuses on extending darwin's theories of plant and animal evolution to the social lives of human beings, especially in regard to societal processes. eugenics also drew on malthusian assertions that human social problems are caused by overpopulation by the poor and other marginalized groups as well as by a parallel decline in the birth rate among those perceived as socially superior. eugenics, together with social darwinism and malthusian-based concerns about overpopulation, were highly influential in wealthy industrialist nations around the turn of the twentieth century, professed by those who claimed to be both socially conservative as well as the socially liberal. these views granted wealthy western groups an empirical standing for their supposed pre-eminence and the correctness of their political and social values, as well as absolution from their responsibility for inequality, wars, or poverty. these theories were also central to the establishment of what became known as scientific racism and sexism, often treating varied ethnic groups as disparate species and women as an inferior sub-species. eugenics remains a significant influence on the writings of contemporary white nationalists and promoters of white racial superiority, including psychologists who adhere to these values.

never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
napoleon bonaparte

rabbi abraham twerski talks about the difference between selfish love and true love, which must be a love of giving and not of receiving.

transcript:

"'young man. why are you eating that fish?' the young mans says, 'because i love fish.' he says, 'oh. you love the fish. that's why you took it out of the water and killed it and boiled it.' he says, 'don't tell me you love the fish. you love yourself, and because the fish tastes good to you; therefore, you took it out of the water and killed it and boiled it.'

"so much of what is love is fish love. young couple falls in love. young man and young woman fall in love. what does that mean? that means that he saw in this woman someone who he felt could provide him with all of his physical and emotional needs, and she felt in this man somebody she feels that she can write, that was love, but each one is looking out for their own needs. it's not love for the other. the other person becomes a vehicle for my gratification.

"too much of what is called love is fish love. an external love is not on what i'm going to get but i'm going to give. we had an ethicist rabbi dessler, who said, 'people make a serious mistake in thinking that you give to those whom you love, and the real answer is you love those to whom you give.'

his point is if i give something to you, i've invested myself in you. since self-love is a given, everybody loves themselves, now that part of me has become in you, there's part of me in you that i love. true love is a love of giving, not a love of receiving.'

group a: qatar (hosts), netherlands, senegal, ecuador
group b: england, united states, iran, wales/scotland/ukraine
group c: argentina, mexico, poland, saudi arabia
group d: france, denmark, tunisia, peru/australia/uae
group e: spain, germany, japan, costa rica/new zealand
group f: belgium, croatia, morocco, canada
group g: brazil, switzerland, serbia, cameroon